My Lord
I am very much beholden to your Lordship for the Perusal of these Papers,
which are very well reasond as well as well wrote; and contain in many Parts, some new Opinions,which, tho ever so solid, will probably be contested.1 I am sorry to be obligd to write my Senti::ments on so delicate a Subject in so great a Hurry: But your Servant tells me that heis to call me early to morrow Morning; & I am obligd to be abroad to Night.
Banks are convenient by the safe Custody & quick Conveyance of Money; but asto the Multiplication of Money, I question whether it be any Advantage either to an industr::ious or idel Country. It seems to prevent the Importation of as much Bullion (which hasa real intrinsic Value) as the Paper amounts to. The Bank of Amsterdam does not
multiply Money.
There seems to be some Foundation for the common Opinion, that theEncrease of Money encreses the Price of Commodities; tho' it ought not to be supposd
that the one Encrease is always exactly proportiond to the other. The Encrease of theMoney encreases the Demand; but if the Encrease of the Demand encreases as much the In::dustry, the Prices will remain the same; and this Encrease of Industry will always haveplace in some Degree.
I wish your Lordship woud look again into Sir H. Spelman: For if my Memory
serves me, he takes Notice of the great Encrease of Prices, since the Discovery of theWest Indies.2 Fleetwood3 wrote his Chronicon pretiosum in order to prove the same Point.
Bishop Goodwin4, who wrote in the latter End of Elizabeth, says that things had doubledin his Memory. Cambden5 says, that the continual Encrease of Prices, was the Reason whysome of the Colleges, in giving Leases, stipulated a Power of returning to the CommodityofCorn &c, according to the antient Payments.
I believe the Commodities, that wou'd rise, woud be such as requird little Art
to raise them; such as Cattle, Poultry &c. Corn requires a great deal of Art; & by the Improve::ments in Agriculture during the last Century and a half has both been kept low, & kept
at a more fixd Price. Bishop Godwin says that he has seen a Quarter of Wheat sold for
six Marks; a Price which it has not risen to within these 70 Years. I us'd to think,that a Cargo of Manufactures woud cost dearer in James the sixth or first's Reign thanat present; and have ventur'd to say so in my History; which was thought a Paradox
But I find that Dr Tucker of Bristol,6 a sensible Man, carries the Matter much
farther than I dard venture to do: He says, a Cargo, such as woud be fit for theEast Indies, woud then cost double; and yet the Merchants at that time carryd out toas great Value, as they brought home.
There are Acts of Parliament in Harry the 7th time, fixing the Rate of Commod:1

:ities; & the Prices are curious. The Price of Scarlet Cloath waslimited to 26 Shillings a Yard of our present Money; plain Cloath to 18. But the Wagesof a Tradesman such as a Brichlayer, Mason, Tiler &c was regulated at ten pencea day.
As I have not time to throw together more Materials, I shall conclude
after having usd the Freedm to mention, a small Affair to your Lordship. There is
one Liston,7 a young Divine,( whom I usd to see frequently with our Friend, Wilkie8)
who has a great Desire to see Mr Charters's9 Orrery; because he has an Intention ofteaching Mathematics next Winter, & woud be glad to show his Scholars a model ofit. He says, that Mr Charters is somewhat shy of admitting People to see it

but that a Letter from your Lordship woud remove all Difficulties. He is notwilling, however, to run the Risque of presenting himself with such a Letter, unless
Mr Charters were advertisd before hand, & had given his Consent. I must therefore
beg the favor of your Lordship, the first time you have Occation to see Mr
Charters or write to him, to ask this small Favor: And after he has
given his Consent, be so good as to write a Line, which Liston may present, &which may inform Mr Charters, that the Bearer is the Person you spoke
to him about: And this Line, I must beg your Lordship to enclose to me.
I have wrote to Capt Wedderburn10 the enclosd to the same Purposethat the first who sees Mr Charters may obtain this Request; and I use theFreedom to enclose it to your Lordship: I amEdhiburgh
6. April 1758

My LordYour Lordships most obedient& most humble Servant
David HumeP.S
Your Servant calld before I
had had time to write to Capt
Wedderburn; and I wasunwilling to detain him
注 1 疑いもなくエリバンクの『貨幣、手形および紙幣に関する考察』（Thoughts on Money, Circulation,and Paper Currency. Edinburgh, May, 1758）への言及である。それゆえ、ヒュームは、校正刷りの形でエリバンクの論文を読んでいた可能性がある。
2 古書収集家のスペルマン（Sir Henry Spelman）。おそらく、The English Works of Sir H. Spelman

Relating to the Laws and Antiquities of England, ed. E. Gibson (Oxford, 1698)である。
3 William Fleetwood, Chronicon Preciosum (London, 1707).
2

4Francis Godwin, Rerum Anglicarum Henrico VIII, Edwardd VI, et Maria regnatibus, Annales(London, 1616), Engl. transl. 1630, 1676, 1706.
5 William Camden, Britanica (London, 1586), Engl. transl. 1610, 1637, 1695, 1722, 1753.
6 神学者、経済学者そしてパンフレット作者のジョサイア・タッカー（Josiah Tucker. 1712-1799）。
言及部分はおそらく、『商業要綱および租税論』The Elements of Commerce & Theory of Taxes (Bristol,1755)である。タッカーからのヒューム宛書簡 3 通が現存している。だが、ヒュームからのタッカー宛書簡は現存していない。
7 身元不明。おそらくは、後の外交官でヒュームの友人となるロバート・リストン（Robert Liston）家の一員である。
8 聖職者、詩人で、後にセント・アンドリューズの自然哲学教授のウィリアム・ウィルキー（WilliamWilkie. 1712-1772）。彼の叙事詩『エピゴニアード』Epigoniad に、ヒュームは賞賛を惜しまなかった。
9 身元不明。
10 身元不明。だが明らかに、後の大法官、ロスリン伯アレクサンダー・ウェダバーン（AlexanderWedderburn, later Lord Chancellor and Earl of Rosslyn）とは異なる。アレクサンダー・ウェダバー
ンは前年、イギリス弁護士資格を取っていた。

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