,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary ,,volume ,i ,by ,,voltaire ,,edition ,,de ,,la ,,pacification ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,voltaire ,a ,,contemporary ,,version ,with ,notes by ,tobias ,smollett1 ,revised and ,modernized ,new ,translations by ,william ,f4 ,fleming1 and an ,introduction by ,oliver ,h4,g4 ,leigh ,a ,,critique ,,and ,,biography ,,by ,,the ,,rt4 ,,hon4 ,,john ,,morley ,,forty-,,three ,,volumes ,one hundred and sixty-eight designs1 comprising reproductions of rare old engravings1 steel plates1 photogravures1 and curious fac-similes ,,volume ,v ,e4,r4 ,du,m,o,n,t ,,paris--,,london--,,new ,,york--,,chicago #aija ,the ,,works of ,,voltaire ,between two servants of ,humanity1 who appeared eighteen hundred years apart1 there is a mysterious relation4 99 99 99 99 ,let us say it with a sentiment of profound respect3 ,,jesus ,,wept3 ,,voltaire ,,smiled4 ,of that divine tear and of that human smile is composed the sweetness of the present civilization4 ,,victor ,,hugo4 ,illustration3 ,voltaire at the age of thirty ,,list ,,of ,,plates--,,vol4 ,i ,,voltaire ,,at ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,thirty ,frontispiece ,,mahomet ,,louis ,,and ,,mdlle4 ,,de ,,la ,,valli,,re ,,ancient ,,greece ,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary4 ,the ,,dictionnaire ,,philosophique is ,voltaire's principal essay in philosophy1 though not a sustained work4 ,the miscellaneous articles he contributed to ,diderot's ,,encyclop,,die which compose this ,dictionary embody a mass of scholarly research1 criticism1 and speculation1 lit up with pungent sallies at the formal and tyrannous ecclesiasticism of the period and the bases of belief on which it stood4 ,these short studies reflect every phase of ,voltaire's sparkling genius4 ,though some of the views enunciated in them are now universally held1 and others have become obsolete through extended knowledge1 they were startlingly new when ,voltaire1 at peril of freedom and reputation1 spread them before the people of all civilized nations1 who read them still with their first charm of style and substance4 ,,oliver ,h4,g4 ,,leigh ,illustration3 ,voltaire at the age of thirty 99 99 99 99 99 ,,voltaire ,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary4 ,,vol4 ,i ,a1 ,b1 ,c--,,apparition 99 99 99 99 99 ,a4 ,the letter ,a has been accounted sacred in almost every nation1 because it was the first letter4 ,the ,egyptians added this to their numberless superstitions2 hence it was that the ,greeks of ,alexandria called it hier'alpha2 and1 as omega was the last of the letters1 these words alpha and omega signified the beginning and the end of all things4 ,this was the origin of the cabalistic art1 and of more than one mysterious folly4 ,the letters served as ciphers1 and to express musical notes4 ,judge what an infinity of useful knowledge must thus have been produced4 ,a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 were the seven heavens2 the harmony of the celestial spheres was composed of the seven first letters2 and an acrostic accounted for everything among the ever venerable ,ancients4 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,,or ,,alphabet4 ,why has not the alphabet a name in any ,european language8 ,alphabet signifies nothing more than ,a1 ,b1 and ,a1 ,b1 signifies nothing1 or but indicates two sounds1 which two sounds have no relation to each other4 ,beta is not formed from alpha2 one is first1 the other is second1 and no one knows why4 ,how can it have happened that terms are still wanting to express the portal of all the sciences8 ,the knowledge of numbers1 the art of numeration1 is not called the one-two2 yet the first rudiment of the art of expressing our thoughts has not in all ,europe obtained a proper designation4 ,the alphabet is the first part of grammar2 perhaps those who are acquainted with ,arabic1 of which ,i have not the slightest notion1 can inform me whether that language1 which is said to contain no fewer than eighty words to express a horse1 has one which signifies the alphabet4 ,i protest that ,i know no more of ,chinese than of ,arabic1 but ,i have read1 in a small ,chinese vocabulary1 that this nation has always had two words to express the catalogue or list of the characters of its language3 one is ko-tou1 the other hai-pien2 we have neither ko-tou nor hai-pien in our ,occidental tongues4 ,the ,greeks1 who were no more adroit than ourselves1 also said alphabet4 ,seneca1 the philosopher1 used the ,greek phrase to designate an old man who1 like me1 asks questions on grammar1 calling him ,skedon analphabetos4 ,now the ,greeks had this same alphabet from the ,phnicians--from that people called the letter nation by the ,hebrews themselves1 when the latter1 at so late a period1 went to settle in their neighborhood4 ,it may well be supposed that the ,phnicians1 by communicating their characters to the ,greeks1 rendered them a great service in delivering them from the embarrassment occasioned by the ,egyptian mode of writing taught them by ,cecrops4 ,the ,phnicians1 in the capacity of merchants1 sought to make everything easy of comprehension2 while the ,egyptians1 in their capacity of interpreters of the gods1 strove to make everything difficult4 ,i can imagine ,i hear a ,phnician merchant landed in ,achaia saying to a ,greek correspondent3 ,our characters are not only easy to write1 and communicate the thoughts as well as the sound of the voice2 they also express our respective debts4 ,my aleph1 which you choose to pronounce alpha1 stands for an ounce of silver1 beta for two ounces1 tau for a hundred1 sigma for two hundred4 ,i owe you two hundred ounces2 ,i pay you a tau1 and still owe you another tau2 thus we shall soon make our reckoning4 ,it was most probably by mutual traffic which administered to their wants1 that society was first established among men2 and it is necessary that those between whom commerce is carried on should understand one another4 ,the ,egyptians did not apply themselves to commerce until a very late period2 they had a horror of the sea2 it was their ,typhon4 ,the ,tyrians1 on the contrary1 were navigators from time immemorial2 they brought together those nations which ,nature had separated1 and repaired those calamities into which the revolutions of the world frequently plunged a large portion of mankind4 ,the ,greeks1 in their turn1 carried to other nations their commerce and their convenient alphabet1 which latter was altered a little1 as the ,greeks had altered that of the ,tyrians4 ,when their merchants1 who were afterwards made demi-gods1 went to ,colchis to establish a trade in sheepskins--whence we have the fable of the golden fleece--they communicated their letters to the people of the country1 who still retain them with some alteration4 ,they have not adopted the alphabet of the ,turks1 to whom they are at present subject1 but whose yoke1 thanks to the ,empress of ,russia1 ,i hope they will throw off4 ,it is very likely 7,i do not say it is certain--,god forbid67 that neither ,tyre nor ,egypt1 nor any other country situated near the ,mediterranean ,sea1 communicated its alphabet to the nations of ,eastern ,asia4 ,if1 for example1 the ,tyrians1 or the ,chaldans1 who dwelt near the ,euphrates1 had communicated their method to the ,chinese1 some traces of it would have remained2 we should have had the signs of the twenty-two1 twenty-three1 or twenty-four letters1 whereas they have a sign for each word in their language2 and the number of their words1 we are told1 is eighty thousand4 ,this method has nothing in common with that of ,tyre2 it is seventy-nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-six times more learned and more embarrassing than our own4 ,besides this prodigious difference1 they write from the top to the bottom of the page2 while the ,tyrians and the ,chaldans wrote from right to left1 and the ,greeks1 like ourselves1 wrote from left to right4 ,examine the ,tartar1 the ,hindoo1 the ,siamese1 the ,japanese characters2 you will not find the least resemblance to the ,greek or the ,phnician alphabet4 ,yet all these nations1 and not these alone1 but even the ,hottentots and ,kaffirs1 pronounce the vowels and consonants as we do1 because the larynx in them is essentially the same as in us--just as the throat of the rudest boor is made like that of the finest opera-singer1 the difference1 which makes of one a rough1 discordant1 insupportable bass1 and of the other a voice sweeter than the nightingale's1 being imperceptible to the most acute anatomist2 or1 as the brain of a fool is for all the world like the brain of a great genius4 ,when we said that the ,tyrian merchants taught the ,greeks their ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 we did not pretend that they also taught them to speak4 ,it is probable that the ,athenians already expressed themselves in a better manner than the people of ,lower ,syria2 their throats were more flexible1 and their words were a more happy assemblage of vowels1 consonants1 and diphthongs4 ,the language of the ,phnician people was rude and gross1 consisting of such words as ,shasiroth1 ,ashtaroth1 ,shabaoth1 ,chotiket1 ,thopheth1 etc4--enough to terrify a songstress from the opera of ,naples4 ,suppose that the ,romans of the present day had retained the ancient ,etrurian alphabet1 and some ,dutch traders brought them that which they now use2 the ,romans would do very well to receive their characters1 but it is not at all likely that they would speak the ,batavian language4 ,just so would the people of ,athens deal with the sailors of ,capthor1 who had come from ,tyre or ,baireuth2 they would adopt their alphabet as being better than that of ,misraim or ,egypt1 but would reject their speech4 ,philosophically speaking1 and setting aside all inferences to be drawn from the ,holy ,scriptures1 which certainly are not here the subject of discussion1 is not the primitive language a truly laughable chimera8 ,what would be thought of a man who should seek to discover what had been the primitive cry of all animals2 and how it happens that1 after a series of ages1 sheep bleat1 cats mew1 doves coo1 linnets whistle8 ,they understand one another perfectly in their respective idioms1 and much better than we do4 ,every species has its language2 that of the ,esquimaux was never that of ,peru2 there has no more been a primitive language or a primitive alphabet than there have been primitive oaks or primitive grass4 ,several rabbis assert that the ,samaritan was the original tongue2 other persons say that it was that of ,lower ,brittany4 ,we may surely1 without offending either the people of ,brittany or those of ,samaria1 admit no original tongue4 ,may we not1 also1 without offending any one1 suppose that the alphabet originated in cries and exclamations8 ,infants of themselves articulate one sound when an object catches their attention1 another when they laugh1 and a third when they are whipped1 which they ought not to be4 ,as for the two little boys whom the ,egyptian king ,psammeticus--which1 by the by1 is not an ,egyptian word--brought up1 in order to know what was the primitive language1 it seems hardly possible that they should both have cried bee bee when they wanted their breakfast4 ,from exclamations formed by vowels as natural to children as croaking is to frogs1 the transition to a complete alphabet is not so great as it may be thought4 ,a mother must always have said to her child the equivalent of come1 go1 take1 leave1 hush6 etc4 ,these words represent nothing2 they describe nothing2 but a gesture makes them intelligible4 ,from these shapeless rudiments we have1 it is true1 an immense distance to travel before we arrive at syntax4 ,it is almost terrifying to contemplate that from the simple word come1 we have arrived at such sentences as the following3 ,mother1 ,i should have come with pleasure1 and should have obeyed your commands1 which are ever dear to me1 if ,i had not1 when running towards you1 fallen backwards1 which caused a thorn to run into my left leg4 ,it appears to my astonished imagination that it must have required ages to adjust this sentence1 and ages more to put it into language4 ,here we might tell1 or endeavor to tell1 the reader how such words are expressed and pronounced in every language of the earth1 as father1 mother1 land1 water1 day1 night1 eating1 drinking1 etc41 but we must1 as much as possible1 avoid appearing ridiculous4 ,the alphabetical characters1 denoting at once the names of things1 their number1 and the dates of events1 the ideas of men1 soon became mysteries even to those who had invented the signs4 ,the ,chaldans1 the ,syrians1 and the ,egyptians attributed something divine to the combination of the letters and the manner of pronouncing them4 ,they believed that names had a force--a virtue--independently of the things which they represented2 they went so far as to pretend that the word which signified power was powerful in itself2 that which expressed an angel was angelic1 and that which gave the idea of ,god was divine4 ,the science of numbers naturally became a part of necromancy1 and no magical operation could be performed without the letters of the alphabet4 ,thus the clue to all knowledge led to every error4 ,the magi of every country used it to conduct themselves into the labyrinth which they had constructed1 and which the rest of mankind were not permitted to enter4 ,the manner of pronouncing vowels and consonants became the most profound of mysteries1 and often the most terrible4 ,there was1 among the ,syrians and ,egyptians1 a manner of pronouncing ,jehovah which would cause a man to fall dead4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria relates that ,moses killed a king of ,egypt on the spot by sounding this name in his ear1 after which he brought him to life again by pronouncing the same word4 ,st4 ,clement is very exact2 he cites the author1 the learned ,artapanus4 ,who can impeach the testimony of ,artapanus8 ,nothing tended more to retard the progress of the human mind that this profound science of error which sprung up among the ,asiatics with the origin of truth4 ,the universe was brutalized by the very art that should have enlightened it4 ,of this we have great examples in ,origen1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,tertullian1 etc4 ,origen1 in particular1 expressly says3 ,if1 when invoking ,god1 or swearing by him1 you call him the ,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob you will1 by these words1 do things the nature and force of which are such that the evil spirits submit to those who pronounce them2 but if you call him by another name as ,god of the roaring sea1 etc41 no effort will be produced4 ,the name of ,israel rendered in ,greek will work nothing2 but pronounce it in ,hebrew with the other words required1 and you will effect the conjuration4 ,the same ,origen had these remarkable words3 ,there are names which are powerful from their own nature4 ,such are those used by the sages of ,egypt1 the magi of ,persia1 and the ,brahmins of ,india4 ,what is called magic is not a vain and chimerical art1 as the ,stoics and ,epicureans pretend4 ,the name ,sabaoth and ,adonai were not made for created beings1 but belong to a mysterious theology which has reference to the creator2 hence the virtue of these names when they are arranged and pronounced according to rule1 etc4 ,it was by pronouncing letters according to the magical method1 that the moon was made to descend to the earth4 ,virgil must be pardoned for having faith in this nonsense1 and speaking of it seriously in his eighth eclogue3 ,carmina de clo possunt de duecere lunam4 ,pale ,phbe1 drawn by verse1 from heaven descends4 --,,dryden',s ,,virgil4 ,in short1 the alphabet was the origin1 of all man's knowledge1 and of all his errors4 ,,abb4 ,the word abb1 let it be remembered1 signifies father4 ,if you become one you render a service to the state2 you doubtless perform the best work that a man can perform2 you give birth to a thinking being3 in this action there is something divine4 ,but if you are only ,monsieur l',abb because you have had your head shaved1 wear a small collar1 and a short cloak1 and are waiting for a fat benefice1 you do not deserve the name of abb4 ,the ancient monks gave this name to the superior whom they elected2 the abb was their spiritual father4 ,what different things do the same words signify at different times6 ,the spiritual abb was once a poor man at the head of others equally poor3 but the poor spiritual fathers have since had incomes of two hundred or four hundred thousand livres1 and there are poor spiritual fathers in ,germany who have regiments of guards4 ,a poor man1 making a vow of poverty1 and in consequence becoming a sovereign8 ,truly1 this is intolerable4 ,the laws exclaim against such an abuse2 religion is indignant at it1 and the really poor1 who want food and clothing1 appeal to heaven against ,monsieur l',abb4 ,but ,i hear the abbs of ,italy1 ,germany1 ,flanders1 and ,burgundy ask3 ,why are not we to accumulate wealth and honors8 ,why are we not to become princes8 ,the bishops are1 who were originally poor1 like us2 they have enriched and elevated themselves2 one of them has become superior even to kings2 let us imitate them as far as we are able4 ,gentlemen1 you are right4 ,invade the land2 it belongs to him whose strength or skill obtains possession of it4 ,you have made ample use of the times of ignorance1 superstition1 and infatuation1 to strip us of our inheritances1 and trample us under your feet1 that you might fatten on the substance of the unfortunate4 ,tremble1 for fear that the day of reason will arrive6 ,,abbey--,,abbot4 ,,section ,i4 ,an abbey is a religious community1 governed by an abbot or an abbess4 ,the word abbot--abbas in ,latin and ,greek1 abba in ,chaldee and ,syriac--came from the ,hebrew ab1 meaning father4 ,the ,jewish doctors took this title through pride2 therefore ,jesus said to his disciples3 ,call no one your father upon the earth1 for one is your ,father who is in heaven4 ,although ,st4 ,jerome was much enraged against the monks of his time1 who1 in spite of our ,lord's command1 gave or received the title of abbot1 the ,sixth ,council of ,paris decided that if abbots are spiritual fathers and beget spiritual sons for the ,lord1 it is with reason that they are called abbots4 ,according to this decree1 if any one deserved this appellation it belonged most assuredly to ,st4 ,benedict1 who1 in the year #ebh1 founded on ,mount ,cassino1 in the kingdom of ,naples1 that society so eminent for wisdom and discretion1 and so grave in its speech and in its style4 ,these are the terms used by ,pope ,st4 ,gregory1 who does not fail to mention the singular privilege which it pleased ,god to grant to this holy founder--that all ,benedictines who die on ,mount ,cassino are saved4 ,it is not1 then1 surprising that these monks reckon sixteen thousand canonized saints of their order4 ,the ,benedictine sisters even assert that they are warned of their approaching dissolution by some nocturnal noise1 which they call the knocks of ,st4 ,benedict4 ,it may well be supposed that this holy abbot did not forget himself when begging the salvation of his disciples4 ,accordingly1 on the #bast of ,march1 #edc1 the eve of ,passion ,sunday1 which was the day of his death1 two monks--one of them in the monastery1 the other at a distance from it--had the same vision4 ,they saw a long road covered with carpets1 and lighted by an infinite number of torches1 extending eastward from the monastery to heaven4 ,a venerable personage appeared1 and asked them for whom this road was made4 ,they said they did not know4 ,it is that1 rejoined he1 by which ,benedict1 the well-beloved of ,god1 has ascended into heaven4 ,an order in which salvation was so well secured soon extended itself into other states1 whose sovereigns allowed themselves to be persuaded that1 to be sure of a place in ,paradise1 it was only necessary to make themselves a friend in it1 and that by donations to the churches they might atone for the most crying injustices and the most enormous crimes4 ,confining ourselves to ,france1 we read in the ,exploits of ,king ,dagobert 7,gestes du ,roi ,dagobert71 the founder of the abbey of ,st4 ,denis1 near ,paris1 that this prince1 after death1 was condemned by the judgment of ,god1 and that a hermit named ,john1 who dwelt on the coast of ,italy1 saw his soul chained in a boat and beaten by devils1 who were taking him towards ,sicily to throw him into the fiery mouth of ,etna2 but all at once ,st4 ,denis appeared on a luminous globe1 preceded by thunder and lightning1 and1 having put the evil spirits to flight1 and rescued the poor soul from the clutches of the most cruel1 bore it to heaven in triumph4 ,charles ,martel1 on the contrary1 was damned--body and soul--for having rewarded his captains by giving them abbeys4 ,these1 though laymen1 bore the title of abbot1 as married women have since borne that of abbess1 and had convents of females4 ,a holy bishop of ,lyons1 named ,eucher1 being at prayer1 had the following vision3 ,he thought he was led by an angel into hell1 where he saw ,charles ,martel1 who1 the angel informed him1 had been condemned to everlasting flames by the saints whose churches he had despoiled4 ,st4 ,eucher wrote an account of this revelation to ,boniface1 bishop of ,mayence1 and to ,fulrad1 grand chaplain to ,pepin-le-bref1 praying them to open the tomb of ,charles ,martel and see if his body were there4 ,the tomb was opened4 ,the interior of it bore marks of fire1 but nothing was found in it except a great serpent1 which issued forth with a cloud of offensive smoke4 ,boniface was so kind as to write to ,pepin-le-bref and to ,carloman all these particulars relative to the damnation of their father2 and when1 in #heh1 ,louis of ,germany seized some ecclesiastical property1 the bishops of the assembly of ,crci reminded him1 in a letter1 of all the particulars of this terrible story1 adding that they had them from aged men1 on whose word they could rely1 and who had been eye-witnesses of the whole4 ,st4 ,bernard1 first abbot of ,clairvaux1 in #aaae had likewise had it revealed to him that all who received the monastic habit from his hand should be saved4 ,nevertheless1 ,pope ,urban ,,ii41 having1 in a bull dated #ajib1 given to the abbey of ,mount ,cassino the title of chief of all monasteries1 because from that spot the venerable religion of the monastic order had flowed from the bosom of ,benedict as from a celestial spring1 the ,emperor ,lothario continued this prerogative by a charter of the year #aacg1 which gave to the monastery of ,mount ,cassino the pre-eminence in power and glory over all the monasteries which were or might be founded throughout the world1 and called upon all the abbots and monks in ,christendom to honor and reverence it4 ,paschal ,,ii41 in a bull of the year #aaac1 addressed to the abbot of ,mount ,cassino1 expresses himself thus3 ,we decree that you1 as likewise all your successors1 shall1 as being superior to all abbots1 be allowed to sit in every assembly of bishops or princes2 and that in all judgments you shall give your opinion before any other of your order4 ,the abbot of ,cluni having also dared to call himself the abbot of abbots1 the pope's chancellor decided1 in a council held at ,rome in #aaab1 that this distinction belonged to the abbot of ,mount ,cassino4 ,he of ,cluni contented himself with the title of cardinal abbot1 which he afterwards obtained from ,calixtus ,,ii41 and which the abbot of ,the ,trinity of ,vendme and some others have since assumed4 ,pope ,john ,,xx41 in #acbf granted to the abbot of ,mount ,cassino the title of bishop1 and he continued to discharge the episcopal functions until #acfg2 but ,urban ,v41 having then thought proper to deprive him of that dignity1 he now simply entitles himself ,patriarch of the ,holy ,religion1 ,abbot of the ,holy ,monastery of ,mount ,cassino1 ,chancellor and ,grand ,chaplain of the ,holy ,roman ,empire1 ,abbot of ,abbots1 ,chief of the ,benedictine ,hierarchy1 ,chancellor ,collateral of the ,kingdom of ,sicily1 ,count and ,governor of the ,campagna and of the maritime province1 ,prince of ,peace4 ,he lives1 with a part of his officers1 at ,san-,germano1 a little town at the foot of ,mount ,cassino1 in a spacious house1 where all passengers1 from the pope down to the meanest beggar1 are received1 lodged1 fed1 and treated according to their rank4 ,the abbot each day visits all his guests1 who sometimes amount to three hundred4 ,in #aech1 ,st4 ,ignatius shared his hospitality1 but he was lodged in a house on ,mount ,cassino1 six hundred paces west of the abbey4 ,there he composed his celebrated ,institute--whence a ,dominican1 in a work entitled1 ,the ,turtle-,dove of the ,soul1 says3 ,ignatius dwelt for twelve months on this mountain of contemplation1 and1 like another ,moses1 framed those second tables of religious laws which are inferior in nothing to the first4 ,truly1 this founder of the ,jesuits was not received by the ,benedictines with that complaisance which ,st4 ,benedict1 on his arrival at ,mount ,cassino1 had found in ,st4 ,martin the hermit1 who gave up to him the place in his possession1 and retired to ,mount ,marsica1 near ,carniola4 ,on the contrary1 the ,benedictine ,ambrose ,cajeta1 in a voluminous work written for the purpose1 has endeavored to trace the origin of the ,jesuits to the order of ,st4 ,benedict4 ,the laxity of manners which has always prevailed in the world1 even among the clergy1 induced ,st4 ,basil1 so early as the fourth century1 to adopt the idea of assembling in one community the solitaries who had fled into deserts to follow the law2 but1 as will be elsewhere seen1 even the regulars have not always been regular4 ,as for the secular clergy1 let us see what ,st4 ,cyprian says of them1 even from the third century3 ,many bishops1 instead of exhorting and setting an example to others1 neglected the affairs of ,god1 busied themselves with temporal concerns1 quitted their pulpits1 abandoned their flocks1 and travelled in other provinces1 in order to attend fairs and enrich themselves by traffic2 they succored not their brethren who were dying of hunger2 they sought only to amass heaps of money1 to gain possession of lands by unjust artifices1 and to make immense profits by usury4 ,charlemagne1 in a digest of what he intended to propose to the parliament of #haa1 thus expresses himself3 ,we wish to know the duties of ecclesiastics1 in order that we may not ask of them what they are not permitted to give1 and that they may not demand of us what we ought not to grant4 ,we beg of them to explain to us clearly what they call quitting the world1 and by what those who quit it may be distinguished from those who remain in it2 if it is only by their not bearing arms1 and not being married in public2 if that man has quitted the world who continues to add to his possessions by means of every sort1 preaching ,paradise and threatening with damnation2 employing the name of ,god or of some saint to persuade the simple to strip themselves of their property1 thus entailing want upon their lawful heirs1 who therefore think themselves justified in committing theft and pillage2 if to quit the world is to carry the passion of covetousness to such a length as to bribe false witnesses in order to obtain what belongs to another1 and to seek out judges who are cruel1 interested1 and without the fear of ,god4 ,to conclude3 ,we may judge of the morals of the regular clergy from a harangue delivered in #adic1 in which the ,abb ,tritme said to his brethren3 ,you abbs1 who are ignorant and hostile to the knowledge of salvation2 who pass your days in shameless pleasures1 in drinking and gaming2 who fix your affections on the things of this life2 what answer will you make to ,god and to your founder1 ,st4 ,benedict8 ,the same abb nevertheless asserted that one-third of all the property of ,christians belonged of right to the order of ,st4 ,benedict1 and that if they had it not1 it was because they had been robbed of it4 ,they are so poor at present1 added he1 that their revenues do not amount to more than a hundred millions of louis d'ors4 ,tritme does not tell us to whom the other two-thirds belong1 but as in his time there were only fifteen thousand abbeys of ,benedictines1 besides the small convents of the same order1 while in the seventeenth century their number had increased to thirty-seven thousand1 it is clear1 by the rule of proportion1 that this holy order ought now to possess five-sixths of the property in ,christendom1 but for the fatal progress of heresy during the latter ages4 ,in addition to all other misfortunes1 since the ,concordat was signed1 in #aeae1 between ,leo ,x4 and ,francis ,i41 the king of ,france nominating to nearly all the abbeys in his kingdom1 most of them have been given to seculars with shaven crowns4 ,it was in consequence of this custom being but little known in ,england that ,dr4 ,gregory said pleasantly to the ,abb ,gallois1 whom he took for a ,benedictine3 ,the good father imagines that we have returned to those fabulous times when a monk was permitted to say what he pleased4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,those who fly from the world are wise2 those who devote themselves to ,god are to be respected4 ,perhaps time has corrupted so holy an institution4 ,to the ,jewish therapeuts succeeded the ,egyptian monks--idiotoi1 monoi--idiot--then signifying only solitary4 ,they soon formed themselves into bodies and became the opposite of solitaries4 ,each society of monks elected its superior2 for1 in the early ages of the church1 everything was done by the plurality of voices4 ,men sought to regain the primitive liberty of human nature by escaping through piety from the tumult and slavery inseparably attendant on great empires4 ,every society of monks chose its father--its abba--its abbot1 although it is said in the gospel1 call no man your father4 ,neither abbots nor monks were priests in the early ages2 they went in troops to hear mass at the nearest village2 their numbers1 in time1 became considerable4 ,it is said that there were upwards of fifty thousand monks in ,egypt4 ,st4 ,basil1 who was first a monk and afterwards ,bishop of ,csarea and ,cappadocia1 composed a code for all the monks of the fourth century4 ,this rule of ,st4 ,basil's was received in the ,east and in the ,west2 no monks were known but those of ,st4 ,basil2 they were rich1 took part in all public affairs1 and contributed to the revolutions of empires4 ,no order but this was known until1 in the sixth century1 ,st4 ,benedict established a new power on ,mount ,cassino4 ,st4 ,gregory the ,great assures us1 in his ,dialogues1 that ,god granted him a special privilege1 by which all the ,benedictines who should die on ,mount ,cassino were to be saved4 ,consequently1 ,pope ,urban ,,ii41 in a bull of the year #ajib1 declared the abbot of ,mount ,cassino chief of all the abbeys in the world4 ,paschal ,,ii4 gave him the title of ,abbot of ,abbots1 ,patriarch of the ,holy ,religion1 ,chancellor ,collateral of the ,kingdom of ,sicily1 ,count and ,governor of the ,campagna1 ,prince of ,peace1 etc4 ,all these titles would avail but little were they not supported by immense riches4 ,not long ago ,i received a letter from one of my ,german correspondents1 which began with these words3 ,the abbots1 princes of ,kempten1 ,elvengen1 ,eudestet1 ,musbach1 ,berghsgaden1 ,vissemburg1 ,prum1 ,stablo1 and ,corvey1 and the other abbots who are not princes1 enjoy together a revenue of about nine hundred thousand florins1 or two millions and fifty thousand ,french livres of the present currency4 ,whence ,i conclude that ,jesus ,christ's circumstances were not quite so easy as theirs4 ,i replied3 ,sir1 you must confess that the ,french are more pious than the ,germans1 in the proportion of #d #af-da to unity2 for our consistorial benefices alone1 that is1 those which pay annats to the ,pope1 produce a revenue of nine millions2 and two millions fifty thousand livres are to nine millions as #a is to #d #af-da4 ,whence ,i conclude that your abbots are not sufficiently rich1 and that they ought to have ten times more4 ,i have the honor to be1 etc4 ,he answered me by the following short letter3 ,dear ,sir1 ,i do not understand you4 ,you doubtless feel1 with me1 that nine millions of your money are rather too much for those who have made a vow of poverty2 yet you wish that they had ninety4 ,i beg you will explain this enigma4 ,i had the honor of immediately replying3 ,dear ,sir1 there was once a young man to whom it was proposed to marry a woman of sixty1 who would leave him all her property4 ,he answered that she was not old enough4 ,the ,german understood my enigma4 ,the reader must be informed that1 in #aege1 it was proposed in a council of ,henry ,,iii41 ,king of ,france1 to erect all the abbeys of monks into secular commendams1 and to give them to the officers of his court and his army2 but this monarch1 happening afterwards to be excommunicated and assassinated1 the project was of course not carried into effect4 ,in #agej ,count d',argenson1 the minister of war1 wished to raise pensions from the benefices for chevaliers of the military order of ,st4 ,louis4 ,nothing could be more simple1 more just1 more useful2 but his efforts were fruitless4 ,yet the ,princess of ,conti had had an abbey under ,louis ,,xiv41 and even before his reign seculars possessed benefices4 ,the ,duke de ,sulli had an abbey1 although he was a ,huguenot4 ,the father of ,hugh ,capet was rich only by his abbeys1 and was called ,hugh the ,abbot4 ,abbeys were given to queens1 to furnish them with pin-money4 ,ogine1 mother of ,louis d',outremer1 left her son because he had taken from her the abbey of ,st4 ,mary of ,laon1 and given it to his wife1 ,gerberge4 ,thus we have examples of everything4 ,each one strives to make customs1 innovations1 laws--whether old or new1 abrogated1 revived1 or mitigated--charters1 whether real or supposed--the past1 the present and the future1 alike subservient to the grand end of obtaining the good things of this world2 yet it is always for the greater glory of ,god4 ,,able--,,ability4 ,,able4--,an adjective term1 which1 like almost all others1 has different acceptations as it is differently employed4 ,in general it signifies more than capable1 more than well-informed1 whether applied to an artist1 a general1 a man of learning1 or a judge4 ,a man may have read all that has been written on war1 and may have seen it1 without being able to conduct a war4 ,he may be capable of commanding1 but to acquire the name of an able general he must command more than once with success4 ,a judge may know all the laws1 without being able to apply them4 ,a learned man may not be able either to write or to teach4 ,an able man1 then1 is he who makes a great use of what he knows4 ,a capable man can do a thing2 an able one does it4 ,this word cannot be applied to efforts of pure genius4 ,we do not say an able poet1 an able orator2 or1 if we sometimes say so of an orator1 it is when he has ably1 dexterously treated a thorny subject4 ,bossuet1 for example1 having1 in his funeral oration over the great ,cond1 to treat of his civil wars1 says that there is a penitence as glorious as innocence itself4 ,he manages this point ably4 ,of the rest he speaks with grandeur4 ,we say1 an able historian1 meaning one who has drawn his materials from good sources1 compared different relations1 and judged soundly of them2 one1 in short1 who has taken great pains4 ,if he has1 moreover1 the gift of narrating with suitable eloquence1 he is more than able1 he is a great historian1 like ,titus1 ,livius1 de ,thou1 etc4 ,the word able is applicable to those arts which exercise at once the mind and the hand1 as painting and sculpture4 ,we say of a painter of sculptor1 he is an able artist1 because these arts require a long novitiate2 whereas a man becomes a poet nearly all at once1 like ,virgil or ,ovid1 or may even be an orator with very little study1 as several preachers have been4 ,why do we1 nevertheless1 say1 an able preacher8 ,it is because more attention is then paid to art than to eloquence1 which is no great eulogium4 ,we do not say of the sublime ,bossuet1 he was an able maker of funeral orations4 ,a mere player of an instrument is able2 a composer must be more than able2 he must have genius4 ,the workman executes cleverly what the man of taste has designed ably4 ,an able man in public affairs is well-informed1 prudent and active2 if he wants either of these qualifications he is not able4 ,the term1 an able courtier1 implies blame rather than praise1 since it too often means an able flatterer4 ,it may also be used to designate simply a clever man1 who is neither very good nor very wicked4 ,the fox who1 when questioned by the lion respecting the odor of his palace1 replied that he had taken cold1 was an able courtier2 the fox who1 to revenge himself on the wolf1 recommended to the old lion the skin of a wolf newly flayed1 to keep his majesty warm1 was something more than able4 ,we shall not here discuss those points of our subject which belong more particularly to morality1 as the danger of wishing to be too able1 the risks which an able woman runs when she wishes to govern the affairs of her household without advice1 etc4 ,we are afraid of swelling this dictionary with useless declamations4 ,they who preside over this great and important work must treat at length those articles relating to the arts and sciences which interest the public1 while those to whom they intrust little articles of literature must have the merit of being brief4 ,,ability4--,this word is to capacity what able is to capable--ability in a science1 in an art1 in conduct4 ,we express an acquired quality by saying1 he has ability2 in action1 by saying1 he conducts that affair with ability4 ,,ably has the same acceptations2 he works1 he plays1 he teaches ably4 ,he has ably surmounted that difficulty4 ,,abraham4 ,,section ,i4 ,we must say nothing of what is divine in ,abraham1 since the ,scriptures have said all4 ,we must not even touch1 except with a respectful hand1 that which belongs to the profane--that which appertains to geography1 the order of time1 manners1 and customs2 for these1 being connected with sacred history1 are so many streams which preserve something of the divinity of their source4 ,abraham1 though born near the ,euphrates1 makes a great epoch with the ,western nations1 yet makes none with the ,orientals1 who1 nevertheless1 respect him as much as we do4 ,the ,mahometans have no certain chronology before their hegira4 ,the science of time1 totally lost in those countries which were the scene of great events1 has reappeared in the regions of the ,west1 where those events were unknown4 ,we dispute about everything that was done on the banks of the ,euphrates1 the ,jordan1 and the ,nile1 while they who are masters of the ,nile1 the ,jordan and the ,euphrates enjoy without disputing4 ,although our great epoch is that of ,abraham1 we differ sixty years with respect to the time of his birth4 ,the account1 according to the registers1 is as follows3 ,and ,terah lived seventy years1 and begat ,abraham1 ,nahor1 and ,haran4 ,and the days of ,terah were two hundred and five years1 and ,terah died in ,haran4 ,now the ,lord had said unto ,abraham1 get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred1 and from thy father's house1 unto a land that ,i will show thee4 ,and ,i will make of thee a great nation4 ,it is sufficiently evident from the text that ,terah1 having had ,abraham at the age of seventy1 died at that of two hundred and five2 and ,abraham1 having quitted ,chalda immediately after the death of his father1 was just one hundred and thirty-five years old when he left his country4 ,this is nearly the opinion of ,st4 ,stephen1 in his discourse to the ,jews4 ,but the ,book of ,genesis also says3 ,and ,abraham was seventy and five years old when he departed out of ,haran4 ,this is the principal cause 7for there are several others7 of the dispute on the subject of ,abraham's age4 ,how could he be at once a hundred and thirty-five years1 and only seventy-five8 ,st4 ,jerome and ,st4 ,augustine say that this difficulty is inexplicable4 ,father ,calmet1 who confesses that these two saints could not solve the problem1 thinks he does it by saying that ,abraham was the youngest of ,terah's sons1 although the ,book of ,genesis names him the first1 and consequently as the eldest4 ,according to ,genesis1 ,abraham was born in his father's seventieth year2 while1 according to ,calmet1 he was born when his father was a hundred and thirty4 ,such a reconciliation has only been a new cause of controversy4 ,considering the uncertainty in which we are left by both text and commentary1 the best we can do is to adore without disputing4 ,there is no epoch in those ancient times which has not produced a multitude of different opinions4 ,according to ,morri there were in his day seventy systems of chronology founded on the history dictated by ,god himself4 ,there have since appeared five new methods of reconciling the various texts of ,scripture4 ,thus there are as many disputes about ,abraham as the number of his years 7according to the text7 when he left ,haran4 ,and of these seventy-five systems there is not one which tells us precisely what this town or village of ,haran was1 or where it was situated4 ,what thread shall guide us in this labyrinth of conjectures and contradictions from the very first verse to the very last8 ,resignation4 ,the ,holy ,spirit did not intend to teach us chronology1 metaphysics or logic2 but only to inspire us with the fear of ,god4 ,since we can comprehend nothing1 all that we can do is to submit4 ,it is equally difficult to explain satisfactorily how it was that ,sarah1 the wife of ,abraham1 was also his sister4 ,abraham says positively to ,abimelech1 king of ,gerar1 who had taken ,sarah to himself on account of her great beauty1 at the age of ninety1 when she was pregnant of ,isaac3 ,and yet indeed she is my sister2 she is the daughter of my father1 but not the daughter of my mother1 and she became my wife4 ,the ,old ,testament does not inform us how ,sarah was her husband's sister4 ,calmet1 whose judgment and sagacity are known to every one1 says that she might be his niece4 ,with the ,chaldans it was probably no more an incest than with their neighbors1 the ,persians4 ,manners change with times and with places4 ,it may be supposed that ,abraham1 the son of ,terah1 an idolater1 was still an idolater when he married ,sarah1 whether ,sarah was his sister or his niece4 ,there are several ,fathers of the ,church who do not think ,abraham quite so excusable for having said to ,sarah1 in ,egypt3 ,it shall come to pass1 when the ,egyptians shall see thee1 that they shall say1 ,this is his wife1 and they will kill me1 but they will save thee alive4 ,say1 ,i pray thee1 thou art my sister1 that it may be well with me for thy sake4 ,she was then only sixty-five4 ,since she had1 twenty-five years afterwards the king of ,gerar for a lover1 it is not surprising that1 when twenty-five years younger1 she had kindled some passion in ,pharaoh of ,egypt4 ,indeed1 she was taken away by him in the same manner as she was afterwards taken by ,abimelech1 the king of ,gerar1 in the desert4 ,abraham received presents1 at the court of ,pharaoh1 of many sheep1 and oxen1 and he-asses1 and men-servants1 and maid-servants1 and she-asses1 and camels4 ,these presents1 which were considerable1 prove that the ,pharaohs had already become great kings2 the country of ,egypt must therefore have been very populous4 ,but to make the country inhabitable1 and to build towns1 it must have cost immense labor4 ,it was necessary to construct canals for the purpose of draining the waters of the ,nile1 which overflowed ,egypt during four or five months of each year1 and stagnated on the soil4 ,it was also necessary to raise the town at least twenty feet above these canals4 ,works so considerable seem to have required thousands of ages4 ,there were only about four hundred years between the ,deluge and the period at which we fix ,abraham's journey into ,egypt4 ,the ,egyptians must have been very ingenious and indefatigably laborious1 since1 in so short a time1 they invented all the arts and sciences1 set bounds to the ,nile1 and changed the whole face of the country4 ,probably they had already built some of the great ,pyramids1 for we see that the art of embalming the dead was in a short time afterwards brought to perfection1 and the ,pyramids were only the tombs in which the bodies of their princes were deposited with the most august ceremonies4 ,this opinion of the great antiquity of the ,pyramids receives additional countenance from the fact that three hundred years earlier1 or but one hundred years after the ,hebrew epoch of the ,deluge of ,noah1 the ,asiatics had built1 in the plain of ,sennaar1 a tower which was to reach to heaven4 ,st4 ,jerome1 in his commentary on ,isaiah1 says that this tower was already four thousand paces high when ,god came down to stop the progress of the work4 ,let us suppose each pace to be two feet and a half4 ,four thousand paces1 then1 are ten thousand feet2 consequently the tower of ,babel was twenty times as high as the ,pyramids of ,egypt1 which are only about five hundred feet4 ,but what a prodigious quantity of instruments must have been requisite to raise such an edifice6 ,all the arts must have concurred in forwarding the work4 ,whence commentators conclude that men of those times were incomparably larger1 stronger1 and more industrious than those of modern nations4 ,so much may be remarked with respect to ,abraham1 as relating to the arts and sciences4 ,with regard to his person1 it is most likely that he was a man of considerable importance4 ,the ,chaldans and the ,persians each claim him as their own4 ,the ancient religion of the magi has1 from time immemorial1 been called ,kish ,ibrahim1 ,milat ,ibrahim1 and it is agreed that the word ,ibrahim is precisely the same as ,abraham1 nothing being more common among the ,asiatics1 who rarely wrote the vowels1 than to change the i into a1 or the a into i in pronunciation4 ,it has even been asserted that ,abraham was the ,brahma of the ,indians1 and that their notions were adopted by the people of the countries near the ,euphrates1 who traded with ,india from time immemorial4 ,the ,arabs regarded him as the founder of ,mecca4 ,mahomet1 in his ,koran1 always viewed in him the most respectable of his predecessors4 ,in his third sura1 or chapter1 he speaks of him thus3 ,abraham was neither ,jew nor ,christian2 he was an orthodox ,mussulman2 he was not of the number of those who imagine that ,god has colleagues4 ,the temerity of the human understanding has even gone so far as to imagine that the ,jews did not call themselves the descendants of ,abraham until a very late period1 when they had at last established themselves in ,palestine4 ,they were strangers1 hated and despised by their neighbors4 ,they wished1 say some1 to relieve themselves by passing for descendants of that ,abraham who was so much reverenced in a great part of ,asia4 ,the faith which we owe to the sacred books of the ,jews removes all these difficulties4 ,other critics1 no less hardy1 start other objections relative to ,abraham's direct communication with the ,almighty1 his battles and his victories4 ,the ,lord appeared to him after he went out of ,egypt1 and said1 ,lift up now thine eyes1 and look from the place where thou art1 northward and southward1 and eastward1 and westward4 ,for all the land which thou seest1 to thee will ,i give it1 and to thy seed forever4 ,the ,lord1 by a second oath1 afterwards promised him all from the river of ,egypt unto the great river1 the river ,euphrates4 ,the critics ask1 how could ,god promise the ,jews this immense country which they have never possessed8 ,and how could ,god give to them forever that small part of ,palestine out of which they have so long been driven8 ,again1 the ,lord added to these promises1 that ,abraham's posterity should be as numerous as the dust of the earth--so that if a man can number the dust of the earth1 then shall thy seed also be numbered4 ,our critics insist there are not now on the face of the earth four hundred thousand ,jews1 though they have always regarded marriage as a sacred duty and made population their greatest object4 ,to these difficulties it is replied that the church1 substituted for the synagogue1 is the true race of ,abraham1 which is therefore very numerous4 ,it must be admitted that they do not possess ,palestine2 but they may one day possess it1 as they have already conquered it once1 in the first crusade1 in the time of ,urban ,,ii4 ,in a word1 when we view the ,old ,testament with the eyes of faith1 as a type of the ,new1 all either is or will be accomplished1 and our weak reason must bow in silence4 ,fresh difficulties are raised respecting ,abraham's victory near ,sodom4 ,it is said to be inconceivable that a stranger who drove his flocks to graze in the neighborhood of ,sodom should1 with three hundred and eighteen keepers of sheep and oxen1 beat a king of ,persia1 a king of ,pontus1 the king of ,babylon1 and the king of nations1 and pursue them to ,damascus1 which is more than a hundred miles from ,sodom4 ,yet such a victory is not impossible1 for we see other similar instances in those heroic times when the arm of ,god was not shortened4 ,think of ,gideon1 who1 with three hundred men1 armed with three hundred pitchers and three hundred lamps1 defeated a whole army6 ,think of ,samson1 who slew a thousand ,philistines with the jawbone of an ass6 ,even profane history furnishes like examples4 ,three hundred ,spartans stopped1 for a moment1 the whole army of ,xerxes1 at the pass of ,thermopyl4 ,it is true that1 with the exception of one man who fled1 they were all slain1 together with their king1 ,leonidas1 whom ,xerxes had the baseness to gibbet1 instead of raising to his memory the monument which it deserved4 ,it is moreover true that these three hundred ,lacedmonians1 who guarded a steep passage which would scarcely admit two men abreast1 were supported by an army of ten thousand ,greeks1 distributed in advantageous posts among the rocks of ,pelion and ,ossa1 four thousand of whom1 be it observed1 were stationed behind this very passage of ,thermopyl4 ,these four thousand perished after a long combat4 ,having been placed in a situation more exposed than that of the three hundred ,spartans1 they may be said to have acquired more glory in defending it against the ,persian army1 which cut them all in pieces4 ,indeed1 on the monument afterwards erected on the field of battle1 mention was made of these four thousand victims1 whereas none are spoken of now but the three hundred4 ,a still more memorable1 though much less celebrated1 action was that of fifty ,swiss1 who1 in #acae1 routed at ,morgarten the whole army of the ,archduke ,leopold1 of ,austria1 consisting of twenty thousand men4 ,they destroyed the cavalry by throwing down stones from a high rock2 and gave time to fourteen hundred ,helvetians to come up and finish the defeat of the army4 ,this achievement at ,morgarten is more brilliant than that of ,thermopyl1 inasmuch as it is a finer thing to conquer than to be conquered4 ,the ,greeks amounted to ten thousand1 well armed2 and it was impossible that1 in a mountainous country1 they could have to encounter more than a hundred thousand ,persians at once2 it is more than probable that there were not thirty thousand ,persians engaged4 ,but here fourteen hundred ,swiss defeat an army of twenty thousand men4 ,the diminished proportions of the less to the greater number also increases the proportion of glory4 ,but how far has ,abraham led us8 ,these digressions amuse him who makes and sometimes him who reads them4 ,besides1 every one is delighted to see a great army beaten by a little one4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,abraham is one of those names which were famous in ,asia ,minor and ,arabia1 as ,thaut was among the ,egyptians1 the first ,zoroaster in ,persia1 ,hercules in ,greece1 ,orpheus in ,thrace1 ,odin among the northern nations1 and so many others1 known more by their fame than by any authentic history4 ,i speak here of profane history only2 as for that of the ,jews1 our masters and our enemies1 whom we at once detest and believe1 their history having evidently been written by the ,holy ,ghost1 we feel toward it as we ought to feel4 ,we have to do here only with the ,arabs4 ,they boast of having descended from ,abraham through ,ishmael1 believing that this patriarch built ,mecca and died there4 ,the fact is1 that the race of ,ishmael has been infinitely more favored by ,god than has that of ,jacob4 ,both races1 it is true1 have produced robbers2 but the ,arabian robbers have been prodigiously superior to the ,jewish ones2 the descendants of ,jacob conquered only a very small country1 which they have lost1 whereas the descendants of ,ishmael conquered parts of ,asia1 of ,europe1 and of ,africa1 established an empire more extensive than that of the ,romans1 and drove the ,jews from their caverns1 which they called ,the ,land of ,promise4 ,judging of things only by the examples to be found in our modern histories1 it would be difficult to believe that ,abraham had been the father of two nations so widely different4 ,we are told that he was born in ,chalda1 and that he was the son of a poor potter1 who earned his bread by making little earthen idols4 ,it is hardly likely that this son of a potter should have passed through impracticable deserts and founded the city of ,mecca1 at the distance of four hundred leagues1 under a tropical sun4 ,if he was a conqueror1 he doubtless cast his eyes on the fine country of ,assyria4 ,if he was no more than a poor man1 he did not found kingdoms abroad4 ,the ,book of ,genesis relates that he was seventy-five years old when he went out of the land of ,haran after the death of his father1 ,terah the potter2 but the same book also tells us that ,terah1 having begotten ,abraham at the age of seventy years1 lived to that of two hundred and five2 and1 afterward1 that ,abraham went out of ,haran1 which seems to signify that it was after the death of his father4 ,either the author did not know how to dispose his narration1 or it is clear from the ,book of ,genesis itself that ,abraham was one hundred and thirty-five years old when he quitted ,mesopotamia4 ,he went from a country which is called idolatrous to another idolatrous country named ,sichem1 in ,palestine4 ,why did he quit the fruitful banks of the ,euphrates for a spot so remote1 so barren1 and so stony as ,sichem8 ,it was not a place of trade1 and was distant a hundred leagues from ,chalda1 and deserts lay between4 ,but ,god chose that ,abraham should go this journey2 he chose to show him the land which his descendants were to occupy several ages after him4 ,it is with difficulty that the human understanding comprehends the reasons for such a journey4 ,scarcely had he arrived in the little mountainous country of ,sichem1 when famine compelled him to quit it4 ,he went into ,egypt with his wife ,sarah1 to seek a subsistence4 ,the distance from ,sichem to ,memphis is two hundred leagues4 ,is it natural that a man should go so far to ask for corn in a country the language of which he did not understand8 ,truly these were strange journeys1 undertaken at the age of nearly a hundred and forty years6 ,he brought with him to ,memphis his wife1 ,sarah1 who was extremely young1 and almost an infant when compared with himself2 for she was only sixty-five4 ,as she was very handsome1 he resolved to turn her beauty to account4 ,say1 ,i pray thee1 that thou art my sister1 that it may be well with me for thy sake4 ,he should rather have said to her1 ,say1 ,i pray thee1 that thou art my daughter4 ,the king fell in love with the young ,sarah1 and gave the pretended brother abundance of sheep1 oxen1 he-asses1 she-asses1 camels1 men-servants and maid-servants2 which proves that ,egypt was then a powerful and well-regulated1 and consequently an ancient kingdom1 and that those were magnificently rewarded who came and offered their sisters to the kings of ,memphis4 ,the youthful ,sarah was ninety years old when ,god promised her that1 in the course of a year1 she should have a child by ,abraham1 who was then a hundred and sixty4 ,abraham1 who was fond of travelling1 went into the horrible desert of ,kadesh with his pregnant wife1 ever young and ever pretty4 ,a king of this desert was1 of course1 captivated by ,sarah1 as the king of ,egypt had been4 ,the father of the faithful told the same lie as in ,egypt1 making his wife pass for his sister2 which brought him more sheep1 oxen1 men-servants1 and maid-servants4 ,it might be said that this ,abraham became rich principally by means of his wife4 ,commentators have written a prodigious number of volumes to justify ,abraham's conduct1 and to explain away the errors in chronology4 ,to these commentaries we must refer the reader2 they are all composed by men of nice and acute perceptions1 excellent metaphysicians1 and by no means pedants4 ,for the rest1 this name of ,bram1 or ,abram1 was famous in ,juda