A half-truth is the most dangerous, because it is the most seductive form of delusion. The moiety of truth which is present usually precludes the suspicion of de- ception. Such a half-truth was Malebranche's devout imagination of the vision of the universe in the divine mind. It was, however unwittingly to himself, the Pan- theism of Spinoza, contemplated from a different point of view, and disguised by a brilliant but very translu- cent veil. It is an indubitable, because it is a revealed truth, that " in God we live, and move, and have our being ;" that " there is a spirit in man, and the inspira- tion of the Almighty giveth them understanding;" that '•the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometli knowledge and understanding ;" but how this quicken- ing and illuminating power of the Almighty is so exer- cised as not to infringe upon the independent action of the human mind, and the free agency of the human Avill, is one of the most bewildering problems of tran- scendental speculation. Our finite capacities can attain a definite solution only by a violent severance of the tiordian knot, and mutilation of the truth. We may throw aside one half, and accept the other half as com- plete and exclusive, thus welcoming Fatalism on the one side, and Pantheism, in all the various shades of idealis- tic subtlety, on the other. That every moment of our continuous existence must be ascril)ed to the uninter- mittent support of the original creating power; that all our thoughts and actions, and our capacity for thought and action, recjuire the same upholding agency ; that this is the divine action of grace on our will and con- science ; the divine guidance and providence in shaping our ends and the issues of our conduct ; the divine impulse and irradiation in our best decisions, and in our intuitive apprehensions of recondite truths — these are positions earnesth^ entertained and asserted by the clear- est and strongest thinkers, of all schools and vocations, in every age. A cloud of witnesses to these conclusions might be summoned, more numerous than those con- voked by Sir William Hamilton in support of the doc- trine of common-sense, and rendering much less ques- tionable testimony. " Omnis sapientia a Domino Deo est ;" " a Deo projecta et sapientia" (Ecclus. i, 1 ; xv, 10). "Mihi autem Deus dedit dicere ex sententia. et prKsu- mere digna horum qu;B mihi dantur: quoniam ipse sa- pientise dux est et sapientiam emendatur. In manu enira illius et nos et sermones nostri, et omnis sapientia, et operum scientia, et disciplina. Ipse enim dedit mihi horum qu.-B sunt scientiam veram" (Wisd. vii, 15-17). " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." " Nemo vir magniis sine aliquo afflatu divino umquam fuit" (Cicero, De Xat. Deor. ii,lxvi, § 167). This tenet may have been borrowed by Cicero from Plato, or even from Homer, but it has been recently approved liy Whewell, Pilackie, and Dallas. " Sacer intra nos spiritus sedet; malorum bonorumque nostrorum observator et custos. I lie, jirout a nobis tractatus est, ita nos ipse tractat. 15onns vero vir sine deo nemo est; an potuit aliquis su- pra fortunam nisi ab illo adjustus exsurgere? Ille dat consilia magnifica et erecta. In unoquoqiie virorum bo- norum, quis deus incertum est, habitat deus" (Seneca, Episf. Mor. iv, xii [xlii], § 2). Similar declarations are to be found in Thales. Democritus. Plato, Proclus, Plo- tinus, and a very remarkaljle one in Clemens Alexan- drinus (iStromat. v, 14). S. Augustin says, •• Initium ergo ejus figmentum est Dei : non enim est uUa natura etiam iu extremis iufimisque vestiolis, quam non ille constituit,
MALEBRANCHE
682
MALEBRANCHE
a quo c?t omnis modus, omnis species, omnis ordo ; sine quibiis nihil rerum inveniri vcl cogitari potest" {De Civ. Jhi, xi, xv). The thesis has been amply commented upon, elucidated and expanded, by S. Thomas Aquinas, Ilenrv of Ghent, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and the bet- ter liidt'of the schoolmen. It is eontirmed by lord Ba- con, John INIillin, bishop Berkeley, and many of the most distinguished modems, out of Germany as well as in that land of golden mists. " In this, at once most com- prehensive and most appropriate acceptation of the -word, reason is pre-eminently spiritual, and a spirit, even our spirit, through an effluence of the same grace by which we are privileged to sa.y, Our Father" (Coleridge, .4 k/s io Rejiectiort) ; and the same author cites with approval 3 still stronger utterance to the like effect from that easih' distinguishable personage, John Smith, 1G60.
Leibnitz might well say that Malebranche's doctrine was no novelty. It was, indeed, both viry old and very generally accredited, but in a form and with an applica- tion widely diiferent from what was contemplated by him in its new presentation. The long citation of the evidences of its general acceptance — and not the tenth part accessible has been given — may be pardoned as be- ing necessary to exhibit its familiarity to the greatest intellects, and its inclusion of actual and important truth. The doctrine is true, but it is most perilous. It must be received with habitual caution, and with most circum- spect limitations. It rims along a sharp crest, with precipices on either hand stretching sheer down into unfathomable abysses. On this narrow path, at this giddy elevation, INIalebranche was unable to preser\-e his balance, however pure and lofty was his design. His speculation topples over into the yawning gulf of Pan- theism, and is distinguished from Spinozism rather by its motive and spirit than by its tendency or result. "The vision of all things in Gdd" becomes a new be- cause a changed doctrine in the hands of the philosoph- ical Jesuit. He is carried away from all safe landmarks by his own noble but misguiding enthusiasm, and justi- fies the censure of Brucker, "non multum ab enthusias- mo, vel etiam a Quackerorum illuminatione immediata abesse videtur."