Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary: A Critical Edition [1] 0199284067, 9780199284061

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T H E C LA R E N D O N E D I T I O N O F T H E W O R K S O F DAV I D H U M E Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary

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THE CLARENDON EDITION OF THE WO R K S O F DAV I D H U M E General Editors of the Philosophical Works Tom L. Beauchamp  David Fate Norton  M. A. Stewart

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DAVID HUME

Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary A CRITICAL EDITION EDITED BY TO M  L .  BE AUCHAM P MA R K  A .  B OX A ssociate E ditor MI C HA E L SI LV ERTHORNE C ontributin g E ditors J.  A .  W.  G UNN F.  DAV I D HARVEY VO LU ME 1

CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD

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1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Oxford University Press 2021 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First Edition published in 2021 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940458 ISBN 978–0–19–928406–1 Printed and bound in the UK by TJ Books Limited Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work.

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To the Memory of David Fate Norton Consummate Hume Scholar

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PR E FAC E A N D AC K N OWLEDGEMENTS Planning for the critical edition of Hume’s works began in discussions at the meetings of the Hume Society in 1975. At the Hume Bicentenary conference in Montreal in 1976, consultation with several Hume scholars initiated what eventually became the Clarendon Hume. Circa 1980, Tom L. Beauchamp, David Fate Norton, and M. A. Stewart formulated the principles governing the Clarendon Hume. This series adopts modern techniques of editing to establish authoritative texts. The variants created by Hume’s steady course of revisions are recorded, and other techniques of bibliographical, historical, and classical scholarship are employed to create critical texts, present the histories of the works, and trace their intellectual backgrounds. For this edition of Hume’s essays, Beauchamp began visual collation of variants in the editions in 1980. A few years later he inherited from the Oxford University Press a partial visual collation initiated but never completed by Arthur Friedman, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of English, University of Chicago, and Peter Nidditch, Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Sheffield, UK. Beauchamp completed his independent visual collation in 1993, checked it against the partial visual collation left by Friedman and Nidditch, and created a single copy free of the errors identified in these two visual collations. In 1985 Beauchamp began computer entry of the entire corpus of Hume’s essays (all editions from 1741 through 1777). This work was completed in 1991. Thereafter Beauchamp used these computer files to create a computergenerated collation of variants that was entirely independent of both his and the Friedman–Nidditch visual collations. He computer-compared and then corrected both the visual collations and the computer collations to construct the list of variants found in the present edition. Over fifty research assistants contributed to the work of computer entry and comparison of electronic files during the period 1985–2001. All of this work was checked and corrected for another decade thereafter by computer comparisons of all editions of the essays. See further ‘A Note on the Texts’ and the ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’ for related information about the collection of information for and the editing of the critical text. Mark Box was responsible for the annotation of the individual essays and their publication history. He assembled a group of scholars with diverse expertise in classics, history, politics, literature, and philosophy. The team consisted of Michael Silverthorne, David Harvey, and Jock Gunn. This

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Preface and Acknowledgements

team benefited from the editions of Knud Haakonssen, Eugene Miller, and Gilles Robel. Examination of numerous copies of the relevant editions was performed by Box with Elizabeth Shapland. The descriptions of the books in the ­bibliographical schema are by Box, except for parts of descriptions of the editions of 1757 and 1758, which were contributed by M. A. Stewart with some input from Tom Beauchamp. O. M. Brack offered useful advice about proper forms for the Clarendon Hume edition. A.  Wayne Colver, Sadao Ikeda, T.  E.  Jessop, Peter Nidditch, and William  B.  Todd had previously published material relevant for this schema. Their pioneering work has been corrected and extensively augmented for this volume by Box, with contributions from Stewart and Beauchamp. The editors of this volume are deeply indebted to Stewart for the time he has given to this phase of the project. Both Stewart and Norton made numerous recommendations for improvement of our work. We have benefited from the advice and constant friendship of these dedicated colleagues for over forty years in the planning and execution of this volume. Innumerable librarians in Europe, North America, and Japan have provided information to facilitate the editorial work. Librarians at the following libraries merit specific acknowledgement: the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh Library, Aberdeen University Library, the National Library of Canada, King’s College Library of the University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge Library, Trinity College Library of the University of Cambridge, Trinity College Library Dublin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of The University of Texas at Austin, Dr  Williams’s Library (London), Newberry Library (Chicago), the U. S. Library of Congress, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library of Yale University, the Milton S. Eisenhower Library of The Johns Hopkins University, McGill University Libraries (Department of Rare Books and Special Collections), The Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington DC), The University of Illinois at Urbana (Rare Books Room), the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Arizona, and the Lauinger and Woodstock Libraries of Georgetown University. We are likewise indebted to the staffs of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Huntington Library, the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Oregon State University Library, University of Oregon Library, Portland State University Library, University of Chicago Library, Wellcome Library, Senate House Library of the University of London, King’s College London Library, Sir John Soane’s Museum (London), London School of Economics Library, Colorado State

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Preface and Acknowledgements

ix

University Library, Arizona State University Library, The Houghton Library of Harvard University Library, the Honnold Library of the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges, the Bridwell Library Special Collections of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary (New York), the New York State Library of the University of the State of New York (Albany), the Bailey/Howe Library of the University of Vermont, the Earl Gregg Swem Library of The College of William & Mary, Chuo University Library (Hachiojishi, Tokyo, Japan), The Margaret Clapp Library of Wellesley College, The John Hay Library of Brown University, The University of Michigan University Library, and the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. The editors have been materially helped in a variety of ways by Tad Boehmer, Robert Braine, David Braund, Alvan Bregman, Roger Brock, Iain Brown, William Burling, Dario Castiglione, Lillian Corti, John Dussinger, Michael Edson, Roger Emerson, James Fieser, Alexandra Fitts, Doris Fletcher, Suzan Hahn, James Harris, Ann Marie Holland, Patrick Hyde Kelly, Amy Kimball, Carlton F. W. Larson, Ray Laurence, Peter Millican, Leslie Mitchell, Martin Moir, James Moore, Richard Morel, Frederick Nash, David Owen, Markku Peltonen, David Raynor, Gilles Robel, Jane Roscoe, V. Rosivach, Rick Sher, George Stanley, Martyn Stromberg, Peter Thomas, Dabney Townsend, Saul Traiger, Frits van Holthoon, Richard Virr, Howard Weinbrot, Fred Wilson, Nigel Wilson, and Peter Wiseman, Philosophy editors Angela Blackburn, Tim Barton, and Peter Momtchiloff of the Oxford University Press, Oxford, have been attentive to the needs of the entire Clarendon Hume critical edition and supportive in seeing the work through the press. Emma Slaughter, Rupert Cousens, Charlotte Jenkins, and Robert Ritter contributed sound editorial advice at the Oxford University Press and have suggested changes that improved this volume as well as predecessor volumes in the Clarendon Hume. Both the U.S.  National Endowment for the Humanities and McGill University contributed funds to support the early years of this project. The Graduate School, the Department of Philosophy, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University were generous with sabbaticals and financial support. John Leipzig, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Alaska, must be thanked for his creative and facilitative administration, which was wholly necessary for the completion of this project. A final notice: Hume’s posthumously published essays on suicide and the immortality of the soul as well as various occasional pieces are not included in this volume because they are scheduled for other Clarendon Hume volumes. The Advertisement Hume published late in life (printed in January

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Preface and Acknowledgements

1776 in three formats to be placed in the unsold copies of the 1768, 1770, and 1772 editions of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects) was previously published in the Clarendon Hume critical edition of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Tom L. Beauchamp Mark A. Box Chilmark, Massachusetts and Washington, DC Fairbanks, Alaska May 2020

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CO N T EN T S O F VOLUME 1 Abbreviations and Short Titles  A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime  A Table of the Editions of Hume’s Essays from 1741 to 1777  A Note on the Texts 

xv xix xxiv xxvii

WITHDRAWN E SS AYS L A S T PUBL ISHE D IN 1 7 4 2 1 Of Essay‑Writing  2 Of Moral Prejudices  3 Of the Middle Station of Life  4 A Character of Sir Robert Walpole 

3 7 11 15

W ITHDRAWN E SSAYS LA S T P UB L I S HE D BE TWE E N 1 7 6 0 A ND 1 7 6 8 1 Of Impudence and Modesty  2 Of Love and Marriage  3 Of the Study of History  4 Of Avarice 

19 22 26 30

E SSAYS, MORAL , POL I T I C A L , A ND L ITE RARY—PA RT 1 1 Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion  2 Of the Liberty of the Press  3 That Politics may be reduced to a Science  4 Of the First Principles of Government  5 Of the Origin of Government  6 Of the Independency of Parliament  7 Whether the British Government inclines more to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic 

35 38 41 51 54 57 61

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xii

Contents of Volume 1

8 Of Parties in General  9 Of the Parties of Great Britain  10 Of Superstition and Enthusiasm  11 Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature  12 Of Civil Liberty  13 Of Eloquence  14 Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences  15 The Epicurean  16 The Stoic  17 The Platonist  18 The Sceptic  19 Of Polygamy and Divorces  20 Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing  21 Of National Characters  22 Of Tragedy  23 Of the Standard of Taste 

65 71 77 81 86 92 101 119 125 132 135 150 157 161 174 181

E SSAYS, MORAL , P O L I T I C A L , AND L ITE RARY — PA RT 2 1 Of Commerce  2 Of Refinement in the Arts  3 Of Money  4 Of Interest  5 Of the Balance of Trade  6 Of the Jealousy of Trade  7 Of the Balance of Power  8 Of Taxes  9 Of Public Credit  10 Of Some Remarkable Customs  11 Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations  12 Of the Original Contract  13 Of Passive Obedience  14 Of the Coalition of Parties  15 Of the Protestant Succession  16 Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth 

199 209 218 228 237 249 252 258 262 273 279 332 347 350 356 363

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Contents of Volume 1

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects  A History of Hume’s Essays  1. Hume’s Early Life and Aspirations  2. A History of the Editions  3. Printers, Booksellers, and Intellectual Property  4. Hume’s Instruction for an Addition to the 1777 ETSS  A Bibliographical Schema of the Editions  European Book Translations of the Essays  Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants  Appendix 1: The ‘Scotticisms’ Insert in Political Discourses  Appendix 2: The Dedication ‘To the Reverend Mr. Hume’ in Four Dissertations  Appendix 3: Facsimile Reproductions  1. A Manuscript Fragment of ‘Populousness of Ancient Nations’  2. Title-Pages of Hume’s Essays (1741, 1752, 1757, 1772)  3. An Advertisement of the 1741 Essays, Moral and Political  4. The Craftsman’s Appropriation of ‘British Government’  5. ‘Queries and Answers relating to Sir Robert Walpole’s Character’  6. The Engraved Portrait of Hume in Essays and Treatises on   Several Subjects (1768) 

xiii 375 401 401 404 436 444 446 496 502 689 695 701 701 702 708 709 710 713

CO N T EN T S O F VOLUME 2 Abbreviations and Short Titles  Editors’ Annotations  Glossary  Biographical Appendix  Catalogue of Hume’s References  Reference List  Editors’ Index to Volumes 1 and 2 

xi 714 1149 1170 1183 1202 1271

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A B B R EVI AT I O N S AN D S HORT TITLES Abstract An Abstract of . . . A Treatise of Human Nature c. century or centuries Cat. Catalogue of Hume’s References Dialogues Dialogues concerning Natural Religion DP A Dissertation on the Passions EHU An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding EPM An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals ESTC English Short-Title Catalogue ETSS Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects Further Letters Further Letters of David Hume (ed. Waldmann) Letters Letters of David Hume (ed. Greig) New Letters New Letters of David Hume (ed. Klibansky and Mossner) NHR The Natural History of Religion THN A Treatise of Human Nature The following short titles are used when citing Hume’s Essays:

W IT H D R AWN E SSAYS L A ST P UBLIS HED IN 1742 Essay Writing Moral Prejudices Middle Station Walpole

Of Essay-Writing Of Moral Prejudices Of the Middle Station of Life A Character of Sir Robert Walpole

W ITH D R AWN E SSAYS LAS T P UBLIS HED BE T WE E N 1760 AND 1768 Impudence and Modesty Love and Marriage Study of History Avarice

Of Impudence and Modesty Of Love and Marriage Of the Study of History Of Avarice

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xvi

Abbreviations and Short Titles

E SSAYS, MO R A L , POLITICAL, AND L I T E R A RY —PART 1 Delicacy of Taste Liberty of the Press Politics First Principles of Government Origin of Government Independency of Parliament British Government Parties in General Parties of Great Britain Superstition and Enthusiasm Dignity or Meanness Civil Liberty Eloquence Rise and Progress Epicurean Stoic Platonist Sceptic Polygamy and Divorces Simplicity and Refinement National Characters Tragedy Standard of Taste

Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion Of the Liberty of the Press That Politics may be reduced to a Science Of the First Principles of Government Of the Origin of Government Of the Independency of Parliament Whether the British Government inclines more to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic Of Parties in General Of the Parties of Great Britain Of Superstition and Enthusiasm Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature Of Civil Liberty Of Eloquence Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences The Epicurean The Stoic The Platonist The Sceptic Of Polygamy and Divorces Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing Of National Characters Of Tragedy Of the Standard of Taste

E SSAYS, MO R A L , POLITICAL, AND L I T E R A RY —PART 2 Commerce Refinement in the Arts Money Interest Balance of Trade

Of Commerce Of Refinement in the Arts Of Money Of Interest Of the Balance of Trade

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Abbreviations and Short Titles

Jealousy of Trade Balance of Power Taxes Public Credit Remarkable Customs Populousness Original Contract Passive Obedience Coalition of Parties Protestant Succession Perfect Commonwealth

xvii

Of the Jealousy of Trade Of the Balance of Power Of Taxes Of Public Credit Of Some Remarkable Customs Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations Of the Original Contract Of Passive Obedience Of the Coalition of Parties Of the Protestant Succession Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth

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A C H RO N O L O G I C AL TA BLE O F HUME’ S LIFETIME 1707

Acts of Union of Scotland & England (May).

1708

General election, adding Scots MPs (May).

1709

8 Anne, c. 19, delimits copyright.

1710

Sacheverell’s impeachment & riots (Mar.). Tory landslide in general election (Oct.).

1711

South Sea Co. founded. Tatler ends 1711 & Spectator commences; Pope’s Essay on Criticism.

1712

Toleration Act for Scots Episcopalians. Stamp Act, 10 Anne, c. 19, takes effect (Aug.).

1713

Treaty of Utrecht ends War of Spanish Succession (Mar.). A motion in the Lords to dissolve the Union narrowly defeated ( June). General election.

1714

Anne dies. Geo. I’s accession marks the beginning of the Hanover dynasty & the ascendancy of the Whig oligarchy (Oct.). The Riot Act, 1 Geo. I, st. 2, c. 5.

1715

General election. Bolingbroke impeached ( June–Aug.). Habeas corpus suspended ( July). Louis XIV dies (Aug.). Jacobite uprising (Sept.–Dec.).

1716

Septennial Act, 1 Geo. I, st. 2, c. 38 (Apr.).

1717

Bangorian controversy; Geo. I suspends the Church convocation. Sinking Fund created to retire the debt.

1718

Repeal of the acts against occasional conformity & against schism (10 Anne, c. 6, & 13 Anne, c. 7).

1719

Dubos, Reflexions critiques.

1713

DH born in Edinburgh (Apr.).

DH’s father dies.

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A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime

1720

6 Geo. I, c. 5, declares supremacy of British parliament over the Irish parliament (Mar). South Sea Bubble bursts in England (Sept.). Mississippi Bubble bursts in France (Dec.).

1721

Montesquieu, Lettres Persanes.

1722

General election. Walpole’s 20-year ministry begins.

1723

Adam Smith born. Bp. Atterbury exiled. Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees first provokes reaction.

1725

Malt-tax conflict in Scotland. Earl of Ilay begins as Whig political manager in Scotland. Hutcheson, Inquiry into Beauty and Virtue.

1726

Butler, Fifteen Sermons; Bolingbroke & Pulteney’s Craftsman begins (Dec.).

1727

Newton & Geo. I die (Mar., June). General election. Geo. II retains Walpole as chief minister.

1728

Hutcheson, Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections.

1729

1721–5

DH at Edinburgh College.

1726

DH acquires his copy of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks.

Woolston convicted under the blasphemy act (Mar.). Defying the judge, a jury acquits the printer of the Craftsman of seditious libel (Dec).

1729–30

DH’s intellectual progress hindered by problems of health.

1731

The printer of the Craftsman convicted of seditious libel (Dec.).

c.1731

DH resolves to make ‘human Nature’ the ‘Source’ of ‘every Truth’ in his writings.

1732

Berkeley, Alciphron (Feb.).

1733

Walpole forced to withdraw his Excise Act. Pope, Essay on Man (1733–4).

1734

Marriage of Geo. II’s daughter Anne to Will. IV of Orange (Mar.). General election (Apr.–June).

1734–7

DH in London, Bristol, & France, composing the THN.

1736–7

Porteous lynching in Edinburgh & punitive reaction from London.

1738

General Assembly clears William Wishart of heterodoxy (May).

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A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime

xxi

1739

Nadir Kuli sacks Delhi (Mar.). War 1739 with Spain forced on Walpole by popular demand (Oct.).

DH in London; pub. anonymously THN bks. 1–2.

1740

Ministers deposed in the 1st secession from the Church of Scotland. War with Spain subsumed into the War of the Austrian Succession.

1739–40

DH in Scotland; pub. anonymously Abstract & THN bk. 3 (1740). In London (summer 1740).

1741

General election (Apr.–June) weakens Walpole.

1741

DH’s Essays, Moral & Political vol. 1 (summer).

1742

Walpole ousted from government (Feb.). Pope, New Dunciad (Mar.).

1742

DH’s Essays, Moral & Political vol. 2 (Mar.).

1744

Pelham brothers form the ‘Broad-bottom administration’ (Dec.) that Geo. II will fail to supplant in Feb. 1746. War with France. Habeas corpus suspended.

1745–6

Battle of Fontenoy (May); Jacobite uprising (July 1745–Apr. 1746); act disarming the highlands of Scotland, 19 Geo. II, c. 39.

1745

DH in Hertfordshire with the Marquess of Annandale (Apr.); Letter from a Gentleman (May); rejected for a chair in Edinburgh College; his mother dies ( June 17).

1746-7

In service to Gen. St. Clair.

1747

Restoration of the stadtholderate in 1747 the United Provinces (Apr.–May). Abolition of heritable jurisdictions in Scotland, 20 Geo. II, c. 43 (May). General election.

1748

Montesquieu, L’esprit des lois (Oct.). Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Oct.–Nov.) ends war.

1751

Gregorian Calendar adopted in Britain, 24 Geo. II, c. 23. Frederick, prince of Wales, dies (Mar.). Bolingbroke dies (Dec.).

DH’s pamphlet defending Archibald Stewart (Dec.).

1748

Mission to Vienna & Turin; DH’s Philosophical Essays (Apr.); ‘National Characters’ pub. (mid-Nov.).

1749

DH returns to Ninewells (Apr.).

1751

DH in Edinburgh; ‘Bellmen’s Petition’ ( Jan.); EPM pub. (Nov.).

1752

Political Discourses ( Jan.). DH is Keeper of the Advocates’ Library (Feb.); rejected for chair in Glasgow University (May).

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A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime

1753–4

Wallace, Dissertation on populousness (Feb.). British Museum founded. General election (spring 1754).

1753–6

ETSS as nonce collection; Hist., Stuarts vol. 1 (1754).

1755

Johnson, Dictionary.

1755

1st attempt in the General Assembly to investigate DH for infidelity (May).

1756

Fall of Minorca; Seven Years War begins. Black Hole of Calcutta. Home’s Douglas performed in Edinburgh (Dec.).

1756

2nd attempt in the General Assembly to investigate DH for infidelity (May).

1757

Coalition ministry of Pitt & Newcastle begins (June). Completion of Pelham’s restructuring of the national debt.

1757

DH resigns as Keeper of the Advocates’ Library ( Jan.). Hist., Stuarts vol. 2; Four Dissertations (Feb.).

1758

Gerard awarded Edinburgh Society’s prize for a dissertation on taste ( Jan.). Mansfield prevails in the Lords against a bill extending habeas corpus to impressed seamen ( June).

1758

DH in London; reads Robertson, Hist. of Scotland, in proof; collects all of his essays and treatises in one volume in the ETSS.

1759

Burke, 2nd edn. Sublime and Beautiful, & Robertson, Hist. of Scotland ( Jan.); Gerard, Essay on Taste (May). Wolfe takes Quebec (Sept.).

1759

DH’s Hist., Tudors 2 vols. (Mar.). DH reads Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (Apr.).

1760

Geo. II dies; Geo. III attempts to rule without party.

1761

2nd secession from the Church of Scotland; general election.

1762

Bute ministry begins (May). Kames, Elements of Criticism.

1762

DH’s Hist., 2 medieval vols.

1763

Treaty of Paris ends war (Feb.). Grenville ministry begins (Apr.).

1763–6

DH in government service, in London & Paris.

1765

General warrants ruled illegal (June). Rockingham ministry begins (July).

1766

Repeal of the Stamp Tax. Chatham ministry begins.

1766

DH’s quarrel with Rousseau.

1767

The ‘Townsend Acts’.

1767–8

DH is under-sec. of state for the Northern Dept.

1768–9

General election. Grafton ministry begins. Wilkesite agitations. Robertson, Hist. of Chas. V (Mar. 1769).

1768-9

ETSS 1768 deluxe edn. in Royal 4° designed to make a set with the 1770 Hist. DH returns to Edinburgh.

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A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime

xxiii

1770

North ministry begins (Jan.). Burke, Thoughts on the Present Discontents.

1772

Mansfield rules in the Sommersett case that British law does not recognize slavery.

1772

DH sees ETSS through the press for the last time.

1774

The House of Lords confirms (Feb.) the limits on copyright stipulated in 8 Anne, c. 19. The ‘Intolerable Acts’ as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. General election.

1774

Strahan enlists DH in an effort to obviate the Lords’ ruling on copyright.

1776

American Declaration of Independence (officially declared by Congress July 2; publicly announced July 8; signed in Aug.).

1776

DH reads Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol. 1, & Smith, Wealth of Nations (Mar.). Dies (Aug.).

1777

Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga (Oct.).

1777

The Life of David Hume (Mar.).

1778

France enters American War.

1778

‘1777’ ETSS (Feb.).

1779

Spain enters American War.

1779

Pub. Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (June).

All years prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752 are given in the Old Style, and those subsequent to the change are given in the New Style. In either case the year is taken to begin on 1 January rather than 25 March.

6

6

10

10

9

7

6

7

6

5

Withdrawn after 1760

4

3

Withdrawn after 1760

2

1

4

3

2

1

Part 1

1772 1777

Part 1

1770

(continued )

8

7

10

5

4

3

2

1

1768

Of parties in general

9

8

7

1767 Part 1

9

8

7

5

4

3

2

1

1764

Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic

Of the study of history

1760

Part 1

1758

6

6

7

Of love and marriage

5

4

3

2

1

1753

8

5

Of the first principles of government

1748b

Of the independency of parliament

4

1748a

ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, AND LITERARY (the title of a major portion—in two parts—of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects)

5

3

Of impudence and modesty

That politics may be reduced to a science

1742 v.2

ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL

Of the origin of government

2

Of the liberty of the press

1742 v.1

1

1741

Of the delicacy of taste and passion

Editions

BOOK TITLES

ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL

THREE ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL

A Table of the Editions of Hume’s Essays from 1741 to 1777

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Of moral prejudices

Of the middle station of life

Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences

The Epicurean

The Stoic

The Platonist

The Sceptic

Of polygamy and divorces

Of simplicity and refinement (retitled ‘Of simplicity and refinement in writing’ in 1748 ed.)

A character of Sir Robert Walpole (revised in 1748b as a footnote to ‘That politics may be reduced to a new science’)

15

Of liberty and despotism (retitled ‘Of civil liberty’ in 1758 ed.)

Of eloquence

14

Of the dignity of human nature (retitled ‘Of the dignity or meanness of human nature’ in 1770 ed.)

1

13

Of avarice

1742 v.2

Of essay-writing

12

Of superstition and enthusiasm

1742 v.1

11

1741

Of the parties of Great Britain

Editions

1748a

1753

Footnote only

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

1748b

15

14

13

12

11

1760

1764

Footnote only

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

1768

Footnote only

Withdrawn after 1742

16

12

11

10

9

8

1767

Withdrawn after 1742

1758

9

8 10

9

1772 1777

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

(continued )

Withdrawn after 1768

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

Withdrawn after 1768

1770

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Editions

1

1752b

1

1754

1757

12

14

16

1768

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Part 2

22

21

20

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Part 2

23

22

21

1770 1772 1777

Each number in the columns of this table refers to the number of the essay in the numerical order in which the essay appeared in the edition listed at the head of the column. Construction of this table was facilitated by the table in Chuo University Library, David Hume and the Eighteenth Century British Thought, vol. 2, pp. xvi–xvii, to which the editors are indebted.

12

12

Idea of a perfect commonwealth

13

13

12

15

11

12

11

11

10

11

11

9 10

9

Of the protestant succession

26

9 10

8

14

3

Of passive obedience

9 10

8

Of the coalition of parties

2

Of the populousness of ancient nations

Of the original contract

9 10

Of some remarkable customs

8

8

8

7

6

5

Of public credit

7

6

5

4

3

7

7

6

5

4

3

7

5

4

3

2

6

5

Of the balance of trade

4

3

2

Of taxes

4

Of interest

2

1

1

Of the balance of power

3

Of money

2

23 Part 2

22

21

1767

26

25

1764

6

2

Of luxury (retitled ‘Of refinement in the arts’ in 1760 ed.)

1760 24

Part 2

1758

ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, AND LITERARY (the title of a major portion—in two parts—of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects)

Of the jealousy of trade

1

Of commerce

25

1752a

4

1753

FOUR DISSER­ TATIONS

Of the standard of taste

24

POLITICAL DISCOURSES

3

1748b

ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL

Of tragedy

1

1748a

BOOK TITLES

Of national characters

THREE ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL

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A N O T E O N T HE TEXTS Publication History. Fifteen of the essays in this volume were initially published in Volume 1 of Essays, Moral and Political in 1741 and twelve in Volume 2 of Essays, Moral and Political in 1742. Under this same title, three new essays (‘Of National Characters’, ‘Of the Original Contract’, and ‘Of Passive Obedience’) were added in the 1748 edition. These three essays were concurrently published in a separate volume under the title Three Essays, Moral and Political. In 1752, twelve new essays were published as Political Discourses. The essays ‘Of Tragedy’ and ‘Of the Standard of Taste’ were published in 1757 as Dissertation 3 and Dissertation 4 in Four Dissertations. All of these essays, except those withdrawn prior to 1758, were collected in the 1758 Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (ETSS). The essays ‘Of the Coalition of Parties’ and ‘Of the Jealousy of Trade’ were added in the 1760 edition of ETSS, and some copies of these two essays were bound into unsold, pre-existing copies of the 1758 edition. Finally, ‘Of the Origin of Government’ was published exclusively in the 1777 edition of ETSS. The editors’ ‘A History of Hume’s Essays’, ‘A Table of the Appearances of Hume’s Essays from 1741 to 1777’, ‘A Bibliographical Schema of the Editions’, and ‘Annotations’ jointly provide a comprehensive history of the editions of these essays. Ordering Principles. The essays are arranged by two principles. The first is chronological order of appearance, that is, date of publication. The second is the order in which the essays were placed in one or more of Hume’s editions. The eight withdrawn essays are located in Parts 1 and 2 in this critical edition. Except for the ‘Walpole’ essay, which Hume converted to a footnote after the 1742 edition, the first four withdrawn essays (here positioned in Part 1) were published as individual essays, all in 1742 in vol. 2 of Essays, Moral and Political, there appearing as essays 1, 3, 4, and 12, an order retained in the present edition. The first three were not published in another edition in Hume’s lifetime, but ‘Walpole’ survived through the 1768 edition as a footnote in ‘Politics’. The second four withdrawn essays (here positioned in Part 2) were all published in 1741, and then withdrawn after the 1760 and 1768 editions. In 1758, when Hume collected his surviving essays as the first half of his ETSS, he started to use the general title Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary for the entire collection of essays. He sorted these essays into Part 1 and Part 2 (without titles) based on the history of their publication and the nature of the subject matter. The arrangement of the

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A Note on the Texts

essays in this critical edition follows this organization, which was retained through the 1777 edition of ETSS. The content of these two Parts, which appear as Parts 3 and 4 in this critical edition, is identical (in the titles of essays) to the content in the 1777 edition. Copy-texts. The copy-texts for the first four withdrawn essays in Part 1 are from the 1742 edition. The text of the essay ‘A Character of Sir Robert Walpole’ is lightly emended by changes Hume himself made in its later appearances as a footnote (up through the 1768 edition). All emendations are recorded in the ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’. The second four withdrawn essays, located in the present critical edition in Part  2, were all first published in the 1741 Essays, Moral and Political, as essays 3, 6, 7, and 13. They were withdrawn after 1760. Three copy-texts of these four essays are from the 1760 edition and one from the 1768; the copy-texts are, excepting ‘Walpole’, the final version edited by Hume in the last edition before withdrawal. The four essays in Part 2 are arranged in the order of their appearance in the 1760 edition. The last edition of ETSS seen through the press with Hume’s supervision appeared in 1772. A copy of volume 1 at the McGill University Library provides the copy-text in Parts 3 and 4 for all essays that appeared in the 1772 edition.1 The copy-text of ‘Of the Origin of Government’ is the 1777 posthumous edition at McGill. See further, on the choice of copy-texts, Part 1 of ‘The Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’. Library Copies. Most of the critical texts have been prepared using photocopies supplied from the Hume collection of Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library, Montreal. All copies of all editions used for purposes of computer entry and comparison (including the copytext) are owned by McGill with the exception of the copies used of the 1753 true fourth edition of Essays, Moral and Political, which is owned by the Newberry Library (Chicago) and the 1748 Three Essays, Moral and Political, which is owned by the National Library of Scotland. Textual Variants. Variant readings among the several editions of the Essays were collected, refined, and made accurate over the course of three decades by visual collation and by two independent forms of computer collation. Each copy-text was manually entered twice. The two independently entered files were computer compared and corrected to create a single accurate text. Multiple computer collations of all editions published from 1741 to 1770 and in 1777 were then performed by comparing them to the accurate file of the copy-text. All apparent variants were verified as genuine by consulting 1  Shelfmark B1455 1772 v.1 c. 1.

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xxix

the original printed texts of the editions. An independent list of variants was then constructed: Using the text-entry files, all texts of all editions were ­collated for both formal and substantive variants using the program Collate developed by Peter Robinson at the Oxford Computing Centre. Variants discovered by use of this program were compared against the variants ­produced by previous methods of visual collation, and discrepancies were eliminated by consulting the original printed texts. For additional details on this methodology and the derivation of variants, see the ‘Preface and Acknowledgments’ and the ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’ in this critical edition. Critical Editing and Emendations. The ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’ describes and justifies the editorial policies governing the editing of the text. It provides the rationale behind the choice of copy-texts and the acceptance of substantive and formal changes as well as the methods used to convert copy-texts into critical texts. This appendix presents editorial policy on emendation, punctuation, correction of errors, and the like. The posthumous edition of 1777 has been consulted for evidence of late authorial changes in each of its 39 essays. It has generally been followed when the changes are substantive, but less frequently when they are formal because of various known inaccuracies in the 1777. The pertinent general principles and policies for the Clarendon Hume are delineated in its volumes of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (in the Editorial Appendix) and A Treatise of Human Nature (in vol. 2, ‘Editing the Texts of the Treatise, the Abstract, and the Letter from a Gentleman’). Footnote References. Hume’s references in footnotes (and in endnotes in his 1770–7 editions) have been checked against appropriate early modern editions of the sources and have been corrected if and only if Hume or his compositor clearly introduced errors in the citation of units such as page, book, and chapter numbers. The sources that support these corrections, which are few in number in this critical edition, appear in works listed in  either the Catalogue of Hume’s References or the Reference List. Occasionally Hume’s numbering was correct for one or more editions of a cited author, but the numbering systems in the editions he apparently used were later superseded. Hume’s numbering is retained where this conflict of numbering systems appears, and the numbering differences are explained in the editors’ annotations, which provide precise references that expand the information in Hume’s spare notes, including volume, book, chapter, section, line, and verse numbers. All emendations in the notes are reported in the ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’.

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Numbering and Page Design. When references appear in footnotes and the like, this edition uses arabic numbering, as was the practice in the bulk of Hume’s several editions of his essays (perhaps following house style), though roman numbering was used in the 1772 copy-text. Hume’s notes are numbered consecutively using arabic numbers (whereas his printers2 used note markers such as daggers). No editorial intrusions appear in the text, but numbers are placed in the left margin near the head of each paragraph to establish a universal reference system that allows precise citation of paragraphs without need for page numbers. This numbering system conforms to the principles of the Clarendon Edition of the Works of David Hume (The Philosophical Works). The use of line numbers, placed in the righthand margins in this edition, facilitates precise references by paragraph and line as well as page and line. Textual references by the editors in this edition are to either paragraph numbers or page-and-line numbers, depending on the form of reference required. Appendices 1–3. Appendix 1, ‘Scotticisms’, was bound with some copies of Hume’s Political Discourses in its first edition (1752) and reproduced in the Scots Magazine and the Aberdeen Magazine. The transcription in this critical edition is from a copy of Political Discourses owned by Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library. Appendix  2, The ‘Dedication’ to John Home, was published in the front matter of some copies of the 1757 edition of Four Dissertations and also published independently as a freestanding essay in The Scots Magazine (June 1757). The text here transcribed is from a copy of Four Dissertations owned by Tom L. Beauchamp. Appendix 3, Facsimile Reproductions, is comprised of 9 distinct facsimile images: (A) A manuscript fragment of ‘Populousness of Ancient Nations’, paragraphs 80–2, as printed in Selections from the Family Papers Preserved at Caldwell;3 (B) four images of the title-pages of four editions of Hume’s essays (Essays, Moral and Political, vol. 1, 1741); Political Discourses, first edition (1752); Four Dissertations (1757); and Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, the copy-text (1772); (C) an advertisement establishing the publication date of the 1741 Essays, Moral and Political, as it appeared in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509 (Tues. 15 Dec. 1741), p. 4; 2  For Hume’s essays several printers were involved, including Fleming, Strahan, Emonson, the partnership of William Sands, Alexander Murray, and James Cochran, and one unidentified London printer. For details see A History of Hume’s Essays in this critical edition. 3  William Mure, ed. Selections from the Family Papers [of the Mures] Preserved at Caldwell, vol. 1, pt. 2.1, ‘Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers of Baron William Mure’, plate IIB. In at least one copy (and probably many), the material is bound in on an unnumbered recto facing page 92, and the illustration is inverted.

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(D) the Craftsman’s appropriation of Hume’s ‘British Government’ essay, as it appeared in The Country Journal or, the Craftsman, no. 797 (Sat. 10 Oct. 1741); (E) ‘Queries and Answers relating to Sir Robert Walpole’s character’, as it appeared in Scots Magazine (March 1742), pp. 119–20; and (F) the engraved portrait of Hume that appeared in the 1768 edition of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.

Copies of all items in A–B and E–F of Appendix 3 were supplied by Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library. Copies of items in sections C–D were supplied by the British Library,4 London, Imaging Services. 4  The British Library descriptions are: (1) ‘PENN. NT65 advertisement for the second edition of volume 1 of Essays on Various Subjects, Tues. 15 Dec. 1 [4], in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509’; and (2) ‘Burney 311.b. Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy or to a Republick, “P.T.”, but actually David Hume Sat. 10 Oct. 17 p. 1 [unpaginated by number] in The Country Journal or, the Craftsman, no. 797. Item 2.’

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W I T H D R AWN ES S AYS LAST P U B L I S HED AS I N D I VI D UAL ES S AYS IN 1742

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ESSAY 1

Of Essay-Writing 1

2

The elegant Part of Mankind, who are not immers’d in the animal Life, but employ themselves in the Operations of the Mind, may be divided into the learned and conversible. The Learned are such as have chosen for their Portion the higher and more difficult Operations of the Mind, which require Leisure and Solitude, and cannot be brought to Perfection, without long Preparation and severe Labour. The conversible World join to a sociable Disposition, and a Taste of Pleasure, an Inclination to the easier and more gentle Exercises of the Understanding, to obvious Reflections on human Affairs, and the Duties of common Life, and to the Observation of the Blemishes or Perfections of the particular Objects, that surround them. Such Subjects of Thought furnish not sufficient Employment in Solitude, but require the Company and Conversation of our Fellow-Creatures, to render them a proper Exercise for the Mind: And this brings Mankind together in Society, where every one displays his Thoughts and Observations in the best Manner he is able, and mutually gives and receives Information, as well as Pleasure. The Separation of the Learned from the conversible World seems to have been the great Defect of the last Age, and must have had a very bad Influence both on Books and Company: For what Possibility is there of finding Topics of Conversation fit for the Entertainment of rational Creatures, without having Recourse sometimes to History, Poetry, Politics, and the more obvious Principles, at least, of Philosophy? Must our whole Discourse be a continued Series of gossipping Stories and idle Remarks? Must the Mind never rise higher, but be perpetually

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Stun’d and worn out with endless Chat Of WILL did this, and NAN said that. 3 4

This wou’d be to render the Time spent in Company the most unentertaining, as well as the most unprofitable Part of our Lives. On the other Hand, Learning has been as great a Loser by being shut up in Colleges and Cells, and secluded from the World and good Company. By that Means, every Thing of what we call Belles Lettres became totally barbarous, being cultivated by Men without any Taste of Life or Manners, and without

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4

5

6

Withdrawn Essays Last Published as Individual Essays in 1742

that Liberty and Facility of Thought and Expression, which can only be acquir’d by Conversation. Even Philosophy went to Wrack by this moaping recluse Method of Study, and became as chimerical in her Conclusions as she was unintelligible in her Stile and Manner of Delivery. And indeed, what cou’d be expected from Men who never consulted Experience in any of their Reasonings, or who never search’d for that Experience, where alone it is to be found, in common Life and Conversation? ’Tis with great Pleasure I observe, That Men of Letters, in this Age, have lost, in a great Measure, that Shyness and Bashfulness of Temper, which kept them at a Distance from Mankind; and, at the same Time, That Men of the World are proud of borrowing from Books their most agreeable Topics of Conversation. ’Tis to be hop’d, that this League betwixt the learned and conversible Worlds, which is so happily begun, will be still farther improv’d to their mutual Advantage; and to that End, I know nothing more advantageous than such Essays as these with which I endeavour to entertain the Public. In this View, I cannot but consider myself as a Kind of Resident or Ambassador from the Dominions of Learning to those of Conversation; and shall think it my constant Duty to promote a good Correspondence betwixt these two States, which have so great a Dependence on each other. I shall give Intelligence to the Learned of whatever passes in Company, and shall endeavour to import into Company whatever Commodities I find in my native Country proper for their Use and Entertainment. The Balance of Trade we need not be jealous of, nor will there be any Difficulty to preserve it on both Sides. The Materials of this Commerce must chiefly be furnish’d by Conversation and common Life: The manufacturing of them alone belongs to Learning. As ’twou’d be an unpardonable Negligence in an Ambassador not to pay his Respects to the Sovereign of the State where he is commission’d to reside; so it wou’d be altogether inexcusable in me not to address myself, with a particular Respect, to the Fair Sex, who are the Sovereigns of the Empire of Conversation. I approach them with Reverence; and were not my Countrymen, the Learned, a stubborn independent Race of Mortals, extremely jealous of their Liberty, and unaccustom’d to Subjection, I shou’d resign into their fair Hands the sovereign Authority over the Republic of Letters. As the Case stands, my Commission extends no farther, than to desire a League, offensive and defensive, against our common Enemies, against the Enemies of Reason and Beauty, People of dull Heads and cold Hearts. From this Moment let us pursue them with the severest Vengeance: Let no Quarter be given, but to those of sound Understandings and delicate Affections; and these Characters, ’tis to be presum’d, we shall always find inseparable.

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7

8

9

Of Essay-Writing

5

To be serious, and to quit the Allusion before it be worn thread-bare, I am of Opinion, that Women, that is, Women of Sense and Education (for to such alone I address myself) are much better Judges of all polite Writing than Men of the same Degree of Understanding; and that ’tis a vain Pannic, if they be so far terrify’d with the common Ridicule that is levell’d against learned Ladies, as utterly to abandon every Kind of Books and Study to our Sex. Let the Dread of that Ridicule have no other Effect, than to make them conceal their Knowledge before Fools, who are not worthy of it, nor of them. Such will still presume upon the vain Title of the Male Sex to affect a Superiority above them: But my fair Readers may be assur’d, that all Men of Sense, who know the World, have a great Deference for their Judgment of such Books as ly within the Compass of their Knowledge, and repose more Confidence in the Delicacy of their Taste, tho’ unguided by Rules, than in all the dull Labours of Pedants and Commentators. In a neighbouring Nation, equally famous for good Taste, and for Gallantry, the Ladies are, in a Manner, the Sovereigns of the learned World, as well as of the conversible; and no polite Writer pretends to venture upon the Public, without the Approbation of some celebrated Judges of that Sex. Their Verdict is, indeed, sometimes complain’d of; and, in particular, I find, that the Admirers of Corneille, to save that great Poet’s Honour upon the Ascendant that Racine began to take over him, always said, That it was not to be expected, that so old a Man could dispute the Prize, before such Judges, with so young a Man as his Rival. But this Observation has been found unjust, since Posterity seems to have ratify’d the Verdict of that Tribunal: And Racine, tho’ dead, is still the Favourite of the Fair Sex, as well as of the best Judges among the Men. There is only one Subject, on which I am apt to distrust the Judgment of Females, and that is, concerning Books of Gallantry and Devotion, which they commonly affect as high flown as possible; and most of them seem more delighted with the Warmth, than with the justness of the Passion. I mention Gallantry and Devotion as the same Subject, because, in Reality, they become the same when treated in this Manner; and we may observe, that they both depend upon the very same Complexion. As the Fair Sex have a great Share of the tender and amorous Disposition, it perverts their Judgment on this Occasion, and makes them be easily affected, even by what has no Propriety in the Expression nor Nature in the Sentiment. Mr. Addison’s elegant Discourses of Religion have no Relish with them, in Comparison of Books of mystic Devotion: And Otway’s Tragedies are rejected for the Rants of Mr. Dryden. Wou’d the Ladies correct their false Taste in this Particular; Let them accustom themselves a little more to Books of all Kinds: Let them give

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Withdrawn Essays Last Published as Individual Essays in 1742

Encouragement to Men of Sense and Knowledge to frequent their Company: And finally, let them concur heartily in that Union I have projected betwixt the learned and conversible Worlds. They may, perhaps, meet with more Complaisance from their usual Followers than from Men of Learning; but they cannot reasonably expect so sincere an Affection: And, I hope, they will never be guilty of so wrong a Choice, as to sacrifice the Substance to the Shadow.

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ESSAY 2

Of Moral Prejudices 1

2

3

There is a Set of Men lately sprung up amongst us, who endeavour to distinguish themselves by ridiculing every Thing, that has hitherto appear’d sacred and venerable in the Eyes of Mankind. Reason, Sobriety, Honour, Friendship, Marriage, are the perpetual Subjects of their insipid Raillery: And even public Spirit, and a Regard to our Country, are treated as chimerical and romantic. Were the Schemes of these Anti-reformers to take Place, all the Bonds of Society must be broke, to make Way for the Indulgence of a licentious Mirth and Gaiety: The Companion of our drunken Frollics must be prefer’d to a Friend or Brother: Dissolute Prodigality must be supply’d at the Expence of every Thing valuable, either in public or private: And Men shall have so little Regard to any Thing beyond themselves, that, at last, a free Constitution of Government must become a Scheme perfectly impracticable among Mankind, and must degenerate into one universal System of Fraud and Corruption. There is another Humour, which may be observ’d in some Pretenders to Wisdom, and which, if not so pernicious as the idle petulant Humour abovemention’d, must, however, have a very bad Effect on those, who indulge it. I  mean that grave philosophic Endeavour after Perfection, which, under Pretext of reforming Prejudices and Errors, strikes at all the most endearing Sentiments of the Heart, and all the most useful Byasses and Instincts, which can govern a human Creature. The Stoics were remarkable for this Folly among the Antients; and I wish some of more venerable Characters in latter Times had not copy’d them too faithfully in this Particular. The virtuous and tender Sentiments, or Prejudices, if you will, have suffer’d mightily by these Reflections; while a certain sullen Pride or Contempt of Mankind has prevail’d in their Stead, and has been esteem’d the greatest Wisdom; tho’, in Reality, it be the most egregious Folly of all others. Statilius being sollicited by Brutus to make one of that noble Band, who struck the GOD-like Stroke for the Liberty of Rome, refus’d to accompany them, saying, That all Men were Fools or Mad, and did not deserve that a wise Man should trouble his Head about them. My learned Reader will here easily recollect the Reason, which an antient Philosopher gave, why he wou’d not be reconcil’d to his Brother, who

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4

Withdrawn Essays Last Published as Individual Essays in 1742

s­ ollicited his Friendship. He was too much a Philosopher to think, that the Connexion of having sprung from the same Parent, ought to have any Influence on a reasonable Mind, and exprest his Sentiment after such a Manner as I think not proper to repeat. When your Friend is in Affliction, says Epictetus, you may counterfeit a Sympathy with him, if it give him Relief; but take Care not to allow any Compassion to sink into your Heart, or disturb that Tranquillity, which is the Perfection of Wisdom. Diogenes being askt by his Friends in his Sickness, What should be done with him after his Death? Why, says he, throw me out into the Fields. “What! reply’d they, to the Birds or Beasts.” No: Place a Cudgel by me, to defend myself withal. “To what Purpose, say they, you will not have any Sense, nor any Power of making Use of it.” Then if the Beasts shou’d devour me, cries he, shall I be any more sensible of it? I know none of the Sayings of that Philosopher, which shows more evidently both the Liveliness and Ferocity of his Temper. How different from these are the Maxims by which Eugenius conducts himself! In his Youth he apply’d himself, with the most unwearied Labour, to the Study of Philosophy; and nothing was ever able to draw him from it, except when an Opportunity offer’d of serving his Friends, or doing a Pleasure to some Man of Merit. When he was about thirty Years of Age, he was determin’d to quit the free Life of a Batchelor (in which otherwise he wou’d have been inclin’d to remain) by considering, that he was the last Branch of an antient Family, which must have been extinguish’d had he died without Children. He made Choice of the virtuous and beautiful Emira for his Consort, who, after being the Solace of his Life for many Years, and having made him the Father of several Children, paid at last the general Debt to Nature. Nothing cou’d have supported him under so severe an Affliction, but the Consolation he receiv’d from his young Family, who were now become dearer to him on account of their deceast Mother. One Daughter in particular is his Darling, and the secret Joy of his Soul; because her Features, her Air, her Voice recal every Moment the tender Memory of his Spouse, and fill his Eyes with Tears. He conceals this Partiality as much as possible; and none but his intimate Friends are acquainted with it. To them he reveals all his Tenderness; nor is he so affectedly Philosophical, as even to call it by the Name of Weakness. They know, that he still keeps the Birth-day of Emira with Tears, and a more fond and tender Recollection of past Pleasures; in like Manner as it was celebrated in her Lifetime with Joy and Festivity. They know, that he preserves her Picture with the utmost Care, and has one Picture in Minature, which he always wears next to his Bosom: That he has left Orders in his last Will, that, in whatever Part of the World he shall happen to die, his Body shall be transported, and laid in the same Grave with

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5

her’s: And that a Monument shall be erected over them, and their mutual Love and Happiness celebrated in an Epitaph, which he himself has compos’d for that Purpose. A few Years ago I receiv’d a Letter from a Friend, who was abroad on his Travels, and shall here communicate it to the Public. It contains such an Instance of a Philosophic Spirit, as I think pretty extraordinary, and may serve as an Example, not to depart too far from the receiv’d Maxims of Conduct and Behaviour, by a refin’d Search after Happiness or Perfection. The Story I have been since assur’d of as Matter of Fact. Sir,

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Of Moral Prejudices

Paris Aug. 2. 1737.

I know you are more curious of Accounts of Men than of Buildings, and are more desirous of being inform’d of private History than of public Transactions; for which Reason, I thought the following Story, which is the common Topic of Conversation in this City, wou’d be no unacceptable Entertainment to you. A young Lady of Birth and Fortune, being left intirely at her own Disposal, persisted long in a Resolution of leading a single Life, notwithstanding several advantageous Offers that had been made to her. She had been determin’d to embrace this Resolution, by observing the many unhappy Marriages among her Acquaintance, and by hearing the Complaints, which her Female Friends made of the Tyranny, Inconstancy, Jealousy or Indifference of their Husbands. Being a Woman of strong Spirit and an uncommon Way of thinking, she found no Difficulty either in forming or maintaining this Resolution, and cou’d not suspect herself of such Weakness, as ever to be induc’d, by any Temptation, to depart from it. She had, however, entertain’d a strong Desire of having a Son, whose Education she was resolv’d to make the principal Concern of her Life, and by that Means s­upply the Place of those other Passions, which she was resolv’d for ever to renounce. She push’d her Philosophy to such an uncommon Length, as to find no Contradiction betwixt such a Desire and her former Resolution; and accordingly look’d about, with great Deliberation, to find, among all her Male-Acquaintance, one whose Character and Person were agreeable to her, without being able to satisfy herself on that Head. At Length, being in the Play-house one Evening, she sees in the Parterre, a young Man of a most engaging Countenance and modest Deportment; and feels such a Pre-possession in his Favour, that she had Hopes this must be the Person she had long sought for in vain. She immediately dispatches a Servant to him; desiring his Company, at her Lodgings, next Morning. The young Man was over-joy’d at the Message, and cou’d not command his Satisfaction, upon receiving such an Advance from a

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Lady of so great Beauty, Reputation and Quality. He was, therefore, much disappointed, when he found a Woman, who wou’d allow him no Freedoms; and amidst all her obliging Behaviour, confin’d and over-aw’d him to the Bounds of rational Discourse and Conversation. She seem’d, however, willing to commence a Friendship with him; and told him, that his Company wou’d always be acceptable to her, whenever he had a leisure Hour to bestow. He needed not much Entreaty to renew his Visits, being so struck with her Wit and Beauty, that he must have been unhappy, had he been debarr’d her Company. Every Conversation serv’d only the more to inflame his Passion, and gave him more Occasion to admire her Person and Understanding, as well as to rejoice in his own Good-fortune. He was not, however, without Anxiety, when he consider’d the Disproportion of their Birth and Fortune; nor was his Uneasiness allay’d even when he reflected on the extraordinary Manner in which their Acquaintance had commenc’d. Our Philosophical Heroine, in the mean Time, discover’d, that her Lover’s personal Qualities did not belye his Phisiognomy; so that, judging there was no Occasion for any farther Trial, she takes a proper Opportunity of communicating to him her whole Intention. Their Intercourse continu’d for some Time, till at last her Wishes were crown’d, and she was now Mother of a Boy, who was to be the Object of her future Care and Concern. Gladly wou’d she have continu’d her Friendship with the Father; but finding him too passionate a Lover to remain within the Bounds of Friendship, she was oblig’d to put a Violence upon herself. She sends him a Letter, in which she had inclos’d a Bond of Annuity for a Thousand Crowns; desiring him, at the same Time, never to see her more, and to forget, if possible, all past Favours and Familiarities. He was Thunderstruck at receiving this Message; and, having tried, in vain, all the Arts that might win upon the Resolution of a Woman, resolv’d at last to attack her by her Foible. He commences a Law-suit against her before the Parliament of Paris; and claims his Son, whom he pretends a Right to educate as he pleas’d, according to the usual Maxims of the Law in such Cases. She pleads, on the other Hand, their express Agreement before their Commerce, and pretends, that he had renounc’d all Claim to any Offspring that might arise from their Embraces. It is not yet known, how the Parliament will determine in this extraordinary Case, which puzzles all the Lawyers, as much as it does the Philosophers. As soon as they come to any Issue, I shall inform you of it, and shall embrace any Opportunity of subscribing myself, as I do at present. SIR, Your most humble Servant.

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ESSAY 3

Of the Middle Station of Life 1

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The Moral of the following Fable will easily discover itself, without my explaining it. One Rivulet meeting another, with whom he had been long united in strictest Amity, with noisy Haughtiness and Disdain thus bespoke him, “What, Brother! Still in the same State! Still low and creeping! Are you not asham’d, when you behold me, who, tho’ lately in a like Condition with you, am now become a great River, and shall shortly be able to rival the Danube or the Rhine, provided those friendly Rains continue, which have favour’d my Banks, but neglected yours.” Very true, replies the humble Rivulet; “You are now, indeed, swoln to great Size: But methinks you are become, withal, somewhat turbulent and muddy. I am contented with my low Condition and my Purity.” Instead of commenting upon this Fable, I shall take Occasion, from it, to compare the different Stations of Life, and to perswade such of my Readers as are plac’d in the Middle Station to be satisfy’d with it, as the most eligible of all others. These form the most numerous Rank of Men, that can be suppos’d susceptible of Philosophy; and therefore, all Discourses of Morality ought principally to be address’d to them. The Great are too much immers’d in Pleasure; and the Poor too much occupy’d in providing for the Necessities of Life, to hearken to the calm Voice of Reason. The Middle Station, as it is most happy in many Respects, so particularly in this, that a Man, plac’d in it, can, with the greatest Leisure, consider his own Happiness, and reap a new Enjoyment, from comparing his Situation with that of Persons above or below him. AGUR’s Prayer is sufficiently noted. Two Things have I requir’d of thee, deny me them not before I die, Remove far from me Vanity and Lies; Give me neither Poverty nor Riches, feed me with Food convenient for me: Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my GOD in vain. The middle Station is here justly recommended, as affording the fullest Security for Virtue; and I may also add, that it gives Opportunity for the most ample Exercise of it, and furnishes Employment for every good Quality, which we can possibly be possest of. Those, who are plac’d among the lower Rank of Men, have little Opportunity of exerting any other Virtue, besides those of Patience, Resignation, Industry and

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Integrity. Those, who are advanc’d into the higher Stations, have full Employment for their Generosity, Humanity, Affability and Charity. When a Man lyes betwixt these two Extremes, he can exert the former Virtues towards his Superiors, and the latter towards his Inferiors. Every moral Quality, which the human Soul is susceptible of, may have its Turn, and be called up to Action: And a Man may, after this Manner, be much more ­certain of his Progress in Virtue, than where his good Qualities lye dormant, and without Employment. But there is another Virtue, that seems principally to ly among Equals, and is, for that Reason, chiefly calculated for the middle Station of Life. This Virtue is Friendship. I believe most Men of generous Tempers are apt to envy the Great, when they consider the large Opportunities such Persons have of doing Good to their Fellow-creatures, and of acquiring the Friendship and Esteem of Men of Merit. They make no Advances in vain, and are not oblig’d to associate with those whom they have little Kindness for; like People of inferior Stations, who are subject to have their Proffers of Friendship rejected, even where they wou’d be most fond of placing their Affections. But tho’ the Great have more Facility in acquiring Friendships, they cannot be so certain of the Sincerity of them, as Men of a lower Rank; since the Favours, they bestow, may acquire them Flattery, instead of Goodwill and Kindness. It has been very judiciously remark’d, that we attach ourselves more by the Services we perform than by those we receive, and that a Man is in Danger of losing his Friends by obliging them too far. I shou’d, therefore, chuse to ly in the middle Way, and to have my Commerce with my Friend varied both by Obligations given and receiv’d. I have too much Pride to be willing that all the Obligations should ly on my Side; and shou’d be afraid, that, if they all lay on his, he wou’d also have too much Pride to be entirely easy under them, or have a perfect Complacency in my Company. We may also remark of the middle Station of Life, that it is more favourable to the acquiring of Wisdom and Ability, as well as of Virtue, and that a Man so situate has a better Chance for attaining a Knowledge both of Men and Things, than those of a more elevated Station. He enters, with more Familiarity, into human Life: Every Thing appears in its natural Colours before him: He has more Leisure to form Observations; and has, beside, the Motive of Ambition to push him on in his Attainments; being certain, that he can never rise to any Distinction or Eminence in the World, without his own Industry. And here I cannot forbear communicating a Remark, which may appear somewhat extraordinary, viz. That ’tis wisely ordain’d by Providence, that the middle Station shou’d be the most favourable to the

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improving our natural Abilities, since there is really more Capacity requisite to perform the Duties of that Station, than is requisite to act in the higher Spheres of Life. There are more natural Parts, and a stronger Genius requisite to make a good Lawyer or Physician, than to make a great Monarch. For let us take any Race or Succession of Kings, where Birth alone gives a Title to the Crown: The English Kings, for Instance; who have not been esteemed the most shining in History. From the Conquest to the Succession of his present Majesty, we may reckon twenty eight Sovereigns, omitting those who died Minors. Of these, eight are esteem’d Princes of great Capacity, viz. the Conqueror, Harry II. Edward I.  Edward III. Harry V.  and VII. Elisabeth, and the late King William. Now, I believe every one will allow, that, in the common Run of Mankind, there are not eight out of twenty eight, who are fitted, by Nature, to make a Figure either on the Bench or at the Bar. Since Charles VII. ten Monarchs have reign’d in France, omitting Francis II. Five of these have been esteem’d Princes of Capacity, viz. Louis XI. XII. and XIV. Francis I.  and Harry IV. In short, the governing of Mankind well, requires a great deal of Virtue, Justice, and Humanity, but not a surprizing Capacity. A certain Pope, whose Name I have forgot, us’d to say, Let us divert ourselves, my Friends, the World governs itself. There are, indeed, some critical Times, such as those in which Harry IV. liv’d, that call for the utmost Vigour; and a less Courage and Capacity, than what appear’d in that great Monarch, must have sunk under the Weight. But such Circumstances are rare; and even then, Fortune does, at least, one Half of the Business. Since the common Professions, such as Law or Physic, require equal, if not superior Capacity, to what are exerted in the higher Spheres of Life, ’tis evident, that the Soul must be made of still a finer Mold, to shine in Philosophy or Poetry, or in any of the higher Parts of Learning. Courage and Resolution are chiefly requisite in a Commander: Justice and Humanity in a Statesman: But Genius and Capacity in a Scholar. Great Generals, and great Politicians, are found in all Ages and Countries of the World, and frequently start up, at once, even amongst the greatest Barbarians. Sweden was sunk in Ignorance, when it produc’d Gustavus Ericson, and GustavusAdolphus: Muscovy, when the Czar appear’d: And, perhaps, Carthage, when it gave Birth to Hannibal. But England must pass thro’ a long Gradation of its Spencers, Johnsons, Wallers, Drydens, before it arrive at an Addison or a Pope. A happy Talent for the liberal Arts and Sciences, is a Kind of Prodigy among Men. Nature must afford the richest Genius that comes from her Hands; Education and Example must cultivate it from the earliest Infancy; And Industry must concur to carry it to any Degree of Perfection. No Man

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needs be surprized to see Kouli-Kan among the Persians: But Homer, in so early an Age, among the Greeks, is certainly Matter of the highest Wonder. A Man cannot show a Genius for War, who is not so fortunate as to be trusted with Command; and it seldom happens, in any State or Kingdom, that several, at once, are plac’d in that Situation. How many Marlboroughs were there in the confederate Army, who never rose so much as to the Command of a Regiment? But I am perswaded, there has been but one Milton in England within these hundred Years; because every one may exert the Talents for Poetry who is possest of them; and no one cou’d exert them under greater Disadvantages than that divine Poet. If no Man were allow’d to write Verses, but who was, before-hand, nam’d to be laureat, cou’d we expect a Poet in ten thousand Years? Were we to distinguish the Ranks of Men by their Genius and Capacity more, than by their Virtue and Usefulness to the Public, great Philosophers wou’d certainly challenge the first Rank, and must be plac’d at the Top of human Kind. So rare is this Character, that, perhaps, there has not, as yet, been above two in the World, who can lay a just Claim to it. At least, Galileo and Newton seem to me so far to excel all the rest, that I cannot admit any other into the same Class with them. Great Poets may challenge the second Place; and this Species of Genius, tho’ rare, is yet much more frequent than the former. Of the Greek Poets that remain, Homer alone seems to merit this Character: Of the Romans, Virgil, Horace and Lucretius: Of the English, Milton and Pope: Corneille, Racine, Boileau and Voltaire of the French: And Tasso and Ariosto of the Italians. Great Orators and Historians are, perhaps, more rare than great Poets: But as the Opportunities for exerting the Talents requisite for Eloquence, or acquiring the Knowledge requisite for writing History, depend, in some Measure, upon Fortune, we cannot pronounce these Productions of Genius to be more extraordinary than the former. I should now return from this Digression, and show, that the middle Station of Life is more favourable to Happiness, as well as to Virtue and Wisdom: But as the Arguments, that prove this, seem pretty obvious, I shall here forbear insisting on them.

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ESSAY 4

A Character of Sir Robert Walpole 1

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There never was a Man, whose Actions and Character have been more ­earnestly and openly canvassed, than those of the present Minister, who, having govern’d a learn’d and free Nation for so long a Time, amidst such mighty Opposition, may make a large Library of what has been wrote for and against him, and is the Subject of above Half the Paper that has been blotted in this Nation within these Twenty Years. I wish, for the Honour of our Country, that any one Character of him had been drawn with such Judgment and Impartiality, as to have some Credit with Posterity, and to show, that our Liberty has, once at least, been imploy’d to good Purpose. I am only afraid of failing in the former Quality of Judgment: But if it shou’d be so, ’tis but one Page more thrown away, after an hundred Thousand, upon the same Subject, that have perish’d, and become useless. In the mean Time, I shall flatter myself with the pleasing Imagination, that the following Character will be adopted by future Historians. Sir ROBERT WALPOLE, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is a Man of Ability, not a Genius; good natur’d, not virtuous; constant, not magnanimous; moderate, not equitable.1 His Virtues, in some Instances, are free from the Allay of those Vices, which usually accompany such Virtues: He is a generous Friend, without being a bitter Enemy. His Vices, in other Instances, are not compensated by those Virtues which are nearly ally’d to them: His Want of Enterprise is not attended with Frugality. The private Character of the Man is better than the public: His Virtues more than his Vices: His Fortune greater than his Fame. With many good Qualities he has incurr’d the public Hatred: With good Capacity he has not escap’d Ridicule. He would have been esteem’d more ­worthy of his high Station, had he never possest it; and is better qualify’d for the second than for the first Place in any Government. His Ministry has been more advantageous to his Family than to the Public, better for this Age than for Posterity, and more pernicious by bad Precedents than by real Grievances. During his Time Trade has flourish’d, Liberty declin’d, and Learning gone to Ruin. As I am a Man, I love him; as I am a Scholar, I hate him; as I am a Briton, I calmly wish his Fall. And were I a Member of either House, I wou’d give my Vote for removing him from St. James’s; but shou’d be glad to see him retire to Houghton Hall, to pass the Remainder of his Days in Ease and Pleasure. 1  Moderate in the Exercise of Power, not equitable in engrossing it.

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W I T H D R AWN ES S AYS LAST P U B L I S HED B E T W EEN 1760 AN D 1768

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ESSAY 1

Of Impudence and Modesty 1

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I Am of opinion, That the common complaints against Providence are illgrounded, and that the good or bad qualities of men are the causes of their good or bad fortune, more than what is generally imagined. There are, no doubt, instances to the contrary, and these too pretty numerous; but few, in comparison of the instances we have of a right distribution of prosperity and adversity: Nor indeed could it be otherwise from the common course of human affairs. To be endowed with a benevolent disposition, and to love others, will almost infallibly procure love and esteem; which is the chief circumstance in life, and facilitates every enterprize and undertaking; besides the satisfaction, which immediately results from it. The case is much the same with the other virtues. Prosperity is naturally, though not necessarily, attached to virtue and merit; and adversity, in like manner, to vice and folly. I must, however, confess, that this rule admits of an exception, with regard to one moral quality; and that modesty has a natural tendency to conceal a man’s talents, as impudence displays them to the utmost, and has been the only cause why many have risen in the world, under all the disadvantages of low birth and little merit. Such indolence and incapacity is there in the generality of mankind, that they are apt to receive a man for whatever he has a mind to put himself off for; and admit his overbearing airs as proofs of that merit which he assumes to himself. A decent assurance seems to be the natural attendant of virtue; and few men can distinguish impudence from it: As, on the other hand, diffidence, being the natural result of vice and folly, has drawn disgrace upon modesty, which in outward appearance so nearly resembles it. As impudence, though really a vice, has the same effects upon a man’s fortune, as if it were a virtue; so we may observe, that it is almost as difficult to be attained, and is, in that respect, distinguished from all the other vices, which are acquired with little pains, and continually encrease upon indulgence. Many a man, being sensible that modesty is extremely prejudicial to him in making his fortune, has resolved to be impudent, and to put a bold face upon the matter: But, it is observable, that such people have seldom succeeded in the attempt, but have been obliged to relapse into their primitive modesty. Nothing carries a man through the world like a true genuine natural

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impudence. Its counterfeit is good for nothing, nor can ever support itself. In any other attempt, whatever faults a man commits and is sensible of, he is so much the nearer his end. But when he endeavours at impudence, if he ever failed in the attempt, the remembrance of that failure will make him blush, and will infallibly disconcert him: After which every blush is a cause for new blushes, till he be found out to be an arrant cheat, and a vain pretender to impudence. If any thing can give a modest man more assurance, it must be some advantages of fortune, which chance procures to him. Riches naturally gain a man a favourable reception in the world, and give merit a double lustre, when a person is endowed with it; and supply its place, in a great measure, when it is absent. It is wonderful to observe what airs of superiority fools and knaves, with large possessions, give themselves above men of the greatest merit in poverty. Nor do the men of merit make any strong opposition to these usurpations; or rather seem to favour them by the modesty of their behaviour. Their good sense and experience make them diffident of their judgment, and cause them to examine every thing with the greatest accuracy: As, on the other hand, the delicacy of their sentiments makes them timorous lest they commit faults, and lose in the practice of the world that integrity of virtue, so to speak, of which they are so jealous. To make wisdom agree with confidence, is as difficult as to reconcile vice and modesty. These are the reflections which have occurred upon this subject of impudence and modesty; and I hope the reader will not be displeased to see them wrought into the following allegory. Jupiter in the beginning, joined Virtue, Wisdom, and Confidence together; and Vice, Folly, and Diffidence: And thus connected, sent them into the world. But though he thought he had matched them with great judgment, and said that Confidence was the natural companion of Virtue, and that Vice deserved to be attended with Diffidence, they had not gone far before dissension arose among them. Wisdom, who was the guide of the one company, was always accustomed before she ventured upon any road, however beaten, to examine it carefully; to enquire whither it led; what dangers, difficulties and hindrances might possibly or probably occur in it. In these deliberations she usually consumed some time; which delay was very displeasing to Confidence, who was always inclined to hurry on, without much forethought or deliberation, in the first road he met. Wisdom and Virtue were inseparable: But Confidence one day, following his impetuous nature, advanced a considerable way before his guides and companions; and not feeling any want of their company, he never enquired after them, nor ever met with them more. In like manner, the other society, though joined by

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Jupiter, disagreed and separated. As Folly saw very little way before her, she had nothing to determine concerning the goodness of roads, nor could give the preference to one above another; and this want of resolution was encreased by Diffidence, who, with her doubts and scruples, always retarded the journey. This was a great annoyance to Vice, who loved not to hear of difficulties and delays, and was never satisfied without his full career, in whatever his inclinations led him to. Folly, he knew, though she hearkened to Diffidence, would be easily managed when alone; and therefore, as a vicious horse throws his rider, he openly beat away this controller of all his pleasures, and proceeded in his journey with Folly, from whom he is inseparable. Confidence and Diffidence being, after this manner, both thrown loose from their respective companies, wandered for some time; till at last chance led them at the same time to one village. Confidence went directly up to the great house, which belonged to Wealth, the lord of the village; and without staying for a porter, intruded himself immediately into the innermost apartments, where he found Vice and Folly well received before him. He joined the train; recommended himself very quickly to his landlord; and entered into such familiarity with Vice, that he was enlisted in the same company with Folly. They were frequent guests of Wealth, and from that moment inseparable. Diffidence, in the mean time, not daring to approach the great house, accepted of an invitation from Poverty, one of the tenants; and entering the cottage, found Wisdom and Virtue, who being repulsed by the landlord, had retired thither. Virtue took compassion of her, and Wisdom found, from her temper, that she would easily improve: So they admitted her into their society. Accordingly, by their means, she altered in a little time somewhat of her manner, and becoming much more amiable and engaging, was now known by the name of Modesty. As ill company has a greater effect than good, Confidence, though more refractory to counsel and example, degenerated so far by the society of Vice and Folly, as to pass by the name of Impudence. Mankind, who saw these societies as Jupiter first joined them, and know nothing of these mutual desertions, are thereby led into strange mistakes; and wherever they see Impudence, make account of finding Virtue and Wisdom, and wherever they observe Modesty, call her attendants Vice and Folly.

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ESSAY 2

Of Love and Marriage 1

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I Know not whence it proceeds, that women are so apt to take amiss every thing which is said in disparagement of the married state; and always consider a satyr upon matrimony as a satyr upon themselves. Do they mean, that they are the parties principally concerned, and that if a backwardness to enter into that state should prevail in the world, they would be the greatest sufferers? Or, are they sensible, that the misfortunes and miscarriages of the married state are owing more to their sex than to ours? I hope they do not intend to confess either of these two particulars, or to give such an advantage to their adversaries, the men, as even to allow them to suspect it. I have often had thoughts of complying with this humour of the fair sex, and of writing a panegyric upon marriage: But, in looking around for materials, they seemed to be of so mixed a nature, that at the conclusion of my reflections, I found that I was as much disposed to write a satyr, which might be placed on the opposite pages of the panegyric: And I am afraid, that as satyr is, on most occasions, thought to contain more truth than panegyric, I should have done their cause more harm than good by this expedient. To misrepresent facts is what, I know, they will not require of me. I must be more a friend to truth, than even to them, where their interests are opposite. I shall tell the women what it is our sex complains of most in the ­married state; and if they be disposed to satisfy us in this particular, all the other differences will easily be accommodated. If I be not mistaken, ’tis their love of dominion, which is the ground of the quarrel; tho’ ’tis very likely, that they will think it an unreasonable love of it in us, which makes us insist so much upon that point. However this may be, no passion seems to have more influence on female minds, than this for power; and there is a remarkable instance in history of its prevailing above another passion, which is the only one that can be supposed a proper counterpoise for it. We are told that all the women in Scythia once conspired against the men, and kept the secret so well, that they executed their design before they were suspected. They surprized the men in drink, or asleep; bound them all fast in chains; and having called a solemn council of the whole sex, it was debated what expedient should be used to improve the present advantage, and prevent their falling again into slavery. To kill all the men did not seem to the relish of any

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part of the assembly, notwithstanding the injuries formerly received; and they were afterwards pleased to make a great merit of this lenity of theirs. It was, therefore, agreed to put out the eyes of the whole male sex, and thereby resign in all future time the vanity which they could draw from their beauty, in order to secure their authority. We must no longer pretend to dress and show, say they; but then we shall be free from slavery. We shall hear no more tender sighs; but in return we shall hear no more imperious commands. Love must for ever leave us; but he will carry subjection along with him. ’Tis regarded by some as an unlucky circumstance, since the women were resolved to maim the men, and deprive them of some of their senses, in order to render them humble and dependent, that the sense of hearing could not serve their purpose, since ’tis probable the females would rather have attacked that than the sight: And I think it is agreed among the learned, that, in a married state, ’tis not near so great an inconvenience to lose the former sense as the latter. However this may be, we are told by modern anecdotes, that some of the Scythian women did secretly spare their husband’s eyes; presuming, I suppose, that they could govern them as well by means of that sense as without it. But so incorrigible and intractable were these men, that their wives were all obliged, in a few years, as their youth and beauty decayed, to imitate the example of their sisters; which it was no difficult matter to do in a state where the female sex had once got the superiority. I know not if our Scottish ladies derive any thing of this humour from their Scythian ancestors; but, I must confess that I have often been surprized to see a woman very well pleased to take a fool for her mate, that she might govern with the less controul; and could not but think her sentiments, in this respect, still more barbarous than those of the Scythian women above-mentioned; as much as the eyes of the understanding are more valuable than those of the body. But to be just, and to lay the blame more equally, I am afraid it is the fault of our sex, if the women be so fond of rule, and that if we did not abuse our authority, they would never think it worth while to dispute it. Tyrants, we know, produce rebels; and all history informs us, that rebels, when they prevail, are apt to become tyrants in their turn. For this reason, I could wish there were no pretensions to authority on either side; but that every thing was carried on with perfect equality, as between two equal members of the same body. And to induce both parties to embrace those amicable sentiments, I shall deliver to them Plato’s account of the origin of love and marriage. Mankind, according to that fanciful philosopher, were not, in their ­original, divided into male and female, as at present; but each individual person was a compound of both sexes, and was in himself both husband and

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wife, melted down into one living creature. This union, no doubt, was very intire, and the parts very well adjusted together, since there resulted a perfect harmony betwixt the male and female, altho’ they were obliged to be inseparable companions. And so great were the harmony and happiness flowing from it, that the Androgynes (for so Plato calls them) or MenWomen, became insolent upon their prosperity, and rebelled against the Gods. To punish them for this temerity, Jupiter could contrive no better expedient, than to divorce the male-part from the female, and make two imperfect beings of the compound, which was before so perfect. Hence the origin of men and women, as distinct creatures. But notwithstanding this division, so lively is our remembrance of the happiness which we enjoyed in our primæval state, that we are never at rest in this situation; but each of these halves is continually searching thro’ the whole species to find the other half, which was broken from it: And when they meet, they join again with the greatest fondness and sympathy. But it often happens, that they are mistaken in this particular; that they take for their half what no way corresponds to them; and that the parts do not meet nor join in with each other, as is usual in fractures. In this case the union is soon dissolved, and each part is set loose again to hunt for its lost half, joining itself to every one whom it meets, by way of trial, and enjoying no rest till its perfect sympathy with its partner shows, that it has at last been successful in its endeavours. Were I disposed to carry on this fiction of Plato, which accounts for the mutual love betwixt the sexes in so agreeable a manner, I would do it by the following allegory. When Jupiter had separated the male from the female, and had quelled their pride and ambition by so severe an operation, he could not but repent him of the cruelty of his vengeance, and take compassion on poor mortals, who were now become incapable of any repose or tranquillity. Such cravings, such anxieties, such necessities arose, as made them curse their creation, and think existence itself a punishment. In vain had they recourse to every other occupation and amusement. In vain did they seek after every pleasure of sense, and every refinement of reason. Nothing could fill that void, which they felt in their hearts, or supply the loss of their partner, who was so fatally separated from them. To remedy this disorder, and to bestow some comfort, at least, on the human race in their forlorn situation, Jupiter sent down Love and Hymen to collect the broken halves of human kind, and piece them together in the best manner possible. These two deities found such a prompt disposition in mankind to unite again in their primæval state, that they proceeded on their work with wonderful success for some time; till at last, from many unlucky accidents, dissension arose betwixt them. The

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chief counsellor and favourite of Hymen was Care, who was continually filling his patron’s head with prospects of futurity; a settlement, family, children, servants; so that little else was regarded in all the matches they made. On the other hand, Love had chosen Pleasure for his favourite, who was as pernicious a counsellor as the other, and would never allow Love to look beyond the present momentary gratification, or the satisfying of the prevailing inclination. These two favourites became, in a little time, irreconcileable enemies, and made it their chief business to undermine each other in all their undertakings. No sooner had Love fixed upon two halves, which he was cementing together, and forming to a close union, but Care insinuates himself, and bringing Hymen along with him, dissolves the union produced by love, and joins each half to some other half, which he had provided for it. To be revenged of this, Pleasure creeps in upon a pair already joined by Hymen; and calling Love to his assistance, they under hand contrive to join each half by secret links, to halves, which Hymen was wholly unacquainted with. It was not long before this quarrel was felt in its pernicious consequences; and such complaints arose before the throne of Jupiter, that he was obliged to summon the offending parties to appear before him, in order to give an account of their proceedings. After hearing the pleadings on both sides, he ordered an immediate reconcilement betwixt Love and Hymen, as the only expedient for giving happiness to mankind: And that he might be sure this reconcilement should be durable, he laid his strict injunctions on them never to join any halves without consulting their favourites Care and Pleasure, and obtaining the consent of both to the conjunction. Where this order is strictly observed, the Androgyne is perfectly restored, and the human race enjoy the same happiness as in their primæval state. The seam is scarce perceived that joins the two beings; but both of them combine to form one perfect and happy creature.

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ESSAY 3

Of the Study of History 1

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There is nothing which I would recommend more earnestly to my female readers than the study of history, as an occupation, of all others, the best suited both to their sex and education, much more instructive than their ordinary books of amusement, and more entertaining than those serious compositions, which are usually to be found in their closets. Among other important truths, which they may learn from history, they may be informed of two particulars, the knowledge of which may contribute very much to their quiet and repose; That our sex, as well as theirs, are far from being such perfect creatures as they are apt to imagine, and, That Love is not the only passion, which governs the male-world, but is often overcome by ­avarice, ambition, vanity, and a thousand other passions. Whether they be the false representations of mankind in those two particulars, which endear romances and novels so much to the fair sex, I know not; but must confess that I am sorry to see them have such an aversion to matter of fact, and such an appetite for falshood. I remember I was once desired by a young beauty, for whom I had some passion, to send her some novels and romances for her amusement in the country; but was not so ungenerous as to take the advantage, which such a course of reading might have given me, being resolved not to make use of poisoned arms against her. I therefore sent her Plutarch’s lives, assuring her, at the same time, that there was not a word of truth in them from beginning to end. She perused them very attentively, till she came to the lives of Alexander and Cæsar, whose names she had heard of by accident; and then returned me the book, with many reproaches for deceiving her. I may indeed be told, that the fair sex have no such aversion to history, as I have represented, provided it be secret history, and contain some memorable transaction proper to excite their curiosity. But as I do not find that truth, which is the basis of history, is at all regarded in those anecdotes, I cannot admit of this as a proof of their passion for that study. However this may be, I see not why the same curiosity might not receive a more proper direction, and lead them to desire accounts of those who lived in past ages, as well as of their cotemporaries. What is it to Cleora, whether Fulvia entertains a secret commerce of Love with Philander or not? Has she not equal reason

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to be pleased, when she is informed (what is whispered about among ­historians) that Cato’s sister had an intrigue with Cæsar, and palmed her son, Marcus Brutus, upon her husband for his own, tho’ in reality he was her gallant’s? And are not the loves of Messalina or Julia as proper subjects of discourse as any intrigue that this city has produced of late years? But I know not whence it comes, that I have been thus seduced into a  kind of raillery against the ladies: Unless, perhaps, it proceed from the same cause, which makes the person, who is the favourite of the company, be often the object of their good-natured jests and pleasantries. We are pleased to address ourselves after any manner, to one who is agreeable to us; and, at the same time, presume, that nothing will be taken amiss by a person, who is secure of the good opinion and affections of every one present. I shall now proceed to handle my subject more seriously, and shall point out the many advantages, which flow from the study of history, and show how well suited it is to every one, but particularly to those who are debarred the severer studies, by the tenderness of their complexion, and the weakness of their education. The advantages found in history seem to be of three kinds, as it amuses the fancy, as it improves the understanding, and as it strengthens virtue. In reality, what more agreeable entertainment to the mind, than to be transported into the remotest ages of the world, and to observe human society, in its infancy, making the first faint essays towards the arts and sciences: To see the policy of government, and the civility of conversation refining by degrees, and every thing which is ornamental to human life advancing towards its perfection. To remark the rise, progress, declension, and final extinction of the most flourishing empires: The virtues, which contributed to their greatness, and the vices, which drew on their ruin. In short, to see all human race, from the beginning of time, pass, as it were, in review before us; appearing in their true colours, without any of those disguises, which, during their lifetime, so much perplexed the judgment of the beholders. What spectacle can be imagined, so magnificent, so various, so interesting? What amusement, either of the senses or imagination, can be compared with it? Shall those trifling pastimes, which engross so much of our time, be preferred as more satisfactory, and more fit to engage our attention? How perverse must that taste be, which is capable of so wrong a choice of pleasures? But history is a most improving part of knowledge, as well as an agreeable amusement; and a great part of what we commonly call Erudition, and value  so highly, is nothing but an acquaintance with historical facts. An extensive knowledge of this kind belongs to men of letters; but I must think it an unpardonable ignorance in persons of whatever sex or condition, not to be acquainted with the history of their own country, together with the

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­ istories of ancient Greece and Rome. A woman may behave herself with h good manners, and have even some vivacity in her turn of wit; but where her mind is so unfurnished, ’tis impossible her conversation can afford any entertainment to men of sense and reflection. I must add, that history is not only a valuable part of knowledge, but opens the door to many other parts, and affords materials to most of the sciences. And indeed, if we consider the shortness of human life, and our limited knowledge, even of what passes in our own time, we must be sensible that we should be for ever children in understanding, were it not for this invention, which extends our experience to all past ages, and to the most distant nations; making them contribute as much to our improvement in wisdom, as if they had actually lain under our observation. A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the  world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century. There is also an advantage in that experience which is acquired by ­history, above what is learned by the practice of the world, that it brings us acquainted with human affairs, without diminishing in the least from the most delicate sentiments of virtue. And, to tell the truth, I know not any study or occupation so unexceptionable as history in this particular. Poets can paint virtue in the most charming colours; but, as they address themselves entirely to the passions, they often become advocates for vice. Even philosophers are apt to bewilder themselves in the subtilty of their speculations; and we have seen some go so far as to deny the reality of all moral distinctions. But I think it a remark worthy the attention of the speculative, that the historians have been, almost without exception, the true friends of virtue, and have always represented it in its proper colours, however they may have erred in their judgments of particular persons. Machiavel himself discovers a true sentiment of virtue in his history of Florence. When he talks as a Politician, in his general reasonings, he considers poisoning, assassination and perjury, as lawful arts of power; but when he speaks as an Historian, in his particular narrations, he shows so keen an indignation against vice, and so warm an approbation of virtue, in many passages, that I could not forbear applying to him that remark of Horace, That if you chace away nature, tho’ with ever so great indignity, she will always return upon you. Nor is this combination of historians in favour of virtue at all difficult to be accounted for. When a man of business enters into life and action, he is more apt to consider the characters of men, as they have relation to his interest, than as they stand in themselves; and has his judgment warped on every occasion by the violence of his passion. When a philosopher contemplates

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characters and manners in his closet, the general abstract view of the objects leaves the mind so cold and unmoved, that the sentiments of nature have no room to play, and he scarce feels the difference between vice and virtue. History keeps in a just medium betwixt these extremes, and places the objects in their true point of view. The writers of history, as well as the ­readers, are sufficiently interested in the characters and events, to have a lively sentiment of blame or praise; and, at the same time, have no particular interest or concern to pervert their judgment.

Veræ voces tum demum pectore ab imo Eliciuntur.

Lucret.

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ESSAY 4

Of Avarice 1

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’Tis easy to observe, that comic writers exaggerate every character, and draw their fop, or coward with stronger features than are any where to be met with in nature. This moral kind of painting for the stage has been often compared to the painting for cupolas and cielings, where the colours are over-charged, and every part is drawn excessively large, and beyond nature. The figures seem monstrous and disproportioned, when seen too nigh; but become ­natural and regular, when set at a distance, and placed in that point of view, in which they are intended to be surveyed. For a like reason, when characters are exhibited in theatrical representations, the want of reality removes, in a manner, the personages; and rendering them more cold and unentertaining, makes it necessary to compensate, by the force of colouring, what they want in substance. Thus we find in common life, that when a man once allows himself to depart from truth in his narrations, he never can keep within the bounds of probability; but adds still some new circumstance to render his stories more marvellous, and to satisfy his imagination. Two men in buckram suits became eleven to Sir John Falstaff before the end of his story. There is only one vice, which may be found in life with as strong features, and as high a colouring as needs be employed by any satyrist or comic poet; and that is Avarice. Every day we meet with men of immense fortunes, without heirs, and on the very brink of the grave, who refuse themselves the most common necessaries of life, and go on heaping possessions on possessions, under all the real pressures of the severest poverty. An old usurer, says the story, lying in his last agonies was presented by the priest with the crucifix to worship. He opens his eyes a moment before he expires, considers the crucifix, and cries, These jewels are not true; I can only lend ten pistoles upon such a pledge. This was probably the invention of some epigrammatist; and yet every one, from his own experience, may be able to recollect almost as strong instances of perseverance in avarice. ’Tis commonly reported of a famous miser in this city, that finding himself near death, he sent for some of the magistrates, and gave them a bill of an hundred pounds, payable after his decease; which sum he intended should be disposed of in charitable uses; but scarce were they gone, when he orders them to be called back, and offers them ready money, if they would abate five pounds of the sum. Another noted miser

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in the north, intending to defraud his heirs, and leave his fortune to the building an hospital, protracted the drawing of his will from day to day; and ’tis thought, that if those interested in it had not paid for the drawing it, he had died intestate. In short, none of the most furious excesses of love and ambition are in any respect to be compared to the extremes of avarice. The best excuse that can be made for avarice is, that it generally ­prevails in old men, or in men of cold tempers, where all the other affections are extinct; and the mind being incapable of remaining without some passion or pursuit, at last finds out this monstrously absurd one, which suits the coldness and inactivity of its temper. At the same time, it seems very extraordinary, that so frosty, spiritless a passion should be able to carry us farther than all the warmth of youth and pleasure. But if we look more narrowly into the matter, we shall find, that this very circumstance renders the explication of the case more easy. When the temper is warm and full of vigour, it ­naturally shoots out more ways than one, and produces inferior passions to counterbalance, in some degree, its predominant inclination. ’Tis impossible for a person of that temper, however bent on any pursuit, to be deprived of all sense of shame, or all regard to the sentiments of mankind. His friends must have some influence over him: And other considerations are apt to have their weight. All this serves to restrain him within some bounds. But ’tis no wonder that the avaritious man, being, from the coldness of his temper, without regard to reputation, to friendship, or to pleasure, should be carried so far by his prevailing inclination, and should display his passion in such surprizing instances. Accordingly we find no vice so irreclaimable as avarice: And though there scarcely has been a moralist or philosopher, from the beginning of the world to this day, who has not levelled a stroke at it, we hardly find a single instance of any person’s being cured of it. For this reason, I am more apt to approve of those, who attack it with wit and humour, than of those who treat it in a serious manner. There being so little hopes of doing good to the ­people infected with this vice, I would have the rest of mankind, at least, diverted by our manner of exposing it: As indeed there is no kind of diversion, of which they seem so willing to partake. Among the fables of Monsieur de la Motte, there is one levelled against avarice, which seems to me more natural and easy, than most of the fables of that ingenious author. A miser, says he, being dead, and fairly interred, came to the banks of the Styx, desiring to be ferried over along with the other ghosts. Charon demands his fare, and is surprized to see the miser, rather than pay it, throw himself into the river, and swim over to the other side, notwithstanding all the clamour and opposition that could be made

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to him. All hell was in an uproar; and each of the judges was meditating some punishment, suitable to a crime of such dangerous consequence to the infernal revenues. Shall he be chained to the rock with Prometheus? Or tremble below the precipice in company with the Danaides? Or assist Sisyphus in rolling his stone? No, says Minos, none of these. We must invent some severer punishment. Let him be sent back to the earth, to see the use his heirs are making of his riches. I hope it will not be interpreted as a design of setting myself in opposition to this celebrated author, if I proceed to deliver a fable of my own, which is intended to expose the same vice of avarice. The hint of it was taken from these lines of Mr. Pope.

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Damn’d to the mines, an equal fate betides The slave that digs it, and the slave that hides. 7

Our old mother Earth once lodged an indictment against Avarice before the courts of heaven, for her wicked and malicious council and advice, in tempting, inducing, persuading, and traiterously seducing the children of the plaintiff to commit the detestable crime of parricide upon her, and, mang­ ling her body, ransack her very bowels for hidden treasure. The indictment was very long and verbose; but we must omit a great part of the repetitions and synonymous terms, not to tire our readers too much with our tale. Avarice, being called before Jupiter to answer to this charge, had not much to say in her own defence. The injustice was clearly proved upon her. The fact, indeed, was notorious, and the injury had been frequently repeated. When therefore the plaintiff demanded justice, Jupiter very readily gave sentence in her favour; and his decree was to this purpose, That since dame Avarice, the defendant, had thus grievously injured dame Earth, the ­plaintiff, she was hereby ordered to take that treasure, of which she had feloniously robbed the said plaintiff, by ransacking her bosom, and in the same manner, as before, opening her bosom, restore it back to her, without diminution or retention. From this sentence, it shall follow, says Jupiter to the by-standers, That, in all future ages, the retainers of Avarice shall bury and conceal their riches, and thereby restore to the earth what they took from her.

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E S S AYS, M O R AL, P O L I T I CAL, AN D L I T E R A RY PA RT 1

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ESSAY 1

Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion 1

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Some People are subject to a certain delicacy of passion, which makes them extremely sensible to all the accidents of life, and gives them a lively joy upon every prosperous event, as well as a piercing grief, when they meet with misfortunes and adversity. Favours and good offices easily engage their friendship; while the smallest injury provokes their resentment. Any honour or mark of distinction elevates them above measure; but they are as sensibly touched with contempt. People of this character have, no doubt, more lively enjoyments, as well as more pungent sorrows, than men of cool and sedate tempers: But, I believe, when every thing is balanced, there is no one, who would not rather be of the latter character, were he entirely master of his own disposition. Good or ill fortune is very little at our disposal: And when a person, that has this sensibility of temper, meets with any misfortune, his sorrow or resentment takes entire possession of him, and deprives him of all relish in the common occurrences of life; the right enjoyment of which forms the chief part of our happiness. Great pleasures are much less frequent than great pains; so that a sensible temper must meet with fewer trials in the former way than in the latter. Not to mention, that men of such lively passions are apt to be transported beyond all bounds of prudence and discretion, and to take false steps in the conduct of life, which are often irretrievable. There is a delicacy of taste observable in some men, which very much resembles this delicacy of passion, and produces the same sensibility to beauty and deformity of every kind, as that does to prosperity and adversity, obligations and injuries. When you present a poem or a picture to a man possessed of this talent, the delicacy of his feeling makes him be sensibly touched with every part of it; nor are the masterly strokes perceived with more exquisite relish and satisfaction, than the negligences or absurdities with disgust and uneasiness. A polite and judicious conversation affords him the highest entertainment; rudeness or impertinence is as great a punishment to him. In short, delicacy of taste has the same effect as delicacy of passion: It enlarges the sphere both of our happiness and misery, and makes us sensible to pains as well as pleasures, which escape the rest of mankind.

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I believe, however, every one will agree with me, that, notwithstanding this resemblance, delicacy of taste is as much to be desired and cultivated as delicacy of passion is to be lamented, and to be remedied, if possible. The good or ill accidents of life are very little at our disposal; but we are pretty much masters what books we shall read, what diversions we shall partake of, and what company we shall keep. Philosophers have endeavoured to render happiness entirely independent of every thing external. That degree of perfection is impossible to be attained: But every wise man will endeavour to place his happiness on such objects chiefly as depend upon himself: And that is not to be attained so much by any other means as by this delicacy of sentiment. When a man is possessed of that talent, he is more happy by what pleases his taste, than by what gratifies his appetites, and receives more enjoyment from a poem or a piece of reasoning than the most expensive luxury can afford. Whatever connexion there may be originally between these two species of delicacy, I am persuaded, that nothing is so proper to cure us of this delicacy of passion, as the cultivating of that higher and more refined taste, which enables us to judge of the characters of men, of compositions of genius, and of the productions of the nobler arts. A greater or less relish for those obvious beauties, which strike the senses, depends entirely upon the greater or less sensibility of the temper: But with regard to the sciences and liberal arts, a fine taste is, in some measure, the same with strong sense, or at least depends so much upon it, that they are inseparable. In order to judge aright of a composition of genius, there are so many views to be taken in, so many circumstances to be compared, and such a knowledge of human nature requisite, that no man, who is not possessed of the soundest judgment, will ever make a tolerable critic in such ­performances. And this is a new reason for cultivating a relish in the liberal arts. Our judgment will strengthen by this exercise: We shall form juster notions of life: Many things, which please or afflict others, will appear to us too frivolous to engage our attention: And we shall lose by degrees that sensibility and delicacy of passion, which is so incommodious. But perhaps I have gone too far in saying, that a cultivated taste for the polite arts extinguishes the passions, and renders us indifferent to those objects, which are so fondly pursued by the rest of mankind. On farther reflection, I find, that it rather improves our sensibility for all the tender and agreeable passions; at the same time that it renders the mind incapable of the rougher and more boisterous emotions. Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes, Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros.

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For this, I think there may be assigned two very natural reasons. In the first place, nothing is so improving to the temper as the study of the beauties, either of poetry, eloquence, music, or painting. They give a certain elegance of sentiment to which the rest of mankind are strangers. The emotions which they excite are soft and tender. They draw off the mind from the hurry of business and interest; cherish reflection; dispose to tranquillity; and produce an agreeable melancholy, which, of all dispositions of the mind, is the best suited to love and friendship. In the second place, a delicacy of taste is favourable to love and friendship, by confining our choice to few people, and making us indifferent to the company and conversation of the greater part of men. You will seldom find, that mere men of the world, whatever strong sense they may be endowed with, are very nice in distinguishing characters, or in marking those insensible differences and gradations, which make one man preferable to another. Any one, that has competent sense, is sufficient for their entertainment: They talk to him, of their pleasure and affairs, with the same frankness that they would to another; and finding many, who are fit to supply his place, they never feel any vacancy or want in his absence. But to make use of the allusion of a celebrated French1 author, the judgment may be compared to a clock or watch, where the most ordinary machine is sufficient to tell the hours; but the most elaborate alone can point out the minutes and seconds, and distinguish the smallest differences of time. One that has well digested his ­knowledge both of books and men, has little enjoyment but in the company of a few select companions. He feels too sensibly, how much all the rest of mankind fall short of the notions which he has entertained. And, his affections being thus confined within a narrow circle, no wonder he carries them further, than if they were more general and undistinguished. The gaiety and frolic of a bottle companion improves with him into a solid friendship: And the ardours of a youthful appetite become an elegant passion. 1 Mons. Fontenelle, Pluralité des Mondes. Soir 6.

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ESSAY 2

Of the Liberty of the Press 1

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Nothing is more apt to surprize a foreigner, than the extreme liberty, which we enjoy in this country, of communicating whatever we please to the public, and of openly censuring every measure, entered into by the king or his ministers. If the administration resolve upon war, it is affirmed, that, either wilfully or ignorantly, they mistake the interests of the nation, and that peace, in the present situation of affairs, is infinitely preferable. If the passion of the ministers lie towards peace, our political writers breathe nothing but war and devastation, and represent the pacific conduct of the government as mean and pusillanimous. As this liberty is not indulged in any other government, either republican or monarchical; in Holland and Venice, more than in France or Spain; it may very naturally give occasion to a question, How it happens that Great Britain alone enjoys this peculiar privilege? The reason, why the laws indulge us in such a liberty seems to be derived from our mixed form of government, which is neither wholly monarchical, nor wholly republican. It will be found, if I mistake not, a true observation in politics, that the two extremes in government, liberty and slavery, commonly approach nearest to each other; and that, as you depart from the extremes, and mix a little of monarchy with liberty, the government becomes always the more free; and on the other hand, when you mix a little of liberty with monarchy, the yoke becomes always the more grievous and intolerable. In a government, such as that of France, which is absolute, and where law, custom, and religion concur, all of them, to make the people fully satisfied with their condition, the monarch cannot entertain any jealousy against his subjects, and therefore is apt to indulge them in great liberties both of speech and action. In a government altogether republican, such as that of Holland, where there is no magistrate so eminent as to give jealousy to the state, there is no danger in entrusting the magistrates with large discretionary powers; and though many advantages result from such powers, in preserving peace and order, yet they lay a considerable restraint on men’s actions, and make every private citizen pay a great respect to the government. Thus it seems evident, that the two extremes of absolute monarchy and of a republic, approach near to each other in some material circumstances. In the first, the magistrate has no jealousy of the people: In the second, the people have none

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of the magistrate: Which want of jealousy begets a mutual confidence and trust in both cases, and produces a species of liberty in monarchies, and of arbitrary power in republics. To justify the other part of the foregoing observation, that, in every government, the means are most wide of each other, and that the mixtures of monarchy and liberty render the yoke either more easy or more grievous; I must take notice of a remark in Tacitus with regard to the Romans under the emperors, that they neither could bear total slavery nor total liberty, Nec totam servitutem,nec totam libertatem pati possunt. This remark a celebrated poet has translated and applied to the English, in his lively description of queen Elizabeth’s policy and government,

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According to these remarks, we are to consider the Roman government under the emperors as a mixture of despotism and liberty, where the despotism prevailed; and the English government as a mixture of the same kind, where the liberty predominates. The consequences are conformable to the foregoing observation; and such as may be expected from those mixed forms of government, which beget a mutual watchfulness and jealousy. The Roman emperors were, many of them, the most frightful tyrants that ever disgraced human nature; and it is evident, that their cruelty was chiefly excited by their jealousy, and by their observing that all the great men of Rome bore with impatience the dominion of a family, which, but a little before, was no wise superior to their own. On the other hand, as the republican part of the government prevails in England, though with a great mixture of monarchy, it is obliged, for its own preservation, to maintain a watchful jealousy over the magistrates, to remove all discretionary powers, and to secure every one’s life and fortune by general and inflexible laws. No action must be deemed a crime but what the law has plainly determined to be such: No crime must be imputed to a man but from a legal proof before his judges; and even these judges must be his fellow-subjects, who are obliged, by their own interest, to have a watchful eye over the encroachments and violence of the ministers. From these causes it proceeds, that there is as much liberty, and even, perhaps, licentiousness in Great Britain, as there were formerly slavery and tyranny in Rome. These principles account for the great liberty of the press in these kingdoms, beyond what is indulged in any other government. It is apprehended, that arbitrary power would steal in upon us, were we not careful to prevent

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its progress, and were there not an easy method of conveying the alarm from one end of the kingdom to the other. The spirit of the people must frequently be rouzed, in order to curb the ambition of the court; and the dread of rouzing this spirit must be employed to prevent that ambition. Nothing so effectual to this purpose as the liberty of the press, by which all the ­learning, wit and genius of the nation may be employed on the side of freedom, and every one be animated to its defence. As long, therefore, as the­ republican part of our government can maintain itself against the monarchical, it will naturally be careful to keep the press open, as of importance to its own preservation. It must however be allowed, that the unbounded liberty of the press, though it be difficult, perhaps impossible, to propose a suitable remedy for it, is one of the evils, attending those mixed forms of government.

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ESSAY 3

That Politics may be reduced to a Science 1

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It is a question with several, whether there be any essential difference between one form of government and another? and, whether every form may not become good or bad, according as it is well or ill administered?1 Were it once admitted, that all governments are alike, and that the only difference consists in the character and conduct of the governors, most ­political disputes would be at an end, and all Zeal for one constitution above another, must be esteemed mere bigotry and folly. But, though a friend to m ­ oderation, I cannot forbear condemning this sentiment, and should be sorry to think, that human affairs admit of no greater stability, than what they receive from the casual humours and characters of particular men. It is true; those who maintain, that the goodness of all government consists in the goodness of the administration, may cite many particular instances in history, where the very same government, in different hands, has varied suddenly into the two opposite extremes of good and bad. Compare the French government under Henry III. and under Henry IV. Oppression, levity, artifice on the part of the rulers; faction, sedition, treachery, rebellion, disloyalty on the part of the subjects: These compose the character of the former miserable æra. But when the patriot and heroic prince, who succeeded, was once firmly seated on the throne, the government, the people, every thing seemed to be totally changed; and all from the difference of the temper and conduct of these two sovereigns. Instances of this kind may be multiplied, almost without number, from ancient as well as modern history, foreign as well as domestic. But here it may be proper to make a distinction. All absolute governments must very much depend on the administration; and this is one of the great inconveniencies attending that form of government. But a republican and free government would be an obvious absurdity, if the particular checks and controuls, provided by the constitution, had really no influence, and made it not the interest, even of bad men, to act for the public good. Such is the 1  For forms of government let fools contest Whate’er is best administer’d is best. Essay on Man, Book 3.

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intention of these forms of government, and such is their real effect, where they are wisely constituted: As on the other hand, they are the source of all disorder, and of the blackest crimes, where either skill or honesty has been wanting in their original frame and institution. So great is the force of laws, and of particular forms of government, and so little dependence have they on the humours and tempers of men, that consequences almost as general and certain may sometimes be deduced from them, as any which the mathematical sciences afford us. The constitution of the Roman republic gave the whole legislative power to the people, without allowing a negative voice either to the nobility or consuls. This unbounded power they possessed in a collective, not in a representative body. The consequences were: When the people, by success and conquest, had become very numerous, and had spread themselves to a great distance from the capital, the city-tribes, though the most contemptible, carried almost every vote: They were, therefore, most cajoled by every one that affected popularity: They were supported in idleness by the general distribution of corn, and by particular bribes, which they received from almost every candidate: By this means, they became every day more licentious, and the Campus Martius was a perpetual scene of tumult and sedition: Armed slaves were introduced among these rascally citizens; so that the whole government fell into anarchy, and the greatest happiness, which the Romans could look for, was the despotic power of the Cæsars. Such are the effects of democracy without a representative. A Nobility may possess the whole, or any part of the legislative power of a state, in two different ways. Either every nobleman shares the power as part of the whole body, or the whole body enjoys the power as composed of parts, which have each a distinct power and authority. The Venetian aristocracy is an instance of the first kind of government: The Polish of the second. In the Venetian government the whole body of nobility possesses the whole power, and no nobleman has any authority which he receives not from the whole. In the Polish government every nobleman, by means of his fiefs, has a distinct hereditary authority over his vassals, and the whole body has no authority but what it receives from the concurrence of its parts. The different operations and tendencies of these two species of government might be made apparent even a priori. A Venetian nobility is preferable to a Polish, let the humours and education of men be ever so much varied. A nobility, who possess their power in common, will preserve peace and order, both among themselves, and their subjects; and no member can have authority enough to controul the laws for a moment. The nobles will preserve their authority over the people, but without any grievous tyranny, or any breach of private property; because

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such a tyrannical government promotes not the interests of the whole body, however it may that of some individuals. There will be a distinction of rank between the nobility and people, but this will be the only distinction in the state. The whole nobility will form one body, and the whole people another, without any of those private feuds and animosities, which spread ruin and desolation every where. It is easy to see the disadvantages of a Polish nobility in every one of these particulars. It is possible so to constitute a free government, as that a single person, call him doge, prince, or king, shall possess a large share of power, and shall form a proper balance or counterpoise to the other parts of the legislature. This chief magistrate may be either elective or hereditary; and though the former institution may, to a superficial view, appear the most advantageous; yet a more accurate inspection will discover in it greater inconveniencies than in the latter, and such as are founded on causes and principles eternal and immutable. The filling of the throne, in such a government, is a point of too great and too general interest, not to divide the whole people into factions: Whence a civil war, the greatest of ills, may be apprehended, almost with certainty, upon every vacancy. The prince elected must be either a Foreigner or a Native: The former will be ignorant of the people whom he is to govern; suspicious of his new subjects, and suspected by them; giving his confidence entirely to strangers, who will have no other care but of enriching themselves in the quickest manner, while their master’s favour and authority are able to support them. A native will carry into the throne all his private animosities and friendships, and will never be viewed in his elevation, without exciting the sentiment of envy in those, who formerly ­considered him as their equal. Not to mention, that a crown is too high a reward ever to be given to merit alone, and will always induce the candidates to employ force, or money, or intrigue, to procure the votes of the electors: So that such an election will give no better chance for superior merit in the prince, than if the state had trusted to birth alone for determining their sovereign. It may therefore be pronounced as an universal axiom in politics, That an hereditary prince, a nobility without vassals, and a people voting by their representatives, form the best monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. But in order to prove more fully, that politics admit of general truths, which are invariable by the humour or education either of subject or sovereign, it may not be amiss to observe some other principles of this science, which may seem to deserve that character. It may easily be observed, that, though free governments have been commonly the most happy for those who partake of their freedom; yet are they

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the most ruinous and oppressive to their provinces: And this observation may, I believe, be fixed as a maxim of the kind we are here speaking of. When a monarch extends his dominions by conquest, he soon learns to consider his old and his new subjects as on the same footing; because, in reality, all his subjects are to him the same, except the few friends and favourites, with whom he is personally acquainted. He does not, therefore, make any distinction between them in his general laws; and, at the same time, is careful to prevent all particular acts of oppression on the one as well as on the other. But a free state necessarily makes a great distinction, and must always do so, till men learn to love their neighbours as well as themselves. The conquerors, in such a government, are all legislators, and will be sure to contrive matters, by restrictions on trade, and by taxes, so as to draw some private, as well as  public, advantage from their conquests. Provincial governors have also a  better chance, in a republic, to escape with their plunder, by means of bribery or intrigue; and their fellow-citizens, who find their own state to be enriched by the spoils of the subject provinces, will be the more inclined to tolerate such abuses. Not to mention, that it is a necessary precaution in a free state to change the governors frequently; which obliges these temporary tyrants to be more expeditious and rapacious, that they may accumulate sufficient wealth before they give place to their successors. What cruel tyrants were the Romans over the world during the time of their commonwealth! It is true they had laws to prevent oppression in their provincial magistrates; but Cicero informs us, that the Romans could not better consult the interests of the provinces than by repealing these very laws. For, in that case, says he, our magistrates, having entire impunity, would plunder no more than would satisfy their own rapaciousness; whereas, at present, they must also satisfy that of their judges, and of all the great men in Rome, of whose protection they stand in need. Who can read of the cruelties and oppressions of Verres without horror and astonishment? And who is not touched with indignation to hear, that, after Cicero had exhausted on that abandoned criminal all the thunders of his eloquence, and had prevailed so far as to get him condemned to the utmost extent of the laws; yet that cruel tyrant lived peaceably to old age, in opulence and ease, and, thirty years afterwards, was put into the proscription by Mark Anthony, on account of his exorbitant wealth, where he fell with Cicero himself, and all the most virtuous men of Rome? After the dissolution of the commonwealth, the Roman yoke became easier upon the provinces, as Tacitus informs us;2 2  Ann. lib. 1. cap. 2.

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and it may be observed, that many of the worst emperors, Domitian,3 for instance, were careful to prevent all oppression on the provinces. In4 Tiberius’s time, Gaul was esteemed richer than Italy itself: Nor, do I find, during the whole time of the Roman monarchy, that the empire became less rich or populous in any of its provinces; though indeed its valour and military discipline were always upon the decline. The oppression and tyranny of the Carthaginians over their subject states in Africa went so far, as we learn from Polybius,5 that, not content with exacting the half of all the produce of the land, which of itself was a very high rent, they also loaded them with many other taxes. If we pass from ancient to modern times, we shall still find the observation to hold. The provinces of absolute monarchies are always better treated than those of free states. Compare the Pais conquis of France with Ireland, and you will be convinced of this truth; though this latter kingdom, being, in a good measure, peopled from England, possesses so many rights and privileges as should naturally make it challenge better treatment than that of a conquered province. Corsica is also an obvious instance to the same purpose. There is an observation in Machiavel, with regard to the conquests of Alexander the Great, which I think, may be regarded as one of those eternal political truths, which no time nor accidents can vary. It may seem strange, says that politician, that such sudden conquests, as those of Alexander, should be possessed so peaceably by his successors, and that the Persians, during all the confusions and civil wars among the Greeks, never made the smallest effort towards the recovery of their former independent government. To satisfy us concerning the cause of this remarkable event, we may consider, that a monarch may govern his subjects in two different ways. He may either follow the maxims of the eastern princes, and stretch his authority so far as to leave no distinction of rank among his subjects, but what proceeds immediately from himself; no advantages of birth; no hereditary honours and possessions; and, in a word, no credit among the people, except from his commission alone. Or a monarch may exert his power after a milder manner, like our European princes; and leave other sources of honour, beside his smile and favour: Birth, titles, possessions, valour, integrity, knowledge, or great and fortunate atchievements. In the former species 3  Sueton. in vita Domit. 4  Egregium resumendæ libertati tempus, si ipsi florentes, quam inops Italia, quam imbellis urbana plebs, nihil validum in exercitibus, nisi quod externum cogitarent. Tacit. ann. lib. 3. 5  Lib. 1. cap. 72.

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of government, after a conquest, it is impossible ever to shake off the yoke; since no one possesses, among the people, so much personal credit and authority as to begin such an enterprize: Whereas, in the latter, the least misfortune, or discord among the victors, will encourage the vanquished to take arms, who have leaders ready to prompt and conduct them in every undertaking.6 Such is the reasoning of Machiavel, which seems solid and conclusive; though I wish he had not mixed falsehood with truth, in asserting, that monarchies, governed according to eastern policy, though more easily kept when once subdued, yet are the most difficult to subdue; since they cannot contain any powerful subject, whose discontent and faction may facilitate the enterprizes of an enemy. For besides, that such a tyrannical government enervates the courage of men, and renders them indifferent towards the fortunes of their sovereign; besides this, I say, we find by experience, that even

6  I have taken it for granted, according to the supposition of Machiavel, that the ancient Persians had no nobility; though there is reason to suspect, that the Florentine secretary, who seems to have been better acquainted with the Roman than the Greek authors, was mistaken in this particular. The more ancient Persians, whose manners are described by Xenophon, were a free people, and had nobility. Their ὁμότιμοι were preserved even after the extending of their conquests and the consequent change of their government. Arrian mentions them in Darius’s time, de exped. Alex. lib. 2. Historians also speak often of the persons in command as men of family. Tygranes, who was general of the Medes under Xerxes, was of the race of Achmænes, Herod. lib. 7. cap. 62. Artachæas, who directed the cutting of the canal about mount Athos, was of the same family. Id. cap. 117. Megabyzus was one of the seven eminent Persians who conspired against the Magi. His son, Zopyrus, was in the highest command under Darius, and delivered Babylon to him. His grandson, Megabyzus, commanded the army, defeated at Marathon. His great-grandson, Zopyrus, was also eminent, and was banished Persia. Herod. lib. 3. Thuc. lib. 1. Rosaces, who commanded an army in Egypt under Artaxerxes, was also descended from one of the seven conspirators, Diod. Sic. lib. 16. Agesilaus, in Xenophon, hist. Græc. lib. 4. being desirous of making a marriage betwixt King Cotys his ally, and the daughter of Spithridates, a Persian of rank, who had deserted to him, first asks Cotys what family Spithridates is of. One of the most considerable in Persia, says Cotys. Ariæus, when offered the sovereignty by Clearchus and the ten thousand Greeks, refused it as of too low a rank, and said, that so many eminent Persians would never endure his rule. Id. de exped. lib. 2. Some of the families descended from the seven Persians above-mentioned remained during all Alexander’s successors; and Mithridates, in Antiochus’s time, is said by Polybius to be descended from one of them, lib. 5. cap. 43. Artabazus was esteemed, as Arrian says, ὲν τοῖς πρώτοις Πέρσων. lib. 3. And when Alexander married in one day 80 of his captains to Persian women, his intention plainly was to ally the Macedonians with the most eminent Persian families. Id. lib. 7. Diodorus Siculus says they were of the most noble birth in Persia, lib. 17. The government of Persia was despotic, and conducted, in many respects, after the eastern manner, but was not carried so far as to extirpate all nobility, and confound all ranks and orders. It left men who were still great, by themselves and their family, independent of their office and commission. And the reason why the Macedonians kept so easily dominion over them was owing to other causes easy to be found in the historians; though it must be owned that Machiavel’s reasoning is, in itself, just, however doubtful its application to the present case.

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the temporary and delegated authority of the generals and magistrates; being always, in such governments, as absolute within its sphere, as that of the prince himself; is able, with barbarians, accustomed to a blind submission, to produce the most dangerous and fatal revolutions. So that, in every respect, a gentle government is preferable, and gives the greatest security to the sovereign as well as to the subject. Legislators, therefore, ought not to trust the future government of a state entirely to chance, but ought to provide a system of laws to regulate the administration of public affairs to the latest posterity. Effects will always correspond to causes; and wise regulations in any commonwealth are the most valuable legacy that can be left to future ages. In the smallest court or office, the stated forms and methods, by which business must be conducted, are found to be a considerable check on the natural depravity of mankind. Why should not the case be the same in public affairs? Can we ascribe the stability and wisdom of the Venetian government, through so many ages, to any thing but the form of government? And is it not easy to point out those defects in the original constitution, which produced the tumultuous governments of Athens and Rome, and ended at last in the ruin of these two famous republics? And so little dependence has this affair on the humours and education of particular men, that one part of the same republic may be wisely conducted, and another weakly, by the very same men, merely on account of the difference of the forms and institutions, by which these parts are regulated. Historians inform us that this was actually the case with Genoa. For while the state was always full of sedition, and tumult, and disorder, the bank of St. George, which had become a considerable part of the people, was conducted, for several ages, with the utmost integrity and wisdom.7 The ages of greatest public spirit are not always most eminent for private virtue. Good laws may beget order and moderation in the government, where the manners and customs have instilled little humanity or justice into the tempers of men. The most illustrious period of the Roman history, considered in a political view, is that between the beginning of the first and end of the last Punic war; the due balance between the nobility and people being then fixed by the contests of the tribunes, and not being yet lost by the

7  Essempio veramente raro, & da Filosofi intante loro imaginate & vedute Republiche mai non trovato, vedere dentro ad un medesimo cerchio, fra medesimi cittadini, la liberta, & la tirannide, la vita civile & la corotta, la giustitia & la licenza; perche quello ordine solo mantiere quella citta piena di costumi antichi & venerabili. E s’egli auvenisse (che col tempo in ogni modo auverra) que San Giorgio tutta quel la città occupasse, sarrebbe quella una Republica piu dalla Venetiana memorabile. Della Hist. Florentinè, lib. 8.

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extent of conquests. Yet at this very time, the horrid practice of poisoning was so common, that, during part of a season, a Prætor punished capitally for this crime above three thousand8 persons in a part of Italy; and found informations of this nature still multiplying upon him. There is a similar, or rather a worse instance,9 in the more early times of the commonwealth. So depraved in private life were that people, whom in their histories we so much admire. I doubt not but they were really more virtuous during the time of the two Triumvirates; when they were tearing their common country to pieces, and spreading slaughter and desolation over the face of the earth, merely for the choice of tyrants.10 Here, then, is a sufficient inducement to maintain, with the utmost Zeal, in every free state, those forms and institutions, by which liberty is secured, the public good consulted, and the avarice or ambition of particular men restrained and punished. Nothing does more honour to human nature, than to see it susceptible of so noble a passion; as nothing can be a greater indication of meanness of heart in any man, than to see him destitute of it. A man who loves only himself, without regard to friendship and desert, merits the severest blame; and a man, who is only susceptible of friendship, without public spirit, or a regard to the community, is deficient in the most material part of virtue. But this is a subject which needs not be longer insisted on at present. There are enow of zealots on both sides who kindle up the passions of their partizans, and under pretence of public good, pursue the interests and ends of their particular faction. For my part, I shall always be more fond of promoting moderation than zeal; though perhaps the surest way of producing moderation in every party is to encrease our zeal for the public. Let us therefore try, if it be possible, from the foregoing doctrine, to draw a lesson of moderation with regard to the parties, into which our country is at present divided; at the same time, that we allow not this moderation to abate the industry and passion, with which every individual is bound to pursue the good of his country. Those who either attack or defend a minister in such a government as ours, where the utmost liberty is allowed, always carry matters to an extreme, and exaggerate his merit or demerit with regard to the public. His enemies are sure to charge him with the greatest enormities, both in domestic and

8  Titi Livii, lib. 40. cap. 43.    9  Id. lib. 8. cap. 18. 10  L’Aigle contre L’Aigle, Romains contre Romains, Combatans seulement pour le choix de tyrans. Corneille.

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foreign management; and there is no meanness or crime, of which, in their account, he is not capable. Unnecessary wars, scandalous treaties, profusion of public treasure, oppressive taxes, every kind of mal-administration is ascribed to him. To aggravate the charge, his pernicious conduct, it is said, will extend its baleful influence even to posterity, by undermining the best constitution in the world, and disordering that wise system of laws, institutions, and customs, by which our ancestors, during so many centuries, have been so happily governed. He is not only a wicked minister in himself, but has removed every security provided against wicked ministers for the future. On the other hand, the partizans of the minister make his panegyric run as high as the accusation against him, and celebrate his wise, steady and moderate conduct in every part of his administration. The honour and interest of the nation supported abroad, public credit maintained at home, persecution restrained, faction subdued; the merit of all these blessings is ascribed solely to the minister. At the same time, he crowns all his other merits by a religious care of the best constitution in the world, which he has preserved in all its parts, and has transmitted entire, to be the happiness and security of the latest posterity. When this accusation and panegyric are received by the partizans of each party, no wonder they beget an extraordinary ferment on both sides, and fill the nation with violent animosities. But I would fain persuade these partyzealots, that there is a flat contradiction both in the accusation and ­panegyric, and that it were impossible for either of them to run so high, were it not for this contradiction. If our constitution be really that noble fabric, the pride of Britain, the envy of our neighbours, raised by the labour of so many centuries, repaired at the expence of so many millions, and cemented by such a profusion of blood;11 I say, if our constitution does in any degree deserve these eulogies, it would never have suffered a wicked and weak minister to govern triumphantly for a course of twenty years, when opposed by the greatest geniuses in the nation, who exercised the utmost liberty of tongue and pen, in parliament, and in their frequent appeals to the people. But, if the minister be wicked and weak, to the degree so strenuously insisted on, the constitution must be faulty in its original principles, and he cannot consistently be charged with undermining the best form of government in the world. A constitution is only so far good, as it provides a remedy against maladministration; and if the British constitution, when in its greatest vigour, and repaired by two such remarkable events, as the Revolution and Accession,

11  Dissertation on Parties, Letter 10.

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by which our ancient royal family was sacrificed to it; if our constitution, I say, with so great advantages, does not, in fact, provide any such remedy, we are rather beholden to any minister who undermines it, and affords us an opportunity of erecting a better in its place. I would employ the same topics to moderate the zeal of those who defend the minister. Is our constitution so excellent? Then a change of ministry can be no such dreadful event; since it is essential to such a constitution, in every ministry, both to preserve itself from violation, and to prevent all enormities in the administration. Is our constitution very bad? Then so extraordinary a jealousy and apprehension, on account of changes, is ill placed; and a man should no more be anxious in this case, than a husband, who had married a woman from the stews, should be watchful to prevent her infidelity. Public affairs, in such a government, must necessarily go to confusion, by whatever hands they are conducted; and the zeal of patriots is in that case much less requisite than the patience and submission of philosophers. The virtue and good intentions of Cato and Brutus are highly laudable; but, to what purpose did their zeal serve? Only to hasten the fatal period of the Roman government, and render its convulsions and dying agonies more violent and painful. I would not be understood to mean, that public affairs deserve no care and attention at all. Would men be moderate and consistent, their claims might be admitted; at least might be examined. The country-party might still assert, that our constitution, though excellent, will admit of mal-administration to a certain degree; and therefore, if the minister be bad, it is proper to oppose him with a suitable degree of zeal. And, on the other hand, the court-party may be allowed, upon the supposition that the minister were good, to defend, and with some zeal too, his administration. I would only persuade men not to contend, as if they were fighting pro aris & focis, and change a good constitution into a bad one, by the violence of their factions. I have not here considered any thing that is personal in the present controversy. In the best civil constitution, where every man is restrained by the most rigid laws, it is easy to discover either the good or bad intentions of a minister, and to judge, whether his personal character deserve love or hatred. But such questions are of little importance to the public, and lay those, who employ their pens upon them, under a just suspicion either of malevolence or of flattery.

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Nothing appears more surprizing to those, who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. When we enquire by what means this wonder is effected, we shall find, that, as Force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as to the most free and most popular. The soldan of Egypt, or the emperor of Rome, might drive his harmless subjects, like brute beasts, against their sentiments and inclination: But he must, at least, have led his mamalukes, or prætorian bands, like men, by their opinion. Opinion is of two kinds, to wit, opinion of interest, and opinion of right. By opinion of interest, I chiefly understand the sense of the general advantage which is reaped from government; together with the persuasion, that the particular government, which is established, is equally advantageous with any other that could easily be settled. When this opinion prevails among the generality of a state, or among those who have the force in their hands, it gives great security to any government. Right is of two kinds, right to power and right to property. What prevalence opinion of the first kind has over mankind, may easily be understood, by observing the attachment which all nations have to their ancient government, and even to those names, which have had the sanction of antiquity. Antiquity always begets the opinion of right; and whatever disadvantageous sentiments we may entertain of mankind, they are always found to be prodigal both of blood and treasure in the maintenance of public justice. There is, indeed, no particular, in which, at first sight, there may appear a greater contradiction in the frame of the human mind than the present. When men act in a faction, they are apt, without shame or remorse, to neglect all the ties of honour and morality, in order to serve their party; and yet, when a faction is formed upon a point of right or principle, there is no occasion, where men discover a greater obstinacy, and a more determined sense of justice and equity. The same social disposition of mankind is the cause of these contradictory appearances.

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It is sufficiently understood, that the opinion of right to property is of moment in all matters of government. A noted author has made property the foundation of all government; and most of our political writers seem inclined to follow him in that particular. This is carrying the matter too far; but still it must be owned, that the opinion of right to property has a great influence in this subject. Upon these three opinions, therefore, of public interest, of right to power, and of right to property, are all governments founded, and all authority of the few over the many. There are indeed other principles, which add force to these, and determine, limit, or alter their operation; such as self-interest, fear, and affection: But still we may assert, that these other principles can have no influence alone, but suppose the antecedent influence of those opinions above-mentioned. They are, therefore, to be esteemed the secondary, not the original principles of government. For, first, as to self-interest, by which I mean the expectation of particular rewards, distinct from the general protection which we receive from government, it is evident that the magistrate’s authority must be antecedently established, at least be hoped for, in order to produce this expectation. The prospect of reward may augment his authority with regard to some particular persons; but can never give birth to it, with regard to the public. Men naturally look for the greatest favours from their friends and acquaintance; and therefore, the hopes of any considerable number of the state would never center in any particular set of men, if these men had no other title to magistracy, and had no separate influence over the opinions of mankind. The same observation may be extended to the other two principles of fear and affection. No man would have any reason to fear the fury of a tyrant, if he had no authority over any but from fear; since, as a single man, his bodily force can reach but a small way, and all the farther power he possesses must be founded either on our own opinion, or on the presumed opinion of ­others. And though affection to wisdom and virtue in a sovereign extends very far, and has great influence; yet he must antecedently be supposed invested with a public character, otherwise the public esteem will serve him in no stead, nor will his virtue have any influence beyond a narrow sphere. A Government may endure for several ages, though the balance of power, and the balance of property do not coincide. This chiefly happens, where any rank or order of the state has acquired a large share in the property; but from the original constitution of the government, has no share in the power. Under what pretence would any individual of that order assume authority in public affairs? As men are commonly much attached to their ancient government, it is not to be expected, that the public would ever favour such

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­ surpations. But where the original constitution allows any share of power, u though small, to an order of men, who possess a large share of the property, it is easy for them gradually to stretch their authority, and bring the balance of power to coincide with that of property. This has been the case with the house of commons in England. Most writers, that have treated of the British government, have supposed, that as the lower house represents all the commons of Great Britain, its weight in the scale is proportioned to the property and power of all whom it represents. But this principle must not be received as absolutely true. For though the people are apt to attach themselves more to the house of commons, than to any other member of the constitution; that house being ­chosen by them as their representatives, and as the public guardians of their liberty; yet are there instances where the house, even when in opposition to the crown, has not been followed by the people; as we may particularly observe of the tory house of commons in the reign of King William. Were the members obliged to receive instructions from their constituents, like the Dutch deputies, this would entirely alter the case; and if such immense power and riches, as those of all the commons of Great Britain, were brought into the scale, it is not easy to conceive, that the crown could either influence that multitude of people, or withstand that overbalance of property. It is true, the crown has great influence over the collective body in the elections of members; but were this influence, which at present is only exerted once in seven years, to be employed in bringing over the people to every vote, it would soon be wasted; and no skill, popularity, or revenue, could support it. I must, therefore, be of opinion, that an alteration in this particular would introduce a total alteration in our government, and would soon reduce it to a pure republic; and, perhaps, to a republic of no inconvenient form. For though the people, collected in a body like the Roman tribes, be quite unfit for government, yet when dispersed in small bodies, they are more susceptible both of reason and order; the force of popular currents and tides is, in a great measure, broken; and the public interest may be pursued with some method and constancy. But it is needless to reason any farther concerning a form of government, which is never likely to have place in Great Britain, and which seems not to be the aim of any party among us. Let us cherish and improve our ancient government as much as possible, without encouraging a passion for such dangerous novelties.

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ESSAY 5

Of the Origin of Government 1

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Man, born in a family, is compelled to maintain society, from necessity, from natural inclination, and from habit. The same creature, in his farther progress, is engaged to establish political society, in order to administer ­justice; without which there can be no peace among them, nor safety, nor mutual intercourse. We are, therefore, to look upon all the vast apparatus of our government, as having ultimately no other object or purpose but the distribution of justice, or, in other words, the support of the twelve judges. Kings and parliaments, fleets and armies, officers of the court and revenue, ambassadors, ministers, and privy-counsellors, are all subordinate in their end to this part of administration. Even the clergy, as their duty leads them to inculcate morality, may justly be thought, so far as regards this world, to have no other useful object of their institution. All men are sensible of the necessity of justice to maintain peace and order; and all men are sensible of the necessity of peace and order for the maintenance of society. Yet, notwithstanding this strong and obvious necessity, such is the frailty or perverseness of our nature! it is impossible to keep men, faithfully and unerringly, in the paths of justice. Some extraordinary circumstances may happen, in which a man finds his interests to be more promoted by fraud or rapine, than hurt by the breach which his injustice makes in the social union. But much more frequently, he is seduced from his great and important, but distant interests, by the allurement of present, though often very frivolous temptations. This great weakness is incurable in human nature. Men must, therefore, endeavour to palliate what they cannot cure. They must institute some persons, under the appellation of magistrates, whose peculiar office it is, to point out the decrees of equity, to punish transgressors, to correct fraud and violence, and to oblige men, however reluctant, to consult their own real and permanent interests. In a word, obedience is a new duty which must be invented to support that of justice; and the ties of equity must be corroborated by those of allegiance. But still, viewing matters in an abstract light, it may be thought, that nothing is gained by this alliance, and that the factitious duty of obedience, from its very nature, lays as feeble a hold of the human mind, as the primitive

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and natural duty of justice. Peculiar interests and present temptations may overcome the one as well as the other. They are equally exposed to the same inconvenience. And the man, who is inclined to be a bad neighbour, must be led by the same motives, well or ill understood, to be a bad citizen and subject. Not to mention, that the magistrate himself may often be negligent, or partial, or unjust in his administration. Experience, however, proves, that there is a great difference between the cases. Order in society, we find, is much better maintained by means of government; and our duty to the magistrate is more strictly guarded by the principles of human nature, than our duty to our fellow-citizens. The love of dominion is so strong in the breast of man, that many, not only submit to, but court all the dangers, and fatigues, and cares of government; and men, once raised to that station, though often led astray by private passions, find, in ordinary cases, a visible interest in the impartial administration of justice. The persons, who first attain this distinction by the consent, tacit or express, of the people, must be endowed with superior personal qualities of valour, force, integrity, or prudence, which command respect and confidence: And after government is established, a regard to birth, rank, and station has a mighty influence over men, and enforces the decrees of the magistrate. The prince or leader exclaims against every disorder, which disturbs his society. He summons all his partizans and all men of probity to aid him in correcting and redressing it: And he is readily followed by all indifferent persons in the execution of his office. He soon acquires the power of rewarding these services; and in the progress of society, he establishes subordinate ministers and often a military force, who find an immediate and a visible interest, in supporting his authority. Habit soon consolidates what other principles of human nature had imperfectly founded; and men, once accustomed to ­obedience, never think of departing from that path, in which they and their ancestors have constantly trod, and to which they are confined by so many urgent and visible motives. But though this progress of human affairs may appear certain and i­ nevitable, and though the support which allegiance brings to justice, be founded on obvious principles of human nature, it cannot be expected that men should before-hand be able to discover them, or foresee their operation. Government commences more casually and more imperfectly. It is probable, that the first ascendant of one man over multitudes begun during a state of war; where the superiority of courage and of genius discovers itself most visibly, where ­unanimity and concert are most requisite, and where the pernicious effects of disorder are most sensibly felt. The long continuance of that state, an incident common among savage tribes, enured the people to submission; and if the

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chieftain possessed as much equity as prudence and valour, he became, even during peace, the arbiter of all differences, and could gradually, by a mixture of force and consent, establish his authority. The benefit sensibly felt from his influence, made it be cherished by the people, at least by the peaceable and well disposed among them; and if his son enjoyed the same good qualities, government advanced the sooner to maturity and perfection; but was still in a feeble state, till the farther progress of improvement procured the magistrate a revenue, and enabled him to bestow rewards on the several instruments of his administration, and to inflict punishments on the refractory and disobedient. Before that period, each exertion of his influence must have been particular, and founded on the peculiar circumstances of the case. After it, submission was no longer a matter of choice in the bulk of the community, but was rigorously exacted by the authority of the supreme magistrate. In all governments, there is a perpetual intestine struggle, open or secret, between authority and liberty; and neither of them can ever absolutely prevail in the contest. A great sacrifice of liberty must necessarily be made in every government; yet even the authority, which confines liberty, can never, and perhaps ought never, in any constitution, to become quite entire and uncontroulable. The sultan is master of the life and fortune of any individual; but will not be permitted to impose new taxes on his subjects: A French monarch can impose taxes at pleasure; but would find it dangerous to attempt the lives and fortunes of individuals. Religion also, in most countries, is commonly found to be a very intractable principle; and other principles or prejudices frequently resist all the authority of the civil ­magistrate; whose power, being founded on opinion, can never subvert other opinions, equally rooted with that of his title to dominion. The government, which, in common appellation, receives the appellation of free, is that which admits of a partition of power among several members, whose united authority is no less, or is commonly greater than that of any monarch; but who, in the usual course of administration, must act by general and equal laws, that are previously known to all the members and to all their subjects. In this sense, it must be owned, that liberty is the perfection of civil society; but still authority must be acknowledged essential to its very existence: And in those contests, which so often take place between the one and the other, the latter may, on that account, challenge the preference. Unless perhaps one may say (and it may be said with some reason) that a circumstance, which is essential to the existence of civil society, must always support itself, and needs be guarded with less jealousy, than one that contributes only to its perfection, which the indolence of men is so apt to neglect, or their ignorance to overlook.

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ESSAY 6

Of the Independency of Parliament 1

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Political writers have established it as a maxim, that, in contriving any system of government, and fixing the several checks and controuls of the constitution, every man ought to be supposed a knave, and to have no other end, in all his actions, than private interest. By this interest we must govern him, and, by means of it, make him, notwithstanding his insatiable avarice and ambition, co-operate to public good. Without this, say they, we shall in vain boast of the advantages of any constitution, and shall find, in the end, that we have no security for our liberties or possessions, except the goodwill of our rulers; that is, we shall have no security at all. It is, therefore, a just political maxim, that every man must be supposed a knave: Though at the same time, it appears somewhat strange, that a maxim should be true in politics, which is false in fact. But to satisfy us on this head, we may consider, that men are generally more honest in their private than in their public capacity, and will go greater lengths to serve a party, than when their own private interest is alone concerned. Honour is a great check upon mankind: But where a considerable body of men act together, this check is, in a great measure, removed; since a man is sure to be approved of by his own party, for what promotes the common interest; and he soon learns to despise the clamours of adversaries. To which we may add, that every court or senate is determined by the greater number of voices; so that, if selfinterest influences only the majority, (as it will always do) the whole senate follows the allurements of this separate interest, and acts as if it contained not one member, who had any regard to public interest and liberty. When there offers, therefore, to our censure and examination, any plan of government, real or imaginary, where the power is distributed among several courts, and several orders of men, we should always consider the separate interest of each court, and each order; and, if we find, that, by the skilful division of power, this interest must necessarily, in its operation, concur with public, we may pronounce that government to be wise and happy. If, on the contrary, separate interest be not checked, and be not directed to the public, we ought to look for nothing but faction, disorder, and tyranny from such a government. In this opinion I am justified by experience, as well as by the authority of all philosophers and politicians, both ancient and modern.

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How much, therefore, would it have surprized such a genius as Cicero, or Tacitus, to have been told, that, in a future age, there should arise a very regular system of mixed government, where the authority was so distributed, that one rank, whenever it pleased, might swallow up all the rest, and engross the whole power of the constitution? Such a government, they would say, will not be a mixed government. For so great is the natural ambition of men, that they are never satisfied with power; and if one order of men, by pursuing its own interest, can usurp upon every other order, it will certainly do so, and render itself, as far as possible, absolute and uncontroulable. But, in this opinion, experience shows they would have been mistaken. For this is actually the case with the British constitution. The share of power, allotted by our constitution to the house of commons, is so great, that it absolutely commands all the other parts of the government. The king’s legislative power is plainly no proper check to it. For though the king has a negative in framing laws; yet this, in fact, is esteemed of so little moment, that whatever is voted by the two houses, is always sure to pass into a law, and the royal assent is little better than a form. The principal weight of the crown lies in the executive power. But besides that the executive power in every government is altogether subordinate to the legislative; besides this, I say, the exercise of this power requires an immense expence; and the commons have assumed to themselves the sole right of granting money. How easy, therefore, would it be for that house to wrest from the crown all these powers, one after another; by making every grant conditional, and choosing their time so well, that their refusal of supply should only distress the government, without giving foreign powers any advantage over us? Did the house of commons depend in the same manner on the king, and had none of the members any property but from his gift, would not he command all their resolutions, and be from that moment absolute? As to the house of Lords, they are a very powerful support to the crown, so long as they are, in their turn, supported by it; but both experience and reason show, that they have no force or authority sufficient to maintain themselves alone, without such support. How, therefore, shall we solve this paradox? And by what means is this member of our constitution confined within the proper limits; since, from our very constitution, it must necessarily have as much power as it demands, and can only be confined by itself? How is this consistent with our experience of human nature? I answer, that the interest of the body is here restrained by that of the individuals, and that the house of commons stretches not its power, because such an usurpation would be contrary to the interest of the majority of its members. The crown has so many offices at its disposal, that, when assisted by the honest and disinterested part of the house, it will always command the

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resolutions of the whole; so far, at least, as to preserve the ancient constitution from danger. We may, therefore, give to this influence what name we please; we may call it by the invidious appellations of corruption and dependence; but some degree and some kind of it are inseparable from the very nature of the constitution, and necessary to the preservation of our mixed government. Instead then of asserting1 absolutely, that the dependence of parliament, in every degree, is an infringement of British liberty, the country-party should have made some concessions to their adversaries, and have only examined what was the proper degree of this dependence, beyond which it became dangerous to liberty. But such a moderation is not to be expected in party-men of any kind. After a concession of this nature, all declamation must be abandoned; and a calm enquiry into the proper degree of courtinfluence and parliamentary dependence would have been expected by the readers. And though the advantage, in such a controversy, might possibly remain to the country-party; yet the victory would not be so compleat as they wish for, nor would a true patriot have given an entire loose to his zeal, for fear of running matters into a contrary extreme, by diminishing too2 far the influence of the crown. It was, therefore, thought best to deny, that this extreme could ever be dangerous to the constitution, or that the crown could ever have too little influence over members of parliament. All questions concerning the proper medium between extremes are difficult to be decided; both because it is not easy to find words proper to fix this medium, and because the good and ill, in such cases, run so gradually into each other, as even to render our sentiments doubtful and uncertain. But there is a peculiar difficulty in the present case, which would embarrass the most knowing and most impartial examiner. The power of the crown is always lodged in a single person, either king or minister; and as this person may have either a greater or less degree of ambition, capacity, courage, popularity, or fortune, the power, which is too great in one hand, may become too little in another. In pure republics, where the authority is distributed among several assemblies or senates, the checks and controuls are more regular in their operation; because the members of such numerous assemblies may be presumed 1 See Dissertation on Parties, throughout. 2  By that influence of the crown, which I would justify, I mean only that which arises from the offices and honours that are at the disposal of the crown. As to private bribery, it may be considered in the same light as the practice of employing spies, which is scarcely justifiable in a good minister, and is infamous in a bad one: But to be a spy, or to be corrupted, is always infamous under all ministers, and is to be regarded as a shameless prostitution. Polybius justly esteems the pecuniary influence of the senate and censors to be one of the regular and constitutional weights, which preserved the balance of the Roman government. lib. 6. cap. 15.

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to be always nearly equal in capacity and virtue; and it is only their number, riches, or authority, which enter into consideration. But a limited monarchy admits not of any such stability; nor is it possible to assign to the crown such a determinate degree of power, as will, in every hand, form a proper counterbalance to the other parts of the constitution. This is an unavoidable disadvantage, among the many advantages, attending that species of government.

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ESSAY 7

Whether the British Government inclines more to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic 1

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It affords a violent prejudice against almost every science, that no prudent man, however sure of his principles, dares prophesy concerning any event, or foretel the remote consequences of things. A physician will not venture to pronounce concerning the condition of his patient a fortnight or month after: And still less dares a politician foretel the situation of public affairs a few years hence. Harrington thought himself so sure of his general principle, that the balance of power depends on that of property, that he ventured to pronounce it impossible ever to re-establish monarchy in England: But his book was scarcely published when the king was restored; and we see, that monarchy has ever since subsisted upon the same footing as before. Notwithstanding this unlucky example, I will venture to examine an important question, to wit, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic; and in which of these two species of government it will most probably terminate? As there seems not to be any great danger of a sudden revolution either way, I shall at least escape the shame attending my temerity, if I should be found to have been mistaken. Those who assert, that the balance of our government inclines towards absolute monarchy, may support their opinion by the following reasons. That property has a great influence on power cannot possibly be denied; but yet the general maxim, that the balance of one depends on the balance of the other, must be received with several limitations. It is evident, that much less property in a single hand will be able to counterbalance a greater property in several; not only because it is difficult to make many persons combine in the same views and measures; but because property, when united, causes much greater dependence, than the same property, when dispersed. A hundred persons, of 1000 l. a year a-piece, can consume all their income, and no body shall ever be the better for them, except their servants and tradesmen, who justly regard their profits as the product of their own labour. But a man possessed of 100,000 l. a year, if he has either any generosity or any cunning, may create a great dependence by obligations, and still a greater by ­expectations. Hence we may observe, that, in all free governments, any subject exorbitantly rich has always created jealousy, even though his riches

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bore no proportion to those of the state. Crassus’s fortune, if I remember well, amounted only to about two millions and a half of our money; yet we find, that, though his genius was nothing extraordinary, he was able, by means of his riches alone, to counterbalance, during his lifetime, the power of Pompey as well as that of Cæsar, who afterwards became master of the world. The wealth of the Medici made them masters of Florence; though, it is probable, it was not considerable, compared to the united property of that opulent republic. These considerations are apt to make one entertain a magnificent idea of the British spirit and love of liberty; since we could maintain our free government, during so many centuries, against our sovereigns, who, besides the power and dignity and majesty of the crown, have always been possessed of much more property than any subject has ever enjoyed in any commonwealth. But it may be said, that this spirit, however great, will never be able to support itself against that immense property, which is now lodged in the king, and which is still encreasing. Upon a moderate computation, there are near three millions a year at the disposal of the crown. The civil list amounts to near a million; the collection of all taxes to another; and the employments in the army and navy, together with ecclesiastical preferments, to above a third million: An enormous sum, and what may fairly be computed to be more than a thirtieth part of the whole income and labour of the kingdom. When we add to this great property, the encreasing luxury of the nation, our proneness to corruption, together with the great power and prerogatives of the crown, and the command of military force, there is no one but must despair of being able, without extraordinary efforts, to support our free government much longer under these disadvantages. On the other hand, those who maintain, that the biass of the British government leans towards a republic, may support their opinion by specious arguments. It may be said, that, though this immense property in the crown, be joined to the dignity of first magistrate, and to many other legal powers and prerogatives, which should naturally give it greater influence; yet it really becomes less dangerous to liberty upon that very account. Were England a republic, and were any private man possessed of a revenue, a third, or even a tenth part as large as that of the crown, he would very justly excite jealousy; because he would infallibly have great authority in the government: And such an irregular authority, not avowed by the laws, is always more dangerous than a much greater authority, derived from them. A man, possessed of usurped power, can set no bounds to his pretensions: His partizans have liberty to hope for every thing in his favour: His enemies provoke his ambition, with his fears, by the violence of their opposition: And

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Whether the British Government inclines more to Absolute Monarchy 63

the government being thrown into a ferment, every corrupted humour in the state naturally gathers to him. On the contrary, a legal authority, though great, has always some bounds, which terminate both the hopes and pretensions of the person possessed of it: The laws must have provided a remedy against its excesses: Such an eminent magistrate has much to fear, and little to hope from his usurpations: And as his legal authority is quietly submitted to, he has small temptation and small opportunity of extending it farther. Besides, it happens, with regard to ambitious aims and projects, what may be observed with regard to sects of philosophy and religion. A new sect excites such a ferment, and is both opposed and defended with such vehemence, that it always spreads faster, and multiplies its partizans with greater rapidity, than any old established opinion, recommended by the sanction of the laws and of antiquity. Such is the nature of novelty, that, where any thing pleases, it becomes doubly agreeable, if new; but if it displeases, it is doubly displeasing, upon that very account. And, in most cases, the violence of ­enemies is favourable to ambitious projects, as well as the zeal of partizans. It may further be said, that, though men be much governed by interest; yet even interest itself, and all human affairs, are entirely governed by opinion. Now, there has been a sudden and sensible change in the opinions of men within these last fifty years, by the progress of learning and of liberty. Most people, in this island, have divested themselves of all superstitious reverence to names and authority: The clergy have much lost their credit: Their pretensions and doctrines have been ridiculed; and even religion can scarcely support itself in the world. The mere name of king commands little respect; and to talk of a king as God’s vicegerent on earth, or to give him any of those magnificent titles, which formerly dazzled mankind, would but excite laughter in every one. Though the crown, by means of its large revenue, may maintain its authority in times of tranquillity, upon private inter­est and influence; yet, as the least shock or convulsion must break all these interests to pieces, the royal power, being no longer supported by the settled principles and opinions of men, will immediately dissolve. Had men been in the same disposition at the revolution, as they are at present, monarchy would have run a great risque of being entirely lost in this island. Durst I venture to deliver my own sentiments amidst these opposite arguments, I would assert, that, unless there happen some extraordinary convulsion, the power of the crown, by means of its large revenue, is rather upon the encrease; though, at the same time I own, that its progress seems very slow, and almost insensible. The tide has run long, and with some rapidity, to the side of popular government, and is just beginning to turn towards monarchy.

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It is well known, that every government must come to a period, and that death is unavoidable to the political as well as to the animal body. But, as one kind of death may be preferable to another, it may be enquired, whether it be more desirable for the British constitution to terminate in a popular government, or in absolute monarchy? Here I would frankly declare, that, though liberty be preferable to slavery, in almost every case; yet I should rather wish to see an absolute monarch than a republic in this island. For, let us consider, what kind of republic we have reason to expect. The question is not concerning any fine imaginary republic, of which a man may form a plan in his closet. There is no doubt, but a popular government may be imagined more perfect than absolute monarchy, or even than our present constitution. But what reason have we to expect that any such government will ever be established in Great Britain, upon the dissolution of our monarchy? If any single person acquire power enough to take our constitution to pieces, and put it up anew, he is really an absolute monarch; and we have already had an instance of this kind, sufficient to convince us, that such a person will never resign his power, or establish any free government. Matters, therefore, must be trusted to their natural progress and operation; and the house of commons, according to its present constitution, must be the only legislature in such a popular government. The inconveniencies attending such a situation of affairs, present themselves by thousands. If the house of commons, in such a case, ever dissolve itself, which is not to be expected, we may look for a civil war every election. If it continue itself, we shall suffer all the tyranny of a faction, subdivided into new factions. And, as such a violent government cannot long subsist, we shall, at last, after many convulsions, and civil wars, find repose in absolute monarchy, which it would have been happier for us to have established peaceably from the beginning. Absolute monarchy, therefore, is the easiest death, the true Euthanasia of the British ­constitution. Thus, if we have reason to be more jealous of monarchy, because the danger is more imminent from that quarter; we have also reason to be more jealous of popular government, because that danger is more terrible. This may teach us a lesson of moderation in all our political controversies.

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ESSAY 8

Of Parties in General 1

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Of all men, that distinguish themselves by memorable atchievements, the first place of honour seems due to Legislators and founders of states, who transmit a system of laws and institutions to secure the peace, happiness, and liberty of future generations. The influence of useful inventions in the arts and sciences may, perhaps, extend farther than that of wise laws, whose effects are limited both in time and place; but the benefit arising from the former, is not so sensible as that which results from the latter. Speculative sciences do, indeed, improve the mind; but this advantage reaches only to a few persons, who have leisure to apply themselves to them. And as to practical arts, which encrease the commodities and enjoyments of life, it is well known, that men’s happiness consists not so much in an abundance of these, as in the peace and security with which they possess them; and those blessings can only be derived from good government. Not to mention, that general virtue and good morals in a state, which are so requisite to happiness, can never arise from the most refined precepts of philosophy, or even the severest injunctions of religion; but must proceed entirely from the virtuous education of youth, the effect of wise laws and institutions. I must, therefore, presume to differ from Lord Bacon in this particular, and must regard antiquity as somewhat unjust in its distribution of honours, when it made gods of all the inventors of useful arts, such as Ceres, Bacchus, Æsculapius; and dignified legislators, such as Romulus and Theseus, only with the appellation of demigods and heroes. As much as legislators and founders of states ought to be honoured and respected among men, as much ought the founders of sects and factions to be detested and hated; because the influence of faction is directly contrary to that of laws. Factions subvert government, render laws impotent, and beget the fiercest animosities among men of the same nation, who ought to give mutual assistance and protection to each other. And what should render the founders of parties more odious is, the difficulty of extirpating these weeds, when once they have taken root in any state. They naturally propagate themselves for many centuries, and seldom end but by the total ­dissolution of that government, in which they are sown. They are, besides, plants which grow most plentifully in the richest soil; and though absolute

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governments be not wholly free from them, it must be confessed, that they rise more easily, and propagate themselves faster in free governments, where they always infect the legislature itself, which alone could be able, by the steady application of rewards and punishments, to eradicate them. Factions may be divided into Personal and Real; that is, into factions, founded on personal friendship or animosity among such as compose the contending parties, and into those founded on some real difference of sentiment or interest. The reason of this distinction is obvious; though I must acknowledge, that parties are seldom found pure and unmixed, either of the one kind or the other. It is not often seen, that a government divides into factions, where there is no difference in the views of the constituent members, either real or apparent, trivial or material: And in those factions, which are founded on the most real and most material difference, there is always observed a great deal of personal animosity or affection. But notwithstanding this mixture, a party may be denominated either personal or real, according to that principle which is predominant, and is found to have the greatest influence. Personal factions arise most easily in small republics. Every domestic quarrel, there, becomes an affair of state. Love, vanity, emulation, any passion, as well as ambition and resentment, begets public division. The Neri and Bianchi of Florence, the Fregosi and Adorni of Genoa, the Colonesi and Orsini of modern Rome, were parties of this kind. Men have such a propensity to divide into personal factions, that the smallest appearance of real difference will produce them. What can be ­imagined more trivial than the difference between one colour of livery and another in horse races? Yet this difference begat two most inveterate factions in the Greek empire, the Prasini and Veneti, who never suspended their animosities, till they ruined that unhappy government. We find in the Roman history a remarkable dissension between two tribes, the Pollia and Papiria, which continued for the space of near three hundred years, and discovered itself in their suffrages at every election of ­magistrates.1 This faction was the more remarkable, as it could continue for 1  As this fact has not been much observed by antiquaries or politicians, I shall deliver it in the words of the Roman historian. Populus Tusculanus cum conjugibus ac liberis Romam venit: Ea multitudo, veste mutata, & specie reorum tribus circuit, genibus se omnium advolvens. Plus itaque misericordia ad pœnæ veniam impetrandam, quam causa ad crimen purgandum valuit. Tribus omnes præter Polliam, antiquarunt legem. Polliæ sententia fuit, puberes verberatos necari, liberos conjugesque sub corona lege belli venire: Memoriamque ejus iræ Tusculanis in pœnæ tam atrocis auctores mansisse ad patris ætatem constat; nec quemquam fere ex Pollia tribu candidatum Papiriam ferre solitam, Titi Livii, lib. 8. The Castelani and Nicolotti are two mobbish factions in Venice, who frequently box together, and then lay aside their quarrels presently.

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so long a tract of time; even though it did not spread itself, nor draw any of the other tribes into a share of the quarrel. If mankind had not a strong propensity to such divisions, the indifference of the rest of the community must have suppressed this foolish animosity, that had not any aliment of new ­benefits and injuries, of general sympathy and antipathy, which never fail to take place, when the whole state is rent into two equal factions. Nothing is more usual than to see parties, which have begun upon a real difference, continue even after that difference is lost. When men are once enlisted on opposite sides, they contract an affection to the persons with whom they are united, and an animosity against their antagonists: And these passions they often transmit to their posterity. The real difference between Guelf and Ghibbelline was long lost in Italy, before these factions were extinguished. The Guelfs adhered to the pope, the Ghibbellines to the emperor; yet the family of Sforza, who were in alliance with the emperor, though they were Guelfs, being expelled Milan by the king2 of France, assisted by Jacomo Trivulzio and the Ghibbellines, the pope concurred with the latter, and they formed leagues with the pope against the emperor. The civil wars which arose some few years ago in Morocco, between the blacks and whites, merely on account of their complexion, are founded on a pleasant difference. We laugh at them; but I believe, were things rightly examined, we afford much more occasion of ridicule to the Moors. For, what are all the wars of religion, which have prevailed in this polite and knowing part of the world? They are certainly more absurd than the Moorish civil wars. The difference of complexion is a sensible and a real difference: But the controversy about an article of faith, which is utterly absurd and unintelligible, is not a difference in sentiment, but in a few phrases and expressions, which one party accepts of, without understanding them; and the other refuses in the same manner. Real factions may be divided into those from interest, from principle, and from affection. Of all factions, the first are the most reasonable, and the most excusable. Where two orders of men, such as the nobles and people, have a distinct authority in a government, not very accurately balanced and modelled, they naturally follow a distinct interest; nor can we reasonably expect a different conduct, considering that degree of selfishness implanted in human nature. It requires great skill in a legislator to prevent such parties; and many philosophers are of opinion, that this secret, like the grand elixir, or perpetual motion, may amuse men in theory, but can never possibly be 2  Lewis XII.

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reduced to practice. In despotic governments, indeed, factions often do not appear; but they are not the less real; or rather, they are more real and more pernicious, upon that very account. The distinct orders of men, nobles and people, soldiers and merchants, have all a distinct interest; but the more powerful oppresses the weaker with impunity, and without resistance; which begets a seeming tranquillity in such governments. There has been an attempt in England to divide the landed and trading part of the nation; but without success. The interests of these two bodies are not really distinct, and never will be so, till our public debts encrease to such a degree, as to become altogether oppressive and intolerable. Parties from principle, especially abstract speculative principle, are known only to modern times, and are, perhaps, the most extraordinary and unaccountable phænomenon, that has yet appeared in human affairs. Where different principles beget a contrariety of conduct, which is the case with all different political principles, the matter may be more easily explained. A man, who esteems the true right of government to lie in one man, or one family, cannot easily agree with his fellow-citizen, who thinks that another man or family is possessed of this right. Each naturally wishes that right may take place, according to his own notions of it. But where the difference of principle is attended with no contrariety of action, but every one may follow his own way, without interfering with his neighbour, as happens in all religious controversies; what madness, what fury can beget such unhappy and such fatal divisions? Two men, travelling on the highway, the one east, the other west, can easily pass each other, if the way be broad enough: But two men, reasoning upon opposite principles of religion, cannot so easily pass, without shocking; though one should think, that the way were also, in that case, sufficiently broad, and that each might proceed, without interruption, in his own course. But such is the nature of the human mind, that it always lays hold on every mind that approaches it; and as it is wonderfully fortified by an unanimity of sentiments, so is it shocked and disturbed by any contrariety. Hence the eagerness, which most people discover in a dispute; and hence their impatience of opposition, even in the most speculative and indifferent opinions. This principle, however frivolous it may appear, seems to have been the origin of all religious wars and divisions. But as this principle is universal in human nature, its effects would not have been confined to one age, and to one sect of religion, did it not there concur with other more accidental causes, which raise it to such a height, as to produce the greatest misery and devastation. Most religions of the ancient world arose in the unknown ages of government, when men were as yet barbarous and uninstructed, and the prince, as well as peasant, was disposed to receive, with implicit faith, every

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pious tale or fiction, which was offered him. The magistrate embraced the religion of the people, and entering cordially into the care of sacred matters, naturally acquired an authority in them, and united the ecclesiastical with the civil power. But the Christian religion arising, while principles directly opposite to it were firmly established in the polite part of the world, who despised the nation that first broached this novelty; no wonder, that, in such circumstances, it was but little countenanced by the civil magistrate, and that the priesthood was allowed to engross all the authority in the new sect. So bad a use did they make of this power, even in those early times, that the primitive persecutions may, perhaps, in part,3 be ascribed to the violence instilled by them into their followers. And the same principles of priestly government continuing, after Christianity became the established religion, they have engendered a spirit of persecution, which has ever since been the poison of human society, and the source of the most inveterate factions in every government. Such divisions, therefore, on the part of the people, may justly be esteemed factions of principle; but, on the part of the priests, who are the prime movers, they are really factions of interest. There is another cause (beside the authority of the priests, and the separation of the ecclesiastical and civil powers) which has contributed to render Christendom the scene of religious wars and divisions. Religions, that arise in ages totally ignorant and barbarous, consist mostly of traditional tales and fictions, which may be different in every sect, without being contrary to each other; and even when they are contrary, every one adheres to the tradition of his own sect, without much reasoning or disputation. But as philosophy was widely spread over the world, at the time when Christianity arose, the teachers of the new sect were obliged to form a system of speculative opinions; to divide, with some accuracy, their articles of faith; and to explain, comment, confute, and defend with all the subtilty of argument and science. Hence naturally arose 3  I say, in part; for it is a vulgar error to imagine, that the ancients were as great friends to toleration as the English or Dutch are at present. The laws against external superstition, amongst the Romans, were as ancient as the time of the twelve tables; and the Jews as well as Christians were sometimes punished by them; though, in general, these laws were not rigorously executed. Immediately after the conquest of Gaul, they forbad all but the natives to be initiated into the religion of the Druids; and this was a kind of persecution. In about a century after this conquest, the emperor, Claudius, quite abolished that superstition by penal laws; which would have been a very grievous persecution, if the imitation of the Roman manners had not, before-hand, weaned the Gauls from their ancient prejudices. Sueton. in vita Claudii. Pliny ascribes the abolition of the Druidical superstitions to Tiberius, probably because that emperor had taken some steps towards restraining them (lib. 30. cap. 1.). This is an instance of the usual caution and moderation of the Romans in such cases; and very different from their violent and sanguinary method of treating the Christians. Hence we may entertain a suspicion, that those furious persecutions of Christianity were, in some measure, owing to the imprudent zeal and bigotry of the first propagators of that sect; and Ecclesiastical history affords us many reasons to confirm this suspicion.

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keenness in dispute, when the Christian religion came to be split into new divisions and heresies: And this keenness assisted the priests in their policy, of begetting a mutual hatred and antipathy among their deluded followers. Sects of philosophy, in the ancient world, were more zealous than parties of religion; but in modern times, parties of religion are more furious and enraged than the most cruel factions that ever arose from interest and ambition. I have mentioned parties from affection as a kind of real parties, beside those from interest and principle. By parties from affection, I understand those which are founded on the different attachments of men towards p ­ articular families and persons, whom they desire to rule over them. These factions are often very violent; though, I must own, it may seem unaccountable, that men should attach themselves so strongly to persons, with whom they are no wise acquainted, whom perhaps they never saw, and from whom they never received, nor can ever hope for any favour. Yet this we often find to be the case, and even with men, who, on other occasions, discover no great generosity of spirit, nor are found to be easily transported by friendship beyond their own interest. We are apt to think the relation between us and our sovereign very close and intimate. The splendour of majesty and power bestows an importance on the fortunes even of a single person. And when a man’s good nature does not give him this imaginary interest, his ill nature will, from spite and opposition to persons whose sentiments are different from his own.

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ESSAY 9

Of the Parties of Great Britain 1

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Were the British government proposed as a subject of speculation, one would immediately perceive in it a source of division and party, which it would be almost impossible for it, under any administration, to avoid. The just balance between the republican and monarchical part of our constitution is really, in itself, so extremely delicate and uncertain, that, when joined to men’s passions and prejudices, it is impossible but different opinions must arise concerning it, even among persons of the best understanding. Those of mild tempers, who love peace and order, and detest sedition and civil wars, will always entertain more favourable sentiments of monarchy, than men of bold and generous spirits, who are passionate lovers of liberty, and think no evil comparable to subjection and slavery. And though all ­reasonable men agree in general to preserve our mixed government; yet, when they come to particulars, some will incline to trust greater powers to  the crown, to bestow on it more influence, and to guard against its encroachments with less caution, than others who are terrified at the most distant approaches of tyranny and despotic power. Thus are there parties of  Principle involved in the very nature of our constitution, which may properly enough be denominated those of Court and Country. The strength and violence of each of these parties will much depend upon the particular administration. An administration may be so bad, as to throw a great majority into the opposition; as a good administration will reconcile to the court many of the most passionate lovers of liberty. But however the nation may fluctuate between them, the parties themselves will always subsist, so long as we are governed by a limited monarchy. But, besides this difference of Principle, those parties are very much fomented by a difference of Interest, without which they could scarcely ever be dangerous or violent. The crown will naturally bestow all trust and power upon those, whose principles, real or pretended, are most favourable to monarchical government; and this temptation will naturally engage them to go greater lengths than their principles would otherwise carry them. Their antagonists, who are disappointed in their ambitious aims, throw themselves into the party whose sentiments incline them to be most jealous of royal power, and naturally carry those sentiments to a greater height than

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sound politics will justify. Thus, Court and Country, which are the genuine offspring of the British government, are a kind of mixed parties, and are influenced both by principle and by interest. The heads of the factions are commonly most governed by the latter motive; the inferior members of them by the former. As to ecclesiastical parties; we may observe, that, in all ages of the world, priests have been enemies to liberty; and it is certain, that this steady conduct of theirs must have been founded on fixed reasons of interest and ambition. Liberty of thinking, and of expressing our thoughts, is always fatal to priestly power, and to those pious frauds, on which it is commonly founded; and, by an infallible connexion, which prevails among all kinds of liberty, this privilege can never be enjoyed, at least, has never yet been enjoyed, but in a free government. Hence it must happen, in such a constitution as that of Great Britain, that the established clergy, while things are in their natural situation, will always be of the Court-party; as, on the contrary, dissenters of all kinds will be of the Country-party; since they can never hope for that toleration, which they stand in need of, but by means of  our free government. All princes, that have aimed at despotic power, have  known of what importance it was to gain the established clergy: As the clergy, on their part have shown a great facility in entering into the views of such princes.1 Gustavus Vaza was, perhaps, the only ambitious monarch, that ever depressed the church, at the same time that he discouraged liberty. But the exorbitant power of the bishops in Sweden, who, at that time, overtopped the crown itself, together with their attachment to a foreign family, was the reason of his embracing such an unusual system of politics. This observation, concerning the propensity of priests to the government of a single person, is not true with regard to one sect only. The Presbyterian and Calvinistic clergy in Holland were professed friends to the family of  Orange; as the Arminians, who were esteemed heretics, were of the Louvestein faction, and zealous for liberty. But if a prince have the choice of both, it is easy to see, that he will prefer the episcopal to the presbyterian form of government, both because of the greater affinity between monarchy and episcopacy, and because of the facility, which he will find, in such a ­government, of ruling the clergy, by means of their ecclesiastical superiors.2 1  Judæi sibi ipsi reges imposuere; qui mobilitate vulgi expulsi, resumpta per arma dominatione; fugas civium, urbium eversiones, fratrum, conjugum, parentum neces, aliaque solita regibus ausi, superstitionem fovebant; quia honor sacerdotii firmamentum potentiæ assumebatur. Tacit. hist. lib. 5. 2  Populi imperium juxta libertatem: paucorum dominatio regiæ libidini proprior est. Tacit. ann. lib. 6.

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If we consider the first rise of parties in England, during the great rebellion, we shall observe, that it was conformable to this general theory, and that the species of government gave birth to them, by a regular and infallible operation. The English constitution, before that period, had lain in a kind of confusion; yet so, as that the subjects possessed many noble privileges, which, though not exactly bounded and secured by law, were universally deemed, from long possession, to belong to them as their birthright. An ambitious, or rather a misguided, prince arose, who deemed all these privileges to be concessions of his predecessors, revokeable at pleasure; and, in prosecution of this principle, he openly acted in violation of liberty, during the course of several years. Necessity, at last, constrained him to call a parliament: The spirit of liberty arose and spread itself: The prince, being without any support, was obliged to grant every thing required of him: And his enemies, jealous and implacable, set no bounds to their pretensions. Here then began those contests, in which it was no wonder, that men of that age were divided into different parties; since, even at this day, the impartial are at a loss to decide concerning the justice of the quarrel. The pretensions of the parliament, if yielded to, broke the balance of the constitution, by rendering the government almost entirely republican. If not yielded to, the nation was, perhaps, still in danger of absolute power, from the settled principles and inveterate habits of the king, which had plainly appeared in every concession that he had been constrained to make to his people. In this question, so delicate and uncertain, men naturally fell to the side which was most conformable to their usual principles; and the more passionate favourers of  monarchy declared for the king, as the zealous friends of liberty sided with the parliament. The hopes of success being nearly equal on both sides, interest had no general influence in this contest: So that Round-head and Cavalier were merely parties of principle; neither of which disowned either monarchy or liberty; but the former party inclined most to the republican part of our government, the latter to the monarchical. In this respect, they may be considered as court and country-party, enflamed into a civil war, by an unhappy concurrence of circumstances, and by the turbulent spirit of the age. The commonwealth’s men, and the partizans of absolute power, lay concealed in both parties, and formed but an inconsiderable part of them. The clergy had concurred with the king’s arbitrary designs; and, in return, were allowed to persecute their adversaries, whom they called heretics and schismatics. The established clergy were episcopal; the non-conformists presbyterian: So that all things concurred to throw the former, without reserve, into the king’s party; and the latter into that of the parliament.

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Every one knows the event of this quarrel; fatal to the king first, to the parliament afterwards. After many confusions and revolutions, the royal family was at last restored, and the ancient government re-established. Charles II. was not made wiser by the example of his father; but prosecuted the same measures, though at first, with more secrecy and caution. New parties arose, under the appellation of Whig and Tory, which have continued ever since to confound and distract our government. To determine the nature of these parties is, perhaps, one of the most difficult problems, that can be met with, and is a proof that history may contain questions, as uncertain as any to be found in the most abstract sciences. We have seen the conduct of the two parties, during the course of seventy years, in a vast variety of circumstances, possessed of power, and deprived of it, during peace, and during war: Persons, who profess themselves of one side or other, we meet with every hour, in company, in our pleasures, in our serious occupations: We ourselves are constrained, in a manner, to take party; and living in a country of the highest liberty, every one may openly declare all his sentiments and opinions: Yet are we at a loss to tell the nature, pretensions, and principles of the different factions. When we compare the parties of Whig and Tory, with those of ­Round-head and Cavalier, the most obvious difference, that appears between them, consists in the principles of passive obedience, and indefeasible right, which were but little heard of among the Cavaliers, but became the universal doctrine, and were esteemed the true characteristic of a Tory. Were these principles pushed into their most obvious consequences, they imply a formal renunciation of all our liberties, and an avowal of absolute monarchy; since nothing can be a greater absurdity than a limited power, which must not be resisted, even when it exceeds its limitations. But as the most rational principles are often but a weak counterpoise to passion; it is no wonder that these absurd principles were found too weak for that effect. The Tories, as men, were enemies to oppression; and also as Englishmen, they were enemies to arbitrary power. Their zeal for liberty, was, perhaps, less fervent than that of their antagonists; but was sufficient to make them forget all their general principles, when they saw themselves openly threatened with a subversion of the ancient government. From these sentiments arose the revolution; an event of mighty consequence, and the firmest foundation of British liberty. The conduct of the Tories, during that event, and after it, will afford us a true insight into the nature of that party. In the first place, they appear to have had the genuine sentiments of Britons in their affection for liberty, and in their determined resolution not to sacrifice it to any abstract principle whatsoever, or to any imaginary rights

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of princes. This part of their character might justly have been doubted of before the revolution, from the obvious tendency of their avowed principles, and from their compliances with a court, which seemed to make little secret of its arbitrary designs. The revolution showed them to have been, in this respect, nothing, but a genuine court-party, such as might be expected in a British government: That is, Lovers of liberty, but greater lovers of monarchy. It must, however, be confessed, that they carried their monarchical principles farther, even in practice, but more so in theory, than was, in any degree, consistent with a limited government. Secondly, Neither their principles nor affections concurred, entirely or heartily, with the settlement made at the revolution, or with that which has since taken place. This part of their character may seem opposite to the former; since any other settlement, in those circumstances of the nation, must probably have been dangerous, if not fatal to liberty. But the heart of man is made to reconcile contradictions; and this contradiction is not greater than that between passive obedience, and the resistance employed at the revolution. A Tory, therefore, since the revolution, may be defined in a few words, to be a lover of monarchy, though without abandoning liberty; and a partizan of the family of Stuart. As a Whig may be defined to be a lover of liberty though without renouncing monarchy; and a friend to the settlement in the Protestant line. These different views, with regard to the settlement of the crown, were accidental, but natural additions to the principles of the court and country parties, which are the genuine divisions in the British government. A passionate lover of monarchy is apt to be displeased at any change of the succession; as favouring too much of a commonwealth: A passionate lover of liberty is apt to think that every part of the government ought to be subordinate to the interests of liberty. Some, who will not venture to assert, that the real difference between Whig and Tory was lost at the revolution, seem inclined to think, that the difference is now abolished, and that affairs are so far returned to their natural state, that there are at present no other parties among us but court and ­country; that is, men, who, by interest or principle, are attached either to monarchy or liberty. The Tories have been so long obliged to talk in the republican style, that they seem to have made converts of themselves by their hypocrisy, and to have embraced the sentiments, as well as language of their adversaries. There are, however, very considerable remains of that party in England, with all their old prejudices; and a proof that court and country are not our only parties, is, that almost all the dissenters side with the court, and the lower clergy, at least, of the church of England, with the

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opposition. This may convince us, that some biass still hangs upon our constitution, some extrinsic weight, which turns it from its natural course, and causes a confusion in our parties.3 3  Some of the opinions delivered in these Essays, with regard to the public transactions in the last century, the Author, on more accurate examination, found reason to retract in his History of Great Britain. And as he would not enslave himself to the systems of either party, neither would he fetter his judgment by his own preconceived opinions and principles; nor is he ashamed to acknowledge his mistakes. These mistakes were indeed, at that time, almost universal in this ­kingdom.

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ESSAY 1 0

Of Superstition and Enthusiasm 1

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That the corruption of the best things produces the worst, is grown into a maxim, and is commonly proved, among other instances, by the pernicious effects of superstition and enthusiasm, the corruptions of true religion. These two species of false religion, though both pernicious, are yet of a very different, and even of a contrary nature. The mind of man is subject to certain unaccountable terrors and apprehensions, proceeding either from the unhappy situation of private or public affairs, from ill health, from a gloomy and melancholy disposition, or from the concurrence of all these circumstances. In such a state of mind, infinite unknown evils are dreaded from unknown agents; and where real objects of terror are wanting, the soul, active to its own prejudice, and fostering its predominant inclination, finds imaginary ones, to whose power and malevolence it sets no limits. As these enemies are entirely invisible and unknown, the methods taken to appease them are equally unaccountable, and consist in ceremonies, observances, mortifications, sacrifices, presents, or in any practice, however absurd or frivolous, which either folly or knavery recommends to a blind and terrified credulity. Weakness, fear, melancholy, together with ignorance, are, therefore, the true sources of Superstition. But the mind of man is also subject to an unaccountable elevation and presumption, arising from prosperous success, from luxuriant health, from strong spirits, or from a bold and confident disposition. In such a state of mind, the imagination swells with great, but confused conceptions, to which no sublunary beauties or enjoyments can correspond. Every thing mortal and perishable vanishes as unworthy of attention. And a full range is given to the fancy in the invisible regions or world of spirits, where the soul is at liberty to indulge itself in every imagination, which may best suit its present taste and disposition. Hence arise raptures, transports, and surprizing flights of fancy; and confidence and presumption still encreasing, these raptures, being altogether unaccountable, and seeming quite beyond the reach of our ordinary faculties, are attributed to the immediate inspiration of that Divine Being, who is the object of devotion. In a little time, the inspired person comes to regard himself as a distinguished favourite of the Divinity; and when this frenzy once takes place, which is the summit of enthusiasm,

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every whimsy is consecrated: Human reason, and even morality are rejected as fallacious guides: And the fanatic madman delivers himself over, blindly, and without reserve, to the supposed illapses of the spirit, and to inspiration from above. Hope, pride, presumption, a warm imagination, together with ignorance, are, therefore, the true sources of Enthusiasm. These two species of false religion might afford occasion to many speculations; but I shall confine myself, at present, to a few reflections concerning their different influence on government and society. My first reflection is, That superstition is favourable to priestly power, and enthusiasm not less or rather more contrary to it, than sound reason and philosophy. As superstition is founded on fear, sorrow, and a depression of spirits, it represents the man to himself in such despicable colours, that he appears unworthy, in his own eyes, of approaching the divine presence, and naturally has recourse to any other person, whose sanctity of life, or, perhaps, impudence and cunning, have made him be supposed more favoured by the Divinity. To him the superstitious entrust their devotions: To his care they recommend their prayers, petitions, and sacrifices: And by his means, they hope to render their addresses acceptable to their incensed Deity. Hence the origin of Priests, who may justly be regarded as an invention of a timorous and abject superstition, which, ever diffident of itself, dares not offer up its own devotions, but ignorantly thinks to recommend itself to the Divinity, by the mediation of his supposed friends and servants. As superstition is a considerable ingredient in almost all religions, even the most fanatical; there being nothing but philosophy able entirely to conquer these unaccountable terrors; hence it proceeds, that in almost every sect of religion there are priests to be found: But the stronger mixture there is of superstition, the higher is the authority of the priesthood. On the other hand, it may be observed, that all enthusiasts have been free from the yoke of ecclesiastics, and have expressed great independence in their devotion; with a contempt of forms, ceremonies, and traditions. The quakers are the most egregious, though, at the same time, the most innocent enthusiasts that have yet been known; and are, perhaps, the only sect, that have never admitted priests amongst them. The independents, of all the English sectaries, approach nearest to the quakers in fanaticism, and in their freedom from priestly bondage. The presbyterians follow after, at an equal distance in both particulars. In short, this observation is founded in experience; and will also appear to be founded in reason, if we consider, that, as enthusiasm arises from a presumptuous pride and confidence, it thinks itself sufficiently qualified to approach the Divinity, without any human mediator. Its rapturous devotions are so fervent, that it even imagines itself actually

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to approach him by the way of contemplation and inward converse; which makes it neglect all those outward ceremonies and observances, to which the assistance of the priests appears so requisite in the eyes of their superstitious votaries. The fanatic consecrates himself, and bestows on his own person a sacred character, much superior to what forms and ceremonious institutions can confer on any other. My second reflection with regard to these species of false religion is, that religions, which partake of enthusiasm are, on their first rise, more furious and violent than those which partake of superstition; but in a little time become more gentle and moderate. The violence of this species of religion, when excited by novelty, and animated by opposition, appears from numberless instances; of the anabaptists in Germany, the camisars in France, the levellers and other fanatics in England, and the covenanters in Scotland. Enthusiasm being founded on strong spirits, and a presumptuous boldness of character, it naturally begets the most extreme resolutions; especially after it rises to that height as to inspire the deluded fanatic with the opinion of divine illuminations, and with a contempt for the common rules of reason, morality, and prudence. It is thus enthusiasm produces the most cruel disorders in human society; but its fury is like that of thunder and tempest, which exhaust themselves in a little time, and leave the air more calm and serene than before. When the first fire of enthusiasm is spent, men naturally, in all fanatical sects, sink into the greatest remissness and coolness in sacred matters; there being no body of men among them, endowed with sufficient authority, whose interest is concerned to support the religious spirit: No rites, no ceremonies, no holy observances, which may enter into the common train of life, and preserve the sacred principles from oblivion. Superstition, on the contrary, steals in gradually and insensibly; renders men tame and submissive; is acceptable to the magistrate, and seems inoffensive to the people: Till at last the priest, having firmly established his authority, becomes the tyrant and disturber of human society, by his endless contentions, persecutions, and religious wars. How smoothly did the Romish church advance in her acquisition of power? But into what dismal convulsions did she throw all Europe, in order to maintain it? On the other hand, our sectaries, who were formerly such dangerous bigots, are now become very free reasoners; and the quakers seem to approach nearly the only regular body of deists in the universe, the literati, or the disciples of Confucius in China.1 My third observation on this head is, that superstition is an enemy to civil liberty, and enthusiasm a friend to it. As superstition groans under the dominion 1 The Chinese Literati have no priests or ecclesiastical establishment.

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of priests, and enthusiasm is destructive of all ecclesiastical power, this sufficiently accounts for the present observation. Not to mention, that enthusiasm, being the infirmity of bold and ambitious tempers, is naturally accompanied with a spirit of liberty; as superstition, on the contrary, renders men tame and abject, and fits them for slavery. We learn from English history, that, during the civil wars, the independents and deists, though the most opposite in their religious principles; yet were united in their political ones, and were alike passionate for a commonwealth. And since the origin of whig and tory, the leaders of the whigs have either been deists or profest latitudinarians in their principles; that is, friends to toleration, and indifferent to any particular sect of Christians: While the sectaries, who have all a strong tincture of enthusiasm, have always, without exception, concurred with that party, in defence of civil liberty. The resemblance in their superstitions long united the high-church tories, and the Roman Catholics, in support of prerogative and kingly power; though experience of the tolerating spirit of the whigs seems of late to have reconciled the Catholics to that party. The molinists and jansenists in France have a thousand unintelligible ­disputes, which are not worthy the reflection of a man of sense: But what principally distinguishes these two sects, and alone merits attention, is the different spirit of their religion. The molinists, conducted by the jesuits, are great friends to superstition, rigid observers of external forms and ceremonies, and devoted to the authority of the priests, and to tradition. The jansenists are enthusiasts, and zealous promoters of the passionate devotion, and of the inward life; little influenced by authority; and, in a word, but half Catholics. The consequences are exactly conformable to the foregoing ­reasoning. The jesuits are the tyrants of the people, and the slaves of the court: And the jansenists preserve alive the small sparks of the love of liberty, which are to be found in the French nation.

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ESSAY 1 1

Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature 1

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There are certain sects, which secretly form themselves in the learned world, as well as factions in the political; and though sometimes they come not to an open rupture, they give a different turn to the ways of thinking of those who have taken part on either side. The most remarkable of this kind are the sects, founded on the different sentiments with regard to the dignity of human nature; which is a point that seems to have divided philosophers and poets, as well as divines, from the beginning of the world to this day. Some exalt our species to the skies, and represent man as a kind of human demigod, who derives his origin from heaven, and retains evident marks of his lineage and descent. Others insist upon the blind sides of human nature, and can discover nothing, except vanity, in which man surpasses the other animals, whom he affects so much to despise. If an author possess the talent of rhetoric and declamation, he commonly takes part with the former: If his turn lie towards irony and ridicule, he naturally throws himself into the other extreme. I am far from thinking, that all those, who have depreciated our species, have been enemies to virtue, and have exposed the frailties of their fellowcreatures with any bad intention. On the contrary, I am sensible that a delicate sense of morals, especially when attended with a splenetic temper, is apt to give a man a disgust of the world, and to make him consider the common course of human affairs with too much indignation. I must, however, be of opinion, that the sentiments of those, who are inclined to think favourably of mankind, are more advantageous to virtue, than the contrary principles, which give us a mean opinion of our nature. When a man is prepossessed with a high notion of his rank and character in the creation, he will naturally endeavour to act up to it, and will scorn to do a base or vicious action, which might sink him below that figure which he makes in his own imagination. Accordingly we find, that all our polite and fashionable moralists insist upon this topic, and endeavour to represent vice as unworthy of man, as well as odious in itself. We find few disputes, that are not founded on some ambiguity in the expression; and I am persuaded, that the present dispute, concerning the dignity or meanness of human nature, is not more exempt from it than any

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other. It may, therefore, be worth while to consider, what is real, and what is only verbal, in this controversy. That there is a natural difference between merit and demerit, virtue and vice, wisdom and folly, no reasonable man will deny: Yet is it evident, that, in affixing the term, which denotes either our approbation or blame, we are commonly more influenced by comparison than by any fixed unalterable standard in the nature of things. In like manner, quantity, and extension, and bulk, are by every one acknowledged to be real things: But when we call any animal great or little, we always form a secret comparison between that animal and others of the same species; and it is that comparison which regulates our judgment concerning its greatness. A dog and a horse may be of the very same size, while the one is admired for the greatness of its bulk, and the other for the smallness. When I am present, therefore, at any dispute, I always consider with myself, whether it be a question of comparison or not that is the subject of the controversy; and if it be, whether the disputants compare the same objects together, or talk of things that are widely different. In forming our notions of human nature, we are apt to make a comparison between men and animals, the only creatures endowed with thought that fall under our senses. Certainly this comparison is favourable to mankind. On the one hand, we see a creature, whose thoughts are not limited by any narrow bounds, either of place or time; who carries his researches into the most distant regions of this globe, and beyond this globe, to the planets and heavenly bodies; looks backward to consider the first origin, at least, the history of human race; casts his eye forward to see the influence of his actions upon posterity, and the judgments which will be formed of his character a thousand years hence; a creature, who traces causes and effects to a great length and intricacy; extracts general principles from particular appearances; improves upon his discoveries; corrects his mistakes; and makes his very errors profitable. On the other hand, we are presented with a creature the very reverse of this; limited in its observations and reasonings to a few sensible objects which surround it; without curiosity, without foresight; blindly conducted by instinct, and attaining, in a short time, its utmost perfection, beyond which it is never able to advance a single step. What a wide difference is there between these creatures! And how exalted a notion must we entertain of the former, in comparison of the latter! There are two means commonly employed to destroy this conclusion: First, By making an unfair representation of the case, and insisting only upon the weaknesses of human nature. And secondly, By forming a new and secret comparison between man and beings of the most perfect wisdom. Among the other excellencies of man, this is one, that he can form an idea

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of perfections much beyond what he has experience of in himself; and is not limited in his conception of wisdom and virtue. He can easily exalt his notions and conceive a degree of knowledge, which, when compared to his own, will make the latter appear very contemptible, and will cause the difference between that and the sagacity of animals, in a manner, to disappear and vanish. Now this being a point, in which all the world is agreed, that human understanding falls infinitely short of perfect wisdom; it is proper we should know when this comparison takes place, that we may not dispute where there is no real difference in our sentiments. Man falls much more short of perfect wisdom, and even of his own ideas of perfect wisdom, than animals do of  man; yet the latter difference is so considerable, that nothing but a comparison with the former, can make it appear of little moment. It is also usual to compare one man with another; and finding very few whom we can call wise or virtuous, we are apt to entertain a contemptible notion of our species in general. That we may be sensible of the fallacy of this way of reasoning, we may observe, that the honourable appellations of wise and virtuous, are not annexed to any particular degree of those qualities of wisdom and virtue; but arise altogether from the comparison we make between one man and another. When we find a man, who arrives at such a pitch of wisdom as is very uncommon, we pronounce him a wise man: So that to say, there are few wise men in the world, is really to say nothing; since it is only by their scarcity, that they merit that appellation. Were the lowest of our species as wise as Tully, or Lord Bacon, we should still have reason to say, that there are few wise men. For in that case we should exalt our notions of wisdom, and should not pay a singular honour to any one, who was not singularly distinguished by his talents. In like manner, I have heard it observed by thoughtless people, that there are few women possessed of beauty, in comparison of those who want it; not considering, that we bestow the epithet of beautiful only on such as possess a degree of beauty, that is common to them with a few. The same degree of beauty in a woman is called deformity, which is treated as real beauty in one of our sex. As it is usual, in forming a notion of our species, to compare it with the other species above or below it, or to compare the individuals of the species among themselves; so we often compare together the different motives or actuating principles of human nature, in order to regulate our judgment concerning it. And, indeed, this is the only kind of comparison, which is worth our attention, or decides any thing in the present question. Were our selfish and vicious principles so much predominant above our social and ­virtuous, as is asserted by some philosophers, we ought undoubtedly to entertain a contemptible notion of human nature.

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There is much of a dispute of words in all this controversy. When a man denies the sincerity of all public spirit or affection to a country and community, I am at a loss what to think of him. Perhaps he never felt this passion in so clear and distinct a manner as to remove all his doubts concerning its force and reality. But when he proceeds afterwards to reject all private friendship, if no interest or self-love intermix itself; I am then confident that he abuses terms, and confounds the ideas of things; since it is impossible for any one to be so selfish, or rather so stupid, as to make no difference between one man and another, and give no preference to qualities, which engage his approbation and esteem. Is he also, say I, as insensible to anger as he pretends to be to friendship? And does injury and wrong no more affect him than kindness or benefits? Impossible: He does not know himself: He has forgotten the movements of his heart; or rather he makes use of a different language from the rest of his countrymen, and calls not things by their proper names. What say you of natural affection? (I subjoin) Is that also a species of self-love? Yes: All is self-love. Your children are loved only because they are yours: Your friend for a like reason: And your country engages you only so far as it has a connexion with yourself: Were the idea of self removed, nothing would affect you: You would be altogether unactive and insensible: Or, if you ever gave yourself any movement, it would only be from vanity, and a desire of fame and reputation to this same self. I am willing, reply I, to receive your interpretation of human actions, provided you admit the facts. That species of self-love, which displays itself in kindness to others, you must allow to have great influence over human actions, and even greater, on many occasions, than that which remains in its original shape and form. For how few are there, who, having a family, children, and relations, do not spend more on the maintenance and education of these than on their own pleasures? This, indeed, you justly observe, may proceed from their self-love, since the prosperity of their family and friends is one, or the chief of their pleasures, as well as their chief honour. Be you also one of these selfish men, and you are sure of every one’s goodopinion and good-will; or not to shock your ears with these expressions, the self-love of every one, and mine among the rest, will then incline us to serve you, and speak well of you. In my opinion, there are two things which have led astray those ­philosophers, that have insisted so much on the selfishness of man. In the first place, they found, that every act of virtue or friendship was attended with a secret pleasure; whence they concluded, that friendship and virtue could not be disinterested. But the fallacy of this is obvious. The virtuous sentiment or passion produces the pleasure, and does not arise from it. I feel

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a pleasure in doing good to my friend, because I love him; but do not love him for the sake of that pleasure. In the second place, it has always been found, that the virtuous are far from being indifferent to praise; and therefore they have been represented as a set of vain-glorious men, who had nothing in view but the applauses of others. But this also is a fallacy. It is very unjust in the world, when they find any tincture of vanity in a laudable action, to depreciate it upon that account, or ascribe it entirely to that motive. The case is not the same with vanity, as with other passions. Where avarice or revenge enters into any seemingly virtuous action, it is difficult for us to determine how far it enters, and it is natural to suppose it the sole actuating principle. But vanity is so closely allied to virtue, and to love the fame of laudable actions approaches so near the love of laudable actions for their own sake, that these passions are more capable of mixture, than any other kinds of affection; and it is almost impossible to have the latter without some degree of the former. Accordingly, we find, that this passion for glory is always warped and varied according to the particular taste or disposition of the mind on which it falls. Nero had the same vanity in driving a chariot, that Trajan had in governing the empire with justice and ability. To love the glory of virtuous deeds is a sure proof of the love of virtue.

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ESSAY 1 2

Of Civil Liberty 1

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Those who employ their pens on political subjects, free from party-rage, and party-prejudices, cultivate a science, which, of all others, contributes most to public utility, and even to the private satisfaction of those who addict themselves to the study of it. I am apt, however, to entertain a suspicion, that the world is still too young to fix many general truths in politics, which will remain true to the latest posterity. We have not as yet had experience of three thousand years; so that not only the art of reasoning is still imperfect in this science, as in all others, but we even want sufficient materials upon which we can reason. It is not fully known, what degree of refinement, either in virtue or vice, human nature is susceptible of; nor what may be expected of mankind from any great revolution in their education, customs, or ­principles. Machiavel was certainly a great genius; but having confined his study to the furious and tyrannical governments of ancient times, or to the little disorderly principalities of Italy, his reasonings, especially upon monarchical government, have been found extremely defective; and there scarcely is any maxim in his Prince, which subsequent experience has not entirely refuted. A weak prince, says he, is incapable of receiving good counsel; for if he consult with several, he will not be able to choose among their different counsels. If he abandon himself to one, that minister may, perhaps, have capacity; but he will not long be a minister: He will be sure to dispossess his master, and place himself and his family upon the throne. I mention this, among many instances of the errors of that politician, proceeding, in a great measure, from his having lived in too early an age of the world, to be a good judge of political truth. Almost all the princes of Europe are at present governed by their ministers; and have been so for near two centuries; and yet no such event has ever happened, or can possibly happen. Sejanus might project dethroning the Cæsars; but Fleury, though ever so vicious, could not, while in his senses, entertain the least hopes of dispossessing the Bourbons. Trade was never esteemed an affair of state till the last century; and there scarcely is any ancient writer on politics, who has made mention of it.1 Even 1  Xenophon mentions it; but with a doubt if it be of any advantage to a state. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐμπορία ὠϕελεῖ τι πόλιν, &c. Xen. Hiero. Plato totally excludes it from his imaginary republic. de legibus, lib. 4.

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the Italians have kept a profound silence with regard to it, though it has now engaged the chief attention, as well of ministers of state, as of speculative reasoners. The great opulence, grandeur, and military atchievements of the two maritime powers seem first to have instructed mankind in the importance of an extensive commerce. Having, therefore, intended in this essay to make a full comparison of civil liberty and absolute government, and to show the great advantages of the former above the latter; I began to entertain a suspicion, that no man in this age was sufficiently qualified for such an undertaking; and that whatever any one should advance on that head would, in all probability, be refuted by further experience, and be rejected by posterity. Such mighty revolutions have happened in human affairs, and so many events have arisen contrary to the expectation of the ancients, that they are sufficient to beget the suspicion of still further changes. It had been observed by the ancients, that all the arts and sciences arose among free nations; and, that the Persians and Egyptians, notwithstanding their ease, opulence, and luxury, made but faint efforts towards a relish in those finer pleasures, which were carried to such perfection by the Greeks, amidst continual wars, attended with poverty, and the greatest simplicity of life and manners. It had also been observed, that, when the Greeks lost their liberty, though they encreased mightily in riches, by means of the conquests of Alexander; yet the arts, from that moment, declined among them, and have never since been able to raise their head in that climate. Learning was transplanted to Rome, the only free nation at that time in the universe; and having met with so favourable a soil, it made prodigious shoots for above a century; till the decay of liberty produced also the decay of letters, and spread a total barbarism over the world. From these two experiments, of which each was double in its kind, and showed the fall of learning in absolute governments, as well as its rise in popular ones, Longinus thought himself sufficiently justified, in asserting, that the arts and sciences could never flourish, but in a free government: And in this opinion, he has been followed by several eminent writers2 in our own country, who either confined their view merely to ancient facts, or entertained too great a partiality in favour of that form of government, established amongst us. But what would these writers have said, to the instances of modern Rome and of Florence? Of which the former carried to perfection all the finer arts of sculpture, painting, and music, as well as poetry, though it groaned under tyranny, and under the tyranny of priests: While the latter made its 2 Mr. Addison and Lord Shaftesbury.

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chief progress in the arts and sciences, after it began to lose its liberty by the usurpation of the family of Medici. Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, more than Raphæl, and Michæl Angelo, were not born in republics. And though the Lombard school was famous as well as the Roman, yet the Venetians have had the smallest share in its honours, and seem rather inferior to the other Italians, in their genius for the arts and sciences. Rubens established his school at Antwerp, not at Amsterdam: Dresden, not Hamburgh, is the centre of politeness in Germany. But the most eminent instance of the flourishing of learning in absolute governments, is that of France, which scarcely ever enjoyed any established liberty, and yet has carried the arts and sciences as near perfection as any other nation. The English are, perhaps, greater philosophers; the Italians better painters and musicians; the Romans were greater orators: But the French are the only people, except the Greeks, who have been at once ­philosophers, poets, orators, historians, painters, architects, sculptors, and musicians. With regard to the stage, they have excelled even the Greeks, who far excelled the English. And, in common life, they have, in a great measure, perfected that art, the most useful and agreeable of any, l’Art de Vivre, the art of society and conversation. If we consider the state of the sciences and polite arts in our own country, Horace’s observation, with regard to the Romans, may, in a great measure, be applied to the British.

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—— Sed in longum tamen ævum Manserunt, hodieque manent vestigia ruris. 8

The elegance and propriety of style have been very much neglected among us. We have no dictionary of our language, and scarcely a tolerable grammar. The first polite prose we have, was written by a man who is still alive.3 As to Sprat, Locke, and even Temple, they knew too little of the rules of art to be esteemed elegant writers. The prose of Bacon, Harrington, and Milton, is altogether stiff and pedantic; though their sense be excellent. Men, in this country, have been so much occupied in the great disputes of Religion, Politics, and Philosophy, that they had no relish for the seemingly minute observations of grammar and criticism. And though this turn of thinking must have considerably improved our sense and our talent of reasoning; it must be confessed, that, even in those sciences above-­mentioned, we have not any standard-book, which we can transmit to posterity: And the utmost we have to boast of, are a few essays towards a more just philosophy; 3 Dr. Swift.

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which, indeed, promise well, but have not, as yet, reached any degree of perfection. It has become an established opinion, that commerce can never flourish but in a free government; and this opinion seems to be founded on a longer and larger experience than the foregoing, with regard to the arts and sciences. If we trace commerce in its progress through Tyre, Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Venice, Florence, Genoa, Antwerp, Holland, England, &c. we shall always find it to have fixed its seat in free governments. The three greatest trading towns now in Europe, are London, Amsterdam, and Hamburgh; all free cities, and protestant cities; that is, enjoying a double liberty. It must, however, be observed, that the great jealousy entertained of late, with regard to the commerce of France, seems to prove, that this maxim is no more certain and infallible than the foregoing, and that the subjects of an absolute prince may become our rivals in commerce, as well as in learning. Durst I deliver my opinion in an affair of so much uncertainty, I would assert, that, notwithstanding the efforts of the French, there is something hurtful to commerce inherent in the very nature of absolute government, and inseparable from it: Though the reason I should assign for this opinion, is somewhat different from that which is commonly insisted on. Private property seems to me almost as secure in a civilized European monarchy, as in a republic; nor is danger much apprehended in such a government, from the violence of the sovereign; more than we commonly dread harm from thunder, or earthquakes, or any accident the most unusual and extraordinary. Avarice, the spur of industry, is so obstinate a passion, and works its way through so many real dangers and difficulties, that it is not likely to be scared by an imaginary danger, which is so small, that it scarcely admits of calculation. Commerce, therefore, in my opinion, is apt to decay in absolute governments, not because it is there less secure, but because it is less honourable. A subordination of ranks is absolutely necessary to the support of monarchy. Birth, titles, and place, must be honoured above industry and riches. And while these notions prevail, all the considerable traders will be tempted to throw up their commerce, in order to purchase some of those employments, to which privileges and honours are annexed. Since I am upon this head, of the alterations which time has produced, or  may produce in politics, I must observe, that all kinds of government, free and absolute, seem to have undergone, in modern times, a great change for the better, with regard both to foreign and domestic management. The balance of power is a secret in politics, fully known only to the present age; and I must add, that the internal Police of states has also received great improvements within the last century. We are informed by Sallust, that

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Catiline’s army was much augmented by the accession of the highwaymen about Rome; though I believe, that all of that profession, who are at present dispersed over Europe, would not amount to a regiment. In Cicero’s pleadings for Milo, I find this argument, among others, made use of to prove, that his client had not assassinated Clodius. Had Milo, said he, intended to have killed Clodius, he had not attacked him in the day-time, and at such a distance from the city: He had way-laid him at night, near the suburbs, where it might have been pretended, that he was killed by robbers; and the frequency of the accident would have favoured the deceit. This is a surprizing proof of the loose police of Rome, and of the number and force of these robbers; since Clodius4 was at that time attended by thirty slaves, who were compleatly armed, and sufficiently accustomed to blood and danger in the frequent tumults excited by that seditious tribune. But though all kinds of government be improved in modern times, yet monarchical government seems to have made the greatest advances towards perfection. It may now be affirmed of civilized monarchies, what was formerly said in praise of republics alone, that they are a government of Laws, not of Men. They are found susceptible of order, method, and constancy, to a surprizing degree. Property is there secure; industry encouraged; the arts flourish; and the prince lives secure among his subjects, like a father among his children. There are, perhaps, and have been for two centuries, near two hundred absolute princes, great and small, in Europe; and allowing twenty years to each reign, we may suppose, that there have been in the whole two thousand monarchs or tyrants, as the Greeks would have called them: Yet of these there has not been one, not even Philip II. of Spain, so bad as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, or Domitian, who were four in twelve amongst the Roman emperors. It must, however, be confessed, that, though monarchical governments have approached nearer to popular ones, in gentleness and stability; they are still inferior. Our modern education and customs instil more humanity and moderation than the ancient; but have not as yet been able to overcome entirely the disadvantages of that form of government. But here I must beg leave to advance a conjecture, which seems probable, but which posterity alone can fully judge of. I am apt to think, that, in monarchical governments there is a source of improvement, and in popular governments a source of degeneracy, which in time will bring these species of civil polity still nearer an equality. The greatest abuses, which arise in France, the most perfect model of pure monarchy, proceed not from the number or weight of the taxes, beyond what are to be met with in free c­ ountries; but 4 Vide Asc. Ped. in orat. pro Milone.

