PART IV
INTRODUCTION TO PART IV
Hume’s autobiographical essay, My Own Life, was widely read by its earliest audiences. Originally published in the Scots Magazine in January 1777, Hume’s Life was accompanied by a letter about his character and death written by his friend, Adam Smith. Two months after the Scots Magazine printing, Hume’s London publisher, William Strahan, published a pamphlet edition of Hume’s Life that also included Smith’s “Letter.” Strahan’s edition was immediately reviewed in both the Critical Review and the Monthly Review and copies of the pamphlet soon made their way to American shores where it was reprinted. The first American edition of My Own Life was published by Robert Bell in Philadelphia in 1778. Bell reprinted the text of Hume’s Life along with Strahan’s short introductory “Advertisement” and Smith’s “Letter.” Curiously, Bell coupled this Hume material with Pierre Poivre’s Travels of a Philosopher in a book entitled The Life of David Hume, Esq; the philosopher and historian, written by himself. To which are added, the Travels of a philosopher, containing observations on the manners and arts of various nations, in Africa and Asia (1778). Later that year Bell included Hume’s Life in an even more miscellaneous, and larger, collection which he called Miscellanies for Sentimentalists. There, Hume’s autobiography was the first of seven selections comprised of Lord Chesterfield’s Principles of Politeness, the Duke de la Rochefoucault’s Maxims and Moral Reflections, Philip Freneau’s American Independence, Poivre’s Travels of a Philosopher, J. Murry’s Travels of the Imagination; a true Journey from Newcastle to London, and The humble Confession, Declaration, Recantation, and Apology of Benjamin Towne. Bell advertised the Miscellanies for Sentimentalists in his book sale catalogue of 1778, but it is difficult to know how widely circulated Bell’s American printings of Hume’s Life were. The town library of Foster, Rhode Island, had a copy of Bell’s Miscellanies by 1781 and The Library Company of Philadelphia recorded by 1789 a donation by Zachariah Poulson, Jr. of Bell’s first edition of Hume’s Life. American and British editions of the Life were also to be found in other American libraries in the early years of the nineteenth century. Harwood’s Circulating Library in Philadelphia had a copy, for instance, as did Harvard University Library. Much more significant for circulating descriptions of Hume’s life and character, however, was the inclusion of My Own Life in Thomas Ewell’s Philosophical Essays (Philadelphia, 1817) and, even more so, the printing of the Life in almost every posthumous edition of Hume’s History of England, including the first American edition published by Robert Campbell in 1795–6. Hume’s Life was perhaps the most widely circulated of all of his writings in early nineteenth-century America.1
Before 1776, the year Hume died, discussions of Hume’s life and character are found scattered in American writings that aimed to assess Hume as essayist, historian and philosopher. American newspapers, like the Virginia Gazette for instance, occasionally noted details of Hume’s life such as his falling out with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a point the Gazette brought to light as early as 1767.2 After Hume’s death, Americans were able to read about his character not only in the autobiography but also when Hume’s life was sketched in other publications. For example, the first American edition of the Encyclopedia; Or, a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature had an entry for Hume.3 Accounts of Hume’s life and character written by British writers (like Hannah More and James Caufeild) circulated in the United States in their originals and in American reprintings.4 Americans, like James Murdoch, also made original contributions; in Murdoch’s case that came in a balanced assessment of Hume’s life, thought, and character published in The New-England Magazine.5 Some accounts of Hume’s life that circulated in America were fictional ones, such as Henry Mackenzie’s “The Story of La Roche,” a tale which first appeared in Mackenzie’s periodical, The Mirror. “La Roche” was reprinted in American periodicals and also saw a separate eighteenth-century American edition published in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1796.6 But it was the events surrounding Hume’s infamous death which provided the most sustained focus for those Americans writing about Hume’s life and character. In 1779, when the United States Magazine reprinted Adam Smith’s “Letter” and contrasted Hume’s death with Samuel Finley’s,7 it did so, in part, to counteract the wide spread American circulation of Hume’s Life and Smith’s “Letter.” Smith’s account of Hume, as a virtuous infidel who died a good death, was