rant of all the great moral truths which he had so worthily celebrated.

When Voltaire as a tragic author felt and thought in the character of another, he was admirable; but when he remains wholly himself, he is a jester and a cynic. The same versatility ‚which enabled him to adopt the part of the personages whom he wished to represent, only too well inspired the language which in certain moments, was suited to Voltaire.

Candide brings into action that scoffing philosophy, so indulgent in appearance, in reality so ferocious; it presents human nature under the most lamentable point of view, and offers us, in the room of every consolation, the sardonic grin, which frees us from all compassion for others, by making us renounce it for ourselves.

It is in consequence of this system that Voltaire, in his Universal History, has aimed at attributing virtuous actions, as well as great crimes, to those accidental events which deprive the former of all their merit, and the latter of all their guilt.

In effect, if there is nothing in the soul but what our sensations have imprinted upon it, we ought no longer to recognize more than two real and lasting motives on earth, force and well-being, tactics and gastronomy; but if the mind is still to be considered such as it has been formed by modern philosophy, it would very soon be reduced to wish that something of an exalted nature would reappear, in order at least to furnish it vith an object for exercise and for attack.

The Stoics have often repeated that we ought to brave all the assaults of fortune, and only to trouble ourselves with what depends upon the soul, upon our sentiments and our thoughts, The philosophy of sensation would have a totally opposite result; it would disembarrass us from our feelings and thoughts, with the design of turning our efforts towards our physical well-being; she would say to us: "Attach yourselves to the present moment; consider as a chimera everything which wanders out of the circle of the pleasures and affairs of this world, and pass your short career of life as well as you may, taking care of your health, which is the foundation of happiness."

These maxims have been known in all times; but they were thought to be the exclusive property of valets in comedies; and in our days they have been made the doctrine of reason, founded upon necessity, a doctrine very different from that of religious resignation, for the one is as vulgar as the other is noble and exalted.

The singularity of the attempt consists in deducing the theory of elegance from so plebeian a philosophy; our poor nature is often low and selfish, as we must grieve to confess; but it was novel enough to boast of it. Indifference and contempt for exalted subjects have become the type of the graceful; and witticisms have been levelled against those who take a lively interest in any thing which is without a positive result in the present world.

The argumentative principle of this frivolity of heart and mind, is the metaphysical doctrine which refers all our ideas to our sensations; for nothing but the superficial comes to us from without, and the seriousness of life dwells at the bottom of the soul. If the fatality of materialsm, admitted as a theory of the human mind, led to a distaste for every thing external, as well as to a disbelief of all within us, there would still be something in this system of an inactive nobleness, of an oriental indolence, which might lay claim to a sort of grandeur; and some of the Greek philosophers have found means to infuse almost a dignity into apathy; but the empire of sensation, while it has weakened sentiment by degrees, has left the activity of personal interest in full force; and this spring of action has become so much the more powerful, as all the others have been broken into pieces. To incredulity of mind, to selfishness of heart, must still be added the doctrine concerning conscience, which Helvetius developed, when he asserted, that actions virtuous in themselves had for their object the attainment of those physical enjoyments which we can taste here below; it has followed from hence, that sacrifices made to the ideal worship of any opinion, or any sentiment whatever, have been considered as if those who offer them were dupes; and as men dread nothing more than passing for dupes, they have VOL II.-7

been eager to cast ridicule upon every sort of unsuccessful enthusiasm; for that which has been recompensed with good fortune, has escaped raillery: success is always in the right with the advocates of materialism.

The dogmatic incredulity, that, namely, which calls in question the truth of every thing that is not proved by the senses, is the source of the chief irony of man against himself: all moral degradation comes from that quarter. This philosophy, doubtless, ought to be considered an effect, as well as a cause, of the present state of public feeling: nevertheless, there is an evil of which it is the principal author; it has given to the carelessness of levity the appearance of reflective reasoning; it has furnished selfishness with specious arguments; and has caused the most noble sentiments to be considered as an accidental malady, which is the result of external circumstances alone.

It is important, then, to examine whether the nation, which has constantly guarded itself against the metaphysics from which such consequences have been drawn, was not right in principle, and still more so in the application which it has made of that principle to the development of the faculties of inan, and to his moral conduct.

CHAPTER V.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON GERMAN PHILOSOPHY.