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from the expensive, unequal, arbitrary, and intricate method of levying them, by which the industry of the poor, especially of the peasants and farmers, is, in a great measure, discouraged, and agriculture rendered a beggarly and slavish employment. But to whose advantage do these abuses tend? If to that of the nobility, they might be esteemed inherent in that form of government; since the nobility are the true supports of monarchy; and it is natural their interest should be more consulted, in such a constitution, than that of the people. But the nobility are, in reality, the chief losers by this oppression; since it ruins their estates, and beggars their tenants. The only gainers by it are the Finançiers, a race of men rather odious to the nobility and the whole kingdom. If a prince or minister, therefore, should arise, endowed with sufficient discernment to know his own and the public interest, and with sufficient force of mind to break through ancient customs, we might expect to see these abuses remedied; in which case, the difference between that absolute government and our free one, would not appear so considerable as at present. The source of degeneracy, which may be remarked in free governments, consists in the practice of contracting debt, and mortgaging the public revenues, by which taxes may, in time, become altogether intolerable, and all the property of the state be brought into the hands of the public. This practice is of modern date. The Athenians, though governed by a republic, paid near two hundred per cent. for those sums of money, which any emergence made it necessary for them to borrow; as we learn from Xenophon.5 Among the moderns, the Dutch first introduced the practice of borrowing great sums at low interest, and have well nigh ruined themselves by it. Absolute princes have also contracted debt; but as an absolute prince may make a bankruptcy when he pleases, his people can never be oppressed by his debts. In popular governments, the people, and chiefly those who have the highest offices, being commonly the public creditors, it is difficult for the state to make use of this remedy, which, however it may sometimes be necessary, is always cruel and barbarous. This, therefore, seems to be an inconvenience, which nearly threatens all free governments; especially our own, at the ­present juncture of affairs. And what a strong motive is this, to encrease our frugality of public money; lest, for want of it, we be reduced, by the multiplicity of taxes, or what is worse, by our public impotence and inability for defence, to curse our very liberty, and wish ourselves in the same state of servitude with all the nations that surround us? 5  Κτῆσιν δὲ ἀπ’οὐδενὸς ἂν οὕτω καλὴν κτήσαιντο, ὥσπερ ἀϕ’ οὗ ἂν προτελέσωσιν εἰς τήν ἀϕορμὴν – οἱ δέ γε πλείστοι Ἀθηναίων πλείονα λήψονται κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν ἢ ὅσα ἂν εἰσενέγκωσιν, οἱ  γὰρ μνᾶν προτελέσαντες, ἐγγὺς δυοῖν μναῖν πρόσοδον ἕξουσι – ὃ δοκεῖ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀσϕαλέστατον τε καὶ πολυχρονιώτατον εἶναι. ΞΕΝ. ΠΟΡΟΙ.

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ESSAY 1 3

Of Eloquence 1

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Those, who consider the periods and revolutions of human kind, as re­presented in history, are entertained with a spectacle full of pleasure and variety, and see, with surprize, the manners, customs, and opinions of the same species susceptible of such prodigious changes in different periods of time. It may, however, be observed, that, in civil history, there is found a much greater uniformity than in the history of learning and science, and that the wars, negociations, and politics of one age resemble more those of  another, than the taste, wit, and speculative principles. Interest and ambition, honour and shame, friendship and enmity, gratitude and revenge, are the prime movers in all public transactions; and these passions are of a  very stubborn and intractable nature, in comparison of the sentiments and understanding, which are easily varied by education and example. The Goths were much more inferior to the Romans, in taste and science, than in courage and virtue. But not to compare together nations so widely different; it may be observed, that even this later period of human learning is, in many respects, of an opposite character to the ancient; and that if we be superior in philosophy, we are still, notwithstanding all our refinements, much inferior in eloquence. In ancient times, no work of genius was thought to require so great parts and capacity, as the speaking in public; and some eminent writers have pronounced the talents, even of a great poet or philosopher, to be of an inferior nature to those which are requisite for such an undertaking. Greece and Rome produced, each of them, but one accomplished orator; and whatever praises the other celebrated speakers might merit, they were still esteemed much inferior to these great models of eloquence. It is observable, that the ancient critics could scarcely find two orators in any age, who deserved to be placed precisely in the same rank, and possessed the same degree of merit. Calvus, Cælius, Curio, Hortensius, Cæsar rose one above another: But the greatest of that age was inferior to Cicero, the most eloquent speaker, that had ever appeared in Rome. Those of fine taste, however, pronounced this judgment of the Roman orator, as well as of the Grecian, that both of them surpassed in eloquence all that had ever appeared, but that they were far from reaching the perfection of their art, which was infinite, and not only

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exceeded human force to attain, but human imagination to conceive. Cicero declares himself dissatisfied with his own performances; nay, even with those of Demosthenes. Ita sunt avidæ & capaces meæ aures, says he, & semper aliquid immensum, infinitumque desiderant. Of all the polite and learned nations, England alone possesses a popular government, or admits into the legislature such numerous assemblies as can be supposed to lie under the dominion of eloquence. But what has England to boast of in this particular? In enumerating the great men, who have done honour to our country, we exult in our poets and philosophers; but what orators are ever mentioned? Or where are the monuments of their genius to be met with? There are found, indeed, in our histories, the names of several, who directed the resolutions of our parliament: But neither themselves nor others have taken the pains to preserve their speeches; and the authority, which they possessed, seems to have been owing to their experience, wisdom, or power, more than to their talents for oratory. At present, there are above half a dozen speakers in the two houses, who, in the judgment of the public, have reached very near the same pitch of eloquence; and no man pretends to give any one the preference above the rest. This seems to me a certain proof, that none of them have attained much beyond a mediocrity in their art, and that the species of eloquence, which they aspire to, gives no  exercise to the sublimer faculties of the mind, but may be reached by ordinary talents and a slight application. A hundred cabinet-makers in London can work a table or a chair equally well; but no one poet can write verses with such spirit and elegance as Mr. Pope. We are told, that, when Demosthenes was to plead, all ingenious men flocked to Athens from the most remote parts of Greece, as to the most celebrated spectacle of the world.1 At London you may see men sauntering in the court of requests, while the most important debate is carrying on in the two houses; and many do not think themselves sufficiently compensated, for the losing of their dinners, by all the eloquence of our most celebrated speakers. When old Cibber is to act, the curiosity of several is more excited, than when our prime minister is to defend himself from a motion for his removal or impeachment. Even a person, unacquainted with the noble remains of ancient orators, may judge, from a few strokes, that the style or species of their eloquence was infinitely more sublime than that which modern orators aspire to. How 1  Ne illud quidem intelligunt, non modo ita memoriæ proditum esse, sed ita necesse fuisse, cum Demosthenes dicturus esset, ut concursus, audiendi causa, ex tota Grecia fierent. At cum isti Attici dicunt, non modo a corona (quod est ipsum miserabile) sed etiam ab advocatis relinquuntur. Cicero, de claris oratoribus.

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absurd would it appear, in our temperate and calm speakers, to make use of an Apostrophe, like that noble one of Demosthenes, so much celebrated by Quintilian and Longinus, when, justifying the unsuccessful battle of Chæronea, he breaks out, No, my Fellow-Citizens, No: You have not erred. I swear by the manes of those heroes, who fought for the same cause in the plains of Marathon and Platæa. Who could now endure such a bold and poetical figure, as that which Cicero employs, after describing in the most tragical terms the crucifixion of a Roman citizen. Should I paint the horrors of this scene, not to Roman citizens, not to the allies of our state, not to those who have ever heard of the Roman Name, not even to men, but to brute-creatures; or, to go farther, should I lift up my voice in the most desolate solitude, to the rocks and mountains, yet should I surely see those rude and inanimate parts of nature moved with horror and indignation at the recital of so enormous an action.2 With what a blaze of eloquence must such a sentence be surrounded to give it grace, or cause it to make any impression on the hearers? And what noble art and sublime talents are requisite to arrive, by just degrees, at a sentiment so bold and excessive: To enflame the audience, so as to make them accompany the speaker in such violent passions, and such elevated conceptions: And to  conceal, under a torrent of eloquence, the artifice, by which all this is effectuated! Should this sentiment even appear to us excessive, as perhaps it  justly may, it will at least serve to give an idea of the style of ancient eloquence, where such swelling expressions were not rejected as wholly monstrous and gigantic. Suitable to this vehemence of thought and expression, was the vehemence of action, observed in the ancient orators. The supplosio pedis, or stamping with the foot, was one of the most usual and moderate gestures which they made use of;3 though that is now esteemed too violent, either for the senate, bar, or pulpit, and is only admitted into the theatre, to accompany the most violent passions, which are there represented. One is somewhat at a loss to what cause we may ascribe so sensible a decline of eloquence in later ages. The genius of mankind, at all times, is, 2  The original is; Quod si hæc non ad cives Romanos, non ad aliquos amicos nostræ civitatis, non ad eos qui populi Romani nomen audissent; denique, si non ad homines, verum ad bestias; aut etiam, ut longius progrediar, si in aliqua desertissima solitudine, ad saxa & ad scopulos hæc conqueri & deplorare vellem, tamen omnia muta atque inanima, tanta & tam indigna rerum atrocitate commoverentur. Cicero, in ver. 3  Ubi dolor? Ubi ardor animi, qui etiam ex infantium ingeniis elicere voces & querelas solet? nulla perturbatio animi, nulla corporis: frons non percussa, non femur; pedis (quod minimum est) nulla supplosio. Itaque tantum abfuit ut inflammares nostros animos; somnum isto loco vix ­tenebamus. Cicero, de claris oratoribus.

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perhaps, equal: The moderns have applied themselves, with great industry and success, to all the other arts and sciences: And a learned nation possesses a popular government; a circumstance which seems requisite for the full display of these noble talents: But notwithstanding all these advantages, our progress in eloquence is very inconsiderable, in comparison of the advances, which we have made in all other parts of learning. Shall we assert, that the strains of ancient eloquence are unsuitable to our age, and ought not to be imitated by modern orators? Whatever reasons may be made use of to prove this, I am persuaded they will be found, upon examination, to be unsound and unsatisfactory. First, It may be said, that, in ancient times, during the flourishing period of Greek and Roman learning, the municipal laws, in every state, were but few and simple, and the decision of causes was, in a great measure, left to the equity and common sense of the judges. The study of the laws was not then a laborious occupation, requiring the drudgery of a whole life to finish it, and incompatible with every other study or profession. The great statesmen and generals among the Romans were all lawyers; and Cicero, to show the facility of acquiring this science, declares, that, in the midst of all his occupations, he would undertake, in a few days, to make himself a compleat ­civilian. Now, where a pleader addresses himself to the equity of his judges, he has much more room to display his eloquence, than where he must draw his arguments from strict laws, statutes, and precedents. In the former case, many circumstances must be taken in; many personal considerations regarded; and even favour and inclination, which it belongs to the orator, by his art and eloquence, to conciliate, may be disguised under the appearance of equity. But how shall a modern lawyer have leisure to quit his toilsome occupations, in order to gather the flowers of Parnassus? Or what opportunity shall he have of displaying them, amidst the rigid and subtile arguments,  objections, and replies, which he is obliged to make use of? The greatest genius, and greatest orator, who should pretend to plead before the Chancellor, after a month’s study of the laws, would only labour to make himself ridiculous. I am ready to own, that this circumstance, of the multiplicity and intricacy of laws, is a discouragement to eloquence in modern times: But I assert, that it will not entirely account for the decline of that noble art. It may ­banish oratory from Westminster-hall, but not from either house of parliament. Among the Athenians, the Areopagites expressly forbad all allurements of eloquence; and some have pretended that in the Greek orations, written in the judiciary form, there is not so bold and rhetorical a style, as appears in the Roman. But to what a pitch did the Athenians carry their

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eloquence in the deliberative kind, when affairs of state were canvassed, and the liberty, happiness, and honour of the republic were the subject of debate? Disputes of this nature elevate the genius above all others, and give the fullest scope to eloquence; and such disputes are very frequent in this nation. Secondly, It may be pretended that the decline of eloquence is owing to the superior good sense of the moderns, who reject with disdain all those rhetorical tricks, employed to seduce the judges, and will admit of nothing but solid argument in any debate or deliberation. If a man be accused of murder, the fact must be proved by witnesses and evidence; and the laws will afterwards determine the punishment of the criminal. It would be ridiculous to describe, in strong colours, the horror and cruelty of the action: To introduce the relations of the dead; and, at a signal, make them throw themselves at the feet of the judges, imploring justice with tears and lamentations: And still more ridiculous would it be, to employ a picture representing the bloody deed, in order to move the judges by the display of so tragical a spectacle: Though we know, that this artifice was sometimes practiced by the pleaders of old.4 Now, banish the pathetic from public discourses, and you reduce the speakers merely to modern eloquence; that is, to good sense, delivered in proper expression. Perhaps it may be acknowledged, that our modern customs, or our superior good sense, if you will, should make our orators more cautious and reserved than the ancient, in attempting to enflame the passions, or elevate the imagination of their audience: But, I see no reason, why it should make them despair absolutely of succeeding in that attempt. It should make them redouble their art, not abandon it entirely. The ancient orators seem also to have been on their guard against this jealousy of their audience; but they took a different way of eluding it.5 They hurried away with such a torrent of sublime and pathetic, that they left their hearers no leisure to perceive the artifice, by which they were deceived. Nay, to consider the matter aright, they were not deceived by any artifice. The orator, by the force of his own genius and eloquence, first enflamed himself with anger, indignation, pity, sorrow; and then communicated those impetuous movements to his audience. Does any man pretend to have more good sense than Julius Cæsar? yet that haughty conqueror, we know, was so subdued by the charms of Cicero’s eloquence, that he was, in a manner, constrained to change his settled ­purpose and resolution, and to absolve a criminal, whom, before that orator pleaded, he was determined to condemn. 4  Quintil. lib. 6. cap. 1.    5  Longinus, cap. 15.

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Some objections, I own, notwithstanding his vast success, may lie against some passages of the Roman orator. He is too florid and rhetorical: His figures are too striking and palpable: The divisions of his discourse are drawn chiefly from the rules of the schools: And his wit disdains not always the artifice even of a pun, rhyme, or jingle of words. The Grecian addressed himself to an audience much less refined than the Roman senate or judges. The lowest vulgar of Athens were his sovereigns, and the arbiters of his eloquence.6 Yet is his manner more chaste and austere than that of the other. Could it be copied, its success would be infallible over a modern assembly. It is rapid harmony, exactly adjusted to the sense: It is vehement reasoning, without any appearance of art: It is disdain, anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a continued stream of argument: And of all human productions, the orations of Demosthenes present to us the models, which approach the nearest to perfection. Thirdly, It may be pretended, that the disorders of the ancient governments, and the enormous crimes, of which the citizens were often guilty, afforded much ampler matter for eloquence than can be met with among the moderns. Were there no Verres or Catiline, there would be no Cicero. But that this reason can have no great influence, is evident. It would be easy to find a Philip in modern times; but where shall we find a Demosthenes? What remains, then, but that we lay the blame on the want of genius, or of judgment in our speakers, who either found themselves incapable of reaching the heights of ancient eloquence, or rejected all such endeavours, as unsuitable to the spirit of modern assemblies? A few successful attempts of this nature might rouze the genius of the nation, excite the emulation of the youth, and accustom our ears to a more sublime and more pathetic elocution, than what we have been hitherto entertained with. There is certainly something accidental in the first rise and the progress of the arts in any nation. I doubt whether a very satisfactory reason can be given, why ancient Rome, though it received all its refinements from Greece, could attain only to a relish for statuary, painting, and architecture, without reaching the practice of these arts: While modern Rome has been excited, by a few remains found among the ruins of antiquity, and has produced artists of the 6  The orators formed the taste of the Athenian people, not the people of the orators. Gorgias Leontinus was very taking with them, till they became acquainted with a better manner. His figures of speech, says Diodorus Siculus, his antithesis, his ἰσόκωλος, his ὁμοιοτέλευτον, which are now despised, had a great effect upon the audience. lib. 12. page 106. ex edit. Rhod. It is in vain therefore for modern orators to plead the taste of their hearers as an apology for their lame performances. It would be strange prejudice in favour of antiquity, not to allow a British ­parliament to be naturally superior in judgment and delicacy to an Athenian mob.

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greatest eminence and distinction. Had such a cultivated genius for oratory, as Waller’s for poetry, arisen, during the civil wars, when liberty began to  be fully established, and popular assemblies to enter into all the most material points of government; I am persuaded so illustrious an example would have given a quite different turn to British eloquence, and made us reach the perfection of the ancient model. Our orators would then have done ­honour to their country, as well as our poets, geometers, and philosophers, and British Ciceros have appeared, as well as British Archimedeses and Virgils. It is seldom or never found, when a false taste in poetry or eloquence prevails among any people, that it has been preferred to a true, upon comparison and reflection. It commonly prevails merely from ignorance of the true, and from the want of perfect models, to lead men into a juster apprehension, and more refined relish of those productions of genius. When these appear, they soon unite all suffrages in their favour, and, by their natural and powerful charms, gain over, even the most prejudiced, to the love and admiration of them. The principles of every passion, and of every sentiment, is in every man; and when touched properly, they rise to life, and warm the heart, and convey that satisfaction, by which a work of genius is distinguished from the adulterate beauties of a capricious wit and fancy. And if this observation be true, with regard to all the liberal arts, it must be peculiarly so, with regard to eloquence; which, being merely calculated for the public, and for men of the world, cannot, with any pretence of reason, appeal from the people to more refined judges; but must submit to the public verdict, without reserve or limitation. Whoever, upon comparison, is deemed by a common audience the greatest speaker, ought most certainly to be pronounced such, by men of science and erudition. And though an indifferent orator may triumph for a long time, and be esteemed altogether perfect by the vulgar, who are satisfied with his accomplishments, and know not in what he is defective: Yet, whenever the true genius arises, he draws to him the attention of every one, and immediately appears superior to his rival. Now to judge by this rule, ancient eloquence, that is, the sublime and passionate, is of a much juster taste than the modern, or the argumentative and rational; and, if properly executed, will always have more command and authority over mankind. We are satisfied with our mediocrity, because we have had no experience of any thing better: But the ancients had experience of both, and, upon comparison, gave the preference to that kind, of which they have left us such applauded models. For, if I mistake not, our modern eloquence is of the same style or species with that which ancient critics denominated Attic eloquence, that is, calm, elegant, and subtile, which

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instructed the reason more than affected the passions, and never raised its  tone above argument or common discourse. Such was the eloquence of Lysias among the Athenians, and of Calvus among the Romans. These were esteemed in their time; but when compared with Demosthenes and Cicero, were eclipsed like a taper when set in the rays of a meridian sun. Those latter orators possessed the same elegance, and subtilty, and force of argument, with the former; but what rendered them chiefly admirable, was that pathetic and sublime, which, on proper occasions, they threw into their discourse, and by which they commanded the resolution of their audience. Of this species of eloquence we have scarcely had any instance in England, at least in our public speakers. In our writers, we have had some instances, which have met with great applause, and might assure our ambitious youth of equal or superior glory in attempts for the revival of ancient eloquence. Lord Bolingbroke’s productions, with all their defects in argument, method, and precision, contain a force and energy which our orators scarcely ever aim at; though it is evident, that such an elevated style has much better grace in a speaker than in a writer, and is assured of more prompt and more astonishing success. It is there seconded by the graces of voice and action: The movements are mutually communicated between the orator and the audience: And the very aspect of a large assembly, attentive to the discourse of one man, must inspire him with a peculiar elevation, sufficient to give a  propriety to the strongest figures and expressions. It is true, there is a great prejudice against set speeches; and a man cannot escape ridicule, who repeats a discourse as a school-boy does his lesson, and takes no notice of any thing that has been advanced in the course of the debate. But where is the necessity of falling into this absurdity? A public speaker must know beforehand the question under debate. He may compose all the arguments, objections, and answers, such as he thinks will be most proper for his discourse.7 If any thing new occur, he may supply it from his invention; nor will the difference be very apparent between his elaborate and his extemporary compositions. The mind naturally continues with the same impetus or force, which it has acquired by its motion; as a vessel, once impelled by the oars, carries on its course for some time, when the original impulse is suspended. I shall conclude this subject with observing, that, even though our modern orators should not elevate their style or aspire to a rivalship with the ancient; yet is there, in most of their speeches, a material defect, which they 7  The first of the Athenians, who composed and wrote his speeches, was Pericles, a man of business and a man of sense, if ever there was one, Πρῶτος γραπτὸν λόγον ὲν δικαστηρίῳ εἶπε, τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ σχεδιαζόντων. Suidas in Περικλῆς.

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might correct, without departing from that composed air of argument and reasoning, to which they limit their ambition. Their great affectation of extemporary discourses has made them reject all order and method, which seems so requisite to argument, and without which it is scarcely possible to produce an entire conviction on the mind. It is not, that one would recommend many divisions in a public discourse, unless the subject very evidently offer them: But it is easy, without this formality, to observe a method, and make that method conspicuous to the hearers, who will be infinitely pleased to see the arguments rise naturally from one another, and will retain a more thorough persuasion, than can arise from the strongest reasons, which are thrown together in confusion.

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ESSAY 1 4

Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences 1

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Nothing requires greater nicety, in our enquiries concerning human affairs, than to distinguish exactly what is owing to chance, and what proceeds from causes; nor is there any subject, in which an author is more liable to deceive himself by false subtilties and refinements. To say, that any event is derived from chance, cuts short all farther enquiry concerning it, and leaves the writer in the same state of ignorance with the rest of mankind. But when the event is supposed to proceed from certain and stable causes, he may then display his ingenuity, in assigning these causes; and as a man of any subtilty can never be at a loss in this particular, he has thereby an opportunity of swelling his volumes, and discovering his profound knowledge, in observing what escapes the vulgar and ignorant. The distinguishing between chance and causes must depend upon every particular man’s sagacity, in considering every particular incident. But, if I were to assign any general rule to help us in applying this distinction, it would be the following, What depends upon a few persons is, in a great measure, to be ascribed to chance, or secret and unknown causes: What arises from a great number, may often be accounted for by determinate and known causes. Two natural reasons may be assigned for this rule. First, If you suppose a dye to have any biass, however small, to a particular side, this biass, though, perhaps, it may not appear in a few throws, will certainly prevail in a great number, and will cast the balance entirely to that side. In like manner, when any causes beget a particular inclination or passion, at a certain time, and among a certain people; though many individuals may escape the contagion, and be ruled by passions peculiar to themselves; yet the multitude will ­certainly be seized by the common affection, and be governed by it in all their actions. Secondly, Those principles or causes, which are fitted to operate on a ­multitude, are always of a grosser and more stubborn nature, less subject to accidents, and less influenced by whim and private fancy, than those which operate on a few only. The latter are commonly so delicate and refined, that the smallest incident in the health, education, or fortune of a particular ­person, is sufficient to divert their course, and retard their operation; nor is it possible to reduce them to any general maxims or observations. Their

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influence at one time will never assure us concerning their influence at another; even though all the general circumstances should be the same in both cases. To judge by this rule, the domestic and the gradual revolutions of a state must be a more proper subject of reasoning and observation, than the foreign and the violent, which are commonly produced by single persons, and are more influenced by whim, folly, or caprice, than by general passions and interests. The depression of the lords, and rise of the commons in England, after the statutes of alienation and the encrease of trade and industry, are more easily accounted for by general principles, than the depression of the Spanish, and rise of the French monarchy, after the death of Charles Quint. Had Harry IV. Cardinal Richlieu, and Louis XIV. been Spaniards; and Philip II. III. and IV. and Charles II. been Frenchmen, the history of these two nations had been entirely reversed. For the same reason, it is more easy to account for the rise and progress of commerce in any kingdom, than for that of learning; and a state, which should apply itself to the encouragement of the one, would be more assured of success, than one which should cultivate the other. Avarice, or the desire of gain, is an universal passion, which operates at all times, in all places, and upon all persons: But curiosity, or the love of knowledge, has a very limited influence, and requires youth, leisure, education, genius, and example, to make it govern any person. You will never want booksellers, while there are buyers of books: But there may frequently be readers where there are no authors. Multitudes of people, necessity and liberty, have begotten commerce in Holland: But study and application have scarcely produced any eminent writers. We may, therefore, conclude, that there is no subject, in which we must proceed with more caution, than in tracing the history of the arts and sciences; lest we assign causes which never existed, and reduce what is merely contingent to stable and universal principles. Those who cultivate the sciences in any state, are always few in number: The passion, which governs them, limited: Their taste and judgment delicate and easily perverted: And their application disturbed with the smallest accident. Chance, therefore, or secret and unknown causes, must have a great influence on the rise and progress of all the refined arts. But there is a reason, which induces me not to ascribe the matter altogether to chance. Though the persons, who cultivate the sciences with such astonishing success, as to attract the admiration of posterity, be always few, in all nations and all ages; it is impossible but a share of the same spirit and genius must be antecedently diffused throughout the people among whom they

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arise, in order to produce, form, and cultivate, from their earliest infancy, the taste and judgment of those eminent writers. The mass cannot be ­altogether insipid, from which such refined spirits are extracted. There is a  God within us, says Ovid, who breathes that divine fire, by which we are ­animated.1 Poets, in all ages, have advanced this claim to inspiration. There is not, however, any thing supernatural in the case. Their fire is not kindled from heaven. It only runs along the earth; is caught from one breast to another; and burns brightest, where the materials are best prepared, and most happily disposed. The question, therefore, concerning the rise and progress of the arts and sciences, is not altogether a question concerning the taste, genius, and spirit of a few, but concerning those of a whole people; and may, therefore, be accounted for, in some measure, by general causes and principles. I grant, that a man, who should enquire, why such a particular poet, as Homer, for instance, existed, at such a place, in such a time, would throw himself headlong into chimæra, and could never treat of such a subject, without a multitude of false subtilties and refinements. He might as well pretend to give a reason, why such particular generals, as Fabius and Scipio, lived in Rome at such a time, and why Fabius came into the world before Scipio. For such incidents as these, no other reason can be given than that of Horace.

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Scit genius, natale comes, qui temperat astrum, Naturæ Deus humanæ, mortalis in unum—— ——Quodque caput, vultu mutabilis, albus & ater. 9

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But I am persuaded, that in many cases good reasons might be given, why such a nation is more polite and learned, at a particular time, than any of its neighbours. At least, this is so curious a subject, that it were a pity to abandon it entirely, before we have found whether it be susceptible of reasoning, and can be reduced to any general principles. My first observation on this head is, That it is impossible for the arts and sciences to arise, at first, among any people unless that people enjoy the blessing of a free government. In the first ages of the world, when men are as yet barbarous and ignorant, they seek no farther security against mutual violence and injustice, than the  choice of some rulers, few or many, in whom they place an implicit ­confidence, without providing any security, by laws or political institutions, against the violence and injustice of these rulers. If the authority be ­centered 1  Est Deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo: Impetus hic, sacræ semina mentis habet. Ovid, Fast. lib. 6.

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in a single person, and if the people, either by conquest, or by the ordinary course of propagation, encrease to a great multitude, the monarch, finding it impossible, in his own person, to execute every office of sovereignty, in every place, must delegate his authority to inferior magistrates, who preserve peace and order in their respective districts. As experience and education have not yet refined the judgments of men to any considerable degree, the prince, who is himself unrestrained, never dreams of restraining his ministers, but delegates his full authority to every one, whom he sets over any portion of the people. All general laws are attended with inconveniencies, when applied to particular cases; and it requires great penetration and experience, both to perceive that these inconveniencies are fewer than what result from full discretionary powers in every magistrate; and also to discern what general laws are, upon the whole, attended with fewest inconveniencies. This is a matter of so great difficulty, that men may have made some advances, even in the sublime arts of poetry and eloquence, where a rapidity of genius and imagination assists their progress, before they have arrived at any great refinement in their municipal laws, where frequent trials and diligent observation can alone direct their improvements. It is not, therefore, to be supposed, that a barbarous monarch, unrestrained and uninstructed, will ever become a legislator, or think of restraining his Bashaws, in every province, or even his Cadis in every village. We are told, that the late Czar, though actuated with a noble genius, and smit with the love and admiration of European arts; yet professed an esteem for the Turkish policy in this particular, and approved of such summary decisions of causes, as are practiced in that barbarous monarchy, where the judges are not restrained by any methods, forms, or laws. He did not perceive, how contrary such a practice would have been to all his other endeavours for refining his people. Arbitrary power, in all cases, is somewhat oppressive and debasing; but it is altogether ruinous and intolerable, when contracted into a small compass; and becomes still worse, when the person, who possesses it, knows that the time of his authority is limited and uncertain. Habet subjectos tanquam suos; viles, ut alienos.2 He governs the subjects with full authority, as if they were his own; and with negligence or tyranny, as belonging to another. A people, governed after such a manner, are slaves in the full and proper sense of the word; and it is impossible they can ever aspire to any refinements of taste or reason. They dare not so much as pretend to enjoy the necessaries of life in plenty or security.

2  Tacit. hist. lib. 1.

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To expect, therefore, that the arts and sciences should take their first rise in a monarchy, is to expect a contradiction. Before these refinements have taken place, the monarch is ignorant and uninstructed; and not having knowledge sufficient to make him sensible of the necessity of balancing his government upon general laws, he delegates his full power to all inferior magistrates. This barbarous policy debases the people, and for ever prevents all improvements. Were it possible, that, before science were known in the world, a monarch could possess so much wisdom as to become a legislator, and govern his people by law, not by the arbitrary will of their fellow-subjects, it might be possible for that species of government to be the first nursery of arts and sciences. But that supposition seems scarcely to be consistent or rational. It may happen, that a republic, in its infant state, may be supported by as few laws as a barbarous monarchy, and may entrust as unlimited an authority to its magistrates or judges. But, besides that the frequent elections by the people, are a considerable check upon authority; it is impossible, but, in  time, the necessity of restraining the magistrates, in order to preserve liberty, must at last appear, and give rise to general laws and statutes. The Roman Consuls, for some time, decided all causes, without being confined by any positive statutes, till the people, bearing this yoke with impatience, created the decemvirs, who promulgated the twelve tables; a body of laws, which, though, perhaps, they were not equal in bulk to one English act of parliament, were almost the only written rules, which regulated property and punishment, for some ages, in that famous republic. They were, ­however, sufficient, together with the forms of a free government, to secure the lives and properties of the citizens; to exempt one man from the dominion of another; and to protect every one against the violence or tyranny of his fellow-citizens. In such a situation the sciences may raise their heads and flourish: But never can have being amidst such a scene of oppression and slavery, as always results from barbarous monarchies, where the people alone are restrained by the authority of the magistrates, and the magistrates are not restrained by any law or statute. An unlimited despotism of this nature, while it exists, effectually puts a stop to all improvements, and keeps men from attaining that knowledge, which is requisite to instruct them in the advantages, arising from a better police, and more moderate authority. Here then are the advantages of free states. Though a republic should be barbarous, it necessarily, by an infallible operation, gives rise to Law, even before mankind have made any considerable advances in the other sciences. From law arises security: From security curiosity: And from curiosity knowledge. The latter steps of this progress may be more accidental; but the former are altogether necessary. A republic without laws can never have any

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duration. On the contrary, in a monarchical government, law arises not necessarily from the forms of government. Monarchy, when absolute, contains even something repugnant to law. Great wisdom and reflection can alone reconcile them. But such a degree of wisdom can never be expected, before the greater refinements and improvements of human reason. These refinements require curiosity, security, and law. The first growth, therefore, of the arts and sciences can never be expected in despotic governments. There are other causes, which discourage the rise of the refined arts in despotic governments; though I take the want of laws, and the delegation of full powers to every petty magistrate, to be the principal. Eloquence certainly springs up more naturally in popular governments: Emulation too in every accomplishment must there be more animated and enlivened: And genius and capacity have a fuller scope and career. All these causes render free governments the only proper nursery for the arts and sciences. The next observation, which I shall make on this head, is, That nothing is more favourable to the rise of politeness and learning, than a number of neighbouring and independent states, connected together by commerce and policy. The emulation, which naturally arises among those neighbouring states, is an obvious source of improvement: But what I would chiefly insist on is the stop, which such limited territories give both to power and to authority. Extended governments, where a single person has great influence, soon become absolute; but small ones change naturally into commonwealths. A large government is accustomed by degrees to tyranny; because each act of violence is at first performed upon a part, which, being distant from the majority, is not taken notice of, nor excites any violent ferment. Besides, a large government, though the whole be discontented, may, by a little art, be kept in obedience; while each part, ignorant of the resolutions of the rest, is afraid to begin any commotion or insurrection. Not to mention, that there is a superstitious reverence for princes, which mankind naturally contract when they do not often see the sovereign, and when many of them become not acquainted with him so as to perceive his weaknesses. And as large states can afford a great expence, in order to support the pomp of majesty; this is a kind of fascination on men, and naturally contributes to the enslaving of them. In a small government, any act of oppression is immediately known throughout the whole: The murmurs and discontents, proceeding from it, are easily communicated: And the indignation rises the higher, because the subjects are not apt to apprehend in such states, that the distance is very wide between themselves and their sovereign. “No man,” said the prince of Condé, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.” It is certain that admiration and acquaintance are altogether incompatible towards any mortal creature.

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Sleep and love convinced even Alexander himself that he was not a god: But I suppose, that such as daily attended him could easily, from the numberless weaknesses to which he was subject, have given him many still more convincing proofs of his humanity. But the divisions into small states are favourable to learning, by stopping the progress of authority as well as that of power. Reputation is often as great a fascination upon men as sovereignty, and is equally destructive to the ­freedom of thought and examination. But where a number of neighbouring states have a great intercourse of arts and commerce, their mutual jealousy keeps them from receiving too lightly the law from each other, in matters of taste and of reasoning, and makes them examine every work of art with the greatest care and accuracy. The contagion of popular opinion spreads not so easily from one place to another. It readily receives a check in some state or other, where it concurs not with the prevailing prejudices. And nothing but nature and reason, or, at least, what bears them a strong resemblance, can force its way through all obstacles, and unite the most rival nations into an esteem and admiration of it. Greece was a cluster of little principalities, which soon became republics; and being united both by their near neighbourhood, and by the ties of the same language and interest, they entered into the closest intercourse of commerce and learning. There concurred a happy climate, a soil not unfertile, and a most harmonious and comprehensive language; so that every ­circumstance among that people seemed to favour the rise of the arts and sciences. Each city produced its several artists and philosophers, who refused to yield the preference to those of the neighbouring republics: Their contention and debates sharpened the wits of men: A variety of objects was presented to the judgment, while each challenged the preference to the rest: And the sciences, not being dwarfed by the restraint of authority, were ­enabled to make such considerable shoots, as are, even at this time, the objects of our admiration. After the Roman Christian, or Catholic church had spread itself over the civilized world, and had engrossed all the learning of the times; being really one large state within itself, and united under one head; this variety of sects immediately disappeared, and the Peripatetic philosophy was alone admitted into all the schools, to the utter depravation of every kind of learning. But mankind, having at length thrown off this yoke, affairs are now returned nearly to the same situation as before, and Europe is at present a copy at large, of what Greece was formerly a pattern in miniature. We have seen the advantage of this situation in several instances. What checked the progress of the Cartesian philosophy, to which the French nation showed such a strong propensity towards the end of the

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last century, but the opposition made to it by the other nations of Europe, who soon discovered the weak sides of that philosophy? The severest scrutiny, which Newton’s theory has undergone, proceeded not from his own countrymen, but from foreigners; and if it can overcome the obstacles, which it meets with at present in all parts of Europe, it will probably go down triumphant to the latest posterity. The English are become sensible of the scandalous licentiousness of their stage, from the example of the French decency and morals. The French are convinced, that their theatre has become somewhat effeminate, by too much love and gallantry; and begin to approve of the more masculine taste of some neighbouring nations. In China, there seems to be a pretty considerable stock of politeness and science, which, in the course of so many centuries, might naturally be expected to ripen into something more perfect and finished, than what has yet arisen from them. But China is one vast empire, speaking one language, governed by one law, and sympathizing in the same manners. The authority of any teacher, such as Confucius, was propagated easily from one corner of the empire to the other. None had courage to resist the torrent of popular opinion. And posterity was not bold enough to dispute what had been universally received by their ancestors. This seems to be one natural reason, why the sciences have made so slow a progress in that mighty empire.3 If we consider the face of the globe, Europe, of all the four parts of the world, is the most broken by seas, rivers, and mountains; and Greece of all countries of Europe. Hence these regions were naturally divided into several distinct governments. And hence the sciences arose in Greece; and Europe has been hitherto the most constant habitation of them. I have sometimes been inclined to think, that interruptions in the periods of learning, were they not attended with such a destruction of ancient books, 3  If it be asked how we can reconcile to the foregoing principles the happiness, riches, and good police of the Chinese, who have always been governed by a monarch, and can scarcely form an idea of a free government; I would answer, that though the Chinese government be a pure monarchy, it is not, properly speaking, absolute. This proceeds from a peculiarity in the situation of that country: They have no neighbours, except the Tartars, from whom they were, in some measure, secured, at least seemed to be secured, by their famous wall, and by the great superiority of their numbers. By this means, military discipline has always been much neglected amongst them; and their standing forces are mere militia, of the worst kind; and unfit to suppress any general insurrection in countries so extremely populous. The sword, therefore, may properly be said to be always in the hands of the people, which is a sufficient restraint upon the monarch, and obliges him to lay his mandarins or governors of provinces under the restraint of general laws, in order to prevent those rebellions, which we learn from history to have been so frequent and dangerous in that government. Perhaps, a pure monarchy of this kind, were it fitted for defence against foreign enemies, would be the best of all governments, as having both the tranquillity attending kingly power, and the moderation and liberty of popular assemblies.

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and the records of history, would be rather favourable to the arts and sciences, by breaking the progress of authority, and dethroning the tyrannical usurpers over human reason. In this particular, they have the same influence, as interruptions in political governments and societies. Consider the blind submission of the ancient philosophers to the several masters in each school, and you will be convinced, that little good could be expected from a hundred centuries of such a servile philosophy. Even the Eclectics, who arose about the age of Augustus, notwithstanding their professing to choose freely what pleased them from every different sect, were yet, in the main, as slavish and dependent as any of their brethren; since they sought for truth, not in nature, but in the several schools; where they supposed she must ­necessarily be found, though not united in a body, yet dispersed in parts. Upon the revival of learning, those sects of Stoics and Epicureans, Platonists and Pythagoricians, could never regain any credit or authority; and, at the same time, by the example of their fall, kept men from submitting, with such blind deference, to those new sects, which have attempted to gain an ascendant over them. The third observation, which I shall form on this head, of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences, is, That though the only proper Nursery of these noble plants be a free state; yet may they be transplanted into any government; and that a republic is most favourable to the growth of the sciences, a ­civilized monarchy to that of the polite arts. To balance a large state or society, whether monarchical or republican, on general laws, is a work of so great difficulty, that no human genius, however comprehensive, is able, by the mere dint of reason and reflection, to effect it. The judgments of many must unite in this work: Experience must guide their labour: Time must bring it to perfection: And the feeling of inconveniencies must correct the mistakes, which they inevitably fall into, in their first trials and experiments. Hence appears the impossibility, that this undertaking should be begun and carried on in any monarchy; since such a form of government, ere civilized, knows no other secret or policy, than that of entrusting unlimited powers to every governor or magistrate, and subdividing the people into so many classes and orders of slavery. From such a situation, no improvement can ever be expected in the sciences, in the liberal arts, in laws, and scarcely in the manual arts and manufactures. The same barbarism and ignorance, with which the government commences, is propagated to all posterity, and can never come to a period by the efforts or ingenuity of such unhappy slaves. But though law, the source of all security and happiness, arises late in any government, and is the slow product of order and of liberty, it is not

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­ reserved with the same difficulty, with which it is produced; but when it has p once taken root, is a hardy plant, which will scarcely ever perish through the ill culture of men, or the rigour of the seasons. The arts of luxury, and much more the liberal arts, which depend on a refined taste or sentiment, are easily lost; because they are always relished by a few only, whose leisure, fortune, and genius fit them for such amusements. But what is profitable to every mortal, and in common life, when once discovered, can scarcely fall into oblivion, but by the total subversion of society, and by such furious inundations of barbarous invaders, as obliterate all memory of former arts and civility. Imitation also is apt to transport these coarser and more useful arts from one climate to another, and make them precede the refined arts in their progress; though perhaps they sprang after them in their first rise and propagation. From these causes proceed civilized monarchies; where the arts of government, first invented in free states, are preserved to the mutual advantage and security of sovereign and subject. However perfect, therefore, the monarchical form may appear to some politicians, it owes all its perfection to the republican; nor is it possible, that a pure despotism, established among a barbarous people, can ever, by its native force and energy, refine and polish itself. It must borrow its laws, and methods, and institutions, and consequently its stability and order, from free governments. These advantages are the sole growth of republics. The extensive despotism of a barbarous monarchy, by entering into the detail of the government, as well as into the principal points of administration, for ever prevents all such improvements. In a civilized monarchy, the prince alone is unrestrained in the exercise of his authority, and possesses alone a power, which is not bounded by any thing but custom, example, and the sense of his own interest. Every minister or magistrate, however eminent, must submit to the general laws, which govern the whole society, and must exert the authority delegated to him after the manner, which is prescribed. The people depend on none but their sovereign, for the security of their property. He is so far removed from them, and is so much exempt from private jealousies or interests, that this dependence is scarcely felt. And thus a species of government arises, to which, in a high political rant, we may give the name of Tyranny, but which, by a just and prudent administration, may afford tolerable security to the people, and may answer most of the ends of political society. But though in a civilized monarchy, as well as in a republic, the people have security for the enjoyment of their property; yet in both these forms of government, those who possess the supreme authority have the disposal of many honours and advantages, which excite the ambition and avarice of

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mankind. The only difference is, that, in a republic, the candidates for office must look downwards, to gain the suffrages of the people; in a monarchy, they must turn their attention upwards, to court the good graces and favour of the great. To be successful in the former way, it is necessary for a man to make himself useful, by his industry, capacity, or knowledge: To be prosperous in the latter way, it is requisite for him to render himself agreeable, by his wit, complaisance, or civility. A strong genius succeeds best in republics: A refined taste in monarchies. And consequently the sciences are the more natural growth of the one, and the polite arts of the other. Not to mention, that monarchies, receiving their chief stability from a superstitious reverence to priests and princes, have commonly abridged the liberty of reasoning, with regard to religion and politics, and consequently metaphysics and morals. All these form the most considerable branches of science. Mathematics and natural philosophy, which only remain, are not half so valuable. Among the arts of conversation, no one pleases more than mutual deference or civility, which leads us to resign our own inclinations to those of our companion, and to curb and conceal that presumption and arrogance, so natural to the human mind. A good-natured man, who is well-educated, practices this civility to every mortal, without premeditation or interest. But in order to render that valuable quality general among any people, it seems necessary to assist the natural disposition by some general motive. Where power rises upwards from the people to the great, as in all republics, such refinements of civility are apt to be little practiced, since the whole state is, by that means, brought near to a level, and every member of it is rendered, in a great measure, independent of another. The people have the advantage, by the authority of their suffrages: The great, by the superiority of their ­station. But in a civilized monarchy, there is a long train of dependence from the prince to the peasant, which is not great enough to render property precarious, or depress the minds of the people; but is sufficient to beget in every one an inclination to please his superiors, and to form himself upon those models, which are most acceptable to people of condition and education. Politeness of manners, therefore, arises most naturally in monarchies and courts; and where that flourishes, none of the liberal arts will be ­altogether neglected or despised. The republics in Europe are at present noted for want of politeness. The good manners of a Swiss civilized in Holland,4 is an expression for rusticity 4  C’est la politesse d’un Suisse En Hollande civilisé. Rousseau.

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among the French. The English, in some degree, fall under the same censure, notwithstanding their learning and genius. And if the Venetians be an exception to the rule, they owe it, perhaps, to their communication with the other Italians, most of whose governments beget a dependence more than sufficient for civilizing their manners. It is difficult to pronounce any judgment concerning the refinements of the ancient republics in this particular: But I am apt to suspect, that the arts of conversation were not brought so near to perfection among them as the arts of writing and composition. The scurrility of the ancient orators, in many instances, is quite shocking, and exceeds all belief. Vanity too is often not a little offensive in authors of those ages;5 as well as the common licentiousness and immodesty of their style; Quicunque impudicus, adulter, ganeo, manu, ventre, pene, bona patria laceraverat, says Sallust in one of the gravest and most moral passages of his history. Nam fuit ante Helenam Cunnus teterrima belli Causa, is an expression of Horace, in tracing the origin of moral good and evil. Ovid and Lucretius6 are almost as licentious in their style as Lord Rochester; though the former were fine gentlemen and delicate writers, and the latter, from the corruptions of that court, in which he lived, seems to have thrown off all regard to shame and decency. Juvenal inculcates modesty with great zeal; but sets a very bad example of it, if we consider the impudence of his expressions. I shall also be bold to affirm, that, among the ancients, there was not much delicacy of breeding, or that polite deference and respect, which civility obliges us either to express or counterfeit towards the persons with whom we converse. Cicero was certainly one of the finest gentlemen of his age; yet I must confess I have frequently been shocked with the poor figure under which he represents his friend Atticus, in those dialogues, where he himself is introduced as a speaker. That learned and virtuous Roman, whose dignity, though he was only a private gentleman, was inferior to that of no one in Rome, is there shown in rather a more pitiful light than Philalethes’s friend in our modern dialogues. He is a humble admirer of the orator, pays him frequent compliments, and receives his instructions, with all the defer5  It is needless to cite Cicero or Pliny on this head: They are too much noted: But one is a little surprized to find Arrian, a very grave, judicious writer, interrupt the thread of his narration all of a sudden, to tell his readers that he himself is as eminent among the Greeks for eloquence as Alexander was for arms. lib. 1. 6  This poet (See lib. 4. 1165.) recommends a very extraordinary cure for love, and what one expects not to meet with in so elegant and philosophical a poem. It seems to have been the original of some of Dr. Swift’s images. The elegant Catullus and Phædrus fall under the same censure.

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ence which a scholar owes to his master.7 Even Cato is treated in somewhat of a cavalier manner in the dialogues de finibus. One of the most particular details of a real dialogue, which we meet with in antiquity, is related by Polybius;8 when Philip, king of Macedon, a prince of wit and parts, met with Titus Flamininus, one of the politest of the Romans, as we learn from Plutarch,9 accompanied with ambassadors from almost all the Greek cities. The Ætolian ambassador very abruptly tells the king, that he talked like a fool or a madman (ληρεῖν). That’s evident, says his majesty, even to a blind man; which was a raillery on the blindness of his excellency. Yet all this did not pass the usual bounds: For the conference was not disturbed; and Flamininus was very well diverted with these strokes of humour. At the end, when Philip craved a little time to consult with his friends, of whom he had none present, the Roman general, being desirous also to show his wit, as the historian says, tells him, that perhaps the reason, why he had none of his friends with him, was because he had murdered them all; which was actually the case. This unprovoked piece of rusticity is not condemned by the historian; caused no farther resentment in Philip, than to excite a Sardonian smile, or what we call a grin; and hindered him not from renewing the conference next day. Plutarch10 too mentions this raillery amongst the witty and agreeable sayings of Flamininus. Cardinal Wolsey apologized for his famous piece of insolence, in saying, Ego et Rex Meus, I and my king, by observing, that this expression was conformable to the Latin idiom, and that a Roman always named himself before the person to whom, or of whom he spake. Yet this seems to have been an instance of want of civility among that people. The ancients made it a rule, that the person of the greatest dignity should be mentioned first in the discourse; insomuch, that we find the spring of a quarrel and jealousy between the Romans and Ætolians, to have been a poet’s naming the Ætolians before the Romans, in celebrating a victory gained by their united arms over the Macedonians.11 Thus Livia disgusted Tiberius by placing her own name before his in an inscription.12 No advantages in this world are pure and unmixed. In like manner, as  modern politeness, which is naturally so ornamental, runs often into 7  Att. Non mihi videtur ad beate vivendum satis esse virtutem. Mar. At hercule Bruto meo videtur; cujus ego judicium, pace tua dixerim, longe antepono tuo. Tusc. quæst. lib. 5. 8 Lib. 17.   9  In vita Flamin.   10  Plutarch. in vita Flamin. 11 Ibid.   12  Tacit. ann. lib. 3  cap. 64.

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affectation and foppery, disguise and insincerity; so the ancient simplicity, which is naturally so amiable and affecting, often degenerates into rusticity and abuse, scurrility and obscenity. If the superiority in politeness should be allowed to modern times, the modern notions of gallantry, the natural produce of courts and monarchies, will probably be assigned as the causes of this refinement. No one denies this invention to be modern:13 But some of the more zealous partizans of the ancients, have asserted it to be foppish and ridiculous, and a reproach, rather than a credit, to the present age.14 It may here be proper to examine this question. Nature has implanted in all living creatures an affection between the sexes, which, even in the fiercest and most rapacious animals, is not merely confined to the satisfaction of the bodily appetite, but begets a friendship and mutual sympathy, which runs through the whole tenor of their lives. Nay, even in those species, where nature limits the indulgence of this appetite to one season and to one object, and forms a kind of marriage or association between a single male and female, there is yet a visible complacency and benevolence, which extends farther, and mutually softens the affections of the sexes towards each other. How much more must this have place in man, where the confinement of the appetite is not natural; but either is derived accidentally from some strong charm of love, or arises from reflections on duty and convenience? Nothing, therefore, can proceed less from affectation than the passion of gallantry. It is natural in the highest degree. Art and education, in the most elegant courts, make no more alteration on  it, than on all the other laudable passions. They only turn the mind more towards it; they refine it; they polish it; and give it a proper grace and expression. But gallantry is as generous as it is natural. To correct such gross vices, as lead us to commit real injury on others, is the part of morals, and the object of the most ordinary education. Where that is not attended to, in some degree, no human society can subsist. But in order to render conversation, and the intercourse of minds more easy and agreeable, good manners have been invented, and have carried the matter somewhat farther. Wherever nature has given the mind a propensity to any vice, or to any passion ­disagreeable to others, refined breeding has taught men to throw the biass on the opposite side, and to preserve, in all their behaviour, the appearance 13  In the Self-Tormentor of Terence, Clinias, whenever he comes to town, instead of waiting on his mistress, sends for her to come to him. 14 Lord Shaftesbury, see his Moralists.

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of ­sentiments different from those to which they naturally incline. Thus, as we are commonly proud and selfish, and apt to assume the preference above others, a polite man learns to behave with deference towards his companions, and to yield the superiority to them in all the common incidents of society. In like manner, wherever a person’s situation may naturally beget any disagreeable suspicion in him, it is the part of good manners to prevent it, by a studied display of sentiments, directly contrary to those of which he is apt to be jealous. Thus, old men know their infirmities, and naturally dread contempt from the youth: Hence, well-educated youth redouble the instances of respect and deference to their elders. Strangers and foreigners are without protection: Hence, in all polite countries, they receive the highest civilities, and are entitled to the first place in every company. A man is lord in his own family, and his guests are, in a manner, subject to his authority: Hence, he is always the lowest person in the company; attentive to the wants of every one; and giving himself all the trouble, in order to please, which may not betray too visible an affectation, or impose too much constraint on his guests.15 Gallantry is nothing but an instance of the same ­generous attention. As nature has given man the superiority above woman, by endowing him with greater strength both of mind and body; it is his part to alleviate that superiority, as  much as possible, by the generosity of his behaviour, and by a studied deference and complaisance for all her inclinations and opinions. Barbarous nations display this superiority, by reducing their females to the most abject slavery; by confining them, by beating them, by selling them, by killing them. But the male sex, among a polite people, discover their authority in a more generous, though not a less evident ­manner; by civility, by respect, by complaisance, and, in a word, by gallantry. In good company, you need not ask, Who is the master of the feast? The man, who sits in the lowest place, and who is always industrious in helping every one, is certainly the person. We must either condemn all such instances of g­ enerosity, as foppish and affected, or admit of gallantry among the rest. The ancient Muscovites wedded their wives with a whip, instead of a ring. The same people, in their own houses, took always the precedency above foreigners, even16 foreign ambassadors. These two instances of their ­generosity and politeness are much of a piece. 15  The frequent mention in ancient authors of that ill bred custom of the master of the family’s eating better bread or drinking better wine at table, than he afforded his guests, is but an indifferent mark of the civility of those ages. See Juvenal, sat. 5.  Plin. lib. 14.  cap. 13.  Also Plin. epist. Lucian, de mercede conductis, Saturnalia &c. There is scarcely any part of Europe at present so uncivilized as to admit of such a custom. 16 See Relation of three Embassies, by the Earl of Carlisle.

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Gallantry is not less compatible with wisdom and prudence, than with nature and generosity; and when under proper regulations, contributes more than any other invention, to the entertainment and improvement of the youth of both sexes. Among every species of animals, nature has founded on the love between the sexes their sweetest and best enjoyment. But the satisfaction of the bodily appetite is not alone sufficient to gratify the mind; and even among brute-creatures, we find, that their play and dalliance, and other expressions of fondness, form the greatest part of the entertainment. In rational beings, we must certainly admit the mind for a considerable share. Were we to rob the feast of all its garniture of reason, discourse, sympathy, friendship, and gaiety, what remains would scarcely be worth acceptance, in the judgment of the truly elegant and luxurious. What better school for manners, than the company of virtuous women; where the mutual endeavour to please must insensibly polish the mind, where the example of the female softness and modesty must communicate itself to their admirers, and where the delicacy of that sex puts every one on his guard, lest he give offence by any breach of decency? Among the ancients, the character of the fair sex was considered as ­altogether domestic; nor were they regarded as part of the polite world or of good company. This, perhaps, is the true reason why the ancients have not left us one piece of pleasantry, that is excellent, (unless one may except the  Banquet of Xenophon, and the Dialogues of Lucian) though many of their serious compositions are altogether inimitable. Horace condemns the coarse railleries and cold jests of Plautus: But, though the most easy, agreeable, and judicious writer in the world, is his own talent for ridicule very striking or refined? This, therefore, is one considerable improvement, which the polite arts have received from gallantry, and from courts, where it first arose. But, to return from this digression, I shall advance it as a fourth observation on this subject, of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences, That when the arts and sciences come to perfection in any state, from that moment they naturally, or rather necessarily decline, and seldom or never revive in that nation, where they formerly flourished. It must be confessed, that this maxim, though conformable to experience, may, at first sight, be esteemed contrary to reason. If the natural genius of mankind be the same in all ages, and in almost all countries, (as seems to be the truth) it must very much forward and cultivate this genius, to be possessed of patterns in every art, which may regulate the taste, and fix the objects of imitation. The models left us by the ancients gave birth to all the arts about 200 years ago, and have mightily advanced their progress in every

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country of Europe: Why had they not a like effect during the reign of Trajan and his successors; when they were much more entire, and were still admired and studied by the whole world? So late as the Emperor Justinian, the Poet, by way of distinction, was understood, among the Greeks, to be Homer; among the Romans, Virgil. Such admiration still remained for these divine geniuses; though no poet had appeared for many centuries, who could justly pretend to have imitated them. A man’s genius is always, in the beginning of life, as much unknown to himself as to others, and it is only after frequent trials, attended with success, that he dares think himself equal to those undertakings, in which those, who have succeeded, have fixed the admiration of mankind. If his own nation be already possessed of many models of eloquence, he naturally compares his own juvenile exercises with these; and being sensible of the great disproportion, is discouraged from any farther attempts, and never aims at a rivalship with those authors, whom he so much admires. A noble emulation is the source of every excellence. Admiration and modesty naturally extinguish this emulation. And no one is so liable to an excess of admiration and modesty, as a truly great genius. Next to emulation, the greatest encourager of the noble arts is praise and glory. A writer is animated with new force, when he hears the applauses of the world for his former productions; and, being rouzed by such a motive, he often reaches a pitch of perfection, which is equally surprizing to himself and to his readers. But when the posts of honour are all occupied, his first attempts are but coldly received by the public; being compared to productions, which are both in themselves more excellent, and have already the advantage of an established reputation. Were Moliere and Corneille to bring upon the stage at present their early productions, which were formerly so well received, it would discourage the young poets, to see the indifference and disdain of the public. The ignorance of the age alone could have given admission to the Prince of Tyre; but it is to that we owe the Moor: Had Every man in his humour been rejected, we had never seen Volpone. Perhaps, it may not be for the advantage of any nation to have the arts imported from their neighbours in too great perfection. This extinguishes emulation, and sinks the ardour of the generous youth. So many models of Italian painting brought into England, instead of exciting our artists, is the cause of their small progress in that noble art. The same, perhaps, was the case of Rome, when it received the arts from Greece. That multitude of polite productions in the French language, dispersed all over Germany and the North, hinder these nations from cultivating their own language, and keep them still dependent on their neighbours for those elegant entertainments.

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It is true, the ancients had left us models in every kind of writing, which are highly worthy of admiration. But besides that they were written in languages, known only to the learned; besides this, I say, the comparison is not so perfect or entire between modern wits, and those who lived in so remote an age. Had Waller been born in Rome, during the reign of Tiberius, his first productions had been despised, when compared to the finished odes of Horace. But in this island the superiority of the Roman poet diminished nothing from the fame of the English. We esteemed ourselves sufficiently happy, that our climate and language could produce but a faint copy of so excellent an original. In short, the arts and sciences, like some plants, require a fresh soil; and however rich the land may be, and however you may recruit it by art or care, it will never, when once exhausted, produce any thing that is perfect or ­finished in the kind.

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The Epicurean1 1

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It is a great mortification to the vanity of man, that his utmost art and industry can never equal the meanest of nature’s productions, either for beauty or value. Art is only the under-workman, and is employed to give a few strokes of embellishment to those pieces, which come from the hand of the master. Some of the drapery may be of his drawing; but he is not allowed to touch the principal figure. Art may make a suit of clothes: But nature must ­produce a man. Even in those productions, commonly denominated works of art, we find that the noblest of the kind are beholden for their chief beauty to the force and happy influence of nature. To the native enthusiasm of the poets, we owe whatever is admirable in their productions. The greatest genius, where nature at any time fails him, (for she is not equal) throws aside the lyre, and hopes not, from the rules of art, to reach that divine harmony, which must proceed from her inspiration alone. How poor are those songs, where a happy flow of fancy has not furnished materials for art to embellish and refine! But of all the fruitless attempts of art, no one is so ridiculous, as that which the severe philosophers have undertaken, the producing of an artificial happiness, and making us be pleased by rules of reason, and by reflection. Why did none of them claim the reward, which Xerxes promised to him, who should invent a new pleasure? Unless, perhaps, they invented so many pleasures for their own use, that they despised riches, and stood in no need of any enjoyments, which the rewards of that monarch could procure them. I am apt, indeed, to think, that they were not willing to furnish the Persian court with a new pleasure, by presenting it with so new and unusual an object of ridicule. Their speculations, when confined to theory, and gravely delivered in the schools of Greece, might excite admiration in their ignorant pupils: But the attempting to reduce such principles to practice would soon have betrayed their absurdity. 1 Or, The man of elegance and pleasure. The intention of this and the three following essays is not so much to explain accurately the sentiments of the ancient sects of philosophy, as to deliver the sentiments of sects, that naturally form themselves in the world, and entertain different ideas of human life and of happiness. I have given each of them the name of the philosophical sect, to which it bears the greatest affinity.

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You pretend to make me happy by reason, and by rules of art. You must, then, create me anew by rules of art. For on my original frame and structure does my happiness depend. But you want power to effect this; and skill too, I am afraid: Nor can I entertain a less opinion of nature’s wisdom than of yours. And let her conduct the machine, which she has so wisely framed. I find, that I should only spoil it by my tampering. To what purpose should I pretend to regulate, refine, or invigorate any of those springs or principles, which nature has implanted in me? Is this the road by which I must reach happiness? But happiness implies ease, contentment, repose, and pleasure; not watchfulness, care, and fatigue. The health of my body consists in the facility, with which all its operations are performed. The stomach digests the aliments: The heart circulates the blood: The brain separates and refines the spirits: And all this without my concerning myself in the matter. When by my will alone I can stop the blood, as it runs with impetuosity along its canals, then may I hope to change the course of my sentiments and passions. In vain should I strain my faculties, and endeavour to receive pleasure from an object, which is not fitted by nature to affect my organs with delight. I may give myself pain by my fruitless endeavours; but shall never reach any pleasure. Away then with all those vain pretences of making ourselves happy within ourselves, of feasting on our own thoughts, of being satisfied with the consciousness of well-doing, and of despising all assistance and all supplies from external objects. This is the voice of Pride, not of Nature. And it were well, if even this pride could support itself, and communicate a real inward pleasure, however melancholy or severe. But this impotent pride can do no more than regulate the outside; and with infinite pains and attention compose the language and countenance to a philosophical dignity, in order to deceive the ignorant vulgar. The heart, mean while, is empty of all enjoyment: And the mind, unsupported by its proper objects, sinks into the deepest sorrow and dejection. Miserable, but vain mortal! Thy mind be happy within itself! With what resources is it endowed to fill so immense a void, and supply the place of all thy bodily senses and faculties? Can thy head ­subsist without thy other members? In such a situation, What foolish figure must it make? Do nothing else but sleep and ake.

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Into such a lethargy, or such a melancholy, must thy mind be plunged, when deprived of foreign occupations and enjoyments. Keep me, therefore, no longer in this violent constraint. Confine me not within myself; but point out to me those objects and pleasures, which afford

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the chief enjoyment. But why do I apply to you, proud and ignorant sages, to show me the road to happiness? Let me consult my own passions and inclinations. In them must I read the dictates of nature; not in your frivolous discourses. But see, propitious to my wishes, the divine, the amiable Pleasure,2 the supreme love of GODS and men, advances towards me. At her approach, my heart beats with genial heat, and every sense and every faculty is dissolved in joy; while she pours around me all the embellishments of the spring, and all the treasures of the autumn. The melody of her voice charms my ears with the softest music, as she invites me to partake of those delicious fruits, which, with a smile that diffuses a glory on the heavens and the earth, she presents to me. The sportive Cupids, who attend her, or fan me with their odoriferous wings, or pour on my head the most fragrant oils, or offer me their sparkling nectar in golden goblets. O! for ever let me spread my limbs on this bed of roses, and thus, thus feel the delicious moments, with soft and downy steps, glide along. But cruel chance! Whither do you fly so fast? Why  do my ardent wishes, and that load of pleasures, under which you labour, rather hasten than retard your unrelenting pace? Suffer me to enjoy this soft repose, after all my fatigues in search of happiness. Suffer me to satiate myself with these delicacies, after the pains of so long and so foolish an abstinence. But it will not do. The roses have lost their hue: The fruit its flavour: And that delicious wine, whose fumes, so late, intoxicated all my senses with such delight, now solicits in vain the sated palate. Pleasure smiles at my languor. She beckons her sister, Virtue, to come to her assistance. The gay, the frolic Virtue observes the call, and brings along the whole troop of my jovial friends. Welcome, thrice welcome, my ever dear companions, to these shady bowers, and to this luxurious repast. Your presence has restored to the rose its hue, and to the fruit its flavour. The vapours of this sprightly nectar now again play around my heart; while you partake of my delights, and discover in your cheerful looks, the pleasure which you receive from my happiness and satisfaction. The like do I receive from yours; and encouraged by your joyous presence, shall again renew the feast, with which, from too much enjoyment, my senses were well nigh sated; while the mind kept not pace with the body, nor afforded relief to her o’er-burdened partner. In our cheerful discourses, better than in the formal reasonings of the schools, is true wisdom to be found. In our friendly endearments, better than in the hollow debates of statesmen and pretended patriots, does true 2  Dia Voluptas. Lucret.

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virtue display itself. Forgetful of the past, secure of the future, let us here enjoy the present; and while we yet possess a being, let us fix some good, beyond the power of fate or fortune. To-morrow will bring its own pleasures along with it: Or should it disappoint our fond wishes, we shall at least enjoy the pleasure of reflecting on the pleasures of to-day. Fear not, my friends, that the barbarous dissonance of Bacchus, and of his revellers, should break in upon this entertainment, and confound us with their turbulent and clamorous pleasures. The sprightly muses wait around; and with their charming symphony, sufficient to soften the wolves and tygers of the savage desert, inspire a soft joy into every bosom. Peace, harmony and concord reign in this retreat; nor is the silence ever broken but by the music of our songs, or the cheerful accents of our friendly voices. But hark! the favourite of the muses, the gentle Damon, strikes the lyre; and while he accompanies its harmonious notes with his more harmonious song, he inspires us with the same happy debauch of fancy, by which he is himself transported. “Ye happy youth,” he sings, “Ye favoured of heaven,3 while the wanton spring pours upon you all her blooming honours, let not glory seduce you, with her delusive blaze, to pass in perils and dangers this delicious season, this prime of life. Wisdom points out to you the road to pleasure: Nature too beckons you to follow her in that smooth and flowery path. Will you shut your ears to their commanding voice? Will you harden your heart to their soft allurements? Oh, deluded mortals, thus to lose your youth, thus to throw away so invaluable a present, to trifle with so perishing a blessing. Contemplate well your recompence. Consider that glory, which so allures your proud hearts, and seduces you with your own praises. It is an echo, a dream, nay the shadow of a dream, dissipated by every wind, and lost by every contrary breath of the ignorant and ill judging multitude. You fear not that even death itself shall ravish it from you. But behold! while you are yet alive, calumny bereaves you of it; ignorance neglects it; nature enjoys it not; fancy alone, renouncing every pleasure, receives this airy recompence, empty and unstable as herself.” Thus the hours pass unperceived along, and lead in their wanton train all the pleasures of sense, and all the joys of harmony and friendship. Smiling innocence closes the procession; and while she presents herself to our ravished eyes, she embellishes the whole scene, and renders the view of these 3  An imitation of the Syrens song in Tasso. “O Giovinetti, mentre Aprile & Maggio V’ammantan di fiorité & verdi spoglie,” &c. Gierusalemme liberata, Canto 14.

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pleasures as transporting, after they have passed us, as when, with laughing countenances, they were yet advancing towards us. But the sun has sunk below the horizon; and darkness, stealing silently upon us, has now buried all nature in an universal shade. “Rejoice, my friends, continue your repast, or change it for soft repose. Though absent, your joy or your tranquillity shall still be mine.” But whither do you go? Or what new pleasures call you from our society? Is there aught agreeable without your friends? And can aught please, in which we partake not? “Yes, my friends; the joy which I now seek, admits not of your participation. Here alone I wish your absence: And here alone can I find a sufficient compensation for the loss of your society.” But I have not advanced far through the shades of the thick wood, which spreads a double night around me, ere, methinks, I perceive through the gloom, the charming Cælia, the mistress of my wishes, who wanders impatient through the grove, and preventing the appointed hour, silently chides my tardy steps. But the joy, which she receives from my presence, best pleads my excuse; and dissipating every anxious and every angry thought, leaves room for nought but mutual joy and rapture. With what words, my fair one, shall I express my tenderness, or describe the emotions which now warm my transported bosom! Words are too faint to describe my love; and if, alas! you feel not the same flame within you, in vain shall I endeavour to convey to you a just conception of it. But your every word and every motion suffice to remove this doubt; and while they express your passion, serve also to enflame mine. How amiable this solitude, this silence, this darkness! No objects now importune the ravished soul. The thought, the sense, all full of nothing but our mutual happiness, wholly possess the mind, and convey a pleasure, which deluded mortals vainly seek for in every other enjoyment. —— But why does your bosom heave with these sighs, while tears bathe your glowing cheeks? Why distract your heart with such vain anxieties? Why so often ask me, How long my love shall yet endure? Alas, my Cælia, can I resolve this question? Do I know how long my life shall yet endure? But does this also disturb your tender breast? And is the image of our frail mortality for ever present with you, to throw a damp on your gayest hours, and poison even those joys which love inspires? Consider rather, that if life be frail, if youth be transitory, we should well employ the present moment, and lose no part of so perishable an existence. Yet a little moment and these shall be no more. We shall be, as if we had never been. Not a memory of us be left upon earth; and even the fabulous shades below will not afford us a habitation. Our fruitless anxieties, our vain projects, our uncertain speculations shall all be swallowed up and lost. Our present doubts, concerning the original cause

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of all things, must never, alas! be resolved. This alone we may be certain of, that, if any governing mind preside, he must be pleased to see us fulfil the ends of our being, and enjoy that pleasure, for which alone we were created. Let this reflection give ease to your anxious thoughts; but render not your joys too serious, by dwelling for ever upon it. It is sufficient, once, to be acquainted with this philosophy, in order to give an unbounded loose to love and jollity, and remove all the scruples of a vain superstition: But while youth and passion, my fair one, prompt our eager desires, we must find gayer subjects of discourse, to intermix with these amorous caresses.

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ESSAY 1 6

The Stoic1 1

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There is this obvious and material difference in the conduct of nature, with regard to man and other animals, that, having endowed the former with a  sublime celestial spirit, and having given him an affinity with superior beings, she allows not such noble faculties to lie lethargic or idle; but urges him, by necessity, to employ, on every emergence, his utmost art and industry. Brute-creatures have many of their necessities supplied by nature, being cloathed and armed by this beneficent parent of all things: And where their own industry is requisite on any occasion, nature, by implanting instincts, still supplies them with the art, and guides them to their good, by her unerring precepts. But man, exposed naked and indigent to the rude elements, rises slowly from that helpless state, by the care and vigilance of his parents; and having attained his utmost growth and perfection, reaches only a capacity of subsisting, by his own care and vigilance. Every thing is sold to skill and labour; and where nature furnishes the materials, they are still rude and unfinished, till industry, ever active and intelligent, refines them from their brute state, and fits them for human use and convenience. Acknowledge, therefore, O man, the beneficence of nature: For she has given thee that intelligence which supplies all thy necessities. But let not indolence, under the false appearance of gratitude, persuade thee to rest contented with her presents. Wouldest thou return to the raw herbage for thy food, to the open sky for thy covering, and to stones and clubs for thy defence against the ravenous animals of the desert? Then return also to thy savage manners, to thy timorous superstition, to thy brutal ignorance; and sink thyself below those animals, whose condition thou admirest, and wouldest so fondly imitate. Thy kind parent, nature, having given thee art and intelligence, has filled the whole globe with materials to employ these talents: Hearken to her voice, which so plainly tells thee, that thou thyself shouldest also be the object of thy industry, and that by art and attention alone thou canst acquire that ability, which will raise thee to thy proper station in the universe. Behold this artizan, who converts a rude and shapeless stone into a noble metal; and 1  Or the man of action and virtue.

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molding that metal by his cunning hands, creates, as it were by magic, every weapon for his defence, and every utensil for his convenience. He has not this skill from nature: Use and practice have taught it him: And if thou wouldest emulate his success, thou must follow his laborious foot-steps. But while thou ambitiously aspirest to perfecting thy bodily powers and faculties, wouldest thou meanly neglect thy mind, and from a preposterous sloth, leave it still rude and uncultivated, as it came from the hands of nature? Far be such folly and negligence from every rational being. If nature has been frugal in her gifts and endowments, there is the more need of art to supply her defects. If she has been generous and liberal, know that she still expects industry and application on our part, and revenges herself in proportion to our negligent ingratitude. The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds; and instead of vines and olives for the pleasure and use of man, produces, to its slothful owner, the most abundant crop of poisons. The great end of all human industry, is the attainment of happiness. For this were arts invented, sciences cultivated, laws ordained, and societies modelled, by the most profound wisdom of patriots and legislators. Even the lonely savage, who lies exposed to the inclemency of the elements, and the fury of wild beasts, forgets not, for a moment, this grand object of his being. Ignorant as he is of every art of life, he still keeps in view the end of all those arts, and eagerly seeks for felicity amidst that darkness with which he is environed. But as much as the wildest savage is inferior to the polished citizen, who, under the protection of laws, enjoys every convenience which industry has invented; so much is this citizen himself inferior to the man of virtue, and the true philosopher, who governs his appetites, subdues his passions, and has learned, from reason, to set a just value on every pursuit and enjoyment. For is there an art and apprenticeship necessary for every other attainment? And is there no art of life, no rule, no precepts to direct us in this principal concern? Can no particular pleasure be attained without skill; and can the whole be regulated without reflection or intelligence, by the blind guidance of appetite and instinct? Surely then no mistakes are ever committed in this affair; but every man, however dissolute and negligent, proceeds in the pursuit of happiness, with as unerring a motion, as that which the celestial bodies observe, when, conducted by the hand of the Almighty, they roll along the ethereal plains. But if mistakes be often, be inevitably committed, let us register these mistakes; let us consider their causes; let us weigh their importance; let us enquire for their remedies. When from this we have fixed all the rules of conduct, we are philosophers: When we have reduced these rules to practice, we are sages.

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Like many subordinate artists, employed to form the several wheels and springs of a machine: Such are those who excel in all the particular arts of life. He is the master workman who puts those several parts together; moves them according to just harmony and proportion; and produces true felicity as the result of their conspiring order. While thou hast such an alluring object in view, shall that labour and attention, requisite to the attainment of thy end, ever seem burdensome and intolerable? Know, that this labour itself is the chief ingredient of the felicity to which thou aspirest, and that every enjoyment soon becomes insipid and distasteful, when not acquired by fatigue and industry. See the hardy hunters rise from their downy couches, shake off the slumbers which still weigh down their heavy eye-lids, and, ere Aurora has yet covered the heavens with her flaming mantle, hasten to the forest. They leave behind, in their own houses, and in the neighbouring plains, animals of every kind, whose flesh furnishes the most delicious fare, and which offer themselves to the fatal stroke. Laborious man disdains so easy a purchase. He seeks for a prey, which hides itself from his search, or flies from his pursuit, or defends itself from his violence. Having exerted in the chace every passion of the mind, and every member of the body, he then finds the charms of  repose, and with joy compares its pleasures to those of his engaging labours. And can vigorous industry give pleasure to the pursuit even of the most worthless prey, which frequently escapes our toils? And cannot the same industry render the cultivating of our mind, the moderating of our passions, the enlightening of our reason, an agreeable occupation; while we are every day sensible of our progress, and behold our inward features and countenance brightening incessantly with new charms? Begin by curing yourself of this lethargic indolence; the task is not difficult: You need but taste the sweets of honest labour. Proceed to learn the just value of every pursuit; long study is not requisite: Compare, though but for once, the mind to the body, virtue to fortune, and glory to pleasure. You will then perceive the advantages of industry: You will then be sensible what are the proper objects of your industry. In vain do you seek repose from beds of roses: In vain do you hope for enjoyment from the most delicious wines and fruits. Your indolence itself becomes a fatigue: Your pleasure itself creates disgust. The mind, unexercised, finds every delight insipid and loathsome; and ere yet the body, full of noxious humours, feels the torment of its multiplied diseases, your nobler part is sensible of the invading poison, and seeks in vain to relieve its anxiety by new pleasures, which still augment the fatal malady.

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I need not tell you, that, by this eager pursuit of pleasure, you more and more expose yourself to fortune and accidents, and rivet your affections on external objects, which chance may, in a moment, ravish from you. I shall suppose, that your indulgent stars favour you still with the enjoyment of your riches and possessions. I prove to you, that even in the midst of your luxurious pleasures, you are unhappy; and that, by too much indulgence, you are incapable of enjoying what prosperous fortune still allows you to possess. But surely the instability of fortune is a consideration not to be o­ verlooked or neglected. Happiness cannot possibly exist, where there is no security; and security can have no place, where fortune has any dominion. Though that unstable deity should not exert her rage against you, the dread of it would still torment you; would disturb your slumbers, haunt your dreams, and throw a damp on the jollity of your most delicious banquets. The temple of wisdom is seated on a rock, above the rage of the fighting elements, and inaccessible to all the malice of man. The rolling thunder breaks below; and those more terrible instruments of human fury reach not to so sublime a height. The sage, while he breathes that serene air, looks down with pleasure, mixed with compassion, on the errors of mistaken mortals, who blindly seek for the true path of life, and pursue riches, nobility, honour, or power, for genuine felicity. The greater part he beholds disappointed of their fond wishes: Some lament, that having once possessed the object of their desires, it is ravished from them by envious fortune: And all complain, that even their own vows, though granted, cannot give them ­happiness, or relieve the anxiety of their distracted minds. But does the sage always preserve himself in this philosophical indifference, and rest contented with lamenting the miseries of mankind, without ever employing himself for their relief ? Does he constantly indulge this severe wisdom, which, by pretending to elevate him above human accidents, does in reality harden his heart, and render him careless of the interests of mankind, and of society? No; he knows that in this sullen Apathy, neither true wisdom nor true happiness can be found. He feels too strongly the charm of the social affections ever to counteract so sweet, so natural, so ­virtuous a propensity. Even when, bathed in tears, he laments the miseries of human race, of his country, of his friends, and unable to give succour, can only relieve them by compassion; he yet rejoices in the generous disposition, and feels a satisfaction superior to that of the most indulged sense. So engaging are the sentiments of humanity, that they brighten up the very face  of ­sorrow, and operate like the sun, which, shining on a dusky cloud or falling rain, paints on them the most glorious colours which are to be found in the whole circle of nature.

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But it is not here alone, that the social virtues display their energy. With whatever ingredient you mix them, they are still predominant. As sorrow cannot overcome them, so neither can sensual pleasure obscure them. The joys of love, however tumultuous, banish not the tender sentiments of sympathy and affection. They even derive their chief influence from that generous passion; and when presented alone, afford nothing to the unhappy mind but lassitude and disgust. Behold this sprightly debauchee, who professes a contempt of all other pleasures but those of wine and jollity: Separate him from his companions, like a spark from a fire, where before it contributed to  the general blaze: His alacrity suddenly extinguishes; and though surrounded with every other means of delight, he lothes the sumptuous banquet, and prefers even the most abstracted study and speculation, as more agreeable and entertaining. But the social passions never afford such transporting pleasures, or make so glorious an appearance in the eyes both of God and man, as when, shaking off every earthly mixture, they associate themselves with the sentiments of virtue, and prompt us to laudable and worthy actions. As harmonious colours mutually give and receive a lustre by their friendly union; so do these ennobling sentiments of the human mind. See the triumph of nature in parental affection! What selfish passion; what sensual delight is a match for it! Whether a man exults in the prosperity and virtue of his offspring, or  flies to their succour, through the most threatening and tremendous ­dangers? Proceed still in purifying the generous passion, you will still the more admire its shining glories. What charms are there in the harmony of minds, and in a friendship founded on mutual esteem and gratitude! What satisfaction in relieving the distressed, in comforting the afflicted, in raising the fallen, and in stopping the career of cruel fortune, or of more cruel man, in  their insults over the good and virtuous! But what supreme joy in the victories over vice as well as misery, when, by virtuous example or wise exhortation, our fellow-creatures are taught to govern their passions, reform their vices, and subdue their worst enemies, which inhabit within their own ­bosoms? But these objects are still too limited for the human mind, which, being of celestial origin, swells with the divinest and most enlarged affections, and carrying its attention beyond kindred and acquaintance, extends its benevolent wishes to the most distant posterity. It views liberty and laws as the source of human happiness, and devotes itself, with the utmost alacrity, to their guardianship and protection. Toils, dangers, death itself carry their charms, when we brave them for the public good, and ennoble that being,

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which we generously sacrifice for the interests of our country. Happy the man, whom indulgent fortune allows to pay to virtue what he owes to nature, and to make a generous gift of what must otherwise be ravished from him by cruel necessity! In the true sage and patriot are united whatever can distinguish human nature, or elevate mortal man to a resemblance with the Divinity. The softest benevolence, the most undaunted resolution, the tenderest sentiments, the most sublime love of virtue, all these animate successively his transported bosom. What satisfaction, when he looks within, to find the most turbulent passions tuned to just harmony and concord, and every jarring sound banished from this enchanting music! If the contemplation, even of inanimate beauty, is so delightful; if it ravishes the senses, even when the fair form is foreign to us: What must be the effects of moral beauty? And what influence must it have, when it embellishes our own mind, and is the result of our own reflection and industry? But where is the reward of virtue? And what recompence has nature provided for such important sacrifices, as those of life and fortune, which we must often make to it? Oh, sons of earth! Are ye ignorant of the value of this celestial mistress? And do ye meanly enquire for her portion, when ye observe her genuine charms? But know, that nature has been indulgent to human weakness, and has not left this favourite child, naked and unendowed. She has provided virtue with the richest dowry; but being careful, lest the allurements of interest should engage such suitors, as were insensible of the native worth of so divine a beauty, she has wisely provided, that this dowry can have no charms but in the eyes of those who are already transported with the  love of virtue. Glory is the portion of virtue, the sweet reward of ­honourable toils, the triumphant crown, which covers the thoughtful head of the disinterested patriot, or the dusty brow of the victorious warrior. Elevated by so sublime a prize, the man of virtue looks down with contempt on all the allurements of pleasure, and all the menaces of danger. Death itself loses its terrors, when he considers, that its dominion extends only over a part of him, and that, in spite of death and time, the rage of the ­elements, and the endless vicissitude of human affairs, he is assured of an immortal fame among all the sons of men. There surely is a being who presides over the universe; and who, with infinite wisdom and power, has reduced the jarring elements into just order and proportion. Let speculative reasoners dispute, how far this beneficent being extends his care, and whether he prolongs our existence beyond the grave, in order to bestow on virtue its just reward, and render it fully triumphant. The man of morals, without deciding any thing on so dubious

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a subject, is satisfied with the portion, marked out to him by the supreme disposer of all things. Gratefully he accepts of that farther reward prepared for him; but if disappointed, he thinks not virtue an empty name; but justly esteeming it its own reward, he gratefully acknowledges the bounty of his creator, who, by calling him into existence, has thereby afforded him an opportunity of once acquiring so invaluable a possession.

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ESSAY 1 7

The Platonist1 1

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To some philosophers it appears matter of surprize, that all mankind, possessing the same nature, and being endowed with the same faculties, should yet differ so widely in their pursuits and inclinations, and that one should utterly condemn what is fondly sought after by another. To some it appears matter of still more surprize, that a man should differ so widely from himself at different times; and, after possession, reject with disdain what, before, was the object of all his vows and wishes. To me this feverish uncertainty and irresolution, in human conduct, seems altogether unavoidable; nor can a rational soul, made for the contemplation of the Supreme Being, and of his works, ever enjoy tranquillity or satisfaction, while detained in the ignoble pursuits of sensual pleasure or popular applause. The Divinity is a boundless ocean of bliss and glory: Human minds are smaller streams, which, arising at first from this ocean, seek still, amid all their wanderings, to return to it, and to lose themselves in that immensity of perfection. When checked in this natural course, by vice or folly, they become furious and enraged; and, swelling to a torrent, do then spread horror and devastation on the neighbouring plains. In vain, by pompous phrase and passionate expression, each recommends his own pursuit, and invites the credulous hearers to an imitation of his life and manners. The heart belies the countenance, and sensibly feels, even amid the highest success, the unsatisfactory nature of all those pleasures, which detain it from its true object. I examine the voluptuous man before enjoyment; I measure the vehemence of his desire, and the importance of his object; I find that all his happiness proceeds only from that hurry of thought, which takes him from himself, and turns his view from his guilt and misery. I consider him a moment after; he has now enjoyed the pleasure, which he fondly sought after. The sense of his guilt and misery returns upon him with double anguish: His mind tormented with fear and remorse; his body depressed with disgust and satiety. But a more august, at least a more haughty personage, presents himself boldly to our censure; and assuming the title of a philosopher and man of 1  Or, the man of contemplation, and philosophical devotion.

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morals, offers to submit to the most rigid examination. He challenges, with a visible, though concealed impatience, our approbation and applause; and seems offended, that we should hesitate a moment before we break out into admiration of his virtue. Seeing this impatience, I hesitate still more: I begin to examine the motives of his seeming virtue: But behold! ere I can enter upon this enquiry, he flings himself from me; and addressing his discourse to that crowd of heedless auditors, fondly abuses them by his magnificent pretensions. O philosopher! thy wisdom is vain, and thy virtue unprofitable. Thou seekest the ignorant applauses of men, not the solid reflections of thy own conscience, or the more solid approbation of that being, who, with one regard of his all-seeing eye, penetrates the universe. Thou surely art conscious of the hollowness of thy pretended probity, whilst calling thyself a citizen, a son, a friend, thou forgettest thy higher sovereign, thy true father, thy greatest benefactor. Where is the adoration due to infinite perfection, whence every thing good and valuable is derived? Where is the gratitude, owing to thy creator, who called thee forth from nothing, who placed thee in all these relations to thy fellow-creatures, and requiring thee to fulfil the duty of each relation, forbids thee to neglect what thou owest to himself, the most perfect being, to whom thou art connected by the closest tie? But thou art thyself thy own idol: Thou worshippest thy imaginary perfections: Or rather, sensible of thy real imperfections, thou seekest only to deceive the world, and to please thy fancy, by multiplying thy ignorant admirers. Thus, not content with neglecting what is most excellent in the universe, thou desirest to substitute in his place what is most vile and contemptible. Consider all the works of men’s hands; all the inventions of human wit, in which thou affectest so nice a discernment: Thou wilt find, that the most perfect production still proceeds from the most perfect thought, and that it is mind alone, which we admire, while we bestow our applause on the graces of a well-proportioned statue, or the symmetry of a noble pile. The statuary, the architect comes still in view, and makes us reflect on the beauty of his art and contrivance, which, from a heap of unformed matter, could extract such expressions and proportions. This superior beauty of thought and intelligence thou thyself acknowledgest, while thou invitest us to contemplate, in thy conduct, the harmony of affections, the dignity of sentiments, and all those graces of a mind, which chiefly merit our attention. But why stoppest thou short? Seest thou nothing farther that is valuable? Amid thy rapturous applauses of beauty and order, art thou still ignorant where is to be found the most consummate beauty? the most perfect order? Compare the works

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of art with those of nature. The one are but imitations of the other. The nearer art approaches to nature, the more perfect is it esteemed. But still, how wide are its nearest approaches, and what an immense interval may be observed between them? Art copies only the outside of nature, leaving the inward and more admirable springs and principles; as exceeding her imitation; as beyond her comprehension. Art copies only the minute productions of nature, despairing to reach that grandeur and magnificence, which are so astonishing in the masterly works of her original. Can we then be so blind as not to discover an intelligence and a design in the exquisite and most stupendous contrivance of the universe? Can we be so stupid as not to feel the warmest raptures of worship and adoration, upon the contemplation of that intelligent being, so infinitely good and wise? The most perfect happiness, surely, must arise from the contemplation of the most perfect object. But what more perfect than beauty and virtue? And where is beauty to be found equal to that of the universe? Or virtue, which can be compared to the benevolence and justice of the Deity? If aught can diminish the pleasure of this contemplation, it must be either the narrowness of our faculties, which conceals from us the greatest part of these ­beauties and perfections; or the shortness of our lives, which allows not time sufficient to instruct us in them. But it is our comfort, that, if we employ worthily the faculties here assigned us, they will be enlarged in another state of existence, so as to render us more suitable worshippers of our maker: And that the task, which can never be finished in time, will be the business of an eternity.

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ESSAY 1 8

The Sceptic 1

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I Have long entertained a suspicion, with regard to the decisions of ­philosophers upon all subjects, and found in myself a greater inclination to dispute, than assent to their conclusions. There is one mistake, to which they seem liable, almost without exception; they confine too much their principles, and make no account of that vast variety, which nature has so much affected in all her ­operations. When a philosopher has once laid hold of a favourite principle, which perhaps accounts for many natural effects, he extends the same principle over the whole creation, and reduces to it every phænomenon, though by the most violent and absurd reasoning. Our own mind being narrow and contracted, we cannot extend our conception to the variety and extent of nature; but imagine, that she is as much bounded in her operations, as we are in our speculation. But if ever this infirmity of philosophers is to be suspected on any occasion, it is in their reasonings concerning human life, and the methods of attaining happiness. In that case, they are led astray, not only by the narrowness of their understandings, but by that also of their passions. Almost every one has a predominant inclination, to which his other desires and affections submit, and which governs him, though, perhaps, with some intervals, through the whole course of his life. It is difficult for him to apprehend, that any thing, which appears totally indifferent to him, can ever give enjoyment to any person, or can possess charms, which altogether escape his observation. His own pursuits are always, in his account, the most engaging: The objects of his passion, the most valuable: And the road, which he pursues, the only one that leads to happiness. But would these prejudiced reasoners reflect a moment, there are many obvious instances and arguments, sufficient to undeceive them, and make them enlarge their maxims and principles. Do they not see the vast variety of inclinations and pursuits among our species; where each man seems fully satisfied with his own course of life, and would esteem it the greatest unhappiness to be confined to that of his neighbour? Do they not feel in themselves, that what pleases at one time, displeases at another, by the change of inclination; and that it is not in their power, by their utmost efforts, to recall that taste or appetite, which formerly bestowed charms on what now appears indifferent or disagreeable? What is the meaning therefore of those general

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preferences of the town or country life, of a life of action or one of pleasure, of retirement or society; when, besides the different inclinations of different men, every one’s experience may convince him, that each of these kinds of life is agreeable in its turn, and that their variety or their judicious mixture chiefly contributes to the rendering all of them agreeable? But shall this business be allowed to go altogether at adventures? And must a man consult only his humour and inclination, in order to determine his course of life, without employing his reason to inform him what road is preferable, and leads most surely to happiness? Is there no difference then between one man’s conduct and another? I answer, there is a great difference. One man, following his inclination, in choosing his course of life, may employ much surer means for succeeding than another, who is led by his inclination into the same course of life, and pursues the same object. Are riches the chief object of your desires? Acquire skill in your profession; be diligent in the exercise of it; enlarge the circle of your friends and acquaintance; avoid pleasure and expence; and never be generous, but with a view of gaining more than you could save by frugality. Would you acquire the public esteem? Guard equally against the extremes of arrogance and fawning. Let it appear that you set a value upon yourself, but without despising others. If you fall into either of the extremes, you either provoke men’s pride by your insolence, or teach them to despise you by your timorous submission, and by the mean opinion which you seem to entertain of yourself. These, you say, are the maxims of common prudence, and discretion; what every parent inculcates on his child, and what every man of sense pursues in the course of life, which he has chosen.—What is it then you desire more? Do you come to a philosopher as to a cunning man, to learn something by magic or witchcraft, beyond what can be known by common prudence and discretion?———Yes; we come to a philosopher to be instructed, how we shall choose our ends, more than the means for attaining these ends: We want to know what desire we shall gratify, what passion we shall comply with, what appetite we shall indulge. As to the rest, we trust to common sense, and the general maxims of the world for our instruction. I am sorry, then, I have pretended to be a philosopher: For I find your questions very perplexing; and am in danger, if my answer be too rigid and severe, of passing for a pedant and scholastic; if it be too easy and free, of being taken for a preacher of vice and immorality. However, to satisfy you, I shall deliver my opinion upon the matter, and shall only desire you to esteem it of as little consequence as I do myself. By that means you will neither think it worthy of your ridicule nor your anger. If we can depend upon any principle, which we learn from philosophy, this, I think, may be considered as certain and undoubted, that there is nothing in

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itself, valuable or despicable, desirable or hateful, beautiful or deformed; but that these attributes arise from the particular constitution and fabric of human sentiment and affection. What seems the most delicious food to one animal, appears loathsome to another: What affects the feeling of one with delight, produces uneasiness in another. This is confessedly the case with regard to all the bodily senses: But if we examine the matter more accurately, we shall find, that the same observation holds even where the mind concurs with the body, and mingles its sentiment with the exterior appetite. Desire this passionate lover to give you a character of his mistress: He will tell you, that he is at a loss for words to describe her charms, and will ask you very seriously if ever you were acquainted with a goddess or an angel? If you answer that you never were: He will then say, that it is impossible for you to form a conception of such divine beauties as those which his charmer possesses; so compleat a shape; such well-proportioned features; so engaging an air; such sweetness of disposition; such gaiety of humour. You can infer nothing, however, from all this discourse, but that the poor man is in love; and that the general appetite between the sexes, which nature has infused into all animals, is in him determined to a particular object by some qualities, which give him pleasure. The same divine creature, not only to a different animal, but also to a different man, appears a mere mortal being, and is beheld with the utmost indifference. Nature has given all animals a like prejudice in favour of their offspring. As soon as the helpless infant sees the light, though in every other eye it appears a despicable and a miserable creature, it is regarded by its fond parent with the utmost affection, and is preferred to every other object, however perfect and accomplished. The passion alone, arising from the original structure and formation of human nature, bestows a value on the most insignificant object. We may push the same observation further, and may conclude, that, even when the mind operates alone, and feeling the sentiment of blame or approbation, pronounces one object deformed and odious, another beautiful and amiable; I say, that, even in this case, those qualities are not really in the objects, but belong entirely to the sentiment of that mind which blames or praises. I grant, that it will be more difficult to make this proposition evident, and as it were, palpable, to negligent thinkers; because nature is more uniform in the sentiments of the mind than in most feelings of the body, and produces a nearer resemblance in the inward than in the outward part of human kind. There is something approaching to principles in mental taste; and critics can reason and dispute more plausibly than cooks or perfumers. We may observe, however, that this uniformity among human kind, hinders not, but that there is a considerable diversity in the sentiments of beauty and worth, and that education, custom, prejudice, caprice, and humour, frequently vary our taste of this kind. You will never convince a man, who is not

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accustomed to Italian music, and has not an ear to follow its intricacies, that a Scotch tune is not preferable. You have not even any single argument, beyond your own taste, which you can employ in your behalf: And to your antagonist, his particular taste will always appear a more convincing argument to the contrary. If you be wise, each of you will allow, that the other may be in the right; and having many other instances of this diversity of taste, you will both confess, that beauty and worth are merely of a relative nature, and consist in an agreeable sentiment, produced by an object in a particular mind, according to the peculiar structure and constitution of that mind. By this diversity of sentiment, observable in human kind, nature has, perhaps, intended to make us sensible of her authority, and let us see what surprizing changes she could produce on the passions and desires of mankind, merely by the change of their inward fabric, without any alteration on the objects. The vulgar may even be convinced by this argument: But men, accustomed to thinking, may draw a more convincing, at least a more general argument, from the very nature of the subject. In the operation of reasoning, the mind does nothing but run over its objects, as they are supposed to stand in reality, without adding any thing to them, or diminishing any thing from them. If I examine the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, I endeavour only, by my enquiries, to know the real situation of the planets; that is, in other words, I endeavour to give them, in my conception, the same relations, that they bear towards each other in the heavens. To this operation of the mind, therefore, there seems to be always a real, though often an unknown standard, in the nature of things; nor is truth or falsehood variable by the various apprehensions of mankind. Though all human race should for ever conclude, that the sun moves, and the earth remains at rest, the sun stirs not an inch from his place for all these reasonings; and such conclusions are eternally false and erroneous. But the case is not the same with the qualities of beautiful and deformed, desirable and odious, as with truth and falsehood. In the former case, the mind is not content with merely surveying its objects, as they stand in themselves: It also feels a sentiment of delight or uneasiness, approbation or blame, consequent to that survey; and this sentiment determines it to affix the epithet beautiful or deformed, desirable or odious. Now, it is evident, that this sentiment must depend upon the particular fabric or structure of the mind, which enables such particular forms to operate in such a particular manner, and produces a sympathy or conformity between the mind and its objects. Vary the structure of the mind or inward organs, the sentiment no longer follows, though the form remains the same. The sentiment being different from the object, and arising from its operation upon the organs of the

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mind, an alteration upon the latter must vary the effect, nor can the same object, presented to a mind totally different, produce the same sentiment. This conclusion every one is apt to draw of himself, without much philosophy, where the sentiment is evidently distinguishable from the object. Who is not sensible, that power, and glory, and vengeance, are not desirable of themselves, but derive all their value from the structure of human passions, which begets a desire towards such particular pursuits? But with regard to beauty, either natural or moral, the case is commonly supposed to be different. The agreeable quality is thought to lie in the object, not in the sentiment; and that merely because the sentiment is not so turbulent and violent as to distinguish itself, in an evident manner, from the perception of the object. But a little reflection suffices to distinguish them. A man may know exactly all the circles and ellipses of the Copernican system, and all the irregular spirals of the Ptolemaic, without perceiving that the former is more beautiful than the latter. Euclid has fully explained every quality of the circle, but has not, in any proposition, said a word of its beauty. The reason is evident. Beauty is not a quality of the circle. It lies not in any part of the line whose parts are all equally distant from a common center. It is only the effect, which that figure produces upon a mind, whose particular fabric or structure renders it susceptible of such sentiments. In vain would you look for it in the circle, or seek it, either by your senses, or by mathematical reasonings, in all the properties of that figure. The mathematician, who took no other pleasure in reading Virgil, but that of examining Eneas’s voyage by the map, might perfectly understand the meaning of every Latin word, employed by that divine author; and consequently, might have a distinct idea of the whole narration. He would even have a more distinct idea of it, than they could attain who had not studied so exactly the geography of the poem. He knew, therefore, every thing in the poem: But he was ignorant of its beauty; because the beauty, properly speaking, lies not in the poem, but in the sentiment or taste of the reader. And where a man has no such delicacy of temper, as to make him feel this sentiment, he must be ignorant of the beauty, though possessed of the science and understanding of an angel.1 1  Were I not afraid of appearing too philosophical, I should remind my reader of that famous doctrine, supposed to be fully proved in modern times, “That tastes and colours, and all other ­sensible qualities, lie not in the bodies, but merely in the senses.” The case is the same with beauty and deformity, virtue and vice. This doctrine, however, takes off no more from the reality of the latter qualities, than from that of the former; nor need it give any umbrage either to critics or moralists. Though colours were allowed to lie only in the eye, would dyers or painters ever be less regarded or esteemed? There is a sufficient uniformity in the senses and feelings of mankind, to make all these qualities the objects of art and reasoning, and to have the greatest influence on life and manners. And as it is certain, that the discovery above-mentioned in natural philosophy, makes no alteration on action and conduct; why should a like discovery in moral philosophy make any alteration?

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The inference upon the whole is, that it is not from the value or worth of the object, which any person pursues, that we can determine his enjoyment, but merely from the passion with which he pursues it, and the success which he meets with in his pursuit. Objects have absolutely no worth or value in themselves. They derive their worth merely from the passion. If that be strong, and steady, and successful, the person is happy. It cannot reasonably be doubted, but a little miss, dressed in a new gown for a dancing-school ball, receives as compleat enjoyment as the greatest orator, who triumphs in the splendour of his eloquence, while he governs the passions and resolutions of a numerous assembly. All the difference, therefore, between one man and another, with regard to life, consists either in the passion, or in the enjoyment: And these differences are sufficient to produce the wide extremes of happiness and misery. To be happy, the passion must neither be too violent nor too remiss. In the first case, the mind is in a perpetual hurry and tumult; in the second, it sinks into a disagreeable indolence and lethargy. To be happy, the passion must be benign and social; not rough or fierce. The affections of the latter kind are not near so agreeable to the feeling, as those of the former. Who will compare rancour and animosity, envy and revenge, to friendship, benignity, clemency, and gratitude? To be happy, the passion must be cheerful and gay, not gloomy and melancholy. A propensity to hope and joy is real riches: One to fear and sorrow, real poverty. Some passions or inclinations, in the enjoyment of their object, are not so steady or constant as others, nor convey such durable pleasure and satisfaction. Philosophical devotion, for instance, like the enthusiasm of a poet, is the transitory effect of high spirits, great leisure, a fine genius, and a habit of study and contemplation: But notwithstanding all these circumstances, an abstract, invisible object, like that which natural religion alone presents to us, cannot long actuate the mind, or be of any moment in life. To render the passion of continuance, we must find some method of affecting the senses and imagination, and must embrace some historical, as well as philosophical account of the Divinity. Popular superstitions and observances are even found to be of use in this particular. Though the tempers of men be very different, yet we may safely pronounce in general, that a life of pleasure cannot support itself so long as one of business, but is much more subject to satiety and disgust. The amusements, which are the most durable, have all a mixture of application and attention in them; such as gaming and hunting. And in general, business and action fill up all the great vacancies in human life.

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But where the temper is the best disposed for any enjoyment, the object is often wanting: And in this respect, the passions, which pursue external objects, contribute not so much to happiness, as those which rest in ourselves; since we are neither so certain of attaining such objects, nor so secure in possessing them. A passion for learning is preferable, with regard to happiness, to one for riches. Some men are possessed of great strength of mind; and even when they pursue external objects, are not much affected by a disappointment, but renew their application and industry with the greatest cheerfulness. Nothing contributes more to happiness than such a turn of mind. According to this short and imperfect sketch of human life, the happiest disposition of mind is the virtuous; or, in other words, that which leads to action and employment, renders us sensible to the social passions, steels the heart against the assaults of fortune, reduces the affections to a just ­moderation, makes our own thoughts an entertainment to us, and inclines us rather to the pleasures of society and conversation, than to those of the senses. This, in the mean time, must be obvious to the most careless reasoner, that all dispositions of mind are not alike favourable to happiness, and that one passion or humour may be extremely desirable, while another is equally disagreeable. And indeed, all the difference between the conditions of life depends upon the mind; nor is there any one situation of affairs, in itself, preferable to another. Good and ill, both natural and moral, are entirely relative to human sentiment and affection. No man would ever be unhappy, could he alter his feelings. Proteus-like, he would elude all attacks, by the continual alterations of his shape and form. But of this resource nature has, in a great measure, deprived us. The fabric and constitution of our mind no more depends on our choice, than that of our body. The generality of men have not even the smallest notion, that any alteration in this respect can ever be desirable. As a stream necessarily follows the several inclinations of the ground, on which it runs; so are the ignorant and thoughtless part of mankind actuated by their natural propensities. Such are effectually excluded from all pretensions to philosophy, and the medicine of the mind, so much boasted. But even upon the wise and thoughtful, nature has a prodigious influence; nor is it always in a man’s power, by the utmost art and industry, to correct his temper, and attain that virtuous character, to which he aspires. The empire of philosophy extends over a few; and with regard to these too, her authority is very weak and ­limited. Men may well be sensible of the value of virtue, and may desire to attain it; but it is not always certain, that they will be successful in their wishes.

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Whoever considers, without prejudice, the course of human actions, will find, that mankind are almost entirely guided by constitution and temper, and that general maxims have little influence, but so far as they affect our taste or sentiment. If a man have a lively sense of honour and virtue, with moderate passions, his conduct will always be conformable to the rules of morality; or if he depart from them, his return will be easy and expeditious. On the other hand, where one is born of so perverse a frame of mind, of so callous and insensible a disposition, as to have no relish for virtue and humanity, no sympathy with his fellow-creatures, no desire of esteem and applause; such a one must be allowed entirely incurable, nor is there any remedy in philosophy. He reaps no satisfaction but from low and sensual objects, or from the indulgence of malignant passions: He feels no remorse to controul his vicious inclinations: He has not even that sense or taste, which is requisite to make him desire a better character: For my part, I know not how I should address myself to such a one, or by what arguments I should endeavour to reform him. Should I tell him of the inward satisfaction which results from laudable and humane actions, the delicate pleasure of disinterested love and friendship, the lasting enjoyments of a good name and an established character, he might still reply, that these were, perhaps, pleasures to such as were susceptible of them; but that, for his part, he finds himself of a quite different turn and disposition. I must repeat it; my phil­ osophy affords no remedy in such a case, nor could I do any thing but lament this person’s unhappy condition. But then I ask, If any other ­philosophy can afford a remedy; or if it be possible, by any system, to render all mankind virtuous, however perverse may be their natural frame of mind? Experience will soon convince us of the contrary; and I will venture to affirm, that, perhaps, the chief benefit, which results from philosophy, arises in an indirect manner, and proceeds more from its secret, insensible influence, than from its immediate application. It is certain, that a serious attention to the sciences and liberal arts softens and humanizes the temper, and cherishes those fine emotions, in which true virtue and honour consists. It rarely, very rarely happens, that a man of taste and learning is not, at least, an honest man, whatever frailties may attend him. The bent of his mind to speculative studies must mortify in him the passions of interest and ambition, and must, at the same time, give him a greater sensibility of all the decencies and duties of life. He feels more fully a moral distinction in characters and manners; nor is his sense of this kind diminished, but, on the contrary, it is much encreased, by speculation. Besides such insensible changes upon the temper and disposition, it is highly probable, that others may be produced by study and application.

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The prodigious effects of education may convince us, that the mind is not ­altogether stubborn and inflexible, but will admit of many alterations from its original make and structure. Let a man propose to himself the model of a character, which he approves: Let him be well acquainted with those particulars, in which his own character deviates from this model: Let him keep a constant watch over himself, and bend his mind, by a continual effort, from the vices, towards the virtues; and I doubt not but, in time, he will find, in his temper, an alteration for the better. Habit is another powerful means of reforming the mind, and implanting in it good dispositions and inclinations. A man, who continues in a course of sobriety and temperance, will hate riot and disorder: If he engage in business or study, indolence will seem a punishment to him: If he constrain himself to practice beneficence and affability, he will soon abhor all instances of pride and violence. Where one is thoroughly convinced that the virtuous course of life is preferable; if he have but resolution enough, for some time, to impose a violence on himself; his reformation need not be despaired of. The misfortune is, that this conviction and this resolution never can have place, unless a man be, before-hand, tolerably virtuous. Here then is the chief triumph of art and philosophy: It insensibly refines the temper, and it points out to us those dispositions which we should endeavour to attain, by a constant bent of mind, and by repeated habit. Beyond this I cannot acknowledge it to have great influence; and I must entertain doubts concerning all those exhortations and consolations, which are in such vogue among speculative reasoners. We have already observed, that no objects are, in themselves, desirable or odious, valuable or despicable; but that objects acquire these qualities from the particular character and constitution of the mind, which surveys them. To diminish therefore, or augment any person’s value for an object, to excite or moderate his passions, there are no direct arguments or reasons, which can be employed with any force or influence. The catching of flies, like Domitian, if it give more pleasure, is preferable to the hunting of wild beasts, like William Rufus, or conquering of kingdoms, like Alexander. But though the value of every object can be determined only by the sentiment or passion of every individual, we may observe, that the passion, in pronouncing its verdict, considers not the object simply, as it is in itself, but surveys it with all the circumstances, which attend it. A man transported with joy, on account of his possessing a diamond, confines not his view to the glistering stone before him: He also considers its rarity, and thence chiefly arises his pleasure and exultation. Here therefore a philosopher may step in, and suggest particular views, and considerations, and circumstances,

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which otherwise would have escaped us; and, by that means, he may either moderate or excite any particular passion. It may seem unreasonable absolutely to deny the authority of philosophy in this respect: But it must be confessed, that there lies this strong presumption against it, that, if these views be natural and obvious, they would have occurred of themselves, without the assistance of philosophy; if they be not natural, they never can have any influence on the affections. These are of a very delicate nature, and cannot be forced or constrained by the utmost art or industry. A consideration, which we seek for on purpose, which we enter into with difficulty, which we cannot retain without care and attention, will never produce those genuine and durable movements of passion, which are the result of nature, and the constitution of the mind. A man may as well pretend to cure himself of love, by viewing his mistress through the artificial medium of a microscope or prospect, and beholding there the coarseness of her skin, and monstrous disproportion of her features, as hope to excite or moderate any passion by the artificial arguments of a Seneca or an Epictetus. The remembrance of the natural aspect and situation of the object, will, in both cases, still recur upon him. The reflections of philosophy are too subtile and distant to take place in common life, or eradicate any affection. The air is too fine to breathe in, where it is above the winds and clouds of the atmosphere. Another defect of those refined reflections, which philosophy suggests to us, is, that commonly they cannot diminish or extinguish our vicious passions, without diminishing or extinguishing such as are virtuous, and rendering the mind totally indifferent and unactive. They are, for the most part, general, and are applicable to all our affections. In vain do we hope to direct their influence only to one side. If by incessant study and meditation we have rendered them intimate and present to us, they will operate throughout, and spread an universal insensibility over the mind. When we destroy the nerves, we extinguish the sense of pleasure, together with that of pain, in the human body. It will be easy, by one glance of the eye, to find one or other of these defects in most of those philosophical reflections, so much celebrated both in ancient and modern times. Let not the injuries or violence of men, say the philosophers,2 ever discompose you by anger or hatred. Would you be angry at the ape for its malice, or the tyger for its ferocity? This reflection leads us into a bad opinion of human nature, and must extinguish the social affections. It tends also to

2  Plutarch. de ira cohibenda.

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prevent all remorse for a man’s own crimes; when he considers, that vice is as natural to mankind, as the particular instincts to brute-creatures. All ills arise from the order of the universe, which is absolutely perfect. Would you wish to disturb so divine an order for the sake of your own particular interest? What if the ills I suffer arise from malice or oppression? But the vices and imperfections of men are also comprehended in the order of the universe. If plagues and earthquakes break not heav’n’s design, Why then a Borgia or a Catiline?

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Let this be allowed; and my own vices will also be a part of the same order. To one who said, that none were happy, who were not above opinion, a Spartan replied, then none are happy but knaves and robbers.3 Man is born to be miserable; and is he surprized at any particular misfortune? And can he give way to sorrow and lamentation upon account of any disaster? Yes: He very reasonably laments, that he should be born to be miserable. Your consolation presents a hundred ills for one, of which you pretend to ease him. You should always have before your eyes death, disease, poverty, blindness, exile, calumny, and infamy, as ills which are incident to human nature. If any one of these ills fall to your lot, you will bear it the better, when you have reckoned upon it. I answer, if we confine ourselves to a general and distant reflection on the ills of human life, that can have no effect to prepare us for them. If by close and intense meditation we render them present and intimate to us, that is the true secret for poisoning all our pleasures, and rendering us perpetually miserable. Your sorrow is fruitless, and will not change the course of destiny. Very true: And for that very reason I am sorry. Cicero’s consolation for deafness is somewhat curious. How many languages are there, says he, which you do not understand? The Punic, Spanish, Gallic, Egyptian, &c. With regard to all these, you are as if you were deaf, yet you are indifferent about the matter. Is it then so great a misfortune to be deaf to one language more?4 I like better the repartee of Antipater the Cyreniac, when some women were condoling with him for his blindness: What! says he, Do you think there are no pleasures in the dark? Nothing can be more destructive, says Fontenelle, to ambition, and the ­passion for conquest, than the true system of astronomy. What a poor thing is even

3  Plutarch. Lacon. apophtheg.    4  Tusc. quæst. lib. 5.

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the whole globe in comparison of the infinite extent of nature? This consideration is evidently too distant ever to have any effect. Or, if it had any, would it not destroy patriotism as well as ambition? The same gallant author adds with some reason, that the bright eyes of the ladies are the only objects, which lose nothing of their lustre or value from the most extensive views of astronomy, but stand proof against every system. Would philosophers advise us to limit our affection to them? Exile, says Plutarch to a friend in banishment, is no evil: Mathematicians tell us, that the whole earth is but a point, compared to the heavens. To change one’s country then is little more than to remove from one street to another. Man is not a plant, rooted to a certain spot of earth: All soils and all climates are alike suited to him.5 These topics are admirable, could they fall only into the hands of banished persons. But what if they come also to the knowledge of those who are employed in public affairs, and destroy all their attachment to their native country? Or will they operate like the quack’s medicine, which is equally good for a diabetes and a dropsy? It is certain, were a superior being thrust into a human body, that the whole of life would to him appear so mean, contemptible, and puerile, that he never could be induced to take part in any thing, and would scarcely give attention to what passes around him. To engage him to such a condescension as to play even the part of a Philip with zeal and alacrity, would be much more difficult, than to constrain the same Philip, after having been a king and a conqueror during fifty years, to mend old shoes with proper care and attention; the occupation which Lucian assigns him in the infernal regions. Now all the same topics of disdain towards human affairs, which could operate on this supposed being, occur also to a philosopher; but being, in some measure, disproportioned to human capacity, and not being fortified by the experience of any thing better, they make not a full impression on him. He sees, but he feels not sufficiently their truth; and is always a sublime philosopher, when he needs not; that is, as long as nothing disturbs him, or rouzes his affections. While others play, he wonders at their keenness and ardour; but he no sooner puts in his own stake, than he is commonly transported with the same passions, that he had so much condemned, while he remained a simple spectator. There are two considerations chiefly to be met with in books of philosophy, from which any important effect is to be expected, and that because these considerations are drawn from common life, and occur upon the most superficial view of human affairs. When we reflect on the shortness and uncertainty of life, 5  De exilio.

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how despicable seem all our pursuits of happiness? And even, if we would extend our concern beyond our own life, how frivolous appear our most enlarged and most generous projects; when we consider the incessant changes and revolutions of human affairs, by which laws and learning, books and governments are hurried away by time, as by a rapid stream, and are lost in the immense ocean of matter? Such a reflection certainly tends to mortify all our passions: But does it not thereby counterwork the artifice of nature, who has happily deceived us into an opinion, that human life is of some importance? And may not such a reflection be employed with success by voluptuous reasoners, in order to lead us, from the paths of action and virtue, into the flowery fields of indolence and pleasure? We are informed by Thucydides, that, during the famous plague of Athens, when death seemed present to every one, a dissolute mirth and gaiety prevailed among the people, who exhorted one another to make the most of life as long as it endured. The same observation is made by Boccace with regard to the plague of Florence. A like principle makes soldiers, during war, be more addicted to riot and expence, than any other race of men. Present pleasure is always of importance; and whatever diminishes the importance of all other objects must bestow on it an additional influence and value. The second philosophical consideration, which may often have an influence on the affections, is derived from a comparison of our own condition with the condition of others. This comparison we are continually making, even in common life; but the misfortune is, that we are rather apt to compare our situation with that of our superiors, than with that of our inferiors. A philosopher corrects this natural infirmity, by turning his view to the other side, in order to render himself easy in the situation, to which fortune has confined him. There are few people, who are not susceptible of some consolation from this reflection, though, to a very good-natured man, the view of human miseries should rather produce sorrow than comfort, and add, to his lamentations for his own misfortunes, a deep compassion for those of others. Such is the imperfection, even of the best of these philosophical topics of consolation.6

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6  The Sceptic, perhaps, carries the matter too far, when he limits all philosophical topics and reflections to these two. There seem to be others, whose truth is undeniable, and whose natural tendency is to tranquillize and soften all the passions. Philosophy greedily seizes these, studies them, weighs them, commits them to the memory, and familiarizes them to the mind: And their influence on tempers, which are thoughtful, gentle, and moderate, may be considerable. But what is their influence, you will say, if the temper be antecedently disposed after the same manner as that to which they pretend to form it? They may, at least, fortify that temper, and furnish it with views, by which it may entertain and nourish itself. Here are a few examples of such philosophical reflections.     1  Is it not certain, that every condition has concealed ills? Then why envy any body?     2 Every one has known ills; and there is a compensation throughout. Why not be contented with the present?     3  Custom deadens the sense both of the good and the ill, and levels every thing.

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I shall conclude this subject with observing, that, though virtue be undoubtedly the best choice, when it is attainable; yet such is the disorder and confusion of human affairs, that no perfect or regular distribution of happiness and misery is ever, in this life, to be expected. Not only the goods of fortune, and the endowments of the body (both of which are important) not only these advantages, I say, are unequally divided between the virtuous and vicious, but even the mind itself partakes, in some degree, of this ­disorder, and the most worthy character, by the very constitution of the passions, enjoys not always the highest felicity. It is observable, that, though every bodily pain proceeds from some disorder in the part or organ, yet the pain is not always proportioned to the disorder; but is greater or less, according to the greater or less sensibility of the part, upon which the noxious humours exert their influence. A tooth-ach produces

               

 

  4  Health and humour all. The rest of little consequence, except these be affected.   5  How many other good things have I? Then why be vexed for one ill?   6  How many are happy in the condition of which I complain? How many envy me?   7 Every good must be paid for: Fortune by labour, favour by flattery. Would I keep the price, yet have the commodity?   8  Expect not too great happiness in life. Human nature admits it not.   9 Propose not a happiness too complicated. But does that depend on me? Yes: The first choice does. Life is like a game: One may choose the game: And passion, by degrees, seizes the proper object. 10 Anticipate by your hopes and fancy future consolation, which time infallibly brings to every affliction. 11 I desire to be rich. Why? That I may possess many fine objects; houses, gardens, equipage, &c. How many fine objects does nature offer to every one without expence? If enjoyed, sufficient. If not: See the effect of custom or of temper, which would soon take off the relish of the riches. 12 I desire fame. Let this occur: If I act well, I shall have the esteem of all my acquaintance. And what is all the rest to me?

   These reflections are so obvious, that it is a wonder they occur not to every man: So ­convincing, that it is a wonder they persuade not every man. But perhaps they do occur to and persuade most men; when they consider human life, by a general and calm survey: But where any real, affecting incident happens; when passion is awakened, fancy agitated, example draws, and counsel urges; the philosopher is lost in the man, and he seeks in vain for that persuasion which before seemed so firm and unshaken. What remedy for this inconvenience? Assist yourself by a frequent perusal of the entertaining moralists: Have recourse to the learning of Plutarch, the imagination of Lucian, the eloquence of Cicero, the wit of Seneca, the gaiety of Montaigne, the sublimity of Shaftesbury. Moral precepts, so couched, strike deep, and fortify the mind against the illusions of passion. But trust not altogether to external aid: By habit and study acquire that philosophical temper which both gives force to reflection, and by rendering a great part of your happiness independent, takes off the edge from all disorderly passions, and tranquillizes the mind. Despise not these helps; but confide not too much in them neither; unless nature has been favourable in the temper, with which she has endowed you.

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more violent convulsions of pain than a phthisis or a dropsy. In like manner, with regard to the œconomy of the mind, we may observe, that all vice is indeed pernicious; yet the disturbance or pain is not measured out by nature with exact proportion to the degree of vice, nor is the man of highest virtue, even abstracting from external accidents, always the most happy. A gloomy and melancholy disposition is certainly, to our sentiments, a vice or imperfection; but as it may be accompanied with great sense of honour and great integrity, it may be found in very worthy characters; though it is sufficient alone to imbitter life, and render the person affected with it compleatly miserable. On the other hand, a selfish villain may possess a spring and alacrity of temper, a certain gaiety of heart, which is indeed a good quality, but which is rewarded much beyond its merit, and when attended with good fortune, will compensate for the uneasiness and remorse arising from all the other vices. I shall add, as an observation to the same purpose, that, if a man be liable to a vice or imperfection, it may often happen, that a good quality, which he possesses along with it, will render him more miserable, than if he were compleatly vicious. A person of such imbecility of temper as to be easily broken by affliction, is more unhappy for being endowed with a generous and friendly disposition, which gives him a lively concern for others, and exposes him the more to fortune and accidents. A sense of shame, in an imperfect character, is certainly a virtue; but produces great uneasiness and remorse, from which the abandoned villain is entirely free. A very amorous complexion, with a heart incapable of friendship, is happier than the same excess in love, with a generosity of temper, which transports a man beyond himself, and renders him a total slave to the object of his ­passion. In a word, human life is more governed by fortune than by reason; is to be regarded more as a dull pastime than as a serious occupation; and is more influenced by particular humour, than by general principles. Shall we engage ourselves in it with passion and anxiety? It is not worthy of so much concern. Shall we be indifferent about what happens? We lose all the pleasure of the game by our phlegm and carelessness. While we are reasoning concerning life, life is gone; and death, though perhaps they receive him differently, yet treats alike the fool and the philosopher. To reduce life to exact rule and method, is commonly a painful, often a fruitless occupation: And is it not also a proof, that we overvalue the prize for which we contend? Even to reason so carefully concerning it, and to fix with accuracy its just idea, would be overvaluing it, were it not that, to some tempers, this occupation is one of the most amusing, in which life could possibly be employed.

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As marriage is an engagement entered into by mutual consent, and has for its end the propagation of the species, it is evident, that it must be susceptible of all the variety of conditions, which consent establishes, provided they be not contrary to this end. A man, in conjoining himself to a woman, is bound to her according to the terms of his engagement: In begetting children, he is bound, by all the ties of nature and humanity, to provide for their subsistence and education. When he has performed these two parts of duty, no one can reproach him with injustice or injury. And as the terms of his engagement, as well as the methods of subsisting his offspring, may be various, it is mere superstition to imagine, that marriage can be entirely uniform, and will admit only of one mode or form. Did not human laws restrain the natural liberty of men, every particular marriage would be as different as contracts or bargains of any other kind or species. As circumstances vary, and the laws propose different advantages, we find, that, in different times and places, they impose different conditions on this important contract. In Tonquin, it is usual for the sailors, when the ships come into harbour, to marry for the season; and, notwithstanding this precarious engagement, they are assured, it is said, of the strictest fidelity to their bed, as well as in the whole management of their affairs, from those temporary spouses. I cannot, at present, recollect my authorities; but I have somewhere read, that the republic of Athens, having lost many of its citizens by war and pestilence, allowed every man to marry two wives, in order the sooner to repair the waste which had been made by these calamities. The poet Euripides happened to be coupled to two noisy Vixens, who so plagued him with their jealousies and quarrels, that he became ever after a professed woman-hater; and is the only theatrical writer, perhaps the only poet, that ever entertained an aversion to the sex. In that agreeable romance, called the History of the Sevarambians, where a great many men and a few women are supposed to be shipwrecked on a desert coast; the captain of the troop, in order to obviate those endless quarrels which arose, regulates their marriages after the following manner: He

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takes a handsome female to himself alone; assigns one to every couple of inferior officers; and to five of the lowest rank he gives one wife in common. The ancient Britons had a singular kind of marriage, to be met with among no other people. Any number of them, as ten or a dozen, joined in a society together, which was perhaps requisite for mutual defence in those barbarous times. In order to link this society the closer, they took an equal number of wives in common; and whatever children were born, were reputed to belong to all of them, and were accordingly provided for by the whole community. Among the inferior creatures, nature herself, being the supreme legislator, prescribes all the laws which regulate their marriages, and varies those laws according to the different circumstances of the creature. Where she furnishes, with ease, food and defence to the newborn animal, the present embrace terminates the marriage; and the care of the offspring is committed entirely to the female. Where the food is of more difficult purchase, the marriage continues for one season, till the common progeny can provide for itself; and then the union immediately dissolves, and leaves each of the parties free to enter into a new engagement at the ensuing season. But nature, having endowed man with reason, has not so exactly regulated every article of his marriage contract, but has left him to adjust them, by his own prudence, according to his particular circumstances and situation. Municipal laws are a supply to the wisdom of each individual; and, at the same time, by restraining the natural liberty of men, make private interest submit to the interest of the public. All regulations, therefore, on this head are equally lawful, and equally conformable to the principles of nature; though they are not all equally convenient, or equally useful to society. The laws may allow of polygamy, as among the Eastern nations; or of voluntary divorces, as among the Greeks and Romans; or they may confine one man to one woman, during the whole course of their lives, as among the modern Europeans. It  may not be disagreeable to consider the advantages and disadvantages, which result from each of these institutions. The advocates for polygamy may recommend it as the only effectual remedy for the disorders of love, and the only expedient for freeing men from that slavery to the females, which the natural violence of our passions has imposed upon us. By this means alone can we regain our right of sovereignty; and, sating our appetite, re-establish the authority of reason in our minds, and, of consequence, our own authority in our families. Man, like a weak sovereign, being unable to support himself against the wiles and intrigues of his subjects, must play one faction against another, and become absolute by the mutual jealousy of the females. To divide and to govern is an universal maxim; and by neglecting it, the Europeans undergo a more

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grievous and a more ignominious slavery than the Turks or Persians, who are subjected indeed to a sovereign, that lies at a distance from them, but in their domestic affairs rule with an uncontroulable sway. On the other hand, it may be urged with better reason, that this sovereignty of the male is a real usurpation, and destroys that nearness of rank, not to say equality, which nature has established between the sexes. We are, by nature, their lovers, their friends, their patrons: Would we willingly exchange such endearing appellations, for the barbarous title of master and tyrant? In what capacity shall we gain by this inhuman proceeding? As lovers, or as husbands? The lover, is totally annihilated; and courtship, the most agreeable scene in life, can no longer have place, where women have not the free disposal of themselves, but are bought and sold, like the meanest animal. The husband is as little a gainer, having found the admirable secret of extinguishing every part of love, except its jealousy. There is no rose without its thorn; but he must be a foolish wretch indeed, that throws away the rose and preserves only the thorn. But the Asiatic manners are as destructive to friendship as to love. Jealousy excludes men from all intimacies and familiarities with each other. No one dares bring his friend to his house or table, lest he bring a lover to his numerous wives. Hence all over the east, each family is as much separate from another, as if they were so many distinct kingdoms. No wonder then, that Solomon, living like an eastern prince, with his seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines, without one friend, could write so pathetically concerning the vanity of the world. Had he tried the secret of one wife or mistress, a few friends, and a great many companions, he might have found life somewhat more agreeable. Destroy love and friendship; what remains in the world worth accepting? The bad education of children, especially children of condition, is another unavoidable consequence of these eastern institutions. Those, who pass the early part of life among slaves, are only qualified to be, themselves, slaves and tyrants; and in every future intercourse, either with their inferiors or superiors, are apt to forget the natural equality of mankind. What attention, too, can it be supposed a parent, whose seraglio affords him fifty sons, will give to instilling principles of morality or science into a progeny, with whom he himself is scarcely acquainted, and whom he loves with so divided an affection? Barbarism, therefore, appears, from reason as well as experience, to be the inseparable attendant of polygamy. To render polygamy more odious, I need not recount the frightful effects of jealousy, and the constraint in which it holds the fair sex all over the east.

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In those countries men are not allowed to have any commerce with the females, not even physicians, when sickness may be supposed to have extinguished all wanton passions in the bosoms of the fair, and, at the same time, has rendered them unfit objects of desire. Tournefort tells us, that, when he was brought into the grand signior’s seraglio as a physician, he was not a little surprized, in looking along a gallery, to see a great number of naked arms, standing out from the sides of the room. He could not imagine what this could mean; till he was told, that those arms belonged to bodies, which he must cure, without knowing any more about them, than what he could learn from the arms. He was not allowed to ask a question of the patient, or even of her attendants, lest he might find it necessary to enquire concerning circumstances, which the delicacy of the seraglio allows not to be revealed. Hence physicians in the east pretend to know all diseases from the pulse; as our quacks in Europe undertake to cure a person merely from seeing his water. I suppose, had Monsieur Tournefort been of this latter kind, he would not, in Constantinople, have been allowed by the jealous Turks to be furnished with materials requisite for exercising his art. In another country, where polygamy is also allowed, they render their wives cripples, and make their feet of no use to them, in order to confine them to their own houses. But it will, perhaps, appear strange, that, in a European country, jealousy can yet be carried to such a height, that it is indecent so much as to suppose that a woman of rank can have feet or legs. Witness the following story, which we have from very good authority.1 When the mother of the late king of Spain was on her road towards Madrid, she passed through a little town in Spain, famous for its manufactory of gloves and stockings. The magistrates of the place thought they could not better express their joy for the reception of their new queen, than by presenting her with a sample of those commodities, for which alone their town was remarkable. The major-domo, who conducted the princess, received the gloves very graciously: But when the stockings were presented, he flung them away with great indignation, and severely reprimanded the magistrates for this egregious piece of indecency. Know, says he, that a queen of Spain has no legs. The young queen, who, at that time, understood the language but imperfectly and had often been frightened with stories of Spanish jealousy, imagined that they were to cut off her legs. Upon which she fell a crying, and begged them to conduct her back to Germany; for that she never could endure the operation: And it was with some difficulty they could

1  Memoirs de la cour d’Espagne par Màdame d’Aunoy.

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appease her. Philip IV. is said never in his life to have laughed heartily, but at the recital of this story. Having rejected polygamy, and matched one man with one woman, let us now consider what duration we shall assign to their union, and whether we shall admit of those voluntary divorces, which were customary among the Greeks and Romans. Those who would defend this practice may employ the following reasons. How often does disgust and aversion arise after marriage, from the most trivial accidents, or from an incompatibility of humour; where time, instead of curing the wounds, proceeding from mutual injuries, festers them every day the more, by new quarrels and reproaches? Let us separate hearts, which were not made to associate together. Each of them may, perhaps, find another for which it is better fitted. At least, nothing can be more cruel than to preserve, by violence, an union, which, at first, was made by mutual love, and is now, in effect, dissolved by mutual hatred. But the liberty of divorces is not only a cure to hatred and domestic quarrels: It is also an admirable preservative against them, and the only secret for keeping alive that love, which first united the married couple. The heart of man delights in liberty: The very image of constraint is grievous to it: When you would confine it by violence, to what would otherwise have been its choice, the inclination immediately changes, and desire is turned into aversion. If the public interest will not allow us to enjoy in polygamy that variety, which is so agreeable in love; at least, deprive us not of that liberty, which is so essentially requisite. In vain you tell me, that I had my choice of the person, with whom I would conjoin myself. I had my choice, it is true, of my prison; but this is but a small comfort, since it must still be a prison. Such are the arguments which may be urged in favour of divorces: But there seem to be these three unanswerable objections against them. First, What must become of the children, upon the separation of the parents? Must they be committed to the care of a step-mother; and instead of the fond attention and concern of a parent, feel all the indifference or hatred of a stranger or an enemy? These inconveniencies are sufficiently felt, where nature has made the divorce by the doom inevitable to all mortals: And shall we seek to multiply those inconveniencies, by multiplying divorces, and ­putting it in the power of parents, upon every caprice, to render their posterity miserable. Secondly, If it be true, on the one hand, that the heart of man naturally delights in liberty, and hates every thing to which it is confined; it is also true, on the other, that the heart of man naturally submits to necessity, and soon loses an inclination, when there appears an absolute impossibility of

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gratifying it. These principles of human nature, you’ll say, are contradictory: But what is man but a heap of contradictions! Though it is remarkable, that, where principles are, after this manner, contrary in their operation, they do not always destroy each other; but the one or the other may predominate on any particular occasion, according as circumstances are more or less ­favourable to it. For instance, love is a restless and impatient passion, full of caprices and variations; arising in a moment from a feature, from an air, from nothing, and suddenly extinguishing after the same manner. Such a passion requires liberty above all things; and therefore Eloisa had reason, when, in order to preserve this passion, she refused to marry her beloved Abelard.

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How oft, when prest to marriage, have I said, Curse on all laws but those which love has made: Love, free as air, at sight of human ties, Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.

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But friendship is a calm and sedate affection, conducted by reason and cemented by habit; springing from long acquaintance and mutual obligations; without jealousies or fears, and without those feverish fits of heat and cold, which cause such an agreeable torment in the amorous passion. So sober an affection, therefore, as friendship, rather thrives under constraint, and never rises to such a height, as when any strong interest or necessity binds two persons together, and gives them some common object of pursuit. We need not, therefore, be afraid of drawing the marriage-knot, which chiefly subsists by friendship, the closest possible. The amity between the persons, where it is solid and sincere, will rather gain by it: And where it is wavering and uncertain, this is the best expedient for fixing it. How many frivolous quarrels and disgusts are there, which people of common prudence endeavour to forget, when they lie under a necessity of passing their lives together; but which would soon be enflamed into the most deadly hatred, were they pursued to the utmost, under the prospect of an easy separation? In the third place, we must consider, that nothing is more dangerous than to unite two persons so closely in all their interests and concerns, as man and wife, without rendering the union entire and total. The least possibility of a separate interest must be the source of endless quarrels and suspicions. The wife, not secure of her establishment, will still be driving some separate end or project; and the husband’s selfishness, being accompanied with more power, may be still more dangerous. Should these reasons against voluntary divorces be deemed insufficient, I hope no body will pretend to refuse the testimony of experience. At the

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time when divorces were most frequent among the Romans, marriages were most rare; and Augustus was obliged, by penal laws, to force men of fashion into the married state: A circumstance which is scarcely to be found in any other age or nation. The more ancient laws of Rome, which prohibited divorces, are extremely praised by Dionysius Halicarnassæus.2 Wonderful was the harmony, says the historian, which this inseparable union of interests produced between married persons; while each of them considered the ­inevitable necessity by which they were linked together, and abandoned all prospect of any other choice or establishment. The exclusion of polygamy and divorces sufficiently recommends our present European practice with regard to marriage.

2  Lib. 2.

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ESSAY 2 0

Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing 1

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Fine writing, according to Mr. Addison, consists of sentiments, which are natural, without being obvious. There cannot be a juster, and more concise definition of fine writing. Sentiments, which are merely natural, affect not the mind with any pleasure, and seem not worthy of our attention. The pleasantries of a waterman, the observations of a peasant, the ribaldry of a porter or hackney coachman, all of these are natural, and disagreeable. What an insipid comedy should we make of the chit-chat of the tea-table, copied faithfully and at full length? Nothing can please persons of taste, but nature drawn with all her graces and ornaments, la belle nature; or if we copy low life, the strokes must be strong and remarkable, and must convey a lively image to the mind. The absurd naivety of Sancho Pancho is represented in such inimitable colours by Cervantes, that it entertains as much as the picture of the most magnanimous hero or softest lover. The case is the same with orators, philosophers, critics, or any author who speaks in his own person, without introducing other speakers or actors. If his language be not elegant, his observations uncommon, his sense strong and masculine, he will in vain boast his nature and simplicity. He may be correct; but he never will be agreeable. It is the unhappiness of such authors, that they are never blamed or censured. The good fortune of a book, and that of a man, are not the same. The secret deceiving path of life, which Horace talks of, fallentis semita vitæ, may be the happiest lot of the one; but is the greatest misfortune, which the other can possibly fall into. On the other hand, productions, which are merely surprizing, without being natural, can never give any lasting entertainment to the mind. To draw chimeras is not, properly speaking, to copy or imitate. The justness of the representation is lost, and the mind is displeased to find a picture, which bears no resemblance to any original. Nor are such excessive refinements more agreeable in the epistolary or philosophic style, than in the epic or tragic. Too much ornament is a fault in every kind of production. Uncommon expressions, strong flashes of wit, pointed similies, and epigrammatic turns, especially when they recur too frequently, are a disfigurement, rather than any embellishment of discourse. As the eye, in surveying a Gothic building,

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is distracted by the multiplicity of ornaments, and loses the whole by its minute attention to the parts; so the mind, in perusing a work overstocked with wit, is fatigued and disgusted with the constant endeavour to shine and surprize. This is the case where a writer overabounds in wit, even though that wit, in itself, should be just and agreeable. But it commonly happens to such writers, that they seek for their favourite ornaments, even where the subject does not afford them; and by that means, have twenty insipid conceits for one thought which is really beautiful. There is no subject in critical learning more copious, than this of the just mixture of simplicity and refinement in writing; and therefore, not to wander in too large a field, I shall confine myself to a few general observations on that head. First, I observe, That though excesses of both kinds are to be avoided, and though a proper medium ought to be studied in all productions; yet this medium lies not in a point, but admits of a considerable latitude. Consider the wide distance, in this respect, between Mr. Pope and Lucretius. These seem to lie in the two greatest extremes of refinement and simplicity, in which a poet can indulge himself, without being guilty of any blameable excess. All this interval may be filled with poets, who may differ from each other, but may be equally admirable, each in his peculiar style and manner. Corneille and Congreve, who carry their wit and refinement somewhat farther than Mr. Pope (if poets of so different a kind can be compared together) and Sophocles and Terence, who are more simple than Lucretius, seem to have gone out of that medium, in which the most perfect productions are found, and to be guilty of some excess in these opposite characters. Of all the great poets, Virgil and Racine, in my opinion, lie nearest the center, and are the f­ arthest removed from both the extremities. My second observation on this head is, That it is very difficult, if not impossible, to explain by words, where the just medium lies between the excesses of simplicity and refinement, or to give any rule by which we can know precisely the bounds between the fault and the beauty. A critic may not only discourse very judiciously on this head, without instructing his readers, but even without understanding the matter perfectly himself. There is not a finer piece of criticism than the dissertation on pastorals by Fontenelle; in which, by a number of reflections and philosophical reasonings, he endeavours to fix the just medium, which is suitable to that species of writing. But let any one read the pastorals of that author, and he will be convinced, that this judicious critic, notwithstanding his fine reasonings, had a false taste, and fixed the point of perfection much nearer the extreme of refinement than pastoral poetry will admit of. The sentiments of his shepherds are better suited to

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the toilettes of Paris, than to the forests of Arcadia. But this it is impossible to discover from his critical reasonings. He blames all excessive painting and ornament as much as Virgil could have done, and had that great poet writ a dissertation on this species of poetry. However different the tastes of men, their general discourse on these subjects is commonly the same. No criticism can be instructive, which descends not to particulars, and is not full of examples and illustrations. It is allowed on all hands, that beauty, as well as virtue, always lies in a medium; but where this medium is placed, is the great question, and can never be sufficiently explained by general reasonings. I shall deliver it as a third observation on this subject, That we ought to be more on our guard against the excess of refinement than that of simplicity; and that because the former excess is both less beautiful, and more dangerous than the latter. It is a certain rule, that wit and passion are entirely incompatible. When the affections are moved, there is no place for the imagination. The mind of man being naturally limited, it is impossible, that all its faculties can operate at once: And the more any one predominates, the less room is there for the others to exert their vigour. For this reason, a greater degree of simplicity is required in all compositions, where men, and actions, and passions are painted, than in such as consist of reflections and observations. And as the former species of writing is the more engaging and beautiful, one may safely, upon this account, give the preference to the extreme of simplicity above that of refinement. We may also observe, that those compositions, which we read the oftenest, and which every man of taste has got by heart, have the recommendation of simplicity, and have nothing surprizing in the thought, when divested of that elegance of expression, and harmony of numbers, with which it is cloathed. If the merit of the composition lie in a point of wit; it may strike at first; but the mind anticipates the thought in the second perusal, and is no longer affected by it. When I read an epigram of Martial, the first line recalls the whole; and I have no pleasure in repeating to myself what I know already. But each line, each word in Catullus, has its merit; and I am never tired with the perusal of him. It is sufficient to run over Cowley once: But Parnel, after the fiftieth reading, is as fresh as at the first. Besides, it is with books as with women, where a certain plainness of manner and of dress is more engaging than that glare of paint and airs and apparel, which may dazzle the eye, but reaches not the affections. Terence is a modest and bashful beauty, to whom we grant every thing, because he assumes nothing, and whose purity and nature make a durable, though not a violent impression on us. But refinement, as it is the less beautiful, so is it the more dangerous extreme, and what we are the aptest to fall into. Simplicity passes for dulness,

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when it is not accompanied with great elegance and propriety. On the contrary, there is something surprizing in a blaze of wit and conceit. Ordinary readers are mightily struck with it, and falsely imagine it to be the most difficult, as well as most excellent way of writing. Seneca abounds with agreeable faults, says Quintilian, abundat dulcibus vitiis; and for that reason is the more dangerous, and the more apt to pervert the taste of the young and inconsiderate. I shall add, that the excess of refinement is now more to be guarded against than ever; because it is the extreme, which men are the most apt to fall into, after learning has made some progress, and after eminent writers have appeared in every species of composition. The endeavour to please by novelty leads men wide of simplicity and nature, and fills their writings with affectation and conceit. It was thus the Asiatic eloquence degenerated so much from the Attic: It was thus the age of Claudius and Nero became so much inferior to that of Augustus in taste and genius: And perhaps there are, at present, some symptoms of a like degeneracy of taste, in France as well as in England.

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ESSAY 2 1

Of National Characters 1

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The vulgar are apt to carry all national characters to extremes; and having once established it as a principle, that any people are knavish, or cowardly, or ignorant, they will admit of no exception, but comprehend every individual under the same censure. Men of sense condemn these undistinguishing judgments: Though at the same time, they allow, that each nation has a peculiar set of manners, and that some particular qualities are more frequently to be met with among one people than among their neighbours. The common people in Switzerland have probably more honesty than those of the same rank in Ireland; and every prudent man will, from that circumstance alone, make a difference in the trust which he reposes in each. We have reason to expect greater wit and gaiety in a Frenchman than in a Spaniard; though Cervantes was born in Spain. An Englishman will ­naturally be supposed to have more knowledge than a Dane; though Tycho Brahe was a native of Denmark. Different reasons are assigned for these national characters; while some account for them from moral, others from physical causes. By moral causes, I mean all circumstances, which are fitted to work on the mind as motives or reasons, and which render a peculiar set of manners habitual to us. Of this kind are, the nature of the government, the revolutions of public affairs, the plenty or penury in which the people live, the situation of the nation with regard to its neighbours, and such like circumstances. By physical causes, I mean those qualities of the air and climate, which are supposed to work insensibly on the temper, by altering the tone and habit of the body, and giving a particular complexion, which, though reflection and reason may sometimes overcome it, will yet prevail among the generality of mankind, and have an influence on their manners. That the character of a nation will much depend on moral causes, must be evident to the most superficial observer; since a nation is nothing but a collection of individuals, and the manners of individuals are frequently determined by these causes. As poverty and hard labour debase the minds of the common people, and render them unfit for any science and ingenious profession; so where any government becomes very oppressive to all its subjects, it must have a proportional effect on their temper and genius, and must banish all the liberal arts from among them.

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The same principle of moral causes fixes the character of different professions, and alters even that disposition, which the particular members receive from the hand of nature. A soldier and a priest are different characters, in all nations, and all ages; and this difference is founded on circumstances, whose operation is eternal and unalterable. The uncertainty of their life makes soldiers lavish and generous, as well as brave: Their idleness, together with the large societies, which they form in camps or garrisons, inclines them to pleasure and gallantry: By their frequent change of company, they acquire good breeding and an openness of behaviour: Being employed only against a public and an open enemy, they become candid, honest, and undesigning: And as they use more the labour of the body than that of the mind, they are commonly thoughtless and ignorant.1 It is a trite, but not altogether a false maxim, that priests of all religions are the same; and though the character of the profession will not, in every instance, prevail over the personal character, yet is it sure always to predominate with the greater number. For as chymists observe, that spirits, when raised to a certain height, are all the same, from whatever materials they be extracted; so these men, being elevated above humanity, acquire a uniform character, which is entirely their own, and which, in my opinion, is, generally speaking, not the most amiable that is to be met with in human society. It is, in most points, opposite to that of a soldier; as is the way of life, from which it is derived.2 1  It is a saying of Menander, Κομψὸς στρατιώτης, οὐδ’ἂν εἰ πλάττοι θεὸς Ουθεὶς γένοιτ’ ἄν. Men. apud Stobæum. It is not in the power even of God to make a polite soldier. The contrary observation with regard to the manners of soldiers takes place in our days. This seems to me a presumption, that the ancients owed all their refinement and civility to books and study; for which, indeed, a soldier’s life is not so well calculated. Company and the world is their sphere. And if there be any politeness to be learned from company, they will certainly have a considerable share of it. 2  Though all mankind have a strong propensity to religion at certain times and in certain dispositions; yet are there few or none, who have it to that degree, and with that constancy, which is requisite to support the character of this profession. It must, therefore, happen, that clergymen, being drawn from the common mass of mankind, as people are to other employments, by the views of profit, the greater part, though no atheists or free-thinkers, will find it necessary, on particular occasions, to feign more devotion than they are, at that time, possessed of, and to maintain the appearance of fervor and seriousness, even when jaded with the exercises of their religion, or when they have their minds engaged in the common occupations of life. They must not, like the rest of the world, give scope to their natural movements and sentiments: They must set a guard over their looks and words and actions: And in order to support the veneration paid them by the multitude, they must not only keep a remarkable reserve, but must promote the spirit of superstition, by a continued grimace and hypocrisy. This dissimulation often destroys the candour and ingenuity of their temper, and makes an irreparable breach in their character.   If by chance any of them be possessed of a temper more susceptible of devotion than usual, so that he has but little occasion for hypocrisy to support the character of his profession; it is so ­natural for him to overrate this advantage, and to think that it atones for every violation of morality, that frequently he is not more virtuous than the hypocrite. And though few dare openly avow those

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As to physical causes, I am inclined to doubt altogether of their operation in this particular; nor do I think, that men owe any thing of their temper or genius to the air, food, or climate. I confess, that the contrary opinion may justly, at first sight, seem probable; since we find, that these circumstances have an influence over every other animal, and that even those creatures, exploded opinions, that every thing is lawful to the saints, and that they alone have property in their goods; yet may we observe, that these principles lurk in every bosom, and represent a zeal for religious observances as so great a merit, that it may compensate for many vices and enormities. This observation is so common, that all prudent men are on their guard, when they meet with any extraordinary appearance of religion; though at the same time, they confess, that there are many exceptions to this general rule, and that probity and superstition, or even probity and fanaticism, are not altogether and in every instance incompatible.   Most men are ambitious; but the ambition of other men may commonly be satisfied, by excelling in their particular profession, and thereby promoting the interests of society. The ambition of the clergy can often be satisfied only by promoting ignorance and superstition and implicit faith and pious frauds. And having got what Archimedes only wanted, (namely, another world, on which he could fix his engines) no wonder they move this world at their pleasure.   Most men have an overweaning conceit of themselves; but these have a peculiar temptation to that vice, who are regarded with such veneration, and are even deemed sacred, by the ignorant multitude.   Most men are apt to bear a particular regard for members of their own profession; but as a lawyer, or physician, or merchant, does, each of them, follow out his business apart, the interests of men of these professions are not so closely united as the interests of clergymen of the same religion; where the whole body gains by the veneration, paid to their common tenets, and by the suppression of antagonists.   Few men can bear contradiction with patience; but the clergy too often proceed even to a degree of fury on this head: Because all their credit and livelihood depend upon the belief, which their opinions meet with; and they alone pretend to a divine and supernatural authority, or have any colour for representing their antagonists as impious and prophane. The Odium Theologicum, or Theological Hatred, is noted even to a proverb, and means that degree of rancour, which is the most furious and implacable.   Revenge is a natural passion to mankind; but seems to reign with the greatest force in priests and women: Because, being deprived of the immediate exertion of anger, in violence and combat, they are apt to fancy themselves despised on that account; and their pride supports their vindictive disposition.   Thus many of the vices of human nature are, by fixed moral causes, enflamed in that profession; and though several individuals escape the contagion, yet all wise governments will be on their guard against the attempts of a society, who will for ever combine into one faction, and while it acts as a society, will for ever be actuated by ambition, pride, revenge, and a persecuting spirit.   The temper of religion is grave and serious; and this is the character required of priests, which confines them to strict rules of decency, and commonly prevents irregularity and intemperance amongst them. The gaiety, much less the excesses of pleasure, is not permitted in that body; and this virtue is, perhaps, the only one which they owe to their profession. In religions, indeed, founded on speculative principles, and where public discourses make a part of religious service, it may also be supposed that the clergy will have a considerable share in the learning of the times; though it is certain that their taste in eloquence will always be greater than their proficiency in reasoning and philosophy. But whoever possesses the other noble virtues of humanity, meekness, and moderation, as very many of them, no doubt, do, is beholden for them to nature or reflection, not to the genius of his calling.   It was no bad expedient in the old Romans, for preventing the strong effect of the priestly character, to make it a law that no one should be received into the sacerdotal office, till he was past fifty years of age, Dion. Hal. lib. 2. The living a layman till that age, it is presumed, would be able to fix the character.

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which are fitted to live in all climates, such as dogs, horses, &c. do not attain the same perfection in all. The courage of bull-dogs and game-cocks seems peculiar to England. Flanders is remarkable for large and heavy horses: Spain for horses light, and of good mettle. And any breed of these creatures, transplanted from one country to another, will soon lose the qualities, which they derived from their native climate. It may be asked, why not the same with men?3 There are few questions more curious than this, or which will oftener occur in our enquiries concerning human affairs; and therefore it may be proper to give it a full examination. The human mind is of a very imitative nature; nor is it possible for any set of men to converse often together, without acquiring a similitude of manners, and communicating to each other their vices as well as virtues. The propensity to company and society is strong in all rational creatures; and the same disposition, which gives us this propensity, makes us enter deeply into each other’s sentiments, and causes like passions and inclinations to run, as it were, by contagion, through the whole club or knot of companions. Where a number of men are united into one political body, the occasions of their intercourse must be so frequent, for defence, commerce, and government, that, together with the same speech or language, they must acquire a resemblance in their manners, and have a common or national character, as well as a personal one, peculiar to each individual. Now though nature produces all kinds of temper and understanding in great abundance, it does not follow, that she always produces them in like proportions, and that in every society the ingredients of industry and indolence, valour and cowardice, humanity and brutality, wisdom and folly, will be mixed after the same manner. In the infancy of society, if any of these dispositions be found in greater abundance than the rest, it will naturally prevail in the composition, and give a tincture to the national character. Or should it be asserted, that no species of temper can reasonably be presumed to predominate, even in those contracted societies, 3  Cæsar (de bello Gallico, lib. 4.) says, that the Gallic horses were very good; the German very bad. We find in lib. 7. that he was obliged to remount some German cavalry with Gallic horses. At present, no part of Europe has so bad horses of all kinds as France: But Germany abounds with excellent war horses. This may beget a little suspicion, that even animals depend not on the climate; but on the different breeds, and on the skill and care in rearing them. The north of England abounds in the best horses of all kinds which are perhaps in the world. In the neighbouring counties, north side of the Tweed, no good horses of any kind are to be met with. Strabo, lib. 2. rejects, in a great measure, the influence of climates upon men. All is custom and education, says he. It is not from nature, that the Athenians are learned, the Lacedemonians ignorant, and the Thebans too, who are still nearer neighbours to the former. Even the difference of animals, he adds, depends not on climate

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and that the same proportions will always be preserved in the mixture; yet surely the persons in credit and authority, being still a more contracted body, cannot always be presumed to be of the same character; and their influence on the manners of the people, must, at all times, be very considerable. If on the first establishment of a republic, a Brutus should be placed in authority, and be transported with such an enthusiasm for liberty and public good, as to overlook all the ties of nature, as well as private interest, such an illustrious example will naturally have an effect on the whole society, and kindle the same passion in every bosom. Whatever it be that forms the manners of one generation, the next must imbibe a deeper tincture of the same dye; men being more susceptible of all impressions during infancy, and retaining these impressions as long as they remain in the world. I assert, then, that all national characters, where they depend not on fixed moral causes, proceed from such accidents as these, and that physical causes have no discernible operation on the human mind. It is a maxim in all philosophy, that causes, which do not appear, are to be considered as not existing. If we run over the globe, or revolve the annals of history, we shall discover every where signs of a sympathy or contagion of manners, none of the influence of air or climate. First, We may observe, that, where a very extensive government has been established for many centuries, it spreads a national character over the whole empire, and communicates to every part a similarity of manners. Thus the Chinese have the greatest uniformity of character imaginable; though the air and climate, in different parts of those vast dominions, admit of very considerable variations. Secondly, In small governments, which are contiguous, the people have notwithstanding a different character, and are often as distinguishable in their manners as the most distant nations. Athens and Thebes were but a short day’s journey from each other; though the Athenians were as remarkable for ingenuity, politeness, and gaiety, as the Thebans for dulness, ­rusticity, and a phlegmatic temper. Plutarch, discoursing of the effects of air on the minds of men, observes, that the inhabitants of the Piræum possessed very different tempers from those of the higher town in Athens, which was distant about four miles from the former: But I believe no one attributes the difference of manners in Wapping and St. James’s to a difference of air or climate. Thirdly, The same national character commonly follows the authority of government to a precise boundary; and upon crossing a river or passing a  mountain, one finds a new set of manners, with a new government. The Languedocians and Gascons are the gayest people in France; but

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whenever you pass the Pyrenees, you are among Spaniards. Is it conceivable, that the qualities of the air should change exactly with the limits of an empire, which depend so much on the accidents of battles, negociations, and marriages? Fourthly, Where any set of men, scattered over distant nations, maintain a close society or communication together, they acquire a similitude of manners, and have but little in common with the nations amongst whom they live. Thus the Jews in Europe, and the Armenians in the east, have a peculiar character; and the former are as much noted for fraud, as the latter for probity.4 The Jesuits, in all Roman-Catholic countries, are also observed to have a character peculiar to themselves. Fifthly, Where any accident, as a difference in language or religion, keeps two nations, inhabiting the same country, from mixing with each other, they will preserve, during several centuries, a distinct and even opposite set of manners. The integrity, gravity, and bravery of the Turks, form an exact contrast to the deceit, levity, and cowardice of the modern Greeks. Sixthly, The same set of manners will follow a nation, and adhere to them over the whole globe, as well as the same laws and language. The Spanish, English, French, and Dutch colonies are all distinguishable even between the tropics. Seventhly, The manners of a people change very considerably from one age to another; either by great alterations in their government, by the mixtures of new people, or by that inconstancy, to which all human affairs are subject. The ingenuity, industry, and activity of the ancient Greeks have nothing in common with the stupidity and indolence of the present inhabitants of those regions. Candour, bravery, and love of liberty formed the character of the ancient Romans; as subtilty, cowardice, and a slavish disposition do that of the modern. The old Spaniards were restless, turbulent, and so addicted to war, that many of them killed themselves, when deprived of their arms by the Romans.5 One would find an equal difficulty, at present, (at least one would have found it fifty years ago) to rouze up the modern Spaniards to arms. The Batavians were all soldiers of fortune, and hired themselves into the Roman armies. Their posterity make use of foreigners for the same purpose that the Romans did their ancestors. Though some 4  A small sect or society amidst a greater are commonly most regular in their morals; because they are more remarked, and the faults of individuals draw dishonour on the whole. The only exception to this rule is, when the superstition and prejudices of the large society are so strong as to throw an infamy on the smaller society, independent of their morals. For in that case, having no character either to save or gain, they become careless of their behaviour, except among themselves. 5  Titi Livii, lib. 34. cap. 17.

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few strokes of the French character be the same with that which Cæsar has ascribed to the Gauls; yet what comparison between the civility, humanity, and knowledge of the modern inhabitants of that country, and the ­ignorance, barbarity, and grossness of the ancient? Not to insist upon the great ­difference between the present possessors of Britain, and those before the Roman conquest; we may observe that our ancestors, a few centuries ago, were sunk into the most abject superstition, last century they were enflamed with the most furious enthusiasm, and are now settled into the most cool indifference with regard to religious matters, that is to be found in any nation of the world. Eighthly, Where several neighbouring nations have a very close communication together, either by policy, commerce, or travelling, they acquire a similitude of manners, proportioned to the communication. Thus all the Franks appear to have a uniform character to the eastern nations. The differences among them are like the peculiar accents of different provinces, which are not distinguishable, except by an ear accustomed to them, and which commonly escape a foreigner. Ninthly, We may often remark a wonderful mixture of manners and characters in the same nation, speaking the same language, and subject to the same government: And in this particular the English are the most remarkable of any people, that perhaps ever were in the world. Nor is this to be ascribed to the mutability and uncertainty of their climate, or to any other physical causes; since all these causes take place in the neighbouring country of Scotland, without having the same effect. Where the government of a nation is altogether republican, it is apt to beget a peculiar set of manners. Where it is altogether monarchical, it is more apt to have the same effect; the imitation of superiors spreading the national manners faster among the ­people. If the governing part of a state consist altogether of merchants, as in Holland, their uniform way of life will fix their character. If it consists chiefly of nobles and landed gentry, like Germany, France, and Spain, the same effect follows. The genius of a particular sect or religion is also apt to mould the manners of a people. But the English government is a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The people in authority are composed of gentry and merchants. All sects of religion are to be found among them. And the great liberty and independency, which every man enjoys, allows him to display the manners peculiar to him. Hence the English, of any people in the universe, have the least of a national character; unless this very singularity may pass for such. If the characters of men depended on the air and climate, the degrees of heat and cold should naturally be expected to have a mighty influence; since

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nothing has a greater effect on all plants and irrational animals. And indeed there is some reason to think, that all the nations, which live beyond the polar circles or between the tropics, are inferior to the rest of the species, and are incapable of all the higher attainments of the human mind. The poverty and misery of the northern inhabitants of the globe, and the indolence of the southern, from their few necessities, may, perhaps, account for this remarkable difference, without our having recourse to physical causes. This however is certain, that the characters of nations are very promiscuous in the temperate climates, and that almost all the general observations, which have been formed of the more southern or more northern people in these climates, are found to be uncertain and fallacious.6 Shall we say, that the neighbourhood of the sun enflames the imagination of men, and gives it a peculiar spirit and vivacity? The French, Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians are remarkable for gaiety. The Spaniards, Turks, and Chinese are noted for gravity and a serious deportment, without any such difference of climate, as to produce this difference of temper. The Greeks and Romans, who called all other nations barbarians, confined genius and a fine understanding to the more southern climates, and pronounced the northern nations incapable of all knowledge and civility. But our island has produced as great men, either for action or learning, as Greece or Italy has to boast of. It is pretended, that the sentiments of men become more delicate as the country approaches nearer to the sun; and that the taste of beauty and elegance receives proportional improvements in every latitude; as we may particularly observe of the languages, of which the more southern are smooth and melodious, the northern harsh and untuneable. But this observation holds not universally. The Arabic is uncouth and disagreeable: The Muscovite soft and musical. Energy, strength, and harshness form the character of the Latin tongue: The Italian is the most liquid, smooth, and effeminate

6  I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized nation of that complexion, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. No ingenious manufactures amongst them, no arts, no sciences. On the other hand, the most rude and barbarous of the whites, such as the ancient Germans, the present Tartars, have still something eminent about them, in their valour, form of government, or some other particular. Such a uniform and constant difference could not happen, in so many countries and ages, if nature had not made an original distinction between these breeds of men. Not to mention our colonies, there are Negroe slaves dispersed all over Europe, of whom none ever discovered any symptoms of ingenuity; though low people, without education, will start up amongst us, and distinguish themselves in every profession. In Jamaica, indeed, they talk of one Negroe as a man of parts and learning; but it is likely he is admired for slender accomplishments, like a parrot, who speaks a few words plainly.

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language that can possibly be imagined. Every language will depend somewhat on the manners of the people; but much more on that original stock of words and sounds, which they received from their ancestors, and which remain unchangeable, even while their manners admit of the greatest alterations. Who can doubt, but the English are at present a more polite and knowing people than the Greeks were for several ages after the siege of Troy? Yet is there no comparison between the language of Milton and that of Homer. Nay, the greater are the alterations and improvements, which happen in the manners of a people, the less can be expected in their language. A few eminent and refined geniuses will communicate their taste and knowledge to a whole people, and produce the greatest improvements; but they fix the tongue by their writings, and prevent, in some degree, its farther changes. Lord Bacon has observed, that the inhabitants of the south are, in general, more ingenious than those of the north; but that, where the native of a cold climate has genius, he rises to a higher pitch than can be reached by the southern wits. This observation a late writer7 confirms, by comparing the southern wits to cucumbers, which are commonly all good in their kind; but at best are an insipid fruit: While the northern geniuses are like melons, of which not one in fifty is good; but when it is so, it has an exquisite relish. I believe this remark may be allowed just, when confined to the European nations, and to the present age, or rather to the preceding one: But I think it may be accounted for from moral causes. All the sciences and liberal arts have been imported to us from the south; and it is easy to imagine, that, in the first ardour of application, when excited by emulation and by glory, the few, who were addicted to them, would carry them to the greatest height, and stretch every nerve, and every faculty, to reach the pinnacle of perfection. Such illustrious examples spread knowledge every where, and begot an universal esteem for the sciences: After which, it is no wonder, that industry relaxes; while men meet not with suitable encouragement, nor arrive at such distinction by their attainments. The universal diffusion of learning among a people, and the entire banishment of gross ignorance and rusticity, is, therefore, seldom attended with any remarkable perfection in particular persons. It seems to be taken for granted in the dialogue de Oratoribus, that knowledge was much more common in Vespasian’s age than in that of Cicero and Augustus. Quintilian also complains of the profanation of learning, by its becoming too common. “Formerly,” says Juvenal, “science was confined to Greece and Italy. Now the whole world emulates Athens 7 Dr. Berkeley: Minute Philosopher.

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and Rome. Eloquent Gaul has taught Britain, knowing in the laws. Even Thule entertains thoughts of hiring rhetoricians for its instruction.”8 This state of learning is remarkable; because Juvenal is himself the last of the Roman writers, that possessed any degree of genius. Those, who succeeded, are valued for nothing but the matters of fact, of which they give us information. I hope the late conversion of Muscovy to the study of the sciences will not prove a like prognostic to the present period of learning. Cardinal Bentivoglio gives the preference to the northern nations above the southern with regard to candour and sincerity; and mentions, on the one hand, the Spaniards and Italians, and on the other, the Flemings and Germans. But I am apt to think, that this has happened by accident. The ancient Romans seem to have been a candid sincere people, as are the modern Turks. But if we must needs suppose, that this event has arisen from fixed causes, we may only conclude from it, that all extremes are apt to concur, and are commonly attended with the same consequences. Treachery is the usual concomitant of ignorance and barbarism; and if civilized nations ever embrace subtle and crooked politics, it is from an excess of refinement, which makes them disdain the plain direct path to power and glory. Most conquests have gone from north to south; and it has hence been inferred, that the northern nations possess a superior degree of courage and ferocity. But it would have been juster to have said, that most conquests are made by poverty and want upon plenty and riches. The Saracens, leaving the deserts of Arabia, carried their conquests northwards upon all the fertile provinces of the Roman empire; and met the Turks half way, who were coming southwards from the deserts of Tartary. An eminent writer9 has remarked, that all courageous animals are also carnivorous, and that greater courage is to be expected in a people, such as the English, whose food is strong and hearty, than in the half-starved commonalty of other countries. But the Swedes, notwithstanding their ­disadvantages in this particular, are not inferior, in martial courage, to any nation that ever was in the world. In general, we may observe, that courage, of all national qualities, is the most precarious; because it is exerted only at intervals, and by a few in every nation; whereas industry, knowledge, civility, may be of constant and universal 8        “Sed Cantaber unde Stoicus? antiqui præsertim ætate Metelli. Nunc totus Graias, nostrasque habet orbis Athenas. Gallia causidicos docuit facunda Britannos: De conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule.”  Sat. 15. 9 Sir William Temple’s account of the Netherlands.

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use, and for several ages, may become habitual to the whole people. If courage be preserved, it must be by discipline, example, and opinion. The tenth legion of Cæsar, and the regiment of Picardy in France were formed promiscuously from among the citizens; but having once entertained a notion, that they were the best troops in the service, this very opinion really made them such. As a proof how much courage depends on opinion, we may observe, that, of the two chief tribes of the Greeks, the Dorians, and Ionians, the former were always esteemed, and always appeared more brave and manly than the latter; though the colonies of both the tribes were interspersed and intermingled throughout all the extent of Greece, the Lesser Asia, Sicily, Italy, and the islands of the Ægean sea. The Athenians were the only Ionians that ever had any reputation for valour or military atchievements; though even these were deemed inferior to the Lacedemonians, the bravest of the Dorians. The only observation, with regard to the difference of men in different climates, on which we can rest any weight, is the vulgar one, that people in the northern regions have a greater inclination to strong liquors, and those in the southern to love and women. One can assign a very probable physical cause for this difference. Wine and distilled spirits warm the frozen blood in the colder climates, and fortify men against the injuries of the weather: As the genial heat of the sun, in the countries exposed to his beams, enflames the blood, and exalts the passion between the sexes. Perhaps too, the matter may be accounted for by moral causes. All strong liquors are rarer in the north, and consequently are more coveted. Diodorus Siculus10 tells us, that the Gauls in his time were great drunkards, and much addicted to wine; chiefly, I suppose, from its rarity and novelty. On the other hand, the heat in the southern climates, obliging men and women to go half-naked, thereby renders their frequent commerce more dangerous, and enflames their mutual passion. This makes parents and husbands more jealous and reserved; which still farther enflames the passion. Not to mention, that, as women ripen sooner in the southern regions, it is necessary to observe greater jealousy and care in their education; it being evident, that a girl of twelve cannot possess equal discretion to govern this passion, with one who feels not its violence till she be seventeen or eighteen. Nothing so much encourages the passion of love as ease and leisure, or is more destructive 10  Lib. 5. The same author ascribes taciturnity to that people; a new proof that national characters may alter very much. Taciturnity, as a national character, implies unsociableness. Aristotle in his Politics, book 2. chap. 9. says, that the Gauls are the only warlike nation, who are negligent of women.

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to it than industry and hard labour; and as the necessities of men are evidently fewer in the warm climates than in the cold ones, this circumstance alone may make a considerable difference between them. But perhaps the fact is doubtful, that nature has, either from moral or physical causes, distributed these respective inclinations to the different climates. The ancient Greeks, though born in a warm climate, seem to have been much addicted to the bottle; nor were their parties of pleasure any thing but matches of drinking among men, who passed their time altogether apart from the fair. Yet when Alexander led the Greeks into Persia, a still more southern climate, they multiplied their debauches of this kind, in imitation of the Persian manners.11 So honourable was the character of a drunkard among the Persians, that Cyrus the younger, soliciting the sober Lacedemonians for succour against his brother Artaxerxes, claims it chiefly on account of his superior endowments, as more valorous, more bountiful, and a better drinker.12 Darius Hystaspes made it be inscribed on his tombstone, among his other virtues and princely qualities, that no one could bear a greater quantity of liquor. You may obtain any thing of the Negroes by offering them strong drink; and may easily prevail with them to sell, not only their children, but their wives and mistresses, for a cask of brandy. In France and Italy few drink pure wine, except in the greatest heats of summer; and indeed, it is then almost as necessary, in order to recruit the spirits, evaporated by heat, as it is in Sweden, during the winter, in order to warm the bodies congealed by the rigour of the season. If jealousy be regarded as a proof of an amorous disposition, no people were more jealous than the Muscovites, before their communication with Europe had somewhat altered their manners in this particular. But supposing the fact true, that nature, by physical principles, has regularly distributed these two passions, the one to the northern, the other to the southern regions; we can only infer, that the climate may affect the grosser and more bodily organs of our frame; not that it can work upon those finer organs, on which the operations of the mind and understanding depend. And this is agreeable to the analogy of nature. The races of animals never degenerate when carefully tended; and horses, in particular, always show their blood in their shape, spirit, and swiftness: But a coxcomb may beget a philosopher; as a man of virtue may leave a worthless progeny. I shall conclude this subject with observing, that though the passion for liquor be more brutal and debasing than love, which, when properly 11  Babylonii maxime in vinum, & quæ ebrietatem sequuntur, effusi sunt. Quint. Cur. lib. 5. cap. 1. 12  Plutarch. Symp. lib. 1. quæst. 4.

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managed, is the source of all politeness and refinement; yet this gives not so great an advantage to the southern climates, as we may be apt, at first sight, to imagine. When love goes beyond a certain pitch, it renders men jealous, and cuts off the free intercourse between the sexes, on which the politeness of a nation will commonly much depend. And if we would subtilize and refine upon this point, we might observe, that the people, in very temperate climates, are the most likely to attain all sorts of improvement; their blood not being so enflamed as to render them jealous, and yet being warm enough to make them set a due value on the charms and endowments of the fair sex.

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It seems an unaccountable pleasure, which the spectators of a well-­written tragedy receive from sorrow, terror, anxiety, and other passions, that are in themselves disagreeable and uneasy. The more they are touched and affected, the more are they delighted with the spectacle; and as soon as the uneasy passions cease to operate, the piece is at an end. One scene of full joy and contentment and security is the utmost, that any composition of this kind can bear; and it is sure always to be the concluding one. If, in the texture of the piece, there be interwoven any scenes of satisfaction, they afford only faint gleams of pleasure, which are thrown in by way of variety, and in order to plunge the actors into deeper distress, by means of that contrast and disappointment. The whole art of the poet is employed, in rouzing and supporting the compassion and indignation, the anxiety and resentment of his audience. They are pleased in proportion as they are afflicted, and never are so happy as when they employ tears, sobs, and cries to give vent to their sorrow, and relieve their heart, swoln with the tenderest sympathy and compassion. The few critics, who have had some tincture of philosophy, have remarked this singular phenomenon, and have endeavoured to account for it. L’Abbe du Bos, in his reflections on poetry and painting, asserts, that nothing is in general so disagreeable to the mind as the languid, listless state of indolence, into which it falls upon the removal of all passion and occupation. To get rid of this painful situation, it seeks every amusement and pursuit; business, gaming, shows, executions; whatever will rouze the passions, and take its attention from itself. No matter what the passion is: Let it be disagreeable, afflicting, melancholy, disordered; it is still better than that insipid languor, which arises from perfect tranquillity and repose. It is impossible not to admit this account, as being, at least in part, satisfactory. You may observe, when there are several tables of gaming, that all the company run to those, where the deepest play is, even though they find not there the best players. The view, or, at least, imagination of high ­passions, arising from great loss or gain, affects the spectator by sympathy, gives him some touches of the same passions, and serves him for a momentary entertainment. It makes the time pass the easier with him, and is some relief to that oppression, under which men commonly labour, when left entirely to their own thoughts and meditations.

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We find that common liars always magnify, in their narrations, all kinds of danger, pain, distress, sickness, deaths, murders, and cruelties; as well as joy, beauty, mirth, and magnificence. It is an absurd secret, which they have for pleasing their company, fixing their attention, and attaching them to such marvellous relations, by the passions and emotions, which they excite. There is, however, a difficulty in applying to the present subject, in its full extent, this solution, however ingenious and satisfactory it may appear. It is certain, that the same object of distress, which pleases in a tragedy, were it really set before us, would give the most unfeigned uneasiness; though it be then the most effectual cure to languor and indolence. Monsieur Fontenelle seems to have been sensible of this difficulty; and accordingly attempts another solution of the phenomenon; at least makes some addition to the theory above-mentioned.1 “Pleasure and pain,” says he, “which are two sentiments so different in themselves, differ not so much in their cause. From the instance of tickling, it appears, that the movement of pleasure, pushed a little too far, becomes pain; and that the movement of pain, a little moderated, becomes pleasure. Hence it proceeds, that there is such a thing as a sorrow, soft and agreeable: It is a pain weakened and diminished. The heart likes naturally to be moved and affected. Melancholy objects suit it, and even disastrous and sorrowful, provided they are softened by some circumstance. It is certain, that, on the theatre, the representation has almost the effect of reality; yet it has not altogether that effect. However we may be hurried away by the spectacle; whatever dominion the senses and imagination may usurp over the reason, there still lurks at the bottom a certain idea of falsehood in the whole of what we see. This idea, though weak and disguised, suffices to diminish the pain which we suffer from the misfortunes of those whom we love, and to reduce that affliction to such a pitch as converts it into a pleasure. We weep for the misfortune of a hero, to whom we are attached. In the same instant we comfort ourselves, by reflecting, that it is nothing but a fiction: And it is precisely that mixture of sentiments, which composes an agreeable sorrow, and tears that delight us. But as that affliction, which is caused by exterior and sensible objects, is stronger than the consolation which arises from an ­internal reflection, they are the effects and symptoms of sorrow, that ought to predominate in the composition.” This solution seems just and convincing; but perhaps it wants still some new addition, in order to make it answer fully the phenomenon, which we

1  Reflexions sur la poetique, § 36.

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here examine. All the passions, excited by eloquence, are agreeable in the highest degree, as well as those which are moved by painting and the theatre. The epilogues of Cicero are, on this account chiefly, the delight of every reader of taste; and it is difficult to read some of them without the deepest sympathy and sorrow. His merit as an orator, no doubt, depends much on his success in this particular. When he had raised tears in his judges and all his audience, they were then the most highly delighted, and expressed the greatest satisfaction with the pleader. The pathetic description of the butchery, made by Verres of the Sicilian captains, is a masterpiece of this kind: But I believe none will affirm, that the being present at a melancholy scene of that nature would afford any entertainment. Neither is the sorrow here softened by fiction: For the audience were convinced of the reality of every circumstance. What is it then, which in this case raises a pleasure from the bosom of uneasiness, so to speak; and a pleasure, which still retains all the features and outward symptoms of distress and sorrow? I answer: This extraordinary effect proceeds from that very eloquence, with which the melancholy scene is represented. The genius required to paint objects in a lively manner, the art employed in collecting all the pathetic circumstances, the judgment displayed in disposing them; the exercise, I say, of these noble talents, together with the force of expression, and beauty of oratorial numbers, diffuse the highest satisfaction on the audience, and excite the most delightful movements. By this means, the uneasiness of the melancholy passions is not only overpowered and effaced by something stronger of an opposite kind; but the whole impulse of those passions is converted into pleasure, and swells the delight which the eloquence raises in us. The same force of oratory, employed on an uninteresting subject, would not please half so much, or rather would appear altogether ridiculous; and the mind, being left in absolute calmness and indifference, would relish none of those beauties of imagination or expression, which, if joined to passion, give it such exquisite entertainment. The impulse or vehemence, arising from sorrow, compassion, indignation, receives a new direction from the sentiments of beauty. The latter, being the predominant emotion, seize the whole mind, and convert the former into themselves, or at least tincture them so strongly as totally to alter their nature. And the soul, being, at the same time, rouzed by passion, and charmed by eloquence, feels on the whole a strong movement, which is altogether delightful. The same principle takes place in tragedy; with this addition, that tragedy is an imitation, and imitation is always of itself agreeable. This circumstance serves still farther to smooth the motions of passion, and convert the whole feeling into one uniform and strong enjoyment. Objects of the greatest

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t­ error and distress please in painting, and please more than the most beautiful objects, that appear calm and indifferent.2 The affection, rouzing the mind, excites a large stock of spirit and vehemence; which is all transformed into pleasure by the force of the prevailing movement. It is thus the fiction of tragedy softens the passion, by an infusion of a new feeling, not merely by weakening or diminishing the sorrow. You may by degrees weaken a real sorrow, till it totally disappears; yet in none of its gradations will it ever give pleasure; except, perhaps, by accident, to a man sunk under lethargic indolence, whom it rouzes from that languid state. To confirm this theory, it will be sufficient to produce other instances, where the subordinate movement is converted into the predominant, and gives force to it, though of a different, and even sometimes though of a contrary nature. Novelty naturally rouzes the mind, and attracts our attention; and the movements, which it causes, are always converted into any passion, belonging to the object, and join their force to it. Whether an event excite joy or sorrow, pride or shame, anger or good-will, it is sure to produce a stronger affection, when new or unusual. And though novelty of itself be agreeable, it fortifies the painful, as well as agreeable passions. Had you any intention to move a person extremely by the narration of any event, the best method of encreasing its effect would be artfully to delay informing him of it, and first to excite his curiosity and impatience before you let him into the secret. This is the artifice practiced by Iago in the famous scene of Shakespeare; and every spectator is sensible, that Othello’s jealousy acquires additional force from his preceding impatience, and that the subordinate passion is here readily transformed into the predominant one. Difficulties encrease passions of every kind; and by rouzing our attention, and exciting our active powers, they produce an emotion, which nourishes the prevailing affection. Parents commonly love that child most, whose sickly infirm frame of body has occasioned them the greatest pains, trouble, and anxiety in rearing him. The agreeable sentiment of affection here acquires force from sentiments of uneasiness. 2  Painters make no scruple of representing distress and sorrow as well as any other passion: But they seem not to dwell so much on these melancholy affections as the poets, who, though they copy every emotion of the human breast, yet pass quickly over the agreeable sentiments. A painter represents only one instant; and if that be passionate enough, it is sure to affect and delight the spectator: But nothing can furnish to the poet a variety of scenes and incidents and sentiments, except distress, terror, or anxiety. Compleat joy and satisfaction is attended with security, and leaves no farther room for action.

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Nothing endears so much a friend as sorrow for his death. The pleasure of his company has not so powerful an influence. Jealousy is a painful passion; yet, without some share of it, the agreeable affection of love has difficulty to subsist in its full force and violence. Absence is also a great source of complaint among lovers, and gives them the greatest uneasiness: Yet nothing is more favourable to their mutual passion than short intervals of that kind. And if long intervals often prove fatal, it is only because, through time, men are accustomed to them, and they cease to give uneasiness. Jealousy and absence in love compose the dolce piccante of the Italians, which they suppose so essential to all pleasure. There is a fine observation of the elder Pliny, which illustrates the principle here insisted on. It is very remarkable, says he, that the last works of celebrated artists, which they left imperfect, are always the most prized, such as the Iris of Aristides, the Tyndarides of Nicomachus, the Medea of Timomachus, and the Venus of Apelles. These are valued even above their finished ­productions: The broken lineaments of the piece, and the half-formed idea of the painter are carefully studied; and our very grief for that curious hand, which had been stopped by death, is an additional encrease to our pleasure.3 These instances (and many more might be collected) are sufficient to afford us some insight into the analogy of nature, and to show us, that the pleasure, which poets, orators, and musicians give us, by exciting grief, sorrow, indignation, compassion, is not so extraordinary or paradoxical, as it may at first sight appear. The force of imagination, the energy of expression, the power of numbers, the charms of imitation; all these are naturally, of themselves, delightful to the mind: And when the object presented lays also hold of some affection, the pleasure still rises upon us, by the conversion of this subordinate movement into that which is predominant. The passion, though, perhaps, naturally, and when excited by the simple appearance of a real object, it may be painful; yet is so smoothed, and softened, and mollified, when raised by the finer arts, that it affords the highest entertainment. To confirm this reasoning, we may observe, that if the movements of the imagination be not predominant above those of the passion, a contrary effect follows; and the former, being now subordinate, is converted into the latter, and still farther encreases the pain and affliction of the sufferer.

3  Illud vero perquam rarum ac memoria dignum, etiam suprema opera artificum, imperfectasque tabulas, sicut, Irin Aristidis, Tyndaridas Nicomachi, Medeam Timomachi, & quam diximus Venerem Apellis, in majori admiratione esse quam perfecta. Quippe in iis lineamenta reliqua, ipsæque cogitationes artificum spectantur, atque in lenocinio commendationis dolor est manus, cum id ageret, extinctæ. lib. 35. cap. 11.

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Who could ever think of it as a good expedient for comforting an afflicted parent, to exaggerate, with all the force of elocution, the irreparable loss, which he has met with by the death of a favourite child? The more power of imagination and expression you here employ, the more you encrease his despair and affliction. The shame, confusion, and terror of Verres, no doubt, rose in proportion to the noble eloquence and vehemence of Cicero: So also did his pain and uneasiness. These former passions were too strong for the pleasure arising from the beauties of elocution; and operated, though from the same ­principle, yet in a contrary manner, to the sympathy, compassion, and indignation of the audience. Lord Clarendon, when he approaches towards the catastrophe of the royal party, supposes, that his narration must then become infinitely ­disagreeable; and he hurries over the king’s death, without giving us one circumstance of it. He considers it as too horrid a scene to be contemplated with any satisfaction, or even without the utmost pain and aversion. He himself, as well as the readers of that age, were too deeply concerned in the events, and felt a pain from subjects, which an historian and a reader of another age would regard as the most pathetic and most interesting, and, by consequence, the most agreeable. An action, represented in tragedy, may be too bloody and atrocious. It may excite such movements of horror as will not soften into pleasure; and the greatest energy of expression, bestowed on descriptions of that nature, serves only to augment our uneasiness. Such is that action represented in the Ambitious Stepmother, where a venerable old man, raised to the height of fury and despair, rushes against a pillar, and striking his head upon it, besmears it all over with mingled brains and gore. The English theatre abounds too much with such shocking images. Even the common sentiments of compassion require to be softened by some agreeable affection, in order to give a thorough satisfaction to the audience. The mere suffering of plaintive virtue, under the triumphant tyranny and oppression of vice, forms a disagreeable spectacle, and is carefully avoided by all masters of the drama. In order to dismiss the audience with entire satisfaction and contentment, the virtue must either convert itself into a noble courageous despair, or the vice receive its proper punishment. Most painters appear in this light to have been very unhappy in their subjects. As they wrought much for churches and convents, they have chiefly represented such horrible subjects as crucifixions and martyrdoms, where nothing appears but tortures, wounds, executions, and passive suffering, without any action or affection. When they turned their pencil from this

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ghastly mythology, they had commonly recourse to Ovid, whose fictions, though passionate and agreeable, are scarcely natural or probable enough for painting. The same inversion of that principle, which is here insisted on, displays itself in common life, as in the effects of oratory and poetry. Raise so the subordinate passion that it becomes the predominant, it swallows up that affection which it before nourished and encreased. Too much jealousy extinguishes love: Too much difficulty renders us indifferent: Too much sickness and infirmity disgusts a selfish and unkind parent. What so disagreeable as the dismal, gloomy, disastrous stories, with which melancholy people entertain their companions? The uneasy passion being there raised alone, unaccompanied with any spirit, genius, or eloquence, conveys a pure uneasiness, and is attended with nothing that can soften it into pleasure or satisfaction.

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Of the Standard of Taste 1

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The great variety of Taste, as well as of opinion, which prevails in the world, is too obvious not to have fallen under every one’s observation. Men of the most confined knowledge are able to remark a difference of taste in the narrow circle of their acquaintance, even where the persons have been educated under the same government, and have early imbibed the same prejudices. But those, who can enlarge their view to contemplate distant nations and remote ages, are still more surprized at the great inconsistence and contrariety. We are apt to call barbarous whatever departs widely from our own taste and apprehension: But soon find the epithet of reproach retorted on us. And the highest arrogance and self-conceit is at last startled, on observing an equal assurance on all sides, and scruples, amidst such a contest of sentiment, to pronounce positively in its own favour. As this variety of taste is obvious to the most careless enquirer; so will it be found, on examination, to be still greater in reality than in appearance. The sentiments of men often differ with regard to beauty and deformity of all kinds, even while their general discourse is the same. There are certain terms in every language, which import blame, and others praise; and all men, who use the same tongue, must agree in their application of them. Every voice is united in applauding elegance, propriety, simplicity, spirit in writing; and in blaming fustian, affectation, coldness, and a false brilliancy: But when critics come to particulars, this seeming unanimity vanishes; and it is found, that they had affixed a very different meaning to their expressions. In all matters of opinion and science, the case is opposite: The difference among men is there oftener found to lie in generals than in particulars; and to be less in reality than in appearance. An explanation of the terms commonly ends the controversy; and the disputants are surprized to find, that they had been quarrelling, while at bottom they agreed in their ­judgment. Those who found morality on sentiment, more than on reason, are inclined to comprehend ethics under the former observation, and to maintain, that, in all questions, which regard conduct and manners, the difference among men is really greater than at first sight it appears. It is indeed obvious, that writers of all nations and all ages concur in applauding justice,

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humanity, magnanimity, prudence, veracity; and in blaming the opposite qualities. Even poets and other authors, whose compositions are chiefly calculated to please the imagination, are yet found, from Homer down to Fenelon, to inculcate the same moral precepts, and to bestow their applause and blame on the same virtues and vices. This great unanimity is usually ascribed to the influence of plain reason; which, in all these cases, maintains similar sentiments in all men, and prevents those controversies, to which the abstract sciences are so much exposed. So far as the unanimity is real, this account may be admitted as satisfactory: But we must also allow that some part of the seeming harmony in morals may be accounted for from the very nature of language. The word virtue, with its equivalent in every tongue, implies praise; as that of vice does blame: And no one, without the most obvious and grossest impropriety, could affix reproach to a term, which in general acceptation is understood in a good sense; or bestow applause, where the idiom requires disapprobation. Homer’s general precepts, where he delivers any such, will never be controverted; but it is obvious, that, when he draws particular pictures of manners, and represents heroism in Achilles and prudence in Ulysses, he intermixes a much greater degree of ferocity in the former, and of cunning and fraud in the latter, than Fenelon would admit of. The sage Ulysses in the Greek poet seems to delight in lies and fictions, and often employs them without any necessity or even advantage: But his more scrupulous son, in the French epic writer, exposes himself to the most imminent perils, rather than depart from the most exact line of truth and veracity. The admirers and followers of the Alcoran insist on the excellent moral precepts interspersed throughout that wild and absurd performance. But it is to be supposed, that the Arabic words, which correspond to the English, equity, justice, temperance, meekness, charity, were such as, from the constant use of that tongue, must always be taken in a good sense; and it would have argued the greatest ignorance, not of morals, but of language, to have mentioned them with any epithets, besides those of applause and approbation. But would we know, whether the pretended prophet had really attained a just sentiment of morals? Let us attend to his narration; and we shall soon find, that he bestows praise on such instances of treachery, inhumanity, ­cruelty, revenge, bigotry, as are utterly incompatible with civilized society. No steady rule of right seems there to be attended to; and every action is blamed or praised, so far only as it is beneficial or hurtful to the true believers. The merit of delivering true general precepts in ethics is indeed very small. Whoever recommends any moral virtues, really does no more than is implied in the terms themselves. That people, who invented the word charity,

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and used it in a good sense, inculcated more clearly and much more efficaciously, the precept, be charitable, than any pretended legislator or prophet, who should insert such a maxim in his writings. Of all expressions, those, which, together with their other meaning, imply a degree either of blame or approbation, are the least liable to be perverted or mistaken. It is natural for us to seek a Standard of Taste; a rule, by which the various sentiments of men may be reconciled; or at least, a decision afforded, confirming one sentiment, and condemning another. There is a species of philosophy, which cuts off all hopes of success in such an attempt, and represents the impossibility of ever attaining any standard of taste. The difference, it is said, is very wide between judgment and sentiment. All sentiment is right; because sentiment has a reference to nothing beyond itself, and is always real, wherever a man is conscious of it. But all determinations of the understanding are not right; because they have a reference to something beyond themselves, to wit, real matter of fact; and are not always conformable to that standard. Among a thousand different opinions which different men may entertain of the same subject, there is one, and but one, that is just and true; and the only difficulty is to fix and ascertain it. On the contrary, a thousand different sentiments, excited by the same object, are all right: Because no sentiment represents what is really in the object. It only marks a certain conformity or relation between the object and the organs or faculties of the mind; and if that conformity did not really exist, the sentiment could never possibly have being. Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive deformity, where another is sensible of beauty; and every individual ought to acquiesce in his own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others. To seek the real beauty, or real deformity is as fruitless an enquiry, as to pretend to ascertain the real sweet or real bitter. According to the ­disposition of the organs, the same object may be both sweet and bitter; and the proverb has justly determined it to be fruitless to dispute concerning tastes. It is very natural, and even quite necessary, to extend this axiom to mental, as well as bodily taste; and thus common sense, which is so often at variance with philosophy, especially with the sceptical kind, is found, in one instance at least, to agree in pronouncing the same decision. But though this axiom, by passing into a proverb, seems to have attained the sanction of common sense; there is certainly a species of common sense which opposes it, or at least serves to modify and restrain it. Whoever would assert an equality of genius and elegance between Ogilby and Milton, or Bunyan and Addison, would be thought to defend no less an extravagance,

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than if he had maintained a mole-hill to be as high as Teneriffe, or a pond as extensive as the ocean. Though there may be found persons, who give the preference to the former authors; no one pays attention to such a taste; and we pronounce without scruple the sentiment of these pretended critics to be absurd and ridiculous. The principle of the natural equality of tastes is then totally forgot, and while we admit it on some occasions, where the objects seem near an equality, it appears an extravagant paradox, or rather a ­palpable absurdity, where objects so disproportioned are compared together. It is evident that none of the rules of composition are fixed by reasonings a priori, or can be esteemed abstract conclusions of the understanding, from comparing those habitudes and relations of ideas, which are eternal and immutable. Their foundation is the same with that of all the practical sciences, experience; nor are they any thing but general observations, concerning what has been universally found to please in all countries and in all ages. Many of the beauties of poetry and even of eloquence are founded on falsehood and fiction, on hyperboles, metaphors, and an abuse or perversion of terms from their natural meaning. To check the sallies of the imagination, and to reduce every expression to geometrical truth and exactness, would be the most contrary to the laws of criticism; because it would produce a work, which, by universal experience, has been found the most insipid and ­disagreeable. But though poetry can never submit to exact truth, it must be confined by rules of art, discovered to the author either by genius or observation. If some negligent or irregular writers have pleased, they have not pleased by their transgressions of rule or order, but in spite of these transgressions: They have possessed other beauties, which were conformable to just criticism; and the force of these beauties has been able to overpower censure, and give the mind a satisfaction superior to the disgust arising from the blemishes. Ariosto pleases; but not by his monstrous and improbable fictions, by his bizarre mixture of the serious and comic styles, by the want of coherence in his stories, or by the continual interruptions of his narration. He charms by the force and clearness of his expression, by the readiness and variety of his inventions, and by his natural pictures of the passions, especially those of the gay and amorous kind: And however his faults may diminish our satisfaction, they are not able entirely to destroy it. Did our pleasure really arise from those parts of his poem, which we denominate faults, this would be no objection to criticism in general: It would only be an objection to those particular rules of criticism, which would establish such circumstances to be faults, and would represent them as universally ­blameable. If they are found to please, they cannot be faults; let the pleasure, which they produce, be ever so unexpected and unaccountable.

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But though all the general rules of art are founded only on experience and on the observation of the common sentiments of human nature, we must not imagine, that, on every occasion, the feelings of men will be conformable to these rules. Those finer emotions of the mind are of a very tender and delicate nature, and require the concurrence of many favourable circumstances to make them play with facility and exactness, according to their general and established principles. The least exterior hindrance to such small springs, or the least internal disorder, disturbs their motion, and confounds the operation of the whole machine. When we would make an experiment of this nature, and would try the force of any beauty or deformity, we must choose with care a proper time and place, and bring the fancy to a suitable situation and disposition. A perfect serenity of mind, a recollection of thought, a due attention to the object; if any of these circumstances be wanting, our ­experiment will be fallacious, and we shall be unable to judge of the catholic and universal beauty. The relation, which nature has placed between the form and the sentiment, will at least be more obscure; and it will require greater accuracy to trace and discern it. We shall be able to ascertain its influence not so much from the operation of each particular beauty, as from the durable admiration, which attends those works, that have survived all the caprices of mode and fashion, all the mistakes of ignorance and envy. The same Homer, who pleased at Athens and Rome two thousand years ago, is still admired at Paris and at London. All the changes of climate, government, religion, and language, have not been able to obscure his glory. Authority or prejudice may give a temporary vogue to a bad poet or orator; but his reputation will never be durable or general. When his compositions are examined by posterity or by foreigners, the enchantment is dissipated, and his faults appear in their true colours. On the contrary, a real genius, the longer his works endure, and the more wide they are spread, the more sincere is the admiration which he meets with. Envy and jealousy have too much place in a narrow circle; and even familiar acquaintance with his person may diminish the applause due to his performances: But when these obstructions are removed, the beauties, which are naturally fitted to excite agreeable sentiments, immediately display their energy; and while the world endures, they maintain their authority over the minds of men. It appears then, that, amidst all the variety and caprice of taste, there are certain general principles of approbation or blame, whose influence a careful eye may trace in all operations of the mind. Some particular forms or ­qualities, from the original structure of the internal fabric, are calculated to please, and others to displease; and if they fail of their effect in any particular instance, it is from some apparent defect or imperfection in the organ.

