登陆注册
4811400000137

第137章

SUCCESS OF THIS PHILOSOPHY IN FRANCE. - FAILURE OF THE SAMEPHILOSOPHY IN ENGLAND.

Several similar theories have in the past traversed the imagination of men, and similar theories are likely do so again. In all ages and in all countries, it sufficed that man's concept of his own nature changed for, as an indirect consequence, new utopias and discoveries would sprout in the fields of politics and religion.[1] -But this does not suffice for the propagation of the new doctrine nor, more important, for theory to be put into practice. Although born in England, the philosophy of the eighteenth century could not develop itself in England; the fever for demolition and reconstruction remained but briefly and superficial there. Deism, atheism, materialism, skepticism, ideology, the theory of the return to nature, the proclamations of the rights of man, all the temerities of Bolingbroke, Collins, Toland, Tindal and Mandeville, the bold ideas of Hume, Hartley, James Mill and Bentham, all the revolutionary doctrines, were so many hotbed plants produced here and there, in the isolated studies of a few thinkers: out in the open, after blooming for a while, subject to a vigorous competition with the old vegetation to which the soil belonged, they failed[2]. - On the contrary, in France, the seed imported from England, takes root and spreads with extraordinary vigor. After the Regency it is in full bloom[3]. Like any species favored by soil and climate, it invades all the fields, appropriating light and air to itself, scarcely allowing in its shade a few puny specimens of a hostile species, a survivor of an antique flora like Rollin, or a specimen of an eccentric flora like Saint-Martin. With large trees and dense thickets, through masses of brushwood and low plants, such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot, d'Alembert and Buffon, or Duclos, Mably, Condillac, Turgot, Beaumarchais, Bernadin de Saint-Pierre, Barthélemy and Thomas, such as a crowd of journalists, compilers and conversationalists, or the elite of the philosophical, scientific and literary multitude, it occupies the Academy, the stage, the drawing room and the debate. All the important persons of the century are its offshoots, and among these are some of the grandest ever produced by humanity. - This was possible because the seed had fallen on suitable ground, that is to say, on the soil in the homeland of the classic spirit. In this land of the raison raisonnante[4] it no longer encounters the antagonists who impeded its growth on the other side of the Channel, and it not only immediately acquires vigor of sap but the propagating organ which it required as well.

I. THE PROPAGATING ORGAN, ELOQUENCE.

Causes of this difference. - This art of writing in France. - Its superiority at this epoch. - It serves as the vehicle of new ideas.

- Books are written for people of the world. - This accounts for philosophy descending to the drawing room.

This organ is the "talent of speech, eloquence applied to the gravest subjects, the talent for making things clear." [5]"The great writers of this nation," says their adversary, "express themselves better than those of any other nation. Their books give but little information to true savants," but "through the art of expression they influence men" and "the mass of men, constantly repelled from the sanctuary of the sciences by the dry style and bad taste of (other)scientific writers, cannot resist the seductions of the French style and method." Thus the classic spirit that furnishes the ideas likewise furnishes the means of conveying them, the theories of the eighteenth century being like those seeds provided with wings which float and distribute themselves on all soils. There is no book of that day not written for people of the high society, and even for women of this class. In Fontenelle's dialogues on the Plurality of worlds the principal person age is a marchioness. Voltaire composes his "Métaphysique" and his "Essai sur les Moeurs" for Madame du Chatelet, and Rousseau his "Emile" for Madame d'Epinay. Condillac wrote the "Traité des Sensations" from suggestions of Mademoiselle Ferrand, and he sets forth instructions to young ladies how to read his "Logique."Baudeau dedicates and explains to a lady his "Tableau Economique."Diderot's most profound work is a conversation between Mademoiselle de l'Espinasse and d'Alembert and Bordeu[6]. Montesquieu had placed an invocation to the muses in the middle of the "Esprit des Lois." Almost every work is a product of the drawing-room, and it is always one that, before the public, has been presented with its beginnings. In this respect the habit is so strong as to last up to the end of 1789;the harangues about to be made in the National Assembly are also passages of bravura previously rehearsed before ladies at an evening entertainment. The American Ambassador, a practical man, explains to Washington with sober irony the fine academic and literary parade preceding the political tournament in public[7].

同类推荐
  • 佛说六字咒王经

    佛说六字咒王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明伦汇编闺媛典闺职部

    明伦汇编闺媛典闺职部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 水浒后传

    水浒后传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鬼谷四友志

    鬼谷四友志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 皇经集注

    皇经集注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 鲁滨逊漂流记(纯爱·英文馆)

    鲁滨逊漂流记(纯爱·英文馆)

    《鲁滨逊漂流记》是英国作家丹尼尔·笛福的一部小说作品,主要讲述了主人公鲁滨逊因多出海遇难,先被海盗攻击,再到种植园,最后漂流到无人小岛,并坚持在岛上生活,最后回到原来所生活的社会的故事。
  • 娇妻太神秘,席少,霸上瘾!

    娇妻太神秘,席少,霸上瘾!

