Descartes
The inauguration of the statue of Descartes took place on Sunday last, the 12th of September, at Tours. A grand cortege was formed of the civil and military authorities, which proceeded from the Hotel de Ville to the place where the statue had been erected, and where tribunes had been constructed for their accommodation. A great number of strangers were present, among whom was the Count de Nieuwerkerke, to whose talent the statue is due. The removal of the covering was the signal for an immense burst of acclamation from the thousands assembled.
Among the many thousand spectators who assembled to witness this august ceremony, how many cared or knew aught about the principle of the Cartesian Philosophy ? There is more in posthumous fame than we had supposed;?we shall hear of statues being yet inaugurated to the memories of Plato and Aristotle. The good people of Tours wish to astonish the psychologists of Europe. Doubtless the inscription at the foot of the figure will be non cogito ergo sum,?an excellent text, which might lead us into a vortex of metaphysical disquisition!
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.