one which was unsettling to many in eighteenth-century America. The measured and searching early reactions of Benjamin Rush eventually gave way, in the nineteenth century, to more dogmatic retorts leveled by Hume’s numerous American critics. Not content with the implied “Contrast” of the United States Magazine, for instance, the Rev. John Mitchell Mason reprinted in his Christian’s Magazine the “Contrast between Hume and Finley;” but also offered further “Remarks on the accounts of the death of David Hume, Esqr. and Samuel Finley, D.D. in the last No.”8 Mason’s version of “The Contrast,” in which Hume “must be accounted one of the most flagitiously immoral men that ever lived,” circulated widely in nineteenth-century America, not only in the Christian’s Magazine but also in many other journals which reprinted Mason’s essay.9 Although Hume had his occasional defenders, such as the poet who shed “A Tear to Hume” in 1803, letter writers in The Ordeal in 1809, and a reviewer in the North American Review in 1850,10 most nineteenth-century American commentators on Hume’s death saw it as a negative reflection on his character.11 Still, Hume’s life and personality continued to be the subject of lighter anecdotes of one sort or another. These, too, often poked fun at Hume’s irreligion,12 but, like the anecdote concerning Bishop Horne (reprinted in this volume below) did so in a manner that was often partly endearing of Hume.13 Other anecdotes saw in Hume a guide for life,14 criticized his history15 and his philosophical outlook,16 noted inconsistencies in his behavior,17 and portrayed Hume as the jovial “Bon David”.18 Letters to editors depicted Hume as a fanatic,19 and saw Hume as a pernicious writer with an immoral character.20 Although there has been no space to reprint any of them below, nineteenth-century American periodicals also frequently reprinted letters by Hume both for their style and substance.21
1See volume 2 of Mark G. Spencer, “The Reception of David Hume's Political Thought in Eighteenth-Century America,” 2 vols (Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Western Ontario, 2001).
2Not reprinted below.
3“David Hume,” Encyclopœdia; or, a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature . . . . ([vols VII, VIII, IX, and X] Philadelphia, 1793), vol. 8, pp. 708–10, reprinted below.
4See “Spirit of Magazines. Character of Hume, by the Earl of Charlemont,” The Analectic Magazine: containing selections from Foreign Reviews and Magazines, together with original miscellaneous compositions; and a naval chronicle, vol. 1 (1813), pp. 419–25; “Character of Hume, by the Earl of Chrlemont,” The Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, vol. 2 (April 1813), pp. 333–7; “Character of Hume’s Writings,” Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad, vol. 1 (January 1805), pp. 352–3; “For the Literary Magazine,” The Literary Magazine & American Register, vol. 4 (July 1805), pp. 208–11; “Caharcter [sic] of Hume’s Writings,” The Literary Tablet, vol. 3 (July 1806), p. 94; “For the Port Folio,” Portfolio, vol. 4, new series (1807), pp. 118–19, not reprinted below.
5[James Murdoch] “Hume, Voltaire, and Rousseau,” The New-Englander, vol. 1 (1843), pp. 169–83; selection reprinted below.
6The Story of La Roche: A Protestant Clergyman of Switzerland. Extracted from a work entitled, the Mirror, published in Edinburgh, in the years 1779 and 1780 (Stockbridge, [MA]: [Loring Andrews], 1796), not reprinted below.
7Reprinted below.
8Reprinted below.
9See, for example, “A Contrast between the Death of a Deist and the Death of a Christian: Being a Succinct Account of that Celebrated Infidel, David Hume Esq.; and of that Excellent Minister of the Gospel, Samuel Finley, D.D. in their Last Moments,” The Panoplist, and Missionary Magazine United, vol. 1, new series (Nov. 1808), pp. 241–57; “A Contrast between the Death of a Deist and the Death of a Christian: Being a Succinct Account of that Celebrated Infidel, David Hume Esq.; and of that Excellent Minister of the Gospel, Samuel Finley, D.D. in their Last Moments,” The Adviser; or, Vermont Evangelical Magazine, vol. 1, no. 5 (May 1809), pp. 101–108; “Remarks on the Accounts of the Death of David Hume Esq. and Samuel Finley, D.D.,” The Adviser; or, Vermont Evangelical Magazine, vol. 1, no. 6 (June 1809), pp. 130–3; Hume and Finley: A contrast between the death of a deist and the death of a Christian; being a succinct account of David Hume, Esq. and of Samuel Finley, D.D. in their last moments (Evangelical Tract Society: Boston, 1824); and “Remarks on the Accounts of the Death of David Hume Esq. and Samuel Finley, D.D. [Supposed to be from the pen of Dr. Mason, late president of Dickinson College],” The Religious Monitor, vol. 1 (November 1824), pp. 294–302, not reprinted below.
