in those reasonings which the
philosopher makes in his study, upon speculations which produce no
effect, and which are of no consequence to him, except perhaps that he
will be more vain of them the more remote they are from common-sense,
because he would then have been forced to employ more ingenuity and
subtlety to render them plausible."

For many years he led a roving, unsettled life; now serving in the army,
now making a tour, now studying mathematics in solitude, now conversing
with scientific men. One constant purpose gave unity to those various
pursuits. He was elaborating his answers to the questions which
perplexed him; he was preparing his method.

When only twenty-three he conceived the design of a reformation in
philosophy. He was at that time residing in his winter quarters at
Neuburg, on the Danube. His travels soon afterward commenced, and at the
age of thirty-three he retired into Holland, there in silence and
solitude to arrange his thoughts into a consistent whole. He remained
there eight years; and so completely did he shut himself from the world
that he concealed from his friends the very place of his residence.

When the results of this meditative solitude were given to the world in
the shape of his celebrated _Discourse on Method_, and his
_Meditations_--to which he invented replies--the sensation produced was
immense. It was evident to all men that an original thinker had arisen;
and although this originality could not but rouse much opposition, from
the very fact of being original, yet Descartes gained the day. His name
became European. His controversies were European quarrels. Charles I of
England invited him over, with the promise of a liberal appointment; and
the invitation would probably have been accepted had not the civil war
broken out. He afterward received a flattering invitation from Christina
of Sweden, who had read some of his works with great satisfaction, and
wished to learn from himself the principles of his philosophy.

He accepted it, and arrived in Stockholm in 1649. His reception was most
gratifying, and the Queen was so pleased with him as earnestly to beg
him to remain with her, and give his assistance toward the establishment
of an academy of sciences. But the delicate frame of Descartes was ill
fitted for the severity of the climate, and a cold, caught in one of his
morning visits to Christina, produced inflammation of the lungs, which
carried him off.

Christina wept