"An Irishman cannot have wit": Hume and the Prejudice of National Characters

Hume’s essay on national characters is more mysterious and sceptical than it would seem. I delineate Hume’s Irish question: the Irish national character and the anti-Irish prejudices as they appear in Hume’s entire work. In particular I focus on Hume’s account on the “universal massacre” in the History of England, Hume’s projected Embassy in Ireland and his connection with Edward Murphy (Lucian’s translator and Charlemont’s tutor in Turin). Moral causes and history easily explain the (Humean) Irish national character; Hume’s public writings and private letters slightly betray some natural patronizing stereotype of the Irish: “I wish you could come”, Murphy writes to Hume, “Be not afraid. For we do not devour Strangers who visit us as Friends”.