BORN at Paris, Nov. 28th, 1792, of a family of artisans, VICTOR COUSIN received his elementary education in the free schools of the ward in which he resided, and his childhood was spent between Notre Dame and the tower Saint Jacque. His father was a follower of Voltaire, but his mother, being pious, was desirous of having her son baptized by a Nonconformist priest, and spared no effort to cultivate and develop in his heart the religious germ which she had there implanted. The distinguished success of the child decided his family to make great sacrifices to enable him to complete his education. On leaving the municipal school, he was at first consigned to the care of an Abbé Le Clerc, who taught him the first elements of the Latin language. This worthy abbé exercised his pupils in translating Latin into French, but considered it useless for them to translate French into Latin. Consequently, when Victor Cousin was sent to the Charlemagne College, to pursue a complete course of scholastic studies, and to prepare himself to enter the liberal professions, he found himself at first at the foot of his class, for the subject of the first composition was a theme, and the Abbé Le Clerc had taught only translation. Surprised and mortified at his position, Victor Cousin retaliated the following week by a Latin translation. From this moment he received marked favors from his teachers. M. Guéroult, to whom we are indebted for an elegant and faithful translation of choice selections from Pliny the Elder, distinguished and protected the young scholar. In 1810, Victor Cousin obtained the prize of honor, (the Latin oration,) and also the prize for the best French oration. In Latin verse he did not obtain even the second - best prize, although his composition would have entitled him to the highest honors. The subject or matter, as it is styled in universities, was taken from the poem of the Jardins, by Abbé Delille. He wished to describe the poetic appearance of the ruins; but the verses of the Abbé Delille, translated into Latin prose, had undergone

some mutilations; the shadow of Heloïse and Abelard which wandered in his Alexandrines, had disappeared from the programme proposed to the pupils in rhetoric. Victor Cousin, who in the first lines had recognized the poem of the Jardins, did not hesitate to bring back the shades of Heloïse and Abelard. The niece of the Canon Fulbert and the disciple of Guillaume de Champeaux did not please the taste of the judges appointed for the examination of the compositions. Except, however, the introduction of these two profane shades, the piece deserved the prize: they could not assign it the second rank. As they could not think of awarding to him the second-best prize,M.Guéneau de Mussy, one of the judges, decided that they should settle the point by not mentioning the name of Victor Cousin at all.

The Imperial Government at that time proposed to establish a normal school. In consequence of having received the prize of honor, Victor Cousin was declared first pupil, admitted by right and without competition. The direction of the school was given to M. Guéroult; the department of French literature to M. Villemain, the department of the Greek language to the Abbé Mablini, that of the Latin language to M. Burnouf, and that of Philosophy to M. La Romiguiere. Victor Cousin soon manifested a strong predilection for philosophical studies. The correct and elegant language of M. La Romiguiere, who had retained only the acuteness and penetration of the theological studies of his youth, happily forgetting purely nominal discussions and scholastic subtilties, the language of M. La Romiguiere charmed Victor Cousin, and was the first presage of his true vocation.

The succeeding year, Royer-Collard was called to the professorship of the History of Modern Philosophy at the Sorbonne. The stern voice of this new master soon obtained the ascendency of that of M. La Romiguiere, who, after an ineffectual struggle of a few months, took refuge in silence. From that time, the vocation of Victor Cousin was un

alterably determined upon at the age of nineteen years, he formed the resolution of devoting himself to the teaching of philosophy; but his patron, M. Guéroult, had decided otherwise, and appointed him tutor of ancient literature, in place of M. Villemain. The succeeding year, M. Cousin, appointed professor, was placed at the disposal of the presidents of the different colleges of Paris, to act as a substitute for those incumbents who were incapacitated by sickness, or absent by permission, without ceasing to perform his duties as tutor in the Normal School. All his attempts to obtain the chair of philosophy were baffled by M. Guéroult. From 1812 to 1814, the pupil of the Abbé Le Clerc passed through all the degrees of the secondary department, from the classes in grammar to those in rhetoric, without having taught philosophy. At length, M. Cardaillac, occupying this department at the Bonaparte College, being sick, the president, M. Chambry, aware of the predilection of M. Cousin for philosophy, appointed him to fill the place of M. Cardaillac. Royer-Collard, called to the direction of the public schools, appointed his young pupil master of the philosophical discussions at the Normal School, and soon after intrusted to him his chair at the Sorbonne, which he had occupied with such distinguished ability.

