Chapter VIII: Part 8

There are ideas which appear contrary to reason, only because we cannot perceive them in one point of view; and we discover this truth, not only in considering things which are foreign to our nature, but when we turn our attention on the events which come daily under our inspection. Why do we then suppose, that we can comprehend the most grand and noble thoughts? Is it consistent with the idea of an Infinite Power that we refuse to credit the existence of infinite goodness? Is it consistent with the idea of Infinite Wisdom that we will not admit the existence of Omnipotence? Nay more, is it consistent with the idea of infinite chances that we imagine the absurd systems concerning the formation of the world? We use infinity for every thing, except to place above us an intelligence, whose properties and essence our reason cannot determine.

We are lost in a boundless uncertainty, when we try to go beyond the limits of human powers. Thus, after having collected all the forces of our souls, to enable us to penetrate the existence of a God, we ought not to exhaust ourselves in subtleties, vainly endeavouring to conceive in a just acceptation, and under evident relations, various attributes of an Infinite Being, who has chosen to make himself known to us in a certain measure, and under certain forms; and it is too much to require of the worshippers of God, to defend themselves against those who contest his existence, and dispute about the nature of his perfections. I am far from supposing any obstacle to the execution of his will; but I should be full of the same religious sentiments, if I knew that there existed order and laws in the nature of things, which the Divine Power has a faculty of modifying, and that it cannot entirely destroy. I should not less adore the Supreme Being, if, at the same time, his various attributes were in constant union, it was nevertheless, by degrees, that he produced happiness; I should silently respect the secrets which would escape my penetration, and wait with respectful submission, till the clouds were dissipated which still surrounded me. What then! always in ignorance and obscurity? Yes, always: such is the condition of men, when they wish to go beyond the limits traced by the immutable laws of nature; but the grand truths which we can easily perceive are sufficient to regulate our conduct, and afford us comfort. That there is a God, every thing indicates and loudly announces; but I cannot discover either the mysteries of his essence, or the intimate connection of his various perfections. I plainly see in a crowd the monarch encircled by his guards; I know his laws, I enjoy the order he has prescribed; but I assist not at his councils, and am a stranger to his deliberations. I even perceive, that an impenetrable veil separates me from the designs of the Supreme Being, and I do not undertake to trace them; I commit myself with confidence to the protection of that Being whom I believe good and great, as I would rely on the guidance of a friend during a dark night; and whilst I have my foot in the abyss, I will depend on Him to snatch me from the danger and calm my terrors.

If we might be allowed the comparison, we should say, that God is like the sun, which we cannot stedfastly gaze at; but throwing our eyes down, we perceive its rays and the beauties it spreads around. However, men who, either through a mistrust of their understanding, or the nature of it, have only by their reverence an intercourse with God, feel most forcibly the impression of his grandeur; as it is at the extremity of the lever that we strongly experience its power.

We consider the general assent of nations and ages, in the opinion of the existence of a God, as a remarkable presumption in favour of that opinion; but such a proof would lose part of its force, if we, in time, regarded as a kind of moral phœnomenon, the relation which all men may have with an idea so sublime, notwithstanding the visible disparity which exists between their different degrees of understanding and knowledge; and this observation should lead to a thought, that in the midst of the clouds, which obscure the idea of a God, sensibility becomes our best guide: it seems the most innate part of ourselves, and in this respect to communicate, in the most intimate manner, with the Author of our Nature.

The sight advances before our other senses, the imagination goes beyond it; but as it is obliged to trace its own path, sensibility, which bounds over all, goes still further.

The reasoner, in his efforts to attain to profound metaphysical truths, forms a chain whose links rather follow each other, than are joined: the mind of man not being sufficiently subtle, and extended, cannot always unite exactly that infinite multitude of ideas which crowd at the determination of our meditations; sensibility is then the best calculated to conceive the sublime truth, which not being composed of parts, is not susceptible of section, and can only be comprehended in its unity. Thus, whilst the mind often wanders in vain speculations, and loses itself in metaphysical labyrinths, the idea of a Supreme Being is impressed, without effort, in a simple heart, which is still under the influence of nature: thus, the man of feeling, as well as the intelligent man, announces a Supreme Being, whom we cannot discover without loving; and this union of all the faculties of the soul towards the same idea, this emotion, which resembles a kind of instinct, ought to be connected with a first cause; as there is for every thing a first model.

It is, perhaps, also the confused sentiment of that first model, which leads us to religion, when we see a virtuous man. Men, with their fatal systems, would alter and annihilate every thing, but the comfortable hopes and thoughts which arise from a profound and rational admiration, will still resist that destruction. They vainly wish to make us consider such a sentiment as the simple play of blind matter, whilst all within us seems to invite us to search for a more noble origin. And how can we avoid seeing, in these great qualities of men, nobleness of soul, elevation of genius, expansion of heart, love of order, and interesting goodness; how avoid seeing, in this rich picture, the reflection of a celestial light, and concluding from it, that there is somewhere a first intelligence. Do rays exist without a centre of light? I know not, but hurried away by these reflections, I sometimes think, innate goodness, which we admire as the first rank in the scale of intelligent beings, in a more immediate manner, leads to the knowledge of the Author of nature; and when this innate morality is found united in some persons with a presentiment of the Divine Nature, there is, in this agreement, a charm which impresses us; a kind of unknown character which attracts our respect: as every tender and sublime thought is roused by the idea which we form of the souls of Socrates and Fenelon.