10See “The Philanthropist,” “Original Poetry,” Medley; or Monthly Miscellany, vol. 1 (1803), p. 249; “Anonymous,” “The Contrast ‘Between the Death of a Deist and the Death of a Christian’,” The Ordeal, (21 January 1809), pp. 42–5; “Anonymous,” “Considerations on the Contrast ‘Between the Death of a Deist and of a Christian,’ contained in the Panoplist of November last,” The Ordeal (28 January 1809), pp. 63–4; “B.,” “More of the Contrast.’,” The Ordeal, (4 February 1809), pp. 72–3; [William Bourn Oliver Peabody]; “Art. II. — Lives of Men of Letters and Science, who flourished in the time of George the Third. By Henry, Lord Brougham, F.R.S. Second Series. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. 1846. 12mo. pp. 302;” The North American Review, vol. 64 (1847), pp. 59–97, selections reprinted below. See also “Anonymous,” “Belief and Unbelief,” Christian Examiner, vol. 7 (January 1830), pp. 358–65; selection pp. 363–4, reprinted below.
11“Anonymous,” “Adversaria: ‘Hume and Finley’,” The Ordeal, (11 February 1809), p. 94; “G.,” “On the Death of David Hume,” The Assembly’s Missionary Magazine, or Evangelical Intelligencer, vol. 2 (1806), pp. 32–4; “Anonymous,” “Striking Evidence of the Divinity of the Scriptures. I. Examples of Dying Infidels,” The Moral and Religious Cabinet, vol. 1 (26 March 1808), pp. 193–8; “Anonymous,” “Miscellanies. Death of Hume,” The Panoplist, and Missionary Magazine United, vol. 2 (March 1810), pp. 462–4; Frederick Beasley, A Search of Truth in the Science of the Human Mind (Philadelphia, 1822); Book IV: pp. 559–61; “Anonymous,” “Death-Bed of Hume,” The Spirit of the Pilgrims, vol. 5 (1832), pp. 172–3.
12For instance, “N.Y. Amer,” “Gibbon, Voltaire, Hume,” The Gospel Trumpet, vol. 2 (1823), p. 63, reprinted below.
13See, “Anecdotes,” The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine; and Religious Intelligencer, vol. 1 (July 1800), pp. 38–9, reprinted below. Similar versions of this anecdote were reprinted often in early America: see, for instance, “Anecdote of Hume the Deist,” The Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine, vol. 1 (September 1803), p. 25; “[Anecdote of David Hume],” Advisor, or, Evangelical Magazine, vol. 7 (February 1815), p. 58; “Miscellaneous,” Christian Herald, vol. 4 (20 November 1821), p. 119; “Anecdotes of Distinguished Characters. David Hume,” Saturday Evening Post, (12 January 1822), pages not numbered; “Anecdotes,” The Friendly Visitor, Being a Collection of Select and Original Pieces, Instructive and Entertaining. Suitable to be Read in All Families, vol. 1, no. 7 (12 February 1825), p. 54.
14See “Anonymous,” “For the Port Folio . . . the Farrgo,” The Port Folio, vol. 1 [series 1] (1801), p. 66; “T.,” “The American Lounger, By Samuel Saunter, Esq. No. 158,” The Port Folio, vol. 1 [series 2] (1806), pp. 113–14, both reprinted below.
15“Anonymous,” “Hume and Burnet,” The Philadelphia Repository, vol. 5 (9 March 1805), p. 76, reprinted below.
16“Anonymous,” “Skepticism,” The Christian Examiner and Theological Review, vol. 1 (1824), p. 35, reprinted below.
17“Anonymous,” “For the Port Folio. Art. XV. — The Adversaria,” The Port Folio, vol. 9, series 4 (1820), pp. 131–5; selection p. 135, reprinted below.
