,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary ,,volume ,,iii ,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 facsimiles ,,volume ,,vii ,e4,r4 ,du,m,o,n,t ,,paris--,,london--,,new ,,york--,,chicago ,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 ,,list ,,of ,,plates--,,vol4 ,,iii ,,voltaire',s ,,reception ,,of ,,madame ,d',,pinay ,,at ,,les ,d,,lices ,frontispiece ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,coligny ,,catherine ,,ii4 ,,of ,,russia ,,the ,,almoner ,,and ,,the ,,anabaptist ,illustration3 ,voltaire receives ,mme4 d'pinay at ,les ,dlices4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,voltaire ,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary ,,in ,,ten ,,volumes ,,vol4 ,,iii ,,cannibals--,,councils 99 99 99 99 99 ,,cannibals4 ,,section ,i4 ,we have spoken of love4 ,it is hard to pass from people kissing to people eating one another4 ,it is1 however1 but too true that there have been cannibals4 ,we have found them in ,america2 they are1 perhaps1 still to be found2 and the ,cyclops were not the only individuals in antiquity who sometimes fed on human flesh4 ,juvenal relates that among the ,egyptians--that wise people1 so renowned for their laws--those pious worshippers of crocodiles and onions--the ,tentyrites ate one of their enemies who had fallen into their hands4 ,he does not tell this tale on hearsay2 the crime was committed almost before his eyes2 he was then in ,egypt1 and not far from ,tentyra4 ,on this occasion he quotes the ,gascons and the ,saguntines1 who formerly fed on the flesh of their countrymen4 ,in #agbe four savages were brought from the ,mississippi to ,fontainebleau1 with whom ,i had the honor of conversing4 ,there was among them a lady of the country1 whom ,i asked if she had eaten men2 she answered1 with great simplicity that she had4 ,i appeared somewhat scandalized2 on which she excused herself by saying that it was better to eat one's dead enemy than to leave him to be devoured by wild beasts1 and that the conquerors deserved to have the preference4 ,we kill our neighbors in battles1 or skirmishes2 and1 for the meanest consideration1 provide meals for the crows and the worms4 ,there is the horror2 there is the crime4 ,what matters it1 when a man is dead1 whether he is eaten by a soldier1 or by a dog and a crow8 ,we have more respect for the dead than for the living4 ,it would be better to respect both the one and the other4 ,the nations called polished have done right in not putting their vanquished enemies on the spit2 for if we were allowed to eat our neighbors1 we should soon eat our countrymen1 which would be rather unfortunate for the social virtues4 ,but polished nations have not always been so2 they were all for a long time savage2 and1 in the infinite number of revolutions which this globe has undergone1 mankind have been sometimes numerous and sometimes scarce4 ,it has been with human beings as it now is with elephants1 lions1 or tigers1 the race of which has very much decreased4 ,in times when a country was but thinly inhabited by men1 they had few arts2 they were hunters4 ,the custom of eating what they had killed easily led them to treat their enemies like their stags and their boars4 ,it was superstition that caused human victims to be immolated2 it was necessity that caused them to be eaten4 ,which is the greater crime--to assemble piously together to plunge a knife into the heart of a girl adorned with fillets1 or to eat a worthless man who has been killed in our own defence8 ,yet we have many more instances of girls and boys sacrificed than of girls and boys eaten4 ,almost every nation of which we know anything has sacrificed boys and girls4 ,the ,jews immolated them4 ,this was called the ,anathema2 it was a real sacrifice2 and in ,leviticus it is ordained that the living souls which shall be devoted shall not be spared2 but it is not in any manner prescribed that they shall be eaten2 this is only threatened4 ,moses tells the ,jews that unless they observe his ceremonies they shall not only have the itch1 but the mothers shall eat their children4 ,it is true that in the time of ,ezekiel the ,jews must have been accustomed to eat human flesh2 for1 in his thirty-ninth chapter1 he foretells to them that ,god will cause them to eat1 not only the horses of their enemies1 but moreover the horsemen and the rest of the warriors4 ,and1 indeed1 why should not the ,jews have been cannibals8 ,it was the only thing wanting to make the people of ,god the most abominable people upon earth4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,in the essay on the ,manners and ,spirit of ,nations we read the following singular passage3 ,herrera assures us that the ,mexicans ate the human victims whom they immolated4 ,most of the first travellers and missionaries say that the ,brazilians1 the ,caribbees1 the ,iroquois1 the ,hurons1 and some other tribes1 ate their captives taken in war2 and they do not consider this as the practice of some individuals alone1 but as a national usage4 ,so many writers1 ancient and modern1 have spoken of cannibals1 that it is difficult to deny their existence4 ,a hunting people1 like the ,brazilians or the ,canadians1 not always having a certain subsistence1 may sometimes become cannibals4 ,famine and revenge accustomed them to this kind of food2 and while in the most civilized ages we see the people of ,paris devouring the bleeding remains of ,marshal d',ancre1 and the people of ,the ,hague eating the heart of the grand pensionary1 ,de ,witt1 we ought not to be surprised that a momentary outrage among us has been continual among savages4 ,the most ancient books we have leave no room to doubt that hunger has driven men to this excess4 ,the prophet ,ezekiel1 according to some commentators1 promises to the ,hebrews from ,god that if they defend themselves well against the king of ,persia1 they shall eat of 'the flesh of horses and of mighty men4' ,marco ,polo says that in his time in a part of ,tartary the magicians or priests--it was the same thing--had the privilege of eating the flesh of criminals condemned to death4 ,all this is shocking to the feelings2 but the picture of humanity must often have the same effect4 ,how can it have been that nations constantly separated from one another have united in so horrible a custom8 ,must we believe that it is not so absolutely opposed to human nature as it appears to be8 ,it is certain that it has been rare1 but it is equally certain that it has existed4 ,it is not known that the ,tartars and the ,jews often ate their fellow creatures4 ,during the sieges of ,sancerre and ,paris1 in our religious wars1 hunger and despair compelled mothers to feed on the flesh of their children4 ,the charitable ,las ,casas1 bishop of ,chiapa1 says that this horror was committed in ,america1 only by some nations among whom he had not travelled4 ,dampierre assures us that he never met with cannibals2 and at this day there are not1 perhaps1 any tribes which retain this horrible custom4 ,americus ,vespucius says in one of his letters that the ,brazilians were much astonished when he made them understand that for a long time the ,europeans had not eaten their prisoners of war4 ,according to ,juvenal's fifteenth satire1 the ,gascons and the ,spaniards had been guilty of this barbarity4 ,he himself witnessed a similar abomination in ,egypt during the consulate of ,junius4 ,a quarrel happening between the inhabitants of ,tentyra and those of ,ombi1 they fought2 and an ,ombian having fallen into the hands of the ,tentyrians1 they had him cooked1 and ate him1 all but the bare bones4 ,but he does not say that this was the usual custom2 on the contrary1 he speaks of it as an act of more than ordinary fury4 ,the ,jesuit ,charlevoix1 whom ,i knew very well1 and who was a man of great veracity1 gives us clearly to understand in his ,history of ,canada1 in which country he resided thirty years1 that all the nations of northern ,america were cannibals2 since he remarks1 as a thing very extraordinary1 that in #agaa the ,acadians did not eat men4 ,the ,jesuit ,brebeuf relates that in #afdj the first ,iroquois that was converted1 having unfortunately got drunk with brandy1 was taken by the ,hurons1 then at war with the ,iroquois4 ,the prisoner1 baptized by ,father ,brebeuf by the name of ,joseph1 was condemned to death4 ,he was put to a thousand tortures1 which he endured1 singing all the while1 according to the custom of his country4 ,they finished by cutting off a foot1 a hand1 and lastly his head2 after which the ,hurons put all the members into a cauldron1 each one partook of them1 and a piece was offered to ,father ,brebeuf4 ,charlevoix speaks in another place of twenty-two ,hurons eaten by the ,iroquois4 ,it cannot1 then1 be doubted1 that in more countries than one1 human nature has reached this last pitch of horror2 and this execrable custom must be of the highest antiquity2 for we see in the ,holy ,scriptures that the ,jews were threatened with eating their children if they did not obey their laws4 ,the ,jews are told not only that they shall have the itch1 and that their wives shall give themselves up to others1 but also that they shall eat their sons and daughters in anguish and devastation2 that they shall contend with one another for the eating of their children2 and that the husband will not give to his wife a morsel of her son1 because1 he will say1 he has hardly enough for himself4 ,some very bold critics do indeed assert that the ,book of ,deuteronomy was not composed until after the siege of ,samaria by ,benhadad1 during which1 it is said in the ,second ,book of ,kings1 that mothers ate their children4 ,but these critics1 in considering ,deuteronomy as a book written after the siege of ,samaria1 do but verify this terrible occurrence4 ,others assert that it could not happen as it is related in the ,second ,book of ,kings4 ,it is there said3 ,and as the king of ,israel was passing by upon the wall of ,samaria1 there cried a woman unto him1 saying1 ',help1 my lord1 ,o king4' ,and he said1 ',if the ,lord do not help thee1 whence shall ,i help thee8 out of the barn floor8 or out of the wine-press8' ,and the king said unto her1 ',what aileth thee8' ,and she answered1 ',this woman said unto me1 give thy son1 that we may eat him to-day1 and we shall eat my son to-morrow4 ,so we boiled my son1 and did eat him2 and ,i said unto her on the next day1 ',give thy son1 that we may eat him1' and she hath hid her son4' ,these censors assert that it is not likely that while ,king ,benhadad was besieging ,samaria1 ,king ,joram passed quietly by the wall1 or upon the wall1 to settle differences between ,samaritan women4 ,it is still less likely that one child should not have satisfied two women for two days4 ,there must have been enough to feed them for four days at least4 ,but let these critics reason as they may1 we must believe that fathers and mothers ate their children during the siege of ,samaria1 since it is expressly foretold in ,deuteronomy4 ,the same thing happened at the siege of ,jerusalem by ,nebuchadnezzar2 and this1 too1 was foretold by ,ezekiel4 ,jeremiah exclaims1 in his ,lamentations3 ,shall the women eat their fruit1 and children of a span long8 ,and in another place3 ,the hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children4 ,here may be added the words of ,baruch3 ,man has eaten the flesh of his son and of his daughter4 ,this horror is repeated so often that it cannot but be true4 ,lastly1 we know the story related in ,josephus1 of the woman who fed on the flesh of her son when ,titus was besieging ,jerusalem4 ,the book attributed to ,enoch1 cited by ,st4 ,jude1 says that the giants born from the commerce of the angels with the daughters of men were the first cannibals4 ,in the eighth homily attributed to ,st4 ,clement1 ,st4 ,peter1 who is made to speak in it1 says that these same giants quenched their thirst with human blood and ate the flesh of their fellow creatures4 ,hence resulted1 adds the author1 maladies until then unknown2 monsters of all kinds sprung up on the earth2 and then it was that ,god resolved to drown all human kind4 ,all this shows us how universal was the reigning opinion of the existence of cannibals4 ,what ,st4 ,peter is made to say in ,st4 ,clement's homily has a palpable affinity with the story of ,lycaon1 one of the oldest of ,greek fables1 and which we find in the first book of ,ovid's ,metamorphoses4 ,the ,relations of the ,indies and ,china1 written in the eighth century by two ,arabs1 and translated by the ,abb ,renaudot1 is not a book to which implicit credit should be attached2 far from it2 but we must not reject all these two travellers say1 especially when their testimony is corroborated by that of other authors who have merited some belief4 ,they tell us that there are in the ,indian ,sea islands peopled with blacks who ate men2 they call these islands ,ramni4 ,marco ,polo1 who had not read the works of these two ,arabs1 says the same thing four hundred years after them4 ,archbishop ,navarette1 who was afterwards a voyager in the same seas1 confirms this account3 ,los ,europeos que cogen1 es constante que vivos se los van comiendo4 ,texeira asserts that the people of ,java ate human flesh1 which abominable custom they had not left off more than two hundred years before his time4 ,he adds that they did not learn milder manners until they embraced ,mahometanism4 ,the same thing has been said of the people of ,pegu1 of the ,kaffirs1 and of several other ,african nations4 ,marco ,polo1 whom we have just now cited1 says that in some ,tartar hordes1 when a criminal had been condemned to death they made a meal of him3 ,hanno costoro un bestiale e orribile costume1 che quando alcuno e guidicato a morte1 lo tolgono1 e cuocono1 e mangian' selo4 ,what is more extraordinary and incredible is that the two ,arabs attributed to the ,chinese what ,marco ,polo says of some of the ,tartars3 that1 in general1 the ,chinese eat all who have been killed4 ,this abomination is so repugnant to ,chinese manners1 that it cannot be believed4 ,father ,parennin has refuted it by saying that it is unworthy of refutation4 ,it must1 however1 be observed that the eighth century1 the time when these ,arabs wrote their travels1 was one of those most disastrous to the ,chinese4 ,two hundred thousand ,tartars passed the great wall1 plundered ,pekin1 and everywhere spread the most horrible desolation4 ,it is very likely that there was then a great famine1 for ,china was as populous as it is now2 and some poor creatures among the lowest of the people might eat dead bodies4 ,what interest could these ,arabians have in inventing so disgusting a fable8 ,perhaps they1 like most other travellers1 took a particular instance for a national custom4 ,not to go so far for examples1 we have one in our own country1 in the very province in which ,i write2 it is attested by our conqueror1 our master1 ,julius ,csar4 ,he was besieging ,alexia1 in the ,auxois4 ,the besieged being resolved to defend themselves to the last extremity1 and wanting provisions1 a great council was assembled1 in which one of the chiefs1 named ,critognatus1 proposed that the children should be eaten one after another to sustain the strength of the combatants4 ,his proposal was carried by a majority of voices4 ,nor is this all2 ,critognatus in his harangue tells them that their ancestors had had recourse to the same kind of sustenance in the war with the ,cimbri and ,teutones4 ,we will conclude with the testimony of ,montaigne4 ,speaking of what was told him by the companions of ,villegagnon1 returned from ,brazil1 and of what he had seen in ,france1 he certifies that the ,brazilians ate their enemies killed in war1 but mark what follows3 ,is it more barbarous to eat a man when dead than to have him roasted by a slow fire1 or torn to pieces by dogs and swine1 as is yet fresh in our memories--and that not between ancient enemies1 but among neighbors and fellow-citizens--and1 which is worse1 on pretence of piety and religion8 ,what a question for a philosopher like ,montaigne6 ,then1 if ,anacreon and ,tibullus had been ,iroquois1 they would have eaten men6 ,alas6 alas6 ,,section ,,iii4 ,well2 two ,englishmen have sailed round the world4 ,they have discovered that ,new ,holland is an island larger than ,europe1 and that men still eat one another there1 as in ,new ,zealand4 ,whence come this race8 supposing that they exist4 ,are they descended from the ancient ,egyptians1 from the ancient people of ,ethiopia1 from the ,africans1 from the ,indians--or from the vultures1 or the wolves8 ,what a contrast between ,marcus ,aurelius1 or ,epictetus1 and the cannibals of ,new ,zealand6 ,yet they have the same organs1 they are alike human beings4 ,we have already treated on this property of the human race2 it may not be amiss to add another paragraph4 ,the following are ,st4 ,jerome's own words in one of his letters3 ,quid loquar de cteris nationibus1 quum ipse adolescentulus in ,gallia viderim ,scotos1 gentem ,britannicam1 humanis vesci carnibus1 et quum per silvas porcorum greges pecudumque reperiant1 tamen pastorum nates et fminarum papillas solere abscindere et has solas ciborum delicias arbitrari8--,what shall ,i say of other nations2 when ,i myself1 when young1 have seen ,scotchmen in ,gaul1 who1 though they might have fed on swine and other animals of the forest1 chose rather to cut off the posteriors of the youths and the breasts of the young women1 and considered them as the most delicious food4 ,pelloutier1 who sought for everything that might do honor to the ,celts1 took the pains to contradict ,jerome1 and to maintain that his credulity had been imposed on4 ,but ,jerome speaks very gravely1 and of what he saw4 ,we may1 with deference1 dispute with a father of the church about what he has heard2 but to doubt of what he has seen is going very far4 ,after all1 the safest way is to doubt of everything1 even of what we have seen ourselves4 ,one word more on cannibalism4 ,in a book which has had considerable success among the well-disposed we find the following1 or words to the same effect3 ,in ,cromwell's time a woman who kept a tallow chandler's shop in ,dublin sold excellent candles1 made of the fat of ,englishmen4 ,after some time one of her customers complained that the candles were not so good4 ',sir1' said the woman1 'it is because we are short of ,englishmen4' ,i ask which were the most guilty--those who assassinated the ,english1 or the poor woman who made candles of their fat8 ,and further1 ,i ask which was the greatest crime--to have ,englishmen cooked for dinner1 or to use their tallow to give light at supper8 ,it appears to me that the great evil is the being killed2 it matters little to us whether1 after death1 we are roasted on the spit or are made into candles4 ,indeed1 no well-disposed man can be unwilling to be useful when he is dead4 ,,casting 7,,in ,,metal74 ,there is not an ancient fable1 not an old absurdity which some simpleton will not revive1 and that in a magisterial tone1 if it be but authorized by some classical or theological writer4 ,lycophron 7if ,i remember rightly7 relates that a horde of robbers who had been justly condemned in ,ethiopia by ,king ,actisanes to lose their ears and noses1 fled to the cataracts of the ,nile and from thence penetrated into the ,sandy ,desert1 where they at length built the temple of ,jupiter ,ammon4 ,lycophron1 and after him ,theopompus1 tells us that these banditti1 reduced to extreme want1 having neither shoes1 nor clothes1 nor utensils1 nor bread1 bethought themselves of raising a statue of gold to an ,egyptian god4 ,this statue was ordered one evening and made in the course of the night4 ,a member of the university much attached to ,lycophron and the ,ethiopian robbers asserts that nothing was more common in the venerable ages of antiquity than to cast a statue of gold in one night1 and afterwards throw it into a fire to reduce it to an impalpable powder1 in order to be swallowed by a whole people4 ,but where did these poor devils1 without breeches1 find so much gold8 ,what1 sir6 says the man of learning1 do you forget that they had stolen enough to buy all ,africa and that their daughters' earrings alone were worth nine millions five hundred thousand livres of our currency8 ,be it so4 ,but for casting a statue a little preparation is necessary4 ,m4 ,le ,moine employed nearly two years in casting that of ,louis ,,xv4 ,oh6 but this ,jupiter ,ammon was at most but three feet high4 ,go to any pewterer2 will he not make you half a dozen plates in a day8 ,sir1 a statue of ,jupiter is harder to make than pewter plates1 and ,i even doubt whether your thieves had wherewith to make plates so quickly1 clever as they might be at pilfering4 ,it is not very likely that they had the necessary apparatus2 they had more need to provide themselves with meal4 ,i respect ,lycophron much1 but this profound ,greek and his yet more profound commentators know so little of the arts--they are so learned in all that is useless1 and so ignorant in all that concerns the necessaries and conveniences of life1 professions1 trades1 and daily occupations that we will take this opportunity of informing them how a metal figure is cast4 ,this is an operation which they will find neither in ,lycophron1 nor in ,manetho1 nor even in ,st4 ,thomas's dream4 ,i omit many other preparations which the encyclopdists1 especially ,m4 ,diderot1 have explained much better than ,i could do1 in the work which must immortalize their glory as well as all the arts4 ,but to form a clear idea of the process of this art the artist must be seen at work4 ,no one can ever learn in a book to weave stockings1 nor to polish diamonds1 nor to work tapestry4 ,arts and trades are learned only by example and practice4 ,,cato4 ,,on ,,suicide1 ,,and ,,the ,,abbe ,,st4 ,,cyran's ,,book ,,legitimating ,,suicide4 ,the ingenious ,la ,motte says of ,cato1 in one of his philosophical rather than poetical odes3 ,caton1 d'une me plus gale1 ,sous l'heureux vainqueur de ,pharsale1 ,et souffert que ,rome plit2 ,mais1 incapable de se rendre1 ,il n'eut pas la force d'attendre ,un pardon qui l'humilit4 ,stern ,cato1 with more equal soul1 ,had bowed to ,csar's wide control-- ,with ,rome had to the conqueror bowed-- ,but that his spirit1 rough and proud1 ,had not the courage to await ,a pardoned foe's too humbling fate4 ,it was1 ,i believe1 because ,cato's soul was always equal1 and retained to the last its love for his country and her laws that he chose rather to perish with her than to crouch to the tyrant4 ,he died as he had lived4 ,incapable of surrendering6 ,and to whom8 ,to the enemy of ,rome--to the man who had forcibly robbed the public treasury in order to make war upon his fellow-citizens and enslave them by means of their own money4 ,a pardoned foe6 ,it seems as if ,la ,motte-,houdart were speaking of some revolted subject who might have obtained his majesty's pardon by letters in chancery4 ,it seems rather absurd to say that ,cato slew himself through weakness4 ,none but a strong mind can thus surmount the most powerful instinct of nature4 ,this strength is sometimes that of frenzy1 but a frantic man is not weak4 ,suicide is forbidden amongst us by the canon law4 ,but the decretals1 which form the jurisprudence of a part of ,europe1 were unknown to ,cato1 to ,brutus1 to ,cassius1 to the sublime ,arria1 to the ,emperor ,otho1 to ,mark ,antony1 and the rest of the heroes of true ,rome1 who preferred a voluntary death to a life which they believed to be ignominious4 ,we1 too1 kill ourselves1 but it is when we have lost our money1 or in the very rare excess of foolish passion for an unworthy object4 ,i have known women kill themselves for the most stupid men imaginable4 ,and sometimes we kill ourselves when we are in bad health1 which action is a real weakness4 ,disgust with our own existence1 weariness of ourselves is a malady which is likewise a cause of suicide4 ,the remedy is a little exercise1 music1 hunting1 the play1 or an agreeable woman4 ,the man who1 in a fit of melancholy1 kills himself to-day1 would have wished to live had he waited a week4 ,i was almost an eye-witness of a suicide which deserves the attention of all cultivators of physical science4 ,a man of a serious profession1 of mature age1 of regular conduct1 without passions1 and above indigence1 killed himself on ,oct4 #ag1 #agfi1 and left to the town council of the place where he was born1 a written apology for his voluntary death1 which it was thought proper not to publish lest it should encourage men to quit a life of which so much ill is said4 ,thus far there is nothing extraordinary2 such instances are almost every day to be met with4 ,the astonishing part of the story is this3 ,his brother and his father had each killed himself at the same age4 ,what secret disposition of organs1 what sympathy1 what concurrence of physical laws1 occasions a father and his two sons to perish by their own hands1 and by the same kind of death1 precisely when they have attained such a year8 ,is it a disease which unfolds itself successively in the different members of a family--as we often see fathers and children die of smallpox1 consumption1 or any other complaint8 ,three or four generations have become deaf or blind1 gouty or scorbutic1 at a predetermined period4 ,physical organization1 of which moral is the offspring1 transmits the same character from father to son through a succession of ages4 ,the ,appii were always haughty and inflexible1 the ,catos always severe4 ,the whole line of the ,guises were bold1 rash1 factious2 compounded of the most insolent pride1 and the most seductive politeness4 ,from ,francis de ,guise to him who alone and in silence went and put himself at the head of the people of ,naples1 they were all1 in figure1 in courage1 and in turn of mind1 above ordinary men4 ,i have seen whole length portraits of ,francis de ,guise1 of the ,balafr1 and of his son3 they are all six feet high1 with the same features1 the same courage and boldness in the forehead1 the eye1 and the attitude4 ,this continuity1 this series of beings alike is still more observable in animals1 and if as much care were taken to perpetuate fine races of men as some nations still take to prevent the mixing of the breeds of their horses and hounds the genealogy would be written in the countenance and displayed in the manners4 ,there have been races of crooked and of six-fingered people1 as we see red-haired1 thick-lipped1 long-nosed1 and flat-nosed races4 ,but that nature should so dispose the organs of a whole race that at a certain age each individual of that family will have a passion for self-destruction--this is a problem which all the sagacity of the most attentive anatomists cannot resolve4 ,the effect is certainly all physical1 but it belongs to occult physics4 ,indeed1 what principle is not occult8 ,we are not informed1 nor is it likely that in1 the time of ,csar and the emperors the inhabitants of ,great ,britain killed themselves as deliberately as they now do1 when they have the vapors which they denominate the spleen4 ,on the other hand1 the ,romans1 who never