The Project Gutenberg eBook of Diderot, by John Morley.

[29] "Es ist nicht gleichgültig ob eine Folge grosser Gedanken in frischer Ursprünglichkeit auf die Zeitgenossen wirkt, oder ob sie zu einer Mixtur mit reichlichem Zusatz überlieferter Vorurtheile verarbeitet ist. Ebensowenig ist est gleichgültig welcher Stimmung, welchem Zustande der Geister eine neue Lehre begegnet. Man darf aber kühn behaupten, das für die volle durchführung der von Newton angebahnten Weltanschauung weder eine günstigere Naturanlage, noch eine günstigere Stimmung getroffen werden konnte, als die der Franzosen im 18. Jahrhundert." (Lange's Gesch. d. Materialismus, i. 303.) But the writer, like most historians of opinion, does not dwell sufficiently on the co-operation of external social conditions with the progress of logical inference.

[30] See Montgeron's La Verité des Miracles de M. de Pâris démontrée (1737)—an interesting contribution to the pathology of the human mind.

[31] Barbier, 168, 244, etc.

[32] Pensées Philosophiques, xviii.

[33] On this, see Lange, i. 294.

[34] Pensées Philosophiques. Œuv., i. 128, 129.

[35] Œuv., xix. 87. Grimm, Supp. 148.

[36] Volney, in a book that was famous in its day, Les Ruines, ou Méditation sur les révolutions des empires (1791), resorted to a slight difference of method. Instead of leaving the pretensions of the various creeds to cancel one another, he invented a rather striking scene, in which the priests of each creed are made to listen to the professions of their rival, and then inveigh against his superstition and inconsistency. The assumption on which Diderot's argument rests is, that as so many different creeds all make the same exclusive claim, the claim is equally false throughout. Volney's argument turns more directly on the merits, and implies that all religions are equally morbid or pathological products, because they all lead to conduct condemned by their own most characteristic maxims. Volney's concrete presentation of comparative religion was highly effective for destructive purposes, though it would now be justly thought inadequate. (See Œuv. de Volney, i. 109, etc.)

[37] See on this, Lange, ii. 308.

[38] De la Suffisance de la Religion Naturelle, § 5.

[39] It is well to remember that torture was not abolished in France until the Revolution. A Catholic writer makes the following judicious remark: "We cannot study the eighteenth century without being struck by the immoral consequences that inevitably followed for the population of Paris from the frequency and the hideous details of criminal executions. In reading the journals of the time, we are amazed at the place taken in popular life by the scenes of the Grève. It was the theatre of the day. The gibbet and the wheel did their work almost periodically, and people looked on while poor wretches writhed in slow agony all day long. Sometimes the programme was varied by decapitation and even by the stake. Torture had its legends and its heroes—the everyday talk of the generation which, having begun by seeing Damiens torn by red-hot pincers, was to end by rending Foulon limb from limb." (Carné, Monarchie française au 18ième Siècle, p. 493.)

[40] Lettres sur les Anglais, xxiii.

[41] Essai sur le Mérite, I. ii. § 3. Œue., i. 33.

[42] "Shaftesbury is one of the most important apparitions of the eighteenth century. All the greatest spirits of that time, not only in England, but also Leibnitz, Voltaire, Diderot, Lessing, Mendelssohn, Wieland, and Herder, drew the strongest nourishment from him." (Hettner, Literaturgeschichte des 18ten Jahrhunderts: ler Theil. 188.) See also Lange's Gesch. des Materialismus, i. 306, etc. An excellent account of Shaftesbury is given by Mr. Leslie Stephen, in his Essays on Free-thinking and Plain-speaking.

[43] Œuv., i. xlvi.

[44] Jobez, France sous Louis XV., ii. 373. There were, in 1725, 24,000 houses, 20,000 carriages, and 120,000 horses. (Martin's Hist, de France, xv. 116.)

[45] The records of Paris in this century contain more than one illustration of the turbulence of this odious army of lackeys. Barbier, i. 118. For the way in which their insolence was fostered, see Saint-Simon, xii. 354, etc. The number of lackeys retained seems to have been extraordinarily great in proportion to the total of annual expenditure, and this is a curious point in the manners of the time. See Voltaire, Dict. Phil, § v. Économie Domestique (liv. 182).

