Eulogy on the Christian Philosophers, Pascal, Newton, Bonnet, De Luc, Bacon, Boyle, Newton, &c.

EULOGY ON THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHERS,

PASCAL, NEWTON, BONNET, DE LUC,

BACON, BOYLE, NEWTON, &C.

Translated From The French Of The Rev. J. Fletcher, By The Late Rev. Miles Martindale.

GOOD sense should lead thee to the Gospel door,

That source of mercy to the guilty poor,

Led by this torch, implore celestial peace,

And prove the virtue of redeeming grace.

The yoke of Satan from thy heart remove,

And taste true wisdom flowing from above.

With humble Newton gain supernal light;

The Christian and philosopher unite.

Deep in thy heart let grace and wisdom join,

Thy life shall prove their energy Divine:

Copy Bonnet, that great observing sage,

And point to God in every glowing page.

The dreadful deluge with de Luc unfold;

With him by faith the righteous Judge behold,

Who with infuriate waters drowned the earth,

Changed ocean’s bed, and to new worlds gave birth:

With vast concussions roused volcanoes dire,

To raise the deep, and bid the globe expire.

Who plunged the guilty world in death profound,

Bid ocean roll her foaming billows round.

This mighty wreck with pious dread behold,

Revere that God whom Moses sung of old;

With Galen trace his wondrous skill and might,

Till Heaven bestow the renovating light.

In the former edition I said, such as humble Pascal: the sense is equally just. PASCAL was one of the best writers, the finest geniuses, and the greatest mathematicians that France has produced. In his conduct and writings he has fully demonstrated, that philosophy perfectly accords with Christianity. Superficial philosophers are frequently among the incredulous, but the truly learned consider it an honour to be believers. The system of DESCARTES tends to demonstrate the existence of a God: and though Voltaire has frequently ridiculed the devotion of Pascal, he has done justice to that of the great English philosopher, in his Elements of Newton’s Philosophy.

“Newton,” says he, “was intimately persuaded of the existence of a God; and he understood by this word, not merely a being that is infinite, omnipotent, eternal, and the Creator of all things, but a Master, who hath formed a relation between himself and his creatures; for without this relation the knowledge of the Deity is only a barren science. This great philosopher has likewise a very singular remark at the conclusion of his principles; which is, that we do not say, My eternal, my infinite, because these attributes have no relation to our nature; but we say, and we ought to say, My God! and by this we understand the Master and Preserver of our life, and the object of our thoughts. I remember that, in several conversations which I had with Dr. Clarke, in the year 1726, this philosopher never pronounced the name of God but with an air of recollection, and the most marked respect. I acknowledged to him the impression which his manner made upon my mind, and he informed me that it was from Newton he insensibly learned this manner, which indeed ought to be that of all men.

“A catechist announces God to his pupils, and Newton demonstrates his being to the wise. The whole of his philosophy necessarily leads to the knowledge of the Supreme Being, who created all things, and regulates them with ease. Of all the proofs concerning the existence of a God, those which proceed from final causes, appeared the strongest in the eyes of Newton. The infinite designs which beam forth in the most extensive, and in the smallest parts of the universe, are a demonstration; and yet, though so obvious, they are almost neglected; but Newton thought that these numberless evidences, which he perceived more clearly than others, were the productions of an infinitely powerful artist. “I do not know,” continues M. de Voltaire, “that there is one metaphysical proof that speaks more strongly to man than this admirable order which reigns in the universe; and if there had existed a more beautiful argument than this verse, The heavens declare the glory of the lord, Newton would not have placed this at the end of his principles. He found no kind of ratiocination more convincing in favour of the Deity than that of Plato, who says to one of his interrogators, You judge that I have a reasonable soul, because you perceive an order in my words and actions: judge then, in beholding the order of the universe, that it is regulated by a mind infinitely intelligent.” Thus speaks M. de Voltaire. I am glad to see this philosopher united with Plato and Newton in supporting this grand truth! I likewise feel great satisfaction when I behold LOCKE demonstrate the superiority of his judgment, saying, “I receive the light of revelation with pleasure and gratitude, and I rejoice therein: for it lays my mind at rest concerning many questions which my poor feeble reason could never fathom.”