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A man in a fever would not insist on his palate as able to decide concerning flavours; nor would one, affected with the jaundice, pretend to give a verdict with regard to colours. In each creature, there is a sound and a defective state; and the former alone can be supposed to afford us a true standard of taste and sentiment. If, in the sound state of the organ, there be an entire or a considerable uniformity of sentiment among men, we may thence derive an idea of the perfect beauty; in like manner as the appearance of objects in day-light, to the eye of a man in health, is denominated their true and real colour, even while colour is allowed to be merely a phantasm of the senses. Many and frequent are the defects in the internal organs, which prevent or weaken the influence of those general principles, on which depends our sentiment of beauty or deformity. Though some objects, by the structure of the mind, be naturally calculated to give pleasure, it is not to be expected, that in every individual the pleasure will be equally felt. Particular incidents and situations occur, which either throw a false light on the objects, or hinder the true from conveying to the imagination the proper sentiment and perception. One obvious cause, why many feel not the proper sentiment of beauty, is the want of that delicacy of imagination, which is requisite to convey a ­sensibility of those finer emotions. This delicacy every one pretends to: Every one talks of it; and would reduce every kind of taste or sentiment to its standard. But as our intention in this essay is to mingle some light of the understanding with the feelings of sentiment, it will be proper to give a more accurate definition of delicacy, than has hitherto been attempted. And not to draw our philosophy from too profound a source, we shall have recourse to a noted story in Don Quixote. It is with good reason, says Sancho to the squire with the great nose, that I pretend to have a judgment in wine: This is a quality hereditary in our family. Two of my kinsmen were once called to give their opinion of a hogshead, which was supposed to be excellent, being old and of a good vintage. One of them tastes it; considers it; and after mature reflection pronounces the wine to be good, were it not for a small taste of leather, which he perceived in it. The other, after using the same precautions, gives also his verdict in favour of the wine; but with the reserve of a taste of iron, which he could easily distinguish. You cannot imagine how much they were both ridiculed for their judgment. But who laughed in the end? On emptying the hogshead, there was found at the bottom, an old key with a leathern thong tied to it. The great resemblance between mental and bodily taste will easily teach us to apply this story. Though it be certain, that beauty and deformity, more

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than sweet and bitter, are not qualities in objects, but belong entirely to the sentiment, internal or external; it must be allowed, that there are certain qualities in objects, which are fitted by nature to produce those particular feelings. Now as these qualities may be found in a small degree, or may be mixed and confounded with each other, it often happens, that the taste is not affected with such minute qualities, or is not able to distinguish all the ­particular flavours, amidst the disorder, in which they are presented. Where the organs are so fine, as to allow nothing to escape them; and at the same time so exact as to perceive every ingredient in the composition: This we call delicacy of taste, whether we employ these terms in the literal or metaphorical sense. Here then the general rules of beauty are of use; being drawn from established models, and from the observation of what pleases or displeases, when presented singly and in a high degree: And if the same qualities, in a continued composition and in a smaller degree, affect not the organs with a sensible delight or uneasiness, we exclude the person from all pretensions to this delicacy. To produce these general rules or avowed patterns of composition is like finding the key with the leathern thong; which justified the verdict of Sancho’s kinsmen, and confounded those pretended judges who had condemned them. Though the hogshead had never been emptied, the taste of the one was still equally delicate, and that of the other equally dull and languid: But it would have been more difficult to have proved the superiority of the former, to the conviction of every by-stander. In like manner, though the beauties of writing had never been methodized, or reduced to general principles; though no excellent models had ever been acknowledged; the different degrees of taste would still have subsisted, and the judgment of one man been preferable to that of another; but it would not have been so easy to silence the bad critic, who might always insist upon his particular sentiment, and refuse to submit to his antagonist. But when we show him an avowed principle of art; when we illustrate this principle by examples, whose ­operation, from his own particular taste, he acknowledges to be conformable to the principle; when we prove, that the same principle may be applied to the present case, where he did not perceive or feel its influence: He must conclude, upon the whole, that the fault lies in himself, and that he wants the delicacy, which is requisite to make him sensible of every beauty and every blemish, in any composition or discourse. It is acknowledged to be the perfection of every sense or faculty, to perceive with exactness its most minute objects, and allow nothing to escape its notice and observation. The smaller the objects are, which become sensible to the eye, the finer is that organ, and the more elaborate its make and ­composition. A good palate is not tried by strong flavours; but by a mixture

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of small ingredients, where we are still sensible of each part, notwithstanding its minuteness and its confusion with the rest. In like manner, a quick and acute perception of beauty and deformity must be the perfection of our mental taste; nor can a man be satisfied with himself while he suspects, that any excellence or blemish in a discourse has passed him unobserved. In this case, the perfection of the man, and the perfection of the sense or feeling, are found to be united. A very delicate palate, on many occasions, may be a great inconvenience both to a man himself and to his friends: But a delicate taste of wit or beauty must always be a desirable quality; because it is the source of all the finest and most innocent enjoyments, of which human nature is susceptible. In this decision the sentiments of all mankind are agreed. Wherever you can ascertain a delicacy of taste, it is sure to meet with approbation; and the best way of ascertaining it is to appeal to those models and principles, which have been established by the uniform consent and experience of nations and ages. But though there be naturally a wide difference in point of delicacy between one person and another, nothing tends further to encrease and improve this talent, than practice in a particular art, and the frequent survey or contemplation of a particular species of beauty. When objects of any kind are first presented to the eye or imagination, the sentiment, which attends them, is obscure and confused; and the mind is, in a great measure, incapable of pronouncing concerning their merits or defects. The taste cannot perceive the several excellencies of the performance; much less distinguish the particular character of each excellency, and ascertain its quality and degree. If it pronounce the whole in general to be beautiful or deformed, it is the utmost that can be expected; and even this judgment, a person, so unpracticed, will be apt to deliver with great hesitation and reserve. But allow him to acquire experience in those objects, his feeling becomes more exact and nice: He not only perceives the beauties and defects of each part, but marks the distinguishing species of each quality, and assigns it suitable praise or blame. A clear and distinct sentiment attends him through the whole survey of the objects; and he discerns that very degree and kind of approbation or displeasure, which each part is naturally fitted to produce. The mist dissipates, which seemed formerly to hang over the object: The organ acquires greater perfection in its operations; and can pronounce, without danger of mistake, concerning the merits of every performance. In a word, the same address and dexterity, which practice gives to the execution of any work, is also acquired by the same means, in the judging of it. So advantageous is practice to the discernment of beauty, that, before we can give judgment on any work of importance, it will even be requisite, that

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that very individual performance be more than once perused by us, and be surveyed in different lights with attention and deliberation. There is a flutter or hurry of thought which attends the first perusal of any piece, and which confounds the genuine sentiment of beauty. The relation of the parts is not discerned: The true characters of style are little distinguished: The several perfections and defects seem wrapped up in a species of confusion, and present themselves indistinctly to the imagination. Not to mention, that there is a species of beauty, which, as it is florid and superficial, pleases at first; but being found incompatible with a just expression either of reason or passion, soon palls upon the taste, and is then rejected with disdain, at least rated at a much lower value. It is impossible to continue in the practice of contemplating any order of beauty, without being frequently obliged to form comparisons between the several species and degrees of excellence, and estimating their proportion to each other. A man, who has had no opportunity of comparing the different kinds of beauty, is indeed totally unqualified to pronounce an opinion with regard to any object presented to him. By comparison alone we fix the epithets of praise or blame, and learn how to assign the due degree of each. The coarsest daubing contains a certain lustre of colours and exactness of imitation, which are so far beauties, and would affect the mind of a peasant or Indian with the highest admiration. The most vulgar ballads are not entirely destitute of harmony or nature; and none but a person, familiarized to ­superior beauties, would pronounce their numbers harsh, or narration uninteresting. A great inferiority of beauty gives pain to a person conversant in the highest excellence of the kind, and is for that reason pronounced a deformity: As the most finished object, with which we are acquainted, is naturally supposed to have reached the pinnacle of perfection, and to be entitled to the highest applause. One accustomed to see, and examine, and weigh the several performances, admired in different ages and nations, can alone rate the merits of a work exhibited to his view, and assign its proper rank among the productions of genius. But to enable a critic the more fully to execute this undertaking, he must preserve his mind free from all prejudice, and allow nothing to enter into his consideration, but the very object which is submitted to his examination. We may observe, that every work of art, in order to produce its due effect on the mind, must be surveyed in a certain point of view, and cannot be fully relished by persons, whose situation, real or imaginary, is not conformable to that which is required by the performance. An orator addresses himself to a particular audience, and must have a regard to their particular genius, interests, opinions, passions, and prejudices; otherwise he hopes in vain to

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govern their resolutions, and enflame their affections. Should they even have entertained some prepossessions against him, however unreasonable, he must not overlook this disadvantage; but, before he enters upon the subject, must endeavour to conciliate their affection, and acquire their good graces. A critic of a different age or nation, who should peruse this discourse, must have all these circumstances in his eye, and must place himself in the same situation as the audience, in order to form a true judgment of the oration. In like manner, when any work is addressed to the public, though I should have a friendship or enmity with the author, I must depart from this situation; and considering myself as a man in general, forget, if possible, my individual being and my peculiar circumstances. A person, influenced by prejudice, complies not with this condition; but obstinately maintains his natural position, without placing himself in that point of view, which the performance supposes. If the work be addressed to persons of a different age or nation, he makes no allowance for their peculiar views and prejudices; but, full of the manners of his own age and country, rashly condemns what seemed admirable in the eyes of those for whom alone the discourse was calculated. If the work be executed for the public, he never sufficiently enlarges his comprehension, or forgets his interest as a friend or enemy, as a rival or commentator. By this means, his sentiments are perverted; nor have the same beauties and blemishes the same influence upon him, as if he had imposed a proper violence on his imagination, and had forgotten himself for a moment. So far his taste evidently departs from the true standard; and of consequence loses all credit and authority. It is well known, that, in all questions, submitted to the understanding, ­prejudice is destructive of sound judgment, and perverts all operations of the intellectual faculties: It is no less contrary to good taste; nor has it less influence to corrupt our sentiment of beauty. It belongs to good sense to check its influence in both cases; and in this respect, as well as in many others, reason, if not an essential part of taste, is at least requisite to the operations of this latter faculty. In all the nobler productions of genius, there is a mutual relation and correspondence of parts; nor can either the beauties or blemishes be perceived by him, whose thought is not capacious enough to comprehend all those parts, and compare them with each other, in order to perceive the consistence and uniformity of the whole. Every work of art has also a certain end or purpose, for which it is calculated; and is to be deemed more or less perfect, as it is more or less fitted to attain this end. The object of eloquence is to persuade, of history to instruct, of poetry to please by means of the passions and the imagination. These ends we must carry constantly in our view, when we peruse any p ­ erformance; and we must be able to judge how far the means employed are

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adapted to their respective purposes. Besides, every kind of composition, even the most poetical, is nothing but a chain of propositions and reasonings; not always, indeed, the justest and most exact, but still plausible and specious, however disguised by the colouring of the imagination. The persons introduced in ­tragedy and epic poetry, must be represented as reasoning, and thinking, and concluding, and acting, suitably to their character and circumstances; and without judgment, as well as taste and invention, a poet can never hope to succeed in so delicate an undertaking. Not to mention, that the same excellence of faculties which contributes to the improvement of reason, the same clearness of conception, the same exactness of distinction, the same vivacity of apprehension, are essential to the operations of true taste, and are its infallible concomitants. It seldom, or never happens, that a man of sense, who has experience in any art, cannot judge of its beauty; and it is no less rare to meet with a man who has a just taste without a sound understanding. Thus, though the principles of taste be universal, and nearly, if not entirely the same in all men; yet few are qualified to give judgment on any work of art, or establish their own sentiment as the standard of beauty. The organs of internal sensation are seldom so perfect as to allow the general principles their full play, and produce a feeling correspondent to those principles. They either labour under some defect, or are vitiated by some disorder; and by that means, excite a sentiment, which may be pronounced erroneous. When the critic has no delicacy, he judges without any distinction, and is only affected by the grosser and more palpable qualities of the object: The finer touches pass unnoticed and disregarded. Where he is not aided by practice, his verdict is attended with confusion and hesitation. Where no comparison has been employed, the most frivolous beauties, such as rather merit the name of defects, are the object of his admiration. Where he lies under the influence of prejudice, all his natural sentiments are perverted. Where good sense is wanting, he is not qualified to discern the beauties of design and reasoning, which are the highest and most excellent. Under some or other of these imperfections, the generality of men labour; and hence a true judge in the finer arts is observed, even during the most polished ages, to be so rare a character: Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice, can alone entitle critics to this valuable character; and the joint verdict of such, wherever they are to be found, is the true standard of taste and beauty. But where are such critics to be found? By what marks are they to be known? How distinguish them from pretenders? These questions are embarrassing; and seem to throw us back into the same uncertainty, from which, during the course of this essay, we have endeavoured to extricate ourselves.

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But if we consider the matter aright, these are questions of fact, not of sentiment. Whether any particular person be endowed with good sense and a delicate imagination, free from prejudice, may often be the subject of dispute, and be liable to great discussion and enquiry: But that such a character is valuable and estimable will be agreed in by all mankind. Where these doubts occur, men can do no more than in other disputable questions, which are submitted to the understanding: They must produce the best arguments, that their invention suggests to them; they must acknowledge a true and decisive standard to exist somewhere, to wit, real existence and matter of fact; and they must have indulgence to such as differ from them in their appeals to this standard. It is sufficient for our present purpose, if we have proved, that the taste of all individuals is not upon an equal footing, and that some men in general, however difficult to be particularly pitched upon, will be acknowledged by universal sentiment to have a preference above others. But in reality the difficulty of finding, even in particulars, the standard of taste, is not so great as it is represented. Though in speculation, we may readily avow a certain criterion in science and deny it in sentiment, the matter is found in practice to be much more hard to ascertain in the former case than in the latter. Theories of abstract philosophy, systems of profound theology, have prevailed during one age: In a successive period, these have been universally exploded: Their absurdity has been detected: Other theories and systems have supplied their place, which again gave place to their successors: And nothing has been experienced more liable to the revolutions of chance and fashion than these pretended decisions of science. The case is not the same with the beauties of eloquence and poetry. Just expressions of passion and nature are sure, after a little time, to gain public applause, which they maintain for ever. Aristotle, and Plato, and Epicurus, and Descartes, may successively yield to each other: But Terence and Virgil maintain an universal, undisputed empire over the minds of men. The abstract philosophy of Cicero has lost its credit: The vehemence of his oratory is still the object of our admiration. Though men of delicate taste be rare, they are easily to be distinguished in society, by the soundness of their understanding and the superiority of their faculties above the rest of mankind. The ascendant, which they acquire, gives a prevalence to that lively approbation, with which they receive any productions of genius, and renders it generally predominant. Many men, when left to themselves, have but a faint and dubious perception of beauty, who yet are capable of relishing any fine stroke, which is pointed out to them. Every convert to the admiration of the real poet or orator is the cause of some new conversion. And though prejudices may prevail for a time, they

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never unite in celebrating any rival to the true genius, but yield at last to the force of nature and just sentiment. Thus, though a civilized nation may easily be mistaken in the choice of their admired philosopher, they never have been found long to err, in their affection for a favourite epic or tragic author. But notwithstanding all our endeavours to fix a standard of taste, and reconcile the discordant apprehensions of men, there still remain two sources of variation, which are not sufficient indeed to confound all the boundaries of beauty and deformity, but will often serve to produce a difference in the degrees of our approbation or blame. The one is the different humours of particular men; the other, the particular manners and opinions of our age and country. The general principles of taste are uniform in human nature: Where men vary in their judgments, some defect or perversion in the faculties may commonly be remarked; proceeding either from prejudice, from want of practice, or want of delicacy; and there is just reason for approving one taste, and condemning another. But where there is such a diversity in the internal frame or external situation as is entirely blameless on both sides, and leaves no room to give one the preference above the other; in that case a certain degree of diversity in judgment is unavoidable, and we  seek in vain for a standard, by which we can reconcile the contrary sentiments. A young man, whose passions are warm, will be more sensibly touched with amorous and tender images, than a man more advanced in years, who takes pleasure in wise, philosophical reflections concerning the conduct of life and moderation of the passions. At twenty, Ovid may be the favourite author; Horace at forty; and perhaps Tacitus at fifty. Vainly would we, in such cases, endeavour to enter into the sentiments of others, and divest ­ourselves of those propensities, which are natural to us. We choose our favourite author as we do our friend, from a conformity of humour and disposition. Mirth or passion, sentiment or reflection; whichever of these most predominates in our temper, it gives us a peculiar sympathy with the writer who resembles us. One person is more pleased with the sublime; another with the tender; a third with raillery. One has a strong sensibility to blemishes, and is extremely studious of correctness: Another has a more lively feeling of beauties, and pardons twenty absurdities and defects for one elevated or pathetic stroke. The ear of this man is entirely turned towards conciseness and energy; that man is delighted with a copious, rich, and harmonious expression. Simplicity is affected by one; ornament by another. Comedy, tragedy, satire, odes, have each its partizans, who prefer that particular species of writing to all others. It is plainly an error in a critic, to confine his approbation to one species or

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style of writing, and condemn all the rest. But it is almost impossible not to feel a predilection for that which suits our particular turn and disposition. Such preferences are innocent and unavoidable, and can never reasonably be the object of dispute, because there is no standard, by which they can be decided. For a like reason, we are more pleased, in the course of our reading, with pictures and characters, that resemble objects which are found in our own age or country, than with those which describe a different set of customs. It is not without some effort, that we reconcile ourselves to the simplicity of ancient manners, and behold princesses carrying water from the spring, and kings and heroes dressing their own victuals. We may allow in general, that the representation of such manners is no fault in the author, nor deformity in the piece; but we are not so sensibly touched with them. For this reason, comedy is not easily transferred from one age or nation to another. A Frenchman or Englishman is not pleased with the Andria of Terence, or Clitia of Machiavel; where the fine lady, upon whom all the play turns, never once appears to the spectators, but is always kept behind the scenes, suitably to the reserved humour of the ancient Greeks and modern Italians. A man of learning and reflection can make allowance for these peculiarities of manners; but a common audience can never divest themselves so far of their usual ideas and sentiments, as to relish pictures which no wise resemble them. But here there occurs a reflection, which may, perhaps, be useful in examining the celebrated controversy concerning ancient and modern learning; where we often find the one side excusing any seeming absurdity in the ancients from the manners of the age, and the other refusing to admit this excuse, or at least, admitting it only as an apology for the author, not for the performance. In my opinion, the proper boundaries in this subject have seldom been fixed between the contending parties. Where any innocent peculiarities of manners are represented, such as those above-mentioned, they ought certainly to be admitted; and a man, who is shocked with them, gives an evident proof of false delicacy and refinement. The poet’s monument more durable than brass, must fall to the ground like common brick or clay, were men to make no allowance for the continual revolutions of manners and customs, and would admit of nothing but what was suitable to the prevailing fashion. Must we throw aside the pictures of our ancestors, because of their ruffs and fardingales? But where the ideas of morality and decency alter from one age to another, and where vicious manners are described, without being marked with the proper characters of blame and disapprobation; this must be allowed to disfigure the poem, and to be a real deformity. I cannot, nor is it proper I should, enter into such sentiments; and however I may

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excuse the poet, on account of the manners of his age, I never can relish the composition. The want of humanity and of decency, so conspicuous in the characters drawn by several of the ancient poets, even sometimes by Homer and the Greek tragedians, diminishes considerably the merit of their noble performances, and gives modern authors an advantage over them. We are not interested in the fortunes and sentiments of such rough heroes: We are displeased to find the limits of vice and virtue so much confounded: And whatever indulgence we may give to the writer on account of his prejudices, we cannot prevail on ourselves to enter into his sentiments, or bear an affection to characters, which we plainly discover to be blameable. The case is not the same with moral principles, as with speculative opinions of any kind. These are in continual flux and revolution. The son embraces a different system from the father. Nay, there scarcely is any man, who can boast of great constancy and uniformity in this particular. Whatever speculative errors may be found in the polite writings of any age or country, they detract but little from the value of those compositions. There needs but a certain turn of thought or imagination to make us enter into all the opinions, which then prevailed, and relish the sentiments or conclusions derived from them. But a very violent effort is requisite to change our judgment of manners, and excite sentiments of approbation or blame, love or hatred, different from those to which the mind from long custom has been familiarized. And where a man is confident of the rectitude of that moral standard, by which he judges, he is justly jealous of it, and will not pervert the sentiments of his heart for a moment, in complaisance to any writer whatsoever. Of all speculative errors, those, which regard religion, are the most excusable in compositions of genius; nor is it ever permitted to judge of the civility or wisdom of any people, or even of single persons, by the grossness or refinement of their theological principles. The same good sense, that directs men in the ordinary occurrences of life, is not hearkened to in religious matters, which are supposed to be placed altogether above the cognizance of human reason. On this account, all the absurdities of the pagan system of theology must be overlooked by every critic, who would pretend to form a just notion of ancient poetry; and our posterity, in their turn, must have the same indulgence to their forefathers. No religious principles can ever be imputed as a fault to any poet, while they remain merely principles, and take not such strong possession of his heart, as to lay him under the imputation of bigotry or superstition. Where that happens, they confound the sentiments of morality, and alter the natural boundaries of vice and virtue. They are therefore eternal blemishes, according to the principle above-mentioned; nor are the prejudices and false opinions of the age sufficient to justify them.

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It is essential to the Roman-Catholic religion to inspire a violent hatred of every other worship, and to represent all pagans, mahometans, and ­heretics as the objects of divine wrath and vengeance. Such sentiments, though they are in reality very blameable, are considered as virtues by the zealots of that communion, and are represented in their tragedies and epic poems as a kind of divine heroism. This bigotry has disfigured two very fine tragedies of the French theatre, Polieucte and Athalia; where an intemperate zeal for particular modes of worship is set off with all the pomp ­imaginable, and forms the predominant character of the heroes. “What is this,” says the sublime Joad to Josabet, finding her in discourse with Mathan, the priest of Baal, “Does the daughter of David speak to this traitor? Are you not afraid, lest the earth should open and pour forth flames to devour you both? Or lest these holy walls should fall and crush you together? What is his purpose? Why comes that enemy of God hither to poison the air, which we breathe, with his horrid presence?” Such sentiments are received with great applause on the theatre of Paris; but at London the spectators would be full as much pleased to hear Achilles tell Agamemnon, that he was a dog in his forehead, and a deer in his heart, or Jupiter threaten Juno with a sound drubbing, if she will not be quiet. Religious principles are also a blemish in any polite composition, when they rise up to superstition, and intrude themselves into every sentiment, however remote from any connexion with religion. It is no excuse for the poet, that the customs of his country had burdened life with so many religious ceremonies and observances, that no part of it was exempt from that yoke. It must for ever be ridiculous in Petrarch to compare his mistress, Laura, to Jesus Christ. Nor is it less ridiculous in that agreeable libertine, Boccace, very seriously to give thanks to God Almighty and the ladies, for their assistance in defending him against his enemies.

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ES S AYS, M O R A L, P O L I T I C AL, AND L I T ER ARY PA RT 2

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The greater part of mankind may be divided into two classes; that of shallow thinkers, who fall short of the truth; and that of abstruse thinkers, who go beyond it. The latter class are by far the most rare; and I may add, by far the most useful and valuable. They suggest hints, at least, and start difficulties, which they want, perhaps, skill to pursue; but which may produce fine discoveries, when handled by men who have a more just way of thinking. At worst, what they say is uncommon; and if it should cost some pains to comprehend it, one has, however, the pleasure of hearing something that is new. An author is little to be valued, who tells us nothing but what we can learn from every coffee-house conversation. All people of shallow thought are apt to decry even those of solid understanding, as abstruse thinkers, and metaphysicians, and refiners; and never will allow any thing to be just which is beyond their own weak conceptions. There are some cases, I own, where an extraordinary refinement affords a strong presumption of falsehood, and where no reasoning is to be trusted but what is natural and easy. When a man deliberates concerning his conduct in any particular affair, and forms schemes in politics, trade, œconomy, or any business in life, he never ought to draw his arguments too fine, or connect too long a chain of consequences together. Something is sure to happen, that will disconcert his reasoning, and produce an event different from what he expected. But when we reason upon general subjects, one may justly affirm, that our speculations can scarcely ever be too fine, provided they be just; and that the difference between a common man and a man of genius is chiefly seen in the shallowness or depth of the principles upon which they proceed. General reasonings seem intricate, merely because they are general; nor is it easy for the bulk of mankind to distinguish, in a great number of particulars, that common circumstance in which they all agree, or to extract it, pure and unmixed, from the other superfluous circumstances. Every judgment or conclusion, with them, is particular. They cannot enlarge their view to those universal propositions, which comprehend under them an infinite number of individuals, and include a whole science in a single theorem. Their eye is confounded with such an extensive prospect; and the conclusions, derived from it, even though clearly expressed, seem intricate and obscure. But however intricate they may seem, it is certain, that general principles, if just and

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sound, must always prevail in the general course of things, though they may fail in particular cases; and it is the chief business of philosophers to regard the general course of things. I may add, that it is also the chief business of politicians; especially in the domestic government of the state, where the public good, which is, or ought to be their object, depends on the concurrence of a multitude of causes; not, as in foreign politics, on accidents and chances, and the caprices of a few persons. This therefore makes the difference between particular deliberations and general reasonings, and renders subtilty and refinement much more suitable to the latter than to the former. I thought this introduction necessary before the following discourses on commerce, money, interest, balance of trade, &c. where, perhaps, there will occur some principles which are uncommon, and which may seem too refined and subtile for such vulgar subjects. If false, let them be rejected: But no one ought to entertain a prejudice against them, merely because they are out of the common road. The greatness of a state, and the happiness of its subjects, how independent soever they may be supposed in some respects, are commonly allowed to be inseparable with regard to commerce; and as private men receive greater security, in the possession of their trade and riches, from the power of the public, so the public becomes powerful in proportion to the opulence and extensive commerce of private men. This maxim is true in general; though I cannot forbear thinking, that it may possibly admit of exceptions, and that we often establish it with too little reserve and limitation. There may be some circumstances, where the commerce and riches and luxury of individuals, instead of adding strength to the public, will serve only to thin its armies, and diminish its authority among the neighbouring nations. Man is a very variable being, and susceptible of many different opinions, principles, and rules of conduct. What may be true, while he adheres to one way of thinking, will be found false, when he has embraced an opposite set of manners and opinions. The bulk of every state may be divided into husbandmen and manufacturers. The former are employed in the culture of the land; the latter work up the materials furnished by the former, into all the commodities which are necessary or ornamental to human life. As soon as men quit their savage state, where they live chiefly by hunting and fishing, they must fall into these two classes; though the arts of agriculture employ at first the most numerous part of the society.1 Time and experience improve so much these arts, that 1 Mons. Melon, in his political essay on commerce, asserts, that even at present, if you divide France into 20 parts, 16 are labourers or peasants; two only artizans; one belonging to the law, church, and military; and one merchants, financiers, and bourgeois. This calculation is certainly very erroneous. In France, England, and indeed most parts of Europe, half of the inhabitants live in cities; and even of those who live in the country, a great number are artizans, perhaps above a third.

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the land may easily maintain a much greater number of men, than those who are immediately employed in its culture, or who furnish the more necessary manufactures to such as are so employed. If these superfluous hands apply themselves to the finer arts, which are commonly denominated the arts of luxury, they add to the happiness of the state; since they afford to many the opportunity of receiving enjoyments, with which they would otherwise have been unacquainted. But may not another scheme be proposed for the employment of these superfluous hands? May not the sovereign lay claim to them, and employ them in fleets and armies, to encrease the dominions of the state abroad, and spread its fame over distant nations? It is certain that the fewer desires and wants are found in the proprietors and labourers of land, the fewer hands do they employ; and consequently the superfluities of the land, instead of maintaining tradesmen and manufacturers, may support fleets and armies to a much greater extent, than where a great many arts are required to minister to the luxury of particular persons. Here therefore seems to be a kind of opposition between the greatness of the state and the happiness of the subject. A state is never greater than when all its superfluous hands are employed in the service of the public. The ease and convenience of private persons require, that these hands should be employed in their service. The one can never be satisfied, but at the expence of the other. As the ambition of the sovereign must entrench on the luxury of individuals; so the luxury of individuals must diminish the force, and check the ambition of the ­sovereign. Nor is this reasoning merely chimerical; but is founded on history and experience. The republic of Sparta was certainly more powerful than any state now in the world, consisting of an equal number of people; and this was owing entirely to the want of commerce and luxury. The Helotes were the labourers: The Spartans were the soldiers or gentlemen. It is evident, that the labour of the Helotes could not have maintained so great a number of Spartans, had these latter lived in ease and delicacy, and given employment to a great variety of trades and manufactures. The like policy may be remarked in Rome. And indeed, throughout all ancient history, it is observable, that the smallest republics raised and maintained greater armies, than states consisting of triple the number of inhabitants, are able to support at present. It is computed, that, in all European nations, the proportion between soldiers and people does not exceed one to a hundred. But we read, that the city of Rome alone, with its small territory, raised and maintained, in early times, ten legions against the Latins. Athens, the whole of whose dominions was not larger than Yorkshire, sent to the expedition against

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Sicily near forty thousand men.2 Dionysius the elder, it is said, maintained a standing army of a hundred thousand foot and ten thousand horse, besides a large fleet of four hundred sail;3 though his territories extended no farther than the city of Syracuse, about a third of the island of Sicily, and some sea-port towns and garrisons on the coast of Italy and Illyricum. It is true, the ancient armies, in time of war, subsisted much upon plunder: But did not the enemy plunder in their turn? which was a more ruinous way of levying a tax, than any other that could be devised. In short, no probable reason can be assigned for the great power of the more ancient states above the modern, but their want of commerce and luxury. Few artizans were maintained by the labour of the farmers, and therefore more soldiers might live upon it. Livy says, that Rome, in his time, would find it difficult to raise as large an army as that which, in her early days, she sent out against the Gauls and Latins.4 Instead of those soldiers who fought for liberty and empire in Camillus’s time, there were, in Augustus’s days, musicians, painters, cooks, players, and tailors; and if the land was equally cultivated at both periods, it could certainly maintain equal numbers in the one profession as in the other. They added nothing to the mere necessaries of life, in the latter period more than in the former. It is natural on this occasion to ask, whether sovereigns may not return to the maxims of ancient policy, and consult their own interest in this respect, more than the happiness of their subjects? I answer, that it appears to me, almost impossible; and that because ancient policy was violent, and contrary to the more natural and usual course of things. It is well known with what peculiar laws Sparta was governed, and what a prodigy that republic is justly esteemed by every one, who has considered human nature as it has displayed itself in other nations, and other ages. Were the testimony of history less positive and circumstantial, such a government would appear a mere philosophical whim or fiction, and impossible ever to be reduced to practice. And though the Roman and other ancient republics were supported on principles somewhat more natural, yet was there an extraordinary concurrence of circumstances to make them submit to such grievous burdens. They were free states; they were small ones; and the age being martial, all their neighbours were continually in arms. Freedom naturally begets public spirit, especially in small states; and this public spirit, this amor patriæ, must encrease, when 2  Thucydides, lib. 7. 3  Diod. Sic. lib. 2. This account, I own, is somewhat suspicious, not to say worse; chiefly because this army was not composed of citizens, but of mercenary forces. 4  Titi Livii, lib. 7. cap. 25. “Adeo in quæ laboramus,” says he, “sola crevimus, divitias luxuriemque.”

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the public is almost in continual alarm, and men are obliged, every moment, to expose themselves to the greatest dangers for its defence. A continual succession of wars makes every citizen a soldier: He takes the field in his turn: And during his service he is chiefly maintained by himself. This service is indeed equivalent to a heavy tax; yet is it less felt by a people addicted to arms, who fight for honour and revenge more than pay, and are unacquainted with gain and industry as well as pleasure.5 Not to mention the great equality of fortunes among the inhabitants of the ancient republics, where every field, belonging to a different proprietor, was able to maintain a family, and rendered the numbers of citizens very considerable, even without trade and manufactures. But though the want of trade and manufactures, among a free and very martial people, may sometimes have no other effect than to render the public more powerful, it is certain, that, in the common course of human affairs, it will have a quite contrary tendency. Sovereigns must take mankind as they find them, and cannot pretend to introduce any violent change in their principles and ways of thinking. A long course of time, with a variety of accidents and circumstances, are requisite to produce those great revolutions, which so much diversify the face of human affairs. And the less natural any set of principles are, which support a particular society, the more difficulty will a legislator meet with in raising and cultivating them. It is his best ­policy to comply with the common bent of mankind, and give it all the improvements of which it is susceptible. Now, according to the most natural course of things, industry and arts and trade encrease the power of the sovereign as well as the happiness of the subjects; and that policy is violent, which aggrandizes the public by the poverty of individuals. This will easily appear from a few considerations, which will present to us the consequences of sloth and barbarity. Where manufactures and mechanic arts are not cultivated, the bulk of the people must apply themselves to agriculture; and if their skill and industry 5  The more ancient Romans lived in perpetual war with all their neighbours: And in old Latin the term hostis, expressed both a stranger and an enemy. This is remarked by Cicero; but by him is ascribed to the humanity of his ancestors, who softened, as much as possible, the denomination of an enemy, by calling him by the same appellation which signified a stranger. de off. lib. 1. It is however much more probable, from the manners of the times, that the ferocity of those people was so great as to make them regard all strangers as enemies, and call them by the same name. It is not, besides, consistent with the most common maxims of policy or of nature, that any state should regard its public enemies with a friendly eye, or preserve any such sentiments for them as the Roman orator would ascribe to his ancestors. Not to mention, that the early Romans really exercised piracy, as we learn from their first treaties with Carthage, preserved by Polybius, lib. 3. and consequently, like the Sallee and Algerine rovers, were actually at war with most nations, and a stranger and an enemy were with them almost synonimous.

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encrease, there must arise a great superfluity from their labour beyond what suffices to maintain them. They have no temptation, therefore, to encrease their skill and industry; since they cannot exchange that superfluity for any commodities, which may serve either to their pleasure or vanity. A habit of indolence naturally prevails. The greater part of the land lies uncultivated. What is cultivated, yields not its utmost for want of skill and assiduity in the farmers. If at any time the public exigencies require, that great numbers should be employed in the public service, the labour of the people furnishes now no superfluities, by which these numbers can be maintained. The labourers cannot encrease their skill and industry on a sudden. Lands uncultivated cannot be brought into tillage for some years. The armies, mean while, must either make sudden and violent conquests, or disband for want of subsistence. A regular attack or defence, therefore, is not to be expected from such a people, and their soldiers must be as ignorant and unskilful as their farmers and manufacturers. Every thing in the world is purchased by labour; and our passions are the only causes of labour. When a nation abounds in manufactures and mechanic arts, the proprietors of land, as well as the farmers, study agriculture as a science, and redouble their industry and attention. The superfluity, which arises from their labour, is not lost; but is exchanged with manufacturers for those commodities, which men’s luxury now makes them covet. By this means, land furnishes a great deal more of the necessaries of life, than what suffices for those who cultivate it. In times of peace and tranquillity, this superfluity goes to the maintenance of manufacturers, and the improvers of liberal arts. But it is easy for the public to convert many of these manufacturers into soldiers, and maintain them by that superfluity, which arises from the labour of the farmers. Accordingly we find, that this is the case in all civilized governments. When the sovereign raises an army, what is the consequence? He imposes a tax. This tax obliges all the people to retrench what is least necessary to their subsistence. Those, who labour in such commodities, must either enlist in the troops, or turn themselves to agriculture, and thereby oblige some labourers to enlist for want of business. And to consider the matter abstractedly, manufactures encrease the power of the state only as they store up so much labour, and that of a kind to which the public may lay claim, without depriving any one of the necessaries of life. The more labour, therefore, is employed beyond mere necessaries, the more powerful is any state; since the persons engaged in that labour may easily be converted to the public service. In a state without manufactures, there may be the same number of hands; but there is not the same quantity of labour, nor of the same kind. All the labour is there bestowed upon necessaries, which can admit of little or no abatement.

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Thus the greatness of the sovereign and the happiness of the state are, in a great measure, united with regard to trade and manufactures. It is a violent method, and in most cases impracticable, to oblige the labourer to toil, in order to raise from the land more than what subsists himself and family. Furnish him with manufactures and commodities, and he will do it of himself. Afterwards you will find it easy to seize some part of his superfluous labour, and employ it in the public service, without giving him his wonted return. Being accustomed to industry, he will think this less grievous, than if, at once, you obliged him to an augmentation of labour without any reward. The case is the same with regard to the other members of the state. The greater is the stock of labour of all kinds, the greater quantity may be taken from the heap, without making any sensible alteration in it. A public granary of corn, a storehouse of cloth, a magazine of arms; all these must be allowed real riches and strength in any state. Trade and industry are really nothing but a stock of labour, which, in times of peace and tranquillity, is employed for the ease and satisfaction of individuals; but in the exigencies of state, may, in part, be turned to public advantage. Could we convert a city into a kind of fortified camp, and infuse into each breast so martial a genius, and such a passion for public good, as to make every one willing to undergo the greatest hardships for the sake of the public; these affections might now, as in ancient times, prove alone a sufficient spur to industry, and support the community. It would then be advantageous, as in camps, to banish all arts and luxury; and, by restrictions on equipage and tables, make the provisions and forage last longer than if the army were loaded with a number of superfluous retainers. But as these principles are too disinterested and too difficult to support, it is requisite to govern men by other passions, and animate them with a spirit of avarice and industry, art and luxury. The camp is, in this case, loaded with a superfluous retinue; but the provisions flow in proportionably larger. The harmony of the whole is still supported; and the natural bent of the mind being more complied with, individuals, as well as the public, find their account in the observance of those maxims. The same method of reasoning will let us see the advantage of foreign commerce, in augmenting the power of the state, as well as the riches and happiness of the subjects. It encreases the stock of labour in the nation; and the sovereign may convert what share of it he finds necessary to the service of the public. Foreign trade, by its imports, furnishes materials for new manufactures; and by its exports, it produces labour in particular commodities, which could not be consumed at home. In short, a kingdom, that has a large import and export, must abound more with industry, and that employed

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upon delicacies and luxuries, than a kingdom which rests contented with its native commodities. It is, therefore, more powerful, as well as richer and happier. The individuals reap the benefit of these commodities, so far as they gratify the senses and appetites. And the public is also a gainer, while a greater stock of labour is, by this means, stored up against any public exigency; that is, a greater number of laborious men are maintained, who may be diverted to the public service, without robbing any one of the necessaries, or even the chief conveniencies of life. If we consult history, we shall find, that, in most nations, foreign trade has preceded any refinement in home manufactures, and given birth to domestic luxury. The temptation is stronger to make use of foreign commodities, which are ready for use, and which are entirely new to us, than to make improvements on any domestic commodity, which always advance by slow degrees, and never affect us by their novelty. The profit is also very great, in exporting what is superfluous at home, and what bears no price, to foreign nations, whose soil or climate is not favourable to that commodity. Thus men become acquainted with the pleasures of luxury and the profits of commerce; and their delicacy and industry, being once awakened, carry them on to farther improvements, in every branch of domestic as well as foreign trade. And this perhaps is the chief advantage which arises from a commerce with strangers. It rouzes men from their indolence; and presenting the gayer and more opulent part of the nation with objects of luxury, which they never before dreamed of, raises in them a desire of a more splendid way of life than what their ancestors enjoyed. And at the same time, the few merchants, who possess the secret of this importation and exportation, make great profits; and becoming rivals in wealth to the ancient nobility, tempt other adventurers to become their rivals in commerce. Imitation soon diffuses all those arts; while domestic manufacturers emulate the foreign in their improvements, and work up every home commodity to the utmost perfection of which it is susceptible. Their own steel and iron, in such laborious hands, become equal to the gold and rubies of the Indies. When the affairs of the society are once brought to this situation, a nation may lose most of its foreign trade, and yet continue a great and powerful people. If strangers will not take any particular commodity of ours, we must cease to labour in it. The same hands will turn themselves towards some refinement in other commodities, which may be wanted at home. And there must always be materials for them to work upon; till every person in the state, who possesses riches, enjoys as great plenty of home commodities, and those in as great perfection, as he desires; which can never possibly happen. China is represented as one of the most flourishing empires in the world; though it has very little commerce beyond its own territories.

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It will not, I hope, be considered as a superfluous digression, if I here observe, that, as the multitude of mechanical arts is advantageous, so is the great number of persons to whose share the productions of these arts fall. A too great disproportion among the citizens weakens any state. Every person, if possible, ought to enjoy the fruits of his labour, in a full possession of all the necessaries, and many of the conveniencies of life. No one can doubt, but such an equality is most suitable to human nature, and diminishes much less from the happiness of the rich than it adds to that of the poor. It also augments the power of the state, and makes any extraordinary taxes or impositions be paid with more cheerfulness. Where the riches are engrossed by a few, these must contribute very largely to the supplying of the public necessities. But when the riches are dispersed among multitudes, the burden feels light on every shoulder, and the taxes make not a very sensible difference on any one’s way of living. Add to this, that, where the riches are in few hands, these must enjoy all the power, and will readily conspire to lay the whole burden on the poor, and oppress them still farther, to the discouragement of all industry. In this circumstance consists the great advantage of England above any nation at present in the world, or that appears in the records of any story. It is true, the English feel some disadvantages in foreign trade by the high price of labour, which is in part the effect of the riches of their artisans, as well as of the plenty of money: But as foreign trade is not the most material circumstance, it is not to be put in competition with the happiness of so many millions. And if there were no more to endear to them that free government under which they live, this alone were sufficient. The poverty of the common people is a natural, if not an infallible effect of absolute monarchy; though I doubt, whether it be always true, on the other hand, that their riches are an infallible result of liberty. Liberty must be attended with particular accidents, and a certain turn of thinking, in order to produce that effect. Lord Bacon, accounting for the great advantages obtained by the English in their wars with France, ascribes them chiefly to the superior ease and plenty of the common people amongst the former; yet the government of the two kingdoms was, at that time, pretty much alike. Where the labourers and artisans are accustomed to work for low wages, and to retain but a small part of the fruits of their labour, it is difficult for them, even in a free government, to better their condition, or conspire among themselves to heighten their wages. But even where they are accustomed to a more plentiful way of life, it is easy for the rich, in an arbitrary government, to conspire against them, and throw the whole burden of the taxes on their shoulders. It may seem an odd position, that the poverty of the common people in France, Italy, and Spain, is, in some measure, owing to the superior riches

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of the soil and happiness of the climate; yet there want not reasons to justify this paradox. In such a fine mould or soil as that of those more southern regions, agriculture is an easy art; and one man, with a couple of sorry horses, will be able, in a season, to cultivate as much land as will pay a pretty considerable rent to the proprietor. All the art, which the farmer knows, is to leave his ground fallow for a year, as soon as it is exhausted; and the warmth of the sun alone and temperature of the climate enrich it, and restore its fertility. Such poor peasants, therefore, require only a simple maintenance for their labour. They have no stock or riches, which claim more; and at the same time, they are for ever dependent on their landlord, who gives no leases, nor fears that his land will be spoiled by the ill methods of cultivation. In England, the land is rich, but coarse; must be cultivated at a great expence; and produces slender crops, when not carefully managed, and by a method which gives not the full profit but in a course of several years. A farmer, therefore, in England must have a considerable stock, and a long lease; which beget proportional profits. The fine vineyards of Champagne and Burgundy, that often yield to the landlord above five pounds per acre, are cultivated by peasants, who have scarcely bread: The reason is, that such peasants need no stock but their own limbs, with instruments of husbandry, which they can buy for twenty shillings. The farmers are commonly in some better circumstances in those countries. But the grasiers are most at their ease of all those who cultivate the land. The reason is still the same. Men must have profits proportionable to their expence and hazard. Where so considerable a number of the labouring poor as the peasants and farmers are in very low circumstances, all the rest must partake of their poverty, whether the government of that nation be monarchical or republican. We may form a similar remark with regard to the general history of mankind. What is the reason, why no people, living between the tropics, could ever yet attain to any art or civility, or reach even any police in their government, and any military discipline; while few nations in the temperate climates have been altogether deprived of these advantages? It is probable that one cause of this phænomenon is the warmth and equality of weather in the torrid zone, which render clothes and houses less requisite for the inhabitants, and thereby remove, in part, that necessity, which is the great spur to industry and invention. Curis acuens mortalia corda. Not to mention, that the fewer goods or possessions of this kind any people enjoy, the fewer quarrels are likely to arise amongst them, and the less necessity will there be for a settled police or regular authority to protect and defend them from foreign enemies, or from each other.

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ESSAY 2

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Luxury is a word of an uncertain signification, and may be taken in a good as well as in a bad sense. In general, it means great refinement in the gratification of the senses; and any degree of it may be innocent or blameable, according to the age, or country, or condition of the person. The bounds between the virtue and the vice cannot here be exactly fixed, more than in other moral subjects. To imagine, that the gratifying of any sense, or the indulging of any delicacy in meat, drink, or apparel, is of itself a vice, can never enter into a head, that is not disordered by the frenzies of enthusiasm. I have, indeed, heard of a monk abroad, who, because the windows of his cell opened upon a noble prospect, made a covenant with his eyes never to turn that way, or receive so sensual a gratification. And such is the crime of drinking Champagne or Burgundy, preferably to small beer or porter. These indulgences are only vices, when they are pursued at the expence of some virtue, as liberality or charity; in like manner as they are follies, when for them a man ruins his fortune, and reduces himself to want and beggary. Where they entrench upon no virtue, but leave ample subject whence to provide for friends, family, and every proper object of generosity or compassion, they are entirely innocent, and have in every age been acknowledged such by almost all moralists. To be entirely occupied with the luxury of the table, for instance, without any relish for the pleasures of ambition, study, or conversation, is a mark of stupidity, and is incompatible with any vigour of temper or genius. To confine one’s expence entirely to such a gratification, without regard to friends or family, is an indication of a heart destitute of humanity or benevolence. But if a man reserve time sufficient for all laudable pursuits, and money sufficient for all generous purposes, he is free from every shadow of blame or reproach. Since luxury may be considered either as innocent or blameable, one may be surprized at those preposterous opinions, which have been entertained concerning it; while men of libertine principles bestow praises even on vicious luxury, and represent it as highly advantageous to society; and on the other hand, men of severe morals blame even the most innocent luxury, and represent it as the source of all the corruptions, disorders, and factions, incident to civil government. We shall here endeavour to correct both these

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extremes, by proving, first, that the ages of refinement are both the happiest and most virtuous; secondly, that wherever luxury ceases to be innocent, it also ceases to be beneficial; and when carried a degree too far, is a quality pernicious, though perhaps not the most pernicious, to political society. To prove the first point, we need but consider the effects of refinement both on private and on public life. Human happiness, according to the most received notions, seems to consist in three ingredients; action, pleasure, and indolence: And though these ingredients ought to be mixed in different proportions, according to the particular disposition of the person; yet no one ingredient can be entirely wanting, without destroying, in some measure, the relish of the whole composition. Indolence or repose, indeed, seems not of itself to contribute much to our enjoyment; but, like sleep, is requisite as an indulgence to the weakness of human nature, which cannot support an uninterrupted course of business or pleasure. That quick march of the spirits, which takes a man from himself, and chiefly gives satisfaction, does in the end exhaust the mind, and requires some intervals of repose, which, though agreeable for a moment, yet, if prolonged, beget a languor and lethargy, that destroys all enjoyment. Education, custom, and example, have a mighty influence in turning the mind to any of these pursuits; and it must be owned, that, where they promote a relish for action and pleasure, they are so far favourable to human happiness. In times when industry and the arts flourish, men are kept in perpetual occupation, and enjoy, as their reward, the occupation itself, as well as those pleasures which are the fruit of their labour. The mind acquires new vigour; enlarges its powers and faculties; and by an assiduity in honest industry, both satisfies its natural appetites, and prevents the growth of unnatural ones, which commonly spring up, when nourished by ease and idleness. Banish those arts from society, you deprive men both of action and of pleasure; and leaving nothing but indolence in their place, you even destroy the relish of indolence, which never is agreeable, but when it succeeds to labour, and recruits the spirits, exhausted by too much application and fatigue. Another advantage of industry and of refinements in the mechanical arts, is, that they commonly produce some refinements in the liberal; nor can one be carried to perfection, without being accompanied, in some degree, with the other. The same age, which produces great philosophers and politicians, renowned generals and poets, usually abounds with skilful weavers and ship-carpenters. We cannot reasonably expect, that a piece of woollen cloth will be wrought to perfection in a nation, which is ignorant of astronomy, or where ethics are neglected. The spirit of the age affects all the arts; and the minds of men, being once rouzed from their lethargy, and put into a

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fermentation, turn themselves on all sides, and carry improvements into every art and science. Profound ignorance is totally banished, and men enjoy the privilege of rational creatures, to think as well as to act, to cultivate the pleasures of the mind as well as those of the body. The more these refined arts advance, the more sociable men become; nor is it possible, that, when enriched with science, and possessed of a fund of conversation, they should be contented to remain in solitude, or live with their fellow-citizens in that distant manner, which is peculiar to ignorant and barbarous nations. They flock into cities; love to receive and communicate knowledge; to show their wit or their breeding; their taste in conversation or living, in clothes or furniture. Curiosity allures the wise; vanity the foolish; and pleasure both. Particular clubs and societies are every where formed: Both sexes meet in an easy and sociable manner; and the tempers of men, as well as their behaviour, refine apace. So that, beside the improvements which they receive from knowledge and the liberal arts, it is impossible but they must feel an encrease of humanity, from the very habit of conversing together, and contributing to each other’s pleasure and entertainment. Thus industry, knowledge, and humanity, are linked together by an indissoluble chain, and are found, from experience as well as reason, to be peculiar to the more polished, and, what are commonly denominated, the more luxurious ages. Nor are these advantages attended with disadvantages, that bear any proportion to them. The more men refine upon pleasure, the less will they indulge in excesses of any kind; because nothing is more destructive to true pleasure than such excesses. One may safely affirm, that the Tartars are oftener guilty of beastly gluttony, when they feast on their dead horses, than European courtiers with all their refinements of cookery. And if libertine love, or even infidelity to the marriage-bed, be more frequent in polite ages, when it is often regarded only as a piece of gallantry; drunkenness, on the other hand, is much less common: A vice more odious, and more pernicious both to mind and body. And in this matter I would appeal, not only to an Ovid or a Petronius, but to a Seneca or a Cato. We know, that Cæsar, during Catiline’s conspiracy, being necessitated to put into Cato’s hands a billet-doux, which discovered an intrigue with Servilia, Cato’s own sister, that stern philosopher threw it back to him with indignation; and, in the bitterness of his wrath, gave him the appellation of drunkard, as a term more opprobrious than that with which he could more justly have reproached him. But industry, knowledge, and humanity, are not advantageous in private life alone: They diffuse their beneficial influence on the public, and render

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the government as great and flourishing as they make individuals happy and prosperous. The encrease and consumption of all the commodities, which serve to the ornament and pleasure of life, are advantageous to society; because, at the same time that they multiply those innocent gratifications to individuals, they are a kind of storehouse of labour, which, in the exigencies of state, may be turned to the public service. In a nation, where there is no demand for such superfluities, men sink into indolence, lose all enjoyment of life, and are useless to the public, which cannot maintain or support its fleets and armies, from the industry of such slothful members. The bounds of all the European kingdoms are, at present, nearly the same they were two hundred years ago: But what a difference is there in the power and grandeur of those kingdoms? Which can be ascribed to nothing but the encrease of art and industry. When Charles VIII. of France invaded Italy, he carried with him about 20,000 men: Yet this armament so exhausted the nation, as we learn from Guicciardin, that for some years it was not able to make so great an effort. The late king of France, in time of war, kept in pay above 400,000 men;1 though from Mazarine’s death to his own, he was engaged in a course of wars that lasted near thirty years. This industry is much promoted by the knowledge inseparable from ages of art and refinement; as, on the other hand, this knowledge enables the public to make the best advantage of the industry of its subjects. Laws, order, police, discipline; these can never be carried to any degree of perfection, before human reason has refined itself by exercise, and by an application to the more vulgar arts, at least, of commerce and manufacture. Can we expect, that a government will be well modelled by a people, who know not how to make a spinning-wheel, or to employ a loom to advantage? Not to mention, that all ignorant ages are infested with superstition, which throws the government off its biass, and disturbs men in the pursuit of their interest and happiness. Knowledge in the arts of government naturally begets mildness and moderation, by instructing men in the advantages of humane maxims above rigour and severity, which drive subjects into rebellion, and make the return to submission impracticable, by cutting off all hopes of pardon. When the tempers of men are softened as well as their knowledge improved, this humanity appears still more conspicuous, and is the chief characteristic which distinguishes a civilized age from times of barbarity and ignorance. Factions are then less inveterate, revolutions less tragical, authority less severe, and seditions less frequent. Even foreign wars abate of their cruelty;

1  The inscription on the Place-de-Vendome says 440,000.

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and after the field of battle, where honour and interest steel men against compassion as well as fear, the combatants divest themselves of the brute, and resume the man. Nor need we fear, that men, by losing their ferocity, will lose their martial spirit, or become less undaunted and vigorous in defence of their country or their liberty. The arts have no such effect in enervating either the mind or body. On the contrary, industry, their inseparable attendant, adds new force to both. And if anger, which is said to be the whetstone of courage, loses somewhat of its asperity, by politeness and refinement; a sense of honour, which is a stronger, more constant, and more governable principle, acquires fresh vigour by that elevation of genius which arises from knowledge and a good education. Add to this, that courage can neither have any duration, nor be of any use, when not accompanied with discipline and martial skill, which are seldom found among a barbarous people. The ancients remarked, that Datames was the only barbarian that ever knew the art of war. And Pyrrhus, seeing the Romans marshal their army with some art and skill, said with surprize, These barbarians have nothing barbarous in their discipline! It is observable, that, as the old Romans, by applying themselves solely to war, were almost the only uncivilized people that ever possessed military discipline; so the modern Italians are the only civilized people, among Europeans, that ever wanted courage and a martial spirit. Those who would ascribe this effeminacy of the Italians to their luxury, or politeness, or application to the arts, need but consider the French and English, whose bravery is as incontestable, as their love for the arts, and their assiduity in commerce. The Italian historians give us a more satisfactory reason for this degeneracy of their countrymen. They show us how the sword was dropped at once by all the Italian sovereigns; while the Venetian aristocracy was jealous of its subjects, the Florentine democracy applied itself entirely to commerce; Rome was governed by priests, and Naples by women. War then became the business of soldiers of fortune, who spared one another, and to the astonishment of the world, could engage a whole day in what they called a battle, and return at night to their camp, without the least bloodshed. What has chiefly induced severe moralists to declaim against refinement in the arts, is the example of ancient Rome, which, joining, to its poverty and rusticity, virtue and public spirit, rose to such a surprizing height of ­g randeur and liberty; but having learned from its conquered provinces the Asiatic luxury, fell into every kind of corruption; whence arose sedition and civil wars, attended at last with the total loss of liberty. All the Latin classics, whom we peruse in our infancy, are full of these sentiments, and universally ascribe the ruin of their state to the arts and riches imported from the East:

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Insomuch that Sallust represents a taste for painting as a vice, no less than lewdness and drinking. And so popular were these sentiments, during the later ages of the republic, that this author abounds in praises of the old rigid Roman virtue, though himself the most egregious instance of modern luxury and corruption; speaks contemptuously of the Grecian eloquence, though the most elegant writer in the world; nay, employs preposterous digressions and declamations to this purpose, though a model of taste and correctness. But it would be easy to prove, that these writers mistook the cause of the disorders in the Roman state, and ascribed to luxury and the arts, what really proceeded from an ill modelled government, and the unlimited extent of conquests. Refinement on the pleasures and conveniencies of life has no natural tendency to beget venality and corruption. The value, which all men put upon any particular pleasure, depends on comparison and experience; nor is a porter less greedy of money, which he spends on bacon and brandy, than a courtier, who purchases champagne and ortolans. Riches are valuable at all times, and to all men; because they always purchase pleasures, such as men are accustomed to, and desire: Nor can any thing restrain or regulate the love of money, but a sense of honour and virtue; which, if it be not nearly equal at all times, will naturally abound most in ages of knowledge and refinement. Of all European kingdoms, Poland seems the most defective in the arts of war as well as peace, mechanical as well as liberal; yet it is there that venality and corruption do most prevail. The nobles seem to have preserved their crown elective for no other purpose, than regularly to sell it to the highest bidder. This is almost the only species of commerce, with which that people are acquainted. The liberties of England, so far from decaying since the improvements in the arts, have never flourished so much as during that period. And though corruption may seem to encrease of late years; this is chiefly to be ascribed to our established liberty, when our princes have found the impossibility of governing without parliaments, or of terrifying parliaments by the phantom of prerogative. Not to mention, that this corruption or venality prevails much more among the electors than the elected; and therefore cannot justly be ascribed to any refinements in luxury. If we consider the matter in a proper light, we shall find, that a progress in the arts is rather favourable to liberty, and has a natural tendency to preserve, if not produce a free government. In rude unpolished nations, where the arts are neglected, all labour is bestowed on the cultivation of the ground; and the whole society is divided into two classes, proprietors of land, and their vassals

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or tenants. The latter are necessarily dependent, and fitted for slavery and subjection; especially where they possess no riches, and are not valued for their knowledge in agriculture; as must always be the case where the arts are neglected. The former naturally erect themselves into petty tyrants; and must either submit to an absolute master, for the sake of peace and order; or if they will preserve their independency, like the ancient barons, they must fall into feuds and contests among themselves, and throw the whole society into such confusion, as is perhaps worse than the most despotic government. But where luxury nourishes commerce and industry, the peasants, by a proper cultivation of the land, become rich and independent; while the tradesmen and merchants acquire a share of the property, and draw authority and consideration to that middling rank of men, who are the best and firmest basis of public liberty. These submit not to slavery, like the peasants, from poverty and meanness of spirit; and having no hopes of tyrannizing over others, like the barons, they are not tempted, for the sake of that gratification, to submit to the tyranny of their sovereign. They covet equal laws, which may secure their property, and preserve them from monarchical, as well as aristocratical tyranny. The lower house is the support of our popular government; and all the world acknowledges, that it owed its chief influence and consideration to the encrease of commerce, which threw such a balance of property into the hands of the commons. How inconsistent then is it to blame so violently a refinement in the arts, and to represent it as the bane of liberty and public spirit! To declaim against present times, and magnify the virtue of remote ancestors, is a propensity almost inherent in human nature: And as the sentiments and opinions of civilized ages alone are transmitted to posterity, hence it is that we meet with so many severe judgments pronounced against luxury, and even science; and hence it is that at present we give so ready an assent to them. But the fallacy is easily perceived, by comparing different nations that are contemporaries; where we both judge more impartially, and can better set in opposition those manners, with which we are sufficiently acquainted. Treachery and cruelty, the most pernicious and most odious of all vices, seem peculiar to uncivilized ages; and by the refined Greeks and Romans were ascribed to all the barbarous nations, which surrounded them. They might justly, therefore, have presumed, that their own ancestors, so highly celebrated, possessed no greater virtue, and were as much inferior to their posterity in honour and humanity, as in taste and science. An ancient Frank or Saxon may be highly extolled: But I believe every man would think his life or fortune much less secure in the hands of a Moor or Tartar, than in those of a French or English gentleman, the rank of men the most civilized in the most civilized nations.

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We come now to the second position which we proposed to illustrate, to wit, that, as innocent luxury, or a refinement in the arts and conveniencies of life, is advantageous to the public; so wherever luxury ceases to be innocent, it also ceases to be beneficial; and when carried a degree farther, begins to be a quality pernicious, though, perhaps, not the most pernicious, to political society. Let us consider what we call vicious luxury. No gratification, however sensual, can of itself be esteemed vicious. A gratification is only vicious, when it engrosses all a man’s expence, and leaves no ability for such acts of duty and generosity as are required by his situation and fortune. Suppose, that he correct the vice, and employ part of his expence in the education of his children, in the support of his friends, and in relieving the poor; would any prejudice result to society? On the contrary, the same consumption would arise; and that labour, which, at present, is employed only in producing a slender gratification to one man, would relieve the necessitous, and bestow satisfaction on hundreds. The same care and toil that raise a dish of peas at Christmas, would give bread to a whole family during six months. To say, that, without a vicious luxury, the labour would not have been employed at all, is only to say, that there is some other defect in human nature, such as indolence, selfishness, inattention to others, for which luxury, in some measure, provides a remedy; as one poison may be an antidote to another. But virtue, like wholesome food, is better than poisons, however corrected. Suppose the same number of men, that are at present in Great Britain, with the same soil and climate; I ask, is it not possible for them to be happier, by the most perfect way of life that can be imagined, and by the greatest reformation that Omnipotence itself could work in their temper and ­disposition? To assert, that they cannot, appears evidently ridiculous. As the land is able to maintain more than all its present inhabitants, they could never, in such a Utopian state, feel any other ills than those which arise from bodily sickness; and these are not the half of human miseries. All other ills spring from some vice, either in ourselves or others; and even many of our diseases proceed from the same origin. Remove the vices, and the ills follow. You must only take care to remove all the vices. If you remove part, you may render the matter worse. By banishing vicious luxury, without curing sloth and an indifference to others, you only diminish industry in the state, and add nothing to men’s charity or their generosity. Let us, therefore, rest contented with asserting, that two opposite vices in a state may be more advantageous than either of them alone; but let us never pronounce vice in itself advantageous. Is it not very inconsistent for an author to assert in one page, that moral distinctions are inventions of politicians for public interest;

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and in the next page maintain, that vice is advantageous to the public?2 And indeed it seems upon any system of morality, little less than a contradiction in terms, to talk of a vice, which is in general beneficial to society. I thought this reasoning necessary, in order to give some light to a philosophical question, which has been much disputed in England. I call it a philosophical question, not a political one. For whatever may be the consequence of such a miraculous transformation of mankind, as would endow them with every species of virtue, and free them from every species of vice; this concerns not the magistrate, who aims only at possibilities. He cannot cure every vice by substituting a virtue in its place. Very often he can only cure one vice by another; and in that case, he ought to prefer what is least pernicious to society. Luxury, when excessive, is the source of many ills; but is in general preferable to sloth and idleness, which would commonly succeed in its place, and are more hurtful both to private persons and to the public. When sloth reigns, a mean uncultivated way of life prevails amongst individuals, without society, without enjoyment. And if the sovereign, in such a situation, demands the service of his subjects, the labour of the state suffices only to furnish the necessaries of life to the labourers, and can afford nothing to those who are employed in the public service. 2  Fable of the Bees.

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ESSAY 3

Of Money 1

Money is not, properly speaking, one of the subjects of commerce; but only the instrument which men have agreed upon to facilitate the exchange of one commodity for another. It is none of the wheels of trade: It is the oil which renders the motion of the wheels more smooth and easy. If we consider any one kingdom by itself, it is evident, that the greater or less plenty of money is of no consequence; since the prices of commodities are always proportioned to the plenty of money, and a crown in Harry VII.’s time served the same purpose as a pound does at present. It is only the public which draws any advantage from the greater plenty of money; and that only in its wars and negociations with foreign states. And this is the reason, why all rich and trading countries, from Carthage to Great Britain and Holland, have employed mercenary troops, which they hired from their poorer neighbours. Were they to make use of their native subjects, they would find less advantage from their superior riches, and from their great plenty of gold and silver; since the pay of all their servants must rise in proportion to the public opulence. Our small army of 20,000 men is maintained at as great expence as a French army twice as numerous. The English fleet, during the late war, required as much money to support it as all the Roman legions, which kept the whole world in subjection, during the time of the emperors.1

1  A private soldier in the Roman infantry had a denarius a day, somewhat less than eight pence. The Roman emperors had commonly 25 legions in pay, which, allowing 5000 men to a legion, makes 125,000. Tacit. ann. lib. 4. It is true, there were also auxiliaries to the legions; but their numbers are uncertain, as well as their pay. To consider only the legionaries, the pay of the private men could not exceed 1,600,000 pounds. Now, the parliament in the last war commonly allowed for the fleet 2,500,000. We have therefore 900,000 over for the officers and other expences of the Roman legions. There seem to have been but few officers in the Roman armies, in comparison of what are employed in all our modern troops, except some Swiss corps. And these officers had very small pay: A centurion, for instance, only double a common soldier. And as the soldiers from their pay (Tacit. ann. lib. 1.) bought their own cloaths, arms, tents, and baggage; this must also diminish considerably the other charges of the army. So little expensive was that mighty government, and so easy was its yoke over the world. And, indeed, this is the more natural conclusion from the foregoing calculations. For money, after the conquest of Egypt, seems to have been nearly in as great plenty at Rome, as it is at present in the richest of the European kingdoms.

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The greater number of people and their greater industry are serviceable in all cases; at home and abroad, in private, and in public. But the greater plenty of money, is very limited in its use, and may even sometimes be a loss to a nation in its commerce with foreigners. There seems to be a happy concurrence of causes in human affairs, which checks the growth of trade and riches, and hinders them from being confined entirely to one people; as might naturally at first be dreaded from the advantages of an established commerce. Where one nation has gotten the start of another in trade, it is very difficult for the latter to regain the ground it has lost; because of the superior industry and skill of the former, and the greater stocks, of which its merchants are possessed, and which enable them to trade on so much smaller profits. But these advantages are compensated, in some measure, by the low price of labour in every nation which has not an  extensive commerce, and does not much abound in gold and silver. Manufactures, therefore, gradually shift their places, leaving those countries and provinces which they have already enriched, and flying to others, whither they are allured by the cheapness of provisions and labour; till they have enriched these also, and are again banished by the same causes. And, in general, we may observe, that the dearness of every thing, from plenty of money, is a disadvantage, which attends an established commerce, and sets bounds to it in every country, by enabling the poorer states to undersel the richer in all foreign markets. This has made me entertain a doubt concerning the benefit of banks and paper-credit, which are so generally esteemed advantageous to every nation. That provisions and labour should become dear by the encrease of trade and money, is, in many respects, an inconvenience; but an inconvenience that is unavoidable, and the effect of that public wealth and prosperity which are the end of all our wishes. It is compensated by the advantages, which we reap from the possession of these precious metals, and the weight, which they give the nation in all foreign wars and negociations. But there appears no reason for encreasing that inconvenience by a counterfeit money, which foreigners will not accept of in any payment, and which any great disorder in the state will reduce to nothing. There are, it is true, many people in every rich state, who, having large sums of money, would prefer paper with good security; as being of more easy transport and more safe custody. If the public provide not a bank, private bankers will take advantage of this circumstance; as the goldsmiths formerly did in London, or as the bankers do at present in Dublin: And therefore it is better, it may be thought, that a public company should enjoy the benefit of that paper-credit, which always will have place in every opulent kingdom. But to endeavour artificially to

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encrease such a credit, can never be the interest of any trading nation; but must lay them under disadvantages, by encreasing money beyond its natural proportion to labour and commodities, and thereby heightening their price to the merchant and manufacturer. And in this view, it must be allowed, that no bank could be more advantageous, than such a one as locked up all the money it received,2 and never augmented the circulating coin, as is usual, by returning part of its treasure into commerce. A public bank, by this expedient, might cut off much of the dealings of private bankers and moneyjobbers; and though the state bore the charge of salaries to the directors and tellers of this bank (for, according to the preceding supposition, it would have no profit from its dealings), the national advantage, resulting from the low price of labour and the destruction of paper-credit, would be a sufficient compensation. Not to mention, that so large a sum, lying ready at command, would be a convenience in times of great public danger and distress; and what part of it was used might be replaced at leisure, when peace and tranquillity was restored to the nation. But of this subject of paper-credit we shall treat more largely hereafter. And I shall finish this essay on money, by proposing and explaining two observations, which may, perhaps, serve to employ the thoughts of our ­speculative politicians. 1. It was a shrewd observation of Anacharsis3 the Scythian, who had never seen money in his own country, that gold and silver seemed to him of no use to the Greeks, but to assist them in numeration and arithmetic. It is indeed evident, that money is nothing but the representation of labour and commodities, and serves only as a method of rating or estimating them. Where coin is in greater plenty; as a greater quantity of it is required to re­present the same quantity of goods; it can have no effect, either good or bad, taking a nation within itself; any more than it would make an alteration on a merchant’s books, if, instead of the Arabian method of notation, which requires few characters, he should make use of the Roman, which requires a great many. Nay, the greater quantity of money, like the Roman characters, is rather inconvenient, and requires greater trouble both to keep and transport it. But notwithstanding this conclusion, which must be allowed just, it is certain, that, since the discovery of the mines in America, industry has encreased in all the nations of Europe, except in the possessors of those mines; and this may justly be ascribed, amongst other reasons, to the encrease of gold and silver. Accordingly we find, that, in every kingdom, 2  This is the case with the bank of Amsterdam. 3  Plutarch. Quomodo quis suos profectus in virtute sentire possit.

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into which money begins to flow in greater abundance than formerly, every thing takes a new face; labour and industry gain life; the merchant becomes more enterprizing, the manufacturer more diligent and skilful, and even the farmer follows his plough with greater alacrity and attention. This is not easily to be accounted for, if we consider only the influence which a greater abundance of coin has in the kingdom itself, by heightening the price of commodities, and obliging every one to pay a greater number of these little yellow or white pieces for every thing he purchases. And as to foreign trade, it appears, that great plenty of money is rather disadvantageous, by raising the price of every kind of labour. To account, then, for this phenomenon, we must consider, that, though the high price of commodities be a necessary consequence of the encrease of gold and silver, yet it follows not immediately upon that encrease; but some time is required before the money circulates through the whole state, and makes its effect be felt on all ranks of people. At first, no alteration is perceived; by degrees the price rises, first of one commodity, then of another; till the whole at last reaches a just proportion with the new quantity of specie which is in the kingdom. In my opinion, it is only in this interval or intermediate situation, between the acquisition of money and rise of prices, that the encreasing quantity of gold and silver is favourable to industry. When any quantity of money is imported into a nation, it is not at first dispersed into many hands; but is confined to the coffers of a few persons, who immediately seek to employ it to advantage. Here are a set of manufacturers or merchants, we shall suppose, who have received returns of gold and silver for goods which they sent to Cadiz. They are thereby enabled to employ more workmen than formerly, who never dream of demanding higher wages, but are glad of employment from such good paymasters. If workmen become scarce, the manufacturer gives higher wages, but at first requires an encrease of labour; and this is willingly submitted to by the artisan, who can now eat and drink better, to compensate his ­additional toil and fatigue. He carries his money to market, where he finds every thing at the same price as formerly, but returns with greater quantity and of better kinds, for the use of his family. The farmer and gardener, finding, that all their commodities are taken off, apply themselves with alacrity to the raising more; and at the same time can afford to take better and more cloths from their tradesmen, whose price is the same as formerly, and their industry only whetted by so much new gain. It is easy to trace the money in its progress through the whole commonwealth; where we shall find, that it must first quicken the diligence of every individual, before it encrease the price of labour.

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And that the specie may encrease to a considerable pitch, before it have this latter effect, appears, amongst other instances, from the frequent ­operations of the French king on the money; where it was always found, that the augmenting of the numerary value did not produce a proportional rise of the prices, at least for some time. In the last year of Louis XIV. money was raised three-sevenths, but prices augmented only one. Corn in France is now sold at the same price, or for the same number of livres, it was in 1683; though silver was then at 30 livres the mark, and is now at 50.4 Not to mention the great addition of gold and silver, which may have come into that kingdom since the former period. From the whole of this reasoning we may conclude, that it is of no manner of consequence, with regard to the domestic happiness of a state, whether money be in a greater or less quantity. The good policy of the magistrate consists only in keeping it, if possible, still encreasing; because, by that means, he keeps alive a spirit of industry in the nation, and encreases the stock of labour, in which consists all real power and riches. A nation, whose money decreases, is actually, at that time, weaker and more miserable than another nation, which possesses no more money, but is on the encreasing hand. This will be easily accounted for, if we consider, that the alterations in the quantity of money, either on one side or the other, are not immediately attended with proportionable alterations in the price of commodities. There is always an interval before matters be adjusted to their new situation; and this interval is as pernicious to industry, when gold and silver are diminishing, as it is advantageous when these metals are encreasing. The workman has not the same employment from the manufacturer and merchant; though

4  These facts I give upon the authority of Mons. du Tot in his Reflections politiques, an author of reputation. Though I must confess, that the facts which he advances on other occasions, are often so suspicious, as to make his authority less in this matter. However, the general observation, that the augmenting of the money in France does not at first proportionably augment the prices, is certainly just. By the by, this seems to be one of the best reasons which can be given, for a gradual and universal encrease of the denomination of money, though it has been entirely overlooked in all those volumes which have been written on that question by Melon, du Tot, and Paris de Verney. Were all our money, for instance, recoined, and a penny’s worth of silver taken from every shilling, the new shilling would probably purchase every thing that could have been bought by the old; the prices of every thing would thereby be insensibly diminished; foreign trade enlivened; and domestic industry, by the circulation of a great number of pounds and shillings, would receive some encrease and encouragement. In executing such a project, it would be better to make the new ­shilling pass for 24 half-pence, in order to preserve the illusion, and make it be taken for the same. And as a recoinage of our silver begins to be requisite, by the continual wearing of our shillings and sixpences, it may be doubtful, whether we ought to imitate the example in King William’s reign, when the clipt money was raised to the old standard.

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he pays the same price for every thing in the market. The farmer cannot dispose of his corn and cattle; though he must pay the same rent to his landlord. The poverty, and beggary, and sloth, which must ensue, are easily foreseen. 2. The second observation which I proposed to make with regard to money, may be explained after the following manner. There are some kingdoms, and many provinces in Europe, (and all of them were once in the same condition) where money is so scarce, that the landlord can get none at all from his tenants; but is obliged to take his rent in kind, and either to consume it himself, or transport it to places where he may find a market. In those countries, the prince can levy few or no taxes, but in the same manner: And as he will receive small benefit from impositions so paid, it is evident that such a kingdom has little force even at home; and cannot maintain fleets and armies to the same extent, as if every part of it abounded in gold and silver. There is surely a greater disproportion between the force of Germany, at present, and what it was three centuries ago,5 than there is in its industry, people, and manufactures. The Austrian dominions in the empire are in general well peopled and well cultivated, and are of great extent; but have not a proportionable weight in the balance of Europe; proceeding, as is commonly supposed, from the scarcity of money. How do all these facts agree with that principle of reason, that the quantity of gold and silver is in itself altogether indifferent? According to that principle, wherever a sovereign has numbers of subjects, and these have plenty of commodities, he should of course be great and powerful, and they rich and happy, independent of the greater or lesser abundance of the precious metals. These admit of divisions and subdivisions to a great extent; and where the pieces might become so small as to be in danger of being lost, it is easy to mix the gold or silver with a baser metal, as is practiced in some countries of Europe; and by that means raise the pieces to a bulk more sensible and convenient. They still serve the same purposes of exchange, whatever their number may be, or whatever colour they may be supposed to have. To these difficulties I answer, that the effect, here supposed to flow from scarcity of money, really arises from the manners and customs of the people; and that we mistake, as is too usual, a collateral effect for a cause. The ­contradiction is only apparent; but it requires some thought and reflection to discover the principles, by which we can reconcile reason to experience.

5 The Italians gave to the Emperor Maximilian, the nickname of Pocci-danari. None of the enterprizes of that prince ever succeeded, for want of money.

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It seems a maxim almost self-evident, that the prices of every thing depend on the proportion between commodities and money, and that any considerable alteration on either has the same effect, either of heightening or lowering the price. Encrease the commodities, they become cheaper; encrease the money, they rise in their value. As, on the other hand, a diminution of the former, and that of the latter, have contrary tendencies. It is also evident, that the prices do not so much depend on the absolute quantity of commodities and that of money, which are in a nation, as on that of the commodities, which come or may come to market, and of the money which circulates. If the coin be locked up in chests, it is the same thing with regard to prices, as if it were annihilated; if the commodities be hoarded in magazines and granaries, a like effect follows. As the money and commodities, in these cases, never meet, they cannot affect each other. Were we, at any time, to form conjectures concerning the price of provisions, the corn, which the farmer must reserve for seed and for the maintenance of himself and family, ought never to enter into the estimation. It is only the overplus, compared to the demand, that determines the value. To apply these principles, we must consider, that, in the first and more uncultivated ages of any state, ere fancy has confounded her wants with those of nature, men, content with the produce of their own fields, or with those rude improvements which they themselves can work upon them, have little occasion for exchange, at least for money, which, by agreement, is the common measure of exchange. The wool of the farmer’s own flock, spun in his own family, and wrought by a neighbouring weaver, who receives his payment in corn or wool, suffices for furniture and cloathing. The carpenter, the smith, the mason, the tailor, are retained by wages of a like nature; and the landlord himself, dwelling in the neighbourhood, is content to receive his rent in the commodities raised by the farmer. The greater part of these he consumes at home, in rustic hospitality: The rest, perhaps, he disposes of for money to the neighbouring town, whence he draws the few materials of his expence and luxury. But after men begin to refine on all these enjoyments, and live not always at home, nor are content with what can be raised in their neighbourhood, there is more exchange and commerce of all kinds, and more money enters into that exchange. The tradesmen will not be paid in corn; because they want something more than barely to eat. The farmer goes beyond his own parish for the commodities he purchases, and cannot always carry his commodities to the merchant who supplies him. The landlord lives in the ­capital, or in a foreign country; and demands his rent in gold and silver, which can easily be transported to him. Great undertakers, and manufacturers, and

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merchants, arise in every commodity; and these can conveniently deal in nothing but in specie. And consequently, in this situation of society, the coin enters into many more contracts, and by that means is much more employed than in the former. The necessary effect is, that, provided the money encrease not in the nation, every thing must become much cheaper in times of industry and refinement, than in rude, uncultivated ages. It is the proportion between the circulating money, and the commodities in the market, which determines the prices. Goods, that are consumed at home, or exchanged with other goods in the neighbourhood, never come to market; they affect not in the least the current specie; with regard to it they are as if totally annihilated; and consequently this method of using them sinks the proportion on the side of the commodities, and encreases the prices. But after money enters into all contracts and sales, and is every where the measure of exchange, the same national cash has a much greater task to perform; all commodities are then in the market; the sphere of circulation is enlarged; it is the same case as if that individual sum were to serve a larger kingdom; and therefore, the proportion being here lessened on the side of the money, every thing must become cheaper, and the prices gradually fall. By the most exact computations, that have been formed all over Europe, after making allowance for the alteration in the numerary value or the denomination, it is found, that the prices of all things have only risen three, or at most, four times, since the discovery of the West Indies. But will any one assert, that there is not much more than four times the coin in Europe, that was in the fifteenth century, and the centuries preceding it? The Spaniards and Portuguese from their mines, the English, French, and Dutch, by their African trade, and by their interlopers in the West Indies, bring home about six millions a year, of which not above a third goes to the East Indies. This sum alone, in ten years, would probably double the ancient stock of money in Europe. And no other satisfactory reason can be given, why all prices have not risen to a much more exorbitant height, except that which is derived from a change of customs and manners. Besides that more commodities are produced by additional industry, the same commodities come more to market, after men depart from their ancient simplicity of manners. And though this encrease has not been equal to that of money, it has, however, been considerable, and has preserved the proportion between coin and commodities nearer the ancient standard. Were the question proposed, Which of these methods of living in the people, the simple or refined, is the most advantageous to the state or public? I should, without much scruple, prefer the latter, in a view to politics at

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least; and should produce this as an additional reason for the encouragement of trade and manufactures. While men live in the ancient simple manner, and supply all their necessaries from domestic industry or from the neighbourhood, the sovereign can levy no taxes in money from a considerable part of his subjects; and if he will impose on them any burdens, he must take payment in commodities, with which alone they abound; a method attended with such great and obvious inconveniencies, that they need not here be insisted on. All the money he can pretend to raise, must be from his principal cities, where alone it circulates; and these, it is evident, cannot afford him so much as the whole state could, did gold and silver circulate throughout the whole. But besides this obvious diminution of the revenue, there is another cause of the poverty of the public in such a situation. Not only the sovereign receives less money, but the same money goes not so far as in times of industry and general commerce. Every thing is dearer, where the gold and silver are supposed equal; and that because fewer commodities come to market, and the whole coin bears a higher proportion to what is to be purchased by it; whence alone the prices of every thing are fixed and determined. Here then we may learn the fallacy of the remark, often to be met with in historians, and even in common conversation, that any particular state is weak, though fertile, populous, and well cultivated, merely because it wants money. It appears, that the want of money can never injure any state within itself: For men and commodities are the real strength of any community. It is the simple manner of living which here hurts the public, by confining the gold and silver to few hands, and preventing its universal diffusion and circulation. On the contrary, industry and refinements of all kinds incorporate it with the whole state, however small its quantity may be: They digest it into every vein, so to speak; and make it enter into every transaction and contract. No hand is entirely empty of it. And as the prices of every thing fall by that means, the sovereign has a double advantage: He may draw money by his taxes from every part of the state; and what he receives, goes farther in every purchase and payment. We may infer, from a comparison of prices, that money is not more plentiful in China, than it was in Europe three centuries ago: But what immense power is that empire possessed of, if we may judge by the civil and military establishment maintained by it? Polybius6 tells us, that provisions were so cheap in Italy during his time, that in some places the stated price for a meal at the inns was a semis a head, little more than a farthing! Yet the Roman 6  Lib. 2. cap. 15.

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power had even then subdued the whole known world. About a century before that period, the Carthaginian ambassador said, by way of raillery, that no people lived more sociably amongst themselves than the Romans; for that, in every entertainment, which, as foreign ministers, they received, they still observed the same plate at every table.7 The absolute quantity of the precious metals is a matter of great indifference. There are only two circumstances of any importance, namely, their gradual encrease, and their thorough concoction and circulation through the state; and the influence of both these circumstances has here been explained. In the following Essay we shall see an instance of a like fallacy as that above-mentioned; where a collateral effect is taken for a cause, and where a consequence is ascribed to the plenty of money; though it be really owing to a change in the manners and customs of the people.

7  Plin. lib. 33. cap. 11.

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ESSAY 4

Of Interest 1

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Nothing is esteemed a more certain sign of the flourishing condition of any nation than the lowness of interest: And with reason; though I believe the cause is somewhat different from what is commonly apprehended. Lowness of interest is generally ascribed to plenty of money. But money, however plentiful, has no other effect, if fixed, than to raise the price of labour. Silver is more common than gold; and therefore you receive a greater quantity of it for the same commodities. But do you pay less interest for it? Interest in Batavia and Jamaica is at 10 per cent. in Portugal at 6; though these places, as we may learn from the prices of every thing, abound more in gold and silver than either London or Amsterdam. Were all the gold in England annihilated at once, and one and twenty shillings substituted in the place of every guinea, would money be more plentiful or interest lower? No surely: We should only use silver instead of gold. Were gold rendered as common as silver, and silver as common as copper; would money be more plentiful or interest lower? We may assuredly give the same answer. Our shillings would then be yellow, and our halfpence white; and we should have no guineas. No other difference would ever be observed; no alteration on commerce, manufactures, navigation, or interest; unless we imagine, that the colour of the metal is of any consequence. Now, what is so visible in these greater variations of scarcity or abundance in the precious metals, must hold in all inferior changes. If the multiplying of gold and silver fifteen times makes no difference, much less can the ­doubling or tripling them. All augmentation has no other effect than to heighten the price of labour and commodities; and even this variation is little more than that of a name. In the progress towards these changes, the augmentation may have some influence, by exciting industry; but after the prices are settled, suitably to the new abundance of gold and silver, it has no manner of influence. An effect always holds proportion with its cause. Prices have risen near four times since the discovery of the Indies; and it is probable gold and silver have multiplied much more: But interest has not fallen much above half. The rate of interest, therefore, is not derived from the quantity of the precious metals.

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Money having chiefly a fictitious value, the greater or less plenty of it is of no consequence, if we consider a nation within itself; and the quantity of specie, when once fixed, though ever so large, has no other effect, than to oblige every one to tell out a greater number of those shining bits of metal, for clothes, furniture or equipage, without encreasing any one convenience of life. If a man borrow money to build a house, he then carries home a greater load; because the stone, timber, lead, glass, &c. with the labour of the masons and carpenters, are represented by a greater quantity of gold and silver. But as these metals are considered chiefly as representations, there can no alteration arise, from their bulk or quantity, their weight or colour, either upon their real value or their interest. The same interest, in all cases, bears the same proportion to the sum. And if you lent me so much labour and so many commodities; by receiving five per cent. you always receive proportional labour and commodities, however represented, whether by yellow or white coin, whether by a pound or an ounce. It is in vain, therefore, to look for the cause of the fall or rise of interest in the greater or less quantity of gold and silver, which is fixed in any nation. High interest arises from three circumstances: A great demand for borrowing; little riches to supply that demand; and great profits arising from commerce: And these circumstances are a clear proof of the small advance of commerce and industry, not of the scarcity of gold and silver. Low interest, on the other hand, proceeds from the three opposite circumstances: A small demand for borrowing; great riches to supply that demand; and small profits arising from commerce: And these circumstances are all connected together, and proceed from the encrease of industry and commerce, not of gold and silver. We shall endeavour to prove these points; and shall begin with the causes and the effects of a great or small demand for borrowing. When a people have emerged ever so little from a savage state, and their numbers have encreased beyond the original multitude, there must immediately arise an inequality of property; and while some possess large tracts of land, others are confined within narrow limits, and some are entirely without any landed property. Those who possess more land than they can labour, employ those who possess none, and agree to receive a determinate part of the product. Thus the landed interest is immediately established; nor is there any settled government, however rude, in which affairs are not on this footing. Of these proprietors of land, some must presently discover themselves to be of different tempers from others; and while one would willingly store up the produce of his land for futurity, another desires to consume at present what should suffice for many years. But as the spending of a settled revenue is a way of life entirely without occupation; men have so much need

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of somewhat to fix and engage them, that pleasures, such as they are, will be the pursuit of the greater part of the landholders, and the prodigals among them will always be more numerous than the misers. In a state, therefore, where there is nothing but a landed interest, as there is little frugality, the borrowers must be very numerous, and the rate of interest must hold proportion to it. The difference depends not on the quantity of money, but on the habits and manners which prevail. By this alone the demand for borrowing is encreased or diminished. Were money so plentiful as to make an egg be sold for sixpence; so long as there are only landed gentry and peasants in the state, the borrowers must be numerous, and interest high. The rent for the same farm would be heavier and more bulky: But the same idleness of the landlord, with the higher price of commodities, would dissipate it in the same time, and produce the same necessity and demand for borrowing. Nor is the case different with regard to the second circumstance which we proposed to consider, namely, the great or little riches to supply the demand. This effect also depends on the habits and way of living of the people, not on the quantity of gold and silver. In order to have, in any state, a great number of lenders, it is not sufficient nor requisite, that there be great abundance of the precious metals. It is only requisite, that the property or command of that quantity, which is in the state, whether great or small, should be collected in particular hands, so as to form considerable sums, or compose a great monied interest. This begets a number of lenders, and sinks the rate of usury; and this, I shall venture to affirm, depends not on the quantity of specie, but on particular manners and customs, which make the specie gather into separate sums or masses of considerable value. For suppose, that, by miracle, every man in Great Britain should have five pounds slipt into his pocket in one night; this would much more than double the whole money that is at present in the kingdom; yet there would not next day, nor for some time, be any more lenders, nor any variation in the interest. And were there nothing but landlords and peasants in the state, this money, however abundant, could never gather into sums; and would only serve to encrease the prices of every thing, without any farther consequence. The prodigal landlord dissipates it, as fast as he receives it; and the beggarly peasant has no means, nor view, nor ambition of obtaining above a bare livelihood. The overplus of borrowers above that of lenders continuing still the same, there will follow no reduction of interest. That depends upon another principle; and must proceed from an encrease of industry and frugality, of arts and commerce. Every thing useful to the life of man arises from the ground; but few things arise in that condition which is requisite to render them useful. There

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must, therefore, beside the peasants and the proprietors of land, be another rank of men, who, receiving from the former the rude materials, work them into their proper form, and retain part for their own use and subsistence. In the infancy of society, these contracts between the artisans and the peasants, and between one species of artisans and another, are commonly entered into immediately by the persons themselves, who, being neighbours, are easily acquainted with each other’s necessities, and can lend their mutual a­ ssistance to supply them. But when men’s industry encreases, and their views enlarge, it is found, that the most remote parts of the state can assist each other as well as the more contiguous, and that this intercourse of good offices may be carried on to the greatest extent and intricacy. Hence the origin of merchants, one of the most useful races of men, who serve as agents between those parts of the state, that are wholly unacquainted, and are ignorant of each other’s necessities. Here are in a city fifty workmen in silk and linen, and a thousand customers; and these two ranks of men, so necessary to each other, can never rightly meet, till one man erects a shop, to which all the workmen and all the customers repair. In this province, grass rises in abundance: The inhabitants abound in cheese, and butter, and cattle; but want bread and corn, which, in a neighbouring province, are in too great abundance for the use of the inhabitants. One man discovers this. He brings corn from the one province and returns with cattle; and supplying the wants of both, he is, so far, a common benefactor. As the people encrease in numbers and industry, the difficulty of their intercourse encreases: The business of the agency or merchandize becomes more intricate; and divides, subdivides, compounds, and mixes to a greater variety. In all these transactions, it is necessary, and reasonable, that a considerable part of the commodities and labour should belong to the merchant, to whom, in a great measure, they are owing. And these commodities he will sometimes preserve in kind, or more commonly convert into money, which is their common representation. If gold and silver have encreased in the state together with the industry, it will require a great quantity of these metals to represent a great quantity of commodities and labour. If industry alone has encreased, the prices of every thing must sink, and a small quantity of specie will serve as a representation. There is no craving or demand of the human mind more constant and insatiable than that for exercise and employment; and this desire seems the foundation of most of our passions and pursuits. Deprive a man of all business and serious occupation, he runs restless from one amusement to another; and the weight and oppression, which he feels from idleness, is so great, that he forgets the ruin which must follow him from his immoderate expences. Give him a more harmless way of employing his mind or body, he is satisfied,

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and feels no longer that insatiable thirst after pleasure. But if the employment you give him be lucrative, especially if the profit be attached to every particular exertion of industry, he has gain so often in his eye, that he acquires, by degrees, a passion for it, and knows no such pleasure as that of seeing the daily encrease of his fortune. And this is the reason why trade encreases frugality, and why, among merchants, there is the same overplus of misers above prodigals, as, among the possessors of land, there is the contrary. Commerce encreases industry, by conveying it readily from one member of the state to another, and allowing none of it to perish or become useless. It encreases frugality, by giving occupation to men, and employing them in the arts of gain, which soon engage their affection, and remove all relish for pleasure and expence. It is an infallible consequence of all industrious professions, to beget frugality, and make the love of gain prevail over the love of pleasure. Among lawyers and physicians who have any practice, there are many more who live within their income, than who exceed it, or even live up to it. But lawyers and physicians beget no industry; and it is even at the expence of others they acquire their riches; so that they are sure to diminish the possessions of some of their fellow-citizens, as fast as they encrease their own. Merchants, on the contrary, beget industry, by serving as canals to convey it through every corner of the state: And at the same time, by their frugality, they acquire great power over that industry, and collect a large property in the labour and commodities, which they are the chief instruments in producing. There is no other profession, therefore, except merchandize, which can make the monied interest considerable, or, in other words, can encrease industry, and, by also encreasing frugality, give a great command of that industry to particular members of the society. Without commerce, the state must consist chiefly of landed gentry, whose prodigality and expence make a continual demand for borrowing; and of peasants, who have no sums to supply that demand. The money never gathers into large stocks or sums, which can be lent at interest. It is dispersed into numberless hands, who either squander it in idle show and magnificence, or employ it in the purchase of the common necessaries of life. Commerce alone assembles it into considerable sums; and this effect it has merely from the industry which it begets, and the frugality which it inspires, independent of that particular quantity of precious metal which may circulate in the state. Thus an encrease of commerce, by a necessary consequence, raises a great number of lenders, and by that means produces lowness of interest. We must now consider how far this encrease of commerce diminishes the profits arising from that profession, and gives rise to the third circumstance ­requisite to produce lowness of interest.

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It may be proper to observe on this head, that low interest and low profits of merchandize are two events, that mutually forward each other, and are both originally derived from that extensive commerce, which produces opulent merchants, and renders the monied interest considerable. Where merchants possess great stocks, whether represented by few or many pieces of metal, it must frequently happen, that, when they either become tired of business, or leave heirs unwilling or unfit to engage in commerce, a great proportion of these riches naturally seeks an annual and secure revenue. The plenty diminishes the price, and makes the lenders accept of a low interest. This consideration obliges many to keep their stock employed in trade, and rather be content with low profits than dispose of their money at an under-value. On the other hand, when commerce has become extensive, and employs large stocks, there must arise rivalships among the merchants, which diminish the profits of trade, at the same time that they encrease the trade itself. The low profits of merchandize induce the merchants to accept more willingly of a low interest, when they leave off business, and begin to indulge themselves in ease and indolence. It is needless, therefore, to enquire which of these circumstances, to wit, low interest or low profits, is the cause, and which the effect? They both arise from an extensive commerce, and mutually forward each other. No man will accept of low profits, where he can have high interest; and no man will accept of low interest, where he can have high profits. An extensive commerce, by producing large stocks, diminishes both interest and profits; and is always assisted, in its diminution of the one, by the proportional sinking of the other. I may add, that, as low profits arise from the encrease of commerce and industry, they serve in their turn to its farther encrease, by rendering the commodities cheaper, encouraging the consumption, and heightening the industry. And thus, if we consider the whole connexion of causes and effects, interest is the barometer of the state, and its lowness is a sign almost infallible of the flourishing condition of a people. It proves the encrease of industry, and its prompt circulation through the whole state, little inferior to a demonstration. And though, perhaps, it may not be impossible but a sudden and a great check to commerce may have a momentary effect of the same kind, by throwing so many stocks out of trade; it must be attended with such misery and want of employment in the poor, that, besides its short duration, it will not be possible to mistake the one case for the other. Those who have asserted, that the plenty of money was the cause of low interest, seem to have taken a collateral effect for a cause; since the s­ame industry, which sinks the interest, commonly acquires great abundance of the precious metals. A variety of fine manufactures, with vigilant enterprizing

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merchants, will soon draw money to a state, if it be any where to be found in the world. The same cause, by multiplying the conveniencies of life, and encreasing industry, collects great riches into the hands of persons, who are not proprietors of land, and produces, by that means, a lowness of interest. But though both these effects, plenty of money and low interest, naturally arise from commerce and industry, they are altogether independent of each other. For suppose a nation removed into the Pacific ocean, without any foreign commerce, or any knowledge of navigation: Suppose, that this nation possesses always the same stock of coin, but is continually encreasing in its numbers and industry: It is evident, that the price of every commodity must gradually diminish in that kingdom; since it is the proportion between money and any species of goods, which fixes their mutual value; and, upon the present supposition, the conveniencies of life become every day more abundant, without any alteration in the current specie. A less quantity of money, therefore, among this people, will make a rich man, during the times of industry, than would suffice to that purpose, in ignorant and slothful ages. Less money will build a house, portion a daughter, buy an estate, support a manufactory, or maintain a family and equipage. These are the uses for which men borrow money; and therefore, the greater or less quantity of it in a state has no influence on the interest. But it is evident, that the greater or less stock of labour and commodities must have a great influence; since we really and in effect borrow these, when we take money upon interest. It is true, when commerce is extended all over the globe, the most industrious nations always abound most with the precious metals: So that low interest and plenty of money are in fact almost inseparable. But still it is of consequence to know the principle whence any phenomenon arises, and to distinguish between a cause and a concomitant effect. Besides that the speculation is curious, it may frequently be of use in the conduct of public affairs. At least, it must be owned, that nothing can be of more use than to improve, by practice, the method of reasoning on these subjects, which of all others are the most important; though they are commonly treated in the loosest and most careless manner. Another reason of this popular mistake with regard to the cause of low interest, seems to be the instance of some nations; where, after a sudden acquisition of money, or of the precious metals, by means of foreign conquest, the interest has fallen, not only among them, but in all the neighbouring states, as soon as that money was dispersed, and had insinuated itself into every corner. Thus, interest in Spain fell near a half immediately after the discovery of the West Indies, as we are informed by Garcilasso de la Vega: And it has been ever since gradually sinking in every kingdom of

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Europe. Interest in Rome, after the conquest of Egypt, fell from 6 to 4 per cent. as we learn from Dion.1 The causes of the sinking of interest, upon such an event, seem different in the conquering country and in the neighbouring states; but in neither of them can we justly ascribe that effect merely to the encrease of gold and silver. In the conquering country, it is natural to imagine, that this new acquisition of money will fall into a few hands, and be gathered into large sums, which seek a secure revenue, either by the purchase of land or by interest; and consequently the same effect follows, for a little time, as if there had been a great accession of industry and commerce. The encrease of lenders above the borrowers sinks the interest; and so much the faster, if those, who have acquired those large sums, find no industry or commerce in the state, and no method of employing their money but by lending it at interest. But after this new mass of gold and silver has been digested, and has circulated through the whole state, affairs will soon return to their former situation; while the landlords and new money-holders, living idly, squander above their income; and the former daily contract debt, and the latter encroach on their stock till its final extinction. The whole money may still be in the state, and make itself felt by the encrease of prices: But not being now collected into any large masses or stocks, the disproportion between the borrowers and lenders is the same as formerly, and consequently the high interest returns. Accordingly we find, in Rome, that, so early as Tiberius’s time, interest had again mounted to 6 per cent.2 though no accident had happened to drain the empire of money. In Trajan’s time, money lent on mortgages in Italy, bore 6 per cent.;3 on common securities in Bithynia, 12.4 And if interest in Spain has not risen to its old pitch; this can be ascribed to nothing but the continuance of the same cause that sunk it, to wit, the large fortunes continually made in the Indies, which come over to Spain from time to time, and supply the demand of the borrowers. By this accidental and extraneous cause, more money is to be lent in Spain, that is, more money is collected into large sums than would otherwise be found in a state, where there are so little commerce and industry. As to the reduction of interest, which has followed in England, France, and other kingdoms of Europe, that have no mines, it has been gradual; and

1 Lib. 51.   2  Columella, lib. 3. cap. 3.    3  Plin. epist. lib. 7. epist. 18. 4  Id. lib. 10. epist. 62.

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has not proceeded from the encrease of money, considered merely in itself; but from that of industry, which is the natural effect of the former encrease, in that interval, before it raises the price of labour and provisions. For to return to the foregoing supposition; if the industry of England had risen as much from other causes, (and that rise might easily have happened, though the stock of money had remained the same) must not all the same consequences have followed, which we observe at present? The same people would, in that case, be found in the kingdom, the same commodities, the same industry, manufactures, and commerce; and consequently the same merchants, with the same stocks, that is, with the same command over labour and commodities, only represented by a smaller number of white or yellow pieces; which being a circumstance of no moment, would only affect the waggoner, porter, and trunk-maker. Luxury, therefore, manufactures, arts, industry, frugality, flourishing equally as at present, it is evident, that interest must also have been as low; since that is the necessary result of all these circumstances; so far as they determine the profits of commerce, and the proportion between the borrowers and lenders in any state.

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ESSAY 5

Of the Balance of Trade 1

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It is very usual, in nations ignorant of the nature of commerce, to prohibit the exportation of commodities, and to preserve among themselves whatever they think valuable and useful. They do not consider, that, in this prohibition, they act directly contrary to their intention; and that the more is exported of any commodity, the more will be raised at home, of which they themselves will always have the first offer. It is well known to the learned, that the ancient laws of Athens rendered the exportation of figs criminal; that being supposed a species of fruit so excellent in Attica, that the Athenians deemed it too delicious for the palate of any foreigner. And in this ridiculous prohibition they were so much in earnest, that informers were thence called sycophants among them, from two Greek words, which signify figs and discoverer.1 There are proofs in many old acts of parliament of the same ignorance in the nature of commerce, particularly in the reign of Edward III. And to this day, in France, the exportation of corn is almost always prohibited; in order, as they say, to prevent famines; though it is evident, that nothing contributes more to the frequent famines, which so much distress that fertile country. The same jealous fear, with regard to money, has also prevailed among several nations; and it required both reason and experience to convince any people, that these prohibitions serve to no other purpose than to raise the exchange against them, and produce a still greater exportation. These errors, one may say, are gross and palpable: But there still prevails, even in nations well acquainted with commerce, a strong jealousy with regard to the balance of trade, and a fear, that all their gold and silver may be leaving them. This seems to me, almost in every case, a groundless apprehension; and I should as soon dread, that all our springs and rivers should be exhausted, as that money should abandon a kingdom where there are people and industry. Let us carefully preserve these latter advantages; and we need never be apprehensive of losing the former. It is easy to observe, that all calculations concerning the balance of trade are founded on very uncertain facts and suppositions. The custom-house 1  Plutarch. de curiositate.

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books are allowed to be an insufficient ground of reasoning; nor is the rate of exchange much better; unless we consider it with all nations, and know also the proportions of the several sums remitted; which one may safely pronounce impossible. Every man, who has ever reasoned on this subject, has always proved his theory, whatever it was, by facts and calculations, and by an enumeration of all the commodities sent to all foreign kingdoms. The writings of Mr. Gee struck the nation with an universal panic, when they saw it plainly demonstrated, by a detail of particulars, that the balance was against them for so considerable a sum as must leave them without a single shilling in five or six years. But luckily, twenty years have since elapsed, with an expensive foreign war; yet is it commonly supposed, that money is still more plentiful among us than in any former period. Nothing can be more entertaining on this head than Dr. Swift; an author so quick in discerning the mistakes and absurdities of others. He says, in his short view of the state of Ireland, that the whole cash of that kingdom formerly amounted but to 500,000 l.; that out of this the Irish remitted every year a neat million to England, and had scarcely any other source from which they could compensate themselves, and little other foreign trade than the importation of French wines, for which they paid ready money. The consequence of this situation, which must be owned to be disadvantageous, was, that, in a course of three years, the current money of Ireland, from 500,000 l. was reduced to less than two. And at present, I suppose, in a course of 30 years, it is absolutely nothing. Yet I know not how, that opinion of the advance of riches in Ireland, which gave the Doctor so much indignation, seems still to continue, and gain ground with every body. In short, this apprehension of the wrong balance of trade, appears of such a nature, that it discovers itself, wherever one is out of humour with the ministry, or is in low spirits; and as it can never be refuted by a particular detail of all the exports, which counterbalance the imports, it may here be proper to form a general argument, that may prove the impossibility of this event, as long as we preserve our people and our industry. Suppose four-fifths of all the money in Great Britain to be annihilated in one night, and the nation reduced to the same condition, with regard to specie, as in the reigns of the Harrys and Edwards, what would be the consequence? Must not the price of all labour and commodities sink in proportion, and every thing be sold as cheap as they were in those ages? What nation could then dispute with us in any foreign market, or pretend to navigate or to sell manufactures at the same price, which to us would afford sufficient profit? In how little time, therefore, must this bring back the money which we had lost, and raise us to the level of all the neighbouring nations?

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Where, after we have arrived, we immediately lose the advantage of the cheapness of labour and commodities; and the farther flowing in of money is stopped by our fulness and repletion. Again, suppose, that all the money of Great Britain were multiplied fivefold in a night, must not the contrary effect follow? Must not all labour and commodities rise to such an exorbitant height, that no neighbouring nations could afford to buy from us; while their commodities, on the other hand, became comparatively so cheap, that, in spite of all the laws which could be formed, they would be run in upon us, and our money flow out; till we fall to a level with foreigners, and lose that great superiority of riches, which had laid us under such disadvantages? Now, it is evident, that the same causes, which would correct these exorbitant inequalities, were they to happen miraculously, must prevent their happening in the common course of nature, and must for ever, in all neighbouring nations, preserve money nearly proportionable to the art and industry of each nation. All water, wherever it communicates, remains always at a level. Ask naturalists the reason; they tell you, that, were it to be raised in any one place, the superior gravity of that part not being balanced, must depress it, till it meet a counterpoise; and that the same cause, which redresses the inequality when it happens, must for ever prevent it, without some violent external operation.2 Can one imagine, that it had ever been possible, by any laws, or even by any art or industry, to have kept all the money in Spain, which the galleons have brought from the Indies? Or that all commodities could be sold in France for a tenth of the price which they would yield on the other side of the Pyrenees, without finding their way thither, and draining from that immense treasure? What other reason, indeed, is there, why all nations, at present, gain in their trade with Spain and Portugal; but because it is impossible to heap up money, more than any fluid, beyond its proper level? The sovereigns of these countries have shown, that they wanted not ­inclination to keep their gold and silver to themselves, had it been in any degree practicable. But as any body of water may be raised above the level of the surrounding element, if the former has no communication with the latter; so in money, if the

2  There is another cause, though more limited in its operation, which checks the wrong balance of trade, to every particular nation to which the kingdom trades. When we import more goods than we export, the exchange turns against us, and this becomes a new encouragement to export; as much as the charge of carriage and insurance of the money which becomes due would amount to. For the exchange can never rise but a little higher than that sum.

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communication be cut off, by any material or physical impediment, (for all laws alone are ineffectual) there may, in such a case, be a very great inequality of money. Thus the immense distance of China, together with the monopolies of our India companies, obstructing the communication, preserve in Europe the gold and silver, especially the latter, in much greater plenty than they are found in that kingdom. But, notwithstanding this great obstruction, the force of the causes above-mentioned is still evident. The skill and ingenuity of Europe in general surpasses perhaps that of China, with regard to manual arts and manufactures; yet are we never able to trade thither without great disadvantage. And were it not for the continual recruits, which we receive from America money would soon sink in Europe, and rise in China, till it came nearly to a level in both places. Nor can any reasonable man doubt, but that industrious nation, were they as near us as Poland or Barbary, would drain us of the overplus of our specie, and draw to themselves a larger share of the West Indian treasures. We need not have recourse to a physical attraction, in order to explain the necessity of this operation. There is a moral attraction, arising from the interests and passions of men, which is full as potent and infallible. How is the balance kept in the provinces of every kingdom among themselves, but by the force of this principle, which makes it impossible for money to lose its level, and either to rise or sink beyond the proportion of the labour and commodities which are in each province? Did not long ­experience make people easy on this head, what a fund of gloomy reflections might calculations afford to a melancholy Yorkshireman, while he­ computed and magnified the sums drawn to London by taxes, absentees, commodities, and found on comparison the opposite articles so much infer­ ior? And no doubt, had the Heptarchy subsisted in England, the legislature of each state had been continually alarmed by the fear of a wrong balance; and as it is probable that the mutual hatred of these states would have been extremely violent on account of their close neighbourhood, they would have loaded and oppressed all commerce, by a jealous and superfluous caution. Since the union has removed the barriers between Scotland and England, which of these nations gains from the other by this free commerce? Or if the former kingdom has received any encrease of riches, can it reasonably be accounted for by any thing but the encrease of its art and industry? It was a common apprehension in England, before the union, as we learn from L’Abbe du Bos,3 that Scotland would soon drain them of their treasure,

3  Les interets d’Angleterre mal-entendus.

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were an open trade allowed; and on the other side the Tweed a contrary apprehension prevailed: With what justice in both, time has shown. What happens in small portions of mankind, must take place in greater. The provinces of the Roman empire, no doubt, kept their balance with each other, and with Italy, independent of the legislature; as much as the several counties of Great Britain, or the several parishes of each county. And any man who travels over Europe at this day, may see, by the prices of commod­ ities, that money, in spite of the absurd jealousy of princes and states, has brought itself nearly to a level; and that the difference between one kingdom and another is not greater in this respect, than it is often between different provinces of the same kingdom. Men naturally flock to capital cities, seaports, and navigable rivers. There we find more men, more industry, more commodities, and consequently more money; but still the latter difference holds proportion with the former, and the level is preserved.4 Our jealousy and our hatred of France are without bounds; and the former sentiment, at least, must be acknowledged reasonable and well-grounded. These passions have occasioned innumerable barriers and obstructions upon commerce, where we are accused of being commonly the aggressors. But what have we gained by the bargain? We lost the French market for our woollen manufactures, and transferred the commerce of wine to Spain and Portugal, where we buy worse liquor at a higher price. There are few Englishmen who would not think their country absolutely ruined, were French wines sold in England so cheap and in such abundance as to supplant, in some measure, all ale, and home-brewed liquors: But would we lay aside prejudice, it would not be difficult to prove, that nothing could be more innocent, perhaps advantageous. Each new acre of vineyard planted in France, in order to supply England with wine, would make it requisite for the French to take the produce of an English acre, sown in wheat or barley, in order to subsist themselves; and it is evident, that we should thereby get command of the better commodity.

4  It must carefully be remarked, that throughout this discourse, wherever I speak of the level of money, I mean always its proportional level to the commodities, labour, industry, and skill, which is in the several states. And I assert, that where these advantages are double, triple, quadruple, to what they are in the neighbouring states, the money infallibly will also be double, triple, quadruple. The only circumstance that can obstruct the exactness of these proportions, is the expence of transporting the commodities from one place to another; and this expence is sometimes unequal. Thus the corn, cattle, cheese, butter, of Derbyshire, cannot draw the money of London, so much as the manufactures of London draw the money of Derbyshire. But this objection is only a seeming one: For so far as the transport of commodities is expensive, so far is the communication between the places obstructed and imperfect.

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There are many edicts of the French king, prohibiting the planting of new vineyards, and ordering all those which are lately planted to be grubbed up: So sensible are they, in that country, of the superior value of corn, above every other product. Mareschal Vauban complains often, and with reason, of the absurd duties which load the entry of those wines of Languedoc, Guienne, and other southern provinces, that are imported into Britanny and Normandy. He entertained no doubt but these latter provinces could preserve their balance, notwithstanding the open commerce which he recommends. And it is evident, that a few leagues more navigation to England would make no difference; or if it did, that it must operate alike on the commodities of both kingdoms. There is indeed one expedient by which it is possible to sink, and another by which we may raise, money beyond its natural level in any kingdom; but these cases, when examined, will be found to resolve into our general theory, and to bring additional authority to it. I scarcely know any method of sinking money below its level, but those institutions of banks, funds, and paper-credit, which are so much practiced in this kingdom. These render paper equivalent to money, circulate it throughout the whole state, make it supply the place of gold and silver, raise proportionably the price of labour and commodities, and by that means either banish a great part of those precious metals, or prevent their farther encrease. What can be more short-sighted than our reasonings on this head? We fancy, because an individual would be much richer, were his stock of money doubled, that the same good effect would follow were the money of every one encreased; not considering, that this would raise as much the price of every commodity, and reduce every man, in time, to the same condition as before. It is only in our public negociations and transactions with foreigners, that a greater stock of money is advantageous; and as our paper is there absolutely insignificant, we feel, by its means, all the ill effects arising from a great abundance of money, without reaping any of the advantages.5 Suppose that there are 12 millions of paper, which circulate in the kingdom as money, (for we are not to imagine, that all our enormous funds are employed in that shape) and suppose the real cash of the kingdom to be 18 millions: Here is a state which is found by experience to be able to hold a stock of 5  We observed in Essay 3. that money, when encreasing, gives encouragement to industry, during the interval between the encrease of money and rise of the prices. A good effect of this nature may follow too from paper-credit; but it is dangerous to precipitate matters, at the risque of losing all by the failing of that credit, as must happen upon any violent shock in public affairs.

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30 millions. I say, if it be able to hold it, it must of necessity have acquired it in gold and silver, had we not obstructed the entrance of these metals by this new invention of paper. Whence would it have acquired that sum? From all the kingdoms of the world. But why? Because, if you remove these 12 millions, money in this state is below its level, compared with our neighbours; and we must immediately draw from all of them, till we be full and saturate, so to speak, and can hold no more. By our present politics, we are as careful to stuff the nation with this fine commodity of bank-bills and chequer-notes, as if we were afraid of being overburdened with the precious metals. It is not to be doubted, but the great plenty of bullion in France is, in a great measure, owing to the want of paper-credit. The French have no banks: Merchants’ bills do not there circulate as with us: Usury or lending on interest is not directly permitted; so that many have large sums in their coffers: Great quantities of plate are used in private houses; and all the churches are full of it. By this means, provisions and labour still remain cheaper among them, than in nations that are not half so rich in gold and silver. The advantages of this situation, in point of trade as well as in great public emergencies, are too evident to be disputed. The same fashion a few years ago prevailed in Genoa, which still has place in England and Holland, of using services of China-ware instead of plate; but the senate, foreseeing the consequence, prohibited the use of that brittle commodity beyond a certain extent; while the use of silver-plate was left unlimited. And I suppose, in their late distresses, they felt the good effect of this ordinance. Our tax on plate is, perhaps, in this view, somewhat impolitic. Before the introduction of paper-money into our colonies, they had gold and silver sufficient for their circulation. Since the introduction of that commodity, the least inconveniency that has followed is the total banishment of the precious metals. And after the abolition of paper, can it be doubted but money will return, while these colonies possess manufactures and commodities, the only thing valuable in commerce, and for whose sake alone all men desire money. What pity Lycurgus did not think of paper-credit, when he wanted to banish gold and silver from Sparta! It would have served his purpose better than the lumps of iron he made use of as money; and would also have prevented more effectually all commerce with strangers, as being of so much less real and intrinsic value. It must, however, be confessed, that, as all these questions of trade and money are extremely complicated, there are certain lights, in which this subject may be placed, so as to represent the advantages of paper-credit and banks to be superior to their disadvantages. That they banish specie and

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bullion from a state is undoubtedly true; and whoever looks no farther than this circumstance does well to condemn them; but specie and bullion are not of so great consequence as not to admit of a compensation, and even an overbalance from the encrease of industry and of credit, which may be promoted by the right use of paper-money. It is well known of what advantage it is to a merchant to be able to discount his bills upon occasion; and every thing that facilitates this species of traffic is favourable to the general commerce of a state. But private bankers are enabled to give such credit by the credit they receive from the depositing of money in their shops; and the bank of England in the same manner, from the liberty it has to issue its notes in all payments. There was an invention of this kind, which was fallen upon some years ago by the banks of Edinburgh; and which, as it is one of the most ingenious ideas that has been executed in commerce, has also been thought advantageous to Scotland. It is there called a Bank-Credit; and is of this nature. A man goes to the bank and finds surety to the amount, we shall suppose, of a thousand pounds. This money, or any part of it, he has the liberty of drawing out whenever he pleases, and he pays only the ordinary interest for it, while it is in his hands. He may, when he pleases, repay any sum so small as twenty pounds, and the interest is discounted from the very day of the repayment. The advantages, resulting from this contrivance, are manifold. As a man may find surety nearly to the amount of his substance, and his bank-credit is equivalent to ready money, a merchant does hereby in a manner coin his houses, his household furniture, the goods in his warehouse, the foreign debts due to him, his ships at sea; and can, upon occasion, employ them in all payments, as if they were the current money of the country. If a man borrow a thousand pounds from a private hand, besides that it is not always to be found when required, he pays interest for it, whether he be using it or not: His bank-credit costs him nothing except during the very moment, in which it is of service to him: And this circumstance is of equal advantage as if he had borrowed money at much lower interest. Merchants, likewise, from this invention, acquire a great facility in supporting each other’s credit, which is a considerable security against bankruptcies. A man, when his own bank-credit is exhausted, goes to any of his neighbours who is not in the same condition; and he gets the money, which he replaces at his convenience. After this practice had taken place during some years at Edinburgh, several companies of merchants at Glasgow carried the matter farther. They associated themselves into different banks, and issued notes so low as ten shillings, which they used in all payments for goods, manufactures, tradesmen’s labour of all kinds; and these notes, from the established credit of the

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companies, passed as money in all payments throughout the country. By this means, a stock of five thousand pounds was able to perform the same ­operations as if it were six or seven; and merchants were thereby enabled to trade to a greater extent, and to require less profit in all their transactions. But whatever other advantages result from these inventions, it must still be allowed that, besides giving too great facility to credit, which is dangerous, they banish the precious metals; and nothing can be a more evident proof of it, than a comparison of the past and present condition of Scotland in that particular. It was found, upon the recoinage made after the union, that there was near a million of specie in that country: But notwithstanding the great encrease of riches, commerce, and manufactures of all kinds, it is thought, that, even where there is no extraordinary drain made by England, the current specie will not now amount to a third of that sum. But as our projects of paper-credit are almost the only expedient, by which we can sink money below its level; so, in my opinion, the only expedient, by which we can raise money above it, is a practice which we should all exclaim against as destructive, namely, the gathering of large sums into a public treasure, locking them up, and absolutely preventing their circulation. The fluid, not communicating with the neighbouring element, may, by such an artifice, be raised to what height we please. To prove this, we need only return to our first supposition, of annihilating the half or any part of our cash; where we found, that the immediate consequence of such an event would be the attraction of an equal sum from all the neighbouring kingdoms. Nor does there seem to be any necessary bounds set, by the nature of things, to this practice of hoarding. A small city, like Geneva, continuing this policy for ages, might ingross nine-tenths of the money of Europe. There seems, indeed, in the nature of man, an invincible obstacle to that immense growth of riches. A weak state, with an enormous treasure, will soon become a prey to some of its poorer, but more powerful neighbours. A great state would dissipate its wealth in dangerous and ill concerted projects; and probably destroy, with it, what is much more valuable, the industry, morals, and numbers of its people. The fluid, in this case, raised to too great a height, bursts and destroys the vessel that contains it; and mixing itself with the surrounding element, soon falls to its proper level. So little are we commonly acquainted with this principle, that, though all historians agree in relating uniformly so recent an event, as the immense treasure amassed by Harry VII. (which they make amount to 2,700,000 pounds,) we rather reject their concurring testimony, than admit of a fact, which agrees so ill with our inveterate prejudices. It is indeed probable, that this sum might be three-fourths of all the money in England. But where is

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the difficulty in conceiving, that such a sum might be amassed in twenty years, by a cunning, rapacious, frugal, and almost absolute monarch? Nor is it probable, that the diminution of circulating money was ever sensibly felt by the people, or ever did them any prejudice. The sinking of the prices of all commodities would immediately replace it, by giving England the advantage in its commerce with the neighbouring kingdoms. Have we not an instance, in the small republic of Athens with its allies, who, in about fifty years, between the Median and Peloponnesian wars, amassed a sum not much inferior to that of Harry VII.? For all the Greek historians6 and orators7 agree, that the Athenians collected in the citadel more than 10,000 talents, which they afterwards dissipated to their own ruin, in rash and imprudent enterprizes. But when this money was set a running, and began to communicate with the surrounding fluid; what was the consequence? Did it remain in the state? No. For we find, by the ­memorable census mentioned by Demosthenes8 and Polybius,9 that, in about fifty years afterwards, the whole value of the republic, comprehending lands, houses, commodities, slaves, and money, was less than 6000 talents. What an ambitious high-spirited people was this, to collect and keep in their treasury, with a view to conquests, a sum, which it was every day in the power of the citizens, by a single vote, to distribute among themselves, and which would have gone near to triple the riches of every individual! For we must observe, that the numbers and private riches of the Athenians are said, by ancient writers, to have been no greater at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, than at the beginning of the Macedonian. Money was little more plentiful in Greece during the age of Philip and Perseus, than in England during that of Harry VII.: Yet these two monarchs in thirty years10 collected from the small kingdom of Macedon, a larger treasure than that of the English monarch. Paulus Æmilius brought to Rome about 1,700,000 pounds Sterling.11 Pliny says, 2,400,000.12 And that was but a part of the Macedonian treasure. The rest was dissipated by the resistance and flight of Perseus.13 We may learn from Stanyan, that the canton of Berne had 300,000 pounds lent at interest, and had above six times as much in their treasury. Here then is a sum hoarded of 1,800,000 pounds Sterling, which is at least quadruple what should naturally circulate in such a petty state; and yet no one, who travels in the Pais de Vaux, or any part of that canton, observes any 6  Thucydides, lib. 2. and Diod. Sic. lib. 12.    7  Vid. Æschinis et Demosthenis Epist. 8  Περὶ Συμμορίας.   9  Lib. 2. cap. 62.    10  Titi Livii, lib. 45. cap. 40. 11  Vel. Paterc. lib. 1. cap. 9.    12  Lib. 33. cap. 3.    13  Titi Livii, ibid.

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want of money more than could be supposed in a country of that extent, soil, and situation. On the contrary, there are scarce any inland provinces in the continent of France or Germany, where the inhabitants are at this time so opulent, though that canton has vastly encreased its treasure since 1714, the time when Stanyan wrote his judicious account of Switzerland.14 The account given by Appian15 of the treasure of the Ptolemies, is so prodigious, that one cannot admit of it; and so much the less, because the historian says, that the other successors of Alexander were also frugal, and had many of them treasures not much inferior. For this saving humour of the neighbouring princes must necessarily have checked the frugality of the Egyptian monarchs, according to the foregoing theory. The sum he mentions is 740,000 talents, or 191,166,666 pounds 13 shillings and 4 pence, according to Dr. Arbuthnot’s computation. And yet Appian says, that he extracted his account from the public records; and he was himself a native of Alexandria. From these principles we may learn what judgment we ought to form of those numberless bars, obstructions, and imposts, which all nations of Europe, and none more than England, have put upon trade; from an exorbitant desire of amassing money, which never will heap up beyond its level, while it circulates; or from an ill grounded apprehension of losing their specie, which never will sink below it. Could any thing scatter our riches, it would be such impolitic contrivances. But this general ill effect, however, results from them, that they deprive neighbouring nations of that free communication and exchange which the Author of the world has intended, by giving them soils, climates, and geniuses, so different from each other. Our modern politics embrace the only method of banishing money, the using of paper-credit; they reject the only method of amassing it, the practice of hoarding; and they adopt a hundred contrivances, which serve to no purpose but to check industry, and rob ourselves and our neighbours of the common benefits of art and nature. All taxes, however, upon foreign commodities, are not to be regarded as prejudicial or useless, but those only which are founded on the jealousy above-mentioned. A tax on German linen encourages home manufactures, and thereby multiplies our people and industry. A tax on brandy encreases the sale of rum, and supports our southern colonies. And as it is necessary, 14  The poverty which Stanyan speaks of is only to be seen in the most mountainous cantons, where there is no commodity to bring money: And even there the people are not poorer than in the diocese of Saltsburgh on the one hand, or Savoy on the other. 15  Proœm.

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that imposts should be levied, for the support of government, it may be thought more convenient to lay them on foreign commodities, which can easily be intercepted at the port, and subjected to the impost. We ought, however, always to remember the maxim of Dr. Swift, That, in the arithmetic of the customs, two and two make not four, but often make only one. It can scarcely be doubted, but if the duties on wine were lowered to a third, they would yield much more to the government than at present: Our people might thereby afford to drink commonly a better and more wholesome ­liquor; and no prejudice would ensue to the balance of trade, of which we are so jealous. The manufacture of ale beyond the agriculture is but inconsiderable, and gives employment to few hands. The transport of wine and corn would not be much inferior. But are there not frequent instances, you will say, of states and kingdoms, which were formerly rich and opulent, and are now poor and beggarly? Has not the money left them, with which they formerly abounded? I answer, If they lose their trade, industry, and people, they cannot expect to keep their gold and silver: For these precious metals will hold proportion to the former advantages. When Lisbon and Amsterdam got the East-India trade from Venice and Genoa, they also got the profits and money which arose from it. Where the seat of government is transferred, where expensive armies are maintained at a distance, where great funds are possessed by foreigners; there naturally follows from these causes a diminution of the specie. But these, we may observe, are violent and forcible methods of carrying away money, and are in time commonly attended with the transport of people and industry. But where these remain, and the drain is not continued, the money always finds its way back again, by a hundred canals, of which we have no notion or suspicion. What immense treasures have been spent, by so many nations, in Flanders, since the revolution, in the course of three long wars? More money perhaps than the half of what is at present in Europe. But what has now become of it? Is it in the narrow compass of the Austrian provinces? No, surely: It has most of it returned to the several countries whence it came, and has followed that art and industry, by which at first it was acquired. For above a thousand years, the money of Europe has been flowing to Rome, by an open and sensible current; but it has been emptied by many secret and insensible canals: And the want of industry and commerce renders at present the papal dominions the poorest territory in all Italy. In short, a government has great reason to preserve with care its people and its manufactures. Its money, it may safely trust to the course of human affairs, without fear or jealousy. Or if it ever give attention to this latter circumstance, it ought only to be so far as it affects the former.

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ESSAY 6

Of the Jealousy of Trade 1

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Having endeavoured to remove one species of ill founded jealousy, which is so prevalent among commercial nations, it may not be amiss to mention another, which seems equally groundless. Nothing is more usual, among states which have made some advances in commerce, than to look on the progress of their neighbours with a suspicious eye, to consider all trading states as their rivals, and to suppose that it is impossible for any of them to flourish, but at their expence. In opposition to this narrow and malignant opinion, I will venture to assert, that the encrease of riches and commerce in any one nation, instead of hurting, commonly promotes the riches and ­commerce of all its neighbours; and that a state can scarcely carry its trade and industry very far, where all the surrounding states are buried in ignorance, sloth, and barbarism. It is obvious, that the domestic industry of a people cannot be hurt by the greatest prosperity of their neighbours; and as this branch of commerce is undoubtedly the most important in any extensive kingdom, we are so far removed from all reason of jealousy. But I go farther, and observe, that where an open communication is preserved among nations, it is impossible but the domestic industry of every one must receive an encrease from the improvements of the others. Compare the situation of Great Britain at present, with what it was two centuries ago. All the arts both of agriculture and manufactures were then extremely rude and imperfect. Every improvement, which we have since made, has arisen from our imitation of foreigners; and we ought so far to esteem it happy, that they had previously made advances in arts and ingenuity. But this intercourse is still upheld to our great advantage: Notwithstanding the advanced state of our manufactures, we daily adopt, in every art, the inventions and improvements of our neighbours. The commodity is first imported from abroad, to our great discontent, while we imagine that it drains us of our money: Afterwards, the art itself is gradually imported, to our visible advantage: Yet we continue still to repine, that our neighbours should possess any art, industry, and invention; forgetting that, had they not first instructed us, we should have been at ­present barbarians; and did they not still continue their instructions, the arts must fall into a state of languor, and lose that emulation and novelty, which contribute so much to their advancement.

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The encrease of domestic industry lays the foundation of foreign commerce. Where a great number of commodities are raised and perfected for the home-market, there will always be found some which can be exported with advantage. But if our neighbours have no art or cultivation, they cannot take them; because they will have nothing to give in exchange. In this respect, states are in the same condition as individuals. A single man can scarcely be industrious, where all his fellow-citizens are idle. The riches of the several members of a community contribute to encrease my riches, whatever profession I may follow. They consume the produce of my industry, and afford me the produce of theirs in return. Nor needs any state entertain apprehensions, that their neighbours will improve to such a degree in every art and manufacture, as to have no demand from them. Nature, by giving a diversity of geniuses, climates, and soils, to different nations, has secured their mutual intercourse and commerce, as long as they all remain industrious and civilized. Nay, the more the arts encrease in any state, the more will be its demands from its industrious neighbours. The inhabitants, having become opulent and skilful, desire to have every commodity in the utmost perfection; and as they have plenty of commodities to give in exchange, they make large importations from every foreign country. The industry of the nations, from whom they import, receives encouragement: Their own is also encreased, by the sale of the commodities which they give in exchange. But what if a nation has any staple commodity, such as the woollen manufacture is in England? Must not the interfering of our neighbours in that manufacture be a loss to us? I answer, that, when any commodity is denominated the staple of a kingdom, it is supposed that this kingdom has some peculiar and natural advantages for raising the commodity; and if, notwithstanding these advantages, they lose such a manufacture, they ought to blame their own idleness, or bad government, not the industry of their neighbours. It ought also to be considered, that, by the encrease of industry among the neighbouring nations, the consumption of every particular species of commodity is also encreased; and though foreign manufactures interfere with them in the market, the demand for their product may still continue, or even encrease. And should it diminish, ought the consequence to be esteemed so fatal? If the spirit of industry be preserved, it may easily be diverted from one branch to another; and the manufacturers of wool, for instance, be employed in linen, silk, iron, or any other commodities, for which there appears to be a demand. We need not apprehend, that all the objects of industry will be exhausted, or that our manufacturers, while they remain on an equal footing with those of our neighbours, will be in danger

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of wanting employment. The emulation among rival nations serves rather to keep industry alive in all of them: And any people is happier who possess a variety of manufactures, than if they enjoyed one single great manufacture, in which they are all employed. Their situation is less precarious; and they will feel less sensibly those revolutions and uncertainties, to which every particular branch of commerce will always be exposed. The only commercial state, that ought to dread the improvements and industry of their neighbours, is such a one as the Dutch, who, enjoying no extent of land, nor possessing any number of native commodities, flourish only by their being the brokers, and factors, and carriers of others. Such a people may naturally apprehend, that, as soon as the neighbouring states come to know and pursue their interest, they will take into their own hands the management of their affairs, and deprive their brokers of that profit, which they formerly reaped from it. But though this consequence may naturally be dreaded, it is very long before it takes place; and by art and industry it may be warded off for many generations, if not wholly eluded. The advantage of superior stocks and correspondence is so great, that it is not easily overcome; and as all the transactions encrease by the encrease of industry in the neighbouring states, even a people whose commerce stands on this precarious basis, may at first reap a considerable profit from the flourishing condition of their neighbours. The Dutch, having mortgaged all their revenues, make not such a figure in political transactions as formerly; but their commerce is surely equal to what it was in the middle of the last century, when they were reckoned among the great powers of Europe. Were our narrow and malignant politics to meet with success, we should reduce all our neighbouring nations to the same state of sloth and ignorance that prevails in Morocco and the coast of Barbary. But what would be the consequence? They could send us no commodities: They could take none from us: Our domestic commerce itself would languish for want of emulation, example, and instruction: And we ourselves should soon fall into the same abject condition, to which we had reduced them. I shall therefore venture to acknowledge, that, not only as a man, but as a British subject, I pray for the flourishing commerce of Germany, Spain, Italy, and even France itself. I am at least certain, that Great Britain, and all those nations, would flourish more, did their sovereigns and ministers adopt such enlarged and benevolent sentiments towards each other.

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ESSAY 7

Of the Balance of Power 1

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It is a question, whether the idea of the balance of power be owing entirely to modern policy, or whether the phrase only has been invented in these later ages? It is certain, that Xenophon,1 in his Institution of Cyrus, represents the combination of the Asiatic powers to have arisen from a jealousy of the encreasing force of the Medes and Persians; and though that elegant composition should be supposed altogether a romance, this sentiment, ascribed by the author to the eastern princes, is at least a proof of the prevailing notion of ancient times. In all the politics of Greece, the anxiety, with regard to the balance of power, is apparent, and is expressly pointed out to us, even by the ancient historians. Thucydides2 represents the league, which was formed against Athens, and which produced the Peloponnesian war, as entirely owing to this principle. And after the decline of Athens, when the Thebans and Lacedemonians disputed for sovereignty, we find, that the Athenians (as well as many other republics) always threw themselves into the lighter scale, and endeavoured to preserve the balance. They supported Thebes against Sparta, till the great victory gained by Epaminondas at Leuctra; after which they immediately went over to the conquered, from generosity, as they pretended, but, in reality from their jealousy of the conquerors.3 Whoever will read Demosthenes’s oration for the Megalopolitans, may see the utmost refinements on this principle, that ever entered into the head of a Venetian or English speculatist. And upon the first rise of the Macedonian power, this orator immediately discovered the danger, sounded the alarm throughout all Greece, and at last assembled that confederacy under the banners of Athens, which fought the great and decisive battle of Chæronea. It is true, the Grecian wars are regarded by historians as wars of emulation rather than of politics; and each state seems to have had more in view the honour of leading the rest, than any well-grounded hopes of authority and dominion. If we consider, indeed, the small number of inhabitants in

1 Lib. 1.   2  Lib. 1.   3  Xen. hist. Græc. lib. 6. & 7.

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any one republic, compared to the whole, the great difficulty of forming sieges in those times, and the extraordinary bravery and discipline of every freeman among that noble people; we shall conclude, that the balance of power was, of itself, sufficiently secured in Greece, and needed not to have been guarded with that caution which may be requisite in other ages. But whether we ascribe the shifting of sides in all the Grecian republics to jealous emulation or cautious politics, the effects were alike, and every prevailing power was sure to meet with a confederacy against it, and that often composed of its former friends and allies. The same principle, call it envy or prudence, which produced the Ostracism of Athens, and Petalism of Syracuse, and expelled every citizen whose fame or power overtopped the rest; the same principle, I say, naturally discovered itself in foreign politics, and soon raised enemies to the leading state, however moderate in the exercise of its authority. The Persian monarch was really, in his force, a petty prince, compared to the Grecian republics; and therefore it behoved him, from views of safety more than from emulation, to interest himself in their quarrels, and to support the weaker side in every contest. This was the advice given by Alcibiades to Tissaphernes,4 and it prolonged near a century the date of the Persian empire; till the neglect of it for a moment, after the first appearance of the aspiring genius of Philip, brought that lofty and frail edifice to the ground, with a rapidity of which there are few instances in the history of mankind. The successors of Alexander showed great jealousy of the balance of power; a jealousy founded on true politics and prudence, and which preserved distinct for several ages the partitions made after the death of that famous conqueror. The fortune and ambition of Antigonus5 threatened them anew with a universal monarchy; but their combination, and their victory at Ipsus saved them. And in subsequent times, we find, that, as the Eastern princes considered the Greeks and Macedonians as the only real military force, with whom they had any intercourse, they kept always a watchful eye over that part of the world. The Ptolemies, in particular, supported first Aratus and the Achæans, and then Cleomenes king of Sparta, from no other view than as a counterbalance to the Macedonian monarchs. For this is the account which Polybius gives of the Egyptian politics.6 The reason, why it is supposed, that the ancients were entirely ignorant of the balance of power, seems to be drawn from the Roman history more than

4  Thucyd. lib. 8.    5  Diod. Sic. lib. 20.    6  Lib. 2. cap. 51.

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the Grecian; and as the transactions of the former are generally more familiar to us, we have thence formed all our conclusions. It must be owned, that the Romans never met with any such general combination or confederacy against them, as might naturally have been expected from their rapid conquests and declared ambition; but were allowed peaceably to subdue their neighbours, one after another, till they extended their dominion over the whole known world. Not to mention the fabulous history of their Italic wars; there was, upon Hannibal’s invasion of the Roman state, a remarkable crisis, which ought to have called up the attention of all civilized nations. It appeared afterwards (nor was it difficult to be observed at the time)7 that this was a contest for universal empire; yet no prince or state seems to have been in the least alarmed about the event or issue of the quarrel. Philip of Macedon remained neuter, till he saw the victories of Hannibal; and then most imprudently formed an alliance with the conqueror, upon terms still more imprudent. He stipulated, that he was to assist the Carthaginian state in their conquest of Italy; after which they engaged to send over forces into Greece, to assist him in subduing the Grecian commonwealths.8 The Rhodian and Achæan republics are much celebrated by ancient historians for their wisdom and sound policy; yet both of them assisted the Romans in their wars against Philip and Antiochus. And what may be esteemed still a stronger proof, that this maxim was not generally known in those ages; no ancient author has remarked the imprudence of these measures, nor has even blamed that absurd treaty above-mentioned, made by Philip with the Carthaginians. Princes and statesmen, in all ages, may, before-hand, be blinded in their reasonings with regard to events: But it is somewhat extraordinary, that historians, afterwards, should not form a sounder judgment of them. Massinissa, Attalus, Prusias, in gratifying their private passions, were, all of them, the instruments of the Roman greatness; and never seem to have suspected, that they were forging their own chains, while they advanced the conquests of their ally. A simple treaty and agreement between Massinissa and the Carthaginians, so much required by mutual interest, barred the Romans from all entrance into Africa, and preserved liberty to mankind. The only prince we meet with in the Roman history, who seems to have understood the balance of power, is Hiero king of Syracuse. Though the

7  It was observed by some, as appears by the speech of Agelaus of Naupactum, in the general congress of Greece. See Polyb. lib. 5. cap. 104. 8  Titi Livii, lib. 23. cap. 33.

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ally of Rome, he sent assistance to the Carthaginians, during the war of the auxiliaries; “Esteeming it requisite,” says Polybius,9 “both in order to retain his dominions in Sicily, and to preserve the Roman friendship, that Carthage should be safe; lest by its fall the remaining power should be able, without contrast or opposition, to execute every purpose and undertaking. And here he acted with great wisdom and prudence. For that is never, on any account, to be overlooked; nor ought such a force ever to be thrown into one hand, as to incapacitate the neighbouring states from defending their rights against it.” Here is the aim of modern politics pointed out in express terms. In short, the maxim of preserving the balance of power is founded so much on common sense and obvious reasoning, that it is impossible it could altogether have escaped antiquity, where we find, in other particulars, so many marks of deep penetration and discernment. If it was not so generally known and acknowledged as at present, it had, at least, an influence on all the wiser and more experienced princes and politicians. And indeed, even at present, however generally known and acknowledged among speculative reasoners, it has not, in practice, an authority much more extensive among those who govern the world. After the fall of the Roman empire, the form of government, established by the northern conquerors, incapacitated them, in a great measure, for farther conquests, and long maintained each state in its proper boundaries. But when vassalage and the feudal militia were abolished, mankind were anew alarmed by the danger of universal monarchy, from the union of so many kingdoms and principalities in the person of the Emperor Charles. But the power of the house of Austria, founded on extensive but divided dominions, and their riches, derived chiefly from mines of gold and silver, were more likely to decay, of themselves, from internal defects, than to overthrow all the bulwarks raised against them. In less than a century, the force of that violent and haughty race was shattered, their opulence dissipated, their splendour eclipsed. A new power succeeded, more formidable to the liberties of Europe, possessing all the advantages of the former, and labouring under none of its defects; except a share of that spirit of bigotry and persecution, with which the house of Austria was so long, and still is so much infatuated. In the general wars, maintained against this ambitious power, Great Britain has stood foremost; and she still maintains her station. Beside her advantages of riches and situation, her people are animated with such a national spirit, and are so fully sensible of the blessings of their government, 9  Lib. 1. cap. 83.

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that we may hope their vigour never will languish in so necessary and so just a cause. On the contrary, if we may judge by the past, their passionate ardour seems rather to require some moderation; and they have oftener erred from a laudable excess than from a blameable deficiency. In the first place, we seem to have been more possessed with the ancient Greek spirit of jealous emulation, than actuated by the prudent views of modern politics. Our wars with France have been begun with justice, and even, perhaps, from necessity; but have always been too far pushed from obstinacy and passion. The same peace, which was afterwards made at Ryswick in 1697, was offered so early as the year ninety-two; that concluded at Utrecht in 1712 might have been finished on as good conditions at Gertruytenberg in the year eight; and we might have given at Frankfort, in 1743, the same terms, which we were glad to accept of at Aix-la-Chapelle in the year forty-eight. Here then we see, that above half of our wars with France, and all our public debts, are owing more to our own imprudent vehemence, than to the ambition of our neighbours. In the second place, we are so declared in our opposition to French power, and so alert in defence of our allies, that they always reckon upon our force as upon their own; and expecting to carry on war at our expence, refuse all reasonable terms of accommodation. Habent subjectos, tanquam suos; viles, ut alienos. All the world knows, that the factious vote of the house of commons, in the beginning of the last parliament, with the professed humour of the nation, made the queen of Hungary inflexible in her terms, and prevented that agreement with Prussia, which would immediately have restored the general tranquillity of Europe. In the third place, we are such true combatants, that, when once engaged, we lose all concern for ourselves and our posterity, and consider only how we may best annoy the enemy. To mortgage our revenues at so deep a rate, in wars, where we were only accessories, was surely the most fatal delusion, that a nation, which had any pretension to politics and prudence, has ever yet been guilty of. That remedy of funding, if it be a remedy, and not rather a poison, ought, in all reason, to be reserved to the last extremity; and no evil, but the greatest and most urgent, should ever induce us to embrace so dangerous an expedient. These excesses, to which we have been carried, are prejudicial; and may, perhaps, in time, become still more prejudicial another way, by begetting, as is usual, the opposite extreme, and rendering us totally careless and supine with regard to the fate of Europe. The Athenians, from the most bustling, intriguing, warlike people of Greece, finding their error in thrusting themselves into every quarrel, abandoned all attention to foreign affairs; and in

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no contest ever took part on either side, except by their flatteries and complaisance to the victor. Enormous monarchies are, probably, destructive to human nature; in their progress, in their continuance,10 and even in their downfal, which never can be very distant from their establishment. The military genius, which aggrandized the monarchy, soon leaves the court, the capital, and the center of such a government; while the wars are carried on at a great distance, and interest so small a part of the state. The ancient nobility, whose affections attach them to their sovereign, live all at court; and never will accept of military employments, which would carry them to remote and barbarous frontiers, where they are distant both from their pleasures and their fortune. The arms of the state, must, therefore, be entrusted to mercenary strangers, without zeal, without attachment, without honour; ready on every occasion to turn them against the prince, and join each desperate malcontent, who offers pay and plunder. This is the necessary progress of human affairs: Thus human nature checks itself in its airy elevation: Thus ambition blindly labours for the destruction of the conqueror, of his family, and of every thing near and dear to him. The Bourbons, trusting to the support of their brave, faithful, and affectionate nobility, would push their advantage, without reserve or limitation. These, while fired with glory and emulation, can bear the fatigues and dangers of war; but never would submit to languish in the garrisons of Hungary or Lithuania, forgot at court, and sacrificed to the intrigues of every minion or mistress, who approaches the prince. The troops are filled with Cravates and Tartars, Hussars and Cossacs; intermingled, perhaps, with a few soldiers of fortune from the better provinces: And the melancholy fate of the Roman emperors, from the same cause, is renewed over and over again, till the final dissolution of the monarchy. 10  If the Roman empire was of advantage, it could only proceed from this, that mankind were generally in a very disorderly, uncivilized condition, before its establishment.

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ESSAY 8

Of Taxes 1

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There is a prevailing maxim, among some reasoners, that every new tax ­creates a new ability in the subject to bear it, and that each encrease of public burdens encreases proportionably the industry of the people. This maxim is of such a nature as is most likely to be abused; and is so much the more dangerous, as its truth cannot be altogether denied: But it must be owned, when kept within certain bounds, to have some foundation in reason and experience. When a tax is laid upon commodities, which are consumed by the common people, the necessary consequence may seem to be, either that the poor must retrench something from their way of living, or raise their wages, so as to make the burden of the tax fall entirely upon the rich. But there is a third consequence, which often follows upon taxes, namely, that the poor encrease their industry, perform more work, and live as well as before, without demanding more for their labour. Where taxes are moderate, are laid on gradually, and affect not the necessaries of life, this consequence naturally follows; and it is certain, that such difficulties often serve to excite the industry of a people, and render them more opulent and laborious, than others, who enjoy the greatest advantages. For we may observe, as a parallel instance, that the most commercial nations have not always possessed the greatest extent of fertile land; but, on the contrary, that they have laboured under many natural disadvantages. Tyre, Athens, Carthage, Rhodes, Genoa, Venice, Holland, are strong examples to this purpose. And in all history, we find only three instances of large and fertile countries, which have possessed much trade; the Netherlands, England, and France. The two former seem to have been allured by the advantages of their maritime situation and the necessity they lay under of frequenting foreign ports, in order to procure what their own climate refused them. And as to France, trade has come late into that kingdom, and seems to have been the effect of reflection and observation in an ingenious and enterprizing people, who remarked the riches acquired by such of the neighbouring nations as cultivated navigation and commerce. The places mentioned by Cicero,1 as possessed of the greatest commerce in his time, are Alexandria, Colchus, Tyre, Sidon, Andros, Cyprus, 1  Epist. ad Attic. lib. 9. epist. 9.

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Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodes, Chios, Byzantium, Lesbos, Smyrna, Miletum, Coos. All these, except Alexandria, were either small islands, or narrow territories. And that city owed its trade entirely to the happiness of its ­situation. Since therefore some natural necessities or disadvantages may be thought favourable to industry, why may not artificial burdens have the same effect? Sir William Temple,2 we may observe, ascribes the industry of the Dutch entirely to necessity, proceeding from their natural disadvantages; and illustrates his doctrine by a striking comparison with Ireland; “where,” says he, “by the largeness and plenty of the soil, and scarcity of people, all things necessary to life are so cheap, that an industrious man, by two days labour, may gain enough to feed him the rest of the week. Which I take to be a very plain ground of the laziness attributed to the people. For men naturally prefer ease before labour, and will not take pains if they can live idle; though when, by necessity, they have been inured to it, they cannot leave it, being grown a custom necessary to their health, and to their very entertainment. Nor perhaps is the change harder, from constant ease to labour, than from constant labour to ease.” After which the author proceeds to confirm his doctrine, by enumerating, as above, the places where trade has most flourished, in ancient and modern times; and which are commonly observed to be such narrow confined territories, as beget a necessity for industry. The best taxes are such as are levied upon consumptions, especially those of luxury; because such taxes are least felt by the people. They seem, in some measure, voluntary; since a man may choose how far he will use the commodity which is taxed: They are paid gradually and insensibly: They naturally produce sobriety and frugality, if judiciously imposed: And being confounded with the natural price of the commodity, they are scarcely perceived by the consumers. Their only disadvantage is, that they are expensive in the levying. Taxes upon possessions are levied without expence; but have every other disadvantage. Most states, however, are obliged to have recourse to them, in order to supply the deficiencies of the other. But the most pernicious of all taxes are the arbitrary. They are commonly converted, by their management, into punishments on industry; and also, by their unavoidable inequality, are more grievous than by the real burden which they impose. It is surprizing, therefore, to see them have place among any civilized people.

2

Account of the Netherlands, chap. 6.

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In general, all poll-taxes, even when not arbitrary, which they commonly are, may be esteemed dangerous: Because it is so easy for the sovereign to add a little more, and a little more, to the sum demanded, that these taxes are apt to become altogether oppressive and intolerable. On the other hand, a duty upon commodities checks itself; and a prince will soon find, that an encrease of the impost is no encrease of his revenue. It is not easy, therefore, for a people to be altogether ruined by such taxes. Historians inform us, that one of the chief causes of the destruction of the Roman state, was the alteration, which Constantine introduced into the finances, by substituting an universal poll-tax, in lieu of almost all the tithes, customs, and excises, which formerly composed the revenue of the empire. The people, in all the provinces, were so grinded and oppressed by the publicans, that they were glad to take refuge under the conquering arms of the barbarians; whose dominion, as they had fewer necessities and less art, was found preferable to the refined tyranny of the Romans. It is an opinion, zealously promoted by some political writers, that since all taxes, as they pretend, fall ultimately upon land, it were better to lay them originally there, and abolish every duty upon consumptions. But it is denied, that all taxes fall ultimately upon land. If a duty be laid upon any commodity, consumed by an artisan, he has two obvious expedients for paying it; he may retrench somewhat of his expence, or he may encrease his labour. Both these resources are more easy and natural, than that of heightening his wages. We see, that, in years of scarcity, the weaver either consumes less or labours more, or employs both these expedients of frugality and industry, by which he is enabled to reach the end of the year. It is but just, that he should subject himself to the same hardships, if they deserve the name, for the sake of the public, which gives him protection. By what contrivance can he raise the price of his labour? The manufacturer who employs him, will not give him more: Neither can he, because the merchant, who exports the cloth, cannot raise its price, being limited by the price which it yields in foreign markets. Every man, to be sure, is desirous of pushing off from himself the burden of any tax, which is imposed, and of laying it upon others: But as every man has the same inclination, and is upon the defensive; no set of men can be supposed to prevail altogether in this contest. And why the landed gentleman should be the victim of the whole, and should not be able to defend himself, as well as others are, I cannot readily imagine. All tradesmen, indeed, would willingly prey upon him, and divide him among them, if they could: But this inclination they always have, though no taxes were levied; and the same methods, by which he guards against the imposition of tradesmen before taxes, will serve him afterwards, and make them share the

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burden with him. They must be very heavy taxes, indeed, and very injudiciously levied, which the artizan will not, of himself, be enabled to pay, by superior industry and frugality, without raising the price of his labour. I shall conclude this subject with observing, that we have, with regard to taxes, an instance of what frequently happens in political institutions, that the consequences of things are diametrically opposite to what we should expect on the first appearance. It is regarded as a fundamental maxim of the Turkish government, that the Grand Signior, though absolute master of the lives and fortunes of each individual, has no authority to impose a new tax; and every Ottoman prince, who has made such an attempt, either has been obliged to retract, or has found the fatal effects of his perseverance. One would imagine, that this prejudice or established opinion were the firmest barrier in the world against oppression; yet it is certain, that its effect is quite contrary. The emperor, having no regular method of encreasing his revenue, must allow all the bashaws and governors to oppress and abuse the subjects: And these he squeezes after their return from their government. Whereas, if he could impose a new tax, like our European princes, his interest would so far be united with that of his people, that he would immediately feel the bad effects of these disorderly levies of money, and would find, that a pound, raised by a general imposition, would have less pernicious effects, than a shilling taken in so unequal and arbitrary a manner.

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ESSAY 9

Of Public Credit 1

2

It appears to have been the common practice of antiquity, to make provision, during peace, for the necessities of war, and to hoard up treasures beforehand, as the instruments either of conquest or defence; without trusting to extraordinary impositions, much less to borrowing, in times of disorder and confusion. Besides the immense sums above-mentioned,¹ which were amassed by Athens, and by the Ptolemies, and other successors of Alexander; we learn from Plato,² that the frugal Lacedemonians had also collected a great treasure; and Arrian³ and Plutarch⁴ take notice of the riches which Alexander got possession of on the conquest of Susa and Ecbatana, and which were reserved, some of them, from the time of Cyrus. If I remember right, the scripture also mentions the treasure of Hezekiah and the Jewish princes; as profane history does that of Philip and Perseus, kings of Macedon. The ancient republics of Gaul had commonly large sums in reserve.5 Every one knows the treasure seized in Rome by Julius Cæsar, during the civil wars; and we find afterwards, that the wiser emperors, Augustus, Tiberius, Vespasian, Severus, &c. always discovered the prudent foresight, of saving great sums against any public exigency. On the contrary, our modern expedient, which has become very general, is to mortgage the public revenues, and to trust that posterity will pay off the incumbrances contracted by their ancestors: And they, having before their eyes, so good an example of their wise fathers, have the same prudent reliance on their posterity; who, at last, from necessity more than choice, are obliged to place the same confidence in a new posterity. But not to waste time in declaiming against a practice which appears ruinous, beyond all controversy; it seems pretty apparent, that the ancient maxims are, in this respect, more prudent than the modern; even though the latter had been confined within some reasonable bounds, and had ever, in any instance, been attended with such frugality, in time of peace, as to discharge the debts 1 Essay 5.   2  Alcib. 1.   3  Lib. 3. 4  Plutarch. in vita Alex. He makes these treasures amount to 80,000 talents, or about 15  ­millions sterl. Quintus Curtius (lib. 5. cap. 2.) says, that Alexander found in Susa above 50,000 talents. 5  Strabo, lib. 4.

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incurred by an expensive war. For why should the case be so different between the public and an individual, as to make us establish different maxims of conduct for each? If the funds of the former be greater, its necessary expences are proportionably larger; if its resources be more numerous, they are not infinite; and as its frame should be calculated for a much longer duration than the date of a single life, or even of a family, it should embrace maxims, large, durable, and generous, agreeably to the supposed extent of its existence. To trust to chances and temporary expedients, is, indeed, what the necessity of human affairs frequently renders unavoidable; but whoever voluntarily depend on such resources, have not necessity, but their own folly, to accuse for their misfortunes, when any such befal them. If the abuses of treasures be dangerous, either by engaging the state in rash enterprizes, or making it neglect military discipline, in confidence of its riches; the abuses of mortgaging are more certain and inevitable; poverty, impotence, and subjection to foreign powers. According to modern policy war is attended with every destructive circumstance; loss of men, encrease of taxes, decay of commerce, dissipation of money, devastation by sea and land. According to ancient maxims, the opening of the public treasure, as it produced an uncommon affluence of gold and silver, served as a temporary encouragement to industry, and atoned, in some degree, for the inevitable calamities of war. It is very tempting to a minister to employ such an expedient, as enables him to make a great figure during his administration, without overburdening the people with taxes, or exciting any immediate clamours against himself. The practice, therefore, of contracting debt will almost infallibly be abused, in every government. It would scarcely be more imprudent to give a prodigal son a credit in every banker’s shop in London, than to impower a statesman to draw bills, in this manner, upon posterity. What then shall we say to the new paradox, that public incumbrances, are, of themselves, advantageous, independent of the necessity of contracting them; and that any state, even though it were not pressed by a foreign enemy, could not possibly have embraced a wiser expedient for promoting commerce and riches, than to create funds, and debts, and taxes, without limitation? Reasonings, such as these, might naturally have passed for trials of wit among rhetoricians, like the panegyrics on folly and a fever, on Busiris and Nero, had we not seen such absurd maxims patronized by great ministers, and by a whole party among us. Let us examine the consequences of public debts, both in our domestic management, by their influence on commerce and industry; and in our foreign transactions, by their effect on wars and negociations.

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Public securities are with us become a kind of money, and pass as readily at the current price as gold or silver. Wherever any profitable undertaking offers itself, how expensive soever, there are never wanting hands enow to embrace it; nor need a trader, who has sums in the public stocks, fear to launch out into the most extensive trade; since he is possessed of funds, which will answer the most sudden demand that can be made upon him. No merchant thinks it necessary to keep by him any considerable cash. Bankstock, or India-bonds, especially the latter, serve all the same purposes; because he can dispose of them, or pledge them to a banker, in a quarter of an hour; and at the same time they are not idle, even when in his scritoire, but bring him in a constant revenue. In short, our national debts furnish merchants with a species of money, that is continually multiplying in their hands, and produces sure gain, besides the profits of their commerce. This must enable them to trade upon less profit. The small profit of the merchant renders the commodity cheaper, causes a greater consumption, quickens the labour of the common people, and helps to spread arts and industry throughout the whole society. There are also, we may observe, in England, and in all states, which have both commerce and public debts, a set of men, who are half merchants, half stock-holders, and may be supposed willing to trade for small profits; because commerce is not their principal or sole support, and their revenues in the funds are a sure resource for themselves and their families. Were there no funds, great merchants would have no expedient for realizing or securing any part of their profit, but by making purchases of land; and land has many disadvantages in comparison of funds. Requiring more care and inspection, it divides the time and attention of the merchant; upon any tempting offer or extraordinary accident in trade, it is not so easily converted into money; and as it attracts too much, both by the many natural pleasures it affords, and the authority it gives, it soon converts the citizen into the country gentleman. More men, therefore, with large stocks and incomes, may naturally be supposed to continue in trade, where there are public debts; and this, it must be owned, is of some advantage to commerce, by diminishing its profits, promoting circulation, and encouraging industry. But, in opposition to these two favourable circumstances, perhaps of no very great importance, weigh the many disadvantages which attend our public debts, in the whole interior œconomy of the state: You will find no comparison between the ill and the good which result from them. First, It is certain, that national debts cause a mighty confluence of people and riches to the capital, by the great sums, levied in the provinces to pay the interest; and perhaps, too, by the advantages in trade above-mentioned,

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which they give the merchants in the capital above the rest of the kingdom. The question is, whether, in our case, it be for the public interest, that so many privileges should be conferred on London, which has already arrived at such an enormous size, and seems still encreasing? Some men are apprehensive of the consequences. For my own part, I cannot forbear thinking, that, though the head is undoubtedly too large for the body, yet that great city is so happily situated, that its excessive bulk causes less inconvenience than even a smaller capital to a greater kingdom. There is more difference between the prices of all provisions in Paris and Languedoc, than between those in London and Yorkshire. The immense greatness, indeed, of London, under a government which admits not of discretionary power, renders the people factious, mutinous, seditious, and even perhaps rebelli­ ous. But to this evil the national debts themselves tend to provide a remedy. The first visible eruption, or even immediate danger, of public disorders must alarm all the stock-holders, whose property is the most precarious of any; and will make them fly to the support of government, whether menaced by Jacobitish violence or democratical frenzy. Secondly, Public stocks, being a kind of paper-credit, have all the disadvantages attending that species of money. They banish gold and silver from the most considerable commerce of the state, reduce them to common circulation, and by that means render all provisions and labour dearer than otherwise they would be. Thirdly, The taxes, which are levied to pay the interests of these debts, are apt either to heighten the price of labour, or be an oppression on the poorer sort. Fourthly, As foreigners possess a great share of our national funds, they render the public, in a manner, tributary to them, and may in time occasion the transport of our people and our industry. Fifthly, The greater part of the public stock being always in the hands of idle people, who live on their revenue, our funds, in that view, give great encouragement to an useless and unactive life. But though the injury, that arises to commerce and industry from our public funds, will appear, upon balancing the whole, not inconsiderable, it is trivial, in comparison of the prejudice that results to the state considered as a body politic, which must support itself in the society of nations, and have various transactions with other states in wars and negociations. The ill, there, is pure and unmixed, without any favourable circumstance to atone for it; and it is an ill too of a nature the highest and most important. We have, indeed, been told, that the public is no weaker upon account of its debts; since they are mostly due among ourselves, and bring as much

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property to one as they take from another. It is like transferring money from the right hand to the left; which leaves the person neither richer nor poorer than before. Such loose reasonings and specious comparisons will always pass, where we judge not upon principles. I ask, Is it possible, in the nature of things, to overburden a nation with taxes, even where the sovereign resides among them? The very doubt seems extravagant; since it is requisite, in every community, that there be a certain proportion observed between the laborious and the idle part of it. But if all our present taxes be mortgaged, must we not invent new ones? And may not this matter be carried to a length that is ruinous and destructive? In every nation, there are always some methods of levying money more easy than others, agreeably to the way of living of the people, and the commodities they make use of. In Great Britain, the excises upon malt and beer afford a large revenue; because the operations of malting and brewing are tedious, and are impossible to be concealed; and at the same time, these commodities are not so absolutely necessary to life, as that the raising of their price would very much affect the poorer sort. These taxes being all mortgaged, what difficulty to find new ones! what vexation and ruin of the poor! Duties upon consumptions are more equal and easy than those upon possessions. What a loss to the public, that the former are all exhausted, and that we must have recourse to the more grievous method of levying taxes! Were all the proprietors of land only stewards to the public, must not necessity force them to practice all the arts of oppression used by stewards; where the absence or negligence of the proprietor render them secure against enquiry? It will scarcely be asserted, that no bounds ought ever to be set to national debts; and that the public would be no weaker, were twelve or fifteen shillings in the pound, land-tax, mortgaged, with all the present customs and excises. There is something, therefore, in the case, beside the mere transferring of property from the one hand to another. In 500 years, the posterity of those now in the coaches, and of those upon the boxes, will probably have changed places, without affecting the public by these revolutions. Suppose the public once fairly brought to that condition, to which it is hastening with such amazing rapidity; suppose the land to be taxed eighteen or nineteen shillings in the pound; for it can never bear the whole twenty; suppose all the excises and customs to be screwed up to the utmost which the nation can bear, without entirely losing its commerce and industry; and suppose that all those funds are mortgaged to perpetuity, and that the invention and wit of all our projectors can find no new imposition, which may serve as

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the foundation of a new loan; and let us consider the necessary consequences of this situation. Though the imperfect state of our political knowledge, and the narrow capacities of men, make it difficult to foretel the effects which will result from any untried measure, the seeds of ruin are here scattered with such profusion as not to escape the eye of the most careless observer. In this unnatural state of society, the only persons, who possess any revenue beyond the immediate effects of their industry, are the stock-holders, who draw almost all the rent of the land and houses, besides the produce of all the customs and excises. These are men, who have no connexions with the state, who can enjoy their revenue in any part of the globe in which they choose to reside, who will naturally bury themselves in the capital or in great cities, and who will sink into the lethargy of a stupid and pampered luxury, without spirit, ambition, or enjoyment. Adieu to all ideas of nobility, gentry, and family. The stocks can be transferred in an instant, and being in such a fluctuating state, will seldom be transmitted during three generations from father to son. Or were they to remain ever so long in one family, they convey no hereditary authority or credit to the possessor; and by this means, the several ranks of men, which form a kind of independent magistracy in a state, instituted by the hand of nature, are entirely lost; and every man in authority derives his influence from the commission alone of the sovereign. No expedient remains for preventing or suppressing insurrections, but mercenary armies: No expedient at all remains for resisting tyranny: Elections are swayed by bribery and corruption alone: And the middle power between king and people being totally removed, a grievous despotism must infallibly prevail. The landholders, despised for their poverty, and hated for their oppressions, will be utterly unable to make any opposition to it. Though a resolution should be formed by the legislature never to impose any tax which hurts commerce and discourages industry, it will be impossible for men, in subjects of such extreme delicacy, to reason so justly as never to be mistaken, or amidst difficulties so urgent, never to be seduced from their resolution. The continual fluctuations in commerce require continual alterations in the nature of the taxes; which exposes the legislature every moment to the danger both of wilful and involuntary error. And any great blow given to trade, whether by injudicious taxes or by other accidents, throws the whole system of government into confusion. But what expedient can the public now employ, even supposing trade to continue in the most flourishing condition, in order to support its foreign wars and enterprizes, and to defend its own honour and interests or those of its allies? I do not ask how the public is to exert such a prodigious power as it has maintained during our late wars; where we have so much exceeded, not

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only our own natural strength, but even that of the greatest empires. This extravagance is the abuse complained of, as the source of all the dangers, to which we are at present exposed. But since we must still suppose great commerce and opulence to remain, even after every fund is mortgaged; these riches must be defended by proportional power; and whence is the public to derive the revenue which supports it? It must plainly be from a continual taxation of the annuitants, or, which is the same thing, from mortgaging anew, on every exigency, a certain part of their annuities; and thus making them contribute to their own defence, and to that of the nation. But the difficulties, attending this system of policy, will easily appear, whether we ­suppose the king to have become absolute master, or to be still controuled by national councils, in which the annuitants themselves must necessarily bear the principal sway. If the prince has become absolute, as may naturally be expected from this situation of affairs, it is so easy for him to encrease his exactions upon the annuitants, which amount only to the retaining money in his own hands, that this species of property would soon lose all its credit, and the whole income of every individual in the state must lie entirely at the mercy of the sovereign: A degree of despotism, which no oriental monarchy has ever yet attained. If, on the contrary, the consent of the annuitants be requisite for every taxation, they will never be persuaded to contribute sufficiently even to the support of government; as the diminution of their revenue must in that case be very sensible, would not be disguised under the appearance of a branch of excise or customs, and would not be shared by any other order of the state, who are already supposed to be taxed to the utmost. There are instances, in some republics, of a hundredth penny, and sometimes of the fiftieth, being given to the support of the state; but this is always an extraordinary exertion of power, and can never become the foundation of a constant national defence. We have always found, where a government has mortgaged all its revenues, that it necessarily sinks into a state of languor, inactivity, and impotence. Such are the inconveniencies, which may reasonably be foreseen, of this situation, to which Great Britain is visibly tending. Not to mention, the numberless inconveniencies, which cannot be foreseen, and which must result from so monstrous a situation as that of making the public the chief or sole proprietor of land, besides investing it with every branch of customs and excise, which the fertile imagination of ministers and projectors have been able to invent. I must confess, that there is a strange supineness, from long custom, creeped into all ranks of men, with regard to public debts, not unlike what

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divines so vehemently complain of with regard to their religious doctrines. We all own, that the most sanguine imagination cannot hope, either that this or any future ministry will be possessed of such rigid and steady frugality, as to make a considerable progress in the payment of our debts; or that the situation of foreign affairs will, for any long time, allow them leisure and tranquillity for such an undertaking. What then is to become of us? Were we ever so good Christians, and ever so resigned to Providence; this, methinks, were a curious question, even considered as a speculative one, and what it might not be altogether impossible to form some conjectural solution of. The events here will depend little upon the contingencies of battles, negociations, intrigues, and factions. There seems to be a natural progress of things, which may guide our reasoning. As it would have required but a moderate share of prudence, when we first began this practice of mortgaging, to have foretold, from the nature of men and of ministers, that things would necessarily be carried to the length we see; so now, that they have at last happily reached it, it may not be difficult to guess at the consequences. It must, indeed, be one of these two events; either the nation must destroy public credit, or public credit will destroy the nation. It is impossible that they can both subsist, after the manner they have been hitherto managed, in this, as well as in some other countries. There was, indeed, a scheme for the payment of our debts, which was proposed by an excellent citizen, Mr. Hutchinson, above thirty years ago, and which was much approved of by some men of sense, but never was likely to take effect. He asserted, that there was a fallacy in imagining that the public owed this debt; for that really every individual owed a proportional share of it, and paid, in his taxes, a proportional share of the interest, beside the expence of levying these taxes. Had we not better, then, says he, make a distribution of the debt among ourselves, and each of us contribute a sum suitable to his property, and by that means discharge at once all our funds and public mortgages? He seems not to have considered, that the laborious poor pay a considerable part of the taxes by their annual consumptions, though they could not advance, at once, a proportional part of the sum required. Not to mention, that property in money and stock in trade might easily be concealed or disguised; and that visible property in lands and houses would really at last answer for the whole: An inequality and oppression, which never would be submitted to. But though this project is not likely to take place; it is not altogether improbable, that, when the nation becomes heartily sick of their debts, and is cruelly oppressed by them, some daring projector may arise with visionary schemes for their discharge. And as public credit will begin, by that time, to be a little frail, the least touch will

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destroy it, as happened in France during the regency; and in this manner it will die of the doctor. But it is more probable, that the breach of national faith will be the necessary effect of wars, defeats, misfortunes, and public calamities, or even perhaps of victories and conquests. I must confess, when I see princes and states fighting and quarrelling, amidst their debts, funds, and public mortgages, it always brings to my mind a match of cudgel-playing fought in a China shop. How can it be expected, that sovereigns will spare a species of property, which is pernicious to themselves and to the public, when they have so little compassion on lives and properties, that are useful to both? Let the time come (and surely it will come) when the new funds, created for the exigencies of the year, are not subscribed to, and raise not the money projected. Suppose, either that the cash of the nation is exhausted; or that our faith, which has hitherto been so ample, begins to fail us. Suppose, that, in this distress, the nation is threatened with an invasion; a rebellion is suspected or broken out at home; a squadron cannot be equipped for want of pay, victuals, or repairs; or even a foreign subsidy cannot be advanced. What must a prince or minister do in such an emergence? The right of self-preservation is unalienable in every individual, much more in every community. And the folly of our statesmen must then be greater than the folly of those who first contracted debt, or, what is more, than that of those who trusted, or continue to trust this security, if these statesmen have the means of safety in their hands, and do not employ them. The funds, created and mortgaged, will, by that time, bring in a large yearly revenue, sufficient for the defence and security of the nation: Money is perhaps lying in the exchequer, ready for the discharge of the quarterly interest: Necessity calls, fear urges, reason exhorts, compassion alone exclaims: The money will immediately be seized for the current service, under the most solemn protestations, perhaps, of being immediately replaced. But no more is requisite. The whole fabric, already tottering, falls to the ground, and buries thousands in its ruins. And this, I think, may be called the natural death of public credit: For to this period it tends as naturally as an animal body to its dissolution and destruction. So great dupes are the generality of mankind, that, notwithstanding such a violent shock to public credit, as a voluntary bankruptcy in England would occasion, it would not probably be long, ere credit would again revive in as flourishing a condition as before. The present king of France, during the late war, borrowed money at lower interest than ever his grandfather did; and as low as the British parliament, comparing the natural rate of interest in both kingdoms. And though men are commonly more governed by what they have seen, than by what they foresee, with whatever certainty;

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yet promises, protestations, fair appearances, with the allurements of ­present interest, have such powerful influence as few are able to resist. Mankind are, in all ages, caught by the same baits: The same tricks, played over and over again, still trepan them. The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy. The fear of an everlasting destruction of credit, allowing it to be an evil, is a needless bugbear. A prudent man, in reality, would rather lend to the public immediately after we had taken a spunge to our debts, than at present; as much as an opulent knave, even though one could not force him to pay, is a preferable debtor to an honest bankrupt: For the former, in order to carry on business, may find it his interest to discharge his debts, where they are not exorbitant: The latter has it not in his power. The reasoning of  Tacitus,6 as it is eternally true, is very applicable to our present case. Sed vulgus ad magnitudinem beneficiorum aderat: Stultissimus quisque pecuniis mercabatur: Apud sapientes cassa habebantur, quæ neque dari neque accipi, salva republica, poterant. The public is a debtor, whom no man can oblige to pay. The only check which the creditors have upon her, is the interest of preserving credit; an interest, which may easily be overbalanced by a great debt, and by a difficult and extraordinary emergence, even supposing that credit irrecoverable. Not to mention, that a present necessity often forces states into measures, which are, strictly speaking, against their interest. These two events, supposed above, are calamitous, but not the most calamitous. Thousands are thereby sacrificed to the safety of millions. But we are not without danger, that the contrary event may take place, and that millions may be sacrificed for ever to the temporary safety of thousands.7 Our popular government, perhaps, will render it difficult or dangerous for a minister to venture on so desperate an expedient, as that of a voluntary bankruptcy. And though the house of Lords be altogether composed of proprietors of land, and the house of commons chiefly; and consequently neither of them can be supposed to have great property in the funds: Yet the connexions of the 6  Hist. lib. 3. 7  I have heard it has been computed, that all the creditors of the public, natives and foreigners, amount only to 17,000. These make a figure at present on their income; but in case of a public bankruptcy, would, in an instant, become the lowest, as well as the most wretched of the people. The dignity and authority of the landed gentry and nobility is much better rooted; and would render the contention very unequal, if ever we come to that extremity. One would incline to assign to this event a very near period, such as half a century, had not our fathers’ prophecies of this kind been already found fallacious, by the duration of our public credit, so much beyond all reasonable expectation. When the astrologers in France were every year foreteling the death of Henry IV. These fellows, says he, must be right at last. We shall, therefore, be more cautious than to assign any precise date; and shall content ourselves with pointing out the event in general.

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members may be so great with the proprietors, as to render them more tenacious of public faith, than prudence, policy, or even justice, strictly speaking, requires. And perhaps too, our foreign enemies may be so politic as to discover, that our safety lies in despair, and may not, therefore, show the danger, open and barefaced, till it be inevitable. The balance of power in Europe, our grandfathers, our fathers, and we, have all deemed too unequal to be preserved without our attention and assistance. But our children, weary of the struggle, and fettered with incumbrances, may sit down secure, and see their neighbours oppressed and conquered; till, at last, they themselves and their creditors lie both at the mercy of the conqueror. And this may properly enough be denominated the violent death of our public credit. These seem to be the events, which are not very remote, and which reason foresees as clearly almost as she can do any thing that lies in the womb of time. And though the ancients maintained, that in order to reach the gift of prophecy, a certain divine fury or madness was requisite, one may safely affirm, that, in order to deliver such prophecies as these, no more is necessary, than merely to be in one’s senses, free from the influence of popular madness and delusion.

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ESSAY 1 0

Of Some Remarkable Customs 1

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I Shall observe three remarkable customs in three celebrated governments; and shall conclude from the whole, that all general maxims in politics ought to be established with great caution; and that irregular and extraordinary appearances are frequently discovered in the moral, as well as in the physical world. The former, perhaps, we can better account for, after they happen, from springs and principles, of which every one has, within himself, or from observation, the strongest assurance and conviction: But it is often fully as impossible for human prudence, before-hand, to foresee and foretel them. 1. One would think it essential to every supreme council or assembly, which debates, that entire liberty of speech should be granted to every member, and that all motions or reasonings should be received, which can any wise tend to illustrate the point under deliberation. One would conclude, with still greater assurance, that, after a motion was made, which was voted and approved by that assembly in which the legislative power is lodged, the member who made the motion must for ever be exempted from future trial or enquiry. But no political maxim can, at first sight, appear more undisputable, than that he must, at least, be secured from all inferior jurisdiction; and that nothing less than the same supreme legislative assembly, in their subsequent meetings, could make him accountable for those motions and harangues, to which they had before given their approbation. But these axioms, however irrefragable they may appear, have all failed in the Athenian government, from causes and principles too, which appear almost inevitable. By the γραϕὴ παρανόμων, or indictment of illegality, (though it has not been remarked by antiquaries or commentators) any man was tried and punished in a common court of judicature, for any law which had passed upon his motion, in the assembly of the people, if that law appeared to the court unjust, or prejudicial to the public. Thus Demosthenes, finding that ship-money was levied irregularly, and that the poor bore the same burden as the rich in equipping the gallies, corrected this inequality by a very useful law, which proportioned the expence to the revenue and income of each individual. He moved for this law in the assembly; he proved its

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advantages;¹ he convinced the people, the only legislature in Athens; the law passed, and was carried into execution: Yet was he tried in a criminal court for that law, upon the complaint of the rich, who resented the alteration that he had introduced into the finances.2 He was indeed acquitted, upon proving anew the usefulness of his law. Ctesiphon moved in the assembly of the people, that particular honours should be conferred on Demosthenes, as on a citizen affectionate and useful to the commonwealth: The people, convinced of this truth, voted those honours: Yet was Ctesiphon tried by the γραϕὴ παρανόμων. It was asserted, among other topics, that Demosthenes was not a good citizen, nor affectionate to the commonwealth: And the orator was called upon to defend his friend, and consequently himself; which he executed by that sublime piece of eloquence, that has ever since been the ­admiration of mankind. After the battle of Chæronea, a law was passed upon the motion of Hyperides, giving liberty to slaves, and inrolling them in the troops.3 On account of this law, the orator was afterwards tried by the indictment abovementioned, and defended himself, among other topics, by that stroke cele­ brated by Plutarch and Longinus. It was not I, said he, that moved for this law: It was the necessities of war; it was the battle of Chæronea. The orations of Demosthenes abound with many instances of trials of this nature, and prove clearly, that nothing was more commonly practiced. The Athenian Democracy was such a tumultuous government as we can scarcely form a notion of in the present age of the world. The whole collective body of the people voted in every law, without any limitation of property, without any distinction of rank, without controul from any magistracy or senate;4 and consequently without regard to order, justice, or prudence. The Athenians soon became sensible of the mischiefs attending this constitution: But being averse to checking themselves by any rule or restriction, they resolved, at least, to check their demagogues or counsellors, by the fear of future punishment and enquiry. They accordingly instituted this remarkable law; a law esteemed so essential to their form of government, that 1  His harangue for it is still extant; περὶ Συμμορίας. 2  Pro Ctesiphonte. 3  Plutarch. in vita decem oratorum. Demosthenes gives a different account of this law. contra Aristogiton. orat. 2. He says, that its purport was, to render the ἄτιμοι ἐπίτιμοι, or to restore the privilege of bearing offices to those who had been declared incapable. Perhaps these were both clauses of the same law. 4  The senate of the Bean was only a less numerous mob, chosen by lot from among the people; and their authority was not great.

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Æschines insists on it as a known truth, that, were it abolished or neglected, it were impossible for the Democracy to subsist.5 The people feared not any ill consequence to liberty from the authority of the criminal courts; because these were nothing but very numerous juries, chosen by lot from among the people. And they justly considered themselves as in a state of perpetual pupillage; where they had an authority, after they came to the use of reason, not only to retract and controul whatever had been determined, but to punish any guardian for measures which they had embraced by his persuasion. The same law had place in Thebes;6 and for the same reason. It appears to have been a usual practice in Athens, on the establishment of any law esteemed very useful or popular, to prohibit for ever its abrogation and repeal. Thus the demagogue, who diverted all the public revenues to the support of shows and spectacles, made it criminal so much as to move for a repeal of this law.7 Thus Leptines moved for a law, not only to recall all the immunities formerly granted, but to deprive the people for the future of the power of granting any more.8 Thus all bills of attainder9 were forbidden, or laws that affected one Athenian, without extending to the whole commonwealth. These absurd clauses, by which the legislature vainly attempted to bind itself for ever, proceeded from an universal sense in the people of their own levity and inconstancy. 2. A wheel within a wheel, such as we observe in the German empire, is considered by Lord Shaftesbury10 as an absurdity in politics: But what must we say to two equal wheels, which govern the same political machine, without any mutual check, controul, or subordination; and yet preserve the greatest harmony and concord? To establish two distinct legislatures, each of which possesses full and absolute authority within itself, and stands in no need of the other’s assistance, in order to give validity to its acts; this may appear, before-hand, altogether impracticable, as long as men are actuated by the passions of ambition, emulation, and avarice, which have hitherto been their chief governing principles. And should I assert, that the state I have 5 In Ctesiphontem. It is remarkable, that the first step after the dissolution of the Democracy by Critias and the Thirty, was to annul the γραϕὴ παρανόμων, as we learn from Demosthenes κατὰ Τιμοκ. The orator in this oration gives us the words of the law, establishing the γραϕὴ παρανόμων, page 297. ex edit. Aldi. And he accounts for it, from the same principles we here reason upon. 6  Plutarch. in vita Pelop.   7  Demost. Olynth. 1. 2.    8  Demost. contra Lept. 9  Demost. contra Aristocratem. 10  Essay on the freedom of wit and humour, part 3. § 2.

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in my eye was divided into two distinct factions, each of which predominated in a distinct legislature, and yet produced no clashing in these independent powers; the supposition may appear incredible. And if, to augment the paradox, I should affirm, that this disjointed, irregular government, was the most active, triumphant, and illustrious commonwealth, that ever yet appeared; I should certainly be told, that such a political chimera was as absurd as any vision of priests or poets. But there is no need for searching long, in order to prove the reality of the foregoing suppositions: For this was actually the case with the Roman republic. The legislative power was there lodged in the comitia centuriata and comitia tributa. In the former, it is well known, the people voted according to their census; so that when the first class was unanimous, though it contained not, perhaps, the hundredth part of the commonwealth, it determined the whole; and, with the authority of the senate, established a law. In the latter, every vote was equal; and as the authority of the senate was not there requisite, the lower people entirely prevailed, and gave law to the whole state. In all  party-divisions, at first between the Patricians and Plebeians, afterwards between the nobles and the people, the interest of the Aristocracy was predominant in the first legislature; that of the Democracy in the second: The one could always destroy what the other had established: Nay, the one, by a sudden and unforeseen motion, might take the start of the other, and totally annihilate its rival, by a vote, which, from the nature of the constitution, had the full authority of a law. But no such contest is observed in the history of Rome: No instance of a quarrel between these two legislatures; though many between the parties that governed in each. Whence arose this concord, which may seem so extraordinary? The legislature established in Rome, by the authority of Servius Tullius, was the comitia centuriata, which, after the expulsion of the kings, rendered the government, for some time, very aristocratical. But the people, having numbers and force on their side, and being elated with frequent conquests and victories in their foreign wars, always prevailed when pushed to extremity, and first extorted from the senate the magistracy of the tribunes, and next the legislative power of the comitia tributa. It then behoved the nobles to be more careful than ever not to provoke the people. For beside the force which the latter were always possessed of, they had now got possession of legal authority, and could instantly break in pieces any order or institution which directly opposed them. By intrigue, by influence, by money, by combination, and by the respect paid to their character, the nobles might often prevail, and direct the whole machine of government: But had they openly set their comitia centuriata in opposition to the tributa, they had soon lost the

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advantage of that institution, together with their consuls, prætors, ediles, and all the magistrates elected by it. But the comitia tributa, not having the same reason for respecting the centuriata, frequently repealed laws f­ avourable to the Aristocracy: They limited the authority of the nobles, protected the people from oppression, and controuled the actions of the senate and magistracy. The centuriata found it convenient always to submit; and though equal in authority, yet being inferior in power, durst never directly give any shock to the other legislature, either by repealing its laws, or establishing laws, which, it foresaw, would soon be repealed by it. No instance is found of any opposition or struggle between these comitia; except one slight attempt of this kind, mentioned by Appian in the third book of his civil wars. Mark Anthony, resolving to deprive Decimus Brutus of the government of Cisalpine Gaul, railed in the Forum, and called one of the comitia, in order to prevent the meeting of the other, which had been ordered by the senate. But affairs were then fallen into such confusion, and the Roman constitution was so near its final dissolution, that no inference can be drawn from such an expedient. This contest, besides, was founded more on form than party. It was the senate who ordered the comitia tributa, that they might obstruct the meeting of the centuriata, which, by the constitution, or at least forms of the government, could alone dispose of provinces. Cicero was recalled by the comitia centuriata, though banished by the tributa, that is, by a plebiscitum. But his banishment, we may observe, never was considered as a legal deed, arising from the free choice and inclination of the people. It was always ascribed to the violence alone of Clodius, and to the disorders introduced by him into the government. 3. The third custom, which we purpose to remark, regards England; and though it be not so important as those which we have pointed out in Athens and Rome, is no less singular and unexpected. It is a maxim in politics, which we readily admit as undisputed and universal, that a power, however great, when granted by law to an eminent magistrate, is not so dangerous to liberty, as an authority, however inconsiderable, which he acquires from violence and usurpation. For, besides that the law always limits every power which it bestows, the very receiving it as a concession establishes the authority whence it is derived, and preserves the harmony of the constitution. By the same right that one prerogative is assumed without law, another may also be claimed, and another, with still greater facility; while the first usurpations both serve as precedents to the following, and give force to maintain them. Hence the heroism of Hampden’s conduct, who sustained the whole violence of royal prosecution, rather than pay a tax of twenty shillings, not imposed by parliament; hence the care of all English patriots

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to guard against the first encroachments of the crown; and hence alone the existence, at this day, of English liberty. There is, however, one occasion, where the parliament has departed from this maxim; and that is, in the pressing of seamen. The exercise of an irregular power is here tacitly permitted in the crown; and though it has frequently been under deliberation, how that power might be rendered legal, and granted, under proper restrictions to the sovereign, no safe expedient could ever be proposed for that purpose; and the danger to liberty always appeared greater from law than from usurpation. While this power is exercised to no other end than to man the navy, men willingly submit to it, from a sense of its use and necessity; and the sailors, who are alone affected by it, find no body to support them, in claiming the rights and privileges, which the law grants, without distinction, to all English subjects. But were this power, on any occasion, made an instrument of faction or ministerial tyranny, the opposite faction, and indeed all lovers of their country, would immediately take the alarm, and support the injured party; the liberty of Englishmen would be asserted; juries would be implacable; and the tools of tyranny, acting both against law and equity, would meet with the severest vengeance. On the other hand, were the parliament to grant such an authority, they would probably fall into one of these two inconveniencies: They would either bestow it under so many restrictions as would make it lose its effect, by cramping the authority of the crown; or they would render it so large and comprehensive, as might give occasion to great abuses, for which we could, in that case, have no remedy. The very irregularity of the practice, at ­present, prevents its abuses, by affording so easy a remedy against them. I pretend not, by this reasoning, to exclude all possibility of contriving a register for seamen, which might man the navy, without being dangerous to liberty. I only observe, that no satisfactory scheme of that nature has yet been proposed. Rather than adopt any project hitherto invented, we continue a practice seemingly the most absurd and unaccountable. Authority, in times of full internal peace and concord, is armed against law. A continued violence is permitted in the crown, amidst the greatest jealousy and watchfulness in the people; nay proceeding from those very principles: Liberty, in a country of the highest liberty, is left entirely to its own defence, without any countenance or protection: The wild state of nature is renewed, in one of the most civilized societies of mankind: And great violence and disorder are committed with impunity; while the one party pleads obedience to the supreme magistrate, the other the sanction of fundamental laws.

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ESSAY 1 1

Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations 1

There is very little ground, either from reason or observation, to conclude the world eternal or incorruptible. The continual and rapid motion of matter, the violent revolutions with which every part is agitated, the changes remarked in the heavens, the plain traces as well as tradition of an universal deluge, or general convulsion of the elements; all these prove strongly the mortality of this fabric of the world, and its passage, by corruption or dissolution, from one state or order to another. It must therefore, as well as each individual form which it contains, have its infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; and it is probable, that, in all these variations, man, equally with every animal and vegetable, will partake. In the flourishing age of the world, it may be expected, that the human species should possess greater vigour both of mind and body, more prosperous health, higher spirits, longer life, and a stronger inclination and power of generation. But if the general system of things, and human society of course, have any such gradual revolutions, they are too slow to be discernible in that short period which is comprehended by history and tradition. Stature and force of body, length of life, even courage and extent of genius, seem hitherto to have been naturally, in all ages, pretty much the same. The arts and sciences, indeed, have flourished in one period, and have decayed in another: But we may observe, that, at the time when they rose to greatest perfection among one people, they were perhaps totally unknown to all the neighbouring nations; and though they universally decayed in one age, yet in a succeeding generation they again revived, and diffused themselves over the world. As far, therefore, as observation reaches, there is no universal difference discernible in the human species; and though it were allowed, that the universe, like an animal body, had a natural progress from infancy to old age; yet as it must still be uncertain, whether, at present, it be advancing to its point of perfection, or declining from it, we cannot thence presuppose any decay in human nature.1 To prove, therefore, or account for that superior populousness 1  Columella says, lib. 3. cap. 8. that in Egypt and Africa the bearing of twins was frequent, and even customary; gemini partus familiares, ac pæne solennes sunt. If this was true, there is a physical difference both in countries and ages. For travellers make no such remarks on these countries at present. On the contrary, we are apt to suppose the northern nations more prolific. As those two countries were provinces of the Roman empire, it is difficult, though not altogether absurd, to suppose that such a man as Columella might be mistaken with regard to them.

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of antiquity, which is commonly supposed by the imaginary youth or vigour of the world, will scarcely be admitted by any just reasoner. These general physical causes ought entirely to be excluded from this question. There are indeed some more particular physical causes of importance. Diseases are mentioned in antiquity, which are almost unknown to modern medicine; and new diseases have arisen and propagated themselves, of which there are no traces in ancient history. In this particular we may observe, upon comparison, that the disadvantage is much on the side of the moderns. Not to mention some others of less moment; the small-pox commits such ravages, as would almost alone account for the great superiority ascribed to ancient times. The tenth or the twelfth part of mankind, destroyed every generation, should make a vast difference, it may be thought, in the numbers of the people; and when joined to venereal distempers, a new plague diffused every where, this disease is perhaps equivalent, by its constant operation, to the three great scourges of mankind, war, pestilence, and famine. Were it certain, therefore, that ancient times were more populous than the present, and could no moral causes be assigned for so great a change; these physical causes alone, in the opinion of many, would be sufficient to give us satisfaction on that head. But is it certain, that antiquity was so much more populous, as is pretended? The extravagancies of Vossius, with regard to this subject, are well known. But an author of much greater genius and discernment has ventured to affirm, that, according to the best computations which these subjects will admit of, there are not now, on the face of the earth, the fiftieth part of mankind, which existed in the time of Julius Cæsar.2 It may easily be observed, that the comparison, in this case, must be imperfect, even though we confine ourselves to the scene of ancient history; Europe, and the nations around the Mediterranean. We know not exactly the numbers of any European kingdom, or even city, at present: How can we pretend to calculate those of ancient cities and states, where historians have left us such imperfect traces? For my part, the matter appears to me so uncertain, that, as I intend to throw together some reflections on that head, I shall intermingle the enquiry concerning causes with that concerning facts; which ought never to be admitted, where the facts can be ascertained with any tolerable assurance. We shall, first, consider whether it be probable, from what we know of the situation of society in both periods, that antiquity must have been more populous; secondly, whether in reality it was so. If I can make it appear, that the conclusion is not so certain as is pretended, in favour of antiquity, it is all I aspire to. 2  Lettres Persanes. See also L’Esprit des loix, liv. 23. cap. 17, 18, 19.

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In general, we may observe, that the question, with regard to the comparative populousness of ages or kingdoms, implies important consequences, and commonly determines concerning the preference of their whole police, their manners, and the constitution of their government. For as there is in all men, both male and female, a desire and power of generation, more active than is ever universally exerted, the restraints, which they lie under, must proceed from some difficulties in their situation, which it belongs to a wise legislature carefully to observe and remove. Almost every man who thinks he can maintain a family will have one; and the human species, at this rate of propagation, would more than double every generation. How fast do mankind multiply in every colony or new settlement; where it is an easy matter to provide for a family; and where men are no wise straightened or confined, as in longestablished governments? History tells us frequently of plagues, which have swept away the third or fourth part of a people: Yet in a generation or two, the destruction was not perceived; and the society had again acquired their former number. The lands which were cultivated, the houses built, the commodities raised, the riches acquired, enabled the people, who escaped, immediately to marry, and to rear families, which supplied the place of those who had perished.3 And for a like reason, every wise, just, and mild government, by rendering the condition of its subjects easy and secure, will always abound most in people, as well as in commodities and riches. A country, indeed, whose climate and soil are fitted for vines, will naturally be more populous than one which produces corn only, and that more populous than one which is only fitted for pasturage. In general, warm climates, as the necessities of the inhabitants are there fewer, and vegetation more powerful, are likely to be most populous: But if every thing else be equal, it seems natural to expect, that, wherever there are most happiness and virtue, and the wisest institutions, there will also be most people. The question, therefore, concerning the populousness of ancient and modern times, being allowed of great importance, it will be requisite, if we would bring it to some determination, to compare both the domestic and political situation of these two periods, in order to judge of the facts by their moral causes; which is the first view in which we proposed to consider them. The chief difference between the domestic œconomy of the ancients and that of the moderns consists in the practice of slavery, which prevailed 3  This too is a good reason why the small-pox does not depopulate countries so much as may at first sight be imagined. Where there is room for more people, they will always arise, even without the assistance of naturalization bills. It is remarked by Don Geronimo de Ustariz, that the provinces of Spain, which send most people to the Indies, are most populous; which proceeds from their superior riches.

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among the former, and which has been abolished for some centuries throughout the greater part of Europe. Some passionate admirers of the ancients, and zealous partizans of civil liberty, (for these sentiments, as they are both of them, in the main, extremely just, are found to be almost inseparable) cannot forbear regretting the loss of this institution; and whilst they brand all submission to the government of a single person with the harsh denomination of slavery, they would gladly reduce the greater part of mankind to real slavery and subjection. But to one who considers coolly on the subject, it will appear, that human nature, in general, really enjoys more liberty at present, in the most arbitrary government of Europe, than it ever did during the most flourishing period of ancient times. As much as submission to a petty prince, whose dominions extend not beyond a single city, is more grievous than obedience to a great monarch; so much is domestic slavery more cruel and oppressive than any civil subjection whatsoever. The more the master is removed from us in place and rank, the greater liberty we enjoy; the less are our actions inspected and controuled; and the fainter that cruel comparison becomes between our own subjection, and the freedom, and even dominion of another. The remains which are found of domestic slavery, in the American colonies, and among some European nations, would never surely create a desire of rendering it more universal. The little humanity, commonly observed in persons, accustomed, from their infancy, to exercise so great authority over their fellow-creatures, and to trample upon human nature, were sufficient alone to disgust us with that unbounded dominion. Nor can a more probable reason be assigned for the severe, I might say, barbarous manners of ancient times, than the practice of domestic slavery; by which every man of rank was rendered a petty tyrant, and educated amidst the flattery, submission, and low debasement of his slaves. According to ancient practice, all checks were on the inferior, to restrain him to the duty of submission; none on the superior, to engage him to the reciprocal duties of gentleness and humanity. In modern times, a bad servant finds not easily a good master, nor a bad master a good servant; and the checks are mutual, suitably to the inviolable and eternal laws of reason and equity. The custom of exposing old, useless, or sick slaves in an island of the Tyber, there to starve, seems to have been pretty common in Rome; and whoever recovered, after having been so exposed, had his liberty given him, by an edict of the Emperor Claudius; in which it was likewise forbidden to kill any slave merely for old age or sickness.4 But supposing that this edict was strictly obeyed, would it better the domestic treatment of slaves, or render 4  Sueton. in vita Claudii.

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their lives much more comfortable? We may imagine what others would practice, when it was the professed maxim of the elder Cato, to sell his superannuated slaves for any price, rather than maintain what he esteemed a useless burden.5 The ergastula, or dungeons, where slaves in chains were forced to work, were very common all over Italy. Columella6 advises, that they be always built under ground; and recommends7 it as the duty of a careful overseer, to call over every day the names of these slaves, like the mustering of a regiment or ship’s company, in order to know presently when any of them had deserted. A proof of the frequency of these ergastula, and of the great number of slaves usually confined in them. A chained slave for a porter was usual in Rome, as appears from Ovid,8 and other authors.9 Had not these people shaken off all sense of compassion towards that unhappy part of their species, would they have presented their friends, at the first entrance, with such an image of the severity of the master, and misery of the slave? Nothing so common in all trials, even of civil causes, as to call for the evidence of slaves; which was always extorted by the most exquisite torments. Demosthenes says,10 that, where it was possible to produce, for the same fact, either freemen or slaves as witnesses, the judges always preferred the torturing of slaves, as a more certain evidence.11 Seneca draws a picture of that disorderly luxury, which changes day into night, and night into day, and inverts every stated hour of every office in life. Among other circumstances, such as displacing the meals and times of bathing, he mentions, that, regularly about the third hour of the night, the neighbours of one, who indulges this false refinement, hear the noise of whips and lashes; and, upon enquiry, find that he is then taking an account of the conduct of his servants, and giving them due correction and discipline. This is not remarked as an instance of cruelty, but only of disorder, which, even in actions the most usual and methodical, changes the fixed hours that an established custom had assigned for them.12

5  Plutarch. in vita Catonis.   6  Lib. 1. cap. 6.    7  Id. lib. 11. cap. 1. 8  Amor. lib. 1. eleg. 6. 9  Sueton. de claris rhetor. So also the ancient poet, Janitoris tintinnire impedimenta audio. 10 In Onetorem. orat. 1. 11  The same practice was very common in Rome; but Cicero seems not to think this evidence so certain as the testimony of free citizens. Pro Cælio. 12  Epist. 122. The inhuman sports exhibited at Rome, may justly be considered too as an effect of the people’s contempt for slaves, and was also a great cause of the general inhumanity of their princes and rulers. Who can read the accounts of the amphitheatrical entertainments without

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But our present business is only to consider the influence of slavery on the populousness of a state. It is pretended, that, in this particular, the ancient practice had infinitely the advantage, and was the chief cause of that extreme populousness, which is supposed in those times. At present, all masters discourage the marrying of their male servants, and admit not by any means the marriage of the female, who are then supposed altogether incapacitated for their service. But where the property of the servants is lodged in the master, their marriage forms his riches, and brings him a succession of slaves, that supply the place of those whom age and infirmity have disabled. He encourages, therefore, their propagation as much as that of his cattle; rears the young with the same care; and educates them to some art or calling, which may render them more useful or valuable to him. The opulent are, by this policy, interested in the being at least, though not in the well-being of the poor; and enrich themselves, by encreasing the number and industry of those who are subjected to them. Each man, being a sovereign in his own family, has the same interest with regard to it, as the prince with regard to the state; and has not, like the prince, any opposite motives of ambition or vain-glory, which may lead him to depopulate his little sovereignty. All of it is, at all times, under his eye; and he has leisure to inspect the most minute detail of the marriage and education of his subjects.13 Such are the consequences of domestic slavery, according to the first aspect and appearance of things: But if we enter more deeply into the subject, we shall perhaps find reason to retract our hasty determinations. The comparison is shocking between the management of human creatures and that of cattle; but being extremely just, when applied to the present subject, it may be proper to trace the consequences of it. At the capital, near all great cities, in all populous, rich, industrious provinces, few cattle are bred. Provisions, lodging, attendance, labour are there dear; and men find their account better in buying the cattle, after they come to a certain age, from the horror? Or who is surprized, that the emperors should treat that people in the same way the people treated their inferiors? One’s humanity is apt to renew the barbarous wish of Caligula, that the people had but one neck: A man could almost be pleased, by a single blow, to put an end to such a race of monsters. You may thank God, says the author above cited, (epist. 7.) addressing himself to the Roman people, that you have a master, (to wit, the mild and merciful Nero) who is incapable of learning cruelty from your example. This was spoke in the beginning of his reign: But he fitted them very well afterwards; and, no doubt, was considerably improved by the sight of the barbarous objects, to which he had, from his infancy, been accustomed. 13  We may here observe, that if domestic slavery really encreased populousness, it would be an exception to the general rule, that the happiness of any society and its populousness are necessary attendants. A master, from humour or interest, may make his slaves very unhappy, yet be careful, from interest, to encrease their number. Their marriage is not a matter of choice with them, more than any other action of their life.

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remoter and cheaper countries. These are consequently the only breeding countries for cattle; and by a parity of reason, for men too, when the latter are put on the same footing with the former. To rear a child in London, till he could be serviceable, would cost much dearer, than to buy one of the same age from Scotland or Ireland; where he had been bred in a cottage, covered with rags, and fed on oatmeal or potatoes. Those who had slaves, therefore, in all the richer and more populous countries, would discourage the pregnancy of the females, and either prevent or destroy the birth. The human species would perish in those places where it ought to encrease the fastest; and a perpetual recruit be wanted from the poorer and more des­ ert provinces. Such a continued drain would tend mightily to depopulate the state, and render great cities ten times more destructive than with us; where every man is master of himself, and provides for his children from the  powerful instinct of nature, not the calculations of sordid interest. If London, at present, without much encreasing, needs a yearly recruit from the country, of 5000 people, as is usually computed, what must it require, if the greater part of the tradesmen and common people were slaves, and were hindered from breeding by their avaricious masters? All ancient authors tell us, that there was a perpetual flux of slaves to Italy from the remoter provinces, particularly Syria, Cilicia,14 Cappadocia, and the Lesser Asia, Thrace, and Egypt: Yet the number of people did not encrease in Italy; and writers complain of the continual decay of industry and agriculture.15 Where then is that extreme fertility of the Roman slaves, which is commonly supposed? So far from multiplying, they could not, it seems, so much as keep up the stock, without immense recruits. And though great numbers were continually manumitted and converted into Roman citizens, the numbers even of these did not encrease,16 till the freedom of the city was communicated to foreign provinces. The term for a slave, born and bred in the family, was verna;17 and these slaves seem to have been entitled by custom to privileges and indulgences beyond others; a sufficient reason why the masters would not be fond of 14  Ten thousand slaves in a day have often been sold for the use of the Romans, at Delus in Cilicia. Strabo, lib. 14. 15  Columella, lib. 1. proœm. et cap. 2. et 7. Varro, lib. 3. cap. 1. Horat. lib. 2. od. 15. Tacit. ann. lib. 3. cap. 54. Sueton. in vita Aug. cap. 42. Plin. lib. 18. cap. 13. 16  Minore indies plebe ingenua, says Tacitus, ann. lib. 4. cap. 27. 17 As servus was the name of the genus, and verna of the species, without any correlative, this forms a strong presumption, that the latter were by far the least numerous. It is an universal observation which we may form upon language, that where two related parts of a whole bear any proportion to each other, in numbers, rank or consideration, there are always correlative terms invented, which answer to both the parts, and express their mutual relation. If they bear no proportion to each other, the term is only invented for the less, and marks its distinction from the whole. Thus

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rearing many of that kind.18 Whoever is acquainted with the maxims of our planters, will acknowledge the justness of this observation.19 Atticus is much praised by his historian for the care, which he took in recruiting his family from the slaves born in it:20 May we not thence infer, that this practice was not then very common? The names of slaves in the Greek comedies, Syrus, Mysus, Geta, Thrax, Davus, Lydus, Phryx, &c. afford a presumption, that at Athens at least, most of the slaves were imported from foreign countries. The Athenians, says Strabo,21 gave to their slaves, either the names of the nations whence they were bought, as Lydus, Syrus; or the names that were most common among those nations, as Manes or Midas to a Phrygian, Tibias to a Paphlagonian. Demosthenes, having mentioned a law which forbad any man to strike the slave of another, praises the humanity of this law; and adds, that, if the barbarians from whom the slaves were bought, had information, that their countrymen met with such gentle treatment, they would entertain a great esteem for the Athenians.22 Isocrates23 too insinuates, that the slaves of the

man and woman, master and servant, father and son, prince and subject, stranger and citizen, are correlative terms. But the words seaman, carpenter, smith, tailor, &c. have no correspondent terms, which express those who are no seaman, no carpenter, &c. Languages differ very much with regard to the particular words where this distinction obtains; and may thence afford very strong inferences, concerning the manners and customs of different nations. The military government of the Roman emperors had exalted the soldiery so high, that they balanced all the other orders of the state: Hence miles and paganus became relative terms; a thing, till then, unknown to ancient, and still so to modern languages. Modern superstition exalted the clergy so high, that they overbalanced the whole state: Hence clergy and laity are terms opposed in all modern languages; and in these alone. And from the same principles I infer, that if the number of slaves bought by the Romans from foreign countries, had not extremely exceeded those which were bred at home, verna would have had a correlative, which would have expressed the former species of slaves. But these, it would seem, composed the main body of the ancient slaves, and the latter were but a few exceptions. 18  Verna is used by writers as a word equivalent to scurra, on account of the petulance and impudence of those slaves. Mart. lib. 1. ep. 42. Horace also mentions the vernæ procaces; and Petronius, cap. 24. vernula urbanitas. Seneca, de provid. cap. 1. vernularum licentia. 19  It is computed in the West Indies, that a stock of slaves grow worse five per cent. every year, unless new slaves be bought to recruit them. They are not able to keep up their number, even in those warm countries, where cloaths and provisions are so easily got. How much more must this happen in European countries, and in or near great cities? I shall add, that, from the experience of our planters, slavery is as little advantageous to the master as to the slave, wherever hired servants can be procured. A man is obliged to cloath and feed his slave; and he does no more for his servant: The price of the first purchase is, therefore, so much loss to him: Not to mention, that the fear of punishment will never draw so much labour from a slave, as the dread of being turned off and not getting another service, will from a freeman. 20  Corn. Nepos, in vita Attici. We may remark, that Atticus’s estate lay chiefly in Epirus, which, being a remote, desolate place, would render it profitable for him to rear slaves there. 21 Lib. 7.   22 In Midiam, page 221. ex edit. Aldi.   23 Panegyr.