[46] Duclos, Mém. secrets sur le Règne de Louis XV., iii 306.

[47] Œuv., xix. 91.

[49] Prom, du Sceptique. Œuv., i. 229.

[50] "If there is a God, he is infinitely incomprehensible, since, being without parts or limits, he has no relation to us: we are therefore incapable of knowing what he is, or if he is. That being so, who shall venture to undertake the solution of the question? Not we, at any rate, who have no relation to him." Pensees, II. iii. 1.

[53] Barbazan's Fabliaux et Contes, iii. 409 (ed. 1808). The learned Barbazan's first edition was published in 1756, and so Diderot may well have heard some of the contents of the work then in progress.

[55] In my Rousseau, p. 243 (new ed.)

[56] Voltaire, p. 149 (new ed., Globe 8vo).

[58] Hettner, Literaiurgeschichte des 18ten Jahrhunderts, ii. 301.

[59] Œuv., ii. 260, etc.

[60] Œuv., ii. 258, 259. De l'Essai sur les Femmes, par Thomas. See Grimm's Corr. Lit., vii. 451, where the book is disparaged; and viii. 1, where Diderot's view of it is given. Thomas (1732-85) belonged to the philosophical party, but not to the militant section of it. He was a serious and orderly person in his life, and enjoyed the closest friendship with Madame Necker. His enthusiasm for virtue, justice, and freedom, expressed with much magniloquence, made him an idol in the respectable circle which Madame Necker gathered round her. He has been justly, though perhaps harshly, described as a "valetudinarian Grandison." (Albert's Lit. Française au 18ième Siècle, p. 423.)

[61] Elémens de la Philosophie de Newton, Pt. II. ch. vii. Berkeley himself only refers once to Cheselden's case: Theory of Vision vindicated, § 71. Professor Fraser, in his important edition of Berkeley's works (i. 444), reproduces from the Philosophical Transactions the original account of the operation, which is unfortunately much less clear and definite than Voltaire's emphasised version would make it, though its purport is distinct enough.

[62] Essai sur l'Origine des Connaissances humaines, I. § 6.

[63] Let. sur les Aveugles, 323, 324. Condorcet attaches a higher value to Cheselden's operation. Œuv., ii. 121.

[64] Dr. M'Cosh (Exam. of J. S. Mill's Philosophy, p. 163) quotes what seems to be the best reported case, by a Dr. Franz, of Leipsic; and Prof. Fraser, in the appendix to Berkeley (loc. cit.), quotes another good case by Mr. Nunnely. See also Mill's Exam. of Hamilton, p. 288 (3d ed.)

[65] Confessions, II, vii.

[66] Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals, c. xiii. p. 312, and also pp. 335-337. This fact, so far as it goes, seems to make against the theory of transmitted sentiments.

[67] Locke answered that the man would not distinguish the cube from the sphere, until he had identified by actual touch the source of his former tactual impression with the object making a given visual impression. Condillac, while making just objections to the terms in which Molyneux propounded the question, answered it different from Locke. Diderot expresses his own opinion thus: "I think that when the eyes of the born-blind are opened for the first time to the light, he will perceive nothing at all; that some time will be necessary for his eye to make experiments for itself; but that it will make these experiments itself, and in its own way, and without the help of touch." This is in harmony with the modern doctrine, that there is an inherited aptitude of structure (in the eye, for instance), but that experience is an essential condition to the development and perfecting of this aptitude.

[68] A very intelligent English translation of the Letter on the Blind was published in 1773. For some reason or other, Diderot is described on the title-page as Physician to His most Christian Majesty.

[69] Œuv., i. 308.

[72] Corr., June 1749.

[73] See Critical Miscellanies: First Series.

[74] Diderot to Voltaire, 1749. Œuv., xix. 421.

[75] Diderot to Voltaire, 1749. Œuv., xix. 421.

[77] Lewes's Hist. Philos., ii. 342.

[78] Rosenkranz, i. 102.

[79] Tylor's Researches into the early history of mankind, chaps. ii. and iii.; Lubbock's Origin of Civilization, chap. ix.

