HELVETIUS, Claude Adrian, a man of letters, and celebrated French philosopher, was born at Paris about the beginning of 1715. After receiving the rudiments of his education in his father’s house, he was sent to the College of Louis-le-Grand, where he discovered greater indications of genius than any of his fellow-students, and thus gained the esteem of the professor of rhetoric, by whom particular attention was paid to his education. By his elegant and graceful exterior he endeavoured to ingratiate himself with the fair sex; but he was soon convinced, that although external advantages may dazzle for the moment, nothing but intellectual accomplishments can command esteem and respect. The circumstance which led him to perceive the absolute necessity of mental improvement, in order to be truly esteemed and admired, is worthy of notice. When walking alone in one of the public gardens, he discovered a most extravagant figure amidst a circle of young and amiable ladies. This was the geometer Maupertuis, who engrossed all the care and attention of this charming group, notwithstanding the ridiculous and grotesque singularity of his dress, appearance, and manners. This convinced Helvetius, that if he wished to be sincerely admired or esteemed, dancing, tennis, and all other bodily exercises must give place to the cultivation of the mind. Immediately, therefore, he became a solitary, recluse student; the mathematics in particular attracted his attention; and in a short time he was admitted as the companion of some of the most distinguished literary characters of the period in which he lived. Voltaire and Montesquieu were amongst his early acquaintance; and with the latter he contracted a cordial and lasting friendship. The first literary production of Helvetius was of the poetical kind, consisting of epistles on happiness; but these were not communicated to [7:11:229] the public until after his decease. When read in private, however, they were much admired, and Voltaire considered them as a strong proof of the didaetic and philosophical powers of their author. When the Esprit des Loix of Montesquieu appeared, the work was studied by Helvetius with the utmost care and attention; and his only objection to it was, that it did not contain the first ideas respecting the things of which it professed to treat. Instead of examining systems of legislation, and comparing them with each other, Helvetius was of opinion, that the nature of man should first be studied, and that the laws for governing him should be founded on the principles of his own constitution. This seemed to him true philosophy, and with such ideas he determined to undertake a work which might supply what he conceived to be defects in the publication of Montesquieu. Accordingly, in 1758 appeared his famous book De l’Esprit, which was published without the author’s name, but which was condemned by the parliament of Paris, as tending to degrade the nature of man; a proceeding which had the effect of making the book be sought for with avidity all over France, as well as other European countries, and gave to the speculations of the author much more importance than perhaps they would have otherwise acquired. To avoid the malice of his enemies, he visited England in the year 1762; and in the following year went to Prussia, where he was received with every mark of respect by the king, who gave him lodgings in the palace, and admitted him into his familiar parties. He was uncommonly liberal to the indigent, some of whom but ill requited him; on which occasions he was wont to say to his friends, “If I were a king I would correct them; but as I am only rich, and they are poor, I do my duty in relieving them.” Although his constitution was excellent, and his friends thence concluded that they would long enjoy the happiness of his society, he fell a victim to the gout in his head and stomach in the month of December 1771, being then in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

Besides his work De VEsprit, Helvetius was the author of, 1. De l’Homme, de ses Facultés intellectuelles, et de son Education, in two vols. 8vo; 2. Le vrai sens du Système de la Nature, London, 1774, in 8vo; 3. Le Bonheur, a poem in six cantos, London, 1772, in 8vo; all published after his death. Helvetius possessed considerable taste and ingenuity, some knowledge of human nature, and a turn for ridiculing the follies of mankind; but as a philosopher he was plausible rather than profound, fond of paradoxes, and so prone to scoff at what he considered as false religion, that his belief in the true faith came to be questioned. At the same time his works abound in just observations, often very happily expressed; and he displays a knowledge of the world, of which we but rarely meet with indications in the works of speculative men.