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Greeks were generally or very commonly barbarians. Aristotle in his Politics24 plainly supposes, that a slave is always a foreigner. The ancient comic writers represented the slaves as speaking a barbarous language.25 This was an imitation of nature. It is well known that Demosthenes, in his nonage, had been defrauded of a large fortune by his tutors, and that afterwards he recovered, by a prosecution at law, the value of his patrimony. His orations, on that occasion, still remain, and contain an exact detail of the whole substance left by his father,26 in money, merchandize, houses, and slaves, together with the value of each particular. Among the rest were 52 slaves, handicraftsmen, namely, 32 swordcutlers, and 20 cabinet-makers;27 all males; not a word of any wives, children or family, which they certainly would have had, had it been a common practice at Athens to breed from the slaves: And the value of the whole must have much depended on that circumstance. No female slaves are even so much as mentioned, except some house-maids, who belonged to his mother. This argument has great force, if it be not altogether conclusive. Consider this passage of Plutarch,28 speaking of the Elder Cato. “He had a great number of slaves, whom he took care to buy at the sales of prisoners of war; and he chose them young, that they might easily be accustomed to any diet or manner of life, and be instructed in any business or labour, as men teach any thing to young dogs or horses. —— And esteeming love the chief source of all disorders, he allowed the male slaves to have a commerce with the female in his family, upon paying a certain sum for this privilege: But he strictly prohibited all intrigues out of his family.” Are there any symptoms in this narration of that care which is supposed in the ancients, of the marriage and propagation of their slaves? If that was a common practice, founded on general interest, it would surely have been embraced by Cato, who was a great œconomist, and lived in times when the ancient frugality and simplicity of manners were still in credit and reputation. It is expressly remarked by the writers of the Roman law, that scarcely any ever purchase slaves with a view of breeding from them.29 24  Lib. 7. cap. 10. sub fin. 25  Aristoph. Equites, 1. 17. The ancient scholiast remarks on this passage βαρβαρίζει ὡς δοῦλος. 26  Contra Aphob. orat. 1. 27  κλινοποιοὶ, makers of those beds which the ancients lay upon at meals. 28  In vita Catonis. 29  “Non temere ancillæ ejus rei causa comparantur ut pariant.” Digest. lib. 5. tit. 3. de hæred. petit. lex 27. The following texts are to the same purpose, “Spadonem morbosum non esse, neque vitiosum, verius mihi videtur; sed sanum esse, sicuti illum qui unum testiculum habet, qui etiam generare potest.” Digest. lib. 21. tit. 1. de ædilitio edicto, lex 6. § 2. “Sin autem quis ita spado sit, ut tam necessaria pars corporis penitus absit, morbosus est.” Id. lex 7. His impotence, it seems,

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Our lackeys and house-maids, I own, do not serve much to multiply their species: But the ancients, besides those who attended on their person, had almost all their labour performed, and even manufactures executed, by slaves, who lived, many of them, in their family; and some great men possessed to the number of 10,000. If there be any suspicion, therefore, that this institution was unfavourable to propagation, (and the same reason, at least in part, holds with regard to ancient slaves as modern servants) how destructive must slavery have proved? History mentions a Roman nobleman, who had 400 slaves under the same roof with him: And having been assassinated at home by the furious revenge of one of them, the law was executed with rigour, and all without exception were put to death.30 Many other Roman noblemen had families equally, or more numerous; and I believe every one will allow, that this would scarcely be practicable, were we to suppose all the slaves married, and the females to be breeders.31 So early as the poet Hesiod,32 married slaves, whether male or female, were esteemed inconvenient. How much more, where families had encreased to such an enormous size as in Rome, and where the ancient simplicity of manners was banished from all ranks of people? Xenophon in his Oeconomics, where he gives directions for the management of a farm, recommends a strict care and attention of laying the male and the female slaves at a distance from each other. He seems not to suppose that they are ever married. The only slaves among the Greeks that appear to have continued their own race, were the Helotes, who had houses apart, and were more the slaves of the public than of individuals.33

was only regarded so far as his health or life might be affected by it. In other respects, he was full as valuable. The same reasoning is employed with regard to female slaves. “Quæritur de ea muliere quæ semper mortuos parit, an morbosa sit? et ait Sabinus, si vulvæ vitio hoc contingit, morbosam esse.” Id. lex 14. It had even been doubted, whether a woman pregnant was morbid or vitiated; and it is determined, that she is sound, not on account of the value of her offspring, but because it is the natural part or office of women to bear children. “Si mulier prægnans venerit, inter omnes convenit sanam eam esse. Maximum enim ac præcipuum munus fœminarum accipere ac tueri conceptum. Puerperam quoque sanam esse; si modo nihil extrinsecus accedit, quod corpus ejus in aliquam valetudinem immitteret. De sterili Cœlius distinguere Trebatium dicit, ut si natura sterilis sit, sana sit; si vitio corporis, contra.” Id. 30  Tacit. ann. lib. 14. cap. 43. 31  The slaves in the great houses, had little rooms assigned them, called cellæ. Whence the name of cell was transferred to the monks room in a convent. See farther on this head, Just. Lipsius, Saturn. 1. cap. 14. These form strong presumptions against the marriage and propagation of the family slaves. 32  Opera et dies, lib. 2. l. 24. also l. 220.    33  Strabo, lib. 8.

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The same author34 tells us, that Nicias’s overseer, by agreement with his master, was obliged to pay him an obolus a day for each slave; besides maintaining them, and keeping up the number. Had the ancient slaves been all breeders, this last circumstance of the contract had been superfluous. The ancients talk so frequently of a fixed, stated portion of provisions assigned to each slave,35 that we are naturally led to conclude, that slaves lived almost all single, and received that portion as a kind of board-wages. The practice, indeed, of marrying slaves seems not to have been very common, even among the country labourers, where it is more naturally to be expected. Cato,36 enumerating the slaves requisite to labour a vineyard of a hundred acres, makes them amount to 15; the overseer and his wife, villicus and villica, and 13 male slaves; for an olive plantation of 240 acres, the overseer and his wife, and 11 male slaves; and so in proportion to a greater or less plantation or vineyard. Varro,37 quoting this passage of Cato, allows his computation to be just in every respect, except the last. For as it is requisite, says he, to have an overseer and his wife, whether the vineyard or plantation be great or small, this must alter the exactness of the proportion. Had Cato’s computation been erroneous in any other respect, it had certainly been corrected by Varro, who seems fond of discovering so trivial an error. The same author,38 as well as Columella,39 recommends it as requisite to give a wife to the overseer, in order to attach him the more strongly to his master’s service. This was therefore a peculiar indulgence granted to a slave, in whom so great confidence was reposed. In the same place, Varro mentions it as an useful precaution, not to buy too many slaves from the same nation, lest they beget factions and seditions in the family: A presumption, that, in Italy, the greater part, even of the country labouring slaves, (for he speaks of no other) were bought from the remoter provinces. All the world knows, that the family slaves in Rome, who were instruments of show and luxury, were commonly imported from the east. Hoc profecere, says Pliny, speaking of the jealous care of masters, mancipiorum legiones, et in domo turba externa, ac servorum quoque causa nomenclator adhibendus.40 It is indeed recommended by Varro,41 to propagate young shepherds in the family from the old ones. For as grasing farms were commonly in remote 34  De ratione redituum. 35 See Cato, de re rustica, cap. 56. Donatus in Phormion, 1. 1. 9. Senecæ, epist. 80. 36  De re rust. cap. 10, 11. 37  Lib. 1. cap. 18.    38  Lib. 1. cap. 17.    39  Lib. 1. cap. 8. 40  Lib. 33. cap. 1. So likewise Tacitus, ann. lib. 14. cap. 44.    41  Lib. 2. cap. 10.

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and cheap places, and each shepherd lived in a cottage apart, his marriage and encrease were not liable to the same inconveniencies as in dearer places, and where many servants lived in the family; which was universally the case in such of the Roman farms as produced wine or corn. If we consider this exception with regard to shepherds, and weigh the reasons of it, it will serve for a strong confirmation of all our foregoing suspicions.42 Columella,43 I own, advises the master to give a reward, and even liberty to a female slave, that had reared him above three children: A proof, that sometimes the ancients propagated from their slaves; which, indeed, cannot be denied. Were it otherwise, the practice of slavery, being so common in antiquity, must have been destructive to a degree which no expedient could repair. All I pretend to infer from these reasonings is, that slavery is in general disadvantageous both to the happiness and populousness of mankind, and that its place is much better supplied by the practice of hired servants. The laws, or, as some writers call them, the seditions of the Gracchi, were occasioned by their observing the encrease of slaves all over Italy, and the diminution of free citizens. Appian44 ascribes this encrease to the propagation of the slaves: Plutarch45 to the purchasing of barbarians, who were chained and imprisoned, βαρβαρικὰ δεσμωτήρια.46 It is to be presumed that both causes concurred. Sicily, says Florus,47 was full of ergastula, and was cultivated by labourers in chains. Eunus and Athenio excited the servile war, by breaking up these monstrous prisons, and giving liberty to 60,000 slaves. The younger Pompey augmented his army in Spain by the same expedient.48 If the country labourers, throughout the Roman empire, were so generally in this

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s­ ituation, and if it was difficult or impossible to find separate lodgings for the families of the city servants, how unfavourable to propagation, as well as to humanity, must the institution of domestic slavery be esteemed? Constantinople, at present, requires the same recruits of slaves from all the provinces, that Rome did of old; and these provinces are of consequence far from being populous. Egypt, according to Mons. Maillet, sends continual colonies of black slaves to the other parts of the Turkish empire; and receives annually an equal return of white: The one brought from the inland parts of Africa; the other from Mingrelia, Circassia, and Tartary. Our modern convents are, no doubt, bad institutions: But there is reason to suspect, that anciently every great family in Italy, and probably in other parts of the world, was a species of convent. And though we have reason to condemn all those popish institutions, as nurseries of superstition, burdensome to the public, and oppressive to the poor prisoners, male as well as female; yet may it be questioned whether they be so destructive to the populousness of a state, as is commonly imagined. Were the land, which belongs to a convent, bestowed on a nobleman, he would spend its revenue on dogs, horses, grooms, footmen, cooks, and house-maids; and his family would not furnish many more citizens than the convent. The common reason, why any parent thrusts his daughters into nunneries, is, that he may not be overburdened with too numerous a family; but the ancients had a method almost as innocent, and more effectual to that purpose, to wit, exposing their children in early infancy. This practice was very common; and is not spoken of by any author of those times with the horror it deserves, or scarcely49 even with disapprobation. Plutarch, the humane, good-natured Plutarch,50 mentions it as a merit in Attalus, king of Pergamus, that he murdered, or, if you will, exposed all his own children, in order to leave his crown to the son of his brother, Eumenes; signalizing in this manner his gratitude and affection to Eumenes, who had left him his heir preferably to that son. It was Solon, the most celebrated of the sages of Greece, that gave parents permission by law to kill their children.51 Shall we then allow these two circumstances to compensate each other, to wit, monastic vows and the exposing of children, and to be unfavourable, in equal degrees, to the propagation of mankind? I doubt the advantage is here on the side of antiquity. Perhaps, by an odd connexion of causes, the 49  Tacitus blames it. de moribus Germ. 50  De fraterno amore. Seneca also approves of the exposing of sickly infirm children. de ira, lib. 1. cap. 15. 51  Sext. Emp. lib. 3. cap. 24.

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b­ arbarous practice of the ancients might rather render those times more populous. By removing the terrors of too numerous a family, it would engage many people in marriage; and such is the force of natural affection, that very few, in comparison, would have resolution enough, when it came to the push, to carry into execution their former intentions. China, the only country where this practice of exposing children prevails at present, is the most populous country we know of; and every man is married before he is twenty. Such early marriages could scarcely be general, had not men the prospect of so easy a method of getting rid of their children. I own, that Plutarch52 speaks of it as a very general maxim of the poor to expose their children; and as the rich were then averse to marriage, on account of the courtship they met with from those who expected legacies from them, the public must have been in a bad situation between them.53 Of all sciences there is none, where first appearances are more deceitful than in politics. Hospitals for foundlings seem favourable to the encrease of numbers; and, perhaps, may be so, when kept under proper restrictions. But when they open the door to every one, without distinction, they have probably a contrary effect, and are pernicious to the state. It is computed, that every ninth child born at Paris, is sent to the hospital; though it seems certain, according to the common course of human affairs, that it is not a hundredth child whose parents are altogether incapacitated to rear and educate him. The great difference, for health, industry, and morals, between an education in an hospital and that in a private family, should induce us not to make the entrance into the former too easy and engaging. To kill one’s own child is shocking to nature, and must therefore be somewhat unusual; but to turn over the care of him upon others is very tempting to the natural indolence of mankind. Having considered the domestic life and manners of the ancients, compared to those of the moderns; where, in the main, we seem rather superior, so far as the present question is concerned; we shall now examine the political customs and institutions of both ages, and weigh their influence in retarding or forwarding the propagation of mankind. 52  De amore prolis. 53  The practice of leaving great sums of money to friends, though one had near relations, was common in Greece as well as Rome; as we may gather from Lucian. This practice prevails much less in modern times; and Ben. Johnson’s Volpone is therefore almost entirely extracted from ancient authors, and suits better the manners of those times.   It may justly be thought, that the liberty of divorces in Rome was another discouragement to marriage. Such a practice prevents not quarrels from humour, but rather encreases them; and occasions also those from interest, which are much more dangerous and destructive. See farther on this head, Part 1. Essay 19. Perhaps too the unnatural lusts of the ancients ought to be taken into consideration, as of some moment.

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Before the encrease of the Roman power, or rather till its full establishment, almost all the nations, which are the scene of ancient history, were divided into small territories or petty commonwealths, where of course a great equality of fortune prevailed, and the center of the government was always very near its frontiers. This was the situation of affairs not only in Greece and Italy, but also in Spain, Gaul, Germany, Africa, and a great part of the Lesser Asia: And it must be owned, that no institution could be more favourable to the propagation of mankind. For, though a man of an overgrown fortune, not being able to consume more than another, must share it with those who serve and attend him; yet their possession being precarious, they have not the same encouragement to marry, as if each had a small fortune, secure and independent. Enormous cities are, besides, destructive to society, beget vice and disorder of all kinds, starve the remoter provinces, and even starve themselves, by the prices to which they raise all provisions. Where each man had his little house and field to himself, and each county had its capital, free and independent; what a happy situation of mankind! How favourable to industry and agriculture; to marriage and propagation! The prolific virtue of men, were it to act in its full extent, without that restraint which poverty and necessity imposes on it, would double the number every generation: And nothing surely can give it more liberty, than such small commonwealths, and such an equality of fortune among the citizens. All small states naturally produce equality of fortune, because they afford no opportunities of great encrease; but small commonwealths much more, by that division of power and authority which is essential to them. When Xenophon54 returned after the famous expedition with Cyrus, he hired himself and 6000 of the Greeks into the service of Seuthes, a prince of Thrace; and the articles of his agreement were, that each soldier should receive a daric a month, each captain two darics, and he himself, as general, four: A regulation of pay which would not a little surprize our modern officers. Demosthenes and Æschines, with eight more, were sent ambassadors to Philip of Macedon, and their appointments for above four months were a thousand drachmas, which is less than a drachma a day for each ambassador.55 But a drachma a day, nay sometimes two,56 was the pay of a common foot-soldier.

54  De exp. Cyr. lib. 7.    55  Demost. de falsa leg. He calls it a considerable sum. 56  Thucyd. lib. 3.

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A centurion among the Romans had only double pay to a private man, in Polybius’s time,57 and we accordingly find the gratuities after a triumph regulated by that proportion.58 But Mark Anthony and the triumvirate gave the centurions five times the reward of the other.59 So much had the encrease of the commonwealth encreased the inequality among the citizens.60 It must be owned, that the situation of affairs in modern times, with regard to civil liberty, as well as equality of fortune, is not near so favourable, either to the propagation or happiness of mankind. Europe is shared out mostly into great monarchies; and such parts of it as are divided into small territories, are commonly governed by absolute princes, who ruin their ­people by a mimicry of the greater monarchs, in the splendour of their court and number of their forces. Switzerland alone and Holland resemble the ancient republics; and though the former is far from possessing any advantage either of soil, climate, or commerce, yet the numbers of people, with which it abounds, notwithstanding their enlisting themselves into every service in Europe, prove sufficiently the advantages of their political institutions. The ancient republics derived their chief or only security from the numbers of their citizens. The Trachinians having lost great numbers of their people, the remainder, instead of enriching themselves by the inheritance of their ­fellow-citizens, applied to Sparta, their metropolis, for a new stock of inhabitants. The Spartans immediately collected ten thousand men; among whom the old citizens divided the lands of which the former proprietors had perished.61 After Timoleon had banished Dionysius from Syracuse, and had settled the affairs of Sicily, finding the cities of Syracuse and Sellinuntium extremely depopulated by tyranny, war, and faction, he invited over from Greece some new inhabitants to repeople them.62 Immediately forty thousand men (Plutarch63 says sixty thousand) offered themselves; and he distributed so many lots of land among them, to the great satisfaction of the ancient inhabitants: A proof at once of the maxims of ancient policy, which affected populousness more than riches; and of the good effects of these maxims, in the extreme populousness of that small country, Greece, which could at once supply so great a colony. The case was not much different with

57  Lib. 6. cap. 37.    58  Titi Livii, lib. 41. cap. 7. 13. & alibi passim. 59  Appian, de bell. civ. lib. 4. 60  Cæsar gave the centurions ten times the gratuity of the common soldiers, de bello Gallico, lib. 8. In the Rhodian cartel, mentioned afterwards, no distinction in the ransom was made on account of ranks in the army. 61  Diod. Sic. lib. 12. Thucyd. lib. 3.    62  Diod. Sic. lib. 16. 63  In vita Timol.

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the Romans in early times. He is a pernicious citizen, said M. Curius, who cannot be content with seven acres.64 Such ideas of equality could not fail of producing great numbers of people. We must now consider what disadvantages the ancients lay under with regard to populousness, and what checks they received from their political maxims and institutions. There are commonly compensations in every human condition; and though these compensations be not always perfectly equal, yet they serve, at least, to restrain the prevailing principle. To compare them and estimate their influence, is indeed difficult, even where they take place in the same age, and in neighbouring countries: But where several ages have intervened, and only scattered lights are afforded us by ancient authors; what can we do but amuse ourselves by talking pro and con, on an interesting subject, and thereby correcting all hasty and violent determinations? First, We may observe, that the ancient republics were almost in perpetual war, a natural effect of their martial spirit, their love of liberty, their mutual emulation, and that hatred which generally prevails among nations that live in close neighbourhood. Now, war in a small state is much more destructive than in a great one; both because all the inhabitants, in the former case, must serve in the armies; and because the whole state is frontier, and is all exposed to the inroads of the enemy. The maxims of ancient war were much more destructive than those of modern; chiefly by that distribution of plunder, in which the soldiers were indulged. The private men in our armies are such a low set of people, that we find any abundance, beyond their simple pay, breeds confusion and disorder among them, and a total dissolution of discipline. The very wretchedness and meanness of those, who fill the modern armies, render them less destructive to the countries which they invade: One instance, among many, of the deceitfulness of first appearances in all political reasonings.65 Ancient battles were much more bloody, by the very nature of the weapons employed in them. The ancients drew up their men 16 or 20, sometimes 64  Plin. lib. 18. cap. 3. The same author, in cap. 6. says, Verumque fatentibus latifundia perdidere Italiam; jam vero et provincias. Sex domi semissem Africæ possidebant, cum interfecit eos Nero princeps. In this view, the barbarous butchery committed by the first Roman emperors, was not, perhaps, so destructive to the public as we may imagine. These never ceased till they had extinguished all the illustrious families, which had enjoyed the plunder of the world, during the latter ages of the republic. The new nobles who arose in their place, were less splendid, as we learn from Tacit. ann. lib. 3. cap. 55. 65  The ancient soldiers, being free citizens, above the lowest rank, were all married. Our modern soldiers are either forced to live unmarried, or their marriages turn to small account towards the encrease of mankind. A circumstance which ought, perhaps, to be taken into consideration, as of some consequence in favour of the ancients.

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50 men deep, which made a narrow front; and it was not difficult to find a field, in which both armies might be marshalled, and might engage with each other. Even where any body of the troops was kept off by hedges, hillocks, woods, or hollow ways, the battle was not so soon decided between the contending parties, but that the others had time to overcome the difficulties which opposed them, and take part in the engagement. And as the whole army was thus engaged, and each man closely buckled to his antagonist, the battles were commonly very bloody, and great slaughter was made on both sides, especially on the vanquished. The long thin lines required by firearms, and the quick decision of the fray, render our modern engagements but partial rencounters, and enable the general, who is foiled in the beginning of the day, to draw off the greater part of his army, sound and entire. The battles of antiquity, both by their duration, and their resemblance to single combats, were wrought up to a degree of fury quite unknown to later ages. Nothing could then engage the combatants to give quarter, but the hopes of profit, by making slaves of their prisoners. In civil wars, as we learn from Tacitus,66 the battles were the most bloody, because the prisoners were not slaves. What a stout resistance must be made, where the vanquished expected so hard a fate! How inveterate the rage, where the maxims of war were, in every respect, so bloody and severe! Instances are frequent, in ancient history, of cities besieged, whose inhabitants, rather than open their gates, murdered their wives and children, and rushed themselves on a voluntary death, sweetened perhaps by a little prospect of revenge upon the enemy. Greeks,67 as well as Barbarians, have often been wrought up to this degree of fury. And the same determined spirit and cruelty must, in other instances, less remarkable, have been destructive to human society, in those petty commonwealths, which lived in close neighbourhood, and were engaged in perpetual wars and contentions. Sometimes the wars in Greece, says Plutarch,68 were carried on entirely by inroads, and robberies, and piracies. Such a method of war must be more destructive, in small states, than the bloodiest battles and sieges. By the laws of the twelve tables, possession during two years formed a prescription for land; one year for moveables:69 An indication, that there was not in Italy, at that time, much more order, tranquillity, and settled police, than there is at present among the Tartars. 66  Hist. lib. 2. cap. 44. 67 As Abydus, mentioned by Livy, lib. 31. cap. 17, 18, and Polyb. lib. 16. As also the Xanthians, Appian, de bell. civ. lib. 4. 68  In vita Arati.   69  Inst. lib. 2. cap. 6.

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The only cartel I remember in ancient history, is, that between Demetrius Poliorcetes and the Rhodians; when it was agreed, that a free citizen should be restored for 1000 drachmas, a slave bearing arms for 500.70 But, secondly, it appears that ancient manners were more unfavourable than the modern, not only in times of war, but also in those of peace; and that too in every respect, except the love of civil liberty and of equality, which is, I own, of considerable importance. To exclude faction from a free government, is very difficult, if not altogether impracticable; but such inveterate rage between the factions, and such bloody maxims, are found, in modern times, amongst religious parties alone. In ancient history, we may always observe, where one party prevailed, whether the nobles or people (for I can observe no difference in this respect71) that they immediately butchered all of the opposite party who fell into their hands, and banished such as had been so fortunate as to escape their fury. No form of process, no law, no trial, no pardon. A fourth, a third, perhaps near half of the city was slaughtered, or expelled, every revolution; and the exiles always joined foreign enemies, and did all the mischief possible to their fellow-citizens; till fortune put it in their power to take full revenge by a new revolution. And as these were frequent in such violent governments, the disorder, diffidence, jealousy, enmity, which must prevail, are not easy for us to imagine in this age of the world. There are only two revolutions I can recollect in ancient history, which passed without great severity, and great effusion of blood in massacres and assassinations, namely, the restoration of the Athenian Democracy by Thrasybulus, and the subduing of the Roman republic by Cæsar. We learn from ancient history, that Thrasybulus passed a general amnesty for all past offences; and first introduced that word, as well as practice, into Greece.72 It appears, however, from many orations of Lysias,73 that the chief, and even some of the subaltern offenders, in the preceding tyranny, were tried, and capitally punished. And as to Cæsar’s clemency, though much celebrated, it would not gain great applause in the present age. He butchered, for instance, all Cato’s senate, when he became master of Utica;74 and these, we may readily believe, were not the most worthless of 70  Diod. Sic. lib. 20. 71  Lysias, who was himself of the popular faction, and very narrowly escaped from the thirty tyrants, says, that the Democracy was as violent a government as the Oligarchy. orat. 24. de statu popul. 72  Cicero, Philip. I. 73 As orat. 11. contra Eratost. orat. 12. contra Agorat. orat. 15. pro Mantith. 74  Appian, de bell. civ. lib. 2.

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the party. All those who had borne arms against that usurper, were attainted; and, by Hirtius’s law, declared incapable of all public offices. These people were extremely fond of liberty; but seem not to have understood it very well. When the thirty tyrants first established their dominion at Athens, they began with seizing all the sycophants and informers, who had been so troublesome during the Democracy, and putting them to death by an arbitrary sentence and execution. Every man, says Sallust75 and Lysias,76 was rejoiced at these punishments; not considering, that liberty was from that moment annihilated. The utmost energy of the nervous style of Thucydides, and the copiousness and expression of the Greek language, seem to sink under that historian, when he attempts to describe the disorders, which arose from faction throughout all the Grecian commonwealths. You would imagine, that he still labours with a thought greater than he can find words to communicate. And he concludes his pathetic description with an observation, which is at once refined and solid. “In these contests,” says he, “those who were the dullest and most stupid, and had the least foresight, commonly prevailed. For being conscious of this weakness, and dreading to be over-reached by those of greater penetration, they went to work hastily, without premeditation, by the sword and poinard, and thereby got the start of their ­antagonists, who were forming fine schemes and projects for their destruction.”77 Not to mention Dionysius78 the elder, who is computed to have butchered in cold blood above 10,000 of his fellow-citizens; or Agathocles,79 Nabis,80 and others, still more bloody than he; the transactions, even in free governments, were extremely violent and destructive. At Athens, the thirty tyrants and the nobles, in a twelvemonth, murdered, without trial, about 1200 of the people, and banished above the half of the citizens that remained.81 In Argos, near the same time, the people killed 1200 of the nobles; and afterwards their own demagogues, because they had refused to carry their prosecutions farther.82 The people also in Corcyra killed 1500 of the nobles,

75 See Cæsar’s speech de bell. Catil. 76  Orat. 24. And in orat. 29. he mentions the factious spirit of the popular assemblies as the only cause why these illegal punishments should displease. 77 Lib. 3.   78  Plutarch. de virt. & fort. Alex. 79  Diod. Sic. lib. 18, 19.    80  Titi Livii, lib. 31, 33, 34. 81  Diod. Sic. lib. 14. Isocrates says there were only 5000 banished. He makes the number of those killed amount to 1500. Areop. Æschines contra Ctesiph. assigns precisely the same number. Seneca (de tranq. anim. cap. 5.) says 1300. 82  Diod. Sic. lib. 15.

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and banished a thousand.83 These numbers will appear the more surprizing, if we consider the extreme smallness of these states. But all ancient history is full of such instances.84 When Alexander ordered all the exiles to be restored throughout all the cities; it was found, that the whole amounted to 20,000 men;85 the remains probably of still greater slaughters and massacres. What an astonishing multitude in so narrow a country as ancient Greece! And what domestic confusion, jealousy, partiality, revenge, heart-burnings, must tear those cities, where factions were wrought up to such a degree of fury and despair! It would be easier, says Isocrates to Philip, to raise an army in Greece at present from the vagabonds than from the cities. Even when affairs came not to such extremities (which they failed not to do almost in every city twice or thrice every century) property was rendered very precarious by the maxims of ancient government. Xenophon, in the banquet of Socrates, gives us a natural unaffected description of the tyranny of the Athenian people. “In my poverty,” says Charmides, “I am much more happy than I ever was while possessed of riches; as much as it is happier to be in security than in terrors, free than a slave, to receive than to pay court, to be trusted than suspected. Formerly I was obliged to caress every informer; some imposition was continually laid upon me; and it was never allowed me to travel, or be absent from the city. At present, when I am poor 83  Diod. Sic. lib. 13. 84  We shall mention from Diodorus Siculus alone a few massacres, which passed in the course of sixty years, during the most shining age of Greece. There were banished from Sybaris 500 of the nobles and their partizans; lib. 12. page 77. ex edit. Rhodomanni. Of Chians, 600 citizens banished; lib. 13. page 189. At Ephesus, 340 killed, 1000 banished; lib. 13. page 223. Of Cyrenians, 500 nobles killed, all the rest banished; lib. 14. page 263. The Corinthians killed 120, banished 500; lib. 14. page 304. Phæbidas the Spartan banished 300 Bæotians; lib. 15. page 342. Upon the fall of the Lacedemonians, Democracies were restored in many cities, and severe vengeance taken of the nobles, after the Greek manner. But matters did not end there. For the banished nobles, returning in many places, butchered their adversaries at Phialæ, in Corinth, in Megara, in Phliasia. In this last place they killed 300 of the people; but these again revolting, killed above 600 of the nobles, and banished the rest; lib. 15. page 357. In Arcadia 1400 banished, besides many killed. The banished retired to Sparta and to Pallantium: The latter were delivered up to their countrymen, and all killed; lib. 15. page 373. Of the banished from Argos and Thebes, there were 500 in the Spartan army; id. page 374. Here is a detail of the most remarkable of Agathocles’s cruelties from the same author. The people before his usurpation had banished 600 nobles; lib. 19. page 655. Afterwards that tyrant, in concurrence with the people, killed 4000 nobles, and banished 6000; id. page 657. He killed 4000 people at Gela; id. page 741. By Agathocles’s brother 8000 banished from Syracuse; lib. 20. page 757. The inhabitants of Ægesta, to the number of 40,000, were killed, man, woman, and child; and with tortures, for the sake of their money; id. page 802. All the relations, to wit, father, brother, children, grandfather, of his Libyan army, killed; id. page 803. He killed 7000 exiles after capitulation; id. page 816. It is to be remarked, that Agathocles was a man of great sense and courage, and is not to be suspected of wanton cruelty, contrary to the maxims of his age. 85  Diod. Sic. lib. 18.

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I look big, and threaten others. The rich are afraid of me, and show me every kind of civility and respect; and I am become a kind of tyrant in the city.”86 In one of the pleadings of Lysias,87 the orator very coolly speaks of it, by the by, as a maxim of the Athenian people, that, whenever they wanted money, they put to death some of the rich citizens as well as strangers, for the sake of the forfeiture. In mentioning this, he seems not to have any intention of blaming them; still less of provoking them, who were his audience and judges. Whether a man was a citizen or a stranger among that people, it seems indeed requisite, either that he should impoverish himself, or that the ­people would impoverish him, and perhaps kill him into the bargain. The orator last mentioned gives a pleasant account of an estate laid out in the public service;88 that is, above the third of it in raree-shows and figured dances. I need not insist on the Greek tyrannies, which were altogether horrible. Even the mixed monarchies, by which most of the ancient states of Greece were governed, before the introduction of republics, were very unsettled. Scarcely any city, but Athens, says Isocrates, could show a succession of kings for four or five generations.89 Besides many other obvious reasons for the instability of ancient monarchies, the equal division of property among the brothers in private families, must, by a necessary consequence, contribute to unsettle and disturb the state. The universal preference given to the elder by modern laws, though it encreases the inequality of fortunes, has, however, this good effect, that it accustoms men to the same idea in public succession, and cuts off all claim and pretension of the younger. 86  Page 885. ex edit. Leunclav.   87  Orat. 29. in Nicom. 88  In order to recommend his client to the favour of the people, he enumerates all the sums he had expended. When χορηγὸς, 30 minas: Upon a chorus of men 20 minas; εἰς πυρριχιστὰς, 8 minas; ἀνδράσι χορηγῶν, 50 minas; κυκλικῷ χορῷ, 3 minas; Seven times trierarch, where he spent 6 talents: Taxes, once 30 minas, another time 40; γυμνασιαρχῶν, 12 minas; χορηγὸς παιδικῷ χορῷ, 15 minas; κωμῳδοῖς χορηγῶν, 18 minas; πυρριχισταῖς ἀγενείοις, 7 minas; τριήρει ἁμιλλώμενος, 15 minas; ἀρχιθέωρος, 30 minas: In the whole ten talents 38 minas. An immense sum for an Athenian fortune, and what alone would be esteemed great riches, orat. 20. It is true, he says, the law did not oblige him absolutely to be at so much expence, not above a fourth. But without the favour of the people, no body was so much as safe; and this was the only way to gain it. See farther, orat. 24. de pop. statu. In another place, he introduces a speaker, who says that he had spent his whole fortune, and an immense one, eighty talents, for the people. orat. 25. de prob. Evandri. The μέτοικοι, or strangers, find, says he, if they do not contribute largely enough to the people’s fancy, that they have reason to repent it. orat. 30. contra Phil. You may see with what care Demosthenes displays his expences of this nature, when he pleads for himself de corona; and how he exaggerates Midias’s stinginess in this particular, in his accusation of that criminal. All this, by the by, is a mark of a very iniquitous judicature: And yet the Athenians valued themselves on having the most legal and regular administration of any people in Greece. 89 Panath.

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The new settled colony of Heraclea, falling immediately into faction, applied to Sparta, who sent Heripidas with full authority to quiet their dissentions. This man, not provoked by any opposition, not enflamed by party rage, knew no better expedient than immediately putting to death about 500 of the citizens.90 A strong proof how deeply rooted these violent maxims of government were throughout all Greece. If such was the disposition of men’s minds among that refined people, what may be expected in the commonwealths of Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul, which were denominated barbarous? Why otherwise did the Greeks so much value themselves on their humanity, gentleness, and moderation, above all other nations? This reasoning seems very natural. But unluckily the history of the Roman commonwealth, in its earlier times, if we give credit to the received accounts, presents an opposite conclusion. No blood was ever shed in any sedition at Rome, till the murder of the Gracchi. Dionysius Halicarnassæus,91 observing the singular humanity of the Roman people in this particular, makes use of it as an argument that they were originally of Grecian extraction: Whence we may conclude, that the factions and revolutions in the barbarous republics were usually more violent than even those of Greece above-mentioned. If the Romans were so late in coming to blows, they made ample compensation, after they had once entered upon the bloody scene; and Appian’s history of their civil wars contains the most frightful picture of massacres, proscriptions, and forfeitures, that ever was presented to the world. What pleases most, in that historian, is, that he seems to feel a proper resentment of these barbarous proceedings; and talks not with that provoking coolness and indifference, which custom had produced in many of the Greek historians.92 The maxims of ancient politics contain, in general, so little humanity and moderation, that it seems superfluous to give any particular reason for the acts of violence committed at any particular period. Yet I cannot forbear

90  Diod. Sic. lib. 14.    91  Lib. 1. 92  The authorities cited above, are all historians, orators, and philosophers, whose testimony is unquestioned. It is dangerous to rely upon writers who deal in ridicule and satire. What will posterity, for instance, infer from this passage of Dr. Swift: “I told him, that in the kingdom of Tribnia (Britain) by the natives called Langdon (London) where I had sojourned some time in my travels, the bulk of the people consist, in a manner, wholly of discoverers, witnesses, informers, accusers, prosecutors, evidences, swearers, together with their several subservient and subaltern instruments, all under the colours, the conduct, and pay of ministers of state and their deputies. The plots in that kingdom are usually the workmanship of those persons,” &c. Gulliver’s travels. Such a representation might suit the government of Athens; not that of England, which is remarkable even in modern times, for humanity, justice, and liberty. Yet the Doctor’s satire, though carried to extremes, as is usual with him, even beyond other satirical writers, did not altogether

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observing, that the laws, in the later period of the Roman commonwealth, were so absurdly contrived, that they obliged the heads of parties to have recourse to these extremities. All capital punishments were abolished: However criminal, or, what is more, however dangerous any citizen might be, he could not regularly be punished otherwise than by banishment: And it became necessary, in the revolutions of party, to draw the sword of private vengeance; nor was it easy, when laws were once violated, to set bounds to these sanguinary proceedings. Had Brutus himself prevailed over the triumvirate, could he, in common prudence, have allowed Octavius and Anthony to live, and have contented himself with banishing them to Rhodes or Marseilles, where they might still have plotted new commotions and rebellions? His executing C. Antonius, brother to the triumvir, shows evidently his sense of the matter. Did not Cicero, with the approbation of all the wise and virtuous of Rome, arbitrarily put to death Catiline’s accomplices, contrary to law, and without any trial or form of process? And if he moderated his executions, did it not proceed, either from the clemency of his temper, or the conjunctures of the times? A wretched security in a government which pretends to laws and liberty! Thus, one extreme produces another. In the same manner as excessive severity in the laws is apt to beget great relaxation in their execution; so their excessive lenity naturally produces cruelty and barbarity. It is dangerous to force us, in any case, to pass their sacred boundaries. One general cause of the disorders, so frequent in all ancient governments, seems to have consisted in the great difficulty of establishing any Aristocracy in those ages, and the perpetual discontents and seditions of the people, whenever even the meanest and most beggarly were excluded from the legislature and from public offices. The very quality of freeman gave such a rank, being opposed to that of slave, that it seemed to entitle the possessor to every power and privilege of the commonwealth. Solon’s93 laws excluded no freeman from votes or elections, but confined some magistracies to a particular census; yet were the people never satisfied till those laws were repealed. By the treaty with Antipater,94 no Athenian was allowed a vote whose census was less than 2000 drachmas (about 60 l. Sterling). And though such a government would to us appear sufficiently democratical, it was so disagreeable to that people, that above two-thirds of them immediately want an object. The Bishop of Rochester, who was his friend, and of the same party, had been banished a little before by a bill of attainder, with great justice, but without such a proof as was legal, or according to the strict forms of common law. 93  Plutarch. in vita Solon.   94  Diod. Sic. lib. 18.

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left their country.95 Cassander reduced that census to the half;96 yet still the government was considered as an oligarchical tyranny, and the effect of foreign violence. Servius Tullius’s97 laws seem equal and reasonable, by fixing the power in proportion to the property: Yet the Roman people could never be brought quietly to submit to them. In those days there was no medium between a severe, jealous Aristocracy, ruling over discontented subjects; and a turbulent, factious, tyrannical Democracy. At present, there is not one republic in Europe, from one extremity of it to the other, that is not remarkable for justice, lenity, and stability, equal to, or even beyond Marseilles, Rhodes, or the most celebrated in antiquity. Almost all of them are well-tempered Aristocracies. But, thirdly, there are many other circumstances, in which ancient nations seem inferior to the modern, both for the happiness and encrease of mankind. Trade, manufactures, industry, were no where, in former ages, so flourishing as they are at present in Europe. The only garb of the ancients, both for males and females, seems to have been a kind of flannel, which they wore commonly white or grey, and which they scoured as often as it became dirty. Tyre, which carried on, after Carthage, the greatest commerce of any city in the Mediterranean, before it was destroyed by Alexander, was no mighty city, if we credit Arrian’s account of its inhabitants.98 Athens is commonly supposed to have been a trading city: But it was as populous before the Median war as at any time after it, according to Herodotus;99 yet its commerce, at that time, was so inconsiderable, that, as the same historian observes,100 even the neighbouring coasts of Asia were as little frequented by the Greeks as the pillars of Hercules: For beyond these he conceived nothing. Great interest of money, and great profits of trade, are an infallible indication, that industry and commerce are but in their infancy. We read in Lysias101 of 100 per cent. profit made on a cargo of two talents, sent to no greater distance than from Athens to the Adriatic: Nor is this mentioned as an instance of extraordinary profit. Antidorus, says Demosthenes,102 paid three talents and a half for a house, which he let at a talent a year: And the orator blames his own tutors for not employing his money to like advantage. My fortune, says he, in eleven years minority, ought to have been tripled. 95 Id. ibid.   96 Id. ibid.   97  Titi Livii, lib. 1. cap. 43. 98 Lib. 2. There were 8000 killed during the siege; and the captives amounted to 30,000. Diodorus Siculus, lib. 17. says only 13,000: But he accounts for this small number, by saying that the Tyrians had sent away before-hand part of their wives and children to Carthage. 99  Lib. 5. He makes the number of the citizens amount to 30,000. 100 Ibid. 8.   101  Orat. 33. advers. Diagit. 102  Contra Aphob. page 25. ex edit. Aldi.

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The value of 20 of the slaves left by his father, he computes at 40 minas, and the yearly profit of their labour at 12.103 The most moderate interest at Athens, (for there was higher104 often paid) was 12 per cent.,105 and that paid monthly. Not to insist upon the high interest to which the vast sums distributed in elections had raised money106 at Rome, we find, that Verres, before that factious period, stated 24 per cent. for money, which he left in the hands of the publicans: And though Cicero exclaims against this article, it is not on account of the extravagant usury; but because it had never been customary to state any interest on such occasions.107 Interest, indeed, sunk at Rome, after the settlement of the empire: But it never remained any considerable time so low, as in the commercial states of modern times.108 Among the other inconveniencies, which the Athenians felt from the fortifying of Decelia by the Lacedemonians, it is represented by Thucydides,109 as one of the most considerable, that they could not bring over their corn from Eubea by land, passing by Oropus; but were obliged to embark it, and to sail round the promontory of Sunium. A surprizing instance of the imperfection of ancient navigation! For the water-carriage is not here above ­double the land. I do not remember a passage in any ancient author, where the growth of a city is ascribed to the establishment of a manufacture. The commerce, which is said to flourish, is chiefly the exchange of those commodities, for which different soils and climates were suited. The sale of wine and oil into Africa, according to Diodorus Siculus,110 was the foundation of the riches of Agrigentum. The situation of the city of Sybaris, according to the same author,111 was the cause of its immense populousness; being built near the two rivers Crathys and Sybaris. But these two rivers, we may observe, are not navigable; and could only produce some fertile vallies, for agriculture and tillage; an advantage so inconsiderable, that a modern writer would scarcely have taken notice of it. The barbarity of the ancient tyrants, together with the extreme love of liberty, which animated those ages, must have banished every merchant and manufacturer, and have quite depopulated the state, had it subsisted upon industry and commerce. While the cruel and suspicious Dionysius was carrying on his butcheries, who, that was not detained by his landed property, and could have carried with him any art or skill to procure a subsistence in other countries, would have remained exposed to such implacable barbarity? 103 Id. page 19.   104 Id. ibid.   105  Id. ibid. and Æschines contra Ctesiph. 106  Epist. ad Attic. lib. 4. epist. 15.    107  Contra Verr. orat. 3.   108  See Essay 4. 109 Lib. 7.   110 Lib. 13.   111  Lib. 12.

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The persecutions of Philip II. and Louis XIV. filled all Europe with the manufacturers of Flanders and of France. I grant, that agriculture is the species of industry chiefly requisite to the subsistence of multitudes; and it is possible, that this industry may flourish, even where manufactures and other arts are unknown and neglected. Switzerland is at present a remarkable instance; where we find, at once, the most skilful husbandmen, and the most bungling tradesmen, that are to be met with in Europe. That agriculture flourished in Greece and Italy, at least in some parts of them, and at some periods, we have reason to presume; And whether the mechanical arts had reached the same degree of perfection, may not be esteemed so material; especially, if we consider the great equality of riches in the ancient republics, where each family was obliged to cultivate, with the greatest care and industry, its own little field, in order to its subsistence. But is it just reasoning, because agriculture may, in some instances, flourish without trade or manufactures, to conclude, that, in any great extent of country, and for any great tract of time, it would subsist alone? The most natural way, surely, of encouraging husbandry, is, first, to excite other kinds of industry, and thereby afford the labourer a ready market for his commodities, and a return of such goods as may contribute to his pleasure and enjoyment. This method is infallible and universal; and, as it prevails more in modern government than in the ancient, it affords a presumption of the superior populousness of the former. Every man, says Xenophon,112 may be a farmer: No art or skill is requis­ ite: All consists in industry, and in attention to the execution. A strong proof, as Columella hints, that agriculture was but little known in the age of Xenophon. All our later improvements and refinements, have they done nothing towards the easy subsistence of men, and consequently towards their propagation and encrease? Our superior skill in mechanics; the discovery of new worlds, by which commerce has been so much enlarged; the establishment of posts; and the use of bills of exchange: These seem all extremely useful to the encouragement of art, industry, and populousness. Were we to strike off these, what a check should we give to every kind of business and labour, and what multitudes of families would immediately perish from want and hunger? And it seems not probable, that we could supply the place of these new inventions by any other regulation or institution.

112 Oecon.

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Have we reason to think, that the police of ancient states was any wise comparable to that of modern, or that men had then equal security, either at home, or in their journies by land or water? I question not, but every impartial examiner would give us the preference in this particular.113 Thus, upon comparing the whole, it seems impossible to assign any just reason, why the world should have been more populous in ancient than in modern times. The equality of property among the ancients, liberty, and the small divisions of their states, were indeed circumstances favourable to the propagation of mankind: But their wars were more bloody and destructive, their governments more factious and unsettled, commerce and manufactures more feeble and languishing, and the general police more loose and irregular. These latter disadvantages seem to form a sufficient counterbalance to the former advantages; and rather favour the opposite opinion to that which commonly prevails with regard to this subject. But there is no reasoning, it may be said, against matter of fact. If it appear, that the world was then more populous than at present, we may be assured, that our conjectures are false, and that we have overlooked some material circumstance in the comparison. This I readily own: All our preceding reasonings, I acknowledge to be mere trifling, or, at least, small skirmishes and frivolous rencounters, which decide nothing. But unluckily the main combat, where we compare facts, cannot be rendered much more decisive. The facts, delivered by ancient authors, are either so uncertain or so imperfect as to afford us nothing positive in this matter. How indeed could it be otherwise? The very facts, which we must oppose to them, in computing the populousness of modern states, are far from being either certain or compleat. Many grounds of calculation, proceeded on by celebrated writers, are little better than those of the Emperor Heliogabalus, who formed an estimate of the immense greatness of Rome, from ten thousand pound weight of cobwebs which had been found in that city.114 It is to be remarked, that all kinds of numbers are uncertain in ancient manuscripts, and have been subject to much greater corruptions than any other part of the text; and that for an obvious reason. Any alteration, in other places, commonly affects the sense or grammar, and is more readily perceived by the reader and transcriber. Few enumerations of inhabitants have been made of any tract of country by any ancient author of good authority, so as to afford us a large enough view for comparison.

113  See Part 1. Essay 12.    114 Ælii Lamprid. in vita Heliogab. cap. 26.

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It is probable, that there was formerly a good foundation for the number of citizens assigned to any free city; because they entered for a share in the government, and there were exact registers kept of them. But as the number of slaves is seldom mentioned, this leaves us in as great uncertainty as ever, with regard to the populousness even of single cities. The first page of Thucydides is, in my opinion, the commencement of real history. All preceding narrations are so intermixed with fable, that philosophers ought to abandon them, in a great measure, to the embellishment of poets and orators.115 With regard to remote times, the numbers of people assigned are often ridiculous, and lose all credit and authority. The free citizens of Sybaris, able to bear arms, and actually drawn out in battle, were 300,000. They encountered at Siagra with 100,000 citizens of Crotona, another Greek city contiguous to them; and were defeated. This is Diodorus Siculus’s116 account; and is very seriously insisted on by that historian. Strabo117 also mentions the same number of Sybarites. Diodorus Siculus,118 enumerating the inhabitants of Agrigentum, when it was destroyed by the Carthaginians, says, that they amounted to 20,000 citizens, 200,000 strangers, besides slaves, who, in so opulent a city as he represents it, would probably be, at least, as numerous. We must remark, that the women and the children are not included; and that therefore, upon the whole, this city must have contained near two millions of inhabitants.119 And what was the reason of so immense an encrease? They were industrious in cultivating the neighbouring fields, not exceeding a small English county; and they traded with their wine and oil to Africa, which, at that time, produced none of these commodities. Ptolemy, says Theocritus,120 commands 33,339 cities. I suppose the singularity of the number was the reason of assigning it. Diodorus Siculus121 assigns three millions of inhabitants to Egypt, a small number: But then he makes the number of cities amount to 18,000: An evident contradiction. 115  In general, there is more candour and sincerity in ancient historians, but less exactness and care, than in the moderns. Our speculative factions, especially those of religion, throw such an illusion over our minds, that men seem to regard impartiality to their adversaries and to heretics, as a vice or weakness: But the commonness of books, by means of printing, has obliged modern historians to be more careful in avoiding contradictions and incongruities. Diodorus Siculus is a good writer, but it is with pain I see his narration contradict, in so many particulars, the two most authentic pieces of all Greek history, to wit, Xenophon’s expedition, and Demosthenes’s orations. Plutarch and Appian seem scarce ever to have read Cicero’s epistles. 116 Lib. 12.   117 Lib. 6.   118  Lib. 13. 119  Diogenes Lærtius (in vita Empedoclis) says, that Agrigentum contained only 800,000 inhabitants. 120 Idyll. 17.   121  Lib. 1.

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He says,122 the people were formerly seven millions. Thus remote times are always most envied and admired. That Xerxes’s army was extremely numerous, I can readily believe; both from the great extent of his empire, and from the practice among the eastern nations, of encumbering their camp with a superfluous multitude: But will any rational man cite Herodotus’s wonderful narrations as an authority? There is something very rational, I own, in Lysias’s123 argument upon this subject. Had not Xerxes’s army been incredibly numerous, says he, he had never made a bridge over the Hellespont: It had been much easier to have transported his men over so short a passage, with the numerous shipping of which he was master. Polybius124 says, that the Romans, between the first and second Punic wars, being threatened with an invasion from the Gauls, mustered all their own forces, and those of their allies, and found them amount to seven hundred thousand men able to bear arms: A great number surely, and which, when joined to the slaves, is probably not less, if not rather more than that extent of country affords at present.125 The enumeration too seems to have been made with some exactness; and Polybius gives us the detail of the particulars. But might not the number be magnified, in order to encourage the people? Diodorus Siculus126 makes the same enumeration amount to near a million. These variations are suspicious. He plainly too supposes, that Italy in his time was not so populous: Another suspicious circumstance. For who can believe, that the inhabitants of that country diminished from the time of the first Punic war to that of the triumvirates? Julius Cæsar, according to Appian,127 encountered four millions of Gauls, killed one million, and made another million prisoners.128 Supposing the number of the enemy’s army and that of the slain could be exactly assigned, which never is possible; how could it be known how often the same man returned into the armies, or how distinguish the new from the old levied soldiers? No attention ought ever to be given to such loose, exaggerated calculations; especially where the author does not tell us the mediums, upon which the calculations were founded.

122 Id. ibid.   123  Orat. funebris.   124  Lib. 2. 125 The country that supplied this number, was not above a third of Italy, viz. the Pope’s dominions, Tuscany, and a part of the kingdom of Naples: But perhaps in those early times there were very few slaves, except in Rome, or the great cities. 126 Lib. 2.   127  Celtica. 128  Plutarch (in vita Cæs.) makes the number that Cæsar fought with amount to three millions; Julian (in Cæsaribus) to two.

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Paterculus129 makes the number of Gauls killed by Cæsar amount only to 400,000: A more probable account, and more easily reconciled to the history of these wars given by that conqueror himself in his Commentaries.130 The most bloody of his battles were fought against the Helvetii and the Germans. One would imagine, that every circumstance of the life and actions of Dionysius the elder might be regarded as authentic, and free from all fabulous exaggeration; both because he lived at a time when letters flourished most in Greece, and because his chief historian was Philistus, a man allowed to be of great genius, and who was a courtier and minister of that prince. But can we admit, that he had a standing army of 100,000 foot, 10,000 horse, and a fleet of 400 gallies?131 These, we may observe, were mercenary forces, and subsisted upon pay, like our armies in Europe. For the citizens were all disarmed; and when Dion afterwards invaded Sicily, and called on his countrymen to vindicate their liberty, he was obliged to bring arms along with him, which he distributed among those who joined him.132 In a state where agriculture alone flourishes, there may be many inhabitants; and if these be all armed and disciplined, a great force may be called out upon occasion: But great bodies of mercenary troops can never be maintained, without either great trade and numerous manufactures, or extensive dominions. The United Provinces never were masters of such a force by sea and land, as that which is said to belong to Dionysius; yet they possess as large a territory, perfectly well cultivated, and have much more resources from their commerce and industry. Diodorus Siculus allows, that, even in his time, the army of Dionysius appeared incredible; that is, as I interpret it, was entirely a fiction, and the opinion arose from the exaggerated flattery of the courtiers, and perhaps from the vanity and policy of the tyrant himself. It is a usual fallacy, to consider all the ages of antiquity as one period, and to compute the numbers contained in the great cities mentioned by ancient authors, as if these cities had been all cotemporary. The Greek colonies flourished extremely in Sicily during the age of Alexander: But in Augustus’s time they were so decayed, that almost all the produce of that fertile island was consumed in Italy.133 129  Lib. 2. cap. 47. 130  Pliny, lib. 7. cap. 25. says, that Cæsar used to boast, that there had fallen in battle against him one million one hundred and ninety-two thousand men, besides those who perished in the civil wars. It is not probable, that that conqueror could ever pretend to be so exact in his computation. But allowing the fact, it is likely, that the Helvetii, Germans, and Britons, whom he slaughtered, would amount to near a half of the number. 131  Diod. Sic. lib. 2.    132  Plutarch. in vita Dionis.   133  Strabo, lib. 6.

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Let us now examine the numbers of inhabitants assigned to particular cities in antiquity; and omitting the numbers of Nineveh, Babylon, and the Egyptian Thebes, let us confine ourselves to the sphere of real history, to the Grecian and Roman states. I must own, the more I consider this subject, the more am I inclined to scepticism, with regard to the great populousness ascribed to ancient times. Athens is said by Plato134 to be a very great city; and it was surely the greatest of all the Greek135 cities, except Syracuse, which was nearly about the same size in Thucydides’s136 time, and afterwards encreased beyond it. For Cicero137 mentions it as the greatest of all the Greek cities in his time; not comprehending, I suppose, either Antioch or Alexandria under that denomination. Athenæus138 says, that, by the enumeration of Demetrius Phalereus, there were in Athens 21,000 citizens, 10,000 strangers, and 400,000 slaves. This number is much insisted on by those whose opinion I  call in question, and is esteemed a fundamental fact to their purpose: But, in my opinion, there is no point of criticism more certain, than that Athenæus, and Ctesicles, whom he quotes, are here mistaken, and that the number of slaves is, at least, augmented by a whole cypher, and ought not to be regarded as more than 40,000. First, When the number of citizens is said to be 21,000 by Athenæus,139 men of full age are only understood. For, (1.) Herodotus says,140 that Aristagoras, ambassador from the Ionians, found it harder to deceive one Spartan than 30,000 Athenians; meaning, in a loose way, the whole state, supposed to be met in one popular assembly, excluding the women and children. (2.) Thucydides141 says, that, making allowance for all the absentees in the fleet, army, garrisons, and for people employed in their private affairs, the Athenian assembly never rose to five thousand. (3.) The forces, enumerated by the same historian,142 being all citizens, and amounting to 13,000 heavy-armed infantry, prove the same method of calculation; as also the whole tenor of the Greek historians, who always understand men of full age, when they assign the number of citizens in any republic. Now, these being but the fourth of the inhabitants, the free Athenians were by this account 134 Apolog. Socr. 135  Argos seems also to have been a great city: For Lysias contents himself with saying that it did not exceed Athens. orat. 34. 136  Lib. 6. See also Plutarch. in vita Niciæ. 137  Orat. contra Verrem, lib. 4. cap. 52. Strabo, lib. 6. says, it was twenty-two miles in compass. But then we are to consider, that it contained two harbours within it; one of which was a very large one, and might be regarded as a kind of bay. 138  Lib. 6. cap. 20.    139  Demosthenes assigns 20,000; contra Aristog. 140 Lib. 5.   141  Lib. 8. 142  Lib. 2. Diodorus Siculus’s account perfectly agrees, lib. 12.

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84,000; the strangers 40,000; and the slaves, calculating by the smaller number, and allowing that they married and propagated at the same rate with freemen, were 160,000; and the whole of the inhabitants 284,000: A number surely large enough. The other number, 1,720,000, makes Athens larger than London and Paris united. Secondly, There were but 10,000 houses in Athens.143 Thirdly, Though the extent of the walls, as given us by Thucydides,144 be great, (to wit, eighteen miles, beside the sea-coast): Yet Xenophon145 says, there was much waste ground within the walls. They seem indeed to have joined four distinct and separate cities.146 Fourthly, No insurrection of the slaves, or suspicion of insurrection, is ever mentioned by historians; except one commotion of the miners.147 Fifthly, The treatment of slaves by the Athenians is said by Xenophon,148 and Demosthenes,149 and Plautus,150 to have been extremely gentle and indulgent: Which could never have been the case, had the disproportion been twenty to one. The disproportion is not so great in any of our colonies; yet are we obliged to exercise a rigorous military government over the Negroes. Sixthly, No man is ever esteemed rich for possessing what may be reckoned an equal distribution of property in any country, or even triple or quadruple that wealth. Thus every person in England is computed by some to spend sixpence a-day: Yet is he esteemed but poor who has five times that sum. Now Timarchus is said by Æschines151 to have been left in easy circumstances; but he was master only of ten slaves employed in manufactures. Lysias and his brother, two strangers, were proscribed by the thirty for their great riches; though they had but sixty a-piece.152 Demosthenes was left very rich by his father; yet he had no more than fifty-two slaves.153 His workhouse, of twenty cabinet-makers, is said to be a very considerable manufactory.154 Seventhly, During the Decelian war, as the Greek historians call it, 20,000 slaves deserted, and brought the Athenians to great distress, as we 143  Xenophon. Mem. lib. 3.    144 Lib. 2.   145  De ratione redituum. 146  We are to observe, that when Dionysius Halicarnassæus says, that if we regard the ancient walls of Rome, the extent of that city will not appear greater than that of Athens; he must mean the Acropolis and high town only. No ancient author ever speaks of the Pyræum, Phalerus, and Munychia, as the same with Athens. Much less can it be supposed, that Dionysius would consider the matter in that light, after the walls of Cimon and Pericles were destroyed, and Athens was entirely separated from these other towns. This observation destroys all Vossius’s reasonings, and introduces common sense into these calculations. 147  Athen. lib. 6.    148  De rep. Athen.   149  Philip. 3.   150  Sticho. 151  Contra Timarch.   152  Orat. 11.   153  Contra Aphob.   154 Ibid.

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learn from Thucydides.155 This could not have happened, had they been only the twentieth part. The best slaves would not desert. Eighthly, Xenophon156 proposes a scheme for maintaining by the public 10,000 slaves: And that so great a number may possibly be supported, any one will be convinced, says he, who considers the numbers we possessed before the Decelian war. A way of speaking altogether incompatible with the larger number of Athenæus. Ninthly, The whole census of the state of Athens was less than 6000 talents. And though numbers in ancient manuscripts be often suspected by critics, yet this is unexceptionable; both because Demosthenes,157 who gives it, gives also the detail, which checks him; and because Polybius158 assigns the same number, and reasons upon it. Now, the most vulgar slave could yield by his labour an obolus a day, over and above his maintenance, as we learn from Xenophon,159 who says, that Nicias’s overseer paid his master so much for slaves, whom he employed in mines. If you will take the pains to estimate an obolus a day, and the slaves at 400,000, computing only at four years purchase, you will find the sum above 12,000 talents; even though allowance be made for the great number of holidays in Athens. Besides, many of the slaves would have a much greater value from their art. The lowest that Demosthenes estimates any of his160 father’s slaves is two minas a head. And upon this supposition, it is a little difficult, I confess, to reconcile even the number of 40,000 slaves with the census of 6000 talents. Tenthly, Chios is said by Thucydides,161 to contain more slaves than any Greek city, except Sparta. Sparta then had more than Athens, in proportion to the number of citizens. The Spartans were 9000 in the town, 30,000 in the country.162 The male slaves, therefore, of full age, must have been more than 780,000; the whole more than 3,120,000. A number impossible to be maintained in a narrow barren country, such as Laconia, which had no trade. Had the Helotes been so very numerous, the murder of 2000 mentioned by Thucydides,163 would have irritated them, without weakening them. Besides, we are to consider, that the number assigned by Athenæus,164 whatever it is, comprehends all the inhabitants of Attica, as well as those of Athens. The Athenians affected much a country life, as we learn from 155 Lib. 7.   156  De ratione redituum.    157  De classibus.   158  Lib. 2. cap. 62. 159  De ratione redituum.    160  Contra Aphob.   161  Lib. 8. 162  Plutarch. in vita Lycurg.   163  Lib. 4. 164  The same author affirms, that Corinth had once 460,000 slaves, Ægina 470,000. But the foregoing arguments hold stronger against these facts, which are indeed entirely absurd and impossible. It is however remarkable, that Athenæus cites so great an authority as Aristotle for this last fact: And the scholiast on Pindar mentions the same number of slaves in Ægina.

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Thucydides;165 and when they were all chased into town, by the invasion of their territory during the Peloponnesian war, the city was not able to contain them; and they were obliged to lie in the porticoes, temples, and even streets, for want of lodging.166 The same remark is to be extended to all the other Greek cities; and when the number of citizens is assigned, we must always understand it to comprehend the inhabitants of the neighbouring country, as well as of the city. Yet, even with this allowance, it must be confessed, that Greece was a populous country, and exceeded what we could imagine concerning so narrow a territory, naturally not very fertile, and which drew no supplies of corn from other places. For, excepting Athens, which traded to Pontus for that commodity, the other cities seem to have subsisted chiefly from their neighbouring territory.167 Rhodes is well known to have been a city of extensive commerce, and of great fame and splendour; yet it contained only 6000 citizens able to bear arms, when it was besieged by Demetrius.168 Thebes was always one of the capital cities of Greece:169 But the number of its citizens exceeded not those of Rhodes.170 Phliasia is said to be a small

165 Lib. 2.   166  Thucyd. lib. 2. 167  Demost. contra Lept. The Athenians brought yearly from Pontus 400,000 medimni or bushels of corn, as appeared from the custom-house books. And this was the greater part of their importation of corn. This by the by is a strong proof that there is some great mistake in the foregoing passage of Athenæus. For Attica itself was so barren of corn, that it produced not enough even to maintain the peasants. Titi Livii, lib. 43. cap. 6. And 400,000 medimni would scarcely feed 100,000 men during a twelvemonth. Lucian, in his navigium sive vota, says, that a ship, which, by the dimensions he gives, seems to have been about the size of our third rates, carried as much corn as would maintain all Attica for a twelvemonth. But perhaps Athens was decayed at that time; and besides, it is not safe to trust to such loose rhetorical calculations. 168  Diod. Sic. lib. 20.    169  Isocr. paneg. 170  Diod. Sic. lib. 17. When Alexander attacked Thebes, we may safely conclude, that almost all the inhabitants were present. Whoever is acquainted with the spirit of the Greeks, especially of the Thebans, will never suspect, that any of them would desert their country, when it was reduced to such extreme peril and distress. As Alexander took the town by storm, all those who bore arms were put to the sword without mercy; and they amounted only to 6000 men. Among these were some strangers and manumitted slaves. The captives, consisting of old men, women, children, and slaves, were sold, and they amounted to 30,000. We may therefore conclude that the free citizens in Thebes, of both sexes and all ages, were near 24,000; the strangers and slaves about 12,000. These last, we may observe, were somewhat fewer in proportion than at Athens; as is reasonable to imagine from this circumstance, that Athens was a town of more trade to support slaves, and of more entertainment to allure strangers. It is also to be remarked, that thirty-six thousand was the whole number of people, both in the city of Thebes, and the neighbouring territory: A very moderate number, it must be confessed; and this computation, being founded on facts which appear indisputable, must have great weight in the present controversy. The above-mentioned number of Rhodians too were all the inhabitants of the island, who were free, and able to bear arms.

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city by Xenophon,171 yet we find, that it contained 6000 citizens.172 I pretend not to reconcile these two facts. Perhaps, Xenophon calls Phliasia a small town, because it made but a small figure in Greece, and maintained only a subordinate alliance with Sparta; or perhaps the country, belonging to it, was extensive, and most of the citizens were employed in the cultivation of it, and dwelt in the neighbouring villages. Mantinea was equal to any city in Arcadia:173 Consequently it was equal to Megalopolis, which was fifty stadia, or six miles and a quarter in circumference.174 But Mantinea had only 3000 citizens.175 The Greek cities, therefore, contained often fields and gardens, together with the houses; and we cannot judge of them by the extent of their walls. Athens contained no more than 10,000 houses; yet its walls, with the sea-coast, were above twenty miles in extent. Syracuse was twenty-two miles in circumference; yet was scarcely ever spoken of by the ancients as more populous than Athens. Babylon was a square of fifteen miles, or sixty miles in circuit; but it contained large cultivated fields and inclosures, as we learn from Pliny. Though Aurelian’s wall was fifty miles in circumference;176 the circuit of all the thirteen divisions of Rome, taken apart, according to Publius Victor, was only about forty-three miles. When an enemy invaded the country, all the inhabitants retired within the walls of the ancient cities, with their cattle and furniture, and instruments of husbandry; and the great height, to which the walls were raised, enabled a small number to defend them with facility. Sparta, says Xenophon,177 is one of the cities of Greece that has the fewest inhabitants. Yet Polybius178 says, that it was forty-eight stadia in circumference, and was round. All the Ætolians able to bear arms in Antipater’s time, deducting some few garrisons, were but ten thousand men.179 Polybius180 tells us, that the Achæan league might, without any inconvenience, march 30 or 40,000 men: And this account seems probable: For that league comprehended the greater part of Peloponnesus. Yet Pausanias,181 speaking of the same period, says, that all the Achæans able to bear arms, even when several manumitted slaves were joined to them, did not amount to fifteen thousand.

171 Hist. Græc. lib. 7.    172  Id. lib. 5.    173  Polyb. lib. 2.    174  Polyb. lib. 9. cap. 20. 175  Lysias, orat. 34.   176  Vopiscus, in vita Aurel. 177  De rep. Laced. This passage is not easily reconciled with that of Plutarch above, who says, that Sparta had 9000 citizens. 178  Polyb. lib. 9. cap. 20.    179  Diod. Sic. lib. 18.    180  Legat.   181 In Achaicis.

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The Thessalians, till their final conquest by the Romans, were, in all ages, turbulent, factious, seditious, disorderly.182 It is not therefore natural to suppose, that this part of Greece abounded much in people. We are told by Thucydides,183 that the part of Peloponnesus, adjoining to Pylos, was desert and uncultivated. Herodotus says,184 that Macedonia was full of lions and wild bulls; animals which can only inhabit vast unpeopled forests. These were the two extremities of Greece. All the inhabitants of Epirus, of all ages, sexes and conditions, who were sold by Paulus Æmilius, amounted only to 150,000.185 Yet Epirus might be double the extent of Yorkshire. Justin186 tells us, that, when Philip of Macedon was declared head of the Greek confederacy, he called a congress of all the states, except the Lacedemonians, who refused to concur; and he found the force of the whole, upon computation, to amount to 200,000 infantry, and 15,000 cavalry. This must be understood to be all the citizens capable of bearing arms. For as the Greek republics maintained no mercenary forces, and had no militia distinct from the whole body of the citizens, it is not conceivable what other medium there could be of computation. That such an army could ever, by Greece, be brought into the field, and be maintained there, is contrary to all history. Upon this supposition, therefore, we may thus reason. The free Greeks of all ages and sexes were 860,000. The slaves, estimating them by the number of Athenian slaves as above, who seldom married or had families, were double the male citizens of full age, to wit, 430,000. And all the inhabitants of ancient Greece, excepting Laconia, were about one million two hundred and ninety thousand: No mighty number, nor exceeding what may be found at present in Scotland, a country of not much greater extent, and very indifferently peopled. We may now consider the numbers of people in Rome and Italy, and collect all the lights afforded us by scattered passages in ancient authors. We shall find, upon the whole, a great difficulty, in fixing any opinion on that head; and no reason to support those exaggerated calculations, so much insisted on by modern writers. Dionysius Halicarnassæus187 says, that the ancient walls of Rome were nearly of the same compass with those of Athens, but that the suburbs ran out to a great extent; and it was difficult to tell, where the town ended or the coun­try be­gan. In some places of Rome, it appears, from the same author,188 from Juvenal,189 182  Titi Livii, lib. 34. cap. 51. Plato, in Critone.   183  Lib. 4.   184  Lib. 7. 185  Titi Livii, lib. 45. cap. 34.    186  Lib. 9. cap. 5.    187  Lib. 4.   188  Lib. 10. 189  Sat. 3. l. 269, 270.

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and from other ancient writers,190 that the houses were high, and families lived in separate storeys, one above another: But it is probable, that these were only the poorer citizens, and only in some few streets. If we may judge from the younger Pliny’s191 account of his own house, and from Bartoli’s plans of ancient buildings, the men of quality had very spacious palaces; and their buildings were like the Chinese houses at this day, where each apartment is separated from the rest, and rises no higher than a single storey. To which if we add, that the Roman nobility much affected extensive porticoes, and even woods192 in town; we may perhaps allow Vossius (though there is no manner of reason for it) to read the famous passage of the elder Pliny193 190  Strabo, lib. 5. says, that the Emperor Augustus prohibited the raising houses higher than seventy feet. In another passage, lib. 16. he speaks of the houses of Rome as remarkably high. See also to the same purpose Vitruvius, lib. 2. cap. 8. Aristides the sophist, in his oration Εἰς Ῥώμην, says, that Rome consisted of cities on the top of cities; and that if one were to spread it out, and unfold it, it would cover the whole surface of Italy. Where an author indulges himself in such extravagant declamations, and gives so much into the hyperbolical style, one knows not how far he must be reduced. But this reasoning seems natural: If Rome was built in so scattered a manner as Dionysius says, and ran so much into the country, there must have been very few streets where the houses were raised so high. It is only for want of room, that any body builds in that inconvenient manner. 191  Lib. 2. epist. 17. lib. 5. epist. 6. It is true, Pliny there describes a country-house: But since that was the idea which the ancients formed of a magnificent and convenient building, the great men would certainly build the same way in town. “In laxitatem ruris excurrunt,” says Seneca of the rich and voluptuous, epist. 114. Valerius Maximus, lib. 4. cap. 4. speaking of Cincinnatus’s field of four acres, says, “Anguste se habitare nunc putat, cujus domus tantum patet quantum Cincinnati rura patuerant.” To the same purpose see lib. 36. cap. 15. also lib. 18. cap. 2. 192  Vitruv. lib. 5. cap. 11. Tacit. ann. lib. 11. cap. 3. Sueton. in vita Octav. cap. 72. &c. 193 “Moenia ejus (Romæ) collegere ambitu imperatoribus, censoribusque Vespasianis, A.U.C. 828. pass. xiii. MCC. complexa montes septem, ipsa dividitur in regiones quatuordecim, compita earum 265. Ejusdem spatii mensura, currente a milliario in capite Rom. Fori statuto, ad singulas portas, quæ sunt hodie numero 37, ita ut duodecim portæ semel numerentur, prætereanturque ex veteribus septem, quæ esse desierunt, efficit passuum per directum 30,775. Ad extrema vero tectorum cum castris prætoriis ab eodem Milliario, per vicos omnium viarum, mensura collegit paulo amplius septuaginta millia passuum. Quo si quis altitudinem tectorum addat, dignam profecto, æstimationem concipiat, fateaturque nullius urbis magnitudinem in toto orbe potuisse ei comparari.” Plin. lib. 3. cap. 5.   All the best manuscripts of Pliny read the passage as here cited, and fix the compass of the walls of Rome to be thirteen miles. The question is, What Pliny means by 30,775 paces, and how that number was formed? The manner in which I conceive it, is this. Rome was a semicircular area of thirteen miles circumference. The Forum, and consequently the Milliarium, we know, was situated on the banks of the Tyber, and near the center of the circle, or upon the diameter of the semicircular area. Though there were thirty-seven gates to Rome, yet only twelve of them had straight streets, leading from them to the Milliarium. Pliny, therefore, having assigned the circumference of Rome, and knowing that that alone was not sufficient to give us a just notion of its surface, uses this farther method. He supposes all the streets, leading from the Milliarium to the twelve gates, to be laid together into one straight line, and supposes we run along that line, so as to count each gate once: In which case, he says, that the whole line is 30,775 paces: Or, in other words, that each street or radius of the semicircular area is upon an average two miles and a half; and the whole length of Rome is five miles, and its breadth about half as much, besides the scattered suburbs.

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his own way, without admitting the extravagant consequences which he draws from it. The number of citizens who received corn by the public distribution in the time of Augustus, were two hundred thousand.194 This one would esteem a pretty certain ground of calculation: Yet is it attended with such circumstances as throw us back into doubt and uncertainty. Did the poorer citizens only receive the distribution? It was calculated, to be sure, chiefly for their benefit. But it appears from a passage in Cicero195 that the rich might also take their portion, and that it was esteemed no reproach in them to apply for it.   Pere Hardouin understands this passage in the same manner; with regard to the laying together the several streets of Rome into one line, in order to compose 30,775 paces: But then he supposes, that streets led from the Milliarium to every gate, and that no street exceeded 800 paces in length. But (1.) a semicircular area, whose radius was only 800 paces, could never have a circumference near thirteen miles, the compass of Rome as assigned by Pliny. A radius of two miles and a half forms very nearly that circumference. (2.) There is an absurdity in supposing a city so built as to have streets running to its center from every gate in its circumference. These streets must interfere as they approach. (3.) This diminishes too much from the greatness of ancient Rome, and reduces that city below even Bristol or Rotterdam.   The sense which Vossius in his Observationes variæ, puts on this passage of Pliny, errs widely in the other extreme. One manuscript of no authority, instead of thirteen miles, has assigned thirty miles for the compass of the walls of Rome. And Vossius understands this only of the curvilinear part of the circumference; supposing, that as the Tyber formed the diameter, there were no walls built on that side. But (1.) this reading is allowed to be contrary to almost all the manuscripts. (2.) Why should Pliny, a concise writer, repeat the compass of the walls of Rome in two successive sentences? (3.) Why repeat it with so sensible a variation? (4.) What is the meaning of Pliny’s mentioning twice the Milliarium, if a line was measured that had no dependence on the Milliarium? (5.) Aurelian’s wall is said by Vopiscus to have been drawn laxiore ambitu, and to have comprehended all the buildings and suburbs on the north side of the Tyber; yet its compass was only fifty miles; and even here critics suspect some mistake or corruption in the text; since the walls, which remain, and which are supposed to be the same with Aurelian’s, exceed not twelve miles. It is not probable, that Rome would diminish from Augustus to Aurelian. It remained still the capital of the same empire; and none of the civil wars in that long period, except the tumults on the death of Maximus and Balbinus, ever affected the city. Caracalla is said by Aurelius Victor to have encreased Rome. (6.) There are no remains of ancient buildings, which mark any such greatness of Rome. Vossius’s reply to this objection seems absurd. That the rubbish would sink sixty or seventy feet under ground. It appears from Spartian (in vita Severi) that the five-mile stone in via Lavicana was out of the city. (7.) Olympiodorus and Publius Victor fix the number of houses in Rome to be betwixt forty and fifty thousand. (8.) The very extravagance of the consequences drawn by this critic, as well as Lipsius, if they be necessary, destroys the foundation on which they are grounded: That Rome contained fourteen millions of inhabitants; while the whole kingdom of France contains only five, according to his computation, &c.   The only objection to the sense which we have affixed above to the passage of Pliny, seems to lie in this, That Pliny, after mentioning the thirty-seven gates of Rome, assigns only a reason for suppressing the seven old ones, and says nothing of the eighteen gates, the streets leading from which terminated, according to my opinion, before they reached the Forum. But as Pliny was writing to the Romans, who perfectly knew the disposition of the streets, it is not strange he should take a circumstance for granted, which was so familiar to every body. Perhaps too, many of these gates led to wharfs upon the river. 194  Ex monument. Ancyr.   195  Tusc. quæst. lib. 3. cap. 48.

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To whom was the corn given; whether only to heads of families, or to every man, woman, and child? The portion every month was five modii to each,196 (about 5⁄6 of a bushel). This was too little for a family, and too much for an individual. A very accurate antiquary,197 therefore, infers, that it was given to every man of full age: But he allows the matter to be uncertain. Was it strictly enquired, whether the claimant lived within the precincts of Rome; or was it sufficient, that he presented himself at the monthly distribution? This last seems more probable.198 Were there no false claimants? We are told,199 that Cæsar struck off at once 170,000, who had creeped in without a just title; and it is very little probable, that he remedied all abuses. But, lastly, what proportion of slaves must we assign to these citizens? This is the most material question; and the most uncertain. It is very doubtful, whether Athens can be established as a rule for Rome. Perhaps the Athenians had more slaves, because they employed them in manufactures, for which a capital city, like Rome, seems not so proper. Perhaps, on the other hand, the Romans had more slaves, on account of their superior luxury and riches. There were exact bills of mortality kept at Rome; but no ancient author has given us the number of burials, except Suetonius,200 who tells us, that in one season, there were 30,000 names carried to the temple of Libitina: But this was during a plague; which can afford no certain foundation for any inference. The public corn, though distributed only to 200,000 citizens, affected very considerably the whole agriculture of Italy:201 A fact no wise reconcilable to some modern exaggerations with regard to the inhabitants of that country. The best ground of conjecture I can find concerning the greatness of ancient Rome, is this: We are told by Herodian,202 that Antioch and Alexandria were very little inferior to Rome. It appears from Diodorus Siculus,203 that one straight street of Alexandria reaching from gate to

196  Licinius apud Sallust. hist. frag. lib. 3. 197  Nicolaus Hortensius de re frumentaria Roman. 198  Not to take the people too much from their business, Augustus ordained the distribution of corn to be made only thrice a-year: But the people finding the monthly distributions more convenient, (as preserving, I suppose, a more regular œconomy in their family) desired to have them restored. Sueton. August. cap. 40. Had not some of the people come from some distance for their corn, Augustus’s precaution seems superfluous. 199  Sueton. in Jul. cap. 41.    200  In vita Neronis.   201  Sueton. August. cap. 42. 202  Lib. 4. cap. 5.    203  Lib. 17.

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gate, was five miles long; and as Alexandria was much more extended in length than breadth, it seems to have been a city nearly of the bulk of Paris;204 and Rome might be about the size of London. There lived in Alexandria, in Diodorus Siculus’s time,205 300,000 free people, comprehending, I suppose, women and children.206 But what number of slaves? Had we any just ground to fix these at an equal number with the free inhabitants, it would favour the foregoing computation. There is a passage in Herodian, which is a little surprizing. He says ­positively, that the palace of the Emperor was as large as all the rest of the city.207 This was Nero’s golden house, which is indeed represented by Suetonius208

204  Quintus Curtius says, its walls were ten miles in circumference, when founded by Alexander; lib. 4. cap. 8. Strabo, who had travelled to Alexandria, as well as Diodorus Siculus, says it was scarce four miles long, and in most places about a mile broad; lib. 17. Pliny says it resembled a Macedonian cassock, stretching out in the corners; lib. 5. cap. 10. Notwithstanding this bulk of Alexandria, which seems but moderate, Diodorus Siculus, speaking of its circuit as drawn by Alexander, (which it never exceeded, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. 22. cap. 16.) says it was μεγέθει διαφέροντα, extremely great, ibid. The reason which he assigns for its surpassing all cities in the world (for he excepts not Rome) is, that it contained 300,000 free inhabitants. He also mentions the revenues of the kings, to wit, 6000 talents, as another circumstance to the same purpose: No such mighty sum in our eyes, even though we make allowance for the different value of money. What Strabo says of the neighbouring country, means only that it was well peopled, οικούμενα καλῶς. Might not one affirm, without any great hyperbole, that the whole banks of the river from Gravesend to Windsor are one city? This is even more than Strabo says of the banks of the lake Mareotis, and of the canal to Canopus. It is a vulgar saying in Italy, that the king of Sardinia has but one town in Piedmont; for it is all a town. Agrippa in Josephus, de bello Judaic. lib. 2. cap. 16. to make his audience comprehend the excessive greatness of Alexandria, which he endeavours to magnify, describes only the compass of the city as drawn by Alexander: A clear proof that the bulk of the inhabitants were lodged there, and that the neighbouring country was no more than what might be expected about all great towns, very well cultivated, and well peopled. 205  Lib. 17. 206  He says ἐλεύθεροι, not πολῖται, which last expression must have been understood of citizens alone, and grown men. 207  Lib. 4. cap. 1. πάσης πόλεως. Politian interprets it “ædibus majoribus etiam reliqua urbe.” 208  He says (in Nerone, cap. 31.) that a portico or piazza of it was 3000 feet long; “tanta laxitas ut porticus triplices milliarias haberet.” He cannot mean three miles. For the whole extent of the house from the Palatine to the Esquiline was not near so great. So when Vopisc. in Aureliano mentions a portico in Sallust’s gardens, which he calls porticus milliarensis, it must be understood of a thousand feet. So also Horace:

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“Nulla decempedis Metata privatis opacam Porticus excipiebat Arcton.” lib. 2. ode 15. So also in lib. 1. sat. 8. “Mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum Hic dabat.”

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and Pliny as of an enormous extent;209 but no power of imagination can make us conceive it to bear any proportion to such a city as London. We may observe, had the historian been relating Nero’s extravagance, and had he made use of such an expression, it would have had much less weight; these rhetorical exaggerations being so apt to creep into an author’s style, even when the most chaste and correct. But it is mentioned by Herodian only by the by, in relating the quarrels between Geta and Caracalla. It appears from the same historian,210 that there was then much land uncultivated, and put to no manner of use; and he ascribes it as a great praise to Pertinax, that he allowed every one to take such land either in Italy or elsewhere, and cultivate it as he pleased, without paying any taxes. Lands uncultivated, and put to no manner of use! This is not heard of in any part of Christendom; except in some remote parts of Hungary; as I have been informed. And it surely corresponds very ill with that idea of the extreme populousness of antiquity, so much insisted on. We learn from Vopiscus,211 that there was even in Etruria much fertile land uncultivated, which the Emperor Aurelian intended to convert into vineyards, in order to furnish the Roman people with a gratuitous distribution of wine; a very proper expedient for depopulating still farther that capital and all the neighbouring territories. It may not be amiss to take notice of the account which Polybius212 gives of the great herds of swine to be met with in Tuscany and Lombardy, as well as in Greece, and of the method of feeding them which was then practiced. “There are great herds of swine,” says he, “throughout all Italy, particularly in former times, through Etruria and Cisalpine Gaul. And a herd frequently consists of a thousand or more swine. When one of these herds in feeding meets with another, they mix together; and the swine-herds have no other expedient for separating them than to go to different quarters, where they sound their horn; and these animals, being accustomed to that signal, run immediately each to the horn of his own keeper. Whereas in Greece, if the herds of swine happen to mix in the forests, he who has the greater flock, takes cunningly the opportunity of driving all away. And thieves are very apt to purloin the straggling hogs, which have wandered to a great distance from their keeper in search of food.”

209  Plin. lib. 36. cap. 15. “Bis vidimus urbem totam cingi domibus principum, Caii ac Neronis.” 210  Lib. 2. cap. 15.    211 In Aurelian. cap. 48.    212  Lib. 12. cap. 2.

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May we not infer from this account, that the north of Italy, as well as Greece, was then much less peopled, and worse cultivated, than at present? How could these vast herds be fed in a country so full of inclosures, so improved by agriculture, so divided by farms, so planted with vines and corn intermingled together? I must confess, that Polybius’s relation has more the air of that œconomy which is to be met with in our American colonies, than the management of a European country. We meet with a reflection in Aristotle’s213 ethics, which seems unaccountable on any supposition, and by proving too much in favour of our present reasoning, may be thought really to prove nothing. That philosopher, treating of friendship, and observing, that this relation ought neither to be contracted to a very few, nor extended over a great multitude, illustrates his opinion by the following argument. “In like manner,” says he, “as a city cannot subsist, if it either have so few inhabitants as ten, or so many as a hundred thousand; so is there a mediocrity required in the number of friends; and you destroy the essence of friendship by running into either extreme.” What! impossible that a city can contain a hundred thousand inhabitants! Had Aristotle never seen nor heard of a city so populous? This, I must own, passes my comprehension. Pliny214 tells us that Seleucia, the seat of the Greek empire in the East, was reported to contain 600,000 people. Carthage is said by Strabo215 to have contained 700,000. The inhabitants of Pekin are not much more numerous. London, Paris, and Constantinople, may admit of nearly the same computation; at least, the two latter cities do not exceed it. Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, we have already spoken of. From the experience of past and present ages, one might conjecture that there is a kind of impossibility, that any city could ever rise much beyond this proportion. Whether the grandeur of a city be founded on commerce or on empire, there seem to be invincible obstacles, which prevent its farther progress. The seats of vast monarchies, by introducing extravagant luxury, irregular expence, idleness, dependence, and false ideas of rank and superiority, are improper for commerce. Extensive commerce checks itself, by raising the price of all labour and commodities. When a great court engages the attendance of a numerous nobility, possessed of overgrown fortunes, the middling gentry remain in their provincial towns, where they can make a figure on a moderate income. And if the dominions of a state arrive at an enormous size, there necessarily

213  Lib. 9. cap. 10. His expression is ἄνθρωπος, not πολίτης; inhabitant, not citizen. 214  Lib. 6. cap. 26.    215  Lib. 17.

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arise many capitals, in the remoter provinces, whither all the inhabitants, except a few courtiers, repair for education, fortune, and amusement.216 London, by uniting extensive commerce and middling empire, has, perhaps, arrived at a greatness, which no city will ever be able to exceed. Choose Dover or Calais for a center: Draw a circle of two hundred miles radius: You comprehend London, Paris, the Netherlands, the United Provinces, and some of the best cultivated parts of France and England. It may safely, I think, be affirmed, that no spot of ground can be found, in antiquity, of equal extent, which contained near so many great and populous cities, and was so stocked with riches and inhabitants. To balance, in both periods, the states, which possessed most art, knowledge, civility, and the best police, seems the truest method of comparison. It is an observation of L’Abbe du Bos,217 that Italy is warmer at present than it was in ancient times. “The annals of Rome tell us,” says he, “that in the year 480 ab U. C. the winter was so severe that it destroyed the trees. The Tyber froze in Rome, and the ground was covered with snow for forty days. When Juvenal218 describes a superstitious woman, he represents her as breaking the ice of the Tyber, that she might perform her ablutions. Hybernum fracta glacie descendet in amnem, Ter matutino Tyberi mergetur.

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He speaks of that river’s freezing as a common event. Many passages of Horace suppose the streets of Rome full of snow and ice. We should have more certainty with regard to this point, had the ancients known the use of thermometers: But their writers, without intending it, give us information, sufficient to convince us, that the winters are now much more temperate at Rome than formerly. At present the Tyber no more freezes at Rome than the Nile at Cairo. The Romans esteem the winters very rigorous, if the snow lie two days, and if one see for eight and forty hours a few icicles hang from a fountain that has a north exposure.” The observation of this ingenious critic may be extended to other European climates. Who could discover the mild climate of France in Diodorus Siculus’s219 description of that of Gaul? “As it is a northern climate,” says he, “it is infested with cold to an extreme degree. In cloudy weather, instead of rain there fall great snows; and in clear weather it there 216  Such were Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage, Ephesus, Lyons, &c. in the Roman empire. Such are even Bourdeaux, Tholouse, Dijon, Rennes, Rouen, Aix, &c. in France; Dublin, Edinburgh, York, in the British dominions. 217  Vol. 2. § 16.    218 Sat. 6.   219  Lib. 5.

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freezes so excessive hard, that the rivers acquire bridges of their own substance, over which, not only single travellers may pass, but large armies, accompanied with all their baggage and loaded waggons. And there being many rivers in Gaul, the Rhone, the Rhine, &c. almost all of them are frozen over; and it is usual, in order to prevent falling, to cover the ice with chaff and straw at the places where the road passes.” Colder than a Gallic Winter, is used by Petronius as a proverbial expression. Aristotle says, that Gaul is so cold a climate that an ass could not live in it.220 North of the Cevennes, says Strabo,221 Gaul produces not figs and olives: And the vines, which have been planted, bear not grapes, that will ripen. Ovid positively maintains, with all the serious affirmation of prose, that the Euxine sea was frozen over every winter in his time; and he appeals to Roman governors, whom he names, for the truth of his assertion.222 This seldom or never happens at present in the latitude of Tomi, whither Ovid was banished. All the complaints of the same poet seem to mark a rigour of the seasons, which is scarcely experienced at present in Petersburgh or Stockholm. Tournefort, a Provençal, who had travelled into the same country, observes, that there is not a finer climate in the world: And he asserts, that nothing but Ovid’s melancholy could have given him such dismal ideas of it. But the facts, mentioned by that poet, are too circumstantial to bear any such interpretation. Polybius223 says, that the climate in Arcadia was very cold, and the air moist. “Italy,” says Varro,224 “is the most temperate climate in Europe. The inland parts” (Gaul, Germany, and Pannonia, no doubt) “have almost perpetual winter.” The northern parts of Spain, according to Strabo,225 are but ill inhabited, because of the great cold. Allowing, therefore, this remark to be just, that Europe is become warmer than formerly; how can we account for it? Plainly, by no other method, than by supposing, that the land is at present much better cultivated, and that the woods are cleared, which formerly threw a shade upon the earth, and kept the rays of the sun from penetrating to it. Our northern colonies in America

220  De generat. anim. lib. 2.    221  Lib. 4. 222  Trist. lib. 3. eleg. 10. de Ponto, lib. 4. eleg. 7, 9, 10.    223  Lib. 4. cap. 21. 224  Lib. 1. cap. 2.    225  Lib. 3.

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become more temperate, in proportion as the woods are felled;226 but in general, every one may remark, that cold is still much more severely felt, both in North and South America, than in places under the same latitude in Europe. Saserna, quoted by Columella,227 affirmed, that the disposition of the heavens was altered before his time, and that the air had become much milder and warmer; as appears hence, says he, that many places now abound with vineyards and olive plantations, which formerly, by reason of the rigour of the climate, could raise none of these productions. Such a change, if real, will be allowed an evident sign of the better cultivation and peopling of countries before the age of Saserna;228 and if it be continued to the present times, is a proof, that these advantages have been continually encreasing throughout this part of the world. Let us now cast our eye over all the countries which are the scene of ancient and modern history, and compare their past and present situation: We shall not, perhaps, find such foundation for the complaint of the present emptiness and desolation of the world. Egypt is represented by Maillet, to whom we owe the best account of it, as extremely populous; though he esteems the number of its inhabitants to be diminished. Syria, and the Lesser Asia, as well as the coast of Barbary, I can readily own, to be des­ert in comparison of their ancient condition. The depopulation of Greece is also obvious. But whether the country now called Turky in Europe may not, in general, contain more inhabitants than during the flourishing period of Greece, may be a little doubtful. The Thracians seem then to have lived like the Tartars at present, by pasturage and plunder:229 The Getes were still more uncivilized:230 And the Illyrians were no better.231 These occupy nine-tenths of that country: And though the government of the Turks be not very favourable to industry and propagation; yet it preserves at least peace and order among the inhabitants; and is preferable to that barbarous, unsettled condition, in which they anciently lived. Poland and Muscovy in Europe are not populous; but are certainly much more so than the ancient Sarmatia and Scythia; where no husbandry 226  The warm southern colonies also become more healthful: And it is remarkable, that in the Spanish histories of the first discovery and conquest of these countries, they appear to have been very healthful; being then well peopled and cultivated. No account of the sickness or decay of Cortes’s or Pizzarro’s small armies. 227  Lib. 1. cap. 1. 228  He seems to have lived about the time of the younger Africanus; lib. 1. cap. 1. 229  Xen. exp. lib. 7. Polyb. lib. 4. cap. 45.    230  Ovid, passim, &c. Strabo, lib. 7. 231  Polyb. lib. 2. cap. 12.

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or tillage was ever heard of, and pasturage was the sole art by which the ­people were maintained. The like observation may be extended to Denmark and Sweden. No one ought to esteem the immense swarms of people, which formerly came from the North, and overran all Europe, to be any objection to this opinion. Where a whole nation, or even half of it remove their seat; it is easy to imagine, what a prodigious multitude they must form; with what desperate valour they must make their attacks; and how the terror they strike into the invaded nations will make these magnify, in their imagination, both the courage and multitude of the invaders. Scotland is neither extensive nor populous; but were the half of its inhabitants to seek new seats, they would form a colony as numerous as the Teutons and Cimbri; and would shake all Europe, supposing it in no better condition for defence than formerly. Germany has surely at present twenty times more inhabitants than in ancient times, when they cultivated no ground, and each tribe valued itself on the extensive desolation which it spread around; as we learn from Cæsar,232 and Tacitus,233 and Strabo.234 A proof, that the division into small republics will not alone render a nation populous, unless attended with the spirit of peace, order, and industry. The barbarous condition of Britain in former times is well known, and the thinness of its inhabitants may easily be conjectured, both from their barbarity, and from a circumstance mentioned by Herodian,235 that all Britain was marshy, even in Severus’s time, after the Romans had been fully settled in it above a century. It is not easily imagined, that the Gauls were anciently much more advanced in the arts of life than their northern neighbours; since they travelled to this island for their education in the mysteries of the religion and philosophy of the Druids.236 I cannot, therefore, think, that Gaul was then near so populous as France is at present. Were we to believe, indeed, and join together the testimony of Appian and that of Diodorus Siculus, we must admit of an incredible populousness in Gaul. The former historian237 says, that there were 400 nations in that country; the latter238 affirms, that the largest of the Gallic nations consisted of 200,000 men, besides women and children, and the least of 50,000. Calculating, therefore, at a medium, we must admit of near 200 millions of

232  De bello Gallico, lib. 6.    233  De moribus Germ.   234  Lib. 7. 235  Lib. 3. cap. 47. 236  Cæsar, de bello Gallico, lib. 6. Strabo, lib. 7. says, the Gauls were not much more improved than the Germans. 237  Celtica. pars 1.   238  Lib. 5.

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people, in a country, which we esteem populous at present, though supposed to contain little more than twenty.239 Such calculations, therefore, by their extravagance, lose all manner of authority. We may observe, that the equality of property, to which the populousness of antiquity may be ascribed, had no place among the Gauls.240 Their intestine wars also, before Cæsar’s time, were almost perpetual.241 And Strabo242 observes, that, though all Gaul was cultivated, yet was it not cultivated with any skill or care; the genius of the inhabitants leading them less to arts than arms, till their slavery under Rome produced peace among themselves. Cæsar243 enumerates very particularly the great forces which were levied in Belgium to oppose his conquests; and makes them amount to 208,000. These were not the whole people able to bear arms: For the same historian tells us, that the Bellovaci could have brought a hundred thousand men into the field, though they engaged only for sixty. Taking the whole, therefore, in this proportion of ten to six, the sum of fighting men in all the states of Belgium was about 350,000; all the inhabitants a million and a half. And Belgium being about a fourth of Gaul, that country might contain six millions, which is not near the third of its present inhabitants.244 We are informed by Cæsar, that the Gauls had no fixed property in land; but that the chieftains, when any death happened in a family, made a new division of all the lands among the several members of the family. This is the custom of Tanistry, which so long prevailed in Ireland, and which retained that country in a state of misery, barbarism, and desolation. The ancient Helvetia was 240 miles in length, and 180 in breadth, according to the same author;245 yet contained only 360,000 inhabitants. The canton of Berne alone has, at present, as many people. After this computation of Appian and Diodorus Siculus, I know not, whether I dare affirm, that the modern Dutch are more numerous than the ancient Batavi. 239 Ancient Gaul was more extensive than modern France. 240  Cæsar, de bello Gallico, lib. 6.    241  Id. ibid. 242 Lib. 4.   243  De bello Gallico, lib. 2. 244  It appears from Cæsar’s account, that the Gauls had no domestic slaves, who formed a different order from the Plebes. The whole common people were indeed a kind of slaves to the nobility, as the people of Poland are at this day: And a nobleman of Gaul had sometimes ten thousand dependents of this kind. Nor can we doubt, that the armies were composed of the people as well as of the nobility. The fighting men amongst the Helvetii were the fourth part of the inhabitants; a clear proof that all the males of military age bore arms. See Cæsar, de bello Gallico, lib. 1.   We may remark, that the numbers in Cæsar’s commentaries can be more depended on than those of any other ancient author, because of the Greek translation, which still remains, and which checks the Latin original. 245  De bello Gallico, lib. 1.

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Spain is, perhaps, decayed from what it was three centuries ago; but if we step backward two thousand years, and consider the restless, turbulent, unsettled condition of its inhabitants, we may probably be inclined to think, that it is now much more populous. Many Spaniards killed themselves, when deprived of their arms by the Romans.246 It appears from Plutarch,247 that robbery and plunder were esteemed honourable among the Spaniards. Hirtius248 represents in the same light the situation of that country in Cæsar’s time; and he says, that every man was obliged to live in castles and  walled towns for his security. It was not till its final conquest under Augustus, that these disorders were repressed.249 The account which Strabo250 and Justin251 give of Spain, corresponds exactly with those above-mentioned. How much, therefore, must it diminish from our idea of the populousness of antiquity, when we find, that Tully, comparing Italy, Africa, Gaul, Greece, and Spain, mentions the great number of inhabitants, as the peculiar circumstance, which rendered this latter country formidable?252 Italy, however, it is probable, has decayed: But how many great cities does it still contain? Venice, Genoa, Pavia, Turin, Milan, Naples, Florence, Leghorn, which either subsisted not in ancient times, or were then very inconsiderable? If we reflect on this, we shall not be apt to carry matters to so great an extreme as is usual, with regard to this subject. When the Roman authors complain, that Italy, which formerly exported corn, became dependent on all the provinces for its daily bread, they never ascribe this alteration to the encrease of its inhabitants, but to the neglect of tillage and agriculture.253 A natural effect of that pernicious practice of importing corn, in order to distribute it gratis among the citizens, and a very bad means of multiplying the inhabitants of any country.254 The sportula, so much talked of by Martial and Juvenal, being presents regularly made by the great lords to their smaller clients, must have had a like tendency to

246  Titi Livii, lib. 34. cap. 17.    247  In vita Marii.   248  De bello Hisp. 249  Vel. Paterc. lib. 2. § 90.    250. Lib. 3.   251.  Lib. 44. 252  “Nec numero Hispanos, nec robore Gallos, nec calliditate Pœnos, nec artibus Græcos, nec denique hoc ipso hujus gentis, ac terræ domestico nativoque sensu, Italos ipsos ac Latinos— superavimus.” de harusp. resp. cap. 9. The disorders of Spain seem to have been almost proverbial: “Nec impacatos a tergo horrebis Iberos.” Virg. Georg. lib. 3. The Iberi are here plainly taken, by a poetical figure, for robbers in general. 253  Varro, de re rustica, lib. 2. præf. Columella, præf. Sueton. August. cap. 42. 254  Though the observations of L’Abbe du Bos should be admitted, that Italy is now warmer than in former times, the consequence may not be necessary, that it is more populous or better cultivated. If the other countries of Europe were more savage and woody, the cold winds that blew from them might affect the climate of Italy.

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produce idleness, debauchery, and a continual decay among the people. The parish-rates have at present the same bad consequences in England. Were I to assign a period, when I imagine this part of the world might possibly contain more inhabitants than at present, I should pitch upon the age of Trajan and the Antonines; the great extent of the Roman empire being then civilized and cultivated, settled almost in a profound peace both foreign and domestic, and living under the same regular police and government.255 But we are told, that all extensive governments, especially absolute 255  The inhabitants of Marseilles lost not their superiority over the Gauls in commerce and the mechanic arts, till the Roman dominion turned the latter from arms to agriculture and civil life. See Strabo, lib. 4. That author, in several places, repeats the observation concerning the improvement arising from the Roman arts and civility: And he lived at the time when the change was new, and would be more sensible. So also Pliny: “Quis enim non, communicato orbe terrarum, majestate Romani imperii, profecisse vitam putet, commercio rerum ac societate festæ pacis, omniaque etiam, quæ occulta antea fuerant, in promiscuo usu facta. lib. 14. proœm. Numine deûm electa (speaking of Italy) quæ cœlum ipsum clarius faceret, sparsa congregaret imperia, ritusque molliret, & tot populorum discordes, ferasque linguas sermonis commercio contraheret ad colloquia, & humanitatem homini daret; breviterque, una cunctarum gentium in toto orbe patria fieret;” lib. 3. cap. 5. Nothing can be stronger to this purpose than the following passage from Tertullian, who lived about the age of Severus. “Certe quidem ipse orbis in promptu est, cultior de die & instructior pristino. Omnia jam pervia, omnia nota, omnia negotiosa. Solitudines famosas retro fundi amœnissimi obliteraverunt, silvas arva domuerunt, feras pecora fugaverunt; arenæ seruntur, saxa panguntur, paludes eliquantur, tantæ urbes, quantæ non casæ quondam. Jam nec insulæ horrent, nec scopuli terrent; ubique domus, ubique populus, ubique respublica, ubique vita. Summum testimonium frequentiæ humanæ, onerosi sumus mundo, vix nobis elementa sufficiunt; & necessitates arctiores, & querelæ apud omnes, dum jam nos natura non sustinet.” de anima, cap. 30. The air of rhetoric and declamation which appears in this passage, diminishes somewhat from its authority, but does not entirely destroy it. The same remark may be extended to the following passage of Aristides the sophist, who lived in the age of Adrian. “The whole world,” says he, addressing himself to the Romans, “seems to keep one holiday; and mankind, laying aside the sword which they formerly wore, now betake themselves to feasting and to joy. The cities, forgetting their ancient animosities, preserve only one emulation, which shall embellish itself most by every art and ornament. Theatres every where arise, amphitheatres, porticoes, aqueducts, temples, schools, academies; and one may safely pronounce, that the sinking world has been again raised by your auspicious empire. Nor have cities alone received an encrease of ornament and beauty; but the whole earth, like a garden or paradise, is cultivated and adorned: Insomuch, that such of mankind as are placed out of the limits of your empire (who are but few) seem to merit our sympathy and compassion.”   It is remarkable, that though Diodorus Siculus makes the inhabitants of Egypt, when conquered by the Romans, amount only to three millions; yet Joseph. de bello Judaic. lib. 2. cap. 16. says, that its inhabitants, excluding those of Alexandria, were seven millions and a half, in the reign of Nero: And he expressly says, that he drew this account from the books of the Roman publicans, who levied the poll-tax. Strabo, lib. 17. praises the superior police of the Romans with regard to the finances of Egypt, above that of its former monarchs: And no part of administration is more essential to the happiness of a people. Yet we read in Athenæus, (lib. 1. cap. 25.) who flourished during the reign of the Antonines, that the town Mareia, near Alexandria, which was formerly a large city, had dwindled into a village. This is not, properly speaking, a contradiction. Suidas (August.) says, that the Emperor Augustus, having numbered the whole Roman empire, found it contained only 4,101,017 men (ἄνδρες). There is here surely some great mistake, either in the author or transcriber. But this authority, feeble as it is, may be sufficient to counterbalance the exaggerated accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus with regard to more early times.

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monarchies, are pernicious to population, and contain a secret vice and poison, which destroy the effect of all these promising appearances.256 To confirm this, there is a passage cited from Plutarch,257 which being somewhat singular, we shall here examine it. That author, endeavouring to account for the silence of many of the oracles, says, that it may be ascribed to the present desolation of the world, proceeding from former wars and factions; which common calamity, he adds, has fallen heavier upon Greece than on any other country; insomuch, that the whole could scarcely at present furnish three thousand warriors; a number which, in the time of the Median war, were supplied by the single city of Megara. The gods, therefore, who affect works of dignity and importance, have suppressed many of their oracles, and deign not to use so many interpreters of their will to so diminutive a people. I must confess, that this passage contains so many difficulties, that I know not what to make of it. You may observe, that Plutarch assigns, for a cause of the decay of mankind, not the extensive dominion of the Romans, but the former wars and factions of the several states; all which were quieted by the arms. Plutarch’s reasoning, therefore, is directly contrary to the inference, which is drawn from the fact he advances. Polybius supposes, that Greece had become more prosperous and flourishing after the establishment of the yoke;258 and though that historian wrote before these conquerors had degenerated, from being the patrons, to be the plunderers of mankind; yet as we find from Tacitus,259 that the severity of the emperors afterwards corrected the licence of the governors, we have no reason to think that extensive monarchy so destructive as it is often re­presented. We learn from Strabo,260 that the Romans, from their regard to the Greeks, maintained, to his time, most of the privileges and liberties of that celebrated nation; and Nero afterwards rather encreased them.261 How therefore can we imagine, that the yoke was so burdensome over that part of the world? The oppression of the proconsuls was checked; and the magistracies

256  L’Esprit des loix, liv. 23. chap. 19.    257  De orac. defectu. 258  Lib. 2. cap. 62. It may perhaps be imagined, that Polybius, being dependent on Rome, would naturally extol the Roman dominion. But, in the first place, Polybius, though one sees sometimes instances of his caution, discovers no symptoms of flattery. Secondly, This opinion is only delivered in a single stroke, by the by, while he is intent upon another subject; and it is allowed, if there be any suspicion of an author’s insincerity, that these oblique propositions discover his real opinion better than his more formal and direct assertions. 259  Ann. lib. 1. cap. 2.    260  Lib. 8. and 9. 261  Plutarch. de his qui sero a Numine puniuntur.

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in Greece being all bestowed, in the several cities, by the free votes of the people, there was no necessity for the competitors to attend the emperor’s court. If great numbers went to seek their fortunes in Rome, and advance themselves by learning or eloquence, the commodities of their native country, many of them would return with the fortunes which they had acquired, and thereby enrich the Grecian commonwealths. But Plutarch says, that the general depopulation had been more sensibly felt in Greece than in any other country. How is this reconcileable to its superior privileges and advantages? Besides, this passage, by proving too much, really proves nothing. Only three thousand men able to bear arms in all Greece! Who can admit so strange a proposition, especially if we consider the great number of Greek cities, whose names still remain in history, and which are mentioned by writers long after the age of Plutarch? There are there surely ten times more ­people at present, when there scarcely remains a city in all the bounds of ancient Greece. That country is still tolerably cultivated, and furnishes a sure supply of corn, in case of any scarcity in Spain, Italy, or the south of France. We may observe, that the ancient frugality of the Greeks, and their equality of property, still subsisted during the age of Plutarch; as appears from Lucian.262 Nor is there any ground to imagine, that that country was possessed by a few masters, and a great number of slaves. It is probable, indeed, that military discipline, being entirely useless, was extremely neglected in Greece after the establishment of the Roman empire; and if these commonwealths, formerly so warlike and ambitious, maintained each of them a small city-guard, to prevent mobbish disorders, it is all they had occasion for: And these, perhaps, did not amount to 3000 men, throughout all Greece. I own, that, if Plutarch had this fact in his eye, he is here guilty of a gross paralogism, and assigns causes no wise proportioned to the effects. But is it so great a prodigy, that an author should fall into a mistake of this nature?263 262  De mercede conductis. 263  I must confess that that discourse of Plutarch, concerning the silence of the oracles, is in general of so odd a texture, and so unlike his other productions, that one is at a loss what judgment to form of it. It is written in dialogue, which is a method of composition that Plutarch commonly but little affects. The personages he introduces advance very wild, absurd, and contradictory opinions, more like the visionary systems or ravings of Plato than the plain sense of Plutarch. There runs also through the whole an air of superstition and credulity, which resembles very little the spirit that appears in other philosophical compositions of that author. For it is remarkable, that, though Plutarch be an historian as superstitious as Herodotus or Livy, yet there is scarcely, in all antiquity, a philosopher less superstitious, excepting Cicero and Lucian. I must therefore confess, that a passage of Plutarch, cited from this discourse, has much less authority with me, than if it had been found in most of his other compositions.

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But whatever force may remain in this passage of Plutarch, we shall endeavour to counterbalance it by as remarkable a passage in Diodorus Siculus, where the historian, after mentioning Ninus’s army of 1,700,000 foot and 200,000 horse, endeavours to support the credibility of this account by some posterior facts; and adds, that we must not form a notion of the ancient populousness of mankind from the present emptiness and depopulation which is spread over the world.264 Thus an author, who lived at that very period of antiquity which is represented as most populous,265 complains of the desolation which then prevailed, gives the preference to former times, and has recourse to ancient fables as a foundation for his opinion. The humour of blaming the present, and admiring the past, is strongly rooted in human nature, and has an influence even on persons endued with the profoundest judgment and most extensive learning.   There is only one other discourse of Plutarch liable to like objections, to wit, that concerning those whose punishment is delayed by the Deity. It is also writ in dialogue, contains like superstitious, wild visions, and seems to have been chiefly composed in rivalship to Plato, particularly his last book de republica.   And here I cannot but observe, that Mons. Fontenelle, a writer eminent for candour, seems to have departed a little from his usual character, when he endeavours to throw a ridicule upon Plutarch on account of passages to be met with in this dialogue concerning oracles. The absurdities here put into the mouths of the several personages are not to be ascribed to Plutarch. He makes them refute each other; and, in general, he seems to intend the ridiculing of those very opinions, which Fontenelle would ridicule him for maintaining. See Histoire des oracles. 264 Lib. 2.   265  He was cotemporary with Cæsar and Augustus.

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As no party, in the present age, can well support itself, without a philosophical or speculative system of principles, annexed to its political or ­practical one; we accordingly find, that each of the factions, into which this nation is divided, has reared up a fabric of the former kind, in order to protect and cover that scheme of actions, which it pursues. The people being commonly very rude builders, especially in this speculative way, and more especially still, when actuated by party-zeal; it is natural to imagine, that their ­workmanship must be a little unshapely, and discover evident marks of that violence and hurry, in which it was raised. The one party, by tracing up government to the Deity, endeavour to render it so sacred and inviolate, that it must be little less than sacrilege, however tyrannical it may become, to touch or invade it, in the smallest article. The other party, by founding government altogether on the consent of the People, suppose that there is a kind of original contract, by which the subjects have tacitly reserved the power of resisting their sovereign, whenever they find themselves aggrieved by that authority, with which they have, for certain purposes, voluntarily entrusted him. These are the speculative principles of the two parties; and these too are the practical consequences deduced from them. I shall venture to affirm, That both these systems of speculative principles are just; though not in the sense, intended by the parties: And, That both the schemes of practical consequences are prudent; though not in the extremes, to which each party, in opposition to the other, has commonly endeavoured to carry them. That the Deity is the ultimate author of all government, will never be denied by any, who admit a general providence, and allow, that all events in  the universe are conducted by a uniform plan, and directed to wise ­purposes. As it is impossible for the human race to subsist, at least in any ­comfortable or secure state, without the protection of government; this institution must certainly have been intended by that beneficent Being, who means the good of all his creatures: And as it has universally, in fact, taken place, in all countries, and all ages; we may conclude, with still greater ­certainty, that it was intended by that omniscient Being, who can never be deceived by any event or operation. But since he gave rise to it, not by any particular or miraculous interposition, but by his concealed and universal

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efficacy; a sovereign cannot, properly speaking, be called his vicegerent, in any other sense than every power or force, being derived from him, may be said to act by his commission. Whatever actually happens is comprehended in the general plan or intention of providence; nor has the greatest and most lawful prince any more reason, upon that account, to plead a peculiar sacredness or inviolable authority, than an inferior magistrate, or even an usurper, or even a robber and a pirate. The same divine superintendant, who, for wise purposes, invested a Titus or a Trajan with authority, did also, for purposes, no doubt, equally wise, though unknown, bestow power on a Borgia or an Angria. The same causes, which gave rise to the sovereign power in every state, established likewise every petty jurisdiction in it, and every limited authority. A constable, therefore, no less than a king, acts by a divine commission, and possesses an indefeasible right. When we consider how nearly equal all men are in their bodily force, and even in their mental powers and faculties, till cultivated by education; we must necessarily allow, that nothing but their own consent could, at first, associate them together, and subject them to any authority. The people, if we trace government to its first origin in the woods and deserts, are the source of all power and jurisdiction, and voluntarily, for the sake of peace and order, abandoned their native liberty, and received laws from their equal and companion. The conditions, upon which they were willing to submit, were either expressed, or were so clear and obvious, that it might well be esteemed superfluous to express them. If this, then, be meant by the original contract, it cannot be denied, that all government is, at first, founded on a contract, and that the most ancient rude combinations of mankind were formed chiefly by that principle. In vain, are we asked in what records this charter of our liberties is registered. It was not written on parchment, nor yet on leaves or barks of trees. It preceded the use of writing and all the other civilized arts of life. But we trace it plainly in the nature of man, and in the equality, or something approaching equality, which we find in all the individuals of that species. The force, which now prevails, and which is founded on fleets and armies, is plainly political, and derived from authority, the effect of established government. A man’s natural force consists only in the vigour of his limbs, and the firmness of his courage; which could never subject multitudes to the command of one. Nothing but their own consent, and their sense of the advantages resulting from peace and order, could have had that influence. Yet even this consent was long very imperfect, and could not be the basis of a regular administration. The chieftain, who had probably acquired his influence during the continuance of war, ruled more by persuasion than

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command; and till he could employ force to reduce the refractory and disobedient, the society could scarcely be said to have attained a state of civil government. No compact or agreement, it is evident, was expressly formed for general submission; an idea far beyond the comprehension of savages: Each exertion of authority in the chieftain must have been particular, and called forth by the present exigencies of the case: The sensible utility, resulting from his interposition, made these exertions become daily more frequent; and their frequency gradually produced an habitual, and, if you please to call it so, a voluntary, and therefore precarious, acquiescence in the people. But philosophers, who have embraced a party (if that be not a contradiction in terms) are not contented with these concessions. They assert, not only that government in its earliest infancy arose from consent, or rather the voluntary acquiescence of the people; but also, that, even at present, when it has attained its full maturity, it rests on no other foundation. They affirm, that all men are still born equal, and owe allegiance to no prince or government, unless bound by the obligation and sanction of a promise. And as no man, without some equivalent, would forego the advantages of his native liberty, and subject himself to the will of another; this promise is always understood to be conditional, and imposes on him no obligation, unless he meet with justice and protection from his sovereign. These advantages the sovereign promises him in return; and if he fail in the execution, he has broken, on his part, the articles of engagement, and has thereby freed his subject from all obligations to allegiance. Such, according to these philosophers, is the foundation of authority in every government; and such the right of resistance, possessed by every subject. But would these reasoners look abroad into the world, they would meet with nothing that, in the least, corresponds to their ideas, or can warrant so refined and philosophical a system. On the contrary, we find, every where, princes, who claim their subjects as their property, and assert their independent right of sovereignty, from conquest or succession. We find also, every where, subjects, who acknowledge this right in their prince, and suppose themselves born under obligations of obedience to a certain sovereign, as much as under the ties of reverence and duty to certain parents. These connexions are always conceived to be equally independent of our consent, in Persia and China; in France and Spain; and even in Holland and England, wherever the doctrines above-mentioned have not been carefully inculcated. Obedience or subjection becomes so familiar, that most men never make any enquiry about its origin or cause, more than about the principle of gravity, resistance, or the most universal laws of nature. Or if curiosity ever

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move them; as soon as they learn, that they themselves and their ancestors have, for several ages, or from time immemorial, been subject to such a form of government or such a family; they immediately acquiesce, and acknowledge their obligation to allegiance. Were you to preach, in most parts of the world, that political connexions are founded altogether on voluntary consent or a  mutual promise, the magistrate would soon imprison you, as seditious, for loosening the ties of obedience; if your friends did not before shut you up as delirious, for advancing such absurdities. It is strange, that an act of the mind, which every individual is supposed to have formed, and after he came to the use of reason too, otherwise it could have no authority; that this act, I say, should be so much unknown to all of them, that, over the face of the whole earth, there scarcely remain any traces or memory of it. But the contract, on which government is founded, is said to be the ­original contract; and consequently may be supposed too old to fall under the knowledge of the present generation. If the agreement, by which savage men first associated and conjoined their force, be here meant, this is acknowledged to be real; but being so ancient, and being obliterated by a thousand changes of government and princes, it cannot now be supposed to retain any authority. If we would say any thing to the purpose, we must assert, that every particular government, which is lawful, and which imposes any duty of allegiance on the subject, was, at first, founded on consent and a voluntary compact. But besides that this supposes the consent of the fathers to bind the children, even to the most remote generations (which republican writers will never allow) besides this, I say, it is not justified by history or experience, in any age or country of the world. Almost all the governments, which exist at present, or of which there remains any record in story, have been founded originally, either on usurpation or conquest, or both, without any pretence of a fair consent, or voluntary subjection of the people. When an artful and bold man is placed at the head of an army or faction, it is often easy for him, by employing sometimes ­violence, sometimes false pretences, to establish his dominion over a people a hundred times more numerous than his partizans. He allows no such open communication, that his enemies can know, with certainty, their number or force. He gives them no leisure to assemble together in a body to oppose him. Even all those, who are the instruments of his usurpation, may wish his fall; but their ignorance of each other’s intention keeps them in awe, and is the sole cause of his security. By such arts as these, many governments have been established; and this is all the original contract, which they have to boast of. The face of the earth is continually changing, by the encrease of small kingdoms into great empires, by the dissolution of great empires into

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smaller kingdoms, by the planting of colonies, by the migration of tribes. Is there any thing discoverable in all these events, but force and violence? Where is the mutual agreement or voluntary association so much talked of ? Even the smoothest way, by which a nation may receive a foreign master, by marriage or a will, is not extremely honourable for the people; but supposes them to be disposed of, like a dowry or a legacy, according to the pleasure or interest of their rulers. But where no force interposes, and election takes place; what is this election so highly vaunted? It is either the combination of a few great men, who decide for the whole, and will allow of no opposition: Or it is the fury of a multitude, that follow a seditious ringleader, who is not known, perhaps, to a dozen among them, and who owes his advancement merely to his own impudence, or to the momentary caprice of his fellows. Are these disorderly elections, which are rare too, of such mighty authority, as to be the only lawful foundation of all government and allegiance? In reality, there is not a more terrible event, than a total dissolution of government, which gives liberty to the multitude, and makes the determination or choice of a new establishment depend upon a number, which nearly approaches to that of the body of the people: For it never comes entirely to  the whole body of them. Every wise man, then, wishes to see, at the head of a powerful and obedient army, a general, who may speedily seize the prize, and give to the people a master, which they are so unfit to choose for themselves. So little correspondent is fact and reality to those philosophical notions. Let not the establishment at the revolution deceive us, or make us so much in love with a philosophical origin to government, as to imagine all others monstrous and irregular. Even that event was far from corresponding to these refined ideas. It was only the succession, and that only in the regal part of the government, which was then changed: And it was only the majority of seven hundred, who determined that change for near ten millions. I doubt not, indeed, but the bulk of those ten millions acquiesced willingly in the determination: But was the matter left, in the least, to their choice? Was it not justly supposed to be, from that moment, decided, and every man punished, who refused to submit to the new sovereign? How otherwise could the matter have ever been brought to any issue or conclusion? The republic of Athens was, I believe, the most extensive democracy, that we read of in history: Yet if we make the requisite allowances for the women, the slaves, and the strangers, we shall find, that that establishment was not, at first, made, nor any law ever voted, by a tenth part of those who were bound to pay obedience to it. Not to mention the islands and foreign

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­dominions, which the Athenians claimed as theirs by right of conquest. And as it is well known, that popular assemblies in that city were always full of licence and disorder, notwithstanding the institutions and laws by which they were checked: How much more disorderly must they prove, where they form not the established constitution, but meet tumultuously on the dissolution of the ancient government, in order to give rise to a new one? How chimerical must it be to talk of a choice in such circumstances? The Achæans enjoyed the freest and most perfect democracy of all ­antiquity; yet they employed force to oblige some cities to enter into their league, as we learn from Polybius.1 Harry the IVth and Harry the VIIth of England, had really no title to the throne but a parliamentary election; yet they never would acknowledge it, lest they should thereby weaken their authority. Strange, if the only real foundation of all authority be consent and promise! It is in vain to say, that all governments are or should be, at first, founded on popular consent, as much as the necessity of human affairs will admit. This favours entirely my pretension. I maintain, that human affairs will never admit of this consent; seldom of the appearance of it. But that conquest or usurpation, that is, in plain terms, force, by dissolving the ancient governments, is the origin of almost all the new ones, which were ever established in the world. And that in the few cases, where consent may seem to have taken place, it was commonly so irregular, so confined, or so much intermixed either with fraud or violence, that it cannot have any great authority. My intention here is not to exclude the consent of the people from being one just foundation of government where it has place. It is surely the best and most sacred of any. I only pretend, that it has very seldom had place in any degree, and never almost in its full extent. And that therefore some other foundation of government must also be admitted. Were all men possessed of so inflexible a regard to justice, that, of ­themselves, they would totally abstain from the properties of others; they had for ever remained in a state of absolute liberty, without subjection to any magistrate or political society: But this is a state of perfection, of which human nature is justly deemed incapable. Again; were all men possessed of so perfect an understanding, as always to know their own interests, no form of government had ever been submitted to, but what was established on consent, and was fully canvassed by every member of the society: But this state of perfection is likewise much superior to human nature. Reason, history, 1  Lib. 2. cap. 38.

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and experience show us, that all political societies have had an origin much less accurate and regular; and were one to choose a period of time, when the people’s consent was the least regarded in public transactions, it would be precisely on the establishment of a new government. In a settled constitution, their inclinations are often consulted; but during the fury of revolutions, conquests, and public convulsions, military force or political craft usually decides the controversy. When a new government is established, by whatever means, the people are commonly dissatisfied with it, and pay obedience more from fear and necessity, than from any idea of allegiance or of moral obligation. The prince is watchful and jealous, and must carefully guard against every beginning or appearance of insurrection. Time, by degrees, removes all these difficulties, and accustoms the nation to regard, as their lawful or native princes, that family, which, at first, they considered as usurpers or foreign conquerors. In order to found this opinion, they have no recourse to any notion of voluntary consent or promise, which, they know, never was, in this case, either expected or demanded. The original establishment was formed by violence, and submitted to from necessity. The subsequent administration is also supported by power, and acquiesced in by the people, not as a matter of choice, but of obligation. They imagine not, that their consent gives their prince a title: But they willingly consent, because they think, that, from long possession, he has acquired a title, independent of their choice or inclination. Should it be said, that, by living under the dominion of a prince, which one might leave, every individual has given a tacit consent to his authority, and promised him obedience; it may be answered, that such an implied consent can only have place, where a man imagines, that the matter depends on his choice. But where he thinks (as all mankind do who are born under established governments) that by his birth he owes allegiance to a certain prince or certain form of government; it would be absurd to infer a consent or choice, which he expressly, in this case, renounces and disclaims. Can we seriously say, that a poor peasant or artizan has a free choice to leave his country, when he knows no foreign language or manners, and lives from day to day, by the small wages which he acquires? We may as well assert, that a man, by remaining in a vessel, freely consents to the dominion of the master; though he was carried on board while asleep, and must leap into the ocean, and perish, the moment he leaves her. What if the prince forbid his subjects to quit his dominions; as in Tiberius’s time, it was regarded as a crime in a Roman knight that he had attempted to fly to the Parthians, in order to escape the tyranny of that

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emperor?2 Or as the ancient Muscovites prohibited all travelling under pain of death? And did a prince observe, that many of his subjects were seized with the frenzy of migrating to foreign countries, he would doubtless, with great reason and justice, restrain them, in order to prevent the depopulation of his own kingdom. Would he forfeit the allegiance of all his subjects, by so wise and reasonable a law? Yet the freedom of their choice is surely, in that case, ravished from them. A company of men, who should leave their native country, in order to people some uninhabited region, might dream of recovering their native freedom; but they would soon find, that their prince still laid claim to them, and called them his subjects, even in their new settlement. And in this he would but act conformably to the common ideas of mankind. The truest tacit consent of this kind, that is ever observed, is when a foreigner settles in any country, and is before-hand acquainted with the prince, and government, and laws, to which he must submit: Yet is his allegiance, though more voluntary, much less expected or depended on, than that of a natural born subject? On the contrary, his native prince still asserts a claim to him. And if he punish not the renegade, when he seizes him in war with his new prince’s commission; this clemency is not founded on the municipal law, which in all countries condemns the prisoner; but on the consent of princes, who have agreed to this indulgence, in order to prevent reprisals. Did one generation of men go off the stage at once, and another succeed, as is the case with silk-worms and butterflies, the new race, if they had sense enough to choose their government, which surely is never the case with men, might voluntarily, and by general consent, establish their own form of civil polity, without any regard to the laws or precedents, which prevailed among their ancestors. But as human society is in perpetual flux, one man every hour going out of the world, another coming into it, it is necessary, in order to preserve stability in government, that the new brood should conform themselves to the established constitution, and nearly follow the path which their fathers, treading in the foot-steps of theirs, had marked out to them. Some innovations must necessarily have place in every human institution, and it is happy where the enlightened genius of the age give these a direction to the side of reason, liberty, and justice: But violent innovations no individual is entitled to make: They are even dangerous to be attempted by the legislature: More ill than good is ever to be expected from them: And if history affords examples to the contrary, they are not to be drawn into precedent, and are only to be regarded as proofs, that the science of politics 2  Tacit. ann. 6. cap. 14.

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affords few rules, which will not admit of some exception, and which may not sometimes be controuled by fortune and accident. The violent innovations in the reign of Henry VIII. proceeded from an imperious monarch, seconded by the appearance of legislative authority: Those in the reign of Charles I.  were derived from faction and fanaticism; and both of them have proved happy in the issue: But even the former were long the source of many disorders, and still more dangers; and if the measures of allegiance were to be taken from the latter, a total anarchy must have place in human society, and a final period at once be put to every government. Suppose, that an usurper, after having banished his lawful prince and royal family, should establish his dominion for ten or a dozen years in any country, and should preserve so exact a discipline in his troops, and so regular a disposition in his garrisons, that no insurrection had ever been raised, or even murmur heard, against his administration: Can it be asserted, that the people, who in their hearts abhor his treason, have tacitly consented to his authority, and promised him allegiance, merely because, from necessity, they live under his dominion? Suppose again their native prince restored, by means of an army, which he levies in foreign countries: They receive him  with joy and exultation, and show plainly with what reluctance they had submitted to any other yoke. I may now ask, upon what foundation the prince’s title stands? Not on popular consent surely: For though the people willingly acquiesce in his authority, they never imagine, that their consent made him sovereign. They consent; because they apprehend him to be already, by birth, their lawful sovereign. And as to that tacit consent, which may now be inferred from their living under his dominion, this is no more than what they formerly gave to the tyrant and usurper. When we assert, that all lawful government arises from the consent of the people, we certainly do them a great deal more honour than they deserve, or even expect and desire from us. After the dominions became too unwieldy for the republic to govern them, the people, over the whole known world, were extremely grateful to Augustus for that authority, which, by violence, he had established over them; and they showed an equal disposition to submit to the successor, whom he left them, by his last will and testament. It was afterwards their misfortune, that there never was, in one family, any long regular succession; but that their line of princes was continually broken, either by private assassinations or public rebellions. The prætorian bands, on the failure of every family, set up one emperor; the legions in the East a second; those in Germany, perhaps, a third: And the sword alone could decide the controversy. The condition of the people, in that mighty monarchy, was to be lamented, not because the choice of the emperor was never left

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to  them; for that was impracticable: But because they never fell under any succession of masters, who might regularly follow each other. As to the violence and wars and bloodshed, occasioned by every new settlement; these were not blameable, because they were inevitable. The house of Lancaster ruled in this island about sixty years; yet the partizans of the white rose seemed daily to multiply in England. The ­present establishment has taken place during a still longer period. Have all views of right in another family been utterly extinguished; even though scarce any man now alive had arrived at years of discretion, when it was expelled, or could have consented to its dominion, or have promised it allegiance? A sufficient indication surely of the general sentiment of mankind on this head. For we blame not the partizans of the abdicated family, merely on account of the long time, during which they have preserved their imaginary loyalty. We blame them for adhering to a family, which, we affirm, has been justly expelled, and which, from the moment the new settlement took place, had forfeited all title to authority. But would we have a more regular, at least, a more philosophical refutation of this principle of an original contract or popular consent; perhaps, the following observations may suffice. All moral duties may be divided into two kinds. The first are those, to which men are impelled by a natural instinct or immediate propensity, which operates on them, independent of all ideas of obligation, and of all views, either to public or private utility. Of this nature are, love of children, gratitude to benefactors, pity to the unfortunate. When we reflect on the advantage, which results to society from such humane instincts, we pay them the just tribute of moral approbation and esteem: But the person, actuated by them, feels their power and influence, antecedent to any such reflection. The second kind of moral duties are such as are not supported by any original instinct of nature, but are performed entirely from a sense of obligation, when we consider the necessities of human society, and the impossibility of supporting it, if these duties were neglected. It is thus ­justice or a regard to the property of others, fidelity or the observance of promises, become obligatory, and acquire an authority over mankind. For as it is ­evident, that every man loves himself better than any other person, he is naturally impelled to extend his acquisitions as much as possible; and nothing can restrain him in this propensity, but reflection and experience, by which he learns the pernicious effects of that licence, and the total dissolution of society, which must ensue from it. His original inclination, therefore, or instinct, is here checked and restrained by a subsequent judgment or observation.

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The case is precisely the same with the political or civil duty of allegiance, as with the natural duties of justice and fidelity. Our primary instincts lead us, either to indulge ourselves in unlimited freedom, or to seek dominion over others: And it is reflection only, which engages us to sacrifice such strong passions to the interests of peace and public order. A small degree of experience and observation suffices to teach us, that society cannot possibly be maintained without the authority of magistrates, and that this authority must soon fall into contempt, where exact obedience is not payed to it. The observation of these general and obvious interests is the source of all allegiance, and of that moral obligation, which we attribute to it. What necessity, therefore, is there to found the duty of allegiance or obedience to magistrates on that of fidelity or a regard to promises, and to suppose, that it is the consent of each individual, which subjects him to government; when it appears, that both allegiance and fidelity stand precisely on the same foundation, and are both submitted to by mankind, on account of the apparent interests and necessities of human society? We are bound to obey our sovereign, it is said; because we have given a tacit promise to that purpose. But why are we bound to observe our promise? It must here be asserted, that the commerce and intercourse of mankind, which are of such mighty advantage, can have no security where men pay no regard to their engagements. In like manner, may it be said, that men could not live at all in society, at least in a civilized society, without laws and magistrates and judges, to prevent the encroachments of the strong upon the weak, of the violent upon the just and equitable. The obligation to allegiance being of like force and authority with the obligation to fidelity, we gain nothing by resolving the one into the other. The general interests or necessities of society are sufficient to establish both. If the reason be asked of that obedience, which we are bound to pay to government, I readily answer, because society could not otherwise subsist: And this answer is clear and intelligible to all mankind. Your answer is, because we should keep our word. But besides, that no body, till trained in a philosophical system, can either comprehend or relish this answer: Besides this, I say, you find yourself embarrassed, when it is asked, why we are bound to keep our word? Nor can you give any answer, but what would, immediately, without any circuit, have accounted for our obligation to allegiance. But to whom is allegiance due? And who is our lawful sovereign? This question is often the most difficult of any, and liable to infinite discussions. When people are so happy, that they can answer, Our present sovereign, who inherits, in a direct line, from ancestors, that have governed us for many ages; this answer admits of no reply; even though historians, in tracing up to the remotest antiquity the origin of that royal family, may find, as commonly happens,

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that its first authority was derived from usurpation and violence. It is confessed, that private justice, or the abstinence from the properties of others, is a most cardinal virtue: Yet reason tells us, that there is no property in durable objects, such as lands or houses, when carefully examined in passing from hand to hand, but must, in some period, have been founded on fraud and injustice. The necessities of human society, neither in private nor public life, will allow of such an accurate enquiry: And there is no virtue or moral duty, but what may, with facility, be refined away, if we indulge a false philosophy, in sifting and scrutinizing it, by every captious rule of logic, in every light or position, in which it may be placed. The questions with regard to private property have filled infinite volumes of law and philosophy, if in both we add the commentators to the original text; and in the end, we may safely pronounce, that many of the rules, there established, are uncertain, ambiguous, and arbitrary. The like opinion may be formed with regard to the succession and rights of princes and forms of government. Several cases, no doubt, occur, especially in the infancy of any constitution, which admit of no determination from the laws of justice and equity: And our historian Rapin pretends, that the controversy between Edward the Third and Philip de Valois was of this nature, and could be decided only by an appeal to heaven, that is, by war and violence. Who shall tell me, whether Germanicus or Drusus ought to have succeeded to Tiberius, had he died, while they were both alive, without naming any of them for his successor? Ought the right of adoption to be received as equivalent to that of blood, in a nation, where it had the same effect in private families, and had already, in two instances, taken place in the public? Ought Germanicus to be esteemed the elder son because he was born before Drusus; or the younger, because he was adopted after the birth of his brother? Ought the right of the elder to be regarded in a nation, where he had no advantage in the succession of private families? Ought the Roman empire at that time to be deemed hereditary, because of two examples; or ought it, even so early, to be regarded as belonging to the stronger or to the present possessor, as being founded on so recent an usurpation? Commodus mounted the throne after a pretty long succession of excellent emperors, who had acquired their title, not by birth, or public election, but by the fictitious rite of adoption. That bloody debauchee being murdered by a conspiracy suddenly formed between his wench and her gallant, who happened at that time to be Prætorian Præfect; these immediately deliberated about choosing a master to human kind, to speak in the style of those ages; and they cast their eyes on Pertinax. Before the tyrant’s death was known,

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the Præfect went secretly to that senator, who, on the appearance of the ­soldiers, imagined that his execution had been ordered by Commodus. He  was immediately saluted emperor by the officer and his attendants; cheerfully proclaimed by the populace; unwillingly submitted to by the guards; formally recognized by the senate; and passively received by the provinces and armies of the empire. The discontent of the Prætorian bands broke out in a sudden sedition, which occasioned the murder of that excellent prince: And the world being now without a master and without government, the guards thought proper to set the empire formally to sale. Julian, the purchaser, was proclaimed by the soldiers, recognized by the senate, and submitted to by the people; and must also have been submitted to by the provinces, had not the envy of the legions begotten opposition and resistance. Pescennius Niger in Syria elected himself emperor, gained the tumultuary consent of his army, and was attended with the secret good-will of the senate and people of Rome. Albinus in Britain found an equal right to set up his claim; but Severus, who governed Pannonia, prevailed in the end above both of them. That able politician and warrior, finding his own birth and dignity too much inferior to the imperial crown, professed, at first, an intention only of revenging the death of Pertinax. He marched as general into Italy; defeated Julian; and without our being able to fix any precise commencement even of the soldiers’ consent, he was from necessity acknowledged emperor by the senate and people; and fully established in his violent authority by subduing Niger and Albinus.3 Inter hæc Gordianus Cæsar (says Capitolinus, speaking of another period) sublatus a militibus, Imperator est appellatus, quia non erat alius in præsenti. It is to be remarked that Gordian was a boy of fourteen years of age. Frequent instances of a like nature occur in the history of the emperors; in that of Alexander’s successors; and of many other countries: Nor can any thing be more unhappy than a despotic government of this kind; where the succession is disjointed and irregular, and must be determined, on every vacancy, by force or election. In a free government, the matter is often unavoidable, and is also much less dangerous. The interests of liberty may there frequently lead the people, in their own defence, to alter the succession of the crown. And the constitution, being compounded of parts, may still maintain a sufficient stability, by resting on the aristocratical or democratical members, though the monarchical be altered, from time to time, in order to accommodate it to the former. 3  Herodian, lib. 2.

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In an absolute government, when there is no legal prince, who has a title to the throne, it may safely be determined to belong to the first occupant. Instances of this kind are but too frequent, especially in the eastern monarchies. When any race of princes expires, the will or destination of the last sovereign will be regarded as a title. Thus the edict of Louis the XIVth, who called the bastard princes to the succession in case of the failure of all the legitimate princes, would, in such an event, have some authority.4 Thus the will of Charles the Second disposed of the whole Spanish monarchy. The cession of the ancient proprietor, especially when joined to conquest, is likewise deemed a good title. The general obligation, which binds us to government, is the interest and necessities of society; and this obligation is very strong. The determination of it to this or that particular prince or form of government is frequently more uncertain and dubious. Present possession has considerable authority in these cases, and greater than in private property; because of the disorders which attend all revolutions and changes of government.5 We shall only observe, before we conclude, that, though an appeal to ­general opinion may justly, in the speculative sciences of metaphysics, ­natural philosophy, or astronomy, be deemed unfair and inconclusive, yet in all questions with regard to morals, as well as criticism, there is really no other standard, by which any controversy can ever be decided. And nothing is a clearer proof, that a theory of this kind is erroneous, than to find, that it leads to paradoxes, repugnant to the common sentiments of mankind, and to the practice and opinion of all nations and all ages. The doctrine, which founds all lawful government on an original contract, or consent of the ­people, is plainly of this kind; nor has the most noted of its partizans, in prosecution of it, scrupled to affirm, that absolute monarchy is inconsistent 4  It is remarkable, that, in the remonstrance of the duke of Bourbon and the legitimate princes, against this destination of Louis the XIVth, the doctrine of the original contract is insisted on, even in that absolute government. The French nation, say they, choosing Hugh Capet and his posterity to rule over them and their posterity, where the former line fails, there is a tacit right reserved to choose a new royal family; and this right is invaded by calling the bastard princes to the throne, without the consent of the nation. But the Comte de Boulainvilliers, who wrote in defence of the bastard princes, ridicules this notion of an original contract, especially when applied to Hugh Capet; who mounted the throne, says he, by the same arts, which have ever been employed by all conquerors and usurpers. He got his title, indeed, recognized by the states after he had put himself in possession: But is this a choice or contract? The Comte de Boulainvilliers, we may observe, was a noted republican; but being a man of learning, and very conversant in history, he knew that the people were never almost consulted in these revolutions and new establishments, and that time alone bestowed right and authority on what was commonly at first founded on force and violence. See Etat de la France, Vol. 3. 5  The crime of rebellion among the ancients was commonly expressed by the terms νεωτερίζειν, novas res moliri.

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with civil society, and so can be no form of civil government at all;6 and that the supreme power in a state cannot take from any man, by taxes and impositions, any part of his property, without his own consent or that of his representatives.7 What authority any moral reasoning can have, which leads into opinions so wide of the general practice of mankind, in every place but this single kingdom, it is easy to determine. The only passage I meet with in antiquity, where the obligation of obedience to government is ascribed to a promise, is in Plato’s Crito; where Socrates refuses to escape from prison, because he had tacitly promised to obey the laws. Thus he builds a tory consequence of passive obedience, on a whig foundation of the original contract. New discoveries are not to be expected in these matters. If scarce any man, till very lately, ever imagined that government was founded on ­compact, it is certain, that it cannot, in general, have any such foundation. 6 See Locke on government, chap. 7. § 90.    7  Id. chap. 11. §§ 138, 139, 140.

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ESSAY 1 3

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In the former essay, we endeavoured to refute the speculative systems of politics advanced in this nation; as well the religious system of the one party, as the philosophical of the other. We come now to examine the practical consequences, deduced by each party, with regard to the measures of submission due to sovereigns. As the obligation to justice is founded entirely on the interests of society, which require mutual abstinence from property, in order to preserve peace among mankind; it is evident, that, when the execution of justice would be attended with very pernicious consequences, that virtue must be suspended, and give place to public utility, in such extraordinary and such pressing emergencies. The maxim, fiat Justitia & ruat Cœlum, let justice be performed, though the universe be destroyed, is apparently false, and by sacrificing the end to the means, shows a preposterous idea of the subordination of duties. What governor of a town makes any scruple of burning the suburbs, when they facilitate the approaches of the enemy? Or what general abstains from plundering a neutral country, when the necessities of war require it, and he cannot otherwise subsist his army? The case is the same with the duty of allegiance; and common sense teaches us, that, as government binds us to obedience only on account of its tendency to public utility, that duty must always, in extraordinary cases, when public ruin would ­evidently attend obedience, yield to the primary and original obligation. Salus populi suprema Lex, the safety of the people is the supreme law. This maxim is agreeable to the sentiments of mankind in all ages: Nor is any one, when he reads of the insurrections against Nero or Philip the Second, so infatuated with party-systems, as not to wish success to the enterprize, and praise the undertakers. Even our high monarchical party, in spite of their sublime theory, are forced, in such cases, to judge, and feel, and approve, in conformity to the rest of mankind. Resistance, therefore, being admitted in extraordinary emergencies, the question can only be among good reasoners, with regard to the degree of necessity, which can justify resistance, and render it lawful or commendable. And here I must confess, that I shall always incline to their side, who draw the bond of allegiance very close, and consider an infringement of it, as the

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last refuge in desperate cases, when the public is in the highest danger, from violence and tyranny. For besides the mischiefs of a civil war, which commonly attends insurrection; it is certain, that, where a disposition to rebellion appears among any people, it is one chief cause of tyranny in the rulers, and forces them into many violent measures which they never would have embraced, had every one been inclined to submission and obedience. Thus the tyrannicide or assassination, approved of by ancient maxims, instead of keeping tyrants and usurpers in awe, made them ten times more fierce and unrelenting; and is now justly, upon that account, abolished by the laws of nations, and universally condemned as a base and treacherous method of bringing to justice these disturbers of society. Besides we must consider, that, as obedience is our duty in the common course of things, it ought chiefly to be inculcated; nor can any thing be more preposterous than an anxious care and sollicitude in stating all the cases, in which resistance may be allowed. In like manner, though a philosopher reasonably acknowledges, in the course of an argument, that the rules of justice may be dispensed with in cases of urgent necessity; what should we think of a preacher or casuist, who should make it his chief study to find out such cases, and enforce them with all the vehemence of argument and eloquence? Would he not be better employed in inculcating the general doctrine, than in displaying the particular exceptions, which we are, perhaps, but too much inclined, of ourselves, to embrace and to extend? There are, however, two reasons, which may be pleaded in defence of that party among us, who have, with so much industry, propagated the maxims of resistance; maxims, which, it must be confessed, are, in general, so pernicious, and so destructive of civil society. The first is, that their antagonists carrying the doctrine of obedience to such an extravagant height, as not only never to mention the exceptions in extraordinary cases (which might, perhaps, be excusable) but even positively to exclude them; it became necessary to insist on these exceptions, and defend the rights of injured truth and ­liberty. The second, and, perhaps, better reason, is founded on the nature of the British constitution and form of government. It is almost peculiar to our constitution to establish a first magistrate with such high pre-eminence and dignity, that, though limited by the laws, he is, in a manner, so far as regards his own person, above the laws, and can ­neither be questioned nor punished for any injury or wrong, which may be committed by him. His ministers alone, or those who act by his commission, are obnoxious to justice; and while the prince is thus allured, by the prospect of personal safety, to give the laws their free course, an equal security is, in effect, obtained by the punishment of lesser offenders, and at the same time

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a civil war is avoided, which would be the infallible consequence, were an attack, at every turn, made directly upon the sovereign. But though the constitution pays this salutary compliment to the prince, it can never reasonably be understood, by that maxim, to have determined its own destruction, or to have established a tame submission, where he protects his ministers, perseveres in injustice, and usurps the whole power of the commonwealth. This case, indeed, is never expressly put by the laws; because it is impossible for them, in their ordinary course, to provide a remedy for it, or establish any magistrate, with superior authority, to chastise the exorbitancies of the prince. But as a right without a remedy would be an absurdity; the remedy in this case, is the extraordinary one of resistance, when affairs come to that extremity, that the constitution can be defended by it alone. Resistance therefore must, of course, become more frequent in the British government, than in others, which are simpler, and consist of fewer parts and movements. Where the king is an absolute sovereign, he has little temptation to commit such enormous tyranny as may justly provoke rebellion: But where he is limited, his imprudent ambition, without any great vices, may run him into that perilous situation. This is frequently supposed to have been the case with Charles the First; and if we may now speak truth, after animosities are ceased, this was also the case with James the Second. These were harmless, if not, in their private character, good men; but mistaking the nature of our constitution, and engrossing the whole legislative power, it  became necessary to oppose them with some vehemence; and even to deprive the latter formally of that authority, which he had used with such imprudence and indiscretion.

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Of the Coalition of Parties 1

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To abolish all distinctions of party may not be practicable, perhaps not desirable, in a free government. The only dangerous parties are such as entertain opposite views with regard to the essentials of government, the succession of the crown, or the more considerable privileges belonging to the several members of the constitution; where there is no room for any compromize or accommodation, and where the controversy may appear so momentous as to justify even an opposition by arms to the pretensions of antagonists. Of this nature was the animosity, continued for above a century past, between the parties in England; an animosity which broke out sometimes into civil war, which occasioned violent revolutions, and which continually endangered the peace and tranquillity of the nation. But as there have appeared of late the strongest symptoms of an universal desire to abolish these party distinctions; this tendency to a coalition affords the most agreeable prospect of future happiness, and ought to be carefully cherished and promoted by every lover of his country. There is not a more effectual method of promoting so good an end, than to prevent all unreasonable insult and triumph of the one party over the other, to encourage moderate opinions, to find the proper medium in all disputes, to persuade each that its antagonist may possibly be sometimes in the right, and to keep a balance in the praise and blame, which we bestow on either side. The two former Essays, concerning the original contract and passive obedience, are calculated for this purpose with regard to the philosophical and practical controversies between the parties, and tend to show that neither side are in these respects so fully supported by reason as they endeavour to flatter themselves. We shall proceed to exercise the same moderation with regard to the historical disputes between the parties, by proving that each of them was justified by plausible topics; that there were on both sides wise men, who meant well to their country; and that the past animosity between the factions had no better foundation than narrow prejudice or interested passion. The popular party, who afterwards acquired the name of whigs, might justify, by very specious arguments, that opposition to the crown, from which our present free constitution is derived. Though obliged to ­acknowledge,

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that precedents in favour of prerogative had uniformly taken place during many reigns before Charles the First, they thought, that there was no reason for submitting any longer to so dangerous an authority. Such might have been their reasoning: As the rights of mankind are for ever to be deemed sacred, no prescription of tyranny or arbitrary power can have authority sufficient to abolish them. Liberty is a blessing so inestimable, that, wherever there appears any probability of recovering it, a nation may willingly run many hazards, and ought not even to repine at the greatest effusion of blood or dissipation of treasure. All human institutions, and none more than government, are in continual fluctuation. Kings are sure to  embrace every opportunity of extending their prerogatives: And if ­favourable incidents be not also laid hold of for extending and securing the privileges of the people, an universal despotism must for ever prevail amongst mankind. The example of all the neighbouring nations proves, that it is no longer safe to entrust with the crown the same high prerogatives, which had formerly been exercised during rude and simple ages. And though the example of many late reigns may be pleaded in favour of a power in the prince somewhat arbitrary, more remote reigns afford instances of stricter limitations imposed on the crown; and those pretensions of the p ­ arliament, now branded with the title of innovations, are only a recovery of the just rights of the people. These views, far from being odious, are surely large, and generous, and noble: To their prevalence and success the kingdom owes its liberty; perhaps its learning, its industry, commerce, and naval power: By them chiefly the English name is distinguished among the society of nations, and aspires to a rivalship with that of the freest and most illustrious commonwealths of antiquity. But as all these mighty consequences could not reasonably be foreseen at the time when the contest began, the royalists of that age wanted not specious arguments on their side, by which they could justify their defence of the then established prerogatives of the prince. We shall state the question, as it might have appeared to them at the assembling of that parliament, which, by its violent encroachments on the crown, began the civil wars. The only rule of government, they might have said, known and acknowledged among men, is use and practice: Reason is so uncertain a guide that it will always be exposed to doubt and controversy: Could it ever render itself prevalent over the people, men had always retained it as their sole rule of conduct: They had still continued in the primitive, unconnected state of nature, without submitting to political government, whose sole basis is, not pure reason, but authority and precedent. Dissolve these ties, you break all

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the bonds of civil society, and leave every man at liberty to consult his ­private interest, by those expedients, which his appetite, disguised under the appearance of reason, shall dictate to him. The spirit of innovation is in itself pernicious, however favourable its particular object may sometimes appear: A truth so obvious, that the popular party themselves are sensible of it; and therefore cover their encroachments on the crown by the plausible pretence of their recovering the ancient liberties of the people. But the present prerogatives of the crown, allowing all the suppositions of that party, have been incontestably established ever since the accession of the house of Tudor; a period, which, as it now comprehends a hundred and sixty years, may be allowed sufficient to give stability to any constitution. Would it not have appeared ridiculous, in the reign of the Emperor Adrian, to have talked of the republican constitution as the rule of government; or to have supposed, that the former rights of the senate, and consuls, and tribunes were still subsisting? But the present claims of the English monarchs are much more f­ avourable than those of the Roman emperors during that age. The authority of Augustus was a plain usurpation, grounded only on military violence, and forms such an epoch in the history, as is obvious to every reader. But if Henry VII. really, as some pretend, enlarged the power of the crown, it was only by insensible acquisitions, which escaped the apprehension of the ­people, and have scarcely been remarked even by historians and politicians. The new government, if it deserve the epithet, is an imperceptible transition from the former; is entirely engrafted on it; derives its title fully from that root; and is to be considered only as one of those gradual revolutions, to which human affairs, in every nation, will be for ever subject. The house of Tudor, and after them that of Stuart, exercised no prerogatives, but what had been claimed and exercised by the Plantagenets. Not a single branch of their authority can be said to be an innovation. The only difference is, that, perhaps, former kings exerted these powers only by intervals, and were not able, by reason of the opposition of their barons, to render them so steady a rule of administration. But the sole inference from this fact is, that those ancient times were more turbulent and seditious; and that royal authority, the constitution, and the laws have happily of late gained the ascendant. Under what pretence can the popular party now speak of recovering the ancient constitution? The former controul over the kings was not placed in the commons, but in the barons: The people had no authority, and even ­little or no liberty; till the crown, by suppressing these factious tyrants, enforced the execution of the laws, and obliged all the subjects equally to

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respect each others rights, privileges, and properties. If we must return to the ancient barbarous and feudal constitution; let those gentlemen, who now behave themselves with so much insolence to their sovereign, set the first example. Let them make court to be admitted as retainers to a neighbouring baron; and by submitting to slavery under him, acquire some protection to themselves; together with the power of exercising rapine and oppression over their inferior slaves and villains. This was the condition of the commons among their remote ancestors. But how far back must we go, in having recourse to ancient constitutions and governments? There was a constitution still more ancient than that to which these innovators affect so much to appeal. During that period there was no magna charta: The barons themselves possessed few regular, stated privileges: And the house of commons probably had not an existence. It is ridiculous to hear the commons, while they are assuming, by usurpation, the whole power of government, talk of reviving ancient institutions. Is it not known, that, though representatives received wages from their constituents; to be a member of the lower house was always considered as a burden, and an exemption from it as a privilege? Will they persuade us, that power, which, of all human acquisitions, is the most coveted, and in comparison of which even reputation and pleasure and riches are slighted, could ever be regarded as a burden by any man? The property, acquired of late by the commons, it is said, entitles them to more power than their ancestors enjoyed. But to what is this encrease of their property owing, but to an encrease of their liberty and their security? Let them therefore acknowledge, that their ancestors, while the crown was restrained by the seditious barons, really enjoyed less liberty than they themselves have attained, after the sovereign acquired the ascendant: And let them enjoy that liberty with moderation; and not forfeit it by new exorbitant claims, and by rendering it a pretence for endless innovations. The true rule of government is the present established practice of the age. That has most authority, because it is recent: It is also best known, for the same reason. Who has assured those tribunes, that the Plantagenets did not exercise as high acts of authority as the Tudors? Historians, they say, do not mention them. But historians are also silent with regard to the chief exertions of prerogative by the Tudors. Where any power or prerogative is fully and undoubtedly established, the exercise of it passes for a thing of course, and readily escapes the notice of history and annals. Had we no other monuments of Elizabeth’s reign, than what are preserved even by Camden, the most copious, judicious, and exact of our historians, we should be entirely ignorant of the most important maxims of her government.

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Was not the present monarchical government, in its full extent, authorized by lawyers, recommended by divines, acknowledged by politicians, acquiesced in, nay passionately cherished, by the people in general; and all this during a period of at least a hundred and sixty years, and till of late, without the smallest murmur or controversy? This general consent surely, during so long a time, must be sufficient to render a constitution legal and valid. If the origin of all power be derived, as is pretended, from the people; here is their consent in the fullest and most ample terms that can be desired or imagined. But the people must not pretend, because they can, by their consent, lay the foundations of government, that therefore they are to be permitted, at their pleasure, to overthrow and subvert them. There is no end of these seditious and arrogant claims. The power of the crown is now openly struck at: The nobility are also in visible peril: The gentry will soon follow: The popular leaders, who will then assume the name of gentry, will next be exposed to  danger: And the people themselves, having become incapable of civil ­government, and lying under the restraint of no authority, must, for the sake of peace, admit, instead of their legal and mild monarchs, a succession of military and despotic tyrants. These consequences are the more to be dreaded, as the present fury of the people, though glossed over by pretensions to civil liberty, is in reality incited by the fanaticism of religion; a principle the most blind, headstrong, and ungovernable, by which human nature can possibly be actuated. Popular rage is dreadful, from whatever motive derived: But must be attended with the most pernicious consequences, when it arises from a principle, which disclaims all controul by human law, reason, or authority. These are the arguments, which each party may make use of to justify the conduct of their predecessors, during that great crisis. The event, if that can be admitted as a reason, has shown, that the arguments of the popular party were better founded; but perhaps, according to the established maxims of lawyers and politicians, the views of the royalists ought, before-hand, to have appeared more solid, more safe, and more legal. But this is certain, that the greater moderation we now employ in representing past events; the nearer shall we be to produce a full coalition of the parties, and an entire acquiescence in our present establishment. Moderation is of advantage to every establishment: Nothing but zeal can overturn a settled power: And an over-active zeal in friends is apt to beget a like spirit in antagonists. The transition from a moderate opposition against an establishment, to an entire acquiescence in it, is easy and insensible. There are many invincible arguments, which should induce the malcontent party to acquiesce entirely in the present settlement of the constitution.

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They now find, that the spirit of civil liberty, though at first connected with religious fanaticism, could purge itself from that pollution, and appear under a more genuine and engaging aspect; a friend to toleration, and an encourager of all the enlarged and generous sentiments that do honour to human nature. They may observe, that the popular claims could stop at a proper period; and after retrenching the high claims of prerogative, could still maintain a due respect to monarchy, to nobility, and to all ancient institutions. Above all, they must be sensible, that the very principle, which made the strength of their party, and from which it derived its chief authority, has now deserted them, and gone over to their antagonists. The plan of liberty is settled; its happy effects are proved by experience; a long tract of time has given it stability; and whoever would attempt to overturn it, and to recall the past government or abdicated family, would, besides other more criminal imputations, be exposed, in their turn, to the reproach of faction and innovation. While they peruse the history of past events, they ought to reflect, both that those rights of the crown are long since annihilated, and that the tyranny, and violence, and oppression, to which they often gave rise, are ills, from which the established liberty of the constitution has now at last happily protected the people. These reflections will prove a better security to our freedom and privileges, than to deny, contrary to the clearest evidence of facts, that such regal powers ever had an existence. There is not a more effectual method of betraying a cause, than to lay the stress of the argument on a wrong place, and by disputing an untenable post, enure the adversaries to success and victory.

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ESSAY 1 5

Of the Protestant Succession 1

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I Suppose that a member of parliament, in the reign of King William or Queen Anne, while the establishment of the Protestant Succession was yet uncertain, were deliberating concerning the party he would choose in that important question, and weighing, with impartiality, the advantages and ­disadvantages on each side. I believe the following particulars would have entered into his consideration. He would easily perceive the great advantage resulting from the restoration of the Stuart family; by which we should preserve the succession clear and undisputed, free from a pretender, with such a specious title as that of blood, which, with the multitude, is always the claim, the strongest and most easily comprehended. It is in vain to say, as many have done, that the question with regard to governors, independent of government, is frivolous, and little worth disputing, much less fighting about. The generality of mankind never will enter into these sentiments; and it is much happier, I believe, for society, that they do not, but rather continue in their natural prepossessions. How could stability be preserved in any monarchical government, (which, though, perhaps, not the best, is, and always has been, the most common of any) unless men had so passionate a regard for the true heir of their royal family; and even though he be weak in understanding, or infirm in years, gave him so sensible a preference above persons the most accomplished in shining talents, or celebrated for great atchievements? Would not every popular leader put in his claim at every vacancy, or even without any vacancy; and the kingdom become the theatre of perpetual wars and convulsions? The condition of the Roman empire, surely, was not, in this respect, much to be envied; nor is that of the Eastern nations, who pay little regard to the titles of their sovereign, but sacrifice them, every day, to the caprice or momentary humour of the populace or soldiery. It is but a foolish wisdom, which is so carefully displayed, in undervaluing princes, and placing them on a level with the meanest of mankind. To be sure, an anatomist finds no more in the greatest monarch than in the lowest peasant or day-labourer; and a moralist may, perhaps, frequently find less. But what do all these reflections tend to? We, all of us, still retain these prejudices in favour of birth and family; and neither in our serious occupations, nor most careless

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amusements, can we ever get entirely rid of them. A tragedy, that should represent the adventures of sailors, or porters, or even of private gentlemen, would presently disgust us; but one that introduces kings and princes, acquires in our eyes an air of importance and dignity. Or should a man be able, by his superior wisdom, to get entirely above such prepossessions, he would soon, by means of the same wisdom, again bring himself down to them, for the sake of society, whose welfare he would perceive to be i­ntimately connected with them. Far from endeavouring to undeceive the people in this particular, he would cherish such sentiments of reverence to their princes; as requisite to preserve a due subordination in society. And though the lives of twenty thousand men be often sacrificed to maintain a king in possession of his throne, or preserve the right of succession undisturbed, he entertains no indignation at the loss, on pretence that every individual of these was, perhaps, in himself, as valuable as the prince he served. He considers the consequences of violating the hereditary right of kings: Consequences, which may be felt for many centuries; while the loss of several thousand men brings so little prejudice to a large kingdom, that it may not be perceived a few years after. The advantages of the Hanover succession are of an opposite nature, and arise from this very circumstance, that it violates hereditary right; and places on the throne a prince, to whom birth gave no title to that dignity. It is evident, from the history of this island, that the privileges of the people have, during near two centuries, been continually upon the encrease, by the division of the church-lands, by the alienations of the barons’ estates, by the progress of trade, and above all, by the happiness of our situation, which, for  a long time, gave us sufficient security, without any standing army or military establishment. On the contrary, public liberty has, almost in every other nation of Europe, been, during the same period, extremely upon the decline; while the people were disgusted at the hardships of the old feudal militia, and rather chose to entrust their prince with mercenary armies, which he easily turned against themselves. It was nothing extraordinary, therefore, that some of our British sovereigns mistook the nature of the constitution, at least, the genius of the people; and as they embraced all the favourable precedents left them by their ancestors, they overlooked all those which were contrary, and which supposed a limitation in our government. They were encouraged in this mistake, by the example of all the neighbouring princes, who bearing the same title or appellation, and being adorned with the same ensigns of authority, naturally led them to claim the same powers and prerogatives. It appears from the speeches, and proclamations of James I. and the whole train of that prince’s actions, as well as his son’s,

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that he regarded the English government as a simple monarchy, and never imagined that any considerable part of his subjects entertained a contrary idea. This opinion made those monarchs discover their pretensions, without preparing any force to support them; and even without reserve or disguise, which are always employed by those, who enter upon any new project, or endeavour to innovate in any government. The flattery of courtiers farther confirmed their prejudices; and above all, that of the clergy, who from several passages of scripture, and these wrested too, had erected a regular and avowed system of arbitrary power. The only method of destroying, at once, all these high claims and pretensions, was to depart from the true hereditary line, and choose a prince, who, being plainly a creature of the public, and receiving the crown on conditions, expressed and avowed, found his authority established on the same bottom with the privileges of the people. By electing him in the royal line, we cut off all hopes of ambitious subjects, who might, in future emergencies, disturb the government by their cabals and pretensions: By rendering the crown hereditary in his family, we avoided all the inconveniencies of elective monarchy: And by excluding the lineal heir, we secured all our constitutional limitations, and rendered our government uniform and of a piece. The people cherish monarchy, because protected by it: The monarch favours liberty, because created by it. And thus every advantage is obtained by the new establishment, as far as human skill and wisdom can extend itself. These are the separate advantages of fixing the succession, either in the house of Stuart, or in that of Hanover. There are also disadvantages in each establishment, which an impartial patriot would ponder and examine, in order to form a just judgment upon the whole. The disadvantages of the Protestant Succession consist in the foreign dominions, which are possessed by the princes of the Hanover line, and which, it might be supposed, would engage us in the intrigues and wars of the continent, and lose us, in some measure, the inestimable advantage we possess, of being surrounded and guarded by the sea, which we command. The disadvantages of recalling the abdicated family consist chiefly in their religion, which is more prejudicial to society than that established amongst us, is contrary to it, and affords no toleration, or peace, or security to any other communion. It appears to me, that these advantages and disadvantages are allowed on both sides; at least, by every one who is at all susceptible of argument or reasoning. No subject, however loyal, pretends to deny, that the disputed title and foreign dominions of the present royal family are a loss. Nor is there any partizan of the Stuarts, but will confess, that the claim of hereditary,

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indefeasible right, and the Roman-Catholic religion, are also disadvantages in that family. It belongs, therefore, to a philosopher alone, who is of neither party, to put all the circumstances in the scale, and assign to each of them its proper poise and influence. Such a one will readily, at first, acknowledge, that all political questions are infinitely complicated, and that there scarcely ever occurs, in any deliberation, a choice, which is either purely good, or purely ill. Consequences, mixed and varied, may be foreseen to flow from every measure: And many consequences, unforeseen, do always, in fact, result from every one. Hesitation, and reserve, and suspence, are, therefore, the only sentiments he brings to this essay or trial. Or if he indulges any passion, it is that of derision against the ignorant multitude, who are always clamorous and dogmatical, even in the nicest questions, of which, from want of temper, perhaps still more than of understanding, they are altogether unfit judges. But to say something more determinate on this head, the following reflections will, I hope, show the temper, if not the understanding of a philosopher. Were we to judge merely by first appearances, and by past experience, we must allow that the advantages of a parliamentary title in the house of Hanover are greater than those of an undisputed hereditary title in the house of Stuart; and that our fathers acted wisely in preferring the former to the latter. So long as the house of Stuart ruled in Great Britain, which, with some interruption, was above 80 years, the government was kept in a continual fever, by the contention between the privileges of the people and the prerogatives of the crown. If arms were dropped, the noise of disputes continued: Or if these were silenced, jealousy still corroded the heart, and threw the nation into an unnatural ferment and disorder. And while we were thus occupied in domestic disputes, a foreign power, dangerous to public liberty, erected itself in Europe, without any opposition from us, and even sometimes with our assistance. But during these last sixty years, when a parliamentary establishment has taken place; whatever factions may have prevailed either among the people or in public assemblies, the whole force of our constitution has always fallen to one side, and an uninterrupted harmony has been preserved between our princes and our parliaments. Public liberty, with internal peace and order, has flourished almost without interruption: Trade and manufactures, and agriculture, have encreased: The arts, and sciences, and philosophy, have been cultivated. Even religious parties have been necessitated to lay aside their mutual rancour: And the glory of the nation has spread itself all over Europe; derived equally from our progress in the arts of peace, and from

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valour and success in war. So long and so glorious a period no nation almost can boast of: Nor is there another instance in the whole history of mankind, that so many millions of people have, during such a space of time, been held together, in a manner so free, so rational, and so suitable to the dignity of human nature. But though this recent experience seems clearly to decide in favour of the present establishment, there are some circumstances to be thrown into the other scale; and it is dangerous to regulate our judgment by one event or example. We have had two rebellions during the flourishing period above-mentioned, besides plots and conspiracies without number. And if none of these have produced any very fatal event, we may ascribe our escape chiefly to the narrow genius of those princes who disputed our establishment; and we may esteem ourselves so far fortunate. But the claims of the banished family, I fear, are not yet antiquated; and who can foretel, that their future attempts will produce no greater disorder? The disputes between privilege and prerogative may easily be composed by laws, and votes, and conferences, and concessions; where there is tolerable temper or prudence on both sides, or on either side. Among contending titles, the question can only be determined by the sword, and by devastation, and by civil war. A prince, who fills the throne with a disputed title, dares not arm his subjects; the only method of securing a people fully, both against domestic oppression and foreign conquest. Notwithstanding our riches and renown, what a critical escape did we make, by the late peace, from dangers, which were owing not so much to bad conduct and ill success in war, as to the pernicious practice of mortgaging our finances, and the still more pernicious maxim of never paying off our  incumbrances? Such fatal measures would not probably have been embraced, had it not been to secure a precarious establishment. But to convince us, that an hereditary title is to be embraced rather than a parliamentary one, which is not supported by any other views or motives; a man needs only transport himself back to the æra of the restoration, and suppose, that he had had a seat in that parliament which recalled the royal family, and put a period to the greatest disorders that ever arose from the opposite pretensions of prince and people. What would have been thought of one, that had proposed, at that time, to set aside Charles II. and settle the crown on the Duke of York or Gloucester, merely in order to exclude all high claims, like those of their father and grandfather? Would not such a one have been regarded as an extravagant projector, who loved dangerous

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remedies, and could tamper and play with a government and national constitution, like a quack with a sickly patient? In reality, the reason assigned by the nation for excluding the race of Stuart, and so many other branches of the royal family, is not on account of their hereditary title (a reason, which would, to vulgar apprehensions, have appeared altogether absurd) but on account of their religion. Which leads us to compare the disadvantages above-mentioned in each establishment. I confess, that, considering the matter in general, it were much to be wished, that our prince had no foreign dominions, and could confine all his attention to the government of this island. For not to mention some real inconveniencies that may result from territories on the continent, they afford such a handle for calumny and defamation, as is greedily seized by the people, always disposed to think ill of their superiors. It must, however, be acknowledged, that Hanover, is, perhaps, the spot of ground in Europe the least inconvenient for a King of England. It lies in the heart of Germany, at a distance from the great powers, which are our natural rivals: It is protected by the laws of the empire, as well as by the arms of its own sovereign: And it serves only to connect us more closely with the house of Austria, our natural ally. The religious persuasion of the house of Stuart is an inconvenience of a much deeper dye, and would threaten us with much more dismal consequences. The Roman-Catholic religion, with its train of priests and friers, is more expensive than ours: Even though unaccompanied with its natural attendants of inquisitors, and stakes, and gibbets, it is less tolerating: And not content with dividing the sacerdotal from the regal office (which must be prejudicial to any state) it bestows the former on a foreigner, who has always a separate interest from that of the public, and may often have an opposite one. But were this religion ever so advantageous to society, it is contrary to that which is established among us, and which is likely to keep possession, for a long time, of the minds of the people. And though it is much to be hoped, that the progress of reason will, by degrees, abate the acrimony of opposite religions all over Europe; yet the spirit of moderation has, as yet, made too slow advances to be entirely trusted. Thus, upon the whole, the advantages of the settlement in the family of Stuart, which frees us from a disputed title, seem to bear some proportion with those of the settlement in the family of Hanover, which frees us from the claims of prerogative: But at the same time, its disadvantages, by placing on the throne a Roman Catholic, are greater than those of the other establishment, in settling the crown on a foreign prince. What party an impartial

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patriot, in the reign of K. William or Q. Anne, would have chosen amidst these opposite views, may, perhaps, to some appear hard to determine. But the settlement in the house of Hanover has actually taken place. The princes of that family, without intrigue, without cabal, without solicitation on their part, have been called to mount our throne, by the united voice of the whole legislative body. They have, since their accession, displayed, in all their actions, the utmost mildness, equity, and regard to the laws and constitution. Our own ministers, our own parliaments, ourselves have governed us; and if aught ill has befallen us, we can only blame fortune or ourselves. What a reproach must we become among nations, if, disgusted with a settlement so deliberately made, and whose conditions have been so religiously observed, we should throw every thing again into confusion; and by our levity and rebellious disposition, prove ourselves totally unfit for any state but that of absolute slavery and subjection? The greatest inconvenience, attending a disputed title, is, that it brings us in danger of civil wars and rebellions. What wise man, to avoid this inconvenience, would run directly into a civil war and rebellion? Not to mention, that so long possession, secured by so many laws, must, ere this time, in the apprehension of a great part of the nation, have begotten a title in the house of Hanover, independent of their present possession: So that now we should not, even by a revolution, obtain the end of avoiding a disputed title. No revolution made by national forces, will ever be able, without some other great necessity, to abolish our debts and incumbrances, in which the interest of so many persons is concerned. And a revolution made by foreign forces, is a conquest: A calamity, with which the precarious balance of power threatens us, and which our civil dissentions are likely, above all other circumstances, to bring upon us.

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ESSAY 1 6

Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth 1

2

It is not with forms of government, as with other artificial contrivances; where an old engine may be rejected, if we can discover another more ­accurate and commodious, or where trials may safely be made, even though the success be doubtful. An established government has an infinite advantage, by that very circumstance of its being established; the bulk of mankind being governed by authority, not reason, and never attributing authority to any thing that has not the recommendation of antiquity. To tamper, therefore, in the affair, or try experiments merely upon the credit of supposed argument and philosophy, can never be the part of a wise magistrate, who will bear a reverence to what carries the marks of age; and though he may attempt some improvements for the public good, yet will he adjust his innovations, as much as possible, to the ancient fabric, and preserve entire the chief pillars and supports of the constitution. The mathematicians in Europe have been much divided concerning that figure of a ship, which is the most commodious for sailing; and Huygens, who at last determined the controversy, is justly thought to have obliged the learned, as well as commercial world; though Columbus had sailed to America, and Sir Francis Drake made the tour of the world, without any such discovery. As one form of government must be allowed more perfect than another, independent of the manners and humours of particular men; why may we not enquire what is the most perfect of all, though the common botched and inaccurate governments seem to serve the purposes of society, and though it be not so easy to establish a new system of government, as to build a vessel upon a new construction? The subject is surely the most worthy curiosity of any the wit of man can possibly devise. And who knows, if this controversy were fixed by the universal consent of the wise and learned, but, in some future age, an opportunity might be afforded of reducing the theory to practice, either by a dissolution of some old government, or by the combination of men to form a new one, in some distant part of the world? In all cases, it must be advantageous to know what is most perfect in the kind, that we may be able to bring any real constitution or form of government as near it as possible, by such gentle alterations and innovations as may not give too great disturbance to society.

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All I pretend to in the present essay is to revive this subject of speculation; and therefore I shall deliver my sentiments in as few words as possible. A long dissertation on that head would not, I apprehend, be very acceptable to the public, who will be apt to regard such disquisitions both as useless and chimerical. All plans of government, which suppose great reformation in the ­manners of mankind, are plainly imaginary. Of this nature, are the Republic of Plato, and the Utopia of Sir Thomas More. The Oceana is the only valuable model of a commonwealth, that has yet been offered to the public. The chief defects of the Oceana seem to be these. First, Its rotation is inconvenient, by throwing men, of whatever abilities, by intervals, out of public employments. Secondly, Its Agrarian is impracticable. Men will soon learn the art, which was practiced in ancient Rome, of concealing their possessions under other people’s name; till at last, the abuse will become so common, that they will throw off even the appearance of restraint. Thirdly, The Oceana provides not a sufficient security for liberty, or the redress of grievances. The senate must propose, and the people consent; by which means, the senate have not only a negative upon the people, but, what is of much greater consequence, their negative goes before the votes of the ­people. Were the King’s negative of the same nature in the English constitution, and could he prevent any bill from coming into parliament, he would be an absolute ­monarch. As his negative follows the votes of the houses, it is of little consequence: Such a difference is there in the manner of placing the same thing. When a popular bill has been debated in parliament, is brought to maturity, all its conveniencies and inconveniencies weighed and balanced; if afterwards it be presented for the royal assent, few princes will venture to  reject the unanimous desire of the people. But could the King crush a disagreeable bill in embryo (as was the case, for some time, in the Scottish parliament, by means of the lords of the articles) the British government would have no balance, nor would grievances ever be redressed: And it is certain, that exorbitant power proceeds not, in any government, from new laws, so much as from neglecting to remedy the abuses, which frequently rise from the old ones. A government, says Machiavel, must often be brought back to its original principles. It appears then, that, in the Oceana, the whole legislature may be  said to rest in the senate; which Harrington would own to be an ­inconvenient form of government, especially after the Agrarian is abolished. Here is a form of government, to which I cannot, in theory, discover any considerable objection. Let Great Britain and Ireland, or any territory of equal extent, be ­divided into 100 counties, and each county into 100 parishes, making in all

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10,000. If the country, proposed to be erected into a commonwealth be of more narrow extent, we may diminish the number of counties; but never bring them below thirty. If it be of greater extent, it were better to enlarge the parishes, or throw more parishes into a county, than encrease the number of counties. Let all the freeholders of twenty pounds a-year in the county, and all the householders worth 500 pounds in the town parishes, meet annually in the parish church, and choose, by ballot, some freeholder of the county for their member, whom we shall call the county representative. Let the 100 county representatives, two days after their election, meet in the county-town, and choose by ballot, from their own body, ten county magistrates, and one senator. There are, therefore, in the whole commonwealth, 100 senators, 1100 county magistrates, and 10,000 county re­presentatives. For we shall bestow on all senators the authority of county magistrates, and on all county magistrates the authority of county re­presentatives. Let the senators meet in the capital, and be endowed with the whole ­executive power of the commonwealth; the power of peace and war, of giving orders to generals, admirals, and ambassadors, and, in short, all the prerogatives of a British king, except his negative. Let the county representatives meet in their particular counties, and possess the whole legislative power of the commonwealth; the greater number of counties deciding the question; and where these are equal, let the senate have the casting vote. Every new law must first be debated in the senate; and though rejected by it, if ten senators insist and protest, it must be sent down to the counties. The senate, if they please, may join to the copy of the law their reasons for receiving or rejecting it. Because it would be troublesome to assemble all the county representatives for every trivial law, that may be requisite, the senate have their choice of sending down the law either to the county magistrates or county re­presentatives. The magistrates, though the law be referred to them, may, if they please, call the representatives, and submit the affair to their determination. Whether the law be referred by the senate to the county magistrates or representatives, a copy of it, and of the senate’s reasons, must be sent to every representative eight days before the day appointed for the assembling, in order to deliberate concerning it. And though the determination be, by the senate, referred to the magistrates, if five representatives of the county order the magistrates to assemble the whole court of representatives, and submit the affair to their determination, they must obey.

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Either the county magistrates or representatives may give, to the senator of the county, the copy of a law to be proposed to the senate; and if five counties concur in the same order, the law, though refused by the senate, must come either to the county magistrates or representatives, as is contained in the order of the five counties. Any twenty counties, by a vote either of their magistrates or representatives, may throw any man out of all public offices for a year. Thirty counties for three years. The senate has a power of throwing out any member or number of members of its own body, not to be re-elected for that year. The senate cannot throw out twice in a year the senator of the same county. The power of the old senate continues for three weeks after the annual election of the county representatives. Then all the new senators are shut up in a conclave, like the cardinals; and by an intricate ballot, such as that of Venice or Malta, they choose the following magistrates; a protector, who represents the dignity of the commonwealth, and presides in the senate; two secretaries of state; these six councils, a council of state, a council of religion and learning, a council of trade, a council of laws, a council of war, a council of the admiralty, each council consisting of five persons; together with six commissioners of the treasury and a first commissioner. All these must be senators. The senate also names all the ambassadors to foreign courts, who may either be senators or not. The senate may continue any or all of these, but must re-elect them every year. The protector and two secretaries have session and suffrage in the council of state. The business of that council is all foreign politics. The council of state has session and suffrage in all the other councils. The council of religion and learning inspects the universities and clergy. That of trade inspects every thing that may affect commerce. That of laws inspects all the abuses of law by the inferior magistrates, and examines what improvements may be made of the municipal law. That of war inspects the militia and its discipline, magazines, stores, &c. and when the republic is in war, examines into the proper orders for generals. The council of admiralty has the same power with regard to the navy, together with the nomination of the captains and all inferior officers. None of these councils can give orders themselves, except where they receive such powers from the senate. In other cases, they must communicate every thing to the senate. When the senate is under adjournment, any of the councils may assemble it before the day appointed for its meeting.

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Besides these councils or courts, there is another called the court of competitors; which is thus constituted. If any candidates for the office of senator have more votes than a third of the representatives, that candidate, who has most votes, next to the senator elected, becomes incapable for one year of all public offices, even of being a magistrate or representative: But he takes his seat in the court of competitors. Here then is a court which may sometimes consist of a hundred members, sometimes have no members at all; and by that means, be for a year abolished. The court of competitors has no power in the commonwealth. It has only the inspection of public accounts, and the accusing of any man before the senate. If the senate acquit him, the court of competitors may, if they please, appeal to the people, either magistrates or representatives. Upon that appeal, the magistrates or representatives meet on the day appointed by the court of competitors, and choose in each county three persons; from which number every senator is excluded. These, to the number of 300, meet in the capital, and bring the person accused to a new trial. The court of competitors may propose any law to the senate; and if refused, may appeal to the people, that is, to the magistrates or representatives, who examine it in their counties. Every senator, who is thrown out of the senate by a vote of the court, takes his seat in the court of competitors. The senate possesses all the judicative authority of the house of Lords, that is, all the appeals from the inferior courts. It likewise appoints the Lord Chancellor, and all the officers of the law. Every county is a kind of republic within itself, and the representatives may make bye-laws; which have no authority till three months after they are voted. A copy of the law is sent to the senate, and to every other county. The senate, or any single county, may, at any time, annul any bye-law of another county. The representatives have all the authority of the British justices of peace in trials, commitments, &c. The magistrates have the appointment of all the officers of the revenue in each county. All causes with regard to the revenue are carried ultimately by appeal before the magistrates. They pass the accompts of all the officers; but must have their own accompts examined and passed at the end of the year by the representatives. The magistrates name rectors or ministers to all the parishes. The Presbyterian government is established; and the highest ecclesiastical court is an assembly or synod of all the presbyters of the county. The magistrates may take any cause from this court, and determine it themselves. The magistrates may try, and depose or suspend any presbyter.

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The militia is established in imitation of that of Switzerland, which being well known, we shall not insist upon it. It will only be proper to make this addition, that an army of 20,000 men be annually drawn out by rotation, paid and encamped during six weeks in summer; that the duty of a camp may not be altogether unknown. The magistrates appoint all the colonels and downwards. The senate all upwards. During war, the general appoints the colonel and downwards, and his commission is good for a twelvemonth. But after that, it must be confirmed by the magistrates of the county, to which the regiment belongs. The magistrates may break any officer in the county regiment. And the senate may do the same to any officer in the service. If the magistrates do not think proper to confirm the general’s choice, they may appoint another officer in the place of him they reject. All crimes are tried within the county by the magistrates and a jury. But the senate can stop any trial, and bring it before themselves. Any county may indict any man before the senate for any crime. The protector, the two secretaries, the council of state, with any five or more that the senate appoints, are possessed, on extraordinary emergencies, of dictatorial power for six months. The protector may pardon any person condemned by the inferior courts. In time of war, no officer of the army that is in the field can have any civil office in the commonwealth. The capital, which we shall call London, may be allowed four members in the senate. It may therefore be divided into four counties. The re­presentatives of each of these choose one senator, and ten magistrates. There are therefore in the city four senators, forty-four magistrates, and four hundred representatives. The magistrates have the same authority as in the counties. The representatives also have the same authority; but they never meet in one general court: They give their votes in their particular county, or d ­ ivision of hundreds. When they enact any bye-law, the greater number of counties or divisions determines the matter. And where these are equal, the magistrates have the casting vote. The magistrates choose the mayor, sheriff, recorder, and other officers of the city. In the commonwealth, no representative, magistrate, or senator, as such, has any salary. The protector, secretaries, councils, and ambassadors, have salaries. The first year in every century is set apart for correcting all inequalities, which time may have produced in the representative. This must be done by the legislature.

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The following political aphorisms may explain the reason of these orders. The lower sort of people and small proprietors are good judges enough of one not very distant from them in rank or habitation; and therefore, in their parochial meetings, will probably choose the best, or nearly the best representative: But they are wholly unfit for county-meetings, and for electing into the higher offices of the republic. Their ignorance gives the grandees an opportunity of deceiving them. Ten thousand, even though they were not annually elected, are a basis large enough for any free government. It is true, the nobles in Poland are more than 10,000, and yet these oppress the people. But as power always continues there in the same persons and families, this makes them, in a ­manner, a different nation from the people. Besides the nobles are there united under a few heads of families. All free governments must consist of two councils, a lesser and greater; or,  in other words, of a senate and people. The people, as Harrington observes, would want wisdom, without the senate: The senate, without the people, would want honesty. A large assembly of 1000, for instance, to represent the people, if allowed to debate, would fall into disorder. If not allowed to debate, the senate has a negative upon them, and the worst kind of negative, that before resolution. Here therefore is an inconvenience, which no government has yet fully remedied, but which is the easiest to be remedied in the world. If the people debate, all is confusion: If they do not debate, they can only resolve; and then the senate carves for them. Divide the people into many separate bodies; and then they may debate with safety, and every inconvenience seems to be prevented. Cardinal de Retz says, that all numerous assemblies, however composed, are mere mob, and swayed in their debates by the least motive. This we find confirmed by daily experience. When an absurdity strikes a member, he conveys it to his neighbour, and so on, till the whole be infected. Separate this great body; and though every member be only of middling sense, it is not probable, that any thing but reason can prevail over the whole. Influence and example being removed, good sense will always get the better of bad among a number of people. There are two things to be guarded against in every senate: Its combination, and its division. Its combination is most dangerous. And against this inconvenience we have provided the following remedies. 1. The great dependence of the senators on the people by annual elections; and that not by an undistinguishing rabble, like the English electors, but by men of ­fortune and education. 2. The small power they are allowed. They have few

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offices to dispose of. Almost all are given by the magistrates in the counties. 3. The court of competitors, which being composed of men that are their rivals, next to them in interest, and uneasy in their present situation, will be sure to take all advantages against them. The division of the senate is prevented, 1. By the smallness of their number. 2. As faction supposes a combination in a separate interest, it is prevented by their dependence on the people. 3. They have a power of expelling any factious member. It is true, when another member of the same spirit comes from the county, they have no power of expelling him: Nor is it fit they should; for that shows the humour to be in the people, and may possibly arise from some ill conduct in public affairs. 4. Almost any man, in a ­senate so regularly chosen by the people, may be supposed fit for any civil office. It would be proper, therefore, for the senate to form some general resolutions with regard to the disposing of offices among the members: Which resolutions would not confine them in critical times, when extraordinary parts on the one hand, or extraordinary stupidity on the other, appears in any senator; but they would be sufficient to prevent intrigue and faction, by making the disposal of the offices a thing of course. For instance, let it be a resolution, That no man shall enjoy any office, till he has sat four years in the senate: That, except ambassadors, no man shall be in office two years following: That no man shall attain the higher offices but through the lower: That no man shall be protector twice, &c. The senate of Venice govern themselves by such resolutions. In foreign politics the interest of the senate can scarcely ever be divided from that of the people; and therefore it is fit to make the senate absolute with regard to them; otherwise there could be no secrecy or refined policy. Besides, without money no alliance can be executed; and the senate is still sufficiently dependent. Not to mention, that the legislative power being always superior to the executive, the magistrates or representatives may interpose whenever they think proper. The chief support of the British government is the opposition of interests; but that, though in the main serviceable, breeds endless factions. In the foregoing plan, it does all the good without any of the harm. The competitors have no power of controlling the senate: They have only the power of accusing, and appealing to the people. It is necessary, likewise, to prevent both combination and division in the thousand magistrates. This is done sufficiently by the separation of places and interests. But lest that should not be sufficient, their dependence on the 10,000 for their elections, serves to the same purpose.

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Nor is that all: For the 10,000 may resume the power whenever they please; and not only when they all please, but when any five of a hundred please, which will happen upon the very first suspicion of a separate interest. The 10,000 are too large a body either to unite or divide, except when they meet in one place, and fall under the guidance of ambitious leaders. Not to mention their annual election, by the whole body of the people, that are of any consideration. A small commonwealth is the happiest government in the world within itself, because every thing lies under the eye of the rulers: But it may be subdued by great force from without. This scheme seems to have all the advantages both of a great and a little commonwealth. Every county-law may be annulled either by the senate or another county; because that shows an opposition of interest: In which case no part ought to decide for itself. The matter must be referred to the whole, which will best determine what agrees with general interest. As to the clergy and militia, the reasons of these orders are obvious. Without the dependence of the clergy on the civil magistrates, and without a militia, it is in vain to think that any free government will ever have security or stability. In many governments, the inferior magistrates have no rewards but what arise from their ambition, vanity, or public spirit. The salaries of the French judges amount not to the interest of the sums they pay for their offices. The Dutch burgo-masters have little more immediate profit than the English justices of peace, or the members of the house of commons formerly. But lest any should suspect, that this would beget negligence in the administration, (which is little to be feared, considering the natural ambition of mankind) let the magistrates have competent salaries. The senators have access to so many honourable and lucrative offices, that their attendance needs not be bought. There is little attendance required of the representatives. That the foregoing plan of government is practicable, no one can doubt, who considers the resemblance that it bears to the commonwealth of the United Provinces, a wise and renowned government. The alterations in the present scheme seem all evidently for the better. 1. The representation is more equal. 2. The unlimited power of the burgo-masters in the towns, which forms a perfect aristocracy in the Dutch commonwealth, is corrected by a well-tempered democracy, in giving to the people the annual election of the county representatives. 3. The negative, which every province and town has upon the whole body of the Dutch republic, with regard to alliances, peace and war, and the imposition of taxes, is here removed. 4. The counties,

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in the present plan, are not so independent of each other, nor do they form separate bodies so much as the seven provinces; where the jealousy and envy of the smaller provinces and towns against the greater, particularly Holland and Amsterdam, have frequently disturbed the government. 5. Larger powers, though of the safest kind, are entrusted to the senate than the States-General possess; by which means, the former may become more expeditious, and secret in their resolutions, than it is possible for the latter. The chief alterations that could be made on the British government, in order to bring it to the most perfect model of limited monarchy, seem to be the following. First, The plan of Cromwell’s parliament ought to be restored, by making the representation equal, and by allowing none to vote in the county elections who possess not a property of 200 pounds value. Secondly, As such a house of commons would be too weighty for a frail house of Lords, like the present, the Bishops and Scotch Peers ought to be removed: The number of the upper house ought to be raised to three or four hundred: Their seats not hereditary, but during life: They ought to have the election of their own members; and no commoner should be allowed to ­refuse a seat that was offered him. By this means the house of Lords would consist entirely of the men of chief credit, abilities, and interest in the nation; and every turbulent leader in the house of commons might be taken off, and connected by interest with the house of Peers. Such an aristocracy would be an excellent barrier both to the monarchy and against it. At ­present, the balance of our government depends in some measure on the abilities and behaviour of the sovereign; which are variable and uncertain circumstances. This plan of limited monarchy, however corrected, seems still liable to three great inconveniencies. First, It removes not entirely, though it may soften, the parties of court and country. Secondly, The king’s personal character must still have great influence on the government. Thirdly, The sword is in the hands of a single person, who will always neglect to discipline the militia, in order to have a pretence for keeping up a standing army. We shall conclude this subject, with observing the falsehood of the common opinion, that no large state, such as France or Great Britain, could ever be modelled into a commonwealth, but that such a form of government can only take place in a city or small territory. The contrary seems probable. Though it is more difficult to form a republican government in an extensive country than in a city; there is more facility, when once it is formed, of preserving it steady and uniform, without tumult and faction. It is not easy, for the distant parts of a large state to combine in any plan of free government; but they easily conspire in the esteem and reverence for a single person, who, by means of this popular favour, may seize the power, and forcing the

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more obstinate to submit, may establish a monarchical government. On the other hand, a city readily concurs in the same notions of government, the natural equality of property favours liberty, and the nearness of habitation enables the citizens mutually to assist each other. Even under absolute princes, the subordinate government of cities is commonly republican; while that of counties and provinces is monarchical. But these same circumstances, which facilitate the erection of commonwealths in cities, render their constitution more frail and uncertain. Democracies are turbulent. For however the people may be separated or divided into small parties, either in their votes or elections; their near habitation in a city will always make the force of popular tides and currents very sensible. Aristocracies are better adapted for peace and order, and accordingly were most admired by ancient writers; but they are jealous and oppressive. In a large government, which is modelled with masterly skill, there is compass and room enough to refine the democracy, from the lower people, who may be admitted into the first elections or first concoction of the commonwealth, to the higher magistrates, who direct all the movements. At the same time, the parts are so distant and remote, that it is very difficult, either by intrigue, prejudice, or passion, to hurry them into any measures against the public interest. It is needless to enquire, whether such a government would be immortal. I allow the justness of the poet’s exclamation on the endless projects of human race, Man and for ever! The world itself probably is not immortal. Such consuming plagues may arise as would leave even a perfect government a weak prey to its neighbours. We know not to what length enthusiasm, or other extraordinary movements of the human mind, may transport men, to the neglect of all order and public good. Where difference of interest is removed, whimsical and unaccountable factions often arise, from personal favour or enmity. Perhaps, rust may grow to the springs of the most accurate political machine, and disorder its motions. Lastly, extensive conquests, when pursued, must be the ruin of every free government; and of the more perfect governments sooner than of the imperfect; because of the very advantages which the former possess above the latter. And though such a state ought to establish a fundamental law against conquests; yet republics have ambition as well as individuals, and present interest makes men forgetful of their posterity. It is a sufficient incitement to human endeavours, that such a government would flourish for many ages; without pretending to bestow, on any work of man, that immortality, which the Almighty seems to have refused to his own productions.

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TH E I N D EX TO H U M E ’ S ES S AYS AND T R E A TI S ES O N S E V ERAL S UBJ ECT S The 1772 Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (ETSS) is the copy-text for Hume’s index, but the critical index below relies in addition on all seven indexes published in ETSS, especially the critically important first index of 1758. Indexes of the essays appeared exclusively in ETSS, where they appeared in the editions of  1758, 1764, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1772, and 1777. Variants and emendations are reported in the Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants. The few entries in the pre-1770s indexes that refer to items found only in the withdrawn essays are positioned at the end of the index as edited below in this critical edition. In so far as possible, the forms used in the several appearances of the index in ETSS are retained in this editing. Hume played an active role in at least the first-draft indexing of the ori­gin­al edition of ETSS in 1758, which he volunteered to produce. On 3 September 1757 he informed his bookseller, Andrew Millar, that ‘I have finish’d the Index to this new Collection of my Pieces. This Index cost me more Trouble than I was aware of when I begun it. I am oblig’d to Mr Strahan [the printer] for the uncommon Pains he has taken in making it correct.’1 The index was always a collaborative effort, and the forms used were probably derived from compositorial practice that would not have been Hume’s handiwork or responsibility. He quickly came to the view that he was ill-suited for indexing, and in 1759 he accepted Millar’s offer to have an index to his History done in London (an index Hume later examined). He said, ‘I think that an Index will be very proper; and am glad, that you free me from the Trouble of undertaking that Task, for which I know myself to be very unfit.’2 The indexes after 1758 were probably not revised for publication by Hume. Few changes were introduced, and, for the most part, only the page numbers (not the entries) changed in a new edition of the index. Each new edition also added some mistakes when page numbers were incorrectly entered. This publishing history justifies bestowal of special authority on the 1758 edition for determining correct page numbers and references. This authority has played an important role in determining correct paragraph numbers in this critical edition. In several respects the 1758 index is more reliable and authoritative than the indexes in the 1772 copy-text and the posthumous 1777 edition. Hume did not see the revisions in 1777 and likely did not create the four entries for the new essay ‘Origin of Government’. 1 3 September 1757, to Andrew Millar (Letters, 1: 265). For further evidence of Hume’s involvement in creating the original Index of 1758, see his correspondence of 18 Jan. 1757, to Andrew Millar; and 15 Feb. 1757, to William Strahan (Letters, 1: 239, 245).  2  18 December 1759, to Andrew Millar (Letters, 1: 317). 

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The indexes were always compiled for all works in ETSS. The full ETSS index is abridged in this critical edition to include only the entries for the essays portion. It therefore does not include entries for the four other works—the treatises ­portion— in ETSS. The indexes for these four treatises are published in vols. 3, 4, and 5 of the Clarendon Hume. In the 1772 copy-text the essays are all in volume 1, but the index is located in volume 2. The index in the copy-text distinguishes page numbers (using arabic numbers) and endnote numbers (using English letters). This critical edition continues this distinction between pages and note numbers, but the editors have added—within brackets to mark an editorial insertion—the short title of each essay, the paragraph number(s) in each essay, and note numbers wherever notes are within the scope of an index entry. All pertinent notes are listed, not merely those specifically listed as notes in Hume’s indexes. The word ‘Note’ in the index of the copy-text always refers to an endnote; the editors continue using ‘Note’ even though the former endnotes are now footnotes in the critical edition. These notes were endnotes only in the indexes of 1770–7 (by design particularly lengthy notes). If a note was a footnote rather than an endnote in the copy-text, the editors use the abbreviation ‘n.’ (instead of ‘Note’) in editorial insertions; ‘n’ is used if and only if the scope of an entry in the index marked by a page number includes material in the listed note and not merely a passage in the text. This index follows the copy-text’s apparent typographical convention of small capitals for the first word of the first entry under each letter of the alphabet. All such  unambiguous conventions of the copy-text have been strictly followed. Unfortunately, the practice of Hume’s compositors in using small capitals elsewhere in the index (that is, for words that are not first-word entries) is not well understood. The use of small capitals often appears to be a way of directing readers to important concepts and, perhaps, names; but this hypothesis is difficult to ­confirm. Therefore, no changes have been made in the use of small capitals in the copy-text, despite several seeming inconsistencies. The spellings in the index are retained in all entries unless a problematic spelling inconsistency has been discovered, in which case the most common spelling or word form in Hume’s writings is used (e.g. ‘Du Bos’ instead of ‘Dubos’ or ‘Dubois’, each of which appears in ETSS). This problem does not arise for the withdrawn essays, whose deviant spellings present no problem for the index. Inaccurate alphabetical ordering in the copy-text has been corrected, and each such correction is recorded in the Editorial Appendix. The now archaic combin­ ation of I and J entries appeared in all ETSS indexes and is here preserved. Also retained are long lines (——) used to show that a first word or string of words from a prior line is to be repeated (carried over) from the immediately prior entry. In the following typical example from Hume’s 1772 index, the first word, ‘Greece’, carries over to the next two lines (here retaining the page numbers precisely as listed in the 72 edition):

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Greece, its Advantages from its Situation, 121. —— its whole military Force, 444. —— Numbers of its Inhabitants, 455.

