第2单元   休谟《英国史》片段

 

David Hume

1. David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish Philosopher,historian, economist and essayist, who is best known today for his highlyinfluential system of radical philosophical empiricism, skepticism and naturalism.Hume’s historical book – the History of England”--- is considered the standardhistory of England it its days, which spanned from the invasion of JuliusCaesar to the Revolution and went through ever 100 editions.

 

                   The History of England, vol. 6  XLV James I

2. THE CROWN OFENGLAND was never transmitted from father to son with greater tranquillity,than it passed from the family of Tudor to that of Stuart. During the wholereign of Elizabeth, the eyes of men had been employed in search of hersuccessor; and when old age made the prospect of her death more immediate,there appeared none but the king of Scots, who could advance any just claim orpretension to the throne. He was great grand-son of Margaret, elder daughter ofHenry VII. and, on the failure of the male-line, his hereditary right remainedunquestionable. If the religion of Mary queen of Scots, and the otherprejudices contracted against her, had formed any considerable obstacle to hersuccession; these objections, being entirely personal, had no place with regardto her son.  

3. Men alsoconsidered, that, though the title, derived from blood, had been frequentlyviolated since the Norman conquest, such licences had proceeded more from forceor intrigue, than from any deliberate maxims of government. The lineal heir hadstill in the end prevailed; and both his exclusion and restoration had beencommonly attended with such convulsions, as were sufficient to warn all prudentmen not lightly to give way to such irregularities. If the will of Henry VIII.authorised by act of parliament, had tacitly excluded the Scottish line; thetyranny and caprices of that monarch had been so signal, that a settlement ofthis nature, unsupported by any just reason, had no authority with the people.Queen Elizabeth too, with her dying breath, had recognized the undoubted titleof her kinsman James; and the whole nation seemed to dispose themselves withjoy and pleasure for his reception.

4. Though born andeducated amidst a foreign and hostile people, men hoped, from his character ofmoderation and wisdom, that he would embrace the maxims of an English monarch;and the prudent foresaw greater advantages, resulting from a union withScotland, than disadvantages from submitting to a prince of that nation. Thealacrity, with which the English looked towards the successor, had appeared soevident to Elizabeth, that, concurring with other causes, it affected her withthe deepest melancholy; and that wise princess, whose penetration andexperience had given her the greatest insight into human affairs, had not yetsufficiently weighed the ingratitude of courtiers, and levity of the people.

5. As victory abroad, and tranquillity at home, hadattended this princess, she left the nation in suchflourishingcircumstances, that her successor possessed every advantage, except that ofcomparison with her illustrious name, when he mounted the throne of England.The king’s journey from Edinburgh to London, immediately afforded to theinquisitive some circumstances of comparison, which even the natural partialityin favour of their new sovereign, could not interpret to his advantage. As hepassed along, all ranks of men flocked about him, from every quarter; alluredby interest or curiosity.

6 Great were the rejoicings, and loud and hearty theacclamations which resounded from all sides; and every one could remember howthe affability and popular manners of their queen displayed themselves, amidstsuch concourse and exultation of her subjects. But James, though sociable andfamiliar with his friends and courtiers, hated the bustle of a mixt multitude;and though far from disliking flattery, yet was he still fonder of tranquillityand ease. He issued therefore a proclamation, forbidding this resort of people,on pretence of the scarcity of provisions, and other inconveniencies, which, hesaid, would necessarily attend it. A pasquinade was affixed to St. Paul’s, inwhich an art was promised to be taught, very necessary to assist frailmemories, in retaining the names of the new nobility.We maypresume, that the English would have thrown less blame on the king’s facilityin bestowing favours, had these been confined entirely to their own nation, andhad not been shared out, in too unequal proportions, to his old subjects.