    四前年,沫茜让席瑾寒深爱入骨,突然消失不见。四前后,再次相逢,席瑾寒不择手段将她留在身边。H’M集团的总裁办公室,席瑾寒重甩三份文件在桌上。“这三份协议,你选哪个?”沫茜选了最后一个。席瑾寒眸光一深,眸里竟是冷意。……传言最痛恨女人的席总,为什么会这么宠女人。“喜欢吃嘛?”“嗯。”席瑾寒又亲手喂了一块软软的糕点到她嘴里。
  • 我的高智商男友

    我的高智商男友

    场景①“林小悠,如果你和爱因斯坦见面了,你会选择做什么?”“内个……爱因斯坦……不是去世了吗?”“思维能力还算入门。”场景②“林小悠同学,你不能坐在那里。”“为什么呀?”“因为那是我的专属座位。”“马博士,你是在开玩笑吗?”“我从不开玩笑。”场景③“马赛克!你到底喜不喜欢我?”“和你说过多少次,我的名字是马赛柯,你能不能在中文发音上稍微下点功夫。”“管你叫什么!你不是说过我对你而言是和别人不一样的存在吗?”“对,因为你的智商要比别人低许多。”场景④“马博士,你和女孩子接过吻吗?”“没有。”“闭上眼睛。”——“那,现在你有过了。”
  • 长得漂亮不如说得漂亮:女人享用一生的口才书

    长得漂亮不如说得漂亮:女人享用一生的口才书

    一个女人可以生得不漂亮,但是一定要说得漂亮。无论什么时候,渊博的知识、良好的修养、文明的举止、优雅的谈吐、出口不凡的表达,一定可以让她活得足够漂亮,一个女人只要口才佳,相信没有谁可以阻碍她幸福的脚步。
  • 滇西恋曲

    滇西恋曲

    这是一个真实的故事。一个花季少女,经过自身的努力和许多好心人的帮助,终于跳出了农门,然而在走上工作岗位不久,却由于种种原因而邂逅了一个快40岁的老男人。男人的善良、健谈、对少女不求回报的关心和无微不至的照顾以及他们之间无所不在的默契最终感化了少女,然而,他们之间却面临着重重障碍······
  • 七杀立皇帝

    七杀立皇帝

    谁言乱世莫诉儿女情,实则乱世儿女情更深。为了守护心中的挚爱,为了信守许下的诺言,一个男人,最多可以做出多大牺牲?牺牲掉自己一生的幸福,变成太监,试问天下间有谁可以做到吗?她是沉鱼落雁、倾国倾城的绝世美人;他是信念如钢、至死不渝的铁骨男儿。在经历过毁家灭门之祸后,他们又将有一番怎样坎坷的复仇经历?刘瑾是明朝历史上大名鼎鼎的“立皇帝”,曾拥有至高无上的权威。他是与“九千九百岁”魏忠贤齐名的大太监。其势大滔天,座下高手如云。这位旷世枭雄的结局却是经历了千刀万剐之刑,死得悲惨至极。他的死,也成了历史上的著名事件。试看一对江湖儿女,如何最终报得血仇,铲除巨奸,上演一段旷古绝今的凄美爱情故事。
  • 农家女奋斗史

    农家女奋斗史

    穿越一个不小心,遇到一个谪仙一般的美男子,竟然还是皇帝,只是好好的皇帝不当,偏偏要来当平头老百姓。只不过事实证明,即便是不做皇帝,那一样能够在其它领域混得风生水起。
  • 废材狂妃狠腹黑

    废材狂妃狠腹黑

    一纸诏书,一场赐婚,将军府的废物嫡女沦为王爷府的阶下囚。她是尊贵的八王妃,却被妹妹毁容,姬妾幽禁,活活饿死。一次车祸,一场欺骗,商业精英沐琉歌死在未婚夫的车下,再度睁眼,成为王爷府的草包王妃,沐琉歌凭着一身炼丹开挂的本领,智斗恶姨娘,虐杀小婊砸,百姓议论纷纷。
  • 妃天下:拆了王府踢掉妾

    妃天下:拆了王府踢掉妾

    她神经大条且刁蛮霸道,一心拒嫁却被爹爹出卖,嫁进王府后才发现,她这个正牌王妃居然并不是想象中那么回事儿,特别是那个冰山脸王爷,为什么一直冷冰冰的,前辈子是块冰吧?
  • 你可以说不:1分钟学会拒绝的艺术

    你可以说不:1分钟学会拒绝的艺术

    《你可以说不(1分钟学会拒绝的艺术)》通过近百篇的情景写真,真实而准确地将日常工作和生活中所碰到的近乎无法拒绝、无法面对的大小事件予以再现,通过有效的点评和实用的拒绝窍门,让你在面临类似问题或正身处此类场景时,如沐春风,身心轻松,快乐而自信,依靠智慧的头脑向对方说“不”,且通过这种思维方式为你打开破解问题的思路,帮助自己演变出更多面对无法拒绝的难题时所需要的有效方法和全新的社交方式。《你可以说不(1分钟学会拒绝的艺术)》由智语编著。