8
 
 "*!*"*
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 ADAM SMITH, LLD. 
 
 Printed by Bye and Law, St. John's Square, Clcrkenwell.
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 ADAM SMITH, LL.D. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LIFE, DEATH, and PHILOSOPHY 
 
 OF HIS FRIEND 
 
 DAVID HUME, Esq. 
 
 By one of the People called CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Ibant olfcuri, fold fab noBe, per umbram, 
 Perque domos Ditis vacuas, et inania regna. 
 
 • VlRG. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 
 PUBLISHED EY DESIRE Of THE 
 
 SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE 
 
 Hontron : 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. AND C. RIVINGTON, 
 
 BOOKSELLERS TO THE SAID SOQJETY, 
 NO. 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, 
 
 1799.
 
 N, B. TJie Author of this Tract was 
 GEORGE HORNE, D. ZX 
 
 Xate Lord Bifhop of Norwich.
 
 SRLF 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. n ^ 
 
 T is of no confequence, gentle Reader,. 
 to you, any more than it is to Dr. 
 Smith, that you mould know the name 
 of the perfon, who now addrefTeth you.. 
 Your mind cannot be piaffed, either way, 
 by that, of which you remain ignorant. 
 The remarks in the following pages are 
 not therefore true, or falfe, becaufe I made 
 them j but I made them, becaufe I thought 
 them to be true. Read, confider, and deter- 
 mine for yourfelf. If you find no fatis- 
 faclion, throw the book into the fire ; 
 regret (but with moderation, as becometh 
 a philofopher) the lofs of your fixpence*; 
 
 The price of the firft edition. 
 
 a 3 and 
 
 -9 OQO 

 
 VI ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 and take care not to lofe another, in the 
 fame manner. If, on the contrary, you 
 Jhould find fatisfaction (and, it is humbly 
 hoped, you will find a great deal) neglect 
 not to communicate toothers, what has thus 
 been communicated to you. Speak hand- 
 fomely of me, wherever you go, and in- 
 troduce me to your kinsfolk and acquaint- 
 ance. The enemies of Religion are awake; 
 let not her friends fleep. 
 
 I intended a much longer work ; but, 
 like the learned editor of Mr. Hume's 
 Life, am neceffitated to " gratify," with 
 all poffible expedition, *' the impatience 
 " of the public curiofity;" fo eager is it 
 to hear, what they, who believe in God, 
 can poflibly have to fay for themfelves. 
 And if this will do the bufinefs, why 
 
 mould
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. Vll 
 
 mould you be troubled with more ? I am 
 far from agreeing with Mr. Voltaire, 
 in all his obfervations. But there is one, 
 in which it is impoffible to diiagree with 
 him. " I have faid, and I abide by it," 
 cries the little hero, " that the fault of 
 '* molt books is, their being too large." 
 On reviewing what I have written, I 
 really cannot fee there is occafion to add 
 another fentence. 
 
 Had I not chofen, for reafons belt 
 known to myfelf, thus to make my ap- 
 pearance incog, I would certainly have 
 fate for my piclure, and have tried to 
 caft a look at my title page, as lively and 
 good humoured, as that of Mr. Hume 
 himfelf. My bookfeller, indeed, told me, 
 it would have been a much more credit- 
 
 a 4 able
 
 Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 able way of doing the thing; " and then, 
 " you know, Sir," faid he, " we could 
 " have charged the other Sixpence," 
 
 A LET-
 
 LETTER, &c. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 VOU have been lately employed in em— 
 -■- balming a philoibpher; his body, I be- 
 lieve I mull fay; for concerning the other 
 part of him, neither you nor he feem to have 
 entertained an idea, fleeping or waking,. Elfe, . 
 it furely might have claimed a little of your, 
 care and attention; and one would think, the 
 belief of the foul's exiftence and immortality • 
 could do no harm, if it did no good, in ai 
 Theory of Moral Sentiments. But every pen-- 
 tleman underftands his own bufinefs belt. 
 
 Will, you do an unknown correspondent- 
 the honour, .Sir, to accept a \(m ry}:drt re- 
 marks, in a free and eafy way, upon thee cu- 
 rious letter to Mr. St rah an,, in which; this . 
 
 a 5 ever;-
 
 lO A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 ever memorable operation of embalming is 
 performed ? Our Philofopher's account of 
 his own life will likewife be confidered, as we 
 go along. 
 
