the first principles of natural theology, were all fruitful topics for sceptical doubts; and he pushed his inquiries into the most remote corners of them, to endeavour to obtain something which should induce mankind, to the end of time, to admire the subtility and profundity of his genius.

CHAPTER IX.

ENCYCLOPEDIE FRANCAISE.

THE publication of the French Encylopedia commenced in 1745, under the superintendence of D'Alembert, Diderot, and others, and formed, in the eighteenth century, one of the most important events in the history of human knowledge. The influence which this work exercised over metaphysical science, and those branches of learning intimately blended with it, religion, morals, and politics, was prodigious, in every part of the Continent of Europe where letters were cultivated. This influence was not so sensibly felt in England; at least, in reference to investigations into the nature of the human mind. But in Continental countries this ponderous work served as a kind of common store-house, out of which materials could be drawn for every conceivable theory of human nature, and for the support of every doctrine, whether rational or irrational, beneficial or injurious, religious or irreligious.

There is no theoretical set of principles or doctrines on mental subjects, formally stated and expounded, which constitutes the aggregate or corporate faith of the Editors of this celebrated and able work; but there is a spirit which breathes through its pages, which may be everywhere recognised, and of whose real character and tangibility no reader can possibly be mistaken. This spirit does not manifest itself by dubious or fleeting indications; it possesses all the substantial attributes of a living and active principle. It directs, counsels, dictates, argues, and enforces; and under the philosophical garb of modest doubts, great impartiality, and a devoted love of truth and knowledge, it imparts to the reader, by an under-current of communication, what are its own views, opinions, principles, and wishes.

The plan of the publication was extremely favourable to this double purpose. It gave a full and general summary of all mental systems, both ancient and modern, including all the philosophical absurdities of the Eastern nations; and frequently besides, inserted whole treatises, from particular authors, on the nature of the human mind. This gave ample scope for incidental remarks and discussions, and for incorporating obnoxious principles, under the cover of candid opposition, or liberal criticism. This mode of intellectual warfare, against sound and wholesome systems of speculation, must be fully apparent to every reader of the Encyclopédie.

The influence exercised over the minds of men of letters, and the reading public generally, for many years, by the publication and exposition of such a numerous and undigested assemblage of doctrines and opinions, must have been, and we know from facts it was, stupendous and overwhelming beyond all precedent. It gave a licence for the uprooting of every sound and common-sense view of man's intellectual faculties and powers. Human nature was broadly caricatured and ridiculed in every page. The long established foundations of wisdom were shaken to their base; and the various superstructures reared upon it, which had been the objects of veneration for ages, were demolished, and scattered to the winds of heaven. A favourite principle was inculcated by the Encyclopedists, that man knew little or nothing about his own mind; and to make a hearty and frank acknowledgment of this ignorance, was the surest test of an enlightened spirit. To doubt, was an infallible indication of wisdom; and to disbelieve, a sign of an independent and philosophical mind.

In conformity with this notable discovery, it was necessary to begin and study human nature de novo; and in order to make the frame-work of the new system substantial and secure, it was thought expedient to fix the standard of humanity as low as possible. This was the only effectual remedy for checking the growth of all those presumed extravagances and prejudices, which naturally spring out of a dignified origin and purpose. Hence

it is that we find the general complexion of the mental philosophy of the Encyclopédie, sordid and grovelling. Man is here nearly levelled with the brute creation. All his mental powers, faculties, and purposes, are illustrated by the physical machinery of animal life, habits, instincts, and destiny. Every thing lofty, sublime, and rational, was studiously excluded; and some vague expressions about the infinite perfectibility of his earthly career, substituted in their place.

There were three leading instruments employed by the Encyclopedists for lowering the standard of mental philosophy; namely, their theory as to the origin of all our knowledge; the doctrine of materialism; and philosophical necessity.

Their theory of human knowledge professed to be founded on Mr. Locke's doctrine, that all our ideas were derived from the senses. This principle, however, was laid down in such a manner as to prove quite at variance with what the English metaphysician understood by it. Diderot says, "Every idea must necessarily, when brought to its ultimate decomposition, resolve itself into a sensible representation or picture; and since every thing in our understanding has been introduced there by the channel of sensation, whatever proceeds out of the understanding is either chimerical, or must be able, in returning by the same road, to re-attach itself to its sensible archetype. Hence an important rule in philosophy, that every expression which cannot find an external and a sensible object to which it can thus establish its affinity, is