Roman politics, created a new conception of humanity, and exerted an important influence upon Marlowe and Shakespeare, as well as upon Hobbes and Spinoza. He was the first to bring the Roman conception of imperialism into relation with the new conditions of the modern peoples. He prepared the way for Montaigne, whose importance in the transformation of thought from the mediæval to the modern point of view is most important. His Essais are permeated with the thought of the moral independence of the individual. In his spiritual disposition, and in his attitude towards life, he is the prototype of Descartes, whom he influenced in many particulars.
On the death of Mersenne in 1648, the mathematician Roherval seized as many of his papers as he could, and among them, the letters written to him by Descartes. These were found after his death by Lahire, and handed over to Legrand, who was then preparing a complete edition of the works of Descartes. Legrand made some notes comparing this collection with the originals which were in his hand. These annotations show that there were at least eighty-two letters in this collection, of which fifty-three are identified with those previously published by Clerselier. Legrand seems to have had the manuscripts for five more in his hands; so there were then, at least, twenty-four unedited. He did not live, however, to carry out his project of publication, and the collection was placed in the Archives of the Academy of Sciences. During the first revolution it was inventoried by Arbogast, and in 1839 was stolen by Libri, who pretended that he had acquired it lawfully with certain papers of Arbogast. In a part of the Ashburnham Collection which was returned to France in 1888, there were discovered several letters of Descartes, nine of which were unedited. These are now published in the Archiv. It is clear that of the letters stolen by Libri, there are still at least fifteen unedited. T. appeals to lovers of philosophy to attempt to discover these letters, and publish them in the Archiv, in order that it may be possible to undertake a complete edition of D.'s works. He also publishes, in addition to the nine letters, two fragments which belong to the third letter of Clerselier.