At the same time, actuated by similar sentiments we experience a painful emotion, when we are informed, that there exist men, enemies to all these ideas; men, who had rather debase themselves and humanity, by attributing their origin to chance, than resolve to consider the spiritual faculties which they enjoy as a faint sketch of the sovereign intelligence. Thus, instead of employing their minds to lend some force to these comfortable truths, or, at least probabilities so dear, they, on the contrary, dispute their realty, and seek to embarrass by sophistry, the doctrines which tend to fortify the first dispositions of our nature: we see the materialists, rather then elevate themselves, drag us with them from happiness and hope; they only grant eternity to the dust, out of which, they say, we sprung. What honour, however, can they derive from those more enlightened views which they boast of, if they are only the result of a growth similar to that of plants; and if our spiritual faculties, so far from being lost, in some measure, in the infinite intelligence, so far from being united to a grand destiny, are only associated to this frail structure, which is every day, every hour, exposed to various dangers. What credit should we derive from these faculties, if they only enabled us to describe, with precision, the almost imperceptible circle of time, in which we live and die: if they only served to raise us above our equals during that short moment of life, which is hastening to lose itself in endless ages, as a light vapour in the immensity of air? How can you speak with delight of fame and promotion, when you voluntarily renounce the grandeur arising from the most noble origin? You are proud of the celebrity of your country, the renown of your families, and the only glory you desire not partake, is that which ennobles the whole human race!

In short, I would ask, by what strange error of the imagination it is, that in meditating on the existence of a God, men do not go further than to doubt it; since to support, to guide our judgment, we have only an understanding whose weakness we continually experience; since it is capable of gradual improvement, as knowledge is perpetually accumulating? There exists not any proportion between the measure of our knowledge and the unbounded extent which is displayed before us; there is not any between the union of all our powers and the profound mysteries of nature: how then shall we dare to say, that men are arrived at the pinnacle of knowledge, and that in the endless ages to come, there will never break forth a more penetrating faculty than our weak reason?

However, were men even to lose the hope of advancing one step in metaphysical researches; and persisted to declare insufficient and imperfect the various proofs of the existence of a God; it is not to be contested, that all other systems are surrounded with still greater obscurity, and they would only have a doubt as the result of their reasoning. But have they ever reflected on the influence a simple doubt has, when that doubt is applied to an idea, whose relations are without bounds? Let us try to represent an equal probability in a circumstance which only concerns the interests of this transitory life, and we shall soon see what force the same degree of probability would have in the immensurable relations of the finite to the infinite. Thus, not only an uncertainty, but the slightest presumption of the existence of a God, would, in the estimation of sound reason, be a sufficient foundation for religion and morality. Yes, we might thus humbly pray, though depressed by doubt:—O Thou God who art unknown! sovereign goodness whose image is stamped on our hearts—if Thou existest, if Thou art Lord of this magnificent universe, deign to accept our love and humble homage.——

Undoubtedly, these thoughts are sufficient to inspire with respect and fear beings ignorant of their origin, who have so little to sacrifice and so much to desire, who, on account of their extreme weakness, cannot relinquish some hopes, and must attach themselves to a fixed and predominate idea, which may serve as an anchor in the midst of the inconsistencies and agitations of their minds.

It is, perhaps, because the time when every thing will be explained, is still far distant, that many exaggerate their doubts, and often confound them with a decided incredulity. I form to my imagination, a solemn period, when the inhabitants of the earth will be instructed in the mysteries of their nature and the secrets of futurity; and that some signal phœnomenon will mark the awful day proper to fix our attention; and I am intimately persuaded, that, in such a moment, the men most indifferent about religion will appear dismayed, and even recognize that what they took for conviction, was but a wavering opinion, only supported by self-love and a desire of distinction.

At the same time that I form this judgment of the pretended incredulity of several persons, I will venture a reflection of a different kind: it is, that superficial faith in the existence of God, and the opinions which depend on it, is not equivalent in effect to doubt retained in proper bounds; and perhaps, if these bounds were determined, the belief of one class of society would be less wavering.

I anticipate another objection; those doubts, some may say, those doubts which so many men cannot smother, are they not an argument against the existence of a God? for a Powerful Being, such as we suppose Him, could have inspired a general confidence in that noble truth; He needed not to have recourse to supernatural means; His will was sufficient. I confess, that we can easily add, in imagination, several degrees to our knowledge and happiness; but that condition of our nature, of which the cause is unknown, can never be contrary to the idea of the existence of a God: all is limited in our physical properties and in our moral faculties; but within these confines we see the work of a Supreme Intelligence, and we discover every instant the traces of a divine hand, sufficiently obvious to direct our opinions. Unstable reasoning, concerning what we should be, can never weaken the distinct consequences which arise from what we are.

