Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary

ESSAY IX

Essay_551-600.indd 577 12/27/11 9:23 PM ESSAY IX OF SUICIDE1 ONE considerable advantage, that arises from philosophy, consists in the sovereign antidote, which it affords to superstition and false religion. All other remedies against that pestilent distemper are vain, or, at least, uncertain. Plain good1 [The essays "Of Suicide" and " Of the Immortality of the Soul" were sent by Hume to his publisher, Andrew Millar, probably in late 1755 for inclusion in a volume entitled Five Dissertations. Also to be included in the volume were "The Natural History of Religion," " Of the Passions," and "Of Tragedy." The volume was printed by Millar, and several copies were distributed in advance of publication. Yet faced with the prospect of ecclesiastical condemnation and perhaps even official prosecution, Hume decided, at the urging of friends , that it would be prudent not to go ahead with publication of the essays on suicide and immortality. Accordingly, they were excised by Millar, and a new essay, " Of the Standard of Taste," Essay_551-600.indd 578 12/27/11 9:23 PM 578 ESSAYS UNPUBLISHED sense, and the practice of the world, which alone serve most purposes of life, are here found ineffectual: History, as well as daily experience, affords instances of men, endowed with the strongest capacity for business and affairs, who have all their lives crouched under slavery to the grossest superstition. Even gaiety and sweetness of temper, which infuse a balm into every other wound, afford no remedy to so virulent a poison; was added to the volume, which appeared in 1757 under the title Four Dissertations. Despite Hume's precautions, clerical critics such as Dr. William Warburton knew of the suppressed essays and sometimes alluded to them. The essays even appeared in French translation in 1770, apparently without Hume ever learning of this fact. Shortly before his death, Hume added a codicil to his will, expressing the desire that William Strahan publish his "Dialogues concerning Natural Religion" at any time within two years of the philosopher's death, to which Strahan "may add, if he thinks proper, the two Essays formerly printed but not published" (in J. Y. T. Greig, ed. , /he Letters ofDavidHume, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1932, 2:453). " Of Suicide" and "Of the Immortality of the Soul" were published in 1777, though probably not by Strahan, under the title Two Essays. Neither the author's name nor that of the publisher appears on the title page. The details surrounding the suppression and subsequent publication of these two essays are discussed at length by Green and Grose in the prefatory materials to their edition of Hume's Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (New Edition; London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889), pp. 60-72, and by Mossner in The Life of David Hume (Edinburgh : Nelson, 1954), pp. 319-35. The present text of " Of Suicide" is printed, by permission, from a proof-copy of the unpublished, 1755 version of the essay that is owned by the National Library of Scotland. This proof-copy has twenty corrections in Hume's own hand. The posthumous, 1777 edition of the essay fails to make these corrections, and it departs from the earlier printed version in paragraphing, punctuation, capitalization, and, on occasion, wording. The 1755 version of "Of Suicide" was unavailable to Green and Grose. They follow instead the 1777 edition, but introduce variations of their own. Since we cannot determine the extent to which the 1777 edition reflects Hume's wishes , the corrected, 1755 version of "Of Suicide" is the copy-text of choice. The editor is grateful to the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland for providing a photocopy of the corrected, 1755 versions of "Of Suicide" and "Of the Immortality of the Soul" and for giving permission to reprint these essays.] Essay_551-600.indd 579 12/27/11 9:23 PM 579 OF SUICIDE as we may particularly observe of the fair sex, who, tho' commonly possessed of these rich presents of nature, feel many of their joys blasted by this importunate intruder. But when sound philosophy has once gained possession of the mind, superstition is effectually excluded; and one may safely affirm , that her triumph over this enemy is more compleat than over most of the vices and imperfections, incident to human nature. Love or anger, ambition or avarice, have their root in the temper and affections, which the soundest reason is scarce ever able fully to...