This satisfaction is augmented, when I behold so fine a genius as M. de MONTESQUIEU giving evidence in favour of the truth of Christianity, and of that power which at first established it, and which has preserved it to the present season.

“The religion of Heaven,” says he, “was not established by the same methods as the religion of this world. Read the history of the Church, and you will see the wonders of the Christian religion. Did she resolve to enter a country? She caused the gates to open: all instruments served her purpose. Sometimes God makes use of a few fishermen, and at other times he takes an emperor from his throne, and makes him bend his neck to the yoke of the Gospel. Did the Christian religion conceal herself in subterranean caverns? Attend a moment, and you shall see imperial majesty speaking for her. She passes, at pleasure, the ocean, the rivers, and the mountains: no obstacles on earth can impede her progress. Fill the minds of men with hatred to her, she will vanquish this aversion. Establish customs, form usages, publish edicts, make laws: she will triumph over the climate, the laws which are in force there, and the legislators who formed them. God, by his decrees, of which we have no knowledge, extends or contracts the boundaries of his holy religion.” (Defense de l’Esprit des Loix, p. 112.)

How different is this language to that of Hume, the Scottish philosopher, who, filled with a vain hope concerning the progress of his vain philosophy, takes upon him to predict the approaching downfall of the Gospel; as if the religion of Jesus Christ must lick the dust before his philosophy, and that of Voltaire! But his expectation is vain: M. BONNET, the pious philosopher of Geneva, more closely unites Christian piety with sound philosophy; and his judicious researches into the truth of Christianity, demonstrate the Scottish prophet to be grossly mistaken.

It will not be unimportant to notice here the eulogy which M. Bonnet pays, in his Philosophic Regeneration, to the piety of LEIBNITZ, the great philosopher of Germany, whom he called the Germanic Plato. This Genevese philosopher, speaking of the philosophical comparison of death and sleep, which Leibnitz had made according to the words of Jesus Christ, adds,

“He cited with great pleasure even the least words of this Divine Master, and he always discovered some hidden sense still the more beautiful, as it was the more philosophical. The passage upon which I comment will furnish us with a remarkable example: I could easily cite many more; but I confine myself to the admirable preface to the Theodicee. He who was delighted to find in the Gospel a philosophy so exalted, was a living Encyclopedia, and one of the most profound geniuses that ever appeared on the earth. I beseech those who have neither the understanding nor the wisdom of this great man, to consider that it ill becomes them to despise the Gospel, and to strive at inspiring others with the same contempt.” “Four of the greatest English philosophers, (says Dr. Newton, the bishop of Bristol, in his Dissertation on the Philosophy of the Holy Scriptures,) were Lord BACON, BOYLE, LOCKE, and NEWTON, who have all proved, by their example, that philosophy and faith perfectly accord.

“BACON, elevated by his merit and his talents to the rank of chancellor, was a universal genius. In his works, which do great honour to England, we every where see his marked respect for religion, and his veneration for the Holy Scriptures, which he always quotes with reverence. His maxim is well known: ‘That a smattering of philosophy leads to Atheism, but a profound knowledge of this science to devotion.’ He considered theology as the most exalted of all knowledge, and the perfection of human nature.

“BOYLE, a profound natural philosopher, is better known by his piety than his nobility, and his discoveries in experimental physics. He wrote a treatise on Seraphic Love, for thus he called the love of God. This work is dedicated to his sister, the countess of Warwick, and it breathes the most sublime devotion of David’s Psalms. He was the author of a treatise which proves divinity superior to philosophy. He was so filled with admiration of the Scriptures, that he composed a work on the excellency of their style: and at his own expense procured translations of the Bible in various languages, and often printed them to distribute among the poor; and after having passed his life in doing good, to combat error after his death, he left a considerable sum of money for the purpose of preaching annual sermons on the truths of the Christian religion.

“LOCKE is so well known, as a profound metaphysician by his Essay on the Human Understanding, that any praise of him as a philosopher is unnecessary. He has proved that Christianity accords with reason, and has even composed a paraphrase on some of St. Paul’s epistles; having consecrated the latter part of his life to the study of the Bible.