When the Laplander, in his cave, hears by chance the distant echo of thunder, he says, that _God still lives on the high mountain_; and, is it in the very bosom of munificent blessings, with the light of philosophy, that men would wish to reject the idea of the existence of a Supreme Being? What an abuse of reason! Infinity ought to overwhelm the most vigorous and enlightened understanding, make the wise man timid in his judgment, and inform him what he is; can man do better than give way to the admiration the view of so many incomprehensible wonders must necessarily inspire, and with fervour seize that chain of miracles which seem to promise to lead to the knowledge of the Creator of them? Can he be more nobly employed, than in tracing an opinion, not only the most probable, but the most grand and interesting? Alas! if we should ever lose it—the idea is not to be endured; clouds and thick darkness would, overwhelm the feelings which seem to dart before our reason, to explore the unknown country we pant after, and a melancholy and eternal silence would appear to surround all nature: we should call for a comforter, implore protection—but where is it to be found? We should search for hope, but it is for ever fled—Alas! this is not all, a terrific thought strikes me, I hesitate a moment to communicate it; yet, it seems to me, that we lend new force to religious opinions, when we demonstrate, by various ways, that the principles which destroy those opinions lead to a result contrary to our nature. I will then conclude this chapter by a reflection of serious importance.

If there is not a God, if this world and the whole universe was only the production of chance or nature itself, subsisting from all eternity; and if this nature, void of consciousness, had not any guide or superior; in short, if all its movements were the necessary effect of a property ever concealed in its essence, a terrible thought would alarm our imagination: we should not only renounce the hopes which enliven life, we should not only see continually advancing towards us the image of death and annihilation, these dreadful anticipations would not be all—an uncertain cause of fear would trouble the mind. In fact, the revolutions of a blind nature being more obscure than the designs of an Intelligent Being, it would be impossible to discover on what base, in the universe, reposed the destiny of men; impossible to foresee whether, by some one of the laws of that imperious nature, intelligent beings are devoted to perish irrevocably, or revive under some other form; if they are to stumble on new pleasures, or suffer eternally: life and death, happiness and misery, may belong indifferently to a nature whose movements are not directed by any intelligence, are not connected by any moral idea, but solely dependent on a blind property, which is represented by that word, terrible and inexplicable _necessity_. A like nature would resemble the rocks to which Prometheus was bound, that were equally insensible to the agonizing groans of the wretch, and to the joy of the vultures who preyed on his vitals.

Thus, in a like system, nothing would be able to fix our opinion with respect to futurity, and guard the sensible part of ourselves from yielding to some unknown force: in short, can we reply without trembling? nothing,—and of course eternal torments might accidentally become our portion.

The momentary experience of life might, perhaps, inspire us with a kind of tranquillity; but what is that in immensity, but calculations founded on the observance of a short interval? What is that hope which only a fleeting moment gives weight to? It is as if the fluttering insect, which lives but a day, should consider it as a representation of the eternal condition of the universe. The mixture of pains and pleasures, to which men are subject on earth, is not a certain proof of what may happen in other times and places; for unity, equality, and analogy, all those sources of probability, and principles to judge from, are connected with general ideas of order and harmony, but those ideas are not applicable to a nature subject to necessity.

We have some difficulty to assure ourselves of the designs of a Supreme Being: however, by a kind of analogy we shall be able to form an idea of the divine will; and our minds, our feelings, and virtues, all aid us in the search; but were we sprung from an insensible nature, we should not have any connection with the different parts of its immense extent, and the attentive study of our moral constitution would not throw a light on the various revolutions of which the material world is susceptible. We should only discover, that there would be much less reason to oppose, in imagination, limits to the varied movements of a nature without a guide, than to circumscribe, in some manner, the actions of an Omnipotent Being, whose other attributes are also infinite; for the ideas of order, justice, and goodness, which arise from a knowledge of His perfections, seem to trace a circle in the midst of infinity, which the mind of man may perceive. Yes, these ideas subject a great space to our contemplations; but what advantage is there in trying to be acquainted with the mysteries of an insensible nature, or to penetrate the secret of the motion impressed by blind necessity?

Let me repeat it then, as a termination to these reflections; all would be obscure, all mere chance in the fate of man, if we did not attribute the disposition and preservation of the world to the omnipotent will of an Intelligent Being, whose perfections our feelings and thoughts faintly represent.

In short, when even in the system of the eternity of nature, men were assured that death destroys individuality, and were they even able to drive away the idea of the continuation or renewal of it, by any sentiment or remembrance; would it be evident, that we should be absolutely indifferent about the torments rational beings may endure in that space which is represented by the idea of infinity and eternity? The metaphysical idea, which determines us to place our consciousness on that imperceptible and mysterious point, which unites our present thoughts to the past, and our actual sentiments to our hopes and fears; this thought is not sufficient to make us regardless of our fate, or render us indifferent to the unknown effects which may result from the revolutions of a nature, which we are not acquainted with: the anxieties and troubles of the beings who are to live in the ages yet unborn, do not interest us as belonging to any particular person; however, we have, for those abstract misfortunes, in this instance, a sympathy which escapes reasoning.

