SUCCESS OF THIS PHILOSOPHY IN FRANCE. - FAILURE OF THE SAMEPHILOSOPHY IN ENGLAND.
Several similar theories have in the past traversed the imagination of men， and similar theories are likely do so again. In all ages and in all countries， it sufficed that man's concept of his own nature changed for， as an indirect consequence， new utopias and discoveries would sprout in the fields of politics and religion.[1] -But this does not suffice for the propagation of the new doctrine nor， more important， for theory to be put into practice. Although born in England， the philosophy of the eighteenth century could not develop itself in England； the fever for demolition and reconstruction remained but briefly and superficial there. Deism， atheism， materialism， skepticism， ideology， the theory of the return to nature， the proclamations of the rights of man， all the temerities of Bolingbroke， Collins， Toland， Tindal and Mandeville， the bold ideas of Hume， Hartley， James Mill and Bentham， all the revolutionary doctrines， were so many hotbed plants produced here and there， in the isolated studies of a few thinkers： out in the open， after blooming for a while， subject to a vigorous competition with the old vegetation to which the soil belonged， they failed[2]. - On the contrary， in France， the seed imported from England， takes root and spreads with extraordinary vigor. After the Regency it is in full bloom[3]. Like any species favored by soil and climate， it invades all the fields， appropriating light and air to itself， scarcely allowing in its shade a few puny specimens of a hostile species， a survivor of an antique flora like Rollin， or a specimen of an eccentric flora like Saint-Martin. With large trees and dense thickets， through masses of brushwood and low plants， such as Voltaire， Montesquieu， Rousseau， Diderot， d'Alembert and Buffon， or Duclos， Mably， Condillac， Turgot， Beaumarchais， Bernadin de Saint-Pierre， Barthélemy and Thomas， such as a crowd of journalists， compilers and conversationalists， or the elite of the philosophical， scientific and literary multitude， it occupies the Academy， the stage， the drawing room and the debate. All the important persons of the century are its offshoots， and among these are some of the grandest ever produced by humanity. - This was possible because the seed had fallen on suitable ground， that is to say， on the soil in the homeland of the classic spirit. In this land of the raison raisonnante[4] it no longer encounters the antagonists who impeded its growth on the other side of the Channel， and it not only immediately acquires vigor of sap but the propagating organ which it required as well.
I. THE PROPAGATING ORGAN， ELOQUENCE.
Causes of this difference. - This art of writing in France. - Its superiority at this epoch. - It serves as the vehicle of new ideas.
- Books are written for people of the world. - This accounts for philosophy descending to the drawing room.
This organ is the "talent of speech， eloquence applied to the gravest subjects， the talent for making things clear." [5]"The great writers of this nation，" says their adversary， "express themselves better than those of any other nation. Their books give but little information to true savants，" but "through the art of expression they influence men" and "the mass of men， constantly repelled from the sanctuary of the sciences by the dry style and bad taste of (other)scientific writers， cannot resist the seductions of the French style and method." Thus the classic spirit that furnishes the ideas likewise furnishes the means of conveying them， the theories of the eighteenth century being like those seeds provided with wings which float and distribute themselves on all soils. There is no book of that day not written for people of the high society， and even for women of this class. In Fontenelle's dialogues on the Plurality of worlds the principal person age is a marchioness. Voltaire composes his "Métaphysique" and his "Essai sur les Moeurs" for Madame du Chatelet， and Rousseau his "Emile" for Madame d'Epinay. Condillac wrote the "Traité des Sensations" from suggestions of Mademoiselle Ferrand， and he sets forth instructions to young ladies how to read his "Logique."Baudeau dedicates and explains to a lady his "Tableau Economique."Diderot's most profound work is a conversation between Mademoiselle de l'Espinasse and d'Alembert and Bordeu[6]. Montesquieu had placed an invocation to the muses in the middle of the "Esprit des Lois." Almost every work is a product of the drawing-room， and it is always one that， before the public， has been presented with its beginnings. In this respect the habit is so strong as to last up to the end of 1789；the harangues about to be made in the National Assembly are also passages of bravura previously rehearsed before ladies at an evening entertainment. The American Ambassador， a practical man， explains to Washington with sober irony the fine academic and literary parade preceding the political tournament in public[7].