When the main term is carried over, the indexes in Hume’s editions usually presented these long lines beneath the first entry. However, the lines were occasionally shortened (to ‘—’) and kept on the same line as the main entry. The following is an example of the use of shortened lines in the 72 copy-text (again using its page ­numbers): Balance of Power, 32, 347, &c. —Of Trade, 321, &c. —Of Property, 32, 41.

This form of presentation was occasionally used without any lines. The f­ ollowing is an actual example: Romans, when most corrupt, 22. anciently Pirates, 544. their Government under the Empire not burdensome, 294.

Both the short-line form and the no-line form are presented as long lines in the index in this critical edition. The following is an example that modifies the above example, alters the line form, changes the page numbers to those in this critical edition, and adds the name of the essay and the relevant paragraph number: Romans, when most corrupt, 48.     [Politics 13] —— anciently Pirates, 203 Note 5.      [Commerce Note 5 (to par. 8)] —— their Government under the Empire not burdensome, 219.     [Money 3]

The lines and entries are made consistent so that the reader can follow the short titles and paragraph numbers. In this way all of the above styles are brought to uniformity. Pages to the critical edition replace the old page numbers; and titles and paragraph note numbers are added by the editors within brackets. Caution is recommended in interpreting the frequent use by the original compiler of the index of the term ‘quoted’. The term at various points apparently means ‘noted’ (or ‘noticed’), ‘mentioned’, ‘referred to as authority’, or ‘brought forward as evidence or support’. In the text (by contrast to a note or index) of ‘Liberty of the Press’ 3, in an analogous context, Hume revealingly says ‘I must take notice of a remark in Tacitus’ and then in 1768 (and only in this year) he replaced the words ‘take notice of ’ with the word ‘cite’. Hume uses ‘&c.’ after a sizeable number of entries. In almost all cases, it  is beyond reasonable doubt that ‘&c.’ means ‘and pages following’. Occasionally he may mean, more specifically, ‘and all pages hereafter in this essay’. The editors have not altered his use of ‘&c.’. However, when listing the paragraph numbers in Hume’s essays in the bracketed editorial insertions, the editors have used the common abbreviation ‘ff ’ (here meaning ‘and paragraphs following’) instead of ‘&c.’

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For further information about the index, see two sections in the ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’: Part 2: ‘The Index’ (under Typographical Errors); and Part 3: ‘The Index in Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects’ (the final section in Part 3).

INDEX A Achæans, employed Force in forming their League, 337. [Original Contract 17] ——, their Number, 314. [Populousness 129] Addison quoted, 87, 157. [Civil Liberty 4 (& n. 2)] [Simplicity and Refinement 1] Æschines quoted, 246, 311.

[Balance of Trade 30 (& n. 7)]

[Populousness 117 (& n. 151)] Ætolians, their Number, 314. [Populousness 128] Agathocles, the Tyrant, his Cruelty, 299, Note 84. [Populousness 67 (& n. 79), Note 84 (to par. 67)] Agriculture, how best encouraged, 203–, 304, 305. [Commerce 10–11] [Populousness 86–90] Alcoran, its Ethics, 182. [Standard of Taste 4] Alexandria, its Size, and Numbers of its Inhabitants, 318–19. [Populousness 144–5 (& nn. 204, 205, 206)] Allegiance, its Obligation, whence, 342. [Original Contract 35–6] Antioch, its Size, 318. [Populousness 144] Antipater, the Cyreniac, his Saying, 145. [Sceptic 45] Appian Alexandrinus quoted, 247, 277, 290, 294, 296, 297, 301, 308, 325. [Balance of Trade 34 (& n. 15)] [Remarkable Customs 12] [Populousness 35 (& n. 44), 49 (& n. 59), 59 (& n. 67), 64 (& n. 74), 77, 106 (& n. 127), 170 (& n. 237)]

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Ariosto, his Character, 184. [Standard of Taste 9] —— quoted, 88. [Civil Liberty 5] Aristides the Sophist quoted, 316 Note 190. [Populousness Note 190 (to par. 135)] Aristocracy, Polish, Venetian, in what respects different, 42, 43. [Politics 6] Aristophanes quoted, 287. [Populousness 19 (& n. 25)] Aristotle quoted, 171, 287, 312, 321. [National Characters 31 (& n. 10)] [Populousness 19 (& n. 24), 122 (& n. 164), 152 (& n. 213) Arrian quoted, 112, 262, 303. [Rise and Progress 32 (& n. 5)] [Public Credit 1 (& n. 3)] [Populousness 83 (& n. 98)] Athenæus quoted, 310, 311, 312. [Populousness 111–12 (& nn. 138–9), 115–16 (& nn. 147–8), 122 (& n. 164)] Athens, 91, 201, 246, 300, 310, 311, 312, 336. [Civil Liberty 14] [Commerce 7] [Balance of Trade 30–1] [Populousness 71–4, 111–16, 120–2] [Original Contract 16] Augustus, his Age compared with that of Camillus, 202. [Commerce 7] Aunoy, Madame, quoted, 153. [Polygamy and Divorces 14 (& n. 1)] Austria, House of, Causes of its Decay, 255. [Balance of Power 13] Authority of Teachers, useful to check it, 108. [Rise and Progress 21] B Bacon quoted, 65, 88, 169, 207. [Parties in General 1] [Civil Liberty 8] [National Characters 24] [Commerce 19] Balance of Power, 52–3, 252, &c. [First Principles of Government 7–8] [Balance of Power 1 ff]

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—— of Trade, 237, &c. [Balance of Trade 1 ff] —— of Property, 32–3, 61. [First Principles of Government 7–8] [British Government 1] Banks and Paper Credit, whether advantageous, 219, 243. [Money 4 (& n. 2)] [Balance of Trade 21–3] Bartoli’s Plans of ancient Buildings, 316. [Populousness 135] Benevolence, 84. [Dignity or Meanness 9–11] Bentivoglio quoted, 170. [National Characters 25] Berkeley, Dr. quoted, 169. [National Characters 24 (& n. 7)] Berne, Canton of, its Treasure, 246. [Balance of Trade 33] Boccace quoted, 147. [Sceptic 50] Bolingbroke quoted, 49, 59. [Politics 18 (& n. 11)] [Independency of Parliament 7 (& n. 1)] Boulainvilliers quoted, 345. [Original Contract 45 (& n. 4)] C Cæsar quoted, 164 Note 3, 294, 325, 326. [National Characters Note 3 (to par. 7)] [Populousness 49 (& n. 60), 167–71 (& nn. 236, 240, 241, 243, 244, 245)] —— his Account of the Numbers slaughtered in his Wars, 309 Note 130. [Populousness Note 130 (to par. 107)] Capitolinus quoted, 344. [Original Contract 43] Carlisle, Earl of, quoted, 115. [Rise and Progress 39 (& n. 16)] Cartes, Des, quoted, 192. [Standard of Taste 26] Carthage, its Size and Number of its Inhabitants, 321. [Populousness 153 (& n. 215)]

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Catholics, Roman, Genius of their Religion, 80. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 9] Cato de re rustica, quoted, 289. [Populousness 28–9 (& nn. 35–6)] Cato of Utica, his Speech to Cæsar, 211. [Refinement in the Arts 6] Causes moral, how far they contribute to national Characters, 161. [National Characters 2] —— physical, how far, 167. [National Characters 19–20] Cavalier Party, 73. [Parties of Great Britain 5] Cervantes, his Merit, 157, quoted, 186. [Simplicity and Refinement 2] [Standard of Taste 14–16] Chance, its Influence in Society, 102. [Rise and Progress 7] Characters, national, 161, &c. [National Characters 1 ff] China, its Excellence and Defects, 108. [Rise and Progress 21 (& n. 3)] Cicero quoted, 44, 90, 92–4, 95, 145, 203 Note 5, 283, 297, 304, 310, 317, 327. [Politics 9] [Civil Liberty 11] [Eloquence 3, 5 (& n. 1), 6 (& n. 2), 7 (& n. 3), 10] [Sceptic 44 (& n. 4)] [Commerce Note 5 (to par. 8)] [Taxes 3 (& n. 1)] [Populousness 11 (& n. 11), 64 (& n. 72), 84, 111 (& n. 137), 137, 174 (& n. 249)] City, Reasons which limit the Greatness of every City, 321. [Populousness 152–3] Clergy, why no Friends to Liberty, 72. [Parties of Great Britain 3] Cold, greater in ancient Times, 322, 323. [Populousness 155–6] Colonesi and Orsini, Parties in modern Rome, 66. [Parties in General 4] Columella quoted, 235, 279 Note 1, 283, 285, 289, 290, 324, 327. [Interest 19 (& n. 2)] [Populousness Note 1 (to par. 1), 9 (& n. 6), 15 (& n. 15), 31–34 (& nn. 39, 43), 164, 176 (& n. 253)] Comitia centuriata & tributa, their different Powers, 276, &c. [Remarkable Customs 10 ff]

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382

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Commerce, its Advantages, 201. [Commerce 6] —— foreign, its Advantages, 205, 206. [Commerce 14–15] Commonwealth, perfect, Idea of it, 363, &c. [Perfect Commonwealth 1 ff] Comparison, its Effect, 82. [Dignity or Meanness 4] —— necessary to forming the Taste, 189. [Standard of Taste 19–20] Condé, Prince of, a Saying of his, 106. [Rise and Progress 18] Confucius, his Disciples Deists, 79. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 8] Congreve, his Character, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] Constantine, Emperor, his Innovation, 260. [Taxes 9] Constitution, British, 49, 62, &c. [Politics 17–18] [British Government 4 ff] Contract, Original, 332, &c. [Original Contract 1 ff] Corn distributed in Rome, 317, 318. [Populousness 136–40] Corneille, his Character, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] Corpus juris civilis quoted, 292 Note 53, 296. [Populousness Note 53 (to par. 42), 61 (& n. 69)] Country Party, 50, 71, 72. [Politics 20] [Parties of Great Britain 1–3] Courage, how far national, 170. [National Characters 27–9] Court Party, 50, 71, 72. [Politics 20] [Parties of Great Britain 1–3] Credit, public, its Abuses, 262, &c. [Public Credit 1 ff] Curtius, Quintus, quoted, 172, 262, 319 Note 204. [National Characters 32 (& n. 11)] [Public Credit 1 (& n. 4)] [Populousness Note 204 (to par. 144)]

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383

Customs, some remarkable ones, 273, &c. [Remarkable Customs 1 ff] Cyrus boasts of his Drunkenness, 172. [National Characters 32] D Darius Hystaspes records his Ability in Drinking, on his Tombstone, 172. [National Characters 32] Datames, the only Barbarian a General, 213. [Refinement in the Arts 11] Debt, public, its Advantages, 263–4. [Public Credit 7–9] —— its Disadvantages, 264–5. [Public Credit 10–15] Deists united with the Independents, 80. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 9] Delicacy of Passion, how hurtful, 35. [Delicacy of Taste 1] —— of Taste, how advantageous, 35–6. what it is, 185–6. [Delicacy of Taste 1–5] [Standard of Taste 12–14] Democracy without a Representative, hurtful, 42. [Politics 5–6] Demosthenes, his Character, 97. [Eloquence 15] —— quoted, 93, 246, 252, 273, 275, 283, 286, 293, 300 Note 88, 303, 311–12, 313 Note 167.

[Eloquence 3]

[Balance of Trade 30] [Balance of Power 3] [Remarkable Customs 3, 8 (& nn. 2, 7)] [Populousness 11, 19–20, 48, Note 88 (to par. 72), 84 (& n. 102), 117 (& n. 153), 120 (& n. 157), Note 167 (to par. 123)] Diodorus Siculus, his Character, 307 Note 115. [Populousness Note 115 (to par. 98)] —— quoted, 46 Note 6, 97 Note 6, 171, 202, 246, 253, 294, 298–9, 301,

302, 304, 309, 310, 313, 314, 318, 322, 325, 328 Note 255, 331. [Politics Note 6 (to par. 10)] [Eloquence Note 6 (to par. 15)] [National Characters 31 (& n. 10)] [Commerce 7 (& n. 3)] [Balance of Trade 30 (& n. 7)]

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384

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

[Balance of Power 7 (& n. 5)] [Populousness 51 (& n. 61), 52 (& n. 62), 67 (& nn. 79, 81–4), 68 (& n. 85), 75 (& n. 90), 80 (& nn. 94–6), 83, 86, 99 (& n. 116), 100, 108, 112 (& n. 142), 124 (& n. 168), 125 (& n. 170), 128 (& n. 179), 144–5 (& nn. 203–6), 156 (& n. 219), 170, Note 255 (to par. 177), 186] Diogenes Lærtius quoted, 307. [Populousness 100 (& n. 119)] Dion Cassius quoted, 235. [Interest 16 (& n. 1)] Dionysius Halicarnassæus quoted, 156, 162 Note 2, 301, 315. [Polygamy and Divorces 21 (& n. 2)] [National Characters Note 2 (to par. 6)] [Populousness 76, 135] Dionysius the Tyrant, his Massacres, 298. [Populousness 67] —— his Army, 202, 309. [Commerce 7] [Populousness 108 (& n. 132)] Division of Property, useful, 294. [Populousness 52] Domestic Situation of Ancients and Moderns, 281, 282. [Populousness 5–6] Dorians and Ionians, 171. [National Characters 29] Dryden quoted, 162. [National Characters 6] Du Bos, Abbe, quoted, 174, 240, 322, 327. [Tragedy 3–6] [Balance of Trade 14] [Populousness 155, 176 (& n. 254)] E Eclectics, a Sect, 109. [Rise and Progress 22] Eloquence, 92, &c. [Eloquence 1 ff] Empires, great, destructive, 257. [Balance of Power 19] English, their national Character, whence, 167. [National Characters 19] Enthusiasm, defended and explained, 77, &c. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 1 ff ]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Epicurean, 119. [Epicurean 1 ff] Ergastula, very frequent anciently, 283. [Populousness 9] Euclid treats not of the Beauty of the Circle, 139. [Sceptic 16] Europe, its Advantages from its Situation, 108–9. [Rise and Progress 21–2] Exchange helps to keep the Balance of Trade, 239. [Balance of Trade 11–13] Exchange, difficult to know, whether for or against a Nation, 237. [Balance of Trade 1–2] Exiles in Greece, how numerous, 298. [Populousness 67–8] Exposing Children, 291. [Populousness 40 ff] —— approved by Seneca, ibid. [Populousness 40 (& n. 50)] F Factions, violent and bloody, among the Ancients, 297. [Populousness 63–4] Fenelon, his Ethics, 182. [Standard of Taste 3] Florus quoted, 290. [Populousness 36)] Fontenelle, Censure of his Pastorals, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 7] —— quoted, 6, 145, 175. [Delicacy of Taste 7 (& n. 1)] [Sceptic 46] [Tragedy 6 (& n. 1)] Fregosi and Adorni, Parties of Genoa, 66. [Parties in General 4] Funding, the dangerous Tendency of, 262–3. [Public Credit 2–6] G Gallantry of Civility, 114. [Rise and Progress 37–8] Gaul, Number of its Inhabitants, 325. [Populousness 169–70]

385

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386

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Gee, Mr. quoted, 238. [Balance of Trade 6] Genoa, its Government and Bank, 47. [Politics 12] Good Sense, how far essential to Taste, 190. [Standard of Taste 22] Gorgias Leontinus, his Eloquence, 97 Note 6. [Eloquence Note 6 (to par. 15)] Government, Origin of, 54. [Origin of Government 1 ff] —— perpetual Struggle between Authority and Liberty in all Governments, 55–6. [Origin of Government 6–7] —— violent Innovations dangerous to Government, 339. [Original Contract 28] —— sometimes prove happy in the Issue, instanced in the reign of Henry VIII. and Charles I., 340. [Original Contract 28] Greece, its Advantages from its Situation, 108. [Rise and Progress 21] —— its whole military Force, 315. [Populousness 133] —— Numbers of its Inhabitants, 324. [Populousness 165] Guelf and Ghibelline Parties, 67. [Parties in General 7] Guicciardin quoted, 212. [Refinement in the Arts 8] Gustavus Vaza, 72. [Parties of Great Britain 3] H Hardouin, Pere, quoted, 316 Note 193. [Populousness Note 193 (to par. 135)] Harrington, his Oceana, censured, 517. [Perfect Commonwealth 4–5] —— quoted, 61, 88, 364. [British Government 1] [Civil Liberty 8] [Perfect Commonwealth 4] Helvetia, its Inhabitants, 326. [Populousness 172] Henry IV. of France, a Saying of his, 271 Note 7. [Public Credit Note 7 (to par. 32)]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Henry the IVth and VIIth of England, their Title, 337. [Original Contract 18] Hereditary Right, how important, 356. [Protestant Succession 2] Herodian quoted, 318, 319, 325, 344. [Populousness 144 (& n. 202), 146, 168 (& n. 235)] [Original Contract 42 (& n. 3)] Herodotus quoted, 303, 310, 315. [Populousness 83 (& n. 99), 112, 131 (& n. 184)] Hesiod quoted, 288. [Populousness 25] Hiero, King of Syracuse, his Policy, 254. [Balance of Power 11] Hirtius quoted, 327. [Populousness 174 (& n. 248)] Homer, his Character, 185. [Standard of Taste 10] —— his Ethics, 182. [Standard of Taste, 3] Horace quoted, 88, 103, 112, 116, 157, 194–5, 319 Note 208, 322. [Civil Liberty 7] [Rise and Progress 8, 32, 42] [Simplicity and Refinement 3] [Standard of Taste 32] [Populousness 16 (& n. 18), Note 208 (to par. 146), 155] Hostis, its Signification in old Latin, 203 Note 5. [Commerce Note 5 (to par. 8)] Human Life, general Idea of it, 149. [Sceptic 55] —— Nature, its Dignity, 81. [Dignity or Meanness 1 ff] Husbandmen, what Proportion they bear to Manufacturers, 200–1. [Commerce 5–6] Hutchinson, Mr. quoted, 269. [Public Credit 29] I Jansenists, their Genius, 80. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 10] Independents, their Genius, 78. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 6] Instructions to Members, 53. [First Principles of Government 8]

387

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388

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Interest, its Lowness, whence, 229. —— useful, 233. [Interest 6, 14] Interest, private, how far the Foundation of Government, 51. —— public, ibid. [First Principles of Government 2] Johnson, Ben, his Character, 292 Note 53. [Populousness Note 53 (to par. 42)] Ionians and Dorians, Tribes of Greeks, 171. [National Characters 29] Josephus quoted, 319 Note 204, 328 Note 255. [Populousness Note 204 (to par. 144), Note 255 (to par. 177)] Isocrates quoted, 286, 299, 300. [Populousness 19, 69, 73] Italians, Cause of their Effeminacy, 213. [Refinement in the Arts 11] Italy, ancient and modern, Number of its Inhabitants, 327. [Populousness 175] Julian quoted, 308. [Populousness 106 (& n. 128)] Justin quoted, 315, 327. [Populousness 133, 174] Justinian quoted, 117. [Rise and Progress 44] Juvenal quoted, 112, 169, 290, 322, 327. [Rise and Progress 32] [National Characters 24] [Populousness 33 (& n. 42), 155 (& n. 218), 176] L Lampridius quoted, 306. [Populousness 94 (& n. 114)] Laws of the twelve Tables, 105. [Rise and Progress 13] Liberty, civil, its Advantages, 86, &c. 103, 104, 105. [Civil Liberty 1 ff] [Rise and Progress 10–13] Liberty of the Press, why peculiar to Great Britain, 38, 39, 40. [Liberty of the Press 1–6] Lipsius, Justus, quoted, 288. [Populousness 24 (& n. 31)] Livy quoted, 48, 66, 166, 202, 246, 254, 294, 298, 303. [Politics 13 (& nn. 8–9)]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

389

[Parties in General 6 (& n. 1)] [National Characters 17 (& n. 5)] [Commerce 7] [Balance of Trade 32 (& n. 10)] [Balance of Power 8 (& n. 8)] [Populousness 49 (& n. 58), 67 (& n. 80), 81 (& n. 97)] Locke, Mr. quoted, 88, 345–6. [Civil Liberty 8] [Original Contract 46 (& nn. 6–7)] Longinus quoted, 96. [Eloquence 6, 13 (& n. 5)] Louis XIV. Numbers of his Armies, 212. [Refinement in the Arts 8 (& n. 1)] Louvestein Party in Holland, 72. [Parties of Great Britain 4 (& n. 2)] Lucan quoted, 290. [Populousness 35 (& n. 46)] Lucian quoted, 146, 292 Note 53, 313 Note 167. [Sceptic 48] [Populousness Note 53 (to par. 42), Note 167 (to par. 123)] Lucretius, his Character, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] Luxurious Ages most happy, 209–10, 211–12. —— most virtuous, ibid. [Refinement in the Arts 2–3, 5–7] Luxury, its different Senses, 209. [Refinement in the Arts 1] —— its Advantages, 210, 211. [Refinement in the Arts 3–5] —— its Disadvantages, 216, 217. [Refinement in the Arts 19–21] Lysias, Genius of his Eloquence, 99. [Eloquence 19] —— quoted, 297–8, 303, 308, 310, 311, 314. [Populousness 64–5, 84, 103, 111 (& n. 135), 117 (& n. 152), 126 (& n. 175)] M Machiavel quoted, 46, 47, 86, 194, 364. [Politics 10–11 (& n. 6)] [Civil Liberty 1] [Standard of Taste 31] [Perfect Commonwealth 5]

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390

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Maillet, Monsieur, his Account of Egypt, quoted, 291, 324. [Populousness 38, 165] Mandeville, Dr. quoted, 216–17. [Refinement in the Arts 21 (& n. 2)] Marcellinus, Ammianus, quoted, 319 Note 204. [Populousness Note 204 (to par. 144)] Martial quoted, 286, 290, 327. [Populousness 16 (& n. 18), 35 (& n. 46), 176] Massacres, ancient, enumerated from Diodorus Siculus, 299 Note 84. [Populousness Note 84 (to par. 67)] Melon, Monsieur, quoted, 200, 222 Note 4. [Commerce 5 (& n. 1)] [Money Note 4 (to par. 8)] Menander quoted, 162 Note 1. [National Characters Note 1 (to par. 5)] Moliere, 117. [Rise and Progress 46] Molinists, their Genius, 80. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 10] Monarchy, elective, hereditary, which preferable, 43. [Politics 7–8] Monarchy, and Republic, their Advantages and Disadvantages with regard to the Arts, 110, 111, 112. [Rise and Progress 26–31] Money, its continued Encrease advantageous, 219–20. [Money 4–6] —— its Diffusion advantageous, 223–4. [Money 10–13] Montesquieu quoted, 280, 329. [Populousness 3 (& n. 2), 177 (& n. 256)] Monumentum Ancyrianum quoted, 317. [Populousness 136 (& n. 194)] Moral Causes, have chief Influence on Populousness, 281. [Populousness 5–6] Morals, their Standard, 181–2. [Standard of Taste 3–4] Muscovites, their Manners, 115. [Rise and Progress 39] N Negroes, their Character, 168 Note 6. [National Characters Note 6 (to par. 20)] Nepos, Cornelius, quoted, 286. [Populousness 17 (& n. 20)]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Neri, and Bianchi, Parties in Florence, 66. [Parties in General 4] Northern Nations, their Swarms, no Proof of Populousness, 324–5. [Populousness 166–9] O Obedience, passive, 347, &c. [Passive Obedience 1–2 ff] Olympiodorus quoted, 317 Note 193. [Populousness Note 193 (to par. 135)] Opinion, the real Foundation of Government, 51. [First Principles of Government 1–2] Orange, family of, their Partizans, 72. [Parties of Great Britain 4] Oratoribus, Dialog. de, quoted, 169. [National Characters 24] Ostracism of Athens, Petalism of Syracuse, 253. [Balance of Power 5] Ovid quoted, 103, 112, 283, 323, 324. [Rise and Progress 8 (& n. 1), 32] [Populousness 10 (& n. 8), 158–9, 165 (& n. 230)] P Painters, modern, unhappy in their Subjects, 179. [Tragedy 26] Paper Credit and Banks, whether advantageous, 219–20, 242, 243. [Money 4 (& n. 2)] [Balance of Trade 21–6] Parliament, how far it should be independent, 55, 58, &c. [Origin of Government 5–6] [Independency of Parliament 5 ff] Parnel, Dr. his Character as a Writer, 159. [Simplicity and Refinement 10] Parties in general, 65. —— personal, 66. —— real, 67, 68. [Parties in General 1–3, 9–11] —— of Great Britain, 71, &c. [Parties of Great Britain 1 ff] Paterculus quoted, 246, 309, 327. [Balance of Trade 32 (& n. 11)] [Populousness 107, 174 (& n. 249)]

391

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392

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Pausanias quoted, 314. [Populousness 129] Pay, Proportion between Officers and Soldiers anciently, 293. [Populousness 47–9] Pericles, his Eloquence, 99. [Eloquence 20 (& n. 7)] Persecution, whence derived, 68, 69. [Parties in General 13–14] Persia, ancient, whether possessed of an Aristocracy, 45 Note 6. [Politics Note 6 (to par. 10)] Petrarch quoted, 196. [Standard of Taste 36] Petronius quoted, 285–6, 323. [Populousness 16 (& n. 18), 156] Philip of Macedon, his Occupation in the infernal Regions, 146. [Sceptic 48] Philip II. of Spain, 90. [Civil Liberty 12] Physical Causes, their small Influence on Populousness, 279. [Populousness 1–2] Pindar, his Scholiast quoted, 312. [Populousness 122 (& n. 164)] Plato quoted, 86, 262, 310, 346. [Civil Liberty 2 (& n. 1)] [Public Credit 1 (& n. 2)] [Populousness 111 (& n. 134)] [Original Contract 47] Platonist, 132. [Platonist 1 ff] Plautus quoted, 311. [Populousness 116 (& n. 150)] Pliny the Elder quoted, 69 Note 3, 115, 178, 227, 246, 295 Note 64, 316 Note 191, 319, 321. [Parties in General, Note 3 (to par. 13)] [Rise and Progress 39 (& n. 15)] [Tragedy 18] [Money 21 (& n. 7)] [Balance of Trade 32] [Populousness n. 64 (to par. 52), n. 191 (to par. 135), 146, 153 —— a Passage of his examined, 316 Note 193. [Populousness Note 193 (to par. 135)] Pliny the Younger, his House, 316. [Populousness 135 (& n. 191)]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

393

—— quoted, 115, 235. [Rise and Progress 39 (& n. 15)] [Interest 19 (& nn. 3–4)] Plutarch quoted, 113, 144–6, 165, 172, 220, 237, 262, 274, 275, 283, 287, 290, 291–2, 294, 296, 298, 302, 308, 309, 310, 312, 327, 330. [Rise and Progress 34 (& nn. 9–10)] [Sceptic 38 (& n. 2), 40 (& n. 3), 47 (& n. 5)] [National Characters 12, 32 (& n. 12)] [Money 6 (& n. 3)] [Balance of Trade 2 (& n. 1)] [Public Credit 1 (& n. 4)] [Remarkable Customs 5 (& n. 3), 7 (& n. 6)] [Populousness 8 (& n. 5), 21 (& n. 28), 35 (& n. 45), 40 (& n. 50), 42, 52 (& n. 63), 60 (& n. 68), 67 (& n. 78), 80 (& n. 93), 106 (& n. 128), 108 (& n. 132), 111 (& n. 136), 121 (& n. 162), 174, 182–4] —— a Passage of his examined, 329. [Populousness 177 ff (& n. 257)] Political Customs of Ancients and Moderns compared, 291, 292. [Populousness 39–43] Politics, a Science, 41, &c. [Politics 1 ff] Pollia and Papiria, Roman Tribes, their Animosity, 66. [Parties in General 6 (& n. 1)] Polybius quoted, 45, 59 Note 2, 113, 203 Note 5, 226, 246, 253–5, 294,

308, 314, 323, 324, 337.

[Politics 9] [Independency of Parliament Note 2 (to par. 7)] [Rise and Progress 34] [Commerce Note 5 (to par. 8)] [Money 21 (& n. 6)] [Balance of Trade 30] [Balance of Power 7–8, 11 (& nn. 6, 7, 9)] [Populousness 49, 104, 129, 160, 165 (& nn. 229, 231)] [Original Contract 17] Polygamy, its Disadvantages, 150. [Polygamy and Divorces 1 ff] Pope, Mr. his Character, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] —— quoted, 41, 145, 155, 373. [Politics 1 (& n. 1)] [Sceptic 39] [Polygamy and Divorces 19] [Perfect Commonwealth 70]

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394

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Practice, how useful to Taste, 188. [Standard of Taste 18–19] Prejudice, how hurtful to Taste, 189. [Standard of Taste 21] Presbyterians, their Character, 72, 78. [Parties of Great Britain 4] [Superstition and Enthusiasm 6] Pressing Seamen, 278. [Remarkable Customs 15] Priest, his Character, 162. [National Characters 6 (& n. 2)] Priests, their Origin, 78. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 5] Prior, Mr. quoted, 120. [Epicurean 6] Promise, what, and whence its Obligation, 334. [Original Contract 6] —— not the Origin of Government, ibid. [Original Contract 6–7] Protestant Succession, its Advantages and Disadvantages, 356. [Protestant Succession 1 ff] Provinces, under what Government most oppressed, 43–4. [Politics 9] Pyrrhus, his Saying of the Romans, 213. [Refinement in the Arts 11] Q Quakers, their Character, 78, 79. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 6–8] Quintilian quoted, 94, 96, 160. [Eloquence 6, 12 (& n. 4)] [Simplicity and Refinement 11] R Racine, his Character, 158. —— quoted, 196. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] [Standard of Taste 35] Reason and Taste, their Boundaries, 183. [Standard of Taste 6–7] Reason more precarious than Taste, 192. [Standard of Taste 26]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Refinement, in what respect useful, 226. [Money 20] Retz, Cardinal de, quoted, 369. [Perfect Commonwealth 53] Revolution, in 1688, no Contract or Promise, 336. [Original Contract 15] Rhodes, Number of its Inhabitants, 313. [Populousness 124] Roman Empire, whether advantageous, 328. [Populousness 177 (& n. 255)] Romans, when most corrupt, 48. [Politics 13] —— anciently Pirates, 203 Note 5. [Commerce Note 5 (to par. 8)] —— their Government under the Empire not burdensome, 219. [Money 3] Rome, 66, 87, 90, 317–18. [Parties in General 4–6 (& n. 1)] [Civil Liberty 4, 11] [Populousness 137–44] —— ancient, its Size and Number of Inhabitants, 315–17. [Populousness 134–6] Round-head Party, 73. [Parties of Great Britain 5] Rousseau quoted, 111. [Rise and Progress 31 (& n. 4)] Rowe, Mr. his Tragedy censured, 179. [Tragedy 24] S Sallust quoted, 89–90, 112, 214, 298, 318. [Civil Liberty 11] [Rise and Progress 32] [Refinement in the Arts 12] [Populousness 65 (& n. 75), 138 (& n. 196)] Sceptic, the, 135. [Sceptic 1 ff] Seneca quoted, 283, 285–6, 289, 291. [Populousness 12, 16 (& n. 18), 28 (& n. 35), 40 (& n. 50)] Seneca the Elder quoted, 290. [Populousness 35 (& n. 46)] Sextus Empiricus quoted, 291. [Populousness 40 (& n. 51)]

395

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396

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Shaftesbury, Lord, quoted, 87, 114, 275. [Civil Liberty 4 (& n. 2)] [Rise and Progress 37 (& n. 14)] [Remarkable Customs 9 (& n. 10)] Shakespeare, his Artifice in Othello, 177. [Tragedy 13] Simplicity in Writing, 157. [Simplicity and Refinement 1 ff] Slavery prejudicial to Populousness, 284. [Populousness 13 (& n. 13)] —— to Humanity, 282–3. [Populousness 8–11] Soil, very fertile, no Advantage, 207–8. [Commerce 20] Soldier, his Character, 162. [National Characters 4–5] Soldiers, what Proportion they commonly bear to the People, 201. [Commerce 7] Sophocles, his Character, 158. [Simplicity and Refinement 6] Spain, ancient and modern, its Inhabitants, 327. [Populousness 174] Sparta, its Policy, 201. [Commerce 7] —— Number of its Inhabitants, 314. [Populousness 127 (& n. 177)] Spartian quoted, 316 Note 193. [Populousness Note 193 (to par. 135)] Sportula, their bad Tendency, 327. [Populousness 176] Stanyan quoted, 247. [Balance of Trade 33 (& n. 14)] States, small, their Advantage, 293. [Populousness 45–6] Stoic, the, 125. [Stoic 1 ff] Strabo quoted, 164 Note 3, 262, 285, 286, 288, 307, 309, 310, 316 Note 190, 319 Note 204, 321, 323, 325, 326–7, 329. [National Characters Note 3 (to par. 7)] [Public Credit 1 (& n. 5)] [Populousness 15 (& n. 14}, 18 (& n. 21), 26 (& n. 33), 99, 109 (& n. 133), 111 (& n. 137), Note 190 (to par. 135), Note 204 (to par. 144), 153, 162, 169 (& n. 236), 170 (& n. 242), 174, 181]

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The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

397

Stuart Family, whether their Succession ought to have been retained, 356. [Protestant Succession 1–2] —— whether restored, 361–2. [Protestant Succession 20–21] Subjects, particular, suit not with Refinement, 199. [Commerce 1–2] Suetonius quoted, 45, 69 Note 3, 282, 283, 285, 316, 318–19, 327. [Politics 9 (& n. 3)] [Parties in General Note 3 (to par. 13)] [Populousness 8 (& n. 4), 10 (& n. 9), 15 (& n. 15), 135 (& n. 192), 139–40 (& nn. 198–9), 142, 146 (& n. 208); 176 (& n. 253)] Suidas quoted, 99, 328 Note 255. [Eloquence 20 (& n. 7)] [Populousness Note 255 (to par. 177)] Superstition defined, 77, 78, &c. [Superstition and Enthusiasm 3 ff] Swift, Dr. quoted, 238, 248, 301 Note 92. [Balance of Trade 7, 37] [Populousness Note 92 (to par. 77)] Sycophant, its original Sense, 237. [Balance of Trade 2] Syracuse, its Extent and Number of Inhabitants, 314. [Populousness 126] T Tacitus, quoted, 39, 44, 72, 104, 113, 218 Note 1, 271, 285, 288, 291, 295 Note 64, 296, 316, 325, 329, 339. [Liberty of the Press 3] [Politics 9 (& n. 2)] [Parties of Great Britain 3–4 (& n. 1, n. 2)] [Rise and Progress 11 (& n. 2), 35 (& n. 12)] [Money Note 1 (to par. 1)] [Public Credit 31 (& n. 6)] [Populousness 15 (& nn. 15–16), 24 (& n. 30), 40 (& n. 49), Note 64 (to par. 52), 57 (& n. 66), 135 (& n. 192), 167 (& n. 233), 180 (and n. 259)] [Original Contract 25 (& n. 2)] Tasso quoted, 88, 122. [Civil Liberty 5] [Epicurean 12 (& n. 3)] Taste, its Standard, 174. [Standard of Taste 1 ff] Taxes, when hurtful, 258, 259. [Taxes 1–4]

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398

The Index to Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

—— do not fall ultimately on Land, 260. [Taxes 10] Temple, Sir William, 88, 170, 259. [Civil Liberty 8] [National Characters 27 (& n. 9)] [Taxes 4] Terence, his Character, 159. [Simplicity and Refinement 10] —— quoted, 114, 194. [Rise and Progress 37 (& n. 13)] [Standard of Taste 31] Tertullian quoted, 328 Note 255. [Populousness Note 255 (to par. 177)] Thebes, Number of its Inhabitants, 313 [Populousness 125] Theocritus, 307. [Populousness 101 (& n. 120)] Thinkers, abstruse, how useful, 199. —— shallow, ibid. [Commerce 1–2] Thucydides, the first Historian, 307. [Populousness 98] —— quoted, 147, 202, 246, 253, 293, 298, 304, 307, 310, 311, 315. [Sceptic 50] [Commerce 7 (& n. 2)] [Balance of Trade 30 (& n. 7)] [Balance of Power 6 (& n. 4)] [Populousness 48 (& n. 56), 66, 85, 98, 112, 114, 131] Tory Party, 74. [Parties of Great Britain 7] —— their speculative System, 332. [Original Contract 1] Tot, Mons. du, quoted, 222 Note 4. [Money Note 4 (to par. 8)] Tournefort, Mons. quoted, 153, 323. [Polygamy and Divorces 13] [Populousness 159] Tragedy, why it pleases, 174. [Tragedy 1 ff] Treasures, their Effects, 242–3. [Balance of Trade 21–2] Turkish Government, 261. [Taxes 11]

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399

Tyrants, ancient, their Cruelty, 298–9. [Populousness 67–68] U Ustariz, Geronimo de, quoted, 281. [Populousness 4 (& n. 3)] Usurpation, what, 337. [Original Contract 19] V Valerius Maximus quoted, 316 Note 191. [Populousness Note 191 (to par. 135)] Vanity, allies easily to Virtue, 85. [Dignity or Meanness 11] Varro quoted, 285, 289–90, 323, 327. [Populousness 15 (& n. 15), 30, 32–3, 161, 176 (& n. 253)] Vauban quoted, 242. [Balance of Trade 18] Vega, Garcillasso de la, quoted, 234. [Interest 16] Verna, its Sense and Inferences from it, 285 Note 17. [Populousness Note 17 (to par. 16)] Verney, Paris de, quoted, 222 Note 4. [Money Note 4 (to par. 8)] Victor, Aurelius, quoted, 317 Note 193. [Populousness Note 193 (to par. 135)] Victor, Publius, quoted, 314, 317 Note 193. [Populousness 126, Note 193 (to par. 135)] Virgil, his Character, 159. [Simplicity and Refinement 7] Vitruvius quoted, 316 Note 190. [Populousness Note 190 (to par. 135)] Voltaire quoted, 39. [Liberty of the Press 3] Vopiscus quoted, 314, 319 Note 208, 320 Note 211. [Populousness 126 (& n. 176), Note 208 (to par. 146), Note 211 (to par. 149)]. Vossius quoted, 316 Note 193. [Populousness, Note 193 (to par. 135)] W Waller, his Character, 118. [Rise and Progress 48]

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Whig Party, 74. [Parties of Great Britain 7] —— their speculative System, 332. [Original Contract 1] Wolsey, Cardinal, 113. [Rise and Progress 35] X Xenophon, quoted, 86, 91, 252, 288–9, 293, 299, 311, 312, 313, 314, 324. [Civil Liberty 2 (& n. 1), 14 (& n. 5)] [Balance of Power 1 (& n. 1), 2 (& n. 3)] [Populousness 26–7, 47, 70, 90, 113–14 (& nn. 143, 144), 116 (& n. 148), 119–20 (& n. 156), 125 (& n. 171), 127 (& n. 177), 165 (& n. 229)] Xerxes, his Pursuit of new Pleasures, 119. [Epicurean 3]

E NTRIE S IN WITHD RAW N E S S AYS The entries below appeared in one or more ETSS indexes in the years until the year in which the listed essay was withdrawn. The entry, the short title of the essay, page numbers, and paragraph numbers in the critical text are provided in this critical edition, as are page numbers in the index of 1758, which is the most reliable index for these page numbers. Only ‘Avarice’ and the recast ‘Walpole’ note survived through the 1768 index. Allegory of Impudence and Modesty, 20 [Impudence and Modesty 5–6] [pp. 9–10 in 1758] —— of Love and Marriage, 23–4 [Love and Marriage 7–8] [pp. 24–5 in 1758] —— of Avarice, 30 [Avarice 1–2] [p. 51 in 1758] History, the Study of it recommended, 26 [Study of History 1 ff] [pp. 26 ff in 1758] Motte, Monsieur la, quoted, 31 [Avarice 5] [p. 52 in 1758] Walpole, Sir Robert, his Character, 15 [Walpole 1–2] [in note 13 in 1758]

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A H I S TO RY O F H UME’ S ES S AYS Union catalogues indicate that, except possibly during the period 1920–40, British and American producers of books have not let a decade pass since Hume died without at least one publication making available some or all of the forty-eight essays that are here provided a critical edition. Publication of the essays under Hume’s ­direction occurred in several editions with different titles between 1741 and 1772. The posthumous edition of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (ETSS) printed in 1777 both added a last essay and gave a form to Hume’s final wishes concerning the contents of essays written as early as 1739.1 Most of the essays saw numerous ­revisions through several editions, and some appeared in periodicals. Their textual history is unusually complex. This history treats the origins and evolution of these essays. The first section examines Hume’s early intellectual development and the publication of A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40). The second section presents the history of the editions of the essays from 1741 through the posthumous collection printed in 1777 and published in 1778. The third section provides an account of Hume’s working relationships with booksellers and printers, including the financing, manufacture, and distribution of and copyright for Hume’s writings. The fourth section treats Hume’s attempt to prefix his short autobiography to the 1777 ETSS. The editors of this edition subscribe to the distinction between fact and in­ter­ pret­ation in remarks on Hume’s texts, notwithstanding predictable uncertainties over  where to draw the line between the two. Our objective in this history, the ­annotations, and other parts of this edition is to provide information helpful to the variety of persons likely to consult this edition, including some unfamiliar with the historical and biographical context in which Hume composed his essays.

1.  HUME ’S E ARLY L IFE A ND A S P IRAT I O NS In his autobiography, ‘My Own Life’, Hume wrote, ‘I was born the 26 of April 1711, O.S. at Edinburgh. I was of a good Family both by Father and Mother. My Father’s Family is a Branch of the Earl of Home’s or Hume’s; and my Ancestors had been Proprietors of the Estate, which my Brother possesses, for several Generations.’2 1   Two other essays by Hume, ‘Of Suicide’ and ‘Of the Immortality of the Soul’, will appear in a separate volume of the Clarendon Hume comprised of Hume’s posthumous publications. 2   ‘My Own Life’ 2, in Letters, 1: 1 (cited by paragraph numbers and by volume and page in Letters of David Hume, 1: 1–7, which reproduces the MS). Writing in 1776, Hume gives his birth date in the Old Style (‘O.S.’) because Britain did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Upon that conversion, eleven days were struck from the calendar, putting Hume’s birthdate on 7 May 1711, New Style. We follow Hume’s practice with respect to Britain and use Old Style dates for those prior to the conversion and New Style ones for those afterwards. Associated in English

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Primogeniture meant that as a younger son Hume had to augment a ‘very slender’ patrimony and make his own fortune, but with a landed background he could appear well-to-do by the standards of the harsh world of the London book trade into which he would enter with his essays.3 William Shaw would contrast him with Samuel Johnson, grouping Hume with Lord Chesterfield and the Prince of Wales’s secretary, George Lyttelton, as ‘gentleman-authors’, who, ‘by means of an independent situation, were never in pay to the Booksellers’.4 But though Hume never had to write to order for booksellers’ pay, he did not begin his career secure in finances or independence. In a society structured as a network of hierarchical, informal dependencies, Hume was concerned for his independence right up to the com­pos­ ition of his autobiography near the end of his life.5

The Young Scholar Hume’s early years were split between time in Edinburgh and at the home at Ninewells, his family’s small landholding at Chirnside near the border with England. He entered the college in Edinburgh as a ten-year-old during the 1721–2 session.6 There he read in the classics, belles-lettres, politics, logic, metaphysics, natural philosophy, history, and almost certainly mathematics. Afterwards his family expected that he might pursue a career in law, but, after nominal study in the field, he chose ‘the pursuits of Philosophy and general Learning’. He reported that while his family presumed he was reading for the law, he was ‘secretly devouring’ Cicero and Virgil.7 Hume found the ‘Schemes of Virtue & of Happiness’ espoused by the ancient schools of philosophy to be deficient in a way parallel to their deficiencies in natural philosophy. He found both the moral and natural philosophy of the ancients to

contexts with the phrase ‘New Style’ because instituted as well in ‘Chesterfield’s Act’ of 1751 (24 George II, c. 23) is the discontinuance of the practice in the English legal system of reckoning the new year from the Annunciation on 25 March, instead of from 1 January. (In Scotland the first of January had been adopted as New Year’s Day as of 1600, and therefore no adjustment was needed in this respect.) The discrepancy between the two starting-points for the new year can cause ­confusion in the assignment of the year for events between 1 January and 25 March prior to the conversion in 1752, as we shall see in connection with the initial publication of the first instalment of Hume’s essays. 3   ‘My Own Life’ 3, Letters, 1: 1. 4  Shaw, Memoirs, 9–10; cf. 31–2. When bookseller Andrew Millar asked Hume to work for him on a weekly paper, Hume was in a position to decline (12 June 1755, to Millar, Letters, 1: 222–3). 5   ‘My Own Life’ 4, 17, Letters, 1: 2, 5. Hume judged that he did not achieve what he could call a ‘Competency’ until after his military mission with General James St Clair in 1748–9 (¶¶ 7, 19). 6   Edinburgh University matriculation register, 1704–62 (Edinburgh University Library, MS Da, p. 62), session 1722–3. M. A. Stewart and Michael Barfoot provide data in their research on Hume’s college years. See Barfoot, ‘Hume and the Culture of Science’, 151–65, and Stewart, ‘Hume’s Intellectual Development’, 16–17. 7   ‘My Own Life’ 3, Letters, 1: 1.

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depend ‘more upon Invention than Experience’. To find a more secure grounding in experience and understanding, he resolved that he would make human nature his ‘principal Study, & the Source from which [he] wou’d derive every Truth in Criticism as well as Morality’. However, his attempt at a serious study of human nature was hindered by problems of health that may have been, at least in part, psychosomatic.8 In the spring of 1734 he sought relief from these afflictions through a more active life and accepted a position with a merchant in Bristol. What happened in Bristol is unknown, but within a few weeks Hume was back to studying full time. He journeyed to France to reflect and write in seclusion. There he completed a draft by mid-1737 of a large part of A Treatise of Human Nature. In September 1737 he left France and travelled to London to revise the Treatise and negotiate for its publication.9 In September 1738 he signed a contract with bookseller John Noon (or Noone), and, in January 1739, he published the two volumes of the Treatise concerned with human understanding and the passions. The third and final volume, on morals, was published in November 1740.10 These volumes were all published anonymously, but Hume wrote to Hutcheson on 16 March 1740 that ‘I was . . . determin’d to keep my Name a Secret for some time tho I find I have fail’d in that Point’.11

8   March or April 1734, to a doctor, Letters, 1: 16, 18. In this letter Hume reports that in the three years prior to the spring of 1734 he consumed ‘most of the celebrated Books in Latin, French & English’, while also ‘acquiring the Italian’ language. Despite his judgements of deficiencies in the moral philosophy of the ‘antient moralists’, in the first three editions of EPM (1751–8), Hume characterized them as presenting ‘the best models’ of an approach to virtues in the common life and to sentiments of censure or approbation (ETSS (1758), 435, 1st ¶ of § 6, ‘Of Qualities Useful to Ourselves’). This reference to the ancient moralists was dropped in the 1760 and all later editions. 9   See letters to Henry Home of 2 December 1737, 4 March 1738, and 13 February 1739, and to Michael Ramsay of 22 February 1739, Letters, 1: 23–9. M. A. Stewart reasonably judges that it was in the early 1740s, ‘coterminous with the end of Hume’s main work on the Treatise’ (‘Dating’, 280, ‘Hume’s Intellectual Development’, 47 n. 96), that Hume created the manuscript notes made familiar in Mossner’s recension entitled ‘Hume’s Early Memoranda’. Mazza and Mori date the assemblage of the notes as commencing after the summer of 1737 (‘ “Loose Bits of Paper” ’, 32, 38). Hume’s notes relate to various subjects, with philosophy less prom­in­ ent than history and economics, and their contents can be seen manifested more in the Political Discourses than in Hume’s other publications. Stewart adds several such manifestations to one identified by John Hill Burton, and we have been able to add more. These correlations between the memoranda and passages in the essays are noted in the annotations for this critical edition, with citations to page numbers in Mossner’s recension but with quotations taken from a photocopy of the manuscript. As indications of Hume’s reading, the memoranda are complicated by the probability that Hume was approaching some of the authors through discussions in journals. 10   For the publishing history of all three volumes, see David Fate Norton, ‘Historical Account of A Treatise of Human Nature from its Beginnings to the Time of Hume’s Death’, in the Clarendon Hume Edition of THN, ed. Norton and Mary J. Norton, esp. 2: 452ff. and 488ff. 11   16 March 1740, to Francis Hutcheson, Letters, 1: 38.

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From the Treatise to the Essays Reviewers misunderstood the Treatise and complained of its obscurity and ­complexity.12 Indications are that Francis Hutcheson disapproved of some aspects of the Treatise and subsequently opposed Hume’s candidacy for a professorship in Edinburgh.13 As early as March 1740, Hume himself expressed concerns about his ‘errors’, ‘ambiguities’, and ‘defects’ of expression in the Treatise in correspondence with Hutcheson. There would be no new edition, but at one point Hume spoke of a clause in his contract affecting a second edition.14 One reason he dropped the plan for a revised edition is that this clause would have forced him to ‘take all the Copys remaining upon hand at the Bookseller’s Price at the time’. In this respect his contract made a new edition contingent upon good sales for the first. Disappointed with the reception of what eventually came to be widely regarded as his greatest work, Hume was a young man without a position and still attempting to find his way in the world. Next he would write essays intended for a periodical, abandon the periodical, and incorporate some of his material into a collection ­published as a book advertised as a ‘neat pocket volume’.

2 .  A HISTORY OF T HE E DI T I O NS The neat pocket volume was published in 1741 as Essays, Moral and Political. Apparently Hume had begun to write essays while still working on the Treatise. In a letter of June 1739 to his friend Henry Home,15 he spoke of two papers, presumably essays, and said he had ‘Hints for two or three more’. He appraised his uncertain career without self-pity: I am not much in the Humour of such Compositions at present, having receiv’d News from London of the Success of my Philosophy, which is but indifferent, if I may judge by the Sale of the Books, & if I may believe my Bookseller. I am now out of Humour with myself; but doubt not in a little time to be only out of Humour with the World, like other unsuccessful

12   See for example the anonymous reviews of A Treatise of Human Nature (separately reviewing vols. 1–2 and vol. 3), in The History of the Works of the Learned, 2 (November 1739): 353–90, and (December 1739): 391–404; Göttingische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen [succeeding title: Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen], 2 (7 January 1740): 9–12; Bibliotheque raisonnée des ouvrages des savans de L’Europe, 24 (April–June 1740): 324–55; Nouvelle bibliotheque, ou histoire litteraire, 6 (July 1740): 291–316 and, 7 (September 1740): 44–63; and Bibliotheque raisonnée des ouvrages des savans de l’Europe, 26 (April–June 1741): 411–27. English translations of the second, third, and fourth reviews listed above (by, respectively, Manfred Kuehn; David Fate Norton and Mary  J.  Norton; and David Fate Norton and Rebecca Pates) are found in J.  Fieser, ed. Early Responses to Hume’s Metaphysical and Epistemological Writings. 13   See Sher, ‘Professors of Virtue’, 102–8, and below in this history. 14   16 March 1740, to Francis Hutcheson, Letters, 1: 38–40. 15   Home was a Scottish lawyer and legal historian who would be raised to the bench in 1752. Upon this appointment he became Lord Kames, the title by which he is best known and the name usually used to refer to him in the annotations in this critical edition.

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Authors. After all, I am sensible of my Folly in entertaining any Discontent, much more Despair upon this Account; since I cou’d not expect any better from such abstract Reasoning, nor indeed did I promise myself much better. My Fondness for what I imagin’d new Discoveries made me overlook all common Rules of Prudence.

A month later Hume wrote to Home again, this time sending a ‘packet’ of new work: ‘I have a strong Suspicion against the present Packet. One of the Papers will be found very cold; & the other be esteem’d somewhat sophystical. However I communicate them to you; because I may possibly be mistaken.’16 In this letter he also refers to ‘former Papers’ that, as described, are plainly ‘Of Moral Prejudices’ and ‘Of Love and Marriage’.

The Nature and Contents of Essays, Moral and Political, Volume 1 Hume’s first book of essays, published anonymously, contained fifteen pieces, enumerated in the Contents as follows: I. Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion II. Of the Liberty of the Press III. Of Impudence and Modesty IV. That Politicks may be reduc’d to a Science V. Of the first Principles of Government VI. Of Love and Marriage VII. Of the Study of History VIII. Of the Independency of Parliament IX. Whether the British Government inclines more to absolute Monarchy, or to a Republick X. Of Parties in general XI. Of the Parties of Great Britain XII. Of Superstition and Enthusiasm XIII. Of Avarice XIV. Of the Dignity of Human Nature XV. Of Liberty and Despotism This book was brought to market by Alexander Kincaid, a bookseller then not long out of apprenticeship who produced the Edinburgh Evening Courant with printer Robert Fleming. With new partner Alexander Alison, Fleming printed Hume’s book and advertised it in this newspaper (nos. 5439, 5442) on 6 and 13 July 1741 under the incorrect title of Essays on Various Subjects. Under the same incorrect title the book was advertised on 7 and 16 July in the Caledonian Mercury (nos. 3320, 3324). These advertisements list the precise contents of the Essays, Moral and Political and are unquestionably advertisements for   4 June 1739 and 1 July 1739, to Henry Home, New Letters, 5–7.

16

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Hume’s book. There is therefore no need to suppose, as do bibliographers Jessop, Todd, and Ikeda, that the ‘MDCCXLI’ on the title-page is Old Style.17 Their incorrect inference was reasonable in the light of the evidence available until the ad­vert­ ise­ments were discovered in the Edinburgh papers.18 Hume himself had said in ‘My Own Life’ (¶ 6) that ‘In 1742, I printed at Edinburgh the first part of my Essays’, and the division title-pages for part 1 of the essays in his collected works specifically notified readers that those items were ‘PUBLISHED in 1742’. Moreover, the only notices known to exist until recently had been from London periodicals of January– February 1742, precisely the months of the year that could have caused a discrepancy of reckoning between 1741 and 1742.19 Without the Edinburgh advertisements, with their list of essays identifying the book, there is no way of knowing that the listing appearing in the June 1741 Scots Magazine (3: 280) for the anonymous ‘Essays on various subjects. 2s. 6d.’ referred to Hume’s book.20 In an advertisement placed in the front matter of this book Hume described its history, design, and nature: Most of these Essays were wrote with a View of being publish’d as Weekly-Papers, and were intended to comprehend the Designs both of the Spectators and Craftsmen. But having dropt that Undertaking, partly from Laziness, partly from Want of Leisure, and being ­willing to make Trial of my Talents for Writing, before I ventur’d upon any more serious Compositions, I was induced to commit these Trifles to the Judgment of the Public. Like most new Authors, I must confess, I feel some Anxiety concerning the Success of my Work. . . . The Reader must not look for any Connexion among these Essays, but must consider each of them as a Work apart. This is an Indulgence that is given to all Essay-Writers, and is an

17  Jessop, Bibliography, 15; Todd, ‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 191; Ikeda, David Hume and the Eighteenth Century Thought, 61 n. Both England and Scotland were necessarily employing the Old Style since neither adopted the Gregorian calendar until 1752, so a more precise formulation would be that the ‘MDCCXLI’ of the title-page reflected the calendar of the English legal system, which started the year on 25 March. For purposes of chronology, be it noted that all of the British periodicals mentioned in this history commence the new year on 1 January rather than 25 March. 18   See Goldsmith, ‘Faction Detected’, 28 n. 45. Goldsmith attributes the discovery to Brian Hillyard. 19   Letters, 1: 2. The question arises, however, why a book with an Edinburgh imprint would record the year according to the English legal system in preference to the Scottish practice of reckoning the year from 1 January. 20   John Hill Burton was not fooled and stated correctly in 1846 that ‘the first of the “Essays Moral and Political,” was published at Edinburgh in 1741, and the second was published in 1742’ (Life, 1: 136). The discrepancy over the title remains unexplained, but a still more surprising accident would occur to the title when in William James Couper’s The Edinburgh Periodical Press (1908) it would be transformed into Essays, Moral and Spiritual (1: 144–5), though the author quoted from the book and therefore had access to the title-page. Couper’s mistake is reiterated in Plomer et al., Dictionary, 2: 278.

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equal Ease both to Writer and Reader, by freeing them from any tiresome Stretch of Attention and Application.21

The effort to appear a ‘new’ author who has not yet ‘ventur’d upon any more serious Compositions’ is striking. Hume’s remarks perhaps indicate a personal reaction to the reviews of the Treatise complaining of its abstruse arguments.

Hume’s Market and the ‘Designs’ of the Spectator and Craftsman It was common for enterprising authors to start up their own papers, and it is at least as likely that Hume intended to create his own weekly as to contribute to an existing one. On the basis of the character of many of these essays and of the two models that Hume names we can conjecture what the putative weekly would have been like. In one essay Hume refers to ‘our Scottish ladies’. Elsewhere he refers to ‘this city’ and ‘a famous miser in this city’.22 The projected readers therefore were Scottish inhabitants of a specific metropolis, undoubtedly Edinburgh.23 Part of the appeal of the Spectator had been its references to recognizable local London characters and customs, and Hume’s paper would transplant this feature to Edinburgh. The culture of Edinburgh was cosmopolitan, however, with longstanding relations through the professions to the United Provinces and France. The political and economic importance to Scotland of London meant that an Edinburgh weekly could not be insular. As most papers were owned jointly to raise capital and dilute financial risk, Hume might have projected a weekly with Kincaid and Fleming as partners. The ­bookseller and printer had produced in 1737–8 a run of a paper titled the Reveur, reportedly authored by Robert Wallace,24 someone who later would come to figure in Hume’s life in several ways. Henry Fielding had owned as small a share as two-sixteenths of  the Champion, which he co-authored with James Ralph in 1739–41.25 Hume could have entered into shared ownership with Kincaid and Fleming as producers and someone like Henry Home as collaborator.26 Instead of being one of the   Essays, Moral and Political (1741 edn.), iii, v; repeated in the 1742 second edn.   ‘Love and Marriage’ 5, ‘Study of History’ 2, ‘Avarice’ 2. As here, citations to Hume’s essays will usually be to short titles and the paragraph numbers in this edition, sometimes placed parenthetically within the text. 23   Conversely, a previously existing periodical for which Hume intended his essays would need to be an Edinburgh weekly in business in 1739–41. 24  Couper, Edinburgh Periodical Press, 2: 67–9. For present purposes, Wallace’s most important role in Hume’s life was his friendly criticisms of Hume’s essay, ‘Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations’. See the letters to Wallace in 1751–3 (New Letters, 28–35). Wallace’s anonymous Characteristics of the Present Political State of Great Britain (1758) also commented on several pieces in Hume’s Political Discourses. Wallace was esteemed for his actuarial role in the creation of the Fund for the Widows and Orphans of Ministers of the Church of Scotland. 25  Harris, London Newspapers, 100. 26   Boswell recorded on 14 October 1762 that Home said ‘that he had once a scheme for the Publication of a Work of that kind [a weekly] at Edinburgh, but found a want of witty and humorous writers’ (Private Papers, 1: 101). It is tempting to see this paper as Hume’s abandoned weekly conceived initially as a joint venture. 21 22

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g­entleman-authors resented by Shaw, Hume would have had to produce copy catching the fancy of consumers. If the periodical were typical of weeklies, it would consist of a lead essay, sometimes in the form of a contributed letter; brief sections for local, national, and international news; and advertisements disproportionately displaying the wares of the owners, Kincaid and Fleming in this case. If sales were promising, the lead essays could be collected into the more permanent form of bound volumes. The periodicals that Hume specifically mentions as models for his essays are the avowedly (and, for the most part, actually) non-partisan Spectator (1711–12, 1714) and the virulently partisan Craftsman (1726–), the mission of which was primarily to attack the Walpole ministry. The former was Sir Richard Steele’s and Joseph Addison’s follow-up to their popular Tatler, which had drifted into Whig polemics. Addison received a disproportionate share of the renown for these periodicals. With some amplification, Samuel Johnson’s advertisement to a 1776 republication describes the Spectator comprehensively: It comprizes precepts of criticism [famously, the papers on the pleasures of the imagination and on Milton’s Paradise Lost], sallies of invention [e.g. fables and allegories], descriptions of life [e.g. papers on courtship and family life], and lectures of virtue [e.g. the weekend sermons]: It employs wit in the cause of truth, and makes elegance subservient to piety: It has now for more than half a century supplied the English nation, in a great measure, with principles of speculation, and rules of practice; and given Addison a claim to be numbered among the benefactors of mankind.27

All of the belletristic categories that Johnson lists—criticism, fables, domestic tableaux, hortatory pieces—are recognizable in various manifestations in the items in Essays, Moral and Political that are not devoted to political subjects. In the 1748 Philosophical Essays, Hume contrasted Locke with Addison (EHU 1.4), whose object was to paint virtue ‘in the most amiable colours; borrowing all helps from poetry and eloquence’. Philosophers of the ‘easy and obvious’ kind like Addison ‘select the most striking observations and instances from common life; place op­pos­ ite characters in a proper contrast; and alluring us into the paths of virtue by the views of glory and happiness, direct our steps in these paths by the soundest precepts and most illustrious examples’ (1.1). The Addisonian imitations in Essays, Moral and Political (see Hume’s explanations in ‘Essay Writing’ 1) speak to ‘the conversible World’ and appeal to ‘an Inclination to the easier and more gentle Exercises of the Understanding, to obvious Reflections on human Affairs, and the Duties of common Life, and to the Observation of the Blemishes or Perfections of the particular Objects, that surround them’. Operating on this model, Hume would aim ‘to represent the common sense of mankind in more beautiful and more engaging colours’ (EHU 1.4). Hence there are essays ridiculing avarice, representing the middle station to best advantage, encouraging readers to be modest rather 27   Repr. in Boswell’s Life of Johnson, 2: 503. The advertisement may be found in Public Ledger, 17, no. 53661 (7 December 1776): 1.

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than impudent, warning husbands and wives that the love of dominion is harmful to marriages, and recommending histories as both entertaining and instructing. The challenge is not to overcome readers’ resistance to startling new truths, but to make lively again the common sense of mankind made trite by overfamiliarity.28 The geographical range of the influence of the Spectator was not confined to England. It was influential in Scotland and the American colonies as well as on the continent. A Dutch reviewer of a French translation lists seven imitators of the Spectator in Holland alone.29 Between the two segments of the Spectator, Steele, Addison, and others, including George Berkeley and Alexander Pope, produced the similar paper titled the Guardian (1713). In common parlance references in Hanoverian times to the most famous paper, the Spectator, could be a synecdoche for all three papers on which Steele and Addison collaborated. The Craftsman was still in circulation when Hume published his Essays, Moral and Political. Rather than ceasing at a determinable date, this periodical evolved over time through changes of editor, ownership, and even name until it was no longer continuous with its early self. At one point rival versions were in competition. For Hume and his readers the heyday of Mr Craftsman, ‘Caleb D’Anvers’, had been in the years prior to 1735, when the paper was known as the organ of both the former Tory minister Henry St. John, viscount Bolingbroke, and the disaffected Whig William Pulteney. The co-operation of these two figures represented a call for a coalition into a ‘Country’ opposition to the court. Or, to state matters in terms of Opposition ideology, the opposition of the Whig and Tory parties was obsolete and served only to obscure the genuine opposition between the country as a whole and the corrupt ministry. Like the Tatler, Guardian, and Spectator, the Craftsman was supplied with ma­ter­ ial by a number of unnamed contributors. Through Bolingbroke the paper had Scriblerian associations, and it outsold its ministerial counterparts like the Daily Gazetteer by a wide margin. Even the much vilified ministerial apologist, John Lord Hervey, said that ‘All the best writers against the Court were concerned in the Craftsman, which made it a much better written paper than any of that sort that were published on the side of the Court.’30 Hume’s relation to this paper, as to the Spectator, was not simple. As detailed below, Hume dropped the essays that were most imitative of Addison over the course of subsequent editions, with ‘Avarice’ alone surviving until the 1770 ETSS. 28   For elaboration, see Box, Suasive Art, 40–52, 111–48. Hume’s awareness of which essays Addison had composed probably derived from the contents of Thomas Tickell’s authorized ­edition of Addison’s Works (London, 1721), a copy of which is listed in Hume Library. 29  Rev. of Le Spectateur, vol. 3, anon. trans. (Amsterdam, 1718), in L’Europe savante, 6 (November 1718): 98–9. The reviewer reports the claim that one issue had sold 14,000 copies. That this claim was made and credited indicates the reputation of the paper. 30  Hervey, Some Materials, 263. Hervey intended his concession to apply to partisan periodicals but not necessarily to the extensive pamphlet literature, which he regarded as more important. A good analysis of evidence for attribution of issues of the Craftsman during Nicholas Amhurst’s editorship in 1726–42 is Thomas Lockwood’s ‘Did Fielding Write for The Craftsman?’

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He was dismissive of the Addisonian familiar essay in his explanations of his withdrawal from these collections (see the bibliographic head-note to the annotations for ‘Impudence and Modesty’ in the present edition). In the same advertisement in which Hume identified the Craftsman as a model, he repudiated its polemical character and declared his impartiality: ‘This Party-Rage I have endeavour’d to repress, as far as possible; and I hope this Design will be acceptable to the moderate of both Parties; at the same Time, that, perhaps, it may displease the Bigots of both.’31 Unlike similar professions of non-partisanship in the warring papers of the day, this profession was not empty, and Hume made a point of criticizing all parties. In his political essays he criticized Bolingbroke and the Opposition as well as Walpole. In ‘Independency of Parliament’ he effectively called Bolingbroke a false patriot (¶ 7). In ‘Parties of Great Britain’ he rejected the Opposition claim that the conflict of Whig and Tory was obsolete and specifically rejected Bolingbroke’s identification of the ‘Country’ party with the interests of the nation as against those of a corrupt ‘Court’ party (see especially the variants for ¶ 1). In a curious turn of events the Craftsman appropriated one of Hume’s essays between their publication in Edinburgh and their appearance in London. The earliest indication of the appearance of Hume’s Essays, Moral and Political in London is an advertisement of 26 February 1742 (Daily Post, no. 7013). On 10 October 1741, possibly taking advantage of the fact that the book had not yet appeared in London, Craftsman 797 reproduced ‘Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy or to a Republick’, presenting it as a contributed letter with a signature of ‘P.T.’ without mention of the source.32 In appropriating the essay, the editor, whether Nicholas Amhurst or his successor Thomas Cooke, might have been prompted by the anonymous author’s statement that the Craftsman had been a model for items in Essays, Moral and Political. Because the magazines often reprinted the periodical papers, especially those from the Craftsman, Hume’s essay received wide circulation before the London appearance of the Essays, Moral and Political. ‘British Government’ was immediately reprinted in the Scots Magazine (3 (October 1741): 456–8), the London Magazine (10 (October 1741): 503–5), and the Gentleman’s Magazine (11 (October 1741): 536–8), the last stipulating at the end, ‘The above judicious Essay is given without Alterations or Abridgement.’ But all of these magazines identified as their source the Craftsman, which had altered Hume’s text slightly.33 Transplantation of this essay to the Craftsman from Essays, Moral and Political shifts its context significantly. In the former it was the lead article in the most noted Opposition paper of the day, while in Hume’s book it followed ‘Independency of 31   Essays, Moral and Political (Edinburgh, 1741), v. The theme of non-partisanship is underlined by the motto from Virgil on the title-page: ‘Tros Rutuluſve fuat, nullo diſcrimine habebo’, ‘be he Trojan or be he Rutulian, no distinction shall I make’ (Aeneid 10.108). 32  The public enjoyed guessing at anonymous authorship, but ‘P.T.’ might have suggested ­nothing more specific than a common pseudonym such as Patrick Tell-Truth. 33   See the facsimile reproduction in the present volume, p. 709.

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Parliament’, a critique of Opposition ideology. What opportunity did Mr Craftsman seize when he reprinted the essay? In it Hume had laid out the opposing cases concerning the inclination of the British polity towards monarchism or republicanism and then stated his own view that the tide had turned against republicanism. He concluded with the opinion that the new inclination was not to be regretted in that a drift towards republicanism would terminate in absolutism, either directly through the intervention of a demagogue or indirectly through the instability of a factious, unchecked House of Commons. These contents are not obviously usable material for anti-ministerial polemic, yet, by adopting the essay as his featured composition for the day, Mr Craftsman tacitly aligned himself with it. How did he expect his readers to understand the essay in its role as a Craftsman paper? One can only speculate based on available evidence. At this point in the revolution of ‘the wheel of the great state lottery of British politicks’,34 the Opposition was looking beyond the foreseeable ouster of Walpole to the prospects for ‘places’ within or attached to a new government under the continuing reign of George II. ‘Patriot’ adherents to the Opposition party of the Prince of Wales, who was estranged from his father, were committed by the connection to monarchy. But the rhetoric of opposition to the court Whigs could make polemicists sound republican, as when, for example, the Tory Bolingbroke found it necessary to repudiate the tenet of the indefeasible right to rule of monarchs (see the annotation in this critical edition for ‘Parties of Great Britain’ 8). Plausibly we can suppose that the effect of reprinting the essay in an issue of the Craftsman in the autumn of 1741 was to disavow republicanism in a timely fashion and attach the paper to a pragmatic monarchism distinct from the divine-right monarchism of the Jacobites and non-juring Tories. Given the dissemination of the essay to other periodicals, it seems likely that Hume was aware of the use to which it had been put. How Hume regarded this use probably will never be determined.

The Second Edition of Volume 1 A ‘Second Edition, Corrected’ of the Essays, Moral and Political appeared less than half a year after the first edition.35 The claim on its title-page that it was corrected is accurate, as some 301 changes were introduced in this new edition. Most of the changes are stylistic improvements, as was Hume’s typical pattern in revisions, but many changes are more substantial. The cumulative result is a thoroughly revised edition in which significant editorial modifications occur in almost every essay. The lightest revisions appear in the four essays that Hume would later ­withdraw. An unknown but constructive critic sent to Hume or his publisher some proposed changes after the publication of the first edition. These suggestions are extant in the

  The metaphor is Adam Smith’s (Wealth of Nations, 2: 623).   Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509 (15 December 1741), [4]. The advertisement lists the book incorrectly as Essays on Various Subjects. 34 35

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Hume manuscript collection housed in the National Library of Scotland for the Royal Society of Edinburgh.36 Corrections are in a hand other than Hume’s. Hume is addressed simply as ‘the author’, and it is unclear whether the critic knew that Hume was the author.37 The manuscript contains twenty-nine recommendations directed at eight of the fifteen essays. The recommended changes are both stylistic and substantive. A few recommendations concern moral, political, cultural, and religious comments that might have been handled with increased sensitivity. Later Hume adopted most of these suggestions in some edition of Essays, Moral and Political, indicating that he found the commentator reliable and helpful. Hume introduced some of the proposed changes into the second edition, which allows a dating of the manuscript as between the first and second editions—that is, between June and 15 December 1741. The most detailed change deriving from these recommendations was adopted verbatim by Hume. He inserted it as a footnote into ‘Parties of Great Britain’ in the second (‘1742’) edition published in December 1741. The following is the passage, which was altered for print only in italics, capitalization, and punctuation: This Proposition is true, notwithstanding, that in the early Times of the English Government, the Clergy were the great and principal Opposers of the Crown: But, at that Time, their Possessions were so immensely great, that they compos’d a considerable Part of the Proprietors of England, and in many Contests were direct Rivals of the Crown.38

This passage was eliminated as of the 1770 edition of the ETSS.

The Nature and Contents of Essays, Moral and Political, Volume 2 The Contents of Hume’s second volume of essays, as published in January of 1742, are as follows. I. Of Essay-Writing II. Of Eloquence III. Of Moral Prejudices IV. Of the Middle Station of Life V. Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences VI. The Epicurean VII. The Stoic VIII. The Platonist IX. The Sceptic X. Of Polygamy and Divorces XI. Of Simplicity and Refinement XII. A Character of Sir Robert Walpole   NLS MS 23163, item 39, formerly RSE MS XIII, 39.   This manuscript is reproduced with an account of the recommendations Hume adopted in James Fieser, ‘Remarks on Essays, Moral and Political’, in vol. 1 of Early Responses to Hume’s Moral, Literary and Political Writings. 38   Essays, Moral and Political, 2nd edn. (printed for A. Kincaid), 24 n. 2. 36 37

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These essays, like those in what now retroactively became volume 1, show signs of having been conceived as periodical publications. Since Hume corresponded about ‘Moral Prejudices’ with Home in 1739 (together with ‘Love and Marriage’),39 they were not all composed after the essays in the set published in 1741. The appearance is that many of these essays were held back in 1741 and brought out in volume 2 in response to encouraging sales. Subsequent editions, however, reconfigured the contents with the effect of obscuring the origin of the pieces as periodical essays. In the 1748 edition Hume consolidated the two volumes into one; replaced three of the more belletristic essays with ‘National Characters’, ‘Original Contract’, and ‘Passive Obedience’; and relegated another essay to a footnote. The last was a top­ ic­al piece on someone often regarded today as the first prime minister of Great Britain. ‘A Character of Sir Robert Walpole’ was Hume’s attempt at an impartial assessment of the controversial head of the king’s ministers since 1721 at a time of ferment when diverse opposition groups were succeeding at their common goal to bring him down. Its topicality in 1742 is apparent in its swift reappearance in several periodicals: London Magazine, 11 (February 1742): 99; Gentleman’s Magazine, 12 (February 1742): 82; and Scots Magazine, 4 (January 1742): 38–9, 48. After Walpole’s ouster in February 1742 the topical interest that warranted presentation of the character as an independent essay vanished. And so an essay that was gen­er­ ic­al­ly a ‘character’, like the portraits of each other written by Cardinal de Retz and La Rochefoucauld, evolved into a mere footnote in ‘That Politics may be reduced to a Science’. This material on Walpole was not retained by Hume in any form in the ETSS after the 1768 edition. In an advertisement placed at the beginning of volume 2, Hume explained the context of this essay. The Character of Sir Robert Walpole was drawn some Months ago, when that Great Man was in the Zenith of his Power. I must confess, that, at present, when he seems to be upon the Decline, I am inclin’d to think more favourably of him, and to suspect, that the Antipathy, which every true born Briton naturally bears to Ministers of State, inspir’d me with some Prejudice against him. The impartial Reader, if any such there be; or Posterity, if such a Trifle can reach them, will best be able to correct my Mistakes in this particular.40

At the same time that Hume distanced himself from his own criticism of Sir Robert, he employed what would have been recognized as the language of the ‘patriot’ Opposition, for example in the epithet great man, a phrase frequently applied to Walpole and laden heavily with irony.41

  1 June 1739, New Letters, 6–7.   Essays, Moral and Political, 2 (1742): iii–iv. 41   e.g. see the humorously gratuitous case that Macheath is the true hero of Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera: ‘He is often call’d a Great Man, — particularly in the two following Passages, viz. It grieves one’s Heart to take off a great Man. — What a moving Thing it is, to see a Great Man in Distress; which by the Bye, seems to be an Innuendo that some Great Man will speedily fall into Distress’ (‘Key’, 73). 39 40

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Reporting that Hume’s essay was ‘inserted in most of the newspapers of G. Britain’, the Scots Magazine (4 (March 1742): 119–20) reprinted some ‘queries’ about it that were originally published ‘in the Newcastle paper’ (i.e. Newcastle Journal, no. 150 (13 February 1742, 1) and bundled these queries together with arranged responses by Hume.42 In the above-mentioned advertisement placed at the beginning of volume 2, Hume explained how to read his four essays on types of ancient philosophy: ‘’TIS proper to inform the Reader, that, in those Essays, intitled, The Epicurean, Stoic, &c. a certain Character is personated; and therefore, no Offence ought to be taken at any Sentiments contain’d in them.’ Hume disclaims any identification of himself with the characters ‘personated’ because he wants to be seen as drawing characters rather than advocating any of their ‘Schemes of Virtue & of Happiness’. Other ­concerns could have been the amorous sensuality depicted in ‘Epicurean’ and the sceptic’s lack of warmth in the cause of virtue, for which Hutcheson had faulted Hume’s Treatise.43

The First Taste of Success Hume’s first volume of essays was published less than a year after the publication of the third volume of the Treatise. In ‘My Own Life’, Hume gives an account of his endeavours after the publication of the Treatise: Never literary Attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of human Nature. It fell deadborn from the Press; without reaching such distinction as even to excite a Murmur among the Zealots. But being naturally of a cheerful and sanguine Temper, I very soon recovered the Blow, and prosecuted with great Ardour my Studies in the Country. In 1742, I printed at Edinburgh the first part of my Essays: The work was favourably received, and soon made me entirely forget my former Disappointment.44

As noted above, Hume misstates the year of the publication of volume 1. Perhaps what he remembered, writing in 1776, was the appearance of volume 1 in London (c.26 February 1742), as well as the near simultaneous appearance of volume 2

42   See the facsimile reproduction in this critical edition in Appendix 3: Facsimile Reproductions. Earlier, the ‘Remarks’ and ‘Character’ had appeared in Gentleman’s Magazine, 12 (February 1742): 82. Hume’s answers would appear later in 12 (May 1742): 265. 43   Lest Hume’s disclaimer be thought superfluous, we should note the reaction of Thomas Carlyle, who admired the essays in the main but found grotesque ‘the idea of David Hume declaiming, nay of David Hume making love’ (24 May 1815, Collected Letters, 48). Plainly Carlyle was reacting foremost to ‘Epicurean’. Hume’s comments on Stoic philosophy and practice were generally critical. See EPM 6.21 on the Stoic’s ‘perpetual cant’ about the virtues and also the early paragraphs in ‘Moral Prejudices’. In a letter to Hutcheson of 17 September 1739 (Letters, 1: 35), Hume recommends Cicero, De finibus 4, an attack on Stoic accounts of virtue. 44   ‘My Own Life’ 6, in Letters, 1: 2. Hume employs italics here to indicate that he is quoting from Alexander Pope, Epilogue to the Satires 2.226 (Hill, Letters, xx, n. 2). He is magnifying the neglect of the Treatise.

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(January to March 1742).45 In a letter to Home in mid-1742, Hume expressed cautious enthusiasm about his essays and claimed some success for them, despite the subdued reception of the Treatise: The Essays are all sold in London; as I am inform’d by two Letters from English Gentlemen of my Acquaintance. There is a Demand for them; & as one of them tells me, Innys46 the great Bookseller in Paul’s Church Yard wonders there is not a new Edition, for that he cannot find Copies for his Customers. I am also told that Dr Butler47 has every where recommended them. So that I hope they will have some Success. They may prove like Dung with Marle, & bring forward the rest of my Philosophy, which is of a more durable, tho of a harder & more stubborn Nature.48

No Greek language citations appeared in the Treatise or the 1741 or 1742 Essays.49 In ‘My Own Life’, Hume states that in 1742, after publishing his Essays, Moral and Political, ‘I continued with my Mother and Brother in the Countrey; and in that time, recovered the Knowledge of the Greek Language, which I had too much neglected in my early Youth.’50 Hume’s reacquaintance with this language was not manifest until the publication of Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding in 1748.51 The latter is his first collection of essays intended from the start for publication as a book and free of generic traits of the periodical press, where classical learning was customarily employed in a genteel rather than an erudite way.

The Philosophical Essayist and the Edinburgh Professorship: 1745 to 1751 In his Philosophical Essays, Hume returned to metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion. The publication of these essays in 1748 was preceded by some events in 1745 that caused him to rethink his place in Edinburgh and his willingness to publish potentially controversial writings on morals and religion. In 1744–5, Hume became a candidate for the post of professor of ethics and pneumatical philosophy at Edinburgh, but the principal of the university (William Wishart,

45   Advertisements, London’s Daily Post, no. 7013 (Friday 26 February 1742), 2, for vol. 1, and Caledonian Mercury, no. 3358 (22 March 1742), 3, and Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5554 (30 March 1742), [3], for vol. 2. 46   William or John Innys, booksellers at the Prince’s Arms, St. Paul’s Churchyard. With Fleet Street, St. Paul’s Churchyard was a centre of the book trade in London. 47   i.e. Joseph Butler (1692–1752), to whom Hume had sent a copy of at least volume 1 of the Treatise after omitting portions (New Letters, 2–4). In 1742, Butler was dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. 48   13 June 1742, to Home, New Letters, 10. 49   This fact was first noticed by Stewart, ‘Dating’, 282. Our analysis is indebted to his. 50   ‘My Own Life’ 6, Letters, 1: 2. 51  In Philosophical Essays he quotes Aristotle and cites two of Lucian’s works. A quotation from Xenophon was added for the Essays, Moral and Political, 3rd edn. (1748), to the essay originally titled ‘Of Liberty and Despotism’. By 1751, as he prepared for the publication of Political Discourses (in particular, ‘Populousness’), Hume had apparently ‘read over almost all the Classics both Greek and Latin’ (18 February 1751, to Gilbert Elliot, Letters, 1: 152–3). Hume’s use of Greek quotations increased in all of his publications from 1751 to 1757.

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1692–1753) and other leading figures opposed his election. Hume’s alleged scepticism about religion and the foundations of morality was the primary complaint.52 Wishart compiled and circulated an account of several themes in books 1 and 3 of the Treatise, reassembling sentences with the intent to undermine Hume’s candidacy. Hume then ‘composed in one morning’ a letter to John Coutts (lord provost of Edinburgh, 1742–4), who, together with Henry Home, championed Hume’s cause. Though Hume did not intend his letter to be published, Home edited it and arranged for its publication as a pamphlet entitled A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh. Hume’s objective in the letter had been to explain and defend the phil­ oso­phy of the Treatise against zealotry and accusations of religious and moral scepticism,53 but the opposition did not relent and Hume did not secure the position. There was an aspect of party politics to the competition for the professorship,54 but the avisamentum (or advice) of the Presbyterian clergy in Edinburgh against Hume was dominant in the accounts of two contributors of letters to the London Chronicle following Hume’s death in 1776 (12–14 September, 5–7 November). In the second letter, plainly intended to set the record straight, the episode was summarized even-handedly: A vacancy made in 1745 . . . in the professorship of moral philosophy by the resignation of Dr. [John] Pringle . . . occasioned all of the ministers of Edinburgh to be summoned, in terms of the charter of foundation, to give their advice to the common-council about the pretensions of the different competitors who aspired to that chair. Among others proposed for the office was Mr. Hume: his interest I suspect was not warmly supported by either nobility or gentry, but depended chiefly on the influence of his friend Mr. Coutts, the late provost, a spirited man, by whom the corporation was then governed; and it is true that most of the clergy objected to the electing of honest David, grounding their objection on “A Treatise on Human Nature,” . . . which had been ascribed to him.55 52   Notable opponents were William Leechman (1706–85) and Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746), respectively professors of divinity and moral philosophy at Glasgow. Moderates in the Church of Scotland, both professors had been themselves accused of heresy, the former as recently as 1744, the latter in 1737. Wishart also survived an inquisition and was cleared 25–7 April 1738 by the synod of Lothian and Tweedale of seven articles of doctrinal error, including excessive ‘Charity to Heathens and Deists. &c’. The Presbytery of Edinburgh appealed the ruling, and on 18 May the General Assembly declared him innocent of heterodoxy (Caledonian Mercury, nos. 2821, 2830 (1, 22 May 1738), [3], [3]). See further the annotation for ‘Moral Prejudices’ 2. 53   13–15 June 1745, to Henry Home, New Letters, 14–15. For Hume’s candidacy and the allegations of scepticism, see 4 August 1744, to William Mure, and 25 April 1745, to Matthew Sharpe, Letters, 1: 55–60. The pamphlet was advertised in Caledonian Mercury, no. 3850 (21 May 1745), [3] as published that day. See the edition of A Letter from a Gentleman in Norton and Norton, THN, 2: 420–31. The Nortons provide a history of the Edinburgh professorship affair and annotations to the text on 2: 519–26, 629–30, 968–79. Paragraphs 21 and 32 of the Letter resemble EHU 12.23 and therefore may have been drawn from the Philosophical Essays, on which Hume was working at the time; see Beauchamp, ed. Clarendon Hume edition of EHU, Introduction, pp. lxviii–lxix and lxxiv. 54   See Emerson, ‘The “Affair” ’, for the party aspect, and Stewart, The Kirk and the Infidel, for the issue of heterodoxy. 55   London Chronicle, 40 (1776): 256, 444. Both writers were acquainted and friendly with Hume. Ostensibly the writer of the second letter was correcting factual errors in the first letter, which gave

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The writer ends by describing the protest of one of the ministers, Robert Wallace, against the inquisitorial nature of the proceedings. With this protest Wallace first became known to Hume.56 With the competition for the professorship behind him, Hume returned to the theories in his Treatise. He considered how to recast the contents of the Treatise to acquire a wider and more sympathetic readership. He came to the conclusion that the failure of the Treatise ‘proceeded more from the manner than the matter’ and that he could recapture the principal doctrines of the Treatise in philosophical works that were written as essays. Setting out to ‘cast . . . anew’57 the contents of the Treatise, he largely rewrote book 1 (probably in the years 1746–7) and published it in 1748 in the form of connected short pieces entitled Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding (today known by its later title, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding). The form and content as well as the title given to the Philosophical Essays reflect Hume’s departure from more conventional philosophical treatises. In Hume’s language from his ‘Advertisement’ to Essays, Moral and Political (1 (1741): v), the form of the essay ‘is an equal Ease both to Writer and Reader, by freeing them from any tiresome Stretch of Attention and Application’. In the language of the first philosophical essay, he hoped to ‘unite the boundaries of the different species of philosophy’, that is, of the two generic species, ‘the accurate and abstruse’ philosophy and ‘the easy and obvious’ kind (EHU 1.3,17). Book 3 of the Treatise was then heavily modified in both style and substance (likely in 1749–50) and published as linked essays in 1751 under the title An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. Book 2 of the Treatise was revised, with heavy deletions, and published in 1757 as one of the Four Dissertations: ‘Of the Passions’. The history of these revisions leaves no doubt about Hume’s deliberate adoption of the essay. In June 1745, when he already knew that he would not be elected to the professorship in Edinburgh, he wrote to Home that ‘I have Leizure enough for reading; but scarce for writing at present. However I intend to continue these philosophical & moral Essays, which I mention’d to you.’ Hume’s phrasing suggests that he was working on what would become both the Philosophical Essays and the Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals and that at this point he regarded both as constituted by essays.58

the appearance of being hostile to the presbytery of Edinburgh; but, from the quotation he ­provided, it appears he was responding primarily to an account of Hume’s life that had appeared in the Annual Register, 19 (1776): 27–33 at 30 (s.v. Characters). 56   Wallace was a manager of clerical patronage for the Squadrone wing of the Whigs and broke party discipline in defending Hume (Emerson, ‘The “Affair” ’, 13). The London Chronicle was printed and partly owned by Hume’s friend William Strahan. 57   ‘My Own Life’ 8, Letters, 1: 3. 58   13–15 June 1745, to Henry Home, New Letters, 18. That there would be nothing odd about referring to the EPM as ‘moral Essays’ is illustrated not only by Hume’s calling them essays but also by the title for Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet’s translation: Essais de morale ou Recherches sur les principes de la morale (Amsterdam, 1760, as catalogued below).

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Eventually, as appears in the description below of subsequent revisions of the works, Hume chose titles for his books that obscured his wholesale adoption of the essay in the 1740s, but these divagations show Hume deliberately making decisions about the formal presentation of his work. It would be easy to make too much or too little of these decisions. European authors and readers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were conscious of generic precedents, even for a modern genre like the essay, but they also were flexible with respect to the mixing of and variation on genres. Any number or combination of features associated with the word ‘essay’ could be salient in a particular work by Hume, from the self-explorations of Montaigne’s Essais to the sage sententiousness of Bacon’s Essayes to the arch social commentary of the Spectator papers. The only features to which Hume pointed explicitly were the brevity and conversational nature of essays, but the self-assaying of Montaigne, as mediated perhaps by Shaftesbury’s ‘self-colloquy’, is a feature of the allegedly sceptical climax of book 1 of the Treatise. The inadequacy of treating genres as fixed templates is illustrated (to anticipate some of the bibliographic history detailed below) in the reconfiguration of the collected works in the Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects of 1758. Two of what had been denominated ‘dissertations’ for their publication the previous year were now grouped among the essays so called, the other two among the treatises. One of the works now grouped among the treatises was the Philosophical Essays. All of what originally were denominated political discourses are denominated in 1758 and in editions thereafter as the second part of the essays. Notwithstanding these changes in taxonomy, they are not merely haphazard. These writings are perhaps best approached with the expectations and flexibility of a cultivated seventeenth- or eighteenth-century reader.59 After some travel Hume returned to Scotland in the spring of 1747. He soon completed, or perhaps had already completed, the manuscript of his Philosophical Essays. Once Hume had completed a solid draft of this work he deposited a copy with his friend James Oswald of Dunnikier. In early October 1747 he wrote to Oswald: I have some thoughts of . . . printing the Philosophical Essays I left in your hands. Our friend, Harry [Henry Home], is against this, as indiscreet. But in the first place, I think I am too deep engaged to think of a retreat. In the second place, I see not what bad consequences follow, in the present age, from the character of an infidel; especially if a man’s conduct be in other respects irreproachable.60 59   This thesis can be illustrated by a work whose author was unusually explicit concerning his formal intentions, Dryden’s famous Of Dramatick Poesie (1668). In the dedication and in his subsequent defence of his work Dryden called it an essay (indicating that all said therein was offered as ‘problematical’ rather than conclusive), a dialogue (invoking Greek and Roman academical scepticism, which he related to the natural philosophy of the Royal Academy), and a discourse (suggesting both the intercourse of dialogue and the importance of hypotheses with truth values to be weighed though not attributed necessarily to the author). See Dryden, Works, 17: 3, 9: 15. Similarly Pope’s Essay on Man is at once an essay in its tentativeness, a didactic poem in its purpose, and an epistle to Bolingbroke in its form. 60   2 October 1747, to James Oswald of Dunnikier, Letters, 1: 106. Likely just before he left on the military expedition with James St Clair, Hume decided to store this draft of the Philosophical

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Though the free-thinker Thomas Woolston (1670–1733) had been imprisoned and fined for blasphemy in 1729 after publishing his Discourses on the Miracles of Our Saviour (1727–9), Hume could have regarded Woolston’s conduct as selfdestructively reckless. While Hume had been willing to censor the Treatise, he was now willing, after the Edinburgh clergy’s branding him as heterodox, to be provocative. He was free to publish his argument for the incredibility of testimony to the occurrence of miracles61 and other reflections on morals and religion. A biog­ raph­er writing in 1776 to the London Chronicle said that the clergy’s attack on Hume was a determining event in his career: ‘though he had probably been before confirmed in his sceptical principles, yet it was from this period that he declared open and irreconcileable war, not only against the presbytery of Edinburgh, but against the whole body of the clergy.’62 Hume came to think of his Philosophical Essays as supplanting the ‘juvenile’ presentation of his thought in book 1 of the Treatise.63 In 1751, he stated, in unequivocal terms, to Gilbert Eliot that the philosophical Essays contain every thing of Consequence relating to the Understanding, which you woud meet with in the Treatise; and I give you my advice against reading the latter. By shortening and simplifying the Questions, I really render them much more complete. Addo dum minuo.64 The philosophical Principles are the same in both.65

In this same year, 1751, Hume published An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. In the first edition he referred to the contents of the EPM as ‘these Essays’, only to change this wording (in the errata to this first edition) to ‘this Enquiry’. In the only other reference to the contents of EPM in this edition, Hume refers to the Essays for safe-keeping. Regarding Oswald, see the head-note for the annotations for ‘Balance of Trade’. 61   That is, essay 10 in Philosophical Essays. ‘Of Miracles’ dates from work on the Treatise during Hume’s three years in France. It was originally prepared as an independent essay and is among Hume’s earliest writings in philosophy. It can be dated in draft c.1736–7, with a decision made by late 1737 against immediate publication. Hume once recounted to a Jesuit at La Flèche how he first conceived ‘Of Miracles’. See 7 June 1762, to George Campbell, Letters, 1: 360–1; also 2 December 1737, to Henry Home, New Letters, 2–3. See, further, letters to Henry Home of 2 December 1737, 4 March 1738, and 13 February 1739, and to Michael Ramsay of 22 February 1739, Letters, 1: 23–9. It is unknown how the early version compares with the one published in 1748. 62   London Chronicle, 40 (10–12 September 1776): 256. Hume’s anticlericalism appeared most notoriously in his attack in ‘National Characters’ (¶ 6 and n. 2) on the clergy as a class (‘a uniform character, which is entirely their own, and which, in my opinion, is, generally speaking, not the most amiable that is to be met with in human society’). 63   The phrase ‘juvenile work’ is in a caveat concerning the Treatise in an ‘Advertisement’ that Strahan printed for Hume in January 1776 to be added to new copies of the ETSS and old unsold copies. Hume wrote it no later than 26 October 1775. This advertisement, Hume’s first published acknowledgement of authorship of the Treatise, is difficult to interpret because it disavows neither the work as a whole nor its doctrines or principles. See Beauchamp, Introduction, for the Clarendon edition of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, § 4; and Norton, ‘Historical Account’, in THN, 2: 585–8. 64   ‘I add by shortening.’    65  March or April 1751, Letters, 1: 158.

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book as containing ‘Essays’, not ‘Sections’. He unmistakably wrote the EPM, like the EHU, under the model of a connected set of individual essays.66

1747–8: A Political Pamphlet and Three New Moral and Political Essays The Philosophical Essays had been printed, as the title-page indicates, ‘for A. Millar’, but this publication did not inaugurate Hume’s long association with that im­port­ ant bookseller, who would be remembered as financier for Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, to name only two famous titles. Andrew Millar’s name did not appear on the title-pages for Essays, Moral and Political until the edition of 1748, but the advertisements for the London appearance of volume 1 in 1742 list him among those selling the book. A pamphlet to which neither Hume nor Millar was willing to attach his name appeared in December of 1747 in London and in January of 1748 in Edinburgh: A True Account of the Behaviour and Conduct of Archibald Stewart, Esq; Late Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Their anonymity is not surprising. The publisher, the author, and the printer, William Strahan, were Scots, and the pamphlet was in defence of a Scot accused of dereliction of duty in response to the Jacobite uprising issuing from the Highlands in 1745. The pamphlet defended Stewart by describing him as the victim of factional rivalry with his successor as lord provost, George Drummond. The preface, cancelled during printing, caustically reveals that fear of Drummond deterred printers in Edinburgh from producing the pamphlet. Though the titlepage indicates that the pamphlet was printed ‘for M.  Cooper, in Pater-nosterRow’,67 Strahan’s ledgers register the printing under Millar’s account for December 66   An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), notes on pp. 15 and 55, and errata, p. vii. As late as 1758, Hume retained a passage in An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding that mentions the ‘reasoning carried on thro’ these Essays’ (the Philosophical Essays); he changed the language of ‘these Essays’ to ‘this Enquiry’ in the errata for the 1758 ETSS. Hume may have reconceived the EPM as an integrated enquiry only after he wrote it. If so, he apparently forgot that he had called it a volume of ‘essays’ in the two footnotes. When he discovered the oversight, it was too late to make changes at the press but not for the errata. Understanding both EPM and EHU as a series of discrete essays helps explain why ‘A Dialogue’ does not appear to be an anomaly in its position as a final essay published together with the other essays that constitute the EPM. ‘A Dialogue’ is one among the series of self-standing units comprising the work. Two of the appendices in the EPM were originally written and published as integral parts of essays and later detached and styled ‘appendices’. It seems likely that all of the appendices were originally written as parts of essays. Once Hume decided to fashion the essays into a coherent, integrated work, he appears to have changed the nomenclature, moved some parts of some sections to the back of the work, and left the free-standing dialogue at the end. 67  Mary Cooper (died 1761) took over her husband Thomas’s business upon his death 9 February 1743. That business had a history of publishing pamphlets and therefore made a plaus­ ible front for Millar, who, in at least thirty-six other instances, none requiring great courage, was content to have his name appear on a title-page with ‘M. Cooper’. Until Thomas Cooper died, his name appeared on editions of John Armstrong’s The Oeconomy of Love (first published 1736) though only Millar’s name is listed in the Stationers’ Register (Foxon, English Verse A303–A311); Mary’s name (‘M.’) is on the title-page of the 1753 edition for which Strahan charged Millar

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1747.68 The haste with which this octavo pamphlet was printed, evident in uncorrected printing errors, might account for the different states of that edition. When Philosophical Essays was first published in April 1748,69 the wording ‘By the Author of the Essays Moral and Political’ was printed on the title-page, but the author’s name did not appear. Later in 1748 Hume apparently changed his mind and for the first time affixed his name to one of his works. The first volume to bear his name was the 1748 pamphlet entitled Three Essays, Moral and Political, which contained the following: 1. Of National Characters 2. Of the Original Contract 3. Of Passive Obedience. The raison d’être of a separate publication of the Three Essays evidently was to make available Hume’s latest essays to those already possessing Essays, Moral and Political, volumes 1 and 2 of 1741–2.70 Publication was arranged so that the third edition of Essays, Moral and Political was released simultaneously with Three Essays. If the price were kept low on Three Essays, owners of the 1741–2 edition would have the option of supplementing their volumes rather than buying a new edition. The imprints of both this supplement and the 1748 edition of the Essays indicate that the works were jointly published by Millar and Kincaid. (Strahan Papers, Add. MS 48800, August 1753). It was perhaps in this pattern that the second edition of Hume’s Philosophical Essays (1750) would be reissued in 1751 with a new title-page replacing Millar’s name with Cooper’s. The book was made temporarily a more dangerous property by the superstitious panic of the London populace following the earthquakes on 8 February and 8 March 1749–50, presaged by a bloody cloud. Within that year Thomas Sherlock produced a large-selling pastoral letter (A Letter from the Lord Bishop of London) blaming the earthquakes on several iniquities, ‘particularly heretical books’ (Walpole, Correspondence, 20: 134; cf. Hume’s report to John Clephane, 18 April 1750, Letters, 1: 141; and Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, 3: 213 n.). Subsequently yet another title-page was put onto some unsold copies of this edition, restoring Millar’s name for the absorption of the edition into the 1753–6 ETSS as volume 2. Robert Dodsley would employ Mary Cooper likewise—e.g. on the title-page of Edmund Burke’s Vindication of Natural Society (1756)—but for the different purpose of preserving the anonymity of authors with whom Dodsley had known associations (Straus, Robert Dodsley, 134–5, 171–6, 255, 269). At least some of the time Cooper was, like her husband before her, one of the remaining ‘publishers’ (as opposed to booksellers or printers). Today this class of trader has been termed ‘trade publishers’ to avoid confusion. Her function was to be the nominal distributor for works in which she had little or no property for the purposes of concealing their true underwriters (Treadwell, ‘London Trade Publishers’). She provided plausible deniability of responsibility for a publication. 68   British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 59. 69   An advertisement in the 16–19 April Whitehall Evening-Post states that the book would be published on Friday the 22nd and the paper then advertised it as available in the 21–3 April issue. The General Evening Post likewise advertised it as available in its 21–3 April issue, the London Evening-Post in its 23–6 April issue. The General Advertiser advertised it on the 23rd. 70  On the title-page of Three Essays the following words were placed: ‘THREE ESSAYS, MORAL AND POLITICAL: Never before published. Which compleats the former Edition, in two Volumes’. Three Essays and the 3rd edition of Essays, Moral and Political were advertised in tandem so as to make their relationship clear, e.g. in Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 433–5 (17–24 November 1748).

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1748: The Third Edition of Essays, Moral and Political Several months prior to the publication of the third edition, Hume decided to withdraw three essays: ‘Essay-Writing’, ‘Moral Prejudices’, and ‘Middle Station of Life’.71 He considered withdrawing two others, ‘Love and Marriage’ and ‘Study of History’. Four years later, recounting to Adam Smith the decision not to withdraw these two essays, Hume said that he ‘was engag’d to act contrary to my Judgement in retaining the 6th & 7th Essays, which I had resolv’d to throw out, as too frivolous for the rest, and not very agreeable neither even in that trifling manner’. He reported that Millar ‘made such Protestations against [retraction], & told me how much he had heard them praisd by the best Judges; that the Bowels of a Parent melted, & I preserv’d them alive’.72 However, their origin in the abandoned project of a weekly paper was apparent in the ‘trifling manner’ of Addison, and Hume dropped them, along with ‘Impudence and Modesty’, for the 1764 ETSS. Or, to do them more justice than did Hume in the end, their focus on revivifying ‘easy and obvious’ truisms that grow stale from familiarity made them seem frivolous outside of the context of a periodical and set into a collected works through which he now wished to present himself to posterity. Hume intended to replace the three removed essays with ‘Protestant Succession’, ‘Passive Obedience’, and ‘Original Contract’, but the first of these raised worries. He sent them to Lord Elibank for review, together with plans for the third edition: I hope your Lordship will pardon the Freedom I use, in desiring you to peruse a few Essays I intend to add to those already publish’d, in a new Edition, that is to be made of them at London. I have desir’d Mr Mure to deliver them to you.73 You will, I believe, My Lord, think there is more Boldness than Prudence in the Sentiments, contain’d in some of them: And perhaps you may think too there is full as much Prudence as Truth in others of them. In particular, I am afraid your Lordship will differ from me with regard to the Protestant Succession, whose Advantages you will probably rate higher than I have done. I have gone as far as I think Reason and Experience will justify me. . . . I shall be very much mortify’d, if you do not approve, in some small degree, of the Reasonings with regard to the original Contract, which, I hope, are new & curious, & form a short, but compleat Refutation of the political Systems of Sydney, Locke, and the Whigs, which all the half Philosophers of the Nation have implicitely embrac’d for near a Century; tho’ they are plainly, in my humble Opinion, repugnant to Reason & the Practice of all Nations.74

Inasmuch as Patrick Murray, 5th baron Elibank (1703–78), was ‘a professed Tory, if  not a Jacobite’,75 it would be inconsistent with his Stuart loyalties to rate the 71   In addition, essay 12 (‘A Character of Sir Robert Walpole’) was refashioned and placed from 1748 to 1768 as a footnote at the end of the essay ‘That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science’. 72   24 September 1752, to Adam Smith, Letters, 1: 168. 73   William Mure of Caldwell (1718–76). 74   8 January 1748, to Lord Elibank, in Mossner, ‘New Hume Letters to Lord Elibank, 1748– 1776’, Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 4 (1962): 431–60 at 437. 75  Ramsay, Scotland, 1: 321. Elibank might or might not have been privy to the aborted ‘Elibank plot’ (1752–3) for a Jacobite coup d’état in London. His brother Alexander evidently was involved

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advantages of the Protestant succession more highly than Hume did, and Hume’s remark about ‘Protestant Succession’ seems likely to have been banter. Hume expressed concerns over ‘Protestant Succession’ a month later in a letter to Henry Home: I leave here two works going on, a new edition of my Essays, all of which you have seen, except one, Of the Protestant Succession, where I treat that subject as coolly and indifferently, as I would the dispute betwixt Caesar and Pompey. The conclusion shows me a Whig, but a very sceptical one. Some people would frighten me with the consequences that may attend this candour, considering my present station; but I own I cannot apprehend any thing. The other work is the Philosophical Essays, which you dissuaded me from printing. I won’t justify the prudence of this step, any other way than by expressing my indifference about all the consequences that may follow.76

Four days after writing to Home, Hume returned to the subject in a letter to Charles Erskine, lord Tinwald, in which he submitted ‘Protestant Succession’ to the judgement of this jurist: Andrew Millar is printing a new Edition of certain Essays, that have been ascrib’d to me; and as I threw out some, that seem’d frivolous & finical, I was resolv’d to supply their Place by others, that shou’d be more instructive. One is against the original Contract, the System of the Whigs, another against passive Obedience, the System of the Tories: A third upon the Protestant Succession, where I suppose a Man to deliberate, before the Establishment of that Succession, which Family he shou’d adhere to, & to weigh the Advantages & Disadvantages of each. I hope I have examin’d this Question as coolly & impartially as if I were remov’d a thousand Years from the present Period: But this is what some People think extremely dangerous, & sufficient, not only to ruin me for ever, but also throw some Reflection on all my Friends, particularly those with whom I am connected at present. I have wrote to Millar to send you the Sheets and I hereby make you entire Master to dispose of this last Essay as you think proper. I have made Oswald Master in the same manner, & he gave me his Approbation, & thought none but Fools cou’d be offended at my Candour: And indeed, were I alone concernd, I have Courage enough to acquiesce in his Verdict. I have established it as a Maxim never to pay Court to my Superiors by any of my Writings; but tis needless to offend them. . . . If you esteem it altogether improper to print this Essay, keep this copy of it till I see you, it being the only one I have.77

In the event, this essay was displaced from the 1748 edition by ‘National Characters’ and did not appear until the 1752 Political Discourses. Circumstances point towards Erskine’s exercising the judgement delegated to him to stop, or more probably to delay, publication of the essay. Erskine was made lord justice clerk by the third duke (Petrie, ‘The Elibank Plot’). Although Hume was not an especially reticent writer of letters, he and Elibank would have been aware that the government often opened and read letters. 76   9 February 1748, to Henry Home, Letters, 1: 111. Hume’s ‘present station’ was as aide-decamp to General James St Clair (see notes 5 and 60 above) for his impending military embassy to Vienna and Turin. St Clair’s brother had been pardoned in 1726 for participating in the 1715 Jacobite uprising (Letters, 1: 91 n. 2), so the family was vulnerable. 77   13 February 1748, to Charles Erskine, lord Tinwald, Letters, 1: 112–13.

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of Argyll, Scotland’s political manager, and by putting the decision in Erskine’s hands Hume effectively was asking for approval of the Argyll interest for the publication of his essay at that time. The topic of ‘Protestant Succession’ was particularly sensitive in the ugly aftermath of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, and Argyll’s pos­ ition vis-à-vis the ministry in London was troubled due to his attempts to moderate the ministry’s impulses to retaliate against Scotland as a whole. Hume’s Argathelian friends, including Stewart and Coutts, suffered from suspicion of Jacobite sympathies. For the time being, a publication not fervently anti-Jacobite and purely celebratory of the Protestant Settlement under the House of Hanover could conceivably harm not merely Hume but, as he says in the above letters, his ‘Friends, particularly those with whom I am connected at present’, such as General St Clair.78

1752–3: The Political Discourses and the Revised Essays, Moral and Political Hume remained in London through the spring of 1749. By early summer he departed for the family home at Ninewells, where he settled into a demanding course of writing during which he drafted his Political Discourses. He recalls the circumstances: I went down in 1749 and lived two Years with my Brother at his Country house: For my Mother was now dead. I there composed the second Part of my Essays, which I called Political Discourses; and also my Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, which is another part of my Treatise [of Human Nature], that I cast anew.79

Fleming printed the Political Discourses in octavo for Kincaid, and advertisements in the Edinburgh Evening Courant and the Caledonian Mercury indicate that in Edinburgh the book was published on 14 January 1752. In London it was registered at the Stationers’ Hall on 14 February for Kincaid and Alexander Donaldson, listed in the Gentleman’s Magazine among new books for that month, and advertised in  the London Evening-Post as available on 3 March.80 Its table of contents read as follows: I. Of Commerce. II. Of Luxury. III. Of Money. 78   Here we return to the theme of the independence so important to Hume. In the last paragraphs of this letter Hume addresses Argyll through Erskine in resentfully bantering tones to convey that, despite his present deference to party leadership, he was not an obsequious client of Argyll. The sensitivity of the time is illustrated in a document that Robert Forbes included in his collection, Lyon in Mourning, wherein Erskine is described presiding in acute discomfort over a grand jury inquest on 10 October 1748 into Jacobite treason (2: 199–204). The recorder connects Tinwald’s distress, truly or not, to the judge’s own supposed Jacobite past. 79   ‘My Own Life’ 9, Letters, 1: 3. The Political Discourses was published as an independent work from 1752 to 1754. Subsequently its essays became the ‘second Part’ of the essays in the collected works, wherein all of the essays were retitled ‘Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary’. 80  A three-part, anonymously published review of Hume’s recent work by William Rose (so identified in Nangle, The Monthly Review First Series) appeared in the January and February 1752

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IV. Of Interest. V. Of the Balance of Trade. VI. Of the Balance of Power. VII. Of Taxes. VIII. Of Public Credit. IX. Of some Remarkable Customs. X. Of the Populousness of Antient Nations. XI. Of the Protestant Succession. XII. Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth. A duodecimo edition of the Political Discourses would be advertised as soon as mid-May in London. Whether or not it is a revised, reformatted reimposition of the first edition, as Todd thought,81 it differs from the octavo in substance as well as in format and is a new permutation of the text. The title-page identifies it as ‘the second edition’. By means of a cancelled title-page, copies of this edition would be incorporated as volume 4 into the (likewise duodecimo) collected works assembled in 1753, as described in the Bibliographical Schema of this critical edition. A 1754 duodecimo ‘with Additions and Corrections’ was printed for Kincaid by the partnership of William Sands, James Cochran, and Alexander Murray, printers for the Scots Magazine, in two issues, one with a title-page suitable for the incorporation of that issue as volume 4 (ESTC T199633) into the collected works. Hume’s comment on the success of this work is noteworthy: In 1751, I removed from the Countrey to the Town, the true Scene for a man of Letters. In 1752, were published at Edinburgh, where I then lived, my Political Discourses, the only work of mine, that was successful on the first Publication: It was well received abroad and at home.82

This claim that the Political Discourses was ‘the only’ work of his to be a publishing success in its first edition might exaggerate the degree of inattention given to some of Hume’s other works (including his Essays, Moral and Political), but the book was more widely distributed and influential in Europe than any of his other works on first publication, and for years thereafter. It was published in French in 1754, German in 1754, Dutch in 1764, Italian in 1767, and Swedish (as selected essays)

issues of the The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, 6 (January 1752): 19–43, and (February 1752): 81–90. The bulk of it was devoted to a review (pre-publication) of Political Discourses. It was the longest review of Hume’s works published in his lifetime. A second anonymous, six-page review of Political Discourses appeared in French in Bibliotheque raisonnée des ouvrages des savans de l’Europe, 49, pt. 1 (1752): 228–33 (s.v. ‘De la Grande-Bretagne et d’Irlande’). The review was of Hume’s recent works: An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, Political Discourses, and Philosophical Essays. 81   Todd, ‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 189, 194. In the assessment of the editors of this critical edition, the 1752 duodecimo is more likely to be a new edition that was set using the first edition as a model than a revised reimposition in a different format. 82   ‘My Own Life’ 10, Letters, 1: 4.

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in 1767. No other book of Hume’s attracted such interest all over Europe in his lifetime.83 The years surrounding the publication of the Political Discourses were formative in Hume’s maturation as a writer. From the summer of 1749 to late September 1751 he saw books through the press, laboured over his Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, and worked on the Political Discourses. It is possible, even probable, that three of the Four Dissertations as well as the ‘posthumous’ essays and the abandoned essay on geometry were all written by or during this time. By 24 September 1752 Hume was at work on his History of Great Britain (the Stuart volumes of 1754–7 that in 1762 would serve as volumes 5–6 in the History of England) and engaged in corrections for the fourth edition of Essays, Moral and Political (1753).84 In ‘My Own Life’ he recalls an early part of this period: In 1752, the Faculty of Advocates chose me their Librarian, an Office from which I received little or no Emolument, but which gave me the Command of a large Library. I then formed the Plan of writing the History of England; but being frightened with the Notion of continuing a Narrative, through a Period of 1700 years, I commenced with the Accession of the House of Stuart.85

The Earliest Collected Edition: 1753–6 During this same period (1752–3), Hume agreed that his works could be marketed as a collection under the general title Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, a title he retained for the rest of his life. The publishing history of this collection is complex, beginning with the nonce collection of 1753–6. ‘Nonce collection’ is the bibliographic term for the issuing, in one volume or more, of parts also published separately. The printed sheets are the same in both the separate and collected issues except for the use of general title-pages for volumes in the collection. The first permutation of ETSS in four volumes approximates this condition with the complication that volume 1 was, in many cases, a newly printed ‘Fourth Edition’ of Essays, Moral and Political that was not issued separately. Strahan recorded printing in April 1753 both a new edition of Hume’s Essays (Essays, Moral and Political, 4th edn.) and also five hundred copies of ‘titles for 4 vols. of Do’.86 These ‘titles’ were replacements for the cancelled title-pages of the pre-1753 stock of all of Hume’s available post-Treatise books. That stock was re­issued as volumes of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects in a nonce collection 83   See the section ‘European Book Translations of the Essays’ below in this critical edition (p. 496ff); and see also the information presented by several authors in Jones, ed., Reception of David Hume, especially the essay by Malherbe, pp. 52–67. There appear to have been no pirate editions in Ireland or America as one would expect for a popular book. 84   24 September 1752, to Adam Smith, Letters, 1: 167–8. 85   ‘My Own Life’ 11, Letters, 1: 4. 86   Printing-account ledgers of Strahan (Add. MS 48800, fo. 84). These ledgers (and other business papers) are housed in the British Library, London (Add. MSS 48,800–48,919). British Library, Add. MS. 48,800–48,801, are vols. 1 and 2 of the expenses, receipts, and payments

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with cancellans title-pages dated 1753. The reissue of volume 1, however, was the third edition of Essays, Moral and Political with a cancellans title-page (ESTC T217867) indicating falsely that the book was the fourth edition. Strahan’s ledger entry records the printing of the actual fourth edition of Essays, Moral and Political (ESTC T167242) as part of the same job producing the cancellantia for all four volumes. Alongside the nonce collection of reissues, then, was a permutation of ETSS with a volume 1 that was a new edition, not a reissue with cancellantia titlepages. Table 1 exhibits the editions and years of the first ETSS:87 The editions were accurately distinguished for the other volume title-pages in the nonce collection. The reissue of the Political Discourses as volume 4 was correctly designated the second edition. The reissue of Philosophical Essays, volume 2, was correctly labelled the second edition. Volume 3, the Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, was a reissue of the first edition. Copies of old and new editions of the individual volumes would coexist in the stock of booksellers for some time, as first one and then another work was revised and reset. Between 1753 and 1758 a bookseller might have on the shelves any of various combinations of the editions of the individual works. By 1756, the whole of the first collection had evolved into a new set of revised editions consisting of Essays, Moral Table 1.  The first ‘1753’ collection (ETSS) Volume

Title

Edition

1 2 3 4

Essays, Moral and Political Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals Political Discourses

3rd [1748] or 4th [1753] 2nd [1750–1]88 1st [1751] 2nd [1752]

accounts. Volume 1 starts in 1739 (roughly March) and retains a full record of accounts with authors and booksellers until 1768 (with credits and payments running until 1773); the file for Andrew Millar continues until September, 1769. Volume 2 begins in 1768 and runs through 1785; the first entry for a work by Hume is for the account of John Noon: ‘1740 Febry . . . an Abstract of a Treatise on Human Nature’. For other details of these ledgers and the history of Strahan as a printer, see Hernlund, ‘William Strahan’s Ledgers’, 89–111, esp. 90–3; Cochrane, Dr. Johnson’s Printer, 7–12; and Philip Gaskell, ‘The Strahan Papers’, 592. 87  This history was first carefully examined by A.  Wayne Colver in ‘The “First” Edition of Hume’s Essays and Treatises’, 39–44. 88   In some copies the 1750 title leaf was not cancelled when the new title leaf was added (e.g. National Library of Scotland: RB. s. 1710), so these copies carry two title leaves. In March 1751, Strahan charged Millar for the printing of a thousand copies of a new title-page for the second edition, creating an issue (as discussed above in n. 67), with an imprint of 1751 stating falsely that the edition had been ‘Printed for M. Cooper’ (the so-called Cooper edition). In at least one copy, the 1753 cancellans title-page, also paid for by Millar and restoring his name to the imprint, coexists with the 1751 cancellans title-page (National Library of Scotland: RB. s. 1723). Except for the new title-page, with its new bookseller and date, the 1751 issue is exactly the same as the 1750 edition.

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Table 2.  The final form of the 1753–6 collected edition89 Volume

Title

Edition

1 2 3 4

Essays, Moral and Political Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals Political Discourses

4th [1753] 3rd [1756] 2nd [1753] 3rd [1754]

and Political, the fourth edition (always dated 1753); Philosophical Essays, third edition (1756); An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, second edition (1753); and Political Discourses, third edition (1754).90 In short, the original collection of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects of 1753 evolved, volume by volume, to become the compilation depicted in Table 2. In the ETSS (1753–6) each work was assigned a volume number that remained constant throughout the course of these changes. In later editions of the ETSS only volumes that collected more than one of the above works would be numbered, and these volumes assumed a markedly different character. Late in 1756 Hume informed Millar of his enthusiasm about the possibility of an updated edition of these works: ‘I am extremely desirous to have these four Volumes, with that which you will publish this Winter [the Four Dissertations] brought into a Quarto Volume.’91 The edition of 1758 would satisfy Hume’s desire 89   Four-volume sets of this ‘final’ form are at the following libraries: (a) Bodleian Library, Oxford University, 12 Theta 711; (b) Birmingham University Library (England), rB145S; (c) Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, K8.H88 c753; (d) Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, B 1455 AS 1753; (e) Chuo University Library (Japan), Vault, copy 2; (f) Hoose Library of Philosophy (housed in Special Collections, Doheny Library), University of Southern California, 192.H92e; (g) Boston Public Library, B1455 .A5 1753; (h) Research Libraries, Humanities—General Research, New York Public Library, YBX (Hume) 1753. 90   In the intervening years, and probably beyond, purchasers might acquire different permutations of the individual editions. Those who read title-pages carefully could work out the various possible combinations, unless tricked by aberrant issues like the third edition of Essays, Moral and Political, with the misleading cancellans title-page. Purchasers may themselves have created mixed and partial sets. Mixed combinations of the four-volume set (‘mixed’ meaning neither ‘first’ nor ‘final’, as designated in the tables above and below) are at the following libraries: (a) Cornell University Library, RARE B 1455 AS 1753; (b) Columbia Cooper Special Collections, University of South Carolina, B 1455 AS 1753; (c) Folger Shakespeare Library, B 1453 1750 Cage; (d ) National Library of Scotland, RB. s. 1710; (e) Chuo University Library (Japan), Vault, copy 1; (f  ) Chuo University Library (Japan), Vault, copy 3; (g) Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, X 304 H88 1753. (In the set at the University of Illinois, volume 4 is the third edition of Political Discourses with a cancellans general title-page indicating wrongly that it is the second edition.) An eccentric example of the confusion that can occur over what constitutes this four-volume set is at the Bibliothèque Nationale, where ETSS 1753 is catalogued as containing the following four volumes: (1) Essays, Moral and Political, 4th edn.; (2) EHU, 2nd edn.; (3) EPM, 1st edn.; (4) Four Dissertations (Notice no. FRBNF30628412). Some libraries hold one to three of these volumes with 1753 general title-pages, but do not possess a complete fourvolume set. 91   4 December 1756, to Andrew Millar, Letters, 1: 236.

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for a consolidation of his works, but it was preceded by a complicated assemblage of Four Dissertations (1757).

The Four Dissertations of 1757 In the 1740s, Hume always used the word ‘essays’ in the titles of his post-Treatise writings, but in the 1750s he shifted to an eclectic variety of titles: discourses, enquiries, and treatises. In 1757, he used yet another term when he published Four Dissertations. ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Standard of Taste’, together with two other dissertations, appeared in this volume. The date of the composition of the piece on tragedy is not known, but it was ready for the press by 1755, and Hume had not until 1749 settled into work on his several manuscripts of the period. Therefore it seems likely that he wrote it between 1749 and 1752. The earliest recorded reference to manuscripts of three of the four dissertations published in 1757 is in a letter Hume wrote in June 1755 to Millar: There are four short Dissertations, which I have kept some Years by me, in order to polish them as much as possible. One of them is that which Allan Ramsay92 mentiond to you. Another of the Passions; a third of Tragedy; a fourth, some Considerations previous to Geometry & Natural philosophy. The whole, I think, wou’d make a Volume a fourth less than my Enquiry;93 as nearly as I can calculate: But it wou’d be proper to print it in a larger Type, in order to bring it to the same Size & Price. I wou’d have it publish’d about the new Year; I offer you the Property for fifty Guineas, payable at the Publication. You may judge, by my being so moderate in my Demands, that I do not propose to make any Words about the Bargain. It wou’d be more convenient for me to print here; especially one of the Dissertations, where there is a good deal of Literature, but as the Manuscript is distinct & accurate, it wou’d not be impossible for me to correct it, tho’ printed at London. I leave it to your Choice; tho’ I believe, that it might be as cheaply & conveniently & safely executed here. However, the Matter is pretty near indifferent to me.94

Millar accepted the offer and sent the dissertations to the London printer William Bowyer, the younger, whose printing house was being utilized by his partner at  the time, James Emonson (d. 1780). In the year of their publication Hume described the contents of Four Dissertations: ‘Some of these Dissertations are Attempts to throw Light upon the most Profound Philosophy: Others contain a greater Mixture of polite Literature, & are wrote in a more easy Style & Manner.’95 At the time of this description the contents had been changed in two steps, now to be explained.

  The painter and friend of Hume. The dissertation is The Natural History of Religion.   An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, the only work to carry the title ‘Enquiry’ at the time. 94   12 June 1755, to Andrew Millar, Letters, 1: 223 (italics added). 95   Correspondence to an unknown figure [Christian Ludwig de Brand?], 27 February 1757, Further Letters, 40–1. 92 93

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From Four to Three to Five Dissertations The history of two of the four dissertations is discussed in the Clarendon edition of  A Dissertation on the Passions and The Natural History of Religion.96 Only the essentials as they bear on ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Standard of Taste’ receive attention in the present edition. Hume’s design to publish this new collection encountered a problem almost immediately after he transmitted the manuscript, which did not at the time contain ‘Standard of Taste’. Seventeen years later Hume told Strahan of hearing at second hand that there was a Bookseller in London, who had advertisd a new Book, containing, among other things, two of my suppress’d Essays. These I suppose are two Essays of mine, one on Suicide another on the Immortality of the Soul, which were printed by Andrew Millar about seventeen years ago, and which from my abundant Prudence I suppress’d and woud not now wish to have revivd. I know not if you were acquainted with this Transaction. It was this: I intended to print four Dissertations, the natural History of Religion, on the Passions, on Tragedy, and on the metaphysical Principles of Geometry. I sent them up to Mr Millar; but before the last was printed, I happend to meet with Lord Stanhope,97 who was in this Country, and he convincd me, that either there was some Defect in the Argument or in its perspicuity; I forget which; and I wrote to Mr Millar, that I would not print the Essay; but upon his remonstrating that the other Essays woud not make a Volume, I sent him up these two, which I had never intended to have publishd. They were printed; but it was no sooner done than I repented; and Mr Millar and I agreed to suppress them at common Charges, and I wrote a new Essay on the Standard of Taste, to supply their place. Mr Millar assurd me very earnestly that all the Copies were suppress’d, except one.98

The two essays on suicide and the immortality of the soul were printed before the end of 1755 and bound with the remaining three essays and readied for publication, perhaps under the title Five Dissertations. A few proof copies were circulated for comment prior to distribution for sale, though none has come to light. When Hume decided to suppress the two essays, they were cut physically from the bound volumes, leaving a few leaf stubs immediately following page 200. Some of the stubs retain tiny fragments of the print. The five dissertations were in this manner reduced to three. Supposing that his memory was accurate in his account to Strahan, and that he expressed himself precisely, Hume wrote ‘Standard of Taste’ near the time of suppression of the essays on suicide and the immortality of the soul, while fixing the final title of the book as Four Dissertations. If so, this essay would have been written, at least largely, in 1756. In addition to the four essays in this book, Hume published a dedication to the Revd John Home that was included in many copies of Four 96   Included in that edition, but not mentioned here, is a discussion of two cancels in the Natural History and the reasons for Hume’s suppression of the essays on suicide and immortality. 97  Before being set in type, the essay on geometry was withdrawn on the advice of Philip Stanhope (1717–86), 2nd earl Stanhope, an accomplished mathematician. This essay has been lost. 98   25 January 1772, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 253. See Bowyer Ledgers B600; Maslen and Lancaster, 4107; to Strahan, 1 February 1757, Letters, 1: 240–1.

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Dissertations.99 He thereby declared solidarity with a friend who at the time was the object of a heated controversy over clerical involvement in theatre in Scotland.100 Four Dissertations was finally published on 7 February 1757.101 Hume commented drily on its publication: ‘I published at London my Natural History of Religion, along with some other small pieces: its public entry was rather obscure, except only that Dr. Hurd wrote a pamphlet against it’ (i.e. against the Natural History).102 Soon after Four Dissertations was published, Hume began to rearrange his dissertations for inclusion in a handsome new edition of ETSS.

The Collected Editions from 1758 to 1760 The 1758 ETSS consolidated Hume’s works into a single quarto volume. Hume placed the following ‘Advertisement’ at its beginning (p. iii) to announce a new disposition of his works: Some Alterations are made on the Titles of the Treatises, contained in the following Volume. What in former Editions was called Essays moral and political, is here entitled Essays, moral, political, and literary, Part 1. The political Discourses form the Second Part. What in former Editions was called, Philosophical Essays concerning human Understanding, is here entitled An  Enquiry concerning human Understanding. The four Dissertations lately published are ­dispersed thro’ different Parts of this Volume.

‘Standard of Taste’ and ‘Tragedy’ were located in ‘Part 1’ of the essays so denominated. An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals was the only book title to survive the changes. ‘Of Liberty and Despotism’ was now retitled ‘Of Civil Liberty’, and, with the institution of a ‘Second Part’ of the essays, ‘Original Contract’ and ‘Passive 99   ‘TO The Reverend Mr. Hume’, pp. i–vii. See the epistle dedicatory as reproduced below in this critical edition, appendix 2 (pp. 695–700). See also Hume’s correspondence regarding the dedication: 22 July 1757, to the Abbé Le Blanc, Letters, 1: 261; 20 January 1751, to Andrew Millar, Letters, 1: 239–40; and February or March 1757, to Adam Smith, Letters, 1: 245–6. 100   ‘Standard of Taste’ was bound in after page 200 with its division title-page on page 201. The interpolated dedication to John Home (printed ‘Hume’) had proofs that were being corrected in January 1757. 101   William Rose wrote a review of Four Dissertations that was published anonymously in the Monthly Review, or, Literary Journal, 16 (1757): 122–39 (so identified in Nangle, The Monthly Review First Series). Rose praises Hume for ‘a delicacy of sentiment, an original turn of thought, a perspicuity, and often an elegance, of language, that cannot but recommend his writings to every Reader of taste’. Rose devotes one paragraph to ‘Tragedy’ and five pages to ‘Standard of Taste’. An extensive, anonymous review of Four Dissertations appeared in the Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature (3 (February–March 1757): 97–107, 209–16) almost immediately upon its publication. The reviewer expresses disappointment with both ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Standard of Taste’. A third anonymous review of Four Dissertations appeared in the Literary Magazine: or, Universal Review (2 (1757): 32–6). Hume’s dissertation on tragedy is said to be an enquiry into ‘the reasons why grief, terror, pity, and other sensations in themselves uneasy, should give us pleasure’. His dissertation on the standard of taste is praised as ‘elegant and entertaining’ but judged disappointing in not providing a more ‘fixed and immutable’ standard of taste. 102   ‘My Own Life’ 9, in Letters, 1: 3. The Revd Richard Hurd’s pamphlet, Remarks on Mr David Hume’s Essay on the Natural History of Religion: Addressed to the Rev. Dr. Warburton (London, 1757), was prepared in collaboration with William Warburton.

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Obedience’ were moved from the end of what had been the Essays, Moral and Political to part 2 of the essays. They were now placed with ‘Protestant Succession’, as Hume had originally planned in 1748 for his Three Essays.103 Shortly thereafter, in the 1760 ETSS, two new essays were added to Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, part 2: essays 6, ‘Jealousy of Trade’, and 14, ‘Coalition of Parties’.104 ‘Of Luxury’ was retitled ‘Of Refinement in the Arts’. In summary, the table below shows the course of Hume’s books from 1741 to 1758—the latter year being the one in which the titles of his essays (and his treatises) were fixed through the posthumous edition of 1777. The Evolution of Hume’s Essays to Form The First Part of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

1741–2 Essays, Moral and Political (vols. I–II)

1748 Three Essays, Moral and Political

1748 Essays, Moral and Political

1752 Political Discourses

1757 Four Dissertations (Nos. 3–4)

1758–77 Essays and Treatises (ETSS), the essays half being retitled Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, parts 1 and 2105

103   Advertisements for the Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 1883–5, 1888, 1896 (13–15, 15–18, 20–2, 25–7 April, 2–4 May 1758) notify readers that, in addition to the new quarto edition, the ETSS was still available in duodecimo, only now in five volumes for 15 shillings instead of four for 12 shillings. The Four Dissertations, set in duodecimo like the 1753–6 ETSS, was probably marketed as if a fifth volume for that set. In the quarto of 1758, typography was altered to reduce the use of capitals and to replace the italic used for proper names and words needing emphasis with an initial large capital and small capitals, bringing the text of ETSS into compliance with a fashion described in John Smith’s 1755 Printer’s Grammar as the ‘more modern and neater’ typography (201–2). Until this point Strahan had followed the old fashion of employing an initial capital letter for all substantives. Presumably it was in response to the imposition of a general reduction in the use of capitals that during the printing Hume requested Strahan to ‘tell the Compositor, that he always employ a Capital after the Colons’ (18 April 1757, Letters, 1: 247). This request was honoured. 104  Shortly after publication of the 1760 edition a one-paragraph, anonymous, favourable review of Hume’s two new essays appeared in The Critical Review: or, Annals of Literature, 9 (June 1760): 493, art. 18, ‘Two new Essays, by David Hume, Esq; 1st. Of the Jealousy of Trade. 2d. Of the Coalition of Politics’ (a misprinted title for ‘Coalition of Parties’). 105   Other essays were added after the 1758 edn.

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The Editions from 1764 to 1770 Hume made a concentrated attempt to reduce inconsistent usage in the 1767 and 1768 editions. The 1767 ETSS introduced numerous modifications of the 1764 edition, and the 1768 ETSS extensively revised the 1767 edition. Nonetheless, when he prepared the 1770 edition almost all of the corrections made in 1768 were abandoned or lost. Hume probably marked his changes for the printer of the 1770 edition on a copy of an edition other than that of either 1767 or 1768.106 Collation of both the formal and the substantive variants supports this conclusion. Although the bulk of these differences involve small changes of punctuation and style that do not affect Hume’s substantive statements, many omissions in 1767 and 1768 do not appear to be of the sort Hume would have intended. It therefore seems unlikely that the 1770 edition descended directly from either the 1767 or the 1768 editions, as we would ordinarily assume. Collation of the editions indicates that the text of the 1764 edition was the basis from which, after corrections by Hume, the 1770 edition was taken. The salient facts concerning both formal and substantive changes in the permutations of the Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (all of the essays, which constituted only the first half of the whole of ETSS) from 1764 to 1770 are the following:107 292 changes were introduced in 1767 and carried into 1768; and 157 more changes were introduced in 1768. Thus, 449 changes were introduced in either 1767 or 1768, all of which are present in the 1768 edition, but only 51 of the 449 appeared in the 1770 edition, and later about 10 others re­appeared in some form in 1772 or 1777. Therefore, 88.6 per cent of the changes introduced in 1767 and 1768 were lost in 1770, and only about 10 later reappeared. Of the 157 new changes introduced in 1768, only 6 remain in the 1770 edition. Thus 96.2 per cent of the new changes introduced in 1768 did not appear in 1770. Finally, 35 additional changes that had been made in 1767 and were omitted in 1768 did not appear in 1770 or in any later year.108 These facts support the conclusion that Hume did not prepare the edition of 1770 from either the edition of 1767 or the edition of 1768. Moreover, collation shows that 32 instances of words and forms appearing in 1764 were changed in 1767 or 1768 but then reappeared in the 1770 edition. Though only the figures pertaining to the essays’ portion of ETSS are provided here, the 106   Hume invested heavily in the 1768 edition, attending even to its appearance: ‘I send you a Volume of [Pierre-Joseph Thoulier d’] Olivet’s Cicero at Mr Millar’s Desire, who proposes instantly to begin an Edition of my Essays in that Form, as a Forerunner to the like Edition of my History’ (Spring 1767, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 125). The 1768 edition was the only copy of the ETSS to survive Hume in the Hume Library (Norton and Norton, Hume Library, 104, no. 653). It is possible that he wished not to mark up this edition. Both the Olivet quarto and Hume’s quarto ETSS were meant to be specimens of fine printing, but aside from size, format, and generous margins and leading, the two are dissimilar in appearance. 107   These figures are compiled from collation of both accidental and substantive variants. 108   Some small percentage of the 35 additional changes could be interpreted as subtle typographical errors that a careful reader would have noticed in preparing the 1768 edition.

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correlation between the 1764 and the 1770 editions is continuous throughout the entirety of ETSS (that is, the treatises as well as the essays) in the manner expected when one edition has served as the basis of another. Collation also shows that the 1760 edition is unlikely to be the text from which the 1770 edition was corrected. Only 6 items appearing in 1760 and not appearing in 1764–8 reappeared in the 1770 edition. The preponderance of the evidence therefore indicates that the compositor set the 1770 edition with an eye to the substantive and accidental corrections marked by Hume on volumes of the 1764 ETSS. Using this method of preparation, Hume would not have noticed the divergences between the 1768 edition and the books marked for the printer. This hypothesis explains why so many apparently authoritative changes in the 1768 edition were lost, including material carried over from changes in the 1767 edition. That he lost sight of the 1767 and 1768 revisions might be taken to indicate that Hume did not attach as much significance to his numerous minor adjustments as he suggests in his comments in letters about his revised editions. This hypothesis must be weighed against the fact that he endlessly revised his works in substantive ways over more than three decades, sometimes adding or subtracting large blocks of material and even whole new essays. Hume did not merely tinker with the texts. His personal appraisal of his revisions is captured in a letter to Strahan: ‘For tho’ I know, that a man might spend his whole Life in correcting one small Volume, and yet have inaccuracies in it, I think however that the fewer the better, and it is a great Amusement to me to pick them out gradually in every Edition.’109

The 1772 Copy-Text and Its Alteration for the 1777 Edition Almost as soon as Hume received copies of the 1770 edition, he began corrections for the edition of 1772,110 the last edition he saw through the press. In revising for this edition, Hume reported that he had examined his work ‘carefully five times over’.111 In another letter he remarked on the quality, and likely the finality, of his corrections: This is the last time I shall probably take the pains of correcting that work, which is now brought to as great a degree of accuracy as I can attain; and is probably much more labour’d . . . than any other production in our Language. This Power, which Printing gives us, of continually improving and correcting our Works in successive Editions, appears to me the Chief Advantage of that Art.112

Hume’s correspondence indicates a deep satisfaction with the 1772 edition.113 His concentration, care, and endorsement of its accuracy warrant its choice as copy-text   18 September 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 250.   21 January 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 233–5: ‘I shall read over several times this new Edition; and send you a corrected Copy by some safe hand.’ 111   11 March 1771, to William Strahan (italics added), Letters, 2: 235. 112   25 March 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 239. 113   4 September 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 250. 109

110

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for this critical edition because it requires the fewest emendations to remove ­corruptions and includes the most authoritative variants. Nonetheless, the critical text incorporates most of the substantive changes introduced in the posthumous 1777 edition.114 The edition with the imprint of 1777 was not published until early 1778, ap­proxi­ mate­ly 1½ years after Hume’s death. Strahan had solicited corrections from Hume in a letter of 12 April 1776. On 20 April, Hume informed Strahan that ‘My Body sets out to-morrow by Post for London; but whether it will arrive there is somewhat uncertain. . . . I bring up my philosophical Pieces corrected, which will be safe, whether I dye by the Road or not.’115 An important addition was the last essay ­written by Hume, ‘Origin of Government’, which was placed after ‘First Principles of Government’.116 Strahan wrote on 1 August 1776 that work was progressing on the editions (the History, in particular). He reassured Hume about the reward in store for his labours: ‘I see clearly your reputation is gradually rising in the public esteem. A flattering circumstance this, even in the decline of life, and when, by the unalterable course of nature, nothing will soon be left of us but a name.’117 Thirteen days before his death Hume sent another significant change to Strahan with these comments: ‘This, Dear Sir, is the last Correction I shall probably trouble you with: For Dr Black has promised me, that all shall be over with me in a very little time.’118 The posthumous ETSS was not printed until September 1777. Hume’s friend Adam Smith (1723– 90) had offered to ‘revise the sheets’ of the new edition and ‘Authenticate its being according to [Hume’s] last corrections’.119 Supposing that he kept his promise, we  have no evidence that Smith imposed any changes on Hume’s text. Nor do we  know how the printer might have changed the text prior to typesetting and ­during printing. Hume was usually meticulous in attending to punctuation, spelling, and choice of words in all of his revisions. Most of his changes were word substitutions, small clarifications and deletions, and stylistic improvements.120 The spirit of his al­ter­ ations is captured in a self-description of his revisions of his History:

114   The reasons for the choice of copy-text and its modifications are provided in the Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants (pp. 503–10). 115  20 April 1776, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 315. For Strahan’s request, see National Library of Scotland, MS 23157. 116   For further information, see the discussion below and the head-note to the annotations for this essay. 117   J. H. Burton, ed. Letters of Eminent Persons Addressed to David Hume, 102–4. 118   12 August 1776, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 331–2. The doctor was Joseph Black (1728–99), Edinburgh professor, chemist, and physician. 119  See 22 August 1776, to David Hume, and 5 September 1776, to William Strahan, in Correspondence of Adam Smith, 206, 211. 120   24 September 1752, to Adam Smith, Letters, 1: 167–9; 15 March 1753, to James Balfour, Letters, 1: 172–4; 4 September 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 249–50; 2 January 1772, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 251–2; Letters, 1: 282–3.

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[O]ne reason of my remaining in London is the correcting a new Edition of my History, which I oversee as anxiously, as if any body were concern’d about it, or ever woud perceive the Pains I take in polishing it and rendering it as accurate as possible. I can only say, that I do it for myself and that it amuses me.121

These changes include spelling, the use of contractions, systematic word substitution, use of small capitals, and the like. The type of corrections made and the dating of the types of change that either he or Strahan introduced are discussed in other volumes of the Clarendon Hume and need no additional explanation in this history. One reason for not choosing the posthumous version as copy-text for the critical text over the 1772 is that exceedingly little is known about the preparation and  supervision—or lack thereof—of the 1777 edition at the press. Moreover, ­variant readings of ‘accidentals’ in the 1777 edition might not have derived from Hume himself. (See in this critical edition, for additional details on this subject, the  ‘Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants’, part  1, esp. pp. 503–10.)

3. PRINTE RS, BOOKS E L L E RS, A ND INTE L L E CTUAL P ROP E RT Y Although Hume’s writings are important primarily for their content and influence over intellectual history, they are also important for their contribution to the evolution of the book trade from dependence on wealthy patrons to support by a market of readers. Hume drew attention to his place in this economic development in ‘My Own Life’ (¶ 17), stating that ‘the Copy Money, given me by the Booksellers, much exceeded any thing formerly known in England: I was become not only independent, but opulent.’ As an author who remained independent and grew comparatively wealthy from his books, Hume joined figures like Pope and Voltaire as prominent examples of how authors could thrive in a commercial arrangement and disseminate works of lasting importance. He would be joined in this good fortune by his friends Robertson and Blair. Authors were enabled to produce their works by a co-operative venture in which booksellers and printers were necessary participants. Hume’s career was a collaboration with members of the trade who created ways to put books into the hands of middle-class readers at affordable prices that sustained authors as well as supported bookshops and print shops. Hume was making economic history along with his printers and underwriting booksellers. Though the collaboration was a success story, it involved tangled complexities, surprising twists, and unanswered questions. Hume’s career in print began in London with the Treatise and the entrepreneurial initiative of booksellers John Noon and Thomas Longman and printer John

  18 October 1768, to Baron Mure of Caldwell, Letters, 2: 188.

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Wilson.122 Subsequently the works that Hume polished for over three decades were preponderantly the fruits of collaboration, in Edinburgh, with bookseller Alexander Kincaid and, in London, the printer Strahan and booksellers Andrew Millar and Thomas Cadell, Millar’s apprentice in 1758–65 and partner thereafter.123 Strahan was a master printer and owner of what became the largest printing house in London. Eventually he branched out into the financing of new books and became a Member of Parliament.124 Hume’s personal relationship with Millar appears to have begun in 1748, near the time of the publication of Philosophical Essays.125 Millar’s accounts in Strahan’s ledgers show the bookseller’s central role in financing and distributing all of Hume’s editions until the bookseller’s death in 1767. Thereafter the Strahan–Cadell combination handled Hume’s works as part of  an extensive programme of publications that included Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) and Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–81). The financing, manufacture, and distribution of Hume’s writings were affairs of both London and its upstart rival in the book trade, Edinburgh. The importance and rather closed nature of the trade in London made Millar a crucial figure in the dissemination of Hume’s writings. His regular employment of Strahan as Hume’s printer, together with Hume’s growing friendship with the printer, meant that these two Scottish Londoners dominate the story of Hume’s career as Kincaid and Fleming cannot. Yet it was Kincaid and Fleming’s enterprising spirit that provided Hume a fresh start after his disappointment with the Treatise. Their enterprise was part of a movement among Edinburgh and Glaswegian bookmen to outdo the London bookmen. All of the editions of the ETSS that Millar and Strahan produced together included Kincaid’s name on the imprint. Millar and Kincaid shared the publication of most of the important Scottish authors of the day, including Adam Smith, Lord 122   David Fate Norton, ‘John Wilson, Hume’s First Printer’, and Norton, ‘Historical Account’, in THN, 2: 451–4, 488ff., 600–1, 606–8. The original contract with John Noon for the Treatise— Hume’s initiation into the world of publishing contracts—is preserved in the National Library of Scotland, Hume MS 23159, item 5. 123   An unconfirmed report by an anonymous biographer of William Creech, Kincaid’s successor, has Millar, Strahan, and Kincaid all serving their apprenticeships in Edinburgh under James McEuen ([Fleming], ‘Account’, xvi–xvii n. *). Cochrane infers that Strahan was apprenticed to John Mosman and William Brown (Dr. Johnson’s Printer, 2), both of whom collaborated with McEuen to create the Edinburgh Evening Courant. Whatever the case might have been, Millar was already in London, at the latest by 1728, when Kincaid began his apprenticeship in the early 1730s. Strahan would have served his apprenticeship at about this time, before his move to London, where he served in 1736–8 as a compositor for the elder William Bowyer’s press. For background on Millar, see Sher and Amory, ‘From Scotland to the Strand’. 124  J. A. Cochrane, Dr. Johnson’s Printer; Colin Clair, A History of Printing in Britain; P. M. Handover, Printing in London: From 1476 to Modern Times; Alvin Kernan, Printing Technology, Letters, & Samuel Johnson; H.  R.  Plomer, G.  H.  Bushnell, and E.  R.  McC. Dix, for The Bibliographical Society, A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1726 to 1775; Maslen, Early London Printing House, 89–90. 125   Strahan printed Hume’s Abstract of the Treatise in 1740 (see Norton, ‘Historical Account’, in THN, 2: 467, 490, 514, 602), but the printer and the author became acquainted personally only in 1755. Strahan was Hume’s printer of choice for almost all subsequent editions of his writings.

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Kames, Adam Ferguson, and Thomas Reid. The English Short-Title Catalogue includes sixty items with both Millar and Kincaid’s names on the imprint. It is remarkable therefore that the two were the most prominent figures on opposing sides in a long struggle. This struggle, taking place in bookshops and in law courts in both Scotland and England, was over (a) access to the English market and (b) the reprinting of popular works that London traders claimed as their property. At stake in the first issue was the de facto monopoly of the informal ‘conger’ of London bookmen.126 At stake in the second issue was whether copyright was perpetual under common law or limited by the terms specified in the Act for the Encouragement of Learning (8 Anne, c. 19, effective 1710). The term for copyright stipulated in the act was fourteen years renewable for an additional fourteen by the author. Alexander Donaldson, Kincaid’s associate in 1751–8, forced the issues by retailing his reprints (or piracies, depending upon one’s point of view) in London itself in the early 1760s. In 1773, after Millar’s death, Kincaid’s former associate would see the House of Lords repudiate the monopoly and perpetual copyright. But this landmark case was the culmination of a contest that Donaldson took over from Kincaid and others in Edinburgh and Glasgow. For Millar the contest dated back at least to punitive processes that he initiated in 1739 and 1743, the second ‘against Alexander Kincaid, Mess. Hamilton and Balfour, Booksellers in Edinburgh, Mess. Foulis, Andrew Stalker, Booksellers in Glasgow, and some others, who are purposely picked out from a greater Number; because the late Improvements in the Art of Printing in Scotland are particularly owing to them’. Such was the characterization of the contest in a pamphlet for the side of the upstarts.127 Millar dropped the first suit and suffered a defeat for the second. The defeat was inconclusive, however, because the Scots Court of Session ruled narrowly on technicalities.128 Therefore Millar versus Kincaid left the larger issues over monopoly and copyright for Donaldson to settle in the House of Lords. One way in which the struggle took place was in attempts by Scots and London producers to flood the market with editions of the Spectator, Guardian, and Tatler priced to undercut each other.129 126   Bailey takes the opportunity of his definition for some innuendo: ‘a Society of Booksellers . . . so called, because as a large Conger Eel is said to devour the small Fry, so this united Body overpowers young and single Traders’ (Dictionarium Britannicum, s.v. conger). 127   Memorial for the Booksellers, 3. 128   In the words of one of the judges, Patrick Grant, ‘we unanimously found, first, that no action lies for offences against this statute more than three months after the offense; 2dly, that no action on the statute lies for books not entered in Stationers Hall as the act directs; and 3dly, that no action lies upon this statute for damages but only for the penalties’ (2 December 1747, Decisions, 2: 251). The prerequisites of registration with the stationers and commencement of any process within three months, as well as the disallowing of punitive damages, all pertained to whether the conditions had been met for raising a lawsuit under the Queen Anne statute of 1710. This narrow ruling on procedural grounds left unaddressed the issue of whether there was a common-law copyright in perpetuity overruling the limits on copyright imposed by the statute. 129   See advertisements, Caledonian Mercury, nos. 3778, 3780 (4, 10 December 1744), [4], [3]; Walters, ‘Booksellers’, 296–7. For the overall conflict of London with Edinburgh and Glasgow, see

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It was in this context of struggle that Millar and Kincaid co-operated to market Hume’s works in Great Britain. Unable to dispense with each other, the two did not  let the ongoing contests over monopoly and copyright deny them mutually ­beneficial arrangements. The dissemination of Hume’s writings depended on the victory of sober calculations of interest over the spirit of competition and prin­ cipled advocacy.130 In so far as the London conger had blocked sales of Hume’s History until Gavin Hamilton surrendered his property in it to Millar, Hume had a personal reason to resent the monopoly.131 Nevertheless, after Donaldson’s victory Hume commiserated in March 1774 with Strahan over the limitation of copyright. Though he regarded Lord Mansfield’s argument for perpetual copyright as a transparent attempt to evade the statute of Queen Anne, he expressed some concern for the possible repercussions of the Lords’ finding. To help Strahan circumvent the limitations of the statute, he proposed using revisions to allow a copyright dating from a new edition that would undercut sales of reprints lacking the new material: As to my Writings, I think it will be possible for me to prolong your Lease of them, even according to the Statute. I have never made a new Edition without Alterations, and even Additions, sometimes of considerable Length. If it were thought worth while, I coud transfer to you anew the Property of these; and if no Body can reprint these passages during fourteen Years after the first Publication, it woud effectually secure you so long from any pyrated Edition. I have writ a new Essay, which I intended to add to the Collection; and shoud give it you in the same manner.

In this letter Hume recommended that Strahan, now a Member of Parliament, create a new law because ‘the Penalties, granted by the Statute of Q. Anne, are quite

also McDougall, ‘Copyright Litigation’, and Feather, ‘The Publishers and the Pirates’, 17–23. For the aspect of literary property, see Patterson, Copyright, 151–79. See also McDougall, ‘Emergence of the Modern Trade’. Hume’s sometime tenant James Boswell was amongst Donaldson’s lawyers. The protracted legal debate is as interesting as the trade war, featuring over the years a conflict between, among others, Henry Home, who did not believe in intellectual property except as conferred, like a patent, by the statute, and William Murray (Lord Mansfield as of 1756), who championed the claim for perpetual copyright irrespective of the statute. 130   This co-operation has been characterized as the beginnings of a London–Edinburgh publishing axis that would promote the Scottish Enlightenment into the next century (Sher, Enlightenment & the Book, chs. 4–6 and con.). 131   In 1773, the struggle was explained before the Court of Session as follows: ‘[T]he booksellers in London have by ways and means engrossed, or attempted to engross, many of the most valuable books, both ancient and modern, under the specious colour of having purchased the copyrights from the authors immediately or by progress; and that, when new works are produced, especially in Scotland, they combine together to put a negative on the sale of them, if they are not placed under their immediate protection. One instance of this was Mr. Hume’s History, Vol. I’ (Campbell et al., Information for Alexander Donaldson, 17). It is not clear why Hamilton could not deal with Millar successfully as had Kincaid, and for an agnostic assessment of the episode, see McDougal, ‘Copyright Litigation’, 27–9.

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insufficient’ to protect those who invest in the manufacture of new books.132 The ‘new Essay’ mentioned, ‘Origin of Government’, would appear in the next edition of the ETSS, the posthumous one with an imprint of 1777 that was not published until 1778. Hume’s ‘My Own Life’ would have served the same purpose had Strahan included it in the first posthumous edition as Hume directed in his will and its codicil. The importance to Strahan of the new essay is reflected in its mention in his registration of the book with the Stationers’ Company: ‘Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, in Two Volumes 8o—by David Hume Esq. Containing Essays Moral, Political & Literary, with Additional Essay & Additions & Corrections’.133 The three- to four-year delay between Hume’s offer to prolong Strahan’s ‘Lease’ and the appearance of the new edition suggests what the English Short-Title Catalogue confirms, that Strahan and Cadell had no competition from unauthorized reprints making the production of a new edition necessary to undercut their sales. Under those circumstances, producing an edition with an additional essay would only compete for sale with Strahan’s remaining copies, and he could wait for the depletion of his stock before manufacturing the augmented edition. Hume’s proposal to Strahan is notable in several respects. First, though Hume offered his proposal as consistent with the statute, the prolongation of the term that he suggested contravened the goal of the statute to limit the term of copyright and, in doing so, would have altered copyright drastically. According to the statute, the holder of the copy had ‘the sole Liberty of Printing and Reprinting such Book and Books for the Term of Fourteen Years, to Commence from the Day of the first Publishing the same, and no longer’.134 Plainly the authors of the statute were not distinguishing between reprintings and revised or augmented editions and expected works to go into the public domain after a maximum of a fourteen-year term renewable once for another fourteen years. To suppose that the lawmakers intended to introduce a distinction allowing the easy evasion of their limitations would be to suppose that they intended to subvert their own statute. Hume’s supposition that the term started anew with revised editions was indeed shared by the lawyers for the London booksellers,135 though the argument evidently did not impress the judges. If the recommencement of the term with new editions was not Strahan’s policy before Hume’s proposal, it was soon afterwards, as is documented in a letter of 9 September 1774 to Kincaid’s successor William Creech.136 Second, because a given essay might or might not undergo revision from edition to edition, the issue arises whether the object of copyright would be the whole book 132   1 March 1774, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 287. Hume speaks loosely; obviously property in new material could not be transferred ‘anew’. 133   Entry book of copies, p. 99, 10 Jan. 1778, s.v. Wm. Strahan. 134   Act for the Encouragement of Learning, 261–2. 135   Hume-Campbell and Yorke, Case of the Respondents (1751), 1, 3, paraphrasing William Murray and Alexander Lockhart. 136   Sher, ‘William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine’, 54.

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or the individual essay or indeed only the new ‘passages’, as Hume’s letter suggests. A renewed copyright on these terms seeks to evade rather than overrule the limitations provided by the statute. It could not yield even a de facto perpetual copyright. Terms of copyright tied to specific revisions would protect the last revision of an essay before the author’s death for only fourteen years. Earlier permutations of writings would have a dubious claim to be protected. The version of ‘Parties of Great Britain’ appearing in 1741 still would have gone into the public domain in 1769 at the latest. On the other hand, the appearance of an edition of the ETSS with revisions could create a disincentive for buyers to choose an unauthorized reprint lacking revisions and augmentations, a disincentive to be weighed against the advantage of a lower price. Third, Hume’s proposal to Strahan raises the question of who owned the property of the contents of the ETSS. For Hume to transfer the property ‘anew’, he needed to possess it to sell again. In his letter to Strahan he speaks of leasing his property in his essays and treatises, and such would be the case only if he and Kincaid either thought the property had reverted to Hume after the first fourteen years, as indicated by the statute, or if they had originally negotiated a contract preserving the property for Hume. Such was the contract for at least the first two volumes of the Treatise.137 A second term of fourteen years would have expired in 1769 if the copyright dated from the first appearance of Essays, Moral and Political, but Hume might have dated the term from the first appearance of the title Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, in which case the property in 1774 was still potentially within the twenty-eight years allowed by the statute. He might even have been dating his fourteen years as of the previous edition of the collection, that of 1772. The supposition that Hume retained the copyrights on his essays and treatises rather than sold them outright to Kincaid and Millar is appealing inasmuch as a contract between the booksellers as owners of the property to be consolidated into one collection would be troubled by their need to find mutually acceptable language about the term of copyright. The language concerning perpetual copyright in Millar’s contracts purchasing James Thomson’s poems and Fielding’s Tom Jones could not have been acceptable to Kincaid.138 The two antagonists over copyright could allow the contract for the ETSS to be silent concerning the issue if their own property were not at stake. Admittedly the registration of neither the Essays, Moral and Political nor the Political Discourses at Stationers’ Hall was to Hume, but rather to Kincaid (27 August 1741) and Kincaid and Donaldson (14 February 1752), respectively. But these registrations might reflect only the booksellers’ property in one edition, reserving the long-term property, perpetual or not, for the author. They might also reflect merely an intention to preserve the author’s anonymity. Hume had reason to include Kincaid in the publication of the ETSS even if Kincaid   See Norton, ‘Historical Account’, in THN, 2: 452–3, 488.   Millar’s favoured legal language in 1729–30 and 1734 (‘at all times hereafter’) became a succinct ‘for ever’ in contracts of 1749 and 1751 (McKillop, James Thomson, 70, 90, 213; Fielding, Tom Jones, 1: xliv, xlix–l). Both formulations pointedly contravened the statutory term limits. 137 138

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had no property in the essays he had published. Hume could wish for the involvement of both Kincaid and Millar in order to lift his collection out of the trade war and allow it to be marketed enthusiastically out of London and Edinburgh. A hypothesis that a contract could obviate the conflict over the term of copyright if Hume leased rather than sold his property outright is challenged by his letter to Millar of 12 June 1755. In it he proposes selling the property of Four Dissertations to Millar for fifty guineas, ‘payable at the Publication’ (Letters, 1: 223). Supposing they struck this deal, then at least the four pieces in that book belonged to Millar amongst the works in the 1758 ETSS. Presumably Hume signed them over to Millar ‘for ever’. Without seeing the language of the contracts, we probably will never know how Millar and Kincaid worked around the issue of whether copyright was perpetual or limited by statute. Pertinent to Hume’s views on perpetual copyright is the record of deliberations in the House of Commons over a bill to rescue investors in literary property nullified by the Lords’ ruling. For the Booksellers’ Relief Bill, which the Commons would pass and the Lords reject, Strahan solicited letters of support from prom­in­ ent authors, including Hume. There is little basis upon which to infer the contents of Hume’s testimonial. The only references to it are in the debates in the Commons and in Hume’s remarks about it to Strahan: I have writ you an ostensible Letter on the Subject of literary Property, which contains my real Sentiments, so far as it goes. However, I shall tell you the truth; I do not forsee any such bad Consequences as you mention from laying the Property open. The Italians and French have more pompous Editions of their Classics since the Expiration of the Privileges than any we have of ours: And at least, every Bookseller, who prints a Book, will endeavour to make it as compleat and correct as he can. But when I said, that I thought Lord Mansfield’s Decision founded on a vain Subtlety, I did not consider the matter in that Light, but only on a simple Consideration of the Act of Q. Anne.139

During the debate a lawyer named Mansfield (not Lord Mansfield) adduced letters from Hume, Richard Hurd, William Robertson, James Beattie, ‘and other writers of established reputation, containing the warmest wishes to the petitioners, lamenting the late decision of the House of Peers, as fatal to literature, and hoping that the booksellers might get speedy relief ’. Subsequently ‘Mr Fielde’ (Paul Feilde, MP 1770–80) referred to these letters when he argued that ‘the assignments of Mr. Hume, Dr. Robertson, and Dr. Beattie, were all expressly “for ever” ’. ‘This sufficiently proved’, he argued, ‘that those celebrated writers thought there was a perpetuity.’140 Hume had sold the full property of his History to Millar, doubtless ‘for ever’, but

139  To William Strahan, [March 1774], Letters, 2: 288. The only extant testimonial, Samuel Johnson’s, was not used in the debate, undoubtedly because Johnson unhelpfully affirmed that the ‘Judgement of the Lords was . . . legally and politically right’ ([To William Strahan], 7 March 1774, Letters of Samuel Johnson, 2: 129–31, at 130). 140  Cobbet, Parliamentary History, vol. 17, cols. 1098, 1107.

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could have done so clear and free because his Edinburgh publishers Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill had had property in only the first edition of volume 1. How much credit do Feilde’s reports deserve? Both Mansfield and Feilde were attempting to reduce several testimonials on a complex topic to a uniform message. In debate Feilde could easily have oversimplified the content of any individual testimonial. What did Hume think? All that can be inferred safely about Hume’s ‘real Sentiments’ is the following. (a) Hume deemed Lord Mansfield’s arguments for perpetual copyright to be ‘groundless’ and incompatible with the statute. (b) He did not accept the argument that cheap reprints of vernacular classics in the public domain would choke off the production of quality editions of those works. (c) For reasons other than those rejected above he thought that exposed in­vest­ ors in copyrights like Strahan deserved legislative succour. (d) One reason was that the penalties provided by the statute were an in­ad­ equate deterrent to pirates. (e) Piracy hurts booksellers and ‘Learning’. If we discount Feilde’s characterization of the testimonials, we can readily imagine a statement from Hume ignoring Lord Mansfield and saying nothing about Hume’s own contracts but supporting relief for overexposed booksellers. He could do so without positing a perpetual copyright, which would need to be put on another basis than Mansfield had given it. A testimonial to be used in a supplication for relief would be an inopportune place to reargue the case for a perpetual property. Hume might well have not believed in a perpetual intellectual property. Finally, a cluster of appropriations of Hume’s essays did occur in 1770–2. After the maximum twenty-eight-year term had passed in 1769 for the copyright of the contents of Essays, Moral and Political, there appeared in London a cluster of anthologies appropriating certain essays. In 1770, A Help to Elocution and Eloquence reprinted ‘Delicacy’, ‘Impudence and Modesty’, and ‘Superstition and Enthusiasm’. In the following year The British Moralist, or, Young Gentleman and Lady’s Polite Precepter reprinted the concluding allegory from ‘Impudence and Modesty’. In 1772, two more anthologies acted as though those essays were in the public domain. The Beauties of the Magazines, and Other Periodical Works reprinted ‘Impudence and Modesty’, ‘Love and Marriage’, and ‘Avarice’. The Beauties of English Prose excerpted seventeen of the essays: ‘Rise and Progress’, ‘Avarice’, ‘National Characters’, ‘Eloquence’, ‘Delicacy’, ‘Dignity or Meanness’, ‘First Principles of Government’, ‘Polygamy and Divorces’, ‘Impudence and Modesty’, ‘Civil Liberty’, ‘Liberty of the Press’, ‘Love and Marriage’, ‘Sceptic’, ‘Simplicity and Refinement’, and ‘History’. This collection also excerpted the discussion of liberty and necessity from the Philosophical Essays (EHU 8.10–12), the copyright for which had not expired according to the stipulations of the act of Queen Anne. Nor had the term expired for the late addition to the essays, ‘National Characters’. One selection

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identified as by Hume was by Addison. These appropriations put Hume in the company of writers like Addison and Johnson and signified that Hume, despite his notoriety as a sceptic, had entered into the ranks of edifying, modern classics.

4.  HUME ’S INSTRUCTIO N F OR A N A DDI T I O N TO THE 17 7 7 E T S S Seven and one-half months before his death, in his will of 4 January 1776, Hume authorized Adam Smith to oversee the publication of his remaining works,141 including Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. Four months later, on 3 May 1776, Hume informed Smith about a newly written piece to be added to both The History of England and Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects: You will find among my Papers a very inoffensive Piece, called My own Life,142 which I composed a few days before I left Edinburgh [in a manuscript dated 18 April 1776]. . . . [T]his small piece shoud be sent to Messrs Strahan and Cadell and the Proprietors of my other Works to be prefixed to any future Edition of them.143

On 8 June 1776, Hume wrote Strahan about the forthcoming edition of his History, requesting that ‘the History of my own Life . . . be prefixed to this Edition’.144 After Smith expressed reservations about publishing the Dialogues, Hume decided not to give him broad authority to handle all posthumous publications. On 12 June 1776, Hume retracted the part of his will making Smith literary executor and gave control over his manuscripts to Strahan: ‘I am sensibly obliged to you for undertaking to execute my Will with regard to my Manuscripts; and I have this same day made a Codicil by which I make you entirely Master of them.’145 The pertinent codicil is dated 7 August.146 Hume thereby left the publication of his pending work to Strahan (with some qualifications should Strahan not act according to the provisions), again directing that the ‘Account of my own Life’ be ‘prefixed to the first Edition [of the upcoming publications] of my Works, printed after my Death’.147 Hume died eighteen days later. 141   ‘To my friend, Dr. Adam Smith, late Professor of Moral Philosophy in Glasgow, I leave all my manuscripts without exception.’ Certified Copy of the Last Will and Testament of David Hume, Esq. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, p. 20, available at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecc o/004835856.0001.000/1:4.2?rgn=div2;view=fulltext (accessed 16 July 2018). The location of the Last Will and Testament Manuscript is the New Register House, Edinburgh. 142   ‘My Own Life’, Letters, 1: 1–7. The quotation is from manuscript copy. The manuscript is in the National Library of Scotland, MS 23159, item 23. 143   3 May 1776, to Adam Smith, Letters, 2: 318. The quotation is from the manuscript copy of the letter in the National Library of Scotland, MS 23152, fo. 58, here using the facsimile in Iain Gordon Brown, ed. David Hume ‘My Own Life’, 19. 144   8 June 1776, to Strahan, Letters, 2: 323. 145   12 June 1776, to Strahan, Letters, 2: 325. 146   7 August 1776, codicil, National Library of Scotland, MS 23159, item 24. 147   Letters, 2: 453 (Appendix M).

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The letters and the codicil jointly amount to an instruction from Hume that ‘My  Own Life’ be prefixed to his revised major collected works (ETSS), which Strahan presumably was preparing at the time for publication, having received Hume’s revisions.148 Hume’s last work was apparently intended as a life history as he wished it to be remembered by the readers of his Essays and Treatises, his History, and his Dialogues. Hume’s brother John and nephew David were committed to executing Hume’s instruction that ‘My Own Life’ be prefixed to the posthumous and revised works, but Strahan adopted an alternative plan to publish ‘My Own Life’ first as an individual pamphlet with a memoir by Smith and to prefix it at a later date to Hume’s major works. Strahan followed only half of his own plan. He published ‘My Own Life’ as a stand-alone pamphlet under a different title than Hume’s,149 despite vigorous protests by Hume’s brother and nephew, who regarded this publication as a violation of Hume’s express wishes.150 Nonetheless, Strahan did not prefix ‘My Own Life’ to the 1777 ETSS, and the two works have never been published together. This history of Hume’s essays from their initial publications to their final home in the 1777 Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects has been brief. Additional details about his plans and revisions are provided in the Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants. Additional facts about printing, advertising, selling, and foreign editions are explored in other sections of this critical edition, especially A Bibliographical Schema of the Editions and European Book Translations of the Essays; and see also A Chronological Table of Hume’s Lifetime and A Table of the Appearances of Hume’s Essays from 1741 to 1777.

148   For details see Sher, Enlightenment and the Book, 55–7; and Brown, ed. David Hume, ‘My Own Life’, 18–27. 149   The Life of David Hume, Esq. Written by Himself (London: Printed for W.  Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, published Mar. 1777). Strahan’s ledgers contain entries for ‘Hume’s Life’ in Feb. 1777 for an octavo edition and April 1777 for ‘Hume’s Life 2d Edit.’ in quarto (British Library, Add. MS 48815, fo. 8). ‘My Own Life’ had previously appeared, with Adam Smith’s letter to Strahan, in Scots Magazine, 39 (January 1777): 1–7. The March 1777 issue contains a review of ‘The life of David Hume, Esq; Written by himself. 1 s. 6 d. Cadell.’ (Scots Magazine, 39: 153). The pamphlet was registered with the Stationers’ Company on 7 Mar. 1777 (entry book of copies, p. 76, s.v. ‘Wm Strahan Esqr. By Request from The Author.’). For the publication date, see London Chronicle, 41 (Sat. 8–Tues. 11 Mar. 1777): 239: ‘This day was published, Adorned with a medallion of the author, elegantly engraved, price 1 s. 6 d. The Life of David Hume, Esq; Written by Himself. Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand.’ Identical dates and advt. appear in London Evening-Post, no. 8577, p. 2. See also General Evening Post, no. 6766 (Sat. 10–Tues. 13 May 1777), 2. ‘This Day was publish’d, . . . The Second Edition of The Life of David Hume’. 150   For the history of the clash between Strahan and Hume’s disheartened relatives, see Brown, ed. David Hume, ‘My Own Life’, 20–6.

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A B I B L I O G R AP H I CAL S CHEMA O F T H E EDITIONS This schema presents information about the printing and publishing of the books containing Hume’s essays. The purpose of the bibliographic descriptions is the accurate differentiation of the permutations of the text over which Hume had influ­ ence. Recording details like misprints, ornaments, and other facts of the manufac­ ture of books seems purely pedantic until one encounters a copy, like that at the University of Arizona (B1455 1767 v. 1), of the 1767 ETSS, volume 1, with an imprint of 1764. Since the 1767 edition was modelled closely on the 1764 setting of type and used the same font, it is the bibliographic details that allow the dif­fer­en­ti­ ation of the two without a full collation of the texts. (So closely modelled is it that the compositor evidently neglected in this instance to adjust the imprint when imi­ tating the title-page of the 1764 model.) Additionally a goal of description is to provide a standard to which individual copies can be compared. The standard, termed an ‘ideal copy’, is a notional con­ struction based on comparison of many copies in an edition with a focus on their physical make-up rather than on accuracy of the text. If individual copies have a certain misprint, the existence of that defect is recorded as a deviation from the ideal copy. Abnormalities in some copies, like the absence or addition of a dedica­ tion or the misplacement of a title-page, might be noted. Issues and states within an edition are differentiated. The concept of ideal copy has no application to watermarks or press figures, which had purposes unrelated to the printer’s intentions for the presentation of the text. They do reflect the materials and presswork involved in the manufacture of the books. The absence of press figures in the books printed in Edinburgh (mostly by Robert Fleming) might mean that there was no need to account for work on more than one press. Variations in press figures in issues printed by Strahan or Emonson reflect different impressions and might correlate with differ­ ent states of the text. The descriptions of ideal copy are generalized from examination of the individ­ ual copies listed for each book, usually by library and shelfmark. These descriptions have been checked against other copies in the form of photocopies or digital images available on-line. The Latin alphabet employed for the signatures does not contain W and treats J as identical with I and U as identical with V, yielding 23 characters for signatures. These characters are doubled and tripled as needed to generate signatures for ­gatherings. Only discrepancies between a catchword and the first word of the following page are recorded here. Catchwords so called often in fact are two words or the front

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­portion of a word (Moxon, Mechanick Exercises, 210). Frequently compositors matched a catchword like ‘Admini-’ with a complete word on the next page like ‘Administration’, and such instances are not recorded here as miscatches. On the other hand it is a miscatch for a page ending with ‘in-’ to make ‘instance’ serve as a catchword for ‘stance’ on the next page. A second type of discrepancy occurs when the catchword is correct but the word it is intended to match is misprinted. If two copies differ in having a certain discrepancy or not, they instantiate different states in the edition. Whether the chain lines of laid paper are vertical or horizontal is a factor in determining the format of a book; hence, normally, books in octavo of necessity have vertical chain lines and those in duodecimo and quarto have horizontal chain lines. All of the books described below are normal in this respect unless otherwise remarked. A book might be made up with different paper stocks with differing watermark designs, and we have noted the fact when we found more than one design in a book; but a record here of only one design does not guarantee that only one paper stock, and therefore one design, was used in each book, much less in each issue. When a title-page imprint indicates the year subsequent to the actual year of publication, as in the second edition of Essays, Moral and Political, the ex­plan­ ation is likely to be the practice stated by John Nichols: ‘The Rule in general observed among Printers is, that when a Book happens not to be ready for publi­ cation before November, the date of the ensuing year is used’ (Literary Anecdotes, 3: 249 n; cf. 1: 414). This practice reflects the fact that the book trade, in England as well as in Scotland, did not normally follow the legal calendar starting the new year on 25 March, though the New Style calendar was adopted in England as late as 1752. A book published at one time and subsequently bound or rebound so as to ­incorporate it into a set might be, in common-sense terms, a reissue of an old book. In bibliographic taxonomy, however, the binding does not qualify a copy as a re­issue. Bibliographic terms, as Gaskell says, ‘are used with reference only to the printed sheets of a book, and are not affected by binding variants’ (Introduction to Bibliography, 316). In some books we found certain press figures to have been mysteriously punched out. Almost uniformly the holes are distinct rectangles, and in some instances the figures survive as chads folded back onto the reverse side of the leaf. Cases can be made for both the possibilities that the punches are deliberate or that they are acci­ dents of presswork. One can imagine a practice involving frisket sheets that might produce such holes where press figures should have appeared, in which case the figures should be recorded as present because effaced accidentally. In the absence of a determination of the question, we have treated the incidents as potentially delib­ erate and recorded them as variants in the press figures. We have tried not to aggravate the inherently abstruse nature of bibliography. The standardization of its terminology is a necessary measure against confusion.

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Useful glossaries of this terminology can be found in an appendix to Nidditch’s edition of Locke’s Essay concerning Human Understanding (805–20) and in Williams and Abbott’s Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies (142–70).

L I ST O F S IGLA 1741 ‘1742’ [1741] 1742 1748a 1748b 1752a 1752b 1753 ‘1753’ [1752b] 1754a 1754b 1757 1758 1760a 1760b 1764 1767 1768 1770a 1770b 1772 1777

Essays, Moral and Political [1st edn., vol. 1] (Edinburgh, 1741). Essays, Moral and Political, 2nd edn. [vol. 1] (Edinburgh, ‘1742’). Essays, Moral and Political [1st edn.], vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1742). Three Essays, Moral and Political (London, 1748). Essays, Moral and Political, 3rd edn. [i.e. 3rd of vol. 1, 2nd of vol. 2] (London, 1748), consolidating vols. 1–2 and adding 3 essays. Political Discourses [1st edn.] (Edinburgh, 1752). Political Discourses, 2nd edn. (Edinburgh, 1752). ETSS, vol. 1 (London, 1753), Essays, Moral and Political, 4th edn. [i.e. a new edn. of the Essays consolidated and augmented in 1748b]. ETSS, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1753), Political Discourses, 2nd edn. reissued for the nonce collection. Political Discourses, 3rd edn. (Edinburgh, 1754), self-standing issue. ETSS, vol. 4 (‘London’ [Edinburgh], 1754), Political Discourses, 3rd edn., separate issue for the nonce collection. Four Dissertations (London, 1757). ETSS (London, 1758), 1-vol. consolidation. ETSS, vol. 1 of 4 (London, 1760), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, pt. 1. ETSS, vol. 2 of 4 (London, 1760), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, pt. 2. ETSS, vol. 1 of 2 (London, 1764), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. ETSS, vol. 1 of 2 (London, 1767), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. ETSS, vol. 1 of 2 (London, 1768), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. ETSS, vol. 1 of 4 (London, 1770), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, pt. 1. ETSS, vol. 2 of 4 (London, 1770), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, pt. 2. ETSS, vol. 1 of 2 (London, 1772), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. ETSS, vol. 1 of 2 (London, 1777), Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary.

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D E SC R I PT IONS Essays, Moral and Political 1741  ESTC T4004, ‘a neat Pocket Volume’1 Title-page. ESSAYS, | MORAL | AND | POLITICAL. | [rule] | Tros Rutuluſve fuat, nullo diſcrimine habebo. | Virg. | [rule] | [ornament: fruit and flower overflow­ ing a footed circular tazza with an overhanging rim] | [rule] | EDINBURGH, | Printed by R. Fleming and A. Alison, | for A. Kincaid Bookſeller, and Sold at | his Shop above the Croſs. Mdccxli. Notes. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 32. Collation. 8° (in 4s): π4 A–Z4 2A2 [$1 signed]; 98 leaves; pp. i–ii iii–v vi–viii 1–57 58 59–77 78 79–103 104 105–17 118 119–51 152 153–71 172 173–87 188 = 196 pp. (in some copies 184 misprinted 284). Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r–π3r ‘Advertiſement’ (i.e. Hume’s preface), verso blank; π4r ‘CONTENTS’, verso blank; A1r–2A2r essays, 2A2v blank (H1v, K3v, N4v, P3v, T4v, Y2v blank). Notes. There are no press figures. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay con­ cludes on a recto, the verso of that leaf is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and normally is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY VI’ on H2r). Preliminary page v, however, has the catch­ word ‘CON-’, corresponding to ‘CONTENTS’ on page vii. When a page has a foot­ note, catchwords appear above the single rule separating the note from the text. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Normally the water­ mark on the paper is ‘Vryheyt’, shown as figure 38 by Gaskell (New Introduction, 70). Catchword discrepancies.

C2v (page 20) I was [I Was] L4v (page 88) How [How,] M1v (page 90) fore [fore,]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); preface (pp. iii–v); blank (p. vi); Contents (p. vii); blank (p. viii); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 1–8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–18); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 19–26); Essay IV, That politics may be reduc’d to a science (pp. 27–48); Essay V, Of the first principles of government (pp. 49–57); blank (p. 58); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 59–68); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 69–77); blank (p. 78); Essay VIII, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 79–92); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 93–103); blank (p. 104); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 105–17); blank (p. 118); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 119–40); Essay XII, Of superstition and enthusiasm 1  Characterizing quotations in the headings, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from con­ temporary advertisements.

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(pp. 141–51); blank (p. 152); Essay XIII, Of avarice (pp. 153–60); Essay XIV, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 161–71); blank (p. 172); Essay XV, Of liberty and des­ potism (pp. 173–87); blank (p. 188). Note. The table of contents has the spellings ‘Politicks’ and ‘Republick’ while else­ where in the book the words are, as a rule, spelled without the letter K. The running titles on D4r and E4r have the letter K.  On page 176, the running title ‘ESSAY XIV.’ should be ‘ESSAY XV.’ Copies examined. U of Illinois 192 H88e 1741, U of Illinois Hollander 1461b, U of Illinois Hollander 1461c, McGill B1470 1741 v. 1, Newberry Case B 243 .416 v. 1 1741, Brit. Lib. 527.f.47, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.21, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741e, Huntington 146195 v. 1, U of Penn EC75.H8823.741e v.1 Publication. Edinburgh, late June or early July 1741.2 Registered with the Stationers’ Company in London for ‘Alexr Kincaid’ on 27 August 1741. London, February 1742. Price 2s. 6d.3

‘1742’ [1741]  ESTC T33497, a new edition Title-page. ESSAYS, | MORAL | AND | POLITICAL. | [rule] | Tros Rutuluſve fuat, nullo diſcrimine habebo. | Virg. | [rule] | The Second Edition, Corrected. | [ornament: fruit and flower overflowing a footed circular tazza with an overhanging rim] | [rule] | EDINBURGH, | Printed for A. Kincaid, near the Croſs. | M.dcc.xlii. Note. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 33. The ornament is the same that had been used for 1741 (ESTC T4004) and would be for 1742 (ESTC T142762), or volume 2, suggesting that Fleming and Alison con­tinued to be the printers, though unnamed on the imprint. The imprint of U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741eb v. 1 differs from imprints in other copies in retaining the word ‘Bookſeller’: ‘EDINBURGH, | Printed for A. Kincaid Bookſeller, near | the Croſs. M.dcc.xlii.’ Collation. 8° (in 4s): π4 A–2A4(‒2A4) [$1 signed]; 99 leaves; pp. i–ii iii–v vi–viii 1–57 58 59–77 78 79–103 104 105–19 120 121–53 154 155–73 174 175–89 190 = 198 pp. Note. Camb. U Lib. Yorke.d.204–5, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741eb v. 1–2, and Huntington 146195 v. 1–2 have matching bindings indicat­ ing that they, and probably others like them, were paired as volumes 1 and 2 of Essays, Moral and Political; but the binding is irrelevant for bibliographic classification. 2  Scots Magazine, 3 (June 1741): 280 (under the title Essays on Various Subjects); Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5439 (6 July 1741), 4; Caledonian Mercury, nos. 3320, 3324 (7, 16 July 1741), 4, 4; Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5442 (13 July 1741), 4. 3  Daily Post, no. 7013 (26 Feb. 1742), 2; Daily Advertiser, no. 3466 (27 Feb., 2 Mar. 1742), 4, 4; London Evening-Post, no. 2233 (2–4 Mar. 1742), 2; Champion, no. 360 (2 Mar. 1741/2), 3 (Henry Field­ing’s Opposition paper followed the legal calendar starting the new year on 25 March); Gentleman’s Magazine, 12 (Mar. 1742): 168; London Magazine, 11 (Mar. 1742): 156.

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In their printed sheets, the respective first volumes of these pairs instantiate ‘1742’ [1741] (ESTC T33497), which is a 2nd edition of what would become volume 1 when 1742, already in press, was published. Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r–π3r ‘Advertiſement’ (i.e. Hume’s preface), verso blank; π4r ‘CONTENTS’, verso blank; A1r-2A3r essays, 2A3v blank (H1v, K3v, N4v, P4v, U1v, Y3v blank). Notes. There are no press figures. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, the verso of that leaf is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. H1r with ‘ESSAY VI’ on H2r). When a page has a footnote, catchwords appear above the single rule separating the note from the text. When footnotes carry over onto the next page they have in add­ ition their own catchword beneath the note. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. The watermark on the paper is ‘Vryheyt’, shown as figure 38 by Gaskell (New Introduction, 70). Catchword discrepancy. T3r (page 149) der [der,] Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); preface (pp. iii-v); blank (p. vi); Contents (p. vii); blank (p. viii); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 1–8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–18); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 19–26); Essay IV, That politics may be reduc’d to a science (pp. 27–48); Essay V, Of the first principles of government (pp. 49–57); blank (p. 58); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 59–68); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 69–77); blank (p. 78); Essay VIII, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 79–92); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 93–103); blank (p. 104); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 105–19); blank (p. 120); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 121–42); Essay XII, Of superstition and enthu­ siasm (pp. 143–53); blank (pp. 154); Essay XIII, Of avarice (pp. 155–62); Essay XIV, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 163–73); blank (p. 174); Essay XV, Of liberty and despotism (pp. 175–89); blank (p. 190). Note. The table of contents has the spelling ‘Politicks’ and ‘Republick’ while else­ where in the book the words are, as a rule, spelled without the ‘k’. Copies examined. U of Illinois 192 H88e 1742, McGill B1470 1742, U of Chicago B1470 1742 v. 1 Rare Bk, Brit. Lib. 1249.a.4, Camb. U Lib. Yorke.d.204, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741eb v. 1, Harvard *EC75.H8823.742eb (Kames’s copy) Publication. c.15 December 1741.4

4  Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509 (15 Dec. 1741), 4: ‘This Day is published, The SECOND EDITION of ESSAYS on VARIOUS SUBJECTS’ (incorrect title, but the correct table of ­contents is given).

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1742  ESTC T142762, augmenting the Essays into ‘Two neat Pocket volumes’ Title-page. ESSAYS, | MORAL | AND | POLITICAL. | [rule] | Volume II. | [rule] | [ornament: fruit and flower overflowing a footed circular tazza with an over­ hanging rim] | [rule] | EDINBURGH, | Printed for A. Kincaid, near the Croſs, | by R. Fleming and A. Alison. | M.dcc.xlii. Note. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 32. The ornament is the same used for 1741 (ESTC T4004) and ‘1742’ [1741] (ESTC T33497), which now become, retrospectively, the two editions of volume 1. Camb. U Lib. Yorke.d.204–5, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741eb v. 1–2, and Huntington 146195 v. 1–2, have matching bindings indicating that they, and probably others like them, were paired as volumes 1 and 2 of Essays, Moral and Political; but the binding is irrelevant for bibliographic classification. In their printed sheets, the respective first volumes of these pairs instantiate ‘1742’ [1741], which is a 2nd edition of what would become volume 1 when 1742, already in press, was published. (U of Penn. EC75.H8823 741e v. 1–2 also have matching bindings, but vol. 1 of that set is a copy of 1741. Its vol. 2 lacks the prelims except the title-page.) Collation. 8° (in 4s): π4(‒π4) A–2C4(‒2C4) [$1 signed; $ signatures preceded by ‘Vol. II.’]; 106 leaves; pp. i–ii iii–iv v–vi 1–137 138 139–201 202 203–5 206 = 212 pp. Note. In all copies examined, the page number for page 173 has dropped out in the printing. The watermark on the paper normally is ‘Vryheyt’, shown as figure 38 by Gaskell (New Introduction, 70), but four copies examined have also ‘Propatria’, shown as figure 37, either at the last gathering or for the title-page. One copy appears to have at gathering Z the watermark ‘Foolscap’, shown as figure 36. Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r-v ‘Advertiſement’ (i.e. a preface) and errata; π3r ‘CONTENTS.’, verso blank; A1r–2C3r essays, 2C3v blank (S1v, 2C1v blank). Notes. There are no press figures. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, the verso of that leaf is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY IX’ on S2r). When a page has a footnote, catchwords appear above the single rule separating the note from the text. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Discrepancy in running title: page 116 incorrectly reads ‘ESSAY VI.’ instead of ‘VII.’ Catchword discrepancies.

C4v (page 24) General [Avocat-General] D3v (page 30) ons [ons,] 2B4v (page 200) contrary. [contrary,]

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Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); preface and errata (pp. iii–iv); Contents (p. v); blank (p. vi); Essay I, Of essay-writing (pp. 1–8); Essay II, Of elo­ quence (pp. 9–32); Essay III, Of moral prejudices (pp. 33–42); Essay IV, Of the middle station of life (pp. 43–52); Essay V, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 53–100); Essay VI, The Epicurean (pp. 101–14); Essay VII, The stoic (pp. 115–30); Essay VIII, The Platonist (pp. 131–7); blank (p. 138); Essay IX, The sceptic (pp. 139–74); Essay X, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 175–92); Essay XI, Of simplicity and refinement (pp. 193–201); blank (p. 202); Essay XII, A character of Sir Robert Walpole (pp. 203–5); blank (p. 206). Copies examined. U of Illinois 192 H88e 1742a, U of Illinois Hollander 1461d, McGill B1470 1741 v. 2, Newberry Case B 243 .416 v. 2, U of Chicago B1470 1742 v. 2 Rare Bk, Brit. Lib. 1249.a.5, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.22, Camb. U Lib. Yorke.d.205, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741eb v. 2, Huntington 146195 v. 2, U of Penn. EC75.H8823 741e v.2 Publication. In press in mid-December 1741 and advertised for release in Edinburgh in January 1742.5 Likely published in January in Edinburgh and May in London. Price 2s. 6d. bound. Price 5s. for a 2-volume set.6

1748a  ESTC T152264, a supplement for purchasers of 1741, ‘1742’ [1741], or 1742 Title-page. THREE ESSAYS, | MORAL | AND | POLITICAL: | Never before publiſhed. | Which compleats the former Edition, in two | Volumes, Octavo. | [rule] | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | [rule] | [ornament: a round starburst in a gar­ land] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, over againſt Catharine | Street in the Strand; and A. Kincaid in | Edinburgh. | M.DCC.XLVIII. 5  Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509 (15 Dec. 1741), 4 (‘The SECOND VOLUME is now in the Press, and will be published in January next.’), and no. 5554 (30 Mar. 1742), 3; Scots Magazine, 4 (Jan. 1742): 48; Caledonian Mercury, no. 3358 (22 Mar. 1742), 3. The London Magazine, 11 (Feb. 1742): 19, reprints the Walpole essay and gives an Edinburgh publishing dateline of 28 January 1742, stating that the 1742 second volume was ‘lately publish’d’. The London Magazine reported that the Walpole essay reached the magazine’s diarist in London on 2 February. The Walpole essay is published in the Scots Magazine in the same January issue cited above (4: 38–9), where it is stated that the essay had been ‘Taken from the Essays moral and political, vol. 2. lately published at Edinburgh’. The Scots Magazine did not go to press until after the end of any month whose news it relates—during this period a week or more into the new month, as is indicated by ad­vert­ise­ ments in the Caledonian Mercury as well as internal dating and news in the Scots Magazine. 6  Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal, nos. 708-9 (1, 8 May 1742), 4, 4 (‘Two neat Pocket Volumes’); Daily Post, nos. 7068–9 (1, 3 May 1742), 2, 2; London Evening-Post, nos. 2264, 2268, 2292, 2296 (13–15, 22–5 May; 15–17, 27–9 July 1742), 2, 4, 4, 4. The price for the two-volume set remained at 5s. in 1748. When Hume’s Philosophical Essays was published, advertisements were placed for ‘Two neat Pocket Volumes’ of Essays, Moral and Political, at 5s. in General Advertiser (19–21, 22–3, 26 Apr. 1748); London Evening-Post (23–6 Apr. 1748); General Evening Post (16–19, 23–6 Apr. 1748). For reasons stated below on pp. 455-6, the advertised two-volume set is 1741–2, not the 3rd edn. of 1748, which appeared in one volume.

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Notes. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 38. As indicated on the title-page, the choice of octavo matches this book in size with volumes 1 and 2 of Essays, Moral and Political (1741–2), for which it was advertised as a supplement: ‘The Three Additional ESSAYS, Price ſewed 1s.’ Despite the obvious intention, copies of the pamphlet can be found bound with Philosophical Essays (e.g. U of Neb. Lincoln B1470 1784), which likewise was marketed in 1748. The ornament on the title-page is generically the same, if not from the selfsame type-ornament, as that used for the title-page of 1748b, the 3rd edition of Essays, Moral and Political (ESTC T4008). The supplement and 1748b were advertised together. The bearded grotesque appearing three times in 1748b appears in 1748a on A2r following the table of contents. On page 28 there is a rococo fleuron not found in 1748b. The prima facie case for supposing that 1748b was printed in London but not by Strahan or the Bowyer partnership (given below in the notes for 1748b) would seem to apply to 1748a. Collation. 8°: A2 B-D8 E6 [$4 signed]; 32 leaves; pp. i–iv 1 2–60 = 64 pp. (pp. 30 misnumbered as 31, 31 as 30, and 51 as 5, having lost its ‘1’ in some copies). Note. The ‘printing formula’ probably is A2(=E7–8) B–D8 E8(−E7−8). Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r ‘CONTENTS’, verso blank; B1r–E6v essays. Note. Watermarks, e.g. on B4 and C4, would appear to be a version of ‘Vryheyt’, shown as figure 38 by Gaskell (New Introduction, 70). As in 1748b, catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords (e.g. C4r). Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Running-title discrepancies: page 30 [‘31’] has ‘Of the Original Contracp.’, and page 33 has ‘Of the Original Contrlct.’ Catchword discrepancy.   B1v (page 2) to [o] Press figures.

1: B6v, D5r 2: C1v C5r 3: E5r

Note. Fleming’s known productions for Hume have no press figures. On the other hand, both 1748b and 1748a have figures 1, 2, and 3, though the former is 158 leaves and the latter only 32. The employment of three pressmen for both might reflect the printing of the two concurrently by the same workers. The two do not have the same paper stock and watermarks, but that divergence might follow from one’s being duodecimo and the other octavo, requiring sheets of different sizes. Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii), blank (p. iv); Essay I, Of national characters (pp. 1–28); Essay II, Of the original contract (pp. 29–54); Essay III, Of passive obedience (pp. 55–60).

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Copies examined. Brit. Lib. G.718, Nat. Lib. of Scotland RB.s.342 (reported by M. A. Stewart), and U of Neb. Lincoln B1470 1784 (reported by William Dooling) Publication. c.19 November 1748. Price 1s. sewed.7

1748b  ESTC T4008, a consolidation substituting three essays, plus a reissue for the nonce collection Title-page. ESSAYS, | MORAL | AND | POLITICAL. | [rule] | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | [rule] | The Third Edition, Corrected, with Additions. | [rule] | [ornament: a round starburst in a garland] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, over againſt Catharine Street | in the Strand; and A.  Kincaid in Edinburgh. | M.DCC.XLVIII. Notes. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 34. As noted for 1748a, the orna­ ment is generically the same as that for the title-page of Three Essays, Moral and Political (ESTC T152264), if not from the selfsame type-ornament. The bearded grotesque found in 1748a appears in 1748b on π2v, L3v, and M12v. Rococo fleurons on E8v, F3v, F9r, and M1v serve as tailpieces. The change of the title-page ornament from an overflowing tazza to a starburst and a change in type face suggest that the third edition was not printed by Fleming and Alison. In stating that the Essays were ‘Formerly printed at Edinburgh in Two Volumes’, the London advertisements would seem to indicate tacitly that Edinburgh was not the city of manufacture for this one-volume consolidation. Though the prominence of London and Millar in the imprint suggests London as the place of manufacture, there is no record of this edition or of Three Essays in Strahan’s, Emonson’s, or Bowyer’s ledgers. In his ‘ “First” Edition of Hume’s Essays and Treatises’ (41), Colver disproves Cochrane’s supposition that Strahan’s ledgers record the printing of 1748b (Dr. Johnson’s Printer, 44 n.). There is an instance (1754b) of a book printed in Edinburgh with an imprint that at face value suggests printing in London. But the bearded grotesque used as an ornament in both 1748a and 1748b appears also on the title-pages of volumes 3–4 of the 6th edition of Cato’s Letters (1755), a set with Millar’s and Mary Cooper’s names on the imprint. Although no printer is named, there is no reason to think the set was printed else­ where than London, as the imprint indicates. Collation. 12o: π2 A-N12 [$6 signed]; 158 leaves; pp. i–iii iv 1–312 = 316 pp. (112 is misprinted as 104, 292 as 262, 302 as 202, 306 as 206; in some copies, page 47 is losing or has lost its ‘7’ and 213 loses its ‘3’). Notes. Signature K4 is missigned as K3, producing two K3 leaves. In add­ition to the shift for 1748b to duodecimo from the format of octavo in fours used by Kincaid in 7  Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 433–5 (17–19, 19–22, 22–4 Nov. 1748), 2, 4, 3.

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Edinburgh, the practice is here dropped of beginning all essays on rectos. The shift in format matched 1748b with the duodecimo Philosophical Essays printed and pub­ lished in April 1748, allowing Millar to market them together as ‘Eſſays Moral, Political, and Philoſophical . . . 2 vol. 6 s.’ (General Advertiser, no. 4959 (12 September 1750), 4). This notional two-volume set does not appear to exist as either a separate issue or reissue of the two books; evidently it was simply a coupling of two items in stock, with perhaps bindings indicating volume numbers. Press figures. 3: A11v, B11v B12v, E12r, F8v, G5v, H8v, I6v (or punched °°°or none) I8r, K12r 1: A12v, C8r, D11r, F11v, K8v, L12r, N6v N8r 2: C12v, D11v, E11r, G8v (or punched °°) G12v, H7v, L12v, M7v (or punched °), M8v ° King’s Coll. Lond. Foyle Spec. Colls B1476 H8, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D3, Brit. Lib. 527.b.38, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.11 °° Brit. Lib. 527.b.38, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D3, King’s Coll. Lond. Foyle Spec. Colls B1476 H8 °°° Boston Public Lib. B1470.1748 Notes. The reissue noted below (McGill B1455 1753 v. 1) has no figure 3 at I6v, but in the copy of 1748b in Boston Public Library it is punched and folded back onto the recto. In Brit. Lib. 527.b.38 the punched figure at M7v hangs as a chad folded back onto M7r. In Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D3, the figure 2 at G8v hangs as a chad folded back onto the recto. Gathering G is the sole gathering with three figures. Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r-v ‘CONTENTS’; A1r–N12v essays (no blanks). Notes. The watermark sporadically and partly visible at fore-edges is ‘NH’. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords (e.g. D10r). Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. On G3v (page 150), De Retz’s Memoirs is printed as ‘De Ret’s Memoirs.’ Catchword discrepancies.

B12r (page 47) therefore [therefore,] K3r (page 223) ful [ful,] M3r (page 269) char- [Character] N11r (page 309) Rebel- [bellion]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 1–6); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 7–13); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 14–19); Essay IV, That politics may be reduc’d to a science (pp. 20–38); Essay V, Of the first principles of govern­ ment (pp. 39–45); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 46–52); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 53–9); Essay VIII, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 60–9); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 70–7); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 78–88); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 89–104); Essay XII, Of superstition

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and enthusiasm (pp. 105–12); Essay XIII, Of avarice (pp. 113–18); Essay XIV, Of the  dignity of human nature (pp. 119–26); Essay XV, Of liberty and despotism (pp. 127–37); Essay XVI, Of eloquence (pp. 138–55); Essay XVII, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 156–92); Essay XVIII, The Epicurean (pp.  193–202); Essay XIX, The stoic (pp. 203–14); Essay XX, The Platonist (pp. 215–19); Essay XXI, The sceptic (pp. 220–46); Essay XXII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 247–59); Essay XXIII, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 260–6); Essay XXIV, Of national characters (pp. 267–88); Essay XXV, Of the original ­contract (pp. 289–307); Essay XXVI, Of passive obedience (pp. 308–12). Notes. The three last essays (XXIV–XXVI)—otherwise the contents of Three Essays, Moral and Political (1748a)—supplant ‘Essay Writing’, ‘Moral Prejudices’, and ‘Middle Station of Life’, which had appeared in Essays, volume 2 (1742). ‘Of Simplicity and Refinement’ is now retitled ‘Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing’. Copies examined. U of Illinois Hollander 1462, McGill B1470 1748 c. 1, McGill B1470 1748 c. 2, U of Chicago B1470 1748 Rare Bk N-4683, Camb. U Lib. S180.d.74.2, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.11, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.741ec, Beauchamp/Evans, Huntington 83346, King’s Coll. Lond. Foyle Spec. Colls B1476 H8 (report by Katie Sambrook), Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D3, Brit. Lib. 527.b.38, Boston Public Lib. B1470.1748 (presentation copy ‘From the Author’) Note. Additionally, there are reissues of 1748b (ESTC T217867) for the nonce collec­ tion with cancellans title-pages for 1753, indicating wrongly that the books are the 4th edition of Essays, Moral and Political, e.g. McGill B1455 1753 v. 1. Jessop describes an aberrant reissue of 1748b (Bibliography, 5) with both the 1753 and 1748b title-pages: Bodleian 12 Θ 708. A similar aberration caused by the addition of a title-page leaf for 1753 is evidently the copy reported as Chuo 3.1, which has two title-pages redundantly indicating, correctly, that it is the 4th edition. The two title-pages are identical in content but are not from the same setting of type, suggesting that one is a misplaced copy of the separately printed cancellans intended for the re­issu­ing of an unsold copy of 1748b. Publication. c.17 November 1748. Price 3s. bound.8

8  Scots Magazine, 10 (Nov. 1748): 564 (‘Edit. 3. with three more additional essays’); Whitehall Evening Post, nos. 433–5 (17–19, 19–22, 22–4 Nov. 1748), 2, 4, 3; London Evening-Post, nos. 3284– 8, 3291 (17–19, 19–22, 22–4, 24–6, 26–9 Nov., 3–6 Dec. 1748), each at p. 3; London Magazine, 17 (Nov. 1748): 528 no. 10; Gentleman’s Magazine, 18 (Nov. 1748): 528. Earlier in 1748, when Philosophical Essays was published and advertised, the Essays, Moral and Political, in the permuta­ tion as ‘Two neat Pocket Volumes’ was still being advertised in General Advertiser (19–21, 22–3, 26 Apr. 1748); London Evening-Post (23–6 Apr. 1748); General Evening Post (16–19, 23–6 Apr. 1748).  The price of the third edition remained at 3s. in 1751 when advertisements were placed for An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals in the following journals: Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 907–11 (19–21, 21–3, 23–6, 26–8, 28–30 Nov. 1751); London Evening-Post (14–16, 21–3, 23–6, 26–8 Nov. 1751); General Evening Post, no. 2805 (26–8 Nov. 1751); General Advertiser, nos. 5336– 40 (26–30 Nov. 1751).

