But she lived till 1749, long enough to see more
than the dawn of her son's literary fame and official importance, and
probably changed her mind about "Davie's" force of character.
David Hume appears to have owed little to schools or universities. There
is some evidence that he entered the Greek class in the University of
Edinburgh in 1723--when he was a boy of twelve years of age--but it is
not known how long his studies were continued, and he did not graduate.
In 1727, at any rate, he was living at Ninewells, and already possessed
by that love of learning and thirst for literary fame, which, as _My Own
Life_ tells us, was the ruling passion of his life and the chief source
of his enjoyments. A letter of this date, addressed to his friend
Michael Ramsay, is certainly a most singular production for a boy of
sixteen. After sundry quotations from Virgil the letter proceeds:--
"The perfectly wise man that outbraves fortune, is much greater
than the husbandman who slips by her; and, indeed, this pastoral
and saturnian happiness I have in a great measure come at just now.
I live like a king, pretty much by myself, neither full of action
nor perturbation--_molles somnos_. This state, however, I can
foresee is not to be relied on. My peace of mind is not
sufficiently confirmed by philosophy to withstand the blows of
fortune. This greatness and elevation of soul is to be found only
in study and contemplation.
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