THE EARLY YEARS OF HIPPOLYTE TAINE.* PERHAPS one of the
most singular things in the career of the distinguished philosopher whose early letters are contained in this volume was the change of attitude towards him in orthodox France which took place during the years of publica- tion of Les Origines de la France Contemporaine. It was not that such men as Dupanloup bad moved an inch from their original standpoint, which, meant the stern condemnation of such statements as that every existing fact, physical or moral, had its natural cause,—ambition, courage, veracity, as well as digestion, muscular movement, animal beat; the famous sentence ending "le vice et le vertu sont des prodnits comme le vitriol et comme le sucre." The Church of England got over Essays and Reviews, and ceased to regard Darwin as a monster : the Church of France knew no such internal development. Taine himself was brought by his own philosophical and historical studies, if not into line with the Church, at least into agreement with those who saw more evil than good in the Revolutionary theory and its consequenees. He disappointed his old friends, —not, however, by following the tendeney of the times, but by standing against it. In the young days, the early days of the Second Empire, he was in opposition, with most of the clever young men of his day, and was snubbed and persecuted by authority. After 1870, under the Third Republic, he was in opposition still. This not from any personal feeling or change of political bias—for he was never what is called a politician—but as the necessary result of honest study. There never was a more sincere lover of truth. From the beginning to the end, facts, and facts alone, signified to him. In a certain sense critic, historian, and artist, he was before all a man of science, a philosopher. The complex nature of his genius and the fine independence of his character were excellently analysed some years ago by M. Paul Bourget in his Essais de Psychologie Contemporaine. We know no better or more instructive study of Taine's mind and method.
The book before us is in no way a detailed biography of Taine. A vary few pages suffice for his childhood, and his education up to the age of twenty; the rest of the book, with occasional notes, consists of his letters to his family and friends, very well translated, so that they can be read without the usual discomfort in these eases. Of course, they in- evitably lose the lightness and charm of the originals. For our part, as long as translations are multiplied, we find it difficult to believe in the real progress of education, and far- reaching as such a rule would be, we would gladly, with a very few exceptions, make the reading of a book conditional on knowing the language it was written in. In this case, how- ever, the English-reading public may be grateful to Mrs. Devonshire.
It appears that Taine hated any kind of publicity. He had a horror of interviewing, he would never allow his portrait to be publi3hed, or any details of his private life—which was blameless, by the by—to be known. He would have been the despair of the paragraph-makers of the present day, and the ordinary biographer, realistic before all things, would not know what to make of him ; for we are told that in his will he strictly forbade any reproduction of "intimate or private letters," or any account of his private life. This reserve, though honourable to him, is disappointing to the world, for these letters of his—escaping his strict rule because they are chiefly concerned with his studies—though they cease at the age of twenty-four, are mostly so charming that we would gladly read more. They are chiefly addressed to his friends Prevost-Pa/ad& and E. douard de Suckau, and to his mother and sisters. They are the expression of a warm and affectionate heart—luckily for us, his biographer has not found it necessary to cut out everything of a private nature— of a mind full of brilliant intelligence and passionate love of study, a manly spirit that bore all kinds of discouragement patiently. If he was cocksure and rather crude in his philosophical ideas, and posed rather too decidedly as more enlightened than his masters, this is only saying that he was a French philosophy student of the year 1850. Originality was at a discount then, and Taine and his friends were nothing if not original. They passed on from
the Ecole Normale a most independent and enlightened
• Lilo and Lotbra el M. Tan., 1828-1862. Translated from the Fran& by Km. B. L. Devonshire. Loden: A. Constable and Co. 1.73. dd. noti
place of study until the reaction of 1850 laid a chilling hand on it, as on all literature, philosophy, and science—to various appointments in provincial Colleges. Before Taine's appoint. meat to Nevers, he would naturally have taken his degree in philosophy, but after passing a brilliant examination, to the amazement of his friends and his own bitter disappointment, he faileA The freedom of his opinions was too much, it seems, for his examiners. But he left the 2cole Normale with the high opinion of his Professors ; X. Jules Simon and M. Vacherot, who were both dismissed a few months later for declining to take the oath exacted from all Government functionaries after the Coup d'tat, wrote of him in terms not often applied to a young student. "Profoundly learned for his age," said M. Vacherot ; "an ardour and an avidity for knowledge such as I have never met with before. A mind remarkable for rapidity of conception, subtlety, delicacy and force of thought."
The failure in philosophy had one good result for the world in general. Though never leaving his first love or going against the natural bent of his mind, Taine now turned his attention, in the intervals of his school work, to literature and poetry. His thesis on La Fontaine, which was the means of his ultimately taking the desired University degree, is one of the most characteristic of his earlier works. The scientific study of literature led him on to the scientific study of history ; hence, twenty years later, the appearance of L'Ancien Eggime, by many considered his chef-d'ceuvre, the first volume of his great work, the last of which did not appear till 1892. Other results of this turn in his studies are seen in the Histoire de la .Ditterature Anglaise, the critical and his- torical essays, the books on art and on travel, all instinct with philosophy without its dryness.
In these letters we have an interesting picture of the young professor's mind and life, first at Nevers, later at Poitiers, then in Paris, where the Government's increasing narrowness drove him to earn his living by taking private pupils. Some of the letters are beautiful, notably one addressed to a young friend, a Roman Catholic, whose religion had become morbid. Taine did not—then at least—call himself a Christian; but no Christian could have written a more manly, helpful, and truly religions letter. He was the best of brothers, and the letters to his sisters Virginie and Sophie are always delightful. They are also full of good advice, sometimes given with the real candour that seems to belong to brothers. For instance, when Mlle. Virginie thought she was a painter—and it seems she was not far wrong—her brother wrote discouraging her professional ambitions. If she could never be a great artist, "why grovel in the crowd" of ten or twelve thousand struggling like herself ? "Act like a man, and forget this momentary
passion." Other letters with regard to the education of his sisters suit modern ideas as ill as the above :— "Dear girls, do not trouble about the technical details and geographical peculiarities that school-trained parrots can rattle off by heart. Be sure of your spelling, arithmetic, and the essential part of geography. Trust for the rest to your reading, conversations, and meditations. The aim of education is to open the mind, to bring forth ideas and the habit of thinking A conversation which is a mere exchange of dates and facts is but a wearisome dialogue between pedants. A conversation which is an exchange of ideas brightly expressed is perhaps the greatest pleasure to be met with, and it is within reach of any thinking poison, without great learning."
It cannot be said that the young philosopher was here in advance of his time, however his own scientific theories may have startled it.
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