THE EARLY BRITISH REVIEWS OF HUME'S WRITINGS Review of Hume's from William Rose June 1784 5/1/95 Copyright 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu). See end note for details on copyright and editing conventions. This is a working draft; please report errors.[1] Editor's Note: This review appeared anonymously in June 1784, Volume 70, pages 427-428 of . William Rose's authorship is established in Benjamin Christie Nangle's, (1934). Although brief, this review appeared in the main article section of that issue (as opposed to the monthly catalog section). * * * * June 1784 Vol. 70 {427} A/RT\. IV. , ascribed to the late David Hume, Esp; never before published. With Remarks, intended as an Antidote to the Poison contained in these Performances, by the Editor. To which added, two Letters on Suicide, from Rousseau's Eloisa. 12mo. 3 s. 6 s. sewed. Printed for M. Smith, and sold by the Booksellers in Piccadilly, Fleet-Street, and Pater-noster-Row. 1783. IN a short preface to these we are told, that they are generally attributed to the late Mr. Hume, though not published in any edition of his works; that the celebrity of the author's name renders them, in some degree, objects of great curiosity; that, owing to this circumstance, a few copies have been clandestinely circulated, for some time, at a large price, but without any comment; that the present publication possesses very superior advantages; and that the annexed are intended to expose the sophistry contained in the original essays. The Writer of this article knows that the essays here mentioned were written by Mr. Hume. That almost thirty years ago they made part of a volume, which was publicly advertised to be sold by Mr. Millar; that, before the day fixed for publication, several copies were delivered to some of the Author's friends, who were impatient to see whatever came from his pen; that a noble Lord, still living, threatened to prosecute Mr. Millar, if he published the essays now before us; that the Author, like a bold veteran in the cause of infidelity, was not in the least intimidated by this menace, but that the poor bookseller was terribly frightened, to such a degree, indeed, that he called in all the copies he had delivered, cancelled the two essays, and, with some difficulty, prevailed upon Mr. Hume to substitute some other pieces in the room of those objected to by the noble Lord; that, by some means or other, however, a few copies got abroad, and have been clandestinely circulated, at a large price, as already mentioned. In regard to the present Editor, though we are far from calling in question the uprightness and benevolence of his intentions, yet we cannot applaud his judgment, or think it equal to his zeal. He does not consider, that while he spreads the antidote, he disseminates the poison at the same time, and seems to resemble a physician, who should take great pains to propagate {428} a distemper, in order to have the credit and advantage arising from the cure. There was, indeed, little, very little danger of the essays doing much mischief. The warmest of Mr. Hume's admirers think them unworthy of him, and every competent judge will, we are fully persuaded, be of opinion that they carry their own confutation along with them. A few examples will be sufficient to shew this. Mr. Hume affirms, that it is as clear as any purpose of nature can be, that the whole scope and intention of man's creation is limited to the present life, and that those who inculcate the doctrine of a future state, have no other motive but to gain a livelihood, and to acquire power and riches in this world. -- He tells us that, were one to go round the world with an intention of giving a good supper to the righteous, and a sound drubbing to the wicked, he would frequently be embarrassed in his choice, and would find that the merits and the demerits of most men and women scarcely amount to the value of either. -- The life of a man, he says, is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster. -- It would be no crime, we are told, in any man, to divert the Nile or Danube from their courses, were he able to effect such purpose. Where then is the crime, Mr. Hume asks, of turning a few ounces of blood from their natural channel? -- Were a drunken libertine to throw out such nauseous stuff in the presence of his bacchanalian companions, there might be some excuse for him; but were any man to advance such doctrines in the company of sober citizens, men of plain sense and decent manners, no person, we apprehend, would think him entitled to a serious reply, but would hear him with silent contempt. To combat such opinions requires no great abilities; it is but justice to the Editor, however, to acknowledge that his notes contain some pertinent and judicious reflections. [1][COPYRIGHT: (c) 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu), all rights reserved. Unaltered copies of this computer text file may be freely distribute for personal and classroom use. Alterations to this file are permitted only for purposes of computer printouts, although altered computer text files may not circulate. Except to cover nominal distribution costs, this file cannot be sold without written permission from the copyright holder. This copyright notice supersedes all previous notices on earlier versions of this text file. When quoting from this text, please use the following citation: , ed. James Fieser (Internet Release, 1995). EDITORIAL CONVENTIONS: letters between slashes (e.g., H/UME\) designate small capitalization. Letters within angled brackets (e.g., ) designate italics. Note references are contained within square brackets (e.g., [1]). Original pagination is contained within curly brackets (e.g., {1}). Spelling and punctuation have not been modernized. Printer's errors have been corrected without note. Bracketed comments within the end notes are the editor's. This is a working draft. Please report errors to James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu).]