[80] Madame Dupré de Saint Maur, who had found favour in the eyes of the Count d'Argenson. D'Argenson, younger brother of the Marquis, who had been dismissed in 1747, was in power from 1743 to 1757. Notwithstanding his alleged share in Diderot's imprisonment, he was a tolerably steady protector of the philosophical party.

[81] Barbier, iv. 337.

[82] There is a picture of Berryer, under the name of Orgon in that very curious book, L'Ecole de l'Homme, ii. 73.

[83] Pieces given in Diderot's Works, xx. 121-123.

[84] Naigeon, p. 131.

[85] Voltaire's Corr. July and Aug. 1749.

[86] Conf., II. viii.

[87] Michelet's Louis XV., p. 258.

[88] See the present author's Rousseau, vol. i. p. 134 (Globe 8vo ed.)

[89] For the two petitions of the booksellers to D'Argenson praying for Diderot's liberty, see M. Assézat's preliminary notice. Œuv., xiii. 112, etc.

[90] Jourdain's Recherches sur les traductions latines d'Aristote, p. 325.

[91] Lit. of Europe, pt. i. ch. ii. § 39.

[92] Whewell's Hist. Induc. Sci.. xii. c. 7.

[93] Fr. Roger Bacon; J.S. Brewer's Pref. pp 57, 63.

[94] Leibnitii, Opera v. 184.

[95] Œuv. de D'Alembert, i. 63.

[96] Mém. pour J.P.F. Luneau de Boisjermain, 4to, Paris, 1771. See also Diderot's Prospectus, "La traduction entière de Chambers nous a passé sous les yeux," etc.

[97] Biog. Universelle, s.v.

[98] Michelet, Louis XV., 258. D'Aguesseau (1668-1751) has left one piece which ought to be extricated from the thirteen quartos of his works—his memoir of his father (Œuv., xiii.) This is one of those records of solid and elevated character, which do more to refresh and invigorate the reader than a whole library of religious or ethical exhortations can do. It has the loftiness, the refined austerity, the touching impressiveness of Tacitus's Agricola or Condorcet's Turgot, together with a certain grave sweetness that was almost peculiar to the Jansenist school of the seventeenth century.

[99] A short estimate of D'Alembert's principal scientific pieces, by M. Bertram, is to be found in the Revue des Deux Mondes, for October 1865.

[100] Œuv. de D'Alembert, iv. 367.

[101] Œuv. de J. Ph. Roland, i. 230 (ed. 1800).

[102] Essai sur la Société des Gens de Lettres et des Grands, etc. Œuv., iv. 372. "Write," he says, "as if you loved glory; in conduct, act as if it were indifferent to you." Compare, with reference to the passage in the text, Duclos's remark (Consid. sur les Mœurs, ch. xi.): "The man in power commands, but the intelligent govern, because in time they form public opinion, and that sooner or later subjugates every kind of despotism." Only partially true.

[103] Pensées Philos., § 26.

[104] Phil. Pos., v. 520. Polit. Pos., iii. 584.

[105] See Pref. to vol. iii.

[106] For instance, see Pref. to vol. vi.

[107] Siècle de Louis XV., ch. xliii.

[108] Grimm, Corr. Lit., i. 273. Diderot, Œuv., iv. 15.

[109] Avertissement to vol. vi.; also to vol. vii. Turgot's articles were Etymiologie, Existence, Expansibilité, Foires, Fondations. The text of these is wrongly inserted among Diderot's contributions to the Encyclopædia, in the new edition of his Works, xv. 12.

[110] Condorcet's Vie de Turgot.

[111] Pref. to vol. iii. (1752), and to vol. vi. (1756).

[112] Pref. to vol. ii.

[113] Grimm, Corr. Lit., i. 130. Forbonnais's chief work is his Becherches et Considérations sur les finances de la France.

[114] Avert. to vol. ii.

[115] Nov. 10, 1760, xix. 24. Also, Oct. 7, 1761, xix. 35.

[116] See also Preface to vol. iii.

[117] Avert. to vol. vi., and s. v. Fontange. Grimm, i. 451.

[118] Corresp. avec D'Alembert (Œuv., lxxv.), Sept. 1755, Feb. 1757, etc.

[119] Dec. 22, 1757.

[121] Dec. 13, 1756; April 1756.

[122] July 21, 1757.

