thing, and ended in believing that he had left nothing unexplained." His first treatise "On the Passions," (to which he owed much of his celebrity,) was written in 1629; the second part, which is of far greater value, did not appear till A. D. 1646, a short time before his death.

374. After having pursued, during several years, a train of moral and philosophical inquiries into the physical and natural proofs of the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and its various modes of operation, Des Cartes gave to the world the results. of those profound metaphysical speculations in a treatise, entitled " Philosophical Meditations on the First Philosophy," which was first published in 1633; in which were developed the elements of what has since been termed, the Cartesian Philosophy. About the same time, several tracts were produced by him on subjects connected with different departments of physical science, particularly on "Meteors," and on " Astronomy," or the System of the World, and on Optics. In consequence of these successive publications, the name of Des Cartes became cele brated throughout Europe. His works were eagerly sought, and translated into almost all the European dialects. Schools were founded in which his philo sophy was taught, and a vehement contest arose between the advocates and opponents of the Car tesian system. The Jesuits having effectually driven him from his native country, princes and sovereigns became anxious to secure to themselves the honour of patronizing this renowned philosopher. Attempts were first made by the States-General of

66

Holland to induce him to fix his residence in that country, which were in part successful; as it is known that some of his principal works were written and published there. These were, his treatises on "Mechanics, Dioptrics, and Geometry;" his logical work, entitled "De Methodo;" and his most celebrated performance, " Principia Philosophiæ;" all of which appeared between the years 1637 and 1641. Charles I. of England, promised him a liberal appointment and efficient patronage; but the commencement of the civil war, which terminated in the death of that unfortunate monarch, prevented his acceptance of these offers. At length female influence prevailed; Des Cartes yielded to the flattering solicitations of Christina, Queen of Sweden, who invited him, with many others, to her capital, for the purpose of forming there an academy of sciences, similar to those previously established in other European cities, and removed to Stockholm, A. D. 1649, where he died in the following year.

375. The preceding are the principal facts connected with the personal history of Des Cartes; but few comparatively of his numerous writings have been specified. They relate to almost every subject connected with physical, intellectual, and moral science. From statements already made, it will appear that he ranks with the profoundest mathematicians of his age. In physics, as in intellectual philosophy, he was frequently diverted from the sober track of induction and experience, by his love of abstract speculation, and the stress laid on à priori reasonings; but in the department of logic,

he rendered valuable service, by simplifying that which had been long perplexed, and reducing to a few intelligible principles, the rules to be observed in the investigation of truth.

SECTION VII.

SUMMARY VIEW OF THE CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY.

376. In taking a brief retrospect of the philosophy of Des Cartes, as far as relates to intellectual science, the topics may be arranged under three heads; logic, metaphysics, and ethics.

I. LOGIC.

This is chiefly contained in his "Dissertation on the Method of using Reason rightly in the Investigation of Truth." In that short but valuable treatise, the following general principles are illustrated and established, which at once commend themselves to our understandings by their reasonableness and practical utility, and prove how completely the author of such a logical system must have thrown off the trammels of the Scholastics. 1. That truth is to be the one great object pursued by the human mind in all its investigations. 2. That nothing is to be admitted as true in moral science, without evidence sufficient to convince every rational inquirer; or, in the abstract sciences, without complete and absolute demonstration. 3. That, in the

investigation of truth, all prejudice and precipitancy of judgment are to be carefully avoided, by which the mind may be obstructed in its operations, and betrayed into false conclusions. 4. That difficulties and objections are not be shunned, but, on the contrary, most fearlessly encountered; and that it is the office of logic so to methodise and arrange them, that they may be fairly met and satisfactorily solved. 5. That in all moral reasonings, arguments and evidences are to be brought forward in their natural order, beginning with the simplest and most selfevident principles; and rising by degrees to the most complex and difficult deductions. 6. That no chasms be admitted in the argument; but that all the successive steps be so closely connected, that the relation of each to the whole may be apparent. These general rules form the basis of the entire system of logic inculcated by the Cartesians, and it will be perceived that they are taken from the practice of geometricians, and that their reception must be fatal to the domination of the schoolmen. The use and application of these principles in the investigation of natural phænomena, and the pursuit of intellectual science, are distinctly pointed out; and it had been well if their inventor had inflexibly adhered to them in his own philosophical researches.

II. METAPHYSICS.

377. This division includes those speculations on the material universe and on the phænomena of mind, which form the characteristic features of the Cartesian philosophy.

(1.) All substances, according to this system, may be comprehended under two heads-matter and mind: the essence of the former is extension; of the latter, thought. Matter, as extended, must have a real existence; and since extension applies to it universally, there can be in nature (that is, in the physical system of the universe) no vacuum: for every where must be found the essential qualities of matter;-length, breadth, and thickness. Matter, considered with relation to its primary or elementary parts, is both indivisable and unmoveable; and all the varieties of configuration it assumes, depend upon the motion communicated to them; which motion consists in the removal of one body out of its own place into that of a second contiguous to it, and this into a third; by which means it is propagated seriatim to the utmost boundaries of the universe. This motion was originally impressed on matter by God himself, and is regulated by certain fixed laws.

(2.) On these data, Des Cartes founded his wellknown theory of the vortices, supposed to occupy the vast regions of space; which, as constituting the most curious and fanciful part of the Cartesian system, it will be proper briefly to explain. It was conceived, that the vast regions of space are filled with a fluid mass, portions of which are attached to the several celestial bodies. A vast quantity of this ethereal fluid revolves round the sun as the great centre of the solar system. Each planet has its own separate vortex, with constantly moves with the solid body to which it is attached, while at the same