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1753  ESTC T167242, a new edition produced for inclusion in the nonce collection Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | IN FOUR VOLUMES. | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | Essays, Moral and Political. | The Fourth Edition corrected, with Additions. | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, in Edinburgh. | M DCC LIII. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1. Chuo 3.1 records an aberrant copy with two title-pages, both for 1753. Collation. 12o: A2 B–O12 P10 [$6 signed (−A1, P6); signing of 1st leaf in each gather­ ing preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 168 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–331 332 = 336 pp. (171 misprinted as 151, 243 as 343; in some copies 227 has lost its ‘7’). Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS.’ and errata; B1r–P10r essays (P10v blank). Press figures.

2: B8v, F7v, G7r, I6v, M7r 3: D12r 7: E5v, K11r, L8v, O5v 4: F8v, N5v 6: H12r, O12v, P2v

Notes. Leaves have no watermarks. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords, as on page 251. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Catchword discrepancies.

C12v (page 48) therefore [therefore,] F3v (page 102) political [polical]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents and errata (pp. iii–iv); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 1–6); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 7–13); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 14–19); Essay IV, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 20–39); Essay V, Of the first principles of government (pp. 40–6); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 47–53); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 54–60); Essay VIII, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 61–70); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 71–8); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 79–89); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great-Britain (pp. 90–105); Essay XII, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 106–13); Essay XIII, Of avarice (pp. 114–19); Essay XIV, Of

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the dignity of human nature (pp. 120–8); Essay XV, Of liberty and despotism (pp. 129–39); Essay XVI, Of eloquence (pp. 140–58); Essay XVII, Of the rise and pro­ gress of the arts and sciences (pp. 159–97); Essay XVIII, The Epicurean (pp. 198–208); Essay XIX, The stoic (pp. 209–20); Essay XX, The Platonist (pp. 221–5); Essay XXI, The sceptic (pp. 226–55); Essay XXII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 256– 69); Essay XXIII, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 270–6); Essay XXIV, Of national characters (pp. 277–300); Essay XXV, Of the original contract (pp. 301–26); Essay XXVI, Of passive obedience (pp. 327–31); blank (p. 332). Note. The table of contents wrongly indicates that ‘Liberty and Despotism’ begins on p. 128. The division of the word ‘philosophy’ between pages 320–1 precipitated its misspelling as ‘philophy’. Discrepancies in running titles: on page 22, ‘ESSAY III.’ should be ‘ESSAY IV.’, on page 222, ‘ESSAY XIX.’ should be ‘ESSAY XX.’, and on page 278, ‘ESSAY XIV’ should be ‘ESSAY XXIV’. In at least two copies the pronoun ‘I’ has been lost in the phrase ‘I Believe’ on page 2 (B1v). Copies examined. U of Illinois x304 H88 1753 v. 1, Newberry Y 145 .H884, Brit. Lib. RB.23.a.35297, Sen. House Lib. [BPS] Texts 120, Camb. U Lib. XXVII.92.140, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.17, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center B 1455 A5 1753 v. 1, Trinity Coll. Dublin Lecky A.1.35, Boston Public Lib. B1455.A5.175 v. 1 Production. 1000 copies, printed April 1753 (14 sheets at £1. 10s., total £21. 0s.).9 Publication. c.18 Apr. 1753. The price apparently remained at 12s. bound (4 vols.) throughout the course of sales of this edition, and volumes could be purchased individually.10

Political Discourses 1752a  ESTC T4007, ‘Elegantly printed in Octavo’ Title-page. POLITICAL | DISCOURSES. | BY | DAVID HUME esq. | EDINBURGH, | Printed by R. Fleming, | For A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson. | [short rule] | M.DCC.LII. Note. Facsimile of title-page: Chuo 70–1. 9  Strahan Ledgers, London: British Library, Department of Manuscripts. Add MS 48800, fo. 84. [William Strahan, Printer. Receipts and Payments Accounts. Add. MS 48800 (1739–68; credits and payments to 1773), 48801 (1768–85), 48815 (later entries).] 10  Public Advertiser, nos. 5763–70 (18–21, 23–6 Apr. 1753), 1. See also Public Advertiser (10–16 Dec. 1754), advertising 4-vol. ETSS; Whitehall Evening Post, nos. 1341–2 (12–14, 14–17 Dec. 1754); London Evening-Post, no. 4566 (10–12 Feb. 1757). On 12 September 1754, Hume wrote to the Abbé Le Blanc that ‘The only good Edition of my Essays moral & political is the fourth’ (Letters, 1: 192), meaning that it was the best suited for Le Blanc to translate.

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Collation. 8o (in 4s): π2 A–2P4 χ4 [$1 signed]; 158 leaves; pp. i–iv 1 2–22 23 24–40 41 42–59 60–1 62–78 79 80–114 115 116–22 123 124–41 142–3 144–54 155 156–261 262–3 264–79 280–1 282–304 1 2–6 7–8 = 316 pp. Note. There is a printing error caused by the interruption of the last sentence on page 231 and its resumption on 234 by two pages (232–3) that are filled with a note beginning on 231 and ending on 234. The phrase stretching past pages 232–3 to resume on 234 should read, ‘his own way, without admitting | the extravagant con­ sequences’. Instead it repeats itself on 234, beginning, ‘own way, without admitting the extravagant consequences’. Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r ‘CONTENTS’, verso ‘ERRATA’; A1r–2P4v discourses; χ1r–χ4v back matter (H2v, S3v, 2K3v, 2M4v blank). Notes. The table of contents lists the discourses without giving page numbers. Leaves are c.17.5 cm. in height × c.11.3 cm. in width from headband to fore-edge. The book design is such that all discourses begin on (unpaginated) rectos, with the result that discourses ending on rectos are followed by blank versos and that all four blank pages fall on versos facing com­men­cing discourses. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘DIS-’ (correlating e.g. with ‘DISCOURSE IV’ as on H2r and H3r). Catchwords are located above any footnotes except that footnotes carrying over from one page to the next have their own catchwords beneath them. Catchword discrepancies.

A1r (page 1) ers, [ers] 2I3v (page 254) domus [domus,] 2M1r (page 273) orders, [orders]

Watermark. The watermark for the appended Scotticisms, as for the leaves of the discourses, is a version of the design shown by Churchill as facs. 318, an example of the ‘Horn’ (Watermarks, CCLI). Fully visible, this watermark would show a horn hung in a crowned shield with the name ‘L V Gerrevink’ beneath it. See also Heawood 2745. Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (p. iii); errata (p. iv); headtitle: ‘Political Diſcourſes.’, followed by ‘DISCOURSE I’ (p. 1); Discourse I, Of com­ merce (pp. 1–22); Discourse II, Of luxury (pp. 23–40); Discourse III, Of money (pp. 41–59); blank (p. 60); Discourse IV, Of interest (pp. 61–78); Discourse V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 79–100); Discourse VI, Of the balance of power (pp. 101–14); Discourse VII, Of taxes (pp. 115–22); Discourse VIII, Of public credit (pp. 123–41); blank (p. 142); Discourse IX, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 143–54); Discourse X, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 155–261); blank (p. 262); Discourse XI, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 263–79); blank (p. 280); Discourse XII, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 281–304); Scotticisms (pp. 1–6); advertisement (pp. 7–8). Note. Some copies of 1752a include a list of ‘Scotticiſms’ (χ1–χ3) and ad­vert­ise­ ments of ‘BOOKS publiſhed by the ſame Author’ (χ4r), specifically Essays, Moral

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and Political, in the 26-essay permutation (1748b, or ESTC T4008), the Philosophical Essays, and the Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. Usually the insert is appended to the end of the book, but one copy (Chuo 71) has the list and advertise­ ments inserted into the preliminaries between the title-page leaf and the table of contents. U of Arizona H35.H92 has it between the preliminaries and the dis­ courses. Arguably it is adventitious and no part of an ideal description of 1752a: (a) it is inserted into only some copies, (b) it is not included in the 2nd edition, (c) the location of insertion varies from copy to copy, (d) its pagination is separate from that of the discourses, (e) and it is not listed in the table of contents. For a description and a transcription see the editors’ Appendix 1. Copies examined. *Oregon State U Valley Lib. Spec. Colls. McDonald H35.H92, *McGill B1477 1752, *Sen. House Lib. [GL] 1752, *Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.3, *U of Arizona H35.H92, *Huntington 356212, U of Illinois 330 H882p, U of Illinois Hollander 1466, Newberry Case H3 .424, U of Chicago H35 .H92 Rare, Brit. Lib. 522.g.7, Camb. U Lib. S200.d.75.2, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.2, King’s Coll. Lond. Lib. Foyle Spec. Colls JC176.H8, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.752p (* = w/Scotticisms & advt.) Production. Printed by R. Fleming c.29 September 1751.11 Publication. Edinburgh, mid-January 1752.12 London, late February or early March 1752.13 Price 4s. 6d. bound.

1752b  ESTC T83618, a new permutation in a different format as ‘a Neat Pocket Volume’ Title-page. POLITICAL | DISCOURSES. | BY | DAVID HUME esq. | THE SECOND EDITION. | EDINBURGH, | Printed by R. Fleming, | For A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson. | [short rule] | M.DCC.LII. Note. Facsimile of title-page: Chuo 72. Collation. 12o (in 6s): π2 A–2B6 2C2 [$3 signed (−2C2)]; 154 leaves; pp. i–iv 1 2–22 23 24–40 41 42–59 60–1 62–78 79 80–100 101 102–14 115 116–22 123 124–41

11  On this date Hume wrote to Robert Wallace that ‘The [Political] Discourses are at present in the Press, & will be publish’d as soon as they are printed off & sufficiently dry; which I fancy will require two or three Months. Mr. Kincaid, . . . is printing them’ (New Letters, 30). Doubtless Hume means that Kincaid is having them printed by Fleming, who is named the printer on the title-page. 12  Caledonian Mercury, nos. 4878–80 (13, 14, 16 Jan. 1752), 3, 3, 3; Edinburgh Evening Courant, no longer with issue or vol. nos. (13, 14, 16 Jan. 1752), 2, 3, 3; Scots Magazine, 14 (Jan. 1752): 56. 13  Registered at Stationers’ Hall, Stationers’ Co. Records, entry book of copies, 14 Feb. 1752, p. 109, for Kincaid and Donaldson. Gentleman’s Magazine, 22 (Feb. 1752): 94; London EveningPost, no. 3803–4 (3–5, 5–7 Mar. 1752), 2; London Magazine, 21 (Mar.–Apr. 1752): 96 no. 32.

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142–3 144–54 155 156–262 263 264–79 280–1 282–304 = 308 pp. (208 misprinted as 108). Note. A reason for Kincaid and Donaldson to produce a new version in duodecimo might have been to have some copies available for use as volume 4 in the planned duodecimo ETSS (‘1753’ [1752b], below). Strahan registered printing the cancel­ lans title-pages in April 1753, nearly a year after the publication of the 2nd edition of Political Discourses. Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r ‘CONTENTS’, verso blank; A1r-2C2v ­discourses (E6v, M5v, 2A2v blank). Notes. A leaf of advertisements is inserted into the preliminaries of some copies, either after or before the title-page leaf. Unsold copies being re­issued as ‘1753’ [1752b] would have the advertisement leaf removed as superfluously advertising titles included in the set. Some copies not reissued had the insert removed, such as Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D2, Lond. School of Econ. Lib. CANNAN 41, and Huntington 445480, wherein the inserts visibly have been removed. Removing the insert could easily tear adjacent leaves, and that accident might account for two instances of the cancellation of the contents leaf, Brit. Lib. 8012.de.3 and the reissue Brit. Lib. RB.23.a.35298. In these copies the contents leaf alone in the book has vertical chain lines and the word ‘Populousness’ in the contents is misprinted ‘Populouſueſs’. In all copies the table of contents lists the discourses without giving page numbers. Two copies, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D2 and Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.14, have bindings designating them as volume 4 of the nonce collection of 1753-6, but the printed sheets are those of the 2nd edition without a cancelled title-page, instantiat­ ing therefore 1752b, not the reissue ‘1753’ [1752b]. Probably these are what Todd calls a ‘reissue of 1752 ed. with original title’ (‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 196). Leaves are c.16.7 cm. in height × c.10 cm. in width from headband to fore-edge. Leaves have no watermarks. The book design is such that all discourses commence on (unpaginated) rectos, with the results that discourses ending on rectos are fol­ lowed by blank versos and that all four blank pages fall on versos facing com­men­ cing discourses. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘DIS-’ (correlating e.g. with ‘DISCOURSE IV’, as on E6r and F1r). Catchwords are located above any footnotes except that footnotes carrying over from one page to the next have their own catchwords beneath them. Catchword discrepancies.

P5v (page 178) (propa-)gation [gation,] in at least one copy, 2R3v (page 198) INeed [I Need] Z5r (page 273) (dis-)orders, [orders]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (p. iv); blank (p. vi); centred caption: ‘Political Diſcourſes’, followed by ‘DISCOURSE I’ (p. 1); ­ Discourse I, Of commerce (pp. 1–22); Discourse II, Of luxury (pp. 23–40);

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Discourse III, Of money (pp. 41–59); blank (p. 60); Discourse IV, Of interest (pp. 61–78); Discourse V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 79–100); Discourse VI, Of the balance of power (pp.  101–14); Discourse VII, Of taxes (pp. 115–22); Discourse VIII, Of public credit (pp. 123–41); blank (p. 142); Discourse IX, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 143–54); Discourse X, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 155–262); Discourse XI, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 263–79); blank (p. 280); Discourse XII, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 281–304). Notes. According to Todd the new version is not a second edition in strict biblio­ graphic terms, but a ‘reimpression of the first, revised and then reimposed in the new format’ (‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 194). That is, the duo­ decimo is a revised reprint in so far as the type was not substantially distributed and reset. For the problems of taxonomy see Todd, ‘Recurrent Printing’, and Bowers, Principles, 87. The qualifier ‘substantially’ makes the question one of degree, and whether a reformatted and revised version counts as a new edition if reimposition has occurred to some extent might be a ‘dispute of words’, or purely a matter of terminology among bibliographers. But the occurrence of reimposition is a hypoth­ esis to establish or disconfirm. Supporting the claim is the striking fact that the paginations in the octavo in fours and the duodecimo in sixes are very nearly identical. Advertisements indi­ cate that the first version, ‘Elegantly printed in Octavo’, was available in midJanuary 1752 and the ‘Neat Pocket Volume’ in duodecimo in May, not requiring standing type to be idle for an impracticable length of time. A great deal of revi­ sion is compatible with the reuse of substantially the same setting of type as that in the octavo (1752a). A survey of the apparatus of substantive variants for differ­ ences between the two versions turns up over forty-seven substantive changes, including the addition of two sentences and a discursive footnote. The correc­ tions stipulated in the errata list in the octavo are indeed made in the duodecimo. In both versions there is an intention to begin each paragraph with a word in caps and small caps, but in the octavo this point of typography is ignored for proper nouns, while in the duodecimo there is an imperfect attempt to display those nouns in full caps. Less likely in a reimposition are laborious but indifferent formal changes or cor­ ruptions that are not attributable to botched revisions rather than to normal acci­ dents of newly setting the type. Why, in reimposing an old setting, would Fleming’s compositors bother to change the note markers from symbols, like the double dag­ ger (‡), to lower-case letters in parentheses, like ‘(a)’? Such lower-case letters were not the uniform style for the 1753–6 ETSS, so the change was not dictated by a style prescribed for the planned collection. Such a gratuitous global change in the text is inconsistent with the economy and protection from corruptions intended with reimposition and seems more likely in the context of a new setting of type. Among the changes are corruptions—‘Thucydides’ (7 n.) to ‘Thucydidis’, ‘Pocchidanari’ (51) to ‘pocchi-danari’, ‘preventing’ (93) to ‘perverting’, ‘concurr’d’ (178) to ‘occurr’d’, ‘bigotted’ (192) to ‘biggoted’, and ‘Thucydides’s nervous stile’ (194) to

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the nonsensical ‘Thucydides, nervous stile’—that were corrected in 1754 for a new edition. On page 154 of the duodecimo the word ‘Pretend’ corrupts to ‘Pretrnd’ in a way that is easy to understand as an accident during the setting of type into the compositor’s stick. If through reimposition the old setting was to be used, the change of font for all the Greek in the text unnecessarily incurred labour costs and the risk of corruptions. An obvious explanation for the change in Greek font is that the type had been distributed and was not available during the setting of type for the duodecimo. Copies examined. U of Oregon at Eugene 330.4 H882, U of Illinois Hollander 1467, U of Illinois x330 H882p 1752a, McGill B1477 1752b, Brit. Lib. 8012.de.3, Sen. House Lib. Porteus Lib. T74/Hum, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 5602.D2, Lond. School of Econ. Lib. CANNAN 41, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.14, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.752pb, Huntington 445480, Trinity Coll. Dublin B.pp.4 Publication. May 1752 in London.14

‘1753’ [1752b]  ESTC N70236, a reissue for inclusion in the nonce collection Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. IV. | CONTAINING | POLITICAL DISCOURSES. | The Second Edition. | EDINBURGH: | Printed for A. Kincaid, and A. Donaldson. | M D CC LIII. Note: Facsimile title-page: Chuo 1.4, 3.4. Collation and contents. The same as 1752b except for a cancelled title-page: π2(±π1). Notes. Rather than a separate issue, ‘1753’ [1752b] is a reissue of 1752b with a can­ cellans for the title-page. (See the note for 1752b on whether that book is a revised reimposition of the first edition or a new edition.) In Brit. Lib. RB.23.a.35298, the contents leaf has a watermark, unlike those in the other leaves in the book. The watermark appears to be the ‘L’ in the ‘Horn’ as shown in Churchill as fig. 318 (Watermarks, CCLI). Brit. Lib. RB.23.a.35298 also has the same anomalous vertical chain lines on the contents leaf as Brit. Lib. 8012.de.3 (1752b). In this state the table of contents has the misprint, ‘Populouſueſs’. Copies examined. McGill B1455 1753 v. 4, Brit. Lib. RB.23.a.35298 Production. 500 copies of the cancellans title-page leaves for the four volumes re­issued under the ETSS title, printed April 1753 (12s. 6d.).15 14  London Evening-Post, nos. 3833–4 (12–14, 14–16 May 1752), 2; General Advertiser, nos. 5480–1 (12–13 May 1752), 1, 1. The advertisements mention no price. 15  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 84.

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Publication. c.18 April 1753. Price 12s. bound (4 vols.). Volumes were also ‘to be had separate to complete Gentlemens Sets’.16

1754a  ESTC T174609, a self-standing issue of the third edition Title-page. POLITICAL | DISCOURSES. | BY | DAVID HUME, Eſq; | The Third Edition, with Additions and | Corrections. | EDINBURGH: | Printed by Sands, Murray, and Cochran. | For A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson. | MDCCLIV. Collation. 12o: π2 A–L12 M4(−M4) [$6 signed, −M3; signing of 1st leaf in each gath­ ering preceded by ‘Vol. IV.’ (−A1)]; 137 leaves; pp. i–iv 1 2–270 = 274 pp. (266 misprinted as 166). Notes. Though the title-page indicates no relation to 1754b, volume 4 of the nonce collection, the printer planned the 3rd edition at the outset to be serviceable as vol­ ume 4 since all initial signatures except A are preceded by ‘Vol. IV.’ Todd indicates (‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 196) that Strahan’s ledgers show no sign of a printing of either the contents or a cancellans title for this volume. If cor­ rect, the fact suggests that both this self-standing issue of the 3rd edition and the separate issue as volume 4 were printed in Edinburgh, presumably by ‘Sands, Murray, and Cochran. For A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson’, as the imprint says. Neither title-page needs be a cancel if the two issues were planned and produced together. William Sands, Alexander Murray, and James Cochran were founders of the Scots Magazine. Murray and Cochran were printers, Sands a bookseller who, doubtless, had a stake in the business (Albrecht, ‘Scots Magazine’, 299–300). Contents. π1r title-page, verso blank; π2r ‘CONTENTS’, π2v ‘ERRATA’; A1r-M3v discourses. Notes. In this edition, for the first time, the table of contents gives page numbers. Leaves have no visible watermarks. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the note and the text have beneath them their own catchword. Catchword discrepancies.

H2v (page 172) banishd [banish’d] K9r (page 233) vail’d [vail’d,]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (p. iii); Errata (p. iv); Discourse I, Of commerce (pp. 1–19); Discourse II, Of luxury (pp. 20–35); Discourse III, Of money (pp. 36–52); Discourse IV, Of interest (pp. 53–68); Discourse V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 69–88); Discourse VI, Of the balance of power (pp. 89–99); Discourse VII, Of taxes (pp. 100–6); Discourse VIII, Of public credit (pp. 107–23); Discourse IX, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 124–34); 16  Public Advertiser, nos. 5763–70 (18–21, 23–6 Apr. 1753), 1 (an advertisement for the 4-vol. ETSS containing this 1753 reissue).

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Discourse X, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 135–234); Discourse XI, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 235–49); Discourse XII, Idea of a perfect ­commonwealth (pp. 250–70). Copies examined. McGill B1477 1754, Brit. Lib. 1578/6770, Camb. U Lib. 7200.d.29, U of Arizona H35.H92 1754 Note. U of Illinois x304 H88 1753 v. 4 and Harvard *EC75.H8823.752pc instantiate an aberration in which 1754a is given a cancellans title-page indicating wrongly that it is the 2nd edition (1752b) reissued for the nonce collection. Publication. Probably before 12–14 December 1754.17 The price for the 4-volume nonce collection remained 12s. bound throughout its permutations, and volumes could be purchased individually, presumably at about a quarter of that sum.18

1754b  ESTC T199633, a separate issue of the third edition for the nonce c­ ollection Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. IV. | CONTAINING | Political Discourses. | The Third Edition, with Additions and | Corrections. | LONDON: | Printed for A.  Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A.  Kincaid and A.  Donaldson, in Edinburgh. | MDCCLIV. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 2.4. Collation, contents, and catchword discrepancies. The same as 1754a aside from a dif­ ferent title-page. Some copies (e.g. U of Texas Harry Ransom Center B 1455 A5 1753 v. 4) lack a catchword on page 200. Note. Todd indicates (‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 196) that Strahan’s ledgers show no sign of a printing of the contents or a cancellans title for this issue. If correct, the fact suggests that despite the appearance given by the imprint on the title-page of 1754b, both this issue as volume 4 and the self-standing issue of the 3rd edition were printed in Edinburgh, presumptively by ‘Sands, Murray, and Cochran. For  A.  Kincaid and A.  Donaldson’, as the imprint of 1754a says. Neither title-page needs be a cancel if the two issues were planned and printed together. This issue is an instance in which a book produced in Edinburgh has a title-page that, taken at face value, suggests manufacture in London. 17  The lack of advertisements for the 3rd edition of Political Discourses might have been because in London it was marketed only as volume 4 of the Essays and Treatises after copies of the 2nd edi­ tion ran out. The separate issue in Edinburgh perhaps preceded the issue in London. At a guess, one might date the self-standing issue to some days before an advertisement for a 4-volume nonce collection: Whitehall Evening Post, nos. 1341–2 (12–14, 14–17 Dec. 1754), 3, 4. 18  Price information from Public Advertiser, nos. 5763–70 (18–21, 23–6 Apr. 1753), 1, and see in addition Public Advertiser (10, 11, 12, 13, 16 Dec. 1754, and, years later, 12, 14, 15 Nov. 1757); London Evening-Post, no. 4566 (10–12 Feb. 1757), 3.

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Copies examined. McGill B1477 1754b, McGill B1455 1753b v. 4, Sen. House Lib. [BPS] Texts 123, Sen. House Lib. [GL] 1754, Camb. U Lib. XXVII.92.143, Camb. U Lib. Keynes.S.3.20, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center B 1455 A5 1753 v. 4, Trinity Coll. Dublin Lecky.A.1.38, Boston Public Lib. B1455.A5.1752 v. 2 Publication. Probably mid-December 1754.19 The price for the 4-volume nonce ­collection remained 12s. bound throughout its permutations, and volumes could be purchased individually.20

Four Dissertations 1757  ESTC 4011, a miscellany Title-page. FOUR | DISSERTATIONS. | I.  THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION. | II. OF THE PASSIONS. | III. OF TRAGEDY. | IV. OF THE STANDARD OF TASTE. | BY | DAVID HUME, Eſq. | [ornament: basket over­ flowing with fruit and flower] | LONDON, | Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand. | MDCCLVII. Note. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 45–6. The ornament (Maslen 185) is the same that Bowyer had used on the title-page of Henry Fielding’s The WeddingDay (London, 1743). Collation. 12o: π1 A2(A1 + a4) B12 C12(±C12) D12(±D1) E–I12 K12(−K5–12) L12(±) M8 [$6 (−a3–4 +C12) signed]; 127 leaves; pp. [4] i–vii viii [2] 1 2–117 118–21 122–81 182–5 186–200 201–3 204–40 = 254 pp. Notes. This description is of an ‘ideal copy’ of the issue including the dedication, not found in all copies,21 to ‘The Reverend Mr. Hume’, i.e. the poet John Home. The quire was signed a4 and inserted, normally, between the title-page leaf and the first division title-page. For the text of the dedication and annotations see the edi­ tors’ Appendix 2. The permutations with and without the dedication are different issues rather than differing states of one issue because both resulted from Hume’s decisions in a sequence of re­versals. Hume recounted this sequence in a letter of February 1757 to William Mure of Caldwell (Letters, 1: 242–3). The consideration was whether the tacit declaration of solidarity with Home would enflame a group of controversies and do more harm than good. In the end Hume regretted that copies 19  Whitehall Evening Post, nos. 1341–2 (12–14, 14–17 Dec. 1754), 3, 4. 20  Price information from Public Advertiser, nos. 5763–70 (18–21, 23–6 Apr. 1753), 1, and see in addition Public Advertiser (10, 11, 12, 13, 16 Dec. 1754, and, years later, 12, 14, 15 Nov. 1757); Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 1341–2 (12–14, 14–17 Dec. 1754), 3–4; London Evening-Post, no. 4566 (10–12 Feb. 1757), 3. 21  e.g. not found, among the copies examined, in U of Illinois 824 H88f cop. 2, U of Illinois Hollander 1468, U of Illinois 824 H88f, Newberry Case B 243 .4202, McGill B1493 F64 1757 c. 1, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.757f, and Stanford 192.H92F.

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were issued without the epistle. From Hume’s correspondence it appears that quire ‘a’ was printed and inserted, but then withdrawn immediately prior to publication, so that the work was initially published without that addition. Then, within a few weeks, the remaining stock was issued with quire ‘a’ restored. It is impossible to prove that some copies lacking quire ‘a’ were not in circulation as pre-publication copies before the additional quire was printed; likewise, where stitching evidence is not visible, it is impossible to prove that some copies containing quire ‘a’ were not already in circulation before quire ‘a’ was removed. Quires L and M, comprising the text of ‘Standard of Taste’, were printed in late 1756 or early 1757 to replace cancelled material that had occupied K5r-L12v (‘Of Suicide’ and ‘Of the Immortality of the Soul’). Several copies of the cancelled leaves existed in Hume’s lifetime.22 Only one set is known to survive, retained and amended in Hume’s hand and bound into a copy of the published text that was sent to William Strahan as one of Hume’s posthumous manuscripts under the terms of his will (National Library of Scotland, MS 509).23 The excision of material from K5r–L12v was handled, at least sometimes, so as to leave stubs, allowing replace­ ment gatherings to be nestled into the fold and sewn in. The stubs thus wrapped around behind the replacement material for K and L might protrude from the ­gutter after K4 or L12 or both. Press figures. 1: a1v, C8r (or punched out °°°°), F7r (or F8v ° or F8v punched out °°), G12v, H5v, L5v, M8r 2: B2v, D7v, E7v, F7v (or punched out °°°), G12r, I11r 4: B7v, C11r, E8v, I12r, M2v 3: D2v ° U Brit. Columbia B1493 .F64 1757, U of Illinois Hollander 1468, Newberry Case B 243 .4202 °° U of Illinois 824 H88f cop. 2 °°° McGill B1493 F64 1757 c. [3], U of Illinois 824 H88f cop. 2 °°°° U of Illinois Hollander 1468 Notes. There is no table of contents, the function of which is served by the lists on the half-title and the title-page. Leaves have no visible watermarks. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes, and notes carrying over from one page to the next have no catchwords.

22  23 May 1764, to Andrew Millar, Letters, 1: 444–5; and 25 Jan. 1772, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 252–4. 23  Todd’s contention (‘David Hume: A Preliminary Bibliography’, 201) that the stubs of this copy provide evidence of a second cancellation—of leaves 5–8 of a reimposed quire K8—is incor­ rect. The fragments of letterpress surviving on the verso of what Todd believed to be a new leaf K5 are of K9, the original conjugate leaf of the surviving K4.

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Catchword discrepancies.

469

B1r (page 2) I. It [I. IT] B2v (page 4) It [It] B3v (page 6) perfect [perfect,] B5r (page 9) II. If [II. IF] B8r (page 15) III. We [III. WE] B9r (page 17) mountains, [mountains] C5v (page 34) V. But [V. BUT] H12v (page 168) For [For,]

Contents. π1r half-title; π1v bookseller’s announcement; A1r title-page, verso blank; a1r–a4r dedicatory epistle, a4v blank; A2r division title-page, verso blank; B1r–F11r dissertation 1; F11v blank; F12r division title-page, verso blank; G1r–I7r dissertation 2; I7v blank; I8r division title-page, verso blank; I9r–K4v dissertation 3; L1r division title-page, verso blank; L2r–M8v dissertation 4; M8v ‘ERRATA’ (3¼ lines). Anomalies. The half-title leaf π1, is sometimes lost or wrongly positioned among the preliminary leaves; in one instance it has been found bound into the back of the book.24 Quire ‘a’ is sometimes bound after gathering A, commonly but not exclu­ sively where the gathering has been wrongly folded so that its leaves are in reverse order. None of these variations constitutes a separate state. Paginated contents. Half-title: ‘[ornamental border: Maslen 101] | FOUR | DISSERTATIONS. | I. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RELIGION. | II. OF THE PASSIONS. | III. OF TRAGEDY. | IV. OF THE STANDARD OF TASTE. | [ornamental border: Maslen 104]’ (π1r); advertisement (π1v); title-page (A1r); blank (A1v); dedication ‘TO | The Reverend Mr. Hume, | Author of Douglas, a Tragedy.’ (pp. i–vii); blank (p. viii); division title-page: ‘[ornamental border: Maslen 96] | DISSERTATION  I.  | NATURAL HISTORY | OF | RELIGION. | [ornamental border: Maslen 100]’ (A2r); blank (A2v); Dissertation I, Natural history of religion (pp. 1–117); blank (p. 118); division title-page: ‘[ornamental border: Maslen 85] | DISSERTATION II. | OF THE | PASSIONS. | [ornamental border: Maslen 108]’ (p. 119); blank (p. 120); Dissertation II, Of the passions (pp. 121–81); blank (p. 182); division title-page: ‘[ornamental border: Maslen 108] | DISSERTATION III. | OF | TRAGEDY. | [ornamental border: Maslen 85]’ (p. 183); blank (p. 184); Dissertation III, Of tragedy (pp. 185–200); division title-page: ‘[ornamental border: Maslen 108] | DISSERTATION IV. | OF THE | STANDARD OF TASTE. | [ornamental border: Maslen 85]’ (p. 201); blank (p. 202); Dissertation IV, Of the standard of taste (pp. 203–40); errata (p. 240). Notes. On leaf B5r (p. 9) of some copies the first letter (‘l’) of the first word has been lost. On C2r (p. 27) there is a misprint ‘the the’, and on D3r (p. 53) the word 24  i.e. Trinity College Cambridge RW.27.52. In Newberry Case B 243 .4202, it is misplaced after misfolded A2. In U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.757f, wherein the preliminaries are also misfolded, it substitutes for L1 (the fourth division title-page leaf), which is missing ­altogether.

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sacrificed is spelled ‘ſacrified.’ On L11r (p. 221) the word approbation is spelled ‘aaprobation’. Copies examined. U of Illinois 824 H88f cop. 2, U of Illinois Hollander 1468, U of Illinois 824 H88f, Newberry Case B 243 .4202, McGill B1493 F64 1757 c. 1, McGill B1493 F64 1757 c. 2, McGill B1493 F64 1757 c. [3], U of Chicago B1493 F6 1757, Northwestern 192 .H92f, Brit. Lib. 12272.aaa.1, U of Arizona B1493 .F64 1757, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882.757f, Beauchamp/McClafferty, U Brit. Columbia B1493 .F64 1757, Huntington 139634, Stanford 192.H92F, Trinity College Dublin Lecky.A.1.39, Trinity College Dublin Fag.N.10.6 Production.25 Probably 500 copies.26 Emonson’s partnership papers record costs of £23. 12s. for 12½ sheets at 1 April 1756.27

25  Hume reported that William Bowyer the younger (1699–1777) was the printer of Four Dissertations (1 Feb. 1757, to William Strahan, Letters, 1: 240–1). The Bowyer Ledgers, in the possession of the Grolier Club, New York, are now too fragile to be handled, but may be con­ sulted on a microfiche jointly published by the Bibliographical Society, London, and the Bibliographical Society of America (1991). The record for this volume is at ledger B, p. 600, below a higher entry dated 29 Dec. 1755. The report contained in Keith Maslen and John Lancaster (eds.), The Bowyer Ledgers, entry 4107, is inaccurate. The expected accounting figures are not to be found in the ledger, but rather in the corresponding entry for Four Dissertations in the ledger of Bowyer’s partner, James Emonson (Bodleian Library, MS Eng. misc. c. 141). Bowyer had a partnership with Emonson from 10 Oct. 1754 to 4 July 1757. See Maslen, An Early London Printing House, Appendix, 245–8. Wishing to withdraw somewhat from business, Bowyer turned over his facilities, including his fonts, to Emonson, who appears to have done the press work for the book. 26  Hume’s claim in a letter to William Mure, probably of February 1757 (Letters, 1: 243), which stated that Millar had ‘opend his Sale, & dispos’d of 800 Copies’, is inconsistent with the fre­ quency of the dedication in the many surviving copies. Hume may have misread his information, including the figure. Bowyer’s ledger records the provision of 8 + 2 reams of paper, which he then tallied as ten; a ‘printer’s ream’ was 500 sheets, ten reams totalling 5,000. Bowyer’s setting this out as an arithmetical addition shows that the provision was in two stages. The proportion 8:2 matches the ratio of sheets that would have been completed at the time that Hume withdrew the disserta­ tion on Geometry (B–I is eight sheets, and represents the first stage of composition) to the number that would be used in completing the setting to the end of the two new pieces before those were withdrawn (K–L is two sheets, and represents a second, later stage), so that each copy of the ‘five’ dissertations prior to the provision of title-page and other preliminaries used up ten sheets. The original sheets up to the end of the third dissertation were retained when the final fourth disserta­ tion and preliminary pages were added in late 1756 or early 1757 (new sheet L and sheet M repre­ senting a third stage) and when the dedication was added as a final stage. It is therefore a reasonable inference that the print run was from the outset 500. 27  Bodleian Library, MS Eng. misc. c. 141, fo. 176r. Emonson’s record of the present business shows signs of revision over time, probably originating with a record of 10 reams at 1 Apr. 1756, then expanding to 12½, with the ½ possibly added later. This confirms Bowyer’s record of an initial expenditure of no more than 10 reams. The additional paper and printing, added to the original ledger entry at a later time, was for two cancels, the new fourth dissertation, a title-page leaf and its conjugate division-title leaf, a preliminary half-title leaf with perhaps an original conjugate leaf, and the late additional quire ‘a’. The bill was not finally settled by Millar until some date after July 1757 (fos. 97–9).

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Publication. c.7 February 1757. Price 3s. bound.28

Essays and Treatises Subsequent to the Nonce Collection 1758  ESTC T33487, a one-volume consolidation with Hume’s index Title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | BY | DAVID HUME, Eſq; | [rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [rule] | [ornament: flowers in and surrounding an upright basket ] | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | [short rule] | M.DCC.LVIII. Note. Facsimile title-page with ornament: Chuo 4. The ornament is the same as Strahan had used almost a decade earlier in April 1748 on the title-page for the 1st edition of Hume’s Philosophical Essays. It also appeared on the title-page for John Armstrong’s Art of Preserving Health (London, 1744). Another ornament, a falcon rising atop a rococo pedestal, is on p. viii below the table of contents. Collation. 4o: A4 B–3Y4 3Z2 [$2 signed (−A1–A2, 3E2, 3Z2), sig. 2R2 missigned R2]; 274 leaves; pp. i–v vi–viii 1–2 3–146 147–8 149–280 281–2 283–394 395–6 397–489 490 491–529 530 531–9 540 = 548 pp. (184 misnumbered 182; sometimes 96 appears as 6, having lost its ‘9’). Variant issue. An additional sheet (*4) was printed in March 1760, to make available to purchasers of the 1758 edition two new essays that Hume was adding to the 1760 edition of ETSS. The four-leaf insert comprising ‘Jealousy of Trade’ and ‘Coalition of Parties’ is paginated to duplicate the numbers 187–9, 265–9, with the im­prac­tic­ able advice that the new pp. 187–9 (*1r–2r) are ‘to be placed after’ the existing p. 186, and the new pp. 265–9 (*2v–4v) after p. 264. In copies in which the insert survives, 28  The Daily Advertiser, nos. 8135–6 and 8141 (7–8 and 14 Feb. 1757), 1; The Public Advertiser, nos. 6955 ff. (8–15 Feb. 1757), 1; The London Evening-Post, no. 4566 (10–12 Feb. 1757), 3. (See also no. 4560 (27–9 Jan. 1757), prelim. advertisement ‘Next month will be publish’d’). The Scots Magazine, 19 (Feb. 1757): 112, ‘New Books’; The Gentleman’s Magazine, 27 (Feb. 1757): 94, ‘Catalogue of Books’, entry 18; The London Magazine, 26 (Jan.–Feb. 1757): 104, ‘Monthly Catalogue’, entry 57; Caledonian Mercury, no. 5496 (22 Mar. 1757), 3 (in advertisement for Maitland). Scots Magazine, 19 (June 1757): 293–4, reprints ‘Mr Hume’s dedication of his Four Dissertations, which were ­published, at London, in the beginning of February’. The book was advertised again late in 1757: The London Evening-Post, nos. 4683–5 (10–12, 12–15, 15–17 Nov. 1757); The Public Advertiser, nos. 7192–4 (12, 14–15 Nov. 1757), 4; The Gentleman’s Magazine, 27 (Dec. 1757): 605, Register of ‘Books published in November and December’, entry 18. The advertisements in The Whitehall Evening-Post (nos. 1883–5, 1888, and 1896) for the onevolume 1758 ETSS (see details below) inform readers that Hume’s Essays and Treatises is available also in a five-volume set for 15s. This advertisement suggests that the 1757 Four Dissertations was marketed as a fifth volume in the nonce collection and not only as a self-standing publication.

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it is more often bound at the end of the Essays, after p. 280, between gatherings N and O. Unlike the sheets printed in October 1757 for 1758, the sheet for the insert has a watermark: a Fleur de lys, shown as fig. 31 by Gaskell (Introduction, 69). In one instance (Boston Public Lib. B1455.A5.1752), the ‘Two Additional Essays’ insert is bound into the end of ETSS, vol. 4 (Political Discourses, 1754). Press figures. 1: B2v, F2v, I1v, Q1v, R4r, 2A3v, 2I3v, 2N3v, 2O4r, 2Q3v, 2R3v, 2S1v, 2Z3r, 3C3r, 3H3v, 3P1v, 3R4r, 3T3v 3: B3v, D4r, M2v, P4v, T3r ° (or none), X2v, 2E3r, 2F4r, 2K3v, 2L2v (or none °°°), 2P3v, 2Q3r, 2R3r, 2T3v, 2U4r, 2Y3r, 3D2v, 3E4r, 3I4v, 3L2v °° (or 4), 3N2v, 3O1v, 3S4r 2: C4r, G3v, L4r, N3v, O1v, Y4v, Z1v, 2E4r, 2H1v, 2I2v, 2X1v, 2Y3v, 3E3r, 3F3v, 3I1v, 3K2v, 3L3v, 3M4r 3M4v, 3O3r, 3Q3v, 3T2v, 3U3r, 3X1v 5: C4v, G2v, K2v, L3r, P1v, S3r, 2D4r, 2H2v, 2K2v, 2M4r, 2Z3v, 3G2v, 3P2v, 3R4v, 3Z1v 7: D4v, H1v 8: E1v, F1v, M1v, U4v, 2B3v, 2G2v, 2L4r, 2M2v, 2N2v, 3A4v, 3B2v, 3D3v, 3X4v 6: 2F2v, 2G4r, 2O2v, 2X3r, 3A1v, 3C4r 4: 3G3v, 3L2v (or 3 °°), 3N3v, 3S4v, 3Y2v ° U of Illinois Hollander 1468a, Northwestern 192 H92e 1758, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eba °° U of Illinois 304 H88 1758, U of Chicago B1475 1758 c. 2 Rege (spec. coll.), Sen. House Lib. Porteus Lib. fol. ACR/H88C/758, Sen. House Lib. [GL] 1800 (S) [Smith], U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eb °°° U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eba Note. In U of Chicago B1475 1758 c. 2 Rege (spec. coll.), the figure 1 is punched through *3r in the quarto insert described above as creating variant issues of 1758. It remains as a chad folded back onto the verso. Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r author’s ‘ADVERTISEMENT’; A2v bookseller’s announcement; A3r–A4v Contents; B1r division title-page, verso blank; B2r–U1v essays; U2r division title-page, verso blank; U3r–2N4v essays; 2O1r div­ ision title-page, verso blank; 2O2r–3E1v EHU; 3E2r division title-page, verso blank; 3E3r–3Y1r EPM & NHR, 3Y1v blank (3R1v blank); 3Y2r–3Z2r index; 3Z2v errata (15½ lines). Notes. There are catchwords on every page excepting blank pages, like 3Y1v (p. [530]), the pages of the title and advertisement leaves, those of the div­ision-title leaves, and the last page of the book. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords.

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A3v (page vi) IX. The [Section | IX. Of the] 2E3v (page 214) ’Tis [’Tis] 2E4r (page 215) fore [fore,] 2T4v (page 328) I Hope [I Hope,] 2X4v (page 344) report, [report] 3E4r (page 399) no [not] 3H2v (page 420) no catchword 3S1v (page 498) ſerved [deſerved]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Advertisement (p. iii); bookseller’s announcement (p. iv); Contents (pp. v–viii); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I *. | * Published in 1742.’ (p. 1); blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 3–5); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 6–8); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 9–11); Essay IV, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 11–19); Essay V, Of the [first] principles of government (pp. 20–2); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 23–6); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 26–8); Essay VIII, Of the inde­ pendency of Parliament (pp. 29–32); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy or to a republic (pp. 33–6); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 36–40); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 41–7); Essay XII, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 48–51); Essay XIII, Of avar­ice (pp. 51–3); Essay XIV, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 53–7); Essay XV, Of civil liberty (pp. 57–62); Essay XVI, Of eloquence (pp. 62–70); Essay XVII, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 70–86); Essay XVIII, The Epicurean (pp. 86–90); Essay XIX, The stoic (pp. 90–5); Essay XX, The Platonist (pp. 95–7); Essay XXI, The sceptic (pp. 97–110); Essay XXII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 110–16); Essay XXIII, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 116–19); Essay XXIV, Of national characters (pp. 119–29); Essay XXV, Of tragedy (pp. 129–34); Essay XXVI, Of the standard of taste (pp. 134–46); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II *. | * Published in 1752.’ (p. 147); blank (p. 148); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 149–57); Essay II, Of luxury (pp. 157–64); Essay III, Of money (pp. 164–71); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 172–8); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 179–87); Essay VI, Of the balance of power (pp. 187–92); Essay VII, Of taxes (pp. 192–5); Essay VIII, Of public credit (pp. 196–203); Essay IX, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 203–8); Essay X, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 208–51); Essay XI, Of the original contract (pp. 252–62); Essay XII, Of passive obedience (pp. 263–5); Essay XIII, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 265–71); Essay XIV, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 271–80); division title-page: ‘AN | ENQUIRY | CONCERNING | HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.’ (p. 281); blank (p. 282); EHU (pp. 283–375); DP (pp. 376–94); division title-page: ‘AN | ENQUIRY | CONCERNING | THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS.’ (p. 395); blank (p. 396); EPM (pp. 397–489); blank (p. 490); NHR (pp. 491–529); blank (p. 530); index (pp. 531–9); errata (p. 540).

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Notes. ‘Liberty and Despotism’ is in 1758 retitled ‘Civil Liberty’. Neither of the footnotes on the divisional title-pages for Essays, parts 1 and 2 (pp. [1] and [147]), is strictly accurate. The contents of volume 1 of Essays, Moral and Political, were not ‘Published in 1742’, but in 1741, and three essays were new in 1748. In the 1758 ETSS two of these essays, ‘Original Contract’ and ‘Passive Obedience’, move to Essays, part  2, and so were not ‘Published in 1752’ in the Political Discourses. As  announced in the advertisement, ‘The four Diſſertations lately publiſhed [in February 1757] are diſperſed thro’ different Parts of this Volume’ (p. [iii]), including ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Standard of Taste’. In the table of contents the title for essay 5 is wrongly given as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. There ‘Ballance’ is spelled with a double ‘l’ but not elsewhere. Copies examined. U of Illinois 304 H88 1758, U of Illinois Hollander 1468a, McGill B1455 1758, U of Chicago B1475 1758 c. 2 Rege (spec. coll.), U of Chicago B1475 1758 c. 1 Rare, Northwestern 192 H92e 1758, Brit. Lib. 8408.h.16, Sen. House Lib. Porteus Lib. fol. ACR/H88C/758, Sen. House Lib. [GL] 1800 (S) [Smith], U of Arizona B1455 1758, Arizona State U SPEC D-468, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eba, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eba Production. 750 copies, printed October 1757 (68½ sheets at £1. 1s., total £71. 18s. 6d.; index, 9s.). 750 copies of the two new essays, printed March 1760 (1 sheet at £1. 1s.).29 Publication. Mid-April 1758. Price 15s. bound.30

1760a  ESTC T33490, volume 1 of a four-volume set Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | In FOUR VOLUMES. | VOL. I.  | Containing Essays, Moral, Political, and | Literary. Part I. | [rule] | A NEW EDITION. 29  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fos. 102, 108. It is not known why Strahan added an add­ ition­al charge for the index. One possibility, though speculative, is that he was employing someone to help with its preparation. 30  Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 1883–5, 1888, and 1896 (13–15, 15–18, 20–2, and 25–7 Apr.; 2–4 May 1758), 4; see also no. 1874 (23–5 Mar. 1758 (‘Next Month will be published’)). Public Advertiser, nos. 9798–800 and 9802–3 (13–15, 17–18 Apr. 1758); London Evening-Post, no. 4747 (8–11 Apr. 1758); see also 23–5 and 28–30 Mar. 1758 (‘Next month will be publish’d’). Scots Magazine, 20 (Apr. 1758): 222; Edinburgh Magazine, 2 (May 1758): 84; Caledonian Mercury, no. 5683 (30 May 1758), 3, and listed among books for sale, no. 5679 (20 May 1758), 3. Price information is also in advertisements for Hume’s History and for other editions of ETSS: London Chronicle, 15 (2831 Jan.; 23–5 Feb.; 28 Apr.–1 May; 24–6, 29–31 May; 31 May–2 June; 2–5 June 1764): 104, 192, 416, 503, 517, 523, 532; Public Advertiser, nos. 9207 (3 May 1764), and 9235–7 (5–7 June 1764); London Evening-Post, nos. 5653, 5667, 5679, 5705–7, 5709–11 (26–8 Jan.; 25–8 Feb.; 24–7 Mar.; 24–6, 26–9, 29–31 May; 2–5, 5–7, 7–9 June 1764).

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| [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLX. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 5.1. Collation. 12o: A2 B–R12 S6 [$6 signed (−S4–S6); signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’]; 200 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–9 10 11–69 70 71–81 82 83–91 92 93–105 106 107–33 134 135–63 164 165–85 186 187–229 230 231–41 242 243–55 256 257–95 296 297–347 348 349–95 396 = 400 pp. Press figures.

5: B7v 2: C7r, H8r, M7r, Q7r, R8r 4: C8r, F11v, M5v 1: D5v, I8r, P11v 3: E12r, G1v, H12v, K5v, N1v, Q11v 8: F12v, O12r, S3v 7: G12v, L12v 6: R7r

Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME’; B1r division title-page, verso blank; B2r–S6r essays, S6v blank. Notes. Leaves have no visible watermarks. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, its verso is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY II’ on the recto of B6). Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords. An exception is page 45, where there is a catch­ word for the footnote only. Running-title discrepancies: on page 46, ‘Essay  V.’ should be ‘Essay IV.’; on page 274, ‘ESSAY XI.’ should be ‘ESSAY XXI.’; and on page 358, ‘ESSAY XIX.’ should be ‘ESSAY XXV.’ Catchword discrepancies.

B2v (page 4) I believe [I believe,] B4r (page 7) IN [In] B10r (page 19) I Must [I Must,] C7v (page 38) The [The] C11r (page 45) lacks one of the two catchwords D1r (page 49) First, [For, firſt,] E2r (page 75) When [(ima-)ginary,] E2v (page 76) But [But,] E12v (page 96) remarkable [remarkable,] K9v (page 210) ’Tis [’Tis]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); div­ision titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I.* | * Published in 1742.’ (p. 1); blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion

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(pp. 3–9); blank (p. 10); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 11–18); Essay III, Of impudence and modesty (pp. 19–24); Essay IV, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 25–46); Essay V, Of the first principles of government (pp. 47–54); Essay VI, Of love and marriage (pp. 55–62); Essay VII, Of the study of history (pp. 63–9); blank (p. 70); Essay VIII, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 71–81); blank (p. 82); Essay IX, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 83–91); blank (p. 92); Essay X, Of parties in general (pp. 93–105); blank (p. 106); Essay XI, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 107–24); Essay XII, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 125–33); blank (p. 134); Essay XIII, Of avarice (pp. 135–40); Essay XIV, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 141–50); Essay XV, Of civil liberty (pp. 151–63); blank (p. 164); Essay XVI, Of eloquence (pp. 165–85); blank (p. 186); Essay XVII, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 187–229); blank (p. 230); Essay XVIII, The Epicurean (pp. 231–41); blank (p. 242); Essay XIX, The stoic (pp. 243–55); blank (p. 256); Essay XX, The Platonist (pp. 257–62); Essay XXI, The sceptic (pp. 263–95); blank (p. 296); Essay XXII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 297–312); Essay XXIII, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 313–20); Essay XXIV, Of national characters (pp. 321–47); blank (p. 348); Essay XXV, Of tragedy (pp. 349–62); Of the standard of taste (pp. 363–95), blank (p. 396). Notes. In the table of contents the title for essay 5 is wrongly given as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. The footnote for the division title-page is in­accur­ate in that not every­thing in part 1 was ‘Published in 1742.’ See the note on the contents of 1758. Copies examined. McGill B1455 1760 v. 1, McGill B1455 1760 v. 1 Klibansky Coll., U of Chicago B1475 1760 v. 1, Brit. Lib. 8405.aaa.19, Wellcome Lib. EPB/A 29693/A v. 1, U of Arizona B1455 1760 v. 1, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ec v. 1, Huntington 50872 v. 1, Harvard *EC75.H883.B760e v. 1 Production. 1,000 copies, printed March 1760 (4 vols., 61 sheets at £1. 10s., total £91. 10s.).31 Publication. c.19–22 April 1760. Price 12s. bound (4 vols.).32

31  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 108. 32  Whitehall Evening-Post, nos. 2198–200 and 2202–4 (17–19, 19–22, 22–4, and 26–9 Apr.; 29 Apr.–1 May; 1–3 May 1760; and see also nos. 2191, 2193, and 2195 (1–3, 5–8, 10–12, Apr. 1760 (‘Speedily will be publish’d’)); London Evening-Post, nos. 5068–9 (26–9 Apr.; 29 Apr.–1 May 1760); see also nos. 5066–7 (22–4, 24–6 Apr. 1760 (‘Speedily will be publish’d’)); London Chronicle, 12 (17–19 Apr. 1760): 384. Price information is also in Edinburgh Advertiser, 1 (20–4 Jan. 1764): 55, and in the following advertisements for Hume’s History or other edns. of ETSS: London EveningPost, nos. 5653, 5667, 5679, 5705–7, and 5709–11 (26–8 Jan.; 25–8 Feb.; 24–7 Mar.; 24–6, 26–9, 29–31 May; 2–5, 5–7, 7–9 June 1764); London Chronicle, 15 (28–31 Jan.; 23–5 Feb.; 24–6, 29–31 May; 31 May–2 June; 2–5 June 1764): 104, 192, 503, 517, 523, 532; Public Advertiser, nos. 9207 and 9235–7 (3 May 1764, June 1764).

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1760b  ESTC T33490, volume 2 of a four-volume set Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. II. | Containing Essays, Moral, Political, and | Literary. Part II. | [rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLX. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 5.2. Collations. 12o: A2 B–Q12 R10 [$6 signed (− R6); signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. II.’ (− A1)]; 192 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–103 104 105–23 124 125–65 166 167–285 286 287–315 316 317–35 336 337–53 354 355–79 380 = 384 pp. (49 misnumbered 94 in at least one copy). Press figures.

1: B2v 2: B12r, C2v, D8r, E7r, F11r, G11v, H1v, K11v, L8r, M8r, N7r, O11v 4: D8v 7: P6v 3: P7v, Q5v 8: Q6v, R7r 6: R5v

Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME’; B1r division title-page, verso blank; B2r-R10r essays, R10v blank. Notes. Leaves have no visible watermarks. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, its verso is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY VIII’ on the recto of G3). Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords. Running-title discrepancies: on page 227, ‘Antent’ should be ‘Antient’; in at least two copies on page 234, ‘ESSAY VII.’ should be ‘ESSAY XI.’; and on page 245, ‘Ancient’ should be ‘Antient’. Catchword discrepancy (in at least one copy). L2v (page 220) to [the] Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii-iv); div­ision titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II.* | * Published in 1752.’ (p. 1); blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 3–24); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 25–42); Essay III, Of money (pp. 43–62); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 63–80); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 81–103); blank (p. 104); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 105–10); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 111–23); blank (p. 124); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 125–32); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 133–52); Essay X, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 153–65); blank (p.  166); Essay XI, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 167–285); blank

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(p. 286); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 287–315); blank (p. 316); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 317–22); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 323–35); blank (p. 336); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 337–53); blank (p. 354); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 355–79); blank (p. 380). Notes. ‘Of Luxury’ is here retitled ‘Of Refinement in the Arts’. The footnote for the division title-page is inaccurate in that not everything in part 2 was ‘Published in 1752.’ ‘Jealousy of Trade’ and ‘Coalition of Parties’ were printed by Strahan in March 1760 both for inclusion in 1760b and for insertion in some copies of 1758. ‘Original Contract’ and ‘Passive Obedience’ appeared first in 1748. In the table of contents the word ‘Ballance’ is spelled with a double ‘l’ though it is not in the text. Copies examined. McGill B1455 1760 v. 2, McGill B1455 1760 v. 2 Klibansky Coll., Brit. Lib. 8405.aaa.19 v. 2, Wellcome Lib. EPB/A 29693/A v. 2, U of Arizona B1455 1760 v. 2, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ec v. 2, Huntington 50872 v. 2, Harvard *EC75.H8823.B760e v. 2, William & Mary B1455 .A5 1760 v. 2 Production and publication. As for 1760a.

1764  ESTC T33492, volume 1 of two Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | In TWO VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. | [single rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A.  Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLXIV. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 6.1. Collation. 8o: A2 B–2M8 2N6 [$4 signed (−2N4), signature of 1st leaf in each gather­ ing preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 280 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–7 8 9–35 36 37–49 50 51–9 60 61–73 74 75–81 82 83–7 88 89 [‘88’]–163 164 165–79 180 181–241 242 243–77 278–80 281–309 310 311–25 326 327–59 360 361–5 366 367–511 512 513–25 526 527–56 = 560 pp. (89 misprinted as 88, 439 as 939, 463 as 563; 109 sometimes loses its ‘9’; the page number might be absent for page 5). Press figures. 8: B5v (or none°), D7v, F8r, H8r, I1v, S8r, T5r, 2E8r, 2I1v 2: B8v, E5v, G6r (or G7v °), L4v, M4v, Q8r, R5v, U3v, Z8r, 2B8r, 2C7r (or none°), 2H8v   *: C7r, F7r, I2v, P7r, S8v, U8v, 2A8r, 2F8r, 2K6r, 2L8v 5: D4v 9: K1v, L8r, M1v, R5r, T7v, X8r, 2D8v, 2G2v, 2M2v 3: K2v 1: N3v, O7v, P8r, Y8v, 2A6v, 2C6r (sometimes faint to vanishing), 2I8v, 2N2v 6: G2v °, N5r, 2L3v

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4: O8v, Q5r, X2v, Z8v, 2C8r (or none°), 2F8v (or punched out°), 2G6r, 2H5v 7: 2M1v ° U of Penn. B1455.A5 1764 v.1 Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME’; B1r division title-page, verso blank; B2r–T3r essays, T3v blank; T4r division title-page, verso blank; T5r–2N6v essays. Notes. Leaves have no visible watermarks. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, the verso is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY VII’ on the recto of E2). Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords. Catchword discrepancies.

B7r (page 13) I [It] ° R5r (page 249) These [These] R6v (page 250) The [The] 2C7r (page 397) But [These] °

º discrepancies absent in U of Penn. B1455.A5 1764 v.1. Similarly, in this copy the page number for page 89 is not misprinted as 88. Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); div­ision titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I. * | * Published [in] 1742.’ (p. 1); blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and pas­ sion (pp. 3–7); blank (p. 8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–14); Essay III, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 15–30); Essay IV, Of the first prin­ ciples of government (pp. 31–5); blank (p. 36); Essay V, Of the independency of parliament (pp. 37–42); Essay VI, Whether the British Government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 43–9); blank (p. 50); Essay VII, Of parties in general (pp. 51–9); blank (p. 60); Essay VIII, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 61–73); blank (p. 74); Essay IX, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 75–81); blank (p. 82); Essay X, Of avarice (pp. 83–7); blank (p. 88); Essay XI, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 89–96); Essay XII, Of civil liberty (pp. 97–106); Essay XIII, Of Eloquence (pp. 107–22); Essay XIV, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sci­ ences (pp. 123–54); Essay XV, The Epicurean (pp. 155–63); blank (p. 164); Essay XVI, The stoic (pp. 165–74); Essay XVII, The Platonist (pp. 175–9); blank (p. 180); Essay XVIII, The sceptic (pp. 181–204); Essay XIX, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 205–16); Essay XX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 217–22); Essay XXI, Of national characters (pp. 223–41); blank (p. 242); Essay XXII, Of tragedy (pp. 243–52); Essay XXIII, Of the standard of taste (pp. 253–77); blank (p. 278); div­ision title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II. * | * Published in 1752’ (p. 279); blank (p. 280); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 281–96); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 297–309); blank (p. 310); Essay

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III, Of money (pp. 311–25); blank (p. 326); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 327–40); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 341–59); blank (p. 360); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 361–5); blank (p. 366); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 367–76); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 377–82); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 383–400); Essay X, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 401–10); Essay XI, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 411–90); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 491–511); blank (p. 512); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 513–16); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 517–25); blank (p. 526); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succes­ sion (pp. 527–38); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 539–56). Notes. ‘Of Impudence and Modesty’, ‘Of Love and Marriage’, and ‘Of the Study of History’ are here dropped from Essays, pt. 1. In the table of contents the title for essay 4 is wrongly given as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. The word ‘in’ sometimes drops out of the division title-page for Essays, part 1 (page 1). Neither of the footnotes on the divisional title-pages is strictly accurate, on which see the note on the contents of 1758. Copies examined. McGill B1455 1764 v. 1a, McGill B1455 1764 v. 1b, U of Chicago B1475 1764 v. 1 c. 1, U of Chicago B1475 1764 v. 1 c. 2, Brit. Lib. 8405.h.23, Camb. U Lib. Leigh.c.8.16, U of Arizona B1455 1764 v. 1 c. 2, U of Arizona B1455 1764 v. 1, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center B 1455 .A5 1764 v. 1, U of Brit. Columbia B1455 .A5 1764, Huntington 446721, Trinity Coll. Dublin OLS.188.o.105, U of Penn. B1455.A5 1764 v.1 Production. 1,000 copies, printed May 1764 (2 vols., 68 sheets at £1. 10s., total £102; index, 10s. 6d.).33 Publication. Late May (London) to mid-June (Edinburgh) 1764. Price 12s. bound (2 vols.).34

33  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 128. Although Strahan recorded 68 sheets per copy of this edition of ETSS, each of which would generate 8 leaves or 16 pages, the whole work requires the use of only 67 sheets. 34  London Chronicle, 15 (24–6, 29–31 May; 2–5 June 1764): 503, 517, 532 (see also 15 (27–9 Mar.; 28 Apr.–1 May; 24–6 May; 31 May–2 June 1764): 300, 416, 503, 523 (‘Speedily will be pub­ lished’), in advertisements for Hume’s History; London Evening-Post, nos. 5709–11 (2–5, 5–7, 7–9 June 1764); also nos. 5679 and 5705 (24–7 Mar.; 24–6 May 1764) (‘Speedily will be publish’d’), in advertisement for Hume’s History); Public Advertiser, nos. 9235–7 (5–7 June 1764) (also, no. 9207 (3 May 1764) (‘Speedily will be published’), in an advertisement for Hume’s History, and prelim. advertisement on 30 May 1764 (‘Next month’); Edinburgh Advertiser, 1 (5–8 June 1764): 367 (‘On Tuesday next [12 June] will be published’). A letter from Millar to Hume of 26 November 1764 states that ‘Yr Essays 8vo were only published in May, what has been sold of ym of all ye different editions I cannot recollect. I was asked yt question at St James’s [Palace] the other day, when I said I con­ sidered yr Works as Classicks, that I never numbered ye Editions as I did in Books We wished to puff. This I said before many Clergy’ (Letters, 2: 354). Millar refers to the practice of quickening sales by using edition numbers to create the appearance that demand was higher than the supply. The most extreme form of this practice was to reissue unsold copies by replacing the title-pages with cancellantia falsely representing the books as a new edition, a ploy adopted, for example, for Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, vols. 2–3 (1781). See Norton, Bibliography, 51–2, 55.

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1767  ESTC T85278, volume 1 of two, typesetting modelled on 1764 Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | In TWO VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. | [single rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A.  Millar, in the Strand; | AND | A. Kincaid, and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLXVII. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 7.1. This book is a resetting (as opposed to a reim­ position) of 1764. U of Arizona B1455 1767 v. 1 instantiates a variant state of 1767, possibly unique, with a title-page indicating falsely that it is volume 1 of the 1764 ETSS. The title-page shows no sign of being a cancellans. A possibility is that the compositor sedulously copied his 1764 model and that its title-page imprint had not been marked for revision. On this supposition this variant copy would be among the earliest in the press run since the press would not be stopped and the forme unlocked to create an error, but rather to correct one. Collation. 8o: A2 B–2M8 2N6 [$4 signed (− 2N4), signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (− A1)]; 280 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–7 8 9–35 36 37–49 50 51–9 60 61–73 74 75–81 82 83–7 88 89–153 154 155–63 164 165–79 180 181–241 242 243–77 278–80 281–325 326 327–59 360 361–5 366 367–511 512 513–25 526 527– 56 = 560 pp. (327 misprinted as 227, 496 sometimes as 96). Note. On 14 January 1765, Hume wrote to Millar, ‘If you have Occasion for a new Edition of my Essays [i.e. the ETSS], make it from the last in Octavo’ (Letters, 1: 491), i.e. from 1764. Hume perhaps meant only to use 1764 as a copy-text, but Strahan took things a step further. The 1767 edition was so closely modelled on 1764 as to appear to be, implausibly, a reimposition with revisions. Strahan’s ­ledgers indicate a span of at least fifteen months (May 1764–September 1767) between the two print jobs, an improbable time for standing type to be idle. Running the eye down the right-hand margins of both 1764 and 1767 shows slight divergences in typesetting that are not forced by revision and appear to be acci­ dents of a fresh setting of type, albeit modelled on 1764. Numerous other vari­ ations in spacing of words are not forced by any revision of the text. Significant additions to the text for 1767 (e.g. for ‘Refinement in the Arts’ and ‘Taxes) do not force the pagination out of sync with that of 1764. ‘Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences’ is ­shortened slightly in ¶ 41, creating a blank verso at the end of the essay without altering ­pagination. Press figures. 1: B8r (or punched °°°°), E5r, L3v, T8v, U7v, 2C3v, 2D8r, 2E1v, 2L5v, 2N5r (or 2N2v °) 2: B8v (or punched °°°°°), C7r, G7v, K8v, R5r, 2B5v, 2M8v (or none °) 8: C8r, H8r, O6r, Q7r, R6r 5: D7v, N4v, P5r, Q7v (or none °°), T6r ° (or T5r), Y5r, 2K3v, 2N1v (or none °) 7: D8v, E7v, I6r, K5v, S6v, U2v, Z7r, 2A6r, 2D4v, 2F6r, 2G5v, 2H5v, 2L2v, 2M1v ° (or none)

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4: F1v, L4v, M8v, P1v, X1v, Y8r, 2B7r, 2I7v 6: G2v, N3v, S7v, X8v, Z7v 3: M1v ° (or M3v °°° or M8r °°°°) 9: 2M2v ° (or none) ° U of Arizona B1455 1767 v. 1 °° U of Illinois x304 H88 1767 v. 1, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ee cop. 2 v. 1 °°° U of Illinois x304 H88 1767 v. 1 °°°° U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ee cop. 2 v. 1 °°°°° U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ee v. 1 [cop. 1] Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME’; B1r division title-page, verso blank; B2r–T3r essays, T3v blank; T4r division title-page, verso blank; T5r–2N6v essays. Notes. The watermark, visible e.g. in sheets P and 2F, is a Fleur de lys, shown as figure 31 on Gaskell, New Introduction, 69. All essays begin on rectos, so that when an essay concludes on a recto, its verso is blank. In such instances the catchword on the recto with the blank verso corresponds with the initial word of the following recto and invariably is ‘ESSAY’ (correlating e.g. with ‘ESSAY VII’ on the recto of E2). Catchwords for the text are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them their own catchwords, as on page 225. Catchword discrepancies.

(in some copies) I1r (page 113) reduc [reduce] 2E6v (page 428) “ſunt; [“ſunt:]

Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii-iv); div­ision titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I. * | * Published in 1742.’ (p. 1); blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and pas­ sion (pp. 3–7); blank (p. 8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–14); Essay III, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 15–30); Essay IV, Of the first prin­ ciples of government (pp. 31–5); blank (p. 36); Essay V, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 37–42); Essay VI, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 43–9); blank (p. 50); Essay VII, Of parties in general (pp. 51–9); blank (p. 60); Essay VIII, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 61–73); blank (p. 74); Essay IX, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 75–81); blank (p. 82); Essay X, Of avarice (pp. 83–7); blank (p. 88); Essay XI, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 89–96); Essay XII, Of civil liberty (pp. 97–106); Essay XIII, Of eloquence (pp. 107–22); Essay XIV, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 123–53); blank (p. 154); Essay XV, The Epicurean (pp. 155–63); blank (p. 164); Essay XVI, The stoic (pp. 165–74); Essay XVII, The Platonist (pp. 175–9); blank (p.  180); Essay XVIII, The sceptic (pp. 181–204); Essay XIX, Of polygamy and

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divorces (pp. 205–16); Essay XX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 217–22); Essay XXI, Of national characters (pp. 223–41); blank (p. 242); Essay XXII, Of tragedy (pp. 243–52); Essay XXIII, Of the standard of taste (pp. 253–77); blank (p.  278); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II. * | * Published in 1752’ (p. 279); blank (p. 280); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 281–96); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 297–310); Essay III, Of money (pp. 311–25); blank (p. 326); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 327–40); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 341–59); blank (p. 360); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 361–5); blank (p. 366); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 367–76); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 377–82); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 383–400); Essay X, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 401–10); Essay XI, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp. 411–90); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 491–511); blank (p. 512); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 513–16); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 517–25); blank (p. 526); Essay XV, Of the protestant succes­ sion (pp. 527–38); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 539–56). Note. In the table of contents the title for essay 4 is wrongly given as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. Neither of the notes on the divisional title-pages for Essays, parts 1 and 2 (pp. 1 and 279), is accurate. The contents of volume 1 of Essays, Moral and Political, were not ‘Published in 1742’, but in 1741, and three essays were new in 1748. Essays, part 2, in the 1767 ETSS has four essays that were not ‘Published in 1752’ in the Political Discourses. Among them, ‘Jealousy of Trade’ and ‘Coalition of Parties’ appeared for the first time in 1760. Nonetheless it is clear that Hume wanted readers to attend to the historical contexts of the original appearances of Essays, Moral and Political, and Political Discourses. In ‘Protestant Succession’ a particular paragraph on the connexion of Britain with Hanover, deleted after 1768, had a foot­ note warning that ‘This was publiſhed in the year 1752.’ Copies examined. U of Illinois x304 H88 1767 v. 1, McGill B1455 1767 v. 1, McGill B1455 1767 Klibansky v. 1, Brit. Lib. Cup.502.l.11, Camb. U Lib. Hunter.c.76.3, U of Arizona B1455 1767 v. 1 (1764 title-page, but 1767 text), U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ee v. 1 [cop. 1], U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753ee cop. 2 v. 1 Production. 1,000 copies, printed September 1766 (2 vols., 67 sheets at £1. 10s., total £100. 10s.).35 Publication. Late January 1767. Price 12s. bound (2 vols.).36

35  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 137. 36  This ‘new Edition’ of ETSS was announced in advertisements for Hume’s History: London Evening-Post, nos. 6123–5 (24–7 Jan. 1767), 2. Repeated London Evening-Post (27 Feb.–1 Mar. 1767), 2 and (30 Apr.–2 May 1767), 3. Also Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, no. 11,825 (28 Jan. 1767), 1.

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1768  ESTC T33488, volume 1 of two in a deluxe edition, the ‘Forerunner to the like Edition of my History’ (Letters, 2: 125) Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | IN TWO VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Esq. | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, and LITERARY. | [single rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for A. Millar, | A. Kincaid, J. Bell, and A. Donaldson, in Edinburgh. | And ſold by T. Cadell, in the Strand. | MDCCLXVIII. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 8.1. Collation. Royal 4o: (engraved portrait) A2 B–4E4(‒4E4) [$2 signed; signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 293 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–281 282–4 285–582 = 586 pp. (134 misprinted 234). Notes. The portrait inserted opposite the title-page is credited: ‘Donaldson pinxit. Ravenet sculpsit.’, i.e. John Donaldson and Simon François Ravenet. Mentioning Donaldson’s drawing in a letter of 19 October 1767, Hume calls it ‘the best Likeness’ that had been done of him (Letters, 2: 169). In the engraving the open book depicted above Hume’s name says, ‘Hiſ | tory | and’ on its recto and ‘Phi | loſo | phy’ on its verso. This engraved portrait appeared likewise in the 1770 royal quarto edition of Hume’s History in 8 volumes, which was advertised as being ‘adorned with a head of the author’. The two royal quarto editions adorned with Hume’s head were advertised together and would together form a deluxe set, ‘Elegantly printed’, of Hume’s works to that date, deliberately excepting the Treatise (London EveningPost, no. 6603 (Tuesday 27 February–Thursday 1 March 1770), 2). Press figures. 3: B3r, S3v, Y3v, 2C2v, 2D2v, 2H3v, 2R4r, 2Z1v, 3C3r, 3D4v, 3H3r, 3U1v, 3Y3v 2: B3v, D2v, N1v, 2H2v, 2K1v, 2Q1v, 2X1v, 3G4v, 3I2v, 3N1v (or punched out °°°°), 4B1v 7: C3v, H3v, X2v, 2F2v, 2G4v, 2N1v, 2Y4r, 3A1v (or punched out °°°), 3B1v, 3E3r, 3F1v, 3K4r, 3M3r, 3O3r, 3X3v, 4A4r, 4D1v (or punched out °°) 6: D1v, K1v, M3v, Z1v, 2A3v, 2D3v, 2I3r, 2L1v, 2R2v, 3R1v, 3S4r 4: E4r, F4r, O2v, R1v, 2C1v, 2P1v, 2T4v, 3P4r, 4C4r 1: G4r, H3r, P3v, U4r, Z3r, 2A3r, 2E1v, 2O3v, 2U4r (or punched out °), 3D1v, 3F4v, 3G3v, 3K2v, 3L4r 5: I1v, M4v, 2B4r, 2G1v, 2K4v, 2L2v, 2U3r, 3C3v, 3Q1v, 4E1v 8: L4r, 2E2v, 2I3v, 2M3r, 2S3v, 2T4r, 2X3r, 2Y2v, 3E3v, 3H1v, 3I3v, 3Z4v 9: Q3v, T3v

Price information is also in three advertisements for other works by Hume: Public Advertiser, no. 11,567 (23 Nov. 1771), 1; Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, no. 13,162 (9 May 1771), 1, and repeated in no. 13,210 (3 July 1771), 1.

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° U of Illinois Q. Hollander 1469 v. 1, U of Texas Am H882 +753ee °° U of Illinois Q.304 H88 1768 v. 1 °°° Northwestern L Torch H921 v. 1 °°°° U of Texas Am H882 +753ee Notes. Width from headband to fore-edge c.21.5 cm. × height c.27 cm. Leaves have no visible watermarks. There are no catchwords on pages on which essays terminate excepting pages 80 (L4v), 152 (U4v), and 216 (E4v), each being the last page of a gathering. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes except when notes are long enough to carry over onto the next page, in which case the notes and the text have beneath them each their own catchwords. Discrepancies in the running titles: on page 49, ‘THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT’ should read ‘THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT’, on page 122, ‘ESSAY XIII’ should read ‘ESSAY XIV’, on page 544, ‘ESSAY XI’ should read ‘ESSAY XIV’, and on page 552, ‘ESSAY XIV’ should read ‘ESSAY XV’. Catchword discrepancies.

H4r (page 55) fellow- [fellow] 3K4r (page 439) conclude [conclude,]

Contents. Portrait of Hume; A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS’; B1r division title-page for Essays part 1, verso blank; B2r-2O1 essays, verso blank; 2O2r division title-page for Essays part 2, verso blank; 2O3r–4E3v essays (B1v, 2O1v, 2O2v blank). Notes. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Two ornaments are used as tailpieces: (a) a head in profile within an oval baroque frame at F2v, G1v, and Z2v, and (b) two upright cornucopia knotted together at their tips, mouths overflowing with fruit and flower, at 2A1r, 2I2r, and 2Y2r. In contrast there are no tailpieces in volume 2, which comprises the enquiries on human understanding and the principles of morals, the NHR, and the dissertation on the passions. Paginated contents. Title-page (p. i), blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); div­ision titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I. * | * Firſt Printed in 1742’ (p. 1), blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and pas­ sion (pp. 3–7); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 8–13); Essay III, That pol­ it­ics may be reduced to a science (pp. 14–30); Essay IV, Of the first principles of government (pp. 31–6); Essay V, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 37–42); Essay VI, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy or to a republic (pp. 43–9); Essay VII, Of parties in general (pp. 50–9); Essay VIII, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 60–73); Essay IX, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 74–80); Essay X, Of avarice (pp. 81–5); Essay XI, Of the dignity of human nature (pp. 86–93); Essay XII, Of civil liberty (pp. 94–103); Essay XIII, Of elo­ quence (pp. 104–19); Essay XIV, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 120–52); Essay XV, The Epicurean (pp. 153–61); Essay XVI, The stoic (pp.  162–72); Essay XVII, The Platonist (pp. 173–7); Essay XVIII, The sceptic

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(pp. 178–203); Essay XIX, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 204–16); Essay XX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 217–22); Essay XXI, Of national charac­ ters (pp. 223–43); Essay XXII, Of tragedy (pp. 244–54); Essay XXIII, Of the stand­ ard of taste (pp. 255–81); blank (p. 282); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II. * | * Publiſhed in 1752.’ (p. 283); blank (p. 284); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 285–301); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 302–16); Essay III, Of money (pp. 317–32); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 333–47); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 348–68); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 369–73); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 374–84); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 385–91); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 392–411); Essay X, Of some remark­ able customs (pp. 412–22); Essay XI, Of the populousness of antient nations (pp.  423–510); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 511–33); Essay XIII, Of passive ­obedience (pp. 534–8); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 539–48); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 549–62); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 563–82). Notes. The table of contents wrongly gives the title of essay 4 as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. The inaccurate footnotes on the divisional title-pages for Essays, parts 1 and 2 disappear from the ETSS after 1768. Copies examined. Portland State U B1455 .A5 1768, U of Illinois Q. Hollander 1469 v. 1, U of Illinois Q.304 H88 1768 v. 1, McGill B1455 1768 Folio v. 1, Northwestern L 192 .H92e 1768, Northwestern L Torch H921 v. 1, Brit. Lib. 93.h.4, U of Texas Am H882 +753ee, U of Brit. Columbia B1455 .A5 1768, U of Penn. B1455 1768 Production. 500 copies, printed January 1768 (2 vols., 139½ sheets at 15s., total £104. 12s. 6d.; index 15s. 6d.).37 Publication. Curiously no advertisements discovered for 1768-9. Price £1. 16s. bound (2 vols.).38

1770a  ESTC T33491, volume 1 of ‘Four Pocket Volumes’ Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | IN FOUR VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, and LITERARY. | [single rule] | A NEW 37  British Library, Add. MS 48800, fo. 138. 38  Price information is in advertisements for Hume’s History, other edns. of ETSS, and ‘The Life of David Hume’: London Evening-Post, nos. 6603–4 (27 Feb.–1 Mar.; 1–3 Mar. 1770; 8–11 Mar. 1777), 2; Public Advertiser, no. 11,567 (23 Nov. 1771), 1; General Evening Post, no. 5940 (7 Nov. 1771), 3; no. 6158 (30 Mar.–1 Apr. 1773), 3; and no. 6766 (10–13 May 1777), 2. Also Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, no. 12,795 (5 Mar. 1770), 4; no. 13,073 (23 Jan. 1771), 1; no. 13,162 (9 May 1771), 1; London Chronicle, 41 (8–11 Mar. 1777): 239. See also the advertisement in Hume’s Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, 1772 edn., 2: 535.

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EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for T. Cadell (Succeſſor to Mr. Millar) | in the Strand; and | A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | [short rule] | MDCCLXX. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 9.1. In at least one copy the abbreviation ‘E ſq;’ is knocked apart. Collation. 8o: A2 B-X8 Y6(−Y6) [$4 signed (−D4, Y4); signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 167 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–317 318 319–29 330 = 334 pp. Notes. Leaves are 10 cm. gutter to fore-edge × 16 cm. The watermarks in some of the paper stock appear to be Propatria, Vryheyt, and Britannia, shown as fig­ ures 37–9 by Gaskell (New Introduction, 70–1). There are catchwords on every page other than the last page of each essay (excepting pages 85, and 193), blank pages, like X7v (p. [318]), the title-page, the division title-page, the verso of the table-of-contents leaf, and the last page of the book. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes unless the note carries over onto the next page, in which case the note and the text each has a catchword below it. Long notes are collected at the end of the volume. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Catchword discrepancy. O4r (page 199) alone [alone,] Press figures.

†: B6r, E8r ° (or ‡) 4: B8v, X1v, 8: C5r, L7r (or none °°°) *: D8r 5: D8v, I1v, T1v, Y1v 6: E7r, L8r, Q8r ‡: E8r (or † °), F7v 2: F2v, N1v, P1v, U3v 3: G1v, H8r, 1: H2v, K8r (or punched out °°), O3v, R8r 7: M8r 9: S7v

° Brit. Lib. 8405.de.19 v. 1 and Brit. Lib. 722.b.11 v. 1. The figure for E8r in other copies examined is ‡, and possibly the figure † is a badly printed ‡. °° U of Illinois 304 H88 1770 v. 2 and Brit. Lib. 722.b.11 v. 1 °°° U of Chicago B1475 1770 v. 1 c. 1, Brit. Lib. 8405.de.19 v. 1, Lond. School of Econ. Lib. CANNAN 42 [v. 1], Camb. U Lib. 7720.d.187, U of Penn. B1455.A5 1770 v.1. The absence of figure 8 at L7r might be due to cropping of leaves.

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Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME’; B1r division title-page for Essays part 1, verso blank; B2r–X7r text, X7v blank; X8r–Y5r ‘NOTES to the FIRST VOLUME’, Y5v blank. Note. The running titles of page 13, ‘Politics a Science’, and of page 15, ‘Liberty of the Press’, have been mistakenly reversed. On page 192 the running title reads ‘ESSAY XV.’ though it should read ‘ESSAY XVI.’ Text. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART  I.* | * Published in 1742’ (p. 1), blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 3–8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–13); Essay III, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 14–32); Essay IV, Of the first principles of govern­ ment (pp. 33–9); Essay V, Of the independency of Parliament (pp. 40–6); Essay VI, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy or to a repub­ lic (pp. 47–54); Essay VII, Of parties in general (pp. 55–66); Essay VIII, Of the ­parties of Great Britain (pp. 67–77); Essay IX, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp.  78–85); Essay X, Of the dignity or meanness of human nature (pp. 86–95); Essay XI, Of civil liberty (pp. 96–108); Essay XII, Of eloquence (pp. 109–26); Essay XIII, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 127–62); Essay XIV, The Epicurean (pp. 163–74); Essay XV, The stoic (pp. 175–87); Essay XVI, The Platonist (pp. 188–93); Essay XVII, The sceptic (pp. 194–224); Essay XVIII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 225–38); Essay XIX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp.  239–46); Essay XX, Of national characters (pp. 247–69); Essay XXI, Of ­tragedy (pp. 270–83); Essay XXII, Of the standard of taste (pp. 284–317); blank (p. 318); notes to vol. 1 (pp. 319–29); blank (p. 330). Notes. ‘Of the Dignity of Human Nature’ here is retitled ‘Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature’, and ‘Of Avarice’ and the note drawing Walpole’s character are dropped. The table of contents wrongly gives the title of essay 4 as ‘Of the Principles of Government’. Copies examined. U of Illinois 304 H88 1770 v. 1, McGill B1455 1770 v. 1, U of Chicago B1475 1770 v. 1 c. 1, Brit. Lib. 8405.de.19 v. 1, Brit. Lib. 722.b.11 v. 1, Lond. School of Econ. Lib. CANNAN 42 [v. 1], Camb. U Lib. 7720.d.187, Arizona State U SPEC E-714 v. 1, U of Penn. B1455.A5 1770 v.1 Other information. In January 1776, Strahan printed 250 copies of an add­ition­al leaf to be inserted in the remaining stock of the 1768, 1770, and 1772 ETSS. This leaf carried a version of the ‘Advertisement’ concerning the THN that was prefixed to the 1777 ETSS, vol. 2.39 Its proper location in the ETSS would be the preliminaries of the volume containing the Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. However, at 39  British Library, Add. MS 48801 (Strahan’s General Expenses book covering forty-three years), fo. 68; and 26 Oct. 1775, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 301.

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least two copies of 1770a are known to have the advertisement that properly should have been inserted into volume 3.40 Production. 1,000 copies, printed October 1770 (4 vols., 87½ sheets at £1. 3s., total £100. 12s. 6d.; index £1. 1s.).41 Publication. Between 23 January and 3 July 1771. Price 14s. bound (4 vols.).42

1770b  ESTC T33491, volume 2 of ‘Four Pocket Volumes’ Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. II. | CONTAINING | ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, and LITERARY. | [single rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for T.  Cadell (ſucceſſor to Mr. Millar) | in the Strand; and | A.  Kincaid and A.  Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | [short rule] | MDCCLXX. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 9.2. Collation. 8o: A2 B–2A8 2B4 [$4 signed (− 2B3–2B4); signing of 1st leaf in each gath­ ering preceded by ‘Vol. II.’ (− A1)]; 190 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–355 356 357–76 = 380 pp. (Page 41 might have its number underprinted and absent.) Notes. The watermark in some of the paper stock is a version of Propatria, shown best as figure 128 at Churchill, Watermarks, XCIV. Elsewhere the watermarks are Britannia and Vryheyt, shown as figures 38–9 at Gaskell, New Introduction, 70–1. There are catchwords on every page other than the last page of each essay (except­ ing pages 23, 167, and 355), blank pages like 2A2v (p. [356]), the pages of leaves of the title-page and the division title, the verso of the table-of-contents leaf, and the last page of the book. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes unless the note carries over onto the next page, in which case the note and the text each has a catch­ word below it. (An exception is page 190, where there is a catchword only for the

40  A. Wayne Colver, private copy (see Colver, ‘A Variant of Hume’s Advertisement Repudiating the Treatise’); and Liverpool University Library, Fraser 832. 41  British Library, Add. MS 48801, fo. 35. 42  Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, no. 13,073 (23 Jan. 1771), 1 (‘In a few days will be pub­ lished’); no. 13,162 (9 May 1771), 1 (‘This day is published’); and 13,210 (3 July 1771), 1 (‘This day is published’). Publication may have been unexpectedly delayed, but it is possible that the edition was published a few days after 23 Jan. and not again advertised as such for 3 months. Price information is also in advertisements for Hume’s History and ‘The Life of David Hume’: Public Advertiser, no. 11,567 (23 Nov. 1771), 1; General Evening Post, no. 6158 (30 Mar.–1 Apr. 1773), 3; no. 6766 (10–13 May 1777), 2; London Chronicle, 33 (25–7 Feb. 1773): 195; and 41 (8–11 Mar. 1777): 239; London Evening-Post, no. 8577 (8–11 Mar. 1777), 2.

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footnote.) Long notes are collected at the end of the volume. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Catchword discrepancy. Press figures.

N1r (page 177) instance [stance] R6r (page 251) ‘ ſnow [“ſnow]

1:  A2r (or none °), K7r, N2v, X7r 5: B8r, G7v, S2v 9: C7v, K7v, Q5v 7: D8r, E4v, O4v 2: E1v, R1v, X1v, Y7r ‡: F2v 8: H7r, O8r, T8r *: I7v 3: L8r, N1v, P1v, S7v, 2A7r †: M8r 6: Q6v, Y7v, Z7r 4: R2v, U5v, Z8r, 2A1v

° U of Penn B1455.A5 1770, perhaps cropped off in rebinding Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME’; B1r division title-page for Essays part 2, verso blank; B2r–2A2r text, 2A2v blank; 2A3r–2B4v ‘NOTES to the SECOND VOLUME’. Text. Title-page (pp. i), blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II. * | * Published in 1752’ (p. 1), blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 3–23); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 24–42); Essay III, Of money (pp. 43–61); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 62–79); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 80–105); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 106–11); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 112–24); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 125–32); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 133–54); Essay X, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 155–67); Essay XI, Of the populousness of ancient nations (pp. 168–267); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 268–96); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 297–302); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of ­parties (pp. 303– 15); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 316–30); Essay XVI, Idea of a per­ fect commonwealth (pp. 331–55); blank (p. 356); notes to vol. 2 (pp. 357–76). Copies examined. U of Illinois 304 H88 1770 v. 2, McGill B1455 1770 v. 2, U of Chicago B1475 1770 v. 2, Brit. Lib. 8405.de.19 v. 2, Lond. School of Econ. Lib. CANNAN 42 [v. 2], Camb. U Lib. 7720.d.188, Arizona State U SPEC E-714 v. 2, U of Penn B1455.A5 1770 v.2 Production and publication: as for volume 1 (1770a).

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1772  ESTC N9443, volume 1 of two Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | In TWO VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, and LITERARY. | [single rule] | A NEW EDITION. | [double rule] | LONDON: | Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand: and | A. Kincaid, and A. Donaldson, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLXXII. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 10.1. Collation. 8o: A2 B–2N8 2O2 [$4 signed (−2O2); signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 284 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–7 8 9–27 28 29–33 34 35–47 48 49–57 58 59–67 68 69–75 76 77–135 136 137–45 146 147–57 158 159–63 164 165–87 188 189–99 200 201–23 224 225–60 261–2 263–339 340 341–5 346 347–79 380 381–463 464 465–91 492 493–501 502 503–13 514 515–63 564 = 568 pp. (539 is misprinted as 935). Notes. In some copies signature X4 has lost its X or its 4 and page 495 has corrupted to 49. Leaves have no visible watermarks. There are catchwords on every page excepting the last page of each essay, blank pages like 2B6v (p. [380]), the title-page and the division title-pages, and the last page of the book. The book design is such that all discourses begin on rectos, with the result that discourses ending on rectos are followed by blank versos. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes unless the note carries over onto the next page, in which case the note and the text each has a catchword below it (e.g. p. 98). Long notes are collected at the end of the volume. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Catchword discrepancies.

Press figures.

in some copies, I5v (page 122) men [ment,] P2v (page 212) Fourthly, [Fourthly.] in some copies, X7r (page 317) imProve, [improve,] in some copies, 2C4v (page 392) ni [in]

1: B7r, F8v, K8r, P6v, 2K8v, 2L5v 3: B8r, C8v, F5v, X8r, 2C5r, 2D6v, 2G4v, 2M7r, 2N2v 2: C3v, P8r, Q8v, T1v, Y1v, 2C8r, 2D6r, 2G6r, 2N5v, 2O1v 7: D2v, E4v, K7r, Q1v, T5r, U8v, 2K7v 6: E7v, G8r, I7v, 2A7r, 2F8r 5: H8r, I5r, L6r, S7v, Z7r, 2A1v, 2B5v, 2I1v 4: M8r, R7r, S5r, U6r, X6v, 2E8r, 2F8v, 2H4v, 2M7v 9: M8v, N7r, O2v 8: R7v, Z7v, 2E2v, 2H1v, 2I5r

Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS’; B1r division title-page for Essays part 1, verso blank; B2r–S2v text; S3r division title-page for Essays part 2, verso blank; S4r–2M2v text; 2M3r–2O2r ‘NOTES to the FIRST VOLUME’, 2O2v blank. Text. Title-page (p. i); blank (p. ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART I.* | * Published in 1742.’

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(p. 1), blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and passion (pp. 3–7); blank (p. 8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–12); Essay III, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 13–27); blank (p. 28); Essay IV, Of the first principles of government (pp. 29–33); blank (p. 34); Essay V, Of the independency of parliament (pp. 35–40); Essay VI, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 41–7); blank (p. 48); EssayVII, Of parties in general (pp. 49–57); blank (p. 58); EssayVIII, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 59–67); blank (p. 68); Essay IX, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 69–75); blank (p. 76); Essay X, Of the dignity or meanness of human nature (pp. 77–84); Essay XI, Of civil liberty (pp. 85–94); Essay XII, Of eloquence (pp. 95–108); Essay XIII, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 109–35); blank (p. 136); Essay XIV, The Epicurean (pp. 137–45); blank (p. 146); Essay XV, The stoic (pp. 147–57); blank (p. 158); Essay XVI, The Platonist (pp. 159–63); blank (p. 164); Essay XVII, The sceptic (pp. 165–87); blank (p. 188); Essay XVIII, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 189–99); blank (p. 200); Essay XIX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 201–6); Essay XX, Of national characters (pp. 207–23); blank (p. 224); Essay XXI, Of tragedy (pp. 225–34); Essay XXII, Of the standard of taste (pp. 235–60); division titlepage: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II.* | * Published in 1752.’ (p. 261); blank (p. 262); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 263–78); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 279–92); Essay III, Of money (pp. 293–306); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 307–20); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 321–39); blank (p. 340); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 341–5); blank (p. 346); EssayVII, Of the balance of power (pp. 347–56); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 357–62); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 363–79); blank (p. 380); Essay X, Of some remarkable customs (pp. 381–90); Essay XI, Of the populousness of ancient nations (pp. 391–463); blank (p. 464); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 465–86); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 487–91); blank (p. 492); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 493–501); blank (p. 502); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 503–13); blank (p. 514); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect common­ wealth (pp. 515–32); notes to vol. 1 (pp. 533–63); blank (p. 564). Copies examined. Newberry 4A 14771 v. 1, McGill B1455 1772 v.1 c. 1, McGill B1455 1772 v. 1 c. 2, Brit. Lib. 1509/1985, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 1006.F.10, Camb. U  Lib. 7180.c.40, Beauchamp/Newton, Beauchamp/Nidditch, Colorado State U (Fort Collins) B1455 .A5 1772 v. 1, Huntington 445481, William & Mary B1455 .A5 1772 v. 1 Production. 1,000 copies, printed November 1771 (2 vols., 692 sheets at £1. 10s., total £104. 5s.).43 Publication. No later than May 1772. Price 12s. (2 vols.).44

43  British Library, Add. MS 48801, fo. 52. 44  3 June 1772, to Thomas Cadell, Letters 2: 262 (and compare 27 Feb. 1772, Strahan to Hume, in Letters of David Hume to William Strahan, ed. G. B. Hill, 244; and 7 Feb. 1772, to Benjamin Franklin, New Letters, 194). Price information is in advertisements for Hume’s History and ‘The Life of David Hume’: London Chronicle, 33 (1773): 195; and 41 (Mar. 1777): 239; London Evening-Post, no. 8577 (8–11 Mar. 1777), 2; General Evening Post, no. 6158 (30 Mar.–1 Apr. 1773), 3; no. 6766 (10–13 May 1777), 2.

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1777  ESTC T33493, volume 1 of two, with one last essay added Volume title-page. ESSAYS | AND | TREATISES | ON | SEVERAL SUBJECTS. | In TWO VOLUMES. | By DAVID HUME, Eſq; | VOL. I. | CONTAINING | ESSAYS, MORAL, POLITICAL, and LITERARY. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | Printed for T.  Cadell, in the Strand: and | A.  Donaldson, and W. Creech, at Edinburgh. | MDCCLXXVII. Note. Facsimile title-page: Chuo 11.1. Collation. 8o: A2 B–2N8 2O6 [$4 signed (−2O4); signing of 1st leaf in each gathering preceded by ‘Vol. I.’ (−A1)]; 288 leaves; pp. i–iv 1–2 3–7 8 9–27 28 29–33 34 35–9 40 41–53 54 55–63 64 65–73 74 75–81 82 83–141 142 143–51 152 153–63 164 165–9 170 171–93 194 195–205 206 207–29 230 231–66 267–8 269–345 346 347–51 352 353–85 386 387–469 470 471–99 500 501–9 510 511–21 522 523–71 572 = 576 pp. (253 misprinted as 235 and 452 as 352; in some copies 225 appears as 22, 298 as 98, and 6 and/or 14 are missing). Notes. Leaves have no visible watermarks. There are no catchwords on the last pages of essays. The book design is such that all discourses begin on rectos, with the result that discourses ending on rectos are followed by blank versos. Catchwords are located beneath any footnotes unless the note carries over onto the next page, in which case the note and the text each has a catchword below it (e.g. on page 104). Long notes are collected at the end of the volume. Each essay begins with a double rule above its essay number and title. Running-title discrepancy: on page 468, ‘ESSAY XII.’ should be ‘ESSAY XI.’ Catchword discrepancies.

Press figures.

B6r (page 11) and, [and] 2D3v (page 406) ture [ture.] 2E5v (page 426) ing [And] 2G2r (page 451) migh [might] 2H8r (page 479) wa [was] in at least two copies, 2N3v (page 550) Germans [Germans,]

1: B7v, K2v, Q7v, Y7r, 2H5v, 2L8r 8: B8v, N3v, O4v, 2F4v 3: C1v, F7r, G7v, H8r, M1v, R7r, 2A5r, 2I5v, 2K5v, 2M8r 5: C4v, G4v, L1v, N8v, P6v, T8r, 2E6v 2: D5v, H6v, L6v, O3v, Z3v, 2E7v 6: E4v, Z7r, 2B7v, 2D4v (or none °) 7: F1v, X8v, 2F6r, 2I5r 4: I6r, K5v, P8r, R1v, S2v, 2A3v, 2C6r, 2G8r, 2N8r, 2O4v †: U1v, 2B6v 9: 2D3v (or none °°), 2H6v

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° Camb. U Lib. Nn.41.36, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eg v. 1 °° McGill B1455 1777 v. 1, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 1020.G.5, Soane’s Museum GL22E, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eg v. 1, Harvard *EC75.H8823. B777e v. 1 Contents. A1r title-page, verso blank; A2r-v ‘CONTENTS’; B1r division title-page for Essays part 1, verso blank; B2r–S5v text; S6r division title-page for Essays part 2, verso blank; S7r–2M6v text; 2M7r–2O6r ‘NOTES to the FIRST VOLUME’, 2O6v blank. Text: Title-page (p. i); blank (ii); Contents (pp. iii–iv); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART  I.* | * Published in 1742.’ (p. 1), blank (p. 2); Essay I, Of the delicacy of taste and pas­ sion (pp. 3–7); blank (p. 8); Essay II, Of the liberty of the press (pp. 9–12); Essay III, That politics may be reduced to a science (pp. 13–27); blank (p. 28); Essay IV, Of the first principles of government (pp. 29–33); blank (p. 34); Essay V, Of the origin of government (pp. 35–9); blank (p. 40); Essay VI, Of the independency of parliament (pp. 41–6); Essay VII, Whether the British government inclines more to absolute monarchy, or to a republic (pp. 47–53); blank (p. 54); Essay VIII, Of parties in general (pp. 55–63); blank (p. 64); Essay IX, Of the parties of Great Britain (pp. 65–73); blank (p. 74); Essay X, Of superstition and enthusiasm (pp. 75–81); blank (p. 82); Essay XI, Of the dignity or meanness of human nature (pp. 83–90); Essay XII, Of civil liberty (pp. 91–100); Essay XIII, Of eloquence (pp. 101–14); Essay XIV, Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences (pp. 115–41); blank (p. 142); Essay XV, The Epicurean (pp. 143–51); blank (p. 152); Essay XVI, The stoic (pp. 153–63); blank (p. 164); Essay XVII, The Platonist (pp. 165–9); blank (p. 170); Essay XVIII, The sceptic (pp. 171–93); blank (p. 194); Essay XIX, Of polygamy and divorces (pp. 195–205); blank (p. 206); Essay XX, Of simplicity and refinement in writing (pp. 207–12); Essay XXI, Of national characters (pp. 213–29); blank (p. 230); Essay XXII, Of tragedy (pp. 231–40); Essay XXIII, Of the standard of taste (pp. 241–66); division title-page: ‘ESSAYS, | MORAL, POLITICAL, | AND | LITERARY. | PART II.* | * Published in 1752.’ (p. 267); blank (p. 268); Essay I, Of commerce (pp. 269–84); Essay II, Of refinement in the arts (pp. 285–98); Essay III, Of money (pp. 299–312); Essay IV, Of interest (pp. 313–26); Essay V, Of the balance of trade (pp. 327–45); blank (p. 346); Essay VI, Of the jealousy of trade (pp. 347–51); blank (p. 352); Essay VII, Of the balance of power (pp. 353–62); Essay VIII, Of taxes (pp. 363–8); Essay IX, Of public credit (pp. 369–85); blank (p. 386); Essay X, Of some remarkable cus­ toms (pp. 387–96); Essay XI, Of the populousness of ancient nations (pp. 397– 469); blank (p. 470); Essay XII, Of the original contract (pp. 471–94); Essay XIII, Of passive obedience (pp. 495–9); blank (p. 500); Essay XIV, Of the coalition of parties (pp. 501–9); blank (p. 510); Essay XV, Of the Protestant succession (pp. 511–21); blank (p. 522); Essay XVI, Idea of a perfect commonwealth (pp. 523– 40); notes to vol. 1 (pp. 541–71); blank (p. 572).

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Note. ‘Origin of Government’ is added as essay 5 in part 1. Aside from this addition and other changes, this book was modelled closely on 1772. Copies examined. Newberry Y 145 .H885 v. 1, McGill B1455 1777 v. 1, Brit. Lib. 715.f.8, Dr. Williams’s Lib. 1020.G.5, Soane’s Museum GL22E, Camb. U Lib. Nn.41.36, U of Arizona B1455 1777 v. 1, U of Texas Harry Ransom Center Am H882 753eg v. 1, Huntington 445483, Harvard *EC75.H8823.B777e v. 1 Production. 1,000 copies, printed September 1777 (2 vols., 692 sheets at £1. 10s., total £104. 5s.).45 Publication. Early February 1778. Price 12s. (2 vols.).46

45  British Library, Add. MS 48815, fo. 8. 46  Registered at Stationers’ Hall, Stationers’ Co. Records, entry book of copies, 10 Jan. 1778, p. 99, s.v. Wm. Strahan. Advertised: Public Advertiser, nos. 13518–20 (5–7 Feb. 1778), each at p. 1 (‘This Day are published.’); and see also no. 13529 (18 Feb. 1778), 1, in an advertisement for Hume’s History. Edinburgh Advertiser, 29 (3–7 Apr. 1778): 222 (apparently for an Edinburgh release by Donaldson (‘To-morrow will be published, Printed for Alexander Donaldson, And Sold at his shops, St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, and Edinburgh)).

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E URO P E A N B O O K T RANS LATIONS O F T H E ES S AYS This section itemizes translations of Hume’s essays published during his lifetime in book form. A few of the books listed are comprised of selections extracted from Hume’s works, including, but not always limited to, his essays. Translations of his essays in journals and the like are not catalogued in this section, but they are mentioned in various head-notes to individual essays in the editors’ annotations in this critical edition. Hume’s ETSS was never published in translation under its full title, but all of the essays and treatises in ETSS were published in some French edition, including in his collected works in French, which were published in multiple volumes. All are itemized below.

FRE NCH BOOK TRA NS L AT I O NS Archaic French used in the publications listed in this section is retained, including capitalization in titles. 1754 Discours politiques de Mr David Hume. Traduits de l’Anglois par Mr de M****.1 Amsterdam, J. Schreuder & Pierre Mortier le Jeune.2 This translation of Political Discourses was later bundled as vol. 1 in a five-vol. set (Discours politiques, 1754–7) of political and economic works by several authors and issued by the same Amsterdam outlet. 1754 Discours politiques de Monsieur Hume. Traduits de l’Anglois. 2 vols. Amsterdam, et se vend à Paris, Michel Lambert. Title on half-title: Discours politiques traduits de l’anglois de David Hume. This translation of Political Discourses is by Abbé Jean-Bernard Le Blanc. Only the 1  ‘par Mr. de M****’ is a reference to Eléazar Mauvillon, as a letter to Hume from Abbé Le Blanc shows: ‘J’ai vu ici la traduction de vos Discours Politiques imprimée en Hollande; elle ne se peut pas lire; vous souffririez vous, Monsieur, de vous voir ainsi défiguré. Le Traducteur quel qu’il soit ne sait constamment ni l’Anglois ni le François . . . . Cette traduction passe ici pour être d’un Mr Mauvillon de Leipsic dont le métier est de faire des livres François pour l’Allemagne, et d’enseigner ce qu’il ne sait—c’est à dire, votre langue et la nôtre.’ [Translation: I saw here the translation of your Political Discourses printed in Holland; it is unreadable; you would suffer, Sir, to see yourself so disfigured. The translator, whoever he is, has no consistent understanding of English or French. . . . This translation seems to be one of Mr Mauvillon of Leipzig, whose business is to make French books for Germany, and to teach what he does not know—that is, your language and ours.] Dresde, le 25 Dec. 1754, Abbé Le Blanc to Hume, in Burton, Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Appendix, vol.1, 461. 2  Contents. 1, Du commerce; 2, Du luxe; 3, Sur l’argent; 4, De l’intérêt; 5, Sur la balance du commerce; 6, De la balance du pouvoir; 7, Sur les impôts; 8, Sur le crédit public; 9, Sur quelques coutumes remarquables; 10, Sur le nombre d’habitans parmi quelques nations anciennes; 11, Sur la succession protestante; 12, Idée d’une république parfaite.

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s­ econd edition of 1755, listed immediately below, had Le Blanc’s name on the titlepage as translator.3 1755 Discours politiques de Monsieur Hume. Traduits de l’Anglois par L’Abbé Le Blanc. 2 vols. Nouvelle édition. Dresden, Michel Groell. This volume is presented as a ‘new edition’ because the two editions translated by Le Blanc are in different formats, one duodecimo (1754) and the other octavo (1755), and they have different booksellers. 1758–60 5-volume collection. Amsterdam, J.  H.  Schneider. Volumes 3–4 have Œuvres philosophiques de Mr D. Hume on the half-title. Volume 5 bears the half-title Œuvres de Mr Hume.4 Vols. 1–2 (1758)—Essais philosophiques sur l’entendement humain, par Mr Hume, avec les ­quatre philosophes du même auteur.5 Traduit par Jean-Bernard Mérian. Vol. 3 (1759)—Histoire naturelle de la religion traduit de l’Anglois de Mr D. Hume avec un ­examen critique et philosophique de cet ouvrage. Traduit par Jean-Bernard Mérian. Vol. 4 (1759)—Dissertations sur les passions, sur la tragédie, sur la règle du goût. Traduit par Jean-Bernard Mérian. Vol. 5 (1760)—Essais de morale ou Recherches sur les principes de la morale. Traduit par Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet. In 1758, the first and second volumes were published as a two-volume set (lacking the general title Œuvres philosophiques de Mr D. Hume). In 1759, the third and fourth volumes were each issued individually (collective title-page lacking), but also issued, bound together, under the general title Œuvres philosophiques de M. D. Hume, 2 vols. 3  Hume wrote to Le Blanc on 12 September 1754: ‘[Your letter] of the 25th of August gave me a very real Pleasure. I doubt not of your Translation, with which you have honour’d my Performance, will renew my Satisfaction. I expect every day to have it from London . . . . I have just now finish’d a new Edition of the political Discourses [3rd edn., 1754; as vol. 4 of ETSS], 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.’ (Letters, 1: 192). Hume wrote again on 15 October 1754: ‘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 . . . . In the Parcel [I sent to you], 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 . . . . The Alterations in some places are of Moment; so that I wish a new Edition might not be made without inserting them.’ (Letters, 1: 197–8). 4 The Essays, Moral and Political are not included in this edition. They are added as vol. 1 in what is sometimes called the 1759–64 edition. See the details of this ‘edition’ below under the heading ‘1761, 1764 Œuvres de Mr Hume, 2e édition’. 5 ‘Les Quatre philosophes’ are Hume’s four essays ‘The Epicurean’, ‘The Stoic’, ‘The Platonist’, and ‘The Sceptic’. No essays from either the Political Discourses or the Essays, Moral and Political other than these four appear in these five volumes. Other essays are added to this collection later, as described below.

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in 1, numbered ‘tome troisieme’ and ‘tome quatrieme’. These two volumes use the translation by Mérian of Four Dissertations. In 1760, the fifth volume was issued individually, with the half-title Œuvres de Mr Hume. The preface in vol. 1 was written by Jean-Henri-Samuel Formey. 1761, 1764 Œuvres de Mr Hume, 2e édition: 1. (1764)—Essais moraux et politiques. 2e éd. Trans. Jean-Bernard Mérian. 2. (1761)—Essais philosophiques sur l’entendement humain. 2e éd. Amsterdam, J. H. Schneider. Only these two volumes were issued with second edition specified on the title-pages, but the two volumes were also issued in a newly packaged and reordered 5-vol. set. The new volume 1 thereby became an addition to the prior Schneider collection. Given that vol. 1 is the first translation and publication of Essays, Moral and Political, and in this respect not a second edition, Schneider may have understood ‘second edition’ to refer not merely to these first two (individually issued) volumes but as well to the other three volumes in his ‘new’ Œuvres de Mr Hume. Volume numbers were assigned, at the point of publication, to vols. 1–2 and retained for the other 3 vols.6 The 5-vol. Schneider collection, so assembled, then became:7 Vol. 1 (1764, 2e édition)—Essais moraux et politiques. Vol. 2 (1761, 2e édition)—Essais philosophiques sur l’entendement humain.8 Vol. 3 (1759)—Histoire naturelle de la religion. Vol. 4 (1759)—Dissertations sur les passions sur la tragédie sur la règle du goût. Vol. 5 (1760)—Essais de morale ou Recherches sur les principes de la morale. 1764 Œuvres philosophiques de M.  D.  Hume. Nouvelle édition. 6 volumes. London: David Wilson.

This collection uses Schneider’s editions, once designated Œuvres philosophiques de Mr D. Hume, with new title-pages. Vol. 1. Les huits premiers essais sur l’entendement humain. Vol. 2. Les quatre derniers essais sur l’entendement humain [continued] & les quatre ­philosophes.

6  Schneider wrote to Hume on 5 Dec. 1763 (National Library of Scotland MS, as in Letters, 2: 344) that he would soon publish a ‘sixth volume of the first edition and the “first” [volume] of the second edition’. The ‘sixth volume’ (vol. 1 in the present case) is presumably Essais moraux & politiques; and the first (vol. 2 in the present case) is presumably Essais philosophiques sur l’entendement humain. Schneider reports in this letter that vols. 1–4 (in the first edition) were translated in Berlin and vol. 5 in Paris. 7 Copies at Fondren Library, Rice University: B 1459 .F5 1758 v.1–5 (set of vols. 1–5); Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University, E H921EU (set of vols. 1–5); Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Library: B1459 M47 1759 (set of vols. 1–5, with 3–4 bound together); Old Building B1F, Keio University (Japan), EC@11B@7925@1–4 (set of vols. 1–5, with 3–4 bound together). 8  Complete in 1 vol.; formerly in vols. 1 and 2 of the 1st edn.

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Vol. 3. L’histoire naturelle de la religion. (Includes ‘A Monsieur Hume, auteur de la tragédie de Douglas’.) Vol. 4. Les dissertations sur les passions, sur la tragédie & sur la règle du goût. Vol. 5. Les recherches sur les principes de la morale [with ‘Dialogue’]. Vol. 6. Les essais moraux & politiques.9 These six volumes are bound together in various patterns: 6 vols. in 2; 6 vols. in 3; 6 vols. in 4; 6 vols. in 5. Some volumes are mixed with volumes from the earlier editions of Schneider to create sets. 1767 Pensées philosophiques, morales, critiques, littéraires et politiques de M.  Hume. Translated (anonymously) by Jean-Auguste Jullien de Boulmiers (or Derboulmiers). Londres . . . Paris: Veuve Duchesne. This volume consists of almost fifty selections extracted from Hume’s works. The style is to edit Hume’s texts by deleting parts, sometimes translating entire sentences or paragraphs, but also adding some paraphrasing to connect excerpted portions and adding new headings. The volume features selected passages drawn from ETSS, parts 1 and 2.10 1767 Essais sur le commerce; le luxe; l’argent; l’intérêt de l’argent; les impôts; le crédit public; et la balance du commerce. Traduction nouvelle . . . traduite sur la seconde édition, imprimée à Londres en 1765. Paris, Saillant . . . Lyon, Aimé De la Roche [or Aimé Delaroche]. This Paris & Lyon publication of Hume’s essays on economics (selections from Political Discourses) was first published, with the identical title, in Amsterdam in 1766.11 9  Contents. 1, La délicatesse du goût & la vivacité des passions; 2, La liberté de la presse; 3, L’impudence & la modestie; 4, Où l’on prouve que la politique peut être réduite en forme de science; 5, Les premiers principes du gouvernement; 6, L’amour & le mariage; 7, L’etude de l’histoire; 8, L’indépendance du Parlement; 9, Examen de la question: De quel côté le gouvernement d’Angleterre panche le plus, vers la monarchie absolue, ou vers l’etat républiquain? 10, Les partis; 11, Les partis de la Grande-Bretagne; 12, La superstition & le fanatisme; 13, L’avarice; 14, La dignité de la nature humaine; 15, La liberté & le despotisme; 16, L’eloquence; 17, L’origine & les progrès des arts & des sciences; 18, La polygamie & le divorce; 19, Le style simple & le style orné; 20, Le caractere des nations; 21, Le contract primitif; 22, L’obéissance passive. 10  It has long been reported—and at one time almost uniformly stated in online library reports and reprints of bibliographies—that ‘Mlle de la Chaux’ was a translator of this work. She is also sometimes reported to be a translator of other works by Hume. However, no evidence shows that someone of this name had a role as a translator—or any other role—in a French edition of any work by Hume. The attribution appears to have originated in an interpretation, or mis­in­ter­pret­ ation, of comments by Denis Diderot in Ceci n’est pas un conte. See the definitive work on the subject by Laurence Bongie, Diderot’s Femme Savante, in the series Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation at the Taylor Institution, 1977). One editor of the present critical edition consulted widely with French and American rare books librarians in  search of available information only to reach a conclusion fundamentally identical to that of Bongie. 11  See Robel, ‘Hume’s Political Discourses in France’, 225, for an explanation of the history.

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1770 Le Génie de M. Hume, ou analyse de ses ouvrages, dans laquelle on pourra prendre une idée exacte des moeurs, des usages, des coutumes, des loix, & du gouvernement du peuple Anglois.12 London . . . Paris, Vincent.13

GE RMAN BOOK TRA NS L ATI O NS 1754–6 ‘Vermischte Schriften’. Hamburg and Leipzig, Georg Christian Grund und Adam Heinrich Holle. 4 volumes, unnumbered, without a title for the collection as a whole. The translator of each volume is uncertain.14 Contents: 1754 Vermischte Schriften über die Handlung, die Manufacturen und die andern Quellen des Reichthums und der Macht eines Staates. Translation of Political Discourses.15 1755 Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Erkenntnis. . . . Als dessen vermischter Schriften zweyter Theil. Translation of Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding. 1756 Sittenlehre der Gesellschaft, als dessen vermischter Schriften dritter Theil. Translation of An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. 1756 Moralische und politische Versuche, als dessen vermischter Schriften vierter und letzter Theil. Translation of Essays, Moral and Political. 1759 Vier Abhandlungen: 1. Die natürliche Geschichte der Religion; 2. Von den Leidenschaften; 3. Vom Trauerspiel; 4. Von der Grundregel des Geschmacks. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Quedlingsburg and Leipzig, Andreas Franz Biesterfeld. This volume is a translation of Four Dissertations by Friedrich Gabriel Resewitz. 12 This volume is comprised of selections from various works, with altered titles, including excerpts from Hume’s ETSS and History of England, with an emphasis on moral and political passages. Contents: De la nature humaine; De l’esprit humain; De la durée du monde, & de la population des hommes; De l’homme; Des femmes; De la société; De la religion; Des papes; De la tolérance; De l’amour de la patrie; Des passions; De l’education; Des loix; De la justice; Du peuple; Du commerce; Des professions, ordres & états; Du luxe; De l’argent; Des intérêts de l’argent; Du crédit public; Des taxes; Des arts; De la liberté; Des rois & des grands; De la foi féodale; Des différens gouvernemens; Du gouvernement de différens peuples; Du gouvernement de l’Angleterre dans différens tems; Des factions & des partis; De l’inquiétude naturelle des Anglois; Des sciences; De l’histoire; Des philosophes; Des poëtes; De la comédie & de la tragédie; Du goût; De l’éloquence; De l’amour; De la galanterie; De la politesse; Du bonheur; Du point d’honneur; De la bienfaisance & de la bienveillance; De la modestie; De l’impudence; De l’ambition; De l’avarice; Tableaux de la Germanie, de l’Italie, lors de la conquête des François; de l’Europe, de la France & de l’Angleterre, dans différens tems; Portraits & caractères de quelques papes; Portraits & caractères des rois d’Angleterre; Portraits & caractères de différens ministres ou hommes célèbres de l’Europe; Moeurs, usages & coutumes; Anecdotes; Remarques politiques & morales; Pensées diverses. 13  For additional scholarly material on eighteenth-century French translations, see Michel Malherbe, ‘Hume’s Reception in France’, 43–97; Gilles Robel, ‘Hume’s Political Discourses in France’, 221–32; Chuo University, David Hume and the Eighteenth Century British Thought; T. E. Jessop, A Bibliography of David Hume and of Scottish Philosophy from Francis Hutcheson to Lord Balfour; J. Y. T. Greig, ed. Letters of David Hume, vol. 2, Appendix B, 344–6; Charles Alfred Rochedieu, ed. Bibliography of French Translations of English Works 1700–1800; and other volumes of the Clarendon Hume. 14  The translators may have been Hermann Andreas Pistorius and Johann Georg Sulzer, but, if so, the evidence is uncertain regarding who translated which work or volume. 15  A second edition was published in 1766: Leipzig: Adam Heinrich Hollens Witwe.

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1774 Das Genie des Hrn. Hume. Oder Sammlung der vorzüglichsten Grundsätze dieses Philosophen. Edited and translated by Johann Gottfried Bremer. Leipzig, Christian Gottlob Hilschern. This volume is a translation based on the editing in the French volume of the same title (Le Génie de M. Hume, as detailed above).16

ITAL IAN BOOK TRA NS L ATI O NS 1767 Saggi politici sopra il Commercio del Signor David Hume, trans. Matteo Dandolo. 2 vols. Venezia, Gianmaria Bassaglia e Luigi Pavini, 1767. Translation of eight selected discourses on commerce from Political Discourses,17 presenting a parallel text of the essays in English and Italian, with bibliographical references. This same translation was published in 1774 with modified title and elimination of the parallel text, and referred to as a second edition (as immediately below). 1774 Saggi politici sul Commercio del Signor David Hume . . . Discorso Preliminare sul Commercio di Sicilia di D. Isidoro Bianchi . . . Seconda edizione. Venezia & Palermo, Andrea Rapetti, 1774. Trans. Dandolo. Not a bilingual edition. Bianchi added the ‘Discorso Preliminare’ in this edition.18

DUTCH BOOK TRA NS L AT I O NS 1764 Wysgeerige en staatkundige verhandelingen. Amsterdam, Kornelis van Tongerlo. Translation of all twelve Political Discourses. Translator unknown. 1766 Wysgeerige en staatkundige verhandelingen. Rotterdam, Abraham Bothall, Dirk Vis, and Pieter Holsteyn. Reissue of the 1764 translation, with different publisher and cancelled title.19

SWE DISH BOOK TRA NS L AT I O N 1767 Herr David Humes Politiske afhandlingar om handel och yppighet. Stockholm, Johan Georg Langes. Consists of selected essays from Political Discourses.20

16  On German translations, see also Manfred Kuehn, ‘The Reception of Hume in Germany’, 98–138; and Günter Gawlick and Lothar Kreimendahl, Hume in der deutschen Aufklärung. Umrisse einer Rezeptionsgeschichte. 17  The essays translated are ‘Commerce’, ‘Refinement in the Arts’, ‘Money’, ‘Interest’, ‘Balance of Trade’, ‘Jealousy of Trade’, ‘Taxes’, and ‘Public Credit’. 18  On Italian translations, see also Emilio Mazza, ‘Translations of Hume’s Works in Italy’, 182– 94; and Giulia Bianchi, ‘Editions and Translations of David Hume’s Political Discourses (1752)’. ‘Saggi morali e politici. Amsterdam, 1764’ is an alleged ‘edition’ sometimes mentioned in catalogues and online presentations as the first Italian edition, but it is a ghost. Incorrect reports that it was a new edition were perhaps originally caused by errors in library cataloguing. 19  The identity of the translator in this reissue is unknown. 20 On the Swedish reception of Hume, see Henrik Lagerlund, ‘The Reception of David Hume’s Philosophy in Sweden’, 225–32.

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E D I TO R I AL A P P ENDIX OF E M EN DAT I O N S AN D S UBS TANTIVE VA R I ANTS The essays in this volume were authorized by Hume in editions extending from the first volume of Essays, Moral and Political in 1741 to the posthumous collected works printed in 1777. The 1772 edition of ETSS, the major copy-text for this critical edition, was the last edition seen through the press by Hume. In 1776, the year of his death, he left a few directions for the posthumous edition of 1777, but little is known about the preparation and supervision of this edition at the press. For more than three decades Hume regularly modified his essays as he prepared new editions. This appendix records all substantive variants in these editions, that is, all substantive changes in the wording in the evolution of the text from the earliest edition through the last edition of 1777 for all essays except those withdrawn. The appendix also explains why and where the 1772 copy-text and the copy-texts for the withdrawn essays and for one essay new in 1777 have been emended. Formal changes in typographic convention, spelling, and punctuation are recorded if and only if their history bears on the editors’ emendation of Hume’s text. Given this information, interested readers will be able to determine precisely how the critical text differs, both substantively and formally, from the copy-texts. This appendix has three parts. Part 1 explains the selection of the copy-texts and the methods of editing used to establish the critical text. Part 2 lists all systematic emendations. Part  3 contains a register of non-systematic emendations and substantive variants. The classification of emendations as either systematic or nonsystematic creates three imperfectly distinguishable types of textual change, each reported separately in the following order: 1. Systematic changes of form made without further notice. 2. Systematic emendations of form reported collectively by kind. 3. Substantive variants and substantive emendations reported individually. Part 2 of this appendix on systematic changes handled as a group treats (1) and (2). Part 3 treats (3). Systematic changes involve groups of identical or similar changes that sometimes occur at more than one place. These changes are usually of no significance for an understanding of the text and are of secondary importance to substantive emend­ ations. All non-systematic emendations are reported in the register, where they appear as grey-shaded entries. Reference numbers in the register are to page or note number and to line number on the page in the text of the critical edition, not to paragraph numbers.

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PART 1 TH E SE L E CTION OF COPY- TE X T S A ND T HE E DITING OF THE CR I T I C A L T E X T Hume repeatedly revised the bulk of his essays over the course of numerous editions. The editors had to select, for each essay or group of essays, one version as the copy-text, that is, the basic document for the construction of the edited critical text. The critical text is the emended copy-text. In textual editing the critical text usually resembles the copy-text more than any other text of the same work, but a copy-text simply establishes a default position in the absence of countervailing evidence that the author changed his mind or that the copy-text is faulty. In principle an eclectic critical text can deviate widely from the copy-text, but this critical edition of Hume’s essays does not involve expansive deviation. ‘A Note on the Texts’ provides additional information about how the original printed texts were used to create a digital text and how variants were discovered both visually and by computer.

Choice and Treatment of the Copy-texts Textual editors attend carefully to the difference between substantive and ‘accidental’ variants. If an author closely revised the text in the course of several editions, it can be assumed that substantive changes are authorial unless clear evidence exists to the contrary. Changes in accidentals, by contrast, can sometimes be most reasonably attributed to the printer, or at least to some non-authorial source. From this perspective it might seem sensible to make the first or some early edition the copytext. An editor would then be free, in the absence of antithetic evidence, to in­corp­ or­ate apparently authorial changes in substantives while excluding changes in accidentals. However, there are justified exceptions to this editorial strategy. The primary exception is a work known to have been extensively revised by the author in both substantives and accidentals. Variations on this exception are cases in which accidentals are changed by printers in ways known to be accepted or expected by authors. Apart from the first four withdrawn essays, all of the works in this volume are justified exceptions. Hume took extraordinary care in revising his substantives, accidentals, and style. As the work matured, he removed archaic spellings and made numerous changes that it would be inappropriate for an editor to dismiss as if they had never transpired (see the register below). Even if changes in accidentals were made at the press, as in the imposition of a house style, Hume had ample op­por­tun­ ity through the later editions to correct such changes. We therefore can, with justification, assume that he sanctioned, or at least condoned, these modifications. The one exception is the index to Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (ETSS). Hume probably attended with extensive care only to the first index of 1758, and even in this edition he did not himself put the index into its final form.

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Using the standard that the critical text should represent an author’s last intentions, there is no reason in the case of Hume’s works to make a virtue of retaining accidentals that he clearly wished to alter. The standard of an author’s final intentions is not the only valid standard in scholarly editing, but in the present case it is easy to justify adopting the author’s final intentions as the standard because Hume showed a dedication over decades to achieving a perfected text in printed form. Hume’s actions show that he wanted us to read his final intentions. Accordingly, the appropriate standard for scholarly modification of his text is evidence to warrant emendation, where the evidence is grounded in standards that the author is known to have accepted such as the house style used by his printer and changes the author initiated or approved in his editions. The 1772 edition is the copy-text for all works other than the essays that were withdrawn and the one essay added in 1777. The general editors selected the 1772 edition for several reasons. This edition is the culmination of more than two decades of diligent attention by Hume, his printers, and his booksellers. Hume’s correspondence regarding the 1772 edition provides a record of his attention to and satisfaction with this edition that is unparalleled for any other edition of ETSS. He wrote to his printer, William Strahan, shortly before publication of this edition, that ‘my philosophical Pieces’ have been ‘perusd . . . carefully five times over’. He pointed to the meticulous and likely the final nature of the improvements he had made: ‘This [work] . . . is now brought to as great a degree of accuracy as I can attain.’1 Hume wrote one of his most memorable comments about his revisions to Strahan while correcting the sheets of this edition: I thank you for your Corrections, which are very judicious; and you see that I follow them for the greatest part. I shall be obligd to you for continuing them as far as your Leizure will ­permit. For tho’ I know, that a man might spend his whole Life in correcting one small Volume, and yet have inaccuracies in it, I think however that the fewer the better, and it is a great Amusement to me to pick them out gradually in every Edition.2

Immediately upon the publication of the 1772 edition, Hume wrote to his bookseller, Thomas Cadell, that ‘I have carefully perusd the Essays [ETSS], and find them very correct, with fewer Errors of the Press, than I almost ever saw in any book.’3 Despite his judgement of the accuracy and finality of this edition, Hume prepared additional corrections for the posthumously published edition of 1777. This edition introduced various accidentals and modest word shifts (chiefly commas, 1  11 March 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 235; and 25 March 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 239. 2  18 September 1771, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 250. The ‘Corrections’ mentioned to Strahan refer to revisions; the word ‘correct’ in the remark to Cadell refers to absence of typographical errors. They have in common that they are aspects of Hume’s satisfaction with the 1772 copytext adopted for this Clarendon critical edition. However, the letter to Strahan was about Hume’s History. Strahan was sending to Hume up to five proof sheets, or eighty pages, per week during the period the History was being printed. 3  3 June 1772, to Thomas Cadell, Letters, 2: 262.

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spelling, verb–adverb order, and subjunctive verb-forms) that are atypical of Hume’s previous editions. The critical edition at hand gives greater credence to substantive changes in the posthumous 1777 edition than to its changes in accidentals, but a few changes of both types that occurred in 1777 introduced inconsistencies or defects that are most plausibly attributed to the compositors.4 A simple example of these problems is found in the short essay ‘Of the Origin of Government’, which appeared only in the 1777 edition. The typesetting does not follow Hume’s conventions throughout ETSS regarding capitalization after a colon and use of small capitals on the word ‘French’. Hume did not live to see the proofs, and the compositor’s changes or failures to understand the conventions in previous editions could more easily have gone undetected than in an edition monitored by Hume himself. British compositorial style underwent conspicuous change over the forty-year period during which Hume published, with a major change in the printer’s house style beginning with the 1758 quarto. An editor could ­project the house style of the 1772 copy-text back onto the essays that Hume had withdrawn previously under the assumption that Hume preferred that reappearance or their adjustment to conform to Strahan’s house style of 1772, but his editors have not done so in this critical edition merely to achieve uniformity. Three of these essays appeared only in 1742 and solely this version is available as a copy-text. In the case of ‘Walpole’, which was recast after 1742 as a note, the original essay is the copy-text because it was the only appearance published as an independent essay. For the three other withdrawn essays, their last appearance is adopted as the copy-text with the goal of capturing Hume’s final preferences.5 For all other essays, the 1772 edition and the one new essay in the 1777 edition are the copy-texts. Previous editions of various works in ETSS by other editors have often used the 1777 edition as the primary text for all essays not withdrawn. This edition was authorized by Hume before he died, and therefore has a claim as the last authoritative text, but several reasons support the editors’ decision to choose the 1772 edition: First, Hume did not see the 1777 edition through the press, whereas in all previous editions he had the opportunity to oversee the publication process and to 4  Based on what is known about the journeyman printers of London, it is possible that distinct compositorial forms were introduced by different compositors or teams even during the typesetting of a single work. Different compositors or printing firms had different notions about how to handle names or spellings. The probabilities of different forms increased if an edition of several works was under production. This hypothesis may account for the many pockets or sections of works in ETSS in which different spellings are introduced, sometimes to linger in later editions and sometimes to vanish quickly. Many examples suggest that compositors, rather than Hume, were the source of inconsistencies. In the case of the Index to ETSS, suspicion often falls on those who helped in its preparation no less than on compositors. In a few cases, various accidental differences clearly should be discounted on grounds that they are non-authorial in origin. 5  Accordingly, when capitalization, italicization, hyphenation, punctuation, and spelling differ in the copy-texts of the withdrawn essays, these differences have, as a general rule, been retained in the critical texts. Capitalization in the early withdrawn essays is the most obvious and pervasive difference between these essays and those in the 1772 copy-text.

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approve or reject all proposed changes. Second, no attempt has been made by previous editors or scholars to establish by evidence which alterations in the 1777 were Hume’s rather than those of individuals who had responsibility for preparing the manuscript for the printer or overseeing the process of publication. Third, some questionable modifications and omissions appeared in the 1777 edition. The editors of the edition at hand have identified various changes in the 1777 edition— both formal and substantive—that are inconsistent with Hume’s use of words, punctuation, capitalization, and preferred styles throughout the long period of his prior revisions of his essays. Fourth, the 1772 is basically c­ onsistent with the 1777 and can easily be emended to incorporate what are likely Hume’s authentic changes in the 1777, as the editors have done. On balance, then, the 1772 is a relatively clear choice of copy-text; and it is the final edition for which he had primary responsibility all the way through the press. However, like all editions, the 1772 is not flawless. Some deterioration in foreign language quotations and in Hume’s references went uncorrected in all late editions, and various formal inconsistencies persisted throughout the editions. These problems are manageable and do not provide a sufficiently strong basis for overriding the ample evidence that Hume oversaw his later editions with at least as much care as the early editions. He was pleased with his corrections of the editions of ETSS. He rightly judged that the later ­editions are stylistically improved and formally more precise than the earlier editions.

The State of Hume’s Editions and the Need for Repair Despite the many corrections and improvements made as Hume’s editions evolved, scholars familiar with the history of the changes made in ETSS might reasonably conclude that, in every edition in which these individual works were published, both the author and the printer were muddled and casual about some matters of orthography, punctuation, capitalization, italics, case, and quotation marks. Neither Hume nor his printer was meticulous about the implementation of several conventions, especially in notes. Hume’s authorized editions contained various inconsistent forms from the beginning and through all later lifetime editions, and they were not rendered consistent by Hume’s editors thereafter (see Part 2 below). These editors have usually corrected blatant typographical errors while not correcting subtle errors (such as ‘an’ misprinted as ‘any’, commas inadvertently dropped, and plural forms incorrectly made singular), formal inconsistencies, and even substantive errors such as incorrect references in notes. In this edition, steadfast effort has been made to resolve these problems and to determine which forms of emendation are needed and justified by standards of good editorial practice. There is reason to believe that the printed texts are more inconsistent than Hume’s manuscript practices and therefore suspicion falls on the compositors as a major source of some, perhaps most, of the inconsistencies in the texts. The evidence from manuscript analysis is presented in the Clarendon

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Hume edition of A Treatise of Human Nature, which reports on the results of a study of Hume’s early correspondence and manuscript practices.6 This evidence indicates that Hume had settled, and reasonably consistent, preferences that were not always reflected in his published texts, though Hume’s manuscript practices were not in every respect established and uniform. Many compositorial preferences and constraints that apparently introduced inconsistencies in A Treatise of Human Nature also continued in the texts of ETSS. Analysis of the 1772 copy-text in particular—as regards orthography, punctuation, upper and lower case, the use of italics, and the like (supplemented by the previously mentioned evidence of Hume’s manuscript practices)—indicates that several inconsistencies in the copy-text were the joint product of the compositors’ forms and preferences in collision with Hume’s competing predilections. Faced with an unavoidable choice of preserving or eliminating pointless inconsistencies, their elimination is usually the reasonable course. However, allowing clear inconsistencies is occasionally the best editorial course. For example, although the conventions governing italics and also lower case and upper case are reasonably consistent in the texts of Hume’s editions, by contrast to the notes, the terms ‘Whig’ and ‘Tory’ appear not to be governed by any rule and appear in virtually every conceivable form and combination of italics, roman, small capital, lower case, upper case, etc. In this uncertain situation, which is rare, an editor cannot justifiably impose conventions (the principles or standards at work) where they are not discernible, and these two terms have therefore been left as they appear in the copy-text. The elimination of errors and several types of inconsistency, in light of a justified policy, is a fundamental objective of the Clarendon Hume editions. The general principle used by the editors is to follow the copy-text in substance and form unless an authoritative edition or practice, bona fide error, inconsistency, or instruction from Hume to his printer or bookseller warrants deviation. The justifying conditions for deviations from the copy-text are authoritativeness, removal of unwarranted and likely unintended inconsistency, and elimination of clear-cut error. The editing of substantive changes in this edition is exceptionally conservative. No substantive changes are introduced merely on grounds of inconsistency, and justification in accordance with the general principle is required for any editorial change that alters the meaning of the text. Changes based on inconsistency pertain to matters of form only, and all instances are listed in this appendix. In rare cases, found in only some volumes of the Clarendon Hume, a substantive change appears in Hume’s references in his footnotes, some of which were endnotes in the 1770–7 editions. His references have all been checked against appropriate early modern editions of the sources, and ­numbers have been corrected if it is clear that Hume or his compositor introduced errors into the citation of units such as page, book, or chapter number. Hume’s prior ETSS (and other prior) editions 6  A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton, vol. 2, pp. 610–11, 615–18, 627, 663–7.

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sometimes contain the correct numbering; other sources that warrant the few corrections made in the critical edition at hand appear in the works listed in the Catalogue or in the Reference List. Occasionally Hume’s numbering was correct for one or more editions of his day, but the numbering systems in those editions are now obsolete. If such a conflict by contrast to error of numbering occurs, the numbering in Hume’s text is retained and today’s conventional numbering is provided in the annotations together with an explanation of the older and the present-day numbering systems. Genuine errors in the copy-text, which are infrequent, have been corrected. Errors are usually typographical and conspicuous, but some are more subtle, and editorial verdicts of error may generate debatable changes. In the absence of definitive evidence of error of any type, the copy-text is not altered in this critical edition. This rule holds in the case of Hume’s quotations of published sources. Like others in his day Hume did not regard exact transcription as necessary for a serviceable quotation. If an editor were to impose an exact transcription onto the close ap­proxi­ ma­tion that Hume sent to his compositors, the editor would not have corrected an error because Hume may well not have intended an exact transcription. Hume’s quotation from Gulliver’s Travels might not be exact, but an editor ought not to emend it. Each of Hume’s ‘direct’ quotations has been checked against the first edition and all other ETSS editions of his text and against the (or, sometimes, a principal) published source of the work cited. If Hume’s quotation substantively alters the meaning of the original source in a way that affects Hume’s own comments about that source—in particular, if Hume’s comment on the passage is un­in­tel­li­ gible in light of his rendering—the editors of the Clarendon Hume restore the correct wording. In the event of such an error, which is extremely rare, the editors look first to Hume’s most accurate quotation of the source in an earlier edition to see if emendation of the copy-text is warranted. That is, Hume’s text with the most accurate transcription of the passage is preferred. As it happens, the editors of the critical text of the Essays have not found a single case in which Hume’s quotation substantively alters the meaning of the original source so as to affect Hume’s comments about that source. This is not because Hume’s text is lacking in transcription errors. Numerous quotations deviate in some respect from the original work of another author. For example, in one quotation from Machiavelli Hume uses, in different years but in the identical spot, three different words: ‘que la’ (41–58), ‘quella’ (60), and ‘dalla’ (64–77). The editors have not been able to find editions to support even one of the three in the published works of Machiavelli available to Hume. However, we have not judged that ‘dalla’ meets the standard just mentioned of an unjustified change, and the word is therefore retained. Retention of these apparent ‘errors’ sometimes helps us understand the meaning Hume attached to the text. In the present case, he may have been seeking just the right word in Italian to express the meaning he was taking from the text of Machiavelli. As a matter of editorial policy, the general principles of priority at work in the correction of the abovementioned forms of error in the copy-text are these: (1) The

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copy-text is the default source; (2) Hume’s other lifetime editions (1741–77) are given priority over editions of the works of any of the authors Hume has quoted; (3) If the first and second principles fail to provide a suitable remedy, the original sources, preferably in editions known to have been consulted by Hume, may be authoritative. In light of this policy, this edition occasionally allows wording in one or more of Hume’s editions, other than the copy-text, to be authoritative, as displayed in each case in the critical apparatus below. Using these editorial principles of priority, an editor is also bound by the printer’s house style in the copy-text. In the 1772 edition the style is the house style that William Strahan adopted in the 1758 edition and then continued to use in Hume’s lifetime editions of ETSS. The rules of this style were occasionally neglected by Strahan’s own compositors, thereby creating errors that were not detected prior to publication. Where Hume mistranscribes quotations he usually does not alter the meaning or render his comment on or use of the passage senseless or puzzling. In some cases a mistranscription is key to the way in which Hume understands what he has quoted. The editors’ first priority is fidelity to Hume’s rendering of an author, not to the author quoted. This rule is the default for quotation no less than any other feature of the text. The default is overridden only if there is sufficient evidence that the copy-text misportrays Hume’s sense of the documentation, as judged by either standards that he set or standards the compositor set and Hume did not reject. The fact that a misquotation is a misportrayal of the standards of the author quoted is not, by itself, relevant to establishing Hume’s text. Readers need to see what Hume wrote, even—perhaps especially—when it is incorrect in some way. An editor’s responsibility is to retain the standards Hume operated by or allowed in his name, which the reader has a right to know without the text being altered by an editor. Significant discrepancies are pointed out in the annotations when the editors have not judged these discrepancies an adequate basis for altering the text. For substantive variants in quotations, an editor sometimes must distinguish between compositors’ errors and Hume’s (mis)transcription. When this distinction cannot be made, it is generally better to accept the copy-text. For example, if the text of a quotation has become corrupt by dropping a preposition, but the meaning of the passage is unaffected, it is probably not determinable whether the omission is compositorial or authorial. Even if the dropping of a preposition has the effect of making a phrase more idiomatic, which is the type of error a compositor would accidentally introduce, the copy-text is the default position and the editor will only infrequently have an adequate basis for emendation. These editorial judgements are guided in this critical edition by the aforementioned principles. A published facsimile of a manuscript fragment of part of Hume’s essay on popu­lous­ness (pars. 80–2) has been examined and variants collated for this critical edition. (See variants, pp. 655–6.) It is in Hume’s hand and is authentic, not a forgery, as handwriting analysis confirms. There are nineteen substantive variants, but none supports a change suitable for the critical text. The editors include the variants

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in this editorial appendix even though this manuscript is not part of the printed record and the circumstances under which the manuscript was written and transmitted are uncertain. The manuscript is reproduced in facsimile in Appendix 3 to volume 1 of the present edition (facsimile at pp. 701-2; text at pp. 302–3). The principles used to guide the editors of all of Hume’s works in ETSS and A Treatise of Human Nature and a defence of those principles are ­provided in the Clarendon Hume editions of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (pp. 206–19) and the Treatise (pp. 589ff., esp. 605–32).

PART 2 SYSTE MATIC CHANGE S OF F ORM The final two parts of this appendix record differences between the copy-texts and the critical text. Modifications of the copy-texts are reported by page and line number, either in block reports in Part 2 or in the register in Part 3. The only exceptions are the emendations explained immediately below, which are changes made without further notice beyond Part 2.

Systematic Changes of Form without Further Notice Emendations made without further notice and without mention of page and line (sometimes said to be emendations made ‘silently’) are limited to the following. 1.  Single quotation marks have sometimes been exchanged for double quotation marks, or vice versa, thereby silently correcting an oversight or printing error. 2. Certain typographical publishing and formal practices that were commonly used in the eighteenth century are not retained. The practices eliminated include: (a) Pointing (‘.’) following an essay number on each first page of an essay. (b) The long ‘s’ (‘ſ ’). (c) Catchwords. (d) The use of signatures. (e) Booksellers’ advertisements. (f) Typographical or decorative ornaments. (g) Roman numerals (which are presented as arabic in this edition). (h) Unnumbered note markers, including asterisks (*), daggers (†), double daggers (‡), and the like. They are replaced by superscripted numbers. (i) Repeated inverted commas or quotation marks running along the margin that were used to distinguish quoted material from Hume’s text. (j) Concluding a volume with ‘FINIS’, ‘END OF THE FIRST VOLUME’, and the like.

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3.  Footnote numbers in the text have been placed to the right, rather than to the left, of punctuation marks, reversing the practice in the copy-text. Whereas the copy-text uses both footnotes and endnotes, the critical text prints all notes as footnotes, as Hume and his printer had always done in every edition prior to 1770.7 4.  Letters from European languages have occasionally been added. For ­example, ‘Condé’ is used in the text—in preference to ‘Conde’—because the appropriate e acute was printed in this form both in the index of the copy-text and in earlier ­editions. 5.  This edition continues a practice standard in Hume’s editions, the capitalization of whole words (capital/small-capital combinations) in the beginning line of essays (and, in other works, parts such as sections). However, two-line capitals have not been continued. 6.  The typographical practice of capitalizing whole words in introducing notes was executed with remarkable inconsistency throughout the history of ETSS and has been discontinued. 7.  The practice of capitalizing the first word (using a beginning large capital letter and the remainder of the word in small capital letters) under each letter in Hume’s index to ETSS has been continued. Capitals of this sort have been added to each first entry under a letter if the entry was not already capitalized. The full index to ETSS has been divided into the proper entries for this volume so that the only items included are the entries for the essays—that is, the essays in volume 1 of the 1772 ETSS and those of the withdrawn essays that were indexed in earlier editions. 8.  In the register in Part 3 below, changes to three forms in Hume’s indexes have not been considered variants to be reported, though they are occasionally parts of variants that, for other reasons, are reported: (1) page numbers, which are here converted to the page numbers of the critical edition and also converted to section and paragraph numbers; (2) commas to set off some entries that were used with occasional inconsistency in Hume’s index; and (3) lines and markers of the form ‘—’ used to repeat an entry found earlier on the same line or on an immediately previous line. These lines occasionally had to be slightly relocated because of the exclusion of entries to works other than Hume’s essays (EHU, EPM, NHR, and DP—the other works having entries in the indexes). The function of small capitals in the index is often not clear. It seems to be Hume’s way of giving emphasis, just as he uses small capitals elsewhere, but this explanation does not account for all instances. The small-capitalization forms in the copy-text have therefore not been altered in this critical edition. (An expanded account of the editorial treatment of the index is provided in the final section of this editorial appendix.) 7  In a letter to his printer Hume once stated a preference for on-page notes over endnotes. Commenting on Gibbon’s History, he wrote, ‘All these Authorities ought only to be printed at the Margin or the Bottom of the Page.’ 8 Apr. 1776, to William Strahan, Letters, 2: 313. The notes in this critical edition are numbered consecutively, by individual work, whereas Hume and his printer used asterisks, daggers, and the like.

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The systematic changes of form reported by kind in this section derive principally from formal inconsistencies eliminated from the copy-text. A few of these changes are probably corrections of typographical errors in the copy-text (e.g. a missing comma or hyphen). The resulting emendations have no effect on substantive meaning. These emendations are often of interest because of the information they convey about the conventions accepted by Hume or his printer. They are treated in the following seven sections: 1. Orthography (spelling, abbreviation, hyphenation, and apostrophes). 2. Punctuation. 3. Italic and roman type. 4. Upper and lower case. 5. Errors in typography (misprints). 6. Errors of alphabetization in the index to ETSS. 7. Errors in Greek (mistranscriptions). Emendations of form in the copy-text (as in §§1–4, 6 below) are reported using the abbreviation displ. for ‘displaces’. Misprints in the copy-text (as in §§5, 7 below) are reported using the abbreviation mispr. for ‘misprinted’. Any apparent misprint that conceivably might be a substantive change is reported in the register in Part 3, rather than in the block forms used here in Part 2. Emendations not resulting from the elimination of problems of form in the copy-text are reported in the register, and not reported by kind. Either page-and-line numbers or note numbers (and their lines) are supplied for each change. Both alphabetical order and numerical order by page or note number are used, as appropriate to a particular list. 1.  Orthography Inconsistent orthography has been eliminated by adopting the principal forms found in the copy-text(s), editions historically related to the copy-text(s), and other relevant publications and manuscripts, as explained in Part 1 of this appendix. Orthography is not modernized. In the case of all modifications, the goal has been to restore Hume’s preferred spellings, abbreviations, use of hyphens, and the like where they were absent. This goal proved more difficult to achieve for the withdrawn essays, which had few, if any, other editions on which such a modification might be based. Very few inconsistencies have been modified in the withdrawn essays; all are recorded below. Primary-Use Abbreviation or Full Word Displaces Secondary-Use Abbreviation. (1) ann. or Ann. displ. annal., annal., ann., or Ann.: ‘Politics’ nt. 4; ‘Parties of Great Britain’ nt. 2; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 12; ‘Of Money’ nt. 1.3, 1.10; ‘Populousness’ nts. 15.1, 16, 30, 40, 64.6, 192, 259; ‘Original Contract’ nt. 2. (2) Aphob. displ. Aphobum.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 26, 160. (3) Attic. displ. Att.: ‘Taxes’ nt. 1. (4) August. displ. Aug.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 201. (5) Celtica displ. Celt.: ‘Populousness’

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nt. 237. (6) Cicero, displ. Cic.: ‘Eloquence’ nt. 2.6. (7) civ. displ. civil.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 67.2. (8) Diod. Sic. displ. Diod. Sicul.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 70. (9) epist. displ. ep.: ‘Of Interest’ nts. 3, 4; ‘Taxes’ nt. 1; ‘Populousness’ nt. 12.1. (10) ex edit. displ. ex editione and ex edit.: ‘Eloquence’ nt. 6.4; ‘Populousness’ nt. 22. (11) Gallico displ. Gall. and Gallico: ‘Populousness’ nts. 60, 232, 236.1, 240, 243, 244.6. (12) Ibid. or ibid. displ. Ib. or ib. or ibid: ‘Populousness’ nts. 100, 122, 241. (13) Id. or id. displ. Id. or id.: ‘Politics’ nts. 6.25, 9; ‘Populousness’ nts. 29.5, 29.9, 29.15, 84.17, 84.17, 84.19, 84.20, 84.21, 241. (14) Judaic. displ. Jud.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 255.31. (15) Juvenal displ. Juven.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 42. (16) Monsieur displ. Monsieur: ‘Avarice’ 31.34. (17) moribus displ. morib.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 49. (18) Page or page displ. Pag. or pag. or p.: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 5.4; ‘Populousness’ nts. 22, 84.3, 84.4, 84.4, 84.5, 84.6, 84.6, 84.11, 84.13, 84.14, 84.16, 84.17, 84.17, 84.18, 84.19, 84.20, 84.21, 86, 102, 103. (19) Plin. displ. Plinii, Plinius: ‘Rise and Progress’ nts. 15.3(1), 15.3(2); ‘Of Interest’ nt. 3; ‘Populousness’ nt. 209. (20) Plutarch. displ. Plut. and Plutarchus and Plutarch (with no punctuation): ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 10; ‘The Sceptic’ nts. 2, 3; ‘National Characters’ nt. 12; ‘Money’ nt. 3; ‘Balance of  Trade’ nt. 1; ‘Public Credit’ nt. 4, ‘Remarkable Customs’ nts. 3, 6; ‘Populousness’ nts. 5, 78, 93. (21) Proœm. displ. Proem.: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 15. (22) ratione redituum. displ. rat. red. and ratione red.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 145, 156, 159. (23) Sat. and sat. displ. Satyr and satyr: ‘Populousness’ nts. 189, 208.9. (24) Sueton. displ. Suet. and Suetonius and Sueton.: ‘Politics May Be Reduced to a Science’ nt. 3; ‘Parties in General’ nt. 3.9; ‘Populousness’ nts. 4, 199, 201. Spelling or Nomenclature Modified: Proper Names and Titles. (1) Achæans displ. Acheans: Index, under ‘Achæans’. (2) Æschines displ. Æschynes: Index, under ‘Æschines’. (3) Africa displ. Afric: 293.7, 301.8, 327.13. (4) Aunoy displ. Aunoi: Index, under ‘Aunoy’. (5) Britanny displ. Britany: 242.7. (6) Condé displ. Conde: 106.39. (7) Gierusalemme displ. Giuresalemme: ‘Epicurean’ nt. 3.4. (8) Halicarnassæus displ. Halycarnassæus and Hallicarnassæus: 156.5; ‘Populousness’ nt. 146.1. (9) Egypt(ian)(s) displ. Aegypt(ian)(s): 145.29; ‘Money’ nt. 1.13; ‘Populousness’ 285.21, 307.29, 324.17; ‘Populousness’ nts. 1.1, 255.30, 255.35. (10) L’Esprit des loix displ. L’Esprit de Loix: ‘Populousness’ nt. 2. (11) Louis displ. Lewis: 305.1, 345.5. (12) Ptolem(aic)(ies) displ. Ptolom(aic)(ies): 138.19, 139.14, 247.6. (13) Quintilian displ. Quinctilian: Index, under ‘Quintilian’. (14) Stanyan displ. Stanian: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 14.1; 246.32, 247.5 [‘Stanyan’ is the spelling in the 1772 and the earlier indexes.]. (15) Titi Livii displ. Titi Livii, T. Livii, Tit. Liv., and Tit. Livii: ‘Politics’ nt. 8; ‘Parties in General’ nt. 1.7; ‘National Characters’ nt. 5; ‘Populousness’ nts. 58, 80, 97, 167, 182, 185, 246. (16) Xen. displ. Xenoph.: ‘Balance of Power’ nt. 3; ‘Populousness’ nt. 229. Spelling or Alternative English Form Modified—Other than Proper Names and Titles. (1) ardour displ. ardor: 169.25. (2) atoned displ. attoned: 263.20. (3) biass displ. byass and bias: 62.27, 212.28. (4) (o’er-)(over)burden(s)(ed)(some) displ. (o’er-)(over) burthen(s)(ed)(some): 121.35, 196.23, 202.32, 207.12, 207.15, 207.38, 243.9, 263.23,

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266.5, 291.14, 291.22, 353.18, 353.21. (5) candour displ. candor: ‘National Characters’ nt. 2.12; ‘Populousness’ nt. 263.16. (6) cheerful(ly)(ness) displ. chearful(ly)(ness): 121.31, 121.36, 122.12, 140.21, 141.9, 207.9, 344.4. (7) choos(e) (s) displ. chus(e)(s): 109.8, 136.12, 136.29, 259.24, 267.11, 322.5, 336.22, 356.3, 365.8, 365.11, 366.15, 367.14, 368.25, 368.33, 369.4. (8) compleat(ly) displ. complete(ly): 137.13, 149.9, 149.18, 306.25. (9) connexion(s) displ. connection(s): 196.22, 271.31. (10) controuled displ. controled: 282.16. (11) (in)dependen(t)(ce) displ. (in)dependan(t)(ce): 47.19; ‘Sceptic’ nt. 6.41; 208.10, 370.28. (12) desert(s) displ. desart(s): 315.5, 324.20, 333.18. (13) discernible displ. discernable: 165.15. (14) embryo displ. embrio: 364.28. (15) encrease(d) displ. increase(d): 48.26, 87.21. (16) enflame(d)(s) displ. inflame(d)(s): 94.17, 96.22, 96.31, 155.29, ‘National Characters’ nt. 2.47; 167.7, 168.12, 171.22, 171.30, 171.31, 173.8, 190.1, 301.3. (17) enlisted displ. inlisted: 67.9. (18) enterpriz(es)(ing) displ. enterpris(es)(ing): 221.3; ‘Money’ nt. 5.2; 233.40. (19) entrust(ed)(ing) displ. intrust(ed)(ing): 38.27, 372.5. (20) foreteling displ. foretelling: ‘Public Credit’ nt. 7.8. (21) governors displ. governours: 323.14. (22) impolitic displ. unpolitic: 243.24, 247.22. (23) incontestable displ. uncontestable: 213.24. (24) inconveniencies displ. inconveniences: 41.26. (25) intractable displ. untractable: 23.18. (26) merchandize displ. merchandise: 287.9. (27) mixed displ. mixt: 40.13. (28) no wise displ. nowise: 281.12. (29) passed displ. past: 123.1. (30) pirate displ. pyrate: 333.7. (31) (un)practice(s)(d) displ. (un) practise(s)(d): 96.16, 104.26, 111.20, 111.24, 143.13, 177.23, 188.26, 223.28, 266.24, 274.21, 283.2, 320.24, 364.13. (32) public displ. publick: 260.27. (33) recall displ. recal: 275.15. (34) reflection displ. reflexion: 106.3, 161.24. (35) risque displ. risk: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 5.3. (36) rouz(es)(ed) displ. rous(es)(ed): 117.21, 206.20, 210.40. (37) satir(e)(ical)(ist) displ. satyr(ical)(ist): ‘Populousness’ nts. 92.2, 92.10, 92.11. (38) show(s)(n)(ing) displ. shew(s)(n)(ing): 8.13, 24.21, 58.30, 72.20, 75.4, 87.28, 95.17, 107.40, 112.30, 113.14, 121.2, 174.22, 213.26, 338.1, 340.19, 340.32, 347.13. (39) splendour displ. splendor: 70.18, 140.9, 255.30, 294.11, 313.15. (40) straightened displ. straitened: 281.12. (41) style displ. stile: 75.35, 93.35, 95.39, 98.39, 99.16, 99.35, 112.12, 112.17, 157.29, 158.20. (42) subsistence displ. subsistance: 231.3. (43) surpriz(ed)(ing) displ. surpris(ed)(ing): 13.18, 14.1, 22.30, 31.24, 77.27; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 5.2; 157.24, 259.36, 293.30, 299.1, 304.16, 319.8. (44) Switzerland displ. Swisserland: 161.8, 247.5, 294.12, 305.6. (45) tie(s) displ. tye(s): 54.29, 133.20. (46) whichever displ. which ever: 193.29. ‘A’ Displaces ‘An’ before Certain U-Words and H-Words. In the 1772 copy-text (as in all works in all editions of ETSS) ‘a’ and ‘an’ were inconsistently employed before three word-forms beginning with the letters ‘u’ and ‘h’: ‘uniform(ity)’, ‘utility’, and ‘hundred’. The 1770 and 1772 editions had corrected some of this usage for these three forms in favour of ‘a,’ not ‘an’, and the 1777 edition corrected all remaining instances save one. The clear 1772 and 1777 rule of ‘a’ over ‘an’ has been followed in this volume for the one final instance not detected in 1777 (at 466.10). This rule has not been followed in the withdrawn essays (1742–68), where the rule was not obviously in effect.

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Hyphenated Form Displaces Unhyphenated Form. Hyphens have been added, based entirely on ETSS conventions, at the following points: (1) above-mentioned: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.21; 175.13, 194.29, 195.39, 227.11, 240.7, 254.23, 262.5, 264.40, 301.19, 327.12, 360.10, 361.7. (2) before-hand: 55.34, 99.26, 339.14. (3) fellow-citizen: 68.17. (4) foot-steps: 339.31. (5) good-opinion: 84.31. (6) good-will: 84.32. (7) half-naked: 171.29. (8) paper-credit: 220.17. (9) party-rage: 301.3. (10) poll-tax: ‘Populousness’ nt. 255.34. (11) Roman-Catholic: 166.10, 196.1, 359.1, 361.22. (12) Round-head: Index, under ‘Round-head Party’. (13) twenty-two: 314.13. (14) well-educated: 111.33. Unhyphenated Form Displaces Hyphenated Form. Hyphens have been deleted, based on ETSS conventions, in the following: (1) anew: 64.15. (2) counterbalance: ‘Avarice’ 31.16. (3) fair sex: 116.18, 152.40. (4) free citizens: ‘Populousness’ nt. 11.2. (5) good manners: 111.37, 114.32, 115.6. (6) good nature: 70.20. (7) ill bred: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.1. (8) ill concerted: 245.30. (9) ill founded: 249.1. (10) ill grounded: 247.20. (11) ill judging: 122.27. (12) ill modelled: 214.11. (13) ill nature: 70.20. (14) ill placed: 50.10. (15) lifetime: ‘Study of History’ 27.30. (16) mean while: 120.28. (17) wherever: 114.33, 334.37. Apostrophe Added or Deleted. (1) men’s displ. mens: 133.27. (2) till displ. ‘till: 26.21, 367.25. 2.  Punctuation Inconsistent punctuation, as determined by a clear rule of punctuation in Hume’s editions, has been eliminated by adopting the principal usage in the copy-text, all relevant ETSS editions, and other publications and manuscripts, as explained in Part 1 of this appendix. The bulk of the changes occur in the notes, which appear to have been either hastily prepared or hastily typeset and not scrupulously validated. The apparent rule for notes in ETSS was to use a comma after an unabbreviated name and a period (not followed by a comma) after an abbreviated name. Correction of inconsistencies of punctuation under this rule has occasionally required editorial judgement regarding whether there is a principal usage or fixed rule in Hume’s writings and about what constitutes an inconsistency in the use of abbreviation. Comma Displaces Period or Point after an Author in the Notes OR Comma Added after an Entry or Number in the Notes or in an Entry in the Index to ETSS. (1) Appian,: ‘Populousness’ nts. 59, 74. (2) Cæsar,: ‘Populousness’ nts. 236, 240, 244.6. (3) Cato,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 35. (4) Cicero,: ‘Eloquence’ nts. 1.4, 2.6, 3.5. (5) Columella,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 253. (6) Comparison,: Index, under ‘Comparison’. (7) Demosthenes,: Index, under ‘Demosthenes’. (8) Josephus,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 204.15. (9) ‘Josephus quoted’: Under this entry in the Index a comma has replaced a period after ‘Note 204’ of ‘Populousness’. (10) Juvenal,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 42. (11) Lucian,: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4. (12) Nepos,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 20. (13) Ovid,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 230. (14) Plato,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 182. (15) Senecæ,:

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‘Populousness’ nt. 35. (16) Titi Livii,: ‘Populousness’ nts. 58, 80, 97, 167.5, 182, 185. (17) Varro,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 253. (18) Vopiscus,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 176. Period Displaces Semi-Colon. (1) ornament. Theatres displ. ornament; Theatres: ‘Populousness’ nt. 255.24. Comma or Period Added after a Title. (1) Onetorem.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 10. (2) Gallico,: ‘Populousness’ nt. 244.6. Question Mark Added (An Omitted Question Mark Supplied). (1) constitution? displ. constitution.: 58.5. (2) agreeable? displ. agreeable.: 136.5. (3) vivacity? displ. viv­ acity.: 168.13. (4) formidable? displ. formidable.: 327.16. (5) born subject? displ. born subject.: 339.17. Line Added in the Index for the Repetition of an Indexed Term. This category is explained on the first page of the Index to the essays in Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (pp. 377–8 above). Lines designating subentries have been added (replacing inconsistent ways of indicating subentries in the Index) under the following entries: Ariosto; Balance of Power; Comparison; Demosthenes; Exposing Children; Government, Origin of; Homer; Luxury; Lysias; Stuart Family; Terence. 3.  Italic and Roman Type Inconsistencies in the use of italic and roman type have been eliminated by adopting the principal usage in the copy-text, all relevant ETSS editions, and other of Hume’s publications and manuscripts. Roman forms sometimes replace italic equivalents, and vice versa. Most inconsistencies in the copy-text consist of small oversights, such as use of italics instead of the small capitals called for by rule. Other cases involve a larger inconsistency of presentation, such as failing to italicize a title italicized by rule in ETSS. The normal but not entirely uniform practice of Hume’s writings to accommodate the use–mention distinction was to print mentioned words or terms in italic (for example, vicious luxury is mentioned in one passage but not used (‘Let us consider what we call vicious luxury.’); however, it is used in other passages). This practice has here been made consistent, but an exception is made in the case of words that precede or follow the term ‘appellation’, where Hume’s apparent inconsistencies have not been removed because his preference and practice seem indecipherable. (See the listings in the section below, ‘Italics Added to Words, Definitions, and to the Abbreviation for ‘et cetera’ (&c.)’.) Changes have been introduced in the text if and only if the context is undoubtedly one of mentioning rather than using words or expressions; changes have not been introduced in borderline cases. Italics Removed from Names, Titles, Latin Words, and Reference Forms. The inventory below does not include the replacement of italics with small capitals, which is reported in the section below entitled ‘Roman Small Capitals Displace Italic Equivalents and Inconsistent Lower Case’. (1) ann.: ‘Parties of Great Britain’ nt.

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2.2; ‘Of Money’ nts. 1.3, 1.10; ‘Populousness’ nts. 15.1, 30, 64.6, 192. (2) Apolog.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 134. (3) de ædilitio edicto: ‘Populousness’ nt. 29.4. (4) de bell, De bello, de bello, and de bell: ‘National Characters’ nt. 3.1; ‘Populousness’ nts. 60, 75, 204.15, 232, 236, 240, 243, 244.6, 245, 248, 255.31. (5) de bell. civ.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 59, 67, 74. (6) de claris rhetor: ‘Populousness’ nt. 9. (7) de curiositate: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 1. (8) De exilio.: ‘Sceptic’ nt. 5. (9) de exped. and De exp.: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.7, 6.20; ‘Populousness’ nt. 54. (10) de falsa leg.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 55. (11) funebris: ‘Populousness’ nt. 123. (12) de hæred. petit. lex: ‘Populousness’ nt. 29. (13) De harusp. resp.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 252.3. (14) de his qui sero a Numine puniuntur: ‘Populousness’ nt. 261. (15) de ira cohibenda: ‘Sceptic’ nt. 2. (16) de [or De] mercede conductis: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4; ‘Populousness’ nt. 262. (17) De moribus: ‘Populousness’ nt. 233. (18) de off.: ‘Commerce’ nt. 5.4. (19) De orac. defectu: ‘Populousness’ nt. 257. (20) de pop. statu.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 88.9. (21) de prob.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 88.11. (22) de provid.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 18.3. (23) De ratione redituum: ‘Populousness’ nts. 145, 156, 159. (24) de re rustica: ‘Populousness’ nt. 253. (25) De rep.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 148, 177.1. (26) de statu popul.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 71.2. (27) de tranq. anim.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 81.3. (28) de virt. & fort.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 78. (29) Epist. and epist.: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.3; ‘Populousness’ nts. 12.1, 12.7, 106. (30) Ex monument. Ancyr.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 194. (31) exp.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 229. (32) Fast. lib.: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 1.2. (33) hist. and Hist.: ‘Parties of Great Britain’ nt. 1.3; ‘Public Credit’ nt. 6. (34) hist. frag.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 196. (35) ibid.: ‘Balance of Trade’, nt. 13, ‘Populousness’ nt. 241. (36) Id.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 29.9, 29.15. (37) In [Ctesiphontem] and in [Cæsaribus]: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 5; ‘Populousness’ nt. 128.2. (38) in vita: ‘Parties in General’ nt. 3.9; ‘Public Credit’ nt. 4.1; ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 6; ‘Populousness’ nts. 15, 63, 68, 93, 114, 119, 128, 132, 136, 162, 176, 192, 193.49, 200, 247. (39) in vita decem oratorum: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 3. (40) Lacon. apophtheg.: ‘Sceptic’ nt. 3. (41) Lib. and lib.: ‘Parties of Great Britain’ nts. 1.3, 2.2; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 1.2; ‘National Characters’ nt. 10; ‘Public Credit’ nt. 6. (42) Mem.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 143. (43) Mons. or Monsieur: Avarice 31.34; ‘Delicacy of Taste and Passion’ nt. 1; 153.15. (44) Olynth.: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 7. (45) paneg.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 169. (46) Saturnalia: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4. Roman Small Capitals Displace Italic Equivalents and Inconsistent Case. (1) L’Abbe du Bos displ. L’Abbe du Bos [and Dubos]: 174.18; ‘Populousness’ nt. 254. (2) Aphob. displ. Amphobum: ‘Populousness’ nt. 26. (3) Ancyr. displ. Ancyr.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 194. (4) Aurora displ. Aurora: 127.12. (5) Asc. Ped. . . . Milone displ. Asc. Ped. . . . Milone: ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 4. (6) August. displ. Aug. ‘Populousness’ nt. 201. (7) Berkeley displ. Berkeley: ‘National Characters’ nt. 7. (8) Cælio displ. Cælio: ‘Populousness’ nt. 11.2. (9) Catil. displ. Catil.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 75. (10) Catholic(s) or Roman Catholics displ. Catholic(s) or catholic(s) or catholic(s) or Roman Catholics or Roman catholics or Roman Catholics (if hyphenated in the copytext, the hyphen remains unaltered in the critical text): 80.14, 80.16, 80.26, 107.30,

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166.10, 196.1, 359.1, 361.22, 361.39. (11) Celtica. displ. Celt.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 237. (12) China displ. China: 270.7. (13) Christian(ity)(s) displ. Christian or christian(s) or Christian(ity)(s): 69.4, 69.12, 69.25, 70.1; ‘Parties in General’ nts. 3.13, 3.14; 80.11, 107.30, 269.7. (14) Cicero displ. Cicero: ‘Sceptic’ 130.27. (15) de displ. de: ‘Money’ nt. 4.8; ‘Original Contract’ nt. 4.6, 4.10; 369.27. (16) de la displ. de la: 31.34. (17) du displ. du: ‘Money’ nt. 4.1, 4.8; ‘Populousness’ nt. 254.1. (18) Druidical displ. Druidical: ‘Parties in General’ nt. 3.10. (19) Don displ. Don: ‘Populousness’ nt. 3.3. (20) French displ. French: 37.19, 56.21. (21) Gallico displ. Gallico and Gall.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 60.1, 232, 236, 240, 243, 244.6, 245. (22) Germ. displ. Germ.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 49, 233. (23) Hal. displ. Hal.: ‘National Characters’ nt. 2.62. (24) Hisp. displ. Hisp.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 248. (25) Judaic. displ. Jud.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 255.31. (26) Jul. displ. Jul.:‘Populousness’ nt. 199. (27) Lacon. displ. Lacon.: ‘Sceptic’ nt. 3. (28) Licinius apud Sallust displ. Licinius apud Sallust: ‘Populousness’ nt. 196. (29) Lucian displ. Lucian: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4. (30) Marii displ. Marii: ‘Populousness’ nt. 247. (31) Negroe(s) displ. negroe(s): ‘National Characters’ nt. 6.1, 6.10; 311.18. (32) Neronis displ. Neronis: ‘Populousness’ nt. 200. (33) Nicolaus Hortensius displ. Nicolaus Hortensius: ‘Populousness’ nt. 197. (34) Onetorem displ. Oniterem: ‘Populousness’ nt. 10. (35) Ovid, displ. Ovid.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 230. (36) Polyb. displ. Polyb.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 229, 231. (37) Ponto displ. Ponto: ‘Populousness’ nt. 222. (38) power displ. Power: 51.20. (39) Roman displ. Roman and Roman: 254.29; ‘Populousness’ nt. 197. (40) Severi displ. Severi: ‘Populousness’ nt. 193.49. (41) Strabo displ. Strabo: ‘Populousness’ nt. 230. (42) Sueton. displ. Sueton.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 199, 201. (43) Suidas displ. Suidas: ‘Eloquence’ nt. 7.3. (44) Trist. displ. Trist.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 222. (45) Tusc. displ. Tusc.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 195. (46) Vel. Paterc. displ. Vell. Paterc.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 249. (47) Virg. displ. Virg.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 252.4. (48) Xen. displ. Xenoph: ‘Populousness’ nt. 229. Italics Added to Words, Definitions, and to the Abbreviation for ‘et cetera’ (&c.). (1) cell: ‘Populousness’ nt. 31.2. (2) charity: 182.28. (3) citizen: ‘Populousness’ nt. 213. (4) delicacy: 186.24. (5) delicacy of taste: 187.10. (6) drunkard: 211.37. (7) equity: 182.28. (8) &c.: 89.7; ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 1.2; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4; ‘The Epicurean’ nt. 3.3. (9) fine writing: 157.3. (10) gentry: 354.14. (11) great refinement in the gratification of the senses: 209.2. (12) historical: 350.26. (13) inhabitant: ‘Populousness’ nt. 213. (14) justice: 182.28. (15) meekness: 182.28. (16) Pro or pro: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 2; ‘Populousness’ nt. 73. (17) temperance: 182.28. (18) vicious luxury: 216.7. (19) whigs: 350.31. Quotation Marks. At ‘Populousness’ nt. 46, two separate quotations appeared within a single set of quotation marks. The quotation marks shown below have been added to the text to correct for this problem. (1) imperant.”: ‘Populousness’ nt. 46.3. (2) “At nunc: ‘Populousness’ nt. 46.3. (3) colonis.”: ‘Populousness’ nt. 46.10. (4) “Vincto: ‘Populousness’ nt. 46.11.

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Related inconsistencies are found at ‘Populousness’ nts. 29 and 255, but quotation marks at these points are not essential for clarity. In ‘Eloquence’, no quotation marks were used, but the meaning is clear and therefore no editorial emendation occurs. ETSS is not consistent in placing Latin quotations in italics or within quota­tion marks—or using neither. The several different forms seem to lack stylistic principle and therefore the copy-text presentation has not been altered in the present edition. 4.  Upper Case and Lower Case For the essays that appeared in one or more years of ETSS, inconsistent upper and lower case has been eliminated by adopting the principal usage in the copy-text(s), all relevant ETSS editions, and other publications and manuscripts, as explained in Part 1 of this appendix. The conventions in the copy-texts governing lower case and upper case (both large and small capitals) in ETSS were often not observed in the notes, but were largely consistent in the text. No attempt has been made in the early withdrawn essays to render Hume’s old-style capitalization of nouns more consistent. Capitalization in these withdrawn essays is reasonably careful, and there is no authorial authority for capitalizing what appear to be a few apparently missing capitals. The few lower-case uses also may be intentional. The capitalization principles at work in Hume’s early works are not always determinable with assurance. Initial Lower Case Letter Displaces Upper Case Letter. (1) a Passage displ. A Passage: Index, under ‘Plutarch’. (2) ann. displ. Ann.: ‘Politics’ nt. 4.2; ‘Parties of Great Britain’ nt. 2.1; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 12; ‘Of Money’ nt. 1.3, 1.10; ‘Populousness’ nts. 15.1, 16, 30, 40, 64.6; ‘Original Contract’ nt. 2. (3) apophtheg. displ. Apophtheg.: ‘Sceptic’ nt. 3. (4) bello displ. Bello: ‘National Characters’ nt. 3.1. (5) cent. displ. Cent: 91.21. (6) claris oratoribus displ. Claris Oratoribus: ‘Eloquence’ nts. 1.4, 3.5. (7) contra displ.Contra: ‘Remarkable Customs’ nt. 3.1. (8) de curiositate displ. De Curiositate: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 1. (9) de displ. De, De, or de: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.7; ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 1.2; ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 15.4; ‘Sceptic’ nt. 2; ‘National Characters’ nt. 3.1; ‘Commerce’ nt. 5.4; ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 1; ‘Populousness’ nts. 9, 18.3, 29.1, 29.4, 49, 50.1, 55, 59, 60.1, 67.2, 71.2, 74, 75, 78, 81.3, 88.9, 88.11, 204.15, 222, 236.1, 240, 244.6, 252.3, 253, 255.18, 255.31, 261. (This list does not include emendations to the small-capital form de; these changes are shown above in the section ‘Roman Small Capitals Displace Italic Equivalents and Inconsistent Lower Case’.) (10) dies displ. Dies: ‘Populousness’ nt. 32. (11) emperor displ. Emperor: 319.9. (12) epist. displ. Epist.: ‘Balance of Trade’ nt. 7. (13) for displ. For: ‘Parties in General’ nt. 3.1. (14) have displ. Have: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.1. (15) hist. displ. Hist.: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.15; ‘Balance of Power’ nt. 3. (16) house of commons displ. House of Commons or house of Commons: 256.21, 271.30, 372.13, 372.20. (17) house of Tudor displ. House of Tudor: 352.10, 352.27. (18) its displ. Its: Index, under ‘Chance’. (19) god displ. God: 107.1. (20) king displ. King: 365.19. (21) lib. displ. Lib.: ‘Independency of Parliament’ nt. 2.7; ‘Eloquence’ nt. 6.4; ‘Rise and

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Progress’ nt. 5.4; ‘Tragedy’ nt. 3.5; ‘Populousness’ nts. 46.4, 46.5, 46.10, 46.12. (22) orat. displ. Orat. or Orat. or orat.: ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 4; ‘Populousness’ nts. 71.2, 88.9, 88.11, 88.13, 135.2, 175. (23) physical displ. Physical: Index, under ‘Causes’. (24) private displ. Private: ‘Money’ nt. 1.1. (25) quæst. displ. Quest., Quæst., and quæst.: ‘Rise and Progress’ nt. 7.2; ‘Sceptic’ nt. 4; ‘Populousness’ nt. 195. (26) quoted displ. Quoted: Index, under ‘Diodorus’. (27) reason displ. Reason: 38.13. Initial Upper Case Letter Displaces Lower Case. Case has occasionally been modified in titles in the Contents, in essay titles, and in entries in Hume’s Index to achieve internal consistency and to render the titles of essays in the Contents consistent with the titles of the essays as printed at the head of the essays. Hume’s firm rule that capital letters are to follow colons has been strictly observed.8 (1) A fact displ. a fact: 318.25. (2) A French displ. a French: 56.20. (3) And displ. and: 36.9, 56.34, 107.28, 339.36. (4) But displ. but: 258.5, 339.34. (5) Divinity displ. divinity: 130.6, 132.11, 140.33. (6) Emperor displ. emperor: 117.3, 255.24, 282.36; ‘Populousness’ nt. 190.1. (7) For displ. for: 125.17. (8) He displ. he: ‘Populousness’ nt. 99. (9) King displ. king: ‘Politics’ nt. 6.16; 53.15. (10) Lord(s) displ. lord(s): 58.28, 83.23. (11) More displ. more: 339.36. (12) Nor displ. nor: 19.6. (13) Parties displ. parties: ‘Politics’ nt. 11. (14) Prince displ. prince: 86.16. (15) Protestant Succession displ. protestant succession: 358.27. (16) Reign displ. reign: Index, under ‘Government’ (3rd subentry). (17) Struggle displ. struggle: Index, under ‘Government’ (2nd subentry). (18) Tendency displ. tendency: Index, under ‘Sportula’. (19) They displ. they: 339.35. Lower Case Displaces Small Capitals. (1) Inst. displ. Inst.: ‘Populousness’ nt. 69. (2) Lib. displ. Lib.: ‘Populousness’ nts. 191.1, 258.1. (3) Lord displ. Lord: ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 2. (4) Symp. displ. Symp.: ‘National Characters’ nt. 12. 5.  Typographical Errors (Misprints in the Copy-texts) Only misprints in the copy-texts are reported below. Misprints in editions other than the copy-texts are not reported. Misprints in Greek are reported in the final section (§ 7) below. The abbreviation ‘mispr.’ is used for misprinted. ‘Middle Station’ 14.1: Persians: mispr. Persians: {colon in italics} 14.34: Wisdom: mispr. Wisdom: {colon in italics} ‘Avarice’ 31.12: pleasure. But mispr. pleasure. but ‘First Principles of Government’ 53.25: A period after ‘support it’ in the copy-text has been deleted. 8  In a letter to Strahan of 18 April 1757 (Letters, 1: 247), Hume instructed his printer to ‘Please . . . tell the Compositor, that he always employ a Capital after the Colons.’

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‘Parties in General’ 66.16: principle mispr. principal ‘Parties of Great Britain’ 74.6: continued mispr. con-inued {marginal hyphen} ‘Dignity or Meanness’ 85.5: vain-glorious mispr. vain glorious ‘Rise and Progress’ 101.5: farther mispr. father 113.17: A period was lacking after the sentence-ending in ‘(ληρεῖν)’. ‘Epicurean’ 117.30: Moor: mispr. Moor: {colon in italics} 119.4: pieces mispr. species nt. 3.3: V’ammantan mispr. V’ ammantan {spacing error} ‘Sceptic’ 136.6: at adventures mispr. at dventures 141.18: that mispr. and that 147.4: projects; mispr. projects: ‘Simplicity and Refinement’ 159.18: A comma appeared above the line in superscripted position after ‘actions’. ‘National Characters’ 161.1: to mispr. to to nt. 1.2: Stobæum mispr. Stodæum nt. 2.54: is, perhaps, mispr. is perhaps, nt. 6.4: whites, mispr. whites ‘Tragedy’ 174.18: du Bos mispr. Dubois 174.21: pursuit; mispr. pursuit: 179.19: the most pathethic mispr. the the most pathethic ‘Standard of Taste’ 189.19: contains mispr. contain ‘Commerce’ 208.29: ever mispr. never nt. 3.2: but of mispr. but of nt. 4: laboramus mispr. ___oramus {the shading and underline shown here was a blank space approximately the size of a space and three letters} ‘Refinement in the Arts’ 212.14: with mispr. mith

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‘Money’ 221.21: nation mispr. naiton 222.14: possible, mispr. possible 224.19: uncultivated mispr. uncltivated ‘Balance of Trade’ 241.5: legislature; mispr. legislature: 246.32: that mispr. than 248.37: In short mispr. IN short ‘Balance of Power’ 254.29: Roman mispr. Roman ‘Public Credit’ 271.2: Mankind are, mispr. Mankind are ‘Populousness’ 295.25: discipline mispr. discicipline 298.16: contests mispr. contrasts 308.24: triumvirates? mispr. Triumvirates? {italic question mark} 318.3: 5/6 mispr. 5 {incorrect superscript ‘5’ and lacking ‘/6’} 319.3: Paris mispr. Paris 324.11: the age mispr. Age nt. 3.3: Don mispr. Don nt. 4: Suetonius (Sueton. in the critical text) mispr. Seutonius nt. 9: Sueton. mispr. Seuton nt. 35: 1. 1. 9 mispr. l. 1. 9 {The original I.1.9 was correct in 52–8. The lower-case letter in the font ‘l’, instead of the Roman number ‘I’, was apparently a compositor’s error introduced in 1760 and retained in the editions in all years thereafter.} nt. 46.3: says mispr. say ‘Original Contract’ nt. 7: chap. 11. mispr. with the point after ‘11’ in the position of a dropped hyphen ‘Passive Obedience’ 348.12: Besides mispr. Besides; ‘Coalition of Parties’ Page no. 495 in the copy-text mispr. 49 ‘Protestant Succession’ 361.33: over mispr. ever ‘Perfect Commonwealth’ 372.29: the militia mispr. of militia

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‘Index’ (to the copy-text in ETSS) Listed below are typographical errors, inconsistencies, incomplete references, and the like in the index to the 1772 ETSS. Several incorrect page numbers, volume numbers, endnote numbers, and forms of punctuation are found in the index. Several errors are deteriorations after the first, and the most accurate, 1758 index; and some errors are the result of the shift from footnotes to endnotes in 1770. Some errors resulted from page conversions when creating the 1772 index from the 1770 index, which itself contained errors carried over from previous editions. The sources of most of these problems have been traced by collating the indexes and comparing the result to the indicated passages in each edition. The 1758 edition often has substantial accuracy in locating Hume’s reference(s), and in this regard it frequently has authority for the location of the correct paragraphs and pages. (1) 520.42 (under ‘Curtius, Quintus’): The indexer or printer failed to include the page (447 in the copy-text) on which note 204 appeared. (2) 521.16 (under ‘Diodorus Siculus’): The indexer or printer listed the correct page, but the wrong endnote number, for note 115. The index lists note 130 (in par. 107, which was endnote ‘FF’ in the copy-text); the correct note number is 115 (in par. 98), which was endnote ‘EE’ in the copy-text. (3) 523.19 (under ‘Hardouin, Pere’): The printer or indexer listed a correct page, but failed to provide ‘Note 193’ (which was endnote ‘MM’ in the copy-text). (4) 525.17 (under ‘Louis XIV’): Armies mispr. armies. (5) 527.1 (under ‘Nepos, Cornelius’): The page listed in the index in the copy-text is 403; the correct page is 402. Note 20 in the copy-text is on p. 402, line 1. (6) 527.9 (under ‘Northern Nations’): Nations mispr. Nation (a misprint carried over from the 1770 edition). (7) 527.15 (under ‘Olympiodorus’): The printer or indexer listed an incorrect page in the endnotes, pointing the reader to an incorrect endnote (‘NN’ in the copy-text). The correct endnote (which was ‘MM’ in the copy-text) is ‘Note 193’ in par. 135 of this critical edition. (8) 527.39 (under ‘Persia, ancient’): The printer or indexer failed to include the words ‘Note 6’ (which was endnote ‘A’ in the copytext). (9) 528.15 (under ‘Pliny the Elder’): The printer or indexer listed the correct page, but failed to provide ‘Note 193’ (which was endnote ‘MM’ in the copy-text). (10) 529.36 (under ‘Romans, . . . anciently Pirates’): The printer or indexer failed to include ‘Note 5’ (which was endnote ‘O’ in the copy-text). (11) 530.38 (under ‘Spartian’): The printer or indexer failed to include ‘Note 193’ (which was endnote ‘MM’ in the copy-text). (12) 532.37 (under ‘Vossius’): The printer or indexer failed to provide ‘Note 193’ (which was endnote ‘MM’ in the copy-text). 6.  Errors of Alphabetization in the Index The following entries were in incorrect alphabetical order in the index of ETSS in the 1772 copy-text: Athens; Bentivoglio; Country Party; Debt; Epicurean; Fregosi and Adorni; Helvetia; Interest (also incorrect was the order of the two subentries under ‘Interest’); Isocrates; Louis XIV; Luxurious Ages most happy; Moral Causes; Morals; Politics; Prior, Mr.; Romans, when most corrupt; Rome; Sceptic; Voltaire; Whig Party. These errors have been corrected in this critical edition.

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7.  Errors and Corrections in Greek Improper Greek forms in the copy-text have been corrected. The use of accents and breathings in Greek type has been adapted to modern printing conventions, but wording and spelling judged acceptable in the printed editions of Hume’s day has been retained. These changes do not affect the meaning of the passages. Variations in the Greek occur across the editions of Hume’s Essays, but they are of no material significance. The improper Greek forms in some cases occur in all applicable editions. Errors in breathings, accents, subscript iotas, and antiquated letter forms are not included in the list below. Errors in foreign languages other than Greek are reported in the Register. ‘Civil Liberty’ nt. 1: Εἰ δὲ mispr. Εἰδὲ ὠϕελεῖ mispr. ὀϕὲλεἷ nt. 5: ἂν προτελέσωσιν mispr. ὰνπροτελέσωσιν ἂν εἰσενέγκωσιν mispr. ὅν εἰσενεγκοσιν ἀνθρωπίνων mispr. ἀνθροπίνων [Note: For the word ‘ἀσϕαλέστατον’, Hume used the now antiquated form ‘ἀσϕαλέϛατὸν’, which is not an error because here ϛ = στ).] ὁ δόκει is corrected to ὃ δοκεῖ, and πόλυχρονιῶτατον to πολυχρονιώτατον ‘Eloquence’ nt. 6: ἰσόκωλος mispr. ισοκηλος. [Another problem with this term (whether it should be ἰσόκωλον rather than Hume’s ἰσόκωλοϛ) is discussed in the annotations at ‘Eloquence’ 6. lib. 12. page 106. ex edit. Rhod.] nt. 7: αὐτοῦ mispr. αὐτῷ ‘Populousness’ nt. 88: εὶς πυρριχιστὰς mispr. Εισπυρριχισταις κωμῳδοῖς mispr. κομοδοις

PA RT 3 SUBSTA NT I V E VARIANTS AND SU BSTA N T I V E E M ENDATIONS This final part contains the register of substantive variants and emendations, which are editorial changes in the text reported individually. Being distinctive, these emendations are not systematic and are not candidates for reports in a block form.

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No overlap or redundancy between lists in prior Parts is permitted unless a required report in Part 3 incorporates a change that also must be reported in Part 1 or Part 2. Emendation is infrequent, but it is sometimes substantive. With few exceptions, emendations derive from the authority of one or more edition(s) of ETSS, usually the 1777 edition, but occasionally from evidence found in one or more editions prior to the 1772 edition. For example, the 1758 index to ETSS has un­usual authority as a source of determining correct page-number references in the copy-text, and thereby in determining the correct paragraph numbers, which are also listed in the index in the critical text. All emendations are highlighted in light grey. When a grey-highlighted string contains a form such as ‘~ 77’ or ‘~ 58–68’, the reader usually can assume that the editions listed with the identity symbol (‘~’) are a source of authority for the change. However, these authorities are often additionally supported by evidence such as house style at the press or Hume’s known preferences of style, such as capital letters following colons. Often evidence internal to the copy-text is itself determinative (e.g. a spelling or style of punctuation that is clearly the standard form). Authority for punctuation changes is generally transparent in the entries in the register, but authority may be less apparent for the following types of change: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Spelling and abbreviation Italic and roman font Upper and lower case Arabic and roman numerals.

These changes derive almost entirely from inconsistencies in the texts or in printing conventions. With the exception of arabic and roman numerals, these changes are reported in the block reports in Part 2 of this appendix. They are, in a few cases, reported more than once, because they are intrinsic to other variants that are reported in the register here in Part 3. Most of these changes have not been established by previous editors of Hume’s essays, none of whom systematically compared the 1772 and 1777 editions to all previous editions. Entries of pieces of text in the register do not include an ending item of punctuation unless the punctuation itself is a variant or is needed to locate or make sense of the variant. If there is no contrasting punctuation in another edition, the punctuation is irrelevant to a display of variation. Misprints in editions of the essays other than the copy-text are not included in the list of variants because they are mistakes rather than variants. If doubt exists that a difference is a genuine misprint, it is reported as a variant even if the editors judge that it probably is a misprint. Some portions of Hume’s essays appeared first in a paragraph of the main text and, in later editions, as notes, or vice versa. This material is collated as text material if it is text in the copy-text and as note material if it appears in the notes of the copytext. The general rule on note material is that its location in the register (which uses page and line numbers) is determined by the location of the superscripted note symbol (e.g. ‘1’) in the text.

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The editors have attempted to simplify the forms used in the list below to make it as readable as possible. Preference has been given to short, simple entries, avoiding long strings of text in a single entry. This general rule favouring simplicity and atomic units is occasionally overridden, usually by placing two short variants together to show a more meaningful unit.

Abbreviations of the Dates of Editions in the Register The editions authorized by Hume of the essays were published in some years of the period between 1741 and 1777. The relevant dates are abbreviated, when necessary, to 41; 42 (occasionally distinguishing 42-v.1 (EMP, vol. 1, ‘the second edition’) and 42-v.2 (EMP, vol. 2)); 48 (occasionally distinguishing 48a (Three Essays,Moral and Political) and 48b (Essays, Moral and Political, third edition)); 52a (Political Discourses, first edition) and 52b (Political Discourses, second edition); 53; 54; 57 (Four Dissertations); 58; 60; 64; 67; 68; 70; 72; 77. In the collation of variants, the two 1742 volumes do not need to be distinguished because they contain no essays in common, as is the case with the two 1748 volumes, which have no substantive variants and only a few formal variants. By contrast, the two 1752 volumes must be kept entirely separate because 52a and 52b are two separate editions of the same set of essays, with numerous substantive and formal variants. Using these abbreviations, items of the form ‘67’ indicate that a variant reading is found in the 1767 edition. Items of the form ‘57–60’ indicate that a particular variant reading is found in all editions published from 1757 to 1760. (See further on the history of the editions the Editors’ A History of Hume’s Essays and A Table of the Appearances of Hume’s Essays in this critical edition.)

Terms, Symbols, and Practices in the Register Each entry in the register begins with a page-and-line reference to the critical text. These numbers are followed by the relevant portion of the critical text, hereafter referred to as the lemma. The lemma terminates at a bold right-hand square bracket (]), which is followed by one or more additional portions of text, each portion sep­ ar­ated by a vertical line (|). The abbreviations and symbols used in this string are as follows: ] separates the critical text (printed to the left of the ‘]’) from variants in the collated editions (printed to the right of the ‘]’). The first entry (in the order of years) that shows a difference from the lemma entry is always reported in full. | separates a variant (or other unit) from other variants (or units) of the same entry. ~ means identical in all respects, accidental and substantive. These swung dashes are always followed by an abbreviated date. For example, ‘~ 64–77’ indicates that the text of all editions appearing from 1764 to 1777 are in every respect identical to the lemma.

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In accordance with the above, an entry of the form 91.21 near two hundred] Twenty 41–2 | ~ 48–77 indicates that at page 91, line 21, the critical text and the editions from 1748-77 read ‘near two hundred’ and that in the editions of 1741 and 1742 the text at the relevant point reads ‘Twenty’. * denotes an otherwise unregistered difference in accidentals in the listed editions. Thus, items of the form 57*60 indicate that a variant substantive reading from 57 to 60 is accompanied by a variant accidental that is not revealed in the record shown in the entry in the register. ‘Belief 57*68’ indicates that whereas the 57 edition includes the word ‘Belief ’ in precisely that form, at least one later edition appearing by 1768 includes in the same location this same substantive, but in a different accidental form, e.g. ‘belief ’ uncapitalized. In any entry following the ‘]’ or ‘|’ symbols, the accidentals printed at that point are those found in the first year in the string of dates. If material is not in the copytext, but is in one or more of Hume’s other editions, the same first-year rule applies. For example, if the material appears in 42*60, the 42 edition is the text displayed. The reason the earliest form is always shown first is to display the original form of publication. Although accidentals are not directly reported as variants in the Register, accidental differences in otherwise identical substantives are always noted by the marker ‘*’. These variant accidentals typically involve differences in capitalization or punctuation, or both. The asterisk is never used in a manner that masks either a substantive or an accidental in the copy-text; the reason why such obscuring is impossible is explained under the next entry on shading or highlighting. ____ Shading (or highlighting). Entries are shaded whenever they contain emend­ations of the copy-text that have not already been reported by kind in previous parts of this editorial appendix. The lemma (as in the critical text) in a shaded entry displays some correction(s) made to the 1772 copy-text. Unshaded entries record only variations between editions and contain no emendation (other than those already reported by kind). Changes in accidentals are often relevant to understanding and evaluating an emendation. Accordingly, in shaded entries asterisks (*) are not permitted. Through use of this convention, the copy-text is never obscured as to differences in accidental forms. The symbol ‘~’ is preserved for entire identity, accidental and substantive, and in this manner the reader can see which editions have served as sources for an emendation to the copy-text. Er refers to an entry made by Hume in the errata of an edition. Items of the form ‘58Er’ indicate that the errata of an edition (58 in this example) is the source generating a particular variant. The year of a single edition is always specified next to the Er form. Thus, ‘foretel 57Er’ means that the errata in 57 instructs the reader that the correct reading is ‘foretel’ (and not that ‘foretel’ is the incorrect reading). A report of the form ‘corrupt] corrupted 57| ~ 57Er-77’ means that the printed text in 57 reads ‘corrupted’, that the errata in 57 instructs the reader that the correct reading is ‘corrupt’, and that all subsequent editions read ‘corrupt’.

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. . .  Ellipses indicate that material has been omitted from the span of text presented as the lemma. Ellipses are used only in lemmas. ¶ designates the beginning of a paragraph. This pilcrow is used sparingly. When Hume introduced new paragraphs during the course of revising substantive ­material, any new or old paragraph is reported using the pilcrow.

