Abstract

On Sunday morning, May 18, everything was ready, and the heavy baggage had already been dispatched to the ship for Berwick. On Sunday evening, in the midst of farewells to friends, a totally unexpected invitation induced David Hume at once, and gladly, to change his mind, and, instead of returning to Scotland, to set off on a projected military expedition to America. Having followed the course of the Rebellion of 1745 from the sidelines, he was now to be actively engaged in the War of the Austrian Succession and in an important campaign: the projected conquest of Canada. Lieut.-General James St Clair was a distant relation of Hume's and, when they chanced to meet in London, took an immediate fancy to him. It was the offer to act as secretary to the General and to accompany him on the expedition in Canada that Hume jumped at on that memorable Sunday evening.