Like the rest of his dogmas, the dream of the vorti- ces was not original with Des Cartes. Leibnitz speaks of them as " vorticum a veteribus coeptorum." Speis- sius charged Des Cartes with having borrowed them fVom Giordano Bruno and Kepler; and even his own enthusiastic biographer, Baillet, ascribes to Kepler three of the principal Cartesian speculations : 1. Vorti- ces ; 2. Gravitation ; 3. Optics. He was largely in- deed to Bacon, Gassendi, Format, Gilbert, among his contemporaries, and to multitudes of near and distant predecessors. But he was too greedy of pre-eminence to acknowledge his obligations.
The Vortices constitute only a small part of the Physical Philosophy of Des Cartes, but they are the most characteristic portion, and aflfect nearly all its developments. He has presented reflections, observa- tions, and experiments in regard to most of the prin- cipal phenomena of nature, animate and inanimate, material and immateriaL He lias studied the wind, the rain, and the hail, the play of light and of colors, the formation of minerals, the growth of plants, com- ets and earthquakes, the motions of the planets, the mysteries of the stars, the anatomy and the physiology of man, as well as the constitution of the mind and the metaphysics of creation. It was a magnificent and all-embracing survey which he undertook, and of which he left only a sketch, careftilly elaborated in some parts and barely indicated in others. His phi- losophy, as a system, never possessed much intrinsic value, though its vastness of conception and audacity of execution excited lively and lasting enthusiasm. The influence exerted by it can scarcely be overrated, and should not be undervalued. It provoked investi- gation in all departments of knowledge ; it directed inquiry to the most promising fields of study ; it com- mended, by an illustrious example, diligence in obser- vation and patient accuracy of experiment ; while the author presented in his own person an admirable type of an earnest, exclusive, simple, and devoted philo- sophic career.
The Cartesian Philosophy has passed away after a brief and splendid, but not unclouded reign ; but to Des Cartes will be due the homage of all ages for the stim- ulation to more accurate research which he supplied. He has also a more special Utle to &me on the score of his mathematical discoveries — ^his invention of Co- ordinate Geometry and Indeterminate Co-efficients. These can be only mentioned in passing, as they af- fected neither religious opinion nor the developments of theology; and in this work the diverse forms of sec- ular speculation must be regarded mainly in the light of their action upon Christian thought. The names of Malebranche, Spinoza, Bayle, and Leibnitz fiimish ample evidence 'of the powerful but diverse stimular tion communicated to theological investigations by the writings of Des Cartes, and demonstrate the justice of that still prevailing feeling which recognises in him one of the fathers of modem philosophy, notwithstand- ing the rejection of nearly all his distinctive opinions.
Literature, — ^Des Cartes and his philosophy occupy so large a space in the records of modem philosophy that it would be equally im[»'acticable and nugatory to attempt a full enumeration of the sources of infor- mation. All the historians of philosophy, ftvm Brack- -vn wards, devote an adequate share of attention
to Des Cartes. Brucker's aocoant of Csrloaih one of the most sadsfactory parts of lil» laboncnn though it 19 by no means partial to Dds Cutei 1 scattered observations of Bayle and Ldbaii iv never be overlooked, nor should the fareiUi s cisms of Victor Cousin be disr^arded. Tb^^ Des Cartes must still be sought in the votsBtf C9 early biographer, Baillet, though much iaben^% ter may be derived from the Soffei of t^eae ■ later prize essayists. Many intereaang ai^etiKsi ical notices are found in the Diaeoun de la i^ and in the letters of Des Cartes. Otfaermtefui viting consultation for a doe estimate of kii poa phy, and of its relations to previoaa and nhejt speculation, are Consin, Cowrt dt PkUotopkie^Mdh ment de PhUoBopkie Carti^iemie (Paris, 1845) ; JT^w ntr la Penicition du Carihiaaiame (1^: <^^ Etaaus Philoscpkigw$ (Paris, 1882); BouIH^ (>iiiquedelaJUvoltakmOarthiemme(YaBSfV^K^ mouUn, Le CarHsUmume (Paris, IMS); sad 1>cm HitLPkUoaopkk da XVIIP SiMe (Var.lBiS); A^i Enod nor la PAUotophie en Framee om XVJf ^ vols. 8vo (P^ris, 1867). There is an admintiif ev on the genius and writings of Dee Cartes ia 6e/J burg^ Beview^ Jan. 1852. But the indippeaai^ a only sufficient text for the real stndent is amo&ti. the works of Des Cartes, of which the bestefitiffii Opera Omnia (Amstelodami, 1692-1701, 8 Tals.fe>a (Emres Ccmplkes de Des Carte$, ed. ^ebr Cni (Paris, 1824-26, 11 vols. 8vo). Thefe is a eoBt«M selection of his purely philosophical treatises br ^ (Paris, 1844). On the relations of CaitesiaBinte^ ology, see Gass, Gesddchte d. proi. Dofrnt^ (Besc 1854-62, 8 vols.) ; Domer, Ge$ekichte d, pnie^ M gie, Mttnchen, 1867, p. 461 sq. ; Farrer, CrUiedBs^ of Free Thaught,\j(x!bajn III; Hageabacb, A^ ' Doctrine$, § 225, 238 ; Tholuck, Acadmitc^I^* 17te» Jahrhunderts (1854, part ii); Horen,27d^f Modem Phiioaophy (N. T. edi^n), p. 115, IH
Descent (Christ's) dtto Hblu See Ec^ Descent into ; Creed, Apo6tle8\
Desert (Gr. tptipoQ ; see Becbenbos; ^ ^ fprifiot, Lips. 1680), a word which is qjaringly ea^^ ed in the A.V. to translate four Hebrew term «* even in the rendering of these is not empby*^ ^ formly. The same term is sometfanes trasdsad|^«> demess," sometimes " desert," and once "sooti'' i one place we find a Hebrew term treated is > ^ name, and in another translated as an ippeB^^ This gives rise to considerable md^nitenctt Id e<? passages of Scripture, and creates coafas^ ^ '^ tempts at interpretation. But, besides all this, tk »• dinary meaning attached to the En^iah wari^ ert" is not that which can be legitimately st*«W» any of the Hebrew words it is employed to ri(W»^ We usually apply it to " a sterile sandy pWn, ^ inhabitants, without water, and without ▼«g«**^ ' such, for example, as the desert of Sthsr^ or^ which is overlooked by the Pyramids, snd vili "" many travellers are fkmiliar. No sadi regfas *■ known to the sacred writers, nor is any sncb •« '*' ferred to in Scripture. It will consequcatiy to ** sary to explain in this article the several wari§«fa|* our translators have rendered "desert," ■"***^ that, as used in the historical books, they (fcfi**^ nite localities. See Topographical Tun