Letters on England [28]
last Descartes was snatched from the world in the flower of his
age at Stockholm. His death was owing to a bad regimen, and he
expired in the midst of some literati who were his enemies, and
under the hands of a physician to whom he was odious.
The progress of Sir Isaac Newton's life was quite different. He
lived happy, and very much honoured in his native country, to the
age of fourscore and five years.
It was his peculiar felicity, not only to be born in a country of
liberty, but in an age when all scholastic impertinences were
banished from the world. Reason alone was cultivated, and mankind
could only be his pupil, not his enemy.
One very singular difference in the lives of these two great men is,
that Sir Isaac, during the long course of years he enjoyed, was
never sensible to any passion, was not subject to the common
frailties of mankind, nor ever had any commerce with women--a
circumstance which was assured me by the physician and surgeon who
attended him in his last moments.
We may admire Sir Isaac Newton on this occasion, but then we must
not censure Descartes.
The opinion that generally prevails in England with regard to these
new philosophers is, that the latter was a dreamer, and the former a
sage.
Very few people in England read Descartes, whose works indeed are
now useless. On the other side, but a small number peruse those of
Sir Isaac, because to do this the student must be deeply skilled in
the mathematics, otherwise those works will be unintelligible to
him. But notwithstanding this, these great men are the subject of
everyone's discourse. Sir Isaac Newton is allowed every advantage,
whilst Descartes is not indulged a single one. According to some,
it is to the former that we owe the discovery of a vacuum, that the
air is a heavy body, and the invention of telescopes. In a word,
Sir Isaac Newton is here as the Hercules of fabulous story, to whom
the ignorant ascribed all the feats of ancient heroes.
In a critique that was made in London on Mr. de Fontenelle's
discourse, the writer presumed to assert that Descartes was not a
great geometrician. Those who make such a declaration may justly be
reproached with flying in their master's face. Descartes extended
the limits of geometry as far beyond the place where he found them,
as Sir Isaac did after him. The former first taught the method of
expressing curves by equations. This geometry which, thanks to him
for it, is now grown common, was so abstruse in his time, that not
so much as one professor would undertake to explain it; and Schotten
in Holland, and Format in France, were the only men who understood
it.
He applied this geometrical and inventive genius to dioptrics,
which, when treated of by him, became a new art. And if he was
mistaken in some things, the reason of that is, a man who discovers
a new tract of land cannot at once know all the properties of the
soil. Those who come after him, and make these lands fruitful, are
at least obliged to him for the discovery. I will not deny but that
there are innumerable errors in the rest of Descartes' works.
Geometry was a guide he himself had in some measure fashioned, which
would have conducted him safely through the several paths of natural
philosophy. Nevertheless, he at last abandoned this guide, and gave
entirely into the humour of forming hypotheses; and then philosophy
was no more than an ingenious romance, fit only to amuse the
ignorant. He was mistaken in the nature of the soul, in the proofs
of the existence of a God, in matter, in the laws of motion, and in
the nature of light. He admitted innate ideas, he invented new
elements, he created a world; he made man according to his own
fancy; and it is justly said, that the man of Descartes is, in fact,
that of Descartes only, very different from the real one.
He pushed his metaphysical errors so far, as to declare
age at Stockholm. His death was owing to a bad regimen, and he
expired in the midst of some literati who were his enemies, and
under the hands of a physician to whom he was odious.
The progress of Sir Isaac Newton's life was quite different. He
lived happy, and very much honoured in his native country, to the
age of fourscore and five years.
It was his peculiar felicity, not only to be born in a country of
liberty, but in an age when all scholastic impertinences were
banished from the world. Reason alone was cultivated, and mankind
could only be his pupil, not his enemy.
One very singular difference in the lives of these two great men is,
that Sir Isaac, during the long course of years he enjoyed, was
never sensible to any passion, was not subject to the common
frailties of mankind, nor ever had any commerce with women--a
circumstance which was assured me by the physician and surgeon who
attended him in his last moments.
We may admire Sir Isaac Newton on this occasion, but then we must
not censure Descartes.
The opinion that generally prevails in England with regard to these
new philosophers is, that the latter was a dreamer, and the former a
sage.
Very few people in England read Descartes, whose works indeed are
now useless. On the other side, but a small number peruse those of
Sir Isaac, because to do this the student must be deeply skilled in
the mathematics, otherwise those works will be unintelligible to
him. But notwithstanding this, these great men are the subject of
everyone's discourse. Sir Isaac Newton is allowed every advantage,
whilst Descartes is not indulged a single one. According to some,
it is to the former that we owe the discovery of a vacuum, that the
air is a heavy body, and the invention of telescopes. In a word,
Sir Isaac Newton is here as the Hercules of fabulous story, to whom
the ignorant ascribed all the feats of ancient heroes.
In a critique that was made in London on Mr. de Fontenelle's
discourse, the writer presumed to assert that Descartes was not a
great geometrician. Those who make such a declaration may justly be
reproached with flying in their master's face. Descartes extended
the limits of geometry as far beyond the place where he found them,
as Sir Isaac did after him. The former first taught the method of
expressing curves by equations. This geometry which, thanks to him
for it, is now grown common, was so abstruse in his time, that not
so much as one professor would undertake to explain it; and Schotten
in Holland, and Format in France, were the only men who understood
it.
He applied this geometrical and inventive genius to dioptrics,
which, when treated of by him, became a new art. And if he was
mistaken in some things, the reason of that is, a man who discovers
a new tract of land cannot at once know all the properties of the
soil. Those who come after him, and make these lands fruitful, are
at least obliged to him for the discovery. I will not deny but that
there are innumerable errors in the rest of Descartes' works.
Geometry was a guide he himself had in some measure fashioned, which
would have conducted him safely through the several paths of natural
philosophy. Nevertheless, he at last abandoned this guide, and gave
entirely into the humour of forming hypotheses; and then philosophy
was no more than an ingenious romance, fit only to amuse the
ignorant. He was mistaken in the nature of the soul, in the proofs
of the existence of a God, in matter, in the laws of motion, and in
the nature of light. He admitted innate ideas, he invented new
elements, he created a world; he made man according to his own
fancy; and it is justly said, that the man of Descartes is, in fact,
that of Descartes only, very different from the real one.
He pushed his metaphysical errors so far, as to declare