F RO NT MAT T E R A N D NOTIFICATIONS O F NE W ES S AYS Hume published individual volumes of essays under the following titles: Essays, Moral and Political Three Essays, Moral and Political Political Discourses Four Dissertations Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects Material other than what is today regarded as Hume’s collection of essays was included under some of these titles. Examples are found in Appendices 1 & 2 in this critical edition (See ‘Scotticisms’ & Dedication ‘To the Reverend Mr. Hume’). In ‘A Bibliographical Schema of the Editions’ each of these five works is described in bibliographical detail. Three Essays, Moral and Political and Four Dissertations were published only once, though their essays were later ‘dispersed’ (as Hume put it in 1758) under other titles. Beginning with the first collected edition of 1758, the titles Essays, Moral and Political and Political Discourses were no longer used; instead, Hume created the generic label Esssays, Moral, Political, and Literary to collect his essays. This title remained thereafter in ETSS in his editions throughout his lifetime. Volume numbers were attached to multi-volume works in the publication of these essays in some editions, but not in other editions. The details are spelled out in the bibliographical schema. Several differences in the front matter are itemized below. Collation of front matter specific to Hume’s essays is not informative beyond the data provided in the bibliographical schema and the few items listed below. Various collations would be confusing as well as duplicative. Examples are (1) the various names of booksellers, which are all listed in the bibliographical schema, (2) changes in the front matter— for example, changes in the Contents—resulting from withdrawn and new essays, and (3) the Errata, which were not always in the front matter. This information is provided in the bibliographical schema. All substantive changes found in Hume’s Errata, in all editions that published errata, are in the list of variants. The notifications included in this section are not in the front matter, but they serve a similar function to items in the front matter. See references below to 48b and 58 under the heading ‘Notifications of Essays Added in New Editions’. Some forms of collation pertinent to the front matter in Hume’s essays have been previously collated in other volumes of the Clarendon Hume: (1) The front matter in the 1757 edition of Four Dissertations is collated with the editions of ETSS in the

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Clarendon Hume edition of A Dissertation on the Passions and The Natural History of Religion. (2) Several items in the front matter in ETSS (from 1758 through 1777) are collated in the Clarendon Hume edition of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. These collations are not repeated here. Title-Pages On the title-pages in 41 and 42a (vol. 1), in these two editions only, the following quotation appears: Tros Rutuluſve fuat, nullo diſcrimine habebo. Virg. On the title-page in 48a (Three Essays), in this edition only, the following appears: THREE ESSAYS, MORAL and POLITICAL: Never before published. Which compleats the former Edition, in two Volumes, Octavo. Advertisements On pp. iii–v in both 41 and 42a (vol. 1), and in these two editions only, the following Advertisement appears (with variants in brackets): Advertisement. Most of these Essays were wrote with a View of being publish’d as WeeklyPapers, and were intended to comprehend the Designs both of the Spectators and Craftsmen. But having dropt that Undertaking, partly from Laziness, partly from Want of Leisure, and being willing to make Trial of my Talents for Writing, before I ventur’d upon any more serious Compositions, I was induced to commit these Trifles to the Judgment of the Public. Like most new Authors, I must confess, I feel some Anxiety concerning the Success of my Work: But one Thing makes me more secure; That the Reader may condemn my Abilities, but must approve {but must approve 41 | but, I hope, will approve 42} of my Moderation and Impartiality in my Method of handling Political Subjects: And as long as my Moral Character is in Safety, I can, with less Anxiety, {Anxiety, 41 | Concern, 42} abandon my Learning and Capacity to the most severe Censure and Examination. Public Spirit, methinks, shou’d engage us to love the Public, and to bear an equal Affection to all our Country-Men; not to hate one Half of them, under Pretext {Pretext 41 | Colour 42} of loving the Whole. This Party-Rage I have endeavour’d to repress, as far as possible; and I hope this Design will be acceptable to the moderate of both Parties; at the same Time, that, perhaps, it may displease the Bigots of both. The Reader must not look for any Connexion among these Essays, but must consider each of them as a Work apart. This is an Indulgence that is given to all Essay-Writers; and {and 41 | and, perhaps, such a desultory Method of Writing, 42} is an equal Ease both to Writer {Writer 41 | Author 42} and Reader, by freeing them from any tiresome Stretch of Attention and Application.

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The following Advertisement appears only in 42b (pp. iii–iv): Advertisement. ’Tis proper to inform the Reader, that, in those Essays, intitled, The Epicurean, Stoic, &c. a certain Character is personated; and therefore, no Offence ought to be taken at any Sentiments contain’d in them. The Character of Sir Robert Walpole was drawn some Months ago, when that Great Man was in the Zenith of his Power. I must confess, that, at present, when he seems to be upon the Decline, I am inclin’d to think more favourably of him, and to suspect, that the Antipathy, which every true born Briton naturally bears to Ministers of State, inspir’d me with some Prejudice against him. The impartial Reader, if any such there be; or Posterity, if such a Trifle can reach them, will best be able to correct my Mistakes in this particular. The following Advertisement appears only in 58 (p. iii): ADVERTISEMENT. Some Alterations are made on the Titles of the Treatises, contained in the following Volume. What in former Editions was called Essays moral and political, is here en­titled Essays, moral, political, and literary, Part I. The political Discourses form the second Part. What in former Editions was called, Philosophical Essays concerning human Understanding, is here entitled An Enquiry concerning human Understanding. The four Dissertations lately published are dispersed thro’ different Parts of this Volume.

Notifications of Essays Added in New Editions: In 48b, in this edition only, a note (that is, notification) occurs at the bottom of the first page of the essay ‘Of National Characters’ (Essay 24, p. 267): ‘The three following Essays are added to this Edition’. In 58, in this edition only, a note (that is, notification) occurs at the top of the first page of the essay ‘Of the Jealousy of Trade’ (Essay 6, p. 187): ‘Two Additional Essays’. A note at the bottom of p. 187 also occurs in copies of the 58 edition that have the essay inserted: ‘To be placed after the Essay on the Balance of Trade, Page 186’. In 58, in this edition only, a note (that is, notification) occurs at the bottom of the first page of the essay ‘Of the Coalition of Parties’ (Essay 14, p. 265) in copies of the 58 edition that have the essay inserted: ‘To be placed after the Essay on Passive Obedience, Page 264’.

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W ITHDRAWN E SSAYS L AST P UB L IS HE D IN 1 7 4 2 9 1. Of Essay-Writing Edition: 42 3.0 1] I. 42 2. Of Moral Prejudices Edition: 42 7.0 2] III. 42 10.18 some Time] some-/time 42 {marginal hyphen} 3. Of the Middle Station of Life Edition: 42 11.0 3 ] IV. 42 13.32 up] out 42| ~ 42Er 4. A Character of Sir Robert Walpole Publications Collated: 42-v.2 and 42SM 1742-vol. 2 is the copy-text for this essay. The essay was also published in Scots Magazine, vol. 4, January, 1742, pp. 38-39; this publication is collated below using the abbreviation 42SM. The essay was recast in the 1748 through 1768 editions not as an individual essay but as note 12, placed at the end of the penultimate paragraph of the essay ‘That Politics may be reduced to a Science’ (a note marker appeared in the text of this essay in 48–68 after the word ‘factions’). The variants in the 48–68 editions are collated exclusively in the section of the appendix of the ‘Politics’ essay. The 48-68 editions do not treat this material as an essay with a narrative primarily about Walpole, but as a note with a narrative by Hume primarily about his (former) essay on Walpole: See pp. 544-6, the entry at 50.29 below. This essay was also published in the Gentleman’s Magazine 12, February 1742, p. 82, and in the London Magazine 11, February 1742, p. 99. These two publications have not been collated here because they provide no additional information. Although only one of the periodical appearances is collated, the editors of this critical editions do not assume that the Walpole essay spreads from the Scots Magazine to the others; no evidence supports this hypothesis. 15.0 ESSAY 4 A Character of Sir Robert Walpole] ESSAY XII. A Character of Sir ROBERT WALPOLE. 42| A character of Sir ROBERT WALPOLE. Taken from the Essays moral and political, vol. 2. lately published at Edinburgh. 42SM 9  In this section the essays withdrawn are those last appearing under an individual title in the 1742 edition, vol. 2. They are ordered as in this edition in exactly the order they appeared in 1742 (as essays 1, 3, 4, and 12).

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15.12 In the mean Time, I . . . by future Historians.] This sentence does not occur in 42SM. Advert. {The first sentence of the following material occurs as a note at the end of the essay only in 42SM. The full paragraph in this 42SM note (marked here as ¶) also appears in the Advertisement (not the preface) to volume 2 of 1742, pp. iii–iv.} But in the preface the author has the following mitigation.   ¶ The character of Sir Robert Walpole was drawn some months ago, when that great man was in the zenith of his power. I must confess, that, at present, when he seems to be upon the decline, I am inclined to think more favourably of him, and to suspect, that the antipathy, which every true born Briton naturally bears to ministers of state, inspired me with some prejudice against him. {At this point Hume added the following sentence only in the Advertisement of 1742, vol. 2.} The impartial Reader, if any such there be; or Posterity, if such a Trifle can reach them, will best be able to correct my Mistakes in this particular.

WITHDRAWN E SSAYS L A S T P UB L I S HE D BE TWE E N 17 6 0 A ND 1 7 6 8 10 1. Of Impudence and Modesty Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60 19.0 1] III 41–60 19.1 am] have always been 41–42| ~ 48–60 19.1 the common] the 41–53| ~ 58–60 19.2 are] have been 41–42| have been often 48–53| ~ 58–60 19.4 these too pretty numerous] pretty numerous ones too 41–48| ~ 53–60 19.12 and adversity, in like manner,] as Adversity is 41| and Adversity, in like Manner, 42*60 19.19 admit] admits 41| ~ 42–60 19.24 it.] it. {¶} I was lately lamenting to a Friend of mine, who loves a Conceit, that popular Applause should be bestowed with so little Judgment, and that so many empty forward Coxcombs should rise up to a Figure in the World: Upon which he said there was nothing surprising in the Case. Popular Fame, says he, is nothing but Breath or Air; and Air very naturally presses into a Vacuum. 41*42| ~ 48–60 19.26 we may observe,] it is remarkable 41| ~ 42–60 19.30 making] the making 41–53| ~ 58–60 19.31 it is] ’tis 41–58| ~ 60 10  These essays were all withdrawn from Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. Three were withdrawn after the 1760 edition and one withdrawn after the 1768 edition. They here appear in the order of the 1760 edition, where they were essays 3, 6, 7, and 13. Copy-texts are the final edition in which an essay appeared.

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20.4 that failure] it 41–42| that Failure 48*60 20.12 It is] ’Tis 41–58| ~ 60 20.20 virtue, so to speak,] Virtue, 41–42| Virtue, so to speak, 48*60 20.21 and] to 41–42| ~ 48–60 20.22 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 20.22 occurred] occur’d to me 41*48| occur’d 53*60 20.26 thus connected, sent them into the world] in that Society set them upon the Earth 41–48| ~ 53–60 20.40 the other] ~ 41–42| the 48| ~ 53–60 21.12 led] ~ 41–42| had led 48| ~ 53–60 21.18 with] along with 41–42| ~ 48–60 21.26 known] call’d 41*58| ~ 60 21.30 know] knew 41| ~ 42–60 21.31 thereby led into strange mistakes] led into strange Mistakes by those Means 41–48| ~ 53–60 21.32 of finding] of 41–58| ~ 60 2. Of Love and Marriage Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60 22.0 2] VI 41–60 22.2 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.3 mean] mean by this 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.13 found that] found 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.14 of the] of my 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.15 contain] have 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.15 truth] Truth in it 41–48| ~ 53–60 22.21 easily be] be easily 41–48| ~ 53–60 23.4 in all future time the vanity which] for ever after all the Vanity 41*48| ~ 53–60 23.18 intractable] ~ 41–58| untractable 60 23.35 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–60 24.4 were] was 41–58| ~ 60 24.11 which we] we 41–48| ~ 53–60 24.18 is] ~ 41–58| was 60 24.19 whom it] it 41–48| ~ 53–60 24.35 the human] human 41–58| ~ 60 24.38 primæval] primitive 41–53| ~ 58–60 25.25 the human] human 41–58| ~ 60 25.27 beings] Beings together 41*53| ~ 58–60 3. Of the Study of History Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60 26.0 3] VII 41–60 26.1 nothing which] nothing 41–48| ~ 53–60

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26.10 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 26.12 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 26.14 that I] I 41–48| ~ 53–60 27.8 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 27.10 one who] a Person that 41–48| one, who 53*60 27.11 a person,] one 41–48| ~ 53–60 27.14 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 27.23 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–60 27.29 judgment] Judgments 41–42| Judgment 48*60 27.36 and] and indeed, 41–42| ~ 48–60 27.40 together] along 41–53| ~ 58–60 28.6 parts] Parts of Knowledge 41–48| ~ 53–60 28.16 experience] Knowledge, 41*48| ~ 53–60 28.25 speculative] speculative Reader 41–48| ~ 53–60 28.30 in his general reasonings, he] he 41| in his general Reasonings, he 42*60 28.32 in his particular narrations, he] he 41| in his particular Narrations, he 42*60 28.35 ever] never 41–53| ~ 58–60 29.3 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–60 29.9 Eliciuntur. Lucret.] Eliciuntur. 41–48| Eliciuntur. Lucret. 53*60 4. Of Avarice Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68 30.0 4] XIII 41–60| X 64–68 30.8 For a like reason] After the same manner 41*48| ~ 53–68 30.9 removes, in a manner, the personages] sets the Personages at a Distance from us 41–48| ~ 53–68 30.13 the bounds] the Bounds 41*58| bounds 60| ~ 64–68 30.15 to satisfy] satisfy 41| ~ 42–68 30.18 needs] need 41–60| ~ 64–68 31.3 it] of it 41–48| ~ 53–68 31.3 had] would have 41| ~ 42–68 31.9 monstrously absurd] monstrous unreasonable 41–48| ~ 53–68 31.18 all regard] Regard 41–48| ~ 53–68 31.21 wonder that] Wonder 41–48| ~ 53–68 32.4 with] along with 41–53| ~ 58–68 32.9 celebrated] famous 41–53| ~ 58–68 32.14 lodged] laid 41–42| lodg’d 48*68 32.18 ransack] in ransacking 41| ~ 42–68 32.20 readers] Reader 41*58| ~ 60–68 32.22 injustice] Injury 41*60| ~ 64–68

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E SSAYS, MORAL , POLIT I C A L , A ND L ITE RARY—PA RT 1 The numbering of the essays in both Part 1 and Part 2 below follows exactly the order in which the essays appear in the 1777 edition. Variant numbers of the essays in the editions are collated. 1. Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 35.1 Some People are subject to] There is 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.1 which] to which some People are subject, that 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.4 misfortunes] Crosses 41*53| ~ 58–77 35.7 more] much more 41–68| ~ 70–77 35.8 cool] more cool 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.9 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.10 be] chuse to be 41–68| ~ 70–77 35.11 our] our own 41–68| ~ 70–77 35.14 the right enjoyment of which] the right Enjoyment of which 41*53| of which the right enjoyment 58–60| ~ 64–77 35.15 chief] greatest 41–68| ~ 70–77 35.19 to take] take 41–42| ~ 48–77 35.25 feeling] Feeling or Sentiments 41*48| feeling, 53*77 35.25 sensibly touched with] touched very sensibly by 41–48| touch’d very sens­ ibly with 53*70| ~ 72–77 35.27 more] a more 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.29 as great a] ~ 41–68| a great 70| ~ 72–77 35.32 to pains] of Pains, 41–48| ~ 53–77 35.32 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 36.1 every one will] there is no one, who will not 41*68| ~ 70–77 36.2 delicacy] a Delicacy 41*68| ~ 70–77 36.3 delicacy] a Delicacy 41*68| ~ 70–77 36.4 our] ~ 41–67| our own 68| ~ 70–77 36.4 we are pretty much masters] we are pretty much Masters 41*67| it is much in our power 68| ~ 70–77 36.6 Philosophers have] The ancient Philosophers 41–48| ~ 53–77 36.7 That degree of perfection] That 41–72| ~ 77 36.9 chiefly as depend] as depend most 41–70| ~ 72–77 36.14 afford.] {The following paragraph occurs only in 41*70, with one sentence, as marked, only in 41*68.} How far the {far the 41–48| far 53–70} Delicacy of Taste and that of Passion are connected together in the original Frame of the Mind, it is hard to determine. To me there appears to be {appears to be 41-53| appears 58–70} a very considerable Connexion betwixt {betwixt 41–58| between 60–70} them. For we may observe, that Women, who have more delicate Passions than Men, have also a more

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­ elicate Taste of the Ornaments of Life, of Dress, Equipage, and the or­din­ d ary Decencies of Behaviour. {The following sentence occurs only in 41*68.} Any Excellency in these hits their Taste much sooner than ours; and when you please their Taste, you soon engage their Affections. 36.15 Whatever] But whatever 41*70| ~ 72–77 36.15 between] betwixt 41–64| ~ 67–77 36.15 two species of delicacy] Dispositions 41*70| ~ 72–77 36.19 for] of 41–70| ~ 72–77 36.20 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 36.21 sciences and liberal arts] Liberal Arts 41| Liberal Arts and the Sciences 42–48| ~ 53–77 36.21 in some measure, the same with] really nothing but 41–53| in some measure, the same with 58*77 36.23 In order to] To 41–70| ~ 72–77 36.27 a new] ~ 41–67| an additional 68| ~ 70–77 36.28 juster] truer 41–53| ~ 58–77 36.29 please] rejoice 41–48| ~ 53–77 36.33 polite] Liberal 41| ~ 42–77 36.34 On farther reflection] When I reflect a little more 41–53| ~ 58–77 37.4 to which the rest of mankind are strangers] which the rest of Mankind are intire Strangers to 41*53| to which the rest of mankind are entire strangers 58*67| to which the rest of mankind are absolute strangers 68| ~ 70–77 37.5 which they] they 41–72| ~ 77 37.5 off the mind] the Mind off 41–48| the mind off 53–67| ~ 68| the mind off 70–72| ~ 77 37.11 greater] greatest 41–72| ~ 77 37.11 seldom] very seldom 41–70| ~ 72–77 37.13 characters] of Characters 41*67| ~ 68–77 37.16 pleasure] Pleasures 41–42| Pleasure 48*64| pleasures 67–68| ~ 70–77 37.16 that] as 41–70| ~ 72–77– 37.17 another] any other 41–53| ~ 58–77 37.17 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 37.19 celebrated ] famous 41–53| ~ 58–77 37.20 tell] ~ 41–67| mark 68| ~ 70–77 37.21 elaborate] elaborate and artificial 41–70| ~ 72–77 37.21 alone can] only can 41–42| can only 48–58| ~ 60–77 37.25 fall] falls 41| ~ 42–77 37.25 which he] he 41–48| ~ 53–77 37.26 within] in 41–48| ~ 53–77 2. Of the Liberty of the Press Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 38.1 Nothing is] There is nothing 41–53| ~ 58–77 38.1 which we] we 41–48| ~ 53–77

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537

entered into] which is enter’d into 41–48| enter’d into 53*67| adopted 68| ~ 70–77 38.5 interests] Interest 41–48| interest 53–72| ~ 77 38.7 lie towards] be for 41–48| ~ 53–67| lean towards 68| ~ 70–77 38.10 more] no more 41–68| ~ 70–77 38.11 occasion] Occasion 41*67| rise 68| ~ 70–77 38.11 a question] these two Questions 41*68| ~ 70–77 38.12 alone enjoys this peculiar privilege? {¶} The reason, why the laws indulge us in such a liberty seems to] enjoys such a peculiar Privilege? and, Whether the unlimited Exercise of this Liberty be advantageous or prejudicial to the Publick? {¶} As to the first Question, Why the Laws indulge us in such an extra­or­din­ ary Liberty? I believe the Reason may 41*68| alone enjoys this peculiar privilege? {¶} The Reason, why the laws indulge us in such a liberty seems to 70*77 38.15 a true] to be a true 41–48| ~ 53–77 38.16 liberty] of Liberty 41*53| ~ 58–77 38.16 commonly approach] approach 41–48| ~ 53–77 38.20 intolerable.] ~ 41–42| intolerable. I shall endeavour to explain myself. 48*68| ~ 70–77 38.21 absolute] entirely absolute 41–70| ~ 72–77 38.21 law] Laws 41–48| laws 53–72| ~ 77 38.22 concur, all of them,] all concur 41–48| ~ 53–77 38.23 any] the least 41–68| ~ 70–77 38.25 as that of] as 41–42| ~ 48–77 38.26 no] also no 41–58| ~ 60–77 38.27 large] very large 41–68| ~ 70–77 38.28 preserving] the Preservation of 41*58| the preserving 60–68| ~ 70–77 38.30 citizen] Subject 41*68| ~ 70–77 38.30 seems] is 41–48| ~ 53–77 38.32 near] very near 41–68| ~ 70–77 38.32 some] the most 41–58| ~ 60–77 38.33 none] no Jealousy 41*70| ~ 72–77 39.4 observation] Proposition 41| Observation 42*77 39.7 take notice of] take Notice of 41*67| cite 68| ~ 70–77 39.7 in] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 39.8 the emperors] their Emperors 41–48| ~ 53–77 39.9 celebrated] famous 41–53| ~ 58–77 39.10 lively] admirable 41–53| ~ 58–77 39.11 government] happy Government 41–42| Government 48*77 39.15 remarks,] Remarks, therefore, 41–42| Remarks, 48*77 39.15 government under the emperors] Government 41–42| Government under the Emperors 48*77 39.16 where] but where 41–68| ~ 70–77 39.18 conformable] exactly conformable 41–68| ~ 70–77

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39.22 human nature] Humanity 41–48| ~ 53–77 39.22 it is evident, that] ’tis evident 41–60| it is evident that 64*77 39.24 no wise] nowise 41| noways 42| no ways 48–60| ~ 64–77 39.27 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 39.27 obliged,] obliged 41*67| engaged, 68| ~ 70–77 39.35 licentiousness] Licence 41| Licentiousness 42*77 39.35 Great Britain] Britain 41–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 39.35 were] was 41| ~ 42–77 39.38 It is apprehended] ’Tis sufficiently known 41–68| ~ 70–77 39.39 arbitrary] despotic 41–53| ~ 58–77 39.39 would] wou’d soon 41–42| ~ 48–77 39.39 careful] extreme watchful 41–48| extremely watchful 53–68| ~ 70–77 40.3 in order to] to 41–53| ~ 58–77 40.4 Nothing] Nothing is 41–48| ~ 53–77 40.7 freedom] Liberty 41*60| ~ 64–77 40.9 will naturally be careful to keep the press open] must be extreme jealous of the Liberty of the Press 41–48| must be extremely jealous of the liberty of the press 53–60| must be extremely careful of preserving the press open 64–68| ~ 70–77 40.9 importance to its own] the utmost Importance to its 41*60| the utmost importance to its own 64–68| ~ 70–77 40.11 It must however . . . forms of government.] {This paragraph (¶ 6) appears only in 72–77. It is not present in any form in 70. Instead of this paragraph the following paragraphs occur in 41*68}: Since therefore the Liberty of the Press {the Liberty of the Press 41*60| that liberty 64–68} is so essential to the Support of our mixt Government; this sufficiently decides the second Question, Whether this {this 41–60| such a 64–68} Liberty be advantageous or prejudicial; there being nothing of greater Importance in every State than the Preservation of the ancient Government, especially if it be a free one. But I wou’d fain go a Step farther, and assert, that such a {such a 41–60| this 64–68} Liberty is attended with so few Inconveniencies, that it may be claim’d as the common Right of Mankind, and ought to be indulg’d them almost in every {almost in every 41–67| in every species of 68} Government; except the Ecclesiastical, to which indeed it wou’d be {be 41–53| prove 58–68} fatal. We need not dread from this Liberty any such ill Consequences as follow’d from the Harangues of the popular Demagogues of Athens and Tribunes of Rome. A Man reads a Book or Pamphlet alone and coolly {alone and coolly 41*67| coolly and alone 68}. There is none present from whom he can catch the Passion by Contagion. He is not hurry’d away by the Force and Energy of Action. And shou’d he be wrought up to never {never 41–53| ever 58–68} so seditious a Humour, there is no violent Resolution presented to him, by which he can immediately vent his Passion. The Liberty of the Press, therefore, however abus’d, can scarce ever excite

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popular Tumults or Rebellion. And as to those Murmurs or secret Discontents it may occasion, ’tis better they shou’d get Vent in Words, that they may come to the Knowledge of the Magistrate before it be too late, in order to his providing a Remedy against them. Mankind, ’tis {’tis 41–58| it is 60–68} true, have always a greater Propension to believe what is said to the Disadvantage of their Governors than the contrary; but this Inclination is inseparable from them, whether they have Liberty or not. A Whisper may fly as quick, and be as pernicious as a Pamphlet. Nay it will be more pernicious, where Men are not accustom’d to think freely, or distinguish betwixt {betwixt 41–60| between 64–68} Truth and Falshood.  It has also been found, as the Experience of Mankind increases, that the People are no such dangerous Monster as they have been represented, and that ’tis {’tis 41–58| it is 60–68} in every Respect better to guide them, like rational Creatures, than to lead or drive them, like brute Beasts. Before the united Provinces set the Example, Toleration was deem’d incompatible with good Government, and ’twas thought impossible, that a Number of religious Sects cou’d live together in Harmony and Peace, and have all of them {have all of them 41–67| preserve 68} an equal Affection to their common Country, and to each other. England has set a like Example of civil Liberty; and tho’ this Liberty seems to occasion some small Ferment at present, it has not as yet produced any pernicious Effects, and it is to be hoped, that Men, being every Day more accustomed to the free Discussion of public Affairs, will improve in their {their 41–58| the 60–68} Judgment of them, and be with greater Difficulty seduced by every idle Rumor and popular Clamour.   ’Tis {’Tis 41–58| It is 60*68} a very comfortable Reflection to the Lovers of Liberty, that this peculiar Privilege of Britain is of a Kind that cannot easily be wrested from us, and {and 41| but 42–68} must last as long as our Government remains, in any Degree, free and independent. ’Tis {’Tis 41–58| It is 60–68} seldom, that Liberty of any Kind is lost all at once. Slavery has so frightful an Aspect to Men accustom’d to Freedom, that it must steal in {steal in 41–58| steal 60–68} upon them by Degrees, and must disguise itself in a thousand Shapes, in order to be received. But if the Liberty of the Press ever be lost, it must be lost at once. The general Laws against Sedition and Libelling are at present as strong as they possibly can be made. Nothing can impose a farther Restraint, but either the clapping an imprimatur upon the Press, or the giving {giving 41–48| giving to the court 53–68} very large discretionary Powers to the Court {Powers to the Court 41–48| powers 53–68} to punish whatever displeases them. But these Concessions would be such a bare–fac’d Violation of Liberty, that they will probably be the last Efforts of a despotic Government. We may conclude, that the Liberty of Britain is gone for ever, when these Attempts shall succeed. 40.12 difficult, perhaps impossible,] difficult 72| ~ 77

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants 3. That Politics may be reduced to a Science Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77

41.0 3 ] IV. 41–60| III. 64–77 41.1 question] great Question 41*58| ~ 60–77 41.1 several] ~ 41–64| many 67–68| ~ 70–77 41.2 between] betwixt 41–58| ~ 60–77 41.7 must] ~ 41–67| may justly 68| ~ 70–77 41.7 a] I be a profest 41–42| I be a 48| ~ 53–77 41.11 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 41.14 has varied] varies 41–48| has vary’d 53*77 41.16 Oppression] Cruelty, Oppression 41–42| ~ 48–77 41.17 rebellion, disloyalty] Rebellion, Disloyalty 41*67| disloyalty, rebellion 68| ~ 70–77 41.21 difference] Change 41–42| Difference 48*77 41.21 conduct] Sentiments 41–48| sentiments 53–72| ~ 77 41.21 these two sovereigns] one single Man 41–42| these two Sovereigns 48*77 41.21 Instances of this kind] An equal Difference of a contrary Kind, may be found in {in 41–48| on 53–68} comparing the Reigns of Elisabeth and James, at least with Regard to foreign Affairs; and Instances of this Kind 41*68| ~ 70–77 41.23 history, foreign as well as domestic] History 41*68| ~ 70–77 41.24 it may be proper] I wou’d beg Leave 41*68| ~ 70–77 41.24 governments] Governments (and such the English Government was, in a great Measure, till the Middle of the last Century) 41| Governments (and such the English Government was, in a great Measure, till the Middle of the last Century, notwithstanding of the numerous Panegyrics on the antient English Liberty) 42–48| governments (and such that of England was, in a great measure, till the middle of the last century, notwithstanding the numerous panegyrics on antient English liberty) 53*58| governments (and such, in a great measure, was that of England, till the middle of the last century, notwithstanding the numerous panegyrics on ancient English liberty) 60–70| ~ 72–77 41.26 attending] of 41–70| ~ 72–77 41.27 an obvious] a most glaring 41–53| a most obvious 58–68| ~ 70–77 41.29 act] operate 41–70| ~ 72–77 42.1 their] the 41| ~ 42–77 42.2 source] Sources 41*70| ~ 72–77 42.6 tempers] Temper 41*58| ~ 60–77 42.7 almost as general and] as general and as 41–42| ~ 48–77 42.7 sometimes be deduced from them] be deduced from them, on most Occasions 41*68| ~ 70–77 42.8 afford] can afford 41–42| ~ 48–77

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541

42.9 constitution of the Roman republic] Roman Government 41*68| ~ 70–77 42.10 people] Commons 41*68| ~ 70–77 42.10 negative voice] Negative, 41*68| ~ 70–77 42.11 they] the Commons 41*68| ~ 70–77 42.11 collective, not in a representative body] collective Body, not in a Representative 41*53| ~ 58–77 42.16 that] who 41–68| ~ 70–77 42.16 the general distribution] the general Distribution 41*67| general distributions 68| ~ 70–77 42.20 rascally] ~ 41–67| degenerate 68| ~ 70–77 42.22 which the] the 41–48| ~ 53–77 42.22 look] ~ 41–67| then hope 68| ~ 70–77 42.25 in] after 41–48| ~ 53–77 42.27 aristocracy is] Nobility are 41*58| ~ 60–77 42.31 distinct] peculiar 41–68| ~ 70–77 42.33 different] distinct 41–68| ~ 70–77 42.34 apparent] most apparent 41–68| ~ 70–77 42.35 preferable] infinitely preferable 41–68| ~ 70–77 42.39 The nobles] They 41–48| ~ 53–77 42.40 breach] Breach 41*67| invasion 68| ~ 70–77 43.1 promotes] is 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.1 interests] Interest 41–48| interest 53–72| ~ 77 43.2 that] be the Interest 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.3 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 43.6 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 43.8 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 43.9 doge] Duke 41*60| ~ 64–77 43.9 large] very large 41–68| ~ 70–77 43.9 power] the Power 41–53| ~ 58–77 43.12 the most] most 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.17 Whence] From whence 41–68| ~ 70–77 43.21 care] Thoughts 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.23 are] is 41| ~ 42–77 43.24 viewed] regarded, 41–70| ~ 72–77 43.25 sentiment] Sentiments 41*70| ~ 72–77 43.28 intrigue,] Intrigue, 41*67| intrigue, and every sinister method 68| ~ 70–77 43.29 an election] a Choice 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.29 superior] a superior 41–48| ~ 53–77 43.30 for determining] to determine 41–53| ~ 58–77 43.40 are they] ~ 41–42| they are 48| ~ 53–77 44.1 to] for 41–58| ~ 60–77 44.7 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 44.7 careful] no less careful 41–68| ~ 70–77

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants

on the one as well as on] in the one as in 41| on the one as on 42–68| ~ 70–77 44.11 to] so to 41–70| ~ 72–77 44.12 on trade] of trade 41–72| ~ 77 44.12 so as] as 41–70| ~ 72–77 44.15 intrigue] Interest 41*68| ~ 70–77 44.16 of the] of their 41–48| ~ 53–77 44.21 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 44.23 interests] Interest 41–48| interest 53–72| ~ 77 44.24 in that case, says he,] says he, in that Case, 41*58| ~ 60–77 44.27 in] of 41–70| ~ 72–77 44.27 of whose protection they stand in need] whose Protection they stand in need of 41*68| ~ 70–77 44.31 his] the most divine 41–53| ~ 58–77 44.33 afterwards] afterward 41–68| ~ 70–77 44.34 by] ~ 41–67| of 68| ~ 70–77 44.34 on] upon 41–53| ~ 58–77 44.35 with] along with 41–53| ~ 58–77 44.37 upon] ~ 41–67| to 68| ~ 70–77 n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 53–77. 45.1 many] ~ 41–67| even some 68| ~ 70–77 n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 53*77. 45.2 careful] very careful 41–68| ~ 70–77 45.2 on] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 n. 4 Note 4 occurs only in 42*77. 45.3 Tiberius’s] Vespasian’s 41| Tiberius’s 42*77 45.6 The oppression . . . other taxes.] This sentence and its accompanying note occur only in 53–77. n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 53–77. 45.8 content] contented 53–58| ~ 60–77 45.9 produce of the land] product of the ground 53–60| produce of the ground 64–72| ~ 77 45.11 still find the] find the same 41–58| always find the 60–68| ~ 70–77 45.11 hold] hold true 41–53| ~ 58–77 45.14 in a good measure,] almost entirely 41–42| in a good measure, 48*77 45.19 in] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 45.21 nor] or 41–48| ~ 53–77 45.23 possessed] possest 41*64| settled 67–68| ~ 70–77 45.24 among] of 41–70| ~ 72–77 45.25 effort] Effort 41| Efforts 42–48| efforts 53–64| ~ 67–68| efforts 70–72| ~ 77 45.27 in] after 41–48| ~ 53–77 45.28 stretch his authority] stretch his Power 41*60| stretch 64| stretch his power 67–68| ~ 70–77

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45.29 rank] Ranks 41*70| ~ 72–77 45.32 after] in 41–48| ~ 53–77 45.33 our] ~ 41–72| other 77 45.35 great] brave 41–48| ~ 53–77 46.1 it is] ’tis 41–67| ~ 68–77 46.3 latter] latter Species of Government 41–48| ~ 53–77 46.4 among] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6 Note 6 occurs only in 53*77. n. 6.31 doubtful its application] little applicable 53| ~ 58–77 46.7 seems] seems to me very 41–68| ~ 70–77 46.9 eastern] the Eastern 41*68| ~ 70–77 46.10 subdued] they are subdued 41–48| subdu’d 53*77 46.10 subdue] be subdued 41–48| ~ 53–77 46.13 towards] concerning 41–48| ~ 53–77 47.7 ought not to] shou’d not 41*53| ~ 58–77 47.11 that] which 41–70| ~ 72–77 47.16 the] their 41–42| ~ 48–77 47.21 on account] by Reason 41| ~ 42–77 n. 7.3 solo] & solo 41| ~ 42–77 n. 7.3 mantiere] mantione 41| mantiene 42–70| ~ 72–77 n. 7.5 piu] pin 41| ~ 42–77 n. 7.5 dalla] que la 41–58| quella 60| ~ 64–77 47.27 The ages . . . tyrants.] This paragraph (¶ 13) and its notes occur only in 48*77. 47.27 spirit] Virtue 48| ~ 53–77 47.31 between] betwixt 48–53| ~ 58–77 47.31 end] End 48*60| the end 64–68| ~ 70–77 47.32 between] betwixt 48–58| ~ 60–77 48.3 part of a] one 48| ~ 53–77 n. 8 Note 8 occurs only in 48*77. n. 8.1 lib. 40. cap. 43.] cap. 43. 41–48| ~ 53–77 48.3 Italy; and found informations of this nature still multiplying upon him.] Italy. 48| Italy; and found informations of this nature still multiplying upon him. 53*77 n. 9 Note 9 occurs only in 48*77. 48.6 private] their private 48| ~ 53–77 n. 10 Note 10 occurs only in 48*77. n. 10.1 de] des 48–53| ~ 58–77 48.13 particular] private 41| ~ 42–77 48.16 destitute] devoid 41–70| ~ 72–77 48.17 and desert, merits the severest blame] or Merit, is a detestable Monster 41*60| and merit, is a detestable monster 64–68| ~ 70–77 48.19 material] ~ 41–67| material and most extensive 68| ~ 70–77

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48.21 which needs] that need 41–48| ~ 53–77 48.22 enow] enough 41| ~ 42–77 48.22 who] to 41–48| ~ 53–77 48.23 pretence] the Pretence 41*70| ~ 72–77 48.28 into] in 41–48| ~ 53–77 48.28 at present] {The following note occurs at this point only in 48–60.} In 1742. 48.33 an extreme] Extremes 41–48| ~ 53–77 49.1 or crime] ~ 41–48| nor crime 53–72| ~ 77 49.5 baleful] baneful 41–60| ~ 64–77 49.7 during] for 41–68| ~ 70–77 49.17 preserved] preserv’d inviolate 41*58| ~ 60–77 49.20 beget an] engender a most 41–53| beget a most 58–68| ~ 70–77 49.21 nation] whole Nation 41*53| ~ 58–77 49.21 violent] the most violent 41–68| ~ 70–77 49.28 eulogies] Elogiums 41–48| ~ 53–77 49.28 suffered] endur’d 41| suffer’d 42*77 49.28 weak] a weak 41–58| ~ 60–77 49.30 in the] of the 41–68| ~ 70–77 49.33 he] the Minister 41–42| ~ 48–77 49.34 form of government in] Constitution of 41–48| constitution of 53–58| constitution in 60–72| ~ 77 49.36 British Constitution] British Constitution 41*72| British 77 50.1 by which] ~ 41–48| where 53–60| ~ 64–77 50.2 remedy] Remedy against Male-administration 41–48| ~ 53–77 50.3 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 50.4 a better in its place] a better Constitution in its Place 41–48| in its place a better constitution 53–72| ~ 77 50.5 employ] make Use of 41*70| ~ 72–77 50.6 Is our constitution so excellent? Then] If our Constitution be so excellent, 41| Is our Constitution so excellent? Then 42*77 50.7 it is] ’tis 41–60| ~ 64–77 50.9 Is our constitution very bad? Then] If our Constitution be bad, 41| Is our Constitution very bad? Then 42*77 50.13 government] Constitution 41*72| ~ 77 50.14 in that case much less requisite] much less requisite in that Case 41*70| ~ 72–77 50.17 Only] To nothing, but 41–72| ~ 77 50.24 it is] ’tis 41–60| ~ 64–77 50.25 hand] Side 41–48| ~ 53–77 50.27 defend, and] ~ 41–67| defend, 68| ~ 70–77 50.29 factions.] {The note immediately below occurs at this point only in 48*68. This note had been published in both the 1742 edition and the

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1742 periodical literature as an independent essay on Sir Robert Walpole. This essay is published in its entirety on p. 15 in the present edition. Variants in two 1742 appearances are found in the entries at 15.12 and the Advert above. The 48 edition of the note is presented below, with substantive variants inside brackets.}   What our Author’s Opinion was of the famous Minister here pointed at, may be learn’d from that Essay, printed in the former Edition {Edition 48| editions 53–68}, under the Title of A Character of Sir Robert Walpole. It was as follows: There never was a Man, whose Actions and Character have been more earnestly and openly canvassed, than those of the present Minister, who, having govern’d a learned and free Nation for so long a Time, amidst such mighty Opposition, may make a large Library of what has been wrote for and against him, and is the Subject of above Half the Paper that has been blotted in this Nation {this Nation 48| the nation 53–68} within these Twenty Years. I wish, for the Honour of our Country, that any one Character of him had been drawn with such Judgment and Impartiality, as to have some Credit {some Credit 48*60| credit 64–68} with Posterity, and to shew, that our Liberty has, once at least, been employ’d to good Purpose. I am only afraid of failing in the former Quality of Judgment: But if it should be so, ’tis but one Page more thrown away, after an hundred Thousand, upon the same Subject, that have perish’d, and become useless. In the mean Time, I shall flatter myself with the pleasing Imagination, that the following Character will be adopted by future Historians.   Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is a Man of Ability, not a Genius; good natur’d, not virtuous; constant, not magnanimous; moderate, not equitable His Virtues, in some Instances, are free from the Allay of those Vices, which usually accompany such Virtues: He is a generous Friend, without being a bitter Enemy. His Vices, in other Instances, are not compensated by those Virtues which are nearly ally’d to them: His Want of Enterprise is not attended with Frugality. The private Character of the Man is better than the public: His Virtues more than his Vices: His Fortune greater than his Fame. With many good Qualities he has incurr’d the public Hatred: With good Capacity he has not escap’d Ridicule. He would have been esteem’d more worthy of his high Station, had he never possess’d it; and is better qualify’d for the second than for the first Place in any Government. His Ministry has been more advantageous to his Family than to the Public, better for this Age than for Posterity, and more pernicious by bad Precedents than by real Grievances. During his Time Trade has flourish’d, Liberty declin’d, and Learning gone to Ruin. As I am a Man, I love him; as I am a Scholar, I hate him; as I am a Briton, I calmly wish his Fall. And were I a Member of either House, I would give my Vote for removing

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him from St. James’s; but should be glad to see him retire to Houghton-Hall, to pass the Remainder of his Days in Ease and Pleasure.    The Author is pleased to find, that after Animosities are laid {laid 48–67| subsided 68}, and Calumny has ceas’d, the whole Nation almost have return’d to the same moderate Sentiments with regard to this great Man; if they are not rather become more favourable to him, by a very natural Transition, from one Extreme to another. The Author would not oppose these {these 48–58| those 60–68} humane Sentiments towards the Dead; tho’ he cannot forbear observing, that the not paying more of our public Debts was, as hinted in this Character, a great, and the only great, Error in that long Administration. 50.31 civil constitution] Constitution of the World 41*53| ~ 58–77 50.32 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 50.33 deserve] deserves 41–70| ~ 72–77 50.34 lay those, who employ their pens upon them, under a just suspicion either of malevolence or of flattery] ly under a just Suspicion either of Malevolence or Flattery in those who employ their Pens upon them 41–42| lay those who employ their Pens upon them, under a just Suspicion either of Malevolence or of Flattery 48| lay those, who employ their pens upon them, under a just suspicion either of malevolence or flattery 53*70| ~ 72–77 4. Of the First Principles of Government Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 51.0 4 ] V. 41–60| IV. 64–77 51.1 appears] is 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.2 than] than to see 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.3 and] and to observe 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.5 effected] brought about 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.7 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.13 to wit,] viz. 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.14 general] public 41–68| ~ 70–77 51.15 together] along 41–53| ~ 58–77 51.24 sentiments] Sentiment 41–48| ~ 53–77 51.26 justice.] Right. This Passion we may denominate Enthusiasm, or may give it what Appellation we please; but a Politician, who wou’d overlook its Influence on human Affairs, wou’d prove himself to have but a very limited Understanding. 41–42| Right. This Passion we may denominate Enthusiasm, or we may give it what Appellation we please; but a Politician, who should overlook its Influence on human Affairs, would prove himself to have but a very limited Understanding. 48| justice. This passion we may denominate enthusiasm, or we may give it what appellation we please; but a politician, who should overlook its influence on human affairs, would prove himself to have but {to have but 53| but of 58–68} a very limited understanding. 53*68| ~ 70–77

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51.26 There is, indeed, . . . contradictory appearances.] This passage occurs only in 48*77. 51.28 faction] Party 48| ~ 53–77 51.29 shame] any Shame 48*68| ~ 70–77 51.30 faction] Party 48| ~ 53–77 51.33 these] both these 48–68| ~ 70–77 52.1 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 52.2 moment] the greatest Moment 41*68| ~ 70–77 52.7 public interest] Interest 41*48| ~ 53–77 52.11 we may] I 41–48| ~ 53–77 52.17 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 52.18 at least] or, at least 41–72| ~ 77 52.19 prospect] Expectation 41–48| hope 53–58| ~ 60–77 52.19 his] the 41–68| ~ 70–77 52.24 separate influence] Influence 41–48| ~ 53–77 52.28 all the farther] whatever 41–53| all farther 58–68| ~ 70–77 52.28 possesses] has beyond, 41–53| ~ 58–77 52.31 antecedently be] be antecedently 41–70| ~ 72–77 52.31 invested] to be invested 41–48| ~ 53–77 52.33 a narrow] his private 41–48| ~ 53–77 52.35 coincide] agree 41–68| co-incide 70*77 52.36 rank or order] Member 41–48| ~ 53–77 52.36 in] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 52.37 in] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 52.38 pretence] Pretext 41*68| ~ 70–77 52.38 assume authority] pretend to intermeddle 41–58| ~ 60–77 53.1 power] the Power 41–48| ~ 53–77 53.2 who possess] that possesses 41–48| ~ 53–77 53.3 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 53.6 that] ~ 41–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 53.7 lower house] House of Commons 41*70| ~ 72–77 53.7 Great Britain,] Great Britain; so 41*68| ~ 70–77 53.9 it represents] they represent 41| ~ 42–77 53.15 of] in 41–42| ~ 48–77 53.16 members] Members of the House 41*68| ~ 70–77 53.18 all the] the whole 41–72| ~ 77 53.18 Great Britain] Britain 41–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 53.19 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 53.21 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 53.21 body] Body of Britain 41–48| body of Britain 53| body of Britain 58–72| ~ 77 53.31 a great] some 41–48| ~ 53–77 53.31 broken] broke 41–68| ~ 70–77 53.32 some method] Method 41–48| ~ 53–77

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53.32 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 53.34 Great Britain] Britain 41–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 53.34 among] amongst 41–72| ~ 77 53.36 novelties.] {The following paragraph occurs at this point only in 41*60.}  I shall conclude this Subject with observing, that the present political Controversy, with regard to Instructions, is a very frivolous one, and can never be brought to any Decision, as it is managed by both Parties. The Country-Party do not pretend {do not pretend 41–48| pretend not 53–60}, that a Member is absolutely bound to follow such Instructions {such Instructions 41| Instructions 42*60}, as an Ambassador or General is confined by his Orders, and that his Vote is not to be received in the House, but so far as it is conformable to them. The Court-Party, again, do not pretend {do not pretend 41–48| pretend not 53–60}, that the Sentiments of the People ought to have no Weight with every {every 41–48| each 53–60} Member; much less that he ought to despise the Sentiments of those whom {those whom 41–58| those 60} he represents, and with whom he is more particularly connected. And if their Sentiments be of Weight, why ought they not to express these Sentiments? The Question, then, is only concerning the Degrees of Weight, which ought to be plac’d on Instructions. But such is the Nature of Language, that ’tis impossible for it to express distinctly these different Degrees; and if Men will carry on a Controversy on this Head, it may well happen, that they may {they may 41–42| they 48–60} differ in their Language, and yet agree in their Sentiments; and {and 41–42| or 48–60} differ in their Sentiments, and yet agree in their Language. Besides, how is it possible to fix these Degrees, considering the Variety of Affairs which {which 41| that 42–48| which 53–60} come before the House, and the Variety of Places which Members represent? Ought the Instructions of Totness to have the same Weight as {as 41–58| with 60} those of London? Or Instructions, with regard to the Convention, which respected foreign Politics, to have the same Weight as those with regard to the Excise, which respected only our domestic Affairs? 5. Of the Origin of Government No variants exist because this essay was published only in the posthumous 1777 edition. There are no substantive editorial emendations. 6. Of the Independency of Parliament Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 57.0 6 ] VIII. 41–60| V. 64–72| VI. 77 57.1 Political writers . . .] {Immediately before this opening sentence, the following passages occur only in 41*60; one paragraph, identified below, occurs only in 41*42.}

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 I have frequently observ’d, in comparing the Conduct of the Court and Country Party {Party 41| Parties 42*60}, that the former are commonly less assuming and dogmatical in Conversation, more apt to make Concessions, and tho’ not, perhaps, more susceptible of Conviction; yet more able to bear Contradiction than the latter; who are apt to fly out upon any Opposition, and to regard one as a mercenary designing Fellow, if he argues with any Coolness and Impartiality, or makes any Concessions to their Adversaries. This is a Fact, which, I believe, every one may have observ’d, who has been much in Companies, where political Questions have been discuss’d; tho’, were one to ask the Reason of this Difference, every Party wou’d be apt to assign a different Reason {Reason 41–48| one 53–60}. Gentlemen in the Opposition will ascribe it to the very Nature of their Party, which, being founded on public Spirit, and a Zeal for the Constitution, cannot easily endure such Doctrines, as are of pernicious Consequence to Liberty. The Courtiers, on the other Hand, will be apt to put us in Mind of the Clown mention’d by Lord Shaftsbury. “A Clown”, says that {The following note occurs at this point only in 41*60: Miscellaneous Reflections, Page 107.} excellent Author, “once took a Fancy to hear the Latin Disputes of Doctors at an University. He was askt what Pleasure he cou’d take in viewing such Combatants, when he cou’d never know so much, as which of the Parties had the better. For that Matter, reply’d the Clown, I a’n’t such a Fool neither, but I can see who’s the first that puts to’other into a Passion. Nature herself dictated this Lesson to the Clown, that he who had the better of the Argument wou’d be easy and well-humour’d: But he who was unable to support his Cause by Reason, wou’d naturally lose his Temper, and grow violent.”  To which of these Reasons shall we adhere? To neither of them, in my Opinion: Unless we have a-mind to inlist ourselves, and become Zealots in either Party. I believe I can assign the Reason of this different Conduct of the two Parties, without offending either. The Country-Party are plainly most popular at present, and perhaps have been so in most Administrations: So that, being accustom’d to prevail in Company, they cannot endure to hear their Opinions controverted, but are as confident on the publick Favour, as if they were supported in all their Sentiments by the most infallible Demonstration. The Courtiers, on the other Hand, are commonly so run down by your popular {your popular 41–48| popular 53–60} Talkers, that if you speak to them with any Moderation, or make them the smallest Concessions, they think themselves extremely oblig’d {oblig’d 41–42| beholden 48–60} to you, and are apt to return the Favour by a like Moderation and Facility on their Part. To be furious and passionate, they know, wou’d only gain them the Character of shameless Mercenaries; not that of zealous Patriots, which is the Character that such a warm Behaviour is apt to acquire to the other Party.

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 In all Controversies, we find, without regarding the Truth or Falshood on either Side, that those who defend the establisht and popular Opinions are always most {most 41| the11 most 42–60} dogmatical and imperious in their Stile: While their Adversaries affect a most extraordinary Gentleness and Moderation, in order to soften, as much as possible, any Prejudices, that may ly against them. Consider the Behaviour of our Free-thinkers of all Denominations, whether they be such as decry all Revelation, or only oppose the exorbitant Power of the Clergy; Collins, Tindal, Foster, Hoadley. Compare their Moderation and Good-manners with the furious Zeal and {furious Zeal and 41–53| zeal and even 58–60} Scurrility of their Adversaries, and you will be convinc’d of the Truth of my Observation. A like Difference may be observ’d in the Conduct of those French Writers, who maintain’d the Controversy with regard to antient and modern Learning. Boileau, Monsieur & Madame Dacier, l’Abbe de Bos, who defended the Party of the Antients, mixt their Reasonings with Satyre and Invective: While Fontenelle, la Motte, Charpentier, and even Perrault never transgress’d the Bounds of Moderation and Good-breeding; tho’ provok’d by the most injurious Treatment {injurious Treatment 41| severe Railleries 42*60} of their Adversaries.   {The following paragraph occurs only in 41*42.}  I must, however, observe, that this Remark, with regard to the seeming Moderation of the Court Party, is entirely confin’d to Conversation, and to Gentlemen, who have been engag’d by Interest or Inclination in that Party. For as to the Court-Writers, being commonly hir’d Scriblers, they are al­together as scurrilous as the Mercenaries of the other Party, nor has the Gazeteer any Advantage, in this Respect, above Common Sense. A Man of Education will, in any Party, discover himself to be such, by his Goodbreeding and Decency; as a Scoundrel will always betray the opposite Qualities. The false Accusers accus’d, &c. is very scurrillous; tho’ that Side of the Question, being least popular, shou’d be defended with most Moderation. When L---d B---e, L---d M---t, Mr. L---n take the Pen in Hand, tho’ they write with Warmth, they presume not upon their Popularity so far as to transgress the Bounds of Decency.   {The following paragraph occurs only in 41*60.}  I am led into this Train of Reflection, by considering some Papers wrote upon that {that 41-58| the 60} grand Topic of Court-Influence, and Parliamentary Dependence, where, in my humble Opinion, the CountryParty {Country-Party 41–48| country party, besides vehemence and satyre, 53*60} show too rigid an Inflexibility, and too great a Jealousy of making Concessions to their Adversaries. Their Reasonings lose their Force, by 11  The word ‘the’ does not occur in some copies of 41, including the copy-text for this edition owned by the McGill University Library.

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being carry’d too far; and the Popularity of their Opinions has seduc’d them to neglect, in some Measure, their Justness and Solidity. The following Reasoning will, I hope, serve to justify me in this Opinion. 57.4 than] but 41–72| ~ 77 57.5 him, notwithstanding his insatiable avarice and ambition, co-operate to public good] him co-operate to public Good, notwithstanding his insatiable Avarice and Ambition 41| him co-operate to publick Good, notwithstanding his insatiable Avarice and Ambition 42| him co-operate to public Good, notwithstanding his insatiable Avarice and Ambition 48| him co-operate to ­public good, notwithstanding his insatiable avarice and ambition 53–72| ~ 77 57.10 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 57.11 it appears] I must own it appears 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.12 to satisfy us] ~ 41–67| in order to be satisfied 68| ~ 70–77 57.14 capacity] Character 41*60| ~ 64–77 57.14 when] where 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.17 of by] ~ 41–68| by 70| ~ 72–77 57.18 he soon] soon 41–42| ~ 48–77 57.19 adversaries] his Adversaries 41*68| ~ 70–77 57.20 greater number of voices] Majority 41*60| ~ 64–77 57.20 self-interest influences only the majority, (as it] Self-Interest influences only the Majority, (as it 41*64| selfish views influence only the majority, (as they 67–68| ~ 70–77 57.21 do] do in the present depraved State of Mankind 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.24 there offers, therefore, to our] therefore, there offers to my 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.26 we should] I 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.26 separate] private 41–70| ~ 72–77 57.27 we] I 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.27 skilful] artful 41–48| skilful 53–77 57.28 power, this] the Power, the private 41*68| power, private 70| ~ 72–77 57.29 public] the public 41*68| ~ 70–77 57.29 we may] I 41–48| ~ 53–77 57.30 separate interest] the private Interest of each Order 41*70| ~ 72–77 57.30 the public, we ought to] publick Interest, I shall 41*48| public interest, we shou’d 53| public interest, we ought to 58–70| ~ 72–77 57.32 I am] ~ 41–64| we are 67–68| ~ 70–77 58.3 authority] Power 41–48| ~ 53–77 58.5 say] have been apt to say 41–48| ~ 53–77 58.8 its own interest] the Interest of their Order 4112| its own Interest 42*77 58.10 they] ~ 41–64| that they 67–68| ~ 70–77 58.13 the government] our Government 41–48| ~ 53–77 12  This variant occurs only in some copies of the 1741 edition, including the copy at the McGill University Library that was the basis of the list of variants in this critical edition.

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58.15 framing] the passing of all 41–48| the passing of 53–68| ~ 70–77 58.16 is voted by] passes 41–48| ~ 53–77 58.16 pass] be pass’d 41*64| ~ 67–68| be passed 70| ~ 72–77 58.17 form] mere Form 41*68| ~ 70–77 58.21 right] Power 41*70| ~ 72–77 58.21 granting] disposing of public 41*68| ~ 70–77 58.23 grant] Grant of Money 41*68| ~ 70–77 58.24 supply] Subsidies 41*64| supplies 67–68| subsidies 70–72| ~ 77 58.29 so] as 41–53| ~ 58–77 58.30 show] show us 41*68| shew 70–77 58.30 no force or] no Force nor 41*67| neither force nor 68| no force nor 70| ~ 72–77 58.31 such] any such 41–48| ~ 53–77 58.33 within the] within its 41–48| ~ 53–77 58.35 by itself?] ~ 41–58| itself? 60| ~ 64–77 58.35 experience] constant Experience 41–53| ~ 58–77 58.36 by that] by the Interest 41*70| ~ 72–77 59.8 should] would have done better to 41–48| had better 53–68| ~ 70–77 59.10 in] of 41–68| ~ 70–77 59.12 calm] serious calm 41–68| ~ 70–77 59.12 degree] Degrees 41–48| ~ 53–77 59.15 be] have been 41–58| ~ 60–77 n. 2.1 which arises] arising 41–72| ~ 77 n. 2.2 that] ~ 41–42| which 48–72| ~ 77 n. 2.3 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.4 under all ministers] in all Ministries 41| in all Ministers 42| under all Ministries 48*60| ~ 64–77 n. 2.5 Polybius justly . . . Roman government. lib. 6. cap. 15.] This sentence and citation occur only in 53*77. n. 2.6 censors] ~ 53–64| censors in giving offices 67–68| ~ 70–7 59.21 between extremes] betwixt any two Extremes 41*53| between any two extremes 58–60| ~ 64–77 59.21 difficult] very difficult 41–68| ~ 70–77 59.22 not easy] difficult 41–60| ~ 64–77 59.30 authority] Power 41–48| power 53–72| ~ 77 60.1 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 60.2 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 7. Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy, or to a Republic Editions: 41SM, 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 This essay first appeared in the Essays, Moral and Political, vol. 1. (1741). See the Editors’ A History of Hume’s Essays (pp. 00-00) for details of its near sim­ul­tan­

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eous appearance in the Craftsman, Scots Magazine, Gentleman’s Magazine, and London Magazine in October 1741. The Scots Magazine publication (41SM) is collated below as representative of variants that occur in the magazine publications; it is placed first in the sequence, although it was likely not the first publication of this essay. 61.0 7] IX. 41–60| VI. 64–72| VII. 77 {These numbers play no role in 41SM.} 61.1 science] art and science, 41SM*53| ~ 58–77 61.2 dares] dare 41SM–42| ~ 48–64| dares to 67–68| ~ 70–77 61.3 A physician will not] No physician will 41SM*42| A Physician will not 48*77 61.4 concerning] about 41SM| ~ 41–77 61.4 month] a month 41SM| Month 41*77 61.5 dares] dare 41SM–42| ~ 48–77 61.6 sure] ~ 41SM–68| certain 70–72| ~ 77 61.9 scarcely] scarce 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 61.11 Notwithstanding] ~ 41SM| Notwithstanding of 41–48| ~ 53–77 61.11 an] a very 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 61.12 question, to wit,] question, 41SM| Question, viz. 41–48| question, viz. 53–72| ~ 77 61.19 possibly be] be 41SM| ~ 41–77 61.20 one depends on] the one depends upon 41SM–58| ~ 60–77 61.21 It is] ’Tis 41SM–67| ~ 68–77 61.23 several] several Hands 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 61.24 but] but also 41SM–70| ~ 72–77 61.25 A] An 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 61.26 1000 l.] ~ 41SM| 1000 41–42| ~ 48–77 61.28 own labour] labours 41SM| own Labour 41*77 61.29 100,000 l.] ~ 41SM| 100,000 41–42| ~ 48–77 61.31 may observe] find 41SM–48| ~ 53–77 61.32 jealousy] ~ 41SM| Jealousy 41–48| a jealousy 53–68| ~ 70–77 62.1 proportion] manner of proportion 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 62.1 those] the riches 41SM*70| ~ 72–77 62.2 to about two millions and a half of our money] to 3000 talents a-year, (about 400,000 l. Sterl.) 41SM| to Three Thousand Talents a Year 41–42| to about sixteen hundred thousand Pound in our Money 48| to about sixteen hundred thousand pound in our money 53| to about sixteen hundred thousand pounds in our money 58–60| to about sixteen hundred thousand pounds in our money 64–72| ~ 77 62.2 yet] and yet 41SM–72| ~ 77

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62.5 Pompey as well as that of Cæsar] Cæsar 41SM–42| Pompey as well as of Cæsar 48–53| ~ 58–77 62.6 Medici] Medicis 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 62.7 it is] ~ 41SM| ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 62.7 not considerable] very inconsiderable 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 62.9 magnificent] very magnificent 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 62.12 and dignity] dignity 41SM| and Dignity 41*77 62.13 more property] more property, 41SM*64| greater riches 67–68| ~ 70–77 62.16 and which] and 41SM| ~ 41–77 62.17 millions a year] millions 41SM| Millions 41–48| millions 53–72| ~ 77 62.18 another; and] another million; and 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 62.19 together with] with 41SM| along with 41–53| ~ 58–77 62.19 to above] above 41SM–41| ~ 42–77 62.20 third million:] third. 41SM| third Million; 41| third Million: 42*77 62.20 An enormous] a monstruous 41SM*48| ~ 53–77 62.20 fairly be] be fairly 41SM| ~ 41–77 62.23 together] ~ 41SM| along 41–53| ~ 58–77 62.23 great] immense 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 62.23 prerogatives] prerogative 41SM| Prerogatives 41*77 62.24 military force] such numerous military forces 41SM*48| such numerous forces 53–68| ~ 70–77 62.24 there is no one but must despair of being able, without extraordinary efforts,] it is greatly to be feared, that, without extraordinary efforts, we shall not be able 41SM| there is no one but must despair, without extraordinary Efforts, of being able 41–48| ~ 53–77 62.26 these] all these 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 62.28 specious] very specious 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 62.30 first] the first 41SM| ~ 41–77 62.31 greater] a greater 41SM–70| ~ 72–77 62.32 upon that very] on that 41SM| ~ 41–77 62.33 England] Britain 41SM–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 62.34 part as] part so 41SM| Part as 41–48| ~ 53–77 62.37 derived] which is derived 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 62.37 them. A] {The following note occurs only in 41*60.} On ne monte jamais si haut que quand on ne sqait pas ou on va, said Cromwell to the President de Bellievre. 41| On ne monte jamais si haut que quand on ne sqait {sqait 42–48| sçait 53–60} pas ou on va, said Cromwell to the President de Bellievre. De Retz’s Memoirs. 42*60 {No notes occur in 41SM.} 62.38 power,] authority 41SM*48| ~ 53–77 62.39 favour] ~ 41SM| Favours 41–48| favour 53*77 62.40 with] ~ 41SM| along with 41–53| ~ 58–77 63.1 in] of 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.3 great] very great 41SM–68| ~ 70–77

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63.4 person] Persons 41SM–42| Person 48*77 63.7 small temptation and small] little temptation and little 41SM*48| ~ 53–77 63.7 farther] further 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.10 such a] ~ 41SM–64| such 67–68| ~ 70–77 63.11 always spreads] spreads always 41SM–72| ~ 77 63.15 upon] on, 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.15 very account] account 41SM| very Account 41*77 63.17 further] ~ 41SM| farther 41–60| ~ 64–72| farther 77 63.17 much] very much 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 63.18 and all human affairs, are entirely] is merely 41SM| and all human Affairs are merely 41–48| ~ 53–77 63.19 sudden and] very sudden, and a very 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 63.22 The clergy have . . . in the world.] This sentence is omitted in 41SM but appears in every other publication of this essay. 63.22 much] entirely 41–48| ~ 53–77 63.24 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 63.25 a king] him 41SM–41| a King 42*77 63.25 on] upon 41SM–58| ~ 60–77 63.26 those] these 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.27 laughter in every one] laughter 41SM| Laughter in every one 41*77 63.27 revenue] revenues 41SM| Revenue 41*77 63.29 these] those 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.30 royal] kingly 41SM–70| ~ 72–77 63.30 principles] opinions 41SM| Principles 41*77 63.31 opinions] principles 41SM| Opinions 41*77 63.31 will immediately dissolve] may be in danger of a dissolution 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.34 deliver] give 41SM| ~ 41–77 63.34 sentiments] opinion, 41SM| Sentiments 41*77 63.37 seems] seems to me 41SM–53| ~ 58–77 63.39 popular government] the popular government 41SM| popular Government 41*77 64.1 It is] ’Tis 41SM*68| ~ 70–77 64.2 animal body] natural body 41SM| animal Body 41*77 64.4 constitution] government 41SM| Constitution 41*77 64.5 in absolute] in absolute 41SM*64| an absolute 67–68| ~ 70–77 64.5 frankly declare] declare frankly 41SM–70| ~ 72–77 64.6 preferable] infinitely preferable 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 64.6 should] would 41SM| wou’d much 41*48| should much 53–68| ~ 70–77 64.7 republic] a republick 41SM| Republic 41*77 64.9 of which a man may form a plan] which a man may form a plan of 41SM*53| ~ 58–77 64.12 ever be] be ever 41SM| ~ 41–77

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64.13 64.14 64.15 64.15 64.19

Great Britain] Britain 41SM–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 acquire power enough] acquires power 41SM| acquire Power enough 41*77 put it up anew] set up a new one 41SM| put it up anew 41*77 already had] had already 41SM–70| ~ 72–77 must be the only legislature in such] in such 41SM| must be the only Legislature in such 41*77 64.22 dissolve itself, which is not to be expected] dissolves itself 41SM| dissolves itself, which is not to be expected 41–70| ~ 72–77 64.23 continue] continues 41SM–68| ~ 70–77 64.25 long subsist, we shall, at last,] last, we shall at length, 41SM| ~ 41–77 64.25 many convulsions, and civil wars,] infinite convulsions, 41SM| infinite Convulsions, and Civil Wars, 41*68| ~ 70–77 64.28 therefore, is] is therefore, 41SM| ~ 41–77 64.29 if we have] have we 41SM| ~ 41–77 64.30 more jealous] jealous 41SM| ~ 41–77 64.32 controversies.] controversies. I am, &c. P.T. 41SM| Controversies. 41*77 8. Of Parties in General Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 65.0 8 ] X. 41–60| VII. 64–72| VIII. 77 65.1 that] ~ 41–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 65.2 seems] in my Opinion, is 41*53| ~ 58–77 65.5 that] those 41–70| ~ 72–77 65.7 results] proceeds 41–68| ~ 70–77 65.10 it is] ’tis 41–60| ~ 64–77 65.12 those] these 41| ~ 42–77 65.16 the virtuous education of youth] a virtuous Education 41| the virtuous Education of the Youth 42*68| ~ 70–77 65.18 presume to differ] be of a different Opinion 41–48| ~ 53–77 65.18 Lord] my Lord 41*68| ~ 70–77 65.19 honours] Honour 41*68| ~ 70–77 65.25 faction] Factions 41*60| ~ 64–77 65.29 parties] Factions 41–48| ~ 53–77 65.29 these weeds] Factions 41–48| these parties 53–70| ~ 72–77 65.30 root] Rise 41*70| ~ 72–77 65.32 sown] planted 41–70| ~ 72–77 65.33 plants] Seeds, 41*70| ~ 72–77 65.33 soil] Soils 41*68| ~ 70–77 65.33 absolute] despotic 41–70| ~ 72–77 66.1 wholly] entirely 41–72| ~ 77 66.5 Factions] Factions or Parties 41*70| ~ 72–77 66.6 such as] those who 41–70| ~ 72–77 66.7 contending parties] Factions 41*70| ~ 72–77

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66.10 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 66.11 the constituent members] these Factions 41*60| ~ 64–77 66.14 observed] found to be 41| observed to be 42–68| ~ 70–77 66.14 notwithstanding] notwithstanding of 41–48| ~ 53–77 66.16 found] observed 41| ~ 42–77 66.19 quarrel, there,] Quarrel 41*70| ~ 72–77 66.19 passion, as well as ambition and resentment, begets public division] Passion begets public Division, as well as Ambition and Resentment 41*68| ~ 70–77 66.24 produce] beget 41–53| ~ 58–77 66.25 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 66.26 Yet] And yet 41–48| ~ 53–77 66.26 begat] begot 41–70| ~ 72–77 66.29 We find . . . equal factions.] This paragraph (¶ 6) and its note occur only in 42*77. 66.29 remarkable dissension between] very remarkable Faction betwixt 42*60| very remarkable faction between 64–68| remarkable faction between 70| ~ 72–77 n. 1 Note 1 occurs only in 42*77. n. 1.7 Papiriam] Papiriam 42–53 | ~ 58 | Papiram 60–77 n. 1.8 The Castelani . . . quarrels presently.] This sentence occurs only in 48*77; note 1 ends immediately after ‘lib. 8’ in 42. n. 1.8 Nicolotti] Nicolotti 48–53| Nicollotti 58| Nicolloti 60–77 66.32 as] that 42–64| ~ 67–77 67.4 that] which 42–48| ~ 53–77 67.5 general sympathy] Sympathy 42*60| ~ 64–77 67.9 opposite] different 41–48| ~ 53–77 67.12 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 67.14 yet] and yet 41–72| ~ 77 67.17 the latter] them 41–48| ~ 53–77 67.19 which arose some few years ago] lately arisen 41| which arose some few Years ago 42*77 67.19 between] betwixt 41–68| ~ 70–77 67.21 pleasant] very pleasant 41–68| ~ 70–77 67.22 For] For pray 41–53| ~ 58–77 67.24 certainly] in my Opinion, 41*53| ~ 58–77 67.26 controversy] Difference 41*70| ~ 72–77 67.27 difference in sentiment, but in] real Difference of Sentiments, but only a Difference of 41–48| difference of sentiments, but only a difference of 53–68| difference in sentiment, but a difference in 70| ~ 72–77 67.29 refuses] refuses 41*64| rejects 67–68| ~ 70–77 67.29 manner.] Manner. Besides, I do not find, that the Whites in Morocco ever impos’d on the Blacks any Necessity of altering their Complexion, or

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threaten’d them with Inquisitions and penal Laws in case of Obstinacy: Nor have the Blacks been more unreasonable in this Particular. But is a Man’s Opinion, where he is able to form a real Opinion, more at his Disposal than his Complexion? And can one be induc’d by Force or Fear to do more than paint and Disguise in the one Case as well as in the other? 41*68| ~ 70–77 67.30 those] Factions 41*70| ~ 72–77 67.31 the first] those from Interest 41*70| ~ 72–77 67.33 not] which is not 41–42| that is not 48–53| which is not 58–68| ~ 70–77 67.35 considering] from 41–60| ~ 64–77 67.35 implanted] which is implanted 41–68| ~ 70–77 67.36 great] very great 41–68| ~ 70–77 67.36 parties] Factions 41*70| ~ 72–77 68.2 not the less] never the less 41*64| ~ 67–77 68.6 governments.] {The following note occurs at this point only in 53.} See Considerations sur le Grandeur & sur la Decadence des Romains. 68.7 attempt in England] Attempt 41*70| ~ 72–77 68.8 part of the nation] Interest in England 41*60| interest of England 64*70| ~ 72–77 68.8 interests of these two bodies are] Interest of these two Bodies is 41*68| ~ 70–77 68.11 principle] Principles 41*68| ~ 70–77 68.11 principle] Principles 41*68| ~ 70–77 68.13 phænomenon, that has] Phænomena, that have ever 41–48| phænomena, which have ever 53| phænomenon, which has ever 58–64| phænomenon, that has ever 67–68| ~ 70–77 68.14 which is the case with all different political principles] as all different pol­it­ ical Principles do 41*53| ~ 58–77 68.19 principle is attended with] Principles begets 41*53| principles is attended with 58–68| ~ 70–77 68.20 every one] each 41–68| ~ 70–77 68.23 the one] of whom one goes 41–42| ~ 48–77 68.27 course] Way 41–48| ~ 53–77 68.28 lays hold on] takes hold of 41–70| ~ 72–77 68.29 fortified] strengthen’d and corroborated 41–53| fortified and corroborated 58–70| ~ 72–77 68.30 is it] it is 41–48| ~ 53| it is 58| ~ 60–77 68.31 and hence] hence 41| ~ 42–77 68.37 produce] cause 41–42| ~ 48–77 68.37 greatest misery] highest Misery 41*64| highest disorder 67–68| ~ 70–77 68.40 was] were 41| ~ 42–77 69.1 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 69.1 him] them 41| ~ 42–77 69.6 in such circumstances, it] Christianity, in such Circumstances, 41–42| in such Circumstances, it 48*77

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69.8

559

priesthood was] Christian Priesthood were 41| Priesthood were 42*70| ~ 72–77 69.10 primitive persecutions] Persecutions of Christianity 41*70| ~ 72–77 n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 42*77. n. 3.1 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 n. 3.2 superstition, amongst the Romans, were as ancient as the time of the twelve tables] Superstition were very ancient among the Romans 42–48| superstition, amongst the Romans, were as ancient as the time of the twelve tables 53*77 n. 3.5 they] ~ 42–64| the Romans 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 3.6 this] their 42| ~ 48–77 n. 3.7 the emperor, Claudius,] they 42–48| the emperor, Claudius, 53*77 n. 3.9 Pliny ascribes . . . lib. 30. cap. 1.] This sentence in note 3 occurs only in 53*77. n. 3.10 Druidical superstitions] Druid superstitions 53–64| Druid superstition 67–68| Druid superstitions 70–72| Druidical superstitions 77 69.15 divisions] Factions 41*70| ~ 72–77 69.15 people] poor People 41–42| People 48*77 69.19 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 69.22 different] very different 41–70| ~ 72–77 69.25 when] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 69.28 defend] confirm 41–68| ~ 70–77 69.28 Hence] From hence 41–68| ~ 70–77 70.1 the Christian religion] Christianity 41–48| the christian religion 53*77 70.2 policy] pernicious Policy 41*60| ~ 64–77 70.3 their] ~ 41–64| the 67–68| ~ 70–77 70.6 that] ~ 41–48| which 53–60| ~ 64–77 70.9 attachments] Affections 41*70| ~ 72–77 70.11 factions] Parties 41*70| ~ 72–77 70.11 may seem] is somewhat 41–68| ~ 70–77 70.12 with whom they are no wise acquainted, whom] whom they are no way acquainted with, with whom 41*48| with whom they are no way acquainted, whom 53–64| ~ 67–77 70.14 often find] find often 41–70| ~ 72–77 70.17 apt] apt, I know not how, 41–68| ~ 70–77 70.17 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 70.20 does not give him] ~ 41–48| gives him not 53–70| ~ 72–77 70.21 will] will do it 41–48| ~ 53–77 9. Of the Parties of Great Britain Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 71.0 9 ] XI. 41–60| VIII. 64–72| IX. 77 71.1 speculation, one] Speculation to a studious Man, he 41*70| ~ 72–77

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71.3 under] in 41–48| ~ 53–77 71.4 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 71.5 extremely] extreme 41–48| ~ 53–77 71.6 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 71.10 bold and generous] bold 41| ~ 42–77 71.13 greater] larger 41–72| ~ 77 71.16 are there] there are 41–48| ~ 53–77 71.18 those of Court and Country] Court and Country Parties 41–48| ~ 53–77 {After the word ‘Court’, a note marker appears, and the following note occurs, only in 41*68.} These Words have become of general Use, and therefore I shall employ them, without intending to express by them an universal Blame of the one Party, or Approbation of the other. The Court-Party may, no doubt, on some Occasions, consult best the Interest of the Country, and the Country-Party oppose it. In like Manner, the Roman Parties were denominated Optimates and Populares; and Cicero, like a true Party-man, defines the Optimates to be such as, in all their publick Conduct, regulated themselves by the Sentiments of the best and worthiest of the Romans: Pro Sextio. {Sextio. 41–48| Sextio, cap. 45. 53*68} The Term of Country-Party may afford a favourable Definition or Etymology of the same kind: But it would be Folly to draw any Argument from that Head, and I have no Regard to it in employing these Terms. 71.21 opposition] Country Party 41–48| ~ 53–77 71.23 between them, the parties themselves] betwixt these two Parties, the Parties 41–48| betwixt them, the parties themselves 53–60| ~ 64–77 71.23 so] as 41–53| ~ 58–77 71.26 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 71.27 trust] its Trust 41*68| ~ 70–77 71.32 sentiments] Principles 41*70| ~ 72–77 71.33 sentiments] Principles 41*70| ~ 72–77 71.33 height] Length 41*70| ~ 72–77 72.1 Court and Country] the Court and Country Parties 41*70| ~ 72–77 72.2 offspring] Factions 41–48| ~ 53–77 72.3 both by principle and] partly by Principle, partly 41–42| both by Principle and 48*77 72.3 factions] Parties 41–48| ~ 53–77 72.5 former.] former. I must be understood to mean this of Persons who have any Motive {any Motive 41–42| Motives 48*68} for taking Party on any Side. For, to tell the Truth, the greatest Part are commonly Men who associate themselves they know not why; from Example, from Passion, from Idleness. But still it is requisite {requisite 41–48| requisite, that 53–68} there be some Source of Division, either in Principle or Interest; otherwise such Persons wou’d not find Parties, to which they cou’d associate themselves. 41*68| ~ 70–77

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72.7 liberty] {At this point the following note occurs only in 42*68.} This Proposition is true, notwithstanding, that in the early Times of the English Government, the Clergy were the great and principal Opposers of the Crown: But, at that Time, their Possessions were so immensely great, that they compos’d a considerable Part of the Proprietors of England, and in many Contests were direct Rivals of the Crown. 72.7 it is] ’tis 41–67| ~ 68–77 72.11 prevails] is found 41–48| ~ 53–77 72.11 all kinds] every Species 41*68| ~ 70–77 72.13 in such] ~ 41–42| that in such 48| ~ 53–77 72.13 constitution] Government 41*70| ~ 72–77 72.14 as that of Great Britain] as Britain 41| as that of Britain 42–53| as that of Britain 58–72| ~ 77 72.14 clergy, while things are in their natural situation,] Clergy 41–42| Clergy, while Things are in their natural Situation, 48*77 72.17 toleration, which] Toleration 41–48| ~ 53–77 72.18 government] Government 41*64| constitution 67–68| ~ 70–77 72.18 that] ~ 41–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 72.19 of what importance it was to gain] this important Interest of gaining 41*48| ~ 53–77 72.20 part] Side 41–48| side 53–72| ~ 77 72.20 in] of 41–70| ~ 72–77 n. 1 Note 1 occurs only in 53*77. 72.24 itself, together] along 41–53| together 58–60| ~ 64–77 72.26 system] Piece 41| System 42*77 72.27 priests] Clergymen 41| Priests 42*77 72.27 to the] to despotic Power, and to the 41*68| ~ 70–77 72.29 professed] always profess’d 41*68| ~ 70–77 72.29 family] Power of the Family 41–48| ~ 53–77 72.30 were] were always 41–68| ~ 70–77 [the first of ‘were’ in line 30] 72.31 have] has 41–72| ~ 77 72.32 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 72.33 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 72.34 he will find,] a Prince finds 41–48| a prince finds, 53–72| ~ 77 n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 53*77. 73.1 great rebellion] Civil Wars 41*70| ~ 72–77 73.2 observe] find 41–72| ~ 77 73.2 it was conformable] they were exactly conformable 41| it was exactly conformable 42–68| ~ 70–77 73.3 government] the Government 41–48| ~ 53–77 73.3 them] ~ 41| these Parties 42*70| ~ 72–77 73.4 period] Time 41–48| time 53–72| ~ 77 73.6 not] not, perhaps, 41–68| ~ 70–77

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73.8 a misguided] an ignorant 41–68| ~ 70–77 73.8 deemed] esteem’d 41*68| ~ 70–77 73.12 arose and spread itself] arose 41–42| arose and spread itself 48*77 73.15 began] begun 41–48| ~ 53–77 73.18 the constitution] our Constitution 41*60| ~ 64–77 73.19 the nation was] we were 41–60| the nation were 64–68| ~ 70–77 73.20 absolute] despotic 41–70| ~ 72–77 73.24 the more passionate favourers of monarchy] those, who were the most passionate Favourers of Monarchy, 41*68| ~ 70–77 73.27 no general] little 41–48| ~ 53–77 73.30 the latter] and the latter 41–70| ~ 72–77 73.30 monarchical] Monarchial 41| Monarchical 42*77 73.30 this] which 41–48| ~ 53–77 73.33 absolute] despotic 41–70| ~ 72–77 73.36 concurred] concurr’d, in a shameless Manner, 41*53| ~ 58–77 73.36 designs] Designs, according to their usual Maxims in such Cases 41*68| ~ 70–77 73.37 were] was 41| ~ 42–77 73.39 presbyterian] Presbyterians 41| Presbyterian 42*77 73.40 parliament.] Parliament. The Cavaliers being the Court-Party, and the Round-heads the Country-Party, the Union was infallible betwixt {betwixt 41–53| between 58–68} the former and the establish’d Prelacy, and betwixt {betwixt 41–53| between 58–68} the latter and Presbyterian Nonconformists. This Union is so natural, according to the general Principles of Politics, that it requires some very extraordinary Concurrence of Circumstances {Concurrence of Circumstances 41| Situation of Affairs 42*68} to break it. 41*68| ~ 70–77 74.1 first,] first, and 41–68| ~ 70–77 74.3 ancient government re-established] Government establish’d on the same Footing as before 41*68| antient government re‑established 70*77 74.4 example] dreadful Example 41*53| ~ 58–77 74.5 though at first,] tho’ 41| tho’, at first, 42*77 74.6 appellation] Appellations 41*64| ~ 67–77 74.7 and] ~ 41–67| or 68| ~ 70–77 74.7 To determine the nature] What the Nature is 41*70| ~ 72–77 74.8 problems] Questions 41*70| ~ 72–77 74.9 that] ~ 41–48| which 53–68| ~ 70–77 74.9 questions] Problems 41*70| ~ 72–77 74.10 any] any that are 41–48| any, which are 53–68| ~ 70–77 74.11 the two] these two 41–70| ~ 72–77 74.13 Persons, who profess themselves of one side or other, we meet with] We meet with Persons, who profess themselves of one Side or t’other, 41*53| Persons, who profess themselves of one side or other, we meet 58–70| ~ 72–77

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74.17 Yet are we] And yet we are 41–68| ~ 70–77 74.18 different factions] two Parties {two Parties 41*58| parties 60–68}. The Question is, perhaps, in itself, somewhat difficult; but has been render’d more so, by the Prejudices {Prejudices 41–48| prejudice 53–68} and Violence of Party 41*68| parties 70| ~ 72–77 74.19 with] to 41–70| ~ 72–77 74.20 that] ~ 41–48| which 53–68| ~ 70–77 74.20 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 74.21 principles] Doctrines 41–48| ~ 53–77 74.23 were esteemed] was 41| were 42| were esteem’d 48*77 74.28 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 74.29 principles] Principles, sufficient, according to a justly {a justly 41–48| a 53–68} celebrated Author, to shock the common Sense of a Hottentot or Samoiede, 41*68| ~ 70–77 74.31 arbitrary] despotick 41*60| ~ 64–77 74.38 genuine sentiments of] Sentiments of true 41*70| ~ 72–77 74.39 affection for] Affection to 41*58| affections to 60–70| ~ 72–77 74.39 and in] and 41| ~ 42–77 74.40 principle] Principles 41*70| ~ 72–77 75.3 compliances] almost unbounded Compliances 41*53| great compliances 58–70| ~ 72–77 75.3 which seemed to make] that made 41–48| which made 53–70| ~ 72–77 75.8 farther] further 41–70| ~ 72–77 75.10 concurred, entirely or heartily,] concurr’d 41–42| concurr’d, entirely or heartily, 48*77 75.12 opposite] contradictory 41–70| ~ 72–77 75.13 must probably] must 41–42| ~ 48–77 75.15 contradictions] the most glaring Contradictions 41–42| Contradictions 48*77 75.15 contradiction] Contradiction above-mention’d 41–42| Contradiction 48*77 75.16 between] betwixt 41–68| ~ 70–77 75.21 line.] {The following several paragraphs occur only in 41*68. In 41–42 the paragraphs occur as a continuation of the body of the text, and in 48–68 the material occurs as a note. As marked below, one paragraph occurs only in 48*68.} The celebrated Writer {celebrated Writer 41*48| author 53–68} above cited, has asserted, that the Real Distinction betwixt Whig and Tory was lost at the Revolution, and that ever since they have continued to be mere personal Parties, like the Guelfs and Ghibbellines, after the Emperors had lost all Authority in Italy. Such an Opinion, were it received, wou’d turn our whole History into an Ænigma

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{Ænigma; and is, indeed, so contrary to the strongest Evidence, that a Man must have a great Opinion of his own Eloquence to attempt the proving of it 41–42| Ænigma. 48*68}.   I shall first mention, as an irresistible {an irresistible 41–42| a 48–68} Proof of a real Distinction betwixt {betwixt 41–60| between 64–68} these Parties, what every one may have observ’d or heard concerning the Conduct and Conversation of all his Friends and Acquaintance on both Sides. Have not the Tories always bore {bore 41–60| borne 64–68} an avowed Affection to the Family of Stuart, and have not their Adversaries always opposed with Vigour the Succession of that Family?   The Tory Principles are confessedly the most favourable to Monarchy. Yet the Tories have almost always opposed the Court these fifty Years; nor were they cordial Friends to King William, even when employ’d by him. Their Quarrel, therefore, cannot be supposed to have lain with the Throne, but with the Person, who sat on it.   They concurr’d heartily with the Court during the four last Years of Queen Anne. But is any one at a loss to find the Reason? {The following passage occurs only in 48*68.} The Succession of the Crown in the British Government is a Point of too great Consequence to be absolutely indifferent to Persons, who concern themselves, in any Degree, about the Fortune of the Public; much less can it be suppos’d, that the Tory Party, who never valu’d themselves upon Moderation, could maintain a Stoical Indifference in a Point of so great {so great 48| such 53–68} Importance. Were they, therefore, zealous for the House of Hanover? Or was there any thing, that kept an opposite Zeal from openly appearing, if it did not openly appear, but Prudence, and a Sense of Decency? {The following two paragraphs occur only in 41*68.}   ’Tis monstrous to see an establish’d Episcopal Clergy in declar’d Opposition to the Court, and a Nonconformist Presbyterian Clergy in Conjunction with it. What can produce {can produce 41–48| cou’d have produc’d 53*68} such an unnatural Conduct in Both? Nothing but that the former have espoused {have espoused 41–48| espous’d 53*68} Monarchical Principles too high for the present Settlement, which is founded on Principles of Liberty: And the latter, being afraid of the Prevalence of those high Principles, adhere {adhere 41–48| adher’d 53*68} to that Party, from whom they have {have 41–48| had 53–68} Reason to expect Liberty and Toleration.  The different Conduct of the two Parties, with regard to foreign Politics, is also a Proof to the same Purpose. Holland has always been most favour’d by one, and France by the other. In short, the Proofs of this kind are {are 41–42| seem 48–68} so palpable and evident, that one is almost asham’d {one is almost asham’d 41–42| ’tis almost needless 48*68} to collect them.

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75.22 These] A Tory is a Lover of Monarchy, though without abandoning Liberty; and a Partizan of the Family of STUART. A Whig is a Lover of Liberty, though without renouncing Monarchy; and a Friend to the Settlement in the Protestant Line. These 41–42| These 48*77 75.22 were] are 41–48| ~ 53–77 75.24 divisions in] Parties of 41*70| ~ 72–77 75.25 the] this 41| ~ 42–77 75.28 liberty.] {The following passage occurs at this point only in 41*68. As marked, some parts of some paragraphs occur only in 48*68.}   ’Tis however remarkable, that though the Principles of Whig and Tory be {be 41–48| were 53–68} both of them of a compound Nature; yet the Ingredients, which predominated in both, were not correspondent to each other. A Tory loved Monarchy, and bore an Affection to the Family of Stuart; but the latter Affection was the predominant Inclination of the Party. A Whig loved Liberty, and was a Friend to the Settlement in the Protestant Line; but the Love of Liberty was professedly his predominant Inclination. The Tories have frequently acted as Republicans, where either Policy or Revenge has engag’d them to that Conduct; and there was none {was none 41| were none 42–48| was no one 53–68} of that Party, who, upon the Supposition, that they were {they were 41–48| he was 53–68} to be disappointed in their {their 41–48| his 53–68} Views with regard to the Succession, would not have desired to impose the strictest Limitations on the Crown, and to bring our Form of Government as near Republican as possible, in order to depress the Family, that {that 41–48| which 53–68}, according to their {their 41–48| his 53–68} Apprehension, succeeded without any just Title. The Whigs, ’tis true, have also taken Steps dangerous to Liberty, under Pretext {Pretext 41| Colour 42*68} of securing the Succession and Settlement of the Crown, according to their Views: But as the Body of the Party had no Passion for that Succession, otherwise than as the Means of securing Liberty, they have been betray’d into these Steps by Ignorance or Frailty, or the Interest {Interest 41*53| interests 58*68} of their Leaders. The Succession of the Crown was, therefore, the chief Point with the Tories: The Security of our Liberties with the Whigs. {The following addition to and continuation of this paragraph occurs only in 48*68.} Nor is this seeming Irregularity at all difficult to be accounted for, by our present Theory. Court and Country Parties are the true Parents of Tory and Whig. But ’tis {’tis 48–67| it is 68} almost i­ mpossible, that the Attachment of the Court Party to Monarchy should not degenerate into an Attachment to the Monarch; there being so close a Connexion betwixt {betwixt 48–58| between 60–68} them, and the latter being so much the more natural Object. How easily does the Worship of the Divinity degenerate into a Worship of the Idol? The Connexion is not so great betwixt {betwixt 48–60| between 64–68} Liberty, the Divinity of the old Country Party or Whigs, and any Monarch or Royal Family; nor is it so reasonable to

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suppose, that, in that Party, the Worship can so easily be {so easily be 48–58| be so easily 60–68} transferr’d from the one to the other. Tho’ even that would be no great Miracle.   {The following material occurs at this point only in 41*68.} ’Tis difficult to penetrate into the Thoughts and Sentiments of any particular Man; but ’tis almost impossible to distinguish those of a whole Party, where it often happens, that no two Persons agree precisely in the same Way of thinking {Way of thinking 41–48| maxims of conduct 53–68}. Yet I will venture to affirm, that it was not so much Principle, or an Opinion of indefeazible Right, that {that 41–48| which 53–68} attach’d the Tories to the antient Royal Family, as Affection, or a certain Love and Esteem for their Persons. The same Cause divided England formerly betwixt {betwixt 41–53| between 58–68} the Houses of York and Lancaster, and Scotland, betwixt {betwixt 41–53| between 58–68} the Families of Bruce and Baliol; in an Age, when political Disputes were but little in Fashion, and when pol­it­ ical Principles must of Course have had but little Influence on Mankind. The Doctrine of passive Obedience {Obedience 41*64| obedience, in its rigid sense, 67–68} is so absurd in itself, and so opposite to our Liberties, that it seems to have been chiefly left to Pulpit Declaimers, and to their deluded Followers among the Mob {Mob 41–48| vulgar 53–68}. Men of better Sense were guided by Affection; and as to the Leaders of this Party, it’s {it’s 41| ’tis 42–68} probable, that Interest was their sole {sole 41–42| chief 48–68} Motive, and that they acted more contrary to their private Sentiments, than the Leaders of the opposite Party.   {The following continuation of the passage occurs at this point only in 48*68.} Tho’ ’tis almost impossible to maintain with Zeal the Right of any Person or Family, without acquiring a Good-will to them, and chan­ ging the Principle into Affection; yet this is {this is 48–64| is this 67–68} less natural to People of an elevated Station and liberal Education, who have had ample {ample 48–53| full 58–68} Opportunity of observing the Weakness, Folly, and Arrogance of Monarchs, and have found them to be nothing superior, if not rather inferior, to the rest of Mankind. The Interest, therefore, of being Heads of a Party does often, with such People, supply the Place both of Principle and Affection. 75.29 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 75.32 among] amongst 41–68| ~ 70–77 75.34 liberty] to Liberty 41*68| ~ 70–77 75.34 liberty.] {The following passage occurs only in 41*68. As marked, two sentences occur only in 41*64.} It must, indeed, be confest, that the Tory Party has, of late, {has, of late, 41| have, of late, 42| seem, of late, to have 48–68} decay’d much in their Numbers; still more in their Zeal; and I may venture to say, still more in their Credit and Authority. {The following two sentences occur only in 41*64.} There is no Man {is no Man 41–42| are

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few Men 48*64} of Knowledge or Learning, {Learning, 41–42| Learning, at least, few Philosophers, since Mr. Locke has wrote, 48*64} who wou’d not be asham’d to be thought of that Party; and in almost all Companies the Name of Old Whig is mention’d as an uncontestable Appellation of Honour and Dignity. Accordingly, the Enemies of the Ministry, as a Reproach, call the Courtiers, the true Tories; and as an Honour, denominate the Gentlemen in the Opposition the true Whigs. 75.38 proof] demonstrative Proof 41–42| Proof 48*77 76.1 This may . . . our parties.] This sentence occurs only in 42*77. 76.3 parties.] {The following paragraph occurs only in 41*68.} I shall conclude this Subject with observing, that we never had any Tories in Scotland, according to the proper Signification of the Word, and that the Division of Parties in this country was really into Whigs and Jacobites. A Jacobite seems to be a Tory, who has no Regard to the Constitution, but is either a zealous Partizan of absolute Monarchy, or at least willing to sacrifice our Liberties to the obtaining the Succession in that Family, to which he is attach’d. The Reason of the Difference betwixt {betwixt 41–60| between 64–68} England and Scotland I take to be this. Our political and our {Our political and our 41–53| Political and 58–68} religious Divisions in this {this 41–53| the latter 58–68} Country, have been, since the Revolution, regularly correspondent to each other. The Presbyterians were all Whigs without Exception: The Episcopalians {The Episcopalians 41| Those who favour’d Episcopacy 42*68}, of the opposite Party. And as the Clergy of the latter Sect were turn’d out of their {their 41–60| the 64–68} Churches at the Revolution, they had no Motive to make {to make 41| for making 42–68} any Compliances with the Government in their Oaths or {or 41–48| or their 53–68} Forms of Prayer {Prayer 41–42| Prayers 48*68}, but openly avow’d the highest Principles of their Party; which is the Cause, why their Followers have been more bare-fac’d and violent {bare-fac’d and violent 41–53| violent 58–68} than their Brethren of the Tory Party in England. {The following remainder of this paragraph occurs only in 41*42.} As violent Things have not commonly so long a Duration as moderate, we actually find, that the Jacobite Party is almost entirely vanish’d from among us, and that the Distinction of Court and Country, which is but creeping in at London, is the only one that is ever mention’d in this Kingdom. Beside the Violence and Openness of the Jacobite Party, another Reason has, perhaps, contributed to produce so sudden and so visible an Alteration in this Part of Britain. There are only two Ranks of Men among us; Gentlemen, who have some Fortune and Education, and the meanest slaving Poor; without any considerable Number of that middling Rank of Men, which abounds more in England, both in Cities and in the Country, than in any other Part of the World. The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and Experience: The middling Rank of Men

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have Curiosity and Knowledge enough to form Principles, but not enough to form true Ones, or correct any Prejudices that they may have imbib’d: And ’tis among the middling Rank of People {Rank of People 41| Rank 42}, that Tory Principles do at present prevail most in England. n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 58*77. The final sentence occurs only in 72–77. n. 3.2 reason] occasion 58–60| ~ 64–77 n. 3.5 mistakes. These mistakes were indeed, at that time, almost universal in this kingdom.] mistakes. 58–70| ~ 72–77 10. Of Superstition and Enthusiasm Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 77.0 10 ] XII. 41–60| IX. 64–72| X. 77 77.2 commonly proved] verify’d 41–42| commonly prov’d 48*77 77.4 are yet] yet are 41–42| ~ 48–77 77.13 are entirely] are 41| are intirely 42*77 77.14 equally] as 41| ~ 42–77 77.15 or] and 41–58| ~ 60–77 77.17 together] along 41–53| ~ 58–77 77.20 arising] proceeding 41–68| ~ 70–77 77.21 or] and 41| ~ 42–77 77.26 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 77.32 a distinguished] the chief 41–68| ~ 70–77 78.3 and without] ~ 41–60| without 64–68| ~ 70–77 78.3 inspiration] Inspirations 41*70| ~ 72–77 78.4 a warm] warm 41| ~ 42–77 78.4 together] along 41–53| ~ 58–77 78.9 My first reflection is, That . . . reason and philosophy.] ’Tis therefore an infallible Rule, That Superstition is favourable to Priestly Power, and Enthusiasm as much, or rather more, contrary to it than sound Reason and Philosophy. 41–42 {This sentence in 41–42 is not located at this point in the essay. It is instead positioned as sentence 1 in par. 8. The words ‘My first Reflection is, That’ occur in 41–42, but these words there appear five pages before the passage here collated (in conformity with the copy-text). Also, in 41–42 the words ‘My first Reflection is, That’ are used to assert a different proposition. The order in the critical text at hand follows exactly the order in 48*77.}| My first Reflection is, That Superstition is favourable to Priestly Power, and Enthusiasm as much, or rather more, contrary to it than sound Reason and Philosophy. 48*70| ~ 72–77 78.11 As superstition is founded . . . of the priesthood.] This material is located as sentences 3 ff in the sixth paragraph of the essay in 41–42. 78.12 man] Person 41–48| ~ 53–77 78.15 supposed] supposed to be 41–48| suppos’d 53*77

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78.16 the superstitious] they 41| the Superstitious 42*77 78.17 his] ~ 41–68| this 70| ~ 72–77 78.17 they hope] hope 41–60| ~ 64–77 78.19 of Priests,] {At this point the following note occurs only in 41*64.} By Priests I understand {understand 41| here mean 42–64} only the Pretenders to Power and Dominion, and to a superior Sanctity of Character, distinct from Virtue and good Morals. These are very different from Clergymen, who are set apart {apart 41| apart, by the Laws, 42*64} to the Care of sacred Matters, and {and 41| and to 42–64} the Conducting our public Devotions with greater Decency and Order. There is no Rank of men more to be respected than the latter. 78.19 an invention] proceeding from one of the grossest Inventions 41| one of the grossest Inventions 42*68| ~ 70–77 78.23 in] of 41| ~ 42–77 78.24 entirely to conquer] to conquer entirely 41–70| ~ 72–77 78.27 priesthood.] Priesthood. Modern Judaism {Modern Judaism 41*64| Judaism 67–68} and Popery, especially the latter, being the most barbarous {barbarous 41–48| unphilosophical 53–68} and absurd Superstitions, that {that 41–48| which 53–68} have yet been known in the World, are the most enslav’d by their Priests. As the Church of England has a strong {has a strong 41| may justly be said to retain a strong 42–53| may justly be said to retain some 58–68} Mixture of Popish Superstition, it partakes also, in its original Constitution, of a Propensity to Priestly Power and Dominion; particularly in the Respect it {it 41–64| which it 67–68} exacts to the Priest {Priest 41–48| sacerdotal character 53–68}. And tho’, according to the Sentiments of that Church, the Prayers of the Priest must be accompanied with those of the Laity; yet is he the Mouth of the Congregation, his Person is sacred, and without his Presence few wou’d think their public Devotions, or the Sacraments and other Rites, acceptable to the Divinity. 41*68| ~ 70–77 78.29 great] a great 41–48| ~ 53–77 78.30 ceremonies, and traditions] Traditions and Authorities 41*48| ceremonies, and traditions 53*77 78.32 yet been] been yet 41–64| ~ 67–68| been yet 70| ~ 72–77 78.32 that] ~ 41–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 78.36 particulars] these Particulars 41*68| ~ 70–77 78.36 in] on 41–58| ~ 60–77 78.37 experience] the most certain Experience 41*68| ~ 70–77 78.37 in] on 41–60| ~ 64–77 79.3 priests] Priest 41| Priests 42*77 79.7 My second reflection with regard to . . . serene than before.] This material is located as par. 5 and sentence 1 of par. 6 in 41–42 only. It was re­ordered in the 1748 edition.

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second reflection with regard to these species of false religion] first Reflection 41–42| second Reflection with regard to these Species of false Religion 48*77 79.7 that religions . . . gentle and moderate.] This passage is italicized only in 53*77. 79.8 more] much more 41–68| ~ 70–77 79.9 those] these 41| those 42*77 79.9 more] much more 41–68| ~ 70–77 79.13 Enthusiasm being] As Enthusiasm is 41–48| ~ 53–77 79.16 fanatic] Fanatics 41*60| ~ 64–77 79.17 contempt for] Contempt of 41–48| ~ 53–77 79.18 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 79.18 disorders] Desolation 41| Desolations 42*68| ~ 70–77 79.20 serene than before.] {At this point the following sentence occurs only in 41–42, where it is located as sentence 2 of par. 6.} The Reason of this will appear evidently by comparing Enthusiasm to Superstition, the other Species of false Religion; and tracing the natural Consequences of each. 41–42| ~ 48–77 79.20 “When the first fire . . .”] {This sentence is preceded by the following sentence in 41–42, where it is located as sentence 2 of par. 8.} The Consequences are evident. 79.21 all] such 41–58| ~ 60–77 79.23 among] amongst 41–68| ~ 70–77 79.24 spirit: No rites . . . from oblivion.] Spirit. 41–48| ~ 53*77 79.31 her] their 41–64| ~ 67–77 79.32 she] they 41–64| ~ 67–77 79.34 very free reasoners] our greatest Free-thinkers 41*53| ~ 58–77 79.34 seem to approach nearly] are, perhaps, 41–48| ~ 53–77 79.35 the literati, or the] except the Literati or 41*48| ~ 53–77 n. 1 Note 1 occurs only in 58*77. n 1.1 or] nor 58| ~ 60–77 79.37 third observation on this head] second Observation, with regard to these Species of false Religion, 41–42| third Observation on this Head 48*77 79.37 that superstition is an enemy to civil liberty, and enthusiasm a friend to it.] This passage is italicized only in 53–77. 80.1 priests] the Priests 41*68| ~ 70–77 80.1 destructive of] an Enemy to 41| ~ 42–77 80.5 from] from the 41–72| ~ 77 80.13 defence] the Defence 41*68| ~ 70–77 80.15 support] the Support 41*68| ~ 70–77 80.19 reflection] Attention 41–48| ~ 53–77 80.20 attention] our Attention 41–48| ~ 53–77 80.27 tyrants of the people,] Tyrants 41*53| ~ 58–77

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11. Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 81.0 11 ] XIV. 41–60| XI. 64–68| X. 70–72| XI. 77 81.0 Dignity or Meanness] DIGNITY 41*68| Dignity or Meanness 70–77 81.2 factions in] in 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.3 they] yet they 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.4 part] Party 41*70| ~ 72–77 81.5 founded] that are founded 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.9 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 81.12 possess] possesses 41–72| ~ 77 81.13 part] Party 41*70| ~ 72–77 81.14 lie] lies 41–72| ~ 77 81.16 our species] Human Nature 41*68| ~ 70–77 81.18 delicate] very delicate 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.19 morals] Virtue 41–48| ~ 53–77 81.19 a splenetic temper] somewhat of the Misanthrope 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.21 indignation] Spleen and Indignation 41*68| ~ 70–77 81.23 more] much more 41–70| ~ 72–77 81.24 prepossessed with] possess’d of 41–53| possessed of 58–72| ~ 77 81.30 itself.] itself. Women are generally much more flatter’d in their Youth than Men; which may proceed from this Reason, among others, that their chief Point of Honour is consider’d as much more difficult than ours, and requires to be supported by all that decent Pride, which can be instill’d into them. 41*68| ~ 70–77 81.31 few] very few 41–68| ~ 70–77 81.31 that] ~ 41–48| which 53–68| ~ 70–77 81.33 dignity or meanness] Dignity 41*68| ~ 70–77 82.3 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 82.4 Yet is it] But yet ’tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 82.5 affixing] affirming 41| ~ 42–77 82.9 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 82.10 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 82.14 it be a question of comparison or not] or not it be a Question merely of Comparison, 41*48| ~ 53–77 82.15 controversy] Dispute 41–48| ~ 53–77 82.16 different.] different. As this {this 41| the latter 42–68} is commonly the Case, I have long since learnt to neglect such Disputes as manifest Abuses of Leisure, the most valuable Present that cou’d be made to Mortals. 41*68| ~ 70–77 82.17 apt] very apt 41–68| ~ 70–77 82.18 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 82.18 the only] which are the only 41–68| ~ 70–77

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82.19 favourable] very favourable 41*68| ~ 70–77 82.23 origin, at least, the history] Origin 41*60| origin, at least, the History 64*77 82.24 eye] Eyes 41*70| ~ 72–77 82.25 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 82.26 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 82.30 few] ~ 41–58| very few 60–68| ~ 70–77 82.31 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 82.32 attaining, in a short time,] arriving in a very short Time at 41*58| attaining in a very short time, 60–68| ~ 70–77 82.34 there] ~ 41–64| here 67–68| ~ 70–77 82.34 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 82.39 between] betwixt 41–53| ~ 58–77 82.40 this is one] there is this remarkable 41–48| there is this one remarkable 53| this is remarkable 58–68| ~ 70–77 82.40 an idea] a Notion 41*58| ~ 60–77 83.3 knowledge] Wisdom 41–48| knowledge 53*77 83.5 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 83.7 it is] ’tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 83.9 more short] ~ 41–42| shorter 48–60| ~ 64–77 83.11 yet] but yet 41–68| ~ 70–77 83.13 It is] ’Tis 41*68| ~ 70–77 83.13 usual] very usual 41–68| ~ 70–77 83.14 whom] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 83.19 between] betwixt 41–60| ~ 64–77 83.22 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 83.23 Lord] my Lord 41*68| lord 70–77 83.24 should] wou’d 41*48| ~ 53–77 83.25 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 83.32 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 83.36 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 83.37 our selfish and vicious principles] the selfish and vicious Principles of Human Nature 41*53| ~ 58–77 83.38 our] the 41–53| ~ 58–77 84.1 There is much . . . well of you.] I may, perhaps, treat more fully of this Subject in some future Speculation {Speculation 41| Essay 42–48}. In the mean Time, I shall observe, what has been prov’d beyond Question by several great Moralists of the present Age, that the social Passions are by far the most powerful of any, and that even all the other Passions receive their Force and Influence from them {their Force and Influence from them 41| from them their chief Force and Influence 42–48}. Whoever desires to see this Question treated at large, with the greatest Force of Argument and Eloquence, may consult my Lord Shaftsbury’s Enquiry concerning Virtue. 41*48| There is much  .  .  .  well of you. 53*77

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{Paragraph 9 in 53*77 is a substitute for the material in 41–48, as this collation indicates. The next 11 entries below collate variants in the paragraph as it appears in 53–77.} 84.6 intermix] intermixes 53–72| ~ 77 84.6 confident that] confident 53| ~ 58–77 84.8 to make no] not to make a 53| ~ 58–77 84.9 between] betwixt 53–58| ~ 60–77 84.9 no preference] some preference 53| ~ 58–77 84.13 forgotten] forgot 53–72| ~ 77 84.13 heart] mind 53–70| ~ 72–77 84.20 unactive] inactive 53–70| ~ 72–77 84.24 influence over human actions] influence 53–68| ~ 70–77 84.26 who, having] ~ 53| who having 58| ~ 60–70| who having 72| ~ 77 84.32 ears] nice ears 53| nice years 58| nice ears 60–72| ~ 77 84.33 among] amongst 53–72| ~ 77 84.36 that] ~ 41–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 84.38 whence] From whence 41*68| ~ 70–77 85.3 the virtuous] virtuous Men 41–48| ~ 53–77 85.5 who] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 85.6 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 85.10 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 85.10 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 85.11 closely] nearly 41–53| ~ 58–77 85.12 laudable] virtuous 41–48| ~ 53–77 85.13 laudable] virtuous 41–48| ~ 53–77 85.14 affection] Passion 41–42| Affection 48*77 85.14 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 85.17 disposition] Sentiment 41–48| sentiment 53–72| ~ 77 85.19 deeds] Actions 41*70| ~ 72–77 85.20 virtue] virtuous Actions 41*70| ~ 72–77 12. Of Civil Liberty Editions: 41, 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 86.0 12 ] XV. 41–60| XII. 64–68| XI. 70–72| XII. 77 86.0 Civil Liberty] LIBERTY and DESPOTISM 41–53| Civil Liberty 58–77 86.3 to public] both to public 41–53| ~ 58–77 86.3 and even] and 41–53| ~ 58–77 86.5 many general] any general stable 41| many general stable 42–48| ~ 53–77 86.7 three] above three 41–60| ~ 64–77 86.7 imperfect] defective 41–72| ~ 77 86.8 as] as well as 41–64| ~ 67–77 86.9 It is] ’Tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 86.9 fully] sufficiently 41| ~ 42–77

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86.9 what degree] what Degrees 41–48| of what degrees 53| what degrees 58–70| ~ 72–77 86.10 susceptible of] ~ 41–48| susceptible 53| ~ 58–77 86.13 and tyrannical governments of ancient times] Tyranny of antient Sovereigns 41| and tyrannical Governments of ancient Times 42*77 86.13 or to] or 41–48| ~ 53–77 86.16 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 86.17 prince] Sovereign 41| Prince 42*77 86.20 long be] be long 41–68| ~ 70–77 86.21 family] own Family 41*58| family 60*77 86.21 many] innumerable 41–68| ~ 70–77 86.22 proceeding, in a great measure,] proceeding 41| proceeding, in a great Measure, 42*77 86.27 dethroning] the dethroning 41–48| ~ 53–77 86.29 the last] within this last 41| within the last 42–48| ~ 53–77 86.29 and there scarcely is] nor is there 41–48| ~ 53–77 n. 1 Note 1 occurs only in 53–77. 87.2 engaged] excited 41–70| ~ 72–77 87.5 importance] vast Importance 41*68| ~ 70–77 87.6 make] have made 41–70| ~ 72–77 87.6 civil liberty and absolute government] Liberty and Despotism 41*53| ~ 58–77 87.7 to show] have shown 41| to have shown 42*70| ~ 72–77 87.7 great advantages of the former above the latter;] Advantages and Disadvantages of each, 41–48| ~ 53–77 87.9 any one] he 41| ~ 42–77 87.13 that they] as 41–42| ~ 48–68| that 70| ~ 72–77 87.14 further] farther 41| ~ 42–77 87.17 their] all their 41–64| ~ 67–77 87.20 when] as soon as 41–58| as 60–68| ~ 70–77 87.21 by means of] by Means of 41*64| by 67–68| ~ 70–77 87.22 conquests] Conquests 41*53| conquest 58–64| ~ 67–77 87.27 barbarism] Barbarity 41–48| ~ 53–77 87.29 absolute] Despotic 41*70| ~ 72–77 n. 2.1 Lord] my Lord 41–42| Lord 48*77 87.34 established] which is establish’d 41*68| ~ 70–77 87.35 instances] Instance 41| Instances 42*77 87.36 of Florence] Florence 41| of Florence 42*77 87.37 it] they 41–60| ~ 64–77 87.38 tyranny] Slavery 41*53| ~ 58–77 87.38 tyranny] Slavery 41*53| ~ 58–77 87.38 made its chief progress in the arts and sciences, after] never made any Efforts towards the Arts and Sciences, till 41| made the greater Progress in

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the Arts and Sciences, after 42| made the greatest Progress in the Arts and Sciences, after 48*70| ~ 72–77 88.1 it began to lose its] they began to lose their 41–60| ~ 64–77 88.2 usurpation] Usurpations 41*70| ~ 72–77 88.2 Medici] the Medicis 41*58| Medicis 60–68| ~ 70–77 88.2 more] no more 41–68| ~ 70–77 88.3 and Michael] or Michael 41| and Michael 42*77 88.6 the arts and] the 41| the Arts and 42*77 88.9 absolute] despotic 41–60| ~ 64–77 88.10 scarcely ever] never 41–48| scarce ever 53–68| ~ 70–77 88.10 established] Shadow of 41–48| establish’d 53*77 88.11 as near perfection as] nearer Perfection than 41–48| ~ 53–77 88.12 nation] Nation of the Universe 41–48| ~ 53–77 88.12 greater] better 41–68| ~ 70–77 88.12 greater philosophers] {The following note occurs only in 67–68.} N.B. This was published in 1742. 88.13 greater] better 41–58| ~ 60–77 88.16 excelled even the Greeks, who far excelled the English.] far excell’d the Greeks: 41–48| excell’d even the Greeks, who have far excell’d the English. 53*70| ~ 72–77 88.17 life, they] Life, 41–48| ~ 53–77 88.26 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 88.27 written] wrote 41–68| writ 70–72| ~ 77 n. 3.1 Dr. Swift.] Doctor Swift. 41–42| Dr. Swift 48| Dr. Swift. 53*77 {‘Dr. Swift’ occurs in the text only in 48. In all other years ‘Dr. Swift’ appears in note 3.} 88.28 Locke, and even Temple] Temple and Locke 41–42| Locke, and even Temple 48*77 8.29 elegant] ~ 41–42| very elegant 48–68| ~ 70–77 88.31 great] Grand 41–48| ~ 53–77 88.32 seemingly minute] minute 41–58| ~ 60–77 88.34 our talent] Talent 41| our Talent 42*77 88.34 reasoning; it] Reasoning beyond that of other Nations; yet it 41| Reasoning beyond those of other Nations; it 42*64| ~ 67–68| reasoning beyond those of other nations; it 70| ~ 72–77 88.35 those sciences above-mentioned] these Sciences 41–42| those Sciences abovementioned 48*77 88.37 essays] faint Efforts 41| Essays 42*77 89.1 well] very much 41–64| somewhat 67–68| ~ 70–77 89.4 be] have been 41–48| ~ 53–77 89.9 Europe] the World 41–48| the world 53–64| ~ 67–68| the world 70–72| Europe 77 89.14 an absolute prince] absolute Princes 41–48| ~ 53–77

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89.17 hurtful] pernicious 41–60| ~ 64–77 89.18 should] would 41–70| ~ 72–77 89.20 to me almost] to me fully 41–48| ~ 53–64| almost 67–68| ~ 70–77 89.21 danger much] any Danger ever 41–48| ~ 53–77 89.22 more] no more 41–48| ~ 53–77 89.22 dread harm] apprehend Danger 41–48| ~ 53–77 89.25 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 89.25 to be scared] it will be scarr’d 41–53| it will be scared 58–68| ~ 70–77 89.26 scarcely] scarce 41–68| ~ 70–77 89.29 absolutely necessary] ~ 41–64| necessary 67–68| ~ 70–77 89.32 those] these 41| ~ 42–77 89.33 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 89.36 absolute] despotic 41–60| ~ 64–77 89.37 for] to 41–68| ~ 70–77 89.38 fully known] known 41–42| ~ 48–77 89.39 states] the State 41*68| ~ 70–77 89.40 the last] this last 41| ~ 42–64| this 67–68| ~ 70–77 90.5 said] says 41–58| ~ 60–77 90.6 Clodius] Clodius, as we learn from the same Oration, 41–42| Clodius 48*77 n. 4 Note 4 occurs only in 48*77. 90.11 by thirty] with Sixty 41–42| with thirty 48–70| ~ 72–77 90.12 sufficiently accustomed to blood and danger in the frequent tumults excited by that seditious tribune] by the Roman Laws, answerable, upon their own Lives, for the Life of their Master 41| sufficiently accustom’d to Blood and Danger in the frequent Tumults exacted by that seditious Tribune 42| sufficiently accustomed to Blood and Danger in the frequent Tumults excited by that seditious Tribune 48*77 90.14 improved] much improv’d 41–53| ~ 58–77 90.15 made the greatest advances towards perfection] receiv’d the most considerable Improvements 41*53| ~ 58–77 90.19 is there] is 41| ~ 42–77 90.21 There are . . . Roman emperors.] This sentence occurs only in 53*77. 90.25 II.] the IId 53| ~ 58–77 90.29 they] yet they 41–48| ~ 53–77 90.29 inferior] much inferior 41–64| ~ 67–77 90.32 seems] seems to me very 41–53| seems very 58–68| ~ 70–77 90.35 civil polity] Government 41*68| ~ 70–77 90.36 an] ~ 41–64| in 67–68| ~ 70–77 91.4 slavish] a slavish 41–58| ~ 60–77 91.4 tend] serve 41–48| ~ 53–77 91.6 it is] ’tis 41–68| ~ 70–77 91.8 chief] principal 41–72| ~ 77 91.10 rather odious to] despised and hated by 41*53| ~ 58–77

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91.11 or] ~ 41| or a 42–58| ~ 60–77 91.12 with] of 41| ~ 42–77 91.13 customs, we might] Customs, we may 41| Custom, we might 42–48| ~ 53–77 91.14 between that] betwixt their 41–60| between their 64–68| ~ 70–77 91.15 not appear so considerable as at present] be more nominal than real 41–48| ~ 53–77 91.16 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 91.20 though governed by] though 41| though govern’d by 42*77 91.21 near two hundred] Twenty 41–42| ~ 48–77 91.21 those sums of money, which any emergence made it necessary for them to borrow;] Money, 41| those Sums of Money, which any emergent Occasion made it necessary for them to borrow; 42*70| ~ 72–77 n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 48–77. 91.25 make a bankruptcy] play the Bankrupt 41*68| ~ 70–77 91.28 commonly] always 41–53| ~ 58–77 91.28 it is difficult for the state to] ’tis impossible the State can ever 41*53| ’tis difficult for the state to 58–68| ~ 70–77 91.29 sometimes be] be sometimes 41–72| ~ 77 91.31 which] that 41–48| ~ 53–77 91.32 juncture of affairs] Juncture of Affairs 41*64| juncture 67–68| ~ 70–77 91.33 public] the public 41–68| ~ 70–77 91.34 taxes, or what is worse, by our public impotence and inability for defence,] Taxes, 41*70| ~ 72–77 91.35 very liberty] free Government 41*70| ~ 72–77 13. Of Eloquence Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 92.0 13 ] II. 42| XVI. 48–60| XIII. 64–68| XII. 70–72| XIII. 77 92.15 different] different, that they may almost be esteem’d of a different Species 42*68| ~ 70–77 92.16 later] latter 42–70| ~ 72–77 92.16 of an opposite character to] considerably different from 42–48| ~ 53–77 92.19 work of genius] Performance 42–48| ~ 53–77 92.19 parts] Genius 42| a Genius 48| ~ 53–77 92.20 the speaking] that of speaking 42–48| ~ 53–77 92.22 those which are] those 42–70| ~ 72–77 92.25 these great models] those two great Heroes 42–48| ~ 53–77 92.25 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 92.26 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 92.26 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 92.30 that] ~ 42–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 92.32 but] but also 42–48| ~ 53–77

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93.5 Of] These Circumstances alone are {These Circumstances alone are 42–48| This single circumstance is 53*68} sufficient to make us apprehend the wide Difference betwixt {betwixt 42–53| between 58–68} antient and modern Eloquence, and {and 42–60| and to 64–68} let us see how much the latter is inferior to the former. Of 42*68| ~ 70–77 93.5 England] Britain 42–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 93.7 England] Britain 42–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 93.8 the great] all the great 42–68| ~ 70–77 93.8 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 93.14 which they] they 42–48| ~ 53–77 93.18 above] to 42–70| ~ 72–77 93.20 which they] they 42–48| ~ 53–77 93.25 all] all the 42–48| ~ 53–77 93.31 several] the Public 42*53| ~ 58–77 n. 2.1 is;] is inimitable. 42| ~ 48–77 94.15 cause it] ~ 42–58| cause 60| ~ 64–77 94.20 Should this sentiment . . . monstrous and gigantic.] This sentence occurs only in 67–77, with one variant, as listed immediately below. 94.21 will] may 67–68| ~ 70–77 94.26 with] ~ 42–53| of 58–70| ~ 72–77 94.26 gestures which] Gestures 42–48| ~ 53–77 94.29 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 94.30 One is] I am 42–48| One is 53*77 94.31 later] latter 42–70| ~ 72–77 95.2 a learned nation] one of the most learned Nations of the Universe 42*68| ~ 70–77 95.3 a circumstance which] which 42–58| ~ 60–77 95.6 which we] we 42–48| ~ 53–77 95.6 all] all the 42–68| ~ 70–77 95.8 ought not] not 42–70| ~ 72–77 95.12 Greek] the Greek 42–53| the Greek 58–72| ~ 77 95.15 requiring] which requir’d 42–48| ~ 53–77 95.16 incompatible] was utterly incompatible 42–48| utterly incompatible 53–68| ~ 70–77 95.18 of acquiring] of 42–53| ~ 58–77 95.26 toilsome] laborious 42–48| ~ 53–77 95.27 occupations] Occupations 42| Occupation 48| ~ 53–77 95.35 entirely account] account intirely 42*70| ~ 72–77 95.36 house] of the Houses 42–48| ~ 53–77 95.38 and some have pretended that in the Greek orations, written in the judiciary form, there is not so bold and rhetorical a] nor do we find in the Greek Orations wrote in the judiciary Form, such a bold and rhetorical 42*53| and some have pretended that in the Greek orations wrote in the judiciary form,

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there is not such a bold and rhetorical 58–68| and some have pretended that in the Greek orations, written in the judiciary form, there is not such a bold and rhetorical 70| ~ 72–77 96.2 republic] Nation 42*60| ~ 64–77 96.2 subject] Subjects 42*58| ~ 60–77 96.7 employed] which may be imploy’d 42*48| employ’d 53*77 96.14 employ] imploy a Painter to draw 42*48| ~ 53–77 96.15 deed] Feat 42| Deed 48*77 96.16 artifice] poor Artifice 42–48| poor artifice 53–72| ~ 77 n. 4 Note 4 occurs only in 53–77. 96.19 expression] Expressions 42–48| expressions 53–72| ~ 77 96.20 modern] ~ 42–64| present 67–68| ~ 70–77 96.38 pleaded] appear’d 42–53| ~ 58–77 97.1 Some objections, . . . nearest to perfection.] This paragraph (¶ 15) and note 6 occur only in 53–77. 97.3 The divisions of his discourse] His divisions 53–60| The Divisions of his Discourse 64*77 97.3 are drawn] drawn 53–68| ~ 70–77 97.4 schools] school 53–60| ~ 64–77 97.8 more] much more 53–68| ~ 70–77 97.10 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 97.10 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 97.11 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 97.19 It would] ‘Twou’d 42*60| ~ 64–77 97.25 rouze] rouze up 42–60| ~ 64–77 97.29 whether] if 42–53| ~ 58–77 97.30 though] while 42–53| tho’ 58*77 97.30 refinements] Arts 42*68| ~ 70–77 97.31 relish for] Taste or Relish of 42*68| ~ 70–77 97.32 arts] noble Arts 42*68| ~ 70–77 97.33 produced artists of the greatest eminence and distinction] carried these Arts to the greatest Perfection 42*68| ~ 70–77 98.1 for oratory, as Waller’s for poetry,] as my Lord Bolingbroke 42–48| for oratory, as Waller’s for poetry 53*77 98.7 poets, geometers,] Poets 42*68| ~ 70–77 98.8 Archimedeses] Platos 42–48| Plutarchs 53*68| ~ 70–77 98.9 Virgils.] {The following three paragraphs occur at this point only in 42*68.}  I have confest that there is something accidental in the Origin and Progress of the Arts in any Nation; and yet I cannot forbear thinking, that if the other learned and polite Nations of Europe had possest the same Advantages of a popular Government, they wou’d probably have carried Eloquence to a greater Height than it has yet reach’d in Britain. The French

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Sermons, especially those of Flechier and Bourdaloue {Bourdaloue 42–48| Bossuet 53–68}, are much superior to the English in this Particular; and in Flechier there are {Flechier there are 42–48| both of them there are 53–58| in both of them are 60| in both these authors are found 64–68} many Strokes of the most sublime Poetry. {Poetry. His Funeral Sermon on the Marechal de Turenne is a good Instance. 42–48 | Poetry. 53–68} None but private Causes, in that Country, are ever debated before their Parliament {Parliament 42*60| parliaments 64–68} or Courts of Judicature; but notwithstanding this Disadvantage, there appears a Spirit of Eloquence in many of their Lawyers, which, with proper Cultivation and Encouragement, might rise to the greatest Heights {Heights 42–48| height 53–68}. The Pleadings of Patru are very elegant, and give us Room to imagine what so fine a Genius cou’d have perform’d in Questions concerning public Liberty or Slavery, Peace or War, who exerts himself with such Success, in Debates concerning the Price of an old Horse, or a gossiping Story of a Quarrel betwixt {betwixt 42–60| between 64–68} an Abbess and her Nuns. For, ’tis remarkable, that this polite Writer, though esteem’d by all the Men of Wit in his Time, was never employ’d in the most considerable Causes of their Courts of Judicature, but liv’d and dy’d in Poverty: From an antient Prejudice industriously propagated by the Dunces in all countries, That a Man of Genius is unfit for Business. The Disorders, produc’d by the Ministry of {Ministry of 42–48| factions against 53–68} Cardinal Mazarine, made the Parliament of Paris enter into the Discusion of public Affairs; and during that short Interval, there appear’d many Symptoms of the Revival of antient Eloquence. The Avocat-General, Talon, in an Oration, invok’d on his Knees the Spirit of St. Louis to look down with Compassion on his divided and unhappy People, and to inspire them, from above, with the Love of Concord and Unanimity. The Members of the French Academy have attempted to give us Models of Eloquence in their Harangues at their Admittance: But, having no Subject to discourse upon, they have run altogether into a fulsome Strain of Panegyric and Flatter, the most barren of all Subjects. Their Stile, however, is commonly, on these Occasions, very elevate {elevate 42| elevated 48–68} and sublime, and might reach the greatest heights, were it employ’d on a Subject more favourable and engaging.   There are some Circumstances {Circumstances 42–48| circumstances, I confess, 53–68} in the English Temper and Genius, which are disadvantageous to the Progress of Eloquence, and render all Attempts of that Kind more dangerous and difficult among them than among any other Nation in the Universe {Nation in the Universe 42–48| nation 53–68}. The English are conspicuous for Good-sense, which makes them very jealous of any Attempts to deceive them by the Flowers of Rhetoric and Elocution. They are also peculiarly modest; which makes them consider it as a Piece of

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Arrogance to offer any Thing but Reason to public Assemblies, or attempt to guide them by Passion or Fancy. I may, perhaps, be allow’d to add, that the People in general are not remarkable for Delicacy of Taste, or for Sensibility to the Charms of the Muses. Their musical Parts, to use the Expression of a noble Author, are but indifferent. Hence their Comic Poets, to move them, must have Recourse to Obscenity; their Tragic Poets to Blood and Slaughter: And hence their Orators, being depriv’d of any such Recourse, have abandon’d altogether the Hopes of moving them, and have confin’d themselves to plain Argument and Reasoning.   These Circumstances, join’d to particular Accidents, may, perhaps, have retarded the Growth of Eloquence in this Kingdom; but will not be able to prevent its Success, if ever it appear amongst us: And one may safely pronounce, that this is a Field in which the most flourishing Lawrels may yet be gather’d, if any Youth of accomplish’d Genius, thoroughly acquainted with all the polite Arts, and not ignorant of public Business, shou’d appear in Parliament, and accustom our Ears to an Eloquence more commanding and pathetic. And to confirm me in this Opinion, there occur two Considerations, the one deriv’d from ancient, the other from modern Times. 98.10 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 98.18 touched] you touch them 42–48| touch’d 53*77 98.23 pretence] Pretext 42*60| ~ 64–77 98.25 a common audience] the People 42–48| ~ 53–77 98.26 speaker] Orator 42–48| orator 53–72| ~ 77 98.30 arises] appears 42–48| ~ 53–77 98.38 mistake not] be not mistaken 42| am not mistaken 48–70| ~ 72–77 99.5 a meridian] ~ 42–64| the meridian 67–68| ~ 70–77 99.9 resolution] Resolutions 42–48| resolutions 53–72| ~ 77 99.10 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 99.10 instance] Instances 42*70| ~ 72–77 99.10 England] Britain 42–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 99.14 Lord] My Lord 42–53| ~ 58–77 99.14 productions, with all their defects in argument, method, and precision,] Productions 42–48| ~ 53–77 99.15 energy] Energy and Sublime, 42–48| energy, 53*77 99.15 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 99.16 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 99.17 more] a more 42–53| ~ 58–77 {the first appearance of ‘more’ in this line} 99.18 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 99.19 communicated] communicated by Sympathy 42*53| ~ 58–77 99.19 between] betwixt 42–60| ~ 64–77 99.22 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 99.23 cannot] can scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77

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99.24 school-boy does] School-boy does 42–48| School-boy 53–70| ~ 72–77 99.25 that] ~ 42–48| which 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 7 Note 7 occurs only in 53–77. 99.30 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 99.33 when] even when 42–48| ~ 53–77 99.36 ancient] Antients 42| Antient 48*77 99.36 is there, in most of their speeches, a material defect] there is a material Defect in most of their Speeches 42–48| there is a material defect in most of their speeches 53–68| is there a material defect in most of their speeches 70–72| ~ 77 100.4 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 100.4 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 100.5 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 100.5 one] I 42–48| ~ 53–77 100.6 divisions] formal Divisions 42–48| formal divisions 53–72| ~ 77 100.7 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 100.8 hearers] Hearer 42| Hearers 48*77 14. Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 101.0 14 ] V. 42| XVII. 48–60| XIV. 64–68| XIII. 70–72| XIV. 77 101.1 Nothing requires] There is not a Matter of 42–48| There is nothing, which requires 53*68| ~ 70–77 101.3 subject] Thing 42*48| ~ 53–77 101.3 liable] apt 42–58| ~ 60–77 101.6 the rest] all the rest 42–48| ~ 53–77 101.12 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 101.18 Two natural reasons may] There may two very natural Reasons 42*68| ~ 70–77 101.25 seized by] infected with 42–68| ~ 70–77 101.25 affection] Passion 42*60| ~ 64–77 101.31 a particular person] particular Persons 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.6 violent] momentary 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.9 statutes of alienation] Statute of Alienations 42–48| statutes of alienations 53–58| statutes of alienation, 60*77 102.15 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 102.16 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.17 more] much more 42–68| ~ 70–77 102.19 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.20 a] but a 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.24 begotten] begot 42–72| ~ 77 102.25 scarcely] not 42–48| scarce 53–68| ~ 70–77 102.27 in which] wherein 42–48| ~ 53–77

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102.29 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.31 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.32 delicate] tender 42–70| ~ 72–77 102.37 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 102.39 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 102.40 throughout] thro’ 42*68| ~ 70–77 n. 1.2 lib. 6] Lib. 1 42–68 | lib. 1 70 | lib. i 72–77 103.4 fire] Fire 42*58| air 60–68| ~ 70–77 103.14 at] in 42–58| ~ 60–77 103.14 in] at 42–58| ~ 60–77 103.19 these] those 42–70| ~ 72–77 103.19 than] but 42–70| ~ 72–77 103.24 good] very good 42–68| ~ 70–77 103.25 nation] particular Nation 42*58| ~ 60–77 103.26 it were] ’tis 42–48| ~ 53–77 103.27 whether] whether or not 42–60| ~ 64–77 103.28 principles.] Principles. I shall, therefore, proceed to deliver a few Observations on this Subject, which I submit, with entire Deference {submit, with entire Deference 42*64| submit 67–68}, to the Censure and Examination of the Learned. 42*68| ~ 70–77 103.29 observation on this head] Observation 42*68| ~ 70–77 103.33 seek] seek for 42–48| ~ 53–77 104.1 either by conquest, or by the ordinary course of propagation] by Conquest, or Generation 42*53| ~ 58–77 104.5 respective] particular 42–68| ~ 70–77 104.6 judgments] Wits 42–48| judgments 53*77 104.7 dreams] ~ 42–64| thinks 67–68| ~ 70–77 104.17 refinement] Refinements 42–48| ~ 53–77 104.24 such summary decisions of causes, as] the summary Decisions of Causes, which 42–48| ~ 53–77 104.27 Arbitrary] Despotic 42–58| ~ 60–77 104.28 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 104.35 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 105.1 take] ever take 42–53| ~ 58–77 105.2 taken place] been study’d 42–53| ~ 58–77 105.3 uninstructed] barbarous 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.5 power] Powers 42*70| ~ 72–77 105.6 improvements] Improvement 42–48| improvement 53–72| ~ 77 105.7 were] was 42–70| ~ 72–77 105.11 that supposition seems scarcely to be consistent or rational] in that Supposition there seems to be a manifest Repugnancy 42–48| in that supposition there seems to be a manifest repugnancy 53| in that supposition there seems to be a manifest contradiction 58–72| ~ 77

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105.12 It may happen] ’Tis possible 42–58| It may happen 60*77 105.14 elections] Elections of these Magistrates 42*70| ~ 72–77 105.15 authority] their Authority 42*70| ~ 72–77 105.15 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 105.15 impossible, but, in] unavoidable, but, in a Tract of 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.19 statutes] Laws 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.22 were almost] were 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.22 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.24 together] along 42–53| ~ 58–77 105.26 against] from 42–53| ~ 58–77 105.32 puts a stop to] stops 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.32 improvements] Improvement 42–48| ~ 53–77 105.35 free states] Republics 42*70| ~ 72–77 106.2 government] the Government 42*60| ~ 64–77 106.7 governments.] {The following paragraph occurs only in 42*68.}  According to the necessary Progress of Things, Law must precede Science. In Republics Law may precede Science, and may arise from the very Nature of the Government. In Monarchies it arises not from the Nature of the Government, and cannot precede Science. An absolute Prince, that {that 42–48| who 53–68} is barbarous, renders all his Ministers and Magistrates as absolute as himself: And there needs no more to prevent, for ever, all Industry, Curiosity, and Science. 106.11 springs up] arises 42–68| ~ 70–77 106.12 there be] be there 42–58| ~ 60–77 106.15 next] second 42–58| ~ 60–77 106.15 which I shall make] I shall form 42| I shall make 48| ~ 53–77 106.16 neighbouring and] neighbouring 42*60| ~ 64–77 106.18 arises] rises 42–58| ~ 60–77 106.20 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 106.21 soon become] become immediately 42–48| become soon 53–60| ~ 64–77 106.22 absolute] despotic 42–70| ~ 72–77 106.27 while] because 42–53| ~ 58–77 106.27 ignorant] being ignorant 42–53| ~ 58–77 106.29 contract] fall into 42–68| ~ 70–77 106.30 sovereign] Prince 42–48| ~ 53–77 106.31 perceive his weaknesses] find him but a Man 42–48| ~ 53–77 106.33 men] Mankind 42*68| ~ 70–77 106.33 enslaving of] ~ 42–53| enslaving 58–70| ~ 72–77 106.35 throughout] thro’ 42*68| ~ 70–77 106.36 rises] ~ 42–72| arises 77 106.36 because] that 42–68| ~ 70–77 106.38 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 106.38 “No man,” said the prince of Condé, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.”] “The greatest Enemies to the Glory of Heroes, says a certain Writer, are

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their Valet de Chambres.” 42–48| “No man,” said the prince de Condé, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.” 53| “No man,” said the prince de Conde, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.” 58–60| “No man,” said the Prince de Conde, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.” 64–70| “No man,” said the prince de Conde, “is a hero to his Valet de Chambre.” 72| ~ 77 106.39 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 106.40 towards] with Regard to 42*53| ~ 58–77 106.40 creature.] Creature. Antigonus, being complimented by his Flatterers, as a Deity, and as the Son of that glorious Planet, which illuminates the Universe. Upon that Head, says he, you may consult the Person that empties my close Stool. 42*53| ~ 58–77 107.1 even Alexander himself] Alexander, 42*60| ~ 64–77 107.2 that such as] those who 42–48| ~ 53–77 107.2 daily attended him] attended him daily, 42*70| ~ 72–77 107.2 easily, from the numberless weaknesses to which he was subject, have given him many still more convincing proofs of his humanity] have given him many other still more convincing Proofs of his Humanity, in the numberless Weaknesses to which he was subject 42–48| easily, from the numberless weaknesses to which he was subject, have given him many other still more convincing proofs of his humanity 53–64| easily have given him many other still more convincing proofs of his humanity 67–68| ~ 70–77 107.7 men] Mankind 42*58| power 60–64| ~ 67–77 107.11 taste and] Taste or 42*60| ~ 64–77 107.12 opinion] Opinion 42*58| opinions 60–70| ~ 72–77 107.15 and reason, or, at least, what bears them a strong resemblance] or Reason 42–48| and reason, or at least, what bears them a strong resemblance 53*77 107.21 learning] of Learning 42*60| ~ 64–77 107.21 soil not unfertile] fertile Soil 42–48| ~ 53–77 107.26 contention and debates] Debates and Contentions 42–48| contentions and debates 53–68| ~ 70–77 107.36 returned] return’d 42*60| turned 64–70| ~ 72–77 108.3 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 108.3 his own] his 42–68| ~ 70–77 108.4 but from] but 42–48| ~ 53–77 108.5 which it] it 42–48| ~ 53–77 108.10 some] some of their 42–53| ~ 58–77 108.17 the other] another 42–70| ~ 72–77 108.17 courage] the Courage 42–48| ~ 53–77 108.18 opinion] Opinions 42| Opinion 48*77 108.18 was] were 42–68| ~ 70–77 n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 48–77. n. 3.2 monarch] sole Monarch 48| sole monarch 53–72| ~ 77 n. 3.2 scarcely] scarce 48–68| ~ 70–77 n. 3.4 in] of 48–70| ~ 72–77

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n. 3.13 defence] Defence 48*58| a defence 60–68| ~ 70–77 108.25 habitation] Habitation 42*64| seat 67–68| ~ 70–77 109.5 blind] slavish 42–48| ~ 53–77 109.6 you will] you’ll 42–48| ~ 53–77 109.6 little good could be] no good cou’d ever be 42*68| ~ 70–77 109.6 a hundred] ~ 42–53| an hundred 58–72| ~ 77 109.14 Pythagoricians,] Pythagoreans 42*68| ~ 70–77 109.18 observation, which] Observation 42–48| ~ 53–77 109.20 state] Government 42*70| ~ 72–77 109.20 may they] they may 42–68| ~ 70–77 109.21 a civilized] and a civiliz’d 42*68| ~ 70–77 109.25 effect] effectuate 42–48| ~ 53–77 109.29 first] frequent 42–48| ~ 53–77 109.29 appears the impossibility] the Impossibility appears 42*68| ~ 70–77 109.31 ere] before it be 42–48| e’re 53*77 109.31 or] in 42–60| than 64| in 67–68| ~ 70–77 109.32 to] with 42–60| in 64| with 67–68| ~ 70–77 109.34 improvement] Improvements 42*60| ~ 64–77 109.35 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 109.35 and manufactures] or Manufactures 42*60| ~ 64–77 109.36 barbarism] Barbarity 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.1 with which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.1 is produced] is produc’d 42*67| was produced 68| ~ 70–77 110.2 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 110.7 discovered] it is discover’d 42–48| discover’d 53*77 110.7 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 110.7 fall into oblivion] ever perish 42–68| perish 70| ~ 72–77 110.12 sprang] sprung 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.33 scarcely] not 42–68| ~ 70–77 110.35 tolerable] sufficient 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.36 answer] fulfil 42–58| ~ 60–77 110.36 most of the ends] almost every End 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.38 security] sufficient Security 42–48| ~ 53–77 110.40 excite] sufficiently excite 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.1 office] Offices 42*70| ~ 72–77 111.3 they must] must 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.4 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 111.6 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 111.11 commonly] always 42–48| almost always 53–70| ~ 72–77 111.14 only] are the only ones that 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.16 Among] There is a very great Connection among all the Arts, that {that 42–48| which 53–68} contribute to Pleasure; and the same Delicacy of Taste, which enables us to make Improvements in one, will not allow the

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others to remain altogether rude and barbarous. Amongst all 42*68| ~ 70–77 111.16 deference or] Deference and 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.19 human mind] Mind of Man 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.19 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 111.22 disposition] Dispositions 42*60| ~ 64–77 111.24 is] are 42–70| ~ 72–77 111.31 to form] form 42–48| ~ 53–77 n. 4.2 En] Dans la 42| En 48| ~ 53–77 111.37 an] another 42–53| ~ 58–77 112.1 English, in some degree,] English 42–48| English, in some degree, 53*77 112.5 for] for the 42–48| ~ 53–77 112.6 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 112.8 near to] near 42–60| ~ 64–77 112.8 among] amongst 42–53| ~ 58–77 112.9 The scurrility of the ancient orators] Their Scurrility 42| The Scurrility of the Ancients 48*53| ~ 58–77 112.10 Vanity too is often] Their Vanity also is 42–48| Their vanity too is often 53| ~ 58–77 112.11 offensive in authors of those ages] offensive 42–53| offensive in authors of that age 58–72| ~ 77 n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 53–77. n. 5.1 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.1 poet (See lib. 4. 1165.)] Poet 42–48| poet (See lib. 4. 1165.) 53*77 n. 6.3 images.] beautiful and cleanly Images. See Lib. IV. 1165. 42–48| beautiful and cleanly images. 53–68| ~ 70–77 112.17 Lord] my Lord 42*70| ~ 72–77 112.18 latter, from the corruptions of that court, in which he lived, seems to have thrown off all regard to shame and decency] latter was an abandon’d and shameless Profligate 42–48| ~ 53–77 112.22 bold] so bold, as 42–68| ~ 70–77 112.24 with whom we converse] we converse with 42–48| whom we converse with 53| ~ 58–77 112.25 finest] politest 42–68| ~ 70–77 112.25 yet] and yet 42–68| ~ 70–77 112.27 where] wherein 42–48| ~ 53–77 112.32 deference which] Deference that 42*60| deference 64–70| ~ 72–77 n. 7 Note 7 occurs only in 53*77. 113.1 somewhat of a] a very 42–48| somewhat a 53–70| ~ 72–77 113.2 finibus.] finibus. And ’tis remarkable, that Cicero, being a great Sceptic in Matters of Religion, and unwilling to determine any Thing on that Head among the different Sects of Philosophy, introduces his Friends disputing concerning the Being and Nature of the Gods, while he is only a Hearer;

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because, forsooth, it would have been an Impropriety for so great a Genius as himself, had he spoke, not to have said something decisive on the Subject, and have carried every Thing before him, as he always does on other Occasions. There is also a Spirit of Dialogue observ’d in the charming {charming 42–48| eloquent 53–68} Books de Oratore, and a tolerable Equality maintain’d among the speakers: But then these Speakers are the great Men of the Age preceeding our {our 42| the 48–68} Author, and he recounts the Conference as only from Hearsay. 42*68| ~ 70–77 113.3 One of the most particular . . . sayings of Flamininus.] {This paragraph (¶ 34), which contains notes 8–10, occurs only in 53–77.} 113.10 did not pass] past not 53–70| ~ 72–77 113.17 rusticity] brutality 53| ~ 58–77 113.21 Flamininus.] {The following additional paragraph and its notes occur only in 42*68 (with variants in these editions in the use of italics).}   ’Tis but a very {a very 42–48| an 53–68} indifferent Compliment, which Horace pays to his Friend Grosphus, in the Ode addrest to him.

No one, says he, is happy in every Respect. And I may perhaps enjoy some Advantages, which you are depriv’d of. You possess great Riches: Your bellowing Herds cover the Silician Plains: Your Chariot is drawn by the finest Horses: And you are array’d in the richest Purple. But the indulgent Fates, with a small Inheritance, have given me a fine Genius, and have endow’d me with a Contempt for the malignant Judgments of the Vulgar. Phædrus says to his Patron, Eutychus, If you design {design 42–53| intend 58–68} to read my Works, I shall be pleas’d: If not, I shall, at least, have the Advantage of pleasing Posterity.    I am apt to think, that a modern Poet wou’d not have been guilty of such an Impropriety as that which may be observ’d in Virgil’s Address to Augustus, when, after a great deal of extravagant Flatter, and after having deify’d the

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Emperor, according to the Custom of those Times, he, at last, places this God on the same Level with himself. By your gracious Nod, says he, render my undertaking prosperous; and taking Pity, along {along 42–53| together 58–68} with me, of the Swains ignorant of Husbandry, bestow your favourable Influence on this Work.    Had Men, in that Age, been accustom’d to observe such Niceties, a Writer so delicate as Virgil wou’d certainly have given a different Turn to this Sentence. The Court of Augustus, however polite, had not yet, it seems, wore {wore 42–58| worn 60–68} off the Manners of the Republic. 113.24 conformable] exactly conformable 42–68| ~ 70–77 113.29 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 113.31 Thus Livia . . . an inscription.] This sentence occurs only in 53*77. n. 12 Note 12 occurs only in 53*77. 113.33 No advantages . . . and obscenity.] This paragraph (¶ 36) occurs only in 53*77. 114.1 foppery,] foppery and 53*70| ~ 72–77

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114.5 gallantry] Gallantry and Honour 42*68| ~ 70–77 114.5 produce] Product 42*60| ~ 64–77 114.7 this invention] these Inventions 42*68| ~ 70–77 114.7 more] most 42–72| ~ 77 114.8 it] them 42–68| ~ 70–77 114.9 a credit,] an Honour 42–48| an honour 53| ~ 58–60| credit 64–68| a credit 70–72| ~ 77 n. 14.1 Lord] My Lord 42–70| ~ 72–77 114.10 question.] Question, with regard both to Gallantry and Honour. We shall begin with Gallantry. 42*68| ~ 70–77 114.11 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 114.14 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 114.15 even] it may farther be observ’d, that even 42–53| ~ 58–77 114.15 limits] confines 42–48| ~ 53–77 114.17 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 114.19 towards each other.] {A note occurs at this point only in 42*68.}

Tutti gli altri animai, che sono in terra, O che vivon quieti & stanno in pace: O si vengon a rissa, & si fan guerra, A la femina il maschio {maschis 42–48| maschio 53*68} non la face. L’orsa con l’orso al bosco sicura erra, La Leonessa appresso il Leon giace. Con Lupo vive il Lupa sicura. Ne la Giuvenca ha del Torel paura. Ariosto Canto 5.

114.20 is derived] proceeds 42–58| ~ 60–77 114.23 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 114.24 elegant] polish’d and refin’d 42| ~ 48–77 114.28 as lead us to] as 42| ~ 48–77 114.29 real injury on] a real Injury to 42*68| ~ 70–77 115.1 different from those to which they naturally incline] contrary to those which they naturally incline to 42–68 | ~ 70–77 115.2 commonly] naturally 42–53| ~ 58–77 115.3 learns] is taught 42–53| ~ 58–77 115.3 his companions] those he converses with 42–48| those with whom he ­converses 53–68| ~ 70–77 115.6 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 115.7 of which he is apt to be jealous] which he is apt to be jealous of 42–48| ~ 53–77 115.8 naturally] are apt to 42–48| ~ 53–77 115.13 subject] subjected 42–48| ~ 53–77 n. 15 Note 15 occurs only in 53–77. n. 15.4 scarcely] scarce 53–68| ~ 70–77

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115.18 generous] generous and refin’d 42*68| ~ 70–77 115.18 attention] Behaviour 42–48| ~ 53–77 115.19 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 115.27 man] Person 42| Man 48*77 115.29 certainly] most certainly 42–68| ~ 70–77 115.31 ring] Wedding–Ring 42*70| ~ 72–77 n. 16.1 the Earl] Earl 42*60| ~ 64–77 116.1 compatible] consistent 42–72| ~ 77 116.4 Among] In all Vegetables, ’tis observable, that the Flower and the Seed are always connected together; and in like Manner, among 42*68| ~ 70–77 116.5 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 116.6 sufficient to gratify the mind] of great Value 42*68| ~ 70–77 116.7 among] in 42–53| ~ 58–77 116.9 beings] Creatures 42–48| ~ 53–77 116.11 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 116.17 decency?] {The following paragraph occurs only in 42*64.} I must confess, That my own particular Choice rather leads me to prefer the Company of a few select Companions, with whom I can, calmly and peaceably, enjoy the Feast of Reason, and try the Justness of every Reflection, whether gay or serious, that may occur to me. But as such a delightful Society is not every Day to be met with, I must think, that mixt Companies, without the Fair-Sex, are the most insipid Entertainment in the World, and destitute of Gaiety and Politeness, as much as of Sense and Reason. Nothing can keep them from excessive Dulness but hard Drinking; a Remedy worse than the Disease. 116.22 the Dialogues] some Dialogues 42–48| ~ 53–77 116.24 though . . . refined] are his own much more entertaining 42–48| tho’ the most easy, agreeable, and judicious writer in the world, is his own talent for ridicule very striking or refin’d 53*77 116.28 arose.] {The following two paragraphs occur only in 42*68.} The point of Honour {Honour 42–48| honour, or duelling, 53–68} is a modern Invention, as well as Gallantry; and by some esteemed equally useful for the refining of Manners: But how it has contributed to that Effect, I am at a Loss to determine. Conversation, among the greatest Rustics, is not commonly infested with such Rudeness as can give Occasion to Duels, even according to the most refined Laws of this fantastic Honour; and as to the other smaller {smaller 42–53| small 58–68} Indecencies, which are the most offensive, because the most frequent, they can never be cur’d by the Practice of Duelling. But these Notions are not only useless but {useless but 42–48| useless: They are also 53–68} pernicious. By separating the Man of Honour from the Man of Virtue, the greatest Profligates have got something to value themselves upon, and have been able to keep themselves in Countenance, tho’ guilty of the most shameful and most dangerous Vices. They are

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Debauchees, Spendthrifts, and never pay a Farthing they owe: But they are Men of Honour; and therefore are to be receiv’d as Gentlemen in all Companies.  There are some of the Parts of modern Honour, which are the most essential Parts of Morality; such as Fidelity, the observing Promises, and telling Truth. These Points of Honour Mr. Addison had in his Eye, when he made Juba say,   Honour’s a sacred Tye, the Law of Kings,   The noble Mind’s distinguishing Perfection,   That aids and strengthens Virtue, when it meets her,   And imitates her Actions where she is not:   It ought not to be sported with. These Lines are very beautiful: But I am afraid, that Mr. Addison has here been guilty of that Impropriety of Sentiment with which he has so justly reproach’d other {which he has so justly reproach’d other 42–48| which, on other occasions, he has so justly reproach’d our 53*68} Poets. The Antients certainly never had any Notion of Honour as distinct from Virtue. 116.30 this subject] this Head 42*58| this 60–64| ~ 67–68| this 70| ~ 72–77 116.35 contrary] very contrary 42–68| ~ 70–77 116.36 seems to be the truth] I am of Opinion it is 42*68| ~ 70–77 116.38 patterns] exact Models 42–48| exact patterns 53–68| ~ 70–77 116.38 which may] to 42–48| ~ 53–77 117.8 life] his Life 42*68| ~ 70–77 117.9 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 117.10 dares] dare 42| ~ 48–77 117.10 those,] they 42–68| ~ 70–77 117.12 models] glorious Models 42–48| ~ 53–77 117.13 great disproportion] infinite Disproportion betwixt them 42*60| infinite disproportion between them 64–68| ~ 70–77 117.13 farther] further 42–70| ~ 72–77 117.13 aims at] dares aspire to 42–48| ~ 53–77 117.26 and] or 42–48| ~ 53–77 117.28 it would] ‘twou’d 42–48| ~ 53–77 117.30 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 117.34 models] perfect Models 42*58| ~ 60–77 117.35 England] Great Britain 42–48| Britain 53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 117.38 polite] finish’d 42–48| ~ 53–77 118.1 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 118.2 written] wrote 42–68| ~ 70–77 118.3 known] which were known 42–68| ~ 70–77 118.4 or] nor 42–70| ~ 72–77 118.4 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 118.8 esteemed] thought 42–48| esteem’d 53*77

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15. The Epicurean Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 119.0 15 ] VI. 42| XVIII. 48–60| XV. 64–68| XIV. 70–72| XV. 77 n. 1.1 The intention of this . . . greatest affinity.] This passage occurs only in 48–77. n. 1.2 much] much, 48–72| ~ 77 n. 1.2 philosophy] Philosophers 48| ~ 48–77 119.1 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 119.8 commonly] which are commonly 42–68| ~ 70–77 119.10 native enthusiasm] Oestrum or Verve 42–48| Oestrum or native enthusiasm 53–68| ~ 70–77 119.17 of an] an 42–68| ~ 70–77 119.20 him, who] any one, that 42–48| ~ 53–77 119.20 should] cou’d 42*70| ~ 72–77 119.22 enjoyments] Pleasures 42–48| ~ 53–77 119.24 Persian court] Court of Persia 42–48| Persian court 53*77 119.28 have betrayed] betray 42–60| ~ 64–77 120.2 original] inward 42–53| ~ 58–77 120.3 effect] effectuate 42–48| ~ 53–77 120.29 sinks] sinks down 42–48| ~ 53–77 120.30 dejection] Melancholy 42*53| ~ 58–77 121.6 GODS] GOD 42| ~ 42Er–77 121.12 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 121.17 under which you labour] which you labour under 42–53| under which you labor 58*77 121.22 it will] ‘twill 42–53| ~ 58–77 121.24 now solicits in vain] does now in vain sollicite 42*53| ~ 58–77 121.25 beckons] beckens to 42–53| beckens 58*77 121.26 observes the call] hears her Voice 42–48| ~ 53–77 121.29 now] do now 42–53| ~ 58–77 121.30 around] ~ 42| round 48| ~ 53–77 121.31 pleasure which] Pleasure 42–48| ~ 53–77 122.4 Or] But 42–48| ~ 53–77 122.8 turbulent and clamorous pleasures] horrid Discord 42–48| ~ 53–77 122.11 broken] broke 42–68| ~ 70–77 122.16 happy youth,” he sings, “Ye favoured of heaven,3] favour’d of Heaven,3 he sings 42–48| happy youth,” he sings, “Ye favour’d of heaven,3 53*77 n. 3.1 the Syrens] Armida’s 42| the Syrens 48*77 n. 3.3 verdi] verdi 42–53| ~ 60| verde 64–77 n. 3.4 Gierusalemme] Giuresalemme 42–77 122.20 beckons] beckens to 42–53| beckens 58*77 122.25 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 122.26 dissipated] which is dissipated 42–68| ~ 70–77

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122.28 shall] will 42–48| ~ 53–77 122.31 herself] itself 42–48| ~ 53–77 123.3 darkness,] Darkness, 42 | Darkness 48 | darkness 53–68 | ~ 70| darkness 72| ~ 77 123.17 leaves] ~ 42–58| leave 60–72| ~ 77 123.26 wholly] do wholly 42–48| ~ 53–77 123.28 why] why, after our tumultuous Joys, 42| ~ 48–77 124.2 preside] preside over the Universe 42*68| ~ 70–77 124.4 render not] do not render 42–48| ~ 53–77 124.5 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 124.5 once] once for all 42–48| ~ 53–77 16. The Stoic Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 125.0 16] VII. 42| XIX. 48–60| XVI. 64–68| XV. 70–72| XVI. 77 125.21 to the open] ~ 42–64| the open 67–68| ~ 70–77 125.27 to employ these talents] for these Talents to work upon 42*68| ~ 70–77 125.29 alone thou canst] thou can’st alone 42*70| ~ 72–77 126.3 have] ~ 42–64| hath 67–68| ~ 70–77 126.5 perfecting] the perfecting 42–68| ~ 70–77 126.18 most profound] profoundest 42–68| ~ 70–77 126.20 wild] ~ 42–64| the wild 67–68| ~ 70–77 126.21 still keeps] keeps still 42–72| ~ 77 126.24 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 126.28 necessary] requisite 42–60| ~ 64–77 127.6 thou hast] you have 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.7 requisite] which is requisite 42–68| ~ 70–77 127.7 attainment of] attaining 42–72| ~ 77 127.7 thy] your 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.8 intolerable] ~ 42| that intolerable 48| ~ 53–77 127.9 thou aspirest] you aspire 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.10 fatigue and industry] Travel and Fatigue 42*53| ~ 58–77 127.11 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.17 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.24 cultivating] Cultivation 42–48| ~ 53–77 127.24 of our] ~ 42–53| our 58–68| ~ 70–77 127.24 of our] ~ 42–53| our 58–68| ~ 70–77 127.25 of our] ~ 42–53| our 58–68| ~ 70–77 128.20 greater] greatest 42–72| ~ 77 128.25 always preserve himself] preserve himself always 42–70| ~ 72–77 128.25 philosophical] philosophic 42–72| ~ 77 128.31 can] is to 42–48| are to 53–72| ~ 77 128.39 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77

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129.1 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 129.4 tumultuous] furious and tumultuous 42–53| ~ 58–77 129.12 abstracted] abstract 42–48| ~ 53–77 129.20 delight is] Delights are 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.10 tuned to] turn’d into 42| tun’d into 48| tun’d to 53*68| turned to 70| ~ 72–77 130.12 is] be 42–72| ~ 77 130.12 the fair form is foreign to us] it appears in foreign Objects 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.18 ye] you 42–70| ~ 72–77 130.18 this] ~ 42–64| the 67–68| ~ 70–77 130.19 ye] you 42–70| ~ 72–77 130.19 ye] you 42–70| ~ 72–77 130.22 with] of 42–70| ~ 72–77 130.27 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.29 Elevated] Elevate 42| ~ 48–77 130.35 who] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.35 and who] and 42–53| ~ 58–77 130.38 care] Care of Virtue 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.38 beyond the grave] to a future State 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.39 virtue] it 42–48| ~ 53–77 130.40 morals] Virtue 42–48| ~ 53–77 131.1 the portion] that Portion which is 42*68| ~ 70–77 131.4 its own] to be its own 42*48| it’s own 53*77 131.5 into] forth into 42–70| ~ 72–77 17. The Platonist Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 132.0 17 ] VIII. 42| XX. 48–60| XVII. 64–68| XVI. 70–72| XVII. 77 132.5 a man] Man 42–48| ~ 53–77 132.18 phrase] Phrase 42*64| praise 67–68| ~ 70–77 132.18 expression, each recommends his own pursuit, and invites] Expressions does each recommend his own Pursuit, and invite 42–48| ~ 53–77 133.15 infinite] such infinite 42–68| ~ 70–77 133.17 owing] due 42–48| ~ 53–77 133.24 content] contented 42–68| ~ 70–77 133.29 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 133.39 is to be found . . . perfect order?] the most consummate Beauty, the most perfect Order, is to be found? 42–48| is to be found the most consummate beauty, the most perfect order? 53*77 134.1 imitations] an Imitation 42–48| ~ 53–77 134.2 is it] ~ 42–64| it is 67–68| ~ 70–77 134.4 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 134.9 an intelligence] a Mind 42| an Intelligence 48*77

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134.9 most stupendous] in the stupendous 42| ~ 48–77 134.12 intelligent being] Mind 42| intelligent Being 48*77 134.14 what] what is 42–48| ~ 53–77 134.20 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 18. The Sceptic Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 135.0 18 ] IX. 42| XXI. 48–60| XVIII. 64–68| XVII. 70–72| XVIII. 77 135.1 suspicion] great Suspicion 42*68| ~ 70–77 135.3 assent] ~ 42–64| to assent 67–68| ~ 70–77 135.3 liable] to be liable 42| ~ 48–77 135.7 extends] will extend 42–64| will apply 67–68| ~ 70–77 135.8 reduces] reduce 42*68| ~ 70–77 135.11 speculation] Speculations 42*68| ~ 70–77 135.13 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 135.15 by that also] also by that 42–68| ~ 70–77 135.16 his other] all his other 42–68| ~ 70–77 135.17 governs] ~ 42–67| govern 68| ~ 70–77 135.18 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 135.22 which he] he 42–48| ~ 53–77 135.27 our species] Mankind 42–48| ~ 53–77 135.27 each man] each 42–48| ~ 53–77 136.5 chiefly contributes] does chiefly contribute 42–48| ~ 53–77 136.8 employing] ever employing 42–68| ~ 70–77 136.10 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 136.11 inclination] Inclinations 42*70| ~ 72–77 136.15 enlarge] and enlarge 42–58| ~ 60–77 136.20 men’s] Mens 42| Men’s 48| ~ 53–60| man’s 64–68| ~ 70–77 136.22 which you] you 42–48| ~ 53–77 136.25 chosen] chosen to himself 42–48| ~ 53–77 136.30 desire we shall gratify, what passion we shall comply with, what appetite] Desires we shall satisfy, what Passions we shall comply with, what Appetites 42*58| desires we shall gratify, what passions we shall comply with, what appetites 60–70| ~ 72–77 136.37 shall only] only 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.3 sentiment and affection] Sentiments and Affections 42*70| ~ 72–77 137.5 in] to 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.8 sentiment with the exterior appetite] Sentiments with the exterior Appetites 42*70| ~ 72–77 137.11 were] was 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.12 were] was 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.12 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.13 those which] those 42–48| ~ 53–77

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137.14 well–proportioned] proportion’d 42*68| ~ 70–77 137.15 sweetness] a Sweetness 42–48| ~ 53–77 137.17 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 137.18 give] gave 42–58| ~ 60–77 137.23 parent] Parents 42–48| ~ 53–77 137.25 and accomplished] or accomplish’d 42*60| ~ 64–77 137.28 sentiment] Sentiments 42*70| ~ 72–77 137.29 object] Object to be 42–48| ~ 53–77 137.30 this] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 137.30 those] these 42–60| ~ 64–77 137.31 sentiment] Sentiments 42*70| ~ 72–77 137.35 nearer] ~ 42–64| near 67| ~ 68–77 137.36 is something approaching to] are somewhat like 42| is something resembling 48| ~ 53–77 137.37 more] much more 42–68| ~ 70–77 137.38 We may observe, however] This Subject wou’d require a separate Examination. In the mean Time we may observe 42–48| ~ 53–77 137.40 frequently] do frequently 42–48| ~ 53–77 138.2 Scotch] Scotch 42–60| Scots 64–68| ~ 70–77 138.4 antagonist] Adversary 42–48| ~ 53–77 138.4 more] much more 42–68| ~ 70–77 138.8 in] on 42–72| ~ 77 138.17 the operation of] that Operation, which we call 42| the Operation of 48*77 138.19 Ptolemaic] Ptolomæan 42–48| Ptolomaic 53| Ptolomaic 58–77 138.22 conception] Mind or Conception 42–48| mind or conception 53–72| ~ 77 138.22 that] as 42–48| which 53–68| ~ 70–77 138.31 content] contented 42–68| ~ 70–77 138.33 affix the epithet| pronounce the Object 42*70| ~ 72–77 138.34 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 138.36 forms] Objects 42*70| ~ 72–77 138.37 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 138.37 its] the 42–70| ~ 72–77 138.39 form remains] Objects remain 42*70| ~ 72–77 138.40 its operation] the Operation of the Object 42| its Operation 48*77 139.1 upon the latter] in any of these Particulars 42| in either of these Particulars 48| ~ 53–77 139.3 draw] form 42*70| ~ 72–77 139.7 towards] for 42–53| ~ 58–77 139.7 pursuits] Objects 42*70| ~ 72–77 139.8 either] ~ 42–64| whether 67–68| ~ 70–77 139.12 little] very little 42–68| ~ 70–77 139.14 Ptolemaic] Ptolomæan 42–48| Ptolomaic 53| Ptolomaic 58–77 139.15 fully] very fully 42–70| ~ 72–77

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139.15 every quality] all the Qualities 42–48| ~ 53–77 139.17 Beauty is] The Beauty is 42–48| ~ 53–77 139.19 produces upon a] operates upon the 42–68| operates upon a 70| ~ 72–77 139.23 no other] no 42| ~ 48–77 139.24 perfectly understand] understand perfectly 42–70| ~ 72–77 139.27 attain] have 42–70| ~ 72–77 139.30 delicacy] Sensibility 42–48| ~ 53–77 139.32 possessed of] he be possess’d of all 42–48| ~ 53–77 n. 1.1 should] wou’d 42*58| ~ 60–77 n. 1.9 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 140.1 upon the whole] from all this 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.3 success which] Success 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.11 between] betwixt 42–60| ~ 64–77 140.14 passion] Passions 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.15 tumult] Fluster 42*53| ~ 58–77 140.17 passion] Passions 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.21 passion] Passions 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.25 such] such a 42–48| ~ 53–77 140.29 abstract] abstracted 42–68| ~ 70–77 140.33 account] Accounts 42*68| ~ 70–77 140.40 all the] ~ 42–64| the 67–68| ~ 70–77 140.40 in] of 42–70| ~ 72–77 141.3 contribute not] do not contribute 42–48| ~ 53–77 141.5 in] of 42–68| ~ 70–77 141.10 such a] this 42–68| ~ 70–77 141.20 disagreeable] hateful 42–48| ~ 53–77 141.20 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 141.21 any one] any 42–48| ~ 53–77 141.23 sentiment and affection] Sentiments and Affections 42–48| ~ 53–77 141.26 of this resource nature has, in a great measure, deprived us] this Resource Nature has, in a great Measure depriv’d us of 42–48| of this resource nature has, in a great measure, depriv’d us 53*77 141.39 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 142.2 mankind] Men 42*53| ~ 58–77 142.7 On] But, on 42*68| ~ 70–77 142.10 allowed] allow’d to be 42–48| allow’d 53*77 142.17 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 142.17 humane] human 42| ~ 48–77 142.17 pleasure] Pleasures 42*70| ~ 72–77 142.20 susceptible of] ~ 42–58| susceptible to 60–72| ~ 77 142.28 manner, and proceeds more from its secret, insensible influence, than from its immediate application.] Manner. 42–48| ~ 53–77 142.30 The paragraph break at this point (¶ It is certain, . . .) occurs only in 53–77.

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142.30 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 142.30 attention] Application 42–48| ~ 53–77 142.38 speculation] his Speculations 42*68| speculations 70| ~ 72–77 142.39 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 143.4 approves] approves of 42*68| ~ 70–77 143.8 for] to 42–70| ~ 72–77 143.10 continues] continues for some Time 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.11 engage] engage himself 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.15 have] has 42–72| ~ 77 143.15 for some time, to impose a violence on himself] to impose a Violence on himself for some Time 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.16 need] ~ 42–64| needs 67| ~ 68| needs 70–77 143.19 chief] utmost 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.22 it to have great] its 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.22 doubts] great Doubts 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.24 speculative] all speculative 42–68| ~ 70–77 143.25 in] of 42–70| ~ 72–77 143.26 objects] all Objects 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.30 of flies] Flies 42*68| ~ 70–77 143.31 of wild] wild 42–68| ~ 70–77 143.32 of kingdoms] Kingdoms 42*68| ~ 70–77 143.33 sentiment or passion] Sentiments or Passions 42*70| ~ 72–77 143.34 passion, in pronouncing its verdict, considers not the object simply, as it is in itself, but surveys] Passions, in pronouncing their Verdict, consider not the Object simply, as it is in itself, but survey 42*70| ~ 72–77 143.36 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 143.38 thence] from thence 42–72| ~ 77 144.7 never can] can never 42| ~ 48–77 144.8 art or] Art and 42*58| ~ 60–77 144.10 cannot retain without] retain with 42–68| ~ 70–77 144.10 will] can 42–68| ~ 70–77 144.18 object] Objects 42*70| ~ 72–77 144.18 recur] return 42–60| ~ 64–77 144.22 refined reflections] Reflections 42–48| refin’d reflections 53*77 144.22 suggests] presents 42–70| ~ 72–77 144.25 unactive] inactive 42–60| ~ 64–77 144.28 intimate] very intimate 42–68| ~ 70–77 144.30 together] along 42–53| ~ 58–77 144.30 pain, in the human body] Pain 42*68| ~ 70–77 144.34 say the philosophers] says Marcus Aurelius 42| say the Philosophers 48*77 n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 53–77. 145.1 prevent] remove 42–68| ~ 70–77 145.2 instincts] Instincts 42*53| instinct 58–60| ~ 64–77

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145.10 To one who said, . . . knaves and robbers.] This paragraph (¶ 40) occurs only in 53–77. n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 53–77. 145.10 were happy, who were] was happy, who was 53–68| ~ 70–77 145.15 of which you pretend to ease him] that you pretend to ease him of 42–68| ~ 70–77 145.18 If] When 42–70| ~ 72–77 145.19 one of] of 42–48| ~ 53–77 145.19 fall] falls 42–68| ~ 70–77 145.19 when you have reckoned upon] that you have laid your Account with 42*68| that you have reckoned upon 70| ~ 72–77 145.23 for poisoning all our pleasures, and rendering] to poison all our Pleasures, and render 42*68| ~ 70–77 145.30 yet] and yet 42–72| ~ 77 145.36 conquest] Conquests 42*58| ~ 60–77 146.2 ever to] ~ 42–67| to 68| ~ 70–77 146.2 Or,] And 42–70| ~ 72–77 146.5 astronomy] Astronomy and Philosophy 42*70| ~ 72–77 146.8 Exile, says Plutarch . . . to him . . . a simple spectator.] These two Paragraphs (¶¶ 47–48) occur only in 53–77. 146.9 but] but as 53–70| ~ 72–77 n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 53–77. 146.13 those who are] those 53–70| ~ 72–77 146.17 It is] ’Tis 53*68| ~ 70–77 146.19 part] party 53–58| ~ 60–77 146.20 such a] such 53–58| ~ 60–77 146.23 and a] and 53–58| ~ 60–77 146.28 by] with 53–60| ~ 64–77 146.33 that] which 53–68| ~ 70–77 146.35 two considerations chiefly] only two Considerations 42–48| chiefly two considerations 53–68| ~ 70| two considerations chiefly, 72| ~ 77 146.36 important effect] Effect 42–48| considerable effect 53–58| ~ 60–77 146.37 considerations] two Considerations alone 42–48| two considerations 53–58| ~ 60–77 147.1 reflect on] consider 42–48| ~ 53–77 147.2 despicable seem all our pursuits of happiness] frivolous do all our Pursuits of Happiness appear 42–48| ~ 53–77 147.3 appear our most enlarged and most generous projects] do our most enlarg’d and most generous Projects appear 42–48| appear our most enlarg’d and most generous projects 53–77 147.7 certainly tends] does certainly tend 42–48| ~ 53–77 147.11 reasoners, in order] Reasoners, 42–48| ~ 53–77

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147.14 one] one’s Eyes 42*53| ~ 58–77 147.16 endured. The same observation . . . plague of Florence.] endur’d. 42–48| endured. The same observation is made by Boccace with regard to the plague of Florence. 53*77 147.17 A like] The same 42–48| ~ 53–77 147.18 be] to be 42–68| ~ 70–77 147.18 Present pleasure . . . and value.] And ’tis observable, in this Kingdom, that long Peace, by producing Security, has much alter’d them in this Particular, and has quite remov’d our Officers from the generous Character of their Profession. 42–48| ~ 53–77 147.24 rather apt] apt rather 42–70| ~ 72–77 147.27 to which fortune has confined] wherein Fortune has plac’d 42–48| in which fortune has plac’d 53*68| ~ 70–77 n. 6 Note 6 occurs only in 53–77. n. 6.6 as that to which] which 53–60| to which 64–70| ~ 72–77 n. 6.14 good things] goods 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.30 it is] ’tis 53*68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.31 it is] ’tis 53*68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.34 seeks] searches 53–72| ~ 77 n. 6.40 philosophical] philosophic 53–68| ~ 70–77 148.3 perfect] perfect Œconomy 42*70| ~ 72–77 148.4 and] ~ 42–67| or 68| ~ 70–77 148.5 of which are important] which are of great Importance 42*68| which are of importance 70| ~ 72–77 148.6 between] betwixt 42–60| ~ 64–77 148.8 constitution] Œconomy 42*70| ~ 72–77 148.9 enjoys not always] does not always enjoy 42–48| ~ 53–77 148.10 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 148.10 pain] Disease or Pain 42*68| ~ 70–77 148.11 part or organ] Parts 42*68| ~ 70–77 149.2 œconomy] Constitution 42*70| ~ 72–77 149.3 yet] but yet 42–68| ~ 70–77 149.4 degree] Degrees 42*70| ~ 72–77 149.7 great sense] a great Sense 42–48| ~ 53–77 149.8 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 149.11 gaiety of heart] Gaieté de coeur 42| Gaiety of Heart 48*77 149.13 compensate for] compensate 42–72| ~ 77 149.17 along with] ~ 42–53| with 58–68| ~ 70–77 149.18 imbecility] a Weakness and Imbecillity 42–48| imbecillity 53*77 149.19 broken] broke 42–68| ~ 70–77 149.36 often] oft 42–72| ~ 77 149.37 for which we contend] we contend for 42–48| ~ 53–77

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants 19. Of Polygamy and Divorces Editions: 42, 48b, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77

150.0 19 ] X. 42| XXII. 48–60| XIX. 64–68| XVIII. 70–72| XIX. 77 150.1 has] having 42–48| ~ 53–77 150.2 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 150.2 evident, that] evident 42–48| ~ 53–77 150.3 consent] mutual Consent 42–48| ~ 53–77 150.6 ties] Laws 42*53| ~ 58–77 150.8 duty] his Duty 42–48| ~ 53–77 150.8 one] Being 42*70| ~ 72–77 150.10 various] very various 42–70| ~ 72–77 150.10 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 150.13 different] different from another, 42| different from one another, 48| ­different, 53*72| ~ 77 150.17 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 150.18 harbour] the Harbour 42*70| ~ 72–77 150.19 assured, it is said,] assur’d 42*48| assur’d, ’tis said, 53*68| ~ 70–77 150.26 noisy] ugly 42–48| ~ 53–77 150.28 that] ~ 42–48| who 53–68| ~ 70–77 150.29 to the] against the whole 42–68| against the 70| ~ 72–77 150.33 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 151.2 common.] common. Cou’d the greatest Legislator, in such Circumstances, have contriv’d Matters with greater Wisdom? 42*68| ~ 70–77 151.3 singular] very singular 42–68| ~ 70–77 151.3 to be] which is to be 42–68| ~ 70–77 151.10 regulate] regulates 42| ~ 48–77 151.16 union] Link 42–48| ~ 53–77 151.22 private] the private 42–70| ~ 72–77 151.30 which result from] of 42–48| ~ 53–77 151.32 disorders] Furies and Disorders 42*68| ~ 70–77 151.34 upon us] on us 42–72| ~ 77 151.35 sating] by sating 42–48| ~ 53–77 151.36 of consequence] of Consequence 42*60| by consequence 64–68| ~ 70–77 151.39 jealousy] Jealousies 42*70| ~ 72–77 152.2 that lies] that lyes 42| ~ 48| who lies 53–60| ~ 64–77 152.3 sway.] An honest Turk, who should come from his Seraglio, where every one trembles before him, wou’d be surpriz’d to see Sylvia in her drawing Room, ador’d by all the Beaus and pretty Fellows about Town, and he wou’d certainly take her for some mighty and {mighty and 42–64| mighty 67–68} despotic Queen, surrounded by her Guard of obsequious Slaves and Eunuchs. 42*68| ~ 70–77 152.5 male] Man 42–48| ~ 53–77

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152.5 nearness of rank, not to say equality] Nearness, not to say Equality of Rank 42–48| ~ 53–77 152.6 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 152.8 exchange] change 42–72| ~ 77 152.8 title] Titles 42*68| ~ 70–77 152.12 life] human Life 42*68| ~ 70–77 152.13 animal] Animals 42*68| ~ 70–77 152.14 extinguishing] ~ 42| distinguishing 48| ~ 53–77 152.15 There is no] ~ 42–72| No 77 152.16 that] who 42–68| ~ 70–77 152.17 thorn.] {The following paragraph occurs only in 42*68.} I wou’d not willingly insist upon it as an Advantage in our European Customs, what was observ’d by Mehemet Effendi the last Turkish Ambassador in France. We Turks, says he, are great Simpletons in Comparison of the Christians. We are at the Expence and Trouble of keeping a Seraglio, each in his own House: But you ease yourselves of this Burden, and have your Seraglio in you Friends Houses. The known Virtue of our British Ladies free {free 42| frees 48–68} them sufficiently from this Imputation: And the Turk himself, however great a Turk, must own {however great a Turk, must own 42–48| had he travel’d among us, must have own’d 53*68}, that our free Commerce with the FairSex, more than any other Invention, embellishes, enlivens, and polishes Society. 152.19 familiarities with each other] Familiarities 42*53| ~ 58–77 152.20 one dares] Man dare 42| Man dares 48*68| ~ 70–77 152.21 as much] as 42–72| ~ 77 152.27 remains] does there remain 42–48| ~ 53–77 152.29 The bad education . . . attendant of polygamy.] This paragraph (¶ 12) occurs only in 58–77. 152.30 these eastern] these 58–60| ~ 64–77 152.30 the early] all the early 58–68| ~ 70–77 152.31 life] their life 58| ~ 60–77 152.35 instilling] the instilling 58–70| ~ 72–77 152.38 attendant] concomitant 58–70| ~ 72–77 153.13 physicians] the Physicians 42*68| ~ 70–77 153.13 east] Eastern Countries 42*60| ~ 64–77 153.20 appear strange] surprize the Reader to hear 42–48| ~ 53–77 153.20 a European country] a European Country, where Polygamy is not allow’d 42| an European Country, where Polygamy is not allow’d 48*68| ~ 70–77 153.21 it is] ~ 42| ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 153.22 suppose that] suppose 42–48| suppose, that 53*77 153.22 legs.] Legs. A Spaniard is jealous of the very Thoughts of those who approach his Wife; and, if possible, will prevent his being dishonour’d, even by the Wantonness of Imagination. 42*68| ~ 70–77

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153.26 magistrates] honest Magistrates 42*68| ~ 70–77 153.29 princess] Queen 42*60| ~ 64–77 153.33 young] poor young 42–70| ~ 72–77 153.34 imperfectly] very imperfectly 42–60| ~ 64–77 153.34 often been] been often 42–68| ~ 70–77 153.35 that they] they 42–48| ~ 53–77 153.37 the operation] that Operation 42*68| ~ 70–77 154.2 story.] {The following two paragraphs occur only in 42*68.}  If a Spanish Lady must not be suppos’d to have Legs, what must be suppos’d of a Turkish Lady? She must not be suppos’d to have a Being at all. Accordingly, ’tis esteem’d a piece of Rudeness and Indecency at Constantinople, ever to make mention of a Man’s Wives before him. In Europe, ’tis true, fine bred People make it also a Rule never to talk of their Wives: But the Reason is not founded on our Jealousy. I suppose it is because we shou’d be apt, were it not for this Rule, to become troublesome to Company, by talking too much of them.  The President Montesquiou {President Montesquiou 42–48| author of the Persian letters 53*68} has given a different Reason for this polite Maxim, Men, says he, never care to mention their Wives in Company, lest they should talk of them before People, that know them better than they do themselves. {that know them better than they do themselves. 42–48| who know them better than themselves do. 53| who are better acquainted with them than themselves. 58–68} 154.5 customary] in Use 42*70| ~ 72–77 154.6 Those] They 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.10 festers them every day] does every Day fester them 42–48| ~ 53–77 154.12 were] are 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.12 to associate together] for each other 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.21 the inclination] its Inclination 42–48| ~ 53–77 154.23 at least, deprive us not] deprive us not at least 42–48| ~ 53–77 154.25 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.31 attention] Care 42–48| ~ 53–77 154.31 parent] Mother 42–48| ~ 53–77 154.34 those] these 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.38 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 154.39 other] other Hand 42–48| other hand 53–72| ~ 77 155.1 gratifying] satisfying 42–48| ~ 53–77 155.1 you’ll] ~ 42–48| you will 53–60| ~ 64–77 155.2 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 155.7 caprices] Caprices 42| Caprice 48| ~ 53–77 155.15 wings] Wing 42*58| ~ 60–77 155.22 pursuit.] Pursuit. Let us consider then, whether Love or Friendship shou’d most predominate in Marriage; and we shall soon determine whether Liberty or Constraint be most favourable to it. The happiest Marriages, to

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be sure, are found where Love, by long Acquaintance, is consolidated into Friendship. Whoever dreams of Raptures and Extasies beyond the Honeymoon {Honey-moon 42*58| honey-month 60–68}, is a Fool. Even Romances themselves, with all their Liberty of Fiction, are oblig’d to drop their Lovers the very Day of their Marriage, and find it easier to support the Passion for a Dozen of {Dozen of 42*53| dozen 58–68} Years under Coldness, Disdain and Difficulties, than a Week under Possession and Security. 42*68| ~ 70–77 155.23 marriage-knot, which chiefly subsists by friendship,] Marriage-knot 42*68| ~ 70–77 155.24 amity] Friendship 42*68| ~ 70–77 155.24 between] betwixt 42–53| ~ 58–77 155.28 a necessity] the Necessity 42–48| ~ 53–77 155.29 be enflamed] inflame 42–60| be inflamed 64–67| be enflamed 68| be inflamed 70–77 155.32 closely] close 42–48| ~ 53–77 155.34 suspicions. The wife, . . . end or project] Jealousies. What Dr. Parnel calls The little pilfering Temper of a Wife, will be doubly ruinous 42*68| ~ 70–77 155.38 deemed] esteem’d 42–53| esteemed 58–72| ~ 77 156.1 when] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 156.2 men of fashion] the Men of Fashion of Rome 42–48| the men of fashion 53–68| ~ 70–77 156.3 scarcely] scarce 42–68| ~ 70–77 156.4 The more ancient . . . choice or establishment.] This passage occurs only in 53–77. n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 53–77. 20. Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing Editions: 42, 48, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 157.0 20 ] XI. 42| XXIII. 48–60| XX. 64–68| XIX. 70–72| XX. 77 157.0 Refinement in Writing] REFINEMENT 42| REFINEMENT in Writing 48*77 157.5 worthy of] worthy to engage 42–48| ~ 53–77 157.6 hackney coachman] Hackney-coach Man 42| Hackney Coachman 48*77 157.7 all of] all 42–70| ~ 72–77 157.8 the tea-table] a Tea-table 42| the Tea-table 48*77 157.12 absurd naivety] {The following note marked by the dagger (†) appeared at this point only in 42–53.} A Word which I have borrow’d from the French, and which is much {is much 42–48| is 53} wanted in our Language. 157.19 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 157.20 or] nor 42–70| ~ 72–77 157.23 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 157.23 can possibly] ~ 42–53| possibly can 58–60| ~ 64–77

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157.32 they recur too frequently] laid too thick 42–48| they occur too frequently 53–60| ~ 64–77 158.7 does not afford them] affords them not 42–70| ~ 72–77 158.8 which] that 42–48| ~ 53–77 158.13 excesses] the Excesses 42| Excesses 48*77 158.15 considerable] very considerable 42–68| ~ 70–77 158.16 between] betwixt 42–58| ~ 60–77 158.17 in which a poet can indulge himself] which a Poet can indulge himself in 42–48| ~ 53–77 158.24 in which] wherein 42–48| ~ 53–77 158.24 found, and to be] to be found, and are 42–48| ~ 53–77 158.29 where the just medium lies between the excesses of simplicity and refinement] wherein the just Medium betwixt the Excesses of Simplicity and Refinement consists 42–48| where the just medium betwixt the excesses of simplicity and refinement lyes 53| where the just medium between the excesses of simplicity and refinement lyes 58*68| ~ 70–77 158.31 not only discourse] ~ 42–60| discourse not only 64–70| ~ 72–77 158.33 not] not in the World 42–48| ~ 53–77 158.34 the dissertation on pastorals by Fontenelle] Fontenelle’s Dissertation on Pastorals 42–48| the dissertation on pastorals by Fontenelle 53*77 158.34 in which] wherein 42–48| where 53–68| ~ 70–77 159.3 had that great poet writ] had he wrote 42–70| and he wrote 72| ~ 77 159.4 this] ~ 42–48| that 53–72| ~ 77 159.4 men] Men may be 42*70| ~ 72–77 159.5 discourse on these subjects is] Discourses on these Subjects are 42*70| ~ 72–77 159.6 instructive] very instructive 42–70| ~ 72–77 159.7 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 159.8 always lies] lyes always 42| lies always 48–72| ~ 77 159.13 It is] ’Tis 42*68| ~ 70–77 159.13 incompatible] inconsistent 42–70| ~ 72–77 159.15 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 159.15 that all] all 42–48| ~ 53–77 159.27 lie] lyes 42*70| ~ 72–77 159.32 It is] ’Tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 159.33 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 159.38 on] upon 42–53| ~ 58–77 159.39 is it] it is 42–48| ~ 53–77 160.1 it is] ’tis 42–68| ~ 70–77 160.10 some] great 42–70| ~ 72–77 160.12 simplicity and nature] Nature and Simplicity 42| Simplicity and Nature 48*77 160.13 It was thus . . . from the Attic:] This passage occurs only in 53*77.

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160.13 It was] ’Twas 53| ~ 58–77 160.14 It was] ’Twas 42–53| ~ 58–77 160.16 some] many 42| ~ 48–77 21. Of National Characters Editions: 48a, 48b, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 48a and 48b are treated as identical and designated 48; they vary only formally, in ways irrelevant to this appendix. However, the first entry below does require the 48a–48b distinction. 161.0 21 ] I. 48a| XXIV. 48b–60| XXI. 64–68| XX. 70–72| XXI. 77 161.1 apt] very apt 48–68| ~ 70–77 161.1 to carry] carry 48–70| ~ 72–77 161.4 censure] Character 48*68| ~ 70–77 161.4 undistinguishing] undistinguish’d 48| ~ 53–77 161.8 probably more honesty] surely more Probity 48*68| ~ 70–77 161.10 which he] he 48| ~ 53–77 161.10 each] them 48| ~ 53–77 161.15 Different] The paragraph break at this point occurs only in 53–77. 161.16 moral,] moral and 48–70| ~ 72–77 161.21 such like circumstances] such like Circumstances 48*64| above all, the course of education, and the example of parents and companions 67–68| ~ 70–77 161.22 mean] here mean 48| ~ 53–77 161.25 overcome it, will yet] overcome, yet will it 48–68| overcome it, yet will 70| ~ 72–77 161.27 much] very much 48–68| ~ 70–77 161.34 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 161.34 them.] them. Instances of this Nature are very frequent in the World. 48*68| ~ 70–77 162.7 together with] as well as 48–60| ~ 64–77 162.8 inclines] incline 48| ~ 53–77 n. 1.1 It is] ’Tis 48*68| It is 70–77 n. 1.2 It is] ’Tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 n. 1.5 calculated] qualified 48| ~ 53–77 n. 1.6 a considerable] the most considerable 48| ~ 53–77 162.13 It is] ’Tis 48*68| ~ 70–77 162.15 is it] it is 48| ~ 53–58| it is 60–68| ~ 70–77 162.16 the greater] ~ 48–60| a greater 64| ~ 67–77 n. 2.5 greater] greatest 48–72| ~ 77 n. 2.10 multitude] ignorant Vulgar 48| ignorant vulgar 53–72| ~ 77 n. 2.13 temper] Tempers 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2.15 character] Characters 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2.15 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77

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n. 2.16 think that] think 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2.18 property] a Property 48*58| ~ 60–77 n. 2.19 may we] ~ 48–58| we may 60–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.23 superstition, or even probity and fanaticism, are not altogether and in every instance] Superstition are far from being 48| superstition are not altogether 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.28 namely,] viz. 48–72| ~ 77 n. 2.33 members] the Members 48*58| ~ 60–77 n. 2.34 interests of men] Interests 48| interests 53–72| ~ 77 n. 2.39 head] Article 48*70| ~ 72–77 n. 2.44 Revenge is a natural . . . their vindictive disposition.] This paragraph occurs only in 53–77. n. 2.44 natural] very natural 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.50 will] ~ 48–53| who will 58| ~ 58Er–77 n. 2.50 revenge, and] and 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2.54 which they] they 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2.56 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.57 taste in eloquence] Taste in Eloquence 48*53| taste and eloquence 58–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.57 greater than their proficiency] better than their Skill 48| better than their skill 53–72| ~ 77 n. 2.60 It was no bad . . . fix the character.] This paragraph occurs only in 53–77. n. 2.60 It was] ’Twas 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.60 the old] the 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2.62 lib. 2] lib. 1 53–68| lib. i 70–77 n. 2.62 it is] ’tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 163.4 probable] very probable 48–68| ~ 70–77 164.1 all climates] all Climates 48*60| climates 64| ~ 67–77 164.1 not attain] not yet attain 48| ~ 53–77 164.5 transplanted from one country to] transported from one Country into 48*68| ~ 70–77 n. 3 Note 3 occurs only in 53–77. n. 3.1 lib. 4] lib. i 53–77 n. 3.6 are perhaps] are 53–72| ~ 77 n. 3.7 side of] side 53–72| ~ 77 n. 3.8 climates] climate 53–70| ~ 72–77 164.8 or] nor 48| ~ 53–77 164.8 oftener occur] occur oftener 48–72| ~ 77 164.10 full] serious 48–68| ~ 70–77 164.18 men] People 48| ~ 53–77 164.20 together] along 48–53| ~ 58–77 164.20 acquire] contract 48–58| ~ 60–77 164.21 and have] ~ 48–60| have 64| ~ 67–77

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164.23 does not follow] follows not 48–70| ~ 72–77 165.2 still a] a 48–60| ~ 64–77 165.15 It is a maxim . . . as not existing.] This sentence occurs only in 70–77. 165.17 globe, or revolve] whole Globe, or revolve all 48| whole globe, or revolve all 53–72| ~ 77 165.18 a sympathy] this Sympathy 48*68| ~ 70–77 165.18 none] and none 48| ~ 53–77 165.20 First,] First. 48–64| 1. 67–68| First. 70–77 165.22 similarity] Similitude 48*70| ~ 72–77 165.24 those vast dominions] that vast Empire 48| ~ 53–77 165.26 Secondly,] Secondly. 48–64| 2. 67–68 | Secondly. 70–77 165.26 contiguous] very contiguous 48| ~ 53–77 165.33 in] of 48–72| ~ 77 165.34 the former:] it. 48| the former. 53*77 165.37 Thirdly,] Thirdly. 48–64| 3. 67–68 | Thirdly. 70–77 165.38 government] the Government 48| ~ 53–77 165.38 boundary] Limit or Boundary 48| ~ 53–77 165.39 with] along with 48–53| ~ 58–77 165.40 in] of all 48–68| ~ 70–77 166.1 pass] go over 48| ~ 53–77 166.2 exactly] so exactly 48–68| ~ 70–77 166.5 Fourthly,] Fourthly. 48–64| 4. 67–68 | Fourthly. 70–77 166.5 maintain] have 48–70| ~ 72–77 166.7 amongst] ~ 48–64| among 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 4 Note 4 occurs only in 53–77. 166.12 Fifthly,] Fifthly. 48–64| 5. 67–68 | Fifthly. 70–77 166.12 in language] of Language 48*68| ~ 70–77 166.14 preserve, during several centuries, a distinct and even opposite set of manners] preserve a distinct and even opposite Set of Manners for several Centuries 48| preserve, for several centuries, a distinct and even opposite set of manners 53| ~ 58–77 166.16 deceit, levity] Levity, Deceit 48| ~ 53–77 166.17 Sixthly,] Sixthly. 48–64| 6. 67–68 | Sixthly. 70–77 166.19 French, and Dutch] French, and Dutch 48–53 | French and Dutch 58–77 166.19 between] betwixt 48–58| ~ 60–77 166.21 Seventhly,] Seventhly. 48–64| 7. 67–68 | Seventhly. 70–77 166.24 ingenuity, industry, and activity] Ingenuity and Industry 48*68| ~ 70–77 166.29 deprived] they were depriv’d 48| depriv’d 53*77 n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 53–77. 166.31 least one would have found it] least 48| ~ 53–77 166.34 some few] some 48–60| ~ 64–77 167.1 with that which] which 48| with that, which 53*77 167.2 between] betwixt 48–53| ~ 58–77

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167.4 Not to insist . . . nation of the world.] This sentence occurs only in 53–77. 167.5 between] betwixt 53–60| ~ 64–77 167.11 Eighthly,] Eighthly. 48–64| 8. 67–68 | Eighthly. 70–77 167.14 appear] seem 48–53| ~ 58–77 167.15 peculiar] particular 48–64| ~ 67–68| particular 70| ~ 72–77 167.18 Ninthly,] Ninthly. 48–64| 9. 67–68 | Ninthly. 70–77 167.18 characters] Character 48*58| ~ 60–77 167.21 that perhaps] that 48–60| ~ 64–77 167.23 the neighbouring country] their neighbouring Kingdom 48*68| ~ 70–77 167.25 peculiar] particular 48–72| ~ 77 167.28 If the governing part of] If 48–58| ~ 60–77 167.28 consist] consists 48–72| ~ 77 167.28 as in] such as 48–60| ~ 64–77 167.29 fix] form 48| ~ 53–77 167.33 people in authority] People 48*58| ~ 60–77 167.34 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 167.35 every man enjoys, allows him] they enjoy, allows every one 48–60| ~ 64–77 167.36 peculiar] which are peculiar 48–53| ~ 58–77 167.38 may pass for such] be made their national Character 48| may stand for such 53–70| ~ 72–77 168.2 beyond] ~ 48–60| between 64| ~ 67–77 168.3 between] betwixt 48–58| ~ 60–77 168.4 incapable] utterly incapable 48–68| ~ 70–77 168.6 from their few necessities, may] may 48| ~ 53–77 168.7 our having] having 48–60| ~ 64–77 168.10 people] Nations 48*70| ~ 72–77 n. 6 Note 6 occurs only in 53–77. n. 6.1 Negroes] negroes, and in general all the other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) 53–72| negroes 77 n. 6.1 scarcely ever] never 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.2 that complexion] any other complexion than white 53–72| ~ 77 n. 6.7 between] betwixt 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.8 whom] which 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.9 education] ~ 53–67| any education 68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.11 it is] ’tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 6.11 slender] very slender 53–68| ~ 70–77 168.13 gives it] gives them 48| ~ 53–77 168.15 deportment] Behaviour 48*68| ~ 70–77 168.20 our island] Britain 48–53| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 168.21 has] have 48| ~ 53–77 168.22 It is] ’Tis 48*68| ~ 70–77 168.22 the country approaches] they approach 48| ~ 53–77 168.23 nearer to] nearer 48–72| ~ 77

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168.23 the taste] their Taste 48| ~ 53–77 168.23 elegance] Elegance of every Kind 48| ~ 53–77 168.24 proportional] proportionable 48–68| ~ 70–77 168.26 melodious,] ~ 48–60| melodious, and 64–68| ~ 70–77 168.28 harshness] sometimes harshness 48–60| ~ 64–77 169.1 that] ~ 48| which 53–60| ~ 64–77 169.5 but] that 48| ~ 53–77 169.5 more] much more 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.7 is there] there is 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.10 eminent] great 48–60| ~ 64–77 169.14 Lord] My Lord 48*53| Lord 58*77 169.18 in] of 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.19 best] the best 48| ~ 53–77 169.20 so] good 48–60| ~ 64–77 169.22 But] But then 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.23 from] by 48| ~ 53–77 169.24 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.26 who] that 48| ~ 53–77 169.29 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 169.30 encouragement] Encouragements 48| ~ 53–77 169.34 It seems to be . . . becoming too common.] This passage occurs only in 53–77. 169.35 in that] ~ 53–64| that 67–68| ~ 70–77 169.36 and] or 53–68| ~ 70–77 169.37 common] vulgar 53–68| ~ 70–77 169.37 science] Learning 48| ~ 53–77 169.38 emulates] emulate 48–68| ~ 70–77 170.4 that] who 48–68| ~ 70–77 170.6 hope] wish 48–53| ~ 58–77 170.7 will] may 48–53| ~ 58–77 170.10 Flemings] Flemish 48*60 ~ 64–77 170.13 must] will 48| ~ 53–77 170.16 usual] most usual 48| ~ 53–77 170.16 barbarism] Barbarity 48| ~ 53–77 170.17 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 170.18 path] Road 48*68| ~ 70–77 170.19 it has hence] thence it has 48–58| hence it has 60–68| ~ 70–77 171.1 and for several ages,] and 48| ~ 53–77 171.4 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 171.7 As a proof . . . bravest of the Dorians.] In 48 only, this paragraph (¶ 29) appeared as a note, not as text. The note-marker in 48 was placed one sentence above this paragraph, after ‘example, and opinion’.