and in ,persia4 ,several of the learned even assert that he was the same legislator whom the ,greeks called ,zoroaster4 ,others say that he was the ,brahma of the ,indians1 which is not demonstrated4 ,but it appears very reasonable to many that this ,abraham was a ,chaldan or a ,persian1 from whom the ,jews afterwards boasted of having descended1 as the ,franks did of their descent from ,hector1 and the ,britons from ,tubal4 ,it cannot be denied that the ,jewish nation were a very modern horde2 that they did not establish themselves on the borders of ,phnicia until a very late period2 that they were surrounded by ancient states1 whose language they adopted1 receiving from them even the name of ,israel1 which is ,chaldan1 from the testimony of the ,jew ,flavius ,josephus himself4 ,we know that they took the names of the angels from the ,babylonians1 and that they called ,god by the names of ,eloi or ,eloa1 ,adona1 ,jehovah or ,hiao1 after the ,phnicians4 ,it is probable that they knew the name of ,abrahamor ,ibrahim only through the ,babylonians2 for the ancient religion of all the countries from the ,euphrates to the ,oxus was called ,kish ,ibrahim or ,milat ,ibrahim4 ,this is confirmed by all the researches made on the spot by the learned ,hyde4 ,the ,jews1 then1 treat their history and ancient fables as their clothesmen treat their old coats--they turn them and sell them for new at as high a price as possible4 ,it is a singular instance of human stupidity that we have so long considered the ,jews as a nation which taught all others1 while their historian ,josephus himself confesses the contrary4 ,it is difficult to penetrate the shades of antiquity2 but it is evident that all the kingdoms of ,asia were in a very flourishing state before the wandering horde of ,arabs1 called ,jews1 had a small spot of earth which they called their own--when they had neither a town1 nor laws1 nor even a fixed religion4 ,when1 therefore1 we see an ancient rite or an ancient opinion established in ,egypt or ,asia1 and also among the ,jews1 it is very natural to suppose that this small1 newly formed1 ignorant1 stupid people copied1 as well as they were able1 the ancient1 flourishing1 and industrious nation4 ,it is on this principle that we must judge of ,juda1 ,biscay1 ,cornwall1 etc4 ,most certainly triumphant ,rome did not in anything imitate ,biscay or ,cornwall2 and he must be either very ignorant or a great knave who would say that the ,jews taught anything to the ,greeks4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,it must not be thought that ,abraham was known only to the ,jews2 on the contrary1 he was renowned throughout ,asia4 ,this name1 which signifies father of a people in more ,oriental languages than one1 was given to some inhabitant of ,chalda from whom several nations have boasted of descending4 ,the pains which the ,arabs and the ,jews took to establish their descent from this patriarch render it impossible for even the greatest ,pyrrhoneans to doubt of there having been an ,abraham4 ,the ,hebrew ,scriptures make him the son of ,terah1 while the ,arabs say that ,terah was his grandfather and ,azar his father1 in which they have been followed by several ,christians4 ,the interpreters are of forty-two different opinions with respect to the year in which ,abraham was brought into the world1 and ,i shall not hazard a forty-third4 ,it also appears1 by the dates1 that ,abraham lived sixty years longer than the text allows him2 but mistakes in chronology do not destroy the truth of a fact4 ,supposing even that the book which speaks of ,abraham had not been so sacred as was the law1 it is not therefore less certain that ,abraham existed4 ,the ,jews distinguished books written by inspired men from books composed by particular inspiration4 ,how1 indeed1 can it be believed that ,god dictated false dates8 ,philo1 the ,jew of ,suidas1 relates that ,terah1 the father or grandfather of ,abraham1 who dwelt at ,ur in ,chalda1 was a poor man who gained a livelihood by making little idols1 and that he was himself an idolater4 ,if so1 that ancient religion of the ,sabeans1 who had no idols1 but worshipped the heavens1 had not1 then1 perhaps1 been established in ,chalda2 or1 if it prevailed in one part of the country1 it is very probable that idolatry was predominant in the rest4 ,it seems that in those times each little horde had its religion1 as each family had its own peculiar customs2 all were tolerated1 and all were peaceably confounded4 ,laban1 the father-in-law of ,jacob1 had idols4 ,each clan was perfectly willing that the neighboring clan should have its gods1 and contented itself with believing that its own were the mightiest4 ,the ,scripture says that the ,god of the ,jews1 who intended to give them the land of ,canaan1 commanded ,abraham to leave the fertile country of ,chalda and go towards ,palestine1 promising him that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed4 ,it is for theologians to explain1 by allegory and mystical sense1 how all the nations of the earth were to be blessed in a seed from which they did not descend1 since this much-to-be-venerated mystical sense cannot be made the object of a research purely critical4 ,a short time after these promises ,abraham's family was afflicted by famine1 and went into ,egypt for corn4 ,it is singular that the ,hebrews never went into ,egypt1 except when pressed by hunger2 for ,jacob afterwards sent his children on the same errand4 ,abraham1 who was then very old1 went this journey with his wife ,sarah1 aged sixty-five3 she was very handsome1 and ,abraham feared that the ,egyptians1 smitten by her charms1 would kill him in order to enjoy her transcendent beauties3 he proposed to her that she should pass for his sister1 etc4 ,human nature must at that time have possessed a vigor which time and luxury have since very much weakened4 ,this was the opinion of all the ancients2 it has been asserted that ,helen was seventy when she was carried off by ,paris4 ,that which ,abraham had foreseen came to pass2 the ,egyptian youth found his wife charming1 notwithstanding her sixty-five years2 the king himself fell in love with her1 and placed her in his seraglio1 though1 probably1 he had younger women there2 but the ,lord plagued the king and his seraglio with very great sores4 ,the text does not tell us how the king came to know that this dangerous beauty was ,abraham's wife2 but it seems that he did come to know it1 and restored her4 ,sarah's beauty must have been unalterable2 for twenty-five years afterwards1 when she was ninety years old1 pregnant1 and travelling with her husband through the dominions of a king of ,phnicia named ,abimelech1 ,abraham1 who had not yet corrected himself1 made her a second time pass for his sister4 ,the ,phnician king was as sensible to her attractions as the king of ,egypt had been2 but ,god appeared to this ,abimelech in a dream1 and threatened him with death if he touched his new mistress4 ,it must be confessed that ,sarah's conduct was as extraordinary as the lasting nature of her charms4 ,the singularity of these adventures was probably the reason why the ,jews had not the same sort of faith in their histories as they had in their ,leviticus4 ,there was not a single iota of their law in which they did not believe2 but the historical part of their ,scriptures did not demand the same respect4 ,their conduct in regard to their ancient books may be compared to that of the ,english1 who received the laws of ,st4 ,edward without absolutely believing that ,st4 ,edward cured the scrofula2 or to that of the ,romans1 who1 while they obeyed their primitive laws1 were not obliged to believe in the miracles of the sieve filled with water1 the ship drawn to the shore by a vestal's girdle1 the stone cut with a razor1 and so forth4 ,therefore the historian ,josephus1 though strongly attached to his form of worship1 leaves his readers at liberty to believe just so much as they choose of the ancient prodigies which he relates4 ,for the same reason the ,sadducees were permitted not to believe in the angels1 although the angels are so often spoken of in the ,old ,testament2 but these same ,sadducees were not permitted to neglect the prescribed feasts1 fasts1 and ceremonies4 ,this part of ,abraham's history 7the journeys into ,egypt and ,phnicia7 proves that great kingdoms were already established1 while the ,jewish nation existed in a single family2 that there already were laws1 since without them a great kingdom cannot exist2 and consequently that the law of ,moses1 which was posterior1 was not the first law4 ,it is not necessary for a law to be divine1 that it should be the most ancient of all4 ,god is undoubtedly the master of time4 ,it would1 it is true1 seem more conformable to the faint light of reason that ,god1 having to give a law1 should have given it at the first to all mankind2 but if it be proved that ,he proceeds in a different way1 it is not for us to question ,him4 ,the remainder of ,abraham's history is subject to great difficulties4 ,god1 who frequently appeared to and made several treaties with him1 one day sent three angels to him in the valley of ,mamre4 ,the patriarch gave them bread1 veal1 butter1 and milk to eat4 ,the three spirits dined1 and after dinner they sent for ,sarah1 who had baked the bread4 ,one of the angels1 whom the text calls the ,lord1 the ,eternal1 promised ,sarah that1 in the course of a year1 she should have a son4 ,sarah1 who was then ninety-four1 while her husband was nearly a hundred1 laughed at the promise--a proof that ,sarah confessed her decrepitude--a proof that1 according to the ,scripture itself1 human nature was not then very different from what it is now4 ,nevertheless1 the following year1 as we have already seen1 this aged woman1 after becoming pregnant1 captivated ,king ,abimelech4 ,certes1 to consider these stories as natural1 we must either have a species of understanding quite different from that which we have at present1 or regard every trait in the life of ,abraham as a miracle1 or believe that it is only an allegory2 but whichever way we turn1 we cannot escape embarrassment4 ,for instance1 what are we to make of ,god's promise to ,abraham that he would give to him and his posterity all the land of ,canaan1 which no ,chaldan ever possessed8 ,this is one of the difficulties which it is impossible to solve4 ,it seems astonishing that ,god1 after causing ,isaac to be born of a centenary father and a woman of ninety-five1 should afterwards have ordered that father to murder the son whom he had given him contrary to every expectation4 ,this strange order from ,god seems to show that1 at the time when this history was written1 the sacrifice of human victims was customary amongst the ,jews1 as it afterwards became in other nations1 as witness the vow of ,jephthah4 ,but it may be said that the obedience of ,abraham1 who was ready to sacrifice his son to the ,god who had given him1 is an allegory of the resignation which man owes to the orders of the ,supreme ,being4 ,there is one remark which it is particularly important to make on the history of this patriarch regarded as the father of the ,jews and the ,arabs4 ,his principal children were ,isaac1 born of his wife by a miraculous favor of ,providence1 and ,ishmael1 born of his servant4 ,it was in ,isaac that the race of the patriarch was blessed2 yet ,isaac was father only of an unfortunate and contemptible people1 who were for a long period slaves1 and have for a still longer period been dispersed4 ,ishmael1 on the contrary1 was the father of the ,arabs1 who1 in course of time1 established the empire of the caliphs1 one of the most powerful and most extensive in the world4 ,the ,mussulmans have a great reverence for ,abraham1 whom they call ,ibrahim4 ,those who believe him to have been buried at ,hebron1 make a pilgrimage thither1 while those who think that his tomb is at ,mecca1 go and pay their homage to him there4 ,some of the ancient ,persians believed that ,abraham was the same as ,zoroaster4 ,it has been with him as with most of the founders of the ,eastern nations1 to whom various names and various adventures have been attributed2 but it appears by the ,scripture text that he was one of those wandering ,arabs who had no fixed habitation4 ,we see him born at ,ur in ,chalda1 going first to ,haran1 then into ,palestine1 then into ,egypt1 then into ,phnicia1 and lastly forced to buy a grave at ,hebron4 ,one of the most remarkable circumstances of his life was1 that at the age of ninety1 before he had begotten ,isaac1 he caused himself1 his son ,ishmael1 and all his servants to be circumcised4 ,it seems that he had adopted this idea from the ,egyptians4 ,it is difficult to determine the origin of such an operation2 but it is most likely that it was performed in order to prevent the abuses of puberty4 ,but why should a man undergo this operation at the age of a hundred8 ,on the other hand it is asserted that only the priests were anciently distinguished in ,egypt by this custom4 ,it was a usage of great antiquity in ,africa and part of ,asia for the most holy personages to present their virile member to be kissed by the women whom they met4 ,the organs of generation were looked upon as something noble and sacred--as a symbol of divine power3 it was customary to swear by them2 and1 when taking an oath to another person1 to lay the hand on his testicles4 ,it was perhaps from this ancient custom that they afterwards received their name1 which signifies witnesses1 because they were thus made a testimony and a pledge4 ,when ,abraham sent his servant to ask ,rebecca for his son ,isaac1 the servant placed his hand on ,abraham's genitals1 which has been translated by the word thigh4 ,by this we see how much the manners of remote antiquity differed from ours4 ,in the eyes of a philosopher it is no more astonishing that men should formerly have sworn by that part than by the head2 nor is it astonishing that those who wished to distinguish themselves from other men should have testified by this venerated portion of the human person4 ,the ,book of ,genesis tells us that circumcision was a covenant between ,god and ,abraham2 and expressly adds1 that whosoever shall not be circumcised in his house1 shall be put to death4 ,yet we are not told that ,isaac was circumcised2 nor is circumcision again spoken of until the time of ,moses4 ,we shall conclude this article with one more observation1 which is1 that ,abraham1 after having by ,sarah and ,hagar two sons1 who became each the father of a great nation1 had six sons by ,keturah1 who settled in ,arabia2 but their posterity were not famous4 ,,abuse4 ,a vice attached to all the customs1 to all the laws1 to all the institutions of man3 the detail is too vast to be contained in any library4 ,states are governed by abuses4 ,maximus ille est qui minimis urgetur4 ,it might be said to the ,chinese1 to the ,japanese1 to the ,english--your government swarms with abuses1 which you do not correct6 ,the ,chinese will reply3 ,we have existed as a people for five thousand years1 and at this day are perhaps the most fortunate nation on earth1 because we are the most tranquil4 ,the ,japanese will say nearly the same4 ,the ,english will answer3 ,we are powerful at sea1 and prosperous on land2 perhaps in ten thousand years we shall bring our usages to perfection4 ,the grand secret is1 to be in a better condition than others1 even with enormous abuses4 ,,abuse ,,of ,,words4 ,books1 like conversation1 rarely give us any precise ideas3 nothing is so common as to read and converse unprofitably4 ,we must here repeat what ,locke has so strongly urged--,define your terms4 ,a jurisconsult1 in his criminal institute1 announces that the non-observance of ,sundays and holidays is treason against the ,divine ,majesty4 ,treason against the ,divine ,majesty gives an idea of the most enormous of crimes1 and the most dreadful of chastisements4 ,but what constitutes the offence8 ,to have missed vespers8--a thing which may happen to the best man in the world4 ,in all disputes on liberty1 one reasoner generally understands one thing1 and his adversary another4 ,a third comes in who understands neither the one nor the other1 nor is himself understood4 ,in these disputes1 one has in his head the power of acting2 a second1 the power of willing2 a third1 the desire of executing2 each revolves in his own circle1 and they never meet4 ,it is the same with quarrels about grace4 ,who can understand its nature1 its operations1 the sufficiency which is not sufficient1 and the efficacy which is ineffectual4 ,the words substantial form were pronounced for two thousand years without suggesting the least notion4 ,for these1 plastic natures have been substituted1 but still without anything being gained4 ,a traveller1 stopped on his way by a torrent1 asks a villager on the opposite bank to show him the ford3 ,go to the right6 shouts the countryman4 ,he takes the right and is drowned4 ,the other runs up crying3 ,oh6 how unfortunate6 ,i did not tell him to go to his right1 but to mine6 ,the world is full of these misunderstandings4 ,how will a ,norwegian1 when reading this formula3 ,servant of the servants of ,god2 discover that it is the ,bishop of ,bishops1 and ,king of ,kings who speaks8 ,at the time when the ,fragments of ,petronius made a great noise in the literary world1 ,meibomius1 a noted learned man of ,lbeck1 read in the printed letter of another learned man of ,bologna3 ,we have here an entire ,petronius1 which ,i have seen with my own eyes and admired4 ,habemus hic ,petronium integrum1 quem vidi meis oculis non sine admiratione4 ,he immediately set out for ,italy1 hastened to ,bologna1 went to the librarian ,capponi1 and asked him if it were true that they had the entire ,petronius at ,bologna4 ,capponi answered that it was a fact which had long been public4 ,can ,i see this ,petronius8 ,be so good as to show him to me4 ,nothing is more easy1 said ,capponi4 ,he then took him to the church in which the body of ,st4 ,petronius was laid4 ,meibomius ordered horses and fled4 ,if the ,jesuit ,daniel took a warlike abbot1 abbatem martialem1 for the abbot ,martial1 a hundred historians have fallen into still greater mistakes4 ,the ,jesuit d',orleans1 in his ,revolutions of ,england1 wrote indifferently ,northampton or ,southampton1 only mistaking the north for the south1 or vice versa4 ,metaphysical terms1 taken in their proper sense1 have sometimes determined the opinion of twenty nations4 ,every one knows the metaphor of ,isaiah1 ,how hast thou fallen from heaven1 thou star which rose in the morning8 ,this discourse was imagined to have been addressed to the devil2 and as the ,hebrew word answering to the planet ,venus was rendered in ,latin by the word ,lucifer1 the devil has ever since been called ,lucifer4 ,much ridicule has been bestowed on the ,chart of the ,tender ,passion by ,mdlle4 ,cuderi4 ,the lovers embark on the river ,tendre2 they dine at ,tendre sur ,estime1 sup at ,tendre sur ,inclination1 sleep at ,tendre sur ,dsir1 find themselves the next morning at ,tendre sur ,passion1 and lastly at ,tendre sur ,tendre4 ,these ideas may be ridiculous1 especially when ,clelia1 ,horatius ,cocles1 and other rude and austere ,romans set out on the voyage2 but this geographical chart at least shows us that love has various lodgings1 and that the same word does not always signify the same thing4 ,there is a prodigious difference between the love of ,tarquin and that of ,celadon--between ,david's love for ,jonathan1 which was stronger than that of women1 and the ,abb ,desfontaines' love for little chimney-sweepers4 ,the most singular instance of this abuse of words--these voluntary equivoques--these misunderstandings which have caused so many quarrels--is the ,chinese ,king-tien4 ,the missionaries having violent disputes about the meaning of this word1 the ,court of ,rome sent a ,frenchman1 named ,maigrot1 whom they made the imaginary bishop of a province in ,china1 to adjust the difference4 ,maigrot did not know a word of ,chinese2 but the emperor deigned to grant that he should be told what he understood by ,king-tien4 ,maigrot would not believe what was told him1 but caused the emperor of ,china to be condemned at ,rome6 ,the abuse of words is an inexhaustible subject4 ,in history1 in morality1 in jurisprudence1 in medicine1 but especially in theology1 beware of ambiguity4 ,,academy4 ,academies are to universities as maturity is to childhood1 oratory to grammar1 or politeness to the first lessons in civility4 ,academies1 not being stipendiary1 should be entirely free2 such were the academies of ,italy2 such is the ,french ,academy2 and such1 more particularly1 is the ,royal ,society of ,london4 ,the ,french ,academy1 which formed itself1 received1 it is true1 letters patent from ,louis ,,xiii41 but without any salary1 and consequently without any subjection2 hence it was that the first men in the kingdom1 and even princes1 sought admission into this illustrious body4 ,the ,society of ,london has possessed the same advantage4 ,the celebrated ,colbert1 being a member of the ,french ,academy1 employed some of his brethren to compose inscriptions and devices for the public buildings4 ,this assembly1 to which ,boileau and ,racine afterwards belonged1 soon became an academy of itself4 ,the establishment of this ,academy of ,inscriptions1 now called that of the ,belles-,lettres1 may1 indeed1 be dated from the year #affa1 and that of the ,academy of ,sciences from #afff4 ,we are indebted for both establishments to the same minister1 who contributed in so many ways to the splendor of the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,after the deaths of ,jean ,baptiste ,colbert and the ,marquis de ,louvois1 when ,count de ,pontchartrain1 secretary of state1 had the department of ,paris1 he intrusted the government of the new academies to his nephew1 the ,abb ,bignon4 ,then were first devised honorary fellowships requiring no learning1 and without remuneration2 places with salaries disagreeably distinguished from the former2 fellowships without salaries2 and scholarships1 a title still more disagreeable1 which has since been suppressed4 ,the ,academy of the ,belles-,lettres was put on the same footing2 both submitted to the immediate control of the secretary of state1 and to the revolting distinction of honoraries1 pensionaries1 and pupils4 ,the ,abb ,bignon ventured to propose the same regulation to the ,french ,academy1 of which he was a member2 but he was heard with unanimous indignation4 ,the least opulent in the ,academy were the first to reject his offers1 and to prefer liberty to pensions and honors4 ,the ,abb ,bignon1 who1 in the laudable intention of doing good1 had dealt too freely with the noble sentiments of his brethren1 never again set his foot in the ,french ,academy4 ,the word ,academy became so celebrated that when ,lulli1 who was a sort of favorite1 obtained the establishment of his ,opera1 in #afib1 he had interest enough to get inserted in the patent1 that it was a ,royal ,academy of ,music1 in which ,ladies and ,gentlemen might sing without demeaning themselves4 ,he did not confer the same honor on the dancers2 the public1 however1 has always continued to go to the ,opera1 but never to the ,academy of ,music4 ,it is known that the word ,academy1 borrowed from the ,greeks1 originally signified a society or school of philosophy at ,athens1 which met in a garden bequeathed to it by ,academus4 ,the ,italians were the first who instituted such societies after the revival of letters2 the ,academy ,delia ,crusca is of the sixteenth century4 ,academies were afterwards established in every town where the sciences were cultivated4 ,the ,society of ,london has never taken the title of ,academy4 ,the provincial academies have been of signal advantage4 ,they have given birth to emulation1 forced youth to labor1 introduced them to a course of good reading1 dissipated the ignorance and prejudices of some of our towns1 fostered a spirit of politeness1 and1 as far as it is possible1 destroyed pedantry4 ,scarcely anything has been written against the ,french ,academy1 except frivolous and insipid pleasantries4 ,st4 ,evremond's comedy of ,the ,academicians had some reputation in its time2 but a proof of the little merit it possessed is that it is now forgotten1 whereas the good satires of ,boileau are immortal4 ,,adam4 ,,section ,i4 ,so much has been said and so much written concerning ,adam1 his wife1 the pre-,adamites1 etc41 and the rabbis have put forth so many idle stories respecting ,adam1 and it is so dull to repeat what others have said before1 that ,i shall here hazard an idea entirely new2 one1 at least1 which is not to be found in any ancient author1 father of the church1 preacher1 theologian1 critic1 or scholar with whom ,i am acquainted4 ,i mean the profound secrecy with respect to ,adam which was observed throughout the habitable earth1 ,palestine only excepted1 until the time when the ,jewish books began to be known in ,alexandria1 and were translated into ,greek under one of the ,ptolemies4 ,still they were very little known2 for large books were very rare and very dear4 ,besides1 the ,jews of ,jerusalem were so incensed against those of ,alexandria1 loaded them with so many reproaches for having translated their ,bible into a profane tongue1 called them so many ill names1 and cried so loudly to the ,lord1 that the ,alexandrian ,jews concealed their translation as much as possible2 it was so secret that no ,greek or ,roman author speaks of it before the time of the ,emperor ,aurelian4 ,the historian ,josephus confesses1 in his answer to ,appian1 that the ,jews had not long had any intercourse with other nations3 ,we inhabit1 says he1 a country distant from the sea2 we do not apply ourselves to commerce1 nor have we any communication with other nations4 ,is it to be wondered at that our people1 dwelling so far from the sea1 and affecting never to write1 have been so little known8 ,here it will probably be asked how ,josephus could say that his nation affected never to write anything1 when they had twenty-two canonical books1 without reckoning the ,targum by ,onkelos4 ,but it must be considered that twenty-two small volumes were very little when compared with the multitude of books preserved in the library of ,alexandria1 half of which were burned in ,csar's war4 ,it is certain that the ,jews had written and read very little2 that they were profoundly ignorant of astronomy1 geometry1 geography1 and physics2 that they knew nothing of the history of other nations2 and that in ,alexandria they first began to learn4 ,their language was a barbarous mixture of ancient ,phnician and corrupted ,chaldee2 it was so poor that several moods were wanting in the conjugation of their verbs4 ,moreover1 as they communicated neither their books nor the titles of them to any foreigner1 no one on earth except themselves had ever heard of ,adam1 or ,eve1 or ,abel1 or ,cain1 or ,noah4 ,abraham alone was1 in course of time1 known to the ,oriental nations2 but no ancient people admitted that ,abraham was the root of the ,jewish nation4 ,such are the secrets of ,providence1 that the father and mother of the human race have ever been totally unknown to their descendants2 so that the names of ,adam and ,eve are to be found in no ancient author1 either of ,greece1 of ,rome1 of ,persia1 or of ,syria1 nor even among the ,arabs1 until near the time of ,mahomet4 ,it was ,god's pleasure that the origin of the great family of the world should be concealed from all but the smallest and most unfortunate part of that family4 ,how is it that ,adam and ,eve have been unknown to all their children8 ,how could it be that neither in ,egypt nor in ,babylon was any trace--any tradition--of our first parents to be found8 ,why were they not mentioned by ,orpheus1 by ,linus1 or by ,thamyris8 ,for if they had said but one word of them1 it would undoubtedly have been caught by ,hesiod1 and especially by ,homer1 who speak of everything except the authors of the human race4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 who collected so many ancient testimonies1 would not have failed to quote any passage in which mention had been made of ,adam and ,eve4 ,eusebius1 in his ,universal ,history1 has examined even the most doubtful testimonies1 and would assuredly have made the most of the smallest allusion1 or appearance of an allusion1 to our first parents4 ,it is1 then1 sufficiently clear that they were always utterly unknown to the nations4 ,we do1 it is true1 find among the ,brahmins1 in the book entitled the ,ezourveidam the names of ,adimo and of ,procriti1 his wife4 ,but though ,adimo has some little resemblance to our ,adam1 the ,indians say3 ,we were a great people established on the banks of the ,indus and the ,ganges many ages before the ,hebrew horde moved towards the ,jordan4 ,the ,egyptians1 the ,persians1 and the ,arabs came to us for wisdom and spices when the ,jews were unknown to the rest of mankind4 ,we cannot have taken our ,adimo from their ,adam2 our ,procriti does not in the least resemble ,eve2 besides1 their history and ours are entirely different4 ,moreover1 the ',veidam' on which the ',ezourveidam' is a commentary1 is believed by us to have been composed at a more remote period of antiquity than the ,jewish books2 and the ',veidam' itself is a newer law given to the ,brahmins1 fifteen hundred years after their first law1 called ,shasta or ,shastabad4 ,such1 or nearly such1 are the answers which the ,brahmins of the present day have often made to the chaplains of merchant vessels who have talked to them of ,adam and ,eve1 and ,cain and ,abel1 when the traders of ,europe have gone1 with arms in their hands1 to buy their spices and lay waste their country4 ,the ,phnician ,sanchoniathon1 who certainly lived before the period at which we place ,moses1 and who is quoted by ,eusebius as an authentic writer1 gives ten generations to the human race1 as does ,moses1 down to the time of ,noah2 but1 in these ten generations1 he mentions neither ,adam nor ,eve1 nor any of their descendants1 not even ,noah himself4 ,the names1 according to the ,greek translation by ,philo of ,biblos1 are on1 ,gems1 ,phox1 ,liban1 ,usou1 ,halieus1 ,chrisor1 ,tecnites1 ,agrove1 ,amine2 these are the first ten generations4 ,we do not see the name of ,noah or of ,adam in any of the ancient dynasties of ,egypt3 they are not to be found among the ,chaldans2 in a word1 the whole earth has been silent respecting them4 ,it must be owned that such a silence is unparalleled4 ,every people has attributed to itself some imaginary origin1 yet none has approached the true one4 ,we cannot comprehend how the father of all nations has so long been unknown1 while in the natural course of things his name should have been carried from mouth to mouth to the farthest corners of the earth4 ,let us humble ourselves to the decrees of that ,providence which has permitted so astonishing an oblivion4 ,all was mysterious and concealed in the nation guided by ,god ,himself1 which prepared the way for ,christianity1 and was the wild olive on which the fruitful one has been grafted4 ,that the names of the authors of mankind should be unknown to mankind is a mystery of the highest order4 ,i will venture to affirm that it has required a miracle thus to shut the eyes and ears of all nations--to destroy every monument1 every memorial of their first father4 ,what would ,csar1 ,antony1 ,crassus1 ,pompey1 ,cicero1 ,marcellus1 or ,metellus have thought1 if a poor ,jew1 while selling them balm1 had said1 ,we all descend from one father1 named ,adam4 ,all the ,roman senate would have cried1 ,show us our genealogical tree4 ,then the ,jew would have displayed his ten generations1 down to the time of ,noah1 and the secret of the universal deluge4 ,the senate would have asked him how many persons were in the ark to feed all the animals for ten whole months1 and during the following year in which no food would be produced8 ,the peddler would have said1 ,we were eight--,noah and his wife1 their three sons1 ,shem1 ,ham1 and ,japhet1 and their wives4 ,all this family descended in a right line from ,adam4 ,cicero1 would1 doubtless1 have inquired for the great monuments1 the indisputable testimonies which ,noah and his children had left of our common father4 ,after the deluge1 he would have said1 the whole world would have resounded with the names of ,adam and ,noah1 one the father1 the other the restorer of every race4 ,these names would have been in every mouth as soon as men could speak1 on every parchment as soon as they could write1 on the door of every house as soon as they could build1 on every temple1 on every statue2 and have you known so great a secret1 yet concealed it from us8 ,the ,jew would have answered3 ,it is because we are pure and you are impure4 ,the ,roman senate would have laughed and the ,jew would have been whipped2 so much are men attached to their prejudices6 ,,section ,,ii4 ,the pious ,madame de ,bourignon was sure that ,adam was an hermaphrodite1 like the first men of the divine ,plato4 ,god had revealed a great secret to her2 but as ,i have not had the same revelation1 ,i shall say nothing of the matter4 ,the ,jewish rabbis have read ,adam's books1 and know the names of his preceptor and his second wife2 but as ,i have not read our first parent's books1 ,i shall remain silent4 ,some acute and very learned persons are quite astonished when they read the ,veidam of the ancient ,brahmins1 to find that the first man was created in ,india1 and called ,adimo1 which signifies the begetter1 and his wife1 ,procriti1 signifying life4 ,they say the sect of the ,brahmins is incontestably more ancient than that of the ,jews2 that it was not until a late period that the ,jews could write in the ,canaanitish language1 since it was not until late that they established themselves in the little country of ,canaan4 ,they say the ,indians were always inventors1 and the ,jews always imitators2 the ,indians always ingenious1 and the ,jews always rude4 ,they say it is difficult to believe that ,adam1 who was fair and had hair on his head1 was father to the negroes1 who are entirely black1 and have black wool4 ,what1 indeed1 do they not say8 ,as for me1 ,i say nothing2 ,i leave these researches to the ,reverend ,father ,berruyer of the ,society of ,jesus4 ,he is the most perfect ,innocent ,i have ever known2 the book has been burned1 as that of a man who wished to turn the ,bible into ridicule2 but ,i am quite sure he had no such wicked end in view4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,the age for inquiring seriously whether or not knowledge was infused into ,adam had passed by2 those who so long agitated the question had no knowledge1 either infused or acquired4 ,it is as difficult to know at what time the ,book of ,genesis1 which speaks of ,adam1 was written1 as it is to know the date of the ,veidam of the ,sanskrit1 or any other of the ancient ,asiatic books4 ,it is important to remark that the ,jews were not permitted to read the first chapter of ,genesis before they were twenty-five years old4 ,many rabbis have regarded the formation of ,adam and ,eve and their adventure as an allegory4 ,every celebrated nation of antiquity has imagined some similar one2 and1 by a singular concurrence1 which marks the weakness of our nature1 all have endeavored to explain the origin of moral and physical evil by ideas nearly alike4 ,the ,chaldans1 the ,indians1 the ,persians and the ,egyptians have accounted1 in similar ways1 for that mixture of good and evil which seems to be a necessary appendage to our globe4 ,the ,jews1 who went out of ,egypt1 rude as they were1 had heard of the allegorical philosophy of the ,egyptians4 ,with the little knowledge thus acquired1 they afterwards mixed that which they received from the ,phnicians and from the ,babylonians during their long slavery4 ,but as it is natural and very common for a rude nation to imitate rudely the conceptions of a polished people1 it is not surprising that the ,jews imagined a woman formed from the side of a man1 the spirit of life breathed from the mouth of ,god on the face of ,adam--the ,tigris1 the ,euphrates1 the ,nile and the ,oxus1 having all the same source in a garden1 and the forbidden fruit1 which brought death into the world1 as well as physical and moral evil4 ,full of the idea which prevailed among the ancients1 that the serpent was a very cunning animal1 they had no great difficulty in endowing it with understanding and speech4 ,this people1 who then inhabited only a small corner of the earth1 which they believed to be long1 narrow and flat1 could easily believe that all men came from ,adam4 ,they did not even know that the negroes1 with a conformation different from their own1 inhabited immense regions2 still less could they have any idea of ,america4 ,it is1 however1 very strange that the ,jewish people were permitted to read the books of ,exodus1 where there are so many miracles that shock reason1 yet were not permitted to read before the age of twenty-five the first chapter of ,genesis1 in which all is necessarily a miracle1 since the creation is the subject ,perhaps it was because ,god1 after creating the man and woman in the first chapter1 makes them again in another1 and it was thought expedient to keep this appearance of contradiction from the eyes of youth4 ,perhaps it is because it is said that ,god made man in his own image1 and this expression gave the ,jews too corporeal an idea of ,god4 ,perhaps it was because it is said that ,god took a rib from ,adam's side to form the woman1 and the young and inconsiderate1 feeling their sides1 and finding the right number of ribs1 might have suspected the author of some infidelity4 ,perhaps it was because ,god1 who always took a walk at noon in the garden of ,eden1 laughed at ,adam after his fall1 and this tone of ridicule might tend to give youth too great a taste for pleasantry4 ,in short1 every line of this chapter furnishes very plausible reasons for interdicting the reading of it2 but such being the case1 one cannot clearly see how it was that the other chapters were permitted4 ,it is1 besides1 surprising that the ,jews were not to read this chapter until they were twenty-five4 ,one would think that it should first have been proposed to childhood1 which receives everything without examination1 rather than to youth1 whose pride is to judge and to laugh4 ,on the other hand1 the ,jews of twenty-five years of age1 having their judgments prepared and strengthened1 might be more fitted to receive this chapter than inexperienced minds4 ,we shall say nothing here of ,adam's second wife1 named ,lillah1 whom the ancient rabbis have given him4 ,it must be confessed that we know very few anecdotes of our family4 ,,adoration4 ,is it not a great fault in some modern languages that the same word that is used in addressing the ,supreme ,being is also used in addressing a mistress8 ,we not infrequently go from hearing a sermon1 in which the preacher has talked of nothing but adoring ,god in spirit and in truth1 to the opera1 where nothing is to be heard but the charming object of my adoration1 etc4 ,the ,greeks and ,romans1 at least1 did not fall into this extravagant profanation4 ,horace does not say that he adores ,lalage2 ,tibullus does not adore ,delia2 nor is even the term adorationto be found in ,petronius4 ,if anything can excuse this indecency1 it is the frequent mention which is made in our operas and songs of the gods of ancient fable4 ,poets have said that their mistresses were more adorable than these false divinities2 for which no one could blame them4 ,we have insensibly become familiarized with this mode of expression1 until at last1 without any perception of the folly1 the ,god of the universe is addressed in the same terms as an opera singer4 ,but to return to the important part of our subject3 ,there is no civilized nation which does not render public adoration to ,god4 ,it is true that neither in ,asia nor in ,africa is any person forced to the mosque or temple of the place2 each one goes of his own accord4 ,this custom of assembling should tend to unite the minds of men and render them more gentle in society2 yet have they been seen raging against each other1 even in the consecrated abode of peace4 ,the temple of ,jerusalem was deluged with blood by zealots who murdered their brethren1 and our churches have more than once been defiled by carnage4 ,in the article on ,china it will be seen that the emperor is the chief pontiff1 and that the worship is august and simple4 ,there are other countries in which it is simple without any magnificence1 as among the reformers of ,europe and in ,british ,america4 ,in others wax tapers must be lighted at noon1 although in the primitive ages they were held in abomination4 ,a convent of nuns1 if deprived of their tapers1 would cry out that the light of the faith was extinguished and the world would shortly be at an end4 ,the ,church of ,england holds a middle course between the pompous ceremonies of the ,church of ,rome and the plainness of the ,calvinists4 ,throughout the ,east1 songs1 dances and torches formed part of the ceremonies essential in all sacred feasts4 ,no sacerdotal institution existed among the ,greeks without songs and dances4 ,the ,hebrews borrowed this custom from their neighbors2 for ,david sang and danced before the ark4 ,st4 ,matthew speaks of a canticle sung by ,jesus ,christ ,himself and by ,his apostles after their ,passover4 ,this canticle1 which is not admitted into the authorized books1 is to be found in fragments in the #bcgth letter of ,st4 ,augustine to ,bishop ,chretius2 and1 whatever disputes there may have been about its authenticity1 it is certain that singing was employed in all religious ceremonies4 ,mahomet found this a settled mode of worship among the ,arabs2 it is also established in ,india1 but does not appear to be in use among the lettered men of ,china4 ,the ceremonies of all places have some resemblance and some difference2 but ,god is worshipped throughout the earth4 ,woe1 assuredly1 unto those who do not adore ,him as we do6 whether erring in their tenets or in their rites4 ,they sit in the shadow of death2 but the greater their misfortune the more are they to be pitied and supported4 ,it is indeed a great consolation for us that the ,mahometans1 the ,indians1 the ,chinese1 the ,tartars1 all adore one only ,god2 for so far they are our kindred4 ,their fatal ignorance of our sacred mysteries can only inspire us with tender compassion for our wandering brethren4 ,far from us be all spirit of persecution which would only serve to render them irreconcilable4 ,one only ,god being adored throughout the known world1 shall those who acknowledge ,him as their ,father never cease to present to ,him the revolting spectacle of ,his children detesting1 anathematizing1 persecuting and massacring one another by way of argument8 ,it is hard to determine precisely what the ,greeks and ,romans understood by adoring1 or whether they adored fauns1 sylvans1 dryads and naiads as they adored the twelve superior gods4 ,it is not likely that ,adrian's minion1 ,antinous1 was adored by the ,egyptians of later times with the same worship which they paid to ,serapis2 and it is sufficiently proved that the ancient ,egyptians did not adore onions and crocodiles as they did ,isis and ,osiris4 ,ambiguity abounds everywhere and confounds everything2 we are obliged at every word to exclaim1 ,what do you mean8 we must constantly repeat--,define your terms4 ,is it quite true that ,simon1 called the ,magician1 was adored among the ,romans8 ,it is not more true that he was utterly unknown to them4 ,st4 ,justin in his ,apology1 which was as little known at ,rome as ,simon1 tells us that this ,god had a statue erected on the ,tiber1 or rather near the ,tiber1 between the two bridges1 with this inscription3 ,simoni deo sancto4 ,st4 ,irenus and ,tertullian attest the same thing2 but to whom do they attest it8 ,to people who had never seen ,rome--to ,africans1 to ,allobroges1 to ,syrians1 and to some of the inhabitants of ,sichem4 ,they had certainly not seen this statue1 the real inscription on which was ,semo sanco deo fidio1 and not ,simoni deo sancto4 ,they should at least have consulted ,dionysius of ,halicarnassus1 who gives this inscription in his fourth book4 ,semo sanco was an old ,sabine word1 signifying half god and half man2 we find in ,livy1 ,bona ,semoni sanco censuerunt consecranda4 ,this god was one of the most ancient in ,roman worship1 having been consecrated by ,tarquin the ,proud1 and was considered as the god of alliances and good faith4 ,it was the custom to sacrifice an ox to him1 and to write any treaty made with a neighboring people upon the skin4 ,he had a temple near that of ,quirinus2 offerings were sometimes presented to him under the name of ,semo the father1 and sometimes under that of ,sancus fidius1 whence ,ovid says in his ,fasti3 ,qurebam nonas ,sanco1 ,fidove referrem1 ,an tibi1 ,semo pater4 ,such was the ,roman divinity which for so many ages was taken for ,simon the ,magician4 ,st4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem had no doubts on the subject1 and ,st4 ,augustine in his first book of ,heresies tells us that ,simon the ,magician himself procured the erection of this statue1 together with that of his ,helena1 by order of the emperor and senate4 ,this strange fable1 the falsehood of which might so easily have been discovered1 was constantly connected with another fable1 which relates that ,simon and ,st4 ,peter both appeared before ,nero and challenged each other which of them should soonest bring to life the corpse of a near relative of ,nero's1 and also raise himself highest in the air2 that ,simon caused himself to be carried up by devils in a fiery chariot2 that ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul brought him down by their prayers2 that he broke his legs and in consequence died1 and that ,nero1 being enraged1 put both ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul to death4 ,abdias1 ,marcellinus and ,hegisippus have each related this story1 with a little difference in the details4 ,arnobius1 ,st4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 ,sulpicius ,severus1 ,philaster1 ,st4 ,epiphanius1 ,isidorus of ,damietta1 ,maximus of ,turin1 and several other authors successively gave currency to this error1 and it was generally adopted1 until at length there was found at ,rome a statue of ,semo sancus deus fidius1 and the learned ,father ,mabillon dug up an ancient monument with the inscription ,semoni sanco deo fidio4 ,it is nevertheless certain that there was a ,simon1 whom the ,jews believed to be a magician1 as it is certain that there was an ,apollonius of ,tyana4 ,it is also true that this ,simon1 who was born in the little country of ,samaria1 gathered together some vagabonds1 whom he persuaded that he was one sent by ,god2 he baptized1 indeed1 as well as the apostles1 and raised altar against altar4 ,the ,jews of ,samaria1 always hostile to those of ,jerusalem1 ventured to oppose this ,simon to ,jesus ,christ1 acknowledged by the apostles and disciples1 all of whom were of the tribe of ,benjamin or that of ,judah4 ,he baptized like them1 but to the baptism of water he added fire1 saying that he had been foretold by ,john the ,baptist in these words3 ,he that cometh after me is mightier than ,i2 he shall baptize you with the ,holy ,ghost and with fire4 ,simon lighted a lambent flame over the baptismal font with naphtha from the ,asphaltic ,lake4 ,his party was very strong1 but it is very doubtful whether his disciples adored him2 ,st4 ,justin is the only one who believes it4 ,menander1 like ,simon1 said he was sent by ,god to be the savior of men4 ,all the false ,messiahs1 ,barcochebas especially1 called themselves sent by ,god2 but not even ,barcochebas demanded to be adored4 ,men are not often erected into divinities while they live1 unless1 indeed1 they be ,alexanders or ,roman emperors1 who expressly order their slaves so to do4 ,but this is not1 strictly speaking1 adoration2 it is an extraordinary homage1 an anticipated apotheosis1 a flattery as ridiculous as those which are lavished on ,octavius by ,virgil and ,horace4 ,,adultery4 ,we are not indebted for this expression to the ,greeks2 they called adultery moicheia1 from which came the ,latin mchus1 which we have not adopted4 ,we owe it neither to the ,syriac tongue nor to the ,hebrew1 a jargon of the ,syriac1 in which adultery is called niuph4 ,in ,latin adulteratio signified alteration--adulteration1 one thing put for another--a counterfeit1 as false keys1 false bargains1 false signatures2 thus he who took possession of another's bed was called adulter4 ,in a similar way1 by antiphrasis1 the name of coccyx1 a cuckoo1 was given to the poor husband into whose nest a stranger intruded4 ,pliny1 the naturalist1 says3 ,coccyx ova subdit in nidis alienis2 ita plerique alienas uxores faciunt matres--the cuckoo deposits its eggs in the nest of other birds2 so the ,romans not unfrequently made mothers of the wives of their friends4 ,the comparison is not over just4 ,coccyx signifying a cuckoo1 we have made it cuckold4 ,what a number of things do we owe to the ,romans6 ,but as the sense of all words is subject to change1 the term applied to cuckold1 which1 according to good grammar1 should be the gallant1 is appropriated to the husband4 ,some of the learned assert that it is to the ,greeks we owe the emblem of the horns1 and that they bestowed the appellation of goat upon a husband the disposition of whose wife resembled that of a female of the same species4 ,indeed1 they used the epithet son of a goat in the same way as the modern vulgar do an appellation which is much more literal4 ,these vile terms are no longer made use of in good company4 ,even the word adultery is never pronounced4 ,we do not now say1 ,madame la ,duchesse lives in adultery with ,monsieur le ,chevalier--,madame la ,marquise has a criminal intimacy with ,monsieur l',abb2 but we say1 ,monsieur l',abb is this week the lover of ,madame la ,marquise4 ,when ladies talk of their adulteries to their female friends1 they say1 ,i confess ,i have some inclination for him4 ,they used formerly to confess that they felt some esteem1 but since the time when a certain citizen's wife accused herself to her confessor of having esteem for a counsellor1 and the confessor inquired as to the number of proofs of esteem afforded1 ladies of quality have esteemed no one and gone but little to confession4 ,the women of ,lacedmon1 we are told1 knew neither confession nor adultery4 ,it is true that ,menelaus had experienced the intractability of ,helen1 but ,lycurgus set all right by making the women common1 when the husbands were willing to lend them and the wives consented4 ,every one might dispose of his own4 ,in this case a husband had not to apprehend that he should foster in his house the offspring of a stranger2 all children belonged to the republic1 and not to any particular family1 so that no one was injured4 ,adultery is an evil only inasmuch as it is a theft2 but we do not steal that which is given to us4 ,the ,lacedmonians1 therefore1 had good reason for saying that adultery was impossible among them4 ,it is otherwise in our modern nations1 where every law is founded on the principle of meum and tuum4 ,it is the greatest wrong1 the greatest injury1 to give a poor fellow children which do not belong to him and lay upon him a burden which he ought not to bear4 ,races of heroes have thus been utterly bastardized4 ,the wives of the ,astolphos and the ,jocondas1 through a depraved appetite1 a momentary weakness1 have become pregnant by some deformed dwarf--some little page1 devoid alike of heart and mind1 and both the bodies and souls of the offspring have borne testimony to the fact4 ,in some countries of ,europe the heirs to the greatest names are little insignificant apes1 who have in their halls the portraits of their pretended fathers1 six feet high1 handsome1 well-made1 and carrying a broadsword which their successors of the present day would scarcely be able to lift4 ,important offices are thus held by men who have no right to them1 and whose hearts1 heads1 and arms are unequal to the burden4 ,in some provinces of ,europe the girls make love1 without their afterwards becoming less prudent wives4 ,in ,france it is quite the contrary2 the girls are shut up in convents1 where1 hitherto1 they have received a most ridiculous education4 ,their mothers1 in order to console them1 teach them to look for liberty in marriage4 ,scarcely have they lived a year with their husbands when they become impatient to ascertain the force of their attractions4 ,a young wife neither sits1 nor eats1 nor walks1 nor goes to the play1 but in company with women who have each their regular intrigue4 ,if she has not her lover like the rest1 she is to be unpaired2 and ashamed of being so1 she is afraid to show herself4 ,the ,orientals proceed quite in another way4 ,girls are brought to them and warranted virgins on the words of a ,circassian4 ,they marry them and shut them up as a measure of precaution1 as we shut up our maids4 ,no jokes there upon ladies and their husbands6 no songs6--nothing resembling our quodlibets about horns and cuckoldom6 ,we pity the great ladies of ,turkey1 ,persia and ,india2 but they are a thousand times happier in their seraglios than our young women in their convents4 ,it sometimes happens among us that a dissatisfied husband1 not choosing to institute a criminal process against his wife for adultery1 which would subject him to the imputation of barbarity1 contents himself with obtaining a separation of person and property4 ,and here we must insert an abstract of a memorial1 drawn up by a good man who finds himself in this situation4 ,these are his complaints2 are they just or not8-- ,a memorial1 written by a magistrate1 about the year #agfd4 ,a principal magistrate of a town in ,france is so unfortunate as to have a wife who was debauched by a priest before her marriage1 and has since brought herself to public shame2 he has1 however1 contented himself with a private separation4 ,this man1 who is forty years old1 healthy1 and of a pleasing figure1 has need of woman's society4 ,he is too scrupulous to seek to seduce the wife of another2 he even fears to contract an illicit intimacy with a maid or a widow4 ,in this state of sorrow and perplexity he addresses the following complaints to the ,church1 of which he is a member3 ,my wife is criminal1 and ,i suffer the punishment4 ,a woman is necessary to the comfort of my life--nay1 even to the preservation of my virtue2 yet she is refused me by the ,church1 which forbids me to marry an honest woman4 ,the civil law of the present day1 which is1 unhappily1 founded on the canon law1 deprives me of the rights of humanity4 ,the ,church compels me to seek either pleasures which it reprobates1 or shameful consolations which it condemns2 it forces me to be criminal4 ,if ,i look round among the nations of the earth1 ,i see no religion except the ,roman ,catholic which does not recognize divorce and second marriage as a natural right4 ,what inversion of order1 then1 has made it a virtue in ,catholics to suffer adultery and a duty to live without wives when their wives have thus shamefully injured them8 ,why is a cankered tie indissoluble1 notwithstanding the great maxim adopted by the code1 ,quicquid ligatur dissolubile est8 ,a separation of person and property is granted me1 but not a divorce4 ,the law takes from me my wife1 and leaves me the word sacrament6 ,i no longer enjoy matrimony1 but still ,i am married6 ,what contradiction6 ,what slavery6 ,nor is it less strange that this law of the ,church is directly contrary to the words which it believes to have been pronounced by ,jesus ,christ3 ,whosoever shall put away his wife1 except it be for fornication1 and shall marry another1 committeth adultery4 ,i have no wish here to inquire whether the pontiffs of ,rome have a right to violate at pleasure the law of ,him whom they regard as their ,master2 whether when a kingdom wants an heir1 it is allowable to repudiate the woman who is incapable of giving one2 nor whether a turbulent wife1 one attacked by lunacy1 or one guilty of murder1 should not be divorced as well as an adulteress2 ,i confine myself to what concerns my own sad situation4 ,god permits me to marry again1 but the bishop of ,rome forbids me4 ,divorce was customary among ,catholics under all the emperors1 as well as in all the disjointed members of the ,roman ,empire4 ,almost all those kings of ,france who are called of the first race1 repudiated their wives and took fresh ones4 ,at length came one ,gregory ,,ix41 an enemy to emperors and kings1 who1 by a decree1 made the bonds of marriage indissoluble2 and his decretal became the law of ,europe4 ,hence1 when a king wished to repudiate an adulterous wife1 according to the law of ,jesus ,christ1 he could not do so without seeking some ridiculous pretext4 ,st4 ,louis was obliged1 in order to effect his unfortunate divorce from ,eleanora of ,guienne1 to allege a relationship which did not exist2 and ,henry ,,iv41 to repudiate ,margaret of ,valois1 brought forward a still more unfounded pretence--a want of consent4 ,thus a lawful divorce