18“Anonymous,” “Desultory Gleanings, and Original Communications. Translated from ‘Memoires et correspondence de Madame D’Epinay’ [section “Anecdote of David Hume”],” The New-England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine, (18 June 1819), p. 144; “Anonymous,” “Variety . . . Anecdote of Hume,” Ladies’ Literary Cabinet, vol. 4 (1821), p. 126; “Anonymous,” “Varieties. Original Anecdotes, Literary News, Chit Chat, Incidents, &c,” Atheneum; or, Spirit of the English Magazines, vol. 1, series 2 (1824), pp. 362–8; selection p. 365, reprinted below.
19“S.P.,” “Letters to the Editor,” Christian Observer and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1802), pp. 650–51, reprinted below.
20[John Watkins], “Anecdotes of Infidel Morality,” Robinson’s Magazine, A weekly Repository of Original Papers; and Selections from the English Magazines, vol. 2 (1819), pp. 164–8; selection pp. 164–5, 167–8, reprinted below.
21See “Epistolary. for the Port Folio [Hume to Tobias Smollett, 21 September 1768],” Portfolio, vol. 1 (1801), pp. 2–3; “Unpublished Letter to Mr. Hume [Hume to Lord Hardwick, 23 July 1764],” The Monthly Anthology and Boston Review, Containing Sketches and reports of Philosophy, Religion, History, Arts and Manners, vol. 7 (1809), pp. 175–7; “From the Annual Register. Controversy Between Hume and Rousseau,” Select Review of Literature, and Spirit of Foreign Magazines, vol. 8 (1812), pp. 47–81; “From the Literary Gazette. Original Letter from David Hume to the Comtesse de Boufflers,” Atheneum; or, Spirit of the English Magazines, vol. 2 (1818), pp. 332–3; “David Hume. The following Letters are selected from the Correspondence of the historian Hume, lately published in Great Britain,” New-England Galaxy and United States Literary Advertiser, (29 December 1820), p. 48; “Hume’s Private Correspondence,” Saturday Magazine: National Recorder, vol. 4 (1820), pp. 313–15; “Letter from David Hume to Dr. Campbell,” Saturday Magazine: National Recorder, vol. 5 (27 January 1821), p. 60; “From the London Literary Gazette. Original Letters of David Hume to Adam Smith,” Saturday Magazine, vol. 1 (15 December 1821), pp. 557–60; “Original Letters. David Hume,” Atheneum; or, Spirit of the English Magazine, vol. 10 (15 January 1822), pp. 314–18, 346–7, 405; “David Hume at Paris. Extract from a Letter to Dr. Robertson,” Saturday Magazine, vol. 2 (2 February 1822), pp. 109–10. Periodicals also reprinted letters of other individuals which made reference to Hume: see “Original Letters from Cowper,” Portfolio, vol. 5 [series 1] (1805), p. 346; “Extracts from Mrs. Carter’s Letters,” vol. 5 [series 2] (October 1808), pp. 533–4. None of the items listed in this footnote are reprinted below.
59
“CONTRAST between the Death of a DEIST and a CHRISTIAN, David Hume, and Samuel Findley [sic],” The United States Magazine, A Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, vol. 1 (February 1779), pp. 65–72.
[Benjamin Rush]
The United States Magazine was published in Philadelphia by Francis Bailey and edited by Hugh H. Brackenridge. Its one volume included writings by Brackenridge, as well as Philip Freneau, William Livingston, and John Witherspoon. The essay reprinted below, signed “B——” was probably written by Benjamin Rush (1745–1813). Samuel Finley (1715–66) was Rush’s uncle, with whom Rush had lived and studied at West Nottingham Academy. Finley was a Presbyterian minister of some note and president of the College of New Jersey from 1761 until his death in 1766. On Benjamin Rush see L.H. Butterfield, “The Reputation of Benjamin Rush,” Pennsylvania History, vol. 17 (1950), pp. 3–22; George W. Corner, ed., The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush: His ‘Travels Through Life’ Together with His Commonplace Book for 1789–1813 (Princeton, 1948); Donald J. D’Elia, Benjamin Rush: Philosopher of the American Revolution, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 64 (1974); and Nina Reid-Maroney’s entry on him in EAE, vol. 2, pp. 918–28. On The United States Magazine see Philip Davidson, Propaganda and the American Revolution, 1763–1783 (Chapel Hill, 1941), p. 409; API, p. 213; Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 1741–1850 (Cambridge, 1938), pp. 27; Albert H. Smyth, The Philadelphia Magazines and their Contributors, 1741–1850 (1892; reprinted Freeport, 1970), pp. 53–61; Michael Warner, The Letters of the Republic: Publication and the Public Sphere in Eighteenth-Century America (Cambridge and London, 1990), pp. 138–41.