had the spleen1 did not hesitate to put themselves to death4 ,they reasoned1 they were philosophers1 and the people of the island of ,britain were not so4 ,now1 ,english citizens are philosophers and ,roman citizens are nothing4 ,the ,englishman quits this life proudly and disdainfully when the whim takes him1 but the ,roman must have an indulgentia in articulo mortis2 he can neither live nor die4 ,sir ,william ,temple says that a man should depart when he has no longer any pleasure in remaining4 ,so died ,atticus4 ,young women who hang and drown themselves for love should then listen to the voice of hope1 for changes are as frequent in love as in other affairs4 ,an almost infallible means of saving yourself from the desire of self-destruction is always to have something to do4 ,creech1 the commentator on ,lucretius1 marked upon his manuscripts3 ,n4,b4 ,must hang myself when ,i have finished4 ,he kept his word with himself that he might have the pleasure of ending like his author4 ,if he had undertaken a commentary upon ,ovid he would have lived longer4 ,why have we fewer suicides in the country than in the towns8 ,because in the fields only the body suffers2 in the town it is the mind4 ,the laborer has not time to be melancholy2 none kill themselves but the idle--they who1 in the eyes of the multitude1 are so happy4 ,i shall here relate some suicides that have happened in my own time1 several of which have already been published in other works4 ,the dead may be made useful to the living3 ,a ,brief ,account of ,some ,singular ,suicides4 ,philip ,mordaunt1 cousin-german to the celebrated earl of ,peterborough--so well known in all the ,european courts1 and who boasted of having seen more postillions and kings than any other man--was a young man of twenty-seven1 handsome1 well made1 rich1 of noble blood1 with the highest pretensions1 and1 which was more than all1 adored by his mistress1 yet ,mordaunt was seized with a disgust for life4 ,he paid his debts1 wrote to his friends1 and even made some verses on the occasion4 ,he dispatched himself with a pistol without having given any other reason than that his soul was tired of his body and that when we are dissatisfied with our abode we ought to quit it4 ,it seemed that he wished to die because he was disgusted with his good fortune4 ,in #agbf ,richard ,smith exhibited a strange spectacle to the world from a very different cause4 ,richard ,smith was disgusted with real misfortune4 ,he had been rich1 and he was poor2 he had been in health1 and he was infirm2 he had a wife with whom he had naught but his misery to share2 their only remaining property was a child in the cradle4 ,richard ,smith and ,bridget ,smith1 with common consent1 having embraced each other tenderly and given their infant the last kiss began with killing the poor child1 after which they hanged themselves to the posts of their bed4 ,i do not know any other act of cold-blooded horror so striking as this4 ,but the letter which these unfortunate persons wrote to their cousin1 ,mr4 ,brindley1 before their death1 is as singular as their death itself4 ,we believe1 say they1 that ,god will forgive us4444 ,we quit this life because we are miserable--without resource1 and we have done our only son the service of killing him1 lest he should become as unfortunate as ourselves4444 ,it must be observed that these people1 after killing their son through parental tenderness1 wrote to recommend their dog and cat to the care of a friend4 ,it seems they thought it easier to make a cat and dog happy in this life than a child1 and they would not be a burden to their friends4 ,lord ,scarborough quitted this life in #agbg1 with the same coolness as he had quitted his office of ,master of the ,horse4 ,he was reproached1 in the ,house of ,peers1 with taking the king's part because he had a good place at court4 ,my lords1 said he1 to prove to you that my opinion is independent of my place1 ,i resign it this moment4 ,he afterwards found himself in a perplexing dilemma between a mistress whom he loved1 but to whom he had promised nothing1 and a woman whom he esteemed1 and to whom he had promised marriage4 ,he killed himself to escape from his embarrassment4 ,these tragical stories which swarm in the ,english newspapers1 have made the rest of ,europe think that1 in ,england1 men kill themselves more willingly than elsewhere4 ,however1 ,i know not but there are as many madmen or heroes to be found in ,paris as in ,london4 ,perhaps1 if our newspapers kept an exact list of all who had been so infatuated as to seek their own destruction1 and so lamentably courageous as to effect it1 we should1 in this particular1 have the misfortune to rival the ,english4 ,but our journals are more discreet4 ,in such of them as are acknowledged by the government private occurrences are never exposed to public slander4 ,all ,i can venture to say with assurance is that there is no reason to apprehend that this rage for self-murder will ever become an epidemical disorder4 ,against this1 nature has too well provided4 ,hope and fear are the powerful agents which she often employs to stay the hand of the unhappy individual about to strike at his own breast4 ,cardinal ,dubois was once heard to say to himself3 ,kill thyself6 ,coward1 thou darest not6 ,it is said that there have been countries in which a council was established to grant the citizens permission to kill themselves when they had good and sufficient reasons4 ,i answer either that it was not so or that those magistrates had not much to do4 ,it might1 indeed1 astonish us1 and does1 ,i think1 merit a serious examination1 that almost all the ancient ,roman heroes killed themselves when they had lost a battle in the civil wars4 ,but ,i do not find1 neither in the time of the ,league1 nor in that of the ,frond1 nor in the troubles of ,italy1 nor in those of ,england1 that any chief thought proper to die by his own hand4 ,these chiefs1 it is true1 were ,christians1 and there is a great difference between the principles of a ,christian warrior and those of a ,pagan hero4 ,but why were these men whom ,christianity restrained when they would have put themselves to death1 restrained by nothing when they chose to poison1 assassinate1 and bring their conquered enemies to the scaffold8 ,does not the ,christian religion forbid these murders much more than self-murder1 of which the ,new ,testament makes no mention8 ,the apostles of suicide tell us that it is quite allowable to quit one's house when one is tired of it4 ,agreed1 but most men would prefer sleeping in a mean house to lying in the open air4 ,i once received a circular letter from an ,englishman1 in which he offered a prize to any one who should most satisfactorily prove that there are occasions on which a man might kill himself4 ,i made no answer3 ,i had nothing to prove to him4 ,he had only to examine whether he liked better to die than to live4 ,another ,englishman came to me at ,paris in #agbd2 he was ill1 and promised me that he would kill himself if he was not cured by ,july #bj4 ,he accordingly gave me his epitaph in these words3 ,valet curia6 ,farewell care6 and gave me twenty-five louis to get a small monument erected to him at the end of the ,faubourg ,st4 ,martin4 ,i returned him his money on ,july #bj1 and kept his epitaph4 ,in my own time the last prince of the house of ,courtenai1 when very old1 and the last branch of ,lorraine-,harcourt1 when very young1 destroyed themselves almost without its being heard of4 ,these occurrences cause a terrible uproar the first day1 but when the property of the deceased has been divided they are no longer talked of4 ,the following most remarkable of all suicides has just occurred at ,lyons1 in ,june1 #aggj3 ,a young man well known1 who was handsome1 well made1 clever1 and amiable1 fell in love with a young woman whom her parents would not give to him4 ,so far we have nothing more than the opening scene of a comedy1 the astonishing tragedy is to follow4 ,the lover broke a blood-vessel and the surgeons informed him there was no remedy4 ,his mistress engaged to meet him1 with two pistols and two daggers in order that1 if the pistols missed the daggers might the next moment pierce their hearts4 ,they embraced each other for the last time3 rose-colored ribbons were tied to the triggers of the pistols2 the lover holding the ribbon of his mistress's pistol1 while she held the ribbon of his4 ,both fired at a signal given1 and both fell at the same instant4 ,of this fact the whole city of ,lyons is witness4 ,ptus and ,arria1 you set the example1 but you were condemned by a tyrant1 while love alone immolated these two victims4 ,laws ,against ,suicide4 ,has any law1 civil or religious1 ever forbidden a man to kill himself1 on pain of being hanged after death1 or on pain of being damned8 ,it is true that ,virgil has said3 ,proximo1 deinde tenent msti loca1 qui sibi lethum ,insontes peperere manu1 lucemque perosi ,projecere animas4 ,quam vellent there in alto ,nunc et pauperiem et duros perferre labores6 ,fata obstant1 tristique palus inamabilis unda ,alligat1 et novies ,styx interfusa coercet4 --,,neis1 lib4 vi4 v4 #dcd et seq4 ,the next in place1 and punishment1 are they ,who prodigally throw their souls away-- ,fools1 who repining at their wretched state1 ,and loathing anxious life1 suborn their fate2 ,with late repentance now they would retrieve ,the bodies they forsook1 and wish to live2 ,their pains and poverty desire to bear1 ,to view the light of heaven and breathe the vital air2-- ,but fate forbids1 the ,stygian floods oppose1 ,and1 with nine circling streams1 the captive souls inclose4 --,,dryden4 ,such was the religion of some of the pagans1 yet1 notwithstanding the weariness which awaited them in the next world it was an honor to quit this by killing themselves--so contradictory are the ways of men4 ,and among us is not duelling unfortunately still honorable1 though forbidden by reason1 by religion1 and by every law8 ,if ,cato and ,csar1 ,antony and ,augustus1 were not duellists it was not that they were less brave than our ,frenchmen4 ,if the duke of ,montmorency1 ,marshal de ,marillac1 de ,thou1 ,cinq-,mars1 and so many others1 chose rather to be dragged to execution in a wagon1 like highwaymen1 than to kill themselves like ,cato and ,brutus1 it was not that they had less courage than those ,romans1 nor less of what is called honor4 ,the true reason is that at ,paris self-murder in such cases was not then the fashion2 but it was the fashion at ,rome4 ,the women of the ,malabar coast throw themselves1 living1 on the funeral piles of their husbands4 ,have they1 then1 more courage than ,cornelia8 ,no2 but in that country it is the custom for the wives to burn themselves4 ,in ,japan it is the custom for a man of honor1 when he has been insulted by another man of honor1 to rip open his belly in the presence of his enemy and say to him3 ,do you likewise if thou hast the heart4 ,the aggressor is dishonored for ever if he does not immediately plunge a great knife into his belly4 ,the only religion in which suicide is forbidden by a clear and positive law is ,mahometanism4 ,in the fourth sura it is said3 ,do not kill yourself1 for ,god is merciful unto you1 and whosoever killeth himself through malice and wickedness shall assuredly be burned in hell fire4 ,this is a literal translation4 ,the text1 like many other texts1 appears to want common sense4 ,what is meant by ,do not kill yourself for ,god is merciful8 ,perhaps we are to understand--,do not sink under your misfortunes1 which ,god may alleviate3 do not be so foolish as to kill yourself to-day since you may be happy to-morrow4 ,and whosoever killeth himself through malice and wickedness4 ,this is yet more difficult to explain4 ,perhaps1 in all antiquity1 this never happened to any one but the ,phrdra of ,euripides1 who hanged herself on purpose to make ,theseus believe that she had been forcibly violated by ,hippolytus4 ,in our own times a man shot himself in the head1 after arranging all things to make another man suspected of the act4 ,in the play of ,george ,dandin1 his jade of a wife threatens him with killing herself to have him hanged4 ,such cases are rare4 ,if ,mahomet foresaw them he may be said to have seen a great way4 ,the famous ,duverger de ,haurane1 abbot of ,st4 ,cyran1 regarded as the founder of ,port ,royal1 wrote1 about the year #afjh1 a treatise on ,suicide1 which has become one of the scarcest books in ,europe4 ,the ,decalogue1 says he1 forbids us to kill4 ,in this precept self-murder seems no less to be comprised than murder of our neighbor4 ,but if there are cases in which it is allowable to kill our neighbor there likewise are cases in which it is allowable to kill ourselves4 ,we must not make an attempt upon our lives until we have consulted reason4 ,the public authority1 which holds the place of ,god1 may dispose of our lives4 ,the reason of man may likewise hold the place of the reason of ,god3 it is a ray of the eternal light4 ,st4 ,cyran extends this argument1 which may be considered as a mere sophism1 to great length1 but when he comes to the explanation and the details it is more difficult to answer him4 ,he says3 ,a man may kill himself for the good of his prince1 for that of his country1 or for that of his relations4 ,we do not1 indeed1 see how ,codrus or ,curtius could be condemned4 ,no sovereign would dare to punish the family of a man who had devoted himself to death for him2 nay1 there is not one who would dare neglect to recompense it4 ,st4 ,thomas1 before ,st4 ,cyran1 had said the same thing4 ,but we need neither ,st4 ,thomas1 nor ,cardinal ,bonaventura1 nor ,duverger de ,haurane to tell us that a man who dies for his country is deserving of praise4 ,the abbot of ,st4 ,cyran concludes that it is allowable to do for ourselves what it is noble to do for others4 ,all that is advanced by ,plutarch1 by ,seneca1 by ,montaigne1 and by fifty other philosophers1 in favor of suicide is sufficiently known2 it is a hackneyed topic--a wornout commonplace4 ,i seek not to apologize for an act which the laws condemn1 but neither the ,old ,testament1 nor the ,new has ever forbidden man to depart this life when it has become insupportable to him4 ,no ,roman law condemned self-murder2 on the contrary1 the following was the law of the ,emperor ,antoine1 which was never revoked3 ,if your father or your brother not being accused of any crime kill himself1 either to escape from grief1 or through weariness of life1 or through despair1 or through mental derangement1 his will shall be valid1 or1 if he die intestate his heirs shall succeed4 ,notwithstanding this humane law of our masters we still drag on a sledge and drive a stake through the body of a man who has died a voluntary death2 we do all we can to make his memory infamous2 we dishonor his family as far as we are able2 we punish the son for having lost his father1 and the widow for being deprived of her husband4 ,we even confiscate the property of the deceased1 which is robbing the living of the patrimony which of right belongs to them4 ,this custom is derived from our canon law1 which deprives of ,christian burial such as die a voluntary death4 ,hence it is concluded that we cannot inherit from a man who is judged to have no inheritance in heaven4 ,the canon law1 under the head ,de ,pnitentia1 assures us that ,judas committed a greater crime in strangling himself than in selling our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,,celts4 ,among those who have had the leisure1 the means1 and the courage to seek for the origin of nations1 there have been some who have found that of our ,celts1 or at least would make us believe that they had met with it4 ,this illusion being the only recompense of their immense travail1 we should not envy them its possession4 ,if we wish to know anything about the ,huns--who1 indeed1 are scarcely worth knowing anything about1 for they have rendered no service to mankind--we find some slight notices of those barbarians among the ,chinese--that most ancient of all nations1 after the ,indians4 ,from them we learn that1 in certain ages1 the ,huns went like famishing wolves and ravaged countries which1 even at this day are regarded as places of exile and of horror4 ,this is a very melancholy1 a very miserable sort of knowledge4 ,it is1 doubtless1 much better to cultivate a useful art at ,paris1 ,lyons1 or ,bordeaux1 than seriously to study the history of the ,huns and the bears4 ,nevertheless we are aided in these researches by some of the ,chinese archives4 ,but for the ,celts there are no archives4 ,we know no more of their antiquities than we do of those of the ,samoyeds or the ,australasians4 ,we have learned nothing about our ancestors except from the few words which their conqueror1 ,julius ,csar1 condescended to say of them4 ,he begins his ,commentaries by dividing the ,gauls into the ,belgians1 ,aquitanians1 and ,celts4 ,whence some of the daring among the erudite have concluded that the ,celts were the ,scythians1 and they have made these ,scythio-,celts include all ,europe4 ,but why not include the whole earth8 ,why stop short in so fine a career8 ,we have also been duly told that ,noah's son1 ,japhet1 came out of the ,ark1 and went with all speed to people all those vast regions with ,celts1 whom he governed marvellously well4 ,but authors of greater modesty refer the origin of our ,celts to the tower of ,babel--to the confusion of tongues--to ,gomer1 of whom no one ever heard until the very recent period when some wise men of the ,west read the name of ,gomer in a bad translation of the ,septuagint4 ,bochart1 in his ,sacred ,chronology--what a chronology6--takes quite a different turn4 ,of these innumerable hordes of ,celts he makes an ,egyptian colony1 skilfully and easily led by ,hercules from the fertile banks of the ,nile into the forests and morasses of ,germany1 whither1 no doubt1 these colonists carried the arts and the language of ,egypt and the mysteries of ,isis1 no trace of which has ever been found among them4 ,i think they are still more to be congratulated on their discoveries1 who say that the ,celts of the mountains of ,dauphiny were called ,cottians1 from their ,king ,cottius2 that the ,brichons were named from their ,king ,betrich2 the ,welsh1 or ,gaulish1 from their ,king ,wallus1 and the ,belgians from ,balgem1 which means quarrelsome4 ,a still finer origin is that of the ,celto-,pannonians1 from the ,latin word pannus1 cloth1 for1 we are told they dressed themselves in old pieces of cloth badly sewn together1 much resembling a harlequin's jacket4 ,but the best origin of all is1 undeniably1 the tower of ,babel4 ,,ceremonies--,,titles--,,precedence4 ,all these things1 which would be useless and impertinent in a state of pure nature1 are1 in our corrupt and ridiculous state1 of great service4 ,of all nations1 the ,chinese are those who have carried the use of ceremonies to the greatest length2 they certainly serve to calm as well as to weary the mind4 ,the ,chinese porters and carters are obliged1 whenever they occasion the least hindrance in the streets1 to fall on their knees and ask one another's pardon according to the prescribed formula4 ,this prevents ill language1 blows and murders4 ,they have time to grow cool and are then willing to assist one another4 ,the more free a people are1 the fewer ceremonies1 the fewer ostentatious titles1 the fewer demonstrations of annihilation in the presence of a superior1 they possess4 ,to ,scipio men said ,scipio2 to ,csar1 ,csar2 but in after times they said to the emperors1 your majesty1 your divinity4 ,the titles of ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul were ,peter and ,paul4 ,their successors gave one another the title of your holiness1 which is not to be found in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 nor in the writings of the disciples4 ,we read in the history of ,germany that the dauphin of ,france1 afterwards ,charles ,v41 went to the ,emperor ,charles ,,iv4 at ,metz and was presented after ,cardinal de ,prigord4 ,there has since been a time when chancellors went before cardinals2 after which cardinals again took precedence of chancellors4 ,in ,france the peers preceded the princes of the blood1 going in the order of their creation1 until the consecration of ,henry ,,iii4 ,the dignity of peer was1 until that time1 so exalted that at the ceremony of the consecration of ,elizabeth1 wife to ,charles ,,ix41 in #aegb1 described by ,simon ,bouquet1 chevin of ,paris1 it is said that the queen's dames and demoiselles having handed to the dame d'honneur the bread1 wine and wax1 with the silver1 for the offering to be presented to the queen by the said dame d'honneur1 the said dame d'honneur1 being a duchess1 commanded the dames to go and carry the offering to the princesses themselves1 etc4 ,this dame d'honneur was the wife of the constable ,montmorency4 ,the armchair1 the chair with a back1 the stool1 the right hand and the left were for several ages important political matters4 ,i believe that we owe the ancient etiquette concerning armchairs to the circumstance that our barbarians of ancestors had at most but one in a house1 and even this was used only by the sick4 ,in some provinces of ,germany and ,england an armchair is still called a sick-chair4 ,long after the times of ,attila and ,dagobert1 when luxury found its way into our courts and the great men of the earth had two or three armchairs in their donjons1 it was a noble distinction to sit upon one of these thrones2 and a castellain would place among his titles how he had gone half a league from home to pay his court to a count1 and how he had been received in an easy-chair4 ,we see in the ,memoirs of ,mademoiselle that that august princess passed one-fourth of her life amid the mortal agonies of disputes for the back-chair4 ,were you to sit in a certain apartment1 in a chair1 or on a stool1 or not to sit at all8 ,here was enough to involve a whole court in intrigue4 ,manners are now more easy2 ladies may use couches and sofas without occasioning any disturbance in society4 ,when ,cardinal de ,richelieu was treating with the ,english ambassadors for the marriage of ,henriette of ,france with ,charles ,i41 the affair was on the point of being broken off on account of a demand made by the ambassadors of two or three steps more towards a door2 but the cardinal removed the difficulty by taking to his bed4 ,history has carefully handed clown this precious circumstance4 ,i believe that1 if it had been proposed to ,scipio to get between the sheets to receive the visit of ,hannibal1 he would have thought the ceremony something like a joke4 ,for a whole century the order of carriages and taking the wall were testimonials of greatness and the source of pretensions1 disputes1 and conflicts4 ,to procure the passing of one carriage before another was looked upon as a signal victory4 ,the ambassadors went along the streets as if they were contending for the prize in the circus2 and when a ,spanish minister had succeeded in making a ,portuguese coachman pull up1 he sent a courier to ,madrid to apprise the king1 his master1 of this great advantage4 ,our histories regale us with fifty pugilistic combats for precedence--as that of the parliament with the bishops' clerks at the funeral of ,henry ,,iv41 the chambre des comptes with the parliament in the cathedral when ,louis ,,xiii4 gave ,france to the ,virgin1 the duke of ,epernon with the keeper of the seals1 ,du ,vair1 in the church of ,st4 ,germain4 ,the presidents of the enqutes buffeted ,savare1 the doyen of the conseillers de grand' chambre1 to make him quit his place of honor 7so much is honor the soul of monarchical governments671 and four archers were obliged to lay hold of the ,president ,barillon1 who was beating the poor doyen without mercy4 ,we find no contests like these in the ,areopagus1 nor in the ,roman senate4 ,in proportion to the barbarism of countries or the weakness of courts1 we find ceremony in vogue4 ,true power and true politeness are above vanity4 ,we may venture to believe that the custom will at last be given up which some ambassadors still retain1 of ruining themselves in order to go along the streets in procession with a few hired carriages1 fresh painted and gilded1 and preceded by a few footmen4 ,this is called making their entry2 and it is a fine joke to make your entry into a town seven or eight months before you arrive4 ,this important affair of punctilio1 which constitutes the greatness of the modern ,romans--this science of the number of steps that should be made in showing in a monsignor1 in drawing or half drawing a curtain1 in walking in a room to the right or to the left--this great art1 which neither ,fabius nor ,cato could ever imagine1 is beginning to sink2 and the train-bearers to the cardinals complain that everything indicates a decline4 ,a ,french colonel1 being at ,brussels a year after the taking of that place by ,marshal de ,saxe1 and having nothing to do1 resolved to go to the town assembly4 ,it is held at a princess'1 said one to him4 ,be it so1 answered the other1 what matters it to me8 ,but only princes go there2 are you a prince8 ,pshaw6 said the colonel1 they are a very good sort of princes2 ,i had a dozen of them in my anteroom last year1 when we had taken the town1 and they were very polite4 ,in turning over the leaves of ,horace ,i observe this line in an epistle to ,mcenas1 ,te1 dulcis amice revisam4--,i will come and see you1 my good friend4 ,this ,mcenas was the second person in the ,roman ,empire2 that is1 a man of greater power and influence than the greatest monarch of modern ,europe4 ,looking into the works of ,corneille1 ,i observed that in a letter to the great ,scuderi1 governor of ,notre ,dame de la ,garde1 etc41 he uses this expression in reference to ,cardinal ,richelieu3 ,monsieur the cardinal1 your master and mine4 ,it is1 perhaps1 the first time that such language has been applied to a minister1 since there have been ministers1 kings and flatterers in the world4 ,the same ,peter ,corneille1 the author of ,cinna1 humbly dedicates that work to the ,sieur de ,montauron1 the king's treasurer1 whom in direct terms he compares to ,augustus4 ,i regret that he did not give ,montauron the title of monseigneur or my lord4 ,an anecdote is related of an old officer1 but little conversant with the precedents and formulas of vanity1 who wrote to the ,marquis ,louvois as plain monsieur1 but receiving no answer1 next addressed him under the title of monseigneur1 still1 however1 without effect1 the unlucky monsieur continuing to rankle in the minister's heart4 ,he finally directed his letter to my ,god1 my ,god ,louvois2 commencing it by the words1 my ,god1 my ,creator4 ,does not all this sufficiently prove that the ,romans were magnanimous and modest1 and that we are frivolous and vain8 ,how d'ye do1 my dear friend8 said a duke and peer to a gentleman4 ,at your service1 my dear friend1 replied he2 and from that instant his dear friend became his implacable enemy4 ,a grandee of ,portugal was once conversing with a ,spanish hidalgo and addressing him every moment in the terms1 your