188 Darwinism and Other Essays. 



Diderot and Helvetius. It was the parent of the 

 transcendentalism of Kant and Fichte, the physio- 

 philosophic vagaries of Schelling and Carus, the 

 absolutism of Hegel, and the pantheism of Feu- 

 erbach. Carried into science, it paved the way 

 for the immortal discoveries of Lavoisier and Bi- 

 chat. Wielded by Voltaire, it broke down eccle- 

 siastical power in France ; and in the hands of 

 Rousseau swept away the vilest of despotisms by 

 the most fearful of revolutions. It roused the 

 Dutch to cast off the yoke of Spain, sent the Pu- 

 ritans to Massachusetts, inspired the Americans 

 in their " Declaration of Independence," and 

 shaped the fabric of their democratic government. 

 What need of further examples ? It is the scep- 

 tical spirit, advocating liberty in politics and tol- 

 eration in religion, which has been at the bottom 

 of every change through which humanity has 

 passed in modern times. Mr. Buckle's law is en- 

 tirely applicable to the metaphysical period of 

 civilization, and is the key to the explanation of 

 its phenomena. 



But the metaphysical state is not a permanent 

 one. It constitutes a transition from that primi- 

 tive belief which was the offspring of man's early 

 endeavours to compass and explain the Infinite 

 about him, to that new belief which is founded 