———————————————
CONTRAST between the Death of a DEIST and a CHRISTIAN, David Hume, and Samuel Findley [sic].
Letter from Adam Smith, LL.D. to William Strahan, Esq. giving some Account of Mr. Hume, during his last Sickness.
Kirkaldy, Fife-shire, Nov. 9. 1776.
Dear Sir,
IT is with a real, though a very melancholy pleasure, that I sit down to give you some account of the behaviour of our late excellent friend, Mr. Hume, during his last illness.
Though, in his own judgment, his disease was mortal and incurable, yet he allowed himself to be prevailed upon, by the entreaty of his friends, to try what might be the effects of a long journey. A few days before he set out, he wrote that account of his own life, which, together with his other papers, he left to your care. My account therefore, shall begin where his ends.
He set out for London towards the end of April, and at Morpheth met with Mr. John Home and myself, who had both come down from London on purpose to see him, expecting to have found him at Edinburgh. Mr. Home returned with him, and attended him during the whole of his stay in England, with that care and attention which might be expected from a temper so perfectly friendly and affectionate. As I had written to my mother that she might expect me in Scotland, I was under the necessity of continuing my journey. His disease seemed to yield to exercise and change of air; and when he arrived in London, he was apparently in much better health than when he left Edinburgh. He was advised to go to Bath to drink the waters, which appeared for some time to have so good an effect upon him, that even he himself began to entertain, what he was not apt to do, a better opinion of his own health. His symptoms, however, soon returned with their usual violence, and from that moment he gave up all thoughts of recovery, but submitted with the utmost cheerfulness, and the most perfect complacency and resignation. Upon his return to Edinburgh, tho’ he found himself much weaker, yet his cheerfulness never abated, and he continued to divert himself, as usual, with correcting his own works for a new edition, with reading books of amusement, with the conversation of his friends; and, sometimes in the evening, with a party at his favourite game of whist. His cheerfulness was so great, and his conversation and amusements run so much in their usual strain, that, notwithstanding all bad symptoms, many people could not believe he was dying. “I shall tell your friend, Col. Edmonstone,” said doctor Dundas to him one day, “that I left you much better, and in a fair way of recovery.” –––– “Doctor,” said he, “as I believe you would not chuse to tell any thing but the truth, you had better tell him, that I am dying as fast as my enemies, if I have any, could wish, and as easily and cheerfully as my best friends could desire.” Colonel Edmonstone soon afterwards came to see him, and take leave of him; and on his way home, he could not forbear writing him a letter, bidding him once more an eternal adieu, and applying to him, as to a dying man, the beautiful French verses in which the Abbe Chaulieu, in expectation of his own death, laments his approaching separation from his friend, the Marquis de la Fare. Mr. Hume’s magnanimity and firmness were such, that his most affectionate friends knew, that they hazarded nothing in talking or writing to him as to a dying man, and that so far from being hurt by this frankness, he was rather pleased and flattered by it. I happened to come into his room while he was reading this letter, which he had just received, and which he immediately showed me. I told him, that though I was sensible how very much he was weakened, and that appearances were in many respects very bad, yet his cheerfulness was still so great, the spirit of life seemed to be still so very strong in him, that I could not help entertaining some faint hopes. He answered, “Your hopes are groundless. An habitual diarrhœa of more than a year’s standing, would be a very bad disease at any age: at my age it is a mortal one. When I lie down in the evening, I feel myself weaker than when I rose in the morning; and when I rise in the morning, I feel myself weaker than when I lay down in the evening. I am sensible, besides, that some of my vital parts are affected, so that I must soon die.” “Well, said I, if it must be so, you have at least the satisfaction of leaving all your friends, your brother’s family in particular, in great prosperity.” He said, that he felt that satisfaction so sensibly, that when he was reading a few days before, Lucian’s Dialogues of the Dead, among all the excuses which are alledged to Charon for not entering readily into his boat, he could not find one that fitted him; he had no house to finish, he had no daughter to provide for, he had no enemies upon whom he wished to revenge himself. “I could not well imagine, said he, what excuse I could make to Charon in order to obtain a little delay. I have done every thing of consequence which I ever meant to do, and I could at no time expect to leave my relations and friends in a better situation than that in which I am now likely to leave them; I, therefore, have all reason to die contented.” He then diverted himself with inventing several jocular excuses, which he supposed he might make to Charon, and with imagining the very surly answers which it might suit the character of Charon to return to them. “Upon further consideration, said he, I thought I might say to him, Good Charon, I have been correcting my works for a new edition. Allow me a little time that I may see how the public receives the alterations.” But Charon would answer, “When you have seen the effect of these, you will be for making other alterations. There will be no end of such excuses; so honest friend, please step into the boat.” But I might still urge, “Have a little patience, good Charon, I have been endeavouring to open the eyes of the public. If I live a few years longer, I may have the satisfaction of seeing the downfal of some of the prevailing systems of superstition.” But Charon would then lose all temper and decency. “You loitering rogue, that will not happen these many hundred years: Do you fancy I will grant you a lease for so long a term? Get into the boat this instant, you lazy loitering rogue.”