excellency4 ,the ,castilian as frequently replied1 your courtesy 7vuestra merced71 a title bestowed on those who have none by right4 ,the irritated ,portuguese in return retorted your courtesy on the ,spaniard1 who then called the ,portuguese your excellency4 ,the ,portuguese1 at length wearied out1 demanded1 ,how is it that you always call me your courtesy1 when ,i call you your excellency1 and your excellency when ,i call you your courtesy8 ,the reason is1 says the ,castilian with a bow1 that all titles are equal to me1 provided that there is nothing equal between you and me4 ,the vanity of titles was not introduced into our northern climes of ,europe till the ,romans had become acquainted with ,asiatic magnificence4 ,the greater part of the sovereigns of ,asia were1 and still are1 cousins german of the sun and the moon2 their subjects dare not make any pretension to such high affinity2 and many a provincial governor1 who styles himself nutmeg of consolation and rose of delight would be empaled alive if he were to claim the slightest relationship to the sun and moon4 ,constantine was1 ,i think1 the first ,roman emperor who overwhelmed ,christian humility in a page of pompous titles4 ,it is true that before his time the emperors bore the title of god1 but the term implied nothing similar to what we understand by it4 ,divus ,augustus1 ,divus ,trajanus1 meant ,st4 ,augustus1 ,st4 ,trajan4 ,it was thought only conformable to the dignity of the ,roman ,empire that the soul of its chief should1 after his death1 ascend to heaven2 and it frequently even happened that the title of saint1 of god1 was granted to the emperor by a sort of anticipated inheritance4 ,nearly for the same reason the first patriarchs of the ,christian church were all called your holiness4 ,they were thus named to remind them of what in fact they ought to be4 ,men sometimes take upon themselves very humble titles1 provided they can obtain from others very honorable ones4 ,many an abb who calls himself brother exacts from his monks the title of monseigneur4 ,the pope styles himself servant of the servants of ,god4 ,an honest priest of ,holstein once addressed a letter to ,pius ,,iv41 servant of the servants of ,god4 ,he afterwards went to ,rome to urge his suit1 and the inquisition put him in prison to teach him how to address letters4 ,formerly the emperor alone had the title of majesty4 ,other sovereigns were called your highness1 your serenity1 your grace4 ,louis ,,xi4 was the first in ,france who was generally called majesty1 a title certainly not less suitable to the dignity of a powerful hereditary kingdom than to an elective principality4 ,but long after him the term highness was applied to kings of ,france2 and some letters to ,henry ,,iii4 are still extant in which he is addressed by that title4 ,the states of ,orleans objected to ,queen ,catherine de ,medici being called majesty4 ,but this last denomination gradually prevailed4 ,the name is indifferent2 it is the power alone that is not so4 ,the ,german chancery1 ever unchangeable in its stately formalities1 has pretended down to our own times that no kings have a right to a higher title than serenity4 ,at the celebrated treaty of ,westphalia1 in which ,france and ,sweden dictated the law to the holy ,roman ,empire1 the emperor's plenipotentiaries continually presented ,latin memorials1 in which his most sacred imperial majesty negotiated with the most serene kings of ,france and ,sweden2 while1 on the other hand1 the ,french and ,swedes fail not to declare that their sacred majesties of ,france and ,sweden had many subjects of complaint against the most serene emperor4 ,since that period1 however1 the great sovereigns have1 in regard to rank1 been considered as equals1 and he alone who beats his neighbor is adjudged to have the pre-eminence4 ,philip ,,ii4 was the first majesty in ,spain1 for the serenity of ,charles ,v4 was converted into majesty only on account of the empire4 ,the children of ,philip ,,ii4 were the first highnesses2 and afterwards they were royal highnesses4 ,the duke of ,orleans1 brother of ,louis ,,xiii41 did not take up the title of royal highness till #afca2 then the prince of ,cond claimed that the most serene highness1 which the ,dukes de ,vendme did not venture to assume4 ,the duke of ,savoy1 at that time royal highness1 afterwards substituted majesty4 ,the grand duke of ,florence did the same1 excepting as to majesty2 and finally the czar1 who was known in ,europe only as the grand duke1 declared himself emperor1 and was recognized as such4 ,formerly there were only two marquises in ,germany1 two in ,france and two in ,italy4 ,the marquis of ,brandenburg has become a king1 and a great king4 ,but at present our ,italian and ,french marquises are of a somewhat different species4 ,if an ,italian citizen has the honor of giving a dinner to the legate of his province1 and the legate1 when drinking1 says to him1 ,monsieur le marquis1 to your good health1 he suddenly becomes a marquis1 he and his heirs after him1 forever4 ,if the inhabitant of any province of ,france1 whose whole estate consists of a quarter part of a little decayed castle-ward1 goes to ,paris1 makes something of a fortune1 or carries the air of having made one1 he is styled in the deeds and legal instruments in which he is concerned high and mighty seigneur1 marquis and count1 and his son will be denominated by his notary very high and very mighty seigneur1 and as this frivolous ambition is in no way injurious to government or civil society1 it is permitted to take its course4 ,some ,french lords boast of employing ,german barons in their stables2 some ,german lords say they have ,french marquises in their kitchens2 it is not a long time since a foreigner at ,naples made his coachman a duke4 ,custom in these cases has more power than royal authority4 ,if you are but little known at ,paris1 you may there be a count or a marquis as long as you please2 if you are connected with the law of finance1 though the king should confer on you a real marquisate1 you will not1 therefore1 be monsieur le marquis4 ,the celebrated ,samuel ,bernard was1 in truth1 more a count than five hundred such as we often see not possessing four acres of land4 ,the king had converted his estate of ,coubert into a fine county2 yet if on any occasion he had ordered himself to be announced as ,count ,bernard1 etc41 he would have excited bursts of laughter4 ,in ,england it is different2 if the king confers the title of earl or baron on a merchant1 all classes address him with the designation suitable to it without the slightest hesitation4 ,by persons of the highest birth1 by the king himself1 he is called my lord4 ,it is the same in ,italy2 there is a register kept there of monsignori4 ,the pope himself addresses them under that title2 his physician is monsignor1 and no one objects4 ,in ,france the title of monseigneur or my lord is a very serious business4 ,before the time of ,cardinal ,richelieu a bishop was only a most reverend father in ,god4 ,before the year #afce bishops did not only not assume the title of monseigneur themselves1 but they did not even give it to cardinals4 ,these two customs were introduced by a bishop of ,chartres1 who1 in full canonicals of lawn and purple1 went to call ,cardinal ,richelieu monseigneur1 on which occasion ,louis ,,xiii4 observed that ,chartrain would not mind saluting the cardinal au derrire4 ,it is only since that period that bishops have mutually applied to each other the title of monseigneur4 ,the public made no objection to this application of it2 but1 as it was a new title1 not conferred on bishops by kings1 they continued to be called sieurs in edicts1 declarations1 ordinances and all official documents2 and when the council wrote to a bishop they gave him no higher title than monsieur4 ,the dukes and peers have encountered more difficulty in acquiring possession of the title of monseigneur4 ,the grande noblesse1 and what is called the grand robe1 decidedly refuse them that distinction4 ,the highest gratification of human pride consists in a man's receiving titles of honor from those who conceive themselves his equals2 but to attain this is exceedingly difficult2 pride always finds pride to contend with4 ,when the dukes insisted on receiving the title of monseigneur from the class of gentlemen1 the presidents of the parliaments required the same from advocates and proctors4 ,a certain president actually refused to be bled because his surgeon asked3 ,in which arm will you be bled1 monsieur8 ,an old counsellor treated this matter somewhat more gayly4 ,a pleader was saying to him1 ,monseigneur1 monsieur1 your secretary4444 ,he stopped him short3 ,you have uttered three blunders1 says he1 in as many words4 ,i am not monseigneur2 my secretary is not monsieur2 he is my clerk4 ,to put an end to this grand conflict of vanity it will eventually be found necessary to give the title of monseigneur to every individual in the nation2 as women1 who were formerly content with mademoiselle1 are now to be called madame4 ,in ,spain1 when a mendicant meets a brother beggar1 he thus accosts him3 ,has your courtesy taken chocolate8 ,this politeness of language elevates the mind and keeps up the dignity of the species4 ,csar and ,pompey were called in the senate ,csar and ,pompey4 ,but these men knew nothing of life4 ,they ended their letters with vale--adieu4 ,we1 who possess more exalted notions1 were sixty years ago affectionate servants2 then very humble and very obedient2 and now we have the honor to be so4 ,i really grieve for posterity1 which will find it extremely difficult to add to these very beautiful formulas4 ,the ,duke d'pernon1 the first of ,gascons in pride1 though far from being the first of statesmen1 wrote on his deathbed to ,cardinal ,richelieu and ended his letter with3 ,your very humble and very obedient4 ,recollecting1 however1 that the cardinal had used only the phrase very affectionate1 he despatched an express to bring back the letter 7for it had been actually sent off71 began it anew1 signed very affectionate1 and died in the bed of honor4 ,we have made many of these observations elsewhere4 ,it is well1 however1 to repeat them1 were it only to correct some pompous peacocks1 who would strut away their lives in contemptibly displaying their plumes and their pride4 ,,certain--,,certainty4 ,i am certain2 ,i have friends2 my fortune is secure2 my relations will never abandon me2 ,i shall have justice done me2 my work is good1 it will be well received2 what is owing to me will be paid2 my friend will be faithful1 he has sworn it2 the minister will advance me--he has1 by the way1 promised it--all these are words which a man who has lived a short time in the world erases from his dictionary4 ,when the judges condemned ,l',anglade1 ,le ,brun1 ,calas1 ,sirven1 ,martin1 ,montbailli1 and so many others1 since acknowledged to have been innocent1 they were certain1 or they ought to have been certain1 that all these unhappy men were guilty2 yet they were deceived4 ,there are two ways of being deceived2 by false judgment and self-blindness--that of erring like a man of genius1 and that of deciding like a fool4 ,the judges deceived themselves like men of genius in the affair of ,l',anglade2 they were blinded by dazzling appearances and did not sufficiently examine the probabilities on the other side4 ,their wisdom made them believe it certain that ,l',anglade had committed a theft1 which he certainly had not committed2 and on this miserable uncertain certainty of the human mind1 a gentleman was put to the ordinary and extraordinary question2 subsequent thrown1 without succor1 into a dungeon and condemned to the galleys1 where he died4 ,his wife was shut up in another dungeon1 with her daughter1 aged seven years1 who afterwards married a counsellor of the same parliament which had condemned her father to the galleys and her mother to banishment4 ,it is clear that the judges would not have pronounced this sentence had they been really certain4 ,however1 even at the time this sentence was passed several persons knew that the theft had been committed by a priest named ,gagnat1 associated with a highwayman1 and the innocence of ,l',anglade was not recognized till after his death4 ,they were in the same manner certain when1 by a sentence in the first instance1 they condemned to the wheel the innocent ,le ,brun1 who1 by an arrt pronounced on his appeal1 was broken on the rack1 and died under the torture4 ,the examples of ,calas and ,sirven are well known1 that of ,martin is less so4 ,he was an honest agriculturist near ,bar in ,lorraine4 ,a villain stole his dress and in this dress murdered a traveller whom he knew to have money and whose route he had watched4 ,martin was accused1 his dress was a witness against him2 the judges regarded this evidence as a certainty4 ,not the past conduct of the prisoner1 a numerous family whom he had brought up virtuously1 neither the little money found on him1 nor the extreme probability of his innocence--nothing could save him4 ,the subaltern judge made a merit of his rigor4 ,he condemned the innocent victim to be broken on the wheel1 and1 by an unhappy fatality the sentence was executed to the full extent4 ,the senior ,martin is broken alive1 calling ,god to witness his innocence to his last breath2 his family is dispersed1 his little property is confiscated1 and scarcely are his broken members exposed on the great road when the assassin who had committed the murder and theft is put in prison for another crime1 and confesses on the rack1 to which he is condemned in his turn1 that he only was guilty of the crime for which ,martin had suffered torture and death4 ,montbailli1 who slept with his wife1 was accused with having1 in concert with her1 killed his mother1 who had evidently died of apoplexy4 ,the council of ,arras condemned ,montbailli to expire on the rack1 and his wife to be burnt4 ,their innocence was discovered1 but not until ,montbailli had been tortured4 ,let us cease advertence to these melancholy adventures1 which make us groan at the human condition2 but let us continue to lament the pretended certainty of judges1 when they pass such sentences4 ,there is no certainty1 except when it is physically or morally impossible that the thing can be otherwise4 ,what6 is a strict demonstration necessary to enable us to assert that the surface of a sphere is equal to four times the area of its great circle2 and is not one required to warrant taking away the life of a citizen by a disgraceful punishment8 ,if such is the misfortune of humanity that judges must be contented with extreme probabilities1 they should at least consult the age1 the rank1 the conduct of the accused--the interest which he could have in committing the crime1 and the interest of his enemies to destroy him4 ,every judge should say to himself3 ,will not posterity1 will not entire ,europe condemn my sentence8 ,shall ,i sleep tranquilly with my hands tainted with innocent blood8 ,let us pass from this horrible picture to other examples of a certainty which leads directly to error4 ,why art thou loaded with chains1 fanatical and unhappy ,santon8 ,why hast thou added a large iron ring on thy miserable scourge8 ,it is because ,i am certain of being one day placed in the first heaven1 by the side of our great prophet4 ,alas1 my friend1 come with me to the neighborhood of ,mount ,athos and thou wilt see three thousand mendicants who are as certain that thou wilt go to the gulf which is under the narrow bridge1 as that they will all go to the first heaven6 ,stop1 miserable ,malabar widow1 believe not the fool who persuades you that you shall be reunited to your husband in all the delights of another world1 if you burn yourself on his funeral pile6 ,no1 ,i persist in burning myself because ,i am certain of living in felicity with my husband2 my brahmin told me so4 ,let us attend to less frightful certainties1 and which have a little more appearance of truth4 ,what is the age of your friend ,christopher8 ,twenty-eight years4 ,i have seen his marriage contract1 and his baptismal register2 ,i knew him in his infancy2 he is twenty-eight--,i am certain of it4 ,scarcely have ,i heard the answer of this man1 so sure of what he said1 and of twenty others who confirmed the same thing1 when ,i learn that for secret reasons1 and by a singular circumstance the baptismal register of ,christopher has been antedated4 ,those to whom ,i had spoken as yet know nothing of it1 yet they have still the same certainty of that which is not4 ,if you had asked the whole earth before the time of ,copernicus3 has the sun risen8 has it set to-day8 all men would have answered3 ,we are quite certain of it4 ,they were certain and they were in error4 ,witchcraft1 divinations1 and possessions were for a long time the most certain things in the world in the eyes of society4 ,what an innumerable crowd of people who have seen all these fine things and who have been certain of them6 ,at present this certainty is a little shaken4 ,a young man who is beginning to study geometry comes to me2 he is only at the definition of triangles4 ,are you not certain1 said ,i to him1 that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles8 ,he answered that not only was he not certain of it1 but that he had not the slightest idea of the proposition4 ,i demonstrated it to him4 ,he then became very certain of it1 and will remain so all his life4 ,this is a certainty very different from the others2 they were only probabilities and these probabilities1 when examined1 have turned out errors1 but mathematical certainty is immutable and eternal4 ,i exist1 ,i think1 ,i feel grief--is all that as certain as a geometrical truth8 ,yes1 skeptical as ,i am1 ,i avow it4 ,why8 ,it is that these truths are proved by the same principle that it is impossible for a thing to exist and not exist at the same time4 ,i cannot at the same time feel and not feel4 ,a triangle cannot at the same time contain a hundred and eighty degrees1 which are the sum of two right angles1 and not contain them4 ,the physical certainty of my existence1 of my identity1 is of the same value as mathematical certainty1 although it is of a different kind4 ,it is not the same with the certainty founded on appearances1 or on the unanimous testimony of mankind4 ,but how1 you will say to me1 are you not certain that ,pekin exists8 ,have you not merchandise from ,pekin8 ,people of different countries and different opinions have vehemently written against one another while preaching the truth at ,pekin2 then are you not assured of the existence of this town8 ,i answer that it is extremely probable that there may be a city of ,pekin but ,i would not wager my life that such a town exists1 and ,i would at any time wager my life that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles4 ,in the ,dictionnaire ,encyclopdique a very pleasant thing appears4 ,it is there maintained that a man ought to be as certain that ,marshal ,saxe rose from the dead1 if all ,paris tells him so1 as he is sure that ,marshal ,saxe gained the battle of ,fontenoy1 upon the same testimony4 ,pray observe the beauty of this reasoning3 as ,i believe all ,paris when it tells me a thing morally possible1 ,i ought to believe all ,paris when it tells me a thing morally and physically impossible4 ,apparently the author of this article has a disposition to be risible2 as to ourselves who have only undertaken this little dictionary to ask a few questions1 we are very far from possessing this very extensive certainty4 ,,chain ,,of ,,created ,,beings4 ,the gradation of beings rising from the lowest to the ,great ,supreme--the scale of infinity--is an idea that fills us with admiration1 but when steadily regarded this phantom disappears1 as apparitions were wont to vanish at the crowing of the cock4 ,the imagination is pleased with the imperceptible transition from brute matter to organized matter1 from plants to zoophytes1 from zoophytes to animals1 from animals to men1 from men to genii1 from these genii1 clad in a light arial body1 to immaterial substances of a thousand different orders1 rising from beauty to perfection1 up to ,god ,himself4 ,this hierarchy is very pleasing to young men who look upon it as upon the pope and cardinals1 followed by the archbishops and bishops1 after whom are the vicars1 curates and priests1 the deacons and subdeacons1 then come the monks1 and the capuchins bring up the rear4 ,but there is1 perhaps1 a somewhat greater distance between ,god and ,his most perfect creatures than between the holy father and the dean of the sacred college4 ,the dean may become pope1 but can the most perfect genii created by the ,supreme ,being become ,god8 ,is there not infinity between them8 ,nor does this chain1 this pretended gradation1 any more exist in vegetables and animals2 the proof is that some species of plants and animals have been entirely destroyed4 ,we have no murex4 ,the ,jews were forbidden to eat griffin and ixion1 these two species1 whatever ,bochart may say1 have probably disappeared from the earth4 ,where1 then1 is the chain8 ,supposing that we had not lost some species1 it is evident that they may be destroyed4 ,lions and rhinoceroses are becoming very scarce1 and if the rest of the nations had imitated the ,english1 there would not now have been a wolf left4 ,it is probable that there have been races of men who are no longer to be found4 ,why should they not have existed as well as the whites1 the blacks1 the ,kaffirs1 to whom nature has given an apron of their own skin1 hanging from the belly to the middle of the thigh2 the ,samoyeds1 whose women have nipples of a beautiful jet4 ,is there not a manifest void between the ape and man8 ,is it not easy to imagine a two-legged animal without feathers having intelligence without our shape or the use of speech--one which we could tame1 which would answer our signs1 and serve us8 ,and again1 between this species and man1 cannot we imagine others8 ,beyond man1 divine ,plato1 you place in heaven a string of celestial substances1 in some of which we believe because the faith so teaches us4 ,but what reason had you to believe in them8 ,it does not appear that you had spoken with the genius of ,socrates1 and though ,heres1 good man1 rose again on purpose to tell you the secrets of the other world1 he told you nothing of these substances4 ,in the sensible universe the pretended chain is no less interrupted4 ,what gradation1 ,i pray you1 is there among the planets8 ,the moon is forty times smaller than our globe4 ,travelling from the moon through space1 you find ,venus1 about as large as the earth4 ,from thence you go to ,mercury1 which revolves in an ellipsis very different from the circular orbit of ,venus2 it is twenty-seven times smaller than the earth1 the sun is a million times larger1 and ,mars is five times smaller4 ,the latter goes his round in two years1 his neighbor ,jupiter in twelve1 and ,saturn in thirty2 yet ,saturn1 the most distant of all1 is not so large as ,jupiter4 ,where is the pretended gradation8 ,and then1 how1 in so many empty spaces1 do you extend a chain connecting the whole8 ,there can certainly be no other than that which ,newton discovered--that which makes all the globes of the planetary world gravitate one towards another in the immense void4 ,oh1 much admired ,plato6 ,i fear that you have told us nothing but fables1 that you have spoken to us only as a sophist6 ,oh1 ,plato6 you have done more mischief than you are aware of4 ,how so8 you will ask4 ,i will not tell you4 ,,chain ,,or ,,generation ,,of ,,events4 ,the present1 we say1 is pregnant with the future2 events are linked one with another by an invincible fatality4 ,this is the fate which1 in ,homer1 is superior to ,jupiter himself4 ,the master of gods and men expressly declares that he cannot prevent his son ,sarpedon from dying at the time appointed4 ,sarpedon was born at the moment when it was necessary that he should be born1 and could not be born at any other2 he could not die elsewhere than before ,troy2 he could not be buried elsewhere than in ,lycia2 his body must1 in the appointed time1 produce vegetables1 which must change into the substance of some of the ,lycians2 his heirs must establish a new order of things in his states2 that new order must influence neighboring kingdoms2 thence must result a new arrangement in war and in peace with the neighbors of ,lycia4 ,so that1 from link to link1 the destiny of the whole earth depended on the elopement of ,helen1 which had a necessary connection with the marriage of ,hecuba1 which1 ascending to higher events1 was connected with the origin of things4 ,had any one of these occurrences been ordered otherwise1 the result would have been a different universe4 ,now1 it was not possible for the actual universe not to exist2 therefore it was not possible for ,jupiter1 ,jove as he was1 to save the life of his son4 ,we are told that this doctrine of necessity and fatality has been invented in our own times by ,leibnitz1 under the name of sufficing reason4 ,it is1 however1 of great antiquity4 ,it is no recent discovery that there is no effect without a cause and that often the smallest cause produces the greatest effects4 ,lord ,bolingbroke acknowledges that he was indebted to the petty quarrels between the duchess of ,marlborough and ,mrs4 ,masham for an opportunity of concluding the private treaty between ,queen ,anne and ,louis ,,xiv4 ,this treaty led to the peace of ,utrecht2 the peace of ,utrecht secured the throne of ,spain to ,philip ,v42 ,philip took ,naples and ,sicily from the house of ,austria4 ,thus the ,spanish prince1 who is now king of ,naples1 evidently owes his kingdom to ,mrs4 ,masham2 he would not have had it1 nor even have been born1 if the duchess of ,marlborough had been more complaisant towards the queen of ,england2 his existence at ,naples depended on one folly more or less at the court of ,london4 ,examine the situations of every people upon earth2 they are in like manner founded on a train of occurrences seemingly without connection1 but all connected4 ,in this immense machine all is wheel1 pulley1 cord1 or spring4 ,it is the same in physical order4 ,a wind blowing from the southern seas and the remotest parts of ,africa brings with it a portion of the ,african atmosphere1 which1 falling in showers in the valleys of the ,alps1 fertilizes our lands2 on the other hand our north wind carries our vapors among the negroes2 we do good to ,guinea1 and ,guinea to us4 ,the chain extends from one end of the universe to the other4 ,but the truth of this principle seems to me to be strangely abused2 for it is thence concluded that there is no atom1 however small1 the movement of which has not influenced the actual arrangement of the whole world2 that the most trivial accident1 whether among men or animals1 is an essential link in the great chain of destiny4 ,let us understand one another4 ,every effect evidently has its cause1 ascending from cause to cause1 into the abyss of eternity2 but every cause has not its effect1 going down to the end of ages4 ,i grant that all events are produced one by another2 if the