 Truft me, good Doctor, I am no bigot, 
 enthufiaft, or enemy to human learning — Et 
 ego in Arcadia — I have made many a hearty 
 meal, in private, upon Cicero and Virgil, 
 as well as Mr. Hume *. Few perfons (though, 
 perhaps, as Mr. Hume fays, upon a like oc- 
 cafion, " I ought not to judge on that fub- 
 Cf ject") have a quicker relifh for the pro- 
 du6tions of genius, and the beauties of com- 
 pofition. It is therefore as little in my in- 
 tention, as it is in my power, to prejudice 
 the literary character of your friend. From 
 fome of his writings I have received great 
 pleafure, and have ever efteemed his Hiftory 
 of England to have been a noble effort of 
 matter and motion. But when a man takes it 
 into his head to do mifchief, you muft be 
 fenfible, Sir, the Public has always reafon to 
 lament his oeing a clever fellow. 
 
 * Life, p. 5, 
 
 I hope
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. II 
 
 I hope it will not be deemed vanity in me 
 likewife to fay, that I have in my compofition 
 a large proportion of that, which our inimi- 
 table Shakespeare ftyles, the milk of human 
 kindnejs. I never knew what envy or hatred 
 was; and am ready, at all times, to praife, 
 wherever I can do it, in honour and confid- 
 ence. David, I doubt not, was, as you 
 affirm, a focial agreeable perfon, of a convi- 
 vial turn, told a good ftory, and played well 
 at " his favourite game of whift*." I know 
 not that John the Painter did the fame. 
 But there is no abfurdity in the fuppofition. 
 If he did not, he might have done it — Doctor, 
 be not offended — I mean no harm. I would 
 only infer. thus much, that I could not, on 
 that account, bring myfelf abfulutely to ap- 
 prove his odd fancy of firing all the dock- 
 yards in the kingdom. 
 
 Concerning the philofophical opinions of Mr. 
 Hume you obferve f, that " men will, no 
 " doubt, judge varioufly." They are cer- 
 tainly at liberty fo to, do, becaufe the author 
 
 • Life, &c. p. 43. f Life, &c> p. 59. 
 
 a 6. him id f
 
 12 - A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 himfelf did the fame. Sometimes, to be 
 fure, he efteemed them ingenious, deep, 
 fubtile, elegant, and calculated to diffufe his 
 literary fame to the ends of the world. But, 
 at other times, he judged very differently; 
 very much fo, indeed. " I dine," fays he, 
 '-* I play a game at back-gammon, I converfe, 
 <c and am merry with my friends ; and when, 
 " after three or four hours amufement, I 
 €t would return to thefe {peculations, they 
 " appear fo cold, fo ftramed, and lb ridiculous y 
 " that I cannot find in my heart to enter into 
 " them any farther*/* Now,. Sir, if vou 
 will only give me leave to judge, before din- 
 ner, of Mr. Hume's philofophy, as he judged 
 of it after dinner, we mail have no farther 
 difpute upon that fubjecl:. I could indeed 
 wifh, if it were poffible, to have a fcheme of 
 thought, which would bear contemplating,, at 
 any time of the day ; becaufe, otherwife, a 
 perfon muft be at the expence of maintaining 
 
 * Treatife of Human Nature. I. 467. In. the Poft- 
 fcript to this Letter, a view will be exhibited of the 
 Humian fyftem, taken exadlly as it appeared to it's 
 author at fix o'clock, in the evening. 
 
 a brace
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMTTIT. TJ 
 
 a brace of thefe metaphyseal Hobby-Horfes,, 
 one to mount in the morning, and the other 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 After all, Sir, friend as I am to freedom of 
 opinion (and no one living can be more fo) 
 I am rather lorry, methinks, that men fhould 
 judge fo varioujly of Mr. Hume's philofo- 
 phical fpecnlations. For fince the defign of 
 them is to banifh out of the world every idea 
 of truth and comfort,, falvation and immorta- 
 lity, a future ftate, and the providence, and 
 even exiftence of God, it feems a pity, that 
 we cannot be all of a. mind about them, though, 
 we might have formerly liked to hear the author, 
 crack a joke, over a bottle, in his life time,. 
 And I could have been well pleafed to have 
 been informed by you, Sir, that, before his 
 death, he had ceafed to number among his- 
 happy effufions tracts of this kind and ten- 
 dency. 
 
