ry products
in 1905 was $2,440,917. The municipality owns and operates the
water-works. Cambridge was first settled in 1798 by emigrants from the
island of Guernsey (whence the name of the county); was laid out as a
town in 1806; was incorporated as a village in 1837; and was chartered
as a city in 1893.

CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS, a school of philosophico-religious thinkers which
flourished mainly at Cambridge University in the second half of the 17th
century. The founder was Benjamin Whichcote and the chief members were
Ralph Cudworth, Richard Cumberland, Joseph Glanvill, Henry More and John
Norris (see separate articles). Other less important members were
Nathanael Culverwel (d. 1651?), Theophilus Gale (1628-1678), John
Pordage (1607-1681), George Rust (d. 1670), John Smith (1618-1652) and
John Worthington (1618-1671). They represented liberal thought at the
time and were generally known as Latitudinarians. Their views were due
to a reaction against three main tendencies in contemporary English
thought: the sacerdotalism of Laud and his followers, the obscurantist
sectaries and, most important of all, the doctrines of Hobbes. They
consist chiefly of a reconciliation between reason and religion,
resulting in a generally tolerant spirit. They tend always to mysticism
and the contemplation of things transcendental. In spite of inaccuracy
and the lack of critical capacity in dealing with their authorities both
ancient and modern, the Cambridge Platonists exercised a valuable
influence on English theology and thought in general. Their chief
contributions to thought were Cudworth's theory of the "plastic nature"
of God, More's elaborate mysticism, Norris's appreciation of
Malebranche, Glanvill's conception of scepticism as an aid to Faith,
and, in a less degree, the harmony of Faith and Reason elaborated by
Culverwel. The one doctrine on which they all combined to lay especial
emphasis was the absolute existence of right and wrong quite apart from
the theory of divine authority. Their chief authorities were Plato and
the Neo-platonists (between whom they made no adequate distinction), and
among modern philosophers, Descartes, Malebranche and Boehme. From these
sources they attempted to evolve a philosophy of religion, which would
not only refute the views of Hobbes, but would also free theology
finally from the errors of scholasticism, without plunging it in the
newer dangers of unfettered rationalism (see ETHICS).

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