“NEWTON was so great a mathematician, that a learned man said, ‘If we consider philosophy and the mathematics as composed of ten parts, we may regard him as the inventor of nine of those parts.’ He spake of the Supreme Being with that respect which becomes a sage. When he regulated the chronology of the ancient empires, it was always according to the light with which we are furnished by the Holy Scriptures: and by his observations on the prophecies of Daniel, and of St. John, he demonstrated that the word of God was the object to which all his labours tended; and having begun with philosophy, he acted like all the truly wise in finishing with religion.”

“M. BONNET was a celebrated philosopher of Geneva, a member and correspondent of many academies and royal societies. His philosophical researches into the truth of Christianity, organised bodies, regeneration, &c, have procured him the respect and admiration of Christian philosophers, as well as his Contemplations of Nature, in which we every where behold the judicious observer of the universe, and the humble adorer of the Supreme Being. “M. DE LUC was a companion of M. Bonnet, and with him trod the paths of the greatest philosophers of the Christian persuasion. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, of the Batavian Society, and a correspondent of the Royal Academies of Paris and Montpelier. His Letters, Physical and Moral, on the History of the Earth and of Man, which he published in five volumes, are an additional proof of the agreement of Christianity with sound philosophy. The reader will doubtless find a pleasure in reading what he says upon these articles.

After having compared an incredulous philosopher to a person found upon an immense ocean, without pilot, helm, or anchors, and having no hope of finding any port, he adds, “Being warned betimes by a wise pilot, my Father, I was fortunate enough to avoid the dangers, in the seasons of illusion, which every where surround the studious youth. I was in a measure captivated by the first attack, but restrained by a happy education, and by this recalled to reflection, I resisted, ere it was too late, the cruel hands that would have consigned me to the merciless waves.

“Who are you? I demanded of those who wished to allure me into their dangerous path. In whose name do you speak? In the name of nature. And in what manner has she spoken to you? We have studied her oracles, and are become her interpreters. Have you the credentials of your mission? Credentials! fine demand! Do you then listen to these vulgar opinions? Do you believe in a revelation? Open your eyes, and behold how nature contradicts your fables! &c. If you have made these discoveries in nature by your own faculties, I will examine also, for I have faculties similar to yours, and shall be very cautious in fixing my opinion upon the authority of any man, whoever he may be, concerning objects of this vast importance.

“Hence,” continues M. de Luc, “arose my great inclination for this science, which the schools call the knowledge of nature. I was determined to know for myself what man could discover there. No, said I to myself, no, I will not relinquish, on the authority of any person, those laws which hitherto have appeared conformable to all the feelings of my heart, or that hope of future bliss which, amidst all the innocent pleasures resulting from society, are, in my esteem, more valuable than existence. I will not, upon the credit of any man, render myself offensive to this Being, on the belief of whom I rest as upon a centre, and who through the universe unfolds to my sight the most admirable harmony; by whose existence I am restrained from the commission of the evils too prevalent in society, nor am I alone in the lonely desert!

“They do not credit, they say, the facts which have been transmitted from Moses to the first Christians, and from the primitive Christians down to us! These form, however, the basis of all revelation, the most glorious display of light upon the universe, and the first foundation of human hopes. But if some of these facts be true, such, for instance, as the universality of the deluge, and the destruction of the earth by water, would there not remain some traces of them on the face of the globe? I will then go in pursuit of them, I will study the phenomena, and I will see how they explain them who reject the sacred text.

“I undertook to observe the moral and physical world; I read what these philosophers said upon these subjects, and I soon suspected that those who abandoned Moses, saw but darkly, or reasoned without examination. The farther I carried my researches in this manner, the more was I convinced of their error; and cheerful serenity returned to my mind.

“Nor was I less struck with the deplorable effects produced by this system among certain individuals, and through them to society at large; the schemes of Atheism, of Fatalism, and of Materialism, children of impatience and false learning. There I beheld a morality without principle, politics separated from their true design; and a happiness without any durable source. I observed a number of unfortunate persons, victims to opinions which they did not comprehends and repeating ruinous creeds to which they had no other attachment but the force of fashion, and the confidential tone with which they were supported; and I saw that they were unable to extricate themselves from these shackles; because a single word produced a doubt, and it required deep study to dissipate the darkness.