was to be obtained by falsehood4 ,what6 may a sovereign abdicate his crown1 and shall he not without the pope's permission abdicate his faithless wife8 ,and is it possible that men1 enlightened in other things1 have so long submitted to this absurd and abject slavery8 ,let our priests and our monks abstain from women1 if it must be so2 they have my consent4 ,it is detrimental to the progress of population and a misfortune for them2 but they deserve that misfortune which they have contrived for themselves4 ,they are the victims of the popes1 who in them wish to possess slaves--soldiers without family or country1 living for the ,church2 but ,i1 a magistrate1 who serve the state the whole day long1 have occasion for a woman at night2 and the ,church has no right to deprive me of a possession allowed me by the ,deity4 ,the apostles were married1 ,joseph was married1 and ,i wish to be married4 ,if ,i1 an ,alsatian1 am dependent on a priest who lives at ,rome and has the barbarous power to deprive me of a wife1 he may as well make me a eunuch to sing ,miserere in his chapel4 ,a ,plea for ,wives4 ,equity requires that1 after giving this memorial in favor of husbands1 we should also lay before the public the plea on behalf of wives1 presented to the junta of ,portugal1 by one ,countess ,d',arcira4 ,it is in substance as follows3 ,the gospel has forbidden adultery to my husband as well as to me2 we shall be damned alike2 nothing is more certain4 ,although he has been guilty of fifty infidelities--though he has given my necklace to one of my rivals1 and my earrings to another1 ,i have not called upon the judges to order his head to be shaved1 himself to be shut up with monks1 and his property to be given to me2 yet ,i1 for having but once imitated him--for having done that with the handsomest young man in ,lisbon1 which he is allowed to do every day with the homeliest and most stupid creatures of the court and the city1 must be placed on a stool to answer the questions of a set of licentiates1 every one of whom would be at my feet were he alone with me in my closet2 must have the finest hair in the world cut from my head2 be confined with nuns who have not common sense2 be deprived of my portion and marriage settlement1 and see my property given to my fool of a husband to assist him in seducing other women and committing fresh adulteries4 ,i ask if the thing is just8 if it is not evident that the cuckolds are the lawmakers8 ,the answer to my complaint is that ,i am but too fortunate in not being stoned at the city gate by the canons and the people1 as was the custom with the first nation of the earth--the cherished nation--the chosen people--the only one which was right when all others were wrong4 ,to these barbarians ,i reply that when the poor woman1 taken in adultery1 was presented to her accusers by the ,master of the ,old and of the ,new ,law1 he did not order her to be stoned2 on the contrary1 he reproached their injustice1 tracing on the sand with his finger the old ,hebrew proverb3 ',let him who is without sin cast the first stone4' ,all then retired1 the oldest being the first to depart1 since the greater their age the more adulteries they had committed4 ,the doctors of the canon law tell me that this story of the woman taken in adultery is related only in the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john1 and that there it is nothing more than an interpolation2 that ,leontius and ,maldonat affirm that it is to be found in but one ancient ,greek copy2 that not one of the first twenty-three commentators has spoken of it2 that neither ,origen nor ,st4 ,jerome1 nor ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom1 nor ,theophylact1 nor ,nonnus1 knew anything of it2 and that it is not in the ,syriac ,bible1 nor in the version of ,ulphilas4 ,such are the arguments advanced by my husband's advocates1 who would not only shave my head1 but stone me also4 ,however1 those who plead for me say that ,ammonius1 a writer of the third century1 acknowledges the truth of this story1 and that ,st4 ,jerome1 while he rejects it in some passages1 adopts it in others2 in short1 that it is now authenticated4 ,here ,i hold1 and say to my husband3 ,if you are without sin shave my head1 confine me1 take my property2 but if you have committed more sins than ,i have1 it is ,i who must shave you1 have you confined and seize your possessions4 ,in both cases the justice is the same4' ,my husband replies that he is my superior and my head2 that he is taller than ,i by more than an inch2 that he is as rough as a bear2 and that1 consequently1 ,i owe him everything and he owes me nothing4 ,but ,i ask if ,queen ,anne1 of ,england1 is not the head of her husband8 if the ,prince of ,denmark1 who is her high admiral1 does not owe her an entire obedience8 and if she would not have him condemned by the ,house of ,peers should the little man prove unfaithful8 ,it is clear that1 if women have not their husbands punished1 it is when they are not the strongest4 ,conclusion of the ,chapter on ,adultery4 ,in order to obtain an equitable verdict in an action for adultery1 the jury should be composed of twelve men and twelve women1 with an hermaphrodite to give the casting vote in the event of necessity4 ,but singular cases may exist wherein raillery is inapplicable1 and of which it is not for us to judge4 ,such is the adventure related by ,st4 ,augustine in his sermon on ,christ's preaching on the ,mount4 ,septimius ,acyndicus1 proconsul of ,syria1 caused a ,christian of ,antioch who was unable to pay the treasury a pound of gold 7the amount to which he was taxed71 to be thrown into prison and threatened with death4 ,a wealthy man promised the unfortunate prisoner's wife to furnish her with the pound if she would consent to his desires4 ,the wife hastened to inform her husband1 who begged that she would save his life at the expense of his rights1 which he was willing to give up4 ,she obeyed1 but the man who owed her the gold deceived her by giving her a sackful of earth4 ,the husband1 being still unable to pay the tax1 was about to be led to the scaffold1 but this infamous transaction having come to the ears of the proconsul he paid the pound of gold from his own coffers and gave to the ,christian couple the estate from which the sackful of earth had been taken4 ,it is certain that far from injuring her husband the wife1 in this instance1 acted conformably to his will1 not only obeying him1 but also saving his life4 ,st4 ,augustine does not venture to decide on the guilt or virtue of this action2 he is afraid to condemn it4 ,it is1 in my opinion1 very singular that ,bayle should pretend to be more severe than ,st4 ,augustine4 ,he boldly condemns the poor woman4 ,this would be inconceivable did we not know how much almost every writer has suffered his pen to belie his heart--with what facility his own feelings have been sacrificed to the fear of enraging some evil-disposed pedant--in a word1 how inconsistent he has been with himself4 ,a ,father's ,reflection4 ,a word on the contradictory education which we bestow upon our daughters4 ,we inculcate an immoderate desire of pleasing2 we dictate when nature does enough without us1 and add to her lessons every refinement of art4 ,when they are perfectly trained we punish them if they put in practice the very arts which we have been so anxious to teach6 ,what should we think of a dancing master who1 having taught a pupil for ten years1 would break his leg because he had found him dancing with other people8 ,might not this paragraph be added to the chapter of contradictions8 ,,affirmation ,,or ,,oath4 ,we shall not say anything of the affirmations so frequently made use of by the learned4 ,to affirm1 to decide1 is permissible only in geometry4 ,in everything else let us imitate the ,doctor ,metaphrastes of ,molire--it may be so2 the thing is feasible2 it is not impossible2 we shall see4 ,let us adopt ,rabelais' perhaps1 ,montaigne's what know ,i8 the ,roman non liquet1 or the doubt of the ,athenian academy3 but only in profane matters1 be it understood1 for in sacred things1 we are well aware that doubting is not permitted4 ,the primitives1 in ,england called ,quakers1 are allowed to give testimony in a court of justice on their simple affirmation1 without taking an oath4 ,the peers of the realm have the same privilege--the lay peers affirming on their honor1 and the bishops laying their hands on their hearts4 ,the ,quakers obtained it in the reign of ,charles ,,ii41 and are the only sect in ,europe so honored4 ,the ,lord ,chancellor ,cowper wished to compel the ,quakers to swear like other citizens4 ,he who was then at their head said to him gravely3 ,friend ,chancellor1 thou oughtest to know that our ,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ hath forbidden us to affirm otherwise than by yea or nay1 he hath expressly said3 ,i forbid thee to swear by heaven1 because it is the throne of ,god2 by the earth1 because it is his footstool2 by ,jerusalem1 because it is the city of the ,king of kings2 or by thy head1 because thou canst not change the color of a single hair4 ,this1 friend1 is positive1 and we will not disobey ,god to please thee and thy parliament4 ,it is impossible to argue better1 replied the ,chancellor2 but be it known to thee that ,jupiter one day ordered all beasts of burden to get shod3 horses1 mules1 and even camels1 instantly obeyed1 the asses alone resisted2 they made so many representations1 and brayed so long that ,jupiter1 who was good-natured1 at last said to them1 ',asses1 ,i grant your prayer2 you shall not be shod2 but the first slip you make you shall have a most sound cudgelling4' ,it must be granted that1 hitherto1 the ,quakers have made no slips4 ,,agar1 ,,or ,,hagar4 ,when a man puts away his mistress--his friend--the partner of his bed1 he must either make her condition tolerably comfortable or be regarded among us as a man of bad heart4 ,we are told that ,abraham was very rich in the desert of ,gerar1 although he did not possess an inch of land4 ,however1 we know with the greatest certainty that he defeated the armies of four great kings with three hundred and eighteen shepherds4 ,he should1 then1 at least have given a small flock to his mistress ,agar1 when he sent her away in the desert4 ,i speak always according to worldly notions1 always reverencing those incomprehensible ways which are not our ways4 ,i would have given my old companion ,agar a few sheep1 a few goats1 a few suits of clothes for herself and our son ,ishmael1 a good she-ass for the mother and a pretty foal for the child1 a camel to carry their baggage1 and at least two men to attend them and prevent them from being devoured by wolves4 ,but when the ,father of the ,faithful exposed his poor mistress and her child in the desert he gave them only a loaf and a pitcher of water4 ,some impious persons have asserted that ,abraham was not a very tender father--that he wished to make his bastard son die of hunger1 and to cut his legitimate son's throat6 ,but again let it be remembered that these ways were not our ways4 ,it is said that poor ,agar went away into the desert of ,beer-sheba4 ,there was no desert of ,beer-sheba2 this name was not known until long after2 but this is a mere trifle2 the foundation of the story is not the less authentic4 ,it is true that the posterity of ,agar's son ,ishmael took ample revenge on the posterity of ,sarah's son ,isaac1 in favor of whom he had been cast out4 ,the ,saracens1 descending in a right line from ,ishmael1 made themselves masters of ,jerusalem1 which belonged by right of conquest to the posterity of ,isaac4 ,i would have made the ,saracens descend from ,sarah2 the etymology would then have been neater4 ,it has been asserted that the word ,saracen comes from sarac1 a robber4 ,i do not believe any people have ever called themselves robbers2 nearly all have been robbers1 but it is not usual for them to take the title4 ,saracen descending from ,sarah1 appears to me to sound better4 ,,alchemy4 ,the emphatic al places the alchemist as much above the ordinary chemist as the gold which he obtains is superior to other metals4 ,germany still swarms with people who seek the philosopher's stone1 as the water of immortality has been sought in ,china1 and the fountain of youth in ,europe4 ,in ,france some have been known to ruin themselves in this pursuit4 ,the number of those who have believed in transmutations is prodigious1 and the number of cheats has been in proportion to that of the credulous4 ,at ,paris we have seen ,signor ,dammi1 ,marquis of ,conventiglio1 obtain some hundred louis from several of the nobility that he might make them gold to the amount of two or three crowns4 ,the best trick that has ever been performed in alchemy was that of a ,rosicrucian1 who1 in #afbj1 went to ,henry1 ,duke of ,bouillon1 of the house of ,turenne1 ,sovereign ,prince of ,sedan1 and addressed him as follows3 ,you have not a sovereignty proportioned to your great courage1 but ,i will make you richer than the emperor4 ,i cannot remain for more than two days in your states1 having to go to ,venice to hold the grand assembly of the brethren2 ,i only charge you to keep the secret4 ,send to the first apothecary of your town for some litharge2 throw into it one grain of the red powder which ,i will give you1 put the whole into a crucible and in a quarter of an hour you will have gold4 ,the prince performed the operation1 and repeated it three times1 in presence of the virtuoso4 ,this man had previously bought up all the litharge from the apothecaries of ,sedan and got it resold after mixing it with a few ounces of gold4 ,the adept1 on taking leave1 made the ,duke of ,bouillon a present of all his transmuting powder4 ,the prince1 having made three ounces of gold with three grains1 doubted not that with three hundred thousand grains he should make three hundred thousand ounces1 and that he should in a week possess eighteen thousand1 seven hundred and fifty pounds of gold1 besides what he should afterwards make4 ,it took at least three months to make this powder4 ,the philosopher was in haste to depart2 he was without anything1 having given all to the prince1 and wanted some ready money in order to hold the states-general of hermetic philosophy4 ,he was a man very moderate in his desires1 and asked only twenty thousand crowns for the expenses of his journey4 ,the duke1 ashamed to give so small a sum1 presented him with forty thousand4 ,when he had consumed all the litharge in ,sedan he made no more gold1 nor ever more saw his philosopher or his forty thousand crowns4 ,all pretended alchemic transmutations have been performed nearly in the same manner4 ,to change one natural production into another1 for example1 iron into silver1 is a rather difficult operation1 since it requires two things a little above our power--the annihilation of the iron and creation of the silver4 ,we must not1 however1 reject all discoveries of secrets and all new inventions4 ,it is with them as with theatrical pieces1 there may be one good out of a thousand4 ,,alkoran2 ,,or1 ,,more ,,properly1 ,,the ,,koran4 ,,section ,i4 ,this book governs with despotic sway the whole of northern ,africa1 from ,mount ,atlas to the desert of ,barca1 the whole of ,egypt1 the coasts of the ,ethiopian ,sea to the extent of six hundred leagues1 ,syria1 ,asia ,minor1 all the countries round the ,black and the ,caspian seas 7excepting the kingdom of ,astrakhan71 the whole empire of ,hindostan1 all ,persia1 a great part of ,tartary2 and in ,europe1 ,thrace1 ,macedonia1 ,bulgaria1 ,servia1 ,bosnia1 ,greece1 ,epirus1 and nearly all the islands as far as the little strait of ,otranto1 which terminates these possessions4 ,in this prodigious extent of country there is not a single ,mahometan who has the happiness of reading our sacred books2 and very few of our literati are acquainted with the ,koran1 of which we always form a ridiculous idea1 notwithstanding the researches of our really learned men4 ,the first lines of this book are as follows3 ,praise to ,god1 the sovereign of all worlds1 to the ,god of mercy1 the sovereign of the day of justice8 ,thee we adore6 to ,thee only do we look for protection4 ,lead us in the right way--in the way of those whom ,thou hast loaded with ,thy graces1 and not in the way of the objects of ,thy wrath--of them who have gone astray4 ,such is the introduction4 ,then come three letters1 ,a1 ,l1 ,m1 which1 according to the learned ,sale1 are not understood1 for each commentator explains them in his own way2 but the most common opinion is that they signify ,ali1 ,latif1 ,magid--,god1 ,grace1 ,glory4 ,god himself then speaks to ,mahomet in these words3 ,this book admitteth not of doubt4 ,it is for the direction of the just1 who believe in the depths of the faith1 who observe the times of prayer1 who distribute in alms what it has pleased ,me to give them1 who believe in the revelation which hath descended to thee1 and was delivered to the prophets before thee4 ,let the faithful have a firm assurance in the life to come2 let them be directed by their ,lord2 and they shall be happy4 ,illustration3 ,mahomet4 ,as for unbelievers1 it mattereth not whether thou callest them or no3 they do not believe2 the seal of unbelief is on their hearts and on their ears2 a terrible punishment awaiteth them4 ,there are some who say1 ',we believe in ,god and in the ,last ,day1' but in their hearts they are unbelievers4 ,they think to deceive the ,eternal2 they deceive themselves without knowing it4 ,infirmity is in their hearts1 and ,god himself increaseth this infirmity1 etc4 ,these words are said to have incomparably more energy in ,arabic4 ,indeed1 the ,koran still passes for the most elegant and most sublime book that has been written in that language4 ,we have imputed to the ,koran a great number of foolish things which it never contained4 ,it was chiefly against the ,turks1 who had become ,mahometans1 that our monks wrote so many books1 at a time when no other opposition was of much service against the conquerors of ,constantinople4 ,our authors1 much more numerous than the janissaries1 had no great difficulty in ranging our women on their side2 they persuaded them that ,mahomet looked upon them merely as intelligent animals2 that1 by the laws of the ,koran1 they were all slaves1 having no property in this world1 nor any share in the paradise of the next4 ,the falsehood of all this is evident2 yet it has all been firmly believed4 ,it was1 however1 only necessary in order to discover the deception to have read the fourth sura or chapter of the ,koran1 in which would have been found the following laws1 translated in the same manner by ,du ,ryer1 who resided for a long time at ,constantinople2 by ,maracci1 who never went there2 and by ,sale1 who lived twenty-five years among the ,arabs3 ,mahomet's ,regulations with ,respect to ,wives4 #a4 ,never marry idolatrous women1 unless they will become believers4 ,a ,mussulman servant is better than an idolatrous woman1 though of the highest rank4 #b4 ,they who1 having wives1 wish to make a vow of chastity1 shall wait four months before they decide4 ,wives shall conduct themselves towards their husbands as their husbands conduct themselves towards them4 #c4 ,you may separate yourself from your wife twice2 but if you divorce her a third time1 it must be forever2 you must either keep her humanely or put her away kindly4 ,you are not permitted to keep anything from her that you have given to her4 #d4 ,good wives are obedient and attentive1 even in the absence of their husbands4 ,if your wife is prudent be careful not to have any quarrel with her2 but if one should happen1 let an arbiter be chosen from your own family1 and one from hers4 #e4 ,take one wife1 or two1 or three1 or four1 but never more4 ,but if you doubt your ability to act equitably towards several1 take only one4 ,give them a suitable dowry1 take care of them1 and speak to them always like a friend4 #f4 ,you are not permitted to inherit from your wife against her will2 nor to prevent her from marrying another after her divorce1 in order to possess yourself of her dower1 unless she has been declared guilty of some crime4 ,when you choose to separate yourself from your wife and take another1 you must not1 though you have even given her a talent at your marriage1 take anything from her4 #g4 ,you are permitted to marry a slave1 but it is better that you should not do so4 #h4 ,a repudiated wife is obliged to suckle her child until it is two years old1 during which time the father is obliged to maintain them according to his condition4 ,if the infant is weaned at an earlier period1 it must be with the consent of both father and mother4 ,if you are obliged to entrust it to a strange nurse1 you shall make her a reasonable allowance4 ,here1 then1 is sufficient to reconcile the women to ,mahomet1 who has not used them so hardly as he is said to have done4 ,we do not pretend to justify either his ignorance or his imposture2 but we cannot condemn his doctrine of one only ,god4 ,these words of his #abb;d sura1 ,god is one1 eternal1 neither begetting nor begotten2 no one is like to ,him2 these words had more effect than even his sword in subjugating the ,east4 ,still his ,koran is a collection of ridiculous revelations and vague and incoherent predictions1 combined with laws that were very good for the country in which he lived1 and all which continue to be followed1 without having been changed or weakened1 either by ,mahometan interpreters or by new decrees4 ,the poets of ,mecca were hostile to ,mahomet1 but above all the doctors4 ,these raised the magistracy against him1 and a warrant was issued for his apprehension as only duly accused and convicted of having said that ,god must be adored1 and not the stars4 ,this1 it is known1 was the source of his greatness4 ,when it was seen that he could not be put down1 and that his writings were becoming popular1 it was given out in the city that he was not the author of them1 or that at least he was assisted in their composition by a learned ,jew1 and sometimes by a learned ,christian--supposing that there were at that time learned ,jews and learned ,christians4 ,so1 in our days1 more than one prelate has been reproached with having set monks to compose his sermons and funeral orations4 ,there was one ,father ,hercules 7,pre ,hercule7 who made sermons for a certain bishop1 and when people went to hear him preach1 they used to say1 ,let us go and hear the labors of ,hercules4 ,to this charge ,mahomet gives an answer in his #afth chapter1 occasioned by a gross blunder he had made in the pulpit1 about which a great deal had been said4 ,he gets out of the scrape thus3 ,when thou readest the ,koran1 address thyself to ,god1 that ,he may preserve thee from the machinations of ,satan4 ,he has power only over those who have chosen ,him for their ,master1 and who give associates unto ,god4 ,when ,i substitute one verse for another in the ,koran 7the reason for which changes is known to ,god7 some unbelievers cry out1 ',thou hast forged those verses'2 but they know not how to distinguish truth from falsehood4 ,say rather that the ,holy ,spirit brought those verses of truth to me from ,god4 ,others say1 still more malignantly1 ,there is a certain man who labors with him in composing the ,koran4 ,but how can this man1 to whom they attribute my works1 have taught me1 speaking as he does1 a foreign language1 while the ,koran is written in the purest ,arabic8 ,he who1 it was pretended1 assisted ,mahomet1 was a ,jew named ,bensalen or ,bensalon4 ,it is not very likely that a ,jew should have lent his assistance to ,mahomet in writing against the ,jews2 yet the thing is not impossible4 ,the monk who was said to have contributed to the ,koran was by some called ,bohaira1 by others ,sergius4 ,there is something pleasant in this monk's having had both a ,latin and an ,arabic name4 ,as for the fine theological disputes which have arisen among the ,mussulmans1 ,i have no concern with them2 ,i leave them to the decision of the mufti4 ,in ,the ,triumph of the ,cross 7le ,triomphe de la ,croix7 the ,koran is said to be ,arian1 ,sabellian1 ,carpocratian1 ,cardonician1 ,manichan1 ,donatistic1 ,origenian1 ,macedonian1 and ,ebionitish4 ,mahomet1 however1 was nothing of all this2 he was rather a ,jansenist1 for the foundation of his doctrine is the absolute degree of gratuitous predestination4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,this ,mahomet1 son of ,abdallah1 was a bold and sublime charlatan4 ,he says in his tenth chapter1 ,who but ,god can have composed the ,koran8 ,mahomet1 you say1 has forged this book4 ,well2 try then to write one chapter resembling it and call to your aid whomsoever you please4 ,in the seventeenth he exclaims1 ,praise be to ,him who in one night transported ,his servant from the sacred temple of ,mecca to that of ,jerusalem6 ,this was a very fine journey1 but nothing like that which he took the very same night from planet to planet4 ,he pretended that it was five hundred years' journey from one to another1 and that he cleft the moon in twain4 ,his disciples who1 after his death1 collected1 in a solemn manner1 the verses of this ,koran1 suppressed this celestial journey1 for they dreaded raillery and philosophy4 ,after all1 they had too much delicacy2 they might have trusted to the commentators1 who would have found no difficulty whatever in explaining the itinerary4 ,mahomet's friends should have known by experience that the marvellous is the reason of the multitude2 the wise contradict in silence1 which the multitude prevent them from breaking4 ,but while the itinerary of the planets was suppressed1 a few words were retained about the adventure of the moon4 ,one cannot be always on one's guard4 ,the ,koran is a rhapsody1 without connection1 without order1 and without art4 ,this tedious book is1 nevertheless1 said to be a very fine production1 at least by the ,arabs1 who assert that it is written with an elegance and purity that no later work has equalled4 ,it is a poem1 or sort of rhymed prose1 consisting of three thousand verses4 ,no poem ever advanced the fortune of its author so much as the ,koran4 ,it was disputed among the ,mussulmans whether it was eternal or ,god had created it in order to dictate it to ,mahomet4 ,the doctors decided that it was eternal1 and they were right2 this eternity is a much finer opinion than the other1 for with the vulgar we must always adopt that which is the most incredible4 ,the monks who have attacked ,mahomet1 and said so many silly things about him1 have asserted that he could not write4 ,but how can we imagine that a man who had been a merchant1 a poet1 a legislator1 and a sovereign1 did not know how to sign his name8 ,if his book is bad for our times and for us1 it was very good for his contemporaries1 and his religion was still better4 ,it must be acknowledged that he reclaimed nearly the whole of ,asia from idolatry4 ,he taught the unity of ,god1 and forcibly declaimed against all those who gave him associates4 ,he forbade usury with foreigners1 and commanded the giving of alms4 ,with him prayer was a thing of absolute necessity1 and resignation to the eternal decrees the primum mobile of all4 ,a religion so simple and so wise1 taught by one who was constantly victorious1 could hardly fail to subjugate a portion of the earth4 ,indeed the ,mussulmans have made as many proselytes by their creed as by their swords2 they have converted the ,indians and the negroes to their religion2 even the ,turks1 who conquered them1 submitted to ,islamism4 ,mahomet allowed many things to remain in his law which he had found established among the ,arabs--as circumcision1 fasting1 the pilgrimage to ,mecca1 which was instituted four thousand years before his time2 ablutions1 so necessary to health and cleanliness in a burning country1 where linen was unknown2 and the idea of a last judgment1 which the magi had always inculcated1 and which had reached the inhabitants of ,arabia4 ,it is said that on his announcing that we should rise again quite naked1 his wife4 ,aishca1 expressed her opinion that the thing would be immodest and dangerous4 ,do not be alarmed1 my dear1 said he1 no one will then feel any inclination to laugh4 ,according to the ,koran1 an angel will weigh both men and women in a great balance2 this idea1 too1 is taken from the magi4 ,he also stole from them their narrow bridge which must be passed over after death2 and their elysium1 where the ,mussulmans elect will find baths1 well-furnished apartments1 good beds1 and houris with great black eyes4 ,he does1 it is true1 say that all these pleasures of the senses1 so necessary to those that are to rise again with senses1 will be nothing in comparison with the pleasure of contemplating the ,supreme ,being4 ,he has the humility to confess that he himself will not enter paradise through his own merits1 but purely by the will of ,god4 ,through this same pure ,divine will he orders that a fifth part of the spoil shall always be reserved for the prophet4 ,it is not true that he excludes women from paradise4 ,it is hardly likely that so able a man should have chosen to embroil himself with that half of the human race by which the other half is led4 ,abulfeda relates that an old lady one day importuned him to tell her what she must do to get into paradise4 ,my good lady1 said he1 paradise is not for old women4 ,the good woman began to weep1 but the prophet consoled her by saying1 ,there will be no old women because they will become young again4 ,this consolatory doctrine is confirmed in the fifty-fourth chapter of the ,koran4 ,he forbade wine because some of his followers once went intoxicated to prayers4 ,he permitted a plurality of wives1 conforming in this point to the immemorial usage of the orientals4 ,in short1 his civil laws are good2 his doctrine is admirable in all which it has in common with ours2 but his means are shocking--villainy and murder6 ,he is excused by some1 on the first of these charges1 because1 say they1 the ,arabs had a hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets before him1 and there could be no great harm in the appearance of one more2 men1 it is added1 require to be deceived4 ,but how are we to justify a man who says1 ,believe that ,i have conversed with the angel ,gabriel1 or pay me tribute6 ,how superior is ,confucius--the first of mortals who have not been favored with revelations6 ,he employs neither falsehood nor the sword1 but only reason4 ,the viceroy of a great province1 he causes the laws to be observed and morality to flourish2 disgraced and poor1 he teaches them4 ,he practises them alike in greatness and in humiliation2 he renders virtue amiable2 and has for his disciples the most ancient and wisest people on the earth4 ,in vain does ,count de ,boulainvilliers1 who had some respect for ,mahomet1 extol the ,arabs4 ,notwithstanding all his boastings1 they were a nation of banditti4 ,they robbed before ,mahomet1 when they adored the stars2 they robbed under ,mahomet in the name of ,god4 ,they had1 say you1 the simplicity of the heroic ages2 but what were these heroic ages8--times when men cut one another's throats for a well or a cistern1 as they now do for a province8 ,the first ,mussulmans were animated by ,mahomet with the rage of enthusiasm4 ,nothing is more terrible than a people who1 having nothing to lose1 fight in the united spirit of rapine and of religion4 ,it is true there was not much art in their proceedings4 ,the contract of marriage between ,mahomet and his first wife expresses that1 while ,cadisha loves him1 and he in like manner loves ,cadisha1 it is thought meet to join them4 ,but is there the same simplicity in having composed a genealogy which makes him descend in a right line from ,adam1 as several ,spanish and ,scotch families have been made to descend8 ,the great prophet experienced the disgrace common to so many husbands1 after which no one should complain4 ,the name of him who received the favors of his second wife was ,assam4 ,the behavior of ,mahomet1 on this occasion1 was even more lofty than that of ,csar1 who put away his wife1 saying1 ,the wife of ,csar ought not to be suspected4 ,the prophet would not suspect his4 ,he sent to heaven for a chapter of the ,koran1 affirming that his wife was faithful4 ,this chapter1 like all the others1 had been written from all eternity4 ,he is admired for having raised himself from being a camel-driver to be a pontiff1 a legislator1 and a monarch2 for having subdued ,arabia1 which had never before been subjugated2 for having given the first shock to the ,roman ,empire in the ,east1 and to that of the ,persians2 and ,i admire him still more for having kept peace in his house among his wives4 ,he changed the face of part of ,europe1 one half of ,asia1 and nearly all ,africa2 nor was his religion unlikely1 at one time1 to subjugate the whole earth4 ,on how trivial a circumstance will revolutions sometimes depend6 ,a blow from a stone1 a little harder than that which he received in his first battle1 might have changed the destiny of the world6 ,his son-in-law ,ali asserted that when the prophet was about to be inhumed1 he was found in a situation not very common to the dead4 ,the words of the ,roman sovereign might be well applied in this case3 ,decet imperatorem stantem mori4 ,never was the life of a man written more in detail than his2 the most minute particulars were regarded as sacred4 ,we have the name and the numbers of all that belonged to him--nine swords1 three lances1 three bows1 seven cuirasses1 three bucklers1 twelve wives1 one white cock1 seven horses1 two mules1 and four camels1 besides the mare ,borac1 on which he went to heaven4 ,but this last he had only borrowed2 it was the property of the angel ,gabriel4 ,all his sayings have been preserved4 ,one was that the enjoyment of women made him more fervent in prayer4 ,besides all his other knowledge he is said to have been a great physician2 so that he wanted none of the qualifications for deceiving mankind4 ,,alexander4 ,it is no longer allowable to speak of ,alexander1 except in order to say something new of him1 or to destroy the fables1 historical1 physical1 and moral1 which have disfigured the history of the only great man to be found among the conquerors of ,asia4 ,after reflecting a little on the life of ,alexander1 who1 amid the intoxications of pleasure and conquest1 built more towns than all the other conquerors of ,asia destroyed--after calling to mind that1 young as he was1 he turned the commerce of the world into a new channel1 it appears very strange that ,boileau should have spoken of him as a robber and a madman4 ,alexander1 having been elected at ,corinth captain-general of ,greece1 and commissioned as such to avenge the invasions of the ,persians1 did no more than his duty in destroying their empire2 and1 having always united the greatest magnanimity with the greatest courage--having respected the wife and daughters of ,darius when in his power1 he did not in any way deserve either to be confined as a madman or hanged as a robber4 ,rollin asserts that ,alexander took the famous city of ,tyre only to oblige the ,jews1 who hated the ,tyrians2 it is1 however1 quite as likely that ,alexander had other reasons2 for a naval commander would not leave ,tyre mistress of the sea1 when he was going to attack ,egypt4 ,alexander's friendship and respect for ,jerusalem were undoubtedly great2 but it should hardly be said that the ,jews set a rare example of fidelity--an example worthy of the only people who1 at that time1 had the knowledge of the true ,god1 in refusing to furnish ,alexander with provisions because they had sworn fidelity to ,darius4 ,it is well known that the ,jews took every opportunity of revolting against their sovereigns2 for a ,jew was not to serve a profane king4 ,if they imprudently refused contributions to the conqueror1 it was not with a view to prove themselves the faithful slaves of ,darius1 since their law expressly ordered them to hold all idolatrous nations in abhorrence2 their books are full of execrations pronounced against them1 and of reiterated attempts to throw off their yoke4 ,if1 therefore1 they at first refused the contributions1 it was because their rivals1 the ,samaritans1 had paid them without hesitation1 and they believed that ,darius1 though vanquished1 was still powerful enough to support ,jerusalem against ,samaria4 ,it is wholly false that the ,jews were then the only people who had the knowledge of the true ,god1 as ,rollin tells us4 ,the ,samaritans worshipped the same ,god1 though in another temple2 they had the same ,pentateuch as the ,jews1 and they had it in ,tyrian characters1 which the ,jews had lost4 ,the schism between ,samaria and ,jerusalem was1 on a small scale1 what the schism between the ,greek and ,latin churches is on a large one4 ,the hatred was equal on both sides1 having the same foundation--religion4 ,alexander1 having possessed himself of ,tyre by means of that famous causeway which is still the admiration of all generals1 went to punish ,jerusalem1 which lay not far out of his way4 ,the ,jews1 headed by their high priest1 came and humbled themselves before him1 offering him money--for angry conquerors are not to be appeased without money4 ,alexander was appeased1 and they remained subject to ,alexander and to his successors4 ,such is the true1 as well as the only probable1 history of the affair4 ,rollin repeats a story told about four hundred years after ,alexander's expedition1 by that romancing1 exaggerating historian1 ,flavius ,josephus1 who may be pardoned for having taken every opportunity of setting off his wretched country to the best advantage4 ,rollin repeats1 after ,josephus1 that ,jaddus1 the high-priest1 having prostrated himself before ,alexander1 the prince1 seeing the name of ,jehovah engraved on a plate of gold attached to ,jaddus' cap1 and understanding ,hebrew perfectly1 fell prostrate in his turn1 and paid homage to ,jaddus4 ,this excess of civility having astonished ,parmenio1 ,alexander told him that he had known ,jaddus a long time2 that he had appeared to him1 in the same habit and the same cap1 ten years before1 when he was meditating the conquest of ,asia 7a conquest which he had not then even thought of72 that this same ,jaddus had exhorted him to cross the ,hellespont1 assuring him that ,god would march at the head of the ,greeks1 and that the ,god of the ,jews would give him the victory over the ,persians4 ,this old woman's tale makes but a sorry figure in the history of such a man as ,alexander4 ,an ancient history well digested was an undertaking calculated to be of great service to youth2 it is to be wished that it had not been in some degree marred by the adoption of some absurdities4 ,the story of ,jaddus would be entitled to our respect--it would be beyond the reach of animadversion--were even any shadow of it to be found in the sacred writings2 but as they do not make the slightest mention of it1 we are quite at liberty to see that it is ridiculous4 ,there can be no doubt that ,alexander subdued that part of ,india which lies on this side the ,ganges and was tributary to the ,persians4 ,mr4 ,holwell1 who lived for thirty years among the ,brahmins of ,benares and the neighboring countries1 and who learned not only their modern language but also their ancient sacred tongue1 assures us that their annals attest the invasion by ,alexander1 whom they call ,mahadukoit ,kounha--great robber1 great murderer4 ,these peaceful people could not call him otherwise2 indeed1 it is hardly to be supposed that they gave any other name to the kings of ,persia4 ,the same annals say that ,alexander entered by the province now called ,candahar1 and it is probable that there were always some fortresses on that frontier4 ,alexander afterwards descended the river ,zombodipo1 which the ,greeks called ,sind4 ,in the history of ,alexander there is not a single ,indian name to be found4 ,the ,greeks never called an ,asiatic town or province by their own name4 ,they dealt in the same manner with the ,egyptians4 ,they would have thought it a dishonor to the ,greek tongue had they introduced into it a pronunciation which they thought barbarous2 if1 for instance1 they had not called the city of ,moph ,memphis4 ,mr4 ,holwell says that the ,indians never knew either ,porus or ,taxiles2 indeed these are not ,indian words4 ,nevertheless1 if we may believe our missionaries1 there are still some ,indian lords who pretend to have descended from ,porus4 ,perhaps the missionaries have flattered them with this origin until they have adopted it4 ,there is1 at least1 no country in ,europe in which servility has not invented and vanity received genealogies yet more chimerical4 ,if ,flavius ,josephus has related a ridiculous fable about ,alexander and a ,jewish pontiff1 ,plutarch1 who wrote long after ,josephus1 in his turn seems not to have been sparing in fables concerning this hero4 ,he has even outdone ,quintus ,curtius4 ,both assert that ,alexander1 when marching towards ,india1 wished to have himself adored1 not only by the ,persians but also by the ,greeks4 ,the question is1 what did ,alexander1 the ,persians1 the ,greeks1 ,quintus ,curtius1 and ,plutarch understand by adoring8 ,we must never lose sight of the great rule--,define your terms4 ,if by adoring he meant invoking a man as a divinity--offering to him incense and sacrifices--raising to him altars and temples1 it is clear that ,alexander required nothing of all this4 ,if1 being the conqueror and master of the ,persians1 he chose that they should salute him after the ,persian manner1 prostrating themselves on certain occasions1 treating him1 in short1 like what he was1 a sovereign of ,persia1 there is nothing in this but what is very reasonable and very common4 ,the members of the ,french parliament1 in their beds of justice1 address the king kneeling2 the third estate addresses the states-general kneeling1 a cup of wine is presented kneeling1 to the king of ,england2 several ,european sovereigns are served kneeling at their consecration4 ,the great mogul1 the emperor of ,china1 and the emperor of ,japan are always addressed kneeling4 ,the ,chinese colaos of an inferior order bend the knee before the colaos of a superior order4 ,we adore the pope1 and kiss the toe of his right foot4 ,none of these ceremonies have ever been regarded as adoration in the strict sense of the word1 or as a worship like that due to the ,divinity4 ,thus1 all that has been said of the pretended adoration exacted by ,alexander is founded on ambiguity4 ,octavius1 surnamed ,augustus1 really caused himself to be adored in the strictest sense of the word4 ,temples and altars were raised to him4 ,there were priests of ,augustus4 ,horace positively tells him3 ,jurandisque tuum par nomen ponimus aras4 ,here was truly a sacrilegious adoration2 yet we are not told that it excited discontent4 ,the contradictions in the character of ,alexander would be more difficult to reconcile did we not know that men1 especially men called heroes1 are often very inconsistent with themselves1 and that the life or death of the best citizens1 or the fate of a province1 has more than once depended on the good or bad digestion of a well or ill advised sovereign4 ,but how are we to reconcile improbable facts related in a contradictory manner8 ,some say that ,callisthenes was crucified by order of ,alexander for not having acknowledged him to be the son of ,jupiter4 ,but the cross was not a mode of execution among the ,greeks4 ,others say that he died long afterwards1 of too great corpulency4 ,athenus assures us that he was carried1 like a bird1 in an iron cage until he was devoured by vermin4 ,among all these different stories distinguish the true one if you can4 ,some adventures are supposed by ,quintus ,curtius to have happened in one town1 and by ,plutarch in another1 the two places being five hundred leagues apart4 ,alexander1 armed and alone1 leaped from the top of a wall into a town he was besieging2 according to ,plutarch near the mouth of the ,indus4 ,when he arrived on the ,malabar coast1 or near the ,ganges--no matter which1 it is only nine hundred miles from the one to the other--he gave orders to seize ten of the ,indian philosophers1 called by the ,greeks gymnosophists1 who went about as naked as apes2 to those he proposed ridiculous questions1 promising them very seriously that he who gave the worst answers should be hanged the first1 and the rest in due order4 ,this reminds us of ,nebuchadonosor1 who would absolutely put his magi to death if they did not divine one of his dreams which he had forgotten2 and of the ,caliph of the ,thousand and ,one ,nights1 who was to strangle his wife as soon as she had finished her story4 ,but it is ,plutarch who relates this nonsense2 therefore it must be respected1 for he was a ,greek4 ,this latter story is entitled to the same credit as that of the poisoning of ,alexander by ,aristotle2 for ,plutarch tells us that somebody had heard one ,agnotemis say1 that he had heard ,antigonus say1 that ,aristotle sent a bottle of water from ,nonacris1 a town in ,arcadia1 which water was so extremely cold that they who drank it instantly died2 that ,antipater sent this water in a horn2 that it arrived at ,babylon quite fresh2 that ,alexander drank of it2 and that1 at the end of six days1 he died of a continued fever4 ,plutarch has1 it is true1 some doubts respecting this anecdote4 ,all that we can be quite certain of is that ,alexander1 at the age of twenty-four1 had conquered ,persia by three battles2 that his genius was as great as his valor2 that he changed the face of ,asia1 ,greece1 and ,egypt1 and gave a new direction to the commerce of the world2 and that ,boileau should have been more sparing of his ridicule1 since it is not very likely that ,boileau would have done more in as short a time4 ,,alexandria4 ,more than twenty towns have borne the name of ,alexandria1 all built by ,alexander and his captains1 who became so many kings4 ,these towns are so many monuments of glory1 far superior to the statues which servility afterwards erected to power2 but the only one of them which attracted the attention of the world by its greatness and its wealth was that which became the capital of ,egypt4 ,this is now but a heap of ruins2 for it is well known that one half of the city has been rebuilt on another site1 near the sea4 ,the lighthouse1 formerly one of the wonders of the world1 has also ceased to exist4 ,the city was always flourishing under the ,ptolemies and the ,romans4 ,it did not decline under the ,arabs1 nor did the ,mamelukes or the ,turks1 who successively conquered it1 together with the rest of ,egypt1 suffer it to go to decay4 ,it preserved some portion of its greatness until the passage of the ,cape of ,good ,hope opened a new route to the ,indies1 and once more gave a new direction to the commerce of the world1 which ,alexander had previously changed1 and which had been changed several times before ,alexander4 ,the ,alexandrians were remarkable1 under all their successive dominations1 for industry united with levity2 for love of novelty1 accompanied by a close application to commerce1 and to all the arts that make commerce flourish2 and for a contentious and quarrelsome spirit1 joined to cowardice1 superstition1 and debauchery--all which never changed4 ,the city was peopled with ,egyptians1 ,jews1 and ,turks1 all of whom1 though poor at first1 enriched themselves by traffic4 ,opulence introduced the cultivation of the fine arts1 with a taste for literature1 and consequently for disputation4 ,the ,jews built a magnificent temple1 and translated their books into ,greek1 which had become the language of the country4 ,so great were the animosities among the native ,egyptians1 the ,greeks1 the ,jews1 and the ,christians1 that they were continually accusing one another to the governor1 to the no small advantage of his revenue4 ,there were even frequent and bloody seditions1 in one of which1 in the reign of ,caligula1 the ,jews1 who exaggerate everything1 assert that religious and commercial jealousy1 united1 cost them fifty thousand men1 whom the ,alexandrians murdered4 ,christianity1 which the ,origens1 ,clements1 and others had established and rendered admirable by their lives1 degenerated into a mere spirit of party4 ,the ,christians adopted the manners of the ,egyptians2 religion yielded to the desire of gain2 and all the inhabitants1 divided in everything else1 were unanimous only in the love of money4 ,this it was which produced that famous letter from the ,emperor ,adrian to the ,consul ,servianus1 which ,vopiscus gives us as follows3 ,,adriani ,,epistola1 ,,ex ,,libris ,,phlegontis ,,ejus ,,prodita4 ,adrianus ,augustus ,serviano ,cos4 ,vo4 gyptum1 quam mihi laudabas1 ,serviane carissime1 totam didici1 levem1 pendulam1 et ad omnia fam monumenta volitantem4 ,illi qui ,serapin colunt ,christiani sunt1 et devoti sunt ,serapi qui se ,,christi episcopus dicunt4 ,nemo illic ,archisynagogus ,judorum1 nemo ,semarites1 nemo ,christianorum presbyter1 non mathematicus1 non aruspex1 non aliptes4 ,ipse ille ,patriarcha1 quum gyptum venerit1 ab aliis ,serapidem adorare1 ab aliis cogitur ,,christum4 ,genus hominis seditiosissimum1 injuriosissimum4 ,civitas opulenta1 dives1 fecunda1 in qua nemo vivat otiosus4 ,alli vitrum constant1 ab aliis charta conficitur2 omnes certe lymphiones cujuscunque artis et videntur et habentur1 ,podagrosi quod agant habent1 cci quod faciant2 ne chiragri quidem apud cos otiosi vivunt4 ,unus illis deus est2 hunc ,christiani1 hunc ,judi1 hunc homnes venerantur et gentes4 ,which may be rendered thus3 ,my dear ,servian3 ,i have seen that ,egypt of which you have spoken so highly2 ,i know it thoroughly4 ,it is a light1 uncertain1 fickle nation4 ,the worshippers of ,serapis turn ,christians1 and they who are at the head of the religion of ,christ devote themselves to ,serapis4 ,there is no chief of the rabbis1 no ,samaritan1 no ,christian priest who is not an astrologer1 a diviner1 a pander4 ,when the ,greek patriarch comes into ,egypt1 some press him to worship ,serapis1 others to adore ,christ4 ,they are very seditious1 very vain1 and very quarrelsome4 ,the city is commercial1 opulent1 and populous4 ,no one is idle4 ,some make glass2 others manufacture paper2 they seem to be1 and indeed are1 of all trades2 not even the gout in their feet and hands can reduce them to entire inactivity2 even the blind work4 ,money is a god which the ,christians1 ,jews1 and all men adore alike4 ,this letter of an emperor1 whose discernment was as great as his valor1 sufficiently proves that the ,christians1 as well as others1 had become corrupted in this abode of luxury and controversy2 but the manners of the primitive ,christians had not degenerated everywhere2 and although they had the misfortune to be for a long time divided into different sects1 which detested and accused one another1 the most violent enemies of ,christianity were obliged to acknowledge that the purest and the greatest souls were to be found among its proselytes4 ,such is the case even at the present day in cities wherein the degree of folly and frenzy exceeds that of ancient ,alexandria4 ,,algiers4 ,the principal object of this dictionary is philosophy4 ,it is not1 therefore1 as geographers that we speak of ,algiers1 but for the purpose of remarking that the first design of ,louis ,,xiv41 when he took the reigns of government1 was to deliver ,christian ,europe from the continual depredations of the ,barbary corsairs4 ,this project was an indication of a great mind4 ,he wished to pursue every road to glory4 ,it is somewhat astonishing that1 with the spirit of order which he showed in his court1 in his finances1 and in the conduct of state affairs1 he had a sort of relish for ancient chivalry1 which led him to the performance of generous and brilliant actions1 even approaching the romantic4 ,it is certain that ,louis inherited from his mother a deal of that ,spanish gallantry1 at once noble and delicate1 with much of that greatness of soul--that passion for glory--that lofty pride1 so conspicuous in old romances4 ,he talked of fighting the emperor ,leopold1 like a knight seeking adventures4 ,the erection of the pyramid at ,rome1 the assertion of his right of precedence1 and the idea of having a port near ,algiers to curb the pirates1 were likewise of this class4 ,to this latter attempt he was moreover excited by ,pope ,alexander ,,vii41 and by ,cardinal ,mazarin before his death4 ,he had for some time debated with himself whether he should go on this expedition in person1 like ,charles the ,fifth2 but he had not vessels to execute so great an enterprise1 whether in person or by his generals4 ,the attempt was therefore fruitless1 and it could not be otherwise4 ,it was1 however1 of service in exercising the ,french marine1 and prepared the world to expect some of those noble and heroic actions which are out of the ordinary line of policy1 such as the disinterested aid lent to the ,venetians besieged in ,candia1 and to the ,germans pressed by the ,ottoman arms at ,st4 ,gothard4 ,the details of the ,african expedition are lost in the number of successful or unsuccessful wars1 waged justly or unjustly1 with good or bad policy4 ,we shall merely give the following letter1 which was written some years ago on the subject of the ,algerine piracies3 ,it is to be lamented1 sire1 that the proposals of the order of ,malta were not acceded to1 when they offered1 on consideration of a moderate subsidy from each ,christian power1 to free the seas from the pirates of ,algiers1 ,morocco1 and ,tunis4 ,the knights of ,malta would then have been truly the defenders of ,christianity4 ,the actual force of the ,algerines is but two fifty-gun ships1 five of about forty1 and four of thirty guns2 the rest are not worth mentioning4 ,it is shameful to see their little barks seizing our merchant vessels every day throughout the ,mediterranean4 ,they even cruise as far as the ,canaries and the ,azores4 ,their soldiery1 composed of a variety of nations--ancient ,mauritanians1 ancient ,numidians1 ,arabs1 ,turks1 and even negroes1 set sail1 almost without provisions1 in tight vessels carrying from eighteen to twenty guns1 and infest all our seas like vultures seeking their prey4 ,when they see a man of war1 they fly2 when they see a merchant vessel they seize it4 ,our friends and our relatives1 men and women1 are made slaves2 and we must humbly supplicate the barbarians to deign to receive our money for restoring to us their captives4 ,some ,christian states have had the shameful prudence to treat with them1 and send them arms wherewith to attack others1 bargaining with them as merchants1 while they negotiate as warriors4 ,nothing would be more easy than to put down these marauders2 yet it is not done4 ,but how many other useful and easy things are entirely neglected6 ,the necessity of reducing these pirates is acknowledged in every prince's cabinet2 yet no one undertakes their reduction4 ,when the ministers of different courts accidently talk the matter over1 they do but illustrate the fable of tying the bell round the cat's neck4 ,the order of the ,redemption of ,captives is the finest of all monastic institutions1 but it is a sad reproach to us4 ,the kingdoms of ,fez1 ,algiers1 and ,tunis have no marabous of the ,redemption of ,captives2 because1 though they take many ,christians from us1 we take scarcely any ,mussulmans from them4 ,nevertheless1 they are more attached to their religion than we are to ours2 for no ,turk or ,arab ever turns ,christian1 while they have hundreds of renegadoes among them1 who even serve in their expeditions4 ,an ,italian named ,pelegini1 was1 in #agab1 captain-general of the ,algerine galleys4 ,the miramolin1 the bey1 the dey1 all have ,christian females in their seraglios1 but there are only two ,turkish girls who have found lovers in ,paris4 ,the ,algerine land force consists of twelve thousand regular soldiers only2 but all the rest of the men are trained to arms2 and it is this that renders the conquest of the country so difficult4 ,the ,vandals1 however1 easily subdued it2 yet we dare not attack it4 ,,allegories4 ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 and ,mercury1 travelling one day in ,thrace1 called on a certain king named ,hyreus1 who entertained them very handsomely4 ,after eating a good dinner1 they asked him if they could render him any service4 ,the good man1 who was past the age at which it is usual for men to have children1 told them he should be very much obliged to them if they would make him a boy4 ,the three gods then urinated on the skin of a new flayed ox2 and from these sprang ,orion1 who became one of the constellations known to the most remote antiquity4 ,this constellation was named ,orion by the ancient ,chaldans2 it is spoken of in the ,book of ,job4 ,it would be hard to discover a rational allegory in this pretty story1 unless we are to infer from it that nothing was impossible to the gods4 ,there were in ,greece two young rakes1 who were told by the oracle to beware of the melampygos or sable posteriors4 ,one day ,hercules took them and tied them by the feet to the end of his club1 so that they hung down his back with their heads downward1 like a couple of rabbits1 having a full view of his person4 ,ah6 said they2 