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171.11 throughout] thro’ 48–64| through 67–72| ~ 77 171.14 deemed] esteem’d 48–53| esteemed 58–72| ~ 77 171.16 difference] Differences 48*70| ~ 72–77 171.17 rest] repose 48| ~ 53–77 171.20 spirits] Spirits 48| ~53–72| waters 77 171.23 between] betwixt 48–60| ~ 64–77 n. 10.2 Taciturnity, as a national character, implies unsociableness.] This sentence occurs only in 53–77. n. 10.2 Aristotle in his Politics . . . negligent of women.] This sentence occurs only in 58–77. n. 10.3 chap. 9] ~ 58–68| chap. 2 70–72| cap. 2 77 171.27 chiefly, I suppose,] chiefly 48| ~ 53–77 171.32 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 171.34 this passion] the Furies of this Passion 48*53| ~ 58–77 171.34 with] as 48| ~ 53–77 171.35 Nothing so much . . . between them.] This passage occurs only in 77. 172.4 But perhaps the fact is doubtful] Perhaps too, the Fact is false 48| Perhaps too, the fact is false 53–58| Perhaps too, the fact is false 60–72| ~ 77 172.5 respective] different 48–68| ~ 70–77 172.8 among men] amongst the Men 48*53| among the men 58–77| ~ 72–77 172.9 fair] Fair–Sex 48*68| ~ 70–77 n. 11 Note 11 occurs only in 53–77. 172.12 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 n. 12 Note 12 occurs only in 53–77. 172.18 drink] Liquors 48| liquor 53| ~ 58–77 172.19 children] Parents 48| parents 53–72| ~ 77 172.20 few drink] no Body ever drinks 48| ~ 53–77 172.35 worthless] Scoundrel 48| scoundrelly 53| ~ 58–77 172.37 more] much more 48–68| ~ 70–77 173.4 between] betwixt 48–58| ~ 60–77 173.5 commonly] always 48–60| ~ 64–77 173.6 the people] Nations 48*68| ~ 70–77 173.7 are the most likely to attain] stand the fairest Chance for 48| bid the fairest chance for 53| stand the fairest chance for 53Er–68| ~ 70–77 173.8 enflamed] inflam’d 48*67| much inflamed 68| inflamed 70–77 22. Of Tragedy Editions: 57, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 A half-title appears in 57 only: DISSERTATION III. OF TRAGEDY. 174.0 ESSAY 22] DISSERTATION III. 57| ESSAY XXV. 58–60| ESSAY XXII. 64–68| ESSAY XXI. 70–72| ESSAY XXII. 77 174.1 well-written] well-wrote 57*68| ~ 70–77 174.2 that] which 57–68| ~ 70–77

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174.20 all] every 57–68| ~ 70–77 174.29 best] finest 57–58| ~ 60–77 174.30 spectator by sympathy, gives him some touches of the same passions, and serves him] spectators by sympathy, gives them some touches of the same passions and serves them 57–70| ~ 72–77 174.32 him] them 57–70| ~ 72–77 175.6 in] of 57–70| ~ 72–77 175.10 to] of 57–68| ~ 70–77 175.22 yet] but yet 57–68| ~ 70–77 175.34 that] which 57–70| ~ 72–77 175.35 predominate] prevail 57–68| ~ 70–77 175.37 new addition, in order to] ~ 57–64| addition, to 67–68| ~ 70–77 176.20 together] along 57–58| ~ 58Er–77 176.24 impulse] movement 57–68| ~ 70–77 176.32 emotion] emotions 57| ~ 58–64| emotions 67–68| ~ 70–77 176.33 or at least] ~ 57–72| at least 77 176.37 with] along with 57| ~ 58–77 n. 2.3 quickly] very quickly 57–68| ~ 70–77 177.14 rouzes] excites 57–60| ~ 64–77 177.16 excite] excites 57–72| ~ 77 177.18 new or] new and 57–58| ~ 60–77 177.19 fortifies] enforces 57–72| ~ 77 177.22 to excite] excite 57–70| ~ 72–77 177.26 predominant one] predominant 57–70| ~ 72–77 178.5 among] amongst 57–70| ~ 72–77 178.7 often prove fatal] be pernicious 57–68| ~ 70–77 178.9 piccante] ~ 57–72| peccante 77 178.22 or] nor 57–72| ~ 77 179.2 elocution] oratory 57–70| ~ 72–77 179.12 approaches towards] approaches 57–70| ~ 72–77 179.17 concerned] interested 57| ~ 58–77 179.28 shocking images] images 57–68| ~ 70–77 179.33 drama] theatre 57–60| ~ 64–77 179.37 wrought much] wrought 57–60| ~ 64–77 180.1 commonly recourse] recourse commonly 57–72| ~ 77 180.2 scarcely] scarce 57–68| ~ 70–77 23. Of the Standard of Taste Editions: 57, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 A half-title appears in 57 only: DISSERTATION IV. OF THE STANDARD OF TASTE. 181.0 ESSAY 23] DISSERTATION IV. 57| ESSAY XXVI. 58–60| ESSAY XXIII. 64–68| ESSAY XXII. 70–72| ESSAY XXIII. 77

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181.1 Taste, as well as of opinion, which prevails] Tastes, as well as of opinions, which prevail 57–68| ~ 70–77 181.3 difference of taste] difference 57–60| ~ 64–77 181.7 contrariety] contradiction 57–60| ~ 64–77 181.11 sentiment] sentiments 57–68| ~ 70–77 181.20 brilliancy] brilliant 57–58| ~ 58Er–77 181.25 explanation] explication 57–70| ~ 72–77 181.30 maintain] suppose 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.8 this] the 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.9 we must also allow] it must also be allowed 57*68| ~ 70–77 182.14 acceptation] use 57–70| ~ 72–77 182.16 obvious] very obvious 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.23 most exact] exactest 57–72| ~ 77 182.25 insist] insist very much 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.26 interspersed] which are interspersed 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.26 wild and absurd] wild 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.40 That] The 57–68| ~ 70–77 182.40 charity] modesty 57| ~ 58–77 183.2 charitable] modest 57| ~ 58–77 183.6 natural] very natural 57| ~ 58–77 183.7 or at least] ~ 57–72| at least 77 183.21 between] betwixt 57–58| ~ 60–77 183.23 being] a being 57–68| ~ 70–77 183.38 or at least] ~ 57–72| at least 77 183.39 between] betwixt 57–58| ~ 60–77 184.6 admit it] admit of it 57–70| ~ 72–77 184.10 esteemed] ~ 57–64| deemed 67–68| ~ 70–77 184.17 terms] expressions 57–68| ~ 70–77 185.15 between] betwixt 57–58| ~ 60–77 185.35 caprice] caprices 57–58| ~ 60–77 186.5 organ] organs 57–70| ~ 72–77 186.7 perfect] perfect and universal 57–58| ~ 60–77 186.22 essay] dissertation 57–72| ~ 77 186.27 It is] ’Tis 57*68| ~ 70–77 186.40 more] no more 57–68| ~ 70–77 187.10 literal] natural 57–70| simple 72| ~ 77 187.14 continued] ~ 57–67| continual 68| ~ 70–77 187.32 or] nor 57–70| ~ 72–77 187.36 It is] ’Tis 57*68| ~ 70–77 188.12 ascertain] fix or ascertain 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.12 meet with approbation] be approved of 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.13 ascertaining] fixing 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.14 consent] approbation 57–68| ~ 70–77

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188.16 wide] very wide 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.25 it is] ’tis 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.26 that] which 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.36 every] each 57–68| ~ 70–77 188.40 give] pronounce 57–68| ~ 70–77 189.4 relation] reference 57–68| ~ 70–77 189.14 excellence] excellency 57–72| ~ 77 189.19 daubing contains] dawbing of a sign-post contains 57–68| dawbing contains 70| dawbing contain 72| ~ 77 189.25 excellence] excellency 57–72| ~ 77 189.28 One accustomed to see, and examine, and weigh] A man who has had opportunities of seeing, and examining, and weighing 57*68| ~ 70–77 189.32 a critic] him 57–68| ~ 70–77 189.38 that which is] that 57–70| ~ 72–77 190.10 situation] particular situation 57–70| ~ 72–77 190.13 placing himself in that point of view, which the performance supposes] entering into that required by the performance 57–68| ~ 70–77 190.16 age and country,] times, 57–70| time and country 72| ~ 77 190.19 interest] interests 57| ~ 58–77 190.22 forgotten] forgot 57–72| ~ 77 190.26 destructive] most destructive 57–68| ~ 70–77 190.28 sentiment] sentiments 57–70| ~ 72–77 191.6 suitably] suitable 57–68| ~ 70–77 191.6 character] characters 57–68| ~ 70–77 191.27 object] objects 57–70| ~ 72–77 191.40 essay] dissertation 57–58| ~ 58Er–77 192.5 agreed in] agreed 57–70| ~ 72–77 192.8 that] which 57–68| ~ 70–77 192.16 it is] is 57| ~ 58–77 192.22 place] way 57–70| ~ 72–77 192.26 applause] vogue 57–72| ~ 77 192.27 Plato, and Epicurus,] Plato, and Epicurus 57*60| Plato, Epicurus 64–68| ~ 70–77 192.32 be] are 57–72| ~ 77 192.36 productions] ~ 57–64| production 67–68| ~ 70–77 192.39 real] true 57| ~ 58–77 193.2 Thus] And thus 57*68| ~ 70–77 193.6 discordant] various 57–60| ~ 64–77 193.7 which are] which, tho’ they be 57| ~ 58–77 193.7 indeed to] to 57| ~ 58–77 193.8 but will] will 57| ~ 58–77 193.8 produce a difference in] vary 57–60| ~ 64–77 193.18 degree of diversity in] diversity of 57–70| ~ 72–77

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193.23 wise,] wise and 57–68| ~ 70–77 193.23 reflections] prefections 57| ~ 58–77 193.28 humour and disposition] humours and dispositions 57–68| ~ 70–77 193.39 its] their 57–70| ~ 72–77 194.6 in the course of our reading, with pictures and characters, that resemble objects which] with pictures of characters, which resemble such as 57–68| in the course of our reading, with pictures and characters, which resemble such as 70| ~ 72–77 194.8 It is] ’Tis 57–68| ~ 70–77 194.10 carrying] drawing 57–68| ~ 70–77 194.10 the spring] a spring 57–70| ~ 72–77 194.14 easily transferred] transferred easily 57–70| ~ 72–77 194.17 suitably] suitable 57–68| ~ 70–77 194.21 no wise] no way 57–64| nowise 67–68| ~ 70–77 194.22 But] And 57*68| ~ 70–77 194.25 other] others 57–58| ~ 60–77 194.27 boundaries] bounds 57–68| ~ 70–77 194.34 admit of] admit 57–68| ~ 70–77 195.5 an] a great 57–68| ~ 70–77 195.7 so much] so 57–72| ~ 77 195.8 give to] give 57–70| ~ 72–77 195.13 scarcely] scarce 57–68| ~ 70–77 195.24 whatsoever] whatever 57–68| ~ 70–77 195.30 altogether] entirely 57–72| ~ 77 195.31 On] Upon 57–68| ~ 70–77 196.1 It is] ’Tis 57*68| ~ 70–77 196.1 hatred of] hatred to 57–70| ~ 72–77 196.2 to represent] represent 57–70| ~ 72–77 196.4 very] extremely 57–68| ~ 70–77 196.10 sublime] heroic 57–68| ~ 70–77 196.13 lest] that 57| ~ 58–77 196.22 It is] ’Tis 57–68| ~ 70–77 196.25 for ever be] be for ever 57–68| ~ 70–77

E SSAYS, MORAL , P O L I T I C A L , A ND L ITE RARY—PA RT 2 1. Of Commerce Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 199.0 ESSAY] DISCOURSE 52a–54| ~ 58–77 199.1 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 199.3 rare;] uncommon, 52a–52b| uncommon: 54| uncommon; 58–72| rare: 77

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199.5 fine] very fine 52a–68| ~ 70–77 199.22 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 199.23 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 199.34 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.2 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.3 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.6 causes] ~ 52a–70| causes 72–77 200.6 on] upon 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 200.8 between] betwixt 52a–60| ~ 64–77 200.11 money] luxury, money 52a–58| ~ 60–77 200.11 interest, balance of trade] interest 52a–58| ~ 60–77 200.15 how independent soever] however independent 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.19 opulence] riches 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.21 exceptions] some exceptions 52a–68| ~ 70–77 200.24 will] may 52a–54| ~ 58–77 200.32 or] ~ 52a–64| and 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 1.2 two] 2 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 1.5 great] very great 52a–68| ~ 70–77 201.2 culture] cultivation 52a–72| ~ 77 201.4 apply themselves to] be turn’d towards 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 201.7 otherwise] otherways 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 201.11 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 201.17 between] betwixt 52a–58| 60–77 201.17 subject] subjects 52a–70| ~ 72–77 201.20 these hands] ~ 52a–67| these 68| ~ 70–77 201.29 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 201.33 throughout] thro’ 52a*68| ~ 70–77 201.33 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 201.36 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 201.37 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 201.39 the whole of whose dominions was] whose whole dominions were 52a–70| ~ 72–77 202.1 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 202.2 a hundred] ~ 52a–67| an hundred 68| ~ 70–77 202.2 besides] beside 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 3.1 2.] ~ 52a–68| vii. 70–77 n. 3.2 forces.] forces. See discourse X. 52a–54| forces. See Essay X. 58| ~ 60–77 202.4 third] third part 52a–70| ~ 72–77 202.5 and garrisons] or garrisons 52a–70| ~ 72–77 202.5 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 202.9 assigned] given 52a–58| ~ 60–77 202.12 Livy] Titus Livius 52a–54| Titus Livius 58–72| ~ 77 n. 4.1 25.] ~ 52a | 24. 52b–77

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202.17 it could certainly] ’tis evident it could 52a–68| ~ 70–77 202.20 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 202.24 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 202.27 in] ~ 52a–54| on 58–64| ~ 67–77 202.31 an extraordinary] a very extraordinary 52a–68| ~ 70–77 202.33 their neighbours] the neighbouring states 52a*70| ~ 72–77 203.3 He takes the field in his turn: And during his service he is chiefly maintained by himself.] They take the field in their turn; and during their service are chiefly maintain’d by themselves. 52a| He takes the field in his turn; and during his service is chiefly maintain’d by himself. 52aEr*77 203.4 This service is indeed equivalent to a heavy tax; yet is it] And, notwithstanding that this service is equivalent to very severe tax, ’tis 52a–58| And, not withstanding that his service is equivalent to a very severe tax, ’tis 60*68| ~ 70–77 n. 5.4 lib. 1.] lib. 2 52a–68| lib. ii 70–77 n. 5.4 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 203.8 among] amongst 52a–68| ~ 70–77 203.9 and] ~ 52a–67| or 68| ~ 70–77 203.12 among] amongst 52a–68| ~ 70–77 203.14 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 203.21 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 204.6 and] or 52a–70| ~ 72–77 204.19 manufacturers] the manufacturers 52a–68| ~ 70–72| manufactures 77 204.24 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 204.32 abstractedly] abstractly 52a–68| ~ 70–77 204.32 manufactures] manufacturers 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 204.33 to which the public may lay claim] which the public may lay claim to, 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 205.2 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 205.8 industry] labour 52a–54| ~ 58–77 205.12 in] upon 52a–70| ~ 72–77 205.14 allowed] allow’d to be 52a*52b| allow’d 54*77 205.15 times] time 52a–68| ~ 70–77 205.26 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 205.30 the mind] mens minds 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 205.35 subjects] ~ 52a–70| subject 72–77 205.40 industry] labour 52a–54| ~ 58–77 205.40 that employed] that 52a–54| ~ 58–77 206.18 on to] to 52a–70| ~ 72–77 206.21 indolence] lethargic indolence 52a–54| ~ 58–77 206.25 great] exorbitant 52a–68| ~ 70–77 206.37 manufacturers] ~ 52a–72| manufactures 77 206.37 enjoys] possesses 52a–52b| ~ 54–77

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207.9 more] much more 52a–68| ~ 70–77 207.11 the supplying of] the supplying 52a–68| supplying 70| ~ 72–77 207.18 any story] ~ 52a–64| story 67–68| ~ 70–77 207.18 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 207.22 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 207.25 effect] consequence 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 207.27 result] consequence 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 207.27 Liberty must be attended with] That seems to depend on 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 207.28 order to produce that effect] conjunction with liberty 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 207.29 Lord] My lord 52a*54| ~ 58–77 207.31 government of the two kingdoms was] governments of the two kingdoms were 52a–60| government of the two kingdoms were 64–68| ~ 70–77 207.34 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 207.37 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 207.37 an arbitrary] a despotic 52a–70| ~ 72–77 208.1 yet] and yet 52a–68| ~ 70–77 208.1 reasons] many reasons 52a–68| ~ 70–77 208.6 as soon] ~ 52a–52b| so soon 54–68| ~ 70–77 208.9 or] nor 52a–70| ~ 72–77 208.17 often] oft 52a–70| ~ 72–77 208.18 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 208.18 The] And the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 208.19 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 208.24 the labouring] the labouring 52a*64| labouring 67–68| ~ 70–77 208.28 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 208.31 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 208.33 which] that 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 2. Of Refinement in the Arts Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 209.0 ESSAY] DISCOURSE 52a–54| ~ 58–77 209.0 Refinement in the Arts] Luxury 52a*58| REFINEMENT in the ARTS 60*77 209.1 an] a very 52a–68| ~ 70–77 209.2 in a bad] a bad 52a–60| ~ 64–77 209.4 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 209.5 exactly fixed] fixt exactly 52a*70| ~ 72–77 209.6 of any sense] any of the senses 52a–70| ~ 72–77 209.6 the indulging of] the indulging 52a–68| indulging 70| ~ 72–77 209.7 meat, drink] meats, drinks 52a–70| ~ 72–77 209.7 of itself] ~ 52a–64| in itself 67–68| ~ 70–77 209.8 a head] any head 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 209.8 enthusiasm] a fanatical enthusiasm 52a–54| ~ 58–77

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209.10 noble] very noble 52a–68| ~ 70–77 209.21 stupidity] gross stupidity 52a–68| ~ 70–77 209.23 destitute] entirely devoid 52a*68| devoid 70| ~ 72–77 209.28 those] ~ 52a–60| these 64| ~ 67–77 209.30 represent] ~ 52a–64| regard 67–68| ~ 70–77 210.1 refinement] refinement and luxury 52a–58| ~ 60–77 210.5 refinement] luxury 52a–58| ~ 60–77 210.9 disposition] dispositions 52a–70| ~ 72–77 210.18 destroys] destroy 52a–68| ~ 70–77 210.21 the arts] arts 52a–68| ~ 70–77 210.23 fruit] fruits 52a–68| ~ 70–77 210.27 by] with 52a–68| ~ 70–77 210.33 liberal] liberal arts 52a–60| ~ 64–77 210.33 one] the one 52a–68| ~ 70–77 210.38 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 211.5 men] do men 52a–68| ~ 70–77 211.13 the tempers of men] mens tempers 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 211.14 as their] as 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 211.15 which they] they 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 211.15 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 211.20 and, what are commonly denominated, the more] and 52a–58| ~ 60–77 211.22 that] ~ 52a| which 52b–68| ~ 70–77 212.7 enjoyment] the enjoyment 52a–68| ~ 70–77 212.8 or] nor 52a–70| ~ 72–77 212.10 nearly] pretty near 52a–68| ~ 70–77 212.13 Charles] Charles the 52a–52b| Charles 54*77 212.14 Yet] And yet 52a–68| ~ 70–77 212.19 ages] the ages 52a–68| ~ 70–77 212.20 art and refinement] arts and luxury 52a–58| ~ 60–77 212.24 manufacture] manufactures 52a–70| ~ 72–77 212.31 make] render 52a–70| ~ 72–77 212.33 the tempers of men are] mens temper is 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 212.35 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 213.17 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 213.19 were almost] were 52a–70| ~ 72–77 213.19 uncivilized] unciviliz’d 52a–54| civilized 58–60| ~ 64–77 213.24 for the arts] of luxury 52a–58| for luxury 60–70| ~ 72–77 213.32 camp] camps 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 213.33 refinement in the arts] luxury and refinement in pleasure 52a*58| ~ 60–77 213.37 Asiatic] Grecian and Asiatic 52a–54| ~ 58–77 214.3 later] latter 52a–70| ~ 72–77 214.5 the Grecian] Grecian 52a–54| ~ 58–77

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214.12 Refinement on the pleasures and conveniencies of life] Luxury or refinement on pleasure 52a–58| ~ 60–77 214.20 knowledge and refinement] luxury and knowledge 52a*58| ~ 60–77 214.23 yet it is] and yet ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 214.25 than] but 52a–70| ~ 72–77 214.28 improvements in] origin of luxury and 52a–58| ~ 60–77 214.34 much] infinitely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 214.36 a progress in the arts is] luxury and the arts are 52a–58| improvements in the arts are 60–68| ~ 70–77 214.37 has] have 52a–68| ~ 70–77 214.39 labour] the labour 52a–68| ~ 70–77 214.40 is divided] divides 52a–60| ~ 64–77 215.6 ancient] Gothic 52a*60| antient 64*77 215.7 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 215.13 peasants] poor peasants 52a–68| ~ 70–77 215.18 lower house] house of commons 52a*70| ~ 72–77 215.19 acknowledges] acknowledge 52a*68| ~ 70–77 215.21 a refinement] luxury, or a refinement 52a–58| ~ 60–77 215.28 by] from 52a–68| ~ 70–77 216.1 to wit,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 216.2 the arts and conveniencies of life,] pleasure 52a*58| ~ 60–77 216.16 that] which 52a–70| ~ 72–77 216.23 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 216.25 that] ~ 52a| which 52b–70| ~ 72–77 216.26 that] which 52a–70| ~ 72–77 216.28 its present] its 52a–72| ~ 77 216.29 a Utopian] an Utopian 52a*70| ~ 72–77 217.3 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 217.3 society.] {The following paragraph occurs at this point only in 67–68.} Prodigality is not to be confounded with a refinement in the arts. It even appears, that that vice is much less frequent in the cultivated ages. Industry and gain beget this frugality, among the lower and middle ranks of men; and in all the busy professions. Men of high rank, indeed, it may be pretended, are more allured by the pleasures, which become more frequent. But idleness is the great source of prodigality at all times; and there are pleasures and vanities in every age, which allure men equally when they are un­acquaint­ed with better enjoyments. Not to mention, that the high interest, payed in rude times, quickly consumes the fortunes of the landed gentry, and multiplies their necessities. 217.5 England] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 217.8 species of vice;] vice, 52a| species of vice, 52b*77 217.14 hurtful] pernicious 52a–70| ~ 72–77

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This essay was also published in Scots Magazine, Vol. XXIV, January, 1762, pp. 33–39; this publication is designated ‘62SM ‘ in the collation below. 218.0 ESSAY] DISCOURSE 52a–54| ~ 58–60| From Mr Hume’s Political Discourses. Discourse 62SM| ~ 64–77 218.0 Of Money.] Of Money. 52a*60| Of MONEY (The second article of the Scots affairs (54.) will show the propriety of inserting this discourse.) 62SM| Of MONEY. 64*77 218.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| it is 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 218.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 218.5 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 218.7 VII.’s] the VII.’s 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 218.8 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 218.9 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 218.11 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–60| Britain 62SM| Britain 64–72| ~ 77 218.16 army] army in Britain 52a–54| army in Britain 58–60| army in Britain 62SM| army in Britain 64–72| ~ 77 218.16 is] are 52a–68| ~ 70–77 218.17 twice] thrice 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 1.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 n. 1.5 pounds] pound 52a–64| ~ 67–77 219.6 checks the growth of trade and riches, and hinders] check the growth of trade and riches, and hinder 52a–64| ~ 67–68| check the growth of trade and riches, and hinder 70| ~ 72–77 219.8 gotten] got 52a–72| ~ 77 219.9 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 219.11 of which its merchants are possessed] which its merchants are possest of 52a–52b| of which its merchants are possess’d 54*77 219.12 on] for 52a–68| ~ 70–77 219.13 price] prices 52a| ~ 52b–77 219.13 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 219.14 much] very much 52a–68| ~ 70–77 219.20 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 219.23 doubt] great doubt 52a–68| ~ 70–77 219.28 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 219.28 which we] we 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 219.32 not] never 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 219.32 of in any payment] of 52a–52b| in any payment 54–70| ~ 72–77 219.33 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 219.37 or as] ~ 52a–67| or 68| ~ 70–77

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219.38 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 58–77. 220.14 convenience] great convenience 52a–70| ~ 72–77 220.14 great public] public 52a–70| ~ 72–77 220.15 and what part of it was used] and 52a| and what part of it was us’d 52b*77 220.16 was] were 52a–68| ~ 70–77 220.18 on] of 52a| ~ 52b–77 220.19 thoughts] thought 52a| ~ 52b–77 220.20 politicians.] politicians. For to these only I all along address myself. ’Tis enough that I submit to the ridicule sometimes, in this age, attach’d to the character of a philosopher, without adding to it that which belongs to a projector. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 220.21 1. It was] I. ’Twas 52a–54| It was 58–60| I. It was 62SM| It was 64–77 220.23 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 220.26 required] then requir’d 52a| requir’d 52b*77 220.28 any] no 52a–68| ~ 70–77 220.28 an] any 52a–68| ~ 70–77 220.31 quantity] plenty 52a| ~ 52b–77 220.32 inconvenient] inconvenient and troublesome 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 220.32 trouble both] care 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 220.33 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 221.14 circulates through the whole state, and makes] circulate thro’ the whole state, and make 52a–68| ~ 70–77 221.15 effect] effects 52a–68| ~ 70–77 221.16 the price rises,] it raises the price 52a| ~ 52b–77 221.17 reaches] rises to 52a| ~ 52b–77 221.18 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 221.19 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–60| betwixt 62SM| ~ 64–77 221.23 advantage] the best advantage 52a–70| ~ 72–77 221.35 more] of more 52a–54| ~ 58–60| of more 62SM| ~ 64–77 221.37 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 222.2 instances] reasons 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 222.4 of the] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 222.5 XIV] the XIV 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 4.1 du] de 52a| du 52b–77 n. 4.4 of the] the 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 4.6 which can be given, for a gradual and universal encrease of the de­nom­in­ ation of money] for a gradual and universal augmentation of the money, which can be given 52a| which can be given, for a gradual and universal augmentation of the money 52b–72| ~ 77 n. 4.8 written] wrote 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 4.12 great] greater 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 4.13 it would] ‘twou’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77

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n. 4.15 And as a recoinage . . . old standard.] This sentence occurs only in 52aEr–77. n. 4.16 it may be] ’tis 52aEr–58| ~ 60| it is 62SM| ~ 64–77 222.11 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 222.15 alive a spirit of industry] a spirit of industry alive 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 222.16 in which] wherein 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 222.17 weaker] much weaker 52a–68| ~ 70–77 222.18 which] who 52a–62SM| ~ 64–77 222.20 one] the one 52a–68| ~ 70–77 222.21 price] prices 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.5 which I] I 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 223.12 small] very small 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.12 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 223.13 little] very little 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.15 between] betwixt 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.20 the scarcity] their scarcity 52a| ~ 52b–77 223.25 lesser] ~ 52a| less 52b–58| ~ 60| less 62SM| ~ 64–77 223.26 the pieces might] they wou’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 223.27 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 223.27 the gold or silver] them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.29 the pieces] them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 223.33 people] inhabitants 52a–70| ~ 72–77 223.34 is too] is 52a| ~ 52b–77 224.2 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–60| betwixt 62SM| ~ 64–77 224.3 either] either of these 52a–72| ~ 77 224.4 lowering] diminishing 52a| ~ 52b–77 224.4 price] prices 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.7 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 224.8 and that] and 52a| ~ 52b–77 224.8 on that] ~ 52a–62SM| in that 64–68| ~ 70–77 224.10 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 224.12 magazines and granaries] granaries 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.14 price] prices 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 224.15 reserve for seed and] reserve 52a–70| ~ 72–77 224.16 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 224.20 content] contented 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.20 produce] productions 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.21 improvements] preparations, 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.22 at] or at 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.27 content] contented 52a–68| ~ 70–77 224.28 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 224.30 few materials] materials 52a| ~ 52b–77 224.33 content] contented 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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225.5 encrease not] does not encrease 52a–52b| does not increase 54–68| does not encrease 70–72| ~ 77 225.7 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 225.7 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–60| betwixt 62SM| ~ 64–77 225.8 circulating money] money, that circulates 52a| ~ 52b–77 225.8 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 225.16 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 225.18 lessened] diminish’d 52a| lessen’d 52b*77 225.21 alteration] change 52a| ~ 52b–77 225.22 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 225.24 not much more than] no more than 52a–54| not 58–60| no more than 62SM| ~ 64–77 225.28 six] seven 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 225.28 third] tenth part 52a–52b| third part 54–72| ~ 77 225.29 ten] five 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 225.32 which is derived] deriv’d 52a*70| ~ 72–77 225.36 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60| betwixt 62SM| ~ 64–77 225.39 refined] the refin’d 52a*62SM| ~ 64–77 226.3 While] When 52a*68| ~ 70–77 226.3 necessaries] necessities 52a–54| ~ 58–60| necessities 62SM| ~ 64–77 226.4 from] from their 52a| ~ 52b–77 226.6 take] take his 52a–68| ~ 70–77 226.10 it is] ’tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 226.11 throughout] thro’ 52a–60| through 62SM–72| ~ 77 226.12 is] is also 52a–68| ~ 70–77 226.23 It is] ’Tis 52a–60| ~ 62SM| ’Tis 64–68| ~ 70–77 226.36 establishment] list, 52a–52b| list 54–72| ~ 77 226.37 price for a meal at] club in 52a–62SM| club at 64–68| ~ 70–77 227.2 ambassador] ambassadors 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 227.7 namely,] viz.52a–68| ~ 70–77 227.9 here been] been here 52a–68| ~ 70–77 227.10 In the following . . . of the people.] This paragraph (¶ 22) does not occur in 62SM. 227.10 Essay] discourse 52a–54| ~ 58–77 4. Of Interest Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 228.0 ESSAY] DISCOURSE 52a–54| ~ 58–77 228.3 Lowness] The lowness 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.4 plenty] the plenty 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.9 more] much more 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.21 in] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.21 multiplying of] multiplying 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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228.27 suitably] suitable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.29 near] about 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.30 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 228.32 half] ~ 52a–64| a half 67–68| ~ 70–77 229.1 chiefly] merely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 229.1 value,] value, arising from the agreement and convention of men, 52a–68| ~ 70–77 229.2 and the quantity of specie,] and 52a| ~ 52b–77 229.3 ever so large] in never so great abundance, it 52a| never so large 52b–68| ~ 70–77 229.6 borrow] borrows 52a–72| ~ 77 229.9 chiefly] merely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 229.13 always receive] receive always 52a–70| ~ 72–77 229.15 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 229.26 points;] points as fully and distinctly as possible, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 229.28 a] ~ 52a–64| the 67–68 ~ 70–77 229.28 savage state] state of barbarity 52a| ~ 52b–77 229.35 in which] wherein 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 229.38 produce] product 52a–68| ~ 70–77 229.39 spending of] spending 52a–70| ~ 72–77 230.2 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 230.2 among] amongst 52a–68| ~ 70–77 230.5 must] ~ 52a–58| may 60| ~ 64–77 230.9 so] as 52a–54| ~ 58–77 230.12 price] prices 52a–68| ~ 70–77 230.13 borrowing.] {The following note occurs only in 52a*60.} I have been inform’d by a very eminent lawyer and a man of great knowledge and observation, that it appears from antient papers and records, that, about four centuries ago, money, in Scotland, and probably in other parts of {of 52a| in 52b–54| of 58–60} Europe, was only at five per cent. and afterwards rose to ten before the discovery of the West Indies. This fact is curious; but might easily be reconciled to the foregoing reasoning. Men, in that age, liv’d so much at home, and in so very simple and frugal a manner, that they had no occasion for money; and tho’ the lenders were then few, the borrowers were still fewer. The high rate of interest among the early Romans is accounted for by historians from the frequent losses sustain’d by the inroads of the enemy. 230.14 which we] we 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 230.15 namely,] viz. 52a–68| to wit, 70| ~ 72–77 230.15 the] this 52a–68| ~ 70–77 230.16 way] ways 52a–70| ~ 72–77 230.18 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 230.19 the precious] ~ 52a–58| precious 60| ~ 64–77

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230.19 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 230.26 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 230.28 yet] and yet 52a–72| ~ 77 230.29 in] on 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.4 between] betwixt 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.5 between] betwixt 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.5 artisans] artizan 52a*58| ~ 60–77 231.6 easily] readily 52a–54| really 58| ~ 60–77 231.9 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.12 one of the most useful races of men] the most useful race of men in the whole society 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.12 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 231.20 use] uses 52a| ~ 52b–77 231.23 intercourse] mutual intercourse 52a–58| ~ 60–77 231.25 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 231.30 together with the] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 231.33 small] very small 52a–72| ~ 77 231.39 follow him] follow 52a–70| ~ 72–77 232.2 lucrative] profitable 52a–72| ~ 77 232.11 remove] remove them from 52a| ~ 52b–77 232.11 for] of 52a–54| ~ 58–77 232.12 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 232.16 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 232.30 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 232.34 that particular quantity] the quantity 52a–54| ~ 58–77 232.36 necessary] necessary and infallible 52a–54| ~ 58–77 232.37 lowness] a lowness 52a–72| ~ 77 232.40 lowness] a lowness 52a–72| ~ 77 233.7 leave] have 52a–72| ~ 77 233.8 proportion] deal 52a–68| ~ 70–77 233.8 naturally seeks] ~ 52a–64| will seek 67–68| ~ 70–77 233.9 the] their 52a| ~ 52aEr–77 233.10 stock employed] stocks 52a–70| ~ 72–77 233.11 profits] profit 52a–60| ~ 64–77 233.12 extensive] very extensive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 233.13 large] very large 52a–68| ~ 70–77 233.18 to wit,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 233.18 interest] interest 52a*54| interests 58–64| ~ 67–77 233.23 profits] profit 52a–60| ~ 64–77 233.23 its] the 52a–70| ~ 72–77 233.26 encrease] encrease of commerce 52a*70| ~ 72–77 233.26 encouraging] encreasing 52a*54| ~ 58–77 233.28 barometer] true barometer 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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233.29 condition of] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 233.32 to] ~ 52a–52b| of 54| ~ 58–77 233.39 commonly acquires] does commonly acquire 52a–72| ~ 77 233.40 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 234.5 both these] these 52a| ~ 52b–77 234.6 naturally] do both naturally 52a| ~ 52b–77 234.10 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.11 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.12 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 234.14 in] on 52a–72| ~ 77 234.15 among] amongst 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.16 suffice] serve 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.20 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.23 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.25 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 234.27 between] betwixt 52a–64| ~ 67–77 234.35 money,] riches 52a| money 52b*77 234.36 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 235.7 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 235.20 felt] ~ 52a–64| be felt 67–68| ~ 70–77 235.21 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 235.29 to wit,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 235.33 otherwise] otherways 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 236.2 from that] from the 52a–70| ~ 72–77 236.14 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 236.17 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 5. Of the Balance of Trade Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 237.0 ESSAY] DISCOURSE 52a–54| ~ 58–77 237.1 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 237.1 in] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 237.2 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 237.3 do not consider] consider not 52a–70| ~ 72–77 237.4 intention] intentions 52a| ~ 52b–77 237.7 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 237.9 deemed] esteem’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 237.11 informers] ~ 52a–58| reformers 60–64| ~ 67–77 237.12 There are proofs in many old acts of parliament of] I have been told, that many old acts of parliament show 52a–58| There are proofs in many old acts of the Scotch parliament 60| ~ 64–77 237.13 commerce, particularly in the reign of Edward III] commerce 52a–60| ~ 64–77

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237.14 France] A neighbouring kingdom 52a–58| ~ 60–77 237.16 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 237.18 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 237.23 in] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 237.25 groundless] very groundless 52a–68| ~ 70–77 237.26 should] wou’d 52a*58| ~ 60–77 237.30 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 238.1 allowed] own’d 52a*60| ~ 64–77 238.3 proportions] ~ 52a–64| proportion 67–68| ~ 70–77 238.11 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 238.11 war;] war; and 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.11 is it] ’tis 52a–54| it is 58–68| ~ 70–77 238.12 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 238.13 author so quick in discerning the mistakes and absurdities of others] author, who has more humour than knowledge, more taste than judgment, and more spleen, prejudice, and passion than any of these qualities 52a–52b| author so quick in discerning the mistakes or absurdities of others 54–60| ~ 64–77 238.15 formerly amounted] amounted 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.16 the Irish] they 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.17 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.17 from which they could compensate themselves] to compensate themselves from 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 238.18 than] but 52a–70| ~ 72–77 238.20 owned to be] own’d 52a*60| ~ 64–77 238.23 30 ] near 30 52a–60| ~ 64–77 238.25 with] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 238.30 that] which 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.30 this] that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 238.32 four-fifths] four parts 52a| four fifths 52b–68| ~70–77 238.32 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 238.33 with regard to specie] in this particular 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 239.4 of] in 52a–60| ~ 64–77 239.4 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 239.5 fivefold] four–fold 52a| five–fold 52b*77 239.8 comparatively so cheap] so cheap in comparison 52a–70| ~ 72–77 239.9 flow] wou’d flow 52a*54| ~ 58–77 239.12 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 239.14 all] ~ 52a–58| all the 60–70| ~ 72–77 239.15 proportionable] proportion’d 52a–54| ~ 58–77 239.19 meet] meets 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 2.4 money which becomes] money 52a–54| ~ 58–77 n. 2.5 but a little higher] higher 52a–72| ~ 77

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239.23 kept] preserv’d 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 239.25 which they] they 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 240.3 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 240.8 surpasses perhaps] much surpasses 52a–58| ~ 60–77 240.10 which we] we 52a–52b| ~ 58–77 240.11 soon] very soon 52a–68| ~ 70–77 240.15 not have] have no 52a–70| ~ 72–77 240.15 in order to] to 52a–70| ~ 72–77 240.21 which are] that is 52a| which is 52b–70| ~ 72–77 240.23 to a] a 52a–68| ~ 70–77 240.28 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 240.31 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 240.33 reasonably be] be reasonably 52a–70| ~ 72–77 240.34 It was] ’Twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 241.1 the other] t’other 52a–54| ~ 58–77 241.6 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 241.9 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 241.10 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 241.13 commodities] labour 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 4.10 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 n. 4.10 places] ~ 52a–54| place 58–72| ~ 77 241.16 reasonable] very reasonable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 241.21 worse] much worse 52a–68| ~ 70–77 241.22 who] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 241.24 home-brewed] home-brewn 52a–54| ~ 58–77 241.28 produce] product 52a–60| ~ 64–77 241.29 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 241.29 that we should thereby get] we have thereby got 52a–52b| that we have thereby got 54–68| ~ 70–77 242.2 which are lately] lately 52a–58| already 60–70| ~ 72–77 242.6 those wines] wines 52a| ~ 52aEr–77 242.6 other] those other 52a| ~ 52aEr–77 242.9 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 242.13 indeed] ~ 52a–68| indeed no 70| ~ 72–77 242.17 scarcely] scarce 52a*68| ~ 70–77 242.18 which are so much practiced in this kingdom] with which we are in this kingdom so much infatuated 52a–60| which are so much practised in this kingdom 64–77 242.20 throughout] thro’ 52a–67| through 68–72| ~ 77 242.28 It is] ’Tis 52a–67| ~ 68–77 n. 5 Note 5 occurs only in 52b–77. n. 5.1 Essay] discourse 52b–54| ~ 58–77

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n. 5.2 between] betwixt 52b–58| ~ 60–77 n. 5.3 it is] ’tis 52b–67| ~ 68–77 242.32 that there] there 52a–54| ~ 58–77 242.32 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 242.34 suppose] suppose, that 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 242.34 to be] is 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 242.35 to be able] able 52a–68| ~ 70–77 243.7 present] wise 52a–60| ~ 64–77 243.7 are as] ~ 52a–58| are 60–64| ~ 67–77 243.10 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 243.15 provisions] ~ 52a–64| provision 67–68| ~ 70–77 243.16 cheaper] much cheaper 52a–68| ~ 70–77 243.16 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 243.17 advantages . . . are] advantage . . . is 52a–58| ~ 60–77 243.21 foreseeing] wisely foreseeing 52a–68| ~ 70–77 243.21 consequence] consequences 52a–58| ~ 60–77 243.24 Our tax . . . somewhat impolitic.] This sentence is positioned as a note in 52a. 243.24 somewhat impolitic] impolitic 52a| ~ 52b–70| somewhat unpolitic 72| ~ 77 243.27 inconveniency] of the inconveniences 52a–58| ~ 60–77 243.30 thing] things 52a–54| ~ 58–77 243.37 It must, however, . . . third of that sum.] These two paragraphs (¶¶ 26–27) occur only in 64*77. 244.10 it has to issue its] they have to issue their 64–68| ~ 70–77 244.13 thought] found very 64–70| ~ 72–77 244.16 a thousand] five thousand 64–72| ~ 77 244.26 borrow] borrows 64–70| ~ 72–77 244.26 a thousand] five thousand 64–72| ~ 77 244.39 tradesmen’s] tradesmen, 64–70| ~ 72–77 245.3 six or seven] ten 64–70| ~ 72–77 245.4 transactions.] transactions. In Newcastle and Bristol, as well as other trading places, the merchants have since instituted banks of a like nature, in imitation of those in Glasgow. 64–68| ~ 70–77 245.6 that, besides giving too great facility to credit, which is dangerous,] that 64–72| ~ 77 245.13 third] fifth 64–70| ~ 72–77 245.14 projects] darling projects 52a–60| ~ 64–77 245.14 are] are pernicious, being 52a–60| ~ 64–77 245.16 it] its level 52a–70| ~ 72–77 245.16 which we should] we wou’d 52a–52b| which we would 54–58| ~ 60–77 245.17 namely,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 245.17 of large] large 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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245.21 annihilating] the annihilating 52a–68| ~ 70–77 245.28 will] wou’d 52a*60| ~ 64–77 245.30 in] on 52a–60| ~ 64–77 245.31 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 245.37 VII] the VII 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 245.37 2,700,000] 1,700,000 52a–68| ~ 70–77 245.39 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 245.40 this] that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.1 difficulty in conceiving] difficulty 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.2 absolute] arbitrary 52a–60| ~ 64–77 246.6 with] with all 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.8 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 246.9 not much inferior to] greater than 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.9 Harry] Harry the 52a–52b| Harry 54*77 246.9 Harry VII.] {A note that was eliminated in 77—and for this reason omitted in the critical text—occurred at this point in 52a*72:} There were about eight ounces of silver in a pound Sterling in Harry VII.’s time. {In this note ‘Harry VII.’ appears as ‘Harry the VII.s’ in 52a–52b.} 246.21 have gone] go 52a–70| ~ 72–77 246.26 VII] the VII 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 246.28 larger] much larger 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.35 what] of what 52a–68| ~ 70–77 246.36 travels in] travels into 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 14.3 other.] other; if they be so poor. 52a| ~ 52b–77 247.7 less, because] more, that 52a–52b| less, that 54–60| ~ 64–77 247.8 that the] the 52a–70| ~ 72–77 247.8 also] ~ 52a–64| all so 67–68| ~ 70–77 247.21 it would] ‘twou’d 52a*54| ~ 58–77 247.27 using of] using 52a–68| ~ 70–77 247.35 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 248.1 that imposts] imposts 52a–68| ~ 70–77 248.14 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 248.17 will hold] hold 52a–54| ~ 58–77 248.19 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 248.27 or] nor 52a–58| ~ 60–77 248.29 Europe] all Europe 52a*70| ~ 72–77 248.33 For above a thousand years, . . . territory in all Italy.] This sentence occurs only in 54–77. 248.33 years] years past 54| ~ 58–77 248.36 territory] ~ 54–60| territories 64–68| ~ 70–77 248.39 this] that 52a–52b| ~ 54–77

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6. Of the Jealousy of Trade Editions: 58 (as an insert), 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 This essay was added to ETSS in the 1760 edition. It was also printed and inserted into some pre-existing copies of the 1758 edition. In copies in which the insert appears, it is inserted in at least four different places. Typesetting of the inserts for 58 is entirely different from that of the 60 edition. There are no formal or substantive variants. The following note, placed as a note to the essay number on the first page (printed as p. 187), occurs only in the copies of the 58 edition with the essay ‘Of the Jealousy of Trade’ inserted: ‘To be placed after the Essay on the Balance of Trade, Page 186.’ The essay was coupled with ‘Of the Coalition of Parties’, each prepared as an insert for the 1758 edition. 250.4 or] nor 58–70| ~ 72–77 250.7 scarcely] scarce 58–68| ~ 70–77 250.9 produce of my industry, and afford me the produce] product of my industry, and afford me the product 58–60| ~ 64–77 250.11 needs] need 58–70| ~ 72–77 250.20 country] nation 58–60| ~ 64–77 250.20 import] import it 58–60| ~ 64–77 250.23 manufacture] ~ 58–70| manufactory 72| ~ 77 250.24 is in] is to 58–68| ~ 70–77 250.24 our neighbours in that manufacture be a loss to us] their neighbours in that manufacture be a loss to them 58–72| ~ 77 250.26 this] that 58–68| ~ 70–77 250.28 manufacture] manufactory 58–72| ~ 77 250.33 them in the market, the demand for their] us in the market, the demand for our 58–72| ~ 77 250.34 And] And even 58–68| ~ 70–77 250.36 manufacturers] ~ 58–64| manufactures 67–70| ~ 72–77 251.3 manufacture] manufactory 58–60| ~ 64–77 251.6 branch] species 58–60| ~ 64–77 251.7 that] which 58*70| ~ 72–77 251.8 the Dutch, who] Holland, which 58*70| the Dutch, who 72*77 251.9 number of native commodities] native commodity 58–68| extent of commodity 70| ~ 72–77 251.9 flourish] ~ 58–60| flourishes 64–70| ~ 72–77 251.10 their being] being 58–70| ~ 72–77 251.16 warded off] warded 58–60| ~ 64–77 251.17 stocks] stock 58–60| ~ 64–77 251.34 those] these 58–70| ~ 72–77

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants 7. Of the Balance of Power Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77

252.0 ESSAY 7] DISCOURSE VI. 52a–54| ESSAY VI. 58| ESSAY VII. 60–77 252.2 later] latter 52a–70| ~ 72–77 252.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 252.8 notion] notions 52a–70| ~ 72–77 252.9 all the] the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 252.9 balance of power] balance 52a–54| ~ 58–77 252.10 apparent] most apparent 52a–68| ~ 70–77 252.15 always threw themselves] threw themselves always 52a–70| ~ 72–77 252.21 that] ~ 52a| which 52b–68| ~ 70–77 252.24 throughout] thro’ 52a–67| through 68–72| ~ 77 252.27 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 252.28 of politics] ~ 52a–67| politics 68| ~ 70–77 253.3 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 253.4 have been] be 52a–70| ~ 72–77 253.6 of sides] sides 52a–68| ~ 70–77 253.23 great] an infinite 52a–68| a great 70| ~ 72–77 253.25 partitions] ~ 52a–72| partition 77 253.27 a universal] an universal 52a–70| ~ 72–77 253.28 subsequent] after 52a–72| ~ 77 253.35 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 254.1 Grecian] Greek 52a–52b| Grecian 54| ~ 58–77 254.1 more] the most 52a–72| ~ 77 254.4 have been] be 52a–70| ~ 72–77 254.7 Italic wars] {The following note occurs only in 52a*52b.} There have strong suspicions, of late, arisen amongst critics, and, in my opinion, not without reason, concerning the first ages of the Roman history; as if they were almost entirely fabulous, ‘till after the sacking of the city by the Gauls; and were even doubtful for some time afterwards, ‘till the Greeks began to give attention to Roman affairs, and commit them to writing. This scepticism, however, seems to me scarcely defensible in its full extent, with regard to the domestic history of Rome, which has some air of truth and probability, and cou’d scarce be the invention of an historian, who had so little ­morals or judgment as to indulge himself in fiction and romance. The revolutions seem so well proportion’d to their causes: The progress of the factions is so conformable to political experience: The manners and maxims of the age are so uniform and natural, that scarce any real history affords more just reflection and improvement. Is not Machiavel’s comment on Livy (a work surely of great judgment and genius) founded entirely on this period, which is represented as fabulous. I wou’d willingly, therefore, in my private sentiments, divide the matter with these critics; and allow, that the battles and victories and triumphs of those ages had been extremely falsify’d by

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family memoirs, as Cicero says they were: But as in the accounts of domestic factions, there were two opposite relations transmitted to posterity, this both serv’d as a check upon fiction, and enabled latter historians to gather some truth from comparison and reasoning. Half of the slaughter, which Livy commits on the Æqui and the Volsci, wou’d depopulate France and Germany; and that historian, tho’ perhaps he may justly be charg’d as superficial, is at last shock’d himself with the incredibility of his narration. The same love of exaggeration seems to have magnify’d the numbers of the Romans in their armies, and census. 254.8 remarkable] very remarkable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 7.1 the general] a general 52a–60| ~ 64–77 254.11 yet] and yet 52a–72| ~ 77 254.21 generally] familiarly 52a–70| ~ 72–77 254.22 remarked] ever remark’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 254.22 these] those 52a| ~ 52b–77 254.24 statesmen, in all ages, may, before-hand, be blinded in their reasonings with regard to events] statesmen may, in all ages, be blinded in their reasonings with regard to events, before hand 52a*70| ~ 72–77 254.25 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 254.28 gratifying] satisfying 52a–68| ~ 70–77 254.31 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 254.35 the ally] ally 52a–54| ~ 58–77 255.11 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 255.16 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 255.17 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 255.20 for] from 52a–68| ~ 70–77 255.33 was so long, and still is] were so long, and still are 52a–70| ~ 72–77 255.34 infatuated.] {The following paragraph, and its two notes, occur only in 52a*68.} Europe has now, for above a century, remain’d on the defensive against the greatest force, that, ever, perhaps, was form’d by the civil or political combination of mankind. And such is the influence of the maxim here treated of, that tho’ that ambitious nation, in the five last general wars, have been victorious in four , and unsuccessful only in one , they have not much enlarg’d their dominions, nor acquir’d a total ascendant over Europe. On the contrary, {Europe. On the contrary, 52a–52b| Europe. 54*68} there remain {remain 52a–52b| remains 54–68} still some hopes of {hopes of 52a| hope of 52b| rather room to hope, that, by 54–68} maintaining the resistance so long, that {so long, that 52a–52b| some time, 54–68} that the natural revolutions of human affairs, together with unforseen events and accidents, may guard us against universal monarchy, and preserve the world from so great an evil.

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255.35 general wars, maintained against this ambitious power,] three last of these general wars, 52a–68| ~ 70–77 255.35 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 255.36 foremost] foremost in the glorious struggle 52a–68| ~ 70–77 255.36 station.] station, as guardian of the general liberties of Europe, and patron of mankind. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 255.38 blessings] inestimable blessings 52a–68| ~ 70–77 256.6 by] with 52a–70| ~ 72–77 256.10 the year] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 256.12 the year] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 256.13 1743] ~ 52a–60| 1723 64| ~ 67–68| 1723 70–72| ~ 77 256.14 the year] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 256.22 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 256.29 were] ~ 52a–64| are 67| ~ 68–77 256.30 which] who 52a–70| ~ 72–77 257.1 contest] ~ 52a–68 | contest, 70–72| ~ 77 257.1 part] party 52a–70| ~ 72–77 257.3 monarchies] monarchies, such as Europe, at present, is in danger of falling into, 52a–52b| monarchies, such as Europe at present is threaten’d with, 54*64| ~ 67–77 257.11 pleasures] pleasure 52a–60| ~ 64–77 257.12 entrusted] trusted 52a–70| ~ 72–77 257.16 elevation] elevations 52a–72| ~ 77 257.23 who] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 257.27 cause] causes 52a–54| ~ 58–77 8. Of Taxes Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 258.0 ESSAY 8] DISCOURSE VII. 52a–54| ESSAY VII. 58| ESSAY VIII. 60–77 258.1 prevailing maxim, among some reasoners,] maxim, that prevails amongst those, whom, in this country, we call ways and means men, and who are dominated Financiers and Maltotiers in France; 52a*54| maxim, that prevails among those, whom, in this country we call ways and means men, and who are dominated Financiers and Maltotiers in France; 58–68| ~ 70–77 258.2 subject] subjects 52a| ~ 52b–77 258.4 abused] extremely abus’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 258.4 as] that 52a–60| ~ 64–77 258.7 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 258.8 either that] that either 52a–68| ~ 70–77 258.11 often] very often 52a–68| ~ 70–77 258.11 namely,] viz. 52a–70| ~ 72–77 258.14 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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258.17 commercial] trading 52a| ~ 52b–77 258.22 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 258.24 necessity] ~ 52a–52b| necessity which 54| ~ 58–77 258.26 late] very late 52a–68| ~ 70–77 258.28 riches] immense riches 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 1 epist. 9] ep. 11 52a–54| Ep. 11 58| ep. 11 60–77 259.7 we may observe] I am sure 52a–54| ~ 58–77 259.9 striking] very striking 52a–68| ~ 70–77 259.21 industry.] {The following two additional paragraphs occur at this point only in 52a*68.} ’Tis always observ’d, in years of scarcity, if it be not extreme, that the poor labour more, and really live better, than in years of great plenty, when they indulge themselves in idleness and riot. I have been told, by a considerable manufacturer, that in the year 1740, when bread and provisions of all kinds were very dear, his workmen not only made a shift to live, but paid debts, which they had contracted in former years, that were much more favourable and abundant.   This doctrine, therefore, with regard to taxes, may be admitted in some degree: But beware of the abuse. Taxes, like necessity, when carry’d too far, {Taxes, like necessity, when carry’d too far, 52a| Exorbitant taxes, like extreme necessity, 52b–68} destroy industry, by engendring {engendring 52a*54| producing 58–68} despair; and even before they reach this pitch, they raise the wages of the labourer and manufacturer, and heighten the price of all commodities. An attentive, disinterested legislature will observe the point, when the emolument ceases, and the prejudice begins: But as the contrary character is much more common, ’tis to be fear’d, that taxes, all over Europe, are multiplying to such a degree, as will entirely crush all art and industry; tho’, perhaps, their first increase, along {along 52a–54| together 58–68} with other circumstances, might contribute {contribute 52a–52b| have contributed 54–68} to the growth of these advantages. 259.22 such as] those which 52a–58| ~ 60–77 259.23 least] less 52a–70| ~ 72–77 259.23 seem] seem to be 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 259.25 insensibly: They naturally produce sobriety and frugality, if judiciously imposed:] insensibly: 52a–68| ~ 70–77 259.33 the arbitrary] those which are arbitrary 52a–68| ~ 70–77 259.36 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 259.36 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 260.16 It is an opinion . . . foreign markets.] There is a prevailing opinion, that all taxes, however levy’d, fall upon the land at last. Such an opinion may be useful in Britain, by checking the landed gentlemen, in whose hands our legislature is lodg’d, and making them preserve great regard for trade and industry. But I must confess, that this principle, tho’ first advanc’d by a

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celebrated writer, has so little appearance of reason, that, were it not for his authority, it had never been receiv’d by any body. 52a*60| There is a prevailing opinion, that all taxes, however levy’d, fall upon the land at last. Such an opinion may be useful in Britain, by checking the landed gentlemen, in whose hands our legislature is chiefly lodg’d, and making them preserve great regard for trade and industry. But I must confess, that this principle, tho’ first advanc’d by a celebrated writer, has so little appearance of reason, that, were it not for his authority, it had never been receiv’d by any body. 64*68| It is an opinion, zealously promoted by some political writers, that since all taxes, as they pretend, fall ultimately upon land, it were better to lay them originally there, and abolish every duty upon consumptions. But it is denied, that all taxes fall ultimately upon land. If a duty be laid upon any commodity, consumed by the labourer, he has two obvious expedients for paying it; he may retrench somewhat of his expence, or he may encrease his labour. Both these resources are more easy and natural, than that of heightening his wages. We see, that, in years of scarcity, the weaver either consumes less or labours more, or employs both these expedients of frugality and industry, by which he is enabled to reach to the end of the year. It is but just, that he should subject himself to the same hardships, if they deserve the name, for the sake of the public, which gives him protection. By what contrivance can he raise the price of his labour? The manufacturers, who employ him, will not give him more: Neither can he, because the merchant, who exports the cloth, cannot raise its price, being limited by the price, which it yields in foreign markets. 70| ~ 72–77 260.32 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 260.32 of laying] laying 52a–68| ~ 70–77 261.1 him. They must be . . . price of his labour.] him. 52a–64| No labour in any commodities, that are exported, can be very considerably raised in the price, without losing the foreign market; and as some part of every manufactory is exported, this circumstance keeps the price of most species of labour nearly the same after the imposition of taxes. I may add, that it has this effect upon the whole: For were any kind of labour paid beyond its proportion, all hands would flock to it, and would soon sink it to a level with the rest. 67–68| They must be very heavy taxes, indeed, and very injudiciously levied, which the labourer will not, of himself, be enabled to pay, by superior industry and frugality, without raising the price of his labour. 70| ~ 72–77 261.7 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 261.13 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 261.20 a general] ~ 52a–54| general 58–72| ~ 77 9. Of Public Credit Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 262.0 ESSAY 9] DISCOURSE VIII. 52a–54| ESSAY VIII. 58| ESSAY IX. 60–77

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262.2 during] in time of 52a–60| in times of 64–70| ~ 72–77 262.4 impositions] imposts 52a–68| ~ 70–77 262.8 take notice of] specify 52a–68| ~ 70–77 262.13 of Gaul] in Gaul 52a–54| of Gaul 58–77 n. 1.1 Essay] Discourse 52a*54| ~ 58–77 262.19 posterity] posterity, during peace, 52a–68| ~ 70–77 262.20 by their ancestors] during the preceding war 52a*68| ~ 70–77 262.24 all controversy] the evidence of a hundred demonstrations 52a–58| the evidence of an hundred demonstrations 60–68| ~ 70–77 262.26 more] much more 52a–68| ~ 70–77 262.27 instance] ~ 52a–64| one instance 67–68| ~ 70–77 263.1 different] very different 52a–68| ~ 70–77 263.1 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 263.2 different] such different 52a–68| ~ 70–77 263.7 agreeably] suitable 52a–60| agreeable 64–68| ~ 70–77 263.9 renders unavoidable] reduces us to 52a–68| ~ 70–77 263.13 it neglect military discipline, in confidence of its] them neglect military discipline, in confidence of their 52a| ~ 52b–77 263.18 devastation] plunder 52a–60| ~ 64–77 263.22 It is very tempting . . . upon posterity.] This paragraph (¶ 5) occurs only in 70–77. 263.34 Reasonings] Discourses 52a–68| ~ 70–77 263.35 among] ~ 52a| amongst 52b–54| ~ 58–77 263.37 us.] us. And these puzzling arguments, (for they deserve not the name of specious) tho’ they cou’d not be the foundation of lord Orford’s conduct; for he had more sense; serv’d at least to keep his partizans in countenance, and perplex the understanding of the nation. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 263.40 effect] effects 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 263.40 negociations.] {Two additional paragraphs, with a note, appear at this point only in 52a*68.}   There is a word, which is here in the mouth of every body, and which, I find, has also got abroad, and is much employ’d by foreign writers, in imitation of the English; and that {that 52a–58| this 60–68} is circulation. This word serves as an account of every thing; and tho’ I confess, that I have sought for its meaning in the present subject, ever since I was a school-boy, I have never yet been able to discover it. What possible advantage is there which the nation can reap by the easy transference of stock from hand to hand? Or is there any parallel to be drawn from the circulation of other commodities, to that of chequer notes, and India bonds? Where a manufacturer has a quick sale of his goods to the merchant, the merchant to the shop-keeper, the shop-keeper to his customers; this enlivens industry, and gives new encouragement to the first dealer or the manufacturer and all his tradesmen, and makes them produce more and better commodities of

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the same species. A stagnation is here pernicious, wherever it happens; because it operates backwards, and stops or benumbs the industrious hand in its production of what is useful to human life. But what production we owe to Change-alley, or even what consumption, except that of coffee, and pen, ink and paper, I have not yet learn’d; nor can one foresee the loss or decay of any one beneficial commerce or commodity, tho’ that place and all its inhabitants were for ever bury’d in the ocean.   But tho’ this term, circulation, {term, circulation, 52a| term 52b–68} has never been explain’d by those, who insist so much on the advantages that result from it, {it, 52a| a circulation, 52b–68} there seems, however, to be some benefit of a similar kind, arising from our incumbrances: As indeed, what human evil is there, which is not attended with some advantage? This we shall endeavour to explain, that we may estimate the weight we {we 52a–52b| which we 54–68} ought to allow it. 264.3 how expensive soever] however expensive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 264.3 enow] ~ 52a–52b| enough 54–68| ~ 70–77 264.8 all] to all 52a–58| ~ 60–77 264.13 besides] beside 52a–58| ~ 60–77 264.17 throughout] thro’ 52a*68| ~ 70–77 264.18 which] that 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 264.33 industry.] {The following note occurs only in 52a*64.} On this head, I shall observe, without interrupting the thread of the argument, that the multiplicity of our public debts serves rather to sink the interest, and that the more the government borrows, the cheaper may they expect to borrow; contrary to first appearance, and contrary to common opinion. The profits of trade have an influence on interest. See discourse {discourse 52a–54| Essay 58–64} IV. 264.35 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 264.37 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 264.37 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 264.38 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 264.39 levied] which are levy’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 264.40 interest] interest of those debts 52a–68| interest of these debts 70| ~ 72–77 265.5 my own] my 52a–70| ~ 72–77 265.6 large] big 52a–68| ~ 70–77 265.8 greater] ~ 52a–67| great 68| ~ 70–77 265.9 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 265.9 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 265.10 The immense greatness . . . democratical frenzy.] This passage occurs only in 70–77. 265.22 otherwise] ~ 52a| otherways 52b| ~ 54–77 265.23 be.] ~ 52a–67| be. We may also remark, that this increase of prices, derived from paper-credit, has a more durable and a more dangerous influence than

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when it arises from a great increase of gold and silver: Where an accidental overflow of money raises the price of labour and commodities, the evil remedies itself in a little time: The money soon flows out into all the neighbouring nations: The prices fall to a level: And industry may be continued as before; a relief which cannot be expected, where the circulating specie consists chiefly of paper, and has no intrinsic value. 68| ~ 70–77 265.23 interests] interest 52a| ~ 52b–77 265.24 apt either to] a check upon industry, 52a–60| apt to be a check upon industry, to 64–68| ~ 70–77 265.24 or be] and are 52a–60| and to be 64–68| ~ 70–77 265.26 great share] share 52a–68| ~ 70–77 265.29 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 265.29 the public] public 52a–72| ~ 77 265.30 funds, in that view,] funds 52a–72| ~ 77 265.31 unactive] inactive 52a–70| ~ 72–77 265.32 that] ~ 52a–52b| which 54–68| ~ 70–77 265.33 not inconsiderable] very considerable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 265.34 that] ~ 52a| which 52b–68| ~ 70–77 265.38 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 265.40 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 266.1 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 266.6 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 266.6 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 266.7 community] commonwealth 52a–70| ~ 72–77 266.7 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 266.12 agreeably] suitable 52a–60| agreeable 64–68| ~ 70–77 266.13 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 266.14 large] very large 52a–68| ~ 70–77 266.15 tedious] very tedious 52a–68| ~ 70–77 266.16 of their] their 52a–72| ~ 77 266.25 or] and 52a–58| ~ 60–77 266.27 It will] ‘Twill 52a–54| It will 58*77 266.27 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 266.29 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 266.31 the one] one 52a–72| ~ 77 266.34 Suppose the public . . . been able to invent.] These six paragraphs (¶¶ 22–27) occur only in 64*77. 266.37 utmost] outmost 64–68| ~ 70–77 267.9 with] in 64–72| ~ 77 267.10 globe] world 64–68| ~ 70–77 267.17 possessor] possessors 64–68| ~ 70–77 267.24 grievous] horrible 64–68| ~ 70–77 267.35 of] of the 64–70| ~ 72–77

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267.36 can the public now employ] is the public now to fall upon 64–68| ~ 70–77 267.37 in order to] to 64–68| ~ 70–77 268.4 these] those 64–72| ~ 77 268.5 proportional] proportionable 64–68| ~ 70–77 268.8 annuities] annuity 64–72| ~ 77 268.17 would] ~ 64| will 67–68| ~ 70–77 268.35 chief or sole] sole 64–68| ~ 70–77 269.4 a considerable] any considerable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.6 tranquillity] tranquillity, sufficient 52a*58| ~ 60–77 269.6 undertaking.] {At this point the following note occurs only in 52a–68.} In times of peace and security, when alone it is possible to pay debt, the money’d interest are averse to receive partial payments, which they know not how to dispose of to advantage; and the landed interest are averse to continue the taxes requisite for that purpose. Why therefore shou’d a minister persevere in a measure so disagreeable to all parties? For the sake, I suppose, of a posterity, which he will never see, or of a few reasonable, reflecting people, whose united interest, perhaps, will not be able to secure him the smallest borough in England. ’Tis not likely we shall ever find any minister so bad a politician. With regard to these narrow, destructive ­maxims of politics, all ministers are expert enough. 269.16 consequences] consequence 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 269.18 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.18 that they] they 52a–70| ~ 72–77 269.20 countries] nations 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.27 expence] expences 52a–70| ~ 72–77 269.28 distribution] proportional distribution 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.28 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 269.28 ourselves] us 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.36 not] never 52a–72| ~ 77 269.37 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 269.38 becomes heartily sick of their debts, and is] become heartily sick of their debts and are 52a–70| ~ 72–77 270.1 France; during the regency] France; 52a*68| ~ 70–77 270.2 doctor.] {At this point the following note occurs only in 52a*68.} Some neighbouring states practice an easy expedient, by which they lighten their public debts. The French have a custom (as the Romans formerly had) of augmenting their money; and this the nation has been so much familiariz’d to, that it hurts not public credit, tho’ it really be cutting off at once, by an edict, so much of their debts. The Dutch diminish the interest without the consent of the creditors; or which is the same thing, they arbitrarily tax the funds as well as other property. Cou’d we practice either of these methods, we need never be opprest by the national debt; and ’tis not impossible but one of these, or some other method may, at all adventures, be try’d, on the

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augmentation of our encumbrances and difficulties. But people in this country are so good reasoners upon whatever regards their interest, that such a practice will deceive no body; and public credit will probably tumble at once by so dangerous a trial. 270.3 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 270.10 that] which 52a–68| ~ 70–77 270.14 hitherto been] been hitherto 52a–72| ~ 77 270.15 broken] broke 52a–68| ~ 70–77 270.23 employ them] employ it 52a| ~ 52b–77 270.33 So great . . . interest.] This paragraph (¶ 31) occurs as a note rather than text in 52a*68. 271.2 influence] ~ 52a–58| interest 60| ~ 64–77 271.2 are,] ~ 52a–70| are 72| ~ 77 271.9 we had taken a spunge to our] they had taken a spunge to their 52a–72| ~ 77 271.9 than] ~ 52a–58| as 60–64| ~ 67–68| as 70| ~ 72–77 n. 6.1 Hist. lib. 3] Tacitus, hist. lib. 3 52a*68| Hist. lib. iii 70–77 271.18 upon her] on it 52a–68| on her 70| ~ 72–77 271.19 great] very great 52a–68| ~ 70–77 271.24 thereby] ~ 52a–58| hereby 60–70| ~ 72–77 n. 7.1 all the] the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 n. 7.8 HENRY IV.] Harry the IV. 52a–52b | Harry IV. 54*60| ~ 64*77 271.29 proprietors] the proprietors 52a–70| ~ 72–77 271.29 land] lands 52a–70| ~ 72–77 272.3 enemies] enemies, or rather enemy (for we have but one to dread) 52a*68| ~ 70–77 272.6 deemed] justly esteem’d 52a–54| justly esteemed 58–68| esteemed 70–72| ~ 77 272.7 weary of] weary with 52a–70| ~ 72–77 10. Of Some Remarkable Customs Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 273.0 ESSAY 10] DISCOURSE IX. 52a–54| ESSAY IX. 58| ESSAY X. 60–77 273.3 caution] reserve 52a–70| ~ 72–77 273.7 observation] obvious observation 52a–70| ~ 72–77 273.7 it is] ’tis 52a–64| ~ 67–77 273.12 wise] way 52a–68| ~ 70–77 273.14 legislative power] legislature 52a–60| ~ 64–77 273.16 future trial or] farther trial and 52a–58| farther trial or 60–68| ~ 70–77 273.19 make] render 52a–72| ~ 77 273.20 to which they had before given their approbation] which they had before approv’d of 52a*68| ~ 70–77 273.26 in a] ~ 52a–64| by any 67–68| ~ 70–77

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274.2 Yet was he] And yet he was 52a–70| ~ 72–77 274.4 that he] he 52a–68| ~ 70–77 274.5 his] ~ 52a–52b| this 54–60| ~ 64–77 274.10 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 274.14 battle] fatal battle 52a–58| ~ 60–77 274.16 afterwards] ~ 52a–58| afterward 60| ~ 64–77 274.17 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 274.22 tumultuous] mobbish 52a–58| tumultuary 60–70| ~ 72–77 274.23 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 274.26 without] with little 52a–58| ~ 60–77 274.28 checking] the checking 52a–70| ~ 72–77 274.31 their form of] their 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 5.1 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 5.4 we] that we 52a–60| ~ 64–77 275.3 consequence] consequences 52a–60| ~ 64–77 275.5 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 275.5 justly considered themselves] consider’d themselves justly 52a*70| ~ 72–77 275.6 of perpetual] of 52a–60| ~ 64–77 275.11 a usual] an usual 52a–70| ~ 72–77 275.15 repeal] reversement 52a–58| ~ 60–77 275.17 forbidden] forbid 52a–72| ~ 77 275.18 affected] affect 52a–60| ~ 64–77 275.20 in the people of their own levity and inconstancy] of the levity and inconstancy of the people 52a–68| ~ 70–77 275.30 hitherto been] been hitherto 52a–70| ~ 72–77 276.1 into] by 52a| ~ 52b–77 276.2 in] of 52a–58| ~ 60–77 276.3 incredible] almost incredible 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.5 that] ~ 52a| which 52b–54| ~ 60–77 276.6 appeared] appear’d on the stage of the world 52a*68| ~ 70–77 276.7 priests or] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.10 in] both in 52a–60| within 64| ~ 67–77 276.11 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.11 according] accordingly 52a| ~ 52b–77 276.12 unanimous,] unanimous, (as commonly happen’d) 52a*54| ~ 58–77 276.15 equal] alike 52a–70| ~ 72–77 276.17 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 276.18 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 276.23 contest] contest or struggle 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.24 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 276.25 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 276.27 in] at 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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276.29 very] altogether 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.31 extremity] extremities 52a–68| ~ 70–77 276.33 next] then 52a–70| ~ 72–77 276.38 to their] their 52a–70| ~ 72–77 277.1 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 277.10 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 277.16 final dissolution,] last extremity, 52a–52b| final dissolution, 54*77 277.18 It was] ’Twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 277.25 to the] the 52a–60| ~ 64–77 277.26 which we purpose to remark] we propos’d to observe 52a–52b| which we proposed to observe 54–68| which we propose to remark 70–72| ~ 77 277.28 is] it is 52a–68| ~ 70–77 277.28 unexpected] remarkable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 277.28 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 277.38 Hampden’s conduct] Hampden 52a*70| ~ 72–77 278.3 where] wherein 52a| ~ 52b–77 278.4 irregular] illegal 52a–70| ~ 72–77 278.6 under deliberation] deliberated on 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 278.7 granted, under proper restrictions] under what restrictions it might be granted 52a–52b| granted, under proper restrictions, 54*77 278.21 effect] effects 52a–68| ~ 70–77 278.24 irregularity of the practice] illegality of the power 52a–70| ~ 72–77 278.32 violence is permitted in the crown] and open usurpation in the crown is permitted 52a–64| and open usurpation of the crown is permitted 67–68| usurpation in the crown is permitted 70| ~ 72–77 278.36 violence and disorder] violences and disorders, amongst the people, the most humane and best natur’d, 52a*54| violences and disorders among the people, the most humane and the best natured, 58–68| violences and disorders 70| ~ 72–77 278.38 sanction] permission 52a–54| ~ 58–77 11. Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 279.0 ESSAY 11] DISCOURSE X. 52a–54| ESSAY X. 58| ESSAY XI. 60–77 279.0 Nations] {The following note appeared at this point in 52a–68 only.} An eminent clergyman in Edinburgh, having wrote, some years ago, a discourse on the same question with this, of the populousness of antient nations, was pleas’d lately to communicate it to the author. It maintain’d the opposite side of the argument, to what is here insisted on, and contained much erudition and good reasoning. The author acknowledges to have borrow’d, with some variations, from that discourse, two computations, that with regard to the number of inhabitants in Belgium, and that with regard to those in Epirus. If this learned gentleman be prevail’d on to publish his

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dissertation, it will serve to give great light into the present question, the most curious and important of all questions of erudition. 52a–52b| An ingenious writer has honour’d this discourse with an answer full of politeness, erudition, and good sense. So learn’d a refutation would have made the author suspect, that his reasonings were entirely overthrown, had he not us’d the precaution, from the beginning, to keep himself on the sceptical side; and having taken this advantage of the ground; he was enabled, tho’ with much inferior forces, to preserve himself from a total defeat. That Reverend gentleman will always find, where his antagonist is so entrench’d, that it will be very {be very 54–60| be 64–68} difficult to force him. Varro, in such a situation, could defend himself against Hannibal, Pharnaces against Cæsar. The author, however, very willingly acknowledges, that his antagonist has detected many mistakes both in his authorities and reasonings; and it was owing entirely to that gentleman’s indulgence, that many more errors were not remark’d. In this edition, advantage has been taken of his learn’d animadversions, and the discourse {discourse 54| Essay 58–68} has been render’d less imperfect than formerly. 54*68 279.1 observation] experience 52a–68| ~ 70–77 279.2 world] universe 52a–68| ~ 70–77 279.4 deluge, or general convulsion of the elements] deluge or general convulsion of the elements 52a*64| deluge 67–68| ~ 70–77 279.7 as well as each individual form which it contains, have its infancy, youth, manhood, and old age] have its infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, as well as each individual form, which it contains 52a*60| ~ 64–77 279.8 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 279.20 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 n. 1.3 remarks on] remark of 52a| remarks of 52b–70| ~ 72–77 n. 1.3 these] those 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 1.4 prolific] fertile 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 1.5 it is] ~ 52a| ’tis 52b–68| ~ 70–77 279.28 that superior] the greater 52a–72| ~ 77 280.1 antiquity, which is commonly supposed,] antiquity, 52a–72| ~ 77 280.2 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.3 this] that 52a–72| ~ 77 280.4 importance] great importance 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.7 In] And in 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.8 much] very much 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.9 moment] importance 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.9 commits] ~ 52a–72| commit 77 280.10 ascribed to] suppos’d in 52a*58| ~ 60–77 280.24 now, on the face of the earth, the fiftieth part of mankind] now the fiftieth part of mankind on the face of the earth 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 2.1 des] ~ 52a–60| de 64–77

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280.26 comparison] comparisons 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.26 imperfect] very imperfect 52a–68| ~ 70–77 280.27 around] about 52a–68| ~ 70–72| round 77 280.37 make it] make 52a–58| ~ 60–77 280.38 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 281.2 important] very important 52a–68| ~ 70–77 281.3 their manners] manners 52a–58| ~ 60–77 281.4 the constitution of their] constitution of 52a–58| ~ 60–77 281.6 they lie] it lyes 52a| they ly 52b*77 281.7 their] mens 52a–58| ~ 60–77 281.10 generation] generation, were every one coupled as soon as he comes to the age of puberty 52a–58| ~ 60–77 281.12 no wise] no way 52a–60| nowise 64–77 281.13 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 281.16 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 3.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 281.23 corn only] only corn 52a–70| ~ 72–77 281.24 In general, warm climates, as the necessities of the inhabitants are there fewer, and vegetation more powerful, are likely to be most populous:] This passage occurs only in 70–77. 281.30 it will] ‘twill 52a–54| ~ 58–77 281.34 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 282.1 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 282.2 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 282.4 found] also found 52a–54| ~ 60–77 282.7 reduce] subject 52a–54| ~ 58–77 282.7 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 282.8 on] of 52a–54| ~ 58–77 282.15 liberty] liberty do 52a| ~ 52b–77 282.17 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 282.18 which] that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 282.18 found] left 52a| found, 52b*77 282.18 domestic slavery] ~ 52a–64| slavery 67–68| ~ 70–77 282.19 the American] our 52a| the American 52b*77 282.19 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 282.23 unbounded dominion] authority 52a–68| ~ 70–77 282.24 assigned] given 52a–68| ~ 70–77 282.28 ancient] the antient 52a–68| ~ 70–77 282.32 suitably] suitable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 282.32 inviolable] inviolate 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 282.36 in which it was likewise forbidden] where it was likeways forbid 52a–52b| where it was likewise forbid 54–70| where it was likewise forbidden 72| ~ 77 283.4 a] an 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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283.5 forced] beat 52a–54| ~ 58–77 283.10 slaves usually] slaves 52a–54| ~ 58–77 283.11 them.] them. Partem Italiæ ergastula a solitudine vindicant, says Livy. 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 283.14 their] all their 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 10.1 Onetorem. orat.] Oneterom. orat. 52a–52b| Oneterom orat. 54| Oneterem lib. 54Er| Oneterem orat. 58| Oniterem orat. 60–64| Oniteram orat. 67–68| Oniterem orat. 70–77 283.21 certain] certain and infallible 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 11.1 was very] was 52a–68| ~ 70–77 283.24 Among] Amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 283.24 times] time 52a–54| ~ 58–77 283.27 find that] find 52a–58| ~ 60–77 283.31 for them] them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 12.5 humanity] humanity, on that occasion, 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 12.8 Roman] Romans 52a| Roman 52b*77 n. 12.8 to wit] viz. 52a–72| ~ 77 284.2 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 284.3 had] has 52a| ~ 52b–77 284.8 forms his riches, and brings] and fertility form his riches and bring 52a–72| ~ 77 284.13 not in] not 52a–70| ~ 72–77 284.17 motives] ~ 52a–64| motive 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 13.3 yet] and yet 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 13.4 more] no more 52a–70| ~ 72–77 284.22 more deeply] deeper 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 284.24 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 284.28 their account better] better their account 52a–68| ~ 70–77 285.5 bred] rais’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 285.10 wanted from] needed from all 52a–67| made from all 68| ~ 70–77 285.15 without much] ~ 52a–64| without 67–68| ~ 70–77 285.16 usually] commonly 52a–68| ~ 70–77 285.17 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 14.1 often been] been often 52a–72| ~ 77 285.21 and the] the 52a–60| ~ 64–77 285.21 did not encrease] encreas’d not 52a*60| did not increase 64*77 n. 16.1 4. cap. 27] ~ 52a–52b| 24. cap. 7 54–68| xxiv. cap. 7. 70–77 n. 17.2 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 17.8 carpenter] ~ 52a–72| carpenters 77 n. 17.14 exalted] ~ 52a–64| has exalted 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 17.14 overbalanced] overbalanced 52a*64| overbalance 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 17.17 which were bred] bred 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 18.1 by] ~ 52a–64| by the 67–68| ~ 70–77

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n. 19.1 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 19.2 their] their own 52a–58| ~ 60–77 n. 19.4 I shall add . . . from a freeman.] These two sentences occur only in 77. n. 20.1 We may remark, . . . rear slaves there.] This sentence occurs only in 52b–77. 286.5 this] that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 286.8 countries] nations 52a–72| ~ 77 286.10 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 286.12 having] after having 52a–72| ~ 77 286.12 forbad] forbid 52a–68| forbade 70–72| ~ 77 286.14 the slaves] slaves 52a–70| ~ 72–77 286.16 too insinuates, that the slaves of the Greeks were generally or very commonly] also says, that all the Greek slaves were 52a–52b| too insinuates, that the slaves of the Greeks were generally or very commonly 54*77 287.1 Aristotle in his Politics . . . imitation of nature.] These three sentences and their two notes occur only in 58–77. 287.5 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 287.8 an] a very 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 26 Contra Aphob.] In Aphobum 52a–54| In Amphobum 58–68| In Aphobum 70| In Amphobum 72–77 { The title and name were correctly presented in the copy-text in n. 102 (as below, at p. 303 entries): ‘Contra Aphob. . . . ex edit. Aldi’. The text is here made consistent (by the editors) with n. 102; see similarly notes 153, 160.} 287.9 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 287.10 Among] Amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 287.10 namely,] viz. 52a–72| ~ 77 287.12 practice] custom 52a–72| ~ 77 287.14 much depended] depended very much 52a–68| ~ 70–77 287.15 house-maids] chamber-maids 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 287.15 who] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 287.16 conclusive] decisive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 287.18 whom] which 52a| ~ 52b–77 287.24 prohibited] forbid 52a–58| forbad 60–68| forbade 70–72| ~ 77 287.30 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 29.4 Digest. lib. 21.] Digest. lib. 2. 52a–68| Digest. lib. ii 70–77 n. 29.9 had] has 52a–72| ~ 77 288.1 house-maids] chamber-maids 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 288.1 their] the 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 288.2 besides] beside 52a–54| ~ 58–77 288.3 almost all] all 52a–68| ~ 70–77 288.3 performed, and even manufactures executed,] perform’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 288.7 as] as well as 52a–68| ~ 70–77 288.13 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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288.17 inconvenient] very inconvenient 52a–68| ~ 70–77 288.18 where the ancient] the antient 52a–60| where the antient 64| where 67–68| ~ 70–77 288.22 the female] female 52a| ~ 52b–77 288.22 suppose that] suppose 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 288.23 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 288.24 race] breed 52a–68| ~ 70–77 289.1 The same author . . . had been superfluous.] This paragraph (¶ 27) and its note occur only in 54*77. 289.2 besides] beside 54| ~ 58–77 289.8 slaves] the slaves 52a–68| ~ 70–77 289.9 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 289.11 amount] ~ 52a–60| to amount 64–68| ~ 70–77 289.15 quoting] citing 52a–68| ~ 70–77 289.16 every] every other 52a| ~ 52b–77 289.20 error] ~ 52a–64| inaccuracy 67–68| ~ 70–77 n. 39 cap. 8] cap. 18 52a–77 289.24 confidence] a confidence 52a–68| ~ 70–77 289.26 nation] ~ 52a–64| nations 67–68| ~ 70–77 289.27 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 40.1 So likewise Tacitus, ann. lib. 14. cap. 44.] This material occurs only in 54*77. 290.3 the family] a family 52a–68| ~ 70–77 290.5 shepherds] ~ 52a| the shepherds 52b–68| ~ 70–77 290.5 reasons] reason 52a–60| ~ 64–77 290.12 to infer from] by 52a| ~ 52b–77 290.18 purchasing] purchase 52a–58| ~ 60–77 n. 46.2 reges] reges 52a–54| ~ 58| rages 60–72| ~ 77 n. 46.9 antiquas] antiquas 52a*64| antiqua 67–68| ~ 70–77 290.19 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 290.20 concurred] concurr’d 52a| occurr’d 52b| concurr’d 54*77 291.2 as to] as 52a–60| ~ 64–77 291.5 that] which 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.11 bad] very bad 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.14 condemn] detest 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.14 those] these 52a| ~ 52b–77 291.14 superstition] the most abject superstition 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.19 house–maids] chamber–maids 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 291.21 any parent thrusts his daughters into nunneries, is, that he] parents thrust their daughters into nunneries, is, that they 52a–70| ~ 72–77 291.24 to wit] viz. the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.24 early] the earliest 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.25 spoken of] mention’d 52a–54| mentioned 58–70| spoke of 72| ~ 77

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291.26 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.27 mentions it as a merit] recommends it as a virtue 52a–70| ~ 72–77 291.31 preferably] ~ 52a| preferable 52b–68| ~ 70–77 291.31 It was] ’Twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 291.32 that] who 52a–68| ~ 70–77 291.33 to wit,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.4 enough, when it came to the push,] ~ 52a–64| enough 67–68| ~ 70–77 292.6 practice] barbarous practice 52a–58| cruel practice 60–68| ~ 70–77 292.7 know of] know 52a–70| ~ 72–77 292.8 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.10 general] universal 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.13 between] betwixt 52a–64| ~ 67–77 n. 53.2 much less] very little 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 53.6 but] or 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 53.8 Part 1.] Essays moral and political, 52a–54| Essays moral, political, and literary, Part I. 58–68| Part I. 70–77 n. 53.8 19] XXI. 52a–60| XIX. 64–68| XVIII. 70–72| XIX. 77 {77 is mistakenly printed XVIII in the note (instead of the correct number ‘XIX’, which is shown here for 77), an error of failure to revise 72 numbers. The Table of Contents in 77 has the correct number ‘XIX’.} 292.15 than in] than 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 292.18 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.20 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.21 child] part, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 292.22 him] them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.22 great] infinite 52a–68| ~ 70–77 292.22 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 292.24 the former] an hospital 52a–70| ~ 72–77 292.25 somewhat] pretty 52a–68| ~ 70–77 293.4 of the] of 52a| ~ 52aEr–77 293.6 This was the situation . . . is essential to them.] This passage is a separate paragraph (¶ 46) only in 58–77. 293.12 marry] marriage 52a–68| ~ 70–77 293.15 prices] high prices 52a–58| ~ 60–77 293.20 number] numbers 52a–58| ~ 60–77 293.22 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 293.32 Demosthenes] When Demosthenes 52a–52b| ~ 58–77 293.33 and their] their 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 294.1 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 294.1 private man] common soldier 52a| ~ 52b–77 294.2 the gratuities] their gratuities 52a| ~ 52b–77 294.5 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 n. 60.2 ransom] price of ransom 52a–58| ~ 60–77

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294.11 mimicry] ridiculous mimickry 52a–64| mimickry 67*77 294.21 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 294.28 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 294.32 great] large 52a–68| ~ 70–77 295.2 content] contented 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 64.5 latter] ~ 52a–70| later 72| ~ 77 n. 64.6 arose] rose 52a–72| ~ 77 295.2 of producing great numbers of people] to produce populousness 52a| to produce great numbers of people 52b| ~ 54–77 295.8 equal] equivalent 52a–54| ~ 58–77 295.9 difficult] very difficult 52a–68| ~ 70–77 295.16 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 295.17 close] a close 52a–68| ~ 70–77 295.19 serve in] fill 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 295.19 whole state is] state is all 52a–70| ~ 72–77 295.19 and is] and 52a–70| ~ 72–77 295.22 that] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 295.23 The private men in our armies] Our common soldiers 52a| ~ 52b–77 295.23 low] low rascally 52a–64| ~ 67–77 295.24 disorder among them] disorder 52a–72| ~ 77 295.27 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 296.1 it was] ’twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 296.4 between] betwixt 52a–64| ~ 67–77 296.6 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 296.7 army was] armies were 52a–68| ~ 70–77 296.8 was made] made 52a–58| ~ 60–77 296.9 especially] but especially 52a–60| ~ 64–77 296.12 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 296.12 entire.] entire. Cou’d Folard’s project of the column take place (which seems impracticable ) it wou’d render modern battles as destructive as the antient. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 296.13 resemblance to] resemblance of 52a–72| ~ 77 296.13 later] latter 52a–70| ~ 72–77 296.22 frequent] very frequent 52a–68| ~ 70–77 296.24 by] with 52a–70| ~ 72–77 296.26 often been] been often 52a–68| ~ 70–77 296.26 determined] determinate 52a–54| determin’d 54Er*77 296.27 other] many other 52a–68| ~ 70–77 296.28 destructive] extremely destructive 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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296.28 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 296.29 close] a close 52a–68| ~ 70–77 296.33 during] for 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 69.1 Inst. lib. 2. cap. 6.] Inst. lib. 2. cap. 6. ’Tis true, the same law seems to have been continu’d, till the time of Justinian. But abuses, introduc’d by bar­bar­ ism, are not always corrected by civility. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 296.35 at that time] during that period 52a–70| ~ 72–77 296.36 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 297.1 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 297.5 times] time 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 297.5 those] time 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 297.6 of equality] equality 52a–72| ~ 77 297.9 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 297.10 alone] alone, where bigotted priests are the accusers, judges, and executioners 52a*68| ~ 70–77 297.13 who fell into their hands] they laid their hands on 52a–52b| ~ 54–72| fell into their hands 77 297.15 half] a half 52a–72| ~ 77 297.15 was] were 52a–68| ~ 70–77 297.19 frequent] very frequent 52a–68| ~ 70–77 297.22 in] in all 52a| ~ 52b–77 297.24 namely,] viz. 52a–68| ~ 70–77 297.25 subduing of] subduing 52a–68| ~ 70–77 297.30 punished.] punish’d. This is a difficulty not clear’d up, and even not observ’d, by antiquarians and historians. 52a–54| punished. This is a difficulty not cleared up, and even not observed by antiquarians and historians. 58–72| ~ 77 298.1 attainted] forfeited 52a–68| ~ 70–77 298.5 who] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 298.7 says] ~ 52a–52b| say 54–58| ~ 60–77 n. 76.1 factious spirit of the popular assemblies as the only] faction only as the 52a–58| ~ 60–77 298.8 was rejoiced] was rejoiced 52a*64| rejoiced 67–68| ~ 70–77 298.10 the nervous style of Thucydides] Thucydides’s nervous stile 52a| Thucydides, nervous stile 52b| the nervous style of Thucydides 54*77 298.10 copiousness] great copiousness 52a–58| ~ 60–77 298.12 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 298.13 Grecian] Greek 52a*70| ~ 72–77 298.16 refined and] very refin’d and very 52a*68| ~ 70–77 298.16 the dullest] dullest 52a–70| the dullest 72*77 298.18 be over–reached] be over–reach’d 52a*54| over–reached 58| ~ 60–77 298.20 got the start of] prevented 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 77.1 Lib. 3.] Lib. 3. The country in Europe, wherein {wherein 52a–52b| in which 54*68} I have observ’d the factions to be most violent and party hatred the strongest, is Ireland. This goes so far as to cut off even the most

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common intercourse of civilities betwixt {betwixt 52a–58| between 60–68} the protestants and catholics. Their cruel insurrections, and the severe revenges which they have taken of each other, are the causes of this mutual ill-will, which is the chief source of the disorder, poverty, and depopulation of that country. The Greek factions, I imagine, to have been inflam’d still to a higher degree of rage: The revolutions being commonly more frequent, and the maxims of assassination much more avow’d and acknowledg’d. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 298.23 cold] ~ 52a–72| cool 77 298.23 or] nor 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 84.1 few massacres] few 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 84.12 latter were] latter 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 84.14 500] ~ 52a–70| 509 72–77 n. 84.17 657] 647 52a–77 n. 84.20 the] ~ 52a–58| their 60| ~ 64–77 n. 84.20 to wit,] viz. 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 84.21 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 84.22 courage, and is not to be suspected of wanton cruelty, contrary to the ­maxims of his age.] courage. 52a–64| courage: His violent tyranny, therefore, is a stronger proof of the manners of the age. 67–68| ~ 70–77 299.4 throughout] thro’ 52a*68| ~ 70–77 299.10 It would] ‘Twou’d 52a*54| It would 58*77 299.12 when] where 52a–68| ~ 70–77 299.15 natural] very natural 52a–68| ~ 70–77 299.17 I ever] ever I 52a–68| ~ 70–77 299.17 while possessed of] during my 52a–58| while possest of 60*77 300.6 not to have any] to have no 52a–68| ~ 70–77 300.8 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 300.9 or that] or 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 88.7 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 88.8 him absolutely] absolutely 52a–58| ~ 60–77 n. 88.13 repent it] repent 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 88.15 a] ~ 52a–64| the 67–68| ~ 70–77 300.16 Scarcely] Scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 300.19 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 300.20 must, by a necessary consequence,] by a necessary consequence, must 52a–58| ~ 60–77 300.21 by modern laws] in modern governments 52a–54| in modern laws 58| ~ 60–77 300.23 in] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 301.1 faction] factions 52a–68| ~ 70–77 301.7 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 301.9 otherwise] otherways 52a–54| ~ 58–77

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301.13 presents an opposite conclusion] stands against us 52a–70| ~ 72–77 301.16 particular] respect 52a–54| ~ 58–77 301.18 usually more] more 52a–60| ~ 64–77 n. 92.2 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 92.9 not] but not 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 92.10 remarkable] a prodigy, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 92.13 a bill] ~ 52a–72| bill 77 301.29 acts of violence] violences 52a–70| ~ 72–77 302.1 later period] latter ages 52a–68| latter period 70| ~ 72–77 302.5 otherwise] otherways 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 302.15 accomplices] associates 52a–68| ~ 70–77 302.21 produces] engenders 52a–54| ~ 58–77 302.21 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 302.22 pass their sacred boundaries] use freedom with their sacred regulations and prescriptions 52a–52b| transgress their sacred boundaries 54| ~ 58–77 302.23 A surviving Hume manuscript (see Appendix 3, pp. 701–2 of this critical edition, for a facsimile reproduction) begins at this point and is collated below. The text of the manuscript runs from the beginning of par. 80 to the end of par. 82. Only substantive variants, including above-line insertions, are collated. Above-line insertions are marked by superscript, much as they appear in Hume’s original hand. Strikeout designates words or letters that Hume struck out in the manuscript. Underline is for italics, Hume’s standard form of manuscript preparation. 302.23 One general cause] One general Cause {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.23 disorders, so frequent in all] great Disorders in all of {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.24 consisted in] proceeded from {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.27 legislature and from public offices] Legislature {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.27 freeman] freeman {manuscript}| ~ 52a–72| freemen 77 302.29 power and privilege] Power Privilege {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.31 particular census] particuly13 Census {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.31 satisfied] pleasd {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.32 repealed] abrogated {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.32 was allowed] had {manuscript}| had 52a–70| ~ 72–77 302.33 (about 60 l. Sterling).] (about 130 L l14 )Sterling) {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 302.35 above two-thirds of them immediately left their country.] 22.000 immediatly deserted their Country: Only 9000 remain’d. {manuscript}| above two thirds immediately deserted their country. 52a–54 | above two thirds 13 The manuscript handwriting of ‘particuly’ can be read as incorporating a correction by Hume to the preferable word ‘particular’—that is, the manuscript can be read as ‘particulyar’. 14  The writing of ‘L 1’ in the manuscript copy might be read as containing three letters in the handwriting (e.g., ‘Lib.’ instead of ‘L l’).

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immediately left their country. 58–60 | above two thirds of them immediately left their country. 64*77 303.1 half] twentieth Part {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 n. 96.1 Id. ibid.] Id, ibid. 52a*58| Diod. Sic. lib. 18. 60| ~ 64–77 n. 98.1 captives] whole captives 52a–70| ~ 72–77 303.2 tyranny, and the effect of foreign violence.] Tyranny.{manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 303.4 seem] appear {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 303.4 equal] very equal {manuscript}| very equal 52a–68| ~ 70–77 303.7 days] times {manuscript}| ~ 52a–77 303.7 between] betwixt {manuscript}| betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 303.8 ruling over] over {manuscript}| over 52a–58| ~ 52a–77 303.9 At present, . . . well-tempered Aristocracies.] These sentences occur only in 77. 303.18 became] grew 52a–72| ~ 77 303.23 yet] and yet 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 100.1 8] 5 52a–68| v 70–77 303.29 made on] ~ 52a–58| made of 60–68| ~ 70–77 303.31 extraordinary] exorbitant 52a–68| ~ 70–77 303.32 let] ~ 52a–68| lent 70| ~ 72–77 n. 103.1 Id. page 19.] Id. ibid. p. 19. 52a–52b| Contra Aphob, p. 19. 54| Contra Aphob. p. 19. ex edit. Aldi. 58| Contra Aphob. p. 19. 60| Id. p. 19. 64–77 304.4 high interest,] exorbitant interest of 34 per cent. 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 106.1 4. epist. 15.] 5. epist. 21. 52a–68| v. epist. 21. 70–72| iv. epist. 15. 77 304.6 hands of the publicans] publicans hands 52a–68| ~ 70–77 304.7 exclaims] ~ 52a–54| declaims 58–72| ~ 77 304.11 times] ages 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 108.1 Essay] discourse 52a–54| ~ 58–77 304.12 Among] Amongst 52a–54| Among 58*77 304.12 the fortifying of] the fortifying 52a–68| fortifying 70| ~ 72–77 304.14 their] ~ 52a–67| their own 68| ~ 70–77 304.16 round] about 52a–68| ~ 70–77 304.19 a] any 52a–68| ~ 70–77 304.19 where] wherein 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 304.19 a] any 52a–68| ~ 70–77 304.28 tillage] husbandry 52a–72| ~ 77 304.30 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 304.35 carried] carry’d along 52a*58| ~ 60–77 305.1 II] the II 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 305.1 XIV] the XIV 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 305.3 chiefly] which is chiefly 52a–68| ~ 70–77 305.4 multitudes] multitudes of people 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 305.5 and] or 52a–60| ~ 64–77 305.6 remarkable] very remarkable 52a–68| ~ 70–77

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305.8 Europe] all Europe 52a*68| ~ 70–77 305.8 flourished] flourish’d mightily 52a*64| ~ 67–77 305.12 equality of riches] equality 52a–70| ~ 72–77 305.22 government] governments 52a–58| ~ 60–67| governments 68| ~ 70–77 305.25 in industry] in the industry 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 305.25 and in] and 52a*68| ~ 70–77 305.28 later] latter 52a–70| ~ 72–77 305.28 done] operated 52a–70| ~ 72–77 305.34 should] wou’d 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 306.1 wise] way 52a–64| ~ 67–77 n. 113.1 Part 1. Essay 12] essays moral and political, essay XV 52a–54| Part  I.  Essay XV 58–60| Part  I.  Essay XII 64–68| Part  I.  Essay XI 70–72| Part  I.  Essay XII 77 {The 77 edition at this point is mis­ taken­ly printed as essay ‘XI’ (instead of the correct number ‘XII’, which is shown here for 77). This error is the result of a failure to revise from the 1772 edition’s numbers. Both the Table of Contents and the opening page of  ‘Civil Libery’ (misspelled) in 77 present the correct number ‘XII’.} 306.7 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 306.8 indeed circumstances] indeed 52a–68| ~ 70–77 306.20 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 306.23 positive] decisive 52a–54| certain 58| ~ 58Er–77 306.25 populousness] greatness 52a–70| ~ 72–77 306.30 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 306.32 an] a very 52a–68| ~ 70–77 307.1 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 307.1 number] numbers 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 307.2 in] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 115.6 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 115.7 to wit,] viz. 52a–72| ~ 77 307.22 this] the 52a–68| ~ 70–77 307.22 have contained] contain 52a–58| ~ 60–77 307.24 industrious] very industrious 52a–68| ~ 70–77 307.26 produced] had 52a–68| ~ 70–77 307.29 assigns] gives 52a–54| ~ 58–77 307.29 small] very small 52a–68| ~ 70–77 307.30 cities] their cities 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 122.1 Id. ibid.] Id. ibid. 52a–54| ~ 58–68| Idyll. 17. 70–77 308.4 practice among] foolish practice of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 308.6 rational] reasonable 52a–60| ~ 64–77 308.9 made] ~ 52a–54| built 67–68| ~ 70–77 308.10 of which he was master] he was master of 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 308.12 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77

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308.16 not less, if not rather more] more 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 125.2 But perhaps in those early times there were very few slaves, except in Rome, or the great cities.] This sentence occurs only in 54*77. 308.22 suspicious] very suspicious 52a–68| ~ 70–77 308.26 made] took 52a–70| ~ 72–77 308.26 million prisoners] prisoner 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 128.1 amount] amount only 52a–72| ~ 77 308.27 number] numbers 52a–60| ~ 64–77 308.27 that of] of 52a–70| ~ 70–77 308.27 slain] kill’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 308.31 does not tell us] tells us not 52a–68| ~ 70–77 308.32 founded] form’d 52a*60| ~ 64–77 309.1 number of Gauls] number 52a–72| ~ 77 309.2 more] much more 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.4 The most bloody of his battles were fought against the Helvetii and the Germans.] This sentence occurs only in 77. n. 130 Note 130 appears only in 72–77. 309.13 pay] their pay 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.19 bodies] numbers 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.20 great trade] trade 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.20 numerous manufactures] manufactures 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.20 extensive] very extensive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.22 which is said] ~ 52a–68| said 70| ~ 72–77 309.23 much] infinitely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.26 was] it was 52a–68| ~ 70–77 309.27 himself.] {The following text and its first note occur at this point only in 52a*58; the last note occurs only in 54*58.} The critical art may very justly be suspected of temerity, when it pretends to correct or dispute the plain testimony of antient historians by any probable or analogical reasonings: Yet the licence of authors upon all subjects, particularly with regard to numbers, is so great, that we ought still to retain a kind of doubt or reserve, whenever the facts advanc’d depart, in the least, from the common bounds of nature and experience. I shall give an instance with regard to modern history. Sir William Temple tells us, in his memoirs, that, having a free c­ onversation with Charles the {Charles the 52a–52b| Charles 54*58} II, he took the opportunity of representing to that monarch the impossibility of introducing into this island the religion and government of France, chiefly on account of the great force, requisite to subdue the spirit and liberty of so brave a people. “The Romans,” says he, “were forc’d to keep up 12 legions for that purpose” (a great absurdity ) “and Cromwell left an army of near eighty thousand men.” Must not this last fact be regarded as unquestion’d by future critics, when they find it asserted by a wise and learned minister of state, contemporary to the fact, and who addrest his discourse, upon an ungrateful subject, to a great monarch, who was also contemporary, and who himself broke those very forces about fourteen years before. Yet by the most undoubted authority, we may insist, that Cromwell’s army, when he died, did not amount to half the number here mention’d. 309.28 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 309.28 a usual] a very usual 52a–68| an usual 70| ~ 72–77 309.30 cotemporary] contemporary 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 309.32 produce] product 52a–68| ~ 70–77 310.4 states] empires 52a| ~ 52b–77 310.8 except] excepting 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 310.14 much] very much 52a–68| ~ 70–77 310.17 quotes] cites 52a–68| ~ 70–77 310.18 is, at least,] is 52a–72| ~ 77 310.24 to be met in] in 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 310.25 allowance] allowances 52a| ~ 52b–77 310.32 of the inhabitants] inhabitants 52a–70| ~ 72–77 311.3 number surely large enough] large enough number surely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 143.1 lib. 3] Lib. 2 52a–68| lib. ii 70–77 311.8 to wit,] viz. 52a–70| ~ 72–77 311.9 seem] ~ 52a–58| seemed 60–68| ~ 70–77 n. 146.2 that city] the city 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 146.3 and] or 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 311.11 or] ~ 52a–52b| nor 54–68| ~ 70–77 311.11 is ever] ever 52a–52b| are ever 54–68| ~ 70–77 311.13 treatment of slaves by the Athenians] Athenians treatment of their slaves 52a*70| ~ 72–77

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311.17 yet are we] and yet we are 52a–68| ~ 70–77 311.17 rigorous] very rigorous 52a–68| ~ 70–77 311.22 is he] ~ 52a| he is 52b| ~ 54–77 311.22 esteemed] esteem’d 52a*64| estimated 67–68| ~ 70–77 311.22 who] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 312.3 maintaining] entertaining 52a–70| ~ 72–77 312.5 possessed] had 52a–52b| possess’d 54*77 312.15 mines] digging of mines; and also kept up the number of slaves 52a–52b| digging of mines 54–70| ~ 72–77 312.26 therefore] then 52a| ~ 52b–77 312.27 780,000] ~ 52a–72| 78,000 77 n. 164.2 facts, which are indeed entirely absurd and impossible] facts 52a–60| ~ 64–77 n. 164.3 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 166.1 Thucyd. lib. 2.] Id. ibid. 52a–52b| Thucyd. lib. 2. 54*77 313.6 citizens] the citizens 52a–68| ~ 72–77 313.6 to comprehend] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 313.9 exceeded] much exceeded 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 313.9 concerning] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 167.2 this was the greater part of their importation of corn] at that time they imported little corn from any other place 52a–52b| this was the greatest part of their importation 54–68| this was the greatest part of their im­port­ation of corn 70–72| ~ 77 n. 167.4 of corn] in corn 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 167.5 And 400,000 . . . during a twelvemonth.] This sentence occurs only in 77. n. 167.9 trust to] trust 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 170.1 lib. 17.] lib. 15 and 17. 52a–52b| lib. 17 54*77 n. 170.1 When Alexander attacked Thebes, . . . and able to bear arms.] This passage occurs only in 54–77. n. 170.2 all the] the whole 54–60| ~ 64–77 n. 170.4 storm] assault 54| ~ 58–77 n. 170.7 therefore] further 54| ~ 58–77 n. 170.8 both] all 54| ~ 58–77 n. 170.8 all ages] ages 54| ~ 58–77 n. 170.9 we may observe, were] were therefore 54| ~ 58–77 n. 170.13 this computation, being] being 54| this computation being 58*77 n. 170.13 on] ~ 54| in 58–70| ~ 72–77 n. 170.14 indisputable] undisputable 54–68| ~ 70–77 n. 170.15 all the] the whole 54–60| ~ 64–77 n. 172.1 lib. 5] lib. 7 52a–68| lib. vii 70–77 314.2 Perhaps, Xenophon calls . . . neighbouring villages.] This sentence occurs only in 54–77.

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314.10 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 314.12 above] ~ 52a–64| about 67–68| ~ 70–77 314.14 scarcely ever spoken] scarce ever spoke 52a–68| ~ 70–77 314.19 all the] the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 314.20 with] along with 52a–54| ~ 58–77 314.24 says, that] says 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 314.26 time, deducting some few garrisons,] time 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 314.29 probable] very probable 52a–68| ~ 70–77 314.30 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 315.2 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 315.3 that this] that that 52a–68| ~ 72–77 315.4 We are . . . of Greece.] This paragraph (¶ 131) and its two notes occur only in 54–77. n. 183.1 Lib. 4] Lib. vii 54–77 315.4 adjoining to] lying in the neighbourhood of 54| ~ 58–77 315.6 inhabit] inhabit in 54| ~ 58–77 315.8 All the] The whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 315.10 Yorkshire.] {At this point a note occurs only in 52a*52b. See the next entry immediately below for information on variants, including relocation of a note to the text.} A late French writer, in his observations on the Greeks, has remark’d, that Philip of Macedon, being declar’d captain general of the Greeks, wou’d have been back’d by the force of 230,000 of that nation in his intended expedition against Persia. This number comprehends, I suppose, all the free citizens, throughout all the cities; but the authority, on which that computation is founded, has, I own, escap’d either my memory or reading; and that writer, tho’ otherwise very ingenious, has given into a bad practice, of delivering a great deal of erudition, without one citation. But supposing, that that enumeration cou’d be justify’d by good authority from antiquity, we may establish the following computation. The free Greeks of all ages and sexes were 920,000: The slaves, computing them by the number of Athenian slaves as above, who seldom marry’d or had families, were double the male citizens of full age, viz. 460,000. And the whole inhabitants of antient Greece about one million, three hundred and eighty thousand. No mighty number, nor much exceeding what may be found at present in Scotland, a country of nearly the same extent, and which is very indifferently peopled. 315.11 Justin186 tells us, . . . very indifferently peopled.] This paragraph (¶ 133) and its note 186 occur only in 54–77. In 52a–52b this paragraph appears as the note reported in the entry immediately preceding above (at the lemma Yorkshire. That is, the note was replaced by this extensive revision, creating a new paragraph of text. 315.21 estimating] computing 54–58| ~ 60–77 315.23 to wit,] viz. 54–70| ~ 72–77

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315.23 all the] the whole 54–60| ~ 64–77 315.25 exceeding] much exceeding 54–60| ~ 64–77 315.26 of not much greater] ~ 54| nearly of the same 58| ~ 60–64| of nearly the same 67–68| ~ 70–77 315.36 began] begun 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 190.2 feet] foot 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 190.9 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 190.9 room] ground 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 191.1 17] 16 52a–77 n. 191.2 which the] the 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 191.5 Anguste] Anguste 52a–54| Auguste 58–77 316.2 it is] ’tis 52a–54| 58–68| ~ 70–77 316.2 that these] these 52a–58| ~ 60–77 316.4 own house] house 52a–70| ~ 72–77 316.7 separated] separate 52a–54| ~ 58–77 316.8 extensive] very extensive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 193.11 question] only question 52a–58| ~ 60–77 n. 193.22 besides] beside 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 193.36 allowed to be] allowed 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 193.42 text; since the walls, which remain, and which are supposed to be the same with Aurelian’s, exceed not twelve miles.] text. 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 193.49 feet under] foot below 52a–54| feet below 58–70| ~ 72–77 317.1 which he] he 52a| ~ 52b–77 317.4 the time of Augustus] Augustus’s time 52a*70| ~ 72–77 317.5 is it] ~ 52a–54| it is 58–68| ~ 70–77 317.8 in] of 52a–60| ~ 64–77 318.3 5/6] ~ 52a–64| 5 sixths 67| 5-sixths 68| ~ 70| 5 72| ~ 77 318.4 antiquary] antiquarian 52a–72| ~ 77 318.5 age] years 52a–70| ~ 72–77 318.10 creeped] crept 52a–68| ~ 70–77 318.13 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 318.19 at] in 52a–60| ~ 64–77 318.25 no wise] no way 52a–68| ~ 70–77 318.31 gate to gate] port to port 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 204.1 ten] only ten 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 204.7 which] ~ 52a–60| why 64–67| ~ 68–77 n. 204.8 cities in] cities of 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 204.9 to wit,] viz. 52a*72| ~ 77 n. 204.9 6000 talents] 6000 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 204.10 allowance] allowances 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 204.13 even more] more 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 204.14 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 206.1 which last expression] which 52a–52b| ~ 54–77

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319.7 computation] calculation 52a–68| ~ 70–77 319.8 positively] positively and plainly 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 208.1 cap. 31] cap. 30 52a–77 n. 209.1 Plin. lib.] lib. 52a–52b| Plinius, lib. 54*77 320.3 observe,] ~ 52–64| observe, that 67–68| ~ 70–77 320.6 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 320.7 between] betwixt 52a–58| ~ 60–77 320.14 except] except perhaps, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 320.17 was even] was 52a–68| ~ 70–77 320.20 for depopulating] to dispeople 52a–68| to depopulate 70–72| ~ 77 320.27 consists of] contains 52a–68| ~ 70–77 320.29 expedient] expedients 52a| ~ 52b–77 320.29 for separating] to separate 52a–70| ~ 72–77 320.33 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 321.1 Italy, as well as Greece,] Italy 52a*70| ~ 72–77 321.3 full] thick 52a–68| ~ 70–77 321.7 a] an 52a–68| ~ 70–77 321.8 seems] seems to me 52a–68| ~ 70–77 321.11 this] that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 321.18 so] that was near so 52a| which was near so 52b–68| ~ 70–77 n. 214 cap. 26] cap. 28 52a–77 321.25 spoken] spoke 52a–68| ~ 70–77 321.26 impossibility] impossibility in the nature of things 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 322.7 parts] counties 52a–68| ~ 70–77 322.13 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 217 vol. 2. § 16.] Note 217 was omitted in its entirety in 77, apparently an accidental deletion that occurred during typesetting: In 77 a dagger appears in the text as a note marker (immediately after ‘L’Abbe du Bos’), exactly as it does in the 72 text; but no note corresponds to the note marker in 77. 322.18 might] may 52a| ~ 52b–77 322.27 winters] winter 52a–70| ~ 72–77 322.28 lie] lyes 52a*70| ~ 72–77 322.28 see] sees 52a–70| ~ 72–77 322.28 few] few small 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 322.29 exposure] exposition 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 219.1 5] 4 52a–68| iv 70–77 322.32 of that of] of 52a| ~ 52b–67| of 68| ~ 70–77 323.5 frozen] froze 52a–68| ~ 70–77 323.5 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 323.6 Colder than a . . . proverbial expression.] This sentence occurs only in 58–77. 323.7 Aristotle says, . . . not live in it.] This sentence occurs only in 72–77.

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n. 220.1 Note 220 occurs only in 72–77. 323.10 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 323.13 was frozen over] froze 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 222.1 eleg. 10] eleg. 9 52a–77 323.15 seldom or never] never 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 323.17 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 323.19 country] countries 52a–68| ~ 70–77 323.22 circumstantial] circumstantiate 52a–54| ~ 58–77 323.32 than] but 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 226.1 southern colonies] Southern 52a| ~ 52b–77 n. 226.1 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 324.2 is still] still makes itself 52a–70| ~ 72–77 324.5 quoted] cited 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 324.11 the age] ~ 52a–70| age 72| ~ 77 n. 228.1 lib. 1. cap. 1.] id. ib. 52a| id. ibid. 52b| lib. i. cap. 1. 54–77 324.14 which are] that were 52a| which were 52b–70| ~ 72–77 324.17 desolation] ~ 52a–64| depopulation 67–68| ~ 70–77 324.20 desert] very desart 52a–68| desart 70–77 324.22 obvious] very obvious 52a–68| ~ 70–77 324.23 more inhabitants than] as many inhabitants as 52a–70| ~ 70–77 324.27 government] police and government 52a| ~ 52b–77 324.29 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 324.31 populous] very populous 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 325.1 tillage] agriculture 52a–60| ~ 64–77 325.3 which] that 52a| ~ 52b–77 325.5 half of] ~ 52a–54| half 58| ~ 60–77 325.5 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 325.7 valour] courage 52a| valour 52b*77 325.10 new seats] a new habitation 52a| ~ 52b–77 325.11 numerous] large 52a–72| ~ 77 325.12 condition] a condition 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 325.16 Tacitus,] Tacitus 52a–52b | Tacitus, 54 | ~ 58–70 | Tacitus 72| ~ 77 325.23 century] whole century 52a–68| ~ 70–77 325.24 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 236.1 lib. 6] ~ 52a–58| lib. 16 60–68| lib. xvi 70–77 325.30 admit of] admit 52a–72| ~ 77 326.3 that the] that that 52a–68| ~ 70–77 326.5 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 326.7 was it] it was 52a–68| ~ 70–77 326.8 under] to 52a–68| ~ 70–77 326.10 the great] ~ 52a–67| the 68| ~ 70–77 326.11 in] ~ 52a–60| at 64–68| ~ 72–77 326.12 arms] arms in Belgium 52a*68| ~ 70–77

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326.16 about 350,000] above half a million 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 326.16 all the] the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 326.16 a million and a half] two millions 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 326.17 a fourth] the fourth 52a–68| ~ 70–77 326.17 six] eight 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 326.18 not near] not above 52a| scarce above 52b| not 54–70| ~ 72–77 n. 244.1 slaves, who formed a different order from the Plebes.] slaves. 52a–52b| slaves, who form’d a different order from the Plebes. 54*77 n. 244.4 dependents] clients or dependants 52a–52b| dependants 54*77 n. 244.5 nobility.] nobility: An army of 100,000 noblemen from a very small state is incredible. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 244.5 inhabitants] whole inhabitants 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 244.9 the Latin] the 52a–52b| the Latin 54*77 326.18 We are informed . . . barbarism, and desolation.] These two sentences occur only in 60–77. 326.24 240 ] ~ 52a| 250 52b–77 326.25 the same author] Cæsar 52a*58| ~ 60–77 326.28 whether I dare affirm] if I dare say 52a–54| ~ 54Er–77 327.1 is, perhaps,] is 52a–68| ~ 70–77 327.6 among] amongst 52a–58| ~ 60–77 327.9 It was] ’Twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 327.9 its] their 52a| ~ 52b–77 327.13 Tully] Cicero 52a*70| ~ 72–77 327.15 this] that 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 327.17 however, it is probable] ’tis probable, however 52*68| ~ 70–77 327.21 as is] as 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 327.26 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 n. 254.3 blew] blow’d 52a–54| blowed 58–60| ~ 64–77 328.1 The parish-rates have at present the same bad consequences in England.] This sentence occurs only in 52b*77. n. 255.1 superiority] great superiority 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 255.10 lib. 3] lib. 2 52a–68| lib. ii 70–77 n. 255.20 it.] it. A man of violent imagination, such as Tertullian, augments every thing equally; and for that reason his comparative judgments are the most to be depended on. 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 255.22 sword] swords 52a*60| ~ 64–77 n. 255.22 which they] they 52a–52b| which they 54*77 n. 255.24 animosities] contentions 52a*70| ~ 72–77 n. 255.30 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 n. 255.30 inhabitants] whole inhabitants 52a–60| ~ 64–77 329.1 pernicious] destructive 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 257.1 defectu] ~ 52a–52b| defectus 54–72| Defectus 77 329.8 than on] ~ 52a–67| than 68| ~ 70–77

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329.9 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 329.9 furnish] furnish out 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 329.10 a number which] which 52a| which number 52b| ~ 54–77 329.17 states] nations 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 258.3 only delivered] deliver’d 52a–52b| only deliver’d 54*77 n. 258.4 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 329.24 corrected] ~ 52a–64| checked 67–68| ~ 70–77 329.25 often] ~ 52a–60| so often 64–70| ~ 72–77 329.31 checked] check’d 52a*64| restrained 67–68| ~ 70–77 330.2 necessity] great necessity 52a–72| ~ 77 330.5 which they had acquired] they had made 52a–52b| which they had acquir’d 54*77 330.12 number] numbers 52a| ~ 52b–77 330.14 are there] ~ 52a–67| are 68| ~ 70–77 330.15 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 330.18 may] must 52a–54| ~ 58–77 330.22 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 330.26 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 330.28 gross] very gross 52a–68| ~ 70–77 330.28 no wise] no way 52a–64| ~ 67–77 n. 263.3 It is written] ’Tis wrote 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 263.3 commonly but] commonly 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 263.5 systems or ravings] systems 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 263.5 plain] solid 52a–70| ~ 72–77 n. 263.7 other] the other 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 n. 263.7 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 263.12 to wit,] viz. 52a–72| ~ 77 n. 263.13 writ] wrote 52a–68| ~ 70–77 n. 265 cotemporary] contemporary 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 331.12 profoundest] ~ 52a–64| most profound 67–68| ~ 70–77 12. Of the Original Contract Editions: 48a, 48b, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 332.0 12 ] II. 48a| XXV. 48b–53| XI. 58| XII. 64–77 332.1 can well] can pretend to 48–58| can 60–68| ~ 70–77 332.3 one] ones 48| ~ 53–77 332.3 factions] Parties 48*70| ~ 72–77 332.4 the former] this 48| ~ 53–77 332.5 pursues] prosecutes 48–53| ~ 58–77 332.6 rude] rough 48| ~ 53–77 332.7 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 332.10 government] the Origin of Government 48*70| ~ 72–77 332.10 render it] ~ 48| render government 53–70| ~ 72–77

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332.11 tyrannical] disorderly 48–70| ~ 72–77 332.14 have tacitly] have 48–72| ~ 77 332.24 who admit a general providence, and allow] one who admits a general Providence, and allows 48*60| who admits a general providence, and allows 64–68| ~ 70–77 332.25 a uniform] ~ 48| an uniform 53–77 332.26 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 332.26 the human] human 48–72| ~ 77 332.27 this institution] it 48| government 53–68| ~ 70–77 333.8 a Titus or a Trajan] an Elizabeth or a Harry 48| an Elizabeth or a Henry 53*68| ~ 70–77 333.11 established likewise] did also establish 48| establish’d likewise 53*77 333.15 till] ‘ere 48–53| ~ 58–77 333.18 trace] trace up 48–60| ~ 64–77 333.26 chiefly] entirely 48–72| ~ 77 333.26 asked in what records] sent to the Records to seek for 48*68| ~ 70–77 333.27 liberties is registered] Liberties 48*68| ~ 70–77 333.27 written] wrote 48–68| writ 70–72| ~ 77 333.29 equality, or something approaching equality,] Equality 48*68| ~ 70–77 333.34 the firmness] Firmness 48| ~ 53–77 333.35 the command of one] his Command 48| ~ 53–77 333.36 resulting from] of 48–70| ~ 72–77 333.38 Yet even . . . the people.] This paragraph (¶ 5) occurs only in 77. 334.13 or rather] or 48–72| ~ 77 334.14 acquiescence] Combination 48| combination 53–72| ~ 77 334.21 meet] meets 48–70| ~ 72–77 334.22 fail] fails 48–70| ~ 72–77 334.23 broken, on his part, the] broke his 48| broke, on his side, the 53–60| broke, on his part, the 64–68| ~ 70–77 334.23 and has] and 48| ~ 53–77 334.24 subject] Subjects 48*68| ~ 70–77 334.29 system] System 48*64| theory 67–68| ~ 70–77 334.32 prince] Princes 48*70| ~ 72–77 335.1 as soon] so soon 53–70| ~ 72–77 335.2 a form of] a 48–72| ~ 77 335.4 obligation to] Duty of 48| ~ 53–77 335.8 It is] ’Tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 335.11 so much] so 48–72| ~ 77 335.12 scarcely] scarce 48–68| ~ 70–77 335.30 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 335.32 a hundred] ~ 48–67| an hundred 68| ~ 70–77 335.34 force] Forces 48*53| ~ 58–77

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335.36 intention] Intentions 48| ~ 53–77 335.38 contract, which] Contract 48| ~ 53–77 335.40 into great] into mighty 48| ~ 53–77 336.9 It is] ’Tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 336.9 the combination of a] a 48| ~ 53–77 336.10 opposition] Contradiction or Opposition 48| ~ 53–77 336.10 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 336.10 fury of a multitude] Rabble 48| fury of a rabble 53–68| ~ 70–77 336.12 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 336.12 own impudence] Impudence 48| ~ 53–77 336.13 to the] the 48| ~ 53–77 336.18 a new] the new 48–60| ~ 64–77 336.18 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 336.19 to that of the] the 48–72| ~ 77 336.27 that event] that 48| ~ 53–77 336.28 It was] ’Twas 48–53| ~ 58–77 336.29 it was] ’twas 48–53| ~ 58–77 336.30 ten] seven 48| ~ 53–77 336.31 those] these 48–70| ~ 72–77 336.31 ten] seven 48| ~ 53–77 336.34 otherwise] otherways 48–68| ~ 70–77 336.36 that we] we 48| which we 53–68| ~ 70–77 336.39 were] ~ 48–58| are 60| ~ 64–77 337.2 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 337.3 notwithstanding] notwithstanding of 48| ~ 53–77 337.3 institutions] Forms 48*68| ~ 70–77 337.4 prove] be 48–68| ~ 70–77 337.5 meet] assemble 48–64| ~ 67–777 337.7 such] any such 48–72| ~ 77 337.8 The Achæans, . . . and promise!] These two paragraphs (¶¶ 17–18), including note 1 (citing Polybius), appear only in 53*77. 337.11 title] other title 53–72| ~ 77 337.13 lest they should thereby weaken] for fear of weakening 53–72| ~ 77 337.15 It is] ’Tis 48*68| ~ 70–77 337.17 will never] never will 48–68| ~ 70–77 337.20 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 337.20 were ever] ever were 48–70| ~ 72–77 337.21 where] wherein 48| ~ 53–77 337.22 was commonly] was 48| ~ 53–77 337.25 My intention here . . . decides the controversy.] These two paragraphs (¶¶ 20–1) occur only in 53*77. 337.33 magistrate] magistrates 53–68| ~ 70–77 337.34 deemed] esteem’d 53*68| ~ 70–77

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337.35 perfect] ~ 53–64| just 67–68| ~ 70–77 337.35 interests] interest 53–72| ~ 77 337.37 every] each 53–70| ~ 72–77 338.3 the least] least 53–70| ~ 72–77 338.5 consulted] study’d 53| studied 58–72| ~ 77 338.7 usually] commonly 53| ~ 58–77 338.8 means] Arts 48*53| ~ 58–77 338.10 of moral] moral 48| ~ 53–77 338.14 which] whom 48–70| ~ 72–77 338.26 such an] such 48–70| ~ 72–77 338.27 have] take 48–68| ~ 70–77 338.30 form of government] Government 48| government 53–72| ~ 77 338.31 disclaims] abjures 48–70| ~ 72–77 338.33 country] own Country 48*68| ~ 70–77 338.34 wages which] Wages 48| ~ 53–77 338.38 quit] leave 48–53| ~ 58–77 338.38 in Tiberius’s time . . . he had attempted] Tiberius punish’d a Roman Senator for attempting 48| in Tiberius’s time, ’twas regarded as a crime in a Roman knight that he had attempted 53*77 338.40 the tyranny of that emperor?] his tyranny? 48| ~ 53–77 n. 2 Note 2 occurs only in 53–77. 339.3 migrating to] transporting themselves to 48–68| transporting themselves into 70–72| ~ 77 339.3 countries] Nations 48*64| ~ 67–68| nations 70| ~ 72–77 339.4 them] it 48| ~ 53–77 339.5 kingdom] Country 48*64| ~ 67–68| country 70| ~ 72–77 339.12 but act conformably] act entirely conformable 48| ~ 53–77 339.13 that] which 48–68| ~ 70–77 339.17 claim] Right 48*58| ~ 60–77 339.18 punish] punishes 48–70| ~ 72–77 339.22 Did one . . . every government.] This paragraph (¶ 28) occurs only in 77. 340.10 that an] an 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.12 so exact a] such an exact 48| such exact 53–70| ~ 72–77 340.17 native] natural 48–70| ~ 72–77 340.18 levies] assembles 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.23 made] makes 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.27 from the consent of] from 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.30 them, the] the 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.32 had established] establish’d 48*60| ~ 64–77 340.35 broken] broke 48–68| ~ 70–77 340.36 assassinations] Assassinations 48*64| assassination 67–68| ~ 70–77 340.36 rebellions] Rebellions 48*64| rebellion 67–68| ~ 70–77 340.39 the controversy] their Pretensions 48] ~ 53–77

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340.40 the emperor] Emperor 48| ~ 53–77 341.3 these] those 48–68| those who 70| ~ 72–77 341.4 not blameable] blameless 48| ~ 53–77 341.4 because they were] because 48| ~ 53–77 341.5 this island] England 48| ~ 53–77 341.5 yet the partizans . . . in England.] This passage occurs only in 53–77. 341.7 during a still longer period] very near the same Time 48| near the same time 53| ~ 58–77 341.9 scarce any man] few Men 48*53| ~ 58–77 341.12 partizans] Adherents 48| ~ 53–77 341.13 during which they] they 48| ~ 53–77 341.14 loyalty] Fidelity 48| fidelity 53–72| ~ 77 341.22 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 341.22 on] in 48–68| ~ 70–77 341.24 unfortunate] Misfortunate 48| ~ 53–77 341.25 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 341.30 instinct] Instincts 48| ~ 53–77 341.32 It is] ’Tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 341.34 obligatory] moral Duties 48| ~ 53–77 341.34 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 341.36 extend his acquisitions] acquire 48| ~ 53–77 341.37 can] can ever 48| ~ 53–77 342.3 freedom] Liberty 48| liberty 53–72| ~ 77 342.4 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 342.4 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 342.5 public order] Order 48*68| ~ 70–77 342.5 small] very small 48–68| ~ 70–77 342.7 this] that 48| ~ 53–77 342.11 necessity, therefore, is there] Necessity is there, therefore, 48| ~ 53–77 342.13 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 342.17 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 342.18 must here] must 48| ~ 53–77 342.19 mighty] infinite 48–53| ~ 58–77 342.20 In like manner, may it] It may, in like manner, 48| ~ 53–77 342.23 of the] the 48| ~ 53–77 342.27 be] is 48–70| ~ 72–77 342.32 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 342.32 asked] ask’d you 48–53| ~ 58–77 342.33 Nor can you give any] And you can give no other 48–68| Nor can you give any other 70| ~ 72–77 342.34 circuit] Circuity 48| ~ 53–77 342.35 is our lawful sovereign] are our lawful Sovereigns 48| are our lawful sovereigns 53–72| ~ 77

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343.1 It is] ’Tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 343.3 tells us] ~ 48–58| tells 60–64| ~ 67–77 343.10 in which] wherein 48| ~ 53–77 343.11 private] ~ 48–64| public 67| ~ 68–77 343.12 if in both we add the commentators to the original text] not to mention the Commentators upon both 48| ~ 53–77 343.15 succession] Successions 48*70| ~ 72–77 343.16 Several cases, no doubt, . . . by war and violence.] The Discussion of these Matters would lead us entirely beyond the Compass of these Essays. ’Tis sufficient for our present Purpose, if we have been able to determine, in general, the Foundation of that Allegiance, which is due to the establish’d Government, in every Kingdom and Commonwealth. 48| Many cases, no doubt, occur, especially in the infancy of any government, which admit of no determination from the laws of justice and equity: And our historian, Rapin, allows, that the controversy betwixt Edward the Third and Philip de Valois was of this nature, and cou’d be decided only by an appeal to heaven, that is, by war and violence. 53| Many cases, no doubt, occur, especially in the infancy of any government, which admit of no determination from the laws of justice and equity: And our historian, Rapin, allows, that the controversy between Edward the third and Philip de Valois was of this nature, and could be decided only by an appeal to heaven, that is, by war and violence. 58*68| Several cases, no doubt, occur, especially in the infancy of any government, which admit of no determination from the laws of justice and equity: And our historian Rapin pretends, that the controversy between Edward the Third and Philip de Valois was of this nature, and could be decided only by an appeal to heaven, that is, by war and violence. 70| ~ 72–77 343.21 Who shall tell . . . usurpation?] This paragraph (¶ 40) does not occur in 48. 343.22 to Tiberius] Tiberius, 53*70| ~ 72–77 343.26 elder] eldest 53–72| ~ 77 343.29 he] the eldest brother 53–70| ~ 72–77 343.30 deemed] esteem’d 53*70| ~ 72–77 343.32 to the present] the present 53–60| present 64–68| ~ 70–77 343.34 mounted the throne after] succeeded to 53| ~ 58–77 343.37 between] betwixt 53–58| ~ 60–77 343.38 Præfect;] Præfect, or to have the command of the guards; 53–64| Præfect, 67–68| Præfect, or to have the command of the guards; 70| ~ 72–77 343.40 and they] and 53–64| ~ 67–77 344.1 to that] to 53| ~ 58–77 344.4 populace] rabble 53| ~ 58–77 344.7 broke] soon broke 53–68| ~ 70–77 344.13 begotten] begot 53–72| ~ 77 344.23 subduing] the subduing 53| ~ 58–77 344.27 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77

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344.30 this] that 53–72| ~ 77 344.32 vacancy] occasion 53–70| ~ 72–77 344.33 may] must 53| ~ 58–77 345.1 In an absolute government, . . . changes of government.] This paragraph appears as a note in 48 and as text in all other editions. The words ‘In an absolute government’ do not appear in 48. 345.2 the throne] a Throne 48*53| ~ 58–77 345.2 it may] I believe it may 48| ~ 53–77 345.2 occupant] Occupier 48| occupier 53–72| ~ 77 345.3 Instances of this kind are but too frequent, especially in the eastern mon­ arch­ies] This was frequently the Case with the Roman Empire 48| ~ 53–77 345.5 sovereign] Prince 48| ~ 53–77 345.6 bastard princes] Bastard Princes 48| bastard prince 53–64| ~ 67–68| bastard prince 70| ~ 72–77 345.6 the failure] Failure 48| ~ 53–77 n. 4 Note 4 occurs only in 53–77. n. 4.1 It is] ’Tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 4.12 knew that] knew 53–68| ~ 72–77 345.7 Thus the will of Charles the Second disposed of the whole Spanish monarchy.] This sentence occurs only in 58*77. 345.10 deemed] esteem’d 48*70| ~ 72–77 345.10 good] very good 48–68| ~ 70–77 345.10 title] Right 48| ~ 53–77 345.10 obligation] Bond or Obligation 48| bond or obligation 53–72| ~ 77 345.10 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 345.10 binds] ~ 48–64| unites 67–68| ~ 70–77 345.15 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 345.16 government.5] Note 5 was located at this point in 53–68. The material in the note became repositioned, three paragraphs below, as the final paragraph of the text in 70–77 (see the 72 copy-text, p. 486, final paragraph of the text). This placement of the material was a mistake in 70 and the mistake was then carried into the 72–77 editions. It is suitable material as a reference exactly as it was printed in its original position in the 53–68 editions, and is not suitable as the final paragraph or conclusion of the essay. Therefore, in the present edition this material has been returned to its original position, as found in the 53–68 editions (see 68, p. 532). Note 5 has not been altered in substance; it has merely been relocated to its correct position as a note. See the entry at p. 346.6 just below for an ex­plan­ ation of a directly related shift of material. n. 5.1 among] amongst 53–68| ~ 70–77 n. 5.1 expressed] markt 53*68| ~ 70–77 345.19 deemed] esteem’d 48–53| esteemed 58–72| ~ 77

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345.21 any] any other 48| ~ 53–77 345.21 nothing is] nothing can be 48| ~ 53–77 345.23 leads to] leads us into 48| ~ 53–77 345.23 repugnant] which are repugnant 48–68| ~ 70–77 345.24 the practice and opinion of all nations and all ages] the Practice and Opinion of all Nations and Ages 48*64| general practice and opinion 67–68| ~ 70–77 345.24 which] that 48| ~ 53–77 345.25 on] ~ 48–58| to 60| ~ 64–77 345.26 most noted] ablest 48–68| ~ 70–77 345.28 into] ~ 48–64| to 67–68| ~ 70–77 345.29 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 346.6 determine.] As noted above in the explanation at 345.16: In 53–68 (as in the present critical edition) this essay ended at this point and had a two-paragraph footnote at the very end of the essay. That footnote was understandably incorporated into the text in 70-77 as the final two paragraphs, but in the same move of this material into the text (first in the 1770 edition) Hume or his compositor mistakenly in­corp­or­ated a footnote from earlier in the essay. In the present critical edition that footnote is 5: The crime of rebellion among the ancients was commonly expressed by the terms νεωτερίζειν, novas res moliri. It has been returned to its original and correct position as note 5 (on p. 345 of the critical text), exactly as it had been appropriately located in the 53–68 editions. The misplacement of the footnote material as text material rendered the material the final paragraph of the essay in 70–77 (see 72, p. 486). This mistaken shift of what is clearly note material belonging in a specific place in the essay was always correctly located in the 53–68 editions; see the entry above in this editorial appendix on n. 5, for further explanation; and see the entry immediately below at 346.7 for an explanation of how the final two paragraphs of this essay (¶¶ 47–48) became the final text. 346.7 The only passage . . . such foundation.] These final two paragraphs (¶¶ 47–48) were originally created by moving footnote material into the text in the 1770 edition (and then retained in 72–77). These two paragraphs do not occur in 48–53. 346.8 Plato’s Crito] Plato in Critone 53*68| Plato’s Crito 70*77 {In 53*68 this material appears in a footnote. In 70–72 it appears in the text (¶ 47 in this critical edition).} 346.12 scarce any] no 53–70| ~ 72–77 346.14 compact] contract 53–72| ~ 77 346.14 it is] ’tis 53–68| ~ 70–77 346.14 that it] it 53–68| ~ 70–77

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants 13. Of Passive Obedience Editions: 48a, 48b, 53, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77

347.0 13 ] III. 48a| XXVI. 48b–53| XII. 58| XIII. 60–77 347.1 we] we have 48| ~ 53–77 347.8 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 72–77 347.8 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 347.15 approaches] Advances 48*70| ~ 72–77 347.17 subsist] maintain 48–72| ~ 77 347.18 allegiance] Obedience to Magistrates 48*53| ~ 58–77 347.19 binds us] obliges 48–60| ~ 64–77 347.20 that duty] it 48–53| ~ 58–77 347.24 Nero or Philip the Second] a Nero, or a Caracalla 48| a Nero, or a Philip 53*68| ~ 70–77 347.27 feel] think 48| ~ 53–77 347.30 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 72–77 347.33 very close] the closest possible 48–68| ~ 70–77 348.2 violence and] a cruel and abandon’d 48–53| ~ 58–77 348.3 attends] attend 48| ~ 53–77 348.3 it is] ’tis 48–68| ~ 70–77 348.4 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 58–77 348.6 had every one been] if every one had seem’d 48| had every one seem’d 53*70| ~ 72–77 348.6 Thus] ’Tis thus 48–68| ~ 70–77 348.14 in which] wherein 48| ~ 53–77 348.15 In like manner] Thus 48–68| ~ 70–77 348.20 inculcating] preaching up 48| ~ 53–77 348.24 among] amongst 48–53| ~ 72–77 348.26 of] of all 48| ~ 53–77 348.28 exceptions] Exception 48| ~ 53–77 348.29 them] it 48| ~ 53–77 348.33 It is] ’Tis 48*68| ~ 70–77 348.35 so] as 48| ~ 53–77 348.40 of] of the 48| ~ 53–77 349.6 injustice] his Injustice 48*53| ~ 58–77 349.10 an absurdity] the greatest of all Absurdities 48*68| ~ 70–77 349.12 be defended by it alone] alone be defended by it 48| ~ 53–77 349.15 an absolute sovereign] the sole Sovereign of the State 48| ~ 53–77 349.18 is frequently supposed to have been] was evidently 48–58| is commonly supposed to have been 60–68| ~ 70–77 349.20 ceased] laid 48–68| ~ 70–77

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14. Of the Coalition of Parties Editions: 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 This essay was added to ETSS in the 1760 edition. However, it was also printed and bound into some pre–existing copies of the 1758 edition. In existing copies in which the insert appears, it is inserted in at least four different places. Typesetting of the inserts in the 58 (collated below as ‘58’) is entirely different from that of the 60 edition. There are no formal or substantive variants in the two. The following note, placed as a note to the essay number on the first page (printed as p. 265), occurs only in these copies of the 58 edition with the essay inserted: ‘To be placed after the Essay on Passive Obedience, Page 264’. This essay was coupled with ‘Of the Jealousy of Trade’, each prepared as an insert for the 1758 edition. 350.2 dangerous parties] parties, which are dangerous 58–68| ~ 70–77 350.8 century past,] century 58–68| ~ 70–77 350.12 have] has 58–68| ~ 70–77 350.22 philosophical and practical] philosophical 58–70| ~ 72–77 350.26 disputes between the parties] ~ 58–64| disputes 67–68| ~ 70–77 350.27 of them] ~ 58–64| party 67–68| ~ 70–77 350.29 factions] parties 58–60| ~ 64–77 351.4 As the] The 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.4 for ever to be deemed] so 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.5 no] that no 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.6 a blessing so inestimable, that,] so inestimable a blessing, that, 58–64| the most inestimable of all blessings; and 67–68| ~ 70–77 351.9 or dissipation of] or 58–60| ~ 64–77 351.12 for extending and securing] to extend and secure 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.14 amongst] ~ 58–64| among 67–68| ~ 70–77 351.14 proves] prove 58–72| ~ 77 351.15 high] exorbitant 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.30 prince] crown 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.31 have appeared] appear 58–70| ~ 72–77 351.32 its] their 58–68| ~ 70–77 351.40 you] and you 58–60| ~ 64–77 352.2 private] particular 58–70| ~ 72–77 352.8 allowing] granting 58–60| ~ 64–77 352.10 a hundred] an hundred 58–72| ~ 77 352.13 have talked] talk 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.13 republican constitution] constitution of the republic 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.14 have supposed] suppose 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.16 much] infinitely 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.19 epoch] aera 58–68| ~ 70–77

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352.23 deserve] deserves 58–70| ~ 72–77 352.23 epithet] name 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.29 to be] to be altogether 58–68| ~ 70–77 352.30 former] the former 58–64| the more antient 67–68| ~ 70–77 352.32 administration.] {The following note occurs only in 58*68.} The author believes that he was the first writer who advanced that the family of Tudor possessed in general more authority than their immediate predecessors: An opinion, which, he hopes, will be supported by history, but which he proposes with some diffidence. There are strong symptoms of arbitrary power in some former reigns, even after signing of the charters. The power of the crown in that age depended less on the constitution than on the capacity and vigour of the prince who wore it. 352.33 those] these 58–60| ~ 64–77 352.33 ancient times] antient times 58–64| times 67–68| ~ 70–77 352.36 speak] talk 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.2 feudal] Gothic 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.4 to a] on a 58–60| ~ 64–77 353.9 must] shall 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.11 these] their 58–60| ~ 64–77 353.14 ridiculous] pleasant 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.14 the commons] a house 58–70| ~ 72–77 353.14 they are] ~ 58–68| it is 70| ~ 72–77 353.14 assuming, by usurpation,] usurping 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.16 representatives] the representatives 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.17 the lower] their 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.18 an exemption] a freedom 58–72| ~ 77 353.27 ascendant] ~ 58–70| superiority 72| ~ 77 353.31 best] better 58–72| ~ 77 353.33 Historians] The historians 58–68| ~ 70–77 353.34 historians] the historians 58–68| ~ 70–77 354.1 in] to 58–68| ~ 70–77 354.5 smallest] least 58–68| ~ 70–77 354.15 having become] become 58–60| ~ 64–77 354.19 as] that 58–60| ~ 64–77 354.21 fanaticism] fanaticisms 58–60| ~ 64–77 354.22 can] can ever 58–68| ~ 70–77 354.27 event, if that can be admitted as a reason,] event 58–68| event, if that can be allowed a rule, 70| ~ 72–77 354.28 arguments] reasonings 58–70| ~ 72–77 354.33 shall we] we shall 58–70| ~ 72–77 354.34 establishment] happy establishment 58–68| ~ 70–77 355.6 high claims of prerogative] exorbitant prerogatives of the crown 58–68| high claims of the prerogatives 70| ~ 72–77

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355.16 those ] these 58–64| the 67–68| these 70–72| ~ 77 355.17 gave] ~ 58–70| give 72| ~ 77 355.21 an] any 58–72| ~ 77 15. Of the Protestant Succession Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 356.0 ESSAY 15] DISCOURSE XI 52a–54| ESSAY XIII 58| ESSAY XV 60–77 356.7 advantage] advantages, 52a*70| ~ 72–77 356.11 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 356.14 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 356.15 rather continue] continue 52a| ~ 52b–77 356.15 prepossessions] prejudices and prepossessions 52a–68| ~ 70–77 356.19 though he be] tho’ 52a–60| ~ 64–77 356.20 sensible] great 52a–68| ~ 70–77 356.26 titles of their sovereign] title of their sovereigns 52a–68| ~ 70–77 356.27 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 357.1 should] wou’d 52a*58| ~ 60–77 357.2 sailors] common sailors 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 357.9 cherish] cherish and foster 52a–54| ~ 58–77 357.12 right] ~ 52a–60| rights 64–68| ~ 70–77 357.15 right] ~ 52a| rights 52b–68| ~ 70–77 357.18 after] afterwards 52a–68| ~ 70–77 357.21 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 357.22 from] to any one, who considers 52a*68| ~ 70–77 357.23 near two] the two last 52a–72| ~ 77 357.29 feudal] Gothic 52a*60| ~ 64–77 357.30 rather chose] chose rather 52a–70| ~ 72–77 357.31 It was] ’Twas 52a–54| ~ 58–77 357.33 at least, the] and 52a–70| ~ 72–77 357.39 It appears from the speeches . . . any government.] {These two sentences appear as a note in 52a*68. They were relocated as text material in 70–77. The note continues, as follows, only in 52a*68:} King James told his parliament plainly, when they meddled in state affairs, Ne sutor ultra crepidam. He us’d also, at his table, in promiscuous companies, to advance his notions, in a manner still more undisguis’d: As we may learn from a story told in the life of Mr. Waller, and which that poet us’d frequently to repeat. When Mr. Waller was young, he had the curiosity to go to court; and he stood in the circle, and saw king James dine, where, amongst other company, there sat at table two bishops. The king, openly and aloud, propos’d this question, Whether he might not take his subjects money, when he had occasion for it, without all this formality of parliament. The one bishop readily replied, God forbid you shou’d not: For you are the breath of our nostrils. The other bishop declin’d answering, and said he was

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not skill’d in parliamentary cases: But upon the king’s urging him, and saying he wou’d admit of no evasion, his lordship replied very pleasantly, Why then, I think your majesty may lawfully take my brother’s money: For he offers it. In Sir Walter Raleigh’s preface to the history of the world, there is this remarkable passage. Philip the II. {the II. 52a–52b| II. 54–68} by strong hand and main force, attempted to make himself, not only an absolute monarch over the Netherlands, like unto the kings and sovereigns of England and France; but Turk-like to tread under his feet all their natural and fundamental laws, privileges and antient rights. Spenser, speaking of some grants of the English kings to the Irish corporations, says, “All which, tho’, at the time of their first grant, they were tolerable, and perhaps reasonable, yet now are most unreasonable and inconvenient. But all these will easily be cut off with the superior power of her majesty’s prerogative, against which her own grants are not to be pleaded or enforc’d.” State of Ireland, page 1537, Edit. 1706.  As these were very common, tho’ {tho’ 52a–52b| if 54–68} not, perhaps, the universal notions of the times, the two first princes of the house of Stuart were the more excusable for their mistake. And Rapin, the most judicious of historians, seems sometimes {the most judicious of historians, seems sometimes 52a–52b| suitable to his usual malignity and partiality, seems 54–68} to treat them with too much severity upon account of it. 357.39 proclamations of James I. and the whole train of that prince’s] proclamations, and whole train of king James the I.’s 52a–52b| proclamations, and whole train of king James I.’s 54*68| ~ 70–77 358.1 he regarded] they consider’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 358.2 his] their 52a–68| ~ 70–77 358.3 opinion made those monarchs] made them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 358.7 confirmed their prejudices] blinded them 52a–68| ~ 70–77 358.8 scripture] their scripture 52a| the scripture 52aEr–54| ~ 58–68| their scripture 70| ~ 72–77 358.9 arbitrary] tyranny and despotic 52a–68| despotic 70| ~ 72–77 358.10 high] exorbitant 52a–68| ~ 70–77 358.24 in each] ~ 52a–60| on each 64–67| ~ 68–77 358.33 amongst] ~ 52a–64| among 67–68| ~ 70–77 358.35 communion] religion 52a–70| ~ 72–77 358.36 these] all these 52a–68| ~ 70–77 358.40 Stuarts] Stuart family 52a*70| ~ 72–77 359.3 the circumstances] these circumstances 52a–72| ~ 77 359.4 a one] an one 52a–68| ~ 70–77 359.6 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 359.9 every one] it 52a–68| ~ 70–77 359.11 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 359.11 derision] derision and ridicule 52a–70| ~ 72–77

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359.18 appearances] appearance 52a–60| ~ 64–77 359.19 title in] ~ 52a–60| title of 64–67| ~ 68–77 359.20 greater] much greater 52a–70| ~ 72–77 359.22 ruled] reign’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 359.22 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 359.23 interruption] interruptions 52a–58| ~ 60–77 359.24 contention between] contentions betwixt 52a–58| contentions between 60–70| ~ 72–77 359.28 disputes] contentions 52a–70| ~ 72–77 359.28 dangerous] dangerous, if not fatal, 52a–72| ~ 77 359.31 during] within 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 359.32 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 359.34 between] betwixt 52a–54| ~ 58–77 359.40 derived equally . . . in war] while we stand the bulwark against oppression, and the great antagonist of that power, which threatens every people with conquest and subjection 52a*68| ~ 70–77 360.6 experience] instance 52a–72| ~ 77 360.8 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 360.13 and we] and 52a–68| ~ 70–77 360.17 between] betwixt 52a–60| ~ 64–77 360.19 Among] Amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 360.25 our] all our 52a–68| ~ 70–77 360.26 make, by the late peace,] lately make 52a–68| ~ 70–77 360.29 would not probably] cou’d never 52a*68| ~ 70–77 360.30 establishment.] {A note occurs at this point only in 52a*68.} Those who consider how universal this pernicious practice of funding has become all over Europe may perhaps dispute this last opinion. But we lay under less necessity than other states. 360.37 II.] the second 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 360.39 all high claims, like those] the high claims 52a| all high claims like those 52aEr*77 360.39 a one] an one 52a–68| ~ 70–77 360.40 an] a very 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.2 patient?] {The following paragraph occurs at this point only in 52a*68.} The advantages, which result from a parliamentary title, pref­er­ ably to an hereditary one, tho’ they are great, are too refin’d ever to enter into the conception of the vulgar. The bulk of mankind wou’d never allow them to be sufficient for committing what wou’d be regarded as an injustice to the prince. They must be supported by some gross, popular, and familiar ­topics; and wise men, tho’ convinc’d of their force, wou’d reject them, in compliance with the weakness and prejudices of the people. An encroaching tyrant or deluded bigot alone, by his misconduct, is able to enrage the nation, and render practicable what was always, perhaps, desirable.

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361.5 a reason, which] which however just in itself, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 361.7 in] of 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.8 much] rather 52a–60| ~ 64–77 361.13 always] who are always 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.15 England] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 361.19 our] which is our 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.19 ally.] {The following additional paragraph occurs only in 52a–68.} In the last war, it has been of service to us, by furnishing us with a considerable body of auxiliary troops, the bravest and most faithful in the world. The elector of Hanover is the only considerable prince in the empire, who has drove {drove 52a–52b| pursu’d 54*68} no separate end, and has rais’d up no stale pretensions, during the late commotions of Europe; but has acted, all along, with the dignity of a king of Britain. And ever since the accession of that family, ‘twou’d {’twou’d 52a*54| it would 58–68} be difficult to show any harm we have ever receiv’d from the electoral dominions, except that short disgust in 1718, with Charles the twelfth {the twelfth, 52a–52b| XII. 54–68}, who, regulating himself by maxims very different from those of other princes, made a personal quarrel of every public injury. {The following note was placed at this point only in 64–68.} This was published in the year 1752. 361.20 the house] ~ 52a–60| those 64| ~ 67–77 361.22 train] huge train 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.23 more] vastly more 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.25 content] contented 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.27 separate interest from that of the public, and may often have an opposite one] separate, and may often have an opposite interest to that of the public 52a–70| ~ 72–77 361.32 reason] reason and philosophy 52a–70| ~ 72–77 361.32 acrimony] virulent acrimony 52a–68| ~ 70–77 361.34 trusted.] trusted. The conduct of the Saxon family, where the same person can be a catholic king and a protestant elector, is, perhaps, the first instance, in modern times, of so reasonable and prudent a behaviour. And the gradual progress of the catholic superstition does, even there, prognosticate a speedy alteration: After which, ’tis justly to be apprehended, that persecutions will put a speedy period to the protestant religion in the place of its nativity. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 361.39 greater] much greater 52a–68| ~ 70–77 362.2 determine.] determine. For my part, I esteem liberty so invaluable a blessing in society, that whatever favours its progress and security, can scarce be too fondly cherish’d by every one, who is a lover of human kind. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 362.10 among] amongst 52a–54| ~ 58–77 362.17 into] upon 52a–72| ~ 77

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362.19 begotten] begot 52a–72| ~ 77 362.26 threatens] very nearly threatens 52a–60| ~ 64–77 362.27 bring] bring suddenly 52a–60| ~ 64–77 16. Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth Editions: 52a, 52b, 54, 58, 60, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 363.0 ESSAY 16] DISCOURSE XII. 52a–54| ESSAY XIV. 58| ESSAY XVI. 60–77 363.1 It is] Of all mankind, there are none so pernicious as political projectors, if they have power; nor so ridiculous, if they want it: As on the other hand, a wise politician is the most beneficial character in nature, if accompany’d with authority, and the most innocent, and not altogether useless, even if depriv’d of it. ’Tis 52a–68| Of all mankind none are so pernicious as pol­it­ ical projectors, if they have power; nor so ridiculous, if they want it: As on the other hand, a wise politician is the most beneficial character in nature, if accompanied with authority; and the most innocent, and not altogether useless, even if deprived of it. It is 70| ~ 72–77 363.8 experiments] projects, 52a*68| ~ 70–77 363.11 improvements] improvement 52a–60| ~ 64–77 363.16 determined] fixt 52a–52b| determin’d 54*77 363.16 the controversy] this controversy 52a–72| ~ 77 363.23 system of government,] government 52a*68| ~ 70–77 363.24 construction] plan 52a–72| ~ 77 363.26 wise and learned] learned 52a*68| ~ 70–77 363.28 some old government] the old governments 52a–70| ~ 72–77 363.28 by the] the 52a–70| ~ 72–77 364.9 yet] ~ 52a–52b| as yet 54–72| ~ 77 364.11 abilities] ability 52a–72| ~ 77 364.12 employments] ~ 52a–67| employment 68| ~ 70–77 364.14 name] names 52a–68| ~ 70–77 364.18 much] infinitely 52a–68| ~ 70–77 364.24 parliament] the two houses 52a–68| ~ 70–77 364.28 embryo] ~ 52a–52b| embryo, 54–58| ~ 60–70| embrio 72| ~ 77 364.28 Scottish] Scotch 52a–54| Scotch 58–60| Scots 64–68| Scotch 70–72| ~ 77 364.30 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 364.32 from] upon 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 365.1 proposed] purpos’d 52a*68| ~ 70–77 365.3 it were] ‘twere 52a–60| ~ 64–77 365.6 of twenty pounds a-year in the county, and all the householders worth 500 pounds] in the country parishes, and those who pay scot and lot 52a–52b| of ten pounds a-year in the country, and all the householders worth 200 pounds 54–58| of ten pounds a-year in the country, and all the house-holders

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worth 200 pounds 60–68| of twenty pounds a-year in the country, and all the householders worth 500 pounds 70–72| ~ 77 365.21 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 365.26 senate, if they please,] senate 52a–68| ~ 70–77 365.28 all the] the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 366.19 together] Along 52a*54| ~ 58–77 366.20 first] chief 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 366.30 law] laws 52a–72| ~ 77 366.34 together] along 52a–54| ~ 58–77 367.3 who] which 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 367.10 of any] any 52a–68| ~ 70–77 367.13 on] ~ 52a–64| at 67–68| ~ 70–77 367.22 appoints] nominates 52a–70| ~ 72–77 367.25 bye-laws] county laws 52a–52b| county-laws 54–72| ~ 77 367.27 bye-law] law 52a–72| ~ 77 367.29 of] of the 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 367.31 appointment] nomination 52a–70| ~ 72–77 367.32 carried ultimately by appeal before] appeal’d ultimately to 52a*68| ~ 70–77 367.34 their] all their 52a–72| ~ 77 368.1 that of] that in 52a–60| ~ 64–77 368.2 It will] ‘Twill 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 368.3 20,000 men] 20,000 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 368.6 appoint] nominate 52a–70| ~ 72–77 368.7 appoints] nominates 52a–70| ~ 72–77 368.12 appoint] nominate 52a–70| ~ 72–77 368.17 or more] more 52a–72| ~ 77 368.18 are possessed, on extraordinary emergencies,] on extraordinary emergencies, are possest 52a*68| ~ 70–77 368.30 bye-law] city law 52a*68| ~ 70–77 368.30 greater] greatest 52a–72| ~ 77 368.38 for correcting] to correct 52a–70| ~ 72–77 368.39 representative] representation 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 369.2 judges enough] enough judges 52a–68| ~ 70–77 369.8 basis large enough] large enough basis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 369.9 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 369.10 always continues there] continues there always 52a*70| ~ 72–77 369.14 lesser and] less and a 52a–70| less and 72| ~ 77 369.24 carves] ~ 52a–67| only carves 68| ~ 70–77 369.31 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 369.34 people.] people. Good sense is one thing: But follies are numberless; and every man has a different one. The only way of making a people wise is to keep them from uniting into large assemblies. 52a*68| ~ 70–77 369.38 elections] ~ 52a–60| election 64–72| ~ 77

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370.6 in] to 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.8 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.10 may possibly arise] probably arises 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.13 It would] ‘Twou’d 52a*60| ~ 64–77 370.17 but] but yet 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.17 intrigue] brigue 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.24 scarcely] scarce 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.25 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 370.26 or] nor 52a–70| ~ 72–77 370.36 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 370.39 sufficient] enough 52a–70| ~ 72–77 371.7 the whole] almost the whole 52a–60| ~ 64–77 371.7 people, that are of any consideration] people 52a–60| ~ 64–77 371.15 interest] interests 52a–58| ~ 60–77 371.18 magistrates] magistrate 52a–58| ~ 60–77 371.19 it is in vain to think that any] ’tis folly to think any 52a–68| it is in vain to think any 70| it is vain to think that any 72| ~ 77 371.32 that it] it 52a–68| ~ 70–77 371.33 a wise and renowned government] formerly one of the wisest and most renown’d governments, that ever was in the world 52a*64| formerly one of the wisest and most renowned governments in the world 67–68| ~ 70–77 371.34 seem all evidently for] are all evidently to 52a–70| ~ 72–77 372.7 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 372.10 Cromwell’s] the republican 52a–68| ~ 70–77 372.12 property of 200 pounds value] hundred a year 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 372.14 Scotch] Scotch 52a–54| ~ 58–60| Scots 64–68| ~ 70–77 372.15 removed] remov’d, whose behaviour, in former parliaments, destroy’d entirely the authority of the house 52a*68| ~ 70–77 372.19 abilities] ability 52a–72| ~ 77 372.19 interest in] interest of 52a–70| ~ 72–77 372.21 by] in 52a–72| ~ 77 372.23 abilities] ability 52a–72| ~ 77 372.25 This] I allow, that this 52a*68| ~ 70–77 372.25 seems] is 52a–68| ~ 70–77 372.28 great] a great 52a–72| ~ 77 372.29 the militia] ~ 52a–70| of militia 72| ~ 77 372.30 pretence] pretext 52a–60| ~ 64–77 372.30 army.] {At this point the following passage occurs only in 52a*68.} ’Tis evident, that this is a mortal distemper in the British government, of which it must at last inevitably perish. I must, however, confess, that Sweden seems, in some measure, to have remedy’d this inconvenience, and to have a militia, along with {along with 52a–54| with 58–68} its limited monarchy, as well as a standing army, which is less dangerous than the British.

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372.32 Great Britain] Britain 52a–54| Britain 58–72| ~ 77 372.34 probable] evident 52a–68| ~ 70–77 372.35 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 372.37 faction] faction, in the former than in the latter 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 372.37 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 373.1 may establish] ~ 52a–54| they establish 58| ~ 60–77 373.17 movements] motions 52a–52b| ~ 54–77 373.18 it is] ’tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77 373.20 It is] ’Tis 52a*68| ~ 70–77 373.24 to what length] how far 52a–52b| to what lengths 54–68| ~ 70–77 373.25 movements] motions 52a–70| ~ 72–77 373.33 conquests;] conquests: 52a–52b| ~ 54–68| conquest; 70–72| ~ 77 373.35 It is] ’Tis 52a–68| ~ 70–77

INDE X TO THE E SSAYS IN E S S AY S A ND TR E A TI SE S ON SE V E R A L S UBJ E CT S Editions: 58, 64, 67, 68, 70, 72, 77 Substantive variants in the seven editions of the index are listed below, as are a few apparent mistakes in the pages listed in the 1772 copy-text (whose Index is in ETSS, vol. 2). The page location of all omitted entries identifies the point at which the entry originally appeared (as determined by proper alphabetical order). As discussed in Part 1 above, some progressive deterioration in the accuracy of pages in the indexes followed the substantially accurate 1758 index. Accordingly, a precise page-and-line reference is provided wherever needed, usually to either a page in the copy-text or a page in the 1758 edition, which is the original index. Incorrect alphabetization in the index has been corrected, as reported in Part 2 of this Editorial Appendix (in the section on ‘Errors of Alphabetization’). In the collation below, correct alphabetization is always presented. 378  An introductory note, which is not included in the text of the critical edition, occurs at this point only in 64–77: The Numeral Letters refer to the Volume, and the Figures to the Page. An entry occurs, under ‘Academy’, only in 58–68: Academy, French, their Harangues [‘Eloquence’, p. 65 in 68] The 72 copy-text reads ‘Agathocles, the Tyrant, his Cruelty, 419’, but the correct page is 420 [p. 298.23 in this critical edition]. An entry occurs, under ‘Allegory’, only in 58: Allegory of Impudence and Modesty [‘Impudence and Modesty’, pp. 9–10 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Allegory’, only in 58: Allegory, _______of Love and Marriage [‘Love and Marriage’, p. 24 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Allegory’, only in 58–68: Allegory _______of Avarice [‘Avarice’, p. 51 in 68]

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685

An entry occurs, under ‘Argens’, only in 58–68: Argens, Marques de, quoted [‘Polygamy and Divorces’, p. 114 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Artaxerxes’, only in 58–67: Artaxerxes boasted of Drunkenness [‘National Characters’, p. 128 in 58] A page reference to ‘Avarice’ occurs only in 58 (p. 52). 380 An entry occurs, under ‘Bossuet’, only in 58–68: Bossuet [‘Eloquence’, p. 67 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Cæsar’, only in 72–77: —— his Account of the Numbers slaughtered in his Wars The entry in the copy-text is ‘Causes . . . , —— physical, how far, 216’, but the discussion of this concept begins early on p. 215 [p. 309 in this critical edition]. The entry in the copy-text is ‘Cicero quoted, 18, 91, 96, 98, 100, 182, 358, 398, 418, 427, 436, 446, 459, 543, Note [O]’, but the mention of Cicero occurs on p. 445, with continuing discussion on p. 446. Also, the reference to ‘543, Note [O]’, concerns a note in ‘Of Commerce’ in the pos­ ition of an endnote near the end of the 72 copy-text (on p. 543) and so does not occur in the pages of the essay; however, the reference to note O is correct. An entry occurs, under ‘Circulation’, only in 58–68: Circulation its Meaning [‘Public Credit’, p. 197 in 58] Friends] Friend 58 | ~ 64–67 | friends 68 | ~ 70–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Collins’, only in 58: Collins, his Moderation [‘Independency of Parliament’, p. 30 in 58] Colonesi] Coloneii 58 | ~ 64–77 Character] Character, quoted 58–68 | ~ 70–77 [‘quoted’ in this entry refers to ‘Politics’, p. 17 in 58] Under the entry for ‘Country Party’ in the copy-text—‘Country Party, 27, 60, 61’—p. 26 is probably more accurate than p. 27. An entry occurs, under ‘Cromwel’, only in 58–67: Cromwel, a Saying of his, his Army 58 | Cromwel, a Saying of his 64–67 [‘a Saying of his’ refers to ‘British Government’, p. 34 in 58; ‘his Army’, refers to ‘Populousness’ and appears only in 58, p. 233] Cyrus the younger, his Boast of his Ability in drinking 68 | Cyrus boasts of his Drunkenness 70–77 [This entry occurs only in 68–77] An entry occurs, under ‘Dacier’, only in 58: Dacier, Monsieur, Madame [‘Independency of Parliament’, p. 30 in 58] 383 Darius Hystaspes records his Ability in Drinking on his Tombstone] Darius Hystaspes, commemorates his Ability in Drinking, on his Tombstone 68 | Darius Hystaspes records his Ability in drinking, on his Tombstone 70–72 | ~ 77 [This entry occurs only in 68–77] Barbarian] ~ 58–67 | Barbarian who was 68 | ~ 70–77

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Desire, Aversion] ~ 58–67 | Desire, and Aversion, whence, 68 | ~ 70–77 Massacres] ~ 58–64 | Massacre 67 | ~ 68–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Drinking’, only in 68: Drinking, the Ability of, meritorious among the Antients [‘National Characters’, p. 241 in 68] An entry for ‘Duelling’ occurs only in 58–68 [‘Rise and Progress’, p. 84 in 58] 384 Sect] ~ 58–67 | Sect of Philosophers in antient Rome, remarks on 68 | ~ 70–77 Eloquence,] Eloquence, —— English, 58–68 | ~ 70–77 Epicurean] The Epicurean 58–68 | ~ 70–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Flechier’, only in 58–68: Flechier, his Character [‘Eloquence’, p. 67 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Folard’, only in 58–68: Folard, Chevalier, his Column [‘Populousness’, p. 222 in 58] 385 Under the entry ‘Fontenelle, ——— quoted’, Fontenelle is reported, only in 58, as being ‘quoted’ in ‘Independency of Parliament’ (p. 30). Under this same entry (‘Fontenelle, ——— quoted’), Fontenelle is additionally reported in 58–68 (see 58, p. 251) as ‘quoted’ in ‘Populousness’ Parties] ~ 58–64 | natives 67 | ~ 68–77 Funding, the dangerous Tendency of] This entry occurs only in 70–77 386 Government, Origin of,  .  .  .  perpetual Struggle between Authority and Liberty in all Governments,  .  .  .  Violent Innovations dangerous to Government, . . . Sometimes prove happy in the Issue, instanced in the Reign of Henry VIII. and Charles I.] This set of entries occurs only in 77 and is the basis of the emendation in this critical edition of the index under the entry for ‘Government’ An entry occurs, under ‘Hanover’, only in 58–68: Hanover, House of [‘Parties of Great Britain’, pp. 45–46 in 58] 387 Title] Title 58–67 | Titles 68 | ~ 70–77 An entry occurs, under ‘History’, only in 58: History, the Study of it recommended [‘Study of History’, pp. 26ff in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Honor’, only in 58*68: Honor, modern [‘Rise and Progress’, p. 84 in 58] Under the entry in the copy-text, ‘Horace quoted, 89, 113, 126, 133, 202, 257, 401, 451, 558, Note [OO]’, the passage indicated by Note [OO] listed on p. 448, is an endnote (n. 208 in the critical text). The reference to ‘451’ is a mistake; it should have been ‘452’. An entry occurs, under ‘Hortensius’, only in 58–68: Hortensius de re frumentaria, quoted [‘Populousness’, p. 241 in 58]

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388 I] ~ 58–64 | J 67 | ~ 68–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Ireland’, only in 58–70: Ireland, factious [‘Populousness’, p. 224 in 58] its Inhabitants] Inhabitants 58–68 | ~ 70–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Law’, only in 58–68: Law, Mr. quoted [‘Public Credit’, p. 197 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Liberty of the Press . . . only in 58–68: ——— its Advantages [‘Liberty of the Press’, pp. 7–8 in 58] 390 An entry occurs, under ‘Motte’, only in 58–68: Motte, Monsieur la, quoted An entry occurs, under ‘Optimates’, only in 58–68: Optimates and Populares, Parties of Rome [‘Parties of Great Britain’, p. 41 in 58] 391 his Character as a Writer,] his Character, quoted, 58 | quoted, 64–68 | ~ 70–77 392 An entry occurs, under ‘Patru’, only in 58–68: Patru, his Character [‘Eloquence’, p. 67 in 58] 393 An entry occurs, under ‘Raleigh’, only in 58–68: Raleigh, Sir Walter, quoted [‘Protestant Succession’, p. 267 in 58] 394 The entry ‘Reason, when it influences Action, only a cooler Passion’ is mistakenly reported in the 1772 copy-text as in vol. 1 (‘i. 468’), which is the essays portion of ETSS. The entry is in fact for A  Dissertation on the Passions, which appears in vol. 2, which is the treatises portion. 395 An entry occurs, under ‘Scobel’, only in 58: Scobel quoted [‘Populousness’, p. 233 in 58] 396 An entry occurs, under ‘Sermons’, only in 58–68: Sermons, English and French, their Character [‘Eloquence’, p. 67 in 58] 397 Taxes . . . ________ do not fall ultimately on Land] This entry occurs only in 70–77 398 William,] Will. 58–67 | Will, 68 | Will. 70 | ~ 72–77 An entry occurs, under ‘Thurloe’s Letters’, only in 58: Thurloe’s Letters quoted [‘Populousness’, p. 234 in 58] 399 An entry occurs, under ‘Tyre’, only in 58: Tyre, Number of its People. [This entry is likely a reference to ‘Populousness’, p. 228 in 58 (that is, par. 83 of ‘Populousness’ in the present critical edition), but, owing to a misprint, no page number was provided in the 58 index.] In the entry ‘Vopiscus’, the index in the copy-text lists p. ‘448’ and independently cites ‘Note’ 208 (as notes are numbered in this critical edition), which is on p. 448 (319 in this critical edition). A separate reference to Vopiscus in note 211 also occurs on p. 448 of the copytext. See p. 320.17 and note 211 on p. 320 of this critical edition. Because n. 208 is an endnote and note 211 a footnote, ‘Note 211’ has been added by the editors in the index for clarity. The compiler of

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Editorial Appendix of Emendations and Substantive Variants the index (for Hume) may have wanted to call attention to the fact that the endnotes are printed on different pages at the end of the book. An entry occurs, under ‘Wallace’, only in 58–68: Wallace, Rev. Mr. his Elogy [‘Populousness’, p. 208 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Waller’, only in 58*68: his Story of James I. [‘Protestant Succession’, p. 266 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Walpole’, only in 58–68: Walpole, Sir Robert, his Character [‘Politics’, p. 19 in 58] An entry occurs, under ‘Whitlock’, only in 58: Whitlock quoted [‘Populousness’, p. 233 in 58]

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AP P EN D IX 1 T H E ‘ S CO T T I CI S MS ’ INS ERT I N P O L I TI C A L D IS CO URS ES This list of Scotticisms was printed with advertisements in a quire inserted into some but not all copies of the first edition of Political Discourses (ESTC T4007), most often at the back (e.g. McGill B1477 1752), sometimes in or adjacent to the preliminaries (e.g. University of Arizona H35.H92). Its eight pages are not pa­gin­ ated continuously with the rest of the book. The watermarks of the quire are the same as those in that book (1752a in the bibliographical schema in this critical ­edition). The English Short-Title Catalogue gives the insert an entry numbered T47206, as though it had been independently published. Factors for viewing it as adventitious to 1752a are listed in the note on ‘Scotticisms’ in the description of that book in the bibliographical schema (p. 460–1). The list was reprinted in Scots Magazine, 22 (1760): 686–7 (app.), and Aberdeen Magazine, 1 (1761): 104–6. The latter adds some material on Scotticisms from Samuel Johnson’s dictionary and reproduces the introduction of the former, which cautiously states the facts without attributing the list to Hume: ‘These Scotticisms were annexed to the Political Discourses of David Hume, Esq; printed at Edinburgh in 1752 . . . ; but are not continued in the later editions of that book.’ In Scots Magazine, 26 (1764): 187–9, ‘Philologus’ criticized the list in detail, ­sarcastically calling the author ‘the Scottish oracle’. Both the ‘Scotticisms’ and Philologus’s critique are reprinted without explanation as an appendix in James Elphinston’s Animadversions upon Elements of Criticism; Calculated Equally for the Benefit of that Celebrated Work, and the Improvement of English Stile (London, [1771]), a debunking critique of Kames’s Elements of Criticism. A striking resem­ blance exists between Philologus’s and Elphinston’s idiosyncratically pompous irony. Hume certainly knew of Elphinston’s Animadversions because he responded to a request from Kames to look into the book (to Creech, 29 April 1773, in Ross, ‘Le Bon David Again’, 542–5). Hume’s failure to disclaim the ‘Scotticisms’ sug­ gests that he was willing to be taken for its author. British Library C.61.b.6.(2.) seems to be the only known copy of the ‘Scotticisms’ not inserted into a copy of Political Discourses. In  C.61.b.6 the quire is bound together with thirty-two leaves of MS notes, at least some of which are identified by M. A. Stewart as in the hand of Hume’s nephew David. The survival of an isolated copy in a compilation emanating, evidently, from the family increases the probabil­ ity that Hume was the author. James Maidment’s description of C.61.b.6 in 1863 would appear to be the origin of the notion that the list was ‘printed for private circulation’ (‘ “Scotticisms” ’, 225). Supposing that the list had been issued inde­ pendently, Maidment noted that the advertisement on the final leaf for ‘BOOKS

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publiſ hed by the ſame AUTHOR’ (unnumbered page 7) would identify Hume as the author of ‘Scotticisms’. The books advertised are Essays Moral and Political, Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding, and An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. Also bound in the volume is James Beattie’s Scoticisms, Arranged in Alphabetical Order, Designed to Correct Improprieties of Speech and Writing (Edinburgh, 1787). This pamphlet followed up on Beattie’s A List of Two Hundred Scoticisms (Aberdeen, 1779).

SCOTTIC IS M S Will in the first person, as I will walk, we will walk, expresses the intention or reso­ lution of the person, along with the future event: In the second and third person, as, you will, he will, they will, it expresses the future action or event, without compre­ hending or excluding the volition. Shall in the first person, whether singular or plural, expresses the future action or event, without excluding or comprehending the intention or resolution. But in the second or third person, it marks a necessity, and commonly a necessity proceed­ ing from the person who speaks; as, he shall walk, you shall repent it. These variations seem to have proceeded from a politeness in the English, who, in speaking to others or of others, made use of the term will, which implies volition, even where the event may be the subject of necessity and constraint. And in speak­ ing of themselves, made use of the term, shall, which implies constraint, even tho’ the event may be the object of choice. Wou’d and shou’d are conjunctive moods, subject to the same rule; only we may observe, that in a sentence, where there is a condition exprest, and a consequence of that condition, the former always requires shou’d, and the latter wou’d, in the second and third persons; as, if he shou’d fall, he wou’d break his leg, &c. These is the plural of this; those of that. The former therefore expresses what is near. The latter what is more remote. As, in these lines of the duke of Buckingham. Philosophers and poets vainly strove, In ev’ry age, the lumpish mass to move. But those were pedants if compar’d with these, Who knew not only to instruct but please.

Where a relative is to follow, and the subject has not been mention’d immediately before, those is always requir’d. Those observations which he made. Those kingdoms which Alexander conquer’d. In the verbs, which end in t, or te, we frequently omit ed in the preter-perfect and in the participle; as, he operate, it was cultivate. Milton says, In thought more elevate; but he is the only author, who uses that expression. Notice shou’d not be us’d as a verb. The proper phrase is take notice. Yet I find lord Shaftesbury uses notic’d, the participle: And unnotic’d is very common.

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Hinder to do is Scotch. The English phrase is hinder from doing. Yet Milton says, Hinder’d not Satan to pervert the mind. Book IX. Scotch. conform to friends and acquaintances maltreat advert to proven, improven, approven pled incarcerate tear to pieces drunk, run fresh weather tender in the long run notwithstanding of that contented himself to do ’tis a question if discretion with child to a man out of hand simply im­pos­sible a park in time coming nothing else mind it denuded severals some better anent allenarly alongst. Yet the English say both amid and   amidst, among and amongst evenly as I shall answer cause him do it. Yet ’tis good English to   say, make him do it. marry upon learn there, where effectuate. This word in English means to effect with pains and difficulty

English. conformable to friends and acquaintance abuse attend to prov’d, improv’d, approv’d pleaded imprison tear in pieces drank, ran open weather sickly at long run notwithstanding that contented himself with doing ’tis a question whether civility with child by a man presently absolutely im­pos­sible an en­clos­ure in time to come no other thing remember it divested several something better with regard to solely along even I protest or declare cause him to do it marry to teach thither, whither effect

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a wright. Yet ’tis good English to say, a wheelwright, &c. defunct evite part with child notour to want it to be difficulted rebuted for ordinary think shame in favours of dubiety prejudge compete heritable to remeed bankier adduce a proof superplus forfaulture in no event common soldiers big with a man bygone debitor exeem’d yesternight big coat a chimney annualrent tenible argument amissing to con­des­cend upon to discharge to extinguish an obligation to depone a compliment to enquire at a man to be angry at a man

a carpenter deceast avoid miscarry notorious to be without a thing, even tho’   it be not desirable to be puzzled discouraged by repulses usually asham’d in favour of doubtfulness hurt enter into competition hereditary to remedy banker prod­uce a proof surplus forfeiture in no case private men great with a man past debtor exempted last night great coat a grate interest good argument missing to specify to forbid to cancel an obligation to depose a present to enquire of a man to be angry with a man

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Appendix 1: The ‘Scotticisms’ Insert in Political Discourses to send an errand to furnish goods to him to open up Thucydide, Herodot, Sueton butter and bread pepper and vinegar paper, pen and ink readily on a sudden as ever I saw for my share misgive rather chuse to buy as sell deduce lookt over the window a pretty enough girl ’tis a week since he left this come in to the fire to take off a new coat alwise cut out his hair cry him to crave to get a stomach vacance

693

to send off an errand to furnish him with goods to open or lay open Thucydides, Herodotus, Suetonius bread and butter vinegar and pepper pen, ink and paper probably of a sudden as I ever saw for my part fail rather chuse to buy than sell deduct lookt out at the window a pretty girl enough ’tis a week since he left this place come near the fire to make up a new suit always cut off his hair call him to dun, to ask payment to get an appetite vacation

BI BL I O G R A PHI C A L DES CRIP TION Collation. 8o (in 4s): A4; 4 leaves; pp. 1 2–6 7–8. Note. Chain lines are vertical. The watermark, as in British Library 522.g.7 (Political Discourses, 1st edn.), is a version of the generic kind shown by Churchill as facs. 318, an example of the ‘Horn’ (Watermarks, CCLI). Fully visible, this watermark would show a horn hung in a crowned shield with the name ‘L V GERREVINK’ beneath it. See also Heawood 2745. Contents. A1r–A3v text, captioned on A1r by the centred heading ‘Scotticiſms’; A4r-v advertisements. Commentary. The couplets quoted are lines 3–6 of An Essay upon Satire (1689), a poem revised by Dryden and subsequently by Pope but written by John Sheffield, created duke of Buckingham in 1703. For the principle that poetry should please and instruct, the locus classicus was Horace, Ars Poetica 333–44. The first quotation

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from Milton (Paradise Lost 2.558) refers to fallen angels debating about pre­des­tin­ ation, free will, and divine foreknowledge. The second is quoted inaccurately: the omniscient God hindered not Satan to ‘attempt’, rather than ‘pervert’, the mind of man (10.8), whom God has provided with free will. The word ‘perverted’ appears nearby in line 3. The citation to ‘Book IX’ is right for the first edition of Paradise Lost (1667–9), but not thereafter. If the passage from Shaftesbury that Hume men­ tions is from the Characteristicks, it must be this from Sensus Communis 4.4: ‘I wou’d only add a small Remark of my own, which may perhaps be notic’d by the Studyers Statuary and Painting’ (1: 78 n. 46).

A NO T E O N THE TEXT The copy used for the transcription is McGill University B1477 1752. In this appendix only one correction has been made to the original text as it was printed: A stray and meaningless ‘s’ above the line of type at the end of an appearance of the word ‘this’ has been eliminated. Small problems of punctuation have not been corrected as they do not affect meaning.

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AP P EN D IX 2 TH E D E D I C AT I O N ‘ TO THE REVEREND MR . H U M E ’ I N F O U R D IS S ERTA T IO NS An occasional piece, this dedication to John Home appeared in only some copies of Four Dissertations (London pub. c.7 February 1757, Edinburgh c.22 March) and never thereafter reappeared in Hume’s published writings. The dedication is signed 3 January 1757, at which time Home’s second play Douglas was being revised, or soon to be so, in advance of a revival 16 February in Edinburgh and its London premiere 14 March. The tragedy had become a congeries of causes—critical, nationalist, and social. Initially rejected by David Garrick in 1755, it drew tears from an Edinburgh audience at the theatre in the Canongate 14 December 1756 and at least four subsequent nights, whereupon controversy erupted over clerical involvement in theatre that raised issues of the power of presbyteries over ministers and Scottish culture. That year the general assembly had entertained and put aside a proposal for an inquisition into Hume’s writings. On 20 January 1757, Hume wrote to Millar that the dedication had been shown to the poet’s friends, ‘who were seiz’d with an Apprehension, that it wou’d hurt that Party in the Church, with which [Home] had always been connected, and wou’d involve him, and them of Consequence, in the Suspicion of Infidelity’ (Letters, 1: 240–1). Hume informed William Mure that these friends assailed both the tragedian ‘& me . . . and engag’d us to change our Intention.’ Hume ‘wrote to Millar to suppress that Dedication’, but then ‘Two Posts after . . . retracted that Order.’ Unfortunately, ‘in the Interval of these four days’ Millar ‘opend his Sale . . . without that Dedication’ (Letters, 1: 243). The piece had some circulation as an item in the periodicals. As Hume informed Adam Smith some time after the 14 March performance at Covent Garden, the dedication had ‘been inserted in some of the weekly Papers, both here & in London’ (Letters, 1: 245–6). One London daily, the Public Advertiser (no. 6982), reprinted the dedication two days before the performance, and it appeared with the Edinburgh presbytery’s admonition of 5 January against theatre in William Strahan’s triweekly London Chronicle, 1 (8–10 March 1757): 238–9, and the monthly Literary Magazine, 2 (15 February–15 March 1757): 88–90. Lacunae in extant issues prevent con­firm­ ation of the reprinting of the dedication in the Edinburgh Weekly Journal, but the candidacy of that periodical is more likely given the prior reprinting in it of a letter by ‘Crito’ reviewing the first performance in Edinburgh (see Box, ‘Crito’s “impar­ tial Observations” ’). Amongst other ministers, Alexander Carlyle was arraigned in church proceed­ ings in May 1757 for attending a performance. The playwright himself would evade proceedings by resigning his ministry in June, when the Scots Magazine (19: 158–60, 216–18, 263–4, 293–4) reprinted the dedication. The dedication became almost as

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much an object of criticism as the play. (See e.g. John Maclaurin, lord Dreghorn’s Apology for the Writers against the Tragedy of ‘Douglas’, esp. 4–5, and his The Philosopher’s Opera (both pub. Edinburgh, April 1757), esp. iv.) At some point in this controversy Lord Milton, the Duke of Argyle’s distressed coadjutor in managing Scotland’s patronage system, was provoked into rebuking Hume, ‘for it was owing to him and keeping Company with him’, he said, ‘that such a clamour was rais’d’ (Carlyle, Anecdotes, 157–67 at 167). Dismissing Hume’s critical judgement (Monthly Review, 16 (May 1757): 426–9), Oliver Goldsmith did not present the full story when he observed of Douglas that ‘party roars in its support’ (Collected Works, 1: 10). Hume’s dedication is not so much a work of literary criticism as an intervention. The controversy was seen as historically significant for its weakening of the control of the clergy over Scottish culture. TO The Reverend Mr. Hume, Author of Douglas, a Tragedy. My dear Sir, [1] It was the practice of the antients to address their compositions only to friends and equals, and to render their dedications monuments of regard and affection, not of servility and flattery. In those days of ingenuous and candid liberty, a dedication did honour to the person to whom it was addressed, without degrading the author. If any partiality appeared towards the patron, it was at least the partiality of friend­ ship and affection. [2] Another instance of true liberty, of which antient times can alone afford us an example, is the liberty of thought, which engaged men of letters, however different in their abstract opinions, to maintain a mutual friendship and regard; and never to quarrel about principles, while they agreed in inclinations and manners. Science was often the subject of disputation, never of animosity. Cicero, an academic, addressed his philosophical treatises, sometimes to Brutus, a stoic; sometimes to Atticus, an epicurean. [3] I have been seized with a strong desire of renewing these laudable practices of antiquity, by addressing the following dissertations to you, my good friend: For such I will ever call and esteem you, notwithstanding the opposition, which prevails between us, with regard to many of our speculative tenets. These differences of opinion I have only found to enliven our conversation; while our common passion for science and letters served as a cement to our friendship. I still admired your genius, even when I imagined, that you lay under the influence of prejudice; and you sometimes told me, that you excused my errors, on account of the candor and sin­ cerity, which, you thought, accompanied them. [4] But to tell truth, it is less my admiration of your fine genius, which has engaged me to make this address to you, than my esteem of your character and my affection to your person. That generosity of mind which ever accompanies you; that cordiality of friendship, that spirited honour and integrity, have long

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interested me strongly in your behalf, and have made me desirous, that a monument of our mutual amity should be publicly erected, and, if possible, be preserved to posterity. [5] I own too, that I have the ambition to be the first who shall in public express his admiration of your noble tragedy of Douglas; one of the most interesting and pathetic pieces, that was ever exhibited on any theatre. Should I give it the prefer­ ence to the Merope of Maffei, and to that of Voltaire, which it resembles in its subject; should I affirm, that it contained more fire and spirit than the former, more tenderness and simplicity than the latter; I might be accused of partiality: And how could I entirely acquit myself, after the professions of friendship, which I have made you? But the unfeigned tears which flowed from every eye, in the numerous representations which were made of it on this theatre; the unparalleled command, which you appeared to have over every affection of the human breast: These are incontestible proofs, that you possess the true theatric genius of Shakespear and Otway, refined from the unhappy barbarism of the one, and licen­ tiousness of the other. [6] My enemies, you know, and, I own, even sometimes my friends, have reproached me with the love of paradoxes and singular opinions; and I expect to be exposed to the same imputation, on account of the character, which I have here given of your Douglas. I shall be told, no doubt, that I had artfully chosen the only time, when this high esteem of that piece could be regarded as a paradox, to wit, before its pub­ lication; and that not being able to contradict in this particular the sentiments of the public, I have, at least, resolved to go before them. But I shall be amply compen­ sated for all these pleasantries, if you accept this testimony of my regard, and believe me to be, with the greatest sincerity, Dear Sir, Your most affectionate Friend, and humble Servant, Edinburgh, 3, Jan. 1757. David Hume.

ANNOTATI O NS title. the Reverend Mr. Hume] The philosopher’s nephew David noted that ‘John Home was very strenuous in support of the o in preference to the u, in the spelling of his name’ (Mackenzie, Account, 164). 1. the practice of the antients] Voltaire had made the same point in the dedica­ tion of his 1743 Mérope to Francesco Scipione Maffei (Œuvres complètes, 4: 179), one of several predecessors in rendering as drama the classical story of Merope, who in ignorance of his identity, almost killed her son, generally known as Aepytus, as he returned from exile to reclaim the throne of Messenia. For a view of the ‘lib­

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erty’ and ‘equality of fortune’ in the ancient world, see ‘Populousness’ 45–6. Hume gives a more negative account of the relative lack of ‘polite deference and respect’ in the ancient world in ‘Rise and Progress’ 33–6. 1. without degrading the author] Sycophantic dedications had become such objects of derision that they could be turned to satiric purposes, as notably in Bolingbroke’s denunciatory dedication to Robert Walpole of the Dissertation upon  Parties. Hume’s dedication is straightforwardly panegyrical but reverses the  norm in declaring solidarity with a friend in need of protection instead of ­soliciting the protection of a grandee for his book. Home would find more effective protection from Lord Bute and a pension of £100 from the prince of Wales, the future George III. 2. Cicero, an academic] i.e. an adherent of the ‘new Academy’ (c.269–mid-1st cen­ tury bc), associated with the phase of the Academy under Carneades’s influence, wherein the Academics ‘looked upon things rather as probable, than as true and certain’ (Chambers, Cyclopædia, s.v. Academy). Chambers recommends Cicero’s Academica for an explication of the tenets of Carneades’s probabilism and its dis­ tinction from radical scepticism. Cf. the academical, ‘mitigated scepticism’ described in EHU 12.24–5. 2. Brutus, a stoic; . . . Atticus, an epicurean] Cicero’s Brutus, Orator, Paradoxa Stoicorum, De finibus, Tusculan Disputations, and De natura deorum are addressed to Brutus. De legibus, De senectute, and De amicitia are addressed to Atticus, while Atticus is the major interlocutor with Cicero in the dialogue De legibus. Hume reflects upon ‘Parties from principle, especially abstract speculative principle’ as ‘known only to modern times’ in ‘Parties in General’ 11–14, and upon the ancient schools of philosophy in ‘Rise and Progress’ 22 (see the related annotations). 4. affection for your person] Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. ‘person’, 5.a: ‘The actual self or being of a man or woman; individual personality.’ Cf. Thomas Gordon’s declaration that an independent Whig has ‘a great Respect for the Office of a Clergyman; and for his Person, if he deserves it’ (Character, 4). 5. your noble tragedy of Douglas] Goldsmith’s was not the only criticism that the play and Hume’s dedication encountered in London. Notable were Critical Review, 3 (March 1757): 258–68 (apparently not written by the editor, Tobias Smollett), and John Hawkesworth’s anonymous Letter to Mr David Hume, on the Tragedy of Douglas (London, pub. last week of March 1757). Nevertheless, in 1770–6, long after its initial publicity, Douglas enjoyed at least fifteen performances in London (London Stage 1660–1800). To Hume and the like-minded it did not appear inevitable that verse tragedy in English would atrophy, and the way forward after the achievements of Otway’s generation, they thought, was to incorporate the refine­ ments of French drama. That ‘neo-classical’ movement had itself self-consciously adapted the formal features of Greco-Roman drama. Thus Hume wrote to Joseph Spence 15 October 1754 that in Douglas Home ‘appears a true disciple of Sophocles

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and Racine’ (Letters, 1: 204; cf. letters of 3 May and 29 September 1757, New Letters, 40–2). Cultural progress through emulation amongst neighbouring nations is the point of ‘Rise and Progress’ 19–21. In the course of warm reviews, of both the performance and composition of Douglas, the critic for Strahan’s paper, the London Chronicle, accounted for Hume’s extravagant praise as due to the application of Sophocles and Euripides as models (no. 25, 1 (22–24 March 1757): 286; Caledonian Mercury, no. 5499 (29 March 1757), [1]). 6. Merope of Maffei, and to that of Voltaire] the eponymous heroine of tragedies by Maffei (Meropa, 1714) and Voltaire (1743), both based on the legend of Merope as told in Hyginus, Fabulae (no. 137 in modern editions, 137 and 184 in older edi­ tions). Hyginus is thought to be summarizing the plot of Euripides’ lost play, Cresphontes, which was famous in antiquity for the dramatic ‘recognition’ scene in which Merope, about to kill a man whom she believes to be her son’s murderer, is informed in the nick of time that the unknown man is actually her son himself (cf.  Aristotle, Poetics 1454a 4–7; Nicomachean Ethics 1111a11–12; and Plutarch, ‘On the Eating of Flesh II’ 5 in Moralia 998e). The dramas of Maffei and Voltaire share with Home’s play a focus on ‘maternal tenderness’ in distress (Mackenzie, Account, 91) and an avoidance of amorous love. The relationship between Douglas and Voltaire’s tragedy was much remarked: ‘Mathilda, young Douglas, and Norval, are evidently modelled, feature for feature, on Merope, Dorilas, and Narbas’ (Theatrical Review, 72). 7. unfeigned tears] The talk of tears might not be hyperbole. After the London performances, one critic able to see faults in the play acknowledged wonderingly that ‘tears were the first praises I gave it’ (Theatrical Review, 73). 8. the unhappy barbarism of the one, and licentiousness of the other] To some, like Maclaurin (Philosopher’s Opera, iv), these invidious comparisons seemed outrageous, but the criticisms of Shakespeare and Otway were commonplaces. The judgements in Hugh Blair’s Lectures invaluably summarize a certain consensus. In lecture 46 Blair itemized Shakespeare’s notorious barbarisms: ‘Besides extreme irregularities in conduct, and grotesque mixtures of serious and comic in one piece, we are now and then interrupted by unnatural thoughts, harsh expressions, a cer­ tain obscure bombast, and a play upon words, which he is fond of pursuing’. Shakespeare’s two ‘excellencies’ are ‘his lively and diversified paintings of charac­ ter; his strong and natural expressions of passion.’ Thomas Otway was ‘the very opposite of the French decorum; and has contrived to introduce obscenity and indecent allusions, into the midst of deep Tragedy’ (2: 523–4). On Otway, cf. the annotation for ‘Essay Writing’ 8. Otway too was esteemed for ‘his power over the passions, and the exquisite tenderness of his pathetic scenes. . . . His name was always coupled with that of Shakespeare’ (Mackenzie, Account, 73). 9. before its publication] Douglas had separate editions in Edinburgh and London in March 1757, appearing in London during the week of the 14th–20th (London

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Chronicle, 1 (17–19 March 1757): 271). In Edinburgh it was advertised in Caledonian Mercury, no. 5499 (29 March 1757), [4]. Without attempting to distinguish between genuine editions and reissues, one sees from the English Short-Title Catalogue and the catalogue of the British Library that the play was available in print more or less continually into the 1830s. There was an edition in Philadelphia in 1790.

TE XT AND COL L ATI O N The text in Four Dissertations [57a] and the later appearance of the dedication in Scots Magazine [57b] are here collated. The original text has not been emended because it contains no errors, the Scots Magazine has no authority for emendation, and this appendix does not present a critical text. Title  To The Reverend Mr. Hume, Author of Douglas, a Tragedy.] ~ 57a| Characters, &c. of  Douglas, a tragedy. Mr. Hume’s dedication of his Four Dissertations, which were published, at London, in the beginning of February. To the Rev. Mr. Home, author of  Douglas, a tragedy. 57b v.20 theatric] ~ 57a| theatrical 57b vii.6 Edinburgh, 3, Jan.] ~ 57a| Edin. Jan. 3. 57b

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AP P EN D IX 3 FACS I M I L E R EP RODUCTIONS This appendix contains facsimile reproductions of vital materials pertaining to the history of Hume’s essays. The scanned images in this Appendix 3 have been generously provided by the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the McGill University, Montreal, and The British Library, London.

1 . A MANUSCRIPT F RAGM E NT OF ‘P OPUL OUSNE SS OF ANC I E NT NAT I O NS ’ The manuscript here reproduced in facsimile is a fragment from ‘Populousness’, paragraphs 80–2,  as printed in Selections from the Family Papers Preserved at Caldwell [ed. William Mure], vol. 1, pt. 2.1, Plate IIB. The manuscript itself disappeared after this publication, but hand-writing analysis by M. A. Stewart confirms that this fragment is in Hume’s hand and is authentic, not a forgery. It is the only known manuscript of an essay written by Hume.

Transcription One general Cause of the great Disorders in all of antient Governments seems to have proceeded from the great Difficulty of establishing any Aristocracy in antie those Ages, & the perpetual Discontents & Seditions of the People; whenrever even the meanest & most beggarly were excluded from the Legislature. The very Quality of Freeman gave such a Rank, being oppos’d to that of Slave, that it seem’d to intitle the Possessor to every Power Privilege of the Commonwealth. Solon’s Laws excluded no Freeman from Votes or Elections (a); but confin’d some Magistracies to a particulyar Census; yet were the People never pleasd till these Laws were abrogated. By the Treaty with Antipater no Athenian had a Vote, whose Census was less than 2000 Drachmas (about 130 Lib.) Sterling) And tho’ such a Government woud to us appear sufficiently democratical, it was so disagreeable to that People, that 22.000 immediatly deserted their Country: Only 9000 remain’d. Cassander reduc’d that Census to the twentieth Part; yet still the Government was consider’d as an oli­g arch­ic­al Tyranny. Servius Tullius’s Laws appear very equal & reasonable by fixing the Power in proportion to the Property: We know Yet the Roman People cou’d never be brought quietly to submit to them. In those times, there was no Medium betwixt a severe, jealous Aristocracy, over discontented Subjects, & a turbulent, factious, tyrannical Democracy.

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2 . TITL E - PAGE S OF HUM E ’S E S S AYS (17 4 1 , 17 5 2 , 17 5 7 , 1 7 7 2 ) These facsimiles reproduce the title-pages of the following four books: Essays, Moral and Political, vol. 1, 1741 Political Discourses, 1752 (first edition) Four Dissertations, 1757 Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, 1772. The first three are first editions (and the only edition, under its title, in the case of Four Dissertations). The fourth is the copy-text for this critical edition and the last edition of his essays seen through the press by Hume.

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Appendix 3: Facsimile Reproductions 3. AN ADVE RTISE ME NT OF T HE 1 7 4 1 E S S AY S, M OR A L A ND P O L I T I CA L

This advertisement for the second edition of volume 1 of Essays, Moral and Political was published in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, no. 5509 (Tues. 15 Dec. 1741) [4]. This newspaper was produced by Kincaid and Fleming. The advertisement establishes that both the first and the second editions of volume 1 of Essays, Moral and Political were published in 1741. In ‘My Own Life’, Hume reported that the book was published in 1742 (the date on the imprints of the second edition and of volume 2). The advertisement also shows that volume 2 was already in the works. The advertisement repeats the incorrect title of the book that was reported in the ad­vert­ise­ ments for the first edition, in July 1741. On 27 August the book was registered with the correct title with the Stationers Company in London.

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4.THE CR A F TSM A N’S APP ROP RIAT I O N O F ‘BRITISH GOVE RNM E NT’ This appropriation of ‘Whether the British Government Inclines More to Absolute Monarchy or to a Republick’ occurred in The Country Journal or, the Craftsman, no. 797 (Sat. 10 Oct. 1741), p. 1, where it was presented as a contributed letter signed ‘P.T.’ without mention of Hume as the source.

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Appendix 3: Facsimile Reproductions 5. ‘QUE RIE S AND ANSWERS RE L AT I NG TO S IR ROBE RT WAL POL E’S C HA RAC TE R’

This set of queries, bundled with responses by Hume, appeared in Scots Magazine (March 1742, pp. 119–20) a month after Walpole resigned from the ministry on 11 February 1742. The queries pertain to Hume’s essay ‘A Character of Sir Robert Walpole’, which had appeared in his Essays, Moral and Political, volume 2 (likely in circulation by January 1742).

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6. TH E E NGRAVE D PORTRAIT O F HUM E I N E S S AY S AN D TR E A TI SE S ON SE VE R A L S UBJ E CT S ( 1 7 6 8 ) This engraved portrait appears in the front matter of the 1768 ETSS. It later appeared in the 1770 royal quarto edition of Hume’s History.