Part 32
[30] Never was there any thing more contemptible than the physical and mechanical positions in Diderot's great work, the _Systeme de la Nature_, (Barruel affirms, that he was the author, and got 100 pistoles for the copy, from the person who related the story to him,) that long ago found that Diderot had assisted Robinet to make a book out of his Masonic Oration, which I mentioned in page 41. Robinet trusted to Diderot's knowledge in natural philosophy. But the Junto were ashamed of the book _De la Nature_. Diderot seems to have, after this, read Dr. Hartley's book, and has greatly refined on the crude system of Robinet. But after all, the _Systeme de la Nature_ is contemptible, if it be considered as pretending to what is received as science by a mechanical philosopher.
It is not by the wisdom nor by the profound knowledge which these writers display, that they have acquired celebrity, a fame which has been so pernicious. It is by fine writing, by works addressed to the imagination and to the affections, by excellent dramas, by affecting moral essays, full of expressions of the greatest respect for virtue, the most tender benevolence, and the highest sentiments of honour and dignity.--By these means they fascinate all readers; they gain the esteem of the worthy, who imagine them sincere, and their pernicious doctrines are thus spread abroad, and steal into the minds of the dissolute, the licentious, and the unwary.
But I am writing to Britons, who are considered by our neighbours on the Continent as a nation of philosophers--to the countrymen of Bacon, of Locke, of Newton--who are not to be wheedled like children, but must be reasoned with as men.--Voltaire, who decides without hesitation on the character of the most distant nations in the most remote antiquity, did not know us: he came among us, in the beginning of his career, with the highest expectations of our support, and hoped to make his fortune by his Pucelle d'Orleans. It was rejected with disdain--but we published his Henriade for him: and, notwithstanding his repeated disappointments of the same kind, he durst not offend his countrymen by slandering us, but joined in the profound respect paid by all to British science.--Our writers, whether on natural or moral science, are still regarded as standard classics, and are studied with care. Lord Verulam is acknowledged by every man of science to have given the first just description of true philosophy, pointed out its objects, and ascertained its mode of procedure--And Newton is equally allowed to have evinced the propriety of the Baconian precepts by his unequalled success, _suâ Mathesi facem preferente_.--The most celebrated philosophers on the Continent are those who have completed by demonstration the wonderful guesses of his penetrating genius. Bailli, or Condorcet, (I forget which,) struck with the inconceivable reaches of Newton's thoughts, breaks out, in the words of Lucretius,
_Te sequor, O magnæ gentis decus, inque tuis nunc Fixa pedum pono pressis vestigia signis. Tu pater et rerum inventor, tu patria nobis Suppeditas precepta, tuisque ex inclute chartis, Floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant, Omnia nos itidem depascimur aurea dicta; Aurea, perpetuâ semper dignissima vitâ._
After such avowals of our capacity to instruct ourselves, shall we still fly to those disturbers of the world for our lessons? No--Let us rally round our own standards--let us take the path pointed out by Bacon--let us follow the steps of Newton--and, to conclude, let us seriously consider a most excellent advice by the highest authority:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's cloathing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves--BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM--Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"
THE END.
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Transcriber's note:
Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.
Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.
The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Page 243: "(why does not his fathers temperament excuse something? _Vibratiunculæ_ will explain every thing or nothing.)"--The closing bracket was supplied by the transcriber.
Page 250: "On the ** of February 1780, the infants (three years old) were taken away in the night"--Asterisks were inserted by the transcriber where the date was missing.
Page 308: "with immediate effect in carrying on their great and darling work?"--The transcriber has changed "darling" to "daring".
This note is printed after "The End", explaining repeated page numbers 197 to 204:
_To the Binder_ * 2 B, and * 2 C, are to be placed before 2 B, These pages being repeated.