I agree, that in the system of undirected nature, happiness or misery, transitory or without end, have the same degree of probability: but what a terrifying resemblance! Can we undismayed consider such a chance?

How happens it then, that some pretend, that atheism frees us from every kind of terror about futurity? I cannot perceive, that such a conclusion flows from this fatal system. A God, such as my heart delineates, encourages and moderates all my feelings; I say to myself, He is good and indulgent, He knows our weakness, He loves to produce happiness; and I see the advances of death without terror, and often with hope. But every fear would become reasonable, if I lived under the dominion of an insensible nature, whose laws and revolutions are unknown: I seek for some means to escape from its power;—but even death cannot afford me a retreat, or space an asylum. I reflect, if it is possible, to find compassion and goodness; but here is no prime intelligence, no first cause, a blind nature surrounds us, and governs imperiously. I in vain demand, what is to be done with me? it is deaf to my voice. Devoid of will, thought, and feeling, it is governed by an irresistible force, whose motion is a mystery never to be unfolded. What a view for the human mind, to anticipate the destruction of all our primitive ideas of order, justice, and goodness! Shall I further say, when even, in every system, the entrance of the future was unknown, I should be less unhappy and forlorn, if it was to a father, a benefactor, that I committed the deposit of life which I held from him; this last communication with the Master of the World would mitigate my pains; my eyes, when closing, would perceive His power; that I should not lose all, I might still hope that God remained with those I loved, and find some comfort in the thought, that my destiny was united to His will, that my existence and the employments I devoted myself to, formed one of the indelible points of His eternal remembrance; and that the incomprehensible darkness I was going to plunge into, is equally a part of His empire. But when a feeling and elevated soul, which sometimes enjoys a sentiment of its own grandeur, should certainly know, that dragged by a blind motion, it was going to be dissipated, to be scattered in that dreary waste, where all that is most vile on earth is indifferently precipitated; such a thought would blight the noblest actions, and be a continual source of sadness and despondency. Save us from these dreadful reflections, sublime and cherished belief of a God! afford us the courage and comfort we need, and guard our minds, as from fatal phantoms, from all those vain suppositions, those errors of reasoning and metaphysical subtleties, which interpose between man and his Creator! And we, full of confidence in the first lesson of nature, will take for a guide that interior sentiment which is not thought, but something more, which neither reasons nor conjectures; but perhaps forms the closest connexion and most certain communication with those grand truths which the understanding alone can never reach.

CHAP. XV.
_On the Respect that is due from true Philosophy to Religion._

The view of the universe, the reflections of our minds, and the inclinations of our hearts, all concur to strengthen the thought, that there exists a God; and without power to comprehend this Infinite Being, to form a just idea of His essence and perfections, the confused sentiment of his grandeur, and the continual experience of their own weakness, are so many imperious motives, which, in all ages and countries, have impelled men to worship a God. Those natural ideas have acquired new force by the light of revelation; but it is not in a metaphysical work that the authenticity of the Christian religion ought to be discussed; nor could we add much to the doctrines contained in books composed at different periods on this important subject. All discussions which are allied to truths, whose authenticity depends on facts, are necessarily confined within certain bounds; and we are obliged to pursue a beaten track, and run over the same circle, when we enter on such a well-known subject. I shall then confine myself to some general reflections, and make choice of those which are best adapted to the particular genius of the present age, and the modifications which our sentiments receive from predominate opinions; for our judgments, like our impressions, vary with the change which happens insensibly in habits and manners: one age is that of intolerance and bigotry; another of relaxation and indifference, or a contempt of all ancient customs: every century, every generation is distinguished by a general character, a character which we take sometimes for new ideas; whilst it is nothing but the natural effect of exaggeration in our preceding opinions. Men are subject to moral laws, similar in several respects to mechanical rules; and with all their knowledge and pride, they remind us of those children, who, placed at the extremity of a long balance, rise and fall successively. They can only be fixed by moderate sentiments, which are sustained by their own force; any other has a borrowed action, and this action is never in perfect equilibrium with truth.

It is in the nature of revelation to appear less evident to the mind, in proportion as the proofs of its authenticity are distant; and if, among the dogmas united to a religious doctrine, some one contains a mystic sense; if, among the forms of worship adopted, some one is not consonant with the simple and majestic idea which we ought to have of the Master of the World; it would not be extraordinary that this religious institution, considered in its different parts, should give birth to controversies; and we should not be exasperated against those, who, after having faithfully examined, still have some doubts. It is in proportion to the extent of our understanding that God has thought fit to manifest Himself to us; thus, the exertion of those faculties of the mind cannot be displeasing to Him. But reason left to itself, and even when improved by philosophy, should, by no means, lead men to any kind of contempt for religious worship in general, or any of the particular opinions of which Christianity is the support. Any doctrine which leads to the adoration of the God of the universe is worthy of the respect of His creatures: thus, persons most disposed to contest the authenticity of the sacred books, ought still to love precepts which seem to come to the aid of the human mind, in order to assist men in the last efforts which they make to know more of God; as the friendly bark, offered to the forlorn wretch struggling on the surface of the immense waste of waters, on which his feeble hands have vainly endeavoured to support him.