the oracle is accomplished2 this is the melampygos4 ,hercules fell alaughing1 and let them go4 ,here again it would be rather difficult to divine the moral sense4 ,among the fathers of mythology there were some who had only imagination2 but the greater part of them possessed understandings of no mean order4 ,not all our academies1 not all our makers of devices1 not even they who compose the legends for the counters of the royal treasury1 will ever invent allegories more true1 more pleasing1 or more ingenious1 than those of the ,nine ,muses1 of ,venus1 the ,graces1 the ,god of ,love1 and so many others1 which will be the delight and instruction of all ages4 ,the ancients1 it must be confessed1 almost always spoke in allegories4 ,the earlier fathers of the church1 the greater part of whom were ,platonists1 imitated this method of ,plato's4 ,they have1 indeed1 been reproached with having carried this taste for allegories and allusions a little too far4 ,st4 ,justin1 in his ,apology1 says that the sign of the cross is marked in the limbs and features of man2 that when he extends his arms there is a perfect cross2 and that his nose and eyes form a cross upon his face4 ,according to ,origen's explanation of ,leviticus1 the fat of the victims signifies the ,church1 and the tail is a symbol of perseverance4 ,st4 ,augustine1 in his sermon on the difference and agreement of the two genealogies of ,christ1 explains to his auditors why ,st4 ,matthew1 although he reckons forty-two generations1 enumerates only forty-one4 ,it is1 says he1 because ,jechonias must be reckoned twice1 ,jechonias having gone from ,jerusalem to ,babylon4 ,this journey is to be considered as the corner-stone2 and if the corner-stone is the first of one side of a building1 it is also the first of the other side2 consequently this stone must be reckoned twice2 and therefore ,jechonias must be reckoned twice4 ,he adds that1 in the forty-two generations1 we must dwell on the number forty1 because that number signifies life4 ,the number ten denotes blessedness1 and ten multiplied by four1 which represents the four elements and the four seasons1 produces forty4 ,in his fifty-third sermon1 the dimensions of matter have astonishing properties4 ,breadth is the dilation of the heart1 length is long-suffering1 height is hope1 and depth is faith4 ,so that1 besides the allegory1 we have four dimensions of matter instead of three4 ,it is clear and indubitable 7says he in his sermon on the #fth psalm7 that the number four denotes the human body1 because of the four elements1 and the four qualities of hot1 cold1 moist1 and dry2 and as four relates to the body1 so three relates to the soul2 for we must love ,god with a triple love--with all our hearts with all our souls1 and with all our minds4 ,four also relates to the ,old ,testament1 and three to the ,new4 ,four and three make up the number of seven days1 and the eight is the day of judgment4 ,one cannot but feel that there is in these allegories an affectation but little compatible with true eloquence4 ,the fathers1 who sometimes made use of these figures1 wrote in times and countries in which nearly all the arts were degenerating4 ,their learning and fine genius were warped by the imperfections of the age in which they lived4 ,st4 ,augustine is not to be respected the less for having paid this tribute to the bad taste of ,africa and the fourth century4 ,the discourses of our modern preachers are not disfigured by similar faults4 ,not that we dare prefer them to the fathers2 but the present age is to be preferred to the ages in which they wrote4 ,eloquence1 which became more and more corrupted1 and was not revived until later times1 fell1 after them1 into still greater extravagances2 and the languages of all barbarous nations were alike ridiculous until the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,look at all the old collections of sermons2 they are far below the dramatic pieces of the ,passion1 which used to be played at the ,htel de ,bourgogne4 ,but the spirit of allegory1 which has never been lost1 may be traced throughout these barbarous discourses4 ,the celebrated ,mnot1 who lived in the reign of ,francis ,i41 did more honor1 perhaps1 than any other to the allegorical style4 ,the worthy administrators of justice1 said he1 are like a cat set to take care of a cheese1 lest it should be gnawed by the mice4 ,one bite of the cat does more damage to the cheese than twenty mice can do4 ,here is another very curious passage3 ,the woodmen1 in a forest1 cut large and small branches1 and bind them in faggots2 just so do our ecclesiastics1 with dispensations from ,rome1 heap together great and small benefices4 ,the cardinal's hat is garnished with bishoprics1 the bishoprics are garnished with abbeys and priories1 and the whole is garnished with devils4 ,all these church possessions must pass through the three links of the ,ave ,maria2 for benedicta tu stands for fat abbeys of ,benedictines1 in mulieribus for monsieur and madame1 and fructus ventris for banquets and gormandizers4 ,the sermons of ,barlet and ,maillard are all framed after this model1 and were delivered half in bad ,latin1 and half in bad ,french4 ,the ,italian sermons were in the same taste2 and the ,german were still worse4 ,this monstrous medley gave birth to the macaroni style1 the very climax of barbarism4 ,the species of oratory1 worthy only of the ,indians on the banks of the ,missouri1 prevailed even so lately as the reign of ,louis ,,xiii4 ,the ,jesuit ,garasse1 one of the most distinguished enemies of common sense1 never preached in any other style4 ,he likened the celebrated ,theophile to a calf1 because ,theophile's family name was ,viaud1 something resembling veau 7a calf74 ,but1 said he1 the flesh of a calf is good to roast and to boil1 whereas thine is good for nothing but to burn4 ,all these allegories1 used by our barbarians1 fall infinitely short of those employed by ,homer1 ,virgil1 and ,ovid1 which proves that if there be still some ,goths and ,vandals who despise ancient fable they are not altogether in the right4 ,,almanac4 ,it is of little moment to know whether we have the word almanac from the ancient ,saxons1 who could not write1 or from the ,arabs1 who are known to have been astronomers1 and to have had some acquaintance with the courses of the planets1 while the western nations were still wrapped in an ignorance as great as their barbarism4 ,i shall here confine myself to one short observation4 ,let an ,indian philosopher1 who has embarked at ,meliapour1 come to ,bayonne4 ,i shall suppose this philosopher to be a man of sense1 which1 you will say1 is rare among the learned of ,india2 to be divested of all scholastic prejudices--a thing that was rare everywhere not long ago--and ,i shall suppose him to meet with a blockhead in our part of the world--which is not quite so great a rarity4 ,our blockhead1 in order to make him conversant with our arts and sciences1 presents him with a ,lige almanac1 composed by ,matthew ,lansberg1 and the ,lame ,messenger 7,messager boiteux7 by ,anthony ,souci1 astrologer and historian1 printed every year at ,basle1 and sold to the number of #bj1jjj copies in eight days4 ,there you behold the fine figure of a man1 surrounded by the signs of the ,zodiac1 with certain indications most clearly demonstrating that the scales preside over the posteriors1 the ram over the head1 the fishes over the feet1 etc4 ,each day of the moon informs you when you must take ,le ,livre's balm of life1 or ,keiser's pills2 when you must be bled1 have your nails cut1 wean your children1 plant1 sow1 go a journey1 or put on a pair of new shoes4 ,the ,indian1 when he hears these lessons1 will do well to say to his guide that he will have none of his almanac4 ,so soon as our simpleton shall have shown the philosopher a few of our ceremonies1 which every wise man disapproves1 but which are tolerated in order to amuse the populace1 through pure contempt for that populace1 the traveller1 seeing these mummeries1 followed by a tambourine dance1 will not fail to pity and take us for madmen1 who are1 nevertheless1 very amusing and not absolutely cruel4 ,he will write home to the president of the ,grand ,college of ,benares that we have not common sense2 but that if ,his ,paternity will send enlightened and discreet persons among us1 something may1 with the blessing of ,god1 be made of us4 ,it was precisely in this way that our first missionaries1 especially ,st4 ,francis ,xavier1 spoke of the people inhabiting the peninsula of ,india4 ,they even fell into still grosser mistakes respecting the customs of the ,indians1 their sciences1 their opinions1 their manners1 and their worship4 ,the accounts which they sent to ,europe were extremely curious4 ,every statue was a devil2 every assembly a sabbath2 every symbolical figure a talisman2 every ,brahmin a sorcerer2 and these are made the subject of never-ending lamentations4 ,they hope that the harvest will be abundant2 and add1 by a rather incongruous metaphor1 that they will labor effectually in the vineyard of the ,lord1 in a country where wine has always been unknown4 ,thus1 or nearly thus1 have every people judged1 not only of distant nations1 but of their neighbors4 ,the ,chinese are said to be the most ancient almanac-makers4 ,the finest of their emperor's privileges is that of sending his calendar to his vassals and neighbors2 their refusal of which would be considered as a bravado1 and war would forthwith be made upon them1 as it used to be in ,europe on feudal lords who refused their homage4 ,if we have only twelve constellations1 the ,chinese have twenty-eight1 the names of which have not the least affinity with ours--a sufficient proof that they have taken nothing from the ,chaldan ,zodiac1 that we have adopted4 ,but though they have had a complete system of astrology for more than four thousand years1 they resemble ,matthew ,lansberg and ,anthony ,souci in the fine predictions and secrets of health with which they stuff their ,imperial ,almanac4 ,they divide the day into ten thousand minutes1 and know1 with the greatest precision1 what minute is favorable or otherwise4 ,when the ,emperor ,kamhi wished to employ the ,jesuit missionaries in making the almanac1 they are said to have excused themselves1 at first1 on account of the extravagant superstitions with which it must be filled4 ,i have much less faith than you in the superstitions1 replied the emperor2 only make me a good calendar1 and leave it for my learned men to fill up the book with their foolery4 ,the ingenious author of the ,plurality of ,worlds ridicules the ,chinese1 because1 says he1 they see a thousand stars fall at once into the sea4 ,it is very likely that the ,emperor ,kamhi ridiculed this notion as well as ,fontenelle4 ,some ,chinese almanac-maker had1 it would seem1 been good-natured enough to speak of these meteors after the manner of the people1 and to take them for stars4 ,every country has its foolish notions4 ,all the nations of antiquity made the sun lie down in the sea1 where for a long time we sent the stars4 ,we have believed that the clouds touched the firmament1 that the firmament was a hard substance1 and that it supported a reservoir of water4 ,it has not long been known in our towns that the ,virgin-thread 7fil de la vierge7 so often found in the country1 is nothing more than the thread spun by a spider4 ,let us not laugh at any people4 ,let us reflect that the ,chinese had astrolabes and spheres before we could read1 and that if they have made no great progress in astronomy1 it is through that same respect for the ancients which we have had for ,aristotle4 ,it is consoling to know that the ,roman people1 populus late rex1 were1 in this particular1 far behind ,matthew ,lansberg1 and the ,lame ,messenger1 and the astrologers of ,china1 until the period when ,julius ,csar reformed the ,roman year1 which we have received from him and still call by his name--the ,julian ,calendar1 although we have no calends1 and he was obliged to reform it himself4 ,the primitive ,romans had1 at first1 a year of ten months1 making three hundred and four days2 this was neither solar nor lunar1 nor anything except barbarous4 ,the ,roman year was afterwards composed of three hundred and fifty-five days--another mistake1 which was corrected so imperfectly that1 in ,csar's time1 the summer festivals were held in winter4 ,the ,roman generals always triumphed1 but never knew on what day they triumphed4 ,csar reformed everything2 he seemed to rule both heaven and earth4 ,i know not through what complaisance for the ,roman customs it was that he began the year at a time when it does not begin--that is1 eight days after the winter solstice4 ,all the nations composing the ,roman ,empire submitted to this innovation2 even the ,egyptians1 who had until then given the law in all that related to almanacs1 received it2 but none of these different nations altered anything in the distribution of their feasts4 ,the ,jews1 like the rest1 celebrated their new moons2 their phase or pascha1 the fourteenth day of the moon of ,march1 called the red-haired moon1 which day often fell in ,april2 their ,pentecost1 fifty days after the pascha2 the feast of horns or trumpets1 the first day of ,july2 that of tabernacles on the fifteenth of the same month1 and that of the great sabbath1 seven days afterwards4 ,the first ,christians followed the computations of the empire1 and reckoned by calends1 nones1 and ides1 like their masters2 they likewise received the ,bissextile1 which we have still1 although it was found necessary to correct it in the fifteenth century1 and it must some day be corrected again2 but they conformed to the ,jewish methods in the celebration of their great feasts4 ,they fixed their ,easter for the fourteenth day of the red moon1 until the ,council of ,nice determined that it should be the ,sunday following4 ,those who celebrated it on the fourteenth were declared heretics2 and both were mistaken in their calculation4 ,the feasts of the ,blessed ,virgin were1 as far as possible1 substituted for the new moons4 ,the author of the ,roman ,calendar 7,le ,calendrier ,romain7 says the reason of this is drawn from the verse of the ,canticle1 pulchra ut luna1 fair as the moon2 but1 by the same rule1 these feasts should be held on a ,sunday1 for in the same verse we find electa ut sol1 chosen like the sun4 ,the ,christians also kept the feast of ,pentecost2 it was fixed1 like that of the ,jews1 precisely fifty days after ,easter4 ,the same author asserts that saint-days took the place of the feasts of tabernacles4 ,he adds that ,st4 ,john's day was fixed for the #bdth of ,june1 only because the days then begin to shorten1 and ,st4 ,john had said1 when speaking of ,jesus ,christ1 ,he must grow1 and ,i must become less--,oportet ilium crescere1 me autem minui4 ,there is something very singular in the ancient ceremony of lighting a great fire on ,st4 ,john's day1 in the hottest period of the year4 ,it has been said to be a very old custom1 originally designed to commemorate the ancient burning of the world1 which awaited a second conflagration4 ,the same writer assures us that the feast of the ,assumption is kept on the #aeth of ,august because the sun is then in the sign of the ,virgin4 ,he also certifies that ,st4 ,mathias' day is in the month of ,february1 because he was1 as it were1 intercalated among the twelve apostles1 as a day is added to ,february every leap-year4 ,there would1 perhaps1 be something in these astronomical imaginings to make our ,indian philosopher smile2 nevertheless1 the author of them was mathematical master to the ,dauphin1 son of ,louis ,,xiv41 and moreover1 an engineer and a very worthy officer4 ,,altars1 ,,temples1 ,,rites1 ,,sacrifices1 ,,etc4 ,it is universally acknowledged that the first ,christians had neither temples1 nor altars1 nor tapers1 nor incense1 nor holy water1 nor any of those rites which the prudence of pastors afterwards instituted1 in conformity with times and places1 but more especially with the various wants of the faithful4 ,we have ample testimony in ,origen1 ,athenagoras1 ,theophilus1 ,justin1 and ,tertullian1 that the primitive ,christians held temples and altars in abomination2 and that not merely because they could not in the beginning obtain permission from the government to build temples1 but because they had a real aversion for everything that seemed to apply any affinity with other religions4 ,this abhorrence existed among them for two hundred and fifty years1 as is proved by the following passage of ,minutius ,felix1 who lived in the third century4 ,addressing the ,romans1 he says3 ,putatis autem nos occultare quod colimus1 si delubra et aras non habemus4 ,quod enim simulacrum ,deo fingam1 quum1 si recte existimes1 sit ,dei homo ipse simulacrum8 quod templum ei exstruam1 quum totus hic mundus1 ejus opere fabricatus1 eum capere non possit8 et quum homo latius maneam1 intra unam diculum vim tant majestatis includam8 nonne melius in nostra dedicandus est mente1 in nostro imo consecrandus est pectore8 ,you think that we conceal what we adore1 because we have neither temples nor altars4 ,but what shall we erect like to ,god1 since man himself is ,god's image8 ,what temple shall we build for ,him1 when the whole world1 which is the work of ,his hands1 cannot contain ,him8 ,how shall we enclose the power of such majesty in one dwelling-place8 ,is it not better to consecrate a temple to ,him in our minds and in our hearts8 ,the ,christians1 then1 had no temples until about the beginning of the reign of ,diocletian4 ,the ,church had then become very numerous2 and it was found necessary to introduce those decorations and rites which1 at an earlier period1 would have been useless and even dangerous to a slender flock1 long despised1 and considered as nothing more than a small sect of dissenting ,jews4 ,it is manifest that1 while they were confounded with the ,jews1 they could not obtain permission to erect temples4 ,the ,jews1 who paid very dear for their synagogues1 would themselves have opposed it2 for they were mortal enemies to the ,christians1 and they were rich4 ,we must not say1 with ,toland1 that the ,christians1 who at that time made a show of despising temples and altars1 were like the fox that said the grapes were sour4 ,this comparison appears as unjust as it is impious1 since all the primitive ,christians in so many different countries1 agreed in maintaining that there was no need of raising temples or altars to the true ,god4 ,providence1 acting by second causes1 willed that they should erect a splendid temple at ,nicomedia1 the residence of the ,emperor ,diocletian1 as soon as they had obtained that sovereign's protection4 ,they built others in other cities2 but still they had a horror of tapers1 lustral water1 pontifical habits1 etc4 ,all this pomp and circumstance was in their eyes no other than a distinctive mark of paganism4 ,these customs were adopted under ,constantine and his successors1 and have frequently changed4 ,our good women of the present day1 who every ,sunday hear a ,latin mass1 at which a little boy attends1 imagine that this rite has been observed from the earliest ages1 that there never was any other1 and that the custom in other countries of assembling to offer up prayers to ,god in common is diabolical and quite of recent origin4 ,there is1 undeniably1 something very respectable in a mass1 since it has been authorized by the ,church2 it is not at all an ancient usage1 but is not the less entitled to our veneration4 ,there is not1 perhaps1 a single ceremony of this day which was in use in the time of the apostles4 ,the ,holy ,spirit has always conformed himself to the times4 ,he inspired the first disciples in a mean apartment2 ,he now communicates ,his inspirations in ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome1 which cost several millions--equally divine1 however1 in the wretched room1 and in the superb edifice of ,julius ,,ii41 ,leo ,x41 ,paul ,,iii41 and ,sixtus ,v4 ,,amazons4 ,bold and vigorous women have been often seen to fight like men4 ,history makes mention of such2 for1 without reckoning ,semiramis1 ,tomyris1 or ,penthesilea--who1 perhaps1 existed only in fable--it is certain that there were many women in the armies of the first caliphs4 ,in the tribe of the ,homerites1 especially1 it was a sort of law1 dictated by love and courage1 that in battle wives should succor and avenge their husbands1 and mothers their children4 ,when the famous chief ,derar was fighting in ,syria against the generals of the ,emperor ,heraclius1 in the time of the caliph ,abubeker1 successor to ,mahomet1 ,peter1 who commanded at ,damascus1 took thither several women1 whom he had captured1 together with some booty1 in one of his excursions2 among the prisoners was the sister of ,derar4 ,alvakedi's ,arabian ,history1 translated by ,ockley1 says that she was a perfect beauty1 and that ,peter became enamored of her1 paid great attention to her on the way1 and indulged her and her fellow-prisoners with short marches4 ,they encamped in an extensive plain1 under tents1 guarded by troops posted at a short distance4 ,caulah 7so this sister of ,derar's was named7 proposed to one of her companions1 called ,oserra1 that they should endeavor to escape from captivity1 and persuaded her rather to die than be a victim to the lewd desires of the ,christians4 ,the same ,mahometan enthusiasm seized all the women2 they armed themselves with the iron-pointed staves that supported their tents1 and with a sort of dagger which they wore in their girdles2 they then formed a circle1 as the cows do when they present their horns to attacking wolves4 ,peter only laughed at first2 he advanced toward the women1 who gave him hard blows with the staves2 after hesitating for some time1 he at length resolved to use force2 the sabres of his men were already drawn1 when ,derar arrived1 put the ,greeks to flight1 and delivered his sister and the other captives4 ,nothing can more strongly resemble those times called heroic1 sung by ,homer4 ,here are the same single combats at the head of armies1 the combatants frequently holding a long conversation before they commence fighting2 and this1 no doubt1 justifies ,homer4 ,thomas1 governor of ,syria1 ,heraclius's son-in-law1 made a sally from ,damascus1 and attacked ,sergiabil1 having first prayed to ,jesus ,christ4 ,unjust aggressor1 said he to ,sergiabil1 thou canst not resist ,jesus1 my ,god1 who will fight for the champions of ,his religion4 ,thou tellest an impious lie1 answered ,sergiabil2 ,jesus is not greater before ,god than ,adam4 ,god raised ,him from the dust2 ,he gave life to ,him as to another man1 and1 after leaving ,him for some time on earth1 took ,him up into heaven4 ,after some more verbal skirmishing the fight began4 ,thomas discharged an arrow1 which wounded young ,aban1 the son of ,saib1 by the side of the valiant ,sergiabil2 ,aban fell and expired2 the news of his death reached his young wife1 to whom he had been united but a few days before2 she neither wept nor complained1 but ran to the field of battle1 with a quiver at her back1 and a couple of arrows in her hand2 with the first of these she killed the ,christian standard-bearer1 and the ,arabs seized the trophy1 crying1 ,allah achar6 ,with the other she shot ,thomas in the eye1 and he retired1 bleeding1 into the town4 ,arabian history is full of similar examples1 but they do not tell us that these warlike women burned their right breast1 that they might draw the bow better1 nor that they lived without men2 on the contrary1 they exposed themselves in battle for their husbands or their lovers2 from which very circumstance we must conclude that1 so far from reproaching ,ariosto and ,tasso for having introduced so many enamored warriors into their poems1 we should praise them for having delineated real and interesting manners4 ,when the crusading mania was at its height there were some ,christian women who shared the fatigues and dangers of their husbands4 ,to such a pitch1 indeed1 was this enthusiasm carried that the ,genoese women undertook a crusade of their own1 and were on the point of setting out for ,palestine to form petticoat battalions2 they had made a vow so to do1 but were absolved from it by a pope1 who was a little wiser than themselves4 ,margaret of ,anjou1 wife of the unfortunate ,henry ,,vi4 of ,england1 evinced1 in a juster war1 a valor truly heroic2 she fought in ten battles to deliver her husband4 ,history affords no authenticated example of greater or more persevering courage in a woman4 ,she had been preceded by the celebrated ,countess de ,montfort1 in ,brittany4 ,this princess1 says d',argentr1 was virtuous beyond the nature of her sex1 and valiant beyond all men2 she mounted her horse1 and managed him better than any esquire2 she fought hand to hand1 or charged a troop of armed men like the most valiant captain2 she fought on sea and land with equal bravery1 etc4 ,she went1 sword in hand1 through her states1 which were invaded by her competitor1 ,charles de ,blois4 ,she not only sustained two assaults1 armed cap--pie1 in the breach of ,hennebon1 but she made a sortie with five hundred men1 attacked the enemy's camp1 set fire to it1 and reduced it to ashes4 ,the exploits of ,joan of ,arc1 better known as the ,maid of ,orleans1 are less astonishing than those of ,margaret of ,anjou and the ,countess de ,montfort4 ,these two princesses having been brought up in the luxury of courts1 and ,joan of ,arc in the rude exercises of country life1 it was more singular1 as well as more noble1 to quit a palace for the field than a cottage4 ,the heroine who defended ,beauvais was1 perhaps1 superior to her who raised the siege of ,orleans1 for she fought quite as well1 and neither boasted of being a maid1 nor of being inspired4 ,it was in #adgb1 when the ,burgundian army was besieging ,beauvais1 that ,jeanne ,hachette1 at the head of a number of women1 sustained an assault for a considerable time1 wrested the standard from one of the enemy who was about to plant it on the breach1 threw the bearer into the trench1 and gave time for the king's troops to arrive and relieve the town4 ,her descendants have been exempted from the taille 7poll tax7--a mean and shameful recompense6 ,the women and girls of ,beauvais are more flattered by their walking before the men in the procession on the anniversary day4 ,every public mark of honor is an encouragement of merit2 but the exemption from the taille is but a proof that the persons so exempted were subjected to this servitude by the misfortune of their birth4 ,there is hardly any nation which does not boast of having produced such heroines2 the number of these1 however1 is not great2 nature seems to have designed women for other purposes4 ,women have been known but rarely to exhibit themselves as soldiers4 ,in short1 every people have had their female warriors2 but the kingdom of the ,amazons1 on the banks of the ,thermodon1 is1 like most other ancient stories1 nothing more than a poetic fiction4 ,,ambiguity--,,equivocation4 ,for want of defining terms1 and especially for want of a clear understanding1 almost all laws1 that should be as plain as arithmetic and geometry1 are as obscure as logogriphs4 ,the melancholy proof of this is that nearly all processes are founded on the sense of the laws1 always differently understood by the pleaders1 the advocates1 and the judges4 ,the whole public law of ,europe had its origin in equivocal expressions1 beginning with the ,salique law4 ,she shall not inherit ,salique land4 ,but what is ,salique land8 ,and shall not a girl inherit money1 or a necklace1 left to her1 which may be worth more than the land8 ,the citizens of ,rome saluted ,karl1 son of the ,austrasian ,pepin le ,bref1 by the name of imperator4 ,did they understand thereby3 ,we confer on you all the prerogatives of ,octavius1 ,tiberius1 ,caligula1 and ,claudius8 ,we give you all the country which they possessed8 ,however1 they could not give it2 for so far were they from being masters of it that they were scarcely masters of their own city4 ,there never was a more equivocal expression2 and such as it was then it still is4 ,did ,leo ,,iii41 the bishop of ,rome who is said to have saluted ,charlemagne emperor1 comprehend the meaning of the words which he pronounced8 ,the ,germans assert that he understood by them that ,charles should be his master4 ,the ,datary has asserted that he meant he should be master over ,charlemagne4 ,have not things the most venerable1 the most sacred1 the most divine1 been obscured by the ambiguities of language8 ,ask two ,christians of what religion they are4 ,each will answer1 ,i am a ,catholic4 ,you think they are both of the same communion2 yet one is of the ,greek1 the other of the ,latin church2 and they are irreconcilable4 ,if you seek to be further informed1 you will find that by the word ,catholic each of them understands universal1 in which case universal signifies a part4 ,the soul of ,st4 ,francis is in heaven--is in paradise4 ,one of these words signifies the air2 the other means a garden4 ,the word spirit is used alike to express extract1 thought1 distilled liquor1 apparition4 ,ambiguity has been so necessary a vice in all languages1 formed by what is called chance and by custom1 that the author of all clearness and truth ,himself condescended to speak after the manner of ,his people2 whence is it that ,elohim signifies in some places judges1 at other times gods1 and at others angels4 ,tu es ,petrus1 et super hunc petrum dificabo ecclesiam meam1 would be equivocal in a profane tongue1 and on profane subject2 but these words receive a divine sense from the mouth which utters them1 and the subject to which they are applied4 ,i am the ,god of ,abraham1 the ,god of ,isaac1 the ,god of ,jacob2 now ,god is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living4 ,in the ordinary sense these words might signify3 ,i am the same ,god that was worshipped by ,abraham1 ,isaac and ,jacob2 as the earth1 which bore ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob1 likewise bears their descendants2 the sun which shines to-day is the sun that shone on ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob2 the law of their children was their law4 ,this does not1 however1 signify that ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob are still living4 ,but when the ,messiah speaks1 there is no longer any ambiguity2 the sense is as clear as it is divine4 ,it is evident that ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob are not among the dead1 but live in glory1 since this oracle is pronounced by the ,messiah2 but it was necessary that ,he and no one else should utter it4 ,the discourses of the ,jewish prophets might seem equivocal to men of gross intellects1 who could not perceive their meaning2 but they were not so to minds illumined by the light of faith4 ,all the oracles of antiquity were equivocal4 ,it was foretold to ,crsus that a powerful empire was to fall2 but was it to be his own8 or that of ,cyrus8 ,it was also foretold to ,pyrrhus that the ,romans might conquer him1 and that he might conquer the ,romans4 ,it was impossible that this oracle should lie4 ,when ,septimius ,severus1 ,pescennius ,niger1 and ,clodius ,albinus were contending for the empire1 the oracle of ,delphos1 being consulted 7notwithstanding the assertion of the ,jesuit ,baltus that oracles had ceased71 answered that the brown was very good1 the white good for nothing1 and the ,african tolerable4 ,it is plain that there are more ways than one of explaining such an oracle4 ,when ,aurelian consulted the god of ,palmyra 7still in spite of ,baltus71 the god said that the doves fear the falcon4 ,whatever might happen1 the god would not be embarrassed2 the falcon would be the conqueror1 and the doves the conquered4 ,sovereigns1 as well as gods1 have sometimes made use of equivocation4 ,some tyrant1 whose name ,i forget1 having sworn to one of his captives that he would not kill him1 ordered that he should have nothing to eat1 saying that he had promised not to put him to death1 but he had not promised to keep him alive4 ,,america4 ,since framers of systems are continually conjecturing on the manner in which ,america can have been peopled1 we will be equally consistent in saying that ,he who caused flies to exist in those regions caused men to exist there also4 ,however pleasant it may be to dispute1 it cannot be denied that the ,supreme ,being1 who lives in all nature1 has created1 about the forty-eighth degree1 two-legged animals without feathers1 the color of whose skin is a mixture of white and carnation1 with long beards approaching to red2 about the line1 in ,africa and its islands1 negroes without beards2 and in the same latitude1 other negroes with beards1 some of them having wool1 and some hair1 on their heads2 and among them other animals quite white1 having neither hair nor wool1 but a kind of white silk4 ,it does not very clearly appear what should have prevented ,god from placing on another continent animals of the same species1 of a copper color1 in the same latitude in which1 in ,africa and ,asia1 they are found black2 or even from making them without beards in the very same latitude in which others possess them4 ,to what lengths are we carried by the rage for systems joined with the tyranny of prejudice6 ,we see these animals2 it is agreed that ,god has had the power to place them where they are2 yet it is not agreed that he has so placed them4 ,the same persons who readily admit that the beavers of ,canada are of ,canadian origin1 assert that the men must have come there in boats1 and that ,mexico must have been peopled by some of the descendants of ,magog4 ,as well might be said that if there be men in the moon they must have been taken thither by ,astolpho on his hippogriff1 when he went to fetch ,roland's senses1 which were corked up in a bottle4 ,if ,america had been discovered in his time1 and there had then been men in ,europe systematic enough to have advanced1 with the ,jesuit ,lafitau1 that the ,caribbees descended from the inhabitants of ,caria1 and the ,hurons from the ,jews1 he would have done well to have brought back the bottle containing the wits of these reasoners1 which he would doubtless have found in the moon1 along with those of ,angelica's lover4 ,the first thing done when an inhabited island is discovered in the ,indian ,ocean1 or in the ,south ,seas1 is to inquire whence came these people8 ,but as for the trees and the tortoises1 they are1 without any hesitation1 pronounced to be indigenous2 as if it was more difficult for ,nature to make men than to make tortoises4 ,one thing1 however1 which tends to countenance this system is that there is scarcely an island in the ,eastern or in the ,western ,ocean which does not contain jugglers1 quacks1 knaves and fools4 ,this1 it is probable1 gave rise to the opinion that these animals are of the same race with ourselves4 ,,amplification4 ,it is pretended that amplification is a fine figure of rhetoric2 perhaps1 however1 it would be more reasonable to call it a defect4 ,in saying all that we should say1 we do not amplify2 and if after saying this we amplify1 we say too much4 ,to place a good or bad action in every light is not to amplify2 but to go farther than this is to exaggerate and become wearisome4 ,prizes were formerly given in colleges for amplification4 ,this was indeed teaching the art of being diffuse4 ,it would1 perhaps1 have been better to have given the fewest words1 and thus teach the art of speaking with greater force and energy4 ,but while we avoid amplification1 let us beware of dryness4 ,i have heard professors teach that certain passages in ,virgil are amplifications1 as1 for instance1 the following3 ,nox erat1 et placidum carpebant fessa soporem ,corpora per terras1 silvque et saeva quierunt quora2 quum medio volvuntur sidera lapsu2 ,quum tacet omnis ager1 pecudes1 pietaeque volucres2 ,quaeque lacus late liquidos1 quaeque aspera dumis ,rura tenant1 somno positae sub node silenti ,lenibant curas1 et corda oblita laborum3 ,at non infelix animi ,phnissa4 ',twas dead of night1 when weary bodies close ,their eyes in balmy sleep and soft repose3 ,the winds no longer whisper through the woods1 ,nor murmuring tides disturb the gentle floods2 ,the stars in silent order moved around1 ,and peace1 with downy wings1 was brooding on the ground4 ,the flocks and herds1 and parti-colored fowl1 ,which haunt the woods and swim the weedy pool4 ,stretched on the quiet earth securely lay1 ,forgetting the past labors of the day4 ,all else of ,nature's common gift partake2 ,unhappy ,dido was alone awake4--,,dryden4 ,if the long description of the reign of sleep throughout all nature did not form an admirable contrast with the cruel inquietude of ,dido1 these lines would be no other than a puerile amplification2 it is the words ,at non infelix animi ,phnissa--,unhappy ,dido1 etc41 which give them their charm4 ,that beautiful ode of ,sappho's which paints all the symptoms of love1 and which has been happily translated into every cultivated language1 would doubtless have been less touching had ,sappho been speaking of any other than herself2 it might then have been considered as an amplification4 ,the description of the tempest in the first book of the neid is not an amplification2 it is a true picture of all that happens in a tempest2 there is no idea repeated1 and repetition is the vice of all which is merely amplification4 ,the finest part on the stage in any language is that of ,phdre 7,phdra74 ,nearly all that she says would be tiresome amplification if any other was speaking of ,phdra's passion4 ,athenes me montra mon superbe ennemie2 ,je le vis1 je rougis1 je plas1 sa vue2 ,un trouble s'leva dans mon me perdue2 ,mes yeux ne voyaient plus1 je ne pouvais parler1 ,je sentis tout mon corps et transir et brler2 ,je reconnus ,venus et ses traits redoubtables1 ,d'un sang qu'elle poursuit tormens invitables4 ,yes2--,athens showed me my proud enemy2 ,i saw him--blushed--turned pale2-- ,a sudden trouble came upon my soul1-- ,my eyes grew dim--my tongue refused its office1-- ,i burned--and shivered2--through my trembling frame ,venus in all her dreadful power ,i felt1 ,shooting through every vein a separate pang4 ,it is quite clear that since ,athens showed her her proud enemy ,hippolytus1 she saw ,hippolytus2 if she blushed and turned pale1 she was doubtless troubled4 ,it would have been a pleonasm1 a redundancy1 if a stranger had been made to relate the loves of ,phdra2 but it is ,phdra1 enamored and ashamed of her passion--her heart is full--everything escapes her3 ,ut vidi1 lit perii1 ut me malus abstulit error4 ,je le vis1 je rougis1 je plis1 sa vue4 ,i saw him--blushed--turned pale4-- ,what can be a better imitation of ,virgil8 ,mes yeux ne voyaient plus1 je ne pouvais parler2 ,je sentis tout mon corps et transir et brler2 ,my eyes grew dim--my tongue refused its office2 ,i burned--and shivered2 ,what can be a finer imitation of ,sappho8 ,these lines1 though imitated1 flow as from their first source2 each word moves and penetrates the feeling heart2 this is not amplification2 it is the perfection of nature and of art4 ,the following is1 in my opinion1 an instance of amplification1 in a modern tragedy1 which nevertheless has great beauties4 ,tydeus is at the court of ,argos2 he is in love with a sister of ,electra2 he laments the fall of his friend ,orestes and of his father2 he is divided betwixt his passion for ,electra and his desire of vengeance2 while in this state of care and perplexity he gives one of his followers a long description of a tempest1 in which he had been shipwrecked some time before4 ,tu sais ce qu'en ces lieux nous venions entreprendre2 ,tu sais que ,palamde1 avant que de s'y rendre1 ,ne voulut point tenter son retour dans ,argos1 ,qu'il n'et interroge l'oracle de ,dlos4 ,a de si justes soins on souscrivit sans peine2 ,nous partmes1 combls des bienfaits de ,thyrrne2 ,tout nous favorisait2 nous voyagemes longtems ,au gr de nos dsirs1 bien plus qu'au gr des vents2 ,mais1 signalant bientt toute son inconstance1 ,le mer en un moment se mutine et s'lance2 ,l'air mugit1 le jour fuit1 une paisse vapeur ,couvre d'un voile affreux les vagues en fureur2 ,la foudre1 clairante seule une nuit si profonde1 sillons redoubls ouvre le ciel et l'onde1 ,et comme un tourbillon1 embrassant nos vaisseaux1 ,semble en sources de feu bouillonner sur les eaux2 ,les vagues quelquefois1 nous portant sur leurs cimes1 ,nous font router aprs sous de vastes abmes1 ,o les clairs presss1 pntrans avec nous1 ,dans des gouffres de feu semblaient nous plonger tous2 ,le pilote effray1 que la flamme environne1 ,aux rochers qu'il fuyait lui-mme s'abandonne2 travers les cueils notre vaisseau pousse1 ,se brise1 et nage enfin sur les eaux disperses4 ,thou knowest what purpose brought us to these shores2 ,thou knowest that ,palamed would not attempt ,again to set his foot within these walls ,until he'd questioned ,delos' oracle4 ,to his just care we readily subscribed2 ,we sailed1 and favoring gales at first appeared ,to announce a prosperous voyage2 ,long time we held our course1 and held it rather ,as our desires than as the winds impelled2 ,but the inconstant ocean heaved at last ,its treacherous bosom2 howling blasts arose2 ,the heavens were darkened2 vapors black and dense ,spread o'er the furious waves a frightful veil1 ,pierced only by the thunderbolts1 which clove ,the waters and the firmament at once1 ,and whirling round our ship1 in horrid sport ,chased one another o'er the boiling surge2 ,now rose we on some watery mountain's summit4 ,now with the lightning plunged into a gulf ,that seemed to swallow all4 ,our pilot1 struck ,powerless by terror1 ceased to steer1 and left us ,abandoned to those rocks we dreaded most2 ,soon did our vessel dash upon their points1 ,and swim in scattered fragments on the billows4 ,in this description we see the poet wishing to surprise his readers with the relation of a shipwreck1 rather than the man who seeks to avenge his father and his friend--to kill the tyrant of ,argos1 but who is at the same time divided between love and vengeance4 ,several men of taste1 and among others the author of ,telemachus1 have considered the relation of the death of ,hippolytus1 in ,racine1 as an amplification2 long recitals were the fashion at that time4 ,the vanity of actors make them wish to be listened to1 and it was then the custom to indulge them in this way4 ,the archbishop of ,cambray says that ,theramenes should not1 after ,hippolytus' catastrophe1 have strength to speak so long2 that he gives too ample a description of the monster's threatening horns1 his saffron scales1 etc42 that he should say in broken accents1 ,hippolytus is dead--a monster has destroyed him--,i beheld it4 ,i shall not enter on a defence of the threatening horns1 etc42 yet this piece of criticism1 which has been so often repeated1 appears to me to be unjust4 ,you would have ,theramenes say nothing more than ,hippolytus is killed--,i saw him die--all is over4 ,this is precisely what he does say2 ,hippolyte n'est plus6 7,hippolytus is no more67 ,his father exclaims aloud2 and ,theramenes1 on recovering his senses1 says2 ,j'ai vu des mortels prir le plus amiable1 ,i have seen the most amiable of mortals perish1 and adds this line1 so necessary and so affecting yet so agonizing for ,theseus3 ,et j'ose dire encore4 ,seigneur1 le moins coupable4 ,and1 ,sire1 ,i may truly add1 the most innocent4 ,the gradations are fully observed2 each shade is accurately distinguished4 ,the wretched father asks what ,god--what sudden thunder-stroke has deprived him of his son4 ,he has not courage to proceed2 he is mute with grief2 he awaits the dreadful recital1 and the audience awaits it also4 ,theramenes must answer2 he is asked for particulars2 he must give them4 ,was it for him who had made ,mentor and all the rest of his personages discourse at such length1 sometimes even tediously2 was it for him to shut the mouth of ,theramenes8 ,who among the spectators would not listen to him8 ,who would not enjoy the melancholy pleasure of hearing the circumstance of ,hippolytus' death8 ,who would have so much as three lines struck out8 ,this is no vain description of a storm unconnected with the piece2 no ill-written amplification2 it is the purest diction1 the most affecting language2 in short1 it is ,racine4 ,amplification1 declamation1 and exaggeration were at all times the faults of the ,greeks1 excepting ,demosthenes and ,aristotle4 ,there have been absurd pieces of poetry on which time has set the stamp of almost universal approbation1 because they were mixed with brilliant flashes which threw a glare over their imperfections1 or because the poets who came afterward did nothing better4 ,the rude beginnings of every art acquire a greater celebrity than the art in perfection2 he who first played the fiddle was looked upon as a demi-god1 while ,rameau had only enemies4 ,in fine1 men1 generally going with the stream1 seldom judge for themselves1 and purity of taste is almost as rare as talent4 ,at the present day1 most of our sermons1 funeral orations1 set discourses1 and harangues in certain ceremonies1 are tedious amplifications--strings of commonplace expressions repeated again and again a thousand times4 ,these discourses are only supportable when rarely heard4 ,why speak when you have nothing new to say8 ,it is high time to put a stop to this excessive waste of words1 and therefore we conclude our article4 ,,ancients ,,and ,,moderns4 ,the great cause of the ancients versus the moderns is not yet disposed of2 it has been at issue ever since the silver age1 which succeeded the golden one4 ,men have always pretended that the good old times were much better than the present4 ,nestor1 in the ,iliad1 wishing to insinuate himself1 like a wise mediator1 into the good opinion of ,achilles and ,agamemnon1 begins with saying3 ,i have lived with better men than you2 never have ,i seen1 nor shall ,i ever see again1 such great personages as ,dryas1 ,cneus1 ,exadius1 ,polyphemus equal to the gods1 etc4 ,posterity has made ample amends to ,achilles for ,nestor's bad compliment1 so vainly admired by those who admire nothing but what is ancient4 ,who knows anything about ,dryas8 ,we have scarcely heard of ,exadius or of ,cneus2 and as for ,polyphemus equal to the gods1 he has no very high reputation1 unless1 indeed1 there was something divine in his having a great eye in the middle of his forehead1 and eating the raw carcasses of mankind4 ,lucretius does not hesitate to say that nature has degenerated3 ,ipsa dedit dulces ftus et pabula lta1 ,qu nunc vix nostro grandescunt aucta labore2 ,conterimusque boves1 et vires agricolarum1 etc4 ,antiquity is full of the praises of another antiquity still more remote3 ,les hommes1 en tout tems1 ont pens qu'autrefois1 ,de longs ruisseaux de lait serpentaient dans nos bois2 ,la lune tait plus grande1 et la nuit moins obscure2 ,l'hiver se couronnait de fleurs et de verdure2 ,se contemplait l'aise1 admirait son nant1 ,et1 form pour agir1 se plaisait rien faire1 etc4 ,men have1 in every age1 believed that once ,long streams of milk ran winding through the woods2 ,the moon was larger and the night less dark2 ,winter was crowned with flowers and trod on verdure2 ,man1 the world's king1 had nothing else to do ,than contemplate his utter worthlessness1 ,and1 formed for action1 took delight in sloth1 etc4 ,horace combats this prejudice with equal force and address in his fine epistle to ,augustus4 ,must our poems1 then1 says he1 be like our wines1 of which the oldest are always preferred8 ,he afterward says3 ,indignor quidquam reprehendi1 non quia crasse ,compositum illepideve putetur1 sed quia nuper2 ,nec veniam antiquis1 sed honorem et prmia posci4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ingeniis non ille favet plauditque sepultis1 ,nostra sed impugnat1 nos nostraque lividus odit4 ,i feel my honest indignation rise1 ,when1 with affected air1 a coxcomb cries3 ,the work1 ,i own1 has elegance and ease1 ,but sure no modern should presume to please2 ,thus for his favorite ancients dares to claim1 ,not pardon only1 but rewards and fame4 99 99 99 99 99 ,not to the illustrious dead his homage pays1 ,but envious robs the living of their praise4--,,francis4 ,on this subject the learned and ingenious ,fontenelle expresses himself thus3 ,the whole of the question of pre-eminence between the ancients and moderns1 being once well understood1 reduces itself to this3 ,were the trees which formerly grew in the country larger than those of the present day8 ,if they were1 ,homer1 ,plato1 and ,demosthenes cannot be equalled in these latter ages2 but if our trees are as large as those of former times1 then can we equal ,homer1 ,plato1 and ,demosthenes4 ,but to clear up the paradox3 ,if the ancients had stronger minds than ourselves1 it must have been that the brains of those times were better disposed1 were formed of firmer or more delicate fibres1 or contained a larger portion of animal spirits4 ,but how should the brains of those times have been better disposed8 ,had such been the case1 the leaves would likewise have been larger and more beautiful2 for if nature was then more youthful and vigorous1 the trees1 as well as the brains of men1 would have borne testimony to that youth and vigor4 ,with our illustrious academician's leave1 this is by no means the state of the question4 ,it is not asked whether nature can at the present day produce as great geniuses1 and as good works1 as those of ,greek and ,latin antiquity1 but whether we really have such4 ,it is doubtless possible that there are oaks in the forest of ,chantilly as large as those of ,dodona2 but supposing that the oaks of ,dodona could talk1 it is quite clear that they had a great advantage over ours1 which1 it is probable1 will never talk4 ,la ,motte1 a man of wit and talent1 who has merited applause in more than one kind of writing1 has1 in an ode full of happy lines1 taken the part of the moderns4 ,we give one of his stanzas3 ,et pourquoi veut-on que j'encense ,ces prtendus ,dieux dont je sors8 ,en moi la mme intelligence ,fait mouvoir les mmes ressorts4 ,croit-on la nature bizarre1 ,pour nous aujourd'hui plus avare ,que pour les ,grecs et les ,romains8 ,de nos ans mere idoltre1 ,n'est-elle plus que la martre ,dure et grossire des humains8 ,and pray1 why must ,i bend the knee ,to these pretended ,gods of ours8 ,the same intelligence in me ,gives vigor to the self-same powers4 ,think ye that nature is capricious1 ,or towards us more avaricious ,than to our ,greek and ,roman sires-- ,to them an idolizing mother1 ,while in their children she would smother ,the sparks of intellectual fires8 ,he might be answered thus3 ,esteem your ancestors1 without adoring them4 ,you have intelligence and powers of invention1 as ,virgil and ,horace had2 but perhaps it is not absolutely the same intelligence4 ,perhaps their talents were superior to--yours2 they exercised them1 too1 in a language richer and more harmonious than our modern tongues1 which are a mixture of corrupted ,latin1 with the horrible jargon of the ,celts4 ,nature is not capricious2 but it is possible that she had given the ,athenians a soil and sky better adapted than ,westphalia and the ,limousin to the formation of geniuses of a certain order4 ,it is also likely that1 the government of ,athens1 seconding the favorable climate1 put ideas into the head of ,demosthenes which the air of ,clamar and ,la ,grenouillere combined with the government of ,cardinal de ,richelieu1 did not put into the heads of ,omer ,talon and ,jerome ,bignon4 ,some one answered ,la ,motte's lines by the following3 ,cher la ,motte1 imite et revre ,ces ,dieux dont tu ne descends pas2 ,si tu crois qu',horace est ton pre1 ,il a fait des enfans ingrats4 ,la nature n'est point bizarre2 ,pour ,danchet elle est fort avare1 ,mais ,racine en fut bien trait2 ,tibulle tait guide par elle1 ,mais pour notre ami ,la ,chapelle1 ,hlas6 qu'elle a peu de bont6 ,revere and imitate1 ,la ,motte1 ,those ,gods from whom thou'rt not descended2 ,if thou by ,horace wert begot1 ,his children's manners might be mended4 ,nature is not at all capricious2 ,to ,danchet she is avaricious1 ,but she was liberal to ,racine2 ,she used ,tibullus very well1 ,though to our good friend ,la ,chapelle1 ,alas6 she is extremely mean6 ,this dispute1 then1 resolves itself into a question of fact4 ,was antiquity more fertile in great monuments of genius of every kind1 down to the time of ,plutarch1 than modern ages have been1 from that of the house of ,medicis to that of ,louis ,,xiv41 inclusively8 ,the ,chinese1 more than two hundred years before our ,christian era1 built their great wall1 which could not save them from invasion by the ,tartars4 ,the ,egyptians had1 four thousand years before1 burdened the earth with their astonishing pyramids1 the bases of which covered ninety thousand square feet4 ,no one doubts that1 if it were thought advisable to undertake such useless works at the present day1 they might be accomplished by lavishing plenty of money4 ,the great wall of ,china is a monument of fear2 the pyramids of ,egypt are monuments of vanity and superstition2 both testify the great patience of the two people1 but no superior genius4 ,neither the ,chinese nor the ,egyptians could have made a single statue like those formed by our living sculptors4 ,sir ,william ,temple1 who made a point of degrading the moderns1 asserts that they have nothing in architecture that can be compared to the temples of ,greece and ,rome2 but1 ,englishman as he was1 he should have admitted that ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome is incomparably more beautiful than the capitol4 ,there is something curious in the assurance with which he asserts that there is nothing new in our astronomy1 nor in our knowledge of the human body1 except1 says he1 it be the circulation of the blood4 ,the love of his opinion1 founded on his extreme self-love1 makes him forget the discovery of ,jupiter's satellites1 of ,saturn's five moons and ring1 of the sun's rotation on his axis1 the calculation of the positions of three thousand stars1 the development by ,kepler and ,newton of the law by which the heavenly bodies are governed1 and the knowledge of a thousand other things of which the ancients did not even suspect the possibility4 ,the discoveries in anatomy have been no less numerous4 ,a new universe in miniature1 discovered by the microscope1 went as nothing with ,sir ,william ,temple2 he closed his eyes to the wonders of his contemporaries1 and opened them only to admire ancient ignorance4 ,he even goes so far as to regret that we have nothing left of the magic of the ,indians1 ,chaldans1 and ,egyptians4 ,by this magic1 he understands a profound knowledge of nature1 which enabled them to work miracles--of which1 however1 he does not mention one1 because the truth is that they never worked any4 ,what1 says he1 has become of the charms of that music which so often enchanted men and beasts1 fishes1 birds1 and serpents1 and even changed their nature8 ,this enemy to his own times believed implicitly in the fable of ,orpheus1 and1 it should seem1 had never heard of the fine music of ,italy1 nor even of that of ,france1 which do not charm serpents1 it is true1 but which do charm the ears of the connoisseur4 ,it is still more strange that1 having all his life cultivated the belles-lettres1 he reasons no better on our good authors than on our philosophers4 ,he considers ,rabelais a great man1 and speaks of les ,amours des ,gaules 7,the ,loves of the ,gauls71 as one of his best works4 ,he was1 nevertheless1 a learned man1 a courtier1 a man of considerable wit1 and an ambassador1 who had made profound reflections on all that he had seen2 he possessed great knowledge2 one prejudice sufficed to render all this merit unavailing4 ,boileau and ,racine1 when writing in favor of the ancients against ,perrault1 showed more address than ,sir ,william ,temple4 ,they knew better than to touch on astronomy and physical science4 ,boikau seeks only to vindicate ,homer against ,perrault1 at the same time gliding adroitly over the faults of the ,greek poet1 and the slumber with which ,horace reproaches him4 ,he strove to turn ,perrault1 the enemy of ,homer1 into ridicule4 ,wherever ,perrault misunderstands a passage1 or renders inaccurately a passage which he understands1 ,boileau1 seizing this little advantage1 falls upon him like a redoubtable enemy1 and beats him as an ignoramus--a dull writer4 ,but it is not at all improbable that ,perrault1 though often mistaken1 was frequently right in his remarks on the contradictions1 the repetitions1 the uniformity of the combats1 the long harangues in the midst of them1 the indecent and inconsistent conduct of the gods in the poem--in short1 on all the errors into which this great poet is asserted to have fallen4 ,in a word1 ,boileau ridicules ,perrault much more than he justifies ,homer4 ,racine used the same artifice1 for he was at least as malignant as ,boileau4 ,although he did not1 like the latter1 make his fortune by satire1 he enjoyed the pleasure of confounding his enemies on the occasion of a small and very pardonable mistake into which they had fallen respecting ,euripides1 and1 at the same time1 of feeling much