“Hitherto I have only spoken of myself, and have done it with this view, to discover the internal history of man; and the progress of his ideas on a subject which contains so much happiness: and this man is none but myself, merely because I am the best acquainted with him. But I must associate my brother with me, who, next to myself, is the best known to me. Thirty years we studied the principal subject of this work, and we never took one step but in concert. When we were persuaded by the study of the phenomena, that the Mosaic history of our globe was the only system to be depended on, we formed the design of instructing those who either did not, or could not examine these subjects themselves; but we will not conceal the difficulties, &c.

“At present a certain class of infidels, with a labyrinth of arguments, constitute the fashion. The more feeble their reasons, the more decisive. They never hesitate, they deny and ridicule. In a word, one knows not which is the most wonderful, the boldness of their attacks, or the supercilious air which is manifested in the weakness of their means. One would think they imagine that religion is on the point of destruction, and that they have only to mingle with the crowd of assailants, to obtain some small branch of laurel. But they deceive themselves; religion has her foundation in nature, &c. “Religion in general seizes the hearts of men. What conclusion should the observing philosopher draw from this? Must we not change the nature of man before we can destroy its influence? &c. In the whole system of morality, religion merits the regard of every honest man. And what religion has such strong reasons for its support as ours, that is impressed with such striking characters of truth, and so firmly established, whose morality is so beautiful, whose motives to practice are so powerful, whose promises are so sweet and so conformable to our desires, and so well calculated to support us under the inevitable evils of the present life? A religion, in one word, which whoever announces in its proper form and beauty, and with pure intentions, obliges the idolater to renounce his false deities, because he feels the purity of primitive notions. “I return to my general proposition. Since, in the study of the universe, man seeks to discover what is agreeable, that he may conform his conduct thereto, his first step should be to inquire if the FIRST CAUSE, to whom he owes his existence, has not manifested his will concerning man; and if he has not given him a rule of conduct. This is what has at all times determined a number of philosophers, whose example I think it an honour to follow, to examine the proofs concerning the certainty of a Divine revelation, and to publish such proofs when they had found them substantial, &c.

“To examine if revelation be certain, it is requisite, in the first place, to be well assured of the facts which I have collected, and to examine their consequents with respect to the ancient history of the earth; then to see if they be conformable to what Moses has said, and by what means he could gain a knowledge of these things. And if you are too feeble to run from country to country, or too much engaged with other concerns, even to examine the account which! I have given in my labours of thirty years, you cannot be in a condition to decide upon these facts; I beseech you, at least, for the sake of justice and humanity, to abstain from spreading such perplexing opinions, which at the best are only chimerical.” Such is the decision of a philosopher after having pursued his inquiries for a great number of years in different parts of the world, and who pushed his researches to the summits of the most lofty mountains, to the bottom of the deepest valleys, and down the most terrible precipices. But I refer the reader to the work itself, where he will find himself both amused and profited; and I will conclude this extract with a sketch of the character which M. de Luc gives of his celebrated compatriot, J. J. Rousseau. “This haughty, but honest man,” says he, “knowing the weakness of human reason in the pursuit of truth, sensibly felt the despotism which was exercised in the bosom of the Church, even by those who ought to have made revelation respectable. He was grieved to see the most essential part of religion falling a victim in the great world, through the unskilfulness of its defenders; and believing that he ought to hasten to its succour, and at least to give some support to the morals and hopes which are drawn from reason, he ranked himself on the side of those philosophers, who seek only in this way for a foundation of morality to combat, more certainly, the monstrous systems of Atheism and Materialism, which leave man without hope and without restraint.

“He too much doubted the influence of religion in herself, and being entangled in the heat of the contest, he went farther than he at first intended. He respected Christianity from the bottom of his heart: this I know, and this he has declared. But wishing to put an end to the persecution exercised on those who may, in sincerity, seek for the foundation of morality out of the Bible, he undertook to prove that the characters rising from this source were not sufficiently authentic, to affix the charge of impiety upon those who sought them elsewhere. But in attempting to prove this he wanted evidence, and sunk into doubts. He was deceived concerning the force of these objections to Christianity; for the most part they are only such difficulties as men meet with in their examinations of any subject, and those which appear more formidable are easily solved.”