CHAPTER II 



FORMATION OF A METHOD 



(1828-1852) 



Tamers First Two Decades 



BY the time Taine enrolled as a student in the Normal School 

 (in November, 1848, at the age of twenty), the main pat- 

 terns of his character and intellect were already visible. 

 Absorbed in philosophy, aloof from the political events of that 

 hectic year, he succeeded in formulating, during three years of 

 intense study and intellectual activity, all the main outlines of a 

 philosophy which he was to spend the rest of his life developing 

 and demonstrating.! 



One of his professors, fitienne Vacherot, described him as 

 follows in 1 85 1, during his senior year: 



'The most hard-working and distinguished student that I have 

 known at the Normal School. Prodigious learning for his age. 

 An ardour and avidity for knowledge the like of which I have 

 never seen. A spirit remarkable for its rapidity of apprehension, 

 for the finesse, subtlety, and force of its thought. However, he 

 comprehends, understands, judges, and formulates too quickly. 

 He is too fond of formulas and definitions, to which he too often 

 sacrifices reality, without realizing it, to be sure, since he is per- 

 fectly sincere. Taine will be a very distinguished professor, but 

 besides and above all a scholar of the first rank, if his health will 

 permit him to complete a long career. He has a great sweetness of 

 character and a very pleasant manner; his resolves are very firm, 

 to the point where no one can influence his thinking. Moreover, 

 he is not of this world. Spinoza's motto will be his: "Live in order 

 to think." Conduct, behaviour excellent. As to morality, I believe 

 this choice and exceptional nature to be a stranger to any other 

 passion except that for the truth. This student is the first, by a 

 great distance, in all the interviews and examinations.'^ 



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