From this time we find but few incidents in the life of M. Cousin. He enters enthusiastically upon the career which he had chosen, and which M. Guéroult had opposed with so much pertinacity. From 1815 to 1820, he speaks in the presence of an admiring auditory who eagerly treasure up his instructions. Alternating between solitary study and public teaching, his desires are all gratified. Listened to with flattering attention, applauded by enthusiastic admirers, he dreams of nothing beyond the horizon of the university. Unexpectedly condemned to silence, he employs his leisure in translating Plato, in compiling the works of Descartes, and in issuing the unpublished manuscripts of Proclus; he consoles himself for his inaction by devoting himself to assiduous study, which, notwithstanding the number of new truths which it revealed to him, did not give him entire satisfaction. M. Cousin should not however entirely regret the silence which he maintained seven years; for had he continued without interruption his instruction at the Sorbonne, he would hardly have found leisure to enter successively upon all the eras of philosophy. His retirement, by enlarging the circle of his meditations, has given to his

mind new vigor. The active life of teaching, more attracting perhaps, each new success in which is rewarded by applauses, would not have been so advantageous to him; and in reviewing the history of his mind, he cannot but fully admit it.

There is one point connected with the facts I have mentioned, which it would be useful to notice. M. Cousin, at the present time esteemed, in France and Europe, among the most able and celebrated historians of philosophy, began his career in the department of literature. Thwarted in his first designs, he owes to the opposition which he received for several years from his first patron, M. Guéroult, the most brilliant and popular element of his talent, the skilful use of language, the power of expressing his thoughts in a manner at once exuberant and truthful. If he had first commenced by instructing in the department of philosophy, as he earnestly desired, it is probable that he would not have formed so early, and with so little difficulty, that style, at once so clear and elegant, which gives to his ideas such a charm and authority. The study of literature, by presenting to the understanding a great variety of problems for solution, becomes a useful auxiliary to those who pursue it. Strengthened by this experience, our faculties may apply themselves successfully to every branch of knowledge. The mind, disciplined by literary studies to the skilful use of language, finds in language itself an auxiliary to the development and analysis of thought; for it must not be forgotten that the art of writing and speaking serves not only for the expression of the ideas which we have conceived, but also and as frequently for the solution of ideas still confused, which are scarcely apparent to our consciousness, and which have not yet acquired to ourselves a conclusive evidence. Had he first engaged in philosophical instruction, M. Cousin doubt. less would not have acquired, in his expositions of science, that elegance and brilliancy which have so rapidly given popularity to his name. We should then be grateful to M. Guéroult for his long opposition. If he had yielded to the solicitations of the young laureate, the history of philosophy, reduced to the interest of pure science, deprived of the charm of language, would not now occupy so important a place in the education of youth. All minds would have given preference to the philosophy founded towards the end of the last century by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier and Berthollet, and considered as useless the history of thought. Thanks to the lite

rary talent of M. Cousin, this history, which predominates over all others, since it is a recapitulation of all, has taken its appropriate rank.

To gratify his patron, M. Cousin formed the design of selecting from the Greek works of the Fathers of the Church a series of extracts, remarkable for their elevation of thought and beauty of expression. What M. Guéroult had done for Pliny the Elder, M.Cousin proposed to do for St. John, Chrysostom, and St. Gregory of Nazianzen. He had enlisted in this undertaking several of his classmates in the Normal School. I am induced to believe that the studies commenced and continued for several months, for the accomplished of this design, have exerted a very salutary influence upon his mind. The perusal of the writings of the Fathers of the Church gives to the reasoning powers a clearness and flexibility, of which they alone possess the secret. This project, though it remained unaccomplished, was a source of improvement to M. Cousin.

Before entering the Normal School, the young laureate was strongly tempted to deviate from the course which he had proposed to himself. M. Frochot, prefect of Seine, who had often crowned him, offered him, with the consent of the Minister of the Interior, the post of auditor in the State Council. Exempted from conscription by his prize of honor, M. Cousin would have been released from the obligation imposed upon all auditors to be in possession of an annual income of 5000 francs. As an additional inducement to his entrance upon this career, M. Frochot offered to appoint him as his secretary, with a salary of 6000 francs. The offer was alluring, but M. Cousin, although strongly urged by his father, had the good sense to refuse. Having decided during the two years passed at the Normal School upon his true vocation, he renounced without regret the prospect of immediate competency, rightly preferring a career more humble and less lucrative, which in the end would lead to the realization of his fondest wishes. In his youthful days, while at the Charlemagne College, he had dreamed of a military life. He then could conceive of nothing more beautiful than an epaulet and sword, and as a prelude to the fulfilment of his dreams, he was accustomed to discipline his comrades as new recruits. It was with great difficulty that his mother could divert him from this warlike fancy, which was then shared by almost all young men. Of this first dream he

VOL. XXXI. NO. IV.

has only retained a very decided taste for military narratives.

