Works of the Scottish Enlightenment

1 total work

A Letter to Adam Smith, on the Life, Death and Philosophy of His Friend David Hume Esq

by George Horne and Samuel Jackson Pratt

Published 1 March 1999

Horne's letter was an immensely popular piece of writing that went through at least fifteen editions by 1836. His humourous and reductive representations of the views of men like Hume and Smith did much to make their works appear more accessible to the 'general reader'. The letter is reprinted here alongside Pratt's Apology, which argues that Hume was philosophically consistent and that he lived and died by the principles he articulated. These two works illustrate Hume's ability to provoke emphatic and passionate outbursts from people who never knew him.