superior to ,euripides himself4 ,he rallies the same ,perrault and his partisans upon their critique on the ,alceste of ,euripides1 because these gentlemen had unfortunately been deceived by a faulty edition of ,euripides1 and had taken some replies of ,admetus for those of ,alceste2 but ,euripides does not the less appear in all countries to have done very wrong in making ,admetus use such extraordinary language to his father1 whom he violently reproaches for not having died for him3 ,how6 replies the king1 his father2 whom1 pray1 are you addressing so haughtily8 ,some ,lydian or ,phrygian slave8 ,know you not that ,i am free1 and a ,thessalian8 7,fine language1 truly1 for a king and a father67 ,you insult me as if ,i were the meanest of men4 ,where is the law which says fathers must die for their children8 ,each for himself here below4 ,i have fulfilled all my obligations toward you4 ,in what1 then1 do ,i wrong you8 ,do ,i ask you to die for me8 ,the light is dear to you2 is it less so to me8 ,you accuse me of cowardice6 ,coward that you yourself are6 ,you were not ashamed to urge your wife to save you1 by dying for you4 ,after this1 does it become you to treat as cowards those who refuse to do for you what you have not the courage to do yourself8 ,believe me1 you ought rather to be silent4 ,you love life2 others love it no less4 ,be assured that if you continue to abuse me1 you shall have reproaches1 and not false ones1 in return4 ,he is here interrupted by the chorus1 with3 ,enough6 ,too much on both sides6 ,old man1 cease this ill language toward your son4 ,one would think that the chorus should rather give the son a severe reprimand for speaking in so brutal a manner to his father4 ,all the rest of the scene is in the same style3 ,pheres 7to his son74--,thou speakest against thy father1 without his having injured thee4 ,admetus4--,oh6 ,i am well aware that you wish to live as long as possible4 ,pheres4--,and art thou not carrying to the tomb her who died for thee8 ,admetus4--,ah6 most infamous of men6 ',tis the proof of thy cowardice6 ,pheres4--,at least1 thou canst not say she died for me4 ,admetus4--,would to heaven that thou wert in a situation to need my assistance6 ,pheres4--,thou wouldst do better to think of marrying several wives1 who may die that thy life may be lengthened4 ,after this scene a domestic comes and talks to himself about the arrival of ,hercules4 ,a stranger1 says he1 opens the door of his own accord2 places himself without more ado at table2 is angry because he is not served quick enough2 fills his cup every moment with wine1 and drinks long draughts of red and of white2 constantly singing1 or rather howling1 bad songs1 without giving himself any concern about the king and his wife1 for whom we are mourning4 ,he is1 doubtless1 some cunning rogue1 some vagabond1 or assassin4 ,it seems somewhat strange that ,hercules should be taken for a cunning rogue1 and no less so that ,hercules1 the friend of ,admetus1 should be unknown to the household4 ,it is still more extraordinary that ,hercules should be ignorant of ,alceste's death1 at the very time when they were carrying her to her tomb4 ,tastes must not be disputed1 but such scenes as these would1 assuredly1 not be tolerated at one of our country fairs4 ,brumoy1 who has given us the ,thtre des ,grecs 7,greek ,theatre71 but has not translated ,euripides with scrupulous fidelity1 does all he can to justify the scene of ,admetus and his father3 the argument he makes use of is rather singular4 ,first1 he says1 that there was nothing offensive to the ,greeks in these things which we regard as horrible and indecent1 therefore it must be admitted that they were not exactly what we take them to have been1 in short1 ideas have changed4 ,to this it may be answered that the ideas of polished nations on the respect due from children to their fathers have never changed4 ,he adds1 ,who can doubt that in different ages ideas have changed relative to points of morality of still greater importance8 ,we answer1 that there are scarcely any points of greater importance4 ,a ,frenchman1 continues he1 is insulted2 the pretended good sense of the ,french obliges him to run the risk of a duel1 and to kill or be killed1 in order to recover his honor4 ,we answer1 that it is not the pretended good sense of the ,french alone1 but of all the nations of ,europe without exception4 ,he proceeds3 ,the world in general cannot be fully sensible how ridiculous this maxim will appear two thousand years hence1 nor how it would have been scoffed at in the time of ,euripides4 ,this maxim is cruel and fatal1 but it is not ridiculous2 nor would it have been in any way scoffed at in the time of ,euripides4 ,there were many instances of duels among the ,asiatics4 ,in the very commencement of the first book of the ,iliad1 we see ,achilles half unsheathing his sword1 and ready to fight ,agamemnon1 had not ,minerva taken him by the hair and made him desist4 ,plutarch relates that ,hephstion and ,craterus were fighting a duel1 but were separated by ,alexander4 ,quintus ,curtius tells us that two other of ,alexander's officers fought a duel in the presence of ,alexander1 one of them armed at all points1 the other1 who was a wrestler1 supplied only with a staff1 and that the latter overcame his adversary4 ,besides1 what has duelling to do with ,admetus and his father ,pheres1 reproaching each other by turns1 with having too great a love for life1 and with being cowards8 ,i shall give only this one instance of the blindness of translators and commentators2 for if ,brumoy1 the most impartial of all1 has fallen into such errors1 what are we to expect from others8 ,i would1 however1 ask the ,brumoys and the ,daciers1 if they find much saltin the language which ,euripides puts into the mouth of ,polyphemus3 ,i fear not the thunder of ,jupiter2 ,i know not that ,jupiter is a prouder or a stronger god than myself2 ,i care very little about him4 ,if he sends down rain1 ,i shut myself up in my cavern2 there ,i eat a roasted calf or some wild animal1 after which ,i lie down all my length1 drink off a great potful of milk1 and send forth a certain noise1 which is as good as his thunder4 ,the schoolmen cannot have very fine noses if they are not disgusted with the noise which ,polyphemus makes when he has eaten heartily4 ,they say that the ,athenian pit laughed at this pleasantry1 and that the ,athenians never laughed at anything stupid4 ,so the whole populace of ,athens had more wit than the court of ,louis ,,xiv41 and the populace are not the same everywhere6 ,nevertheless1 ,euripides has beauties1 and ,sophocles still more2 but they have much greater defects4 ,we may venture to say that the fine scenes of ,corneille and the affecting tragedies of ,racine are as much superior to the tragedies of ,sophocles and ,euripides1 as these two ,greeks were to ,thespis4 ,racine was quite sensible of his great superiority over ,euripides1 but he praised the ,greek poet for the sake of humbling ,perrault4 ,molire1 in his best pieces1 is as superior to the pure but cold ,terence1 and to the buffoon ,aristophanes1 as to the merry-andrew ,dancourt4 ,thus there are things in which the moderns are superior to the ancients2 and others1 though very few1 in which we are their inferiors4 ,the whole of the dispute reduces itself to this fact4 ,certain ,comparisons between ,celebrated ,works4 ,both taste and reason seem to require that we should1 in an ancient as well as in a modern1 discriminate between the good and the bad that are often to be found in contact with each other4 ,the warmest admiration must be excited by that line of ,corneille's1 unequalled by any in ,homer1 in ,sophocles1 or in ,euripides3 ,que vouliez-vous qu'il ft contre trois8--,qu'il mourt4 ,what could he do against three weapons8--,die4 ,and1 with equal justice1 the line that follows will be condemned4 ,the man of taste1 while he admires the sublime picture1 the striking contrasts of character and strong coloring in the last scene of ,rodogyne1 will perceive how many faults1 how many improbabilities1 have prepared the way for this terrible situation--how much ,rodogyne has belied her character1 and by what crooked ways it is necessary to pass to this great and tragical catastrophe4 ,the same equitable judge will not fail to do justice to the fine and artful contexture of ,racine's tragedies1 the only ones1 perhaps1 that have been well wrought from the time of schylus down to the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,he will be touched by that continued elegance1 that purity of language1 that truth of character1 to be found in him only2 by that grandeur without bombast1 that fidelity to nature which never wanders in vain declamations1 sophistical disputes1 false and far-fetched images1 often expressed in solecisms or rhetorical pleadings1 fitter for provincial schools than for a tragedy4 ,the same person will discover weakness and uniformity in some of ,racine's characters2 and in others1 gallantry and sometimes even coquetry2 he will find declarations of love breathing more of the idyl and the elegy1 than of a great dramatic passion2 and will complain that more than one well-written piece has elegance to please1 but not eloquence to move him4 ,just so will he judge of the ancients2 not by their names--not by the age in which they lived--but by their works themselves4 ,suppose ,timanthes the painter were at this day to come and present to us1 by the side of the paintings in the ,palais ,royal1 his picture in four colors of the ,sacrifice of ,iphigenia1 telling us that men of judgment in ,greece had assured him that it was an admirable artifice to veil the face of ,agamemnon1 lest his grief should appear to equal that of ,clytemnestra1 and the tears of the father dishonor the majesty of the monarch4 ,he would find connoisseurs who would reply--it is a stroke of ingenuity1 but not of painting2 a veil on the head of your principal personage has a frightful effect2 your art has failed you4 ,behold the masterpiece of ,rubens1 who has succeeded in expressing in the countenance of ,mary of ,medicis the pain attendant on childbirth--the joy1 the smile1 the tenderness--not with four colors1 but with every tint of nature4 ,if you wished that ,agamemnon should partly conceal his face1 you should have made him hide a portion of it by placing his hands over his eyes and forehead2 and not with a veil1 which is as disagreeable to the eye1 and as unpicturesque1 as it is contrary to all costume4 ,you should then have shown some falling tears that the hero would conceal1 and have expressed in his muscles the convulsions of a grief which he struggles to suppress2 you should have painted in this attitude majesty and despair4 ,you are a ,greek1 and ,rubens is a ,belgian2 but the ,belgian bears away the palm4 ,on a ,passage in ,homer4 ,a ,florentine1 a man of letters1 of clear understanding and cultivated taste1 was one day in ,lord ,chesterfield's library1 together with an ,oxford professor and a ,scotchman1 who was boasting of the poem of ,fingal1 composed1 said he1 in the ,gaelic tongue1 which is still partly that of ,lower ,brittany4 ,ah6 exclaimed he1 how fine is antiquity2 the poem of ,fingal has passed from mouth to mouth for nearly two thousand years1 down to us1 without any alteration4 ,such power has real beauty over the minds of men6 ,he then read to the company the commencement of ,fingal3 ,cuthullin sat by ,tara's wall2 by the tree of the rustling sound4 ,his spear leaned against a rock4 ,his shield lay on the grass by his side4 ,amid his thoughts of mighty ,carbar1 a hero slain by the chief in war1 the scout of ocean comes1 ,moran1 the son of ,fithil6 ',arise1' says the youth1 ',cuthullin1 arise6 ,i see the ships of the north6 many1 chief of men1 are the foe2 many the heroes of the sea-born ,swaran6' ',moran1' replied the blue-eyed chief1 'thou ever tremblest1 son of ,fithil6 thy fears have increased the foe4 ,it is ,fingal1 king of deserts1 with aid to green ,erin of streams4' ',i beheld their chief1' says ,moran1 'tall as a glittering rock4 ,his spear is a blasted pine4 ,his shield the rising moon6 ,he sat on the shore1 like a cloud of mist on the silent hill6' etc4 ,that1 said the ,oxford professor1 is the true style of ,homer2 but what pleases me still more is that ,i find in it the sublime eloquence of the ,hebrews4 ,i could fancy myself to be reading passages such as these from those fine canticles3 ',thou shalt break them with a rod of iron2 thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel4 ,thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly4 ,then the earth shook and trembled2 the foundation also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth4 ,the ,lord also thundered in the heavens2 and the ,highest gave ,his voice hailstones and coals of fire4 ,in them hath ,he set a tabernacle for the sun4 ,which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber4 ',break their teeth in their mouth1 ,o ,god2 break the great teeth of the young lions1 ,o ,lord4 ,let them pass away as waters that run continually2 when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows1 let them be as cut in pieces4 ,as a snail which melteth1 let every one of them pass away1 like the untimely birth of a woman1 that they may not see the sun4 ,before your pots can feel the thorns1 he shall take them away as in a whirlwind1 both living1 and in his wrath4 ',they return at evening2 they make a noise like a dog4 ,but ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 shalt laugh at them2 ,thou shalt have all the heathen in derision4 ,consume them in wrath2 consume them that they may not be4 ',the hill of ,god is as the hill of ,bashan1 a high hill as the hill of ,bashan4 ,why leap ye1 ye high hills8 ,the ,lord said ,i will bring again from ,bashan1 ,i will bring up my people again from the depths of the sea2 that thy feet may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies1 and the tongue of thy dogs in the same4 ',open thy mouth wide and ,i will fill it4 ,o my ,god1 make them like a wheel2 as the stubble before the wind4 ,as the fire burneth the wood1 and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire2 so persecute them with ,thy tempest and make them afraid with ,thy storm4 ',he shall judge among the heathen2 he shall fill the places with dead bodies2 ,he shall wound the heads over many countries4 ,happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones1' etc4 ,the ,florentine1 having listened with great attention to the verses of the canticles recited by the doctor1 as well as to the first lines of ,fingal bellowed forth by the ,scotchman1 confessed that he was not greatly moved by all these ,eastern figures1 and that he liked the noble simplicity of ,virgil's style much better4 ,at these words the ,scotchman turned pale with wrath1 the ,oxonian shrugged his shoulders with pity1 but ,lord ,chesterfield encouraged the ,florentine by a smile of approbation4 ,the ,florentine1 becoming warm and finding himself supported1 said to them3 ,gentlemen1 nothing is more easy than to do violence to nature2 nothing more difficult than to imitate her4 ,i know something of those whom we in ,italy call improvisatori2 and ,i could speak in this oriental style for eight hours together without the least effort1 for it requires none to be bombastic in negligent verse1 overloaded with epithets almost continually repeated1 to heap combat upon combat1 and to describe chimeras4 ,what6 said the professor1 you make an epic poem impromptu6 ,not a rational epic poem in correct verse1 like ,virgil1 replied the ,italian1 but a poem in which ,i would abandon myself to the current of my ideas1 and not take the trouble to arrange them4 ,i defy you to do it1 said the ,scotchman and the ,oxford graduate at once4 ,well1 returned the ,florentine1 give me a subject4 ,lord ,chesterfield gave him as a subject the ,black ,prince1 the conqueror of ,poictiers1 granting peace after the victory4 ,the ,italian collected himself and thus began3 ,muse of ,albion1 genius that presidest over heroes1 come sing with me--not the idle rage of men implacable alike to friends and foes--not the deeds of heroes whom the gods have favored in turn1 without any reason for so favoring them--not the siege of a town which is not taken--not the extravagant exploits of the fabulous ,fingal1 but the real victories of a hero modest as brave1 who led kings captive and respected his vanquished enemies4 ,george1 the ,mars of ,england1 had descended from on high on that immortal charger before which the proudest coursers of ,limousin flee as the bleating sheep and the tender lambs crowd into the fold at the sight of a terrible wolf issuing from the forest with fiery eyes1 with hair erect and foaming mouth1 threatening the flock and the shepherd with the fury of his murderous jaws4 ,martin1 the famed protector of them who dwell in fruitful ,touraine1 ,genevieve1 the mild divinity of them who drink the waters of the ,seine and the ,marne1 ,denis1 who bore his head under his arm in the sight of man and of immortals1 trembled as they saw ,george proudly traversing the vast fields of air4 ,on his head was a golden helmet1 glittering with diamonds that once paved the squares of the heavenly ,jerusalem1 when it appeared to mortals during forty diurnal revolutions of the great luminary and his inconstant sister1 who with her mild radiance enlightens the darkness of night4 ,in his hand is the terrible and sacred lance with which1 in the first days of the world1 the demi-god ,michael1 who executes the vengeance of the ,most ,high1 overthrew the eternal enemy of the world and the ,creator4 ,the most beautiful of the plumage of the angels that stand about the throne1 plucked from their immortal backs1 waved over his casque2 and around it hovered ,terror1 destroying ,war1 unpitying ,revenge1 and ,death1 the terminator of man's calamities4 ,he came like a comet in its rapid course1 darting through the orbits of the wondering planets1 and leaving far behind its rays1 pale and terrible1 announcing to weak mortals the fall of kings and nations4 ,he alighted on the banks of the ,charente1 and the sound of his immortal arms was echoed from the spheres of ,jupiter and ,saturn4 ,two strides brought him to the spot where the son of the magnanimous ,edward waited for the son of the intrepid de ,valois1 etc4 ,the ,florentine continued in this strain for more than a quarter of an hour4 ,the words fell from his lips1 as ,homer says1 more thickly and abundantly than the snows descend in winter2 but his words were not cold2 they were rather like the rapid sparks escaping from the furnace when the ,cyclops forge the bolts of ,jove on resounding anvil4 ,his two antagonists were at last obliged to silence him1 by acknowledging that it was easier than they had thought it was1 to string together gigantic images1 and call in the aid of heaven1 earth and hell2 but they maintained that to unite the tender and moving with the sublime was the perfection of the art4 ,for example1 said the ,oxonian1 can anything be more moral1 and at the same time more voluptuous1 than to see ,jupiter reposing with his wife on ,mount ,ida8 ,his lordship then spoke3 ,gentlemen1 said he1 ,i ask your pardon for meddling in the dispute4 ,perhaps to the ,greeks there was something very interesting in a god's lying with his wife upon a mountain2 for my own part1 ,i see nothing in it refined or attractive4 ,i will agree with you that the handkerchief1 which commentators and imitators have been pleased to call the girdle of ,venus1 is a charming figure2 but ,i never understood that it was a soporific1 nor how ,juno could receive the caresses of the master of the gods for the purpose of putting him to sleep4 ,a queer god1 truly1 to fall asleep so soon6 ,i can swear that1 when ,i was young1 ,i was not so drowsy4 ,it may1 for aught ,i know1 be noble1 pleasing1 interesting1 witty1 and decorous to make ,juno say to ,jupiter1 ',if you are determined to embrace me1 let us go to your apartment in heaven1 which is the work of ,vulcan1 and the door of which closes so well that none of the gods can enter4 ,i am equally at a loss to understand how the god of sleep1 whom ,juno prays to close the eyes of ,jupiter1 can be so brisk a divinity4 ,he arrives in a moment from the isles of ,lemnos and ,imbros2 there is something fine in coming from two islands at once4 ,he then mounts a pine and1 is instantly among the ,greek ships2 he seeks ,neptune1 finds him1 conjures him to give the victory to the ,greeks1 and returns with a rapid flight to ,lemnos4 ,i know of nothing so nimble as this god of sleep4 ,in short1 if in an epic poem there must be amorous matters1 ,i own that ,i incomparably prefer the assignations of ,alcina with ,rogero1 and of ,armida with ,rinaldo4 ,come1 my dear ,florentine1 read me those two admirable cantos of ,ariosto and ,tasso4 ,the ,florentine readily obeyed1 and his lordship was enchanted2 during which time the ,scotchman reperused ,fingal1 the ,oxford professor reperused ,homer2 and every one was content4 ,it was at last agreed that happy is he who is sensible to the merits of the ancients and the moderns1 appreciates their beauties1 knows their faults and pardons them4 ,,anecdotes4 ,if ,suetonius could be confronted with the valets-de-chambre of the twelve ,csars1 think you that they would in every instance corroborate his testimony8 ,and in case of dispute1 who would not back the valets-de-chambre against the historian8 ,in our own times1 how many books are founded on nothing more than the talk of the town8--just as the science of physics was founded on chimeras which have been repeated from age to age to the present time4 ,those who take the trouble of noting down at night what they have heard in the day1 should1 like ,st4 ,augustine1 write a book of retractions at the end of the year4 ,some one related to the grand-audiencier l'toile that ,henry ,,iv41 hunting near ,crteil1 went alone into an inn where some ,parisian lawyers were dining in an upper room4 ,the king1 without making himself known1 sent the hostess to ask them if they would admit him at their table or sell him a part of their dinner4 ,they sent him for answer that they had private business to talk of and had but a short dinner2 they therefore begged that the stranger would excuse them4 ,henry called his guards and had the guests outrageously beaten1 to teach them1 says de l'toile1 to show more courtesy to gentlemen4 ,some authors of the present day1 who have taken upon them to write the life of ,henry ,,iv41 copy this anecdote from de l'toile without examination1 and1 which is worse1 fail not to praise it as a fine action in ,henry4 ,the thing is1 however1 neither true nor likely2 and were it true1 ,henry would have been guilty of an act at once the most ridiculous1 the most cowardly1 the most tyrannical1 and the most imprudent4 ,first1 it is not likely that1 in #aejb1 ,henry ,,iv41 whose physiognomy was so remarkable1 and who showed himself to everybody with so much affability1 was unknown at ,crteil near ,paris4 ,secondly1 de l'toile1 far from verifying his impertinent story1 says he had it from a man who had it from ,m4 de ,vitri2 so that it is nothing more than an idle rumor4 ,thirdly1 it would have been cowardly and hateful to inflict a shameful punishment on citizens assembled together on business1 who certainly committed no crime in refusing to share their dinner with a stranger 7and1 it must be admitted1 with an indiscreet one7 who could easily find something to eat in the same house4 ,fourthly1 this action1 so tyrannical1 so unworthy not only of a king but of a man1 so liable to punishment by the laws of every country1 would have been as imprudent as ridiculous and criminal2 it would have drawn upon ,henry ,,iv4 the execrations of the whole commonalty of ,paris1 whose good opinion was then of so much importance to him4 ,history1 then1 should not have been disfigured by so stupid a story1 nor should the character of ,henry ,,iv4 have been dishonored by so impertinent an anecdote4 ,in a book entitled ,anecdotes ,littraires1 printed by ,durand in #ageb1 avec privilge1 there appears the following passage 7vol4 iii1 page #ahc73 ,the ,amours of ,louis ,,xiv41 having been dramatized in ,england1 that prince wished to have those of ,king ,william performed in ,france4 ,the ,abb ,brueys was directed by ,m4 de ,torcy to compose the piece2 but though applauded1 it was never played1 for the subject of it died in the meantime4 ,there are almost as many absurd lies as there are words in these few lines4 ,the ,amours of ,louis ,,xiv4 were never played on the ,london stage4 ,louis ,,xiv4 never lowered himself so far as to order a farce to be written on the amours of ,king ,william4 ,king ,william never had a mistress2 no one accused him of weakness of that sort4 ,the ,marquis de ,torcy never spoke to the ,abb ,brueys2 he was incapable of making to the abb1 or any one else1 so indiscreet and childish a proposal4 ,the ,abb ,brueys never wrote the piece in question4 ,so much for the faith to be placed in anecdotes4 ,the same book says that ,louis ,,xiv4 was so much pleased with the opera of ,isis that he ordered a decree to be passed in council by which men of rank were permitted to sing at the opera1 and receive a salary for so doing1 without demeaning themselves4 ,this decree was registered in the ,parliament of ,paris4 ,no such declaration was ever registered in the ,parliament of ,paris4 ,it is true that ,lulli obtained in #afgb1 long before the opera of ,isis was performed1 letters permitting him to establish his opera1 in which letters he got it inserted that ladies and gentlemen might sing in this theatre without degradation4 ,but no declaration was ever registered4 ,of all the anas1 that which deserves to stand foremost in the ranks of printed falsehood is the ,segraisiana3 ,it was compiled by the amanuensis of ,segrais1 one of his domestics1 and was printed long after the master's death4 ,the ,menagiana1 revised by ,la ,monnoye1 is the only one that contains anything instructive4 ,nothing is more common than to find in our new miscellanies old bons mots attributed to our contemporaries1 or inscriptions and epigrams written on certain princes1 applied to others4 ,we are told in the ,histoire ,philosophique et ,politique du ,commerce dans les deux ,indes 7the ,philosophical and ,political ,history of the ,commerce of the two ,indies71 that the ,dutch1 having driven the ,portuguese from ,malacca1 the ,dutch captain asked the ,portuguese commander when he should return2 to which he replied3 ,when your sins are greater than ours4 ,this answer had before been attributed to an ,englishman in the time of ,charles ,,vii4 of ,france1 and before them to a ,saracen emir in ,sicily2 after all1 it is the answer rather of a ,capuchin than of a politician2 it was not because the ,french were greater sinners than the ,english that the latter deprived them of ,canada4 ,the author of this same history relates1 in a serious manner1 a little story invented by ,steele1 and inserted in the ,spectator2 and would make it pass for one of the real causes of war between the ,english and the savages4 ,the tale which ,steele opposes to the much pleasanter story of the widow of ,ephesus1 is as follows and is designed to prove that men are not more constant than women2 but in ,petronius the ,ephesian matron exhibits only an amusing and pardonable weakness2 while the merchant ,inkle1 in the ,spectator1 is guilty of the most frightful ingratitude3 ,this young traveller ,inkle is on the point of being taken by the ,caribbees on the continent of ,america1 without it being said at what place or on what occasion4 ,yarico1 a pretty ,caribbee1 saves his life1 and at length flies with him to ,barbadoes4 ,as soon as they arrive1 ,inkle goes and sells his benefactress in the slave market4 ',ungrateful and barbarous man6' says ,yarico1 'wilt thou sell me1 when ,i am with child by thee8' ',with child6' replied the ,english merchant1 'so much the better2 ,i shall get more for thee6' ,and this is given us as a true story and as the origin of a long war4 ,the speech of a woman of ,boston to her judges1 who condemned her to the house of correction for the fifth time for having brought to bed a fifth child1 was a pleasantry of the illustrious ,franklin2 yet it is related in the same work as an authentic occurrence4 ,how many tales have embellished and disfigured every history8 ,an author1 who has thought more correctly than he has quoted1 asserts that the following epitaph was made for ,cromwell3 ,ci-gt le destructeur d'un pouvoir lgitime1 ,jusqu' son dernier jour favoris des cieux1 ,dont les vertus mritaient mieux ,que le sceptre acquis par un crime4 ,par quel destin faut-il1 par quel trange loi ,qu' tous ceux qui sont ns pour porter la couronne ,ce soil l',usurpateur qui donne ,l'exemple des vertus que doit avoir un ,roi8 ,here lies the man who trod on rightful power1 ,favored by heaven to his latest hour2 ,whose virtues merited a nobler fate ,than that of ruling criminally great4 ,what wondrous destiny can so ordain1 ,that among all whose fortune is to reign1 ,the usurper only to his sceptre brings ,the virtues vainly sought in lawful kings4 ,these verses were never made for ,cromwell1 but for ,king ,william4 ,they are not an epitaph1 but were written under a portrait of that monarch4 ,instead of ,ci-gt 7,here lies7 it was3 ,tel fut le destructeur d'un pouvoir lgitime4 ,such was the man who trod on rightful power4 ,no one in ,france was ever so stupid as to say that ,cromwell had ever set an example of virtue4 ,it is granted that he had valor and genius2 but the title of virtuous was not his due4 ,a thousand stories--a thousand facetic--have been travelling about the world for the last thirty centuries4 ,our books are stuffed with maxims which come forth as new1 but are to be found in ,plutarch1 in ,athenus1 in ,seneca1 in ,plautus1 in all the ancients4 ,these are only mistakes1 as innocent as they are common2 but wilful falsehoods--historical lies which attack the glory of princes and the reputation of private individuals--are serious offences4 ,of all the books that are swelled with false anecdotes1 that in which the most absurd and impudent lies are crowded together1 is the pretended ,mmoires de ,madame de ,maintenon4 ,the foundation of it was true3 the author had several of that lady's letters1 which had been communicated to him by a person of consequence at ,st4 ,cyr2 but this small quantity of truth is lost in a romance of seven volumes4 ,in this work the author shows us ,louis ,,xiv4 supplanted by one of his valets-de-chambre4 ,it supposes letters from ,mdlle4 ,mancini 7afterwards ,madame ,colonne7 to ,louis ,,xiv41 in one of which he makes this niece of ,cardinal ,mazarin say to the king3 ,you obey a priest--you are unworthy of me if you submit to serve another4 ,i love you as ,i love the light of heaven1 but ,i love your glory still better4 ,most certainly the author had not the original of this letter4 ,illustration3 ,louis at ,mdlle de la ,vallire's feet4 ,mdlle4 de la ,vallire1 he says1 in another place1 had thrown herself on a sofa in a light dishabille1 her thoughts employed on her lover4 ,often did the dawn of day find her still seated in a chair1 her arm resting on a table1 her eye fixed1 her soul constantly attached to the same object1 in the ecstasy of love4 ,the king alone occupied her mind2 perhaps at that moment she was inwardly complaining of the vigilance of the spies of ,henriette1 or the severity of the queen-mother4 ,a slight noise aroused her from her reverie--she shrunk back with surprise and dread2 ,louis was at her feet--she would have fled--he stopped her2 she threatened--he pacified2 she wept--he wiped away her tears4 ,such a description would not now be tolerated in one of our most insipid novels4 ,du ,haillan asserts1 in one of his small works1 that ,charles ,,viii4 was not the son of ,louis ,,xi4 ,this would account for ,louis having neglected his education and always keeping him at a distance4 ,charles ,,viii4 did not resemble ,louis ,,xi4 either in body or in mind2 but dissimilarity between fathers and their children is still less a proof of illegitimacy than resemblance is a proof of the contrary4 ,that ,louis ,,xi4 hated ,charles ,,viii4 brings us to no conclusion2 so bad a son might well be a bad father4 ,though ten ,du ,haillans should tell me that ,charles ,,viii4 sprung from some other than ,louis ,,xi41 ,i should not believe him implicitly4 ,i think a prudent reader should pronounce as the judges do--,pater est is quern nupti demonstrant4 ,did ,charles ,v4 intrigue with his sister ,margaret1 who governed the ,low ,countries8 ,was it by her that he had ,don ,john of ,austria1 the intrepid brother of the prudent ,philip ,,ii48 ,we have no more proof of this than we have of the secrets of ,charlemagne's bed1 who is said to have made free with all his daughters4 ,if the ,holy ,scriptures did not assure me that ,lot's daughters had children by their own father1 and ,tamar by her father-in-law1 ,i should hesitate to accuse them of it2 one cannot be too discreet4 ,it has been written that the ,duchess de ,montpensier bestowed her favors on the monk ,jacques ,clement1 in order to encourage him to assassinate his sovereign4 ,it would have been more politic to have promised them than to have given them4 ,but a fanatical or parricide priest is not incited in this way2 heaven is held out to him1 and not a woman4 ,his ,prior ,bourgoing had much greater power in determining him to any act than the greatest beauty upon earth4 ,when he killed the king he had in his pocket no love-letters1 but the stories of ,judith and ,ehud1 quite dog-eared and worn out with thumbing4 ,jean ,chtel and ,ravaillac had no accomplices2 their crime was that of the age2 their only accomplice was the cry of religion4 ,it has been repeatedly asserted that ,ravaillac had taken a journey to ,naples and that the ,jesuit ,alagona had1 in ,naples1 predicted the death of the king4 ,the ,jesuits never were prophets2 had they been so1 they would have foretold their own destination2 but1 on the contrary1 they1 poor men1 always positively declared that they should endure to the end of time4 ,we should never be too sure of anything4 ,it is in vain that the ,jesuit ,daniel tells me1 in his very dry and very defective ,history of ,france1 that ,henry ,,iv4 was a ,catholic long before his abjuration4 ,i will rather believe ,henry ,,iv4 himself than the ,jesuit ,daniel4 ,his letter to ,la ,belle ,gabrielle3 ,c'est demain que je fais le saut prilleux 7,to-morrow ,i take the fatal leap7 proves1 at least1 that something different from ,catholicism was still in his heart4 ,had his great soul been long penetrated by the efficacy of grace1 he would perhaps have said to his mistress3 ,these bishops edify me2 but he says3 ,ces gens-l m'ennuient4 7,these people weary me47 ,are these the words of a great catechumen8 ,this great man's letters to ,corisande d',andouin1 ,countess of ,grammont1 are not a matter of doubt2 they still exist in the originals4 ,the author of the ,essai sur les ,murs et l',esprit des ,nations 7,essay on the ,manners and ,spirit of ,nations7 gives several of these interesting letters1 in which there are the following curious passages3 ,tous ces empoisonneurs sont tous ,papistes4 ,j'ai dcouvert un tueur pour moi4 ,les prcheurs ,romains prchent tout-haut qu'il n'y a plus qu'une mort voir2 ils admonestent tout bon ,catholique de prendre exemple4--,et vous tes de cette religion6 ,si je n'tais ,huguenot1 je me ferais ,turc4 ,these poisoners are all ,papists4 ,i have discovered an executioner for myself4 ,the ,roman preachers exclaim aloud that there is only one more death to be looked for2 they admonish all good ,catholics to profit by the example 7of the poisoning of the prince of ,cond74--,and you are of this religion6 ,if ,i were not a ,huguenot1 ,i would turn ,turk4 ,it is difficult1 after seeing these testimonials in ,henry ,,iv4's own hand1 to become firmly persuaded that he was a ,catholic in his heart4 ,another modern historian accuses the duke of ,lerma of the murder of ,henry ,,iv4 ,this1 says he1 is the best established opinion4 ,this opinion is evidently the worst established4 ,it has never been heard of in ,spain2 and in ,france1 the continuator of de ,thou is the only one who has given any credit to these vague and ridiculous suspicions4 ,if the duke of ,lerma1 prime minister1 employed ,ravaillac1 he paid him very ill2 for when the unfortunate man was seized1 he was almost without money4 ,if the duke of ,lerma either prompted him or caused him to be prompted to the commission of the act1 by the promise of a reward proportioned to the attempt1 ,ravaillac would assuredly have named both him and his emissaries1 if only to revenge himself4 ,he named the ,jesuit d',aubigny1 to whom he had only shown a knife--why1 then1 should he spare the duke of ,lerma8 ,it is very strange obstinacy not to believe what ,ravaillac himself declared when put to the torture4 ,is a great ,spanish family to be insulted without the least shadow of proof8 ,et voil justement comme on crit l'histoire4 7,yet this is how history is written47 ,the ,spanish nation is not accustomed to resort to shameful crimes2 and the ,spanish grandees have always possessed a generous pride which has prevented them from acting so basely4 ,if ,philip ,,ii4 set a price on the head of the prince of ,orange1 he had1 at least1 the pretext of punishing a rebellious subject1 as the ,parliament of ,paris had when they set fifty thousand crowns on the head of ,admiral ,coligni1 and afterwards on that of ,cardinal ,mazarin4 ,these political proscriptions partook of the horror of the civil wars2 but how can it be supposed that the duke of ,lerma had secret communications with a poor wretch like ,ravaillac8 ,the same author says that ,marshal ,d',ancre and his wife were struck1 as it were1 by a thunderbolt4 ,the truth is1 that the one was struck by pistol-balls1 and the other burned as a witch4 ,an assassination and a sentence of death passed on the wife of a marshal of ,france1 an attendant on the queen1 as a reputed sorceress1 do very little honor either to the chivalry or to the jurisprudence of that day4 ,but ,i know not why the historian makes use of these words2 ,if these two wretches were not accomplices in the king's death1 they at least deserved the most rigorous chastisement2 it is certain that1 even during the king's life1 ,concini and his wife had connections with ,spain in opposition to the king's designs4 ,this is not at all certain1 nor is it even likely4 ,they were ,florentines4 ,the grand duke of ,florence was the first to acknowledge ,henry ,,iv41 and feared nothing so much as the power of ,spain in ,italy4 ,concini and his wife had no influence in the time of ,henry ,,iv4 ,if they intrigued with the court of ,madrid it could only be through the queen1 who must1 therefore1 have betrayed her husband4 ,besides1 let it once more be observed that we are not at liberty to bring forward such accusations without proofs4 ,what6 shall a writer pronounce a defamation from his garret1 which the most enlightened judges in the kingdom would tremble to hear in a court of justice8 ,why are a marshal of ,france and his wife1 one of the queen's attendants1 to be called two wretches8 ,does ,marshal d',ancre1 who raised an army against the rebels at his own expense1 merit an epithet suitable only to ,ravaillac or ,cartouche--to public robbers1 or public calumniators8 ,it is but too true that one fanatic is sufficient for the commission of a parricide1 without any accomplice4 ,damiens had none2 he repeated four times1 in the course of his interrogatory1 that he committed his crime solely through a principle of religion4 ,having been in the way of knowing the convulsionaries1 ,i may say that ,i have seen twenty of them capable of any act equally horrid1 so excessive has been their infatuation4 ,religion1 ill-understood1 is a fever which the smallest occurrence raises to frenzy4 ,it is the property of fanaticism to heat the imagination4 ,when a few sparks from the lire that keeps their superstitious heads a-boiling1 fall on some violent and wicked spirit--when some ignorant and furious man thinks he is imitating ,phineas1 ,ehud1 ,judith1 and other such personages1 he has more accomplices than he is aware of4 ,many incite to murder without knowing it4 ,some persons drop a few indiscreet and violent words2 a servant repeats them1 with additions and embellishments2 a ,chtel1 a ,ravaillac1 or a ,damiens listens to them1 while they who pronounced them little think what mischief they have done2 they are involuntary accomplices1 without there having been either plot or instigation4 ,in short1 he knows little of the human mind who does not know that fanaticism renders the populace capable of anything4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the author of the ,sicle de ,louis ,,xiv 7,age of ,louis the ,fourteenth7 is the first who has spoken of the ,man in the ,iron ,mask in any authentic history4 ,he was well acquainted with this circumstance1 which is the astonishment of the present age1 and will be that of posterity1 but which is only too true4 ,he had been deceived respecting the time of the death of this unknown and singularly unfortunate person1 who was interred at the church of ,st4 ,paul ,march #c1 #agjc1 and not in #agjd4 ,he was first confined at ,pignerol1 before he was sent to the ,isles of ,ste4 ,marguerite1 and afterwards to the ,bastille1 always under the care of the same man1 that ,st4 ,marc1 who saw him die4 ,father ,griffet1 a ,jesuit1 has communicated to the public the journal of the ,bastille1 which certifies the dates4 ,he had no difficulty in obtaining this journal1 since he exercised the delicate office of confessor to the prisoners confined in the ,bastille4 ,the ,man in the ,iron ,mask is an enigma which each one attempts to solve4 ,some have said that he was the duke of ,beaufort1 but the duke of ,beaufort was killed by the ,turks in the defence of ,candia1 in #affi1 and the ,man in the ,iron ,mask was at ,pignerol in #afgb4 ,besides1 how should the duke of ,beaufort have been arrested in the midst of his army8 ,how could he have been transferred to ,france without some one's knowing something about it8 and why should he have been imprisoned8 and why masked8 ,others have imagined that he was ,count ,vermandois1 natural son to ,louis ,,xiv41 who1 it is well known1 died of smallpox when with the army1 in #afhc1 and was buried in the town of ,arras4 ,it has since been supposed that the duke of ,monmouth1 who was publicly beheaded by order of ,king ,james1 in #afhe1 was the ,man in the ,iron ,mask4 ,but either the duke must have come to life again1 and afterwards changed the order of time1 putting the year #affb for the year #afhe1 or ,king ,james1 who never pardoned any one1 and therefore merited all his misfortunes1 must have pardoned the duke of ,monmouth1 and put to death in his stead some one who perfectly resembled him4 ,in the latter case1 a person must have been found kind enough to have his head publicly cut off to save the duke of ,monmouth4 ,all ,england must have been deceived in the person2 then ,king ,james must have begged of ,louis ,,xiv4 that he would be so good as to become his jailer4 ,louis ,,xiv41 having granted ,king ,james this small favor1 could not have refused to show the same regard for ,king ,william and ,queen ,anne1 with whom he was at war2 but would have been careful to maintain the dignity of jailer--with which ,king ,james had honored him--to the end of the chapter4 ,all these illusions being dissipated1 it remains to be known who this constantly-masked prisoner was1 at what age he died1 and under what name he was buried4 ,it is clear that1 if he was not permitted to walk in the court of the ,bastille1 nor to see his physician--except in a mask--it was for fear that some very striking resemblance would be discovered in his features4 ,he was permitted to show his tongue1 but never his face4 ,as for his age1 he himself told the apothecary of the ,bastille1 a little before his death1 that he believed he was about sixty4 ,the apothecary's son-in-law1 ,marsolam1 surgeon to ,marshal de ,richelieu1 and afterwards to the duke of ,orleans the regent1 has repeated this to me several times4 ,to conclude3 ,why was an ,italian name given to him8 ,he was always called ,marchiali ,the writer of this article1 perhaps1 knows more on the subject than ,father ,griffet1 though he will not say more4 ,it is true that ,nicholas ,fouquet1 superintendent of the finances1 had many friends in his disgrace1 and that they persevered even until judgment was passed on him4 ,it is true that the chancellor1 who presided at that judgment1 treated the illustrious captive with too much rigor4 ,but it was not ,michel ,letellier1 as stated in some editions of the ,sicle de ,louis ,,xiv41 it was ,pierre ,seguier4 ,this inadvertency of having placed one for the other is a fault which must be corrected4 ,it is very remarkable that no one knows where this celebrated minister died4 ,not that it is of any importance to know it1 for his death not having led to any event whatever1 is like all other indifferent occurrences2 but this serves to prove how completely he was forgotten towards the close of life1 how worthless that worldly consideration is which is so anxiously sought for1 and how happy they are who have no higher ambition than to live and die unknown4 ,this knowledge is far more useful than that of dates4 99 99 99 99 99 ,father ,griffet does his utmost to persuade us that ,cardinal ,richelieu wrote a bad book4 ,well1 many statesmen have done the same4 ,but it is very fine to see him strive so hard to prove that1 according to ,cardinal ,richelieu1 our allies1 the ,spaniards1 so happily governed by a ,bourbon1 are tributary to hell1 and make the ,indies tributary to hell6 ,cardinal ,richelieu's ,political ,testament is not that of a polite man4 ,he alleges3 ,that ,france had more good ports on the ,mediterranean than the whole ,spanish monarchy 7this is an exaggeration72 that to keep up an army of fifty thousand men it is best to raise a hundred thousand 7this throws money away72 that when a new tax is imposed the pay of the soldiers is increased 7which has never been done either in ,france or elsewhere72 that the parliaments and other superior courts should be made to pay the taille 7an infallible means of gaining their hearts and making the magistracy respectable72 that the noblesse should be forced to serve and to enroll themselves in the cavalry 7the better to preserve their privileges72 that ,genoa was the richest city in ,italy 7which ,i wish it were72 that we must be very chaste 7the testator might add--like certain preachers--,do what ,i say1 not what ,i do72 that an abbey should be given to the holy chapel at ,paris 7a thing of great importance at the crisis in which your friend stood72 that ,pope ,benedict ,,xi4 gave a great deal of trouble to the cordeliers1 who were piqued on the subject of poverty 7that is to say1 the revenues of the order of ,st ,francis72 that they were exasperated against him to such a degree that they made war upon him by their writings 7more important still and more learned6--especially when ,john ,,xxii4 is taken for ,benedict ,,xi4 and when in a ,political ,testament nothing is said of the manner in which the war against ,spain and the empire was to be conducted1 nor of the means of making peace1 nor of present dangers1 nor of resources1 nor of alliances1 nor of the generals and ministers who were to be employed1 nor even of the dauphin1 whose education was of so much importance to the ,state1 nor1 in short1 of any one object of the ministry74 ,i consent with all my heart1 since it must be so1 that ,cardinal ,richelieu's memory shall be reproached with this unfortunate work1 full of anachronisms1 ignorance1 ridiculous calculations1 and acknowledged falsities4 ,let people strive as hard as they please to persuade themselves that the greatest minister was the most ignorant and tedious1 as well as the most extravagant of writers2 it may afford some gratification to those who detest his tyranny4 ,it is also a fact worth preserving in the history of the human mind that this despicable work was praised for more than thirty years1 while it was believed to be that great minister's1 and quite as true that the pretended ,testament made no noise in the world until thirty years after the ,cardinal's death2 that it was not printed until forty-two years after that event2 that the original1 signed by him1 has never been seen2 that the book is very bad2 and that it scarcely deserves to be mentioned4 ,did ,count de ,moret1 son of ,henry ,,iv41 who was wounded in the little skirmish at ,castelnaudari1 live until the year #afic under the name of the hermit ,jean ,baptiste8 ,what proof have we that this hermit was the son of ,henry ,,iv48 ,none4 ,did ,jeanne d',albret de ,navarre1 mother of ,henry ,,iv41 after the death of ,antoine1 marry a gentleman named ,guyon1 who was killed in the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew8 ,had she a son by him1 who preached at ,bordeaux8 ,these facts are detailed at great length in the ,remarks on ,bayle's ,answers to the ,questions of a ,provincial1 folio1 page #fhi4 ,was ,margaret of ,valois1 wife to ,henry ,,iv41 brought to bed of two children secretly after her marriage8 ,we might fill volumes with inquiries like these4 ,but how much pains should we be taking to discover things of no use to mankind6 ,let us rather seek cures for the scrofula1 the gout1 the stone1 the gravel1 and a thousand other chronic or acute diseases4 ,let us seek remedies for the distempers of the mind1 no less terrible and no less mortal4 ,let us labor to bring the arts to perfection1 and to lessen the miseries of the human race2 and let us not waste our time over the anas1 the anecdotes1 and curious stories of our day1 the collections of pretended bons mots1 etc4 ,i read in a book lately published that ,louis ,,xiv4 exempted all new-married men from the taille for five years4 ,i have not found this fact in any collection of edicts1 nor in any memoir of that time4 ,i read in the same book that the king of ,prussia has fifty livres given to every girl with child4 ,there is1 in truth1 no better way of laying out money1 nor of encouraging propagation1 but ,i do not believe that this royal munificence is true2 at least ,i have never witnessed it4 ,an anecdote of greater antiquity has just fallen under my eye1 and appears to me to be a very strange one4 ,it is said in a chronological history of ,italy that the great ,arian1 ,theodoric--he who is represented to have been so wise--had amongst his ministers a ,catholic1 for whom he had a great liking1 and who proved worthy of all his confidence4 ,this minister thought he should rise still higher in his master's favor by embracing ,arianism2 but ,theodoric had him immediately beheaded1 saying3 ,if a man is not faithful to ,god1 how can he be faithful to me1 who am but a man8 ,the compiler remarks that this trait does great honor to ,theodoric's manner of thinking with respect to religion4 ,i pique myself on thinking1 in matters of religion1 better than ,ostrogoth1 ,theodoric1 the assassin of ,symmachus1 and ,botius1 because ,i am a good ,catholic1 and he was an ,arian4 ,but ,i declare this king worthy of being confined as a madman if he were so atrociously besotted4 ,what6 he immediately cut off his minister's head because that minister had at last come over to his own way of thinking4 ,how was a worshipper of ,god1 who passed from the opinion of ,athanasius to that of ,arius and ,eusebius1 unfaithful to ,god8 ,he was at most unfaithful only to ,athanasius and his party1 at a time when the world was divided between the ,athanasians and the ,eusebians2 but ,theodoric could not regard him as a man unfaithful to ,god1 because he had rejected the term consubstantial1 after admitting it at first4 ,to cut off his favorite's head for such a reason could certainly be the act of none but the wickedest fool and most barbarous blockhead that ever existed4 ,what would you say of ,louis ,,xiv4 if he had beheaded the duke de la ,force because the duke de la ,force had quitted ,calvinism for the religion of ,louis ,,xiv48 ,i have just opened a history of ,holland1 in which ,i find that1 in #afgb1 ,marshal de ,luxembourg harangued his troops in the following manner3 ,go1 my children1 plunder1 rob1 kill1 ravish2 and if there be anything more abominable fail not to do it1 that ,i may find ,i have not been mistaken in selecting you as the bravest of men4 ,this is certainly a very pretty harangue4 ,it is as true as those given us by ,livy1 but it is not in his style4 ,to complete the dishonor of typography1 this fine piece is inserted in several new dictionaries1 which are no other than impostures in alphabetical order4 ,it is a trifling error in the ,abrg ,chronologique de l',histoire de ,france 7,chronological ,abridgment of the ,history of ,france7 to suppose that ,louis ,,xiv41 after the ,peace of ,utrecht1 for which he was indebted to the ,english1 after nine years of misfortune1 and after the many great victories which the ,english had gained1 said to the ,english ambassador3 ,i have always been master at home1 and sometimes abroad2 do not remind me of it4 ,this speech would have been very ill-timed1 very false as it regarded the ,english1 and would have exposed the king to a most galling reply4 ,the author himself confessed to me that the ,marquis de ,torcy1 who was present at all the earl of ,stair's audiences1 had always given the lie to this anecdote4 ,it is assuredly neither true nor likely1 and has remained in the later editions of this book only because it was put in the first4 ,this error1 however1 does not at all disparage this very useful work1 in which all the great events1 arranged in the most convenient order1 are perfectly authenticated4 ,all these little tales1 designed to embellish history1 do but dishonor it1 and unfortunately almost all ancient histories are little else than tales4 ,malebranche was right when1 speaking on this subject1 he said3 ,i think no more of history than ,i do of the news of my parish4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in #agbc1 ,father ,fouquet1 a ,jesuit1 returned to ,france from ,china1 where he had passed twenty-five years4 ,religious disputes had embroiled him with his brethren4 ,he had carried with him to ,china a gospel different from theirs1 and now brought back to ,france memorials against them4 ,two ,chinese literati made the voyage with him2 one of them died on the way1 the other came with ,father ,fouquet to ,paris4 ,the ,jesuit was to take the ,chinese to ,rome secretly1 as a witness of the conduct of the good fathers in ,china1 and in the meantime ,fouquet and his companion lodged at the house of the ,professed1 ,rue ,st4 ,antoine4 ,the reverend fathers received advice of their reverend brother's intentions4 ,fouquet was no less quickly informed of the designs of the reverend fathers4 ,he lost not a moment1 but set off the same night for ,rome4 ,the reverend fathers had interest enough to get him pursued1 but the ,chinese only was taken4 ,this poor fellow did not understand a word of ,french4 ,the good fathers went to ,cardinal ,dubois1 who at that time needed their support1 and told him that they had among them a young man who had gone mad1 and whom it was necessary to confine4 ,the cardinal immediately granted a lettre de cachet1 than which there is sometimes nothing which a minister is more ready to grant4 ,the lieutenant of police went to take this madman1 who was pointed out to him4 ,he found a man making reverences in a way different from the ,french1 speaking in a singing tone1 and looking quite astonished4 ,he expressed great pity for his derangement1 ordered his hands to be tied behind him1 and sent him to ,charenton1 where1 like the ,abb ,desfontaines1 he was flogged twice a week4 ,the ,chinese did not at all understand this method of receiving strangers4 ,he had passed only two or three days in ,paris1 and had found the manners of the ,french very odd4 ,he had lived two years on bread and water1 amongst madmen and keepers1 and believed that the ,french nation consisted of these two species1 the one part dancing while the other flogged them4 ,at length1 when two years had elapsed1 the ministry changed and a new lieutenant of police was appointed4 ,this magistrate commenced his administration by visiting the prisons4 ,he also saw the lunatics at ,charenton4 ,after conversing with them he asked if there were no other persons for him to see4 ,he was told that there was one more unfortunate man1 but that he spoke a language which nobody understood4 ,a ,jesuit1 who accompanied the magistrate1 said it was the peculiarity of this man's madness that he never gave an answer in ,french2 nothing would be gotten from him1 and he thought it would be better not to take the trouble of calling him4 ,the minister insisted4 ,the unfortunate man was brought1 and threw himself at his feet4 ,the lieutenant sent for the king's interpreters1 who spoke to him in ,spanish1 ,latin1 ,greek1 and ,english1 but he constantly said ,kanton1 ,kanton1 and nothing else4 ,the ,jesuit assured them he was possessed4 ,the magistrate1 having