Why was David Hume denied the chair of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh?

David Hume was denied the chair of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1744 because objectors accused him of heresy and atheism.1

These allegations were based on the content of his work, A Treatise of Human Nature, which critics pointed to as evidence of his unorthodox views. While Hume later claimed in his autobiography that the work had been ignored upon its initial publication, the controversy surrounding his philosophical ideas was sufficient to prevent his appointment to the academic position. This pattern of opposition continued later in his life, when rumors of atheism also hindered an attempt to appoint him as a successor to Adam Smith in the chair of logic at the University of Glasgow.12