 For — (let me come a> little clofer to you, 
 Doctor, if you pleafe, upon this fubject — 
 Don't be under any apprehenfions — my name 
 does not begin with a B — ) Arc ysu fure, and 
 can you make us fure, that there really exift 
 
 no
 
 14 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 no fuch things as a God, and a future ftate of 
 rewards and punifhments ? If fo, all is well. 
 Let us then, in our laft hours, read Lucian, 
 and play at whist, and droll upon Charon 
 and his boat * ■, let us die as foolifh and in- 
 lcnfible, as much like our brother philofo- 
 phers, the calves of the field, and the afifes of 
 the defart, as we can, for the life of us. But 
 —-if fuch things be — as they moll certainly 
 are— Is it right in you, Sir, to hold up to 
 our view, as " perfectly wife and virtuous f," 
 the character and conduct of one who feems to 
 have been poneffed with an incurable antipathy 
 to all that is called religion ; and who {trained 
 every nerve to explode, fupprefs, and extirpate 
 the fpirit of it among men, that it's very name, 
 if he could effect it, might no more be had in 
 remembrance ? Are we, do you imagine, to 
 be reconciled to a character of this fort, and 
 fall in love with it, becaufe it's owner was good 
 company, and knew how to manage his. cards? 
 Low as the age is fallen, I wiil venture to 
 hope, it has grace enough yet left, to refent 
 fuch ufage as this. 
 
 * Life, &c. p. 47, et fe.|. f Life, &c)r. 62. 
 
 You
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 1$ 
 
 You endeavour to entertain us with Tome 
 •pleajant conceits that were fuppofed by Mr, 
 Hume to pafs between himfelf and old Cha- 
 ron. The philofopher tells the old gentle- 
 man, that, cc he had been endeavouring to 
 " open the eyes of the Public ■," that he was 
 cc correcting his works for a new edition," 
 from which great things were to be expected ; 
 in fhort, " if he could but live a few years 
 " longer (and that was the only reafon why 
 " he would wifh to do fo) he might have the 
 tf fatisfadlion of feeing the downfal of fome 
 " of the prevailing fyftems of Jwperji ition *." 
 
 We all know, Sir, what the word super- 
 stition denotes, in Mr. Hume's vocabulary, 
 and again!! what Religion his fhafts are level- 
 led, under that name. But, Doctor Smith, 
 do you believe, or would you have <us to be- 
 lieve, that it is Charon, who calls us out of 
 the world, at the appointed time ? Doth not 
 he call us out of it, who fent us into it ? Let 
 me, then, prefent you with a paraphrafe of 
 the Wifh, as add re fled to him, to whom it 
 
 * Life, &c. p. 50. 
 
 mould,
 
 l6 g LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 fliould, and to whom alone, with any fenfe 
 and propriety it can be addreffed.— Thus it 
 
 runs 
 
 " Lord, I have only one rcafon why I 
 « would wift to live. Suffer me fo to do, 
 
 * I moft humbly befeech thee, yet a little 
 
 * while, till mine eyes mall behold the fiic- 
 
 * cefs of my undertaking to overthrow, by 
 " my metaphyfics, the faith which thy Son 
 " defceaded from heaven to plant, and to 
 u root out the knowledge and the love of 
 " thee from the earth." 
 
 Here are no rhetorical figures, no hyoer- 
 Bole's, or exaggerations.. The matter is even 
 fo.. I appeal, in the face of the world, Sir,, 
 to yourfelf, and to every man, who can read 
 and underftand the writings of Mr. Hume, 
 whether this be not, in plain, honeft Englifh,' 
 the drift of his phzlo/cphy as it is called s for 
 the propagation of which alone he wifned to 
 live j and concerning which you are pleafed 
 to fay coolly,. «- men will judge varioufly,. 
 " every one approving or condemning theft 
 " opinions,, according as they happen to co- 
 
 st incide.
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. I 7 
 
 " incide or difagree with his own*." Our 
 thoughts are very naturally carried back, upon 
 this occafion, to the author of the firfi philo- 
 fophy y who like wife engaged to open the eyes 
 of the Public — He did fo ; but the only difco- 
 very they found thcmfelves able to make, 
 was, — that they were naked. 
 