at some time heard it said that there was a province in ,china called ,kanton1 thought this man might perhaps have come from thence4 ,an interpreter to the foreign missions was sent for1 who could murder ,chinese4 ,all was discovered4 ,the magistrate knew not what to do1 nor the ,jesuit what to say4 ,the ,duke de ,bourbon was then prime minister4 ,the circumstance having been related to him1 he ordered money and clothes to be given to the ,chinese1 and sent him back to his own country1 whence it is not thought that many literati will come and see us in the future4 ,it would have been more politic to have kept this man and treated him well1 than to have sent him to give his countrymen the very worst opinion of the ,french4 99 99 99 99 99 ,about thirty years ago the ,french ,jesuits sent secret missionaries to ,china1 who enticed a child from his parents in ,canton1 and brought him to ,paris1 where they educated him in their convent of ,la ,rue ,st4 ,antoine4 ,this boy became a ,jesuit at the age of fifteen1 after which he remained ten years in ,france4 ,he knows both ,french and ,chinese perfectly1 and is very learned4 ,m4 ,bertin1 comptroller-general1 and afterwards secretary of state1 sent him back to ,china in #agfc1 after the abolition of the ,jesuits4 ,he calls himself ,ko1 and signs himself ,ko1 ,jesuit4 ,in #aggb there were fourteen ,jesuits in ,pekin1 amongst whom was ,brother ,ko1 who still lives in their house4 ,the ,emperor ,kien-,long has kept these monks of ,europe about him in the positions of painters1 engravers1 watch-makers1 and mechanics1 with an express prohibition from ever disputing on religion1 or causing the least trouble in the empire4 ,the ,jesuit ,ko has sent manuscripts of his own composition from ,pekin to ,paris entitled3 ,memoirs ,relative to the ,history1 ,arts and ,sciences of the ,chinese by the ,missionaries at ,pekin4 ,this book is printed1 and is now selling at ,paris by ,nyon1 the bookseller4 ,the author attacks all the philosophers of ,europe4 ,he calls a prince of the ,tartar race1 whom the ,jesuits had seduced1 and the late emperor1 ,yong-,chin1 had banished1 an illustrious martyr to ,jesus ,christ4 ,this ,ko boasts of making many neophytes1 who are ardent spirits1 capable of troubling ,china even more than the ,jesuits formerly troubled ,japan4 ,it is said that a ,russian nobleman1 indignant at this ,jesuitical insolence1 which reaches the farthest corners of the earth even after the extinction of the order--has resolved to find some means of sending to the president of the tribunal of rites at ,pekin an extract in ,chinese from these memoirs1 which may serve to make the aforesaid ,ko1 and the ,jesuits who labor with him1 better known4 ,,angels4 ,,section ,i4 ,angels of the ,indians1 ,persians1 etc4 ,the author of the article ,angel in the ,encyclopdia says that all religions have admitted the existence of angels1 although it is not demonstrated by natural reason4 ,we understand by this word1 ministers of ,god1 supernatural is beyond reason4 ,if ,i mistake not it should have been several religions 7and not all7 have acknowledged the existence of angels4 ,that of ,numa1 that of ,sabaism1 that of the ,druids1 that of the ,scythians1 and that of the ,phnicians and ancient ,egyptians did not admit their existence4 ,we understand by this word1 ministers of ,god1 deputies1 beings of a middle order between ,god and man1 sent to make known to us ,his orders4 ,at the present time--in #aggb--the ,brahmins boast of having possessed in writing1 for just four thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight years1 their first sacred law1 entitled the ,shastah1 fifteen hundred years before their second law1 called ,veidam1 signifying the word of ,god4 ,the ,shastah contains five chapters2 the first1 of ,god and ,his attributes2 the second1 of the creation of the angels2 the third1 of the fall of the angels2 the fourth1 of their punishment2 the fifth1 of their pardon1 and the creation of man4 ,it is good1 in the first place1 to observe the manner in which this book speaks of ,god4 ,first ,chapter of the ,shastah4 ,god is one2 ,he has created all2 it is a perfect sphere1 without beginning or end4 ,god conducts the whole creation by a general providence1 resulting from a determined principle4 ,thou shalt not seek to discover the nature and essence of the ,eternal1 nor by what laws ,he governs2 such an undertaking would be vain and criminal4 ,it is enough for thee to contemplate day and night in ,his works1 ,his wisdom1 ,his power1 and ,his goodness4 ,after paying to this opening of the ,shastah the tribute of admiration which is due to it1 let us pass to the creation of the angels4 ,second ,chapter of the ,shastah4 ,the ,eternal1 absorbed in the contemplation of ,his own existence1 resolved1 in the fulness of time1 to communicate ,his glory and ,his essence to beings capable of feeling and partaking ,his beatitude as well as of contributing to ,his glory4 ,the ,eternal willed it1 and they were4 ,he formed them partly of ,his own essence1 capable of perfection or imperfection1 according to their will4 ,the ,eternal first created ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,siva1 then ,mozazor1 and all the multitude of the angels4 ,the ,eternal gave the pre-eminence to ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,siva4 ,brahma was the prince of the angelic army2 ,vishnu and ,siva were ,his coadjutors4 ,the ,eternal divided the angelic army into several bands1 and gave to each a chief4 ,they adored the ,eternal1 ranged around ,his throne1 each in the degree assigned him4 ,there was harmony in heaven4 ,mozazor1 chief of the first band1 led the canticle of praise and adoration to the ,creator1 and the song of obedience to ,brahma1 his first creature2 and the ,eternal rejoiced in ,his new creation4 ,chapter ,,iii4--,the ,fall of a ,part of the ,angels4 ,from the creation of the celestial army1 joy and harmony surrounded the throne of the ,eternal for a thousand years multiplied by a thousand1 and would have lasted until the end of time had not envy seized ,mozazor and other princes of the angelic bands1 among whom was ,raabon1 the next in dignity to ,mozazor4 ,forgetful of the blessing of their creation1 and of their duty1 they rejected the power of perfection1 and exercised the power of imperfection4 ,they did evil in the sight of the ,eternal2 they disobeyed ,him2 they refused to submit to ,god's lieutenant and his coadjutors ,vishnu and ,siva1 saying3 ,we will govern1 and1 without fearing the power and the anger of their ,creator1 disseminated their seditious principles in the celestial army4 ,they seduced the angels1 and persuaded a great multitude of them to rebel2 and they forsook the throne of the ,eternal2 and sorrow came upon the faithful angelic spirits2 and for the first time grief was known in heaven4 ,chapter ,,iv4--,punishment of the ,guilty ,angels4 ,the ,eternal1 whose omniscience1 prescience1 and influence extend over all things except the action of the beings whom ,he has created free1 beheld with grief and anger the defection of ,mozazor1 ,raabon1 and the other chiefs of the angels4 ,merciful in his wrath1 he sent ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,siva to reproach them with their crime1 and bring them back to their duty2 but1 confirmed in their spirit of independence1 they persisted in their revolt4 ,the ,eternal then commanded ,siva to march against them1 armed with almighty power1 and hurl them down from the high place to the place of darkness1 into the ,ondera1 there to be punished for a thousand years multiplied by a thousand4 ,abstract of the ,fifth ,chapter4 ,at the end of a thousand years ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,siva implored the clemency of the ,eternal in favor of the delinquents4 ,the ,eternal vouchsafed to deliver them from the prison of the ,ondera1 and place them in a state of probation during a great number of solar revolutions4 ,there were other rebellions against ,god during this time of penitence4 ,it was at one of these periods that ,god created the earth1 where the penitent angels underwent several metempsychoses1 one of the last of which was their transformation into cows4 ,hence it was that cows became sacred in ,india4 ,lastly1 they were metamorphosed into men4 ,so that the ,indian system of angels is precisely that of the ,jesuit ,bougeant1 who asserts that the bodies of beasts are inhabited by sinful angels4 ,what the ,brahmins had invented seriously1 ,bougeant1 more than four thousand years after1 imagined in jest--if1 indeed1 this pleasantry of his was not a remnant of superstition1 combined with the spirit of system-making1 as is often the case4 ,such is the history of the angels among the ancient ,brahmins1 which1 after the lapse of about fifty centuries1 they still continue to teach4 ,neither our merchants who have traded in ,india1 nor our missionaries1 have ever been informed of it2 for the ,brahmins1 having never been edified by their science or their manners1 have not communicated to them their secrets4 ,it was left for an ,englishman1 named ,holwell1 to reside for thirty years at ,benares1 on the ,ganges1 an ancient school of the ,brahmins1 to learn the ancient ,sanscrit tongue1 in order at length to enrich our ,europe with this singular knowledge2 just as ,mr4 ,sale lived a long time in ,arabia to give us a faithful translation of the ,koran and information relative to ancient ,sabaism1 which has been succeeded by the ,mussulman religion2 and as ,dr4 ,hyde continued for twenty years his researches into everything concerning the religion of the ,magi4 ,angels of the ,persians4 ,the ,persians had thirty-one angels4 ,the first of all1 who is served by four other angels1 is named ,bahaman4 ,he has the inspection of all animals except man1 over whom ,god has reserved to himself an immediate jurisdiction4 ,god presides over the day on which the sun enters the ,ram1 and this day is a ,sabbath1 which proves that the feast of the ,sabbath was observed among the ,persians in the ancient times4 ,the second angel presides over the seventh day1 and is called ,debadur4 ,the third is ,kur1 which probably was afterwards converted into ,cyrus4 ,he is the angel of the sun4 ,the fourth is called ,mah1 and presides over the moon4 ,thus each angel has his province4 ,it was among the ,persians that the doctrine of the guardian angel and the evil angel was first adopted4 ,it is believed that ,raphael was the guardian angel of the ,persian ,empire4 ,angels of the ,hebrews4 ,the ,hebrews knew nothing of the fall of the angels until the commencement of the ,christian era4 ,this secret doctrine of the ancient ,brahmins must have reached them at that time1 for it was then that the book attributed to ,enoch1 relative to the sinful angels driven from heaven1 was fabricated4 ,enoch must have been a very ancient writer1 since1 according to the ,jews1 he lived in the seventh generation before the deluge4 ,but as ,seth1 still more ancient than he1 had left books to the ,hebrews1 they might boast of having some from ,enoch also4 ,according to them ,enoch wrote as follows3 ,it happened1 after the sons of men had multiplied in those days1 that daughters were born to them1 elegant and beautiful4 ,and when the angels1 the sons of heaven1 beheld them they became enamored of them1 saying to each other3 ',come1 let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men1 and let us beget children4' ,then their leader1 ,samyaza1 said to them3 ',i fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the performance of this enterprise1 and that ,i alone shall suffer for so grievous a crime4' ,but they answered him and said3 ',we all swear1 and bind ourselves by mutual execrations1 that we will not change our intention1 but execute our projected undertaking4' ,then they swore all together1 and all bound themselves by mutual execrations4 ,their whole number was two hundred1 who descended upon ,ardis1 which is the top of ,mount ,armon4 ,that mountain1 therefore1 was called ,armon1 because they had sworn upon it1 and bound themselves by mutual execrations4 ,these are the names of their chiefs3 ,samyaza1 who was their leader2 ,urakabarameel1 ,akabeel1 ,tamiel1 ,ramuel1 ,danel1 ,azkeel1 ,sarakuyal1 ,asael1 ,armers1 ,batraal1 ,anane1 ,zavebe1 ,samsaveel1 ,ertael1 ,turel1 ,yomyael1 ,arazyal4 ,these were the prefects of the two hundred angels1 and the remainder were all with them4 ,then they took wives1 each choosing for himself1 whom they began to approach1 and with whom they cohabited1 teaching them sorcery1 incantations1 and the dividing of roots and trees4 ,and the women1 conceiving1 brought forth giants1 whose stature was each three hundred cubits1 etc4 ,the author of this fragment writes in the style which seems to belong to the primitive ages4 ,he has the same simplicity4 ,he does not fail to name the persons1 nor does he forget the dates2 here are no reflections1 no maxims4 ,it is the ancient ,oriental manner4 ,it is evident that this story is founded on the sixth chapter of ,genesis3 ,there were giants in the earth in those days1 and also after that1 when the sons of ,god came in unto the daughters of men1 and they bear children to them1 the same became mighty men which were of old1 men of renown4 ,genesis and the ,book of ,enoch perfectly agree respecting the coupling of the angels with the daughters of men1 and the race of giants which sprung from this union2 but neither this ,enoch1 nor any book of the ,old ,testament1 speaks of the war of the angels against ,god1 or of their defeat1 or of their fall into hell1 or of their hatred to mankind4 ,nearly all the commentators on the ,old ,testament unanimously say that before the ,babylonian captivity1 the ,jews knew not the name of any angel4 ,the one that appeared to ,manoah1 father of ,samson1 would not tell his name4 ,when the three angels appeared to ,abraham1 and he had a whole calf dressed to regale them1 they did not tell him their names4 ,one of them said3 ,i will come to see thee next year1 if ,god grant me life2 and ,sarah thy wife shall have a son4 ,calmet discovers a great affinity between this story and the fable which ,ovid relates in his ,fasti1 of ,jupiter1 ,neptune1 and ,mercury1 who1 having supped with old ,hyreus1 and finding that he was afflicted with impotence1 urinated upon the skin of a calf which he had served up to them1 and ordered him to bury this hide watered with celestial urine in the ground1 and leave it there for nine months4 ,at the end of the nine months1 ,hyreus uncovered his hide1 and found in it a child1 which was named ,orion1 and is now in the heavens4 ,calmet moreover says that the words which the angels used to ,abraham may be rendered thus3 ,a child shall be born of your calf4 ,be this as it may1 the angels did not tell ,abraham their names2 they did not even tell them to ,moses2 and we find the name of ,raphael only in ,tobit1 at the time of the captivity4 ,the other names of angels are evidently taken from the ,chaldans and the ,persians4 ,raphael1 ,gabriel1 and ,uriel1 are ,persian or ,babylonian4 ,the name of ,israel itself is ,chaldan1 as the learned ,jew ,philo expressly says1 in the account of his deputation to ,caligula4 ,we shall not here repeat what has been elsewhere said of angels4 ,whether the ,greeks and the ,romans admitted the ,existence of ,angels4 ,they had gods and demi-gods enough to dispense with all other subaltern beings4 ,mercury executed the commissions of ,jupiter1 and ,iris those of ,juno2 nevertheless1 they admitted genii and demons4 ,the doctrine of guardian angels was versified by ,hesiod1 who was contemporary with ,homer4 ,in his poem of ,the ,works and ,days he thus explains it3 ,when gods alike and mortals rose to birth1 ,a golden race the immortals formed on earth ,of many-languaged men2 they lived of old1 ,when ,saturn reigned in heaven--an age of gold4 ,like gods they lived1 with calm1 untroubled mind1 ,free from the toil and anguish of our kind4 ,nor sad1 decrepit age approaching nigh1 ,their limbs misshaped with swoln deformity4 ,strangers to ill1 they ,nature's banquet proved1 ,rich in earth's fruits1 and of the blest beloved3 ,they sank to death1 as opiate slumber stole ,soft o'er the sense1 and whelmed the willing soul4 ,theirs was each good3 the grain-exuberant soil ,poured the full harvest1 uncompelled by toil2 ,the virtuous many dwelt in common1 blest1 ,and all unenvying shared what all in peace possessed4 ,when on this race the verdant earth had lain1 ,by ,jove's high will they rose a ,genii train3 ,earth-wandering dmons1 they their charge began1 ,the ministers or good and guards of man3 ,veiled with a mantle of aerial night1 ,o'er earth's wide space they wing their hovering flight2 ,dispense the fertile treasures of the ground1 ,and bend their all-observant glance around2 ,to mark the deed unjust1 the just approve1 ,their kingly office1 delegate from ,jove4 ,,elton',s ,translation4 ,the farther we search into antiquity1 the more we see how modern nations have by turns explored these now almost abandoned mines4 ,the ,greeks1 who so long passed for inventors1 imitated ,egypt1 which had copied from the ,chaldans1 who owed almost everything to the ,indians4 ,the doctrine of the guardian angels1 so well sung by ,hesiod1 was afterwards sophisticated in the schools3 it was all that they were capable of doing4 ,every man had his good and his evil genius1 as each one had his particular star-- ,est genius natale comes qui temper at astrum4 ,socrates1 we know1 had his good angel2 but his bad angel must have governed him4 ,no angel but an evil one could prompt a philosopher to run from house to house1 to tell people1 by question and answer1 that father and mother1 preceptor and pupil1 were all ignorant and imbecile4 ,a guardian angel in that event will find it very difficult to save his protege from the hemlock4 ,we are acquainted only with the evil angel of ,marcus ,brutus1 which appeared to him before the battle of ,philippi4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,the doctrine of angels is one of the oldest in the world4 ,it preceded that of the immortality of the soul4 ,this is not surprising2 philosophy is necessary to the belief that the soul of mortal man is immortal2 but imagination and weakness are sufficient for the invention of beings superior to ourselves1 protecting or persecuting us4 ,yet it does not appear that the ancient ,egyptians had any notion of these celestial beings1 clothed with an ethereal body and administering to the orders of a ,god4 ,the ancient ,babylonians were the first who admitted this theology4 ,the ,hebrew books employ the angels from the first book of ,genesis downwards3 but the ,book of ,genesis was not written before the ,chaldans had become a powerful nation3 nor was it until the captivity of ,babylon that the ,jews learned the names of ,gabriel1 ,raphael1 ,michael1 ,uriel1 etc41 which were given to the angels4 ,the ,jewish and ,christian religions being founded on the fall of ,adam1 and this fall being founded on the temptation by the evil angel1 the devil1 it is very singular that not a word is said in the ,pentateuch of the existence of the bad angels1 still less of their punishment and abode in hell4 ,the reason of this omission is evident3 the evil angels were unknown to the ,jews until the ,babylonian captivity2 then it is that ,asmodeus begins to be talked of1 whom ,raphael went to bind in ,upper ,egypt2 there it is that the ,jews first hear of ,satan4 ,this word ,satan was ,chaldan2 and the ,book of ,job1 an inhabitant of ,chalda1 is the first that makes mention of him4 ,the ancient ,persians said ,satan was an angel or genius who had made war upon the ,dives and the ,peris1 that is1 the fairest of the ,east4 ,thus1 according to the ordinary rules of probability1 those who are guided by reason alone might be permitted to think that1 from this theology1 the ,jews and ,christians at length took the idea that the evil angels had been driven out of heaven1 and that their prince had tempted ,eve1 in the form of a serpent4 ,it has been pretended that ,isaiah1 in his fourteenth chapter1 had this allegory in view when he said3 ,quornodo occidisti de clo1 ,lucifer1 qui mane oriebaris8 ,how hast thou fallen from heaven1 ,o ,lucifer1 son of the morning8 ,it was this same ,latin verse1 translated from ,isaiah1 which procured for the devil the name of ,lucifer4 ,it was forgotten that ,lucifer signifies that which sheds light4 ,the words of ,isaiah1 too1 have received a little attention2 he is speaking of the dethroned king of ,babylon2 and by a common figure of speech1 he says to him3 ,how hast thou fallen from heaven1 thou brilliant star8 ,it does not at all appear that ,isaiah sought1 by this stroke of rhetoric1 to establish the doctrine of the angels precipitated into hell4 ,it was scarcely before the time of the primitive ,christian church that the fathers and the rabbis exerted themselves to encourage this doctrine1 in order to save the incredibility of the story of a serpent which seduced the mother of men1 and which1 condemned for this bad action to crawl on its belly1 has ever since been an enemy to man1 who is always striving to crush it1 while it is always endeavoring to bite him4 ,there seemed to be somewhat more of sublimity in celestial substances precipitated into the abyss1 and issuing from it to persecute mankind4 ,it cannot be proved by any reasoning that these celestial and infernal powers exist2 neither can it be proved that they do not exist4 ,there is certainly no contradiction in acknowledging the existence of beneficent and malignant substances which are neither of the nature of ,god nor of the nature of man3 but a thing1 to be believed1 must be more than possible4 ,the angels who1 according to the ,babylonians and the ,jews1 presided over nations1 were precisely what the gods of ,homer were--celestial beings1 subordinate to a supreme being4 ,the imagination which produced the one probably produced the other4 ,the number of the inferior gods increased with the religion of ,homer4 ,among the ,christians1 the number of the angels was augmented in the course of time4 ,the writers known by the names of ,dionysius the ,areopagite and ,gregory ,i4 fixed the number of angels in nine choirs1 forming three hierarchies2 the first consisting of the seraphim1 cherubim1 and thrones2 the second of the dominations1 virtues and powers2 and the third of the principalities1 archangels1 and1 lastly1 the angels1 who give their domination to all the rest4 ,it is hardly permissible for any one but a pope thus to settle the different ranks in heaven4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,angel1 in ,greek1 is envoy4 ,the reader will hardly be the wiser for being told that the ,persians had their peris1 the ,hebrews their malakim1 and the ,greeks their demonoi4 ,but it is perhaps better worth knowing that1 one of the first of man's ideas has always been to place intermediate beings between the ,divinity and himself2 such were those demons1 those genii1 invented in the ages of antiquity4 ,man always made the gods after his own image2 princes were seen to communicate their orders by messengers2 therefore1 the ,divinity had also his couriers4 ,mercury1 ,iris1 were couriers or messengers4 ,the ,jews1 the only people under the conduct of the ,divinity ,himself1 did not at first give names to the angels whom ,god vouchsafed to send them2 they borrowed the names given them by the ,chaldans when the ,jewish nation was captive in ,babylon2 ,michael and ,gabriel are named for the first time by ,daniel1 a slave among those people4 ,the ,jew ,tobit1 who lived at ,ninevah1 knew the angel ,raphael1 who travelled with his son to assist him in recovering the money due to him from the ,jew ,gabal4 ,in the laws of the ,jews1 that is1 in ,leviticus and ,deuteronomy1 not the least mention is made of the existence of the angels--much less of the worship of them4 ,neither did the ,sadducees believe in the angels4 ,but in the histories of the ,jews1 they are much spoken of4 ,the angels were corporeal2 they had wings at their backs1 as the ,gentiles feigned that ,mercury had at his heels2 sometimes they concealed their wings under their clothing4 ,how could they be without bodies1 since they all ate and drank1 and the inhabitants of ,sodom wanted to commit the sin of pederasty with the angels who went to ,lot's house8 ,the ancient ,jewish tradition1 according to ,ben ,maimon1 admits ten degrees1 ten orders of angels3 #a4 ,the chaios ecodesh1 pure1 holy4 #b4 ,the ofamin1 swift4 #c4 ,the oralim1 strong4 #d4 ,the chasmalim1 flames4 #e4 ,the seraphim1 sparks4 #f4 ,the malakim1 angels1 messengers1 deputies4 #g4 ,the elohim1 gods or judges4 #h4 ,the ben elohim1 sons of the gods4 #i4 ,the cherubim1 images4 #aj4 ,the ychim1 animated4 ,the story of the fall of the angels is not to be found in the books of ,moses4 ,the first testimony respecting it is that of ,isaiah1 who1 apostrophizing the king of ,babylon1 exclaims1 ,where is now the exacter of tributes8 ,the pines and the cedars rejoice in his fall4 ,how hast thou fallen from heaven1 ,o ,hellel1 star of the morning8 ,it has been already observed that the word ,hellel has been rendered by the ,latin word ,lucifer2 that afterwards1 in an allegorical sense1 the name of ,lucifer was given to the prince of the angels1 who made war in heaven2 and that1 at last1 this word1 signifying ,phosphorus and ,aurora1 has become the name of the devil4 ,the ,christian religion is founded on the fall of the angels4 ,those who revolted were precipitated from the spheres which they inhabited into hell1 in the centre of the earth1 and became devils4 ,a devil1 in the form of a serpent1 tempted ,eve1 and damned mankind4 ,jesus came to redeem mankind1 and to triumph over the devil1 who tempts us still4 ,yet this fundamental tradition is to be found nowhere but in the apocryphal book of ,enoch2 and there it is in a form quite different from that of the received tradition4 ,st4 ,augustine1 in his #ajith letter1 does not hesitate to give slender and agile bodies to the good and bad angels4 ,pope ,gregory ,i4 has reduced to nine choirs--to nine hierarchies or orders--the ten choirs of angels acknowledged by the ,jews4 ,the ,jews had in their temple two cherubs1 each with two heads--the one that of an ox1 the other that of an eagle1 with six wings4 ,we paint them now in the form of a flying head1 with two small wings below the ears4 ,we paint the angels and archangels in the form of young men1 with two wings at the back4 ,as for the thrones and dominations1 no one has yet thought of painting them4 ,st4 ,thomas1 at question cviii4 article #b1 says that the thrones are as near to ,god as the cherubim and the seraphim1 because it is upon them that ,god sits4 ,scot has counted a thousand million of angels4 ,the ancient mythology of the good and bad genii1 having passed from the ,east to ,greece and ,rome1 we consecrated this opinion1 for admitting for each individual a good and an evil angel1 of whom one assists him and the other torments him1 from his birth to his death2 but it is not yet known whether these good and bad angels are continually passing from one to another1 or are relieved by others4 ,on this point1 consult ,st4 ,thomas's ,dream4 ,it is not known precisely where the angels dwell--whether in the air1 in the void1 or in the planets4 ,it has not been ,god's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode4 ,,annals4 ,how many nations have long existed1 and still exist1 without annals4 ,there were none in all ,america1 that is1 in one-half of our globe1 excepting those of ,mexico and ,peru1 which are not very ancient4 ,besides1 knotted cords are a sort of books which cannot enter into very minute details4 ,three-fourths of ,africa never had annals2 and1 at the present day1 in the most learned nations1 in those which have even used and abused the art of writing the most1 ninety-nine out of a hundred persons may be regarded as not knowing anything that happened there farther back than four generations1 and as ignorant almost of the names of their great-grandfathers4 ,such is the case with nearly all the inhabitants of towns and villages1 very few families holding titles of their possessions4 ,when a litigation arises respecting the limits of a field or a meadow1 the judges decide according to the testimony of the old men2 and possession constitutes the title4 ,some great events are transmitted from father to son1 and are entirely altered in passing from mouth to mouth4 ,they have no other annals4 ,look at all the villages of our ,europe1 so polished1 so enlightened1 so full of immense libraries1 and which now seem to groan under the enormous mass of books4 ,in each village two men at most1 on an average1 can read and write4 ,society loses nothing in consequence4 ,all works are performed--building1 planting1 sowing1 reaping1 as they were in the remotest times4 ,the laborer has not even leisure to regret that he has not been taught to consume some hours of the day in reading4 ,this proves that mankind had no need of historical monuments to cultivate the arts really necessary to life4 ,it is astonishing1 not that so many tribes of people are without annals1 but that three or four nations have preserved them for five thousand years or thereabouts1 through so many violent revolutions which the earth has undergone4 ,not a line remains of the ancient ,egyptian1 ,chaldan1 or ,persian annals1 nor of those of the ,latins and ,etruscans4 ,the only annals that can boast of a little antiquity are the ,indian1 the ,chinese1 and the ,hebrew4 ,we cannot give the name of annals to vague and rude fragments of history without date1 order1 or connection4 ,they are riddles proposed by antiquity to posterity1 who understand nothing at all of them4 ,we venture to affirm that ,sanchoniathon1 who is said to have lived before the time of ,moses1 composed annals4 ,he probably limited his researches to cosmogony1 as ,hesiod afterwards did in ,greece4 ,we advance this latter opinion only as a doubt2 for we write only to be informed1 and not to teach4 ,but what deserves the greatest attention is that ,sanchoniathon quotes the books of the ,egyptian ,thoth1 who1 he tells us1 lived eight hundred years before him4 ,now ,sanchoniathon probably wrote in the age in which we place ,joseph's adventure in ,egypt4 ,we commonly place the epoch of the promotion of the ,jew ,joseph to the prime-ministry of ,egypt at the year of the creation #bcjj4 ,if1 then1 the books of ,thoth were written eight hundred years before1 they were written in the year #aejj of the creation4 ,therefore1 their date was a hundred and fifty-six years before the deluge4 ,they must1 then1 have been engraved on stone1 and preserved in the universal inundation4 ,another difficulty is that ,sanchoniathon does not speak of the deluge1 and that no ,egyptian writer has ever been quoted who does speak of it4 ,but these difficulties vanish before the ,book of ,genesis1 inspired by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,we have no intention here to plunge into the chaos which eighty writers have sought to clear up1 by inventing different chronologies2 we always keep to the ,old ,testament4 ,we only ask whether in the time of ,thoth they wrote in hieroglyphics1 or in alphabetical characters8 whether stone and brick had yet been laid aside for vellum1 or any other material8 whether ,thoth wrote annals1 or only a cosmogony8 whether there were some pyramids already built in the time of ,thoth8 whether ,lower ,egypt was already inhabited8 whether canals had been constructed to receive the waters of the ,nile8 whether the ,chaldans had already taught the arts of the ,egyptians1 and whether the ,chaldans had received them from the ,brahmins8 ,there are persons who have resolved all these questions2 which once occasioned a man of sense and wit to say of a grave doctor1 ,that man must be very ignorant1 for he answers every question that is asked him4 ,,annats4 ,the epoch of the establishment of annats is uncertain1 which is a proof that the exaction of them is a usurpation--an extortionary custom4 ,whatever is not founded on an authentic law is an abuse4 ,every abuse ought to be reformed1 unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself4 ,usurpation begins by small and successive encroachments2 equity and the public interest at length exclaim and protest2 then comes policy1 which does its best to reconcile usurpation with equity1 and the abuse remains4 ,in several dioceses the bishops1 chapters1 and arch-deacons1 after the example of the popes1 imposed annats upon the curs4 ,in ,normandy this exaction is called droit de dport4 ,policy having no interest in maintaining this pillage1 it was abolished in several places2 it still exists in others2 so true is it that money is the first object of worship6 ,in #adji1 at the ,council of ,pisa1 ,pope ,alexander ,v4 expressly renounced annats2 ,charles ,,vii4 condemned them by an edict of ,april1 #adah2 the ,council of ,basel declared that they came under the domination of simony1 and the ,pragmatic ,sanction abolished them again4 ,francis ,i41 by a private treaty which he made with ,leo ,x41 and which was not inserted in the concordat1 allowed the pope to raise this tribute1 which produced him annually1 during that prince's reign1 a hundred thousand crowns of that day1 according to the calculation then made by ,jacques ,capelle1 advocate-general to the ,parliament of ,paris4 ,the parliament1 the universities1 the clergy1 the whole nation1 protested against this exaction1 and ,henry ,,ii41 yielding at length to the cries of his people1 renewed the law of ,charles ,,vii41 by an edict of the #c;d of ,september1 #aeea4 ,the paying of annats was again forbidden by ,charles ,,ix41 at the ,states of ,orleans1 in #aefj3 ,by the advice of our council1 and in pursuance of the decrees of the ,holy ,councils1 the ancient ordinances of the kings1 our predecessors1 and the decisions of our courts of parliament1 we order that all conveying of gold and silver out of our kingdom1 and paying of money under the name of annats1 vacant or otherwise1 shall cease1 on pain of a four-fold penalty on the offenders4 ,this law1 promulgated in the general assembly of the nation1 must have seemed irrevocable1 but two years afterwards the same prince1 subdued by the court of ,rome1 at that time powerful1 re-established what the whole nation and himself had abrogated4 ,henry ,,iv41 who feared no danger1 but feared ,rome1 confirmed the annats by an edict of the #bb;d of ,january1 #aeif4 ,three celebrated jurisconsults1 ,dumoulin1 ,lannoy1 and ,duaren1 have written strongly against annats1 which they call a real simony4 ,if1 in default of their payment the pope refuses his bulls1 ,duaren advises the ,gallican ,church to imitate that of ,spain1 which1 in the twelfth ,council of ,toledo1 charged the archbishop of that city1 on the pope's refusal1 to provide for the prelates appointed by the king4 ,it is one of the most certain maxims of ,french law1 consecrated by article fourteen of our liberties1 that the bishop of ,rome has no power over the temporalities of benefices1 but enjoys the revenues of annats only by the king's permission4 ,but ought there not to be a term to this permission8 ,what avails our enlightenment if we are always to retain1 our abuses8 ,the amount of the sums which have been and still are paid to the pope is truly frightful4 ,the attorney-general1 ,jean de ,st4 ,romain1 has remarked that in the time of ,pius ,,ii4 twenty-two bishoprics having become vacant in ,france in the space of three years1 it was necessary to carry to ,rome a hundred and twenty thousand crowns2 that sixty-one abbeys having also become vacant1 the like sum had been paid to the court of ,rome2 that about the same time there had been paid to this court for provisions for the priorships1 deaneries1 and other inferior dignities1 a thousand crowns2 that for each curate there was at least a grce expectative1 which was sold for twenty-five crowns1 besides an infinite number of dispensations1 amounting to two millions of crowns4 ,st4 ,romain lived in the time of ,louis ,,xi4 ,judge then1 what these sums would now amount to4 ,judge how much other states have given4 ,judge whether the ,roman commonwealth in the time of ,lucullus drew more gold and silver from the nations conquered by its sword than the popes1 the fathers of those same nations1 have drawn from them by their pens4 ,supposing that ,st4 ,romain's calculation is too high by half1 which is very unlikely1 does there not still remain a sum sufficiently considerable to entitle us to call the apostolical chamber to an account and demand restitution1 seeing that there is nothing at all apostolical in such an amount of money8 ,,anthropomorphites4 ,they are said to have been a small sect of the fourth century1 but they were rather the sect of every people that had painters and sculptors4 ,as soon as they could draw a little1 or shape a figure1 they made an image of the ,divinity4 ,if the ,egyptians consecrated cats and gnats they also sculptured ,isis and ,osiris4 ,bel was carved at ,babylon1 ,hercules at ,tyre1 ,brahma in ,india4 ,the ,mussulmans did not paint ,god as a man4 ,the ,guebres had no image of the ,great ,being4 ,the ,sabean ,arabs1 did not give the human figure to the stars4 ,the ,jews did not give it to ,god in their temple4 ,none of these nations cultivated the art of design1 and if ,solomon placed figures of animals in his temple it is likely that he had them carved at ,tyre2 but all the ,jews have spoken of ,god as of a man4 ,although they had no images they seem to have made ,god a man on all occasions4 ,he comes down into the garden2 ,he walks there every day at noon2 ,he talks to ,his creatures2 ,he talks to the serpent2 ,he makes ,himself heard by ,moses in the bush2 ,he shows him only ,his back parts on the mountain2 ,he nevertheless talks to him1 face to face1 like one friend to another4 ,in the ,koran1 too1 ,god is always looked up to as a king4 ,in the twelfth chapter1 a throne is given ,him above the waters4 ,he had this ,koran written by a secretary1 as kings have their orders4 ,he sent this same ,koran to ,mahomet by the angel ,gabriel1 as kings communicate their orders through the great officers of the crown4 ,in short1 although ,god is declared in the ,koran to be neither begetting nor begotten1 there is1 nevertheless a morsel of anthropomorphism4 ,in the ,greek and ,latin ,churches1 ,god has always been painted with a great beard4 ,,anti-,,lucretius4 ,the reading of the whole poem of the late ,cardinal ,polignac has confirmed me in the idea which ,i formed of it when he read to me the first book4 ,i am moreover astonished1 that amidst the dissipations of the world and the troubles in public life1 he should have been able to write a long work in verse1 in a foreign language2 he1 who could hardly have made four good lines in his own tongue4 ,it seems to me that he often united the strength of ,lucretius and the elegance of ,virgil4 ,i admire him1 above all1 for that facility with which he expresses such difficult things4 ,perhaps1 indeed1 his ,anti-,lucretius is too diffuse1 and too little diversified1 but he is here to be examined as a philosopher1 not as a poet4 ,it appears to me that so fine a mind as his should have done more justice to the morals of ,epicurus1 who1 though he was a very bad natural philosopher1 was1 nevertheless1 a very worthy man and always taught mildness1 temperance1 moderation1 and justice1 virtues which his example inculcated still more forcibly4 ,in the ,anti-,lucretius1 this great man is thus apostrophized3 ,si virtutis eras avidus1 rectique bonique ,tam sitiens1 quid relligio tibi sancta nocebat8 ,aspera quippe nimis visa est4 ,asperrima certe ,gaudenti vitiis1 sed non virtutis amanti4 ,ergo perfugium culpa1 solisque benignus ,periuris ac fdifragis1 ,epicure1 parabas4 ,so lam hominum faecem poteras1 devotaque fureis ,corpora1 etc4 ,if virtue1 justice1 goodness1 were thy care1 ,why didst thou tremble at ,religion's call8-- ,whose laws are harsh to vicious minds alone-- ,not to the spirit that delights in virtue4 ,no1 no--the worst of men1 the worst of crimes ,has thy solicitude--thy dearest aim ,to find a refuge for the guilty soul1 etc4 ,but ,epicurus might reply to the cardinal3 ,if ,i had had the happiness of knowing1 like you1 the true ,god1 of being born1 like you1 in a pure and holy religion1 ,i should certainly not have rejected that revealed ,god1 whose tenets were necessarily unknown to my mind1 but whose morality was in my heart4 ,i could not admit the existence of such gods as were announced to me by paganism4 ,i was too rational to adore divinities1 made to spring from a father and a mother1 like mortals1 and like them1 to make war upon one another4 ,i was too great a friend to virtue not to hate a religion which now invited to crime by the example of those gods themselves1 and now sold for money the remission of the most horrible enormities4 ,i beheld1 on one hand1 infatuated men1 stained with vices1 and seeking to purify themselves before impure gods2 and on the other1 knaves who boasted that they could justify the most perverse by initiating them in mysteries1 by dropping bullock's blood on their heads1 or by dipping them in the waters of the ,ganges4 ,i beheld the most unjust wars undertaken with perfect sanctity1 so soon as a ram's liver was found unspotted1 or a woman1 with hair dishevelled and rolling eyes1 uttered words of which neither she nor any one else knew the meaning4 ,in short1 ,i beheld all the countries of the earth stained with the blood of human victims1 sacrificed by barbarous pontiffs to barbarous gods4 ,i consider that ,i did well to detest such religions4 ,mine is virtue4 ,i exhorted my disciples not to meddle with the affairs of this world1 because they were horribly governed4 ,a true ,epicurean was mild1 moderate1 just1 amiable--a man of whom no society had to complain--one who did not pay executioners to assassinate in public those who thought differently from himself4 ,from hence to the holy religion in which you have been bred there is but one step4 ,i destroyed the false gods1 and1 had ,i lived in your day1 ,i would have recognized the true ones4 ,thus might ,epicurus justify himself concerning his error4 ,he might even entitle himself to pardon respecting the dogma of the immortality of the soul1 by saying3 ,pity me for having combated a truth which ,god revealed five hundred years after my birth4 ,i thought like all the first ,pagan legislators of the world2 and they were all ignorant of this truth4 ,i wish1 then1 that ,cardinal ,polignac had pitied while he condemned ,epicurus2 it would have been no detriment to fine poetry4 ,with regard to physics it appears to me that the author has lost much time and many verses in refuting the declination of atoms and the other absurdities which swarm in the poem of ,lucretius4 ,this is employing artillery to destroy a cottage4 ,besides1 why remove ,lucretius' reveries to substitute those of ,descartes8 ,cardinal ,polignac has inserted in his poem some very fine lines on the discoveries of ,newton2 but in these1 unfortunately for himself1 he combats demonstrated truths4 ,the philosophy of ,newton is not to be discussed in verse2 it is scarcely to be approached in prose4 ,founded altogether on geometry1 the genius of poetry is not fit to assail it4 ,the surface of these truths may be decorated with fine verses but to fathom them1 calculation is requisite1 and not verse4 ,,antiquity4 ,,section ,i4 ,have you not sometimes seen1 in a village1 ,pierre ,aoudri and his wife ,peronelle striving to go before their neighbors in a procession8 ,our grandfathers1 say they1 rung the bells before those who elbow us now had so much as a stable of their own4 ,the vanity of ,pierre ,aoudri1 his wife1 and his neighbors knows no better4 ,they grow warm4 ,the quarrel is an important one1 for honor is in question4 ,proofs must now be found4 ,some learned churchsinger discovers an old rusty iron pot1 marked with an ,a1 the initial of the brazier's name who made the pot4 ,pierre ,aoudri persuades himself that it was the helmet of one of his ancestors4 ,so ,csar descended from a hero and from the goddess ,venus4 ,such is the history of nations2 such is1 very nearly1 the knowledge of early antiquity4 ,the learned of ,armenia demonstrate that the terrestrial paradise was in their country4 ,some profound ,swedes demonstrate that it was somewhere about ,lake ,wenner1 which exhibits visible remains of it4 ,some ,spaniards1 too1 demonstrate that it was in ,castile4 ,while the ,japanese1 the ,chinese1 the ,tartars1 the ,indians1 the ,africans1 and the ,americans1 are so unfortunate as not even to know that a terrestrial paradise once existed at the sources of the ,pison1 the ,gihon1 the ,tigris1 and the ,euphrates1 or1 which is the same thing1 at the sources of the ,guadalquivir1 the ,guadiana1 the ,douro1 and the ,ebro4 ,for of ,pison we easily make ,phris1 and of ,phris we easily make the ,btis1 which is the ,guadalquivir4 ,the ,gihon1 it is plain1 is the ,guadiana1 for they both begin with a ,g4 ,and the ,ebro1 which is in ,catalonia1 is unquestionably the ,euphrates1 both beginning with an ,e4 ,but a ,scotchman comes1 and in his turn demonstrates that the garden of ,eden was at ,edinburgh1 which has retained its name2 and it is not unlikely that1 in a few centuries1 this opinion will prevail4 ,the whole globe was once burned1 says a man conversant with ancient and modern history2 for ,i have read in a journal that charcoal quite black has been found a hundred feet deep1 among mountains covered with wood4 ,and it is also suspected that there were charcoal-burners in this place4 ,phaeton's adventure sufficiently shows that everything has been boiled1 even to the bottom of the sea4 ,the sulphur of ,mount ,vesuvius incontrovertibly proves that the banks of the ,rhine1 the ,danube1 the ,ganges1 the ,nile1 and the ,great ,yellow ,river1 are nothing but sulphur1 nitre1 and oil of guiacum1 which only wait for the moment of explosion to reduce the earth to ashes1 as it has already once been4 ,the sand on which we walk is an evident proof that the universe has vitrified1 and that our globe is nothing but a ball of glass--like our ideas4 ,but if fire has changed our globe1 water has produced still more wonderful revolutions4 ,for it is plain that the sea1 the tides of which in our latitudes rise eight feet1 has produced the mountains1 which are sixteen to seventeen thousand feet high4 ,this is so true that some learned men1 who never were in ,switzerland1 found a large vessel there1 with all its rigging1 petrified1 either on ,mount ,st4 ,gothard or at the bottom of a precipice--it is not positively known which2 but it is quite certain that it was there4 ,therefore1 men were originally fishes--,q4,e4,d4 ,coming down to antiquity less ancient let us speak of the times when most barbarous nations quitted their own countries to seek others which were not much better4 ,it is true1 if there be anything true in ancient history1 that there were ,gaulish robbers who went to plunder ,rome in the time of ,camillus4 ,other robbers from ,gaul had1 it is said1 passed through ,illyria to sell their services as murderers to other murderers in the neighborhood of ,thrace3 they bartered their blood for bread1 and at length settled in ,galatia4 ,but who were these ,gauls8 ,were they natives of ,berry and ,anjou8 ,they were1 doubtless1 some of those ,gauls whom the ,romans called ,cisalpine1 and whom we call ,transalpine--famishing mountaineers1 inhabiting the ,alps and the ,apennines4 ,the ,gauls of the ,seine and the ,marne did not then know that ,rome existed1 and could not resolve to cross ,mont ,cenis1 as was afterwards done by ,hannibal1 to steal the wardrobes of the ,roman senators1 whose only movables were a gown of bad grey cloth1 decorated with a band1 the color of bull's blood1 two small knobs of ivory1 or rather dog's bone1 fixed to the arms of a wooden chair1 and a piece of rancid bacon in their kitchens4 ,the ,gauls1 who were dying of hunger1 finding nothing to eat at home1 went to try their fortune farther off2 as the ,romans afterwards did when they ravaged so many countries1 and as the people of the ,north did at a later period when they destroyed the ,roman ,empire4 ,and whence have we received our vague information respecting these emigrations8 ,from some lines written at a venture by the ,romans2 for1 as for the ,celts1 ,welsh1 or ,gauls1 whom some would have us believe to have been eloquent1 neither they nor their bards could at that time read or write4 ,but1 to infer from these that the ,gauls or ,celts1 afterwards conquered by a few of ,csar's legions1 then by a horde of ,goths1 then by a horde of ,burgundians1 and lastly by a horde of ,sicambri1 under one ,clodovic1 had before subjugated the whole earth1 and given their names and their laws to ,asia1 seems to me to be inferring a great deal4 ,the thing1 however1 is not mathematically impossible2 and if it be demonstrated1 ,i assent3 it would be very uncivil to refuse to the ,welsh what is granted to the ,tartars4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,on the ,antiquity of ,usages4 ,who have been the greatest fools1 and who the most ancient fools8 ,ourselves or the ,egyptians1 or the ,syrians or some other people8 ,what was signified by our mistletoe8 ,who first consecrated a cat8 ,it must have been he who was the most troubled with mice4 ,in what nation did they first dance under the boughs of trees in honor of the gods8 ,who first made processions1 and placed fools1 with caps and bells1 at the head of them8 ,who first carried a priapus through the streets1 and fixed one like a knocker at the door8 ,what ,arab first took it into his head to hang his wife's drawers out at the window1 the day after his marriage8 ,all nations have formerly danced at the time of the new moon4 ,did they then give one another the word8 ,no2 no more than they did to rejoice at the birth of a son1 or to mourn1 or seem to mourn1 at the death of a father4 ,every one is very glad to see the moon again1 after having lost her for several nights4 ,there are a hundred usages so natural to all men1 that it cannot be said the ,biscayans taught them to the ,phrygians1 or the ,phrygians to the ,biscayans4 ,fire and water have been used in temples4 ,this custom needed no introduction4 ,a priest did not choose always to have his hands dirty4 ,fire was necessary to cook the immolated carcasses1 and to burn slips of resinous wood and spices1 in order to combat the odor of the sacerdotal shambles4 ,but the mysterious ceremonies which it is so difficult to understand1 the usages which nature does not teach--in what place1 when1 where1 how1 why1 were they invented8 ,who communicated them to other nations8 ,it is not likely that it should1 at the same time1 have entered the head of an ,arab and of an ,egyptian to cut off one end of his son's prepuce2 nor that a ,chinese and a ,persian should1 both at once1 have resolved to castrate little boys4 ,it can never have been that two fathers1 in different countries1 have1 at the same moment1 formed the idea of cutting their sons' throats to please ,god4 ,some nations must have communicated to others their follies1 serious1 ridiculous1 or barbarous4 ,in this antiquity men love to search1 to discover1 if possible1 the first madman and the first scoundrel who perverted human nature4 ,but how are we to know whether ,jehu1 in ,phnicia1 by immolating his son1 was the inventor of sacrifices of human blood8 ,how can we be assured that ,lycaon was the first who ate human flesh1 when we do not know who first began to eat fowls8 ,we seek to know the origin of ancient feasts4 ,the most ancient and the finest is that of the emperors of ,china tilling and sowing the ground1 together with their first mandarins4 ,the second is that of the ,thesmophoria at ,athens4 ,to celebrate at once agriculture and justice1 to show men how necessary they both are1 to unite the curb of law with the art which is the source of all wealth--nothing is more wise1 more pious1 or more useful4 ,there are old allegorical feasts to be found everywhere1 as those of the return of the seasons4 ,it was not necessary that one nation should come from afar off to teach another that marks of joy and friendship for one's neighbors may be given on the first day of the year4 ,this custom has been that of every people4 ,the ,saturnalia of the ,romans are better known than those of the ,allobroges and the ,picts2 because there are many ,roman writings and monuments remaining1 but there are none of the other nations of western ,europe4 ,the feast of ,saturn was the feast of ,time4 ,he had four wings2 time flies quickly--his two faces evidently signifying the concluded and the commencing year4 ,the ,greeks said that he had devoured his father and that he devoured his children4 ,no allegory is more reasonable4 ,time devours the past and the present1 and will devour the future4 ,why seek for vain and gloomy explanations of a feast so universal1 so gay1 and so well known8 ,when ,i look well into antiquity1 ,i do not find a single annual festival of a melancholy character2 or1 at least1 if they begin with lamentations1 they end in dancing and revelry4 ,if tears are shed for ,adoni or ,adonai1 whom we call ,adonis1 he is soon resuscitated1 and rejoicing takes place4 ,it is the same with the feasts of ,isis1 ,osiris1 and ,horus4 ,the ,greeks1 too1 did as much for ,ceres as for ,prosperine4 ,the death of the serpent ,python was celebrated with gayety4 ,a feast day and a day of joy were one and the same thing4 ,at the feasts of ,bacchus this joy was only carried too far4 ,i do not find one general commemoration of an unfortunate event4 ,the institutors of the feasts would have shown themselves to be devoid of common sense if they had established at ,athens a celebration of the battle lost at ,chronea1 and at ,rome another of the battle of ,cannae4 ,they perpetuated the remembrance of what might encourage men1 and not of that which might fill them with cowardice or despair4 ,this is so true that fables were invented for the purpose of instituting feasts4 ,castor and ,pollux did not fight for the ,romans near ,lake ,regillus2 but1 at the end of three or four hundred years1 some priests said so1 and all the people danced4 ,hercules did not deliver ,greece from a hydra with seven heads2 but ,hercules and his hydra were sung4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,festivals ,founded on ,chimeras4 ,i do not know that there was1 in all antiquity1 a single festival founded on an established fact4 ,it has been elsewhere remarked how extremely ridiculous those schoolmen appear who say to you1 with a magisterial air3 ,here is an ancient hymn in honor of ,apollo1 who visited ,claros2 therefore ,apollo went to ,claros2 a chapel was erected to ,perseus2 therefore he delivered ,andromeda4 ,poor men6 ,you should rather say1 therefore there was no ,andromeda4 ,but what1 then1 will become of that learned antiquity which preceded the olympiads8 ,it will become what it is--an unknown time1 a time lost1 a time of allegories and lies1 a time regarded with contempt by the wise1 and profoundly discussed by blockheads1 who like to float in a void1 like ,epicurus' atoms4 ,there were everywhere days of penance1 days of expiation in the temples2 but these days were never called by a name answering to that of feasts4 ,every feast-day was sacred to diversion2 so true is this that the ,egyptian priests fasted on the eve in order to eat the more on the morrow--a custom which our monks have preserved4 ,there were1 no doubt1 mournful ceremonies4 ,it was not customary to dance the ,greek brawl while interring or carrying to the funeral pile a son or a daughter2 this was a public ceremony1 but certainly not a feast4 ,,section ,,iv4 ,on the ,antiquity of ,feasts1 ,which1 ,it has been ,asserted1 were ,always ,mournful4 ,men of ingenuity1 profound searchers into antiquity1 who would know how the earth was made a hundred thousand years ago1 if genius could discover it1 have asserted that mankind1 reduced to a very small number in both continents1 and still terrified at the innumerable revolutions which this sad globe had undergone1 perpetuated the remembrance of their calamities by dismal and mournful commemorations4 ,every feast1 say they1 was a day of horror1 instituted to remind men that their fathers had been destroyed by the fires of the volcanoes1 by rocks falling from the mountains1 by eruptions of the sea1 by the teeth and claws of wild beasts1 by war1 pestilence and famine4 ,then we are not made as men were then4 ,there was never so much rejoicing in ,london as after the plague and the burning of the whole city in the reign of ,charles ,,ii4 ,we made songs while the massacres of ,bartholomew were still going on4 ,some pasquinades have been preserved which were made the day after the assassination of ,coligni2 there was printed in ,paris1 ,passio ,domini nostri ,gaspardi ,colignii secundum ,bartholomum4 ,it has a thousand times happened that the sultan who reigns in ,constantinople has made his eunuchs and odalisks dance in apartments stained with the blood of his brothers and his viziers4 ,what do the people of ,paris do on the very day that they are apprised