This chapter focuses on how the Essays address narratives of political progress and decline. Hume identifies a common human tendency to value things simply because they are old, which I call the “antiquarian principle.” He seeks to unmask this principle and its more irrational effects in his treatment of recent debates about the British constitution and his extended attack on original contract theories. Although he warns against political innovation, these warnings are based in concern for present circumstances rather than veneration of the past. Hume believes modern governments to be generally superior to ancient ones, but he tempers his praise with recognition of local modern failures and subversion of modern confidence in particular political principles, such as the balance of power. Finally, Hume is sceptical about the power of governments to design effective policies or education systems that improve character. He does, however, believe that government affects both artificial and natural virtues and suggests ways that rulers can avoid harming their citizens’ character and, to a lesser extent, work to improve them.