^0, T3 An QJorncU Unioeraitg Hthrarg atljats, SJeai Inrk FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY nic date shows when this volume was taken. HOME USE RULES UOV 2 1 1958 H P All borfcs sutyect to recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- 'turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. "* Limited books must be 'eturned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must returr) all bpdks befoi'e leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of bobks wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as pjossible. ^or special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for thelsenefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by niarks and writing. 3 1924 088 405 877 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088405877 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE 1828-1852 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE 1828-1852 Translated from the French by MRS. R. L. DEVONSHIRE NEW YORK E: P. DUTTON & CO WESTMINSTER ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD 2 WHITEHALL GARDENS 1902 Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Fromb, and London. .1.1 HH },•{);) YJ)/,5il!|,l Preface It is not our intention to present to the public a detailed biography of Hippolyte Taine ; we merely desire to facilitate the study of the letters and unpublished frag- ments which form the object of this publication. Many admirers of his mode of thought have already written of him more fully than we could do ' ; doubtless many more will do so when the documents which we are now bringing to light allow of a more complete study of the man and his work. They can fulfil this task with a greater freedom of mind than is possible to us ; our duty is to render it easy for them, whilst faithfully adhering to the instructions left by M. Taine. One of the principal traits in his character was his horror of publicity and of indiscreet revelations concerning his private life, which — noble and dignified as it was — he kept from the outside world with jealous care. He could not bear the thought that a photograph or an inter- ' See Emile Boutmy, Taine, ScMrer, LabovXaye; G. Monod. Renan, Taine, Michelet ; de Margerie, H. Taine ; Barzelotti, La Vie d' Hippolyte Taine ; Sainte Beuve, Causeries duLundi, vol. xiii., and Nouveaux Lundis, vol. viii. ; Paul Bourget, Essais de Psychologie ; Vicomte de Vogu6, Devant le Siede ; Andre Ohevrillon, Introduc- tion to Les Originea de la France Contemporaine ; Victor Giraud, Essai sw Taine ; and many articles by other writers. The book last mentioned contains a very faithful biography, » list of M; Taine's works, and another list of the principal articles written concerning him. V PREFACE view concerning his home should be exposed to the public gaze. He always refused to allow illustrated papers to publish his portrait ; and it was a great sacrifice to his colleagues on the Debatslwhen he consented to appear in the picture by Jean Beraud, reproduced in 1889 in the Centenaire du Journal des Debats. When, about the same time, his friend, Leon Bonnat, painted the admirable portrait of him which was shown at the Exhibition of 1900, it was only on the express condition that it should not be exhibited in his lifetime. And, by his Will, any reproduction of " intimate or private letters " is absolutely forbidden. " The only letters or notes which may be published," he adds, " are those which treat of purely general or speculative matters, such as Philosophy, His- tory, Art or Physiology ; and, even in those, passages which in any degree concern private life shall be left out, and none of those letters shall be published without the con- sent of my heirs, after they have cut out the passages above referred to." In this work, therefore, no facts of a private nature will be found, save such as have been thought indispen- sable for the history of his ideas and the illustration of the surroundings in which they were developed. Indeed, he often expressed unrestricted admiration, in the presence of his family and friends, for great English biographies such as Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte, Sir George Trevelyan's Life and Letters of Lord Macaiday, Bulwer's Life of Viscount Paimerston, etc., etc. We will endeavour to conform to these models, whilst remaining within the limits imposed on us by his express wish. CONTENTS PAGE Preface v PART I. CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION. Ohaptbk I. Family — Early education 1 H. Taine to M. Hatzfeldt (Aug. 13, 1847) 9 „ „ „ the same (Oct. 7, 1847) 10 Ohaptbb II. The Philosophy Glass — Introduction to the Human Destiny . 11 Ohaptbk III. Admission Examinations to the Ecole Normale 17 H. Taine to Pr^vost-Paradol (Aug. 20, 1848) 18 „ „ „ the same (Sept. 1, 1848) 22 vii CONTENTS PAGE PART II. THE EGOLE NORMALS. Ohaptbe I. First year : New surroundings — Preparation for the Licentiate —Private works .27 H. Taine to Prevost-Paradol (Feb. 22, 1849) 30 „ „ the same (Mar. 2, 1849) .35 „ the same (Mar. 20, 1849) 40 „ „ the same (Mar. 25, 1849) 44 „ „ the same (Mar. 30, 1849) 49 „ „ Mile. Virginie Taine (Apr. 10, 1849) .... 57 „ „ Prevost-Paradol (Apr. 18, 1849) 58 „ the same (May 1, 1849) 63 „ Prevost-Paradol (July 10, 1849) 67 „ „ the same (July 12, 1849) 70 „ „ the same (July 21, 1849) 73 „ „ the same (Aug. 24, 1849) 76 „ „ the same (Sept. 11, 1849) 78 „ the same (Sept. 25, 1849) 81 „ „ the same (Oct. 1, 1849) 83 Ohaptee II. Second year : Life in the Ecole— The 1850 Reaction— Private writings : Philosophy, Dogmatism — Preparation for the Philosophy Agregation — ^'kRUik of a History of Philo- ' sophy gg Ghaptee III. Third year : Preparation for the Agregation continued — Private writings q-j CONTENTS PAQE Professors' notes — Failure at tlie Agregaiion — Oauses for that failure— Pr^vost-Paradol's letter to M. Gr6ard . . 100 Provost Paradol's article in the Liberti de Penser . . . 103 Letters from MM. J. Simon and Vaoherot 104 PART III. PROFESSORSHIP. Chapteb I. Appointment at Nevers — Preparation of Lectures for Philosophy Agrigation and of Theses on Sensation H. Tajne to his mother (Oct. 15, 1851) . . . „ Edouard de Suckau (Oct. 22, 1851) „ Mile. Virginie Taine (Oct. 29, 1851) „ Pr^vost-Paradol (Oct. 30, 1851) . „ Mile. Sophie_Taine (Nov. 9, 1851) „ Pr6vost-Paradol (Nov. 16, 1851) „ his mother (Nov. 18, 1851) . . „ N. (Nov. 22, 1851) „ Edouard de Suckau (Nov. 23, 1851) „ his mother (Dec. 5, 1851) ... „ Edouard de Suckau (Dec. 9, 1851) „ Pr^vost-Paradol (Dec. 15, 1851) „ Pr^vost-Paradol (Dec. 19, 1851) . „ Mile. Virginie Taine (Deo. 18, 1851) „ Edouard de Suckau (Dec. 22, 1851) „ his mother (Dec. 24, 1851) . . „ Prevost-Paradol (Deo. 30, 1851) . „ his mother and sisters (Jan. 1, 1852) „ Prevost-Paradol (Jan. 10, 1852) . „ Edouard de Suckau (Jan. 16, 1852) ix the 107 109 HI 114 116 119 122 126 128 130 134 136 139 142 143 146 149 150 154 156 159 CONTENTS FAQE H. Taine to Prevost-Paradol (Jan. 18, 1852) 163 „ „ „ his mother (Jan. 27, 1852) 166 , Pr6vost-Paradol (Feb. 5, 1852) 169 „ „ „ MUe. Sophie Taine (Feb. 15, 1852) .... 