of the loss of a battle and the death of a hundred brave officers8 ,they run to the play and the opera4 ,what did they when the wife of ,marshal d',ancre was given up in the ,grve to the barbarity of her persecutors8 ,when ,marshal de ,marillac was dragged to execution in a wagon1 by virtue of a paper signed by robed lackeys in ,cardinal de ,richelieu's ante-chamber8 ,when a lieutenant-general of the army1 a foreigner1 who had shed his blood for the state1 condemned by the cries of his infuriated enemies1 was led to the scaffold in a dung-cart1 with a gag in his mouth8 ,when a young man of nineteen1 full of candor1 courage and modesty1 but very imprudent1 was carried to the most dreadful of punishments8 ,they sang vaudevilles4 ,such is man1 at least man on the banks of the ,seine4 ,such has he been at all times1 for the same reason that rabbits have always had hair1 and larks feathers4 ,,section ,v4 ,on the ,origin of the ,arts4 ,what6 we would know the precise theology--of ,thoth1 ,zerdusht1 or ,sanchoniathon1 although we know not who invented the shuttle4 ,the first weaver1 the first mason1 the first smith were undoubtedly great geniuses2 yet no account has been made of them4 ,and why8 ,because not one of them invented a perfect art4 ,he who first hollowed the trunk of an oak for the purpose of crossing a river did not build galleys2 nor did they who piled up unhewn stones1 and laid pieces of wood across them1 dream of the pyramids4 ,everything is done by degrees1 and the glory belongs to no one4 ,all was done in the dark1 until philosophers1 aided by geometry1 taught men to proceed with accuracy and safety4 ,it was left for ,pythagoras1 on his return from his travels1 to show workmen the way to make an exact square4 ,he took three rules3 one three1 one four1 and one five feet long1 and with these he made a right-angled triangle4 ,moreover1 it was found that the side #e furnished a square just equal to the two squares produced by the sides #d and #c2 a method of importance in all regular works4 ,this is the famous theorem which he had brought from ,india1 and which we have elsewhere said was known in ,china long before1 according to the relation of the ,emperor ,cam-hi4 ,long before ,plato1 the ,greeks made use of a single geometrical figure to double the square4 ,archytas and ,erastothenes invented a method of doubling the cube1 which was impracticable by ordinary geometry1 and which would have done honor to ,archimedes4 ,this ,archimedes found the method of calculating exactly the quantity of alloy mixed with gold2 for gold had been worked for ages before the fraud of the workers could be discovered4 ,knavery existed long before mathematics4 ,the pyramids1 built with the square1 and corresponding exactly with the four cardinal points1 sufficiently show that geometry was known in ,egypt from time immemorial2 and yet it is proved that ,egypt is quite a new country4 ,without philosophy we should be little above the animals that dig or erect their habitations1 prepare their food in them1 take care of their little ones in their dwellings1 and have besides the good fortune1 which we have not1 of being born ready clothed4 ,vitruvius1 who had travelled in ,gaul and ,spain1 tells us that in his time the houses were built of a sort of mortar1 covered with thatch or oak shingles1 and that the people did not make use of tiles4 ,what was the time of ,vitruvius8 ,it was that of ,augustus4 ,the arts had scarcely yet reached the ,spaniards1 who had mines of gold and silver2 or the ,gauls1 who had fought for ten years against ,csar4 ,the same ,vitruvius informs us that in the opulent and ingenious town of ,marseilles1 which traded with so many nations1 the roofs were only of a kind of clay mixed with straw4 ,he says that the ,phrygians dug themselves habitations in the ground2 they stuck poles round the hollow1 brought them together at the top1 and laid earth over them4 ,the ,hurons and the ,algonquins are better lodged4 ,this gives us no very lofty idea of ,troy1 built by the gods1 and the palace of ,priam3 ,apparet domus intus1 et atria longa patescunt2 ,apparent ,priami et veterum penetralia regum4 ,a mighty breach is made2 the rooms concealed ,appear1 and all the palace is revealed-- ,the halls of audience1 and of public state4--,,dryden4 ,to be sure1 the people are not lodged like kings2 huts are to be seen near the ,vatican and near ,versailles4 ,besides1 industry rises and falls among nations by a thousand revolutions3 ,et campus ubi ,troja fuit4 4444the plain where ,troy once stood4 ,we have our arts1 the ancients had theirs4 ,we could not make a galley with three benches of oars1 but we can build ships with a hundred pieces of cannon4 ,we cannot raise obelisks a hundred feet high in a single piece1 but our meridians are more exact4 ,the byssus is unknown to us1 but the stuffs of ,lyons are more valuable4 ,the ,capitol was worthy of admiration1 the church of ,st4 ,peter is larger and more beautiful4 ,the ,louvre is a masterpiece when compared with the palace of ,persepolis1 the situation and ruins of which do but tell of a vast monument to barbaric wealth4 ,rameau's music is probably better than that of ,timotheus2 and there is not a picture presented at ,paris in the ,hall of ,apollo 7salon d',apollon7 which does not excel the paintings dug out of ,herculaneum4 ,,apis4 ,was the ox ,apis worshipped at ,memphis as a god1 as a symbol1 or as an ox8 ,it is likely that the fanatics regarded him as a god1 the wise as merely a symbol1 and that the more stupid part of the people worshipped the ox4 ,did ,cambyses do right in killing this ox with his own hand8 ,why not8 ,he showed to the imbecile that their god might be put on the spit without nature's arming herself to avenge the sacrilege4 ,the ,egyptians have been much extolled4 ,i have not heard of a more miserable people4 ,there must always have been in their character1 and in their government1 some radical vice which has constantly made vile slaves of them4 ,let it be granted that in times almost unknown they conquered the earth2 but in historical times they have been subjugated by all who have chosen to take the trouble--by the ,assyrians1 by the ,greeks1 by the ,romans1 by the ,arabs1 by the ,mamelukes1 by the ,turks1 by all1 in short1 but our crusaders1 who were even more ill-advised than the ,egyptians were cowardly4 ,it was the ,mameluke militia that beat the ,french under ,st4 ,louis4 ,there are1 perhaps1 but two things tolerable in this nation2 the first is1 that those who worshipped an ox never sought to compel those who adored an ape to change their religion2 the second1 that they have always hatched chickens in ovens4 ,illustration3 ,a vast monument to barbaric wealth4 ,we are told of their pyramids2 but they are monuments of an enslaved people4 ,the whole nation must have been set to work on them1 or those unsightly masses could never have been raised4 ,and for what use were they8 ,to preserve in a small chamber the mummy of some prince1 or governor1 or intendant1 which his soul was to reanimate at the end of a thousand years4 ,but if they looked forward to this resurrection of the body1 why did they take out the brains before embalming them8 ,were the ,egyptians to be resuscitated without brains8 ,,apocalypse4 ,,section ,i4 ,justin the ,martyr1 who wrote about the year #bgj of the ,christian era1 was the first who spoke of the ,apocalypse2 he attributes it to the apostle ,john the ,evangelist4 ,in his dialogue with ,tryphon1 that ,jew asks him if he does not believe that ,jerusalem is one day to be re-established8 ,justin answers that he believes it1 as all ,christians do who think aright4 ,there was among us1 says he1 a certain person named ,john1 one of the twelve apostles of ,jesus2 he foretold that the faithful shall pass a thousand years in ,jerusalem4 ,the belief in this reign of a thousand years was long prevalent among the ,christians4 ,this period was also in great credit among the ,gentiles4 ,the souls of the ,egyptians returned to their bodies at the end of a thousand years2 and1 according to ,virgil1 the souls in purgatory were exorcised for the same space of time--et mille per annos4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem of a thousand years was to have twelve gates1 in memory of the twelve apostles2 its form was to be square2 its length1 breadth1 and height were each to be a thousand stadii--i4e41 five hundred leagues2 so that the houses were to be five hundred leagues high4 ,it would be rather disagreeable to live in the upper story2 but we find all this in the twenty-first chapter of the ,apocalypse4 ,if ,justin was the first who attributed the ,apocalypse to ,st4 ,john1 some persons have rejected his testimony2 because in the same dialogue with the ,jew ,tryphon he says that1 according to the relation of the apostles1 ,jesus ,christ1 when he went into the ,jordan1 made the water boil1 which1 however1 is not to be found in any writing of the apostles4 ,the same ,st4 ,justin confidently cites the oracles of ,sibyls2 he moreover pretends to have seen the remains of the places in which the seventy-two interpreters were confined in the ,egyptian pharos1 in ,herod's time4 ,the testimony of a man who had had the misfortune to see these places seems to indicate that he might possibly have been confined there himself4 ,st4 ,irenus1 who comes afterwards1 and who also believed in the reign of a thousand years1 tells us that he learned from an old man that ,st4 ,john wrote the ,apocalypse4 ,but ,st4 ,irenus is reproached with having written that there should be but four gospels1 because there are but four quarters of the world1 and four cardinal points1 and ,ezekiel saw but four animals4 ,he calls this reasoning a demonstration4 ,it must be confessed that ,irenus's method of demonstrating is quite worthy of ,justin's power of sight4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 in his ,electa mentions only an ,apocalypse of ,st4 ,peter1 to which great importance was attached4 ,tertullian1 a great partisan of the thousand years' reign1 not only assures us that ,st4 ,john foretold this resurrection and reign of a thousand years in the city of ,jerusalem1 but also asserts that this ,jerusalem was already beginning to form itself in the air1 where it had been seen by all the ,christians of ,palestine1 and even by the ,pagans1 at the latter end of the night1 for forty nights successively2 but1 unfortunately1 the city always disappeared as soon as it was daylight4 ,origen1 in his preface to ,st4 ,john's ,gospel1 and in his homilies1 quotes the oracles of the ,apocalypse1 but he likewise quotes the oracles of ,sibyls4 ,and ,st4 ,dionysius of ,alexandria1 who wrote about the middle of the third century1 says1 in one of his fragments preserved by ,eusebius1 that nearly all the doctors rejected the ,apocalypse as a book devoid of reason1 and that this book was composed1 not by ,st4 ,john1 but by one ,cerinthus1 who made use of a great name to give more weight to his reveries4 ,the ,council of ,laodicea1 held in #cfj1 did not reckon the ,apocalypse among the canonical books4 ,it is very singular that ,laodicea1 one of the churches to which the ,apocalypse was addressed1 should have rejected a treasure designed for itself1 and that the bishop of ,ephesus1 who attended the council1 should also have rejected this book of ,st4 ,john1 who was buried at ,ephesus4 ,it was visible to all eyes that ,st4 ,john was continually turning about in his grave1 causing a constant rising and falling of the earth4 ,yet the same persons who were sure that ,st4 ,john was not quite dead were also sure that he had not written the ,apocalypse4 ,but those who were for the thousand years' reign were unshaken in their opinion4 ,sulpicius ,severus1 in his ,sacred ,history1 book xi41 treats as mad and impious those who did not receive the ,apocalypse4 ,at length1 after numerous oppositions of council to council1 the opinion of ,sulpicius ,severus prevailed4 ,the matter having been thus cleared up1 the ,church came to the decision1 from which there is no appeal1 that the ,apocalypse is incontestably ,st4 ,john's4 ,every ,christian communion has applied to itself the prophecies contained in this book4 ,the ,english have found in it the revolutions of ,great ,britain2 the ,lutherans1 the troubles of ,germany2 the ,french reformers1 the reign of ,charles ,,ix41 and the regency of ,catherine de ,medici1 and they are all equally right4 ,bossuet and ,newton have both commented on the ,apocalypse1 yet1 after all1 the eloquent declamations of the one1 and the sublime discoveries of the other1 have done them greater honor than their commentaries4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,two great men1 but very different in their greatness1 have commented on the ,apocalypse in the seventeenth century3 ,newton1 to whom such a study was very ill suited1 and ,bossuet1 who was better fitted for the undertaking4 ,both gave additional weapons to their enemies1 by their commentaries1 and1 as has elsewhere been said1 the former consoled mankind for his superiority over them1 while the latter made his enemies rejoice4 ,the ,catholics and the ,protestants have both explained the ,apocalypse in their favor1 and have each found in it exactly what has accorded with their interests4 ,they have made wonderful commentaries on the great beast with seven heads and ten horns1 with the hair of a leopard1 the feet of a bear1 the throat of a lion1 the strength of a dragon1 and to buy and sell it was necessary to have the character and number of the beast1 which number was #fff4 ,bossuet finds that this beast was evidently the ,emperor ,diocletian1 by making an acrostic of his name4 ,grotius believed that it was ,trajan4 ,a curate of ,st4 ,sulpice1 named ,la ,chtardie1 known from some strange adventures1 proves that the beast was ,julian4 ,jurieu proves that the beast is the pope4 ,one preacher has demonstrated that it was ,louis ,,xiv4 ,a good ,catholic has demonstrated that it was ,william1 king of ,england4 ,it is not easy to make them all agree4 ,there have been warm disputes concerning the stars which fell from heaven to earth1 and the sun and moon1 which were struck with darkness in their third parts4 ,there are several opinions respecting the book that the angel made the author of the ,apocalypse eat1 which book was sweet to the mouth and bitter to the stomach4 ,jurieu asserted that the books of his adversary were designated thereby1 and his argument was retorted upon himself4 ,there have been disputes about this verse3 ,and ,i heard a voice from heaven1 as the voice of many waters1 and as the voice of a great thunder2 and ,i heard the voice of harpers harping on their harps4 ,it is quite clear that it would have been better to have respected the ,apocalypse than to have commented upon it4 ,camus1 bishop of ,bellay1 printed in the last century a large book against the monks1 which an unfrocked monk abridged4 ,it was entitled ,apocalypse1 because in it he exposed the dangers and defects of the monastic life2 and ,melito's ,apocalypse 7,apocalypse de ,mliton871 because ,melito1 bishop of ,sardis1 in the second century1 had passed for a prophet4 ,this bishop's work has none of the obscurities of ,st4 ,john's ,apocalypse4 ,nothing was ever clearer4 ,the bishop is like a magistrate saying to an attorney1 ,you are a forger and a cheat--do you comprehend me8 ,the bishop of ,bellay computes1 in his ,apocalypse or ,revelations1 that there were in his time ninety-eight orders of monks endowed or mendicant1 living at the expense of the people1 without employing themselves in the smallest labor4 ,he reckoned six hundred thousand monks in ,europe4 ,the calculation was a little strained2 but it is certain that the real number of the monks was rather too large4 ,he assures us that the monks are enemies to the bishops1 curates1 and magistrates2 that1 among the privileges granted to the ,cordeliers1 the sixth privilege is the certainty of being saved1 whatever horrible crime you may have committed1 provided you belong to the ,order of ,st4 ,francis2 that the monks are like apes2 the higher they climb1 the plainer you see their posteriors2 that the name of monk has become so infamous and execrable that it is regarded by the monks themselves as a foul reproach and the most violent insult that can be offered them4 ,my dear reader1 whoever you are1 minister or magistrate1 consider attentively the following short extract from our bishop's book3 ,figure to yourself the convent of the ,escorial or of ,monte ,cassino1 where the cnobites have everything necessary1 useful1 delightful1 superfluous and superabundant--since they have their yearly revenue of a hundred and fifty thousand1 four hundred thousand1 or five hundred thousand crowns2 and judge whether ,monsieur l',abb has wherewithal to allow himself and those under him to sleep after dinner4 ,then imagine an artisan or laborer1 with no dependence except on the work of his hands1 and burdened with a large family1 toiling like a slave every day and at all seasons1 to feed them with the bread of sorrow and the water of tears2 and say1 which of the two conditions is pre-eminent in poverty4 ,this is a passage from the ,episcopal ,apocalypse which needs no commentary4 ,all that is wanted is an angel to come and fill his cup with the wine of the monks1 to slake the thirst of the laborers who plow1 sow1 and reap1 for the monasteries4 ,but this prelate1 instead of writing a useful book1 only composed a satire4 ,consistently with his dignity1 he should have stated the good as well as evil4 ,he should have acknowledged that the ,benedictines have produced many good works1 and that the ,jesuits have rendered great services to literature4 ,he might have blessed the brethren of ,la ,charit1 and those of the ,redemption of the ,captives4 ,our first duty is to be just4 ,camus gave too much scope to his imagination4 ,st4 ,franois de ,sales advised him to write moral romances2 but he abused the advice4 ,,anti-,,trinitarians4 ,these are heretics who might pass for other than ,christians4 ,however1 they acknowledge ,jesus as ,saviour and ,mediator2 but they dare to maintain that nothing is more contrary to right reason than what is taught among ,christians concerning the ,trinity of persons in one only divine essence1 of whom the second is begotten by the first1 and the third proceeds from the other two2 that this unintelligible doctrine is not to be found in any part of ,scripture2 that no passage can be produced which authorizes it2 or to which1 without in any wise departing from the spirit of the text1 a sense cannot be given more clear1 more natural1 or more conformable to common notions1 and to primitive and immutable truths2 that to maintain1 as the orthodox do1 that in the divine essence there are several distinct persons1 and that the ,eternal is not the only true ,god1 but that the ,son and the ,holy ,ghost must be joined with ,him1 is to introduce into the ,church of ,christ an error the most gross and dangerous1 since it is openly to favor polytheism2 that it implies a contradiction1 to say that there is but one ,god1 and that1 nevertheless1 there are three persons1 each of which is truly ,god2 that this distinction1 of one in essence1 and three in person1 was never in ,scripture2 that it is manifestly false1 since it is certain that there are no fewer essences than persons1 nor persons than essences2 that the three persons of the ,trinity are either three different substances1 or accidents of the divine essence1 or that essence itself without distinction2 that1 in the first place1 you make three ,gods2 that1 in the second1 ,god is composed of accidents2 you adore accidents1 and metamorphose accidents into persons2 that1 in the third1 you unfoundedly and to no purpose divide an indivisible subject1 and distinguish into three that which within itself has no distinction2 that if it be said that the three personalities are neither different substances in the divine essence1 nor accidents of that essence1 it will be difficult to persuade ourselves that they are anything at all2 that it must not be believed that the most rigid and decided ,trinitarians have themselves any clear idea of the way in which the three hypostases subsist in ,god1 without dividing ,his substance1 and consequently without multiplying it2 that ,st4 ,augustine himself1 after advancing on this subject a thousand reasonings alike dark and false1 was forced to confess that nothing intelligible could be said about the matter2 they then repeat the passage by this father1 which is1 indeed1 a very singular one3 ,when1 says he1 it is asked what are the three1 the language of man fails and terms are wanting to express them4 ,three persons1 has1 however1 been said--not for the purpose of expressing anything1 but in order to say something and not remain mute4 ,dictum est tres person1 non ut aliquid diceretur1 sed ne taceretur4--,de ,trinit4 lib4 v4 cap4 #i2 that modern theologians have cleared up this matter no better2 that1 when they are asked what they understand by the word person1 they explain themselves only by saying that it is a certain incomprehensible distinction by which are distinguished in one nature only1 a ,father1 a ,son1 and a ,holy ,ghost2 that the explanation which they give of the terms begetting and proceeding1 is no more satisfactory1 since it reduces itself to saying that these terms indicate certain incomprehensible relations existing among the three persons of the ,trinity2 that it may be hence gathered that the state of the question between them and the orthodox is to know whether there are in ,god three distinctions1 of which no one has any definite idea1 and among which there are certain relations of which no one has any more idea4 ,from all this they conclude that it would be wiser to abide by the testimony of the apostles1 who never spoke of the ,trinity1 and to banish from religion forever all terms which are not in the scriptures--as trinity1 person1 essence1 hypostasis1 hypostatic and personal union1 incarnation1 generation1 proceeding1 and many others of the same kind2 which being absolutely devoid of meaning1 since they are represented by no real existence in nature1 can excite in the understanding none but false1 vague1 obscure1 and undefinable notions4 ,to this article let us add what ,calmet says in his dissertation on the following passage of the ,epistle of ,john the ,evangelist3 ,for there are three that bear record in heaven1 the ,father1 the ,word1 and the ,holy ,ghost2 and these three are one2 and there are three that bear witness in earth1 the spirit1 the water and the blood2 and these three are one4 ,calmet acknowledges that these two verses are not in any ancient bible2 indeed1 it would be very strange if ,st4 ,john had spoken of the ,trinity in a letter1 and said not a word about it in his ,gospel4 ,we find no trace of this dogma1 either in the canonical or in the apocryphal gospels4 ,all these reasons and many others might excuse the anti-trinitarians1 if the councils had not decided4 ,but as the heretics pay no regard to councils1 we know not what measures to take to confound them4 ,let us content ourselves with believing and wishing them to believe4 ,,apocrypha--,,apocryphal4 7,,from ,,the ,,greek ,,word ,,signifying hidden47 ,it has been very well remarked that the divine writings might1 at one and the same time1 be sacred and apocryphal2 sacred1 because they had undoubtedly been dictated by ,god ,himself2 apocryphal1 because they were hidden from the nations1 and even from the ,jewish people4 ,that they were hidden from the nations before the translation executed at ,alexandria1 under the ,ptolemies1 is an acknowledged truth4 ,josephus declares it in the answer to ,appian1 which he wrote after ,appian's death2 and his declaration has not less strength because he seeks to strengthen it by a fable4 ,he says in his history that the ,jewish books being all-divine1 no foreign historian or poet had ever dared to speak of them4 ,and1 immediately after assuring us that no one had ever dared to mention the ,jewish laws1 he adds that the historian ,theopompus1 having only intended to insert something concerning them in his history1 ,god struck him with madness for thirty days2 but that1 having been informed in a dream that he was mad only because he had wished to know divine things and make them known to the profane1 he asked pardon of ,god1 who restored him to his senses4 ,josephus in the same passage also relates that a poet named ,theodectes1 having said a few words about the ,jews in his tragedies1 became blind1 and that ,god did not restore his sight until he had done penance4 ,as for the ,jewish people1 it is certain that there was a time when they could not read the divine writings2 for it is said in the ,second ,book of ,kings 7chap1 xxii41 ver4 #h71 and in the ,second ,book of ,chronicles 7chap1 xxxiv41 ver4 #ad71 that in the reign of ,josias they were unknown1 and that a single copy was accidentally found in the house of the high priest ,hilkiah4 ,the twelve tribes which were dispersed by ,shalmaneser have never re-appeared2 and their books1 if they had any1 have been lost with them4 ,the two tribes which were in slavery at ,babylon and allowed to return at the end of seventy years1 returned without their books1 or at least they were very scarce and very defective1 since ,esdras was obliged to restore them4 ,but although during the ,babylonian captivity these books were apocryphal1 that is1 hidden or unknown to the people1 they were constantly sacred--they bore the stamp of divinity--they were1 as all the world agrees1 the only monument of truth upon earth4 ,we now give the name of apocrypha to those books which are not worthy of belief2 so subject are languages to change6 ,catholics and ,protestants agree in regarding as apocryphal in this sense1 and in rejecting1 the prayer of ,manasseh1 king of ,judah1 contained in the ,second ,book of ,kings2 the ,third and ,fourth ,books of ,maccabees2 the ,fourth ,book of ,esdras2 although these books were incontestably written by ,jews4 ,but it is denied that the authors were inspired by ,god1 like the ,jews4 ,the other books1 rejected by the ,protestants only1 and consequently considered by them as not inspired by ,god ,himself1 are the ,book of ,wisdom1 though it is written in the same style as the ,proverbs2 ,ecclesiasticus1 though the style is still the same2 the first two books of ,maccabees1 though written by a ,jew1 ,but they do not believe this ,jew to have been inspired by ,god--,tobit--although the story is edifying4 ,the judicious and profound ,calmet affirms that a part of this book was written by ,tobit the father1 and a part by ,tobit the son2 and that a third author added the conclusion of the last chapter1 which says that ,tobit the younger expired at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years1 and that he died rejoicing over the destruction of ,nineveh4 ,the same ,calmet1 at the end of his preface1 has these words3 ,neither the story itself1 nor the manner in which it is told1 bears any fabulous or fictitious character4 ,if all ,scripture histories1 containing anything of the marvellous or extraordinary1 were to be rejected1 where is the sacred book which is to be preserved8 ,judith is another book rejected by the ,protestants1 although ,luther himself declares that this book is beautiful1 good1 holy1 useful1 the language of a holy poet and a prophet animated by the ,holy ,spirit1 that had been his instructor1 etc4 ,it is indeed hard to discover at what time ,judith's adventure happened1 or where the town of ,bethulia was4 ,the degree of sanctity in ,judith's action has also been disputed2 but the book having been declared canonical by the ,council of ,trent1 all disputes are at an end4 ,other books are ,baruch1 although it is written in the style of all the other prophets2 ,esther1 of which the ,protestants reject only some additions after the tenth chapter4 ,they admit all the rest of the book2 yet no one knows who ,king ,ahasuerus was1 although he is the principal person in the story2 ,daniel1 in which the ,protestants retrench ,susannah's adventure and that of the children in the furnace2 but they retain ,nebuchadnezzar's dream and his grazing with the beasts4 ,on the ,life of ,moses1 an ,apocryphal ,book of the ,highest ,antiquity4 ,the ancient book which contains the life and death of ,moses seems to have been written at the time of the ,babylonian captivity4 ,it was then that the ,jews began to know the names given to the angels by the ,chaldans and ,persians4 ,here we see the names of ,zinguiel1 ,samael1 ,tsakon1 ,lakah1 and many others of which the ,jews had made no mention4 ,the book of the death of ,moses seems to have been written later4 ,it is known that the ,jews had several very ancient lives of ,moses and other books1 independently of the ,pentateuch4 ,in them he was called ,moni1 not ,moses2 and it is asserted that mo signified water1 and ni the particle of4 ,he was called by the general name of ,melk4 ,he received those of ,joakim1 ,adamosi1 ,thetmosi2 and it has been thought that he was the same person whom ,mane then calls ,ozarziph4 ,some of these old ,hebrew manuscripts were withdrawn from their covering of dust in the cabinets of the ,jews about the year #aeag4 ,the learned ,gilbert ,gaumin1 who was a perfect master of their language1 translated them into ,latin about the year #aece4 ,they were afterwards printed and dedicated to ,cardinal ,brule4 ,the copies have become extremely scarce4 ,never were rabbinism1 the taste for the marvellous and the imagination of the orientals displayed to greater excess4 ,fragment of the ,life of ,moses4 ,a hundred and thirty years after the settling of the ,jews in ,egypt1 and sixty years after the death of the patriarch ,joseph1 ,pharaoh1 while sleeping1 had a dream4 ,he saw an old man holding a balance2 in one scale were all the inhabitants of ,egypt2 in the other was an infant1 and this infant weighed more than all the ,egyptians together4 ,pharaoh forthwith called together his shotim1 or sages4 ,one of the wise men said3 ,o king1 this infant is a ,jew who will one day do great evil to your kingdom4 ,cause all the children of the ,jews to be slain2 thus shalt thou save thy empire1 if1 indeed1 the decrees of fate can be opposed4 ,pharaoh was pleased with this advice4 ,he sent for the midwives and ordered them to strangle all the male children of which the ,jewesses were delivered4 ,there was in ,egypt a man named ,abraham1 son of ,keath1 husband to ,jocabed1 sister to his brother4 ,this ,jocabed bore him a daughter named ,mary1 signifying persecuted1 because the ,egyptians1 being descended from ,ham1 persecuted the ,israelites1 who were evidently descended from ,shem4 ,jocabed afterwards brought forth ,aaron1 signifying condemned to death1 because ,pharaoh had condemned all the ,jewish infants to death4 ,aaron and ,mary were preserved by the angels of the ,lord1 who nursed them in the fields and restored them to their parents when they had reached the period of adolescence4 ,at length ,jocabed had a third child2 this was ,moses1 who1 consequently1 was fifteen years younger than his brother4 ,he was exposed on the ,nile4 ,pharaoh's daughter found him while bathing1 had him nursed and adopted him as her son1 although she was not married4 ,three years after1 her father1 ,pharaoh1 took a fresh wife1 on which occasion he held a great feast4 ,his wife was at his right hand1 and at his left was his daughter1 with little ,moses4 ,the child1 in sport1 took the crown and put it on his head4 ,balaam1 the magician1 the king's eunuch1 then recalled his majesty's dream4 ,behold1 said he1 the child who is one day to do so much mischief6 ,the spirit of ,god is in him4 ,what he has just now done is a proof that he has already formed the design of dethroning you4 ,he must instantly be put to death4 ,this idea pleased ,pharaoh much4 ,they were about to kill little ,moses when the ,lord sent his angel ,gabriel1 disguised as one of ,pharaoh's officers1 to say to him3 ,my lord1 we should not put to death an innocent child1 which is not yet come to years of discretion2 he put on your crown only because he wants judgment4 ,you have only to let a ruby and a burning coal be presented to him2 if he choose the coal1 it is clear that he is a blockhead who will never do any harm2 but if he take the ruby it will be a sign that he has too much sense to burn his fingers2 then let him be slain4 ,a ruby and a coal were immediately brought4 ,moses did not fail to take the ruby2 but the angel ,gabriel1 by a sort of legerdemain1 slipped the coal into the place of the precious stone4 ,moses put the coal into his mouth and burned his tongue so horribly that he stammered ever after2 and this was the reason that the ,jewish lawgiver could never articulate4 ,moses was fifteen years old and a favorite with ,pharaoh4 ,a ,hebrew came to complain to him that an ,egyptian had beaten him after lying with his wife4 ,moses killed the ,egyptian4 ,pharaoh ordered ,moses' head to be cut off4 ,the executioner struck him1 but ,god instantly changed ,moses' neck into a marble column1 and sent the angel ,michael1 who in three days conducted ,moses beyond the frontiers4 ,the young ,hebrew fled to ,mecano1 king of ,ethiopia1 who was at war with the ,arabs4 ,mecano made him his general-in-chief2 and1 after ,mecano's death1 ,moses was chosen king and married the widow4 ,but ,moses1 ashamed to have married the wife of his lord1 dared not to enjoy her1 but placed a sword in the bed between himself and the queen4 ,he lived with her forty years without touching her4 ,the angry queen at length called together the states of the kingdom of ,ethiopia1 complained that ,moses was of no service to her1 and concluded by driving him away and placing on the throne the son of the late king4 ,moses fled into the country of ,midian1 to the priest ,jethro4 ,this priest thought his fortune would be made if he could put ,moses into the hands of ,pharaoh of ,egypt1 and began by confining him in a low cell and allowing him only bread and water4 ,moses grew fat in his dungeon1 at which ,jethro was quite astonished4 ,he was not aware that his daughter ,sephora had fallen in love with the prisoner1 and every day1 with her own hands1 carried him partridges and quails1 with excellent wine4 ,he concluded that ,moses was protected by ,god and did not give him up to ,pharaoh4 ,however1 ,jethro the priest wished to have his daughter married4 ,he had in his garden a tree of sapphire1 on which was engraven the word ,jaho or ,jehovah4 ,he caused it to be published throughout the country that he would give his daughter to him who could tear up the sapphire tree4 ,sephora's lovers presented themselves1 but none of them could so much as bend the tree4 ,moses1 who was only seventy-seven years old1 tore it up at once without an effort4 ,he married ,sephora1 by whom he soon had a fine boy named ,gerson4 ,as he was one day walking in a small wood1 he met ,god 7who had formerly called ,himself ,sadai1 and then called ,himself ,jehovah71 and ,god ordered him to go and work miracles at ,pharaoh's court4 ,he set out with his wife and son4 ,on the way they met an angel 7to whom no name is given71 who ordered ,sephora to circumcise little ,gerson with a knife made of stone4 ,god sent ,aaron on the same errand1 but ,aaron thought his brother had done wrong in marrying a ,midianite2 he called her a very coarse name1 and little ,gerson a bastard1 and sent them the shortest way back to their own country4 ,aaron and ,moses then went to ,pharaoh's palace by themselves4 ,the gate of the palace was guarded by two lions of an enormous size4 ,balaam1 one of the king's magicians1 seeing the two brothers come1 set the lions upon them2 but ,moses touched them with his rod1 and the lions1 humbly prostrating themselves1 licked the feet of ,aaron and ,moses4 ,the king1 in astonishment1 had the two pilgrims brought into the presence of all his magicians1 that they might strive which could work the most miracles4 ,the author here relates the ten plagues of ,egypt1 nearly as they are related in ,exodus4 ,he only adds that ,moses covered all ,egypt with lice1 to the depth of a cubit2 and that he sent among all the ,egyptians lions1 wolves1 bears1 and tigers1 which ran into all the houses1 notwithstanding that the doors were bolted1 and devoured all the little children4 ,according to this writer1 it was not the ,jews who fled through the ,red ,sea2 it was ,pharaoh1 who fled that way with his army3 the ,jews ran after him2 the waters separated right and left to see them fight2 and all the ,egyptians1 except the king1 were slain upon the sand4 ,then the king1 finding that his own was the weaker side1 asked pardon of ,god4 ,michael and ,gabriel were sent to him and conveyed him to the city of ,nineveh1 where he reigned four hundred years4 ,the ,death of ,moses4 ,god had declared to the people of ,israel that they should not go out of ,egypt until they had once more found the tomb of ,joseph4 ,moses found it and carried it on his shoulders through the ,red ,sea4 ,god told him that ,he would bear in mind this good action and would assist him at the time of his death4 ,when ,moses had lived six score years1 ,god came to announce to him that he must die and had but three hours more to live4 ,the bad angel ,samael was present at the conversation4 ,as soon as the first hour had passed he began to laugh for joy that he should so soon carry off the soul of ,moses2 and ,michael began to weep4 ,be not rejoiced1 thou wicked beast1 said the good to the bad angel2 ,moses is going to die1 but we have ,joshua in his stead4 ,when the three hours had elapsed ,god commanded ,gabriel to take the dying man's soul4 ,gabriel begged to be excused4 ,michael did the same4 ,these two angels having refused1 ,god addressed ,himself to ,zinguiel4 ,but this angel was no more willing to obey than the others4 ,i1 said he1 was formerly his preceptor1 and ,i will not kill my disciple4 ,then ,god1 being angry1 said to the bad angel ,samael1 ,well1 then1 wicked one1 thou must take his soul4 ,samael joyfully drew his sword and ran up to ,moses4 ,the dying man rose up in wrath1 his eyes sparkling with fire4 ,what6 thou villain1 said ,moses1 wouldst thou dare to kill me8--me1 who when a child1 put on my head the crown of a ,pharaoh2 who have worked miracles at the age of eighty years2 who have led sixty millions of men out of ,egypt2 who have cut the ,red ,sea in two2 who have conquered two kings so tall that at the time of the flood they were not knee-deep in water8 ,begone1 you rascal2 leave my presence instantly4 ,this altercation lasted a few moments longer1 during which time ,gabriel prepared a litter to convey the soul of ,moses1 ,michael a purple mantle1 and ,zinguiel a cassock4 ,god then laid ,his hands on ,moses' breast and took away his soul4 ,it is to this history that ,st4 ,jude the apostle alludes in his epistle when he says that the archangel ,michael contended with the devil for the body of ,moses4 ,as this fact is to be found only in the book which ,i have just quoted1 it is evident that ,st4 ,jude had read it1 and that he considered it as a canonical book4 ,the second history of the death of ,moses is likewise a conversation with ,god4 ,it is no less pleasant and curious than the first4 ,a part of this dialogue is as follows3 ,moses4--,i pray ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 let me enter the land of promise1 at least for two or three years4 ,god4--,no2 ,my decree expressly saith that thou shalt not enter it4 ,moses4--,grant1 at least1 that ,i may be carried thither after my death4 ,god4--,no2 neither dead nor alive4 ,moses4--,alas6 but1 good ,lord1 thou showest such clemency to ,thy creatures2 ,thou pardonest them twice or three times2 ,i have sinned but once1 and am not to be forgiven6 ,god4--,thou knowest not what thou sayest2 thou hast committed six sins4 ,i remember to have sworn thy death1 or the destruction of ,israel2 one of the two must be accomplished4 ,if thou wilt live ,israel must perish4 ,moses4--,o ,lord1 be not so hasty4 ,all is in ,thy hands4 ,let ,moses perish1 rather than one soul in ,israel4 ,after several discourses of this sort1 the echo of the mountain says to ,moses1 ,thou hast but five hours to live4 ,at the end of five hours ,god sends for ,gabriel1 ,zinguiel and ,samael4 ,he promises ,moses that he shall be buried and carries away his soul4 ,when we reflect that nearly the whole earth has been infatuated by similar stories1 and that they have formed the education of mankind1 the fables of ,pilpay1 ,lokman1 or sop appear quite reasonable4 ,apocryphal ,books of the ,new ,law4 ,there were fifty gospels1 all very different from one another1 of which there remain only four entire--that of ,james1 that of ,nicodemus1 that of the infancy of ,jesus1 and that of the birth of ,mary4 ,of the rest we have nothing more than fragments and slight notices4 ,the traveller ,tournefort1 sent into ,asia by ,louis ,,xiv41 informs us that the ,georgians have preserved the gospel of the ,infancy1 which was probably communicated to them by the ,azmenians4 ,in the beginning1 several of these gospels1 now regarded as apocryphal1 were cited as authentic1 and were even the only gospels that were cited4 ,in the ,acts of the ,apostles we find these words uttered by ,st4 ,paul 7chap4 xx41 ver4 #ce71 ,and remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said1 it is more blessed to give than to receive4 ,st4 ,barnabas1 in his ,catholic ,epistle 7,nos4 #d and #g71 makes ,jesus ,christ speak thus3 ,let us resist all iniquity2 let us hate it4 ,such as would see ,me enter into ,my kingdom must follow ,me through pain and sorrow4 ,st4 ,clement1 in his second ,epistle to the ,corinthians1 puts these words into the mouth of ,jesus ,christ3 ,if you are assembled in ,my bosom and do not follow ,my commandments1 ,i shall reject you and say to you1 ',depart from ,me2 ,i know you not2 depart from ,me1 ye workers of iniquity4' ,he afterwards attributes to ,jesus ,christ these words3 ,keep your flesh chaste and the seal unspotted1 in order that you may receive eternal life4 ,in the ,apostolical ,constitutions1 composed in the second century1 we find these words3 ,jesus ,christ has said1 ',be ye honest exchange brokers4' ,we find many similar quotations1 not one of which is taken from the four gospels recognized by the ,church as the only canonical ones4 ,they are1 for the most part1 taken from the gospel according to the ,hebrews1 a gospel which was translated by ,st4 ,jerome1 and is now considered as apocryphal4 ,st4 ,clement the ,roman says1 in his second ,epistle3 ,the ,lord1 being asked when his reign should come1 answered3 ',when two shall make one1 when that which is without shall be within1 when the male shall be female1 and when there shall be neither female nor male4' ,these words are taken from the gospel according to the ,egyptians2 and the text is repeated entire by ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria4 ,but what could the author of the ,egyptian gospels1 and what could ,st4 ,clement himself be thinking of8 ,the words which he quotes are injurious to ,jesus ,christ2 they give us to understand that ,he did not believe that ,his reign would come at all4 ,to say that a thing will take place when two shall make one1 when the male shall be female1 is to say that it will never take place4 ,a passage like this is rabbinical1 much rather than evangelical4 ,there were also two apocryphal ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,they are quoted by ,st4 ,epiphanius4 ,in these ,acts it is related that ,st4 ,paul was the son of an idolatrous father and mother1 and turned ,jew in order to marry the daughter of ,gamaliel2 and that either being refused1 or not finding her a virgin1 he took part with the disciples of ,jesus4 ,this is nothing less than blasphemy against ,st4 ,paul4 ,the ,other ,apocryphal ,books of the ,first and ,second ,centuries4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,enoch1 the seventh man after ,adam1 which mentions the war of the rebellious angels1 under their captain1 ,samasia1 against the faithful angels led by ,michael4 ,the object of the war was to enjoy the daughters of men1 as has been said in the article on ,angel4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of ,st4 ,thecla and ,st4 ,paul1 written by a disciple named ,john1 attached to ,st4 ,paul4 ,in this history ,thecla escapes from her persecutors to go to ,st4 ,paul1 disguised as a man4 ,she also baptizes a lion2 but this adventure was afterwards suppressed4 ,here1 too1 we have the portrait of ,paul3 ,statura brevi1 calvastrum1 cruribus curvis1 sorosum1 superciliis junctis1 naso aquilino1 plenum gratia ,dei4 ,although this story was recommended by ,st4 ,gregory ,nazianzen1 ,st4 ,ambrose1 ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom1 and others1 it had no reputation among the other doctors of the ,church4 ,,iii4 ,the ,preaching of ,peter4 ,this writing is also called the ,gospel or ,revelation of ,peter4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria speaks of it with great praise2 but it is easy to perceive that some impostor had taken that apostle's name4 ,,iv4 ,the ,acts of ,peter1 a work equally supposititious4 ,v4 ,the ,testament of the ,twelve ,patriarchs4 ,it is doubted whether this book is by a ,jew or a ,christian of the primitive ages2 for it is said in the ,testament of ,levi that at the end of the seventh week there shall come priests given to idolatry--bellatores1 avari1 scrib iniqui1 impudici1 puerorum corrupt ores et pecorum2 that there shall then be a new priesthood2 that the heavens shall be opened2 and that the glory of the ,most ,high1 and the spirit of intelligence and sanctification1 shall descend upon this new priest2 which seems to foretell ,jesus ,christ4 ,,vi4 ,the ,letter of ,abgarus1 a pretended king of ,edessa1 to ,jesus ,christ1 and ,jesus ,christ's answer to ,king ,abgarus4 ,it is1 indeed1 believed that1 in the time of ,tiberius1 there was a toparch of ,edessa who had passed from the service of the ,persians into that of the ,romans1 but his epistolary correspondence has been considered by all good critics as a chimera4 ,,vii4 ,the ,acts of ,pilate4 ,pilate's letter to ,tiberius on the death of ,jesus ,christ ,the life of ,procula1 ,pilate's wife4 ,,viii4 ,the ,acts of ,peter and ,paul1 in which is the history of ,st4 ,peter's quarrel with ,simon the magician4 ,abdias1 ,marcellus1 and ,hegesippus have all three written this story4 ,st4 ,peter first disputed with ,simon which should resuscitate one of the ,emperor ,nero's relatives1 who had just died2 ,simon half restored him1 and ,st4 ,peter finished the resurrection4 ,simon next flew up in the air1 but ,peter brought him down again1 and the magician broke his legs4 ,the ,emperor ,nero1 incensed at the death of his magician1 had ,st4 ,peter crucified with his head downwards1 and ,st4 ,paul decapitated1 as one of ,st4 ,peter's party4 ,,ix4 ,the ,acts of ,blessed ,paul the ,apostle and ,teacher of the ,nations4 ,in this book ,st4 ,paul is made to live at ,rome for two years after ,st4 ,peter's death4 ,the author says that when ,st4 ,paul's head was cut off there issued forth milk instead of blood1 and that ,lucina1 a devout woman1 had him buried twenty miles from ,rome1 on the way to ,ostia1 at her country house4 ,x4 ,the ,acts of the ,blessed ,apostle ,andrew4 ,the author relates that ,st4 ,andrew went to the city of the ,myrmidons and that he baptized all the citizens4 ,a young man named ,sostratus1 of the town of ,amarea1 which is at least better known than that of the ,myrmidons1 came and said to the blessed ,andrew3 ,i am so handsome that my mother has conceived a passion for me4 ,i abhorred so execrable a crime1 and have fled4 ,my mother1 in her fury1 accuses me to the proconsul of the province of having attempted to violate her4 ,i can make no answer1 for ,i would rather die than accuse my mother4 ,while he was yet speaking1 the guards of the proconsul came and seized him4 ,st ,andrew accompanied the son before the judge1 and pleaded his cause4 ,the mother1 not at all disconcerted1 accused ,st4 ,andrew himself of having instigated her son to the crime4 ,the proconsul immediately ordered ,st4 ,andrew to be thrown into the river2 but1 the apostle having prayed to ,god1 there came a great earthquake1 and the mother was struck by a thunderbolt4 ,after several adventures of the same sort the author has ,st4 ,andrew crucified at ,patras4 ,,xi4 ,the ,acts of ,st4 ,james the ,greater4 ,the author has him condemned to death at ,jerusalem by the pontiff1 and1 before his crucifixion1 he baptizes the registrar4 ,,xii4 ,the ,acts of ,st4 ,john the ,evangelist4 ,the author relates that1 at ,ephesus--of which place ,st4 ,john wast bishop--,drusilla1 being converted by him1 desired no more of her husband ,andronicus's company1 but retired into a tomb4 ,a young man named ,callimachus1 in love with her1 repeatedly pressed her1 even in her tomb1 to consent to the gratification of his passion4 ,brasilia1 being urged both by her husband and her lover1 wished for death1 and obtained it4 ,callimachus1 when informed of her loss1 was still more furious with love2 he bribed one of ,andronicus's domestics1 who had the keys of the tomb2 he ran to it1 stripped his mistress of her shroud1 and exclaimed1 ,what thou wouldst not grant me living1 thou shalt grant me dead1 ,a serpent instantly issued from the tomb2 the young man fainted2 the serpent killed him1 as also the domestic who was his accomplice1 and coiled itself round his body4 ,st4 ,john arrives with the husband1 and1 to their astonishment1 they find ,callimachus alive4 ,st4 ,john orders the serpent to depart1 and the serpent obeys4 ,he asks the young man how he has been resuscitated4 ,callimachus answered that an angel had appeared to him1 saying1 ,it was necessary that thou shouldst die in order to revive a ,christian4 ,he immediately asked to be baptized1 and begged that ,john would resuscitate ,drusilla4 ,the apostle having instantly worked this miracle1 ,callimachus and ,drusilla prayed that he would also be so good as to resuscitate the domestic4 ,the latter1 who was an obstinate pagan1 being restored to life1 declared that he would rather die than be a ,christian1 and1 accordingly1 he incontinently died again2 on which ,st4 ,john said that a bad tree always bears bad fruit4 ,aristodemus1 high-priest of ,ephesus1 though struck by such a prodigy1 would not be converted2 he said to ,st4 ,john3 ,permit me to poison you2 and1 if you do not die1 ,i will be converted4 ,the apostle accepted the proposal2 but he chose that ,aristodemus should first poison two ,ephesians condemned to death4 ,aristodemus immediately presented to them the poison1 and they instantly expired4 ,st4 ,john took the same poison1 which did him no harm4 ,he resuscitated the two dead men1 and the high-priest was converted4 ,st4 ,john having attained the age of ninety-seven years1 ,jesus ,christ appeared to him1 and said1 ,it is time for thee to come to ,my table1 and feast with thy brethren2 and soon after the apostle slept in peace4 ,,xiii4 ,the ,history of the ,blessed ,james the ,less1 and the brothers ,simon and ,jude4 ,these apostles went into ,persia1 and performed things as incredible as those related of ,st4 ,andrew4 ,,xiv4 ,the ,acts of ,st4 ,matthew1 apostle and evangelist4 ,st4 ,matthew goes into ,ethiopia1 to the great town of ,nadaver1 where he restores to life the son of ,queen ,candace1 and founds ,christian churches4 ,,xv4 ,the ,acts of the ,blessed ,bartholomew in ,india4 ,bartholomew went first to the temple of ,astaroth4 ,this goddess delivered oracles1 and cured all diseases4 ,bartholomew silenced her1 and made sick all those whom she had cured4 ,king ,polimius disputed with him2 the devil declared1 before the king1 that he was conquered1 and ,st4 ,bartholomew consecrated ,king ,polimius bishop of the ,indies4 ,,xvi4 ,the ,acts of the ,blessed ,thomas1 apostle of ,india4 ,st4 ,thomas entered ,india by another road1 and worked more miracles than ,st4 ,bartholomew4 ,he at last suffered martyrdom1 and appeared to ,xiphoro and ,susani4 ,,xvii4 ,the ,acts of the ,blessed ,philip4 ,he went to preach in ,scythia4 ,they wished to make him a sacrifice to ,mars1 but he caused a dragon to issue from the altar and devour the children of the priests4 ,he died at ,hierapolis1 at the age of eighty-seven4 ,it is not known what town this was1 for there were several of the name4 ,all these histories are supposed to have been written by ,abdias1 bishop of ,babylon1 and were translated by ,julius ,africanus4 ,,xviii4 ,to these abuses of the ,holy ,scriptures was added one less revolting--one which did not fail in respect for ,christianity1 like those which have just been laid before the reader1 viz41 the ,liturgies attributed to ,st ,james1 ,st4 ,peter1 and ,st4 ,mark1 the falsehood of which has been shown by the learned ,tillemont4 ,,xix4 ,fabricius places among the apocryphal writings the ,homily 7attributed to ,st4 ,augustine7 on the manner in which the ,symbol was formed4 ,but he certainly does not mean to insinuate that this ,symbol or ,creed1 which we call the ,apostles'1 is the less true and sacred4 ,it is said in this ,homily1 in ,rufinus1 and afterwards in ,isidorus1 that ten days after the ascension1 the apostles1 being shut up together for fear of the ,jews1 ,peter said1 ,i believe in ,god1 the ,father ,almighty2 ,andrew1 and in ,jesus ,christ1 ,his only son2 ,james1 who was conceived by the ,holy ,ghost2 and that thus1 each apostle having repeated an article1 the ,creed was completed4 ,this story not being in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 our belief in it is dispensed with--but not our belief in the ,creed1 of which the apostles taught the substance4 ,truth must not suffer from the false ornaments in which it has been sought to array her4 ,,xx4 ,the ,apostolical ,constitutions4 ,the ,constitutions of the ,holy ,apostles1 which were formerly supposed to have been digested by ,st4 ,clement the ,roman1 are now ranked among the apocryphal writings4 ,the reading of a few chapters is sufficient to show that the apostles had no share in this work4 ,in the eleventh chapter1 women are ordered not to rise before the ninth hour4 ,in the first chapter of the second book it is desired that bishops should be learned1 but in the time of the apostles there was no hierarchy--no bishop attached to a single church4 ,they went about teaching from town to town1 from village to village2 they were called apostles1 not bishops2 and1 above all things1 they did not pride themselves on being learned4 ,in the second chapter of the second book it is said that a bishop should have but one wife1 to take great care of his household2 which only goes to prove that at the close of the first and the commencement of the second century1 when the hierarchy was beginning to be established1 the priests were married4 ,through almost the whole book the bishops are regarded as the judges of the faithful2 but it is well known that the apostles had no jurisdiction4 ,it is said1 in chapter xxi41 that both parties must be heard2 which supposes an established jurisdiction4 ,in chapter xxvi4 it is said1 ,the bishop is your prince1 your king1 your emperor1 your ,god upon earth4 ,these expressions are somewhat at variance with the humility of the apostles4 ,in chapter xxviii41 ,at the feasts of the ,agapae1 there must be given to the deacon double that which is given to an old woman1 and to the priest double the gift to the deacon1 because the priests are the counsellors of the bishops and the crown of the ,church4 ,the reader shall have a portion1 in honor of the prophets1 as also the chanter and the door-keeper4 ,such of the laity as wish to receive anything shall apply to the bishop through the deacon4 ,the apostles never used any term answering to laity1 or marking the difference between the profane and the priesthood4 ,in chapter xxxiv41 ,you must reverence the bishop as a king1 honor him as a master1 and give him your fruits1 the works of your hands1 your first fruits1 your tenths1 your savings1 the presents that are made to you1 your corn1 your wine1 your oil1 your wool1 etc4 ,this is a strong article4 ,in chapter lvii41 ,let the church be long2 let it look towards the ,east2 let it resemble a ship2 let the bishop's throne be in the middle2 let the reader read the books of ,moses1 ,joshua1 ,judges1 ,kings1 ,chronicles1 ,job1 etc4 ,in chapter xvii4 of the third book1 ,baptism is administered for the death of ,jesus2 oil for the ,holy ,ghost4 ,when we are plunged into the water1 we die2 when we come out of it1 we revive4 ,the ,father is the ,god of all4 ,christ is the only ,son of ,god1 his beloved ,son1 and the ,lord of glory4 ,the ,holy ,spirit is the ,paraclete1 sent by ,christ the teacher1 preaching ,christ ,jesus4 ,this doctrine would now be explained in more canonical terms4 ,in chapter vii4 of the fifth book are quoted some verses of the ,sibyls on the coming of ,jesus and the resurrection4 ,this was the first time that the ,christians admitted the verses of the ,sibyls1 which they continued to do for more than three hundred years4 ,in chapter v4 of the eighth book are these words3 ,o ,god ,almighty1 give to the bishop1 through ,christ1 the