The mathematical method of Wolf has
been a severe blow to orthodoxy, and it was but partially counteracted
by the work of Pietism. But the influence of that copyist of Leibnitz is
only of a piece with the impression made upon theology and faith by
every respectable innovation in philosophy. But Kant threw all others in
the shade. He was the agent of a change in philosophical thinking, which
was destined not only to reform the old systems of Germany, but to wield
a universal power over modern thought. He had looked to England for his
masters, and succeeded in gaining a thorough acquaintance with the grave
skepticism of Hume and kindred minds. He shut himself up in his native
Koenigsberg, and, in all his life, never traveled more than thirty miles
therefrom. He had the memory of a pious Christian mother ever present to
him, and no one can conjecture the probable influence that her example
exerted upon his mental processes. The astute philosopher wrote of her
with the deepest feeling of his nature when he said, "My mother was an
amiable, sensitive, pious, and devoted woman, who taught her children
the fear of God by her godly teachings and spotless life.
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