But, though Mr. Hume always talked of his approaching dissolution with great chearfulness, he never affected to make any parade of his magnanimity. He never mentioned the subject but when the conversation naturally led to it, and dwelt no longer upon it than the conversation happened to require: it was a subject indeed which occurred pretty frequently, in consequence of the inquiries which his friends, who came to see him, naturally made concerning the state of his health. The conversation which I mentioned above, and which passed on Thursday the 8th of August, was the last, except one, that I ever had with him. He had now become so very weak, that the company of his most intimate friends fatigued him; for his cheerfulness was still so great, his complaisance and social disposition were still so entire, that when any friend was with him, he could not help talking more, and with greater exertion, than suited the weakness of his body. At his own desire, therefore, I agreed to leave Edinburgh, where I was staying partly upon his account, and returned to my mother’s house here, at Kirkaldy, upon condition that he would send for me whenever he wished to see me; the physician who saw him most frequently, Dr. Black, undertaking, in the mean time, to write me occasionally an account of the sate of his health.
On the 22d of August, the doctor wrote me the following letter:
“Since my last, Mr. Hume has passed his time pretty easily, but is much weaker. He sits up, goes down stairs once a day, and amuses himself with reading, but seldom sees any body. He finds that even the conversation of his most intimate friends fatigues and oppresses him; and it is happy that he does not need it, for he is quite free from anxiety, impatience, or low spirits, and passes his time very well with the assistance of amusing books.”
I received the day after a letter form Mr. Hume himself, of which the following is an extract:
Edinburgh, 23d August, 1776.
“My dearest Friend,
I am obliged to make use of my nephew’s hand in writing to you, as I do not rise to-day
– – – – – –
– – – – – –
“I go very fast to decline, and last night had a small fever, which I hoped might put a quicker period to this tedious illness, but unluckily it has, in a great measure, gone off. I cannot submit to your coming over here on my account, as it is possible for me to see you so small a part of the day, but Doctor Black can better inform you concerning the degree of strength which may from time to time remain with me. Adieu, &c.”
Three days after I received the following letter from Dr. Black:
Edinburgh, Monday, August 26. 1776.
“Dear Sir,
“Yesterday about four o’clock afternoon, Mr. Hume expired. The near approach of his death became evidence in the night between Thursday and Friday, when his disease became excessive, and soon weakened him so much, that he could no longer rise out of his bed. He continued to the last perfectly sensible, and free from much pain or feelings of distress. He never dropped the smallest expression of impatience; but when he had occasion to speak to the people about him, always did it with affection and tenderness. I thought it improper to write to bring you over, especially as I heard that he had dictated a letter to you, desiring you not to come. When he became very weak it cost him an effort to speak, and he died in such a happy composure of mind, that nothing could exceed it.”