 You talk much, Sir, of our philofopher's 
 gentlenefs of manners, good nature ■> compaJJion y 
 generofity y charity. Alas, Sir, whither were 
 they all fled, when he fo often fate down 
 calmly and deliberately to obliterate from the 
 hearts of the human fpecies every trace of 
 the knowledge of God and his difpenfations ; 
 all faith in his kind providence, and fatherly 
 protection;, all hope of enjoying his grace 
 and favour, here, or hereafter; all love of 
 him, and of their brethren for his fake ; all 
 the patience under tribulation, all the com- 
 forts, in time of forrow, derived from thefe 
 fruitful and perennial fources ? Did a good 
 man think himfclf able, by the force of me- 
 taphyiic incantation, in a moment, to blot 
 the fun out of heaven, and dry up every 
 
 * Life, &c. p. 59. 
 
 fountain
 
 l8 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 fountain upon earth, would he attempt to do 
 it? — Tully had but a faint glimpfe of the 
 country to which we are all travelling ; yet, 
 fo pleafing was any the mod imperfect and 
 fhadowy profpeft into futurity, that Tully 
 declared, no man fhould ravifh it from him*. 
 And furely, Tully was a philofopher, as 
 well as Hume. O had he feen the light 
 which {hone upon Hume, he would not have 
 clofed his eyes againft it -, had the fame cup 
 been offered to him, he would not have darned 
 it untafted from him ! 
 
 " Perhaps our modern fceptics are igno- 
 " rant, that without the belief of a God, and 
 " the hope of immortality, the miferies of 
 " human life would often be infupportable. 
 " But can I fuppofe them in a Hate of total 
 " and invincible ftupidity, utter flrangers to 
 " the human heart, and to human affairs? 
 " Sure, they would not thank me for fuch 
 " a fuppofition. Yet this I muft fuppofe, 
 
 * Quod fi in hoc erro* quod animos hominum im- 
 mortales eiFe credam, libenter erro ; nee mihi hunc 
 errorem, quo deleclor, dum vivo, extorqueri volo. 
 DsSenectute, ad Fin. 
 
 or
 
 (C 
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITK. I 9 
 
 Cf or I mull believe them to be the moft 
 cruel, the moft perfidious, and the moft 
 profligate of men. CarefTed by thofe who 
 (c call themfelves the great, ingrofled by the 
 <f formalities of life, intoxicated with vanity, 
 " pampered with adulation, diflipated in the 
 " tumult of bufinefs, or amidft the vicifii- 
 tf tudes of folly, they perhaps have little 
 <f need and little relifh for the confolations of 
 " religion. But let them know, that in the 
 " folitary fcenes of life, there is many an 
 " honeft and tender heart pining with incu- 
 <c rable anguifh, pierced with the fharpeft 
 " fting of difappointment, bereft of friends, 
 " chilled with poverty, racked with difeafe, 
 " fcourged by the opprefTor j whom nothing 
 " but truft in Providence, and the hope of 
 " a future retribution could prefer ve from 
 " the agonies of defpair. And do they, 
 " with facrilegious hands, attempt to violate 
 « this laft refuge of the miferable, and to 
 " rob them of the only comfort that had fiir- 
 (C vived the ravages of misfortune, malice, 
 tc and tyranny ? Did it ever happen, that 
 f( the influence of their execrable tenets dif- 
 