We cannot but have discovered, that the sentiments of gratitude and respect which inspire men, the most capable of reflection, with the idea of a God, are intimately connected with the Christian doctrines, such as we find them in the New Testament; and in those moments, when, with the desire of happiness, and the timidity which belongs to our nature, we seek to unite our littleness to supreme grandeur, and our extreme weakness to Omnipotence, the divine perfections which the gospel delineates encourage our hopes and dissipate our fears; religion shows us all that we have need of in our miserable condition, a sovereign goodness, an inexhaustible compassion: thus then, the last link of the Christian faith, like the termination of the deepest meditations, reaches the same conclusion; and religion agrees with philosophy, in the moment when it is most elevated.

However, the Christian and the Deist unite, in some manner, in the ultimate tendency of their thoughts; they meet when they throw their attention on civil society, and when they seek to determine the duties of men; for a wise man must ever pay homage to the morality of the gospel, and the philosopher could not have imagined a more reasonable system, or one more conformable to our situation[6]. If it is then true, that opinions, in appearance opposite, approach, at their extremities; and if it is true, that the adoration of a God, and respect for morality, form by uniting, the circle of evangelical doctrines, it very little concerns the reasonable philosopher, that the Christian faith is placed between those two grand ideas; if he thinks he can himself explore the space which separates man from his Creator, for what reason would he condemn with bitterness the sentiments of those who are attached to the comfortable system of intercession and redemption, of which Christianity has laid the foundation?

In short, were they even not to agree in every opinion with the interpreters of the Christian doctrine, this would not be a sufficient reason for breaking the religious alliance which ought to subsist amongst men; an alliance represented and rendered authentic, in every nation, by the public worship which has been made choice of by the government. What idea then should we have of the genius or the abilities of a philosopher, who, at the sight of the ceremonies of the public worship which disgust him, could not rise above them, so as to consider them, in some measure, as the atmosphere of religious opinions, which turning his attention from the importance of those opinions, could not preserve, at least, some respect for all the dependencies of the most sublime and salutary thought? It is easy, however, to perceive, that, for the generality of men, the duties of morality, religion, and all the exterior homage rendered to the Deity, compose a whole so closely connected, that the basis is in danger when the outworks are attacked. The imagination of the vulgar cannot be guided in the same manner as that of the solitary thinker; and it would be committing a great error, to try to influence the opinions of the generality by the same considerations which are sufficient for the man who profoundly reflects: there is a system proportionate to the different faculties of intelligent beings, as there is one applicable to the varied forces of their physical nature.

I know nothing more dangerous, than the inconsiderate censures of those religious ceremonies received and respected in the country we live in: some do not think that they are acting wrong when they speak slightingly of the various symbols of public worship; yet, if they attentively observed the kind of minds, and the first habits of the greater part of those to whom they address such discourses, they would know how easy it is to wound them in the sentiment which is the source of all their tranquility, and the safeguard of their moral conduct. The deliverer of Switzerland struck off with one of his arrows an apple placed on the head of his only son; but every one cannot expect to be so fortunate.

Some would contradict these assertions, by saying, that celebrated men have occasioned rapid changes in the church of Rome without weakening religion. The origin, the circumstances, and the result of a revolution so marked in history, has not any connexion with the present question; the reformers of the sixteenth century, preaching a new doctrine, openly professed religious zeal and a fervent piety: thus, at the same time that they disapproved of a part of the established worship, they more rigidly recommended all the fundamental opinions of Christianity, and sought to introduce a severity of manners which even extended to the proscription of several indulgences that had not been before condemned: and, in fact, if the new doctrines had not been united to the greatest respect for the essential principles of the Christian religion, they never would have had so many followers.

They cannot then establish any kind of comparison between the censures poured forth by the reformers, and the ridicule or contempt of those who now insult our most respectable opinions; those men, who at present abound, are sometimes excited by a libertinism of mind and conduct, by self-love or the enthusiasm of false philosophy, and some of them are seduced by an air of superiority, attached to the principles which they themselves institute. There is a great difference between the grave and serious course of the reformers, and the various evolutions of the active opponents of religion: the latter do not take care to stop at clearing up a point of doctrine, or a disputed interpretation of some dogma; it is religion itself that they wish to attack, and if they begin with the outworks, it is in order to undermine it; they take skilfully their post, and know when to have recourse to a tone of pleasantry; which is very dangerous, as it gives an air of confidence to those who employ it, and they obtain a kind of ascendency in avoiding every idea of an equal combat: one is disposed to think, that it is by disdain that they glance slightly over the subject; we cowardly submit to the appearance of their superiority; and that which is in them weakness or impotence gives consequence.