Thus all the obstacles placed in his way, instead of retarding the development of his faculties, have only become so many incentives. Although he is accustomed to maintain that his literary studies did not really commence until 1840, and that previous to that time he had written with no other aim than the development of his thoughts, without occupying himself about the art of writing, it is evident that at the time when he succeeded to the chair of Royer-Collard, he possessed almost all the secrets of the orator and writer. I am inclined to believe that the careful study of the principal luminaries in our literature has revealed to him secrets of which he was ignorant in 1815, but I cannot admit the date which he assigns to his first literary studies. The obstinacy of M. Guéroult in appointing him to the department of Ancient Literature, at first in the Normal School, and afterwards in the colleges of Paris, had early initiated him into the principles which he was afterwards to examine and put in practice with all the authority of experienced talent. The novitiate of M. Cousin in the colleges of Paris had prepared the way for his philosophical débuts at the Sorbonne, and an analysis of the processes of thought has not less truly prepared the way for his purely literary studies and efforts. Accustomed for a long | time to the discussion of the most delicate questions, and to the solution of the most abstruse problems, he was enabled, when he desired to give expression to the general sentiments which form the basis of all literature, to acquit himself of this new task without effort. For a long time previous to 1840, he spoke and wrote with much ability, but it may be that he had not occupied himself with the processes of thought which he had pursued. In 1840, he applied himself particularly to the study of the French writers of the seventeenth century, and his style bears the impress of his predilection for this distinguished period. Regarded in this light, the opinion of M. Cousin respecting himself may not be unfounded. His style, since 1840, has become more learned and pure, but not more clear and animated. He early estimated all the importance of perspicuity, and the imperious necessity of never presenting a thought until it was perfectly intelligible. I can indeed appreciate his decided preference for the seventeenth century of France, for at no period has our language possessed such clearness and transparency. Piquant in Frois

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sart, acute and subtle in Philippe de Commines, copious and rich in images in Montaigne and Rabelais, it did not possess clearness and precision until the seventeenth century. The language of the succeeding century, although preserving these two desirable qualifications, has lost the fulness and majesty which we admire in the Discours sur l'Histoire universelle and in l'Histoire des Variations. It is not then surprising that M. Cousin prefers the seventeenth century to all the other eras of our literature. The instincts of his mind had always attracted him in that direction, of which his first writings afford abundant evidence. Since 1840, he has been attempting to establish and verify the principles which he obeyed a long time; he has disciplined his talents, and now possesses a literary as well as philosophical method.

I leave to others the care of reviewing the philosophical works of M. Cousin, and confine myself to his literary productions. I cannot however forbear giving a general view of his instructions at the Sorbonne, and will select from that extensive series of lectures, in which are discussed all the most difficult questions of philosophy, those which I heard, and which have been published under the title of Introduction à l'Histoire de la Philosophie. All who were present at his lectures in 1828, cannot but retain a vivid and lasting remembrance of them. Never in France has philosophy been taught with such splendor and majesty. The subject chosen by the Professor was nothing less than an abridged history of human thought, from the origin of historic times to the present. The Professor resumed his chair after a silence of several years. Two thousand persons eagerly sought admittance into the hall of the Sorbonne. M. Cousin had profited by the long retirement imposed upon him by the minister Villèle, and the anticipations of his auditory were not disappointed. He attempted to recount all the reflections of man upon God, upon nature and upon himself, and he imparted to his recital an almost dramatic interest.

There is, in this Introduction à l'Histoire de la Philosophie, one entirely new part which had never before been introduced into the philosophical lectures of France. I refer to the oriental part, which throws much light upon all Greek philosophy. He attempted to prove that the human mind, in all parts of the globe where civilization has developed itself, has passed through the same experience. In other words, the Professor

wished to demonstrate that the evolutions of human thought were reduced to four in India as well as in France, in the country of the Brahmins as well as in the country of Voltaire: namely, spiritualism, scepticism, sensualism and mysticism. This proposition, which does not appear strange to those who have studied attentively the general laws of mind, had never before been presented with such perspicuity and clearness. Profiting by the beautiful productions of Colebrook upon Indian philosophy, M. Cousin initiated his audience into the mysteries of Eastern lore. I yield the discussion of the questions proposed and established by M. Cousin in his Introduction à l'Histoire de la Philosophie, to abler and more skilful hands, and confine myself to the purely literary portion of this work, which in many respects merits attention. The most difficult and abstruse problems are there explained with perfect clearness, and the light, distributed by a generous hand, .enables every attentive mind to follow without effort human thought even in its strangest aberrations. This is one great merit, but is by no means the only one which distinguishes the Introduction à l'Histoire de la Philosophie. There is not a page of this book which is not glowing and animated, yet the brilliancy of its imagery never detracts from its precision of thought; a rare and peculiar talent. The most abstract questions, which, by their very nature, seem to repel all the attractions of style, become animated in the mouth of M. Cousin, and assume an almost poetic form. Instead of creating new terms for new thoughts, like Kant and Hegel, he makes use of existing expressions, taking care, however, to embellish them with ingenious comparisons and brilliant images, without at the same time allowing the orator to supersede the philosopher.

By what means has M. Cousin succeeded in giving a dramatic interest to the history of human thought? How has he been able to produce in a subject apparently so barren an effect equalling that experienced in listening to the recital of personal sufferings? By an artifice which appears very simple, but of which none had availed themselves. He has commenced with human nature in its cradle, has followed it into its youth, its manhood and its mature age, and has represented to us all its illusions and hopes with all the sincerity of an historian who undertakes his task in earnest. In this recital, by turns imposing and melancholy, we see man striving with nature, which he wishes to fathom