The odious term of Atheist has been too often applied to many great men of our nation by the hardy malignity of party. Were I to present a catalogue, the very names would refute the charge. Let us examine the religious sentiments of Hobbes. The materials for its investigation are not common, but it will prove a dissertation of facts. I warn some of my readers to escape from the tediousness, if they cannot value the curiosity.
Hobbes has himself thrown out an observation in his “Life of Thucydides” respecting Anaxagoras, that “his opinions, being of a strain above the apprehension of the vulgar, procured him the estimation of an Atheist, which name they bestowed upon all men that thought not as they did of their ridiculous religion, and in the end cost him his life.” This was a parallel case with Hobbes himself, except its close, which, however, seems always to have been in the mind of our philosopher.
Bayle, who is for throwing all things into doubt, acknowledging that the life of Hobbes was blameless, adds, One might, however, have been tempted to ask him this question:
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Heus age responde; minimum est quod scire laboro; De Jove quid sentis?—Persius, Sat. ii. v. 17. Hark, now! resolve this one short question, friend! What are thy thoughts of Jove? |
But Bayle, who compared himself to the Jupiter of Homer, powerful in gathering and then dispersing the clouds, dissipates the one he had just raised, by showing how “Hobbes might have answered the question with sincerity and belief, according to the writers of his life.”—But had Bayle known that Hobbes was the author of all the lives of himself, so partial an evidence might have raised another doubt with the great sceptic. It appears, by Aubrey’s papers, that Hobbes did not wish his biography should appear when he was living, that he might not seem the author of it.
Baxter, who knew Hobbes intimately, ranks him with Spinosa, by a strong epithet for materialists—“The Brutists, Hobbes, and Spinosa.” He tells us that Selden would not have him in his chamber while dying, calling out, “No Atheists!” But by Aubrey’s papers it appears that Hobbes stood by the side of his dying friend. It is certain his enemies raised stories against him, and told them as suited their purpose. In the Lansdowne MSS. I find Dr. Grenville, in a letter, relates how “Hobbes, when in France, and like to die, betrayed such expressions of repentance to a great prelate, from whose mouth I had this relation, that he admitted him to the sacrament. But Hobbes afterwards made this a subject of ridicule in companies.”—Lansdowne MSS. 990—73.
Here is a strong accusation, and a fact too; yet, when fully developed, the result will turn out greatly in favour of Hobbes.
Hobbes had a severe illness at Paris, which lasted six months, thus noticed in his metrical life:
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Dein per sex menses morbo decumbo propinque Accinctus morti; nec fugio, illa fugit. |
It happened that the famous Guy Patin was his physician; and in one of these amusing letters, where he puts down the events of the day, like a newspaper of the times, in No. 61, has given an account of his intercourse with the philosopher, in which he says that Hobbes endured such pain, that he would have destroyed himself—“Qu’il avoit voulu se tuer.”—Patin is a vivacious writer: we are not to take him au pied de la lettre. Hobbes was systematically tenacious of life: and, so far from attempting suicide, that he wanted even the courage to allow Patin to bleed him! It was during this illness that the Catholic party, who like to attack a Protestant in a state of unresisting debility, got his learned and intimate friend, Father Mersenne, to hold out all the benefits a philosopher might derive from their Church. When Hobbes was acquainted with this proposed interview (says a French contemporary, whose work exists in MS., but is quoted in Joly’s folio volume of Remarks on Bayle), the sick man answered, “Don’t let him come for this; I shall laugh at him; and perhaps I may convert him myself.” Father Mersenne did come; and when this missionary was opening on the powers of Rome to grant a plenary pardon, he was interrupted by Hobbes—“Father, I have examined, a long time ago, all these points; I should be sorry to dispute now; you can entertain me in a more agreeable manner. When did you see Mr. Gassendi?” The monk, who was a philosopher, perfectly understood Hobbes, and this interview never interrupted their friendship. A few days after, Dr. Cosin (afterwards Bishop of Durham), the great prelate whom Dr. Grenville alludes to, prayed with Hobbes, who first stipulated that the prayers should be those authorised by the Church of England; and he also received the sacrament with reverence. Hobbes says:—“Magnum hoc erga disciplinam Episcopalem signum erat reverentiæ.”—It is evident that the conversion of Father Mersenne, to which Hobbes facetiously alluded, could never be to Atheism, but to Protestantism: and had Hobbes been an Atheist, he would not have risked his safety, when he arrived in England, by his strict attendance to the Church of England, resolutely refusing to unite with any of the sects. His views of the national religion were not only enlightened, but in this respect he showed a boldness in his actions very unusual with him.