The liberties of England
consist, in his eyes, of wise concessions made by the sovereign, rather
than as the inalienable birthright of the English man.
He has also been charged with want of industry and honesty in the use of
his materials--taking things at second-hand, without consulting original
authorities which were within his reach, and thus falling into many
mistakes, while placing in his marginal notes the names of the original
authors. This charge is particularly just with reference to the
Anglo-Saxon period, since so picturesquely described by Sharon Turner.
The first in order of the philosophical historians, he is rather a
collector of facts than a skilful diviner with them. His style is sonorous
and fluent, but not idiomatic. Dr. Johnson said, "His style is not
English; the structure of his sentences is French,"--an opinion concurred
in by the eminent critic, Lord Jeffrey.
But whatever the criticism, the _History_ of Hume is a great work. He did
what was never done before. For a long time his work stood alone; and even
now it has the charm of a clear, connected narrative, which is still
largely consulted by many who are forewarned of its errors and faults.
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