THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.—When we cross the limit of the eighteenth century, we meet with growing signs of skepticism in religion, and of innovation in political thought. Criticism of the past, of traditional creeds and established institutions, is spreading. The Historical and Critical Dictionary of Bayle, a storehouse of chronicle and anecdote, is leavened with the spirit of doubt. Three great writers deserve special attention. Montesquieu (1689-1755) satirized all dogma in his Persian Letters. His celebrated work on the Spirit of Laws is just and humane in its tone, and full of original and inspiring views on history and government. He is one of the founders of modern political science. Voltaire (1694-1778), the most popular of all the writers of his age, was the incarnation of its critical and skeptical spirit, the highest example of its wit as of its levity, and of the artificial character of its literary ideals. He was play-writer, poet, historian, critic, and brilliant converser, all in one. In religion, a scoffer not only at superstition, but at all beliefs and rites which imply revelation, he still clung to the belief in a personal God. His creed was deism, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was, like Voltaire, a deist in his creed; but in religion, as in all his mental action, there was a vein of sentiment. By the fascination of his style, he was able, in his various writings, including his autobiographical Confessions, to interest profoundly multitudes of readers of both sexes, and even to move them to sympathy with himself in a career which deserves not less abhorrence than commiseration. He was, perhaps, the first author to evoke in others a genuine relish, which he felt himself, for the wild scenery of nature. In his Social Contract he maintained that government grows out of a contract of individuals with one another, all of whom in the state of nature are free and independent. He carried to a great extreme an idea which in England had been held by Hooker, and more explicitly expounded by Locke. His doctrine furnished a theory for the political revolution in France. The "Encyclopædists" went much beyond Voltaire and Rousseau. D'Alembert, Helvetius, Holbach, advocated atheism and materialism. Condillac (1715-1780) sought to reduce this species of infidelity to an exact philosophical system by tracing even conscience to sensation and self-interest. All religious sentiment was condemned as morbid illusion.
II. GERMANY.
In Germany, the great name in philosophy is that of Leibnitz (1646-1716), a rival of Newton in mathematics and natural science, and an eminent thinker in metaphysics, theology, and in jurisprudence. In intellect and in variety of attainments, he is almost the peer of Aristotle. Wolf (1679-1754) his disciple, systemized and modified his philosophical views. Klopstock (1724-1803), the author of Messiah, written somewhat after the manner of the Paradise Lost of Milton, excelled the other German poets of his day. Frederick the Great treated with disrespect the native literary products of his country. Yet a new era in German letters and criticism was opened by Lessing (1729-1781), a poet, and a critic of admirable insight, whose influence in this direction in Germany has been likened in its power to that of Luther in religion.
III. ITALY.
In the eighteenth century, there was a new revival of literature in Italy. Vico (1668-1744) almost made an epoch in the scientific treatment of history and mythology; in political economy and in archeology, there were numerous explorers; Florence became once more a seat of learning. Beccaria (1738-1794) by his writings introduced more humane views in criminal jurisprudence. Volta (1745-1827), an electrician, constructed the instrument called the voltaic pile. Metastasio (1698-1782) fostered the melodrama, or Italian opera, by his dramatic writings. Goldoni (1707-1793), a Venetian, was the most eminent writer of comedies. Tragedy reached its acme in the works of Alfieri (1749-1803), the founder of a new school.
IV. ENGLAND.
In England, after the Restoration, the influence of French standards in literature is obvious. The drama declined, partly from the earlier antagonism of the Puritans, and partly from the rage for indecency which infected the dramatic writers,—even those of much ability, as Congreve,—and defiled the stage. The Pilgrim's Progress of Bunyan (1628-88) is written in a plain, unaffected style, and is the most popular work of that age. In sharp contrast with Bunyan is Butler's Hudibras, a witty satire, in doggerel verse, upon Puritanism. The principal writer, prior to Queen Anne, is Dryden (1631-1700). We have passed now from the Romantic school of poetry, in which Shakspeare is the most exalted name, to the Classical school. In the age of Queen Anne, Pope (1688-1744), with his vigor, without elevation, of thought, his smooth versification and bright wit, is the principal figure. The same period produced the labored novels of Richardson (1689-1761), and the vigorous and lifelike fictions of Fielding (1707-1754), which are, unhappily, disfigured by coarse and licentious passages. In the early part of the century, Addison (1672-1719) and Steele (1672-1729) were the most distinguished essayists. In them, as in the novels of Defoe (1661-1731), the author of Robinson Crusoe, and in the prose writings of Swift (1667-1745), the richness and idiomatic force of the English tongue are seen; while in Samuel Johnson, the literary dictator in the latter part of the century, the author of the English Dictionary, of The Rambler, the Lives of the Poets, and Rasselas, we have a striking and contagious example of a stately, sounding, Latinized diction. In pleasing contrast, as regards style, which charms from its simplicity, are the writings of Goldsmith (1728-74). In poetry, Gray (1716-71), the author of the Elegy in a Country Churchyard, and Collins (1721-59), wrote little, but wrote well. The triumvirate of great English historians of the century are Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a monument of masterly ability and of vast research; a work, however, marred by a want of naturalness in style, and, still more, by a lack of religious faith and reverence, and by impurity of tone and allusion. Hume's style is one of his chief claims to esteem as an historian; for he was indolent in his researches, and prejudiced in his views. He merited distinction chiefly as an economist and a metaphysician.
PHILOSOPHY.—In English philosophy, there are several writers of extraordinary talents and influence. John Locke (1632-1704), an upright man and a lover of freedom, wrote the celebrated Essay on the Understanding, besides other important works in political science and theology. He traced all our knowledge to two sources, sensation and reflection, ultimately to the first of these. Berkeley (1685-1753) advocated with rare genius an ideal theory of matter, and defended theism. Hume (1711-76) indirectly gave rise to much of the later philosophy, by his acute speculations in behalf of skepticism as to the reality of human knowledge and the foundation of accepted beliefs. Reid (1710-96) rescued philosophy from the attacks of Hume by the doctrine of "common sense," and thus founded the Scottish school of metaphysicians. Among the numerous authors who cultivated both philosophy and theology, particular distinction belongs to Dr. Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), and to Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752) who wrote briefly, but with marked power, on the nature of conscience, and on the Analogy between religion and what we know of the constitution and course of nature.
NEWTON: ADAM SMITH.—Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the discoverer of the law of gravitation, made, through his Principia, one of the most important contributions ever made to the advancement of physical science. In 1776 Adam Smith, a Scotchman, who had previously written on metaphysics and politics, published his treatise on The Wealth of Nations, the first complete system of political economy. He showed that money is not wealth, but simply one product serving as a means of exchange. He made it clear, that, for one nation to gain in trade, it is not requisite that another should lose. Much light was thrown on political economy by essays of Hume.