172 „ „ „ Pr6vost-Paradol (Feb. 22, 1852) 174 , Edouard de Suckau (Feb. 25, 1852) .... 177 „ „ „ MUe. Virginie Taine (Feb. 26, 1852) ... 179 , Edouard de Suckau (Mar. 10, 1852) .• ... 181 MUe. Virginie Taine (Mar. 18, 1852) ... 184 „ „ „ M. Ernest Havet (Mar. 24, 1852y .... 185 „ „ „ Pr6vost-Paradol (Mar. 28, 1852) 187 The Minister of PubUo Education to H. Taine (Mar. 30, 1852) 190 Chapter II. Poitiers H. Taine to his mother (Apr. 13, 1852) „ Edouard de Suckau (Apr. 20, 1852) . . . . „ Pr6vost-Paradol (Apr. 25, 1852) „ M. L6on Grousl6 (Apr. 25, 1852) . . . . „ MUe. Virginie Taine (Apr. 28, 1852) . . . „ MUe. Sophie Taine (May 11, 1852) . . . , M. Adolphe Gamier to M. Victor Le Clerc (May 17, 1852) H. Taine to his mother (May 26, 1852) „ M. L6on Crousle (June 2, 1852) .... „ Prevost-Paradol (June 2, 1852) . . . . , „ M. Adolphe Gamier (June 7, 1852) . . . „ his mother (June 7, 1852) „ Edouard de Suckau (June 15, 1852) . . „ Prevost-Paradol (June 22. 1852) .... M. Adolphe Gamier to H. Taine (June 20, 1852) . . H. Taine to MUe. Sophie Taine (June 22, 1852i 193 193 194 197 199 203 206 208 209* 212 215 217 221 226 229 / 231 232 CONTENTS PAGE H. Taine to Edouard de Suckau (June 27, 1852) . . 235 „ „ his mother (July 6, 1852) 238 „ „ Edouard de Suckau (July 17, 1852) . , . 240 „ „ MUe. Virginie Taine (July 20, 1852) . . 244*^ „ „ M. L6on Grousl6 (July 27, 1852) . . .246 „ ,i his mother (July 27, 1852) 249 „ „ Privost-Paradol (Aug. 1, 1852) 250 -/ „ „ Mile. Sophie Taine (Aug. 10, 1852) .... 254 PART IV. RETURN TO PARIS. Ohaptbe I. The Theses supported — Appointment at Besanjon — M. Taine asks for leave of absence — Life in Paris — Lectures at M. Garr^-Demailly's School — Studies in Zoology and Physiology 259 H. Taine to Edouard de Suckau (Oct. 15, 1852) ... 261 „ „ the same (Nov. 28, 1852) 263 „ „ his mother (Dec. 18, 1852) 266 „ „ the same (Deo. 28, 1852) 267 „ „ MUe. Virginie Taine (Jan. 14, 1853) ... 269 „ „ Mile. Sophie Taine (Jan., 1853) 270 „ „ his mother and sisters (Feb. 9, 1853) . . . 272 „ „ the same (Feb. 19, 1853) 275 „ „ his mother (Mar. 17, 1853) 277 „ „ Edouard de Suckau (Apr. 11, 1853) ... 278 „ „ the same (Apr. 25, 1853) 280 „ „ the same (May 31, 1853) 283 „ „ his mother (May 11, 1853) 284 xi CONTENTS PASE H. Taine to M. Hatefeldt (June 10, 1853) 284 „ „ „ M. Guizot 285 M. Guizot's answer (June 14, 1853) 286 H. Taine to his mother (June, 1853) 287 „ „ „ Beranger (June, 1853) 287 Stranger's answer (June 21, 1853) 288 H. Taine to Edouard de Suokau (June 18, 1853) ... 289 Appendix I. Philosophy Notes (1849) 293 Appendix II. Fragments of the History of Philosophy (1850) 300 Appendix III. Plan of the Philosophy and Logic Lectures at Nevers(1851- 1852) 312 XH Part I CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION CHAPTER I The Family — Early Education — Correspondence HiPPOLYTE Adolphe Taine, who came of an old Ardennes stock, was born at Vouziers on April 21, 1828. His family originated in the village of Barby, near Retbel ; one of his ancestors, Joseph Taine, settled at Rethel in 1675, and became an alderman and governor of the town.' For several generations Joseph Taine's descendants lived in this little town the modest and honourable life of good provincial burghers. Hippolyte Taine's great - grand- father, Pierre Taine, a highly intelligent man, had been nicknamed the Philosopher by his townsmen, and we may point out to believers in the theory of heredity that, through several intermarriages among his descendants, he ' A complete genealogy of the Taine family, by M. Pillot, will be found in the March number (1902) of the Beime Historique Arden- naise. 1 B LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE appears in more than one relationsMp amongst the fore- fathers of M. Taine. The maternal grandfather of Hip- polyte Taine, M. Bezanson, had a scientific turn of mind ; he had studied magnetism with Dr. Chapelin, and the grandson carefully preserved treatises of philosophy, mathematics and algebra, written by the old man towards the end of his life. His father's sisters, elderly maiden ladies, who led in their small native town the most pious, sedentary, and narrowly austere life, had nevertheless inherited a taste for abstract ideas, and we find the fol- lowing lines in the correspondence of their nephew, then a professor at Nevers : "My aunt Eugenie has written me a letter, in which she advises me as to the direction of my metaphysical studies, with a logical argument in support of the system of philosophy that she suggests." Hippolyte Taine's father, Jean Baptiste Antoine Taine, who died when his son was entering his thirteenth year, was a man of a cultured mind, full of wit and natural talent, and the composer of pretty verses and merry songs, still repeated by his countrymen more than fifty years after his death. He had a passionate love of the country, and used often to take his little son with him when, in the course of his professional duties as a country lawyer, he drove through the beautiful Ardennes woods which adorn the neighbourhood of Vouziers. To those impres- sions of early childhood may probably be traced the keen appreciation of the beauties of Nature, and the intense love of forest scenery which so frequently show them- selves in Hippolyte Taine's works and correspondence. The first rudiments of Latin were also taught him by the young father, so soon to be taken from him, and, 2 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION before M. J. B. A. Taine's precarious health compelled him to give up the lessons to his son, the boy had already acquired a solid foundation for his subsequent studies. We shall see, as we proceed with this correspondence, what Hippolyte Taine's mother ' was to him and with what devotion and solicitude she fulfilled her gentle mission.- Nothing was more touching than the deep afEection and perfect confidence which united the son to his mother, and we cannot give her greater praise than by reproducing the following fragment of a will that M. Taine wrote in December, 1879, a few months before losing her : " If my mother survives me, my wife and children will re- member that for forty years she was my only friend, that she afterwards shared with them the first place in my heart, that her life has been all devotion and tenderness ; they will try to fill my place, to bring her here ^ ; what- ever I may have done and whatever they may do, my debt to her can never be paid ; no woman ever was so perfect a mother." Two of Mme. Taine's brothers also took a particular interest in the education of their nephew ; the elder, M. Adolphe Bezanson, became, at his brother-in-law's death, the guide and adviser of the widow and orphans. The younger, Alexandre, who had spent several years in the United States, took a pleasure, on his return, in teach- ing English to his young nephew, thus rendering him signal service. M. Taine remained deeply attached and ' Nee Marie Virginie Bezanson ; she was her husband's first cousin. ^ Boringe, the country house in Savoie, where this will was written. 3. LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE grateful to him, and dedicated the Notes sur VAngleterre to him as "a testimony of gratitude." Hippoljrte Taine's early education was therefore given him entirely by his family, at Vouziers ; he only spent a few hours every day in a small school kept by M. Pierson. He received the Holy Communion for the first time when still very young, in August, 1838. When, in 1839, illness compelled M. J. B. A. Taine to find other teachers for his son, he was sent to a boarding school at Rethel, kept by an old priest and his sister, a former nun, where he re- mained eighteen months, until his father's death. He was a boarder, but under the immediate supervision of his grandmother, Mme. M. J. Taine, and of the two maiden aunts already mentioned ; he spent his half-holidays in the old family house, hunting for intellectual pabulum on the dusty shelves of an old bookcase in an Unused room. He devoured everything that came to his hands, especially the classical authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which formed the chief part of the reading of serious middle-class people under the Restor- ation. His uncles also made him a present about this time of the works of Washington Irving, in English, and of two large volumes of the Travels of Dumont d'UrviUe. These books, which are still in his library, were read and re-read by him again and again ; he translated some of Washington Irving's tales, and, forty years later, he still used to speak with delight of this outlook over a larger world of which he had already had a glimpse through the conversation of his uncle from America. He ever kept a happy recollection of those days of his childhood, and of the half-holidays spent at his grand- 4 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION mother's house. On Sundays he was spared neither high Mass nor Vespers, and the sermons seemed long to the litttle schoolboy, hungering for freedom ; but, when he came home, there were the Uttle Sunday treats, the old cook's tarts, and, above all, the delectable hours of silent reading, when he would become absorbed in the Arabian Nights or in Rip van Winkle. Thirteen years later he wrote, after a visit to his relations : " I am glad I spent a day at Rethel ; their ways are old-fashioned, but I like them because they are natural and finished. Also they are very good people, and there is something within me particularly ' Rethelois,' the family sentiment." M. Taine senior having succumbed, during the holidays of 1840, to the disease which was killing him, M. Adolphe Bezanson persuaded his sister to seek a mode of instruc- tion less imperfect and more appropriate to the precocious intelligence of the young Hippolyte ; he chose for him the Mathe boarding-school, the scholars of which attended the classes of the Bourbon College. Hippolyte entered this school in 1841, at the age of thirteen and a half. Mme. Taine, being kept at Vouziers by the winding up of her husband's estate, was obliged to send her son to Paris by himself ; but the boy being very tender-hearted and somewhat fragile, was unable to bear the sorrow of separa- tion and the indifferent catering of the Parisian boarding- school, and his mother, becoming alarmed, hastened the arrangement of her affairs and joined him in Paris, with her two daughters. They settled down in the BatignoUes district, which was at that time rather like a remote country town, and then began the life of ardent labour and austere seclusion which young Taine was to lead until he entered 5 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE the Ecole Normale. He was at that time far from think- ing of a professorial or literary career, and it was not thought of for him. His mother wished him to become a notary, like his two imcles ; he thought of nothing but working hard and learning much. When, a few years later, the question of his career was seriously discussed in the family council, it was not on account of his remark- able gifts that the idea of his becoming a notary was abandoned, but because prudence would not allow of the disposal, in favour of one person, of the whole modest fortune of the Taine family which would have been neces- sitated by the purchase of a practice. The greatest pleasures of this studious boyhood were walks in the Pare Monceau — then in a state of absolute neglect — into which Mme. Taine had a right of entry ; it was almost like the forest of his childhood. Then, during the holidays, there were visits to M. Adolphe Bezanson, at Poissy, where the boy spent long days on the Seine, angling with his uncles ; they taught him to swim, a form of exercise in which he excelled and which he much enjoyed all through his life ; but his pleasantest recollections were of the long hours spent by the water which shim- mered and trembled under the delicate shadow of the willows, and of his solitary rambles in the forest of St. Germain. As soon as he arrived in Paris, Hippolyte Taine drew up a scheme of study which he rigorously observed, and the execution of which was made easy for him by his serious and intellectual environment. His grandfather, M. Nicolas Bezanson, lived in the same house as Mme. Taine, and his conversation contributed largely to the 6 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION boy's, scientific development. Tlie whole family was full of enthusiasm for work ; the two girls, guided by their brother, were acquiring a literary culture rare amongst women of their time. Art was not neglected ; Hippolyte and his younger sister, Sophie, were passionately fond of music, and quarrelled over the piano during the leisure hour. The elder sister, Virginie, who had a great gift for painting, excited by her comments the artistic curiosity of her brother, and accompanied him on those visits to the Louvre Museum, where he found so much pleasure and profit. At the Lycee Bourbon, he formed friendships with Planat, Crosnier de Varigny, Prevost-Paradol, Cornelius de Witt, Bmile Durier, Bmile Saigey, etc. Hippolyte Taine, whose numerous scholastic triumphs were a source of pride to the Mathe school, studied rhe- toric ' and philosophy under the direction of a very dis- tinguished young professor, M. Hatzfeldt, who soon became his friend. M. Hatzfeldt carefully preserved the best essays of his brilliant pupil ; he was proud to think that Hippolyte Taine perhaps owed to him the first idea of his work on La Fon- taine ; an essay on Andromaque probably was the origin of an unpublished work on the three Andromaches (Euripides', Racine's, and Virgil's), written at Nevers in January, 1852. During this school year, 1846-1847, besides his ordinary ' At that time the scholars who had passed through the seven iSrst classes or forms (8™°, 7™, 6™, 5°", 4"", .S""" and 2'^') of a French Lyeee or secondary school, usually divided, some of them choosing mathematical and some classical studies ; the latter, on leaving the seconde class, went for a year into a class called BMtorique, and for the following year into a Philosophie class. 