 " turbed
 
 20 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 " turbed the tranquillity of virtuous retire - 
 " ment, deepened the gloom of human dif- 
 " trefs, or aggravated the horrors of the 
 if grave ? Is it poffible, that this may have 
 " happened in many inftances ? Is it pro- 
 " bable, that this hath happened in one 
 " fingle inftance ?— Ye traitors to human 
 " kind, ye murderers of the human foul, 
 *' how can you anfwer for it to your own 
 « hearts ! Surely, every fpark of your ge- 
 " nerofity is extinguifhed for ever, if this 
 " confide ration do not awaken in you the 
 « keener! remorfe, and make you wifh in 
 " bitternefs of foul— But I remonftrate in 
 " vain. All this muft have often occurred 
 ff to you, and been as often rejected, as ut- 
 " terly frivolous. Could I enforce the pre- 
 fent topic by an appeal to your vanity, I 
 might poffibly make fome impreffion. But 
 to plead with you on the principles of be- 
 " nevolence, or generosity, is to addrefs 
 " you in a language ye do not, or will not 
 " underftand ; and as to the fhame of being- 
 « convifted of abfurdity, ignorance, or want 
 iC of candour, ye have long ago proved your- 
 
 " felves 

 
 <c 
 <{ 
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 21 
 
 <c felves fuperior to the fenfe of it.— But let 
 " not the lovers of truth be difcouraged. 
 <c Atheifm cannot be of long continuance, 
 <f nor is there much danger of it's becoming 
 <f univerfal. The influence of fome confpi- 
 {c cuous characters hath brought it too much 
 ft into fafhionj which, in a thoughtlefs and 
 " profligate age, it is no difficult matter to 
 accomplim. But when men have retrieved 
 the powers of ferious reflection, they will 
 " find it a frightful phantom ; and the mind 
 t( will return gladly and eagerly to it's old 
 <f endearments. One thing we certainly 
 " know j the fafhion of fceptical and meta- 
 t{ phyfical fyflems pafleth away. Thofe un- 
 " natural productions, the vile efTufion of a 
 <f hard and llupid heart, that miftakes it's 
 * f own reftleflhefs for the activity of genius, 
 ft and it's own captioufnefs for fagacity of 
 *' underflanding, may, like other monfters, 
 ' pleafe awhile by their Angularity ; but the 
 ft charm is foon over ; and the fucceedino- 
 
 CD 
 
 « ( age will be aflonifhed to hear, that their 
 " fore-fathers were deluded, or amufed, with 
 * s fuch fooleries." 
 
 You,
 
 22 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 You, Sir, have read the preceding para- 
 graph before ; but this Letter may come into 
 the hands of many, who have not. It is the 
 alarum bell to the admirers of Mr. Hume ; 
 and mould be rung in their ears, till fuc- 
 ceeded by the laft trumpet. 
 
 And now, Sir, will you give me leave to 
 afk you a few queftions ? Why all this hurry 
 and buftle, this eagernefs to gratify the pre- 
 tended " impatience of the Public*," and 
 iatisfy it, that our philofopher lived and died 
 perfectly compofed and eafy ? Was there, 
 then, any fufpicion, in Scotland, that he 
 might not, at times, be quite fo compofed 
 and eafy as he mould have been ? Was there 
 any particular book ever written againft him, 
 that fhook his fyftem to pieces about his ears, 
 and reduced it to a heap of ruins, the fuccefs 
 and eclat of which might be fuppofed to have 
 hurt his mind, and to have affected his health ? 
 Was there any author, whofe name his 
 friends never dared to mention before him, 
 and warned all flrangers, that were introduced 
 
 * Preface to Life, &c. 
 
 5 to
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 2J 
 
 to him, againft doing it, becaufe he never 
 failed, when by any accident it was done, to 
 fly out into a tranfport of paffion and fwear- 
 ing * ? Was it deemed neceflary, or expe- 
 dient, on this account, that he fhould repre- 
 fent himfclf, and that you fhould reprefent 
 him, to have been perfectly fecure of the 
 growth and increafe of his philofophic repu- 
 tation, as if no book had been written, which 
 had impaired it ; it having been judged much 
 eafier to dinemble the fall of Dagon, than to 
 
 • .*' I was a man of mild diipofn.ions, of command of 
 *' temper, little fufceptible of enmity, and of great mo- 
 " deration in all my paffions. Even my love of literary 
 " fame, my ruling paflion, never foured my temper^" 
 Life, p. 32. Yet even by what is faid of the Reve- 
 rends and Right Reverends — Bifhop Wat burton, 
 BiThop Hurd, the Zealots (that is, the Chriftians) and 
 of the refolution once taken to " change his name and 
 " fettle in France," becaufe his writings did not meet 
 with fufficient encouragement — by thefe circumftances, 
 I fay, there feems to have been fomething of the irritable 
 in his conftitution. But thefe are trifles. My quarry 
 lies not in this way, at prefent. I fly at nobler game. 
 The atrocious wickednefs of diffufing atheifm through 
 the land, is a fubjeft which concerns every body. 
 