past was pregnant with the present1 the present is pregnant with the future2 everything is begotten1 but everything does not beget4 ,it is a genealogical tree2 every house1 we know1 ascends to ,adam1 but many of the family have died without issue4 ,the events of this world form a genealogical tree4 ,it is indisputable that the inhabitants of ,spain and ,gaul are descended from ,gomer1 and the ,russians from his younger brother ,magog1 for in how many great books is this genealogy to be found6 ,it cannot then be denied that the grand ,turk1 who is also descended from ,magog1 is obliged to him for the good beating given him in #agfi by the ,empress ,catherine ,,ii4 ,this occurrence is evidently linked with other great events2 but whether ,magog spat to the right or to the left near ,mount ,caucasus--made two or three circles in a well--or whether he lay on his right side or his left1 ,i do not see that it could have much influence on present affairs4 ,it must be remembered1 because it is proved by ,newton1 that nature is not a plenum1 and that motion is not communicated by collision until it has made the tour of the universe4 ,throw a body of a certain density into water1 you easily calculate that at the end of such a time the movement of this body1 and that which it has given to the water1 will cease2 the motion will be lost and rest will be restored4 ,so the motion produced by ,magog in spitting into a well cannot have influenced what is now passing in ,moldavia and ,wallachia4 ,present events1 then1 are not the offspring of all past events1 they have their direct lines1 but with a thousand small collateral fines they have nothing to do4 ,once more be it observed that every being has a parent but every one has not an offspring4 ,,changes ,,that ,,have ,,occurred ,,in ,,the ,,globe4 ,when we have seen with our own eyes a mountain advancing into a plain--that is1 an immense rock detached from that mountain1 and covering the fields1 an entire castle buried in the earth1 or a swallowed-up river bursting from below1 indubitable marks of an immense mass of water having once inundated a country now inhabited1 and so many traces of other revolutions1 we are even more disposed to believe in the great changes that have altered the face of the world than a ,parisian lady who knows that the square in which her house stands was formerly a cultivated field1 but a lady of ,naples who has seen the ruins of ,herculaneum underground is still less enthralled by the prejudice which leads us to believe that everything has always been as it now is4 ,was there a great burning of the world in the time of ,phaethon8 ,nothing is more likely1 but this catastrophe was no more caused by the ambition of ,phaethon or the anger of ,jupiter the ,thunderer than at ,lisbon1 in #agee1 the ,divine vengeance was drawn down1 the subterraneous fires kindled1 and half the city destroyed by the fires so often lighted there by the inquisition--besides1 we know that ,mequinez1 ,tetuan and considerable hordes of ,arabs have been treated even worse than ,lisbon1 though they had no inquisition4 ,the island of ,st4 ,domingo1 entirely devastated not long ago1 had no more displeased the ,great ,being than the island of ,corsica2 all is subject to eternal physical laws4 ,sulphur1 bitumen1 nitre1 and iron1 enclosed within the bowels of the earth have overturned many a city1 opened many a gulf1 and we are constantly liable to these accidents attached to the way in which this globe is put together1 just as1 in many countries during winter1 we are exposed to the attacks of famishing wolves and tigers4 ,if fire1 which ,heraclitus believed to be the principle of all1 has altered the face of a part of the earth1 ,thales's first principle1 water1 has operated as great changes4 ,one-half of ,america is still inundated by the ancient overflowings of the ,maranon1 ,rio de la ,plata1 the ,st4 ,lawrence1 the ,mississippi1 and all the rivers perpetually swelled by the eternal snows of the highest mountains in the world1 stretching from one end of that continent to the other4 ,these accumulated floods have almost everywhere produced vast marshes4 ,the neighboring lands have become uninhabitable1 and the earth1 which the hands of man should have made fruitful1 has produced only pestilence4 ,the same thing happened in ,china and in ,egypt3 a multitude of ages were necessary to dig canals and dry the lands4 ,add to these lengthened disasters the irruptions of the sea1 the lands it has invaded and deserted1 the islands it has detached from the continent and you will find that from east to west1 from ,japan to ,mount ,atlas1 it has devastated more than eighty thousand square leagues4 ,the swallowing up of the island ,atlantis from the ocean may1 with as much reason1 be considered historical1 as fabulous4 ,the shallowness of the ,atlantic as far as the ,canaries might be taken as a proof of this great event and the ,canaries themselves for fragments of the island ,atlantis4 ,plato tells us in his ,timus1 that the ,egyptian priests1 among whom he had travelled1 had in their possession ancient registers which certified that island's going under water4 ,plato says that this catastrophe happened nine thousand years before his time4 ,no one will believe this chronology on ,plato's word only1 but neither can any one adduce against it any physical proof1 nor even a historical testimony from any profane writer4 ,pliny1 in his third book1 says that from time immemorial the people of the southern coasts of ,spain believed that the sea had forced a passage between ,calpe and ,abila3 ,indigen columnas ,herculis vocant1 creduntque per fossas exclusa antea admisisse maria1 et rerum natur mutasse faciem4 ,an attentive traveller may convince himself by his own eyes that the ,cyclades and the ,sporades were once part of the continent of ,greece1 and especially that ,sicily was once joined to ,apulia4 ,the two volcanos of ,etna and ,vesuvius having the same basis in the sea1 the little gulf of ,charybdis1 the only deep part of that sea1 the perfect resemblance of the two soils are incontrovertible testimonies4 ,the floods of ,deucalion and ,ogyges are well known1 and the fables founded upon this truth are still more the talk of all the ,west4 ,the ancients have mentioned several deluges in ,asia4 ,the one spoken of by ,berosus happened 7as he tells us7 in ,chalda1 about four thousand three1 or four hundred years before the ,christian era1 and ,asia was as much inundated with fables about this deluge as it was by the overflowings of the ,tigris and ,euphrates1 and all the rivers that fall into the ,euxine4 ,it is true that such overflowings cannot cover the country with more than a few feet of water1 but the consequent sterility1 the washing away of houses1 and the destruction of cattle are losses which it requires nearly a century to repair4 ,we know how much they have cost ,holland1 more than the half of which has been lost since the year #ajej4 ,she is still obliged to maintain a daily conflict with the ever-threatening ocean4 ,she has never employed so many soldiers in resisting her enemies as she employs laborers in continually defending her against the assaults of a sea always ready to swallow her4 ,the road from ,egypt to ,phnicia1 along the borders of ,lake ,serbo1 was once quite practicable1 but it has long ceased to be so2 it is now nothing but a quicksand1 moistened by stagnant water4 ,in short1 a great portion of the earth would be no other than a vast poisonous marsh inhabited by monsters1 but for the assiduous labor of the human race4 ,we shall not here speak of the universal deluge of ,noah4 ,let it suffice to read the ,holy ,scriptures with submission4 ,noah's flood was an incomprehensible miracle supernaturally worked by the justice and goodness of an ineffable ,providence whose will it was to destroy the whole guilty human race and form a new and innocent race4 ,if the new race was more wicked than the former1 and became more criminal from age to age1 from reformation to reformation1 this is but another effect of the same ,providence1 of which it is impossible for us to fathom the depths1 the inconceivable mysteries transmitted to the nations of the ,west for many ages1 in the ,latin translation of the ,septuagint4 ,we shall never enter these awful sanctuaries2 our questions will be limited to simple nature4 ,,character4 ,from the ,greek word signifying ,impression1 ,engraving4--,it is what nature has engraved in us4 ,can we change our character8 ,yes1 if we change our body4 ,a man born turbulent1 violent1 and inflexible1 may1 through falling in his old age into an apoplexy1 become like a silly1 weak1 timid1 puling child4 ,his body is no longer the same1 but so long as his nerves1 his blood1 and his marrow remain in the same state his disposition will not change any more than the instinct of a wolf or a polecat4 ,the ,english author of ,the ,dispensary1 a poem much superior to the ,italian ,capitoli and perhaps even to ,boileau's ,lutrin1 has1 as it seems to me1 well observed4 ,how matter1 by the varied shape of pores1 ,or idiots frames1 or solemn senators4 ,the character is formed of our ideas and our feelings4 ,now it is quite clear that we neither give ourselves feelings nor ideas1 therefore our character cannot depend on ourselves4 ,if it did so depend1 every one would be perfect4 ,we cannot give ourselves tastes1 nor talents1 why1 then1 should we give ourselves qualities8 ,when we do not reflect we think we are masters of all3 when we reflect we find that we are masters of nothing4 ,if you would absolutely change a man's character purge him with diluents till he is dead4 ,charles ,,xii41 in his illness on the way to ,bender1 was no longer the same man2 he was as tractable as a child4 ,if ,i have a wry nose and cat's eyes ,i can hide them behind a mask1 and can ,i do more with the character that nature has given me8 ,a man born violent and passionate presents himself before ,francis ,i41 king of ,france1 to complain of a trespass4 ,the countenance of the prince1 the respectful behavior of the courtiers1 the very place he is in make a powerful impression upon this man4 ,he mechanically casts down his eyes1 his rude voice is softened1 he presents his petition with humility1 you would think him as mild as 7at that moment at least7 the courtiers appear to be1 among whom he is often disconcerted1 but if ,francis ,i4 knows anything of physiognomy1 he will easily discover in his eye1 though downcast1 glistening with a sullen fire1 in the extended muscles of his face1 in his fast-closed lips1 that this man is not so mild as he is forced to appear4 ,the same man follows him to ,pavia1 is taken prisoner along with him and thrown into the same dungeon at ,madrid4 ,the majesty of ,francis ,i4 no longer awes him as before1 he becomes familiar with the object of his reverence4 ,one day1 pulling on the king's boots1 and happening to pull them on ill1 the king1 soured by misfortune1 grows angry1 on which our man of courtesy wishes his majesty at the devil and throws his boots out the window4 ,sixtus ,v4 was by nature petulant1 obstinate1 haughty1 impetuous1 vindictive1 arrogant4 ,this character1 however1 seems to have been softened by the trials of his novitiate4 ,but see him beginning to acquire some influence in his order2 he flies into a passion against a guardian and knocks him down4 ,behold him an inquisitor at ,venice1 he exercises his office with insolence4 ,behold him cardinal2 he is possessed della rabbia papale2 this rage triumphs over his natural propensities2 he buries his person and his character in obscurity and counterfeits humility and infirmity4 ,he is elected pope1 and the spring which policy had held back now acts with all the force of its long-restrained elasticity2 he is the proudest and most despotic of sovereigns4 ,naturam expellas furea1 tamen usque recurret4 ,howe'er expelled1 nature will still return4 ,religion and morality curb the strength of the disposition1 but they cannot destroy it4 ,the drunkard in a cloister1 reduced to a quarter of a pint of cider each meal will never more get drunk1 but he will always be fond of wine4 ,age weakens the character2 it is as an old tree producing only a few degenerate fruits1 but always of the same nature1 which is covered with knots and moss and becomes worm-eaten1 but is ever the same1 whether oak or pear tree4 ,if we could change our character we could give ourselves one and become the master of nature4 ,can we give ourselves anything8 do not we receive everything8 ,to strive to animate the indolent man with persevering activity1 to freeze with apathy the boiling blood of the impetuous1 to inspire a taste for poetry into him who has neither taste nor ear were as futile as to attempt to give sight to one born blind4 ,we perfect1 we ameliorate1 we conceal what nature has placed in us1 but we place nothing there ourselves4 ,an agriculturist is told3 ,you have too many fish in this pond2 they will not thrive1 here are too many cattle in your meadows2 they will want grass and grow lean4 ,after this exhortation the pikes come and eat one-half this man's carps1 the wolves one-half of his sheep1 and the rest fatten4 ,and will you applaud his economy8 ,this countryman is yourself2 one of your passions devours the rest and you think you have gained a triumph4 ,do we not almost all resemble the old general of ninety1 who1 having found some young officers behaving in a rather disorderly manner with some young women1 said to them in anger3 ,gentlemen1 is this the example that ,i set you8 ,,charity4 ,,charitable ,,and ,,beneficent ,,institutions1 ,,alms-,,houses1 ,,hospitals1 ,,etc4 ,cicero frequently speaks of universal charity1 charitas humani generis2 but it does not appear that the policy or the beneficence of the ,romans ever induced them to establish charitable institutions1 in which the indigent and the sick might be relieved at the expense of the public4 ,there was a receptacle for strangers at the port of ,ostia1 called ,xenodokium1 ,st4 ,jerome renders this justice to the ,romans4 ,almshouses seem to have been unknown in ancient ,rome4 ,a more noble usage prevailed--that of supplying the people with corn4 ,there were in ,rome three hundred and twenty-seven public granaries4 ,this constant liberality precluded any need of alms-houses4 ,they were strangers to necessity4 ,neither was there any occasion among the ,romans for founding charities4 ,none exposed their own children4 ,those of slaves were taken care of by their masters4 ,childbirth was not deemed disgraceful to the daughters of citizens4 ,the poorest families1 maintained by the republic and afterwards by the emperors1 saw the subsistence of their children secured4 ,the expression1 charitable establishment1 maison de charit1 implies a state of indigence among modern nations which the form of our governments has not been able to preclude4 ,the word hospital1 which recalls that of hospitality1 reminds us of a virtue in high estimation among the ,greeks1 now no longer existing2 but it also expresses a virtue far superior4 ,there is a mighty difference between lodging1 maintaining1 and providing in sickness for all afflicted applicants whatever1 and entertaining in your own house two or three travellers by whom you might claim a right to be entertained in return4 ,hospitality1 after all1 was but an exchange4 ,hospitals are monuments of beneficence4 ,it is true that the ,greeks were acquainted with charitable institutions under the name of ,xenodokia1 for strangers1 ,nosocomeia1 for the sick1 and ,ptokia1 for the indigent4 ,in ,diogenes ,laertius1 concerning ,bion1 we find this passage3 ,he suffered much from the indigence of those who were charged with the care of the sick4 ,hospitality among friends was called ,idioxenia1 and among strangers ,proxenia4 ,hence1 the person who received and entertained strangers in his house1 in the name of the whole city1 was called ,proxenos4 ,but this institution appears to have been exceedingly rare4 ,at the present day there is scarcely a city in ,europe without its hospitals4 ,the ,turks have them even for beasts1 which seems to be carrying charity rather too far1 it would be better to forget the beasts and think more about men4 ,this prodigious multitude of charitable establishments clearly proves a truth deserving of all our attention--that man is not so depraved as he is stated to be1 and that1 notwithstanding all his absurd opinions1 notwithstanding all the horrors of war which transform him into a ferocious beast1 we have reason to consider him as a creature naturally well disposed and kind1 and who1 like other animals1 becomes vicious only in proportion as he is stung by provocation4 ,the misfortune is that he is provoked too often4 ,modern ,rome has almost as many charitable institutions as ancient ,rome had triumphal arches and other monuments of conquest4 ,the most considerable of them all is a bank which lends money at two per cent4 upon pledge1 and sells the property if the borrower does not redeem it by an appointed time4 ,this establishment is called the ,archiospedale1 or chief hospital4 ,it is said always to contain within its walls nearly two thousand sick1 which would be about the fiftieth part of the population of ,rome for this one house alone1 without including the children brought up1 and the pilgrims lodged there4 ,where are the computations which do not require abatement8 ,has it not been actually published at ,rome that the hospital of the ,trinity had lodged and maintained for three days four hundred and forty thousand five hundred male and twenty-five thousand female pilgrims at the jubilee in #afjj8 ,has not ,misson himself told us that the hospital of the ,annunciation at ,naples possesses a rental of two millions in our money8 7,about four hundred thousand dollars47 ,however1 to return1 perhaps a charitable establishment for pilgrims who are generally mere vagabonds1 is rather an encouragement to idleness than an act of humanity4 ,it is1 however1 a decisive evidence of humanity that ,rome contains fifty charitable establishments including all descriptions4 ,these beneficent institutions are quite as useful and respectable as the riches of some monasteries and chapels are useless and ridiculous4 ,to dispense food1 clothing1 medicine1 and aid of every kind1 to our brethren1 is truly meritorious1 but what need can a saint have of gold and diamonds8 ,what benefit results to mankind from our ,lady of ,loretto possessing more gorgeous treasures than the ,turkish sultan8 ,loretto is a house of vanity1 and not of charity4 ,london1 reckoning its charity schools1 has as many beneficent establishments as ,rome4 ,the most beautiful monument of beneficence ever erected is the ,htel des ,invalides1 founded by ,louis ,,xiv4 ,of all hospitals1 that in which the greatest number of indigent sick are daily received is the ,htel ,dieu of ,paris4 ,it frequently contains four or five thousand inmates at a time4 ,it is at once the receptacle of all the dreadful ills to which mankind are subject and the temple of true virtue1 which consists in relieving them4 ,it is impossible to avoid frequently drawing a contrast between a fte at ,versailles or an opera at ,paris1 in which all the pleasures and all the splendors of life are combined with the most exquisite art1 and a ,htel ,dieu1 where all that is painful1 all that is loathsome1 and even death itself are accumulated in one mass of horror4 ,such is the composition of great cities6 ,by an admirable policy pleasures and luxury are rendered subservient to misery and pain4 ,the theatres of ,paris pay on an average the yearly sum of a hundred thousand crowns to the hospital4 ,it often happens in these charitable institutions that the inconveniences counterbalance the advantages4 ,one proof of the abuses attached to them is that patients dread the very idea of being removed to them4 ,the ,htel ,dieu1 for example1 was formerly well situated1 in the middle of the city1 near the bishop's palace4 ,the situation now is very bad1 for the city has become overgrown2 four or five patients are crowded into every bed1 the victim of scurvy communicates it to his neighbor and in return receives from him smallpox1 and a pestilential atmosphere spreads incurable disease and death1 not only through the building destined to restore men to healthful life but through a great part of the city which surrounds it4 ,m4 de ,chamousset1 one of the most valuable and active of citizens1 has computed1 from accurate authorities1 that in the ,htel ,dieu1 a fourth part of the patients die1 an eighth in the hospital of ,charity1 a ninth in the ,london hospitals1 and a thirtieth in those of ,versailles4 ,in the great and celebrated hospital of ,lyons1 which has long been one of the best conducted in ,europe1 the average mortality has been found to be only one-fifteenth4 ,it has been often proposed to divide the ,htel ,dieu of ,paris into smaller establishments better situated1 more airy1 and salubrious1 but money has been wanting to carry the plan into execution4 ,curtae nescio quid semper abest rei4 ,money is always to be found when men are to be sent to the frontiers to be destroyed1 but when the object is to preserve them it is no longer so4 ,yet the ,htel ,dieu of ,paris has a revenue amounting to more than a million 7forty thousand pounds71 and every day increasing1 and the ,parisians have rivalled each other in their endowments of it4 ,we cannot help remarking in this place that ,germain ,brice1 in his ,description of ,paris1 speaking of some legacies bequeathed by the first president1 ,bellievre1 to the hall of the ,htel ,dieu1 named ,st4 ,charles1 says3 ,every one ought to read the beautiful inscription1 engraved in letters of gold on a grand marble tablet1 and composed by ,oliver ,patru1 one of the choicest spirits of his time1 some of whose pleadings are extant and in very high esteem4 ,whoever thou art that enterest this sacred place thou wilt almost everywhere behold traces of the charity of the great ,pomponne4 ,the gold and silver tapestry and the exquisite furniture which formerly adorned his apartments are now1 by a happy metamorphosis1 made to minister to the necessities of the sick4 ,that divine man1 who was the ornament and delight of his age1 even in his conflict with death1 considered how he might relieve the afflicted4 ,the blood of ,bellievre was manifested in every action of his life4 ,the glory of his embassies is full well known1 etc4 ,the useful ,chamousset did better than ,germain ,brice1 or than ,oliver ,patru1 one of the choicest spirits of his time4 ,he offered to undertake at his own expense1 backed by a responsible company1 the following contract3 ,the administrators of the ,htel ,dieu estimated the cost of every patient1 whether killed or cured1 at fifty livres4 ,m4 ,chamousset and the company offered to undertake the business1 on receiving fifty livres on recovery only4 ,the deaths were to be thrown out of the account1 of which the expenses were to be borne by himself4 ,the proposal was so very advantageous that it was not accepted4 ,it was feared that he would not be able to accomplish it4 ,every abuse attempted to be reformed is the patrimony of those who have more influence than the reformers4 ,a circumstance no less singular is that the ,htel ,dieu alone has the privilege of selling meat in ,lent1 for its own advantage and it loses money thereby4 ,m4 ,chamousset proposed to enter into a contract by which the establishment would gain2 his offer was rejected and the butcher1 who was thought to have suggested it to him1 was dismissed4 ,ainsi chez les humains1 par un abus fatal1 ,le bien le plus parfait est la source du mal4 ,thus serious ill1 if tainted by abuse1 ,the noblest works of man will oft produce4 ,,charles ,,ix4 ,charles ,,ix41 king of ,france1 was1 we are told1 a good poet4 ,it is quite certain that while he lived his verses were admired4 ,brantme does not1 indeed1 tell us that this king was the best poet in ,europe1 but he assures us that he made very genteel quatrains impromptu1 without thinking 7for he had seen several of them71 and when it was wet or gloomy weather1 or very hot1 he would send for the poets into his cabinet and pass his time there with them4 ,had he always passed his time thus1 and1 above all1 had he made good verses1 we should not have had a ,st4 ,bartholomew1 he would not have fired with a carbine through his window upon his own subjects1 as if they had been a covey of partridges4 ,is it not impossible for a good poet to be a barbarian8 ,i am persuaded it is4 ,these lines1 addressed in his name to ,ronsard1 have been attributed to him3 ,la lyre1 qui ravit par de si doux accords1 ,te soumets les esprits dont je n'ai que les corps2 ,le matre elle t'en rend1 et te fait introduire ,o le plus fier tyran ne peut avoir d'empire4 ,the lyre's delightful softly swelling lay ,subdues the mind1 ,i but the body sway2 ,make thee its master1 thy sweet art can bind ,what haughty tyrants cannot rule--the mind4 ,these lines are good4 ,but are they his8 ,are they not his preceptor's8 ,here are some of his royal imaginings1 which are somewhat different3 ,il faut suivre ton roi qui t'aime par sur tous ,pour les vers qui de toi coulent braves et doux2 ,et crois1 si tu ne viens me trouver ,pontoise1 ,qu'entre nous adviendra une trs-grande noise4 ,know1 thou must follow close thy king1 who oft ,hath heard1 and loves thee for1 thy verse so soft2 ,unless thou come and meet me at ,pontoise1 ,believe me1 ,i shall make no little noise4 ,these are worthy the author of the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew4 ,csar's lines on ,terence are written with rather more spirit and taste2 they breathe ,roman urbanity4 ,in those of ,francis ,i4 and ,charles ,,ix4 we find the barbarism of the ,celts4 ,would to ,god that ,charles ,,ix4 had written more verses1 even though bad ones6 ,for constant application to the fine arts softens the manners and dispels ferocity3 ,emollit mores1 nec sinit esse feros4 ,besides1 the ,french languages scarcely began to take any form until long after ,charles ,,ix4 ,see such of ,francis ,i4's letters as have been preserved3 ,tout est perdu hors l'honneur--,all is lost save honor--was worthy of a chevalier4 ,but the following is neither in the style of ,cicero nor in that of ,csar3 ,illustration ,tout a fleure ynsi que je me volois mettre o lit est arriv ,laval qui m'a aport la sertenet du lvement du siege4 ,all was going so well that1 when ,i was going to bed ,laval arrived1 and brought me the certainty of the siege being raised4 ,we have letters from the hand of ,louis ,,xiii41 which are no better written4 ,it is not required of a king to write letters like ,pliny1 or verses like ,virgil2 but no one can be excused from expressing himself with propriety in his own tongue4 ,every prince that writes like a lady's maid has been ill educated4 ,,china4 ,,section ,i4 ,we have frequently observed elsewhere1 how rash and injudicious it is to controvert with any nation1 such as the ,chinese1 its authentic pretensions4 ,there is no house in ,europe1 the antiquity of which is so well proved as that of the ,empire of ,china4 ,let us figure