7 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE college work, Hippoljrte Taine wrote many private essays, some of which have been preserved, amongst others a History of the Church in France from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Centuries, followed by a chapter on The Refor- mation, a History of the Third Estate and of Parliament, a History of the French Party in France from the beginning of the Wars of Religion until the death of Richelieu, and some Notes on French Literature of the Sixteenth Century. The average length of these essays was from twenty to thirty pages of M. Taine's peculiarly close handwriting. A humorous poem, written in the same year, for the St. Charlemagne' banquet has also been preserved, and a few history compositions, of which one, on The Origin, Development and FaU of the League, was placed first on the list at the Lycee Bourbon, and was long remembered by Hippolyte Taine's schoolfellows. Twenty-one years later, when presiding at the annual banquet of the Lycee Condorcet, he said, thinking of this year of productive study : — "If we have had glimpses of ideas in criticism and in history, they have been suggested to us by the study of Rhetoric. We were told that a speech should be appro- priate to the character of the speaker, and this led us to study those characters : we went to the Public Library, to the Louvre Museum, to the Cabinet des Estampes ; we discovered by degrees in what way a modern man differs from an ancient, a Christian from a Pagan, a Roman from ' The Emperor Charlemagne is the patron saint of French schools, and school festivities are held in Paris every year on his name-day. A banquet takes place, during which several students are invited to recite original verses or to make speeches. CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION a Greek, and a Roman of tlie time of Augustus from a Roman of the time of Sciplo. We endeavoured to express those difEerences, and we began to guess at the real history, which is that of the soul, of the deep alterations which take place in hearts and minds, according to the changes in their physical and moral environment." The first letters we propose to publish were addressed to M. Hatzfeldt. To M. Hatzfddt. August 13, 1847. Sir, — You probably know by this time that I won the Prix d'Honneur at the Concours General.' I could not inform you of it beforehand, I myself only heard it on Wednesday evening ; and, even if I had written to you at once, you would have seen it in the papers before receiving my letter. I had, besides, three accessits at the Concours and all the first prizes at the Lycee. I owe all this success to you, and I thank you for it. Without you I should never have acquired order, clearness or method. They told me at school to be clear, regular and methodical ; you alone did not content yourself with words, you showed me the way to acquire those qualities. If I succeed hereafter it will be thanks to your lessons, for you have taught me to work and to direct my mind, and you will be useful to me in the future as you are in the present. I shall follow the advice you have given me for these hoUdays. I have Descartes in hand, and, amongst my prizes, I have just received M. Jouffroy's Lectures on ' Concours Oeniral. An open competition held every year between the ilite of the students of all the lycies in France. 9 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE Natwral Law. We shall meet again next year, I hope. I think I can promise that you will find in me a great taste for philosophy, perhaps also a little natural talent. If I am not mistaken, if seems to me that I have always had some facility in understanding abstract things, and in finding out generalities. Perhaps it is peculiar to a cold and serious mind to enjoy the speculations of philosophy; anyhow, I remember that last year I was delighted to listen to your lectures. Once again. Sir, accept my thanks. If a strong appre- ciation of your services and kindness to me coidd suffice in pajring my debt of gratitude to you, it certainly would be paid in full. To the same. October 7, 1847. Sir, — We had hoped to find you at the school to-day, Thursday, as usual, if not to give us a lesson, at least to fix the hours and days of our lectures. M. Lemeignan^ desires you to come on Saturday or Monday, as you please, to confer with him and with us. As for me, in particular, I long more than ever for your presence. M. Jourdain is not coming to the College Bourbon this year ; and, from what I saw at the first lesson, I beUeve that without your help I shall work quite in vain. You alone can point out to me what to read, give a direction to my studies, and make them profitable and usefid, as you did for those of last year." ' M. Mathi's successor. 10 CHAPTER II The Philosophy Class — Introduction to the " Human Destiny " The studies of the year 1847-1848 were indeed profit- able ; at the Bourbon College Hippolyte Taine had as Professor of Physics M. Desains, and his philosophy pro- fessors were MM. Bernard and Lorquet. He preserved some excellent notes of their classes, as well as a certain number of dissertations. During his leisure hours he also undertook private work; we have been able to find three studies on JoufEroy, some essays on the Faculties of the Soul, on Exterior Perception, on Spinoza's Pantheism, a dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul, a treatise on the Beautiful, in the shape of a letter to Emile Planat; and, lastly, a treatise On Human Destiny. This last work, dated March, 1848, begins by a sort of intellectual con- fession, showing the evolution of his ideas, from the age of fifteen until the middle of his year in the Philosophy Class. This document will no doubt be read with interest. " Of Human Destiny — Introduction This work is not the result of hazard or of curiosity ; it is neither a philosophical amusement nor an idle research. It is the answer to a question which I have long put to 11 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINB myself ; It is the close of a slow revolution which has taken place in my mind. There are certain minds who live confined within them- selves, and for whom passions, joys, sorrows and actions are altogether inward. I am of that number; and, if I would look back upon my life, I should have but to recollect the changes, uncertainties, and progress of my thought. If I am now writing this, it is in order to find it again later, and know then what I was now. Until the age of fifteen I lived in ignorance and tranquil- lity. I had not yet thought of the future ; I knew nothing of it ; I was a Christian, and I had never asked myself what this life is worth, where I came from, and what I had to do. . . . Reason appeared in me like a beacon light. I began to suspect that there was something be- yond what I had seen, and to grope as in darkness. My religious faith was the first thing which fell before this spirit of inquiry. One doubt provoked another ; each article of belief dragged another down with it in its fall. ... I felt within myself enough honour and strength of will to live as a good man, even after losing my re- ligion. I esteemed my reason too highly to believe in another authority than its own ; I refused to recognize rules for my life and the conduct of my thoughts from any other person ; I became indignant at the idea of being virtuous through fear and a believer through obedience. Pride and the love of liberty had freed me. The three following years were happy, three years of research and discovery. I thought but of enlarging my intelligence, increasing my knowledge, and acquiring a stronger sentiment of Truth and of the Beautiful. I 12 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION ardently studied History and Antiquity, ever seeking for general truths, aspiring to the knowledge of the whole, i.e. of Man and of Society. I still temember my extraordinary delight when I read M. Guizot's lectures on Eurcypean Civilization. It was like a revelation ; I began to look for the general laws of History, then for the general laws of the art of writing. In my inexperience and audacious confidence, I dared to tackle a number of questions which should only be treated by very learned men of a matured mind. But the vanity of my efEorts and the insufficiency of my discoveries soon recalled me to common sense. I understood that before knowing the Destiny of Man I must know Man himself. Thus were conceived my first ideas of Philosophy, which developed very much during the time I spent in the rMtorique class : this came from the necessity in which I found myself of knowing the character of the men in whose name I wrote, of appreciating the value of their motives, of judging of the passions which should move them, and of the tone which they should take. It was essential to study philosophy in order to avoid the monotony of common-place. At the same time, a great deal of private work and some serious reading excited my mental activity, and provided me with materials for my researches. It was then that I returned to true Philosophy, and to the important questions which I had already considered at the beginning. In spite of the loss of my Christianity I had preserved natural beliefs : I beheved in the existence of God, in the Immortality of the Soul, and in the Law of Duty. I now came to examine on what foundations I rested those beliefs : I found probabilities and no certain- ties ; I found the proofs offered me weak, it seemed to me 13 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE that a contrary opinion might contain an equal share of truth, or rather it seemed to me that all opinions were probable. I became sceptical towards Science and Morality, I went to the extreme limits of doubt, and it seemed to me that every basis of knowledge and of belief was overturned. So far I had read no philosopher, I had desired to preserve entire freedom for my mind, and a complete independence for my inquiry. I was, therefore, at that time full of a proud joy. I exulted in the havoc I had made ; I revelled in exercising my intelligence against the opinions of the vulgar, I thought myself superior to those who believed, because, when I questioned them, they gave me no sound proof of their belief. I continued to go forward, until one day, when I found I had left nothing standing. Then I felt saddened ; I had wounded myself in what I held most dear : I had denied the authority of the intellect which I esteemed so highly. I found myself in a vacuum, in nothingness, lost and engulfed. What could I do ? All my beliefs being struck down. Reason counselled immobility and Nature ordered activity. Man cannot remain inactive, his life is 'a continual aspiration, a ceaseless movement ; for him, not to act is to die. 1 was, moreover, at that age when vitality is powerful, when activity abounds, when the soul seeks for something to which to cling, like those climbing plants, which, at the return of spring, seize the trunk of the tree with all their strength. In order to come out of the shade and to open their flowers in the sunshine. I had an ardent love of Science and of Art, of the Beautiful and of the True. I felt myself capable of great efforts, of tenacious perseverance, if only I had an object to attain, a design to fulfil. I felt a passionate admiration in the 14 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION presence of beautiful things, and especially the beauties of Nature ; and I suffered when I thought that I did not know how to make use of all this ardour and strength* Besides, I was master of myself; I had accustomed my body and my soul to obey my will ; and I had thus preserved, myself from those bestial passions which blind and bewUder Man, take him from the study of his destiny, and make him live like an animal, ignorant of the present, and careless of the future. My whole soul, therefore, turned towards the desire to know, and consumed itself all the more because it concentrated all its strength and all Its desire on one point only. During my first months in the Philosophy class, this state of mind was unbearable ; I saw nothing but doubt and obscurity. I found in philosophers nothing but contradic- tions ; I considered their proofs puerile or incomprehen- sible ; it seemed to me that metaphysics obscured common sense, and that philosophers, from the heights of their speculations, had not foreseen the simple and natural objec- tions which ruined their systems. I myself, irritated at the uselessness of my efiorts, began to play with my reason, I took pleasure in supporting alternate sides of the question; I put scepticism into practice. Then, tired of contradic- tions, I placed my mind at the service of the newest and most poetical opinion, I supported Pantheism with all my heart. I