 J*
 
 24 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 Jet him upon his ftumps again ? I am a South 
 Briton, and, confequently, not acquainted 
 with what pafles fo far in the oppofite quarter. 
 You, Sir, can inform us how thefe things 
 are; and likewife, when the great work of 
 benevolence and charity, of wifdom and virtue, 
 fhall be crowned by the publication of a 
 treatife defigned to prove the soul's mor- 
 tality, and another, to juftify and recom- 
 mend self murder; for which, without doubt, 
 the prefent and every future age will blefs 
 the name of the gentle and amiable author. 
 
 Upon the whole, Do&or, your meaning is 
 good ; but I think you will not fucceed, this 
 time. You would perfuade us, by the exam- 
 ple of David Hume, Efq; that atheifm is 
 the only cordial for low fpirits, and the proper 
 antidote againft the fear of death. But, furely, 
 he who can reflecl, with complacency, on a 
 friend thus rriifemploying his talents in his 
 life, and then amufing himfelf with Lucian, 
 Whist, and Charon, at his death, may fmile 
 over Babylon in ruins; efteem the earth- 
 quake, which deftroyed Lisbon, an agreeable 
 occurrence; and - congratulate the hardened 
 4 Pharaoh,
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 2< 
 
 Pharaoh, on his overthrow in the Red Tea. 
 Drollery, in fuch circumftances, is neither 
 more nor lefs than 
 
 Moody Madnefs, laughing wilA 
 Amid fevereft woe. \ 
 
 Would we know the baneful and peftilential 
 influences of falfe philofophy on the human 
 heart ? We need only contemplate them in this 
 molt deplorable inftance of Mr. Hume. 
 
 Thefe layings, Sir, may appear harm ; but 
 they are faiutary. And if departed fpirits 
 have any knowledge of what is paffing upon 
 earth, that perfon will be regarded by your 
 friend as rendering him the trueft fervices, 
 who, by energy of expreffion, and warmth of 
 exhortation, fhall moft contribute to prevent 
 his writings from producing thofe efreccs upon 
 mankind, which lie no longer wifhes they 
 mould produce. Let no man deceive him- 
 fel'f, or be deceived by others. It is the voice 
 of eternal truth, which crieth aloud, and 
 faith to you, Sir, and to me, and to all the 
 world— He that bdievcth on the Son hath evcr- 
 lafting life ; and he that believethnot the Sen, 
 
 & Jhall
 
 26 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 JJjall not fee life •, but the wrath of God abideth 
 on him *. 
 
 By way of contrail to the behaviour of 
 Mr. Hume, at the clofe of a life, pafled with- 
 out God in the world, permit me, Sir, to lay 
 before yourfelf, and the Public, the lad fenti- 
 ments of the truly learned, judicious, and ad- 
 mirable Hooker, who had fpent his days in 
 the fervice of his Maker and Redeemer. 
 
 After this manner, therefore, fpake the 
 author of the Re cleft aft ic-al Polity, immediately 
 before he expired — 
 
 " I have lived to fee, that this world is 
 fC made up of perturbations ; and I have been 
 " long preparing to leave it, and gathering 
 " comfort for the dreadful hour of making 
 " my account with God, which I now appre- 
 " hend to be near. And though I have, by 
 " his grace, loved him in my youth, and feared 
 " him in mine age, and laboured to have a 
 11 confeience void of offence, towards him, 
 tl and towards all men j yet, if thou, Lord, 
 " fhouldeft be extreme to mark what I have 
 " done amifs, who can abide it ? And there - 
 
 * John iii. 36. 
 