Thus died our most excellent, and never to be forgotten friend; concerning whose philosophical opinions men will, no doubt, judge variously, every one approving or condemning them, according as they happen to coincide or disagree with his own; but concerning whose character and conduct there can scarce be a difference of opinion. His temper, indeed, seemed to be more happily balanced, if I may be allowed such an expression, than that perhaps of any other man I have ever known. Even in the lowest state of his fortune, his great and necessary frugality never hindered him from exercising upon proper occasions, acts both of charity and generosity. It was a frugality founded, not upon avarice, but upon the love of independency. The extreme gentleness of his nature never weakened either the firmness of his mind, or the steadiness of his resolutions. His constant pleasantry was the genuine effusion of good nature and good humour, tempered with delicacy and modesty, and without even the slightest tincture of malignity, so frequently the disagreeable source of what is called wit in other men. It never was the meaning of his raillery to mortify; and therefore, far from offending, it seldom failed to please and delight, even those who were the objects of it. To his friends who were frequently the objects of it, there was not perhaps any one of all his great and amiable qualities, which contributed more to endear his conversation. And that gaiety of temper, so agreeable in society, but which is often accompanied with frivolous and superficial qualities, was in him certainly attended with the most severe application, the most extensive learning, the greatest depth of thought, and a capacity in every respect the most comprehensive. Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his life-time and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit. I ever am, dear Sir,
Most affectionately yours,
ADAM SMITH.
-----------------
Some of the last choice Words of that eminently Pious Servant of God, Samuel Finley.*
Friday, July 11. 1766.
THE Rev. Mr. Richard Treat came to visit the Doctor, who desired that he would pray by him. Being asked what he should pray for; he answered, “Beseech God that he would be pleased to let me feel, just as I did at that time when I first closed with Christ, at which time I could scarce contain myself out of heaven.”
Dr. S—— acquainted him that he could live but a few days longer; at which he lifted up his eyes with much composure, saying, “Then welcome Lord Jesus.” He declared himself under the greatest obligations to the Doctor for his kind and diligent attendance during his illness, and said, “I owe a large catalogue of debts to my friends, which will never be charged to my account; God will discharge them for me.”
July 13th, Sunday noon. Dr. C—— came to his bed-side, and told him there appeared a very visible alteration in his countenance, by which he judged death was not far off. He raised himself from his pillow, and broke out, “Then may the Lord bring me near to himself --- I have waited with a Canaan hunger for the promised land --- I have often wondered that God suffered me to live --- I have wondered more that ever he called me to be a minister of his word. He has often afforded me much strength, and though I have abused it, he has returned in mercy. O! how sweet are the promises of God! Oh! that I could see him as I have seen him heretofore in his sanctuary! Although I have earnestly desired death as the hireling pants for the evening shade, yet will I wait my appointed time. I have struggled with principalities and powers, and have been almost brought to despair --- Lord let it suffice.”
He now closed his eyes, and fervently prayed that God would shew him his glory before he departed hence, --- that he would enable him to endure patiently to the end --- and, particularly, that he might be kept from dishonouring the ministry. He resumed his discourse saying, “I can truly say that I have loved the service of God ---- I know not in what language to speak of my own unworthiness: I have been undutiful: I have honestly endeavoured to act for God, but with much weakness and corruption.” Here he lay down, and spoke as follows --- “A Christian’s death is the best part of his existence. The Lord has made provision for the whole way, provision for the soul and for the body. O! that I could recollect Sabbath blessings. The Lord has given me many souls as a crown of my rejoicing. Blessed be God, eternal rest is at hand: Eternity is long enough to enjoy my God. This has animated me in my severest studies. I was ashamed to take rest here. O! that I could be filled with the fulness of God! that fulness which fills heaven.”
One asked him, if it was in his choice either to live or die, which he would prefer; he replied, “To die. Though I cannot but say I feel the same difficulty with St. Paul. But should God by a miracle prolong my life, I will still continue to serve him: His service has ever been sweet to me. I have loved it much. I have tried my Master’s yoke, and will never shrink my neck from it ---- His yoke is easy, and his burden light.” You are more cheerful, Sir, said one of the company: “Yes, I rise or fall as eternal rest appears nearer or farther off.” It being observed to him, that he always used that expression ‘Dear Lord,’ in his prayers; he answered “Oh! he is very dear, very precious indeed! how pretty for a minister to die upon the Sabbath! I expect to spend the remaining part of this Sabbath in heaven.” One said, You will soon be joined to a blessed society; you will for ever converse with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob --- with the spirits of just men made perfect --- with old friends, and many old fashioned people. “Yes, Sir (he replied with a smile) but they are a most polite people now.”
