Hume returned to London in 1737 and began negotiations for the publication of his manuscript. He encountered a series of difficulties in his efforts to find a publisher who would agree to print the book and arrange for its sale on terms that were agreeable to the author. A contract was finally arranged, and the first edition of the book appeared in 1738. The reception given the book during the first year after its publication was a bitter disappointment to Hume. He had hoped that the book would attract the attention not only of a small group of scholars but of educated people in general and that the arguments presented in it would win for the book and its author a favorable reception. Actually it attracted very little attention, and even those whose positions had been attacked by Hume's arguments were not disturbed to the point that they attempted to make any reply to what he had said. Hume's disappointment is reflected in his statement that the book "fell dead-born from the press."
He did not allow this disappointment to discourage the continuation of his literary activities. Believing that the failure of the Treatise to win a more favorable reception was due at least in part to the academic nature of its subject matter, along with the particular style of writing that had been used, Hume now turned his attention to topics of a more popular interest. He wrote a series of essays on subjects that were more directly related to the fields of morals and politics. The series included such topics as Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences, the Dignity of Human Nature, Of Eloquence, Superstitution and Enthusiasm, Liberty of the Press, First Principles of Government, and several other topics along similar lines. The first volume of these essays was published in Edinburgh in 1742. Unlike the Treatise, these essays did attract a considerable amount of attention and were well received by the public. This reception encouraged Hume to broaden his interests still further and to write with a larger reading public in mind.
The quality of the essays helped a great deal to establish for Hume the reputation of being an accomplished scholar, and when it was learned that the chair of Ethics and Pneumatical Philosophy at Edinburgh University was soon to be vacated, several of his friends undertook to have him appointed to that position. The idea was very much to Hume's liking, and he would have been glad to accept it. However, the appointment was blocked because of the opposition raised by certain influential men in the community who regarded some of the things which Hume had written on the subjects of morals, religion, and politics as heretical and unorthodox. This experience left a deep impression on Hume and was one of the factors which contributed toward a rising sense of distrust on his part for the established institutions of religion.
