164 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



gin^to fancy myself in the most deplorable condi 

 tion imaginable, environed with the deepest 

 darkness.&quot;* 



Diderot, one of the French philosophists, was 

 a man of very considerable acquirements in 

 literature and in the physical sciences. The 

 first publication by which he attracted public 

 notice, was a volume written against the Chris 

 tian religion, entitled Pensees Philosophiques. 

 Afterwards, in company with Voltaire and 

 D Alembert, he conducted the publication of the 

 Dictionnaire Encyclopedique, the secret object of 

 which was to sap the foundations of all religion, 

 while the reader, at the same time, was present 

 ed with the most, splendid articles on the Belles 

 Lettres, mathematics, and the different branches 

 of physical science. Whilst a weak divine, to 

 whom the theological department of the work 

 was committed, was supporting, by the best 

 arguments he could devise, the religion of his 

 country, Diderot and D Alembert were overturn 

 ing those arguments under titles which properly 

 allowed of no such disquisitions ; and that the 

 object of these digressions might not pass unno 

 ticed by any class of readers, care was taken to 

 refer to them from the articles where the ques 

 tion was discussed by the divine. Here was an 

 example of that hypocrisy to which I have alrea 

 dy adverted, as characteristic of the sect of 

 infidel philosophers ; and the following anecdote 

 is illustrative of similar disingenuity, coupled 

 with almost unparalleled impudence. In the 

 course of his correspondence with the late Em 

 press of Russia, Diderot mentioned his own li 

 brary, as one of the most valuable in Europe, 

 although it is supposed not to have contained 

 above a hundred volumes. W-ieri Catharine 

 wanted to purchase it and make him librarian, he 

 said, that his constitution could not support the 

 cold climate of Petersburgh. She offered to let 

 him keep it during his lifetime at Paris ; and the 

 library was sold for an immense price. When 

 her ambassador wanted to see it, after a year or 

 two s payments, and the visitation could no long 

 er be put off, he was obliged to run in a hurry, 

 through all the booksellers shops in Germany, 

 to fill his empty shelves with old volumes. It 

 was customary for Diderot and D Alembert to 

 frequent the coffee-houses of Paris, and to enter 

 with keenness into religious disputes, the former 

 attacking Christianity, and the latter, under the 

 mask of piety, defending it, but always yielding 

 to the arguments of his opponent. This practice 

 was put a stop to by the police ; and Diderot, 

 when reproached by the lieutenant for preaching 

 atheism, replied, &quot; It is true, I am an atheist, 

 ind I glory in it.&quot; But such principles will 

 not always support the mind, nor did they sup 

 port the mind of Diderot, when his dissolution 

 approached. When he perceived that, death 



* Treatise on Human Nature, vol i p- 458. 



was at no great distance, he desired that a prist 

 might be brought, and the Cure de St. Sulpice 

 was introduced to him. He saw this ecclesias 

 tic several times, and was preparing to make a 

 public recantation of his errors, but Condorcet 

 and the other adepts now crowded about him, 

 persuaded him that his case was not dangerous, 

 and that country air would restore him to health. 

 For some time he resisted their attempts to 

 bring him back to atheism, but they secretly hur 

 ried him to the country, where he died, and a 

 report was spread that he died suddenly on ris 

 ing from the table, without remorse, and with 

 his atheism unshaken. 



Such are the native effects of the highest in 

 tellectual accomplishments, and the most brilliant 

 acquirements in science, when unaci-ompanied 

 with the spirit of true religion and of Christian 

 morality. They cannot improve the moral order 

 of society ; they cannot procure for their possess 

 ors substantial enjoyment, even in the present 

 life, and they are altogether inadequate to sup 

 port and tranquilli?e the soul in the prospect of 

 the agonies of dissolving nature. Notwithstand 

 ing the rational gratifications such persons may 

 have occasionally enjoyed in philosophical pur 

 suits, they must be obliged to confess, that they 

 have acquired no equivalent for those joys which 

 frequently animate the hearts of the most illite 

 rate, who are sometimes enabled to look forward 

 to the king of terrors without dismay, and to de 

 part in peace with hopes full of immortality, 

 when the philosophist is obliged to exclaim, &quot;All 

 is now lost, finally and irrecoverably lost.&quot; Yet 

 such is the tendency of the principles which are 

 now in operation in our literary and scientific 

 seminaries, and such the result to which we must 

 ultimately look forward, should the principles ol 

 religion be discarded from the pursuits of know 

 ledge. 



It is therefore to be hoped, that all who have 

 a sincere regard for the promotion of science, for 

 the interests of religion, and for the welfare oj 

 their country, will devote a portion of their atten 

 tion to this important subject, and set their faces 

 in opposition to the spirit of that sceptical philo 

 sophy which has so long debased and demoralized 

 the continental philosophists. Were all the instruc 

 tions delivered in our seminaries, from infant 

 schools, through all the gradations of giammar 

 and parochial establishments, mechanics institu 

 tions, academies, and universities, judiciously 

 amalgamated with the principles of pure and unde- 

 filed religion, it would doubtless be accompanied 

 with a variety of pleasing and beneficial effects. It 

 would tend to remove the prejudices which a consi 

 derable portion ofthe religious world s ill entertain 

 against the pursuits }f science, it would lead tr. 

 correct and rational views of ihe Christian system, 

 and tend to dissipate those foolish and superstitious 

 notions which have too frequently been grafted 

 upon it, it would promote the interests of genuint 



