accompanied Lord Hertford to Paris, and for a few months acted as _Chargé d'Affaires_. While there he was introduced to the brilliant literary society for which the French capital was then famous. Among other acquaintances which he made was that of Rousseau, whom he persuaded to accompany him on his return home, and for whom he procured a pension. The suspicious and fickle character of R., however, soon brought the friendship to an end. Soon after his return H. received a pension, and from 1767-68 he was under-sec. to General Conway, then Sec. of State. In 1769 he retired, and returned to Edin. with an income of £1000 a year which, time and place considered, was an ample competence, and there he spent the remainder of his days, the recognised head of the intellectual and literary society of the city. The mind of H. was one of the most original and operative of his age. His philosophy was largely a questioning of the views of previous metaphysicians, and he occupied towards mind, considered as a self-subsisting entity, a position analogous to that assumed by Berkeley towards matter similarly considered. He profoundly influenced European thought, and by indirectly calling into being the philosophy of Kant on the one hand, and that of the Scottish School on the other, created a new era of thought. As a historian he showed the same originality. He introduced a new and higher method of writing history than had previously been practised. Until his time chronicles and contemporary memoirs had, generally speaking, been all that had been produced; and though his great work cannot, from its frequent inaccuracies and the fact that it is not based upon original documents, claim the character of an authority, its clear, graceful, and spirited narrative style, and its reflection of the individuality of the writer, constitute it a classic, and it must always retain a place among the masterpieces of historical literature. In character H. was kindly, candid, and good-humoured, and he was beloved as a man even by many who held his views in what was little short of abhorrence. SUMMARY.--_B._ 1711, _ed._ at Edin., tries law and commerce, but decides for literature, goes to France 1734-37, _pub._ _Human Nature_ 1739, _Essays Moral and Philosophical_ 1741-2, governor to M. of Annandale 1745, accompanies expedition to L'Orient, engaged diplomatically 1748, _pub._ _Philosophical Essays_, including _Miracles_ 1748, _Enquiry into Principles of Morals_ 1751, _Political Discourses_ 1752, Keeper of Advocates' Library 1752, _pub._ _History of England_ 1754-62, _Four Dissertations_ 1757, _Chargé d'Affaires_ at Paris 1763, became acquainted with Rousseau, under-sec. of State 1767-8, retires and settles in Edin. 1769. _Life_ by Hill Burton (2 vols., 1846), shorter ones by Huxley, Knight, and Calderwood. _Works_ ed. by Green and Grose (4 vols., 1874). _History_ often reprinted with Smollett's continuations.