BENEDICT DE SPINOZA. 



455 



philosophy, which abounds in allusions to the 

 different Mohammedan sects. It is, however, true 

 in the sense that there has been in Islam no great 

 visible rupture like the Reformation in Europe. 



Of Spinoza's habits in daily life we know just 

 so much as to make us regret that we do not 

 know more. In outward appearance he was un- 

 pretending, but not careless. His way of living 

 was exceedingly modest and retired ; often he did 

 not leave his room for many days together. He 

 was likewise almost incredibly frugal ; his ex- 

 penses sometimes amounted only to a few pence 

 a day. But it must not be supposed that be 

 shared the opinion of those who profess to de- 

 spise man and the world. There was nothing 

 ascetic in his frugality, nothing misanthropic in 

 his solitude. He kept down his expenses sim- 

 ply in order to keep them within his means ; and 

 his means remained slender because he did not 

 choose to live at other people's charges. He 

 used to say of himself that he was like a snake 

 with its tail in its mouth, just making both ends 

 meet. Doubtless he was indifferent as to money 

 and the world's goods, but with the genuine in- 

 difference which is utterly removed from the af- 

 fected indifference of the cynic. A man to whom 

 he had lent two hundred florins — which must 

 have been a considerable sum in proportion to 

 Spinoza's income — became bankrupt. Spinoza's 

 remark on hearing of it was this: " Then I must 

 lessen my expenses to make up the loss ; that is 

 the price I pay for equanimity." In like manner 

 he kept himself retired not because he was unso- 

 ciable, but because he found retirement neces- 

 sary for his work. There is ample evidence that 

 he was none of those who hate or disdain the in- 

 tercourse of mankind. He kept up, as we have 

 seen, an extensive correspondence, of which we 

 must regret that so little has been preserved. 

 He was free and pleasant in familiar conversa- 

 tion with the people of his house. On Sundays 

 he would talk with them of the sermon they had 

 heard, and would praise the sound learning and 

 morality of their worthy Lutheran pastor, a cer- 

 tain Dr. Cordes, who was succeeded in his office 

 by Spinoza's biographer Colerus. Thus he won 

 the esteem and affection not only of his philo- 

 sophic friends, but of the simple folk among whom 

 he lived ; and such affection, as M. Renan has 

 well said, is in truth the most precious of all. 



Thus he showed in action the ideal of life set 

 forth in those writings which he could not vent- 

 ure to publish in his lifetime, and which were 

 supposed to strike at the foundations of religion 

 and morality. And what is the rule proposed 



for the guidance of conduct by this man whose 

 opinions have been called abominable, execrable, 

 and atheistic ? In one word, it is this : to use 

 the world with cheerfulness and content, not 

 abusing it, and remembering that the good of 

 mankind consists in doing good to one another. 

 Here are some of his precepts : 



" Nothing is more useful to man than man ; men 

 can desire nothing more excellent for their welfare 

 than that all should so agree in all things that the 

 minds and bodies of all should make up as it were 

 one mind and one body, and all together strive to 

 maintain their welfare to the best of their power, 

 and all together seek the common good of all. 

 Therefore reasonable men desire no good for them- 

 selves which they do not also desire for other men, 

 and so they are righteous, faithful, and honorable." » 



Again he says that discontent and melancholy 

 are good for no man : that it is the part of a wise 

 man to use the world and take all reasonable 

 pleasure in it. It is good to refresh one's self 

 not only with moderate food and drink, but with 

 pleasant prospects, music, the theatre, and other 

 things which every man may enjoy without harm 

 to his neighbor. 2 In the same way, though his 

 own life, was most quiet and sedentary, he strongly 

 points out the advantage of being many-sided (as 

 we should now say) in both mind and body, and 

 thereby being apt to receive new impressions and 

 put forth new activities. 3 This is one of the 

 points in which he curiously anticipates modern 

 ideas about development and adaptation to one's 

 environment. 



He insists in the strongest terms on the im- 

 portance of society to man's well-being : 



" Society is imperfect " (he says), " but even as 

 it is men get far more good than harm by it. There- 

 fore let satirists laugh at men's affairs as much as 

 they please, let theologians decry them, let misan- 

 thropes do their utmost to extol a rude and brutish 

 life ; but men will still find that their needs are 

 best satisfied by each other's help, and that the 

 dangers which surround them can be avoided only 

 by joining their strength." « 



Again he says : 



" He who chooses to avenge wrong by returning 

 hatred for it is assuredly miserable. But if a man 

 strives to cast out hatred by love, he fights his 

 fight in all joy and confidence, being able to with- 

 stand many foes as easily as one, and having no 

 need to call on Fortune for aid. As for those he 

 conquers, they yield to him joyfully, and that not 

 from failing strength, but because they are made 

 stronger." 5 



1 " Ethics," iv., 18, echol. "■ lb. , 45, schol. 2. 

 3 lb., 38. 4 lb., 35, schol. 5 lb., 46, schoL 