 fore, 
 
 4(
 
 A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 2^* 
 
 " fore, where I have failed, Lord, fhew mercy 
 M to me i for I plead not my righteoulhef . 
 M but the forgivenefs of my unrighteoufhefs, 
 <( through His merits, who died to purchaic 
 w pardon for penitent finners. And fmce I 
 (e owe thee a death, Lord, let it not be terri- 
 " bie, and then take thine own time ; I fubmit 
 M to it. Let not mine, O Lord, but thy will 
 <f be done ! — God hath heard my daily peti- 
 " tions; for I am at peace with all men, and 
 " he is at peace with me. From fuch bleiled 
 M afliirance I feel that inward joy, which this 
 •* world can neither give, nor take from me. 
 ff My confcience beareth me this witnefs ; 
 " and this witnefs makes the thoughts of 
 " death joyful. I could wifh to live, to do 
 u the church more fervice j but cannot hope 
 " it i for my days are paft\ as a ftiadow that 
 " returns not." 
 
 His worthy Biographer adds — cc More he 
 " would have fpoken, but his fpirits failed 
 l( him ; and, afcer a fnort conflict, between 
 " nature and death, a quiet figh put a period 
 
 " to his hit breath, and fo, he fell afleep 
 
 " And now he feems to reft like Lazarus in 
 
 B 2 Abraham's
 
 ^B A LETTER TO DR. ADAM SMITH. 
 
 « Abraham's bofom. Let me here draw his 
 ft curtain, til], with the moft glorious com- 
 ' pany of the Patriarchs and Apoftles, and 
 * the moft noble army of Martyrs and Con- 
 ft feffors, this moft learned, moft humble, 
 " moft holy man mail alfo awake to receive 
 " an eternal tranquillity, and with it a greater 
 " degree of glory, than common Chriftiuns 
 " ih all be made partakers of." 
 
 Doctor Smith, when the hour of his de- 
 parture hence mall arrive, will copy the exam- 
 ple of the believer, or the infidel, as it 
 liketh him beft. I muft freely own, I have 
 no opinion of that reader's bead, or heart, 
 who will not exclaim, as 1 find myfelf obliged 
 to do — 
 
 Let me die the death of the Righteous, and 
 let my I aft end be like his ! 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your very fin cere 
 Well-wifher, and 
 Humble Servant, 
 One of the People called CHRISTIANS. 
 
 POST-
 
 ( *9 } 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 AS it is pofllble, Sir, nay probable, that 
 this little tract, bccaufe it is a little one, may 
 be perufed by many, who have not leifure or 
 inclination to go through large volumes, and 
 yet wifh to know what Mr. Hume's philofo- 
 phical fyftem is j I mail here fubjbin a fhort, 
 but cojnprehenffve fummary of the doctrines 
 which compofe it, drawn up, fome few years 
 ago, by a learned gentleman, for his am'ufe- 
 ment, with proper references to thofe parts of 
 our philofopher's works, where fuch doctrines 
 were to be found.. And. though I never heard,, 
 the compiler had the thanks of Mr. Hume for 
 fo doing, yet neither could I ever find, that 
 he or his friends difputed the fidelity and ac- 
 curacy with which it was done *.. 
 
 * See Dr. Beattie's Eflay on Truth, Part If. 
 Ch. I. Sea. I. and Part III. Ch. If. 
 
 B 3 A Sum.
 
 30 POSTSCRIPT.. 
 
 A Summary of Mr. Hume's Doctrines, 
 
 METAPHYSICAL AND MORAL. 
 OF THE SOUL. 
 
 That the foul of man is not the fame this 
 moment, that it was the lad ; that we know 
 not what it is -, that it is not one, but many 
 things ; and that it is nothing at all. 
 
 That m this foul is the agency of all the 
 caufes that operate throughout the fenfible 
 creation ; and yet that in this foul there is nei- 
 ther power nor agency, nor any idea of either. 
 
 That matter and motion may often be re- 
 garded as the caufe of thought. 
 
 OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 That the external world does not exift, of 
 at lead, that it's exigence may reafonably be 
 doubted. 
 
 That the univerfe exifts in the mind, and 
 that the mind does not exift. 
 
 That the univerfe is nothing but a heap of 
 perceptions, without a fubflance. 
 
