DES CARTES. 
ter all, however ,i he was so little" satisfied 
with his own attainments, tliat he left col- 
lege, lamenting that the fruits of eight 
years’ study were only the full conviction 
that as yet he knew nothing with perfect 
clearness and certainty. He even threw, 
aside his books with a resolution to pursue 
no other knowledge than that which he 
could find witliin himself and in the great 
volume of nature. At the age of seventeen 
he was sent to Paris, where the love of plea- 
sure, for a moment, seemed to overcome 
all desire of philosophical distinction, but 
an introduction to some learned men recal- 
led his attention to mathematical studies ; 
these he again prosecuted in solitude and 
silence for the space of two years, after 
which he entered as a volunteer in the 
Hutch army, in order that he might 
study the living world as well as read 
books. In this situation he wrote a disser- 
tation to prove that brutes are automata. 
From the Dutch army Des Cartes passed 
over to the Bavarian service, but where- 
ever he went he conversed with learned 
men, and rather appeai-ed in the character 
of a philosopher than that of a soldier. In 
1622 he quitted the army, returned to his 
own country, with no other profit, he Said, 
than that he had freed himself from many 
prejudies, and rendered his mind more fit 
for the reception of truth. He fixed his 
residence at Paris, and began to study the 
mathematics, in hopes of discovering ge- 
neral principles of relations, measures, and 
proportions, applicable to all subjects, by 
means of which truth might with certainty 
be investigated, and the limits of knowledge 
enlarged. From mathematics he turned 
his attention to ethical inquiries, and at- 
tempted to raise a superstructure of morals 
upon the foundation of natural science, 
conceiving that there could be no better 
means of discovering the true principles 
and rules of action, than by contemplating 
our own nature, and the nature of the 
world around us. As the result of these 
inquiries, he wrote a treatise on the pas- 
sions. After some time spent in Italy, whi- 
ther he went in pursuit of knowledge, he 
returned again to Paris, and from thence 
he went to Holland, with a view of raising 
a new system of philosophy. Here he chose 
retirement, as the best means of forward- 
ing the plans which he hoped to execute. 
He employed himself in investigating a 
proof from reason, independently of reve- 
lation, of the fundamental principles of re- 
ligion, and published “ Philosophical Me- 
ditations on the First Philosophy.” At tlit* 
same time he pursued his physical inqui- 
ries, and published a treatise “ On Me- 
teors.’’ He paid considerable attention to 
medicine, anatomy, and chemistry; and 
wrote also an astronomical treatise on the 
system of the world, which he suppressed 
upon hearing of the vile and infamous treat- 
ment that Galileo had met with for his dis- 
cussions on the same subject. See Ga- 
lileo. 
The Cartesian philosophy was first taught 
in the schools of Deventer, 1633 : it at- 
tracted many zealous admirers, and excited 
against him a host of opponents. The sys- 
tem of Des Cartes obtained so much credit 
in Great Britain, that the inventor was in- 
vited to settle in England, as w'ell by the 
King as by some of the principal nobility. 
This invitation he would probably have ac- 
cepted had not the civil wars prevented 
Charles I. from being able to render the 
philosopher all the patronage which he had 
formerly tendered him. At this period he 
was forced into many disputes, in the course 
of which, as well as by his collateial con- 
duct, he displayed an eager desire to be 
considered the father of a sect, and disco- 
vers more jealousy and ambition than be- 
came a philosopher. 
During Des Cartes’s residence in Hol- 
land, he went occasionally to his native 
country, wherej in 1643, he published an 
abstract of his philosophy, under the title 
of “ Philosophical Specimens.” He was 
promised, on one of these visits, an annual 
pension of 3000 hvres, which he never re- 
ceived. He was now invited by Christina, 
Queen of Sweden, to visit Stockholm. 
That learned princess had read with delight 
his treatise “ On tlie Passions,” and was 
earnestly desirous to be instructed by him 
in the principles of philosophy. Des Cartes 
arrived at Stockholm in,1649, where he re- 
ceived a most friendly and respectful recep- 
tion from the enlightened queen, who urged 
him to settle in her kingdom, and assist her 
in estabUsliing an academy of sciences. He 
had, however, been scarcely four montlis 
in that severe climate, when, in his visits 
to the sovereign, whom he instructed in 
the principles of philosophy, he caught a 
cold, which brought on an inflammation in 
his lungs that put a period to his life, in 
1650. His remains were interred in the 
cemetery for foreigners, and a long eulo- 
gium inscribed on his tomb ; but in 1666 
his bones were transported to France, and 
placed with all the circumstances of pomp 
