H O B 



67 



HOB 



history ; though, to the student of both of these, aa 

 well as to the man of science, they mrm be intere*ting 

 and useful. The resource* and the wealth of states 

 depend mainly on their advances in the art* and *ci- 

 ences ; ami with respect to the connection of some of 

 the Utter with the state of religious knowledge, the 

 UartrJ^e history of astronomy is sufficiently explanatory. A* 

 T the foB- one of the principal objects and advantages of history, 

 strictly so called, is to :_' tin an insight into the pro- 

 gress of man in political and individual happiness, 

 surely an acquaintance with the advances which he has 

 made in every species of knowledge, which secures his 

 liberty, or multiplies his means of defence or enjoy- 

 ment, mut be interesting and important. Belles, 

 whoever is desirous of satisfactorily accounting for the 

 difference between ancient and modern nation*, as 

 displayed in their respective historic*, and for the great 

 and decided superiority of the latter, mut look beyond 

 mere political history, to the history of those art* and 

 sciences, which were comparatively unknown to the 

 ancients, and in which the moderns have made such 

 wonderful advances, advance* that will be found, in .1 

 neat measure, and nearly in every instance, accompanied 

 by. if not really productive of similar advances in national 

 rssourcts, and political power The copious historic* 

 of the art* and science*, therefore, given in thi* work, 

 under the respective heads of each art or science, ought 

 by n j means to be neglected by *uch as wiab to read 



political history to advantagr they are 



m ootuMctiaQ WND in* ftAttsticsiJ 



try, given along with its history 



paratm- nrogre of ntn>r, it 

 power will be vi 



(*) 

 HIVE 



account of < 

 the can*** of the < 

 political liberty and 

 vary clearly and satisfactorily traced. 



Ser.Bn.vol 



> Bet. vol in p 415. Ac. 



THOMAS, calibrated as a literary and 



fMosophical character . bat chiefly for the peculiari- 

 ties of hit moral *nd political doctrine*, was the *on of 

 a pUin nnlettrrrH clergyman of Malme*bnry, Wilt- 

 Mr w: bom on the 5th o' H8. at the 



when this muntry was menaced by the furmi* 

 rtablc armada ent !.y Philip II. of Spain. lli mother, 

 powerfully affected by the tunatei nation then *o gene- 

 ral over the kingdom, wa* delivered before the full 

 time, in consequeiHe of which Hobbes waa 

 delicate in hie ebfldbood Hut ' 



m) , da) !> I , 



I*, he 



At 



prflspcieney at sclwmi. ncfuf e the age- of 

 tated the Medea of l 



tor to hi* eldest son. who was nearly of the age of 

 Hobbe*, ami that family continued to paiumias hftt as 

 long as he lived. At an early period be was known to 

 the celebrated Lord Bacon. it h whom be waa a mat 

 vwuita, and to whom he acted as an amanaensts fa 

 translating sosae of his treafJisi into Latin. He tra- 

 veiled with his noble pupil in Prone* and Italy, what* 

 he cultivated the society of Galileo and other eeUratad 

 character*, and studied the customs, Josthwrions, man- 

 ner., and teaming of these two nations. 



He now resolved to devote Ins life to the cultivation 

 of polite literature, and hi* first publication wa* an 



But hi* plan* were disconcerted by the death 

 f hi* pupil and rriend. He soon after formed an en- 

 gafement to travel with the ton of Sir Gervase Clifton, 



with whom he remained for some time in France. In 

 1631, the Countess Downger of Devonshire renewed 

 his connection with her family, by putting the young 

 e-irl, then IS years old, under his care. He went 

 with his pupil to Paris, where he studied mechanics 

 and the laws of animal motion. On these subjects 

 he had frequent conversations with Father Merscnne 

 and with (Jsssendi, who was then engaged in an at- 

 tempt to revive the physical doctrines of the F.picu- 

 rean school. It was at the age of 4O that his attention 

 was first turned to mathematical studies, in conse- 

 quence of having accidentally looked into a copy of 

 Euclid, where the enunciation of the 47th propositioa 

 of the first book arrested hi- rurio-ity. " This," he ex- 

 claimed, " is impossible !" He then rapidly went over 

 the demonstration, and traced in a retrograde direction 

 the preceding theorem* on which the steps of the process 

 were founded. The lover* of the mathematical science* 

 much regretted that he began these studies so late in 

 life ; a* he evinced a happy talent for them, yet la- 

 boured under the disadvantage of an obstinacy of opi- 

 nion which might have been corrected by the more va- 

 ried view* unfolded during the pliant period of youth. 

 The ardour of hi* mathematical studies waa in a 

 great measure repressed, in conseqnence of the pro- 

 JMnd interest which he took in political affair*, in 

 which hi did not intermeddle as a busy politician, in- 

 triguing with individuals for the establishment of one 

 party on the ruins of another, but conceived the design 

 of producing a general impression by an open exposi- 

 tion of his opinions, which, though new and peculiar, 

 he hoped to render popular, by the force of thought 

 which he could display, and the strong evidence* by 

 which they were supported. When the political dif- 

 ference* of the age were so strongly marked, it was a 

 lair general conclusion that both parties were as likely 

 to be wrong a* any one was to be exclusively right, 

 ami that a man of vigorous thinking powers, wl 

 voted much laborious meditation to his subject, might 

 form a more accurate system than any maintained by 

 < temporaries. Nor was it unnatural for a young 

 author to presume too much nn the readiness of man- 

 kind to lay themselves open to conviction. These ideas 

 he had cherished (bra considerable time, and some re- 

 present him as having cultivated mathematics chiefly 

 with a v,rw to hah* mate himnsf to a dose and steady 

 mode of think 



first political essay was a small tract, which was 

 not printed, but circulated in manuscript in the year 

 during the sitting of the parliament in April, 

 which waa dissolved the following May, when the par- 

 liament and Charle* ! differed so widely on the sub- 

 ject of the royal nremgatix > This tract strongly as- 

 serted the prettnssmt* of royalty, and condemned those 

 of the parliament and the people as unju.t encroach, 

 ments It occasioned a considerable actuation, and 

 would have involved Hobhe* in imminent danger, it 

 that parliament had not been dissolved Thi* was the 

 harbinger of the noted political works which he sub- 

 HBeUltl pnhhsbed, bis book Or Cnx>, and hi* Isvia- 

 tk in. Mamwaring, bishop of St David'*, wa* sent to 

 the Tower for preaching the doctrine of Hobbes ; and 

 the latter made a timely retreat to Paris, to prosecute 

 his studies in the enjoyment of personal security. 

 Here he returned to the society of Menenne snd 

 Gaascndi, to which wa* added that of Des Cartes. Af- 

 terward*, however, Hoboes controverted the doctrine* 

 of the Utter on the subject of innate idea*, which U-r- 

 initiated all their friendly intercourse. 



Ho! bf. 



