evil?  Such  a  theory  was  received  with  intense  dissatisfaction  by  the
orthodox :  but  seldom  has  the  controversialist  to  encounter  a  tougher
antagonist  than  Hume,  the  clearness  of  whose  exposition,  and  the  sub-
-tlety  of  whose  arguments,  a  subtlety  the  more  formidable  as  it  is  always
veiled  under  an  air  of  philosophic  candor,  were  but  too  often  met  with
declamation  and  unfair  attacks  on  a  personal  character  which  was  above
reproach.  But  the  chief  danger  of  Hume's  philosophical  doctrines  lies
in  his  famous  argument  on  the  impossibility  of  miracles,  based  upon
the  two  propositions  :  first,  that  it  is  contrary  to  all  human  experience
that  miracles  should  be  true,  both  reason  and  facts  tending  to  show  the
invariable  nature  of  the  laws  which  govern  all  physical  phenomena;
and  secondly,  that  the  improbability  of  a  miracle  ever  having  taken
place  is  far  greater  than  the  improbability  of  the  testimony  to  such  an
event  being  false,  the  witnesses  being  likely  either  to  have  been  duped
themselves  or  to  dupe  others.
The  History  of  England  is  a  book  of  very  high  value.  In  a  certain
exquisite  ease  and  vivacity  of  narration  it  certainly  has  never  been  sur-
passed; and  in  the  analysis  of  characters  and  the  appreciation  of  great
events,  Hume's  singular  clearness  and  philosophic  elevation  of  view
give  him  a  right  to  one  of  the  foremost  places  among  modern  histori-
ans. But  its  defects  are  no  less  considerable.  Hume's  indolence
induced  him  to  remain,  contented  with  taking  his  facts  at  second-haad
from  preceding  writers,  without  troubling  himself  about  accuracy.
