Smollett, Hume, and the Project of a Politically Skeptical National History

This chapter focuses on the complex history of the editorial project of the "History of England" as a reconstruction of national history and its two undisputed protagonists: David Hume (1711–76) and Tobias Smollett (1721–71). They were rival historians united by mutual intellectual esteem and a single interest: the defense of pure truth, liberated from dogmatism, factionalism, ideological zeal, and the Whiggism typical of their time. !is intellectual autonomy was the secret of their public success and the main reason for their little-explored friendship. Historiography has almost always emphasized their ruthless competition; even so, Smollett wrote very generous reviews of Hume’s works and Hume responded with words of sympathy. Although a group of London booksellers worked out a plan to quickly publish a general history of England before Hume’s History found an English marketplace, and the author they hired was Smollett himself, the threat from Smollett’s work was never so serious. Between these two great writers, there was a pleasant acquaintance and correspondence marked by respect and genuine kindness. Both of these Scottish authors, living in the same cultural context, prove to be the unsurpassed interpreters of a disenchanted and skeptical account of history.