[123] Article Encyclopédie.

[124] To Voltaire, Feb. 15, 1757.

[125] Hettner's Literaturgesch, des 18ten Jahrhunderts, ii. 277.

[126] Art. Encyclopédie.

[128] Barbier, v. 151, 153.

[129] Diderot to Voland, Œuv., xviii. 361. Carlyle's Frederick, bk. xviii. ch. xi.

[130] Apologie de l' Abbe de Prades. Œuv., i. 482.

[131] See Jobez, i. 358.

[133] Barbier, v. 160.

[135] Grimm, Corr. Lit., i. 81. Barbier, v. 170.

[136] Avert., to vol. iii. Œuv. de D'Alembert, iv. 410.

[137] Barbier, v. 170. Grimm, Corr. Lit., i. 201; Ib. ii. 197.

[138] Hardy, quoted by Aubertin, 407, 408.

[139] Corr. Lit., ii. 271.

[140] To D'Alembert, Dec. 29, 1757; Jan. 1758.

[141] For a short account of Helvétius's book, see a later chapter.

[142] Corr. Lit., ii. 292, 293.

[143] Barbier, vii. 125-142.

[144] Lacretelle's France pendant le 18ième Siècle, iii. 89.

[145] Jobez, ii. 464, 538.

[146] See Rousseau, vol. i. chaps, vii. and ix. (Globe 8vo ed.)

[147] Louis XV. et Louis XVI., p. 50.

[148] Jan. 11, 1758. Jan. 20, 1758. Diderot to Mdlle. Voland, Oct. 11, 1759. See the following chapter.

[149] Voltaire to D'Alembert, Jan. to May 1758. Voltaire to Diderot, Jan. 1758.

[150] Diderot to Voltaire, Feb. 19, 1758, xix. 452.

[151] To Voland, Œuv., xix. 146.

[152] Corr. Lit., vii. 146.

[153] Corr. Lit., vii. 146.

[154] Œuv. de Voltaire. Published sometimes among Facéties, sometimes among Mélanges.

[155] See Œuv. Choisies de Jean Reynaud, reprinted in 1866. The article on Encyclopèdie (vol. i.) is an interesting attempt to vindicate Cartesian principles of classification.

[156] See fly-leaf of vol. xxviii.

[157] Mém., ii. 115. Grimm, vii. 145.

[158] De Maistre says that the reputation of Bacon does not really go farther back than the Encyclopædia, and that no true discoverer either knew him or leaned on him for support. (Examen de la Phil. de Bacon, ii. 110.) Diderot says: "I think I have taught my fellow-citizens to esteem and read Bacon; people have turned over the pages of this profound author more since the last five or six years than has ever been the case before" (xiv. 494). In Professor Fowler's careful and elaborate edition of the Novum Organum (Introduct., p. 104), he disputes the statement of Montuola and others, that the celebrity of Bacon dates from the Encyclopædia. All turns upon what we mean by celebrity. What the Encyclopædists certainly did was to raise Bacon, for a time, to the popular throne from which Voltaire's Newtonianism had pushed Descartes. Mr. Fowler traces a chain of Baconian tradition, no doubt, but he perhaps surrenders nearly as much as is claimed when he admits that "the patronage of Voltaire and the Encyclopædists did much to extend the study of Bacon's writings, besides producing a considerable controversy as to his true meaning on many questions of philosophy and theology."

[159] See above, p. 62, note.

[160] D'Alembert was not afraid to contend against the great captain of the age, that the military spirit of Lewis XIV. had been a great curse to Europe. He showed a true appreciation of Frederick's character and conception of his duties as a ruler, in believing that the King of Prussia would rather have had a hundred thousand labourers more, and as many soldiers fewer, if his situation had allowed it. Corresp. avec le roi de Prusse, Œuv., v. 305.

[161] See Essay on Turgot in my Critical Miscellanies, Second Series.

[162] Such, as that their feudal rights should be confirmed; that none but nobles should carry arms, or be eligible for the army; that lettres-de-cachet should continue; that the press should not be free; that the wine trade should not be free internally or for export; that breaking up wastes and enclosing commons should be prohibited; that the old arrangement of the militia should remain.—Arthur Young's France, ch. xxi. p. 607.