New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-04

s. W Christern.
Inc de vsuvenargues is a deeply interesting char
acter not alone for his writings but for MS reiauoIS
10 his time and his position as precursor VI uo
Revolution. Nor his personal history 70 be over
Looked for It affords the most direct clew TO lis spiritual
development and explains his separatenesS from the
currents Of thought upon which nearly all MS con-
temporaries embarked. NauvenareueS Is an eA-
ample OF the with which strong intelhsenceS ana
original ones often overcome the difficulties real and
imagined Of the lack Of al ordered education HIS
case indeed NAV be support Of the theory that
systematic education is liable 70 do more harm than
good to superior minds. which when left 10 themselves
strike out as by instinct those paths and courses
best calculated TO quicken their development. Like
Rousseau the Young ProvencaI heir TO a poor Marquis
received his spiritual baptism from Pluarch IN the
stirring pictures of the brilliant old bographer he
recognized a sympathetic plane OF action and thought
The classical views Of life appealed to him strongly
and for many years he remained convinced that the HE
OF action was the career justifying ambition Perhaps
there never a peculiar union of antagonistlc
Qualities than in VauvenaTgues. one side Of his mhd
seemed to urge him to seek expression wholly in ex-
ternal activity. while the other drew him no less
strongly toward meditation and ntrospcction
The straitne,s Of his familys circumstances led nm
TO the cause Of arms. lie obtained commission ID
The Kings regiment and after tedious experience o
garrison life went through two disastrous foreign
campaigns In his second campaign Vanvenargues
took part in Belle Isles mad retreat from Prague
where the vain and incompetent commander ac'ualS
sacrificed ninetcnths Of his army by leading IL INTO inc
wild and unexpored mountain recesscS during uie
depth of severe winter. in order. as ne salh' 10
savc lis honor In this dreadful march Nauvcnargncs
had both legs frozen and never robust constitution
sustained shock from which II was unable 10
recover.
While convslcscng from the long illness caused By
pivation and exposure. lie was attacked By smallpox
which treated after the empirical fashion OF the age
left him frightfnlly dsfgured. almost blind and with
his vitality dangerously depressed. BY this time the
rough lesson had been learned, and the vision OF MIL
tary glory had disappeared. lie saw only the bTn'aIty
the RIGHTEOUSNESS the cOarscness, the base trcheiy
the ignoble life generally Of the soldier and he re-
VOTED from it. But his physical condition wonld in
any case have compelled his withdrawal from the army
and realizing this. he cndcavored to obtain leave 10
resign and diplomatic appointment HIS efforts
would have failed had not Votairc with whom he had
opened correspondence recently, come TO MS an ana
procured him the offer Of place in the Foreign Ohice
a place which fresh accessions of disease made 1t I'M
possible for poor vauvenarcues to accept. after all
But he went to Paris and there. sratenei in means
shrinking from the crowd OF of letters that filed
The Cafe PrOcOpc and similar resorts, confined mostly
10 his humble apartment and literally dying by inches
he published the tokens of his scnius he was per
mitted to achieve: and died. in his thirty second year.
a death which deserves to be called beautiful for It's
patient endurance its dignity, and the sweetness OF
The temper with which it encountered Noltairc
Marroniel and a few men Of mark had received
Vauvenarguess book with admirine praise. Noltalre
had from the first been strongly impressed by the
character and intellectual of his young CORE
epondcnt and though VI. Pseologue is probably right
in conjecturing that if Vauvcnargues had lived the
friendship between him and NOltaire would have been
of brief Duration his early death left time for the
friendly feeling to cool diminish
NJ Palcologue devotes two chapters TO an eNami-
nation OF vauvenargues's literary work, and Its in
eullr
philosophy no formal system Of kind Nauven-
argues made no attempt deal with the deep prob
lens of existence 1t was life "a he saw II ana lel'
IL that interested him. But there is in his writings
a perfectly clear current and distinct purpose Ills
mission was to record strong protest against the
cratic religious philosophy Of the seventeenth
century and at the time 70 deny the justice OF
that cynical and pessimstc view OF things taken by
La Bruyere and La Rochefoucauld. Pascal. Bour-
daouc. Bosuet, and their schools, had deaicned the
country with declarations against human sin and
iraquity. All passions. all natural instincts and
impulses. all pleasure in mundane things. all iov III
life were denounced by these morbid teachers Medi-
tation upon ard preparation for death according t.
them, the only blameless courses Nanvenargues
Indignantly attacked these umwhoesOme and distorted
views of LIFE and championei the Innocence and law
fulness Of purely human tendencies and Instincts At
The same time. however. he joined issue with the
reactionary spirit which Jansenism had evolved. and
above all condemned the peculiarly eighteenth century
dependence upon reason alone which already i'm
parting TO the literature and philosophy hard
ness and GOODNESS at their worst in Notaires |
polemlcal writings and which animated lesscned
the influence Ofa the Encyclopedias.
Vauvenargues was not a trained psychologist but
he felt that the reason was not the sole source Of
convictions and though his Technology loose and
vague as for instance in h, assertion that the heart
was the seat Of intuition, there ambiguity in
the nature of his conclusions. In fact. he stood be-
tween the old and schools and represented partly
that of the seventeenth and partly that Of the
eighteenth century With theology he neither quar-
relied nor medded. His theory of emotional impress
sons was derived uncOnsciously from the inspiration
Pascal perhaps but his rejection OF the ratonalsm
Of his own day mainly original with him. NJ.
Paleoogue regards him the precursor OF Rousseau,
and certainly generic resemblance between the two
may be perceived But Vauyenargues was wholly free
from the melodramatc tendencies Of Rousseau. His
character was at lotcr, purer. consistent.
and stronger. In the general course OF his life. its
unhappncss. its physical sufferncs, and its disap
pontmentS comparison with Leopard is suggested
but such a comparison will at once bring into relief
the superior mental sanity Of the Frenchman. lie
was no pessmist. Burdened. as he from begin
ming 10 end, he fell into the bitter mood Of La
RochefOucaud. on the contrary, his main cOntcn.
ton was that human was better that Jansenism
made II appear that selfshness not the dominant
motive: that much which called seishneSs
simply the healthy normal expression Of that instinct
OF self preservation with which all living creatures
are endowed. and without which both existence and
progress would become impossible. Their; was
In him something Of the stole, but his stOicisn
swectcDed and cnnoblcd by gentle and reasonable
hopefulness which refused 70 accept dark aud dis
couragng views which kept hin from the common
error OF gauging ell human activities By the worst
features Of peculiarly corrupt period and which
strengthened him in the belief that humanity still
carried in its breast the seeds Of reform and the pos,
sibties OF elevation. Had the spirit Of vauvenargncs
passed unaltcred into Jean Jacques Rousseau, the
character Of the Revolution might have been changed
for the better. As 1t the untncy close OF most
promising left only fragments of his Intellectual