Men, in order to express their gratitude to the sovereign Master of the World, must borrow from their imaginations every thing grand and majestic: thus, when they detach from those reverential signs the ideas that they represented and preserve, they only display a vain gravity, a chimerical pomp; and it is easy to make a similar contrast a subject of ridicule; but in acting thus, far from making us applaud their talents, they insult, without any sense, the habit most men have acquired of venerating, on the whole, every system of worship paid the Supreme Being.

Nevertheless, the bold and frivolous discourses which are permitted against religion in general, have made such a progress, that at present the persons who most respect these opinions, without ostentation or severity, find themselves obliged to conceal or moderate their sentiments, lest they should be exposed to a kind of contemptuous pity, or run the risk of being suspected of hypocrisy. We are at liberty to speak on every subject, except the most grand and interesting which can occupy men. What strange authority gave rise to this imperious legislation, which is termed fashionable? What a miserable conspiracy, that of weakness against Omnipotence! Men are proud of knowing at what hour the king wakes, goes to the chace, or returns; they are very eager to be informed of the vile intrigues which successively debase or exalt his courtiers; they pass, in short, their whole lives in panting after objects of vanity and badges of slavery; they are continually brought into conversation; and they proscribe, under the dreadful name of vulgarity, the most remote expression, which would recal the idea of the harmonious universe, and the Being who has bestowed on us all the gifts of the mind; what is most excellent in our nature we overlook, to dwell only on the inflations of vanity. Ungrateful that we are! Our intelligence, our will, all our senses, are the seal of an unknown power; and, is it the name of our Master and Benefactor that we dare not pronounce? it is from your modern philosophers that this false shame arises; you, who spread derision over the most respectable sentiments, and employing in the dispute the frivolous shafts of ridicule, have given confidence to the most insignificant of men; you have, for your followers, a numerous race, which is taken promiscuously from every rank and age.

We now reckon, amongst those who oppose a contemptuous smile to religious opinions, a multitude of young people, often incapable of supporting the most trivial arguments, and who, perhaps, could not connect two or three abstract propositions. These pretended philosophers artfully, and almost perfidiously, take advantage of the first flight of self-love, to persuade beginners, that they are able to judge at a glance, of the serious questions which have eluded the penetration of the most exercised thinkers: in short, such is in general the decisive tone of the irreligious men of our age, that in hearing them so boldly murmur about the disorders of the universe, and the mistakes of Providence; we are only surprised to see how much they differ in stature from those rebellious giants mentioned in the heathen mythology.

I believe, however, that if contempt for religious opinions did not produce a striking contrast, those who profess to feel this contempt would quickly adopt other sentiments; they only superficially attend to the pernicious tendency of their maxims, whilst they believe themselves still in the opposition; but if they ever obtained a majority, not having then the spur of self-love, they would soon discover the absurdity of their principles, and hastily throw them aside.

There are, undoubtedly, a great number of estimable persons, who highly value the truths and precepts of religion, yet are a prey to doubt and uncertainty, and who become the first victims of the inconsistencies of their minds; but men of such a character do not aim at dominion, on the contrary, they rather wish to be confirmed by the example of those whose confidence is more assured; they would consider with interest the sentiments that unfortunately have made too slight an impression on them; and they would endeavour to strengthen their weak hopes, till they reached the courageous persuasion which inspires the Christian:——yes, even the enthusiasm of piety excites their envy, as it is more delightful to yield to the emotions of a lively imagination, than to struggle with apathy against the opinions calculated to diffuse happiness. Thus, if amongst the number of persons that I have just delineated, there were some to whom nature had granted superior talents, wit or eloquence, they would carefully avoid exerting them to disturb the repose of those peaceable souls who calmly rely on religion, and receive all their consolation from that source. A wise man never permits himself to spread sadness and discouragement, in order to gratify the ridiculous vanity of exalting himself a little above common opinions, or to show his abilities by making some ingenious distinctions concerning particular parts of the established religion; in the same manner, as it would be the height of folly to stop an army during its march, to discriminate systematically the perfect justness of the different tones of the warlike instruments of music. The bold and frivolous opinions of several philosophers, have appeared to me to be weak, where they most wish to rise; I mean, in the extent and loftiness of their views.

I need not speak to those who deny even the existence of a God. Alas! if they are so unhappy as to shut their eyes, and not to admit this resplendant light; if they have a soul so insensible, as not to be affected with the comfortable truths which flow from such a noble thought; if they are become deaf to the interesting voice of nature; if they trust more to their weak reasoning, than the warnings of conscience and sensibility; at least, let them not spread their disastrous doctrine, which, like the head of Medusa, would transform every thing into stone. Let them remove from us that frightful monster, or let his hoarse hissing be only heard in the dreary solitude, of which their heart presents the idea; let them spare the human race, and have pity on the distress into which they would be plunged, if the mild light, which serves to guide them, were ever to be obscured: in short, if they really believe that morality can agree with atheism, let them give the first proof of it, by remaining silent; but if they cannot abstain from publishing their opinions, let a remnant of generosity induce them to inform us of their dangerous tendency, by placing in the frontispiece of their works this terrible inscription of Dante’s: _Lasciat’ ogni speranza voi ch’ entrate_.

