The letters of Hume to the countess, have already been for some time before the English reader.[92:1] On the present occasion some characteristic extracts will be interwoven with the letters which form the other side of the correspondence. It is difficult for a native of this country, with the fullest allowance for the redundancy of the French laudatory and amicable vocabulary, to estimate at its true value the ardour of these letters, or to adjust the amount of solid truth and friendliness represented by such a blaze of ardent expressions. The correspondence was of the lady's seeking and pursuing. Frequently, when there is a pause, an impassioned letter from her rouses up the philosopher; who starts into a sort of artificial excitement, and, when it is over, sinks into lethargy again. Yet it must be admitted that Hume acted his part pretty well, and that the fat philosopher was not far behind the vivacious Frenchwoman. But with him it is visibly all acting; and there is a total absence of the playful ease which adorns those letters to his own chosen friends, with whom he was in heart and habits at ease. In some instances, perhaps, he studied a formal and measured style, as being more intelligible to a foreigner; and occasionally we find him offering his correspondent facilities by the adoption of idioms more French than English; as where he says, "I am truly ashamed, dear madam, of your having _prevented_ me in breaking our long silence; but you have _prevented_ me only a few days."[93:1] The letter with which the countess opens the correspondence, seems to have been forwarded to Hume by Lord Elibank's brother, Alexander Murray, who was then mixing with the Jacobites abroad, and who appears to have enjoyed a very wide and much varied circle of acquaintance in France. He says, in a letter of the 18th May, 1761:-- "MY DEAR SIR,--It would appear great presumption in me to make you any compliments upon your History of England, after having read the enclosed; which with infinite pleasure I send you, as it procures you a correspondence with the most amiable and accomplished lady of this kingdom, or indeed any other. If after the peace you take a trip to this polite and elegant country, you are sure, by the means of your new female correspondent, of being made acquainted in a very short time with all the wits in this part of the world. It is true your most incomparable productions justly entitle you to that distinction. However, being took by the hand by Madame de Boufflers, won't diminish your intrinsic value, even among the most profound philosophers. In case I can't return to England, and you take the resolution of coming here . . . . . . I beg leave to assure you that I am, with as much esteem and veneration as human creature can be, my dear sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, and avowed friend, "A. MURRAY.