participation of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,in chapter iv41 ,commend yourself to ,god alone1 through ,jesus ,christ2 which does not sufficiently express the divinity of our ,lord4 ,in chapter xii4 is the ,constitution of ,james1 the brother of ,zebedee4 ,in chapter xv4 the deacon is to say aloud1 ,incline yourselves before ,god through ,christ4 ,at the present day these expressions are not very correct4 ,,xxi4 ,the ,apostolical ,canons4 ,the sixth canon ordains that no bishop or priest shall separate himself from his wife on pretence of religion2 if he do so1 he is to be excommunicated1 and if he persist he is to be driven away4 ,the seventh--that no priest shall ever meddle with secular affairs4 ,the nineteenth--that he who has married two sisters shall not be admitted into the clergy4 ,the twenty-first and twenty-second--that eunuchs shall be admitted into the priesthood excepting such as have castrated themselves4 ,yet ,origen was a priest1 notwithstanding this law4 ,the fifty-fifth--that if a bishop1 a priest1 a deacon1 or a clerk eat flesh which is not clear of blood1 he shall be displaced4 ,it is quite evident that these canons could not be promulgated by the apostles4 ,,xxii4 ,the ,confessions of ,st4 ,clement to ,james1 brother of the ,lord1 in ten books1 translated from ,greek into ,latin by ,rufinus4 ,this book commences with a doubt respecting the immortality of the soul3 ,utrumne sit mihi aliqua vita post mortem1 an nihil omnino postea sim futurus4 ,st4 ,clement1 disturbed by this doubt and wishing to know whether the world was eternal or had been created---whether there were a ,tartarus and a ,phlegethon1 an ,ixion and a ,tantalus1 etc41 resolved to go into ,egypt to learn necromancy1 but having heard of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 who was preaching ,christianity1 he went to him in the ,east1 at the time when ,barnabas was celebrating a ,jewish feast4 ,he afterwards met ,st4 ,peter at ,csarea1 with ,simon the magician and ,zacchus4 ,they disputed together1 and ,st4 ,peter related to them all that had passed since the death of ,jesus4 ,clement turned ,christian1 but ,simon remained a magician4 ,simon fell in love with a woman named ,luna1 and1 while waiting to marry her1 he proposed to ,st4 ,peter1 to ,zacchus1 to ,lazarus1 to ,nicodemus1 to ,dositheus1 and to several others1 that they should become his disciples4 ,dositheus answered him at once with a blow from a stick2 but the stick having passed through ,simon's body as if it had been smoke1 ,dositheus worshipped him and became his lieutenant1 after which ,simon married his mistress and declared that she was ,luna herself1 descended from heaven to marry him4 ,but enough of the ,confessions of ,st4 ,clement4 ,it must1 however1 be remarked that in the ninth book the ,chinese are spoken of under the name of ,seres as the justest and wisest of mankind4 ,after them come the ,brahmins1 to whom the author does the justice that was rendered them by all antiquity4 ,he cites them as models of soberness1 mildness1 and justice4 ,,xxiii4 ,st4 ,peter's ,letter to ,st4 ,james1 and ,st4 ,clement's ,letter to the same ,st4 ,james1 brother of the ,lord1 governor of the ,holy ,church of the ,hebrews at ,jerusalem1 and of all churches4 ,st4 ,peter's ,letter contains nothing curious1 but ,st4 ,clement's is very remarkable4 ,he asserts that ,peter declared him bishop of ,rome before his death1 and his coadjutor2 that he laid his hands upon his head1 and made him sit in the episcopal chair in the presence of all the faithful2 and that he said to him1 ,fail not to write to my brother ,james as soon as ,i am dead4 ,this letter seems to prove that it was not then believed that ,st4 ,peter had suffered martyrdom1 since it is probable that this letter1 attributed to ,st4 ,clement1 would have mentioned the circumstance4 ,it also proves that ,cletus and ,anacletus were not reckoned among the bishops of ,rome4 ,,xxiv4 ,st4 ,clement's ,homilies1 to the number of nineteen4 ,he says in his first homily what he had already said in his confessions--that he went to ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,barnabas at ,csarea1 to know whether the soul was immortal1 and the world eternal4 ,in the second homily1 ,no4 xxxviii41 we find a much more extraordinary passage4 ,st4 ,peter himself1 speaking of the ,old ,testament1 expresses himself thus3 ,the written law contains certain false things against the law of ,god1 the ,creator of heaven and earth2 the devil has done this1 for good reasons2 it has also come to pass through the judgments of ,god1 in order to discover such as would listen with pleasure to what is written against ,him1 etc4 ,in the sixth homily ,st4 ,clement meets with ,appian1 the same who had written against the ,jews in the time of ,tiberius4 ,he tells ,appian that he is in love with an ,egyptian woman and begs that he will write a letter in his name to his pretended mistress to convince her1 by the example of all the gods1 that love is a duty4 ,appian writes a letter and ,st4 ,clement answers it in the name of his pretended mistress1 after which they dispute on the nature of the gods4 ,,xxv4 ,two ,epistles of ,st4 ,clement to the ,corinthians4 ,it hardly seems just to have ranked these epistles among the apocryphal writings4 ,some of the learned may have declined to recognize them because they speak of the phoenix of ,arabia1 which lives five hundred years1 and burns itself in ,egypt in the city of ,heliopolis4 ,but there is nothing extraordinary in ,st4 ,clement's having believed this fable which so many others believed1 nor in his having written letters to the ,corinthians4 ,it is known that there was at that time a great dispute between the church of ,corinth and that of ,rome4 ,the church of ,corinth1 which declared itself to have been founded first1 was governed in common2 there was scarcely any distinction between the priests and the seculars1 still less between the priests and the bishop2 all alike had a deliberative voice1 so1 at least1 several of the learned assert4 ,st4 ,clement says to the ,corinthians in his first epistle3 ,you have laid the first foundations of sedition2 be subject to your priests1 correct yourselves by penance1 bend the knees of your hearts1 learn to obey4 ,it is not at all astonishing that a bishop of ,rome should use these expressions4 ,in the second epistle we again find that answer of ,jesus ,christ1 on being asked when ,his kingdom of heaven should come3 ,when two shall make one1 when that which is without shall be within1 when the male shall be female1 when there shall be neither male nor female4 ,,xxvi4 ,letter from ,st4 ,ignatius the martyr to the ,virgin ,mary1 and the ,virgin's answer to ,st4 ,ignatius3 ,to ,mary the ,mother of ,christ1 from her devoted ,ignatius3 ,you should console me1 a neophyte1 and a disciple of your ,john4 ,i have heard several wonderful things of your ,jesus1 at which ,i have been much astonished4 ,i desire with all my heart to be informed of them by you1 who always lived in familiarity with ,him and knew all ,his secrets4 ,fare you well4 ,comfort the neophytes1 who are with me from you and through you4 ,amen4 ,the ,holy ,virgin's ,answer to ,her ,dear ,disciple ,ignatius3 ,the ,humble ,servant of ,jesus ,christ3 ,all the things which you have learned from ,john are true2 believe in them2 persevere in your belief2 keep your vow of ,christianity4 ,i will come and see you with ,john1 you and those who are with you4 ,be firm in the faith2 act like a man2 let not severity and persecution disturb you1 but let your spirit be strengthened and exalted in ,god your ,saviour4 ,amen4 ,it is asserted that these letters were written in the year #aaf of the ,christian era1 but they are not therefore the less false and absurd4 ,they would even have been an insult to our holy religion had they not been written in a spirit of simplicity1 which renders everything pardonable4 ,,xxvii4 ,fragments of the ,apostles4 ,we find in them this passage3 ,paul1 a man of short stature1 with an aquiline nose and an angelic face4 ,instructed in heaven1 said to ,plantilla1 of ,rome1 before he died3 ',adieu1 ,plantilla1 thou little plant of eternal salvation2 know thy own nobility2 thou art whiter than snow2 thou art registered among the soldiers of ,christ2 thou art an heiress to the kingdom of heaven4' ,this was not worthy to be refuted4 ,,xxviii4 ,there are eleven ,apocalypses1 which are attributed to the patriarchs and prophets1 to ,st4 ,peter1 ,cerinthus1 ,st4 ,thomas1 ,st4 ,stephen the first martyr1 two to ,st4 ,john1 differing from the canonical one1 and three to ,st4 ,paul4 ,all these ,apocalypses have been eclipsed by that of ,st4 ,john4 ,,xxix4 ,the ,visions1 ,precepts1 and ,similitudes of ,hermas4 ,hermas seems to have lived about the close of the first century4 ,they who regard his book as apocryphal are nevertheless obliged to do justice to his morality4 ,he begins by saying that his foster-father had sold a young woman at ,rome4 ,hermas recognized this young woman after the lapse of several years1 and loved her1 he says1 as if she had been his sister4 ,he one day saw her bathing in the ,tiber2 he stretched forth his hand1 drew her out of the river and said in his heart1 ,how happy should ,i be if ,i had a wife like her in beauty and in manners4 ,immediately the heavens opened1 and he all at once beheld this same wife1 who made him a courtesy from above1 and said1 ,good morning1 ,hermas4 ,this wife was the ,christian ,church2 she gave him much good advice4 ,a year after1 the spirit transported him to the same place where he had seen this beauty1 who nevertheless was old2 but she was fresh in her age1 and was old only because she had been created from the beginning of the world1 and the world had been made for her4 ,the ,book of ,precepts contains fewer allegories1 but that of ,similitudes contains many4 ,one day1 says ,hennas1 when ,i was fasting and was seated on a hill1 giving thanks to ,god for all that he had done for me1 a shepherd came1 sat down beside me1 and said1 ',why have you come here so early8' ',because ,i am going through the stations1' answered ,i4 ',what is a station8' asked the shepherd4 ',it is a fast4' ',and what is this fast8' ',it is my custom4' ',ah6' replied the shepherd1 'you know not what it is to fast2 all this is of no avail before ,god4 ,i will teach you that which is true fasting and pleasing to the ,divinity4 ,your fasting has nothing to do with justice and virtue4 ,serve ,god with a pure heart2 keep ,his commandments2 admit into your heart no guilty designs4 ,if you have always the fear of ,god before your eyes--if you abstain from all evil1 that will be true fasting1 that will be the great fast which is acceptable to ,god4' ,this philosophical and sublime piety is one of the most singular monuments of the first century4 ,but it is somewhat strange that1 at the end of the ,similitudes1 the shepherd gives him very good-natured maidens--valde affabiles--to take care of his house and declares to him that he cannot fulfil ,god's commandments without these maidens1 who1 it is plain1 typify the virtues4 ,this list would become immense if we were to enter into every detail4 ,we will carry it no further1 but conclude with the ,sibyls4 ,,xxx4 ,the ,sibyls4--,what is most apocryphal in the primitive church is the prodigious number of verses in favor of the ,christian religion attributed to the ancient sibyls4 ,diodorus ,siculus knew of only one1 who was taken at ,thebes by the ,epigoni1 and placed at ,delphos before the ,trojan war4 ,ten sibyls--that is1 ten prophetesses1 were soon made from this one4 ,she of ,cuma had most credit among the ,romans1 and the sibyl ,erythrea among the ,greeks4 ,as all oracles were delivered in verse1 none of the sibyls could fail to make verses2 and to give them greater authority they sometimes made them in acrostics also4 ,several ,christians who had not a zeal according to knowledge not only misinterpreted the ancient verses supposed to have been written by the sibyls1 but also made some themselves1 and which is worse1 in acrostics1 not dreaming that this difficult artifice of acrosticizing had no resemblance whatever to the inspiration and enthusiasm of a prophetess4 ,they resolved to support the best of causes by the most awkward fraud4 ,they accordingly made bad ,greek verses1 the initials of which signified in ,greek--,jesus1 ,christ1 ,son1 ,saviour1 and these verses said that with five loaves and two fishes ,he should feed five thousand men in the desert and that with the fragments that remained ,he should fill twelve baskets4 ,the millennium and the ,new ,jerusalem1 which ,justin had seen in the air for forty nights1 were1 of course1 foretold by the sibyls4 ,in the fourth century ,lactantius collected almost all the verses attributed to the sibyls and considered them as convincing proofs4 ,the opinion was so well authorized and so long held that we still sing hymns in which the testimony of the sibyls is joined with the predictions of ,david3 ,solvet sclum in favilla1 ,teste ,david cum ,sibylla4 ,this catalogue of errors and frauds has been carried quite far enough4 ,a hundred might be repeated1 so constantly has the world been composed of deceivers and of people fond of being deceived4 ,but let us pursue no further so dangerous a research4 ,the elucidation of one great truth is worth more than the discovery of a thousand falsehoods4 ,not all these errors1 not all the crowd of apocryphal books have been sufficient to injure the ,christian religion1 because1 as we all know1 it is founded upon immutable truths4 ,these truths are supported by a church militant and triumphant1 to which ,god has given the power of teaching and of repressing4 ,in several countries it unites temporal with spiritual authority4 ,prudence1 strength1 wealth are its attributes1 and although it is divided1 and its divisions have sometimes stained it with blood1 it may be compared to the ,roman commonwealth--constantly torn by internal dissensions1 but constantly triumphant4 ,,apostate4 ,it is still a question among the learned whether the ,emperor ,julian was really an apostate and whether he was ever truly a ,christian4 ,he was not six years old when the ,emperor ,constantius1 still more barbarous than ,constantine1 had his father1 his brother1 and seven of his cousins murdered4 ,he and his brother ,gallus with difficulty escaped from this carnage1 but he was always very harshly treated by ,constantius4 ,his life was for a long time threatened1 and he soon beheld his only remaining brother assassinated by the tyrant's order4 ,the most barbarous of the ,turkish sultans have never1 ,i am sorry to say it1 surpassed in cruelty or in villainy the ,constantine family4 ,from his tenderest years study was ,julian's only consolation4 ,he communicated in secret with the most illustrious of the philosophers1 who were of the ancient religion of ,rome4 ,it is very probable that he professed that of his uncle ,constantius only to avoid assassination4 ,julian was obliged to conceal his mental powers1 as ,brutus had done under ,tarquin4 ,he was less likely to be a ,christian1 as his uncle had forced him to be a monk and to perform the office of reader in the church4 ,a man is rarely of the religion of his persecutor1 especially when the latter wishes to be ruler of his conscience4 ,another circumstance which renders this probable is that he does not say in any of his works that he had been a ,christian4 ,he never asks pardon for it of the pontiffs of the ancient religion4 ,he addresses them in his letters as if he had always been attached to the worship of the senate4 ,it is not even proved that he practised the ceremonies of the ,taurobolium1 which might be regarded as a sort of expiation1 and that he desired to wash out with bull's blood that which he so unfortunately called the stain of his baptism4 ,however1 this was a pagan form of devotion1 which is no more a proof than the assembling at the mysteries of ,ceres4 ,in short1 neither his friends nor his enemies relate any fact1 any words which can prove that he ever believed in ,christianity1 and that he passed from that sincere belief to the worship of the gods of the empire4 ,if such be the case they who do not speak of him as an apostate appear very excusable4 ,sound criticism being brought to perfection1 all the world now acknowledges that the ,emperor ,julian was a hero and a wise man--a stoic1 equal to ,marcus ,aurelius4 ,his errors are condemned1 but his virtues are admitted4 ,he is now regarded1 as he was by his contemporary1 ,prudentius1 author of the hymn ,salvete flores martyrum4 ,he says of ,julian3 ,ductor fortissimus armis1 ,conditor et legum celeberrimus2 ore manuque ,consultor patri2 sed non consultor habendus ,religionis2 amans tercentum millia divum ,perfidus ille ,deo1 sed non est perfidus orbi4 ,though great in arms1 in virtues1 and in laws1-- ,though ably zealous in his country's cause1 ,he spurned religion in his lofty plan1 ,rejecting ,god while benefiting man4 ,his detractors are reduced to the miserable expedient of striving to make him appear ridiculous4 ,one historian1 on the authority of ,st4 ,gregory ,nazianzen1 reproaches him with having worn too large a beard4 ,but1 my friend1 if nature gave him a long beard why should he wear it short8 ,he used to shake his head4 ,carry thy own better4 ,his step was hurried4 ,bear in mind that the ,abb d',aubignac1 the king's preacher1 having been hissed at the play1 laughs at the air and gait of the great ,corneille4 ,could you hope to turn ,marshal de ,luxembourg into ridicule because he walked ill and his figure was singular8 ,he could march very well against the enemy4 ,let us leave it to the ex-,jesuit ,patouillet1 the ex-,jesuit ,nonotte1 etc41 to call the ,emperor ,julian--the ,apostate4 ,poor creatures6 ,his ,christian successor1 ,jovian1 called him ,divus ,julianus4 ,let us treat this mistaken emperor as he himself treated us4 ,he said1 ,we should pity and not hate them2 they are already sufficiently unfortunate in erring on the most important of questions4 ,let us have the same compassion for him1 since we are sure that the truth is on our side4 ,he rendered strict justice to his subjects1 let us then render it to his memory4 ,some ,alexandrians were incensed against a bishop1 who1 it is true1 was a wicked man1 chosen by a worthless cabal4 ,his name was ,george ,biordos1 and he was the son of a mason4 ,his manners were lower than his birth4 ,he united the basest perfidy with the most brutal ferocity1 and superstition with every vice4 ,a calumniator1 a persecutor1 and an impostor--avaricious1 sanguinary1 and seditious1 he was detested by every party and at last the people cudgelled him to death4 ,the following is the letter which the ,emperor ,julian wrote to the ,alexandrians on the subject of this popular commotion4 ,mark how he addresses them1 like a father and a judge3 ,what6 said he1 instead of reserving for me the knowledge of your wrongs you have suffered yourselves to be transported with anger6 ,you have been guilty of the same excesses with which you reproach your enemies6 ,george deserved to be so treated1 but it was not for you to be his executioners4 ,you have laws2 you should have demanded justice1 etc4 ,some have dared to brand ,julian with the epithets intolerant and persecuting--the man who sought to extirpate persecution and intolerance6 ,peruse his fifty-second letter1 and respect his memory4 ,is he not sufficiently unfortunate in not having been a ,catholic1 and consequently in being burned in hell1 together with the innumerable multitude of those who have not been ,catholics1 without our insulting him so far as to accuse him of intolerance8 ,on the ,globes of ,fire said to have issued from the ,earth to prevent the rebuilding of the ,temple of ,jerusalem under the ,emperor ,julian4 ,it is very likely that when ,julian resolved to carry the war into ,persia he wanted money4 ,it is also very likely that the ,jews gave him some for permission to rebuild their temple1 which ,titus had partly destroyed1 but of which there still remained the foundations1 an entire wall1 and the ,antonine tower4 ,but is it as likely that globes of fire burst upon the works and the workmen and caused the undertaking to be relinquished4 ,is there not a palpable contradiction in what the historians relate8 #a4 ,how could it be that the ,jews began by destroying 7as they are said to have done7 the foundations of the temple which it was their wish and their duty to rebuild on the same spot8 ,the temple was necessarily to be on ,mount ,moriah4 ,there it was that ,solomon had built it4 ,there it was that ,herod had rebuilt it with greater solidity and magnificence1 having previously erected a fine theatre at ,jerusalem1 and a temple to ,augustus at ,csarea4 ,the foundations of this temple1 enlarged by ,herod1 were1 according to ,josephus1 as much as twenty-five feet broad4 ,could the ,jews1 in ,julian's time1 possibly be mad enough to wish to disarrange these stones which were so well prepared to receive the rest of the edifice1 and upon which the ,mahometans afterwards built their mosque8 ,what man was ever foolish and stupid enough thus to deprive himself at great cost and excessive labor of the greatest advantage that could present itself to his hands and eyes8 ,nothing is more incredible4 #b4 ,how could eruptions of flame burst forth from the interior of these stones8 ,there might be an earthquake in the neighborhood1 for they are frequent in ,syria1 but that great blocks of stone should have vomited clouds of fire6 ,is not this story entitled to just as much credit as all those of antiquity8 #c4 ,if this prodigy1 or if an earthquake1 which is not a prodigy1 had really happened would not the ,emperor ,julian have spoken of it in the letter in which he says that he had intended to rebuild this temple8 ,would not his testimony have been triumphantly adduced8 ,is it not infinitely more probable that he changed his mind8 ,does not this letter contain these words3 ,quid de templo sua dicent1 quod1 quum tertio sit eversum1 nondum hodiernam usque diem instauratur8 ,hc ego1 non ut illis exprobarem1 in medium adduxi1 utpote qui templum illud tanto intervallo a ruinis excitare voluerim2 sed ideo commemoravi1 ut ostenderem delirasse prophetas istos1 quibus cum stolidis aniculis negotium erat4 ,what will they 7the ,jews7 say of their temple which has been destroyed for the third time and is not yet restored8 ,i speak of this1 not for the purpose of reproaching them1 for ,i myself had intended to raise it once more from its ruins1 but to show the extravagance of their prophets who had none but old women to deal with4 ,is it not evident that the emperor having paid attention to the ,jewish prophecies1 that the temple should be rebuilt more beautiful than ever and that all the nations of the earth should come and worship in it1 thought fit to revoke the permission to raise the edifice8 ,the historical probability1 then1 from the emperor's own words1 is1 that unfortunately holding the ,jewish books1 as well as our own1 in abhorrence1 he at length resolved to make the ,jewish prophets lie4 ,the ,abb de la ,bltrie1 the historian of the ,emperor ,julian1 does not understand how the temple of ,jerusalem was destroyed three times4 ,he says that apparently ,julian reckoned as a third destruction the catastrophe which happened during his reign4 ,a curious destruction this6 the non-removal of the stones of an old foundation4 ,what could prevent this writer from seeing that the temple1 having been built by ,solomon1 reconstructed by ,zorobabel1 entirely destroyed by ,herod1 rebuilt by ,herod himself with so much magnificence1 and at last laid in ruins by ,titus1 manifestly made three destructions of the temple8 ,the reckoning is correct4 ,julian should surely have escaped calumny on this point4 ,the ,abb de la ,bltrie calumniates him sufficiently by saying that all his virtues were only seeming1 while all his vices were real4 ,but ,julian was not hypocritical1 nor avaricious1 nor fraudulent1 nor lying1 nor ungrateful1 nor cowardly1 nor drunken1 nor debauched1 nor idle1 nor vindictive4 ,what then were his vices8 #d4 ,let us now examine the redoubtable argument made use of to persuade us that globes of fire issued from stones4 ,ammianus ,marcellinus a pagan writer1 free from all suspicion1 has said it4 ,be it so3 but this ,ammianus has also said that when the emperor was about to sacrifice ten oxen to his gods for his first victory over the ,persians1 nine of them fell to the earth before they were presented to the altar4 ,he relates a hundred predictions--a hundred prodigies4 ,are we to believe in them8 ,are we to believe in all the ridiculous miracles related by ,livy8 ,besides1 who can say that the text of ,ammianus ,marcellinus has not been falsified8 ,would it be the only instance in which this artifice has been employed8 ,i wonder that no mention is made of the little fiery crosses which all the workmen found on their bodies when they went to bed4 ,they would have made an admirable figure along with the globes4 ,the fact is that the temple of the ,jews was not rebuilt1 and it may be presumed never will be so4 ,here let us hold1 and not seek useless prodigies4 ,globi ,hammarum--globes of fire1 issue neither from stones nor from earth4 ,ammianus1 and those who have quoted him1 were not natural philosophers4 ,let the abb de la ,bltrie only look at the fire on ,st4 ,john's day1 and he will see that flame always ascends with a point1 or in a cloud1 and never in a globe4 ,this alone is sufficient to overturn the nonsense which he comes forward to defend with injudicious criticism and revolting pride4 ,after all1 the thing is of very little importance4 ,there is nothing in it that affects either faith or morals2 and historical truth is all that is here sought for4 ,,apostles4 ,their ,lives1 their ,wives1 their ,children4 ,after the article ,apostle in the ,encyclopdia1 which is as learned as it is orthodox1 very little remains to be said4 ,but we often hear it asked--,were the apostles married8 ,had they any children8 if they had1 what became of those children8 ,where did the apostles live8 ,where did they write8 ,where did they die8 ,had they any appropriated districts8 ,did they exercise any civil ministry8 ,had they any jurisdiction over the faithful8 ,were they bishops8 ,had they a hierarchy1 rites1 or ceremonies8 ,i4 ,were the ,apostles ,married8 ,there is extant a letter attributed to ,st4 ,ignatius the ,martyr1 in which are these decisive words3 ,i call to mind your sanctity as ,i do that of ,elias1 ,jeremiah1 ,john the ,baptist1 and the chosen disciples ,timothy1 ,titus1 ,evadius1 and ,clement2 yet ,i do not blame such other of the blessed as were bound in the bonds of marriage1 but hope to be found worthy of ,god in following their footsteps in his kingdom1 after the example of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 ,jacob1 ,joseph1 ,isaiah1 and the other prophets--of ,peter and ,paul1 and the apostles who were married4 ,some of the learned assert that the name of ,st4 ,paul has been interpolated in this famous letter3 however1 ,turrian and all who have seen the letters of ,ignatius in the library of the ,vatican acknowledge that ,st4 ,paul's name appears there4 ,and ,baronius does not deny that this passage is to be found in some ,greek manuscripts3 ,non negamus in quibusdam grcis codicibus4 ,but he asserts that these words have been added by modern ,greeks4 ,in the old ,oxford library there was a manuscript of ,st4 ,ignatius's letters in ,greek1 which contained the above words2 but it was1 ,i believe1 burned with many other books at the taking of ,oxford by ,cromwell4 ,there is still one in ,latin in the same library1 in which the words ,pauli et apostolorum have been effaced1 but in such a manner that the old characters may be easily distinguished4 ,it is however certain that this passage exists in several editions of these letters4 ,this dispute about ,st4 ,paul's marriage is1 after all1 a very frivolous one4 ,what matters it whether he was married or not1 if the other apostles were married8 ,his first ,epistle to the ,corinthians is quite sufficient to prove that he might be married1 as well as the rest3 ,have we not power to eat and to drink8 ,have we not power to lead about a sister1 a wife1 as well as other apostles1 and as the brethren of the ,lord1 and ,cephas8 ,or ,i only and ,barnabas1 have not we power to forbear working8 ,who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges8 ,it is clear from this passage that all the apostles were married1 as well as ,st4 ,peter4 ,and ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria positively declares that ,st4 ,paul had a wife4 ,the ,roman discipline has changed1 which is no proof that the usage of the primitive ages was not different4 ,,ii4 ,children of the ,apostles4 ,very little is known of their families4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria says that ,peter had children1 that ,philip had daughters1 and that he gave them in marriage4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles specify ,st4 ,philip1 whose four daughters prophesied1 of whom it is believed that one was married1 and that this one was ,st4 ,hermione4 ,eusebius relates that ,nicholas1 chosen by the apostles to co-operate in the sacred ministry with ,st4 ,stephen1 had a very handsome wife1 of whom he was jealous4 ,the apostles having reproached him with his jealousy1 he corrected himself of it1 brought his wife to them and said1 ,i am ready to yield her up2 let him marry her who will4 ,the apostles1 however1 did not accept his proposal4 ,he had by his wife a son and several daughters4 ,cleophas1 according to ,eusebius and ,st4 ,epiphanius1 was brother to ,st4 ,joseph1 and father of ,st4 ,james the ,less1 and of ,st4 ,jude1 whom he had by ,mary1 sister to the ,blessed ,virgin4 ,so that ,st4 ,jude the apostle was first cousin to ,jesus ,christ4 ,hegesippus1 quoted by ,eusebius1 tells us that two grandsons of ,st4 ,jude were informed against to the emperor ,domitian as being descendants of ,david and having an incontestable right to the throne of ,jerusalem4 ,domitian1 fearing that they might avail themselves of this right1 put questions to them himself1 and they acquainted him with their genealogy4 ,the emperor asked them what fortune they had4 ,they answered that they had thirty-nine acres of land1 which paid tribute1 and that they worked for their livelihood4 ,he then asked them when ,jesus ,christ's kingdom was to come1 and they told him ,at the end of the world4 ,after which ,domitian permitted them to depart in peace2 which goes far to prove that he was not a persecutor4 ,this1 if ,i mistake not1 is all that is known about the children of the apostles4 ,,iii4 ,where did the ,apostles ,live8 ,where did ,they ,die8 ,according to ,eusebius1 ,james1 sur named the ,just1 brother to ,jesus ,christ1 was in the beginning placed first on the episcopal throne of the city of ,jerusalem2 these are his own words4 ,so that1 according to him1 the first bishopric was that of ,jerusalem--supposing that the ,jews knew even the name of bishop4 ,it does1 indeed1 appear very likely that the brother of ,jesus ,christ should have been the first after him1 and that the very city in which the miracle of our salvation was worked should have become the metropolis of the ,christian world4 ,as for the episcopal throne1 that is a term which ,eusebius uses by anticipation4 ,we all know that there was then neither throne nor see4 ,eusebius adds1 after ,st4 ,clement1 that the other apostles did not contend with ,st4 ,james for this dignity4 ,they elected him immediately after the ,ascension4 ,our ,lord1 says he1 after ,his resurrection1 had given to ,james1 surnamed the ,just1 to ,john and to ,peter the gift of knowledge--very remarkable words4 ,eusebius mentions ,james first1 then ,john1 and ,peter comes last4 ,it seems but just that the brother and the beloved disciple of ,jesus should come before the man who had denied ,him4 ,nearly the whole ,greek ,church and all the reformers ask1 ,where is ,peter's primacy8 ,the ,catholics answer--,if he is not placed first by the fathers of the church1 he is in the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,the ,greeks and the rest reply that he was not the first bishop2 and the dispute will endure as long as the churches4 ,st4 ,james1 this first bishop of ,jerusalem1 always continued to observe the ,mosaic law4 ,he was a ,rechabite2 he walked barefoot1 and never shaved2 went and prostrated himself in the ,jewish temple twice a day1 and was surnamed by the ,jews ,oblia1 signifying the just4 ,they at length applied to him to know who ,jesus ,christ was1 and having answered that ,jesus was the son of man1 who sat on the right hand of ,god1 and that ,he should come in the clouds1 he was beaten to death4 ,this was ,st4 ,james the ,less4 ,st4 ,james the ,greater was his uncle1 brother to ,st4 ,john the ,evangelist1 and son of ,zebedee and ,salome4 ,it is asserted that ,agrippa1 king of the ,jews1 had him beheaded at ,jerusalem4 ,st4 ,john remained in ,asia and governed the church of ,ephesus1 where1 it is said1 he was buried4 ,st4 ,andrew1 brother to ,st ,peter1 quitted the school of ,st4 ,john for that of ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is not agreed whether he preached among the ,tartars or in ,argos2 but1 to get rid of the difficulty1 we are told that it was in ,epirus4 ,no one knows where he suffered martyrdom1 nor even whether he suffered it at all4 ,the ,acts of his martyrdom are more than suspected by the learned4 ,painters have always represented him on a saltier-cross1 to which his name has been given4 ,this custom has prevailed without its origin being known4 ,st4 ,peter preached to the ,jews dispersed in ,pontus1 ,bithynia1 ,cappadocia1 at ,antioch1 and at ,babylon4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles do not speak of his journey to ,rome1 nor does ,st4 ,paul himself make any mention of it in the letters which he wrote from that capital4 ,st4 ,justin is the first accredited author who speaks of this journey1 about which the learned are not agreed4 ,st4 ,irenus1 after ,st4 ,justin1 expressly says that ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul came to ,rome1 and that they entrusted its government to ,st4 ,linus4 ,but here is another difficulty3 if they made ,st4 ,linus inspector of the rising ,christian society at ,rome1 it must be inferred that they themselves did not superintend it nor remain in that city4 ,criticism has cast upon this matter a thousand uncertainties4 ,the opinion that ,st4 ,peter came to ,rome in ,nero's reign and filled the pontifical chair there for twenty-five years1 is untenable1 for ,nero reigned only thirteen years4 ,the wooden chair1 so splendidly inlaid in the church at ,rome1 can hardly have belonged to ,st4 ,peter3 wood does not last so long2 nor is it likely that ,st4 ,peter delivered his lessons from this chair as in a school thoroughly formed1 since it is averred that the ,jews of ,rome were violent enemies to the disciples of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the greatest difficulty perhaps is that ,st4 ,paul1 in his epistle written to the ,colossians from ,rome1 positively says that he was assisted only by ,aristarchus1 ,marcus1 and another bearing the name of ,jesus4 ,this objection has1 to men of the greatest learning1 appeared to be insurmountable4 ,in his letter to the ,galatians he says that he obliged ,james1 ,cephas1 and ,john1 who seemed to be pillars1 to acknowledge himself and ,barnabas as pillars also4 ,if he placed ,james before ,cephas1 then ,cephas was not the chief4 ,happily1 these disputes affect not the foundation of our holy religion4 ,whether ,st4 ,peter ever was at ,rome or not1 ,jesus ,christ is no less the ,son of ,god and the ,virgin ,mary2 ,he did not the less rise again2 nor did ,he the less recommend humility and poverty2 which are neglected1 it is true1 but about which there is no dispute4 ,callistus ,nicephorus1 a writer of the fourteenth century1 says that ,peter was tall1 straight and slender1 his face long and pale1 his beard and hair short1 curly1 and neglected--his eyes black1 his nose long1 and rather flat than pointed4 ,so ,calmet translates the passage4 ,st4 ,bartholomew is a word corrupted from ,bar4 ,ptolomaios1 son of ,ptolemy4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles inform us that he was a ,galilean4 ,eusebius asserts that he went to preach in ,india1 ,arabia ,felix1 ,persia1 and ,abyssinia4 ,he is believed to have been the same as ,nathanael4 ,there is a gospel attributed to him2 but all that has been said of his life and of his death is very uncertain4 ,it has been asserted that ,astyages1 brother to ,polemon1 king of ,armenia1 had him flayed alive2 but all good writers regard this story as fabulous4 ,st4 ,philip4--,according to the apocryphal legends he lived eighty-seven years1 and died in peace in the reign of ,trajan4 ,st4 ,thomas ,didymus4--,origen1 quoted by ,eusebius1 says that he went and preached to the ,medes1 the ,persians1 the ,caramanians1 the ,baskerians1 and the magi--as if the magi had been a people4 ,it is added that he baptized one of the magi1 who had come to ,bethlehem4 ,the ,manichans assert that a man who had stricken ,thomas was devoured by a lion4 ,some ,portuguese writers assure us that he suffered martyrdom at ,meliapour1 in the peninsula of ,india4 ,the ,greek ,church believes that he preached in ,india1 and that from thence his body was carried to ,edessa4 ,some monks are further induced to believe that he went to ,india1 by the circumstance that1 about the end of the fifteenth century1 there were found1 near the coast of ,ormuz1 some families of ,nestorians1 who had been established there by a merchant of ,moussoul1 named ,thomas4 ,the legend sets forth that he built a magnificent palace for an ,indian king named ,gondaser3 but all these stories are rejected by the learned4 ,st4 ,matthias4--,no particulars are known of him4 ,his life was not found until the twelfth century by a monk of the abbey of ,st4 ,matthias of ,treves4 ,he said he had it from a ,jew1 who translated it for him from ,hebrew into ,latin4 ,st4 ,matthew4--,according to ,rufinus1 ,socrates1 and ,abdias1 he preached and died in ,ethiopia4 ,heracleon makes him live a long time and die a natural death4 ,but ,abdias says that ,hyrtacus1 king of ,ethiopia1 brother to ,eglypus1 wishing to marry his niece ,iphigenia1 and finding that he could not obtain ,st4 ,matthew's permission1 had his head struck off and set fire to ,iphigenia's house4 ,he to whom we owe the most circumstantial gospel that we possess deserved a better historian than ,abdias4 ,st4 ,simon the ,canaanite1 whose feast is commonly joined with that of ,st4 ,jude4--,of his life nothing is known4 ,the modern ,greeks say that he went to preach in ,libya1 and thence into ,england4 ,others make him suffer martyrdom in ,persia4 ,st4 ,thaddus or ,lebbus4--,the same as ,st4 ,jude1 whom the ,jews in ,st4 ,matthew call brother to ,jesus ,christ1 and who1 according to ,eusebius1 was his first cousin4 ,all these relations1 for the most part vague and uncertain1 throw no light on the lives of the apostles4 ,but if there is little to gratify our curiosity1 there is much from which we may derive instruction4 ,two of the four gospels1 chosen from among the fifty-four composed by the first ,christians1 were not written by apostles4 ,st4 ,paul was not one of the twelve apostles1 yet he contributed more than any other to the establishment of ,christianity4 ,he was the only man of letters among them4 ,he had studied under ,gamaliel4 ,festus himself1 the governor of ,juda1 reproaches him with being too learned2 and1 unable to comprehend the sublimities of his doctrine1 he says to him1 ,insanis1 ,paule1 mult te litter ad insaniam convertunt4 ,paul1 thou art beside thyself2 much learning doth make thee mad4 ,in his first epistle to the ,corinthians he calls himself sent4 ,am ,i not an apostle8 ,am ,i not free8 ,have ,i not seen ,jesus ,christ our ,lord8 ,are ye not my work in the ,lord8 ,if ,i am not an apostle unto others1 yet1 doubtless1 ,i am unto you1 etc4 ,he might1 indeed1 have seen ,jesus while he was studying at ,jerusalem under ,gamaliel4 ,yet it may be said that this was not a reason which could authorize his apostleship4 ,he had not been one of the disciples of ,jesus2 on the contrary1 he had persecuted them1 and had been an accomplice in the death of ,st4 ,stephen4 ,it is astonishing that he does not rather justify his voluntary apostleship by the miracle which ,jesus ,christ afterwards worked in his favor--by the light from heaven which appeared to him at midday and threw him from his horse1 and by his being carried up to the third heaven4 ,st4 ,epiphanius quotes ,acts of the ,apostles1 believed to have been composed by those ,christians called ,ebionites1 or poor1 and which were rejected by the ,church--acts very ancient1 it is true1 but full of abuse of ,st4 ,paul4 ,in them it is said that ,st4 ,paul was born at ,tarsus of idolatrous parents--utroque parente gentili procreatus--that1 having come to ,jerusalem1 where he remained some time1 he wished to marry the daughter of ,gamaliel2 that1 with this design1 he became a ,jewish proselyte and got himself circumcised2 but that1 not obtaining this virgin 7or not finding her a virgin71 his vexation made him write against circumcision1 against the ,sabbath1 and against the whole law4 ,quumque ,hierosolymam accessisset1 et ibidem aliquandiu mansisset1 pontificis filiam ducere in animum induxisse1 et eam ab rem proselytum factum1 atque circumcisum esse2 postea quod virginem eam non accepisset1 succensuisse1 et adversus circumcisionem1 ac sabbathum totamque legem scripsisse4 ,these injurious words show that these primitive ,christians1 under the name of the poor1 were still attached to the ,sabbath and to circumcision1 resting this attachment on the circumcision of ,jesus ,christ and his observance of the ,sabbath2 and that they were enemies to ,st4 ,paul1 regarding him as an intruder who sought to overturn everything4 ,in short1 they were heretics2 consequently they strove to defame their enemies1 an excess of which party spirit and superstition are too often guilty4 ,st4 ,paul1 too1 calls them false apostles1 deceitful workers1 and loads them with abuse4 ,in his letter to the ,philippians he calls them dogs4 ,st4 ,jerome asserts that he was born at ,gisceala1 a town of ,galilee1 and not at ,tarsus4 ,others dispute his having been a ,roman citizen1 because at that time there were no ,roman citizens at ,tarsus1 nor at ,galgala1 and ,tarsus was not a ,roman colony until about a hundred years after4 ,but we must believe the ,acts of the ,apostles1 which were inspired by the ,holy ,ghost1 and therefore outweigh the testimony of ,st4 ,jerome1 learned as he might be4 ,every particular relative to ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul is interesting4 ,if ,nicephorus has given us a portrait of the one1 the ,acts of ,st4 ,thecla1 which1 though not canonical1 are of the first century1 have furnished us with a portrait of the other4 ,he was1 say these acts1 short in stature1 his head was bald1 his thighs were crooked1 his legs thick1 his nose aquiline1 his eyebrows joined1 and he was full of the grace of ,god4--,statura brevi1 etc4 ,these ,acts of ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,thecla were1 according to ,tertullian1 composed by an ,asiatic1 one of ,paul's own disciples1 who at first put them forth under the apostle's name2 for which he was called to account and displaced--that is1 excluded from the assembly2 for the hierarchy1 not being then established1 no one could1 properly speaking1 be displaced4 ,,iv4 ,under ,what ,discipline ,did the ,apostles and ,primitive ,disciples ,live8 ,it appears that they were all equal4 ,equality was the great principle of the ,essenians1 the ,rechabites1 the ,theraput1 the disciples of ,john1 and especially those of ,jesus ,christ1 who inculcated it more than once4 ,st4 ,barnabas1 who was not one of the twelve apostles1 gave his voice along with theirs4 ,st4 ,paul1 who was still less a chosen apostle during the life of ,jesus1 not only was equal to them1 but had a sort of ascendancy2 he rudely rebukes ,st4 ,peter4 ,when they are together we find among them no superior4 ,there was no presiding1 not even in turn4 ,they did not at first call themselves bishops4 ,st4 ,peter gives the name of bishop1 or the equivalent epithet1 only to ,jesus ,christ1 whom he calls the inspector of souls4 ,this name of inspector or bishop was afterwards given to the ancients1 whom we call priests2 but with no ceremony1 no dignity1 no distinctive mark of pre-eminence4 ,it was the office of the ancients or elders to distribute the alms4 ,the younger of them were chosen by a plurality of voices to serve the tables1 and were seven in number2 all which clearly verifies the reports in common4 ,of jurisdiction1 of power1 of command1 not the least trace is to be found4 ,it is true that ,ananias and ,sapphira were struck dead for not giving all their money to ,st4 ,peter1 but retaining a small part for their own immediate wants without confessing it--for corrupting1 by a trifling falsehood1 the sanctity of their gifts2 but it is not ,st4 ,peter who condemns them4 ,it is true that he divines ,ananias' fault2 he reproaches him with it and tells him that he has lied to the ,holy ,ghost2 after which ,ananias falls down dead4 ,then comes ,sapphira2 and ,peter1 instead of warning1 interrogates her1 which seems to be the action of a judge4 ,he makes her fall into the snare by saying1 ,tell me whether ye sold the land for so much4 ,the wife made the same answer as her husband4 ,it is astonishing that she did not1 on reaching the place1 learn of her husband's death--that no one had informed her of it--that she did not observe the terror and tumult which such a death must have occasioned1 and above all1 the mortal fear lest the officers of justice should take cognizance of it as of a murder4 ,it is strange that this woman should not have filled the house with her cries1 but have been quietly interrogated1 as in a court of justice1 where silence is rigidly enforced4 ,it is still more extraordinary that ,peter should have said to her1 ,behold the feet of them which have carried thy husband out at the door1 and shall carry thee out--on which the sentence was instantly executed4 ,nothing can more resemble a criminal hearing before a despotic judge4 ,but it must be considered that ,st4 ,peter is here only the organ of ,jesus ,christ and the ,holy ,ghost2 that it is to them that ,ananias and his wife have lied1 and it is they who punish them with sudden death2 that1 indeed1 this miracle was worked for the purpose of terrifying all such as1 while giving their goods to the ,church1 and saying that they have given all1 keep something back for profane uses4 ,the judicious ,calmet shows us how the fathers and the commentators differ about the salvation of these two primitive ,christians1 whose sin consisted in simple though culpable reticence4 ,be this as it may1 it is certain that the apostles had no jurisdiction1 no power1 no authority1 but that of persuasion1 which is the first of all1 and upon which every other is founded4 ,besides1 it appears from this very story that the ,christians lived in common4 ,when two or three of them were gathered together1 ,jesus ,christ was in the midst of them4 ,they could all alike receive the ,spirit4 ,jesus was their true1 their only superior2 ,he had said to them3 ,be not ye called rabbi2 for one is your master1 even ,christ2 and all ye are brethren4 ,and call no man your father upon earth2 for one is your father1 which is in heaven4 ,neither be ye called masters2 for one is your master1 even ,christ4 ,in the time of the apostles there was no ritual1 no liturgy2 there were no fixed hours for assembling1 no ceremonies4 ,the disciples baptized the catechumens1 and breathed the ,holy ,ghost into their mouths1 as ,jesus ,christ had breathed on the apostles2 and as1 in many churches1 it is still the custom to breathe into the mouth of a child when administering baptism4 ,such were the beginnings of ,christianity4 ,all was done by inspiration--by enthusiasm1 as among the ,therapeut and the ,judates1 if we may for a moment be permitted to compare ,jewish societies1 now become reprobate1 with societies conducted by ,jesus ,christ ,himself from the highest heaven1 where ,he sat at the right hand of ,his ,father4 ,time brought necessary changes2 the ,church being extended1 strengthened1 and enriched1 had occasion for new laws4 ,,apparition4 ,it is not at all uncommon for a person under strong emotion to see that which is not4 ,in #agbf a woman in ,london1 accused of being an accomplice in her husband's murder1 denied the fact2 the dead man's coat was held up and shaken before her1 her terrified imagination presented the husband himself to her view2 she fell at his feet and would have embraced him4 ,she told the jury that she had seen her husband4 ,it is not wonderful that ,theodoric saw in the head of a fish1 which was served up to him1 that of ,symmachus1 whom he had assassinated--or unjustly executed2 for it is precisely the same thing4 ,charles ,,ix41 after the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 saw dead bodies and blood2 not in his dreams1 but in the convulsions of a troubled mind seeking for sleep in vain4 ,his physician and his nurse bore witness to it4 ,fantastic visions are very frequent in hot fevers4 ,this is not seeing in imagination2 it is seeing in reality4 ,the phantom exists to him who has the perception of it4 ,if the gift of reason vouchsafed to the human machine were not at hand to correct these illusions1 all heated imaginations would be in an almost continual transport1 and it would be impossible to cure them4 ,it is especially in that middle state between sleeping and waking that an inflamed brain sees imaginary objects and hears sounds which nobody utters4 ,fear1 love1 grief1 remorse are the painters who trace the pictures before unsettled imaginations4 ,the eye which sees sparks in the night1 when accidentally pressed in a certain direction1 is but a faint image of the disorders of the brain4 ,no theologian doubts that with these natural causes the ,master of nature has sometimes united ,his divine influence4 ,to this the ,old and the ,new ,testament bear ample testimony4 ,providence has deigned to employ these apparitions--these visions--in favor of the ,jews1 who were then its cherished people4 ,it may be that1 in the course of time1 some really pious souls1 deceived by their enthusiasm1 have believed that they had received from an intimate communication with ,god that which they owed only to their inflamed imaginations4 ,in such cases there is need of the advice of an honest man1 and especially of a good physician4 ,the stories of apparitions are innumerable4 ,it is said to have been in consequence of an apparition that ,st4 ,theodore1 in the beginning of the fourth century1 went and set fire to the temple of ,amasia and reduced it to ashes4 ,it is very likely that ,god did not command this action1 in itself so criminal1 by which several citizens perished1 and which exposed all the ,christians to a just revenge4 ,god might permit ,st4 ,potamienne to appear to ,st4 ,basilides2 for there resulted no disturbance to the state4 ,we will not deny that ,jesus ,christ might appear to ,st4 ,victor4 ,but that ,st4 ,benedict saw the soul of ,st4 ,germanus of ,capua carried up to heaven by angels2 and that two monks afterwards saw the soul of ,st4 ,benedict walking on a carpet extended from heaven to ,mount ,cassino--this is not quite so easy to believe4 ,it may likewise1 without any offence to our august religion1 be doubted whether ,st4 ,eucherius was conducted by an angel into hell1 where he saw ,charles ,mattel's soul2 and whether a holy hermit of ,italy saw the soul of ,dagobert chained in a boat by devils1 who were flogging it without mercy2 for1 after all1 it is rather difficult to explain satisfactorily how a soul can walk upon a carpet1 how it can be chained in a boat1 or how it can be flogged4 ,but1 it may very well be that heated brains have had such visions2 from age to age we have a thousand instances of them4 ,one must be very enlightened to distinguish1 in this prodigious number of visions1 those which came from ,god ,himself from those which were purely the offspring of imagination4 ,the illustrious ,bossuet relates1 in his funeral oration over the ,princess ,palatine1 two visions which acted powerfully on that princess1 and determined the whole conduct of her latter years4 ,these heavenly visions must be believed since they are regarded as such by the discreet and learned bishop of ,meaux1 who penetrated into all the depths of theology and even undertook to lift the veil which covers the ,apocalypse4 ,he says1 then1 that the ,princess ,palatine1 having lent a hundred thousand francs to her sister1 the queen of ,poland1 sold the duchy of ,rtelois for a million1 and married her daughters advantageously4 ,happy according to the world1 but unfortunately doubting the truths of the ,christian religion1 she was brought back to her conviction1 and to the love of these ineffable truths by two visions4 ,the first was a dream in which a man born blind told her that he had no idea of light1 and that we must believe the word of others in things of which we cannot ourselves conceive4 ,the second arose from a violent shock of the membranes and fibres of the brain in an attack of fever4 ,she saw a hen running after one of her chickens1 which a dog held in his mouth4 ,the ,princess ,palatine snatched the chick from the dog1 on which a voice cried out3 ,give him back his chicken2 if you deprive him of his food he will not watch as he ought4 ,but the princess exclaimed1 ,no1 ,i will never give it back4 ,the chicken was the soul of ,anne of ,gonzaga1 ,princess ,palatine2 the hen was the ,church1 and the dog was the devil4 ,anne of ,gonzaga1 who was never to give back the chicken to the dog1 was efficacious grace4 ,bossuet preached this funeral oration to the ,carmelite nuns of the ,faubourg ,st4 ,jacques1 at ,paris1 before the whole house of ,cond2 he used these remarkable words3 ,hearken1 and be especially careful not to hear with contempt the order of the ,divine warnings1 and the conduct of ,divine grace4 ,the reader1 then1 must peruse this story with the same reverence with which its hearers listened to it4 ,these extraordinary workings of ,providence are like the miracles of canonized saints1 which must be attested by irreproachable witnesses4 ,and what more lawful deponent can we have to the apparitions and visions of the ,princess ,palatine than the man who employed his life in distinguishing truth from appearance8 who combated vigorously against the nuns of ,port ,royal on the formulary2 against ,paul ,ferri on the catechism2 against the minister ,claude on the variations of the ,church2 against ,doctor ,dupin on ,china2 against ,father ,simon on the understanding of the sacred text2 against ,cardinal ,sfondrati on predestination2 against the pope on the rights of the ,gallican ,church2 against the archbishop of ,cambray on pure and disinterested love4 ,he was not to be seduced by the names1 nor the titles1 nor the reputation1 nor the dialectics of his adversaries4 ,he related this fact2 therefore he believed it4 ,let us join him in his belief1 in spite of the raillery which it has occasioned4 ,let us adore the secrets of ,providence1 but let us distrust the wanderings of the imagination1 which ,malebranche called la folle du logis4 ,for these two visions accorded to the ,princess ,palatine are not vouchsafed to every one4 ,jesus ,christ appeared to ,st4 ,catharine of ,sienna2 he espoused her and gave her a ring4 ,this mystical apparition is to be venerated1 for it is attested by ,raymond of ,capua1 general of the ,dominicans1 who confessed her1 as also by ,pope ,urban ,,vi4 ,but it is rejected by the learned ,fleury1 author of the ,ecclesiastical ,history4 ,and a young woman who should now boast of having contracted such a marriage might receive as a nuptial present a place in a lunatic asylum4 ,the appearance of ,mother ,angelica1 abbess of ,port ,royal1 to ,sister ,dorothy is related by a man of very great weight among the ,jansenists1 the ,sieur ,dufoss1 author of the ,mmoirs de ,pontis4 ,mother ,angelica1 long after her death1 came and seated herself in the church of ,port ,royal1 in her old place1 with her crosier in her hand4 ,she commanded that ,sister ,dorothy should be sent for and to her she told terrible secrets4 ,but the testimony of this ,dufoss is of less weight than that of ,raymond of ,capua1 and ,pope ,urban ,,vi41 which1 however1 have not been formally received4 ,the writer of the above paragraphs has since read the ,abb ,langlet's four volumes on ,apparitions1 and thinks he ought not to take anything from them4 ,he is convinced of all the apparitions verified by the ,church1 but he has some doubts about the others1 until they are authentically recognized4 ,the ,cordeliers and the ,jacobins1 the ,jansenists and the ,molinists have all had their apparitions and their miracles4 ,iliacos inter muros peccatur et extra4