"Every one knows that judicious matter and charms of style have rendered Hume's history the manual of every student. I remember well the enthusiasm with which I devoured it when young, and the length of time, the research and reflection which were necessary to eradicate the poison it had instilled into my mind. It was unfortunate that he first took up the history of the Stuarts, became their apologist, and advocated all their enormities... [H]e still continues to be put into the hands of all our young people, and to infect them with the poison of his own principles of government. It is this book which has undermined the free principles of the English government, has persuaded readers of all classes that these were usurpations on the legitimate and salutary rights of the crown, and has spread universal toryism over the land."
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Atheism activistsPeople from EdinburghAcademics from ScotlandPhilosophers from ScotlandHistorians from Scotland
Original Language: English
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Sources
Thomas Jefferson to William Duane (12 August 1810), quoted in Thomas Jefferson, Writings, ed. Merrill D. Peterson (1984), pp. 1228–1229
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hume
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David Hume
1711 – 1776
schottischer Philosoph, Ă–konom und Historiker
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