Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-08-06
APet of lhe Petticonts.

A writer says: David Hume was
never married, though when young he
had courted a well-born beauty of Ediu-
burg, who rejected him. In after years,
when he had attained celebrity, it was
hinted to him that the lady had changed
her mind. $50 have /, answered
David. Nature had not been lavish in
her favors to the historian and philoso-
pher. His face" wrote Lord Charlie
mont (Hardy's Life), was broad and
fat, his mouth wide and without any
other expression than that ofimbeoility;
his eyes vacant and spiritless; and the
corpulence Of his whole person was far
better fitted to communicate the idea Of
a turtle eating alderman than that of a
refined philosopher. His speech in
English was rendered ridiculous by the
broadest Scotch accent, and his French
was, if possible, still more laughablei 50
that wisdom most certainly never dis
guised herself before in SO uncouth
garb. Yet, in spite of these drawbacks,
he was a wonderful favorite with the
ladies', and with that kind OF ladies whose
admiration is most Aattering At Paris
his reception by the women might have
been envied by the handsomest men of
the age. In letter to Blair, dated 1854,
he says: Il was carried about six weeks
ago to masquerade by Lord Hatford.
We went both unmssked; and we had
scarce entered the room when lady in
a mask came up to me and exclaimed;
Ha, Monsieur Humel vous faites bien
de veni vici a visage decouvert. Que
vous serez bien ct comble ce soir dhon-
neletes ct de poltessesl Vous verIez
par des preuves peu equivoques, jusqu'a
quel point vous etes cherl en- France,
This prologue was not little encourag-
ing; but as we advanced through the hall
it is difficult to imagine the caresses, civ
iliues, and panegyrlcs which poured on
me from all sides. You would have
thought that every one had taken advan
tage of his mask to speak his mind with
impunity. / could observe that the
ladies were rather the most liberal on
this occasion. But what gave me chief
pleasure was to find that most Of the eu-
logiums bestowed on me turned on my
personal character, my naivete and sim.
plicity of manners the candor and mild
ness of my disposition, etc. " The Sc
cret of his success might be found in fe-
male perversity If we may credit Mile
DEpinay he was very stupid in ladies'
society She recounts how he acted in
some charades, seated between two beau
tiful women, to whom as a Sultan, it was
his business to make love. He could
only stare at them. He beat his breast
and knees, and could make them no
other answer than Eh bien, mes demoi.
selesl = Eh bien vous VOLTA done.
" . Eh bien vous VOLTA = vous VOLTA
iei " She declares he repeated this for
nearly a quarter Of an hour Yet the
same lady afirms, Toutes les jolies
femmes sen sont emparees; il est de
tous les soupers fms, ct il n n'est point de
fete sans lui" This is corroborated by
Lord Charlemont. From what has
been already said Of him, it is apparent
that his conversation to strangers, and
particularly to Frenchmen, could be little
delightful; land still more particularly,
one would suppose, to Frenchwomen.
And yet, no lady's toilet was complete
without Hume's attendance. At the
opera, his broad. unmesning face was
usually seen entire deux jolis minons. "
He was once cleverly retorted on by a
beautiful and accomplished lady at Tu-
rim, who only laughed at his admiration.
One day he addressed her in the usual
commonplace strain, that be was abime,
anienti = destroyed, annihilated. J."
"Oh" answered she, as to your being
annihilated, that is only the natural ope-
ration Of your system" "