He frequently expressed great gratitude to his friends around him, but very particularly to the kind family he was in; and said. “May the Lord repay you for your tenderness of me --- May he bless you abundantly not only with temporal but spiritual blessings,” Addressing himself to all that were present, he said, “Oh! that each of you may experience what, blessed be God, I do, when ye come to die! may you have the pleasure of reflecting in a dying hour, that with faith and patience, zeal and sincerity, you have endeavoured to serve the Lord; that each of you may be impressed, as I have been, with God’s word, looking upon it as substantial, and not only fearing, but unwilling to offend against it.”
To a person about to return to Princeton, he said, “Give my love to the people of Princeton: tell them I am going to die, and that I am not afraid of death.” He would sometimes cry out, “The Lord Jesus take care of his cause in the world.”
Monday 14th, Waking this morning, “Oh! what a disappointment have I met with; I expected this morning to have been in heaven.” His great weakness prevented his much speaking to day: what few words he uttered, breathed the language of triumph.
Tuesday 15th. With a pleasing smile and strong voice he cried out, “O! I shall triumph over every foe! The Lord hath given me the victory --- I exult, I triumph, O! that I could see untainted purity! Now I know that it is impossible that faith should not triumph over earth and hell --- I think I have nothing to do now but to die. Perhaps I have; Lord shew me my task.”
After expressing some fears that he did not endeavour to preserve his remaining life, through eagerness to depart; and being told he did nothing inconsistent with self-preservation, he said, “Lord Jesus into thine hands I commit my spirit. I do it with confidence --- I do it with full assurance. I know that thou wilt keep that which I have committed unto thee. I have been dreaming too fast of the time of my departure. I find it does not come; but the Lord is faithful, and will not tarry beyond his appointed time.”
When one who attended him told him his pulse grew weaker, he expressed with pleasure “That it was well.” He often would put forth his hand to his physicians, and ask them how his pulse beat; and would rejoice when he was told it was fluttering or irregular.
In the afternoon the Rev. Mr. Spencer came to see him, and said, I am come, dear Sir, to hear you confirm by facts the gospel you have preached. Pray how do you feel? The Doctor replied, “Full of triumph. I triumph through Christ. Nothing clips my wings but the thoughts of my dissolution being prolonged. O! that it was to night. My very soul thirsts for eternal rest.” Mr. Spencer asked him what he saw in eternity to excite such vehement desires in his soul? He replied, “I see a God of love and goodness ---- I see the fulness of my Mediator --- I see the love of Jesus. O to be dissolved to be with him! I long to be cloathed with the compleat righteousness of Christ, not only imputed but inherent.” He desired Mr. Spencer to pray before they parted, “Pray that God would preserve me from evil --- that he would keep me from dishonouring his great name in this critical hour, and support me in my passage through the valley of the shadow of death.” He spent the remaining part of the day, in bidding farewell to, and blessing his friends, and exhorting such of his children as were with him. He would frequently cry out, “Why move the tardy hours so slow.”
July 16th. His speech failed him; he made many efforts to speak, but seldom so distinct as to be understood. Mr. R–b–rd––u desired him to give some token whereby his friends might know whether he still continued to triumph; he lifted up his hand, and said, “Yes.” This afternoon he uttered several sentences, but little could be collected from them. Some of his very last words concerning himself were, “After one or two more engagements the conflict will be over.”
About nine o’clock he fell into a sound sleep, and appeared much freer from pain than for several days before. He continued to sleep without moving in the least till one o’clock; when he expired without a sigh or a groan, or any kind of motion, sufficient to alarm his wife, and those friends who were about his bed.
During his whole sickness, he was never heard to utter one repining word. He was at times tortured with the most excruciating pains; yet he expressed in all his behaviour an entire resignation to the Divine will. In all his affecting farewells to his relations and friends, he was never seen to shed a tear, or shew the least mark of sorrow. He often checked his affectionate wife when she was weeping; and he expressed his unshaken confidence in the promises of God, whenever he spoke of his dear children.
His truly polite behaviour continued to the last, and manifested itself whenever he called for a drop of drink to wet his lips --- Every one around him was treated with that same sweetness and ease that were so peculiar and natural to him. In fine, he was a most striking example of that faith which kindles love in the heart, and produces the sweet fruits of meekness, gentleness, patience, and every Christian grace and virtue.
B——
*The late Dr. Finley, President of the college of New Jersey.