to ourselves a learned ,maronite of ,mount ,athos questioning the nobility of the ,morozini1 the ,tiepolo1 and other ancient houses of ,venice2 of the princes of ,germany1 of the ,montmorencys1 the ,chatillons1 or the ,talleyrands1 of ,france1 under the pretence that they are not mentioned in ,st4 ,thomas1 or ,st4 ,bonaventure4 ,we must impeach either his sense or his sincerity4 ,many of the learned of our northern climes have felt confounded at the antiquity claimed by the ,chinese4 ,the question1 however1 is not one of learning4 ,leaving all the ,chinese literati1 all the mandarins1 all the emperors1 to acknowledge ,fo-hi as one of the first who gave laws to ,china1 about two thousand five hundred years before our vulgar era2 admit that there must be people before there are kings4 ,allow that a long period of time is necessary before a numerous people1 having discovered the necessary arts of life1 unite in the choice of a common governor4 ,but if you do not make these admissions1 it is not of the slightest consequence4 ,whether you agree with us or not1 we shall always believe that two and two make four4 ,in a western province1 formerly called ,celtica1 the love of singularity and paradox has been carried so far as to induce some to assert that the ,chinese were only an ,egyptian1 or rather perhaps a ,phnician colony4 ,it was attempted to prove1 in the same way as a thousand other things have been proved1 that a king of ,egypt1 called ,menes by the ,greeks1 was the ,chinese ,king ,yu2 and that ,atoes was ,ki1 by the change of certain letters4 ,in addition to which1 the following is a specimen of the reasoning applied to the subject3 ,the ,egyptians sometimes lighted torches at night4 ,the ,chinese light lanterns3 the ,chinese are1 therefore1 evidently a colony from ,egypt4 ,the ,jesuit ,parennin who had1 at the time1 resided five and twenty years in ,china1 and was master both of its language and its sciences1 has rejected all these fancies with a happy mixture of elegance and sarcasm4 ,all the missionaries1 and all the ,chinese1 on receiving the intelligence that a country in the extremity of the west was developing a new formation of the ,chinese ,empire1 treated it with a contemptuous ridicule4 ,father ,parennin replied with somewhat more seriousness3 ,your ,egyptians1 said he1 when going to people ,china1 must evidently have passed through ,india4 ,was ,india at that time peopled or not8 ,if it was1 would it permit a foreign army to pass through it8 ,if it was not1 would not the ,egyptians have stopped in ,india8 ,would they have continued their journey through barren deserts1 and over almost impracticable mountains1 till they reached ,china1 in order to form colonies there1 when they might so easily have established them on the fertile banks of the ,indus or the ,ganges8 ,the compilers of a universal history1 printed in ,england1 have also shown a disposition to divest the ,chinese of their antiquity1 because the ,jesuits were the first who made the world acquainted with ,china4 ,this is unquestionably a very satisfactory reason for saying to a whole nation--,you are liars4 ,it appears to me a very important reflection1 which may be made on the testimony given by ,confucius1 to the antiquity of his nation2 and which is1 that ,confucius had no interest in falsehood3 he did not pretend to be a prophet2 he claimed no inspiration3 he taught no new religion2 he used no delusions2 flattered not the emperor under whom he lived3 he did not even mention him4 ,in short1 he is the only founder of institutions among mankind who was not followed by a train of women4 ,i knew a philosopher who had no other portrait than that of ,confucius in his study4 ,at the bottom of it were written the following lines3 ,without assumption he explored the mind1 ,unveiled the light of reason to mankind2 ,spoke as a sage1 and never as a seer1 ,yet1 strange to say1 his country held him dear4 ,i have read his books with attention2 ,i have made extracts from them2 ,i have found in them nothing but the purest morality1 without the slightest tinge of charlatanism4 ,he lived six hundred years before our vulgar era4 ,his works were commented on by the most learned men of the nation4 ,if he had falsified1 if he had introduced a false chronology1 if he had written of emperors who never existed1 would not some one have been found1 in a learned nation1 who would have reformed his chronology8 ,one ,chinese only has chosen to contradict him1 and he met with universal execration4 ,were it worth our while1 we might here compare the great wall of ,china with the monuments of other nations1 which have never even approached it2 and remark1 that1 in comparison with this extensive work1 the pyramids of ,egypt are only puerile and useless masses4 ,we might dwell on the thirty-two eclipses calculated in the ancient chronology of ,china1 twenty-eight of which have been verified by the mathematicians of ,europe4 ,we might show1 that the respect entertained by the ,chinese for their ancestors is an evidence that such ancestors have existed2 and repeat the observation1 so often made1 that this reverential respect has in so small degree impeded1 among this people1 the progress of natural philosophy1 geometry1 and astronomy4 ,it is sufficiently known1 that they are1 at the present day1 what we all were three hundred years ago1 very ignorant reasoners4 ,the most learned ,chinese is like one of the learned of ,europe in the fifteenth century1 in possession of his ,aristotle4 ,but it is possible to be a very bad natural philosopher1 and at the same time an excellent moralist4 ,it is1 in fact1 in morality1 in political economy1 in agriculture1 in the necessary arts of life1 that the ,chinese have made such advances towards perfection4 ,all the rest they have been taught by us3 in these we might well submit to become their disciples4 ,of the ,expulsion of the ,missionaries from ,china4 ,humanly speaking1 independently of the service which the ,jesuits might confer on the ,christian religion1 are they not to be regarded as an ill-fated class of men1 in having travelled from so remote a distance to introduce trouble and discord into one of the most extended and best-governed kingdoms of the world8 ,and does not their conduct involve a dreadful abuse of the liberality and indulgence shown by the ,orientals1 more particularly after the torrents of blood shed1 through their means1 in the empire of ,japan8 ,a scene of horror1 to prevent the consequence of which the government believed it absolutely indispensable to shut their ports against all foreigners4 ,the ,jesuits had obtained permission of the emperor of ,china1 ,cam-hi1 to teach the ,catholic religion4 ,they made use of it1 to instil into the small portion of the people under their direction1 that it was incumbent on them to serve no other master than him who was the viceregent of ,god on earth1 and who dwelt in ,italy on the banks of a small river called the ,tiber2 that every other religious opinion1 every other worship1 was an abomination in the sight of ,god1 and whoever did not believe the ,jesuits would be punished by ,him to all eternity2 that their emperor and benefactor1 ,cam-hi1 who could not even pronounce the name of ,christ1 as the ,chinese language possesses not the letter r1 would suffer eternal damnation2 that the ,emperor ,yontchin would experience1 without mercy1 the same fate2 that all the ancestors1 both of ,chinese and ,tartars1 would incur a similar penalty2 that their descendants would undergo it also1 as well as the rest of the world2 and that the reverend fathers1 the ,jesuits1 felt a sincere and paternal commiseration for the damnation of so many souls4 ,they1 at length1 succeeded in making converts of three princes of the ,tartar race4 ,in the meantime1 the ,emperor ,cam-hi died1 towards the close of the year #agbb4 ,he bequeathed the empire to his fourth son1 who has been so celebrated through the whole world for the justice and the wisdom of his government1 for the affection entertained for him by his subjects1 and for the expulsion of the ,jesuits4 ,they began by baptizing the three princes1 and many persons of their household4 ,these neophytes had the misfortune to displease the emperor on some points which merely respected military duty4 ,about this very period the indignation of the whole empire against the missionaries broke out into a flame4 ,all the governors of provinces1 all the ,colaos1 presented memorials against them4 ,the accusations against them were urged so far that the three princes1 who had become disciples of the ,jesuits1 were put into irons4 ,it is clear that they were not treated with this severity simply for having been baptized1 since the ,jesuits themselves acknowledge in their letters1 that they experienced no violence1 and that they were even admitted to an audience of the emperor1 who honored them with some presents4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that the ,emperor ,yonchin was no persecutor2 and1 if the princes were confined in a prison on the borders of ,tartary1 while those who had converted them were treated so liberally1 it is a decided proof that they were state prisoners1 and not martyrs4 ,the emperor1 soon after this1 yielded to the supplications of all his people4 ,they petitioned that the ,jesuits might be sent away1 as their abolition has been since prayed for in ,france and other countries4 ,all the tribunals of ,china urged their being immediately sent to ,macao1 which is considered as a place without the limits of the empire1 and the possession of which has always been left to the ,portuguese1 with a ,chinese garrison4 ,yonchin had the humanity to consult the tribunals and governors1 whether any danger could result from conveying all the ,jesuits to the province of ,canton4 ,while awaiting the reply1 he ordered three of them to be introduced to his presence1 and addressed them in the following words1 which ,father ,parennin1 with great ingenuousness1 records3 ,your ,europeans1 in the province of ,fo-,kien1 intended to abolish our laws1 and disturbed our people4 ,the tribunals have denounced them before me4 ,it is my positive duty to provide against such disorders3 the good of the empire requires it4444 ,what would you say were ,i to send over to your country a company of bonzes and lamas to preach their law8 ,how would you receive them8444 ,if you deceived my father1 hope not also to deceive me4444 ,you wish to make the ,chinese ,christians3 your law1 ,i well know1 requires this of you4 ,but in case you should succeed1 what should we become8 the subjects of your kings4 ,christians believe none but you3 in a time of confusion they would listen to no voice but yours4 ,i know that1 at present1 there is nothing to fear2 but on the arrival of a thousand1 or perhaps ten thousand vessels1 great disturbances might ensue4 ,china1 on the north1 joins the kingdom of ,russia1 which is by no means contemptible2 to the south it has the ,europeans1 and their kingdoms1 which are still more considerable2 and to the west1 the princes of ,tartary1 with whom we have been at war eight years4444 ,laurence ,lange1 companion of ,prince ,ismailoff1 ambassador from the czar1 requested that the ,russians might have permission to establish factories in each of the provinces4 ,the permission was confined to ,pekin1 and within the limits of ,calcas4 ,in like manner ,i permit you to remain here and at ,canton as long as you avoid giving any cause of complaint4 ,should you give any1 ,i will not suffer you to remain either here or at ,canton4 ,in the other provinces their houses and churches were levelled to the ground4 ,at length the clamor against them redoubled4 ,the charges most strenuously insisted upon against them were1 that they weakened the respect of children for their parents1 by not paying the honors due to ancestors2 that they indecently brought together young men and women in retired places1 which they called churches2 that they made girls kneel before them1 and enclosed them with their legs1 and conversed with them1 while in this posture1 in undertones4 ,to ,chinese delicacy1 nothing appeared more revolting than this4 ,their emperor1 ,yonchin1 even condescended to inform the ,jesuits of this fact2 after which he sent away the greater part of the missionaries to ,macao1 but with all that polite attention which perhaps the ,chinese alone are capable of displaying4 ,some ,jesuits1 possessed of mathematical science1 were retained at ,pekin2 and among others1 that same ,parennin whom we have mentioned2 and who1 being a perfect master both of the ,chinese and of the ,tartar language1 had been frequently employed as an interpreter4 ,many of the ,jesuits concealed themselves in the distant provinces2 others even in ,canton itself2 and the affair was connived at4 ,at length1 after the death of the ,emperor ,yonchin1 his son and successor1 ,kien-,lung1 completed the satisfaction of the nation by compelling all the missionaries who were in concealment throughout his empire to remove to ,macao3 a solemn edict prevented them from ever returning4 ,if any appear1 they are civilly requested to carry their talents somewhere else4 ,there is nothing of severity1 nothing of persecution4 ,i have been told that1 in #agfj1 a ,jesuit having gone from ,rome to ,canton1 and been informed against by a ,dutch factor1 the ,colao governor of ,canton had him sent away1 presenting him at the same time with a piece of silk1 some provisions1 and money4 ,of the pretended ,atheism of ,china4 ,the charge of ,atheism1 alleged by our theologians of the west1 against the ,chinese government at the other end of the world1 has been frequently examined1 and is1 it must be admitted1 the meanest excess of our follies and pedantic inconsistencies4 ,it was sometimes pretended1 in one of our learned faculties1 that the ,chinese tribunals or parliaments were idolatrous2 sometimes that they acknowledged no divinity whatever3 and these reasoners occasionally pushed their logic so far as to maintain that the ,chinese were1 at the same time1 atheists and idolaters4 ,in the month of ,october1 #agjj1 the ,sorbonne declared every proposition which maintained that the emperor and the ,colaos believed in ,god to be heretical4 ,bulky volumes were composed in order to demonstrate1 conformably to the system of theological demonstration1 that the ,chinese adored nothing but the material heaven4 ,nil praeter nubes et coeli numen adorant4 ,they worship clouds and firmament alone4 ,but if they did adore the material heaven1 that was their ,god4 ,they resembled the ,persians1 who are said to have adored the sun3 they resembled the ancient ,arabians1 who adored the stars3 they were neither worshippers of idols nor atheists4 ,but a learned doctor1 when it is an object to denounce from his tripod any proposition as heretical or obnoxious1 does not distinguish with much clearness4 ,those contemptible creatures who1 in #agjj1 created such a disturbance about the material heaven of the ,chinese1 did not know that1 in #afhi1 the ,chinese1 having made peace with the ,russians at ,nicptchou1 which divides the two empires1 erected1 in ,september of the same year1 a marble monument1 on which the following memorable words were engraved in the ,chinese and ,latin languages3 ,should any ever determine to rekindle the flames of war1 we pray the sovereign reign of all things1 who knows the heart1 to punish their perfidy1 etc4 ,a very small portion of modern history is sufficient to put an end to these ridiculous disputes3 but those who believe that the duty of man consists in writing commentaries on ,st4 ,thomas1 or ,scotus1 cannot condescend to inform themselves of what is going on among the great empires of the world4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,we travel to ,china to obtain clay for porcelain1 as if we had none ourselves2 stuffs1 as if we were destitute of stuffs2 and a small herb to be infused in water1 as if we had no simples in our own countries4 ,in return for these benefits1 we are desirous of converting the ,chinese4 ,it is a very commendable zeal2 but we must avoid controverting their antiquity1 and also calling them idolaters4 ,should we think it well of a capuchin1 if1 after having been hospitably entertained at the chteau of the ,montmorencys1 he endeavored to persuade them that they were new nobility1 like the king's secretaries2 or accused them of idolatry1 because he found two or three statues of constables1 for whom they cherished the most profound respect8 ,the celebrated ,wolf1 professor of mathematics in the university of ,halle1 once delivered an excellent discourse in praise of the ,chinese philosophy4 ,he praised that ancient species of the human race1 differing1 as it does1 in respect to the beard1 the eyes1 the nose1 the ears1 and even the reasoning powers themselves2 he praised the ,chinese1 ,i say1 for their adoration of a supreme ,god1 and their love of virtue4 ,he did that justice to the emperors of ,china1 to the tribunals1 and to the literati4 ,the justice done to the bonzes was of a different kind4 ,it is necessary to observe1 that this ,professor ,wolf had attracted around him a thousand pupils of all nations4 ,in the same university there was also a professor of theology1 who attracted no one4 ,this man1 maddened at the thought of freezing to death in his own deserted hall1 formed the design1 which undoubtedly was only right and reasonable1 of destroying the mathematical professor4 ,he scrupled not1 according to the practice of persons like himself1 to accuse him of not believing in ,god4 ,some ,european writers1 who had never been in ,china1 had pretended that the government of ,pekin was atheistical4 ,wolf had praised the philosophers of ,pekin2 therefore ,wolf was an atheist4 ,envy and hatred seldom construct the best syllogisms4 ,this argument of ,lange1 supported by a party and by a protector1 was considered conclusive by the sovereign of the country1 who despatched a formal dilemma to the mathematician4 ,this dilemma gave him the option of quitting ,halle in twenty-four hours1 or of being hanged2 and as ,wolf was a very accurate reasoner1 he did not fail to quit4 ,his withdrawing deprived the king of two or three hundred thousand crowns a year1 which were brought into the kingdom in consequence of the wealth of this philosopher's disciples4 ,this case should convince sovereigns that they should not be over ready to listen to calumny1 and sacrifice a great man to the madness of a fool4 ,but let us return to ,china4 ,why should we concern ourselves1 we who live at the extremity of the west--why should we dispute with abuse and fury1 whether there were fourteen princes or not before ,fo-hi1 emperor of ,china1 and whether the said ,fo-hi lived three thousand1 or two thousand nine hundred years before our vulgar era8 ,i should like to see two ,irishmen quarrelling at ,dublin1 about who was the owner1 in the twelfth century1 of the estate ,i am now in possession of4 ,is it not clear1 that they should refer to me1 who possess the documents and titles relating to it8 ,to my mind1 the case is the same with respect to the first emperors of ,china1 and the tribunals of that country are the proper resort upon the subject4 ,dispute as long as you please about the fourteen princes who reigned before ,fo-hi1 your very interesting dispute cannot possibly fail to prove that ,china was at that period populous1 and that laws were in force there4 ,i now ask you1 whether a people's being collected together1 under laws and kings1 involves not the idea of very considerable antiquity8 ,reflect how long a time is requisite1 before by a singular concurrence of circumstances1 the iron is discovered in the mine1 before it is applied to purposes of agriculture1 before the invention of the shuttle1 and all the arts of life4 ,some who multiply mankind by a dash of the pen1 have produced very curious calculations4 ,the ,jesuit ,petau1 by a very singular computation1 gives the world1 two hundred and twenty-five years after the deluge1 one hundred times as many inhabitants as can be easily conceived to exist on it at present4 ,the ,cumberlands and ,whistons have formed calculations equally ridiculous2 had these worthies only consulted the registers of our colonies in ,america1 they would have been perfectly astonished1 and would have perceived not only how slowly mankind increase in number1 but that frequently instead of increasing they actually diminish4 ,let us then1 who are merely of yesterday1 descendants of the ,celts1 who have only just finished clearing the forests of our savage territories1 suffer the ,chinese and ,indians to enjoy in peace their fine climate and their antiquity4 ,let us1 especially1 cease calling the emperor of ,china1 and the souba of the ,deccan1 idolaters4 ,there is no necessity for being a zealot in estimating ,chinese merit4 ,the constitution of their empire is the only one entirely established upon paternal authority2 the only one in which the governor of a province is punished1 if1 on quitting his station1 he does not receive the acclamations of the people2 the only one which has instituted rewards for virtue1 while1 everywhere else1 the sole object of the laws is the punishment of crime2 the only one which has caused its laws to be adopted by its conquerors1 while we are still subject to the customs of the ,burgundians1 the ,franks1 and the ,goths1 by whom we were conquered4 ,yet1 we must confess1 that the common people1 guided by the bonzes1 are equally knavish with our own2 that everything is sold enormously dear to foreigners1 as among ourselves2 that1 with respect to the sciences1 the ,chinese are just where we were two hundred years ago2 that1 like us1 they labor under a thousand ridiculous prejudices2 and that they believe in talismans and judicial astrology1 as we long did ourselves4 ,we must admit also1 that they were astonished at our thermometer1 at our method of freezing fluids by means of saltpetre1 and at all the experiments of ,torricelli and ,otto von ,guericke2 as we were also1 on seeing for the first time those curious processes4 ,we add1 that their physicians do not cure mortal diseases any more than our own2 and that minor diseases1 both here and in ,china1 are cured by nature alone4 ,all this1 however1 does not interfere with the fact1 that the ,chinese1 for four thousand years1 when we were unable even to read1 knew everything essentially useful of which we boast at the present day4 ,i must again repeat1 the religion of their learned is admirable1 and free from superstitions1 from absurd legends1 from dogmas insulting both to reason and nature1 to which the bonzes give a thousand different meanings1 because they really often have none4 ,the most simple worship has appeared to them the best1 for a series of forty centuries4 ,they are1 what we conceive ,seth1 ,enoch1 and ,noah to have been2 they are contented to adore one ,god in communion with the sages of the world1 while ,europe is divided between ,thomas and ,bonaventure1 between ,calvin and ,luther1 between ,jansenius and ,molina4 ,,christianity4 ,establishment of ,christianity1 in its ,civil and ,political ,state4--,section ,i4 ,god forbid that we should dare to mix the sacred with the profane6 ,we seek not to fathom the depths of the ways of ,providence4 ,we are men1 and we address men only4 ,when ,antony1 and after him ,augustus1 had given ,juda to the ,arabian1 ,herod--their creature and their tributary--that prince1 a stranger among the ,jews1 became the most powerful of all kings4 ,he had ports on the ,mediterranean--,ptolemais and ,ascalon2 he built towns2 he erected a temple to ,apollo at ,rhodes1 and one to ,augustus in ,csarea2 he rebuilt that of ,jerusalem from the foundation1 and converted it into a strong citadel4 ,under his rule1 ,palestine enjoyed profound peace4 ,in short1 barbarous as he was to his family1 and tyrannical towards his people1 whose substance he consumed in the execution of his projects1 he was looked upon as a ,messiah4 ,he worshipped only ,csar1 and he was also worshipped by the ,herodians4 ,the sect of the ,jews had long been spread in ,europe and ,asia2 but its tenets were entirely unknown4 ,no one knew anything of the ,jewish books1 although we are told that some of them had already been translated into ,greek1 in ,alexandria4 ,the ,jews were known only as the ,armenians are now known to the ,turks and ,persians1 as brokers and traders4 ,further1 a ,turk never takes the trouble to inquire1 whether an ,armenian is a ,eutychian1 a ,jacobite1 one of ,st4 ,john's ,christians1 or an ,arian4 ,the theism of ,china1 and the much to be respected books of ,confucius1 were still less known to the nations of the west1 than the ,jewish rites4 ,the ,arabians1 who furnished the ,romans with the precious commodities of ,india1 had no more idea of the theology of the ,brahmins than our sailors who go to ,pondicherry or ,madras4 ,the ,indian women had from time immemorial enjoyed the privilege of burning themselves on the bodies of their husbands2 yet these astonishing sacrifices1 which are still practised1 were as unknown to the ,jews as the customs of ,america4 ,their books1 which speak of ,gog and ,magog1 never mention ,india4 ,the ancient religion of ,zoroaster was celebrated2 but not therefore the more understood in the ,roman ,empire4 ,it was only known1 in general1 that the magi admitted a resurrection1 a hell1 and a paradise2 which doctrine must at that time have made its way to the ,jews bordering on ,chalda2 since1 in ,herod's time1 ,palestine was divided between the ,pharisees1 who began to believe the dogma of the resurrection1 and the ,sadducees1 who regarded it only with contempt4 ,alexandria1 the most commercial city in the whole world1 was peopled with ,egyptians1 who worshipped ,serapis1 and consecrated cats2 with ,greeks1 who philosophized2 with ,romans1 who ruled2 and with ,jews1 who amassed wealth4 ,all these people were eagerly engaged in money-getting1 immersed in pleasure1 infuriate with fanaticism1 making and unmaking religious sects1 especially during the external tranquillity which they enjoyed when ,augustus had shut the temple of ,janus4 ,the ,jews were divided into three principal factions4 ,of these1 the ,samaritans called themselves the most ancient1 because ,samaria 7then ,sebaste7 had subsisted1 while ,jerusalem1 with its temple1 was destroyed under the ,babylonian kings4 ,but these ,samaritans were a mixture of the people of ,persia with those of ,palestine4 ,the second1 and most powerful faction1 was that of the ,hierosolymites4 ,these ,jews1 properly so called1 detested the ,samaritans1 and were detested by them4 ,their interests were all opposite4 ,they wished that no sacrifices should be offered but in the temple of ,jerusalem4 ,such a restriction would have brought a deal of money into their city2 and1 for this very reason1 the ,samaritans would sacrifice nowhere but at home4 ,a small people1 in a small town1 may have but one temple2 but when a people have extended themselves over a country seventy leagues long1 by twenty-three wide1 as the ,jews had done--when their territory is almost as large and populous as ,languedoc or ,normandy1 it would be absurd to have but one church4 ,what would the good people of ,montpellier say1 if they could attend mass nowhere but at ,toulouse8 ,the third faction were the ,hellenic ,jews1 consisting chiefly of such as were engaged in trade or handicraft in ,egypt and ,greece4 ,these had the same interests with the ,samaritans4 ,onias1 the son of a high priest1 wishing to be a high priest like his father1 obtained permission from ,ptolemy ,philometor1 king of ,egypt1 and in particular from the king's wife1 ,cleopatra1 to build a ,jewish temple near ,bubastis4 ,he assured ,queen ,cleopatra that ,isaiah had foretold that the ,lord should one day have a temple on that spot2 and ,cleopatra1 to whom he made a handsome present1 sent him word that1 since ,isaiah had said it1 it must be4 ,this temple was called the ,onion2 and if ,onias was not a great sacrificer1 he commanded a troop of militia4 ,it was built one hundred and sixty years before the ,christian era4 ,the ,jews of ,jerusalem always held this ,onion in abhorrence1 as they did the translation called the ,septuagint4 ,they even instituted an expiatory feast for these two pretended sacrileges4 ,the rabbis of the ,onion1 mingling with the ,greeks1 became more learned 7in their way7 than the rabbis of ,jerusalem and ,samaria2 and the three factions began to dispute on controversial questions1 which necessarily make men subtle1 false1 and unsocial4 ,the ,egyptian ,jews1 in order to equal the austerity of the ,essenes1 and the ,judates of ,palestine1 established1 some time before the birth of ,christianity1 the sect of the ,therapeut1 who1 like them1 devoted themselves to a sort of monastic life1 and to mortifications4 ,these different societies were imitations of the old ,egyptian1 ,persian1 ,thracian1 and ,greek mysteries1 which had filled the earth1 from the ,euphrates and the ,nile to the ,tiber4 ,at first1 such as were initiated into these fraternities were few in number1 and were looked upon as privileged men2 but in the time of ,augustus1 their number was very considerable2 so that nothing but religion was talked of1 from ,syria to ,mount ,atlas and the ,german ,ocean4 ,amidst all these sects and worships1 the school of ,plato had established itself1 not in ,greece alone1 but also in ,rome1 and especially in ,egypt4 ,plato had been considered as having drawn his doctrine from the ,egyptians1 who thought that1 in turning ,plato's ideas to account1 his word1 and the sort of trinity discoverable in some of his works1 they were but claiming their own4 ,this philosophic spirit1 spread at that time over all the known countries of the west1 seems to have emitted1 in the neighborhood of ,palestine1 at least a few sparks of the spirit of reasoning4 ,it is certain that1 in ,herod's time1 there were disputes on the attributes of the divinity1 on the immortality of the soul1 and the resurrection of the body4 ,the ,jews relate1 that ,queen ,cleopatra asked them whether we were to rise again dressed or naked8 ,the ,jews1 then1 were reasoners in their way4 ,the exaggerating ,josephus was1 for a soldier1 very learned4 ,such being the case with a military man1 there must have been many a learned man in civil life4 ,his contemporary1 ,philo1 would have had reputation1 even among the ,greeks4 ,st4 ,paul's master1 ,gamaliel1 was a great controversialist4 ,the authors of the ,mishna were polymathists4 ,the ,jewish populace discoursed on religion4 ,as1 at the present day1 in ,switzerland1 at ,geneva1 in ,germany1 in ,england1 and especially in the ,cvennes1 we find even the meanest of the inhabitants dealing in controversy4 ,nay1 more2 men from the dregs of the people have founded sects3 as ,fox1 in ,england2 ,mnzer1 in ,germany2 and the first reformers in ,france4 ,indeed1 ,mahomet himself1 setting apart his great courage1 was nothing more than a camel-driver4 ,add to these preliminaries that1 in ,herod's time1 it was imagined1 as is elsewhere remarked1 that the world was soon to be at an end4 ,in those days1 prepared by divine providence1 it pleased the eternal ,father to send ,his ,son upon earth--an adorable and incomprehensible mystery1 which we presume not to approach4 ,we only say1 that if ,jesus preached a pure morality2 if ,he announced the kingdom of heaven as the reward of the just2 if ,he had disciples attached to ,his person and ,his virtues2 if those very virtues drew upon ,him the persecutions of the priests2 if1 through calumny1 ,he was put to a shameful death2 ,his doctrine1 constantly preached by ,his disciples1 would necessarily have a great effect in the world4 ,once more let me repeat it--,i speak only after the manner of this world1 setting the multitude of miracles and prophecies entirely aside4 ,i maintain it1 that ,christianity was more likely to proceed by ,his death1 than if ,he had not been persecuted4 ,you are astonished that ,his disciples made other disciples4 ,i should have been much more astonished1 if they had not brought over a great many to their party4 ,seventy individuals1 convinced of the innocence of their leader1 the purity of ,his manners1 and the barbarity of ,his judges1 must influence many a feeling heart4 ,st4 ,paul1 alone1 became 7for whatever reason7 the enemy of his master ,gamaliel1 must have had it in his power to bring ,jesus a thousand adherents1 even supposing ,jesus to have been only a worthy and oppressed man4 ,paul was learned1 eloquent1 vehement1 indefatigable1 skilled in the ,greek tongue1 and seconded by zealots much more interested than himself in defending their ,master's reputation4 ,st4 ,luke was an ,alexandrian ,greek1 and a man of letters1 for he was a physician4 ,the first chapter of ,john displays a ,platonic sublimity1 which must have been gratifying to the ,platonists of ,alexandria4 ,and indeed there was even formed in that city a school founded by ,luke1 or by ,mark 7either the evangelist or some other71 and perpetuated by ,athenagoras1 ,pantnus1 ,origen1 and ,clement--all learned and eloquent4 ,this school once established1 it was impossible for ,christianity not to make rapid progress4 ,greece1 ,syria1 and ,egypt1 were the scenes of those celebrated ancient mysteries1 which enchanted the minds of the people4 ,the ,christians1 too1 had their mysteries1 in which men would eagerly seek to be initiated2 and if at first only through curiosity1 this curiosity soon became persuasion4 ,the idea of the approaching end of all things was especially calculated to induce the new disciples to despise the transitory goods of this life1 which were so soon to perish with them4 ,the example of the ,therapeut was an incitement to a solitary and mortified life4 ,all these things1 then1 powerfully concurred in the establishment of the ,christian religion4 ,the different flocks of this great rising society could not1 it is true1 agree among themselves4 ,fifty-four societies had fifty-four different gospels2 all secret1 like their mysteries2 all unknown to the ,gentiles1 who never saw our four canonical gospels until the end of two hundred and fifty years4 ,these various flocks1 though divided1 acknowledged the same pastor4 ,ebionites1 opposed to ,st4 ,paul2 ,nazarenes1 disciples of ,hymeneos1 ,alexandres1 and ,hermogenes2 ,carpocratians1 ,basilidians1 ,valentinians1 ,marcionites1 ,sabellians1 ,gnostics1 ,montanists--a hundred sects1 rising one against another1 and casting mutual reproaches1 were nevertheless all united in ,jesus2 all called upon ,jesus2 all made ,jesus the great object of their thoughts1 and reward of their travails4 ,the ,roman ,empire1 in which all these societies were formed1 at first paid no attention to them4 ,they were known at ,rome only by the general name of ,jews1 about whom the government gave itself no concern4 ,the ,jews had1 by their money1 acquired the right of trading4 ,in the reign of ,tiberius four thousand of them were driven out of ,rome2 in that of ,nero the people charged them and the new demi-,christian ,jews with the burning of ,rome4 ,they were again expelled in the reign of ,claudius1 but their money always procured them re-admission2 they were quiet and despised4 ,the ,christians of ,rome were not so numerous as those of ,greece1 ,alexandria and ,syria4 ,the ,romans in the earlier ages had neither fathers of the church nor heresiarchs4 ,the farther they were from the birthplace of ,christianity1 the fewer doctors and writers were to be found among them4 ,the church was ,greek2 so much so1 that every mystery1 every rite1 every tenet1 was expressed in the ,greek tongue4 ,all ,christians1 whether ,greek1 ,syrian1 ,roman1 or ,egyptian1 were considered as half ,jewish4 ,this was another reason for concealing their books from the ,gentiles1 that they might remain united and impenetrable4 ,their secret was more inviolably kept than that of the mysteries of ,isis or of ,ceres2 they were a republic apart--a state within the state4 ,they had no temples1 no altars1 no sacrifice1 no public ceremony4 ,they elected their secret superiors by a majority of voices4 ,these superiors1 under the title of ancients1 priests1 bishops1 or deacons1 managed the common purse1 took care of the sick and pacified quarrels4 ,among them it was a shame and a crime to plead before the tribunals or to enlist in the armed force2 and for a hundred years there was not a single ,christian in the armies of the empire4 ,thus1 retired in the midst of the world and unknown even when they appeared1 they escaped the tyranny of the proconsuls and prtors and were free amid the public slavery4 ,it is not known who wrote the famous book entitled 7the ,apostolical ,constitutions71 as it is unknown who were the authors of the fifty rejected gospels1 of the ,acts of ,st4 ,peter1 of the ,testament of the ,twelve ,patriarchs1 and of so many other writings of the first ,christians2 but it is likely that the ,constitutions are of the second century4 ,though falsely attributed to the apostles1 they are very valuable4 ,they show us what were the duties of a bishop chosen by the ,christians1 how they were to reverence him1 and what tribute they were to pay him4 ,the bishop could have but one wife1 who was to take good care of his household3 4 ,rich ,christians were exhorted to adopt the children of poor ones4 ,collections were made for the widows and orphans2 but the money of sinners was rejected2 and1 nominally1 an innkeeper was not permitted to give his mite4 ,it is said that they were regarded as cheats2 for which reason very few tavern-keepers were ,christians4 ,this also prevented the ,christians from frequenting the taverns2 thus completing their separation from the society of the ,gentiles4 ,the dignity of deaconess being attainable by the women1 they were the more attached to the ,christian fraternity4 ,they were consecrated2 the bishop anointing them on the forehead1 as of old the ,jewish kings were anointed4 ,by how many indissoluble ties were the ,christians bound together6 ,the persecutions1 which were never more than transitory1 did but serve to redouble their zeal and inflame their fervor2 so that1 under ,diocletian1 one-third of the empire was ,christian4 ,such were a few of the human causes that contributed to the progress of ,christianity4 ,if to these we add the divine causes1 which are to the former as infinity to unity1 there is only one thing which can surprise us2 that a religion so true did not at once extend itself over the two hemispheres1 not excepting the most savage islet4 ,god ,himself came down from heaven and died to redeem mankind and extirpate sin forever from the face of the earth2 and yet he left the greater part of mankind a prey to error1 to crime1 and to the devil4 ,this1 to our weak intellects1 appears a fatal contradiction4 ,but it is not for us to question ,providence2 our duty is to humble ourselves in the dust before it4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,several learned men have testified their surprise at not finding in the historian1 ,flavius ,josephus1 any mention of ,jesus ,christ2 for all men of true learning are now agreed that the short passage relative to him in that history has been interpolated4 ,the father of ,flavius ,josephus must1 however1 have been witness to all the miracles of ,jesus4 ,josephus was of the sacerdotal race and akin to ,herod's wife1 ,mariamne4 ,he gives us long details of all that prince's actions1 yet says not a word of the life or death of ,jesus2 nor does this historian1 who disguises none of ,herod's cruelties1 say one word of the general massacre of the infants ordered by him on hearing that there was born a king of the ,jews4 ,the ,greek calendar estimates the number of children murdered on this occasion at fourteen thousand4 ,this is1 of all actions of all tyrants1 the most horrible4 ,there is no example of it in the history of the whole world4 ,yet the best writer the ,jews have ever had1 the only one esteemed by the ,greeks and ,romans1 makes no mention of an event so singular and so frightful1 he says nothing of the appearance of a new star in the east after the birth of our ,saviour--a brilliant phenomenon1 which could not escape the knowledge of a historian so enlightened as ,josephus4 ,he is also silent respecting the darkness which1 on our ,saviour's death1 covered the whole earth for three hours at midday--the great number of graves that opened at that moment1 and the multitude of the just that rose again4 ,the learned are constantly evincing their surprise that no ,roman historian speaks of these prodigies1 happening in the empire of ,tiberius1 under the eyes of a ,roman governor and a ,roman garrison1 who must have sent to the emperor and the senate a detailed account of the most miraculous event that mankind had ever heard of4 ,rome itself must have been plunged for three hours in impenetrable darkness2 such a prodigy would have had a place in the annals of ,rome1 and in those of every nation4 ,but it was not ,god's will that these divine things should be written down by their profane hands4 ,the same persons also find some difficulties in the gospel history4 ,they remark that1 in ,matthew1 ,jesus ,christ tells the scribes and pharisees that all the innocent blood that has been shed upon earth1 from that of ,abel the ,just down to that of ,zachary1 son of ,barac1 whom they slew between the temple and the altar1 shall be upon their heads4 ,there is not 7say they7 in the ,hebrew history any ,zachary slain in the temple before the coming of the ,messiah1 nor in ,his time1 but in the history of the siege of ,jerusalem1 by ,josephus1 there is a ,zachary1 son of ,barac1 slain by the faction of the ,zelotes4 ,this is in the nineteenth chapter of the fourth book4 ,hence they suspect that the gospel according to ,st4 ,matthew was written after the taking of ,jerusalem by ,titus4 ,but every doubt1 every objection of this kind1 vanishes when it is considered how great a difference there must be between books divinely inspired and the books of men4 ,it was ,god's pleasure to envelop alike in awful obscurity ,his birth1 ,his life1 and ,his death4 ,his ways are in all things different from ours4 ,the learned have also been much tormented by the difference between the two genealogies of ,jesus ,christ4 ,st4 ,matthew makes ,joseph the son of ,jacob1 ,jacob of ,matthan1 ,matthan of ,eleazar4 ,st4 ,luke1 on the contrary1 says that ,joseph was the son of ,heli1 ,heli of ,matthat1 ,matthat of ,levi1 ,levi of ,melchi1 etc4 ,they will not reconcile the fifty-six progenitors up to ,abraham1 given to ,jesus by ,luke1 with the forty-two other forefathers up to the same ,abraham1 given him by ,matthew2 and they are quite staggered by ,matthew's giving only forty-one generations1 while he speaks of forty-two4 ,they start other difficulties about ,jesus being the son1 not of ,joseph1 but of ,mary4 ,they moreover raise some doubts respecting our ,saviour's miracles1 quoting ,st4 ,augustine4 ,st4 ,hilary1 and others1 who have given to the accounts of these miracles a mystic or allegorical sense2 as1 for example1 to the fig tree cursed and blasted for not having borne figs when it was not the fig season2 the devils sent into the bodies of swine in a country where no swine were kept2 the water changed into wine at the end of a feast1 when the guests were already too much heated4 ,but all these learned critics are confounded by the faith1 which is but the purer for their cavils4 ,the sole design of this article is to follow the historical thread and give a precise idea of the facts about which there is no dispute4 ,first1 then1 ,jesus was born under the ,mosaic law2 ,he was circumcised according to that law2 ,he fulfilled all its precepts2 ,he kept all its feasts2 ,he did not reveal the mystery of ,his incarnation2 ,he never told the ,jews ,he was born of a virgin2 ,he received ,john's blessing in the waters of the ,jordan1 a ceremony to which various of the ,jews submitted2 but ,he never baptized any one2 ,he never spoke of the seven sacraments2 ,he instituted no ecclesiastical hierarchy during ,his life4 ,he concealed from ,his contemporaries that ,he was the ,son of ,god1 begotten from all eternity1 consubstantial with ,his ,father2 and that the ,holy ,ghost proceeded from the ,father and the ,son4 ,he did not say that ,his person was composed of two natures and two wills4 ,he left these mysteries to be announced to men in the course of time by those who were to be enlightened by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,so long as ,he lived1 ,he departed in nothing from the law of ,his fathers4 ,in the eyes of men ,he was no more than a just man1 pleasing to ,god1 persecuted by the envious and condemned to death by prejudiced magistrates4 ,he left ,his holy church1 established by ,him1 to do all the rest4 ,let us consider the state of religion in the ,roman ,empire at that period4 ,mysteries and expiations were in credit almost throughout the earth4 ,the emperors1 the great1 and the philosophers1 had1 it is true1 no faith in these mysteries2 but the people1 who1 in religious matters1 give the law to the great1 imposed on them the necessity of conforming in appearance to their worship4 ,to succeed in chaining the multitude you must seem to wear the same fetters4 ,cicero himself was initiated in the ,eleusinian mysteries4 ,the knowledge of only one ,god was the principal tenet inculcated in these mysteries and magnificent festivals4 ,it is undeniable that the prayers and hymns handed down to us as belonging to these mysteries are the most pious and most admirable of the relics of paganism4 ,the ,christians1 who likewise adored only one ,god1 had thereby greater facility in converting some of the ,gentiles4 ,some of the philosophers of ,plato's sect became ,christians2 hence in the three first centuries the fathers of the church were all ,platonists4 ,the inconsiderate zeal of some of them in no way detracts from the fundamental truths4 ,st4 ,justin1 one of the primitive fathers1 has been reproached with having said1 in his commentary on ,isaiah1 that the saints should enjoy1 during a reign of a thousand years on earth1 every sensual pleasure4 ,he has been charged with criminality in saying1 in his ,apology for ,christianity1 that ,god1 having made the earth1 left it in the care of the angels1 who1 having fallen in love with the women1 begot children1 which are the devils4 ,lactantius1 with other fathers1 has been condemned for having supposed oracles of the sibyls4 ,he asserted that the sibyl ,erythrea made four ,greek lines1 which rendered literally are3 ,with five loaves and two fishes ,he shall feed five thousand men in the desert2 ,and1 gathering up the fragments that remain1 ,with them he shall fill twelve baskets4 ,the primitive ,christians have been reproached with inventing some acrostic verses on the name ,jesus ,christ and attributing them to an ancient sibyl4 ,they have also been reproached with forging letters from ,jesus ,christ to the king of ,edessa1 dated at a time when there was no king in ,edessa2 with having forged letters of ,mary1 letters of ,seneca to ,paul1 false gospels1 false miracles1 and a thousand other impostures4 ,we have1 moreover1 the history or gospel of the nativity and marriage of the ,virgin ,mary2 wherein we are told that she was brought to the temple at three years old and walked up the stairs by herself4 ,it is related that a dove came down from heaven to give notice that it was ,joseph who was to espouse ,mary4 ,we have the protogospel of ,james1 brother of ,jesus by ,joseph's first wife4 ,it is there said that when ,joseph complained of ,mary's having become pregnant in his absence1 the priests made each of them drink the water of jealousy1 and both were declared innocent4 ,we have the gospel of the ,infancy1 attributed to ,st4 ,thomas4 ,according to this gospel1 ,jesus1 at five years of age1 amused himself1 like other children of the same age1 with moulding clay1 and making it1 among other things1 into the form of little birds4 ,he was reproved for this1 on which he gave life to the birds1 and they flew away4 ,another time1 a little boy having beaten him1 was struck dead on the spot4 ,we have also another gospel of the ,infancy in ,arabic1 which is much more serious4 ,we have a gospel of ,nicodemus4 ,this one seems more worthy of attention1 for we find in it the names of those who accused ,jesus before ,pilate4 ,they were the principal men of the synagogue--,ananias1 ,caiaphas1 ,sommas1 ,damat1 ,gamaliel1 ,judah1 ,nephthalim4 ,in this history there are some things that are easy to reconcile with the received gospels1 and others which are not elsewhere to be found4 ,we here find that the woman cured of a flux was called ,veronica4 ,we also find all that ,jesus did in hell when ,he descended thither4 ,then we have the two letters supposed to have been written by ,pilate to ,tiberius concerning the execution of ,jesus2 but their bad ,latin plainly shows that they are spurious4 ,to such a length was this false zeal carried that various letters were circulated attributed to ,jesus ,christ4 ,the letter is still preserved which he is said to have written to ,abgarus1 king of ,edessa2 but1 as already remarked1 there had at that time ceased to be a king of ,edessa4 ,fifty gospels were fabricated and were afterwards declared apocryphal4 ,st4 ,luke himself tells us that many persons had composed gospels4 ,it has been believed that there was one called the ,eternal ,gospel1 concerning which it is said in the ,apocalypse1 chap1 xiv41 ,and ,i saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven1 having the everlasting gospel44444 ,in the thirteenth century the ,cordeliers1 abusing these words1 composed an eternal gospel1 by which the reign of the ,holy ,ghost was to be substituted for that of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but never in the early ages of the church did any book appear with this title4 ,letters of the ,virgin were likewise invented1 written to ,ignatius the martyr1 to the people of ,messina1 and others4 ,abdias1 who immediately succeeded the apostles1 wrote their history1 with which he mixed up such absurd fables that in time these histories became wholly discredited1 although they had at first a great reputation4 ,to ,abdias we are indebted for the account of the contest between ,st4 ,peter and ,simon the magician4 ,there was at ,rome1 in reality1 a very skilful mechanic named ,simon1 who not only made things fly across the stage1 as we still see done1 but moreover revived in his own person the prodigy attributed to ,ddalus4 ,he made himself wings2 he flew2 and1 like ,icarus1 he fell4 ,so say ,pliny and ,suetonius4 ,abdias1 who was in ,asia and wrote in ,hebrew1 tells us that ,peter and ,simon met at ,rome in the reign of ,nero4 ,a young man1 nearly related to the emperor1 died1 and the whole court begged that ,simon would raise him to life4 ,st4 ,peter presented himself to perform the same operation4 ,simon employed all the powers of his art1 and he seemed to have succeeded1 for the dead man moved his head4 ,this is not enough1 cries ,peter2 the dead man must speak2 let ,simon leave the bedside and we shall see whether the young man is alive4 ,simon went aside and the deceased no longer stirred1 but ,peter brought him to life with a single word4 ,simon went and complained to the emperor that a miserable ,galilean had taken upon himself to work greater wonders than he4 ,simon was confronted with ,peter and they made a trial of skill4 ,tell me1 said ,simon to ,peter1 what ,i am thinking of8 ,if1 returned ,peter1 the emperor will give me a barley loaf1 thou shalt find whether or not ,i know what thou hast in thy heart4 ,a loaf was given him2 ,simon immediately caused two large dogs to appear and they wanted to devour it4 ,peter threw them the loaf1 and while they were eating it he said3 ,well1 did ,i not know thy thoughts8 thou wouldst have had thy dogs devour me4 ,after this first sitting it was proposed that ,simon and ,peter should make a flying-match1 and try which could raise himself highest in the air4 ,simon tried first2 ,peter made the sign of the cross and down came ,simon and broke his legs4 ,this story was imitated from that which we find in the ,sepher toldos ,jeschut1 where it is said that ,jesus ,himself flew1 and that ,judas1 who would have done the same1 fell headlong4 ,nero1 vexed that ,peter had broken his favorite1 ,simon's1 legs1 had him crucified with his head downwards4 ,hence the notion of ,st4 ,peter's residence at ,rome1 the manner of his execution and his sepulchre4 ,the same ,abdias established the belief that ,st4 ,thomas went and preached ,christianity in ,india to ,king ,gondafer1 and that he went thither as an architect4 ,the number of books of this sort1 written in the early ages of ,christianity1 is prodigious4 ,st4 ,jerome1 and even ,st4 ,augustine1 tell us that the letters of ,seneca and ,st4 ,paul are quite authentic4 ,in the first of these letters ,seneca hopes his brother ,paul is well3 ,bene te valere1 frater1 cupio4 ,paul does not write quite so good ,latin as ,seneca3 ,i received your letters yesterday1 says he1 with joy4--,litteras tuas hilaris accepi4--,and ,i would have answered them immediately had ,i had the presence of the young man whom ,i would have sent with them4--,si prsentiam juvenis habuissem4 ,unfortunately these letters1 in which one would look for instruction1 are nothing more than compliments4 ,all these falsehoods1 forged by ill-informed and mistakenly-zealous ,christians1 were in no degree prejudicial to the truth of ,christianity2 they obstructed not its progress2 on the contrary1 they show us that the ,christian society was daily increasing and that each member was desirous of hastening its growth4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles do not tell us that the apostles agreed on a symbol4 ,indeed1 if they had put together the symbol 7the creed1 as we now call it71 ,st4 ,luke could not in his history have omitted this essential basis of the ,christian religion4 ,the substance of the creed is scattered through the gospels2 but the articles were not collected until long after4 ,in short1 our creed is1 indisputably1 the belief of the apostles2 but it was not written by