SPECULATIVE philosophy has always found numerous partisans among the Germanic nations, and experimental philosophy among the Latin nations. The Romans, expert as they were in the affairs of life, were no metaphysicians; they knew nothing of this subject, except by their connection with Greece, and the nations civilized by them, have, for the most part, inherited their knowledge in politics, and their indifference for those studies which cannot be applied to the business of the world. This disposition shows itself in France in its greatest

strength; the Italians and the Spaniards have partaken of it; but the imagination of the South has sometimes deviated from practical reason, to employ itself in theories purely abstract.

The greatness of soul that appeared among the Romans, gave a sublime character to their patriotism and their morals: but this consequence must be attributed to their republican institutions. When liberty no longer existed in Rome, a selfish and sensual luxury was seen to reign there, with almost an undivided empire; excepting that of an adroit sort of political knowledge, which directed every mind towards observation and experience. The Romans retained nothing of their past study of Grecian literature and philosophy but a taste for the arts; and this taste itself very soon degenerated into gross enjoyments.

The influence of Rome did not exert itself over the northern nations. They were almost entirely civilized by Christianity; and their ancient religion, which contained within it the principles of chivalry, bore no resemblance to the Paganism of the South. There was to be found a spirit of heroical and generous self-devotion; an enthusiasm for women, which made a noble worship of love: in a word, as the rigors of the climate prevented man from plunging himself into the delights of nature, he had so much the keener relish for the pleasures of the soul.

It may be objected to me, that the Greeks had the same religion and the same climate as the Romans; and that yet they have given themselves up more than any other people to speculative philosophy; but may we not attribute to the Indians some of the intellectual systems developed among the Greeks? The idealistic philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato ill agrees with Paganism, such as it appears to us; historical traditions also lead us to believe that Egypt was the medium through which the nations of southern Europe received the influence of the East. The philosophy of Epicurus is the only philosophy of truly Grecian origin.

Whatever may become of these conjectures, it is certain that the spirituality of the soul, and all the thoughts derived rom it, have been easily naturalized among the people of the

North; and of all these nations, the Germans have ever showed themselves the most inclined to contemplative philosophy. Leibnitz' is their Bacon and their Descartes. We find in this excellent genius all the qualities which the German philosophers, in general, glory to aim at-immense erudition, perfect good faith, enthusiasm hidden under strict forms and method. He had profoundly studied theology, jurisprudence, history, languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry; for he

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"The comprehensive genius of Gottfried William Leibnitz embraced the whole circle of philosophy, and imparted to it, in Germany at least, a new and powerful impulse. All that can interest or exercise the understanding was attempted by his great and original mind, more especially in Mathematics and Philosophy. He was ignorant of no one branch of learning, and in all he has shown the fertility of his mind by the discoveries he suggested or attempted. He was the founder of a school in Germany, which distinguished itself for the fundamental nature of the principles it embraced, and the systematic manner in which these were developed--a school which effected the final overthrow of the Scholastic system, and extended its beneficial influence over the whole range of the sciences. Leibnitz, by his example and his exertions, laid the foundations of this great revolution, by combining the philosophical systems which had prevailed up to his time-by his well-trained and original spirit-by his extraordinary learning—the liberality of his mind, and that spirit of toleration which led him always to discover some favorable point of view in what he criticised—something, even in the most despised and neglected systems, which might suggest matter for research. To this must be added his sense of harmony, and the infinitude of bright ideas, hints, and conjectures, which were perpetually, as it were, scintillating from his brilliant mind, though he left to others the task of collecting and combining them.

"He was born, June 21, 1646, at Leipsic, where his father was professor of moral philosophy, and studied the same science under J. Thomasius (born 1622, died 1684), applying himself at the same time to the Mathematics2 and the study of Natural Law; read the classics in the original tongues, particularly Plato and Aristotle, whose doctrines he endeavored at an early age to combine. The cultivation of his mind was advanced, and the veratility and address of his natural parts promoted, by immense reading and a multifarious correspondence-by his early independence of mind-by his travels, particularly to Paris and London--and by his acquaintance with the most distinguished statesmen and princes, and most illustrious sages of his time. He died, November 14, 1716, at Hanover, of which state he was a privy-councillor and keeper of the library; scarcely less honored after his death than during his life, as is testified, among other 'hings, by a monument recently erected to him."-(Tennemann, Manua. of Philosophy, pp. 340, 341.)-Ed.

1 Under Erh. Weigel, at Jena (who died 1690.)