7 James, who, through his whole reign, was more guided bytemper and inclination than by the rules of political prudence, had broughtwith him great numbers of his Scottish courtiers; whose impatience andimportunity were apt, in many particulars, to impose on the easy nature oftheir master, and extort favours, of which, it is natural to imagine, hisEnglish subjects would loudly complain. The duke of Lenox, the earl of Marre,lord Hume, lord Kinloss, Sir George Hume, secretary Elphinstone were immediatelyadded to the English privy council. Sir George Hume, whom he created earl ofDunbar, was his declared favourite as long as that nobleman lived, and was oneof the wisest and most virtuous, though the least powerful, of all those whomthe king ever honoured with that distinction. Hay, some time after, was createdViscount Doncaster, then earl of Carlisle, and got an immense fortune from thecrown; all of which he spent in a splendid and courtly manner. Ramsay obtainedthe title of Earl of Holderness; and many others, being raised, on a sudden, tothe highest elevation, encreased, by their insolence, that envy, whichnaturally attended them, as strangers and ancient enemies.

8 It must, however, be owned, in justice to James, thathe left almost all the chief offices in the hands of Elizabeth’s ministers, andtrusted the conduct of political concerns, both foreign and domestic, to hisEnglish subjects. Among these, secretary Cecil, created successively LordEssindon, Viscount Cranborne, and Earl of Salisbury, was always regarded as hisprime minister and chief counsellor.

9. Though the capacity and penetration of this ministerwere sufficiently known, his favour with the king created surprize on theaccession of that monarch. The secret correspondence into which he had enteredwith James, and which had sensibly contributed to the easy reception of thatprince in England, laid the foundation of Cecil’s credit; and while all hisformer associates, Sir Walter Raleigh, lord Grey, lord Cobham, werediscountenanced on account of their animosity against Essex, as well as forother reasons, this minister was continued in employment, and treated with thegreatest confidence and regard.

10 The capacity of James and his ministers in negociationwas immediately put to trial, on the appearance of ambassadors from almost allthe princes and states of Europe, in order to congratulate him on hisaccession, and to form with him new treaties and alliances. Beside ministersfrom Venice, Denmark, the Palatinate; Henry Frederic of Nassau, assisted byBarnevelt the Pensionary of Holland, was ambassador from the states of theUnited Provinces. Aremberg was sent by Archduke Albert; and Taxis was expectedin a little time from Spain. But he who most excited the attention of thepublic, both on account of his own merit and that of his master, was themarquess of Rosni, afterwards duke of Sully, prime minister and favourite ofHenry IV. Of France.

 

The History of England, vol. 6,chapter LX,

“State ofEngland”,1649

1. Theconfusions, which overspread England after the murder of Charles I. proceededas well from the spirit of refinement and innovation, which agitated the rulingparty, as from the dissolution of all that authority, both civil andecclesiastical, by which the nation had ever been accustomed to be governed.Every man had framed the model of a republic; and, however new it was, orfantastical, he was eager in recommending it to his fellow citizens, or evenimposing it by force upon them. Every man had adjusted a system of religion,which, being derived from no traditional authority, was peculiar to himself;and being founded on supposed inspiration, not on any principles of humanreason, had no means, besides cant and low rhetoric, by which it could recommenditself to others. The levellers insisted on an equal distribution of power andproperty, and disclaimed all dependance and subordination.

2. Themillenarians or fifth-monarchy-men required, that government itself should beabolished, and all human powers be laid in the dust, in order to pave the wayfor the dominion of Christ, whose second coming they suddenly expected. TheAntinomians even insisted, that the obligations of morality and natural lawwere suspended, and that the elect, guided by an internal principle, moreperfect and divine, were superior to the beggarly elements of justice andhumanity. A considerable party declaimed against tythes and hirelingpriesthood, and were resolved, that the magistrate should not support by poweror revenue any ecclesiastical establishment.