 That though a man could bring himfelf to 
 believe, yea, and have reafon to believe, that 
 
 6 every
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 7>l 
 
 every thing in the univerfe proceeds from 
 fomfc caufe ; yet it would be unreafonable for 
 him to believe, that the univerfe itfelf pro- 
 ceeds from a caufe. 
 
 OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 That the perfection of human knowledge is 
 to doubt. 
 
 That we ought to doubt of every thing, 
 yea, of our doubts themfelves, and there- 
 fore, the utmoft that philofophy can do, is 
 to give us a doubtful folution of doubtful 
 doubts *. 
 
 That the human understanding, acting alone, 
 does entirely fubvert itfelf, and prove by ar- 
 gument, that by argument nothing can be 
 proved. 
 
 That man, in all his perceptions, actions, 
 and volitions, is a mere pafTive machine, and 
 has no feparate exiftence of his own, being 
 entirely made up of other things, of the exift- 
 
 * The fourth fedion of Mr. Hume's EJJ'ays on the 
 Human Uiiderjianding, is called Sceptical doubts concerning 
 the operations of the human underjlanding ; and the fifth 
 fe&ion bears chis title, Sceptical Solution of thofe doubts. 
 
 ence
 
 3 2 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 ence of which he is by no means certain y 
 and yet, that the nature of all things depends 
 fb much upon man, that two and two could 
 not be equal to four, nor fire produce heat, 
 nor the fun light, without an act of the human, 
 understanding. 
 
 OF GOD. 
 
 That it is unreafonable to believe God to 
 be infinitely wife and good, while there is any 
 evil or diforder in the univerfe. 
 
 That we have no good reafcn to think the 
 univerfe proceeds from a caufe.. 
 
 That as the existence of the external world 
 is queftionable,. we are at a lofs to find argu- 
 ments by which we may prove the exiftence 
 of the Supreme Being, or any of his attri- 
 butes. 
 
 That when we fpeak of Power, as an attri- 
 bute of any being, God himfelf not excepted, 
 we life words without meaning:. 
 
 That we can form no idea of power, nor 
 of any being endued with power, much lefs of 
 one endued with infinite power ; and that we 
 
 can
 
 POSTSCRIPT*. J ? 
 
 Fan never have reafon to believe, that any 
 object, or quality of any objed exifts, of which 
 we can form an idea *. 
 
 OF THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTIONS. 
 
 That every human action is neceffary, and 
 could not have been different from what it is. 
 
 That moral, intellectual, and corporeal vir- 
 tues are nearly of the fame kind — In other 
 words, that to want honeily, and to want un- 
 derstanding, and to want a kg, are equally 
 the objects- of moral difapprobation. 
 
 That adultery muft be pradifed, if men 
 would obtain all the advantages of life ; that, 
 if geirerally practifed, it would in time ceafe 
 to be fcandalous ; and that, if pradifed fe- 
 en j tly and frequently, it would by degrees 
 come to be thought no crime at all. 
 
 Laftly, as the foul of man, according to 
 Mr. Flu me, becomes every moment a diffe- 
 
 The poor prodigal Gentile, in the parable, was 
 hardly reduced to feed upon fuch husks as thefe. How 
 good and how joyful a thing muft it be, for one, that 
 has been fo reduced, to return to the houfe of his hea- 
 venly Father, where there is bread enough and to /pare — 
 to knew the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom 
 • f 
 
 rent
 
 34 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 rent being, the confequence mult be, that the 
 crimes committed by him at one time, cannot 
 be imputable to him at another *. 
 
 I believe, Doctor Smith, the reader is now 
 fully prepared to enter into the fpirit of your 
 concluding fentence, which therefore lhall be 
 mine. 
 
 " I have always confidered Mr. Hume, 
 i( both in his life-time, and'fince his death, as 
 " approaching as nearly to the idea of a per- 
 
 " FECTLY WISE AND VIRTUOUS MAN, aS per- 
 
 " haps the nature of human frailty will 
 li permit." 
 
 * " My Enquiry concerning the Principles of Met als is of 
 '* all my writings, hiftorical, philofophical, or literary* 
 " incomparably the best." Life, p. 16. 
 
 THE END, 
 
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