CHAP. XVI.
_The same Subject continued. Reflections on Intolerance._

The surface of the earth represents to us about the two hundred and fortieth part of the surperfice of the different opaque bodies which revolve round the sun.

The fixed stars are so many suns, which, according to all appearance, serve equally to enlighten and fertilize planets similar to those we are acquainted with.

A famous astronomer[7] has lately discovered fifty thousand new stars in a zone fifteen degrees in length and two in breadth, a space which corresponds with the thirteen hundred and sixty-fourth part of the celestial sphere.

Thus, supposing that we perceive an equal number of stars in every other parallel section of the firmament, the quantity we should be acquainted with would rise to near sixty-nine millions.

And if each of these stars were the centre of a planetary system, resembling the one we inhabit, we should have an idea of the existence of a number of habitable globes, whose extent would be sixteen or seventeen millions of times more considerable than the surface of the earth[8].

However, the ingenious invention which assists us to explore the vaulted firmament is susceptible of new improvement; and even at the period when it may arrive at the greatest perfection, the space which our astronomic knowledge may have taken possession of, will only be a point in the vast extent which our imagination can conceive.

This imagination itself, like all our intellectual faculties, is perhaps only a simple degree of infinite powers; and the images that it presents are but an imperfect sketch of universal existence.

What then becomes of our earth, in the midst of that immensity which the human mind vainly tries to grasp? What is it even now, compared with that number of terrestrial bodies we can calculate or suppose?

Is it then the inhabitants of this grain of sand, is it only a few of them, that have discovered the true mode of worshipping the Creator of so many wonders? Their dwelling is a point in infinite space; the life which they enjoy is but one of the moments which compose eternity; they pass away like a flash of lightning in that course of ages, in which generations after generations are lost. How then dare any of them announce to the present age, and to those to come, that men cannot escape the vengeance of Heaven if they alter one tittle of the Ritual? What an idea they give of the relation established between the God of the universe and the atoms dispersed throughout nature? Let them then raise one of the extremities of that veil which covers so many mysteries, let them consider a moment the wonders on every side, the starry firmament, and the inconceivably dreary immensity which their imagination cannot embrace; and let them judge, if it is by the exterior form of their adoration, the vain pomp of their ceremonies, that this Omnipotent God can distinguish their homage. Is it then, by the pride of our opinions, that we think to reach the Supreme Being? It is more comfortable, more reasonable to believe, that all the inhabitants of the earth have access to His throne, and that we are permitted to raise ourselves to it by a profound sentiment of love and gratitude, as the most sure and intimate relation between man and his Creator.

Undoubtedly it is necessary that public worship should be constantly regulated, and that distinct symbols should be respected, whose essential character ought not to vary, that the sentiments of the generality, so promptly affected by exterior objects, may not be exposed to any alteration; it is necessary that weak minds easily find their way, and that they are not embarrassed with doubt and uncertainty; in short, it is to be desired, that the citizens, united by the same laws and political interests, should be so by the same worship, in order that the sacred band of religion may take them all in; and that principles of education should be maintained and fortified by example. But as morality is the first law of princes, and that always clear and distinct in its motives and instructions, it ought to precede the uncertain combinations of the politician. A government is never permitted to aim at any end by unjust means, let it be ever so desirable; and I believe that this rule is equally adapted to the opinions of men and their rights. It would be possible to conceive a system of distribution, with respect to the fortunes of men, more convenient than any other for the increase of public wealth and the power of the state; but though this knowledge should influence the general conduct of government, it receives no right from its discernment, to arrange according to its will, the situation of every citizen. The same principle has greater force applied to opinions: it is reasonable to seek to direct their course by slow and mild means; but the system of unity, which is certainly most conducive to the happiness of a state, would cease to be good, if, in order to establish that system, violence, or merely constraint, was had recourse to: liberty of thought is the first of rights, and the most respectable dominion is that of conscience.

Some now talk of the union of civil tolerance and religious intolerance; the one protects Protestants in Catholic countries, and Catholics in Protestant countries; and the other would forbid every kind of worship which is not conformable to the institutions of the predominant religion: but upon this plan, if the number of Dissenters was to become considerable, an important part of the nation would be without worship; and the government should not appear indifferent to this, since it is of great importance to mankind to maintain carefully every support of morality.