affected to speak as an artist ; this new world pleased me, and I amused myself by exploring it in all its parts. This was my salvation, for, from that moment, metaphysics appeared to me intelligible, and science seemed serious. I reached, after much effort, a height from which. I could embrace the whole of the philosophical horizon, 16 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINB understand the opposition of systems, see the birth of opi- nions, discover the knot of divergences and the solution of difficulties. I learnt what to examine in order to find out what was fallacious and what was true, I saw the point towards which my researches should tend. Moreover, I was already in possession of Method, which I had studied from curiosity, and for my own amusement. Henceforth I ardently set to work ; the clouds dispersed, I understood the origin of my errors, I perceived the Whole and the con- necting links. I will now set down what I believe I have found ; but, at this very moment, I pledge myself to con- tinue my researches, never pausing, never considering that I know everything, and ever examining my principles anew ; it is only thus that Truth can be reached." We know how, until his last breath, this pledge made by the student of twenty was kept by the man. 16 CHAPTER III Admission Examinations to the Ecole Nor- male — Correspondence HiPPOLYTE Taine crowned this year in the Philosophy- Class by taking his two degrees of bachelier-es-sciences and bachelier-es-lettres, and brilliantly passing the admis- sion examinations to the Ecole Normale Superieure.' He was placed second on the nomination list of candidates, and passed first among a batch of students, which included Edmond About, Francisque Sarcey, Libert, Edouard de Suckau, Auguste Lamm, Paul Albert, Gustave Merlat, Rieder, etc., etc. Prevost-Paradol followed one year later, Hippolyte Taine having done all he could to attract him to this path, and they began as early as their separation in August, 1848, the interesting correspondence of which numerous extracts will be found here. ' iBcole Normale Superieure. Pounded in 1808 by Napoleon I., with the object of training young professors. Candidates for ad- mission must already be in possession of their diploma as Bachelor of Science or of Letters, according to the branch of studies which they wish to take up ; they sign an engagement for ten years' work in Public Education. The Professors of the Ecole Normale take the title of Maltres des Conferences. 17 C LIFE AND LETTEES OF H. TAINE To Privost-Paradal. August 20, 1848. My Dear Pe^vost, — I began my holiday two days ago ; I worked ham the 11th to the 17th for my baccdaureat-ds- sciences.^ and I have passed, thank goodness ; I shall now make a proper use of the two months' holidays which are left to me, and pick up my health and strength. I am doing no reading, no study, iio thinking, but living the life of an oyster, of a mollusc, of anything you like. I revel in the country and the open air, I rejoice in rest and indolence, and I roam over fields and woods without taking a book with me save Plato, and sometimes Euripides. My philo- sophy is not without its use in my pleasures. I find Nature a hundred times more beautiful since I have pondered on what she is ; now, when I gaze on the slow movements of the trees, the play of light, the richness and luxury of all those forms and all those colours, when I listen to those soft, continuous, uncertain and harmonious murmurs which alternately rise and fall in the woods, I feel the presence of Universal Life. I no longer look upon the world as a machine but an animal. I find that solitude becomes animated and speaking, and that my soul easily attunes I Baccalaureat (low Latin, hachMariatiis), first degree taken in a French Faculty ; the next is licence, and the next doctorate. It is much more elementary than a Bachelor's degree in an English University. There are two hcuicalawiaia — 1°, the baccalaur^at- h-lettres required of candidates for the Faculties of Medicine and of Law, to the Ecole Normale Sup6rieure and to several public offices ; 2°, the baccalaureat-^«-scieMce« required for admission to the Schools of Medicine and of Pharmacy, to the Ecole Normale Su- p6rieiu?e (scientific section), and the Polytechnic, MiUtary, and Foresters' Schools. 18 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION itself to this simple and apparently slumbering life, which is the life of beings inferior to Man. Would you have thought that Philosophy would lead to all this ? Do take it up, and settle down to it bravely and seriously next year. If not, dear friend, your year will be wasted and even harmful. I know you : if you indulge yourself and do not resist your own tastes, you will seek in Philosophy, as you did in History, for nothing but a means of proving your preconceived ideas, you will make use of reasoning and metaphysics to attack all the common and ordinary opinions ; you will eagerly embrace every system which appears to you bold and audacious, and it will be sufficient that a thing should seem to you beautiful for you to say : It is true. I could wager, for instance, that you will give up six months' work to demonstrating that God does not exist, and do you know why ? Because the human race before you has believed in Him. Consider, my friend, that this God whose existence seems to me to be mathematically proven, is not the absurd and cruel tyrant taught by religions, and worshipped by the VTilgar ; consider also that neither is He Bossuet's God-man, busy saving or destroying empires, and founding His Church ; finally, do not forget that if I believe in Him, it is not because I never doubted, nor froba habit or sentiment ; but after reasonings and demonstra- tions more rigorous than those of geometry. Therefore, do work without prejudices, do not let your leaning towards new ideas prejudge the question ; give in but to reason and CAddence, and you will end, I hope, by sharing my convic- tions. That which prevented you this year from accepting them 19 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE was the fact that your mind was not yet accustomed to metaphysical evidence ; you only believed what you could feel and touch, but, as soon as you have accustomed your intellect to reflect upon and consider pure ideas, freed from their material coverings, in all their simplicity and clearness, you will see the true light and acquire perfect conviction. I lay great stress on this question of the existence and nature of God, because it is in reality the only question in philosophy ; if you are strict in your researches, if you aspire to go back to the fountain-head, you will ever be obliged to return to God ; if you wish to know the Beau- tiful, the Good, the True, if you wish to prove that there is a rule of conduct for Man, an immutable goal for the artist, an absolute certainty for the scientist, you will be obliged to examine the nature of God, and to believe in Him. If the word God shocks you, suppress it, and say in its stead : " the Being," but whatever name you give Him, believe in the existence of a Being, who has the whole fulness of the Being, and in whom there is no lack, no defect. Here is a demonstration of this in six lines : ponder over it and find. If you can, that it is wrong in any one point : see how simple it is ; it sets down no premiss, and does not claim as a postulate the existence of anything. There are but three possibilities : — 1. That nothing exists at all ; 2. That an imperfect being or some imperfect beings exist ; 3. That a being exists who has the plenitude of the being. Several beings having the plenitude of the being are impos- sible because they would limit each other. The first hypothesis is absurd in its own terms, for the 20 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION existence of nothingness is contradictory. Nothingness is incomprehensible. It is as much as to say that non-being is, and that what does not exist exists. The second hj^othesis is equally absurd. li the existing Being is imperfect or lacking part of the being, another can be conceived in its stead having more or less of the being. Another being will therefore be possible instead of the one which now is. There will, therefore, be no reason why the one which exists should exist rather than that other, since both are equally possible. The existing Being will therefore have no reason to exist, and will be without a cause, which is absurd ; for everything has its reason for existing, either within or outside itself. Therefore, the third hypothesis stands necessarily, and the evidence of God's existence is the impossibility of any other existence. You see that I take into consideration none of those things which are perhaps obscure, such as Notion, Ideas, and Matter, and that my whole proof is taken from the very terms of the question. I am boring you, no doubt, my dear fellow ; but, forgive me, it is in the interest of our friendship that I do so. For how could our intimacy last if we were not of the same mind on a question upon which depend not only our opinions, but our actions and the conduct of our lives ? Close and sincere friendships have been broken by political disagree- ments, how much more should our friendship become cooled if we had conflicting convictions about God, the world, human life, in fact everything. .Talking of politics, how you did make me laugh the other day ! Are you mad with your N. ? why upset his poor 21 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE brain ? He thinks himself profound by thinking as you do ! And you dare to corrupt him while you own to me that you could not make head or tail of M. Proud'hon's theories.' If you have become a Proud'honite, send me, if you can, a demonstration of the Right to Work ; if not, hold thy peace. Send me a letter as long as this one. Farewell. To the same. September 1, 1848. My DEAR Prevost, — Yours is certainly the most satirical letter I have ever received. Do you know that it is hard for an apprentice in philosophy to hear his demonstration called theological puns, cassocked quibbles, unintelligible pedantry, etc. ? I recognized your usual chafE, and even your afiection, for I can feel through the whole of your epistle that you are only half-mocking, that you are sparing me, and keeping back half your sarcasms and insults. All right, my dear fellow, strike, but hear me. You begin by reproaching me with what you call a slight contradiction, and you call upon me, in order to avoid con- sistency, to believe in God no longer, or no longer to speak of the world as an animal. It seems to me that here you make little use of the logic which you despise. I do not see that those two beliefs are incompatible. What is there absurd in saying that the world, emanating from God ' Pierre Joseph Proud'hon's principal writings, Avertissement auz propri&aires, SoliUion du PwbUme Social, Le Droit au Travail, had already been published at that time, and were being eagerly discussed; 22 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION and produced by Him, is a living being which develops and perpetually tends to resemble the eternal model from whose hands it has come ? You declare yourself a Pantheist and a Sceptic. Allow me to tell you that it is you who are contradicting yourself, as it is impossible to be at the same time a Pantheist, who has a belief, and a Sceptic, who has none — unless, however, you call yourself a Pantheist provisionally, a Pantheist because the system is a bold and a beautiful one. If that is so, you are again mistaken ; the system is an ugly and narrow one, for it lops ofi all His attributes from the Being, and puts in the place of the perfect and absolute model a blind substance, ever reaching towards an infinite develop- ment, which it can only attain in the infinite, i.e. that it wiU never attain. If I exhorted you to take up philosophy, it is not because I feared to see you become a bad man. Did you perchance take me for a monkish preacher ? Not at all ; but I know that, in order to keep up a true intimacy, similar opinions are necessary, and that two men whose convictions are absolutely antagonistic cannot be real friends. Let us now look at my opinions and see whether my metaphysical researches are as ridiculous as you say. Here is something like what you tell me : "I know nothing of the principle or origin of this world, of which I am a part ; I have never seriously examined whether God exists or not ; I do not know whither this world is going, nor what is the end or destiny of the human race. I do not know whether I have a spiritual soul, or whether everything takes place within me mechanically by the effect of my organs ; I do not know what is Death, or whether I shall live beyond it. 23 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE All this does not worry me, and I will not even think about it. I have very passionate political opinions, and there is a party whose triumph I ardently desire, so much so that I would shoulder a gun to assist it. I want radical reforms in Society and in Government ; I want the inauguration of the reign of Justice — and I do not know what is Society, what is a Government, what is Justice, what is Right. I rule my life after my own feelings, and I do not know whether I am right in acting thus. There is some one who was in the same state of imcertainty as I am, and who now says he has found a series of mathematical demonstrations on all these matters. This some one invites me to follow the same path as himself, and to study the science which has cured his doubts ; but I despise this science. Without having thought two hours over it, I declare that all it is good for is to set a plate rotating on the point of a needle. I prefer the uncertainty of doubt to the repose of conviction. I want to live from instinct like an animal. I risk my life and I put myself in the way of taking the worst and most unfortunate decision. I close my eyes so as not to see, and, happy in my ignorance and indigence, I rail at the inept and ridiculous man who calls upon me to come out of it." Tell me, my friend, do you call this consistent language ? You had not come to that a month ago ; you owned to me in confidence that you did not beheve in M. Proud'hon, and that, if you read his writings, it was in order to look upon the flight of a powerful and logical mind and not to seek for convictions. You promised me that you would abstain until you entered the Philosophy class, and that you would then build a foundation for your doctrines. You 24 CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION were an absolute sceptic and I was glad of it, for it is the best frame of mind in whicli to begin the study of meta- physics. What wasp has stung you since then ? Whence came these materialistic convictions, this indifference towards truth ? Do you not know that nothing is more vulgar than such a state of mind, and that such is the disposition of all those who do not feel that they have enough strength for seeking and for finding ? Do you not esteem yourself more than to entrust your life to the ha- zards of a doubting opinion ? And do you not know that Doubt — except Pascal's form of doubt — is cowardly ? Forgive me if I am harsh ; I want to pull you together and see you yourself again. I repeat, it is not manly to speak as you do. I am not answering your political opinions ; they rest on no proof, and I accept nothing that is not demonstrated. Besides, you contradict yourself ; did you not agree un- reservedly with a treatise I showed you on the State and the Government ? ' it was absolutely contrary to what you are saying now, and in it I proved every assertion I made. Farewell, and, once again, forgive the strong expressions I have used, as I have only been so outspoken because I love you and am sincerely attached to you. I am classed second on the admission list, Libert first, and About third. Yours. ' Marginal note by Hippolyte Taine, summing up this work : 1. The origin of the State is the aggregation of a certain number of men, presenting particular points of similarity, and placed in similar conditions of development. 25 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE 2. The State becomes formed when the nation becomes conscious of its unity. 3. The State is a living, public personality, formed by the assem- blage of a certain portion of the Being of all the individuals who exist within it. 4. The State has divers degrees of Being, according to the greater or less degree of their ego placed in common by the individuals. The Being of the State increases by the Law of Progress. 5. Government is the sensible and active reahzation of the State, which acquires a precise unit and a centre of action. It is the effect of the State. 6. Its action must be regulated and appropriate to the degree of Being of the public personaUty. Its duty is to maintain this ap- propriateness exactly. Its rights are the same as those of an in- dividual, since it is the assemblage of several individuals. 7. These individuals, social and human units, have the same laws, and are formed gradually ; the second from the first, and the third from the second. 26 Part II THE ECOLE NORMALE CHAPTER I First Year — New Surroundings — Preparation for the Licentiate ; Private Works — Correspondence HippOLYTB Taine entered the Ecole Normale in November, 1848, with the brilliant batch of students of whom he was the head. There he met other most distingtiished com- rades, several of whom became his friends : Alfred Assol- lant, Challemel-Lacour, J. J. Weiss, E. Yung, Cardinal Perraud, etc., etc. In spite of the satisfaction of finding himself in a centre so exactly suited to him, the first months were not happy ; he had a natural reserve which made it difficult for him to adapt himself to new surround- ings. He had to become used once again to a boarder's life, to learn to know all those yoimg men, so different in their natures and origins ; he dared not discover himself to them and confide to them, as he did to Prevost-Paradol and to Planat, the fermentation of his ideas and the philosophical passion, or rather intoxication, which con- 27 LIFE AND LETTERS OF H. TAINE aumed him. It will be seen from Ms letters that this moral solitude became a real suffering. On half-holidays he refreshed himself in the company of his two dear friends of the Lycee Bourbon. He had no other consolation, for he had had to resign himself to seeing his mother's house closed : Mme. Taine, having accomplished her maternal task, had returned to the Ardennes, whither she was called by other duties. In spite of her absence, the young Nor- maUan used to spend many of his spare moments in the deserted flat at the BatignoUes, in order to secure, to- gether with so many sweet memories, some hours of soli- tude, during which he could concentrate his thoughts, an advantage which he missed so sorely at the Ecole. How- ever, he became accustomed to his new surroundings and to the somewhat noisy exuberance of his fellow-students, who, on the other hand, learnt to appreciate and to respect the great worker who won their affection by his modesty, gentleness and courtesy, and their admiration by his precocious erudition and unquestioned talent. Hippolyte Taine soon took an important part in the discussions of these eager youths ; he loved ideas as passionately as others love pleasure. Those three years at the Ecole Normale, so productive for his mind, became most precious memories to him, and were always considered by him as ha-ving been the best time in his hfe. The Ecole then had M. P. F. Dubois as Manager, and M. B. Vacherot as Director of Studies. This is as much as to say that Liberalism reigned there ; nothing could be more favourable to the development of a mind so. original and so conscientious as was that of young Taine. The maitres des conferences for the first year students were, in 28 THE ECOLE NORMALE 1848, M. Philippe Le Bas for Greek and Greek Literature, M. Gibon for Latin and Latin Literature, M. Jacquinot for French and French Literature, M. Wallon for History, M. Kastus for Philosophy, and M. Adler-Mesnard for German. But, besides the work he was expected to do, Hippolyte Taine continued, as he had done at the Lycee, his private studies in Literature, History and Philosophy. In litera- ture, he was chiefly working for the Licentiate-es-te