3. Anotherparty inveighed against the law and its professors; and on pretence ofrendering more simple the distribution of justice, were desirous of abolishingthe whole system of English jurisprudence, which seemed interwoven withmonarchical government. Even those among the republicans, who adopted not suchextravagancies, were so intoxicated with their saintly character, that theysupposed themselves possessed of peculiar privileges; and all professions,oaths, laws, and engagements had, in a great measure, lost their influence overthem. The bands of society were every where loosened; and the irregularpassions of men were encouraged by speculative principles, still more unsocialand irregular. The royalists, consisting of the nobles and more considerablegentry, being degraded from their authority and plundered of their property,were inflamed with the highest resentment and indignation against those ignobleadversaries, who had reduced them to subjection. The presbyterians, whosecredit had first supported the arms of the parliament, were enraged to find,that, by the treachery or superior cunning of their associates, the fruits ofall their successful labours were ravished from them. The former party, frominclination and principle, zealously attached themselves to the son of theirunfortunate monarch, whose memory they respected, and whose tragical death theydeplored. The latter cast their eye towards the same object; but they had stillmany prejudices to overcome, many fears and jealousies to be allayed, ere theycould cordially entertain thoughts of restoring the family, which they had sogrievously offended, and whose principles they regarded with such violentabhorrence.

4. Theonly solid support of the republican independent faction, which, though itformed so small a part of the nation, had violently usurped the government ofthe whole, was a numerous army of near fifty thousand men. But this army,formidable from its discipline and courage, as well as its numbers, wasactuated by a spirit, that rendered it dangerous to the assembly, which hadassumed the command over it. Accustomed to indulge every chimera in politics,every frenzy in religion, the soldiers knew little of the subordination ofcitizens, and had only learned, from apparent necessity, some maxims ofmilitary obedience. And while they still maintained, that all those enormousviolations of law and equity, of which they had been guilty, were justified bythe success, with which providence had blessed them; they were ready to breakout into any new disorder, wherever they had the prospect of a like sanctionand authority.

5. Whatalone gave some stability to all these unsettled humours, was the greatinfluence, both civil and military, acquired by Oliver Cromwel. This man,suited to the age in which he lived, and to that alone, was equally qualifiedto gain the affection and confidence of men, by what was mean, vulgar, andridiculous in his character; as to command their obedience by what was great,daring, and enterprizing. Familiar even to buffoonery with the meanestcentinel, he never lost his authority: Transported to a degree of madness withreligious extasies, he never forgot the political purposes, to which they mightserve.

6. Hatingmonarchy, while a subject; despising liberty, while a citizen; though heretained for a time all orders of men under a seeming obedience to theparliament; he was secretly paving the way, by artifice and courage, to his ownunlimited authority. The parliament, for so we must henceforth call a small andinconsiderable part of the house of commons, having murdered their sovereignwith so many appearing circumstances of solemnity and justice, and so much realviolence and even fury, began to assume more the air of a civil, legal power,and to enlarge a little the narrow bottom upon which they stood.

7. Theyadmitted a few of the excluded and absent members, such as were liable to leastexception; but on condition, that these members should sign an approbation ofwhatever had been done in their absence with regard to the king’s trial; And some of them were willing to acquire ashare of power on such terms; The greater part disdained to lend their authority to such apparentusurpations.

8. Theyissued some writs for new elections, in places where they hoped to haveinterest enough to bring in their own friends and dependants. They named acouncil of state, thirty-eight in number, to whom all addresses were made, whogave orders to all generals and admirals, who executed the laws, and whodigested all business before it was introduced into parliament.They pretended to employ themselves entirelyin adjusting the laws, forms, and plan of a new representative; and as soon asthey should have settled the nation, they professed their intention ofrestoring the power to the people, from whom, they acknowledged, they hadentirely derived it.

9. The commonwealth foundevery thing in England composed into a seeming tranquillity by the terror oftheir arms. Foreign powers, occupied in wars among themselves, had no leisureor inclination to interpose in the domestic dissensions of this island. The youngking, poor and neglected, living sometimes in Holland, sometimes in France,sometimes in Jersey, comforted himself, amidst his present distresses, with thehopes of better fortune. The situation alone of Scotland and Ireland gave anyimmediate inquietude to the new republic.