them4 ,rufinus1 a priest of ,aquileia1 is the first who mentions it2 and a homily attributed to ,st4 ,augustine is the first record of the supposed way in which this creed was made2 ,peter saying1 when they were assembled1 ,i believe in ,god the ,father ,almighty--,andrew1 and in ,jesus ,christ--,james1 who was conceived by the ,holy ,ghost2 and so of the rest4 ,this formula was called in ,greek symbolos2 and in ,latin collatio4 ,only it must be observed that the ,greek version has it3 ,i believe in ,god the ,father1 maker of heaven and earth4 ,in the ,latin1 maker1 former1 is rendered by creatorem4 ,but afterwards1 in translating the symbol of the ,first ,council of ,nice1 it was rendered by factorem4 ,constantine assembled at ,nice1 opposite ,constantinople1 the first ecumenical council1 over which ,ozius presided4 ,the great question touching the divinity of ,jesus ,christ1 which so much agitated the church1 was there decided4 ,one party held the opinion of ,origen1 who says in his sixth chapter against ,celsus1 ,we offer our prayers to ,god through ,christ1 who holds the middle place between natures created and uncreated2 who leads us to the grace of ,his ,father and presents our prayers to the great ,god in quality of our high priest4 ,these disputants also rest upon many passages of ,st4 ,paul1 some of which they quote4 ,they depend particularly upon these words of ,jesus ,christ3 ,my ,father is greater than ,i2 and they regard ,jesus as the first-born of the creation2 as a pure emanation of the ,supreme ,being1 but not precisely as ,god4 ,the other side1 who were orthodox1 produced passages more conformable to the eternal divinity of ,jesus2 as1 for example1 the following3 ,my ,father and ,i are one2 words which their opponents interpret as signifying3 ,my ,father and ,i have the same object1 the same intention2 ,i have no other will than that of ,my ,father4 ,alexander1 bishop of ,alexandria1 and after him ,athanasius1 were at the head of the orthodox2 and ,eusebius1 bishop of ,nicomedia1 with seventeen other bishops1 the priest ,arius1 and many more priests1 led the party opposed to them4 ,the quarrel was at first exceedingly bitter1 as ,st4 ,alexander treated his opponents as so many anti-christs4 ,at last1 after much disputation1 the ,holy ,ghost decided in the council1 by the mouths of two hundred and ninety-nine bishops1 against eighteen1 as follows3 ,jesus is the only ,son of ,god2 begotten of the ,father2 light of light2 very ,god of very ,god2 of one substance with the ,father4 ,we believe also in the ,holy ,ghost1 etc4 ,such was the decision of the council2 and we perceive by this fact how the bishops carried it over the simple priests4 ,two thousand persons of the latter class were of the opinion of ,arius1 according to the account of two patriarchs of ,alexandria1 who have written the annals of ,alexandria in ,arabic4 ,arius was exiled by ,constantine1 as was ,athanasius soon after1 when ,arius was recalled to ,constantinople4 ,upon this event ,st4 ,macarius prayed so vehemently to ,god to terminate the life of ,arius before he could enter the cathedral1 that ,god heard his prayer--,arius dying on his way to church in #ccj4 ,the ,emperor ,constantine ended his life in #ccg4 ,he placed his will in the hands of an ,arian priest and died in the arms of the ,arian leader1 ,eusebius1 bishop of ,nicomedia1 not receiving baptism until on his deathbed1 and leaving a triumphant1 but divided church4 ,the partisans of ,athanasius and of ,eusebius carried on a cruel war2 and what is called ,arianism was for a long time established in all the provinces of the empire4 ,julian the philosopher1 surnamed the apostate1 wished to stifle their divisions1 but could not succeed4 ,the second general council was held at ,constantinople in #acha4 ,it was there laid down that the ,council of ,nice had not decided quite correctly in regard to the ,holy ,ghost2 and it added to the ,nicene creed that the ,holy ,ghost was the giver of life and proceeded from the ,father1 and with the ,father and ,son is to be worshipped and glorified4 ,it was not until towards the ninth century that the ,latin church decreed that the ,holy ,ghost proceeded from the ,father and the ,son4 ,in the year #dca1 the third council-general1 held at ,ephesus1 decided that ,jesus had two natures and one person4 ,nestorius1 bishop of ,constantinople1 who maintained that the ,virgin ,mary should be entitled ,mother of ,christ1 was called ,judas by the council2 and the two natures were again confirmed by the council of ,chalcedon4 ,i pass lightly over the following centuries1 which are sufficiently known4 ,unhappily1 all these disputes led to wars1 and the church was uniformly obliged to combat4 ,god1 in order to exercise the patience of the faithful1 also allowed the ,greek and ,latin churches to separate in the ninth century4 ,he likewise permitted in the east no less than twenty-nine horrible schisms with the see of ,rome4 ,if there be about six hundred millions of men upon earth1 as certain learned persons pretend1 the holy ,roman ,catholic church possesses scarcely sixteen millions of them--about a twenty-sixth part of the inhabitants of the known world4 ,,christmas4 ,every one knows that this is the feast of the nativity of ,jesus4 ,the most ancient feast kept in the church1 after those of ,easter and ,pentecost1 was that of the baptism of ,jesus4 ,there were only these three feasts1 until ,st4 ,chrysostom delivered his homily on ,pentecost4 ,we here make no account of the feasts of the martyrs1 which were of a very inferior order4 ,that of the baptism of ,jesus was named the ,epiphany1 an imitation of the ,greeks1 who gave that name to the feasts which they held to commemorate the appearance or manifestation of the gods upon earth--since it was not until after his baptism that ,jesus began to preach the gospel4 ,we know not whether1 about the end of the fourth century1 this feast was solemnized in the ,isle of ,cyprus on the #fth of ,november2 but ,st4 ,epiphanius maintained that ,jesus was born on that day4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria tells us that the ,basilidians held this feast on the #aeth of the month tybi1 while others held it on the #aeth of the same month2 that is1 it was kept by some on the #ajth of ,january1 and by others on the #fth2 the latter opinion is the one now adopted4 ,as for the nativity1 as neither the day nor the month nor the year of it was known1 it was not celebrated4 ,according to the remarks which we find appended to the works of the same father1 they who have been the most curious in their researches concerning the day on which ,jesus was born1 some said that it was on the #beth of the ,egyptian month pachon1 answering to the #bjth of ,may2 others that it was the #bdth or #beth of pharmuthi1 corresponding to the #aith and #bjth of ,april4 ,the learned ,m4 de ,beausobre says that these latter were the days of ,st4 ,valentine4 ,be this as it may1 ,egypt and the ,east kept the feast of the birth of ,jesus on the #fth of ,january1 the same day as that of ,his baptism2 without it being known 7at least with certainty7 when1 or for what reason1 this custom commenced4 ,the opinion and practice of the western nations were quite different from those of the east4 ,the centuriators of ,magdeburg repeat a passage in ,theophilus of ,csarea1 which makes the churches of ,gaul say3 ,since the birth of ,christ is celebrated on the #beth of ,december1 on whatever day of the week it may fall1 so also should the resurrection of ,jesus be celebrated on the #beth of ,march1 whatever day of the week it may be1 the ,lord having risen again on that day4 ,if this be true1 it must be acknowledged that the bishops of ,gaul were very prudent and very reasonable4 ,being persuaded1 as all the ancients were1 that ,jesus had been crucified on the #bc;d of ,march1 and had risen again on the #beth1 they commemorated ,his death on the #bc;d and ,his resurrection on the #beth1 without paying any regard to the observance of the full moon1 which was originally a ,jewish ceremony1 and without confining themselves to the ,sunday4 ,had the church imitated them1 she would have avoided the long and scandalous disputes which nearly separated the ,east from the ,west1 and were not terminated until the ,first ,council of ,nice4 ,some of the learned conjecture that the ,romans chose the winter solstice for holding the birth of ,jesus1 because the sun then begins again to approach our hemisphere4 ,in ,julius ,csar's time the civil and political solstice was fixed for the #beth of ,december4 ,this at ,rome was a festival in celebration of the returning sun4 ,pliny tells us that it was called bruma2 and1 like ,servius1 places it on the #hth of the calends of ,january4 ,this association might have some connection with the choice of the day1 but it was not the origin of it4 ,a passage in ,josephus 7evidently forged71 three or four errors of the ancients1 and a very mystical explanation of a saying of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 determined this choice1 as ,joseph ,scaliger is about to inform us4 ,it pleased the ancients 7says that learned critic7 to suppose--first1 that ,zacharias was sovereign sacrificer when ,jesus was born4 ,but nothing is more untrue2 it is no longer believed by any one1 at least among those of any information4 ,secondly--the ancients supposed that ,zacharias was in the holy of holies1 offering incense1 when the angel appeared to him and announced the birth of a son4 ,thirdly--as the sovereign sacrificer entered the temple but once a year1 on the day of expiation1 which was the #ajth of the ,jewish month rifri1 partly answering to the month of ,september1 the ancients supposed that it was the #bgth2 and that afterwards1 on the #bc;d or #bdth1 ,zacharias having returned home after the feast1 ,elizabeth1 his wife1 conceived ,john the ,baptist2 when the feast of the conception of that saint was fixed for those days4 ,as women ordinarily go with child for two hundred and seventy or two hundred and seventy-four days1 it followed that the nativity of ,john was fixed for the #bdth of ,june4 ,such was the origin of ,st4 ,john's day1 and of ,christmas day1 which was regulated by it4 ,fourthly--it was supposed that there were six entire months between the conception of ,john the ,baptist and that of ,jesus2 although the angel simply tells ,mary that ,elizabeth was then in the sixth month of her pregnancy2 consequently the conception of ,jesus was fixed for the #beth of ,march2 and from these various suppositions it was concluded that ,jesus must have been born on the #beth of ,december1 precisely nine months after his conception4 ,there are many wonderful things in these arrangements4 ,it is not one of the least worthy of admiration1 that the four cardinal points of the year--the equinoxes and the solstices1 as they were then fixed--were marked by the conceptions and births of ,john the ,baptist and ,jesus4 ,but it is yet more marvellous and worthy of remark1 that the solstice when ,jesus was born is that at which the days begin to increase2 while that on which ,john the ,baptist came into the world was the period at which they begin to shorten4 ,the holy forerunner had intimated this in a very mystical manner1 when speaking of ,jesus1 in these words3 ,he must grow1 and ,i must become less4 ,prudentius alludes to this in a hymn on the nativity of our ,lord4 ,yet ,st4 ,leo says that in his time there were persons in ,rome who said the feast was venerable1 not so much on account of the birth of ,jesus as of the return1 and1 as they expressed it1 the new birth of the sun4 ,st4 ,epiphanius assures us it was fully established that ,jesus was born on the #fth of ,january2 but ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 much more ancient and more learned than he1 fixes the birth on the #ahth of ,november1 of the twenty-eighth year of ,augustus4 ,this is deduced1 according to the ,jesuit ,petau's remark on ,st4 ,epiphanius1 from these words of ,st4 ,clement3 ,the whole time from the birth of ,jesus ,christ to the death of ,commodus was a hundred and ninety-four years1 one month and thirteen days4 ,now ,commodus died1 according to ,petau1 on the last of ,december1 in the year #aib of our era2 therefore1 according to ,st4 ,clement1 ,jesus was born one month and thirteen days before the last of ,december2 consequently1 on the #ahth of ,november1 in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of ,augustus4 ,concerning which it must be observed that ,st4 ,clement dates the reign of ,augustus only from the death of ,antony and the capture of ,alexandria1 because it was not until then that ,augustus was left the sole master of the empire4 ,thus we are no more assured of the year of this birth than we are of the month or the day4 ,though ,st4 ,luke declares1 that ,he had perfect understanding of all things from the very first1 he clearly shows that he did not know the exact age of ,jesus when ,he says that1 when baptized1 ,he began to be about thirty years old4 ,indeed1 this evangelist makes ,jesus born in the year of the numbering which1 according to him1 was made by ,cyrenus or ,cyrenius1 governor of ,syria2 while1 according to ,tertullian1 it was made by ,sentius ,saturninus4 ,but ,saturninus had quitted the province in the last year of ,herod1 and1 as ,tacitus informs us1 was succeeded by ,quintilius ,varus2 and ,publius ,sulpicius ,quirinus or ,quirinius1 of whom it would seem ,st4 ,luke means to speak1 did not succeed ,quintilius ,varus until about ten years after ,herod's death1 when ,archelaus1 king of ,juda1 was banished by ,augustus1 as ,josephus tells us in his ,jewish ,antiquities4 ,it is true that ,tertullian1 and ,st4 ,justin before him1 referred the pagans and the heretics of their time to the public archives containing the registers of this pretended numbering2 but ,tertullian likewise referred to the public archives for the account of the darkness at noonday at the time of the passion of ,jesus1 as will be seen in the article on ,eclipse2 where we have remarked the want of exactness in these two fathers1 and in similar authorities1 in our observations on a statue which ,st4 ,justin--who assures us that he saw it at ,rome--says was dedicated to ,simon the magician1 but which was in reality dedicated to a god of the ancient ,sabines4 ,these uncertainties1 however1 will excite no astonishment when it is recollected that ,jesus was unknown to ,his disciples until ,he had received baptism from ,john4 ,it is expressly1 beginning with the baptism of ,jesus1 that ,peter will have the successor of ,judas testify concerning ,jesus2 and1 according to the same ,acts1 ,peter thereby understands the whole time that ,jesus had lived with them4 ,,chronology4 ,the world has long disputed about ancient chronology2 but has there ever been any8 ,every considerable people must necessarily possess and preserve authentic1 well-attested registers4 ,but how few people were acquainted with the art of writing8 and1 among the small number of men who cultivated this very rare art1 are any to be found who took the trouble to mark two dates with exactness8 ,we have1 indeed1 in very recent times the astronomical observations of the ,chinese and the ,chaldans4 ,they only go back about two thousand years1 more or less1 beyond our era4 ,but when the early annals of a nation confine themselves simply to communicating the information that there was an eclipse in the reign of a certain prince1 we learn1 certainly1 that such a prince existed1 but not what he performed4 ,moreover1 the ,chinese reckon the year in which an emperor dies as still constituting a part of his reign1 until the end of it2 even though he should die the first day of the year1 his successor dates the year following his death with the name of his predecessor4 ,it is not possible to show more respect for ancestors2 nor is it possible to compute time in a manner more injudicious in comparison with modern nations4 ,we may add that the ,chinese do not commence their sexagenary cycle1 into which they have introduced arrangement1 till the reign of the ,emperor ,iao1 two thousand three hundred and fifty-seven years before our vulgar era4 ,profound obscurity hangs over the whole period of time which precedes that epoch4 ,men are generally contented with an approximation--with the pretty nearly in every case4 ,for example1 before the invention of watches1 people could learn the time of day or night only approximately4 ,in building1 the stones were pretty nearly hewn to a certain shape1 the timber pretty nearly squared1 and the limbs of the statue pretty nearly chipped to a proper finish2 a man was only pretty nearly acquainted with his nearest neighbors2 and1 notwithstanding the perfection we have ourselves attained1 such is the state of things at present throughout the greater part of the world4 ,let us not then be astonished that there is nowhere to be found a correct ancient chronology4 ,that which we have of the ,chinese is of considerable value1 when compared with the chronological labors of other nations4 ,we have none of the ,indians1 nor of the ,persians1 and scarcely any of the ancient ,egyptians4 ,all our systems formed on the history of these people are as contradictory as our systems of metaphysics4 ,the ,greek ,olympiads do not commence till seven hundred and twenty-eight years before our era of reckoning4 ,until we arrive at them1 we perceive only a few torches to lighten the darkness1 such as the era of ,nabonassar1 the war between ,lacedmon and ,messene2 even those epochs themselves are subjects of dispute4 ,livy took care not to state in what year ,romulus began his pretended reign4 ,the ,romans1 who well knew the uncertainty of that epoch1 would have ridiculed him had he undertaken to decide it4 ,it is proved that the duration of two hundred and forty years ascribed to the seven first kings of ,rome is a very false calculation4 ,the first four centuries of ,rome are absolutely destitute of chronology4 ,if four centuries of the most memorable empire the world ever saw comprise only an undigested mass of events1 mixed up with fables1 and almost without a date1 what must be the case with small nations1 shut up in an obscure corner of the earth1 that have never made any figure in the world1 notwithstanding all their attempts to compensate1 by prodigy and imposture1 for their deficiency in real power and cultivation8 ,of the ,vanity of ,systems1 ,particularly in ,chronology4 ,the ,abb ,condillac performed a most important service to the human mind when he displayed the false points of all systems4 ,if we may ever hope that we shall one day find the road to truth1 it can only be after we have detected all those which lead to error4 ,it is at least a consolation to be at rest1 to be no longer seeking1 when we perceive that so many philosophers have sought in vain4 ,chronology is a collection of bladders of wind4 ,all who thought to pass over it as solid ground have been immersed4 ,we have1 at the present time1 twenty-four systems1 not one of which is true4 ,the ,babylonians said1 ,we reckon four hundred and seventy-three thousand years of astronomical observations4 ,a ,parisian1 addressing him1 says1 ,your account is correct2 your years consisted each of a solar day2 they amount to twelve hundred and ninety-seven of ours1 from the time of ,atlas1 the great astronomer1 king of ,africa1 till the arrival of ,alexander at ,babylon4 ,but1 whatever our ,parisian may say1 no people in the world have ever confounded a day with a year2 and the people of ,babylon still less than any other4 ,this ,parisian stranger should have contented himself with merely observing to the ,chaldans3 ,you are exaggerators1 and our ancestors were ignorant4 ,nations are exposed to too many revolutions to permit their keeping a series of four thousand seven hundred and thirty-six centuries of astronomical calculations4 ,and1 with respect to ,atlas1 king of the ,moors1 no one knows at what time he lived4 ,pythagoras might pretend to have been a cock1 just as reasonably as you may boast of such a series of observations4 ,the great point of ridicule in all fantastic chronologies is the arrangement of all the great events of a man's life in precise order of time1 without ascertaining that the man himself ever existed4 ,lenglet repeats after others1 in his chronological compilation of universal history1 that precisely in the time of ,abraham1 and six years after the death of ,sarah1 who was little known to the ,greeks1 ,jupiter1 at the age of sixty-two1 began to reign in ,thessaly2 that his reign lasted sixty years2 that he married his sister ,juno2 that he was obliged to cede the maritime coasts to his brother ,neptune2 and that the ,titans made war against him4 ,but was there ever a ,jupiter8 ,it never occurred to him that with this question he should have begun4 ,,church4 ,summary of the ,history of the ,christian ,church4 ,we shall not extend our views into the depths of theology4 ,god preserve us from such presumption4 ,humble faith alone is enough for us4 ,we never assume any other part than that of mere historians4 ,in the years that immediately followed ,jesus ,christ1 who was at once ,god and man1 there existed among the ,hebrews nine religious schools or societies--,pharisees1 ,sadducees1 ,essenians1 ,judahites1 ,therapeut1 ,rechabites1 ,herodians1 the disciples of ,john1 and the disciples of ,jesus1 named the brethren1 the ,galileans1 the believers1 who did not assume the name of ,christians till about the sixteenth year of our era1 at ,antioch2 being directed to its adoption by ,god himself1 in ways unknown to men4 ,the ,pharisees believed in the metempsychosis4 ,the ,sadducees denied the immortality of the soul1 and the existence of spirits1 yet believed in the ,pentateuch4 ,pliny1 the naturalist--relying1 evidently1 on the authority of ,flavius ,josephus--calls the ,essenians gens terna in qua nemo nascitur--a perpetual family1 in which no one is ever born--because the ,essenians very rarely married4 ,the description has been since applied to our monks4 ,it is difficult to decide whether the ,essenians or the ,judahites are spoken of by ,josephus in the following passage3 ,they despise the evils of the world2 their constancy enables them to triumph over torments2 in an honorable cause1 they prefer death to life4 ,they have undergone fire and sword1 and submitted to having their very bones crushed1 rather than utter a syllable against their legislator1 or eat forbidden food4 ,it would seem1 from the words of ,josephus1 that the foregoing portrait applies to the ,judahites1 and not to the ,essenians4 ,judas was the author of a new sect1 completely different from the other three2 that is1 the ,sadducees1 the ,pharisees1 and the ,essenians4 ,they are1 he goes on1 ,jews by nation2 they live in harmony with one another1 and consider pleasure to be a vice4 ,the natural meaning of this language would induce us to think that he is speaking of the ,judahites4 ,however that may be1 these ,judahites were known before the disciples of ,christ began to possess consideration and consequence in the world4 ,some weak people have supposed them to be heretics1 who adored ,judas ,iscariot4 ,the ,therapeut were a society different from the ,essenians and the ,judahites4 ,they resembled the ,gymnosophists and ,brahmins of ,india4 ,they possess1 says ,philo1 a principle of divine love which excites in them an enthusiasm like that of the ,bacchantes and the ,corybantes1 and which forms them to that state of contemplation to which they aspire4 ,this sect originated in ,alexandria1 which was entirely filled with ,jews1 and prevailed greatly throughout ,egypt4 ,the ,rechabites still continued as a sect4 ,they vowed never to drink wine2 and it is1 possibly1 from their example that ,mahomet forbade that liquor to his followers4 ,the ,herodians regarded ,herod1 the first of that name1 as a ,messiah1 a messenger from ,god1 who had rebuilt the temple4 ,it is clear that the ,jews at ,rome celebrated a festival in honor of him1 in the reign of ,nero1 as appears from the lines of ,persius3 ,herodis venere dies1 etc4 7,sat4 v4 #ahj47 ,king ,herod's feast1 when each ,judaan vile1 ,trims up his lamp with tallow or with oil4 ,the disciples of ,john the ,baptist had spread themselves a little in ,egypt1 but principally in ,syria1 ,arabia1 and towards the ,persian gulf4 ,they are recognized1 at the present day1 under the name of the ,christians of ,st4 ,john4 ,there were some also in ,asia ,minor4 ,it is mentioned in the ,acts of the ,apostles 7chap1 xix47 that ,paul met with many of them at ,ephesus4 ,have you received1 he asked them1 the holy spirit8 ,they answered him4 ,we have not heard even that there is a holy spirit4 ,what baptism1 then1 says he1 have you received8 ,they answered him1 ,the baptism of ,john4 ,in the meantime the true ,christians1 as is well known1 were laying the foundation of the only true religion4' ,he who contributed most to strengthen this rising society1 was ,paul1 who had himself persecuted it with the greatest violence4 ,he was born at ,tarsus in ,cilicia1 and was educated under one of the most celebrated professors among the ,pharisees--,gamaliel1 a disciple of ,hillel4 ,the ,jews pretend that he quarrelled with ,gamaliel1 who refused to let him have his daughter in marriage4 ,some traces of this anecdote are to be found in the sequel to the ,acts of ,st4 ,thekla4 ,these acts relate that he had a large forehead1 a bald head1 united eye-brows1 an aquiline nose1 a short and clumsy figure1 and crooked legs4 ,lucian1 in his dialogue ,philopatres1 seems to give a very similar portrait of him4 ,it has been doubted whether he was a ,roman citizen1 for at that time the title was not given to any ,jew2 they had been expelled from ,rome by ,tiberius2 and ,tarsus did not become a ,roman colony till nearly a hundred years afterwards1 under ,caracalla2 as ,cellarius remarks in his ,geography 7book iii471 and ,grotius in his ,commentary on the ,acts1 to whom alone we need refer4 ,god1 who came down upon earth to be an example in it of humanity and poverty1 gave to his church the most feeble infancy1 and conducted it in a state of humiliation similar to that in which he had himself chosen to be born4 ,all the first believers were obscure persons4 ,they labored with their hands4 ,the apostle ,st4 ,paul himself acknowledges that he gained his livelihood by making tents4 ,st4 ,peter raised from the dead ,dorcas1 a sempstress1 who made clothes for the brethren4 ,the assembly of believers met at ,joppa1 at the house of a tanner called ,simon1 as appears from the ninth chapter of the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,the believers spread themselves secretly in ,greece3 and some of them went from ,greece to ,rome1 among the ,jews1 who were permitted by the ,romans to have a synagogue4 ,they did not1 at first1 separate themselves from the ,jews4 ,they practised circumcision2 and1 as we have elsewhere remarked1 the first fifteen obscure bishops of ,jerusalem were all circumcised1 or at least were all of the ,jewish nation4 ,when the apostle ,paul took with him ,timothy1 who