Although discouraged by the outcome of this first volume of his history, Hume did not abandon the project, nor did he cease to write on other topics of interest. During the next few years, he published in London a volume entitled Natural History of Religion. This book represented a rather wide departure from the popular conceptions of religion since it was based on a naturalistic rather than a supernaturalistic interpretation of religious phenomena. As an empiricist in philosophy, Hume believed that any reliable knowledge which we may have in any field of inquiry must be based on the facts of experience. From this point of view, he did not hesitate to expose what he regarded as the more obvious fallacies involved in popular notions about religion.
The book, we are told, made an obscure entrance into the public mind and might not have attracted very much attention if no one had gone to the trouble of making a public denunciation of it. Fortunately for Hume, an attack was made by a certain Dr. Hurd, who wrote and circulated a pamphlet in which Hume's position on religious matters was made the subject of vicious and arrogant criticism. This aroused interest in Hume's book, which led to an increased number of sales.
After some time Hume wrote another book called Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, in which his views were presented as a series of conversations between a skeptic, a philosopher, and an orthodox believer. On the advice of some of his friends who were disturbed by the opposition which Hume's earlier publications had aroused, this book was withheld from publication until after his death.
The second volume of the History of England appeared in 1756, just two years after the first one had been printed. It covered the period from the death of Charles I to the time of the revolution. The third volume, which appeared in 1759, was an account of events which belonged to the Tudor period. In spite of the fact that Hume's political views were not always acceptable to his contemporaries, his reputation as an author had become well established and his books sold well.
In 1763, Hume received an invitation from the Earl of Hertford to attend him on his embassy to Paris. The invitation was accepted, and later on Hume was appointed secretary to the embassy. While in Paris, he was received with great enthusiasm by the French people, who bestowed many honors on him. He returned to Edinburgh in 1769 with the expectation of spending the rest of his life in ease and in enjoyment of his rising reputation. He became ill in 1775, and when it became apparent that he did not have long to live, he was persuaded to write an autobiography. He died the following year.