There is nothing more to be said on intolerance when we consider it in its excess. We all now know what we ought to think of the severities and persecutions which history has transmitted an account of, and we know the opinion we should form of many acts of intolerance and inhumanity which some have for a long time gloried in; and we cannot stifle our indignation at the sight of the faggots that are still lighted round those unhappy wretches scattered over the face of the earth, of whom Jesus Christ himself said, with so much goodness, in the midst of his agonies; _Father forgive them, for they know not what they do_. It is time to abolish for ever those dreadful customs, ignominious remembrance of our ancient phrensies! O God, are these Thy creatures that they dare to torment in Thy name! Is it the work of Thy hand that they sacrifice to Thy glory?—Petty tyrants! ferocious inquisitors! do you expect to obtain the favour of Heaven, with a heart hardened, after mutilating the members and tearing the bosoms of those whom you can only draw to you by a sentiment of pity? whose emotions you are not acquainted with? The God of goodness rejects such offerings—He cannot away with them. Who then will pardon errors, if not men who are continually deceived! Alas! if exactness of judgment, or the perfection of reason, were the only title to divine benevolence, there is not any one who might not cast down his eyes devoid of all hope.

Those who proudly flatter themselves, that they alone know the worship agreeable to the Supreme Being, lose all their claim to our confidence, when, guided by a spirit of intolerance, they depart so visibly from the character which ought to inspire the idea of a God, protector of human weakness. But the absurd attempt to inspire faith by acts of rigour and severity, has been so often and so ably combated, that I shall not dwell on a principle, the truth of which common sense will discover. I shall only make one observation sufficient to intimidate the conscience of inquisitors, and all those who adopt their maxims. The operations of the mind can only be influenced by reasoning, all the designs formed to attain this end by violence are attempts to subvert the belief of the spirituality of the soul, and indirect associations with materialists; for we must believe in the identity of matter and thought to have a right of presuming, that the empire exercised on us by rigorous treatment can have an influence on our opinions; and then we must consider man as a being governed by mechanical laws, to be able to imagine, that with instruments of torture we can excite a sensation, which, by an unknown conduit, might act instead of judgment and the sentiment of persuasion.

It is because, the indignant emotions of a worthy heart are more powerful than the cool arguments of offended reason, that we rise with warmth against intolerance; for without this motive it would only deserve our contempt, as indicating a singular littleness of soul. Who can remember without pity, those dissensions so long maintained, in which men, both weak and blind, united in the name of devotion, actuated by self-love, unintelligible decrees, to some important controversy? All these disputes appear foolish when we coolly examine them; and we have only to consider, abstractedly, those quarrels, to discover all their absurdity.

But as it is only by spreading knowledge and diffusing wholesome precepts that we can hope to cure enthusiasm and intolerance; we ought to be on our guard against the dangerous spirit of indifference, otherwise one evil will be removed only to introduce another equally fatal; when trying to divert men from fanaticism, we destroy the ideas which served as a foundation for religion. There could not subsist any sound opinion or estimable principle, if the different errors which creep round them were torn away by an awkward or violent hand; and is the evil, which continually mixes with the good, became the subject of blind proscription.

Let us loudly acknowledge the benefits which we have received from distinguished writers, who have defended with zeal and energy the cause of toleration; it is an obligation, added to many others, which it is just to acknowledge, that we have received from genius and talents united: but permit us also to observe, that several of those writers have lost a part of the applause due to them, by seeking to depress religion, in order to succeed in their attempt; such a proceeding was unworthy of enlightened philosophers, who more than others ought to assign limits to reason, and never despair of its influence. What should we think, if, amongst those who justly attack the tyranny exercised over conscience, there were some intolerant in the defence of toleration; and if we had reason to reproach them with despising, and sometimes hating those who do not concur with them; and by an inconsiderate imputation of pusillanimity or hypocrisy, make the characters and intentions of those who do not adopt their sentiments appear suspicious? What a strange inconsistency, in a different way, do they not exhibit; forgetting, sometimes, their own opinions, and contradicting, without thinking, their acknowledged incredulity, they raise a clamour about the miseries to which mankind are subject, and display the pretended disorders of the universe, in order, afterwards, to throw an odium on the God whose existence they contest, to ridicule a Providence they do not rely on! One would think, that after having overturned the empire of the Deity, that they might remain the only legislators of the world; they regretted not having any longer a rival, and wished to rebuild the temple they have destroyed, to have again a vain idol to insult. Another inconsistency appears in their asperity against those who resist their dogmas, whilst, in the system of fate, reason does not preserve its empire, and the master, as well as the disciple, are equally subject to the laws of necessity.

To exercise an authority over the mind by the power of eloquence is a great advantage; for such an authority is not confined to any place or time; but to have a right to such an extensive reign, we must renounce fashionable opinions, the counsels of vanity and the instigations of self-love; and be only actuated by that universal and durable interest, the happiness of mankind.

I would not wish to prohibit the wise man or philosopher from treating any subject proper to direct our judgment; for there are abuses and prejudices every where, which we cannot destroy without making a step towards reason and truth; but as there is a philosophy for the thoughts, there is one also for the actions. I indeed wish that men of an enlarged turn of mind, who perceive at a glance the moral order of things, would attack with more caution and moderation, and at a proper season, that which directly relates to the opinions most essential to our happiness; and that a respect for these opinions should be manifest, even when they censure fanaticism and superstition.