was the son of a heathen father1 he circumcised him himself1 in the small city of ,lystra4 ,but ,titus1 his other disciple1 could not be induced to submit to circumcision4 ,the brethren1 or the disciples of ,jesus1 continued united with the ,jews until the time when ,st4 ,paul experienced a persecution at ,jerusalem1 on account of his having introduced strangers into the temple4 ,he was accused by the ,jews of endeavoring to destroy the law of ,moses by that of ,jesus ,christ4 ,it was with a view to his clearing himself from this accusation that the apostle ,st4 ,james proposed to the apostle ,paul that he should shave his head1 and go and purify himself in the temple1 with four ,jews1 who had made a vow of being shaved4 ,take them with you1 says ,james to him 7,acts of the ,apostles xxi471 purify yourself with them1 and let the whole world know that what has been reported concerning you is false1 and that you continue to obey the law of ,moses4 ,thus1 then1 ,paul1 who had been at first the most summary persecutor of the holy society established by ,jesus--,paul1 who afterwards endeavored to govern that rising society--,paul the ,christian1 ,judaizes1 that the world may know that he is calumniated when he is charged with no longer following the law of ,moses4 ,st4 ,paul was equally charged with impiety and heresy1 and the persecution against him lasted a long time2 but it is perfectly clear1 from the nature of the charges1 that he had travelled to ,jerusalem in order to fulfil the rites of ,judaism4 ,he addressed to ,faustus these words3 ,i have never offended against the ,jewish law1 nor against the temple4 7,acts xxv47 ,the apostles announced ,jesus ,christ as a just man wickedly persecuted1 a prophet of ,god1 a son of ,god1 sent to the ,jews for the reformation of manners4 ,circumcision1 says the apostle ,paul1 is good1 if you observe the law2 but if you violate the law1 your circumcision becomes uncircumcision4 ,if any uncircumcised person keep the law1 he will be as if circumcised4 ,the true ,jew is one that is so inwardly4 ,when this apostle speaks of ,jesus ,christ in his epistles1 he does not reveal the ineffable mystery of his consubstantiality with ,god4 ,we are delivered by him1 says he1 from the wrath of ,god4 ,the gift of ,god hath been shed upon us by the grace bestowed on one man1 who is ,jesus ,christ4444 ,death reigned through the sin of one man2 the just shall reign in life by one man1 who is ,jesus ,christ4 7,romans v47 ,and1 in the eighth chapter3 ,we are heirs of ,god1 and joint-heirs of ,christ2 and in the sixteenth chapter3 ,to ,god1 who is the only wise1 be honor and glory through ,jesus ,christ444 ,you are ,jesus ,christ's1 and ,jesus ,christ is ,god's4 7#a ,cor4 chap4 iii47 ,and1 in #a ,cor4 xv4 #bg3 ,everything is made subject to him1 undoubtedly1 excepting ,god1 who made all things subject to him4 ,some difficulty has been found in explaining the following part of the ,epistle of the ,philippians3 ,do nothing through vain glory4 ,let each humbly think others better than himself4 ,be of the same mind with ,jesus ,christ1 who1 being in the likeness of ,god1 assumed not to equal himself to ,god4 ,this passage appears exceedingly well investigated and elucidated in a letter1 still extant1 of the churches of ,vienna and ,lyons1 written in the year #aag1 and which is a valuable monument of antiquity4 ,in this letter the modesty of some believers is praised4 ,they did not wish1 says the letter1 to assume the lofty title of martyrs1 in consequence of certain tribulations2 after the example of ,jesus ,christ1 who1 being in the likeness of ,god1 did not assume the quality of being equal to ,god4 ,origen1 also1 in his commentary on ,john1 says3 ,the greatness of ,jesus shines out more splendidly in consequence of his self-humiliation than if he had assumed equality with ,god4 ,in fact1 the opposite interpretation would be a solecism4 ,what sense would there be in this exhortation3 ,think others superior to yourselves2 imitate ,jesus1 who did not think it an assumption to be equal to ,god8 ,it would be an obvious contradiction2 it would be putting an example of full pretension for an example of modesty2 it would be an offence against logic4 ,thus did the wisdom of the apostles establish the rising church4 ,that wisdom did not change its character in consequence of the dispute which took place between the apostles ,peter1 ,james1 and ,john1 on one side1 and ,paul on the other4 ,this contest occurred at ,antioch4 ,the apostle ,peter--formerly ,cephas1 or ,simon ,bar ,jona--ate with the converted ,gentiles1 and among them did not observe the ceremonies of the law and the distinction of meats4 ,he and ,barnabas1 and the other disciples1 ate indifferently of pork1 of animals which had been strangled1 or which had cloven feet1 or which did not chew the cud2 but many ,jewish ,christians having arrived1 ,st4 ,peter joined with them in abstinence from forbidden meats1 and in the ceremonies of the ,mosaic law4 ,this conduct appeared very prudent2 he wished to avoid giving offence to the ,jewish ,christians1 his companions2 but ,st4 ,paul attacked him on the subject with considerable severity4 ,i withstood him1 says he1 to his face1 because he was blamable4 7,gal4 chap4 ii47 ,this quarrel appears most extraordinary on the part of ,st4 ,paul4 ,having been at first a persecutor1 he might have been expected to have acted with moderation2 especially as he had gone to ,jerusalem to sacrifice in the temple1 had circumcised his disciple ,timothy1 and strictly complied with the ,jewish rites1 for which very compliance he now reproached ,cephas4 ,st4 ,jerome imagines that this quarrel between ,paul and ,cephas was a pretended one4 ,he says1 in his first homily 7vol4 iii47 that they acted like two advocates1 who had worked themselves up to an appearance of great zeal and exasperation against each other1 to gain credit with their respective clients4 ,he says that ,peter--,cephas--being appointed to preach to the ,jews1 and ,paul to the ,gentiles1 they assumed the appearance of quarrelling--,paul to gain the ,gentiles1 and ,peter to gain the ,jews4 ,but ,st4 ,augustine is by no means of the same opinion4 ,i grieve1 says he1 in his epistle to ,jerome1 that so great a man should be the patron of a lie4--7patronum mendacii74 ,this dispute between ,st4 ,jerome and ,st4 ,augustine ought not to diminish our veneration for them1 and still less for ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter4 ,as to what remains1 if ,peter was destined for the ,jews1 who were1 after their conversion1 likely to ,judaize1 and ,paul for strangers1 it appears probable that ,peter never went to ,rome4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles makes no mention of ,peter's journey to ,italy4 ,however that may be1 it was about the sixtieth year of our era that ,christians began to separate from the ,jewish communion2 and it was this which drew upon them so many quarrels and persecutions from the various synagogues of ,rome1 ,greece1 ,egypt1 and ,asia4 ,they were accused of impiety and atheism by their ,jewish brethren1 who excommunicated them in their synagogues three times every ,sabbath-day4 ,but in the midst of their persecutions ,god always supported them4 ,by degrees many churches were formed1 and the separation between ,jews and ,christians was complete before the close of the first century4 ,this separation was unknown to the ,roman government4 ,neither the senate nor the emperors of ,rome interested themselves in those quarrels of a small flock of mankind1 which ,god had hitherto guided in obscurity1 and which he exalted by insensible gradations4 ,christianity became established in ,greece and at ,alexandria4 ,the ,christians had there to contend with a new set of ,jews1 who1 in consequence of intercourse with the ,greeks1 had become philosophers4 ,this was the sect of gnosis1 or gnostics4 ,among them were some of the new converts to ,christianity4 ,all these sects1 at that time1 enjoyed complete liberty to dogmatize1 discourse1 and write1 whenever the ,jewish courtiers1 settled at ,rome and ,alexandria1 did not bring any charge against them before the magistrates4 ,but1 under ,domitian1 ,christianity began to give some umbrage to the government4 ,the zeal of some ,christians1 which was not according to knowledge1 did not prevent the ,church from making that progress which ,god destined from the beginning4 ,the ,christians1 at first1 celebrated their mysteries in sequestered houses1 and in caves1 and during the night4 ,hence1 according to ,minucius ,felix1 the title given them of lucifugaces4 ,philo calls them ,gessens4 ,the names most frequently applied to them by the heathens1 during the first four centuries1 were ,galileans and ,nazarenes2 but that of ,christians has prevailed above all others4 ,neither the hierarchy1 nor the services of the church1 were established all at once2 the apostolic times were different from those which followed4 ,the mass now celebrated at matins was the supper performed in the evening2 these usages changed in proportion as the church strengthened4 ,a more numerous society required more regulations1 and the prudence of the pastors accommodated itself to times and places4 ,st4 ,jerome and ,eusebius relate that when the churches received a regular form1 five different orders might be soon perceived to exist in them--superintendents1 episcopoi1 whence originate the bishops2 elders of the society1 presbyteroi1 priests1 diaconoi1 servants or deacons2 pistoi1 believers1 the initiated--that is1 the baptized1 who participated in the suppers of the agape1 or love-feasts2 the catechumens1 who were awaiting baptism2 and the energumens1 who awaited their being exorcised of demons4 ,in these five orders1 no one had garments different from the others1 no one was bound to celibacy2 witness ,tertullian's book1 dedicated to his wife2 and witness also the example of the apostles4 ,no paintings or sculptures were to be found in their assemblies during the first two centuries2 no altars2 and1 most certainly1 no tapers1 incense1 and lustral water4 ,the ,christians carefully concealed their books from the ,gentiles2 they intrusted them only to the initiated4 ,even the catechumens were not permitted to recite the ,lord's prayer4 ,of the ,power of ,expelling ,devils1 ,given to the ,church4 ,that which most distinguished the ,christians1 and which has continued nearly to our own times1 was the power of expelling devils with the sign of the cross4 ,origen1 in his treaties against ,celsus1 declares--at ,no4 #acc--that ,antinous1 who had been defied by the emperor ,adrian1 performed miracles in ,egypt by the power of charms and magic2 but he says that the devils came out of the bodies of the possessed on the mere utterance of the name of ,jesus4 ,tertullian goes farther2 and from the recesses of ,africa1 where he resided1 he says1 in his ,apology--chap4 xxiii4--,if your gods do not confess themselves to be devils in the presence of a true ,christian1 we give you full liberty to shed that ,christian's blood4 ,can any demonstration be possibly clearer8 ,in fact1 ,jesus ,christ sent out his apostles to expel demons4 ,the ,jews1 likewise1 in his time1 had the power of expelling them2 for1 when ,jesus had delivered some possessed persons1 and sent the devils into the bodies of a very numerous herd of swine1 and had performed many other similar cures1 the ,pharisees said3 ,he expels devils through the power of ,beelzebub4 ,jesus replied3 ,by whom do your sons expel them8 ,it is incontestable that the ,jews boasted of this power4 ,they had exorcists and exorcisms4 ,they invoked the name of ,god1 of ,jacob1 and of ,abraham4 ,they put consecrated herbs into the nostrils of the demoniacs4 ,josephus relates a part of these ceremonies4 ,this power over devils1 which the ,jews have lost1 was transferred to the ,christians1 who seem likewise to have lost it in their turn4 ,the power of expelling demons comprehended that of destroying the operations of magic2 for magic has been always prevalent in every nation4 ,all the fathers of the ,church bear testimony to magic4 ,st4 ,justin1 in his ,apology--book iii4--acknowledges that the souls of the dead are frequently evoked1 and thence draws an argument in favor of the immortality of the soul4 ,lactantius1 in the seventh book of his ,divine ,institutions1 says that if any one ventured to deny the existence of souls after death1 the magician would convince him of it by making them appear4 ,irenus1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,tertullian1 ,cyprian the bishop1 all affirm the same4 ,it is true that1 at present1 all is changed1 and that there are now no more magicians than there are demoniacs4 ,but ,god has the sovereign power of admonishing mankind by prodigies at some particular seasons1 and of discontinuing those prodigies at others4 ,of the ,martyrs of the ,church4 ,when ,christians became somewhat numerous1 and many arrayed themselves against the worship established in the ,roman ,empire1 the magistrates began to exercise severity against them1 and the people more particularly persecuted them4 ,the ,jews1 who possessed particular privileges1 and who confined themselves to their synagogues1 were not persecuted4 ,they were permitted the free exercise of their religion1 as is the case at ,rome at the present day4 ,all the different kinds of worship scattered over the empire were tolerated1 although the senate did not adopt them4 ,but the ,christians1 declaring themselves enemies to every other worship than their own1 and more especially so to that of the empire1 were often exposed to these cruel trials4 ,one of the first and most distinguished martyrs was ,ignatius1 bishop of ,antioch1 who was condemned by the ,emperor ,trajan himself1 at that time in ,asia1 and sent to ,rome by his orders1 to be exposed to wild beasts1 at a time when other ,christians were not persecuted at ,rome4 ,it is not known precisely what charges were alleged against him before that emperor1 otherwise so renowned for his clemency4 ,st4 ,ignatius must1 necessarily1 have had violent enemies4 ,whatever were the particulars of the case1 the history of his martyrdom relates that the name of ,jesus ,christ was found engraved on his heart in letters of gold2 and from this circumstance it was that ,christians1 in some places1 assumed the name of ,theophorus1 which ,ignatius had given himself4 ,a letter of his has been preserved in which he entreats the bishops and ,christians to make no opposition to his martyrdom1 whether at the time they might be strong enough to effect his deliverance1 or whether any among them might have influence enough to obtain his pardon4 ,another remarkable circumstance is that when he was brought to ,rome the ,christians of that capital went to visit him2 which would prove clearly that the individual was punished and not the sect4 ,the persecutions were not continued4 ,origen1 in his third book against ,celsus1 says3 ,the ,christians who have suffered death on account of their religion may easily be numbered1 for there were only a few of them1 and merely at intervals4 ,god was so mindful of his ,church that1 notwithstanding its enemies1 he so ordered circumstances that it held five councils in the first century1 sixteen in the second1 and thirty in the third2 that is1 including both secret and tolerated ones4 ,those assemblies were sometimes forbidden1 when the weak prudence of the magistrates feared that they might become tumultuous4 ,but few genuine documents of the proceedings before the proconsuls and prtors who condemned the ,christians to death have been delivered down to us4 ,such would be the only authorities which would enable us to ascertain the charges brought against them1 and the punishments they suffered4 ,we have a fragment of ,dionysius of ,alexandria1 in which he gives the following extract of a register1 or of records1 of a proconsul of ,egypt1 under the ,emperor ,valerian3 ,dionysius1 ,faustus ,maximus1 ,marcellus1 and ,chremon1 having been admitted to the audience1 the prefect milianus thus addressed them3 ',you are sufficiently informed through the conferences which ,i have had with you1 and all that ,i have written to you1 of the good-will which our princes have entertained towards you4 ,i wish thus to repeat it to you once again4 ,they make the continuance of your safety to depend upon yourselves1 and place your destiny in your own hands4 ,they require of you only one thing1 which reason demands of every reasonable person--namely1 that you adore the gods who protect their empire1 and abandon that different worship1 so contrary to sense and nature4' ,dionysius replied1 ,all have not the same gods2 and all adore those whom they think to be the true ones4 ,the prefect milianus replied3 ,i see clearly that you ungratefully abuse the goodness which the emperors have shown you4 ,this being the case1 you shall no longer remain in this city2 and ,i now order you to be conveyed to ,cephro1 in the heart of ,libya4 ,agreeably to the command ,i have received from your emperor1 that shall be the place of your banishment4 ,as to what remains1 think not to hold your assemblies there1 nor to offer up your prayers in what you call cemeteries4 ,this is positively forbidden4 ,i will permit it to none4 ,nothing bears a stronger impress of truth than this document4 ,we see from it that there were times when assemblies were prohibited4 ,thus the ,calvinists were forbidden to assemble in ,france4 ,sometimes ministers or preachers1 who held assemblies in violation of the laws1 have suffered even by the altar and the rack2 and since #agde six have been executed on the gallows4 ,thus1 in ,england and ,ireland1 ,roman ,catholics are forbidden to hold assemblies2 and1 on certain occasions1 the delinquents have suffered death4 ,notwithstanding these prohibitions declared by the ,roman laws1 ,god inspired many of the emperors with indulgence towards the ,christians4 ,even ,diocletian1 whom the ignorant consider as a persecutor--,diocletian1 the first year of whose reign is still regarded as constituting the commencement of the era of martyrdom1 was1 for more than eighteen years1 the declared protector of ,christianity1 and many ,christians held offices of high consequence about his person4 ,he even married a ,christian2 and1 in ,nicomedia1 the place of his residence1 he permitted a splendid church to be erected opposite his palace4 ,the ,csar ,galerius having unfortunately taken up a prejudice against the ,christians1 of whom he thought he had reason to complain1 influenced ,diocletian to destroy the cathedral of ,nicomedia4 ,one of the ,christians1 with more zeal than prudence1 tore the edict of the emperor to pieces2 and hence arose that famous persecution1 in the course of which more than two hundred persons were executed in the ,roman ,empire1 without reckoning those whom the rage of the common people1 always fanatical and always cruel1 destroyed without even the form of law4 ,so great has been the number of actual martyrs that we should be careful how we shake the truth of the history of those genuine confessors of our holy religion by a dangerous mixture of fables and of false martyrs4 ,the ,benedictine ,prior 7,dom7 ,ruinart1 for example1 a man otherwise as well informed as he was respectable and devout1 should have selected his genuine records1 his actes sinceres1 with more discretion4 ,it is not sufficient that a manuscript1 whether taken from the abbey of ,st4 ,benoit on the ,loire1 or from a convent of ,celestines at ,paris1 corresponds with a manuscript of the ,feuillans1 to show that the record is authentic2 the record should possess a suitable antiquity2 should have been evidently written by contemporaries2 and1 moreover1 should bear all the characters of truth4 ,he might have dispensed with relating the adventure of young ,romanus1 which occurred in #cjc4 ,this young ,romanus had obtained the pardon of ,diocletian1 at ,antioch4 ,however1 ,ruinart states that the judge ,asclepiades condemned him to be burnt4 ,the ,jews who were present at the spectacle1 derided the young saint and reproached the ,christians1 that their ,god1 who had delivered ,shadrach1 ,meshach1 and ,abednego out of the furnace1 left them to be burned2 that immediately1 although the weather had been as calm as possible1 a tremendous storm arose and extinguished the flames2 that the judge then ordered young ,romanus's tongue to be cut out2 that the principal surgeon of the emperor1 being present1 eagerly acted the part of executioner1 and cut off the tongue at the root2 that instantly the young man1 who1 before had an impediment in his speech1 spoke with perfect freedom2 that the emperor was astonished that any one could speak so well without a tongue2 and that the surgeon1 to repeat the experiment1 directly cut out the tongue of some bystander1 who died on the spot4 ,eusebius1 from whom the ,benedictine ,ruinart drew his narrative1 should have so far respected the real miracles performed in the ,old and ,new ,testament--which no one can ever doubt--as not to have associated with them relations so suspicious1 and so calculated to give offence to weak minds4 ,this last persecution did not extend through the empire4 ,there was at that time some ,christianity in ,england1 which soon eclipsed1 to reappear afterwards under the ,saxon kings4 ,the southern districts of ,gaul and ,spain abounded with ,christians4 ,the ,csar ,constantius ,chlorus afforded them great protection in all his provinces4 ,he had a concubine who was a ,christian1 and who was the mother of ,constantine1 known under the name of ,st4 ,helena2 for no marriage was ever proved to have taken place between them2 he even divorced her in the year #bib1 when he married the daughter of ,maximilian ,hercules2 but she had preserved great ascendency over his mind1 and had inspired him with a great attachment to our holy religion4 ,of the ,establishment of the ,church ,under ,constantine4 ,thus did divine ,providence prepare the triumph of its church by ways apparently conformable to human causes and events4 ,constantius ,chlorus died in #cjf1 at ,york1 in ,england1 at a time when the children he had by the daughter of a ,csar were of tender age1 and incapable of making pretensions to the empire4 ,constantine boldly got himself elected at ,york1 by five or six thousand soldiers1 the greater part of whom were ,french and ,english4 ,there was no probability that this election1 effected without the consent of ,rome1 of the senate and the armies1 could stand2 but ,god gave him the victory over ,maxentius1 who had been elected at ,rome1 and delivered him at last from all his colleagues4 ,it is not to be dissembled that he at first rendered himself unworthy of the favors of heaven1 by murdering all his relations1 and at length even his own wife and son4 ,we may be permitted to doubt what ,zosimus relates on this subject4 ,he states that ,constantine1 under the tortures of remorse from the perpetration of so many crimes1 inquired of the pontiffs of the empire1 whether it were possible for him to obtain any expiation1 and that they informed him that they knew of none4 ,it is perfectly true that none was found for ,nero1 and that he did not venture to assist at the sacred mysteries in ,greece4 ,however1 the ,taurobolia were still observed1 and it is difficult to believe that an emperor1 supremely powerful1 could not obtain a priest who would willingly indulge him in expiatory sacrifices4 ,perhaps1 indeed1 it is less easy to believe that ,constantine1 occupied as he was with war1 politic enterprises1 and ambition1 and surrounded by flatterers1 had time for remorse at all4 ,zosimus adds that an ,egyptian priest1 who had access to his gate1 promised him the expiation of all his crimes in the ,christian religion4 ,it has been suspected that this priest was ,ozius1 bishop of ,cordova4 ,however this might be1 ,god reserved ,constantine for the purpose of enlightening his mind1 and to make him the protector of the ,church4 ,this prince built the city of ,constantinople1 which became the centre of the empire and of the ,christian religion4 ,the ,church then assumed a form of splendor4 ,and we may hope that1 being purified by his baptism1 and penitent at his death1 he may have found mercy1 although he died an ,arian4 ,it would be not a little severe1 were all the partisans of both the bishops of the name of ,eusebius to incur damnation4 ,in the year #cad1 before ,constantine resided in his new city1 those who had persecuted the ,christians were punished by them for their cruelties4 ,the ,christians threw ,maxentius's wife into the ,orontes2 they cut the throats of all his relations1 and they massacred1 in ,egypt and ,palestine1 those magistrates who had most strenuously declared against ,christianity4 ,the widow and daughter of ,diocletian1 having concealed themselves at ,thessalonica1 were recognized1 and their bodies thrown into the sea4 ,it would certainly have been desirable that the ,christians should have followed less eagerly the cry of vengeance2 but it was the will of ,god1 who punishes according to justice1 that1 as soon as the ,christians were able to act without restraint1 their hands should be dyed in the blood of their persecutors4 ,constantine summoned to meet at ,nice1 opposite ,constantinople1 the first ecumenical council1 of which ,ozius was president4 ,here was decided the grand question that agitated the ,church1 relating to the divinity of ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is well known how the ,church1 having contended for three hundred years against the rights of the ,roman ,empire1 at length contended against itself1 and was always militant and triumphant4 ,in the course of time almost the whole of the ,greek church and the whole ,african church became slaves under the ,arabs1 and afterwards under the ,turks1 who erected the ,mahometan religion on the ruins of the ,christian4 ,the ,roman church subsisted2 but always reeking with blood1 through more than six centuries of discord between the western empire and the priesthood4 ,even these quarrels rendered her very powerful4 ,the bishops and abbots in ,germany all became princes2 and the popes gradually acquired absolute dominion in ,rome1 and throughout a considerable territory4 ,thus has ,god proved his church1 by humiliations1 by afflictions1 by crimes1 and by splendor4 ,this ,latin church1 in the sixteenth century1 lost half of ,germany1 ,denmark1 ,sweden1 ,england1 ,scotland1 ,ireland1 and the greater part of ,switzerland and ,holland4 ,she gained more territory in ,america by the conquests of the ,spaniards than she lost in ,europe2 but1 with more territory1 she has fewer subjects4 ,divine ,providence seemed to call upon ,japan1 ,siam1 ,india1 and ,china to place themselves under obedience to the pope1 in order to recompense him for ,asia ,minor1 ,syria1 ,greece1 ,egypt1 ,africa1 ,russia1 and the other lost states which we mentioned4 ,st4 ,francis ,xavier1 who carried the holy gospel to the ,east ,indies and ,japan1 when the ,portuguese went thither upon mercantile adventure1 performed a great number of miracles1 all attested by the ,r4,r4,p4,p4 ,