Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1841-02-23
II. r. WHITE & l.. T. GUERNSEY.l

On the occasion Of his father having been obliged 10
mortgage part Of his estate he thus expressed him
self. 81 regrc, tina, had no, embraced the lucrative
pursuits Of the law or OF trade the chances Of civil office
India adventure, or ercn The fat sl,oi5ers Of the ,
church, Such too frequently the morality display
ed boy individuals and there is 20 suspect that
the church is no, altogether purged oihem even in the
presen, day That Gibbons principles were not suil
ceni support his mind in the prospect of dissolution
appears from many expressions in the collection OF his
letters published by Lord Sheffield, in which TO be
traced many instances Of the high value which he pac
ed upon existence and of the regret with which he per
ceiyed his years to be rapidly passing away. His le'
ter the death of Mrs. Posen, bears every mark Of
the dcsPonden, state of his mind at the idea that, "dH
Is now lost, fndiiy yrecorerdbiy lost" He adds, 81
will agree with my LADY, that the immortality Of the
soul IS, at tunes rcry comfortable doctrine. -
The Of his death in the public prints in
January, 1894, was accompanied with this remark,
ale lel, this world in gloomy dependency, without
those hopes and consoaiious which cheer the Chris
tan in the prospects Of Immortality" DR.. A Smith,
in the account he gives of the last illness OF Hume the
historian, TO triumph in the ior,itude which he
manifested in the prospec, of his dissolution, and he
adduces payfulness of expression evidence Of
it, in his ocular auson Charon and his boat. But,
as Dr. Crogan, in his treatise the passions, very
properly remarks, A moment Of vivacity, upon the
visit Of friend will not conduct TO the Of
the heart or discover its feelings in tho hours of soil
Aude.n 1t is indeed altogether unnatural for
who set high value upon his literary repuation
and certainly very unsuitable to the mpnenous
sion, to indulge IN such childish peasantres Hume
is represented to have done, at the moment when he
considered himself as just about TO be launched into
non-cxstence and therefore, we have some reason to
expect, that his apparent, tranquility was partly the e
feet of vanity and aIcctation. He has confessed, says
Dr. Crogan, in the most explicit terms, that his prnci
pes were calculated 10 administer consolation
thinking mind. This appears from the following pas
sage in his treatise Human Nature. 81 am alright
ed and COMPOUNDED with that foorn solitude in which
am placed by nv philosophy. When look abroad
orcsee, every side, dispute contradiction, and dis
traction. When turn my eye inward | find nothing
bu, doubt and ignorance. Where |, what i
From what causes do derive my existence, and TO
what condition shall return am COMPOUNDED with
these questions and begin fancy myself in the mos,
deplorabe condition imaginable, enyironed with the
deepest darkness"
Ddero one Of the French philosophsts, man
of very considerable requirements in literature and in
the physical sciences In the Of his correspon
dence with the late Emperor of Russia, Diderot men
toned his own library as of the most valuable in
Europe, although ii is supposed not to have contained
| above a hundred volumes. When Caharine wanted
purchase it an6 make him Librarian he said, that his
constitution could not support the cold climate of Pc
tersburgh. She oheied to let him keep it during his
lifetime at Paris and the library sold for an i'm
| mense price. When her ambassador wanted TO see H.
after year or twos payments and the visitation could
no longer be put off he was obliged to run in hurry
through all the booksellers shops in Germany, to fiji
his empty shelves with old volumes. il was cusoma-
~ for Diderot and D'Acmsrt TO 6equent the coffee
houses of Paris and to enter with keenness into re
eious disputes the former attacking Christianity and
the latter, under the mask OF pety, defending it, but al
ways yielding the arguments Of his opponent. This
practice was put a stop to by the police; and D.defot'
when reproached by the lieutenant for preaching athe
ism, replied, " 1t is true am atheist, and glory
in it," Blu, such principles will not always support
the mind, nor did they support the mind Of Diderot,
when his dissolution approached When he perceived
that death was great distance, he desired that a
priest might be brought, and the Cure de ST. Sulpice
was introduced to him. He saw this ecclesasc sew
: eral times, and preparing TO make a public re-
cactaion Of his errors bu, Condorcet and the other
adopts now crowded about him, persuaded him that bis
case was not dangerous and that country air would
store him to health. For time he resisted their
attempts bring him back to atheism but they secret
Is hurried him to the country, where he died. and a
report spread that he died suddenly rising from
the table, wlthou, remorse, and with his atheism
shaken
Such thu native effects ofthe highest intellectual
u accomplishments, and the most brilliant requirements
ia science when unaccompaned with the spirit Of true
religion and Christian morality. They cannot improve
the moral order Of society they cannot procure o7
u their posscssors substantial enjoyment even 10 the
present lie and they altogether inadequate to sup
port and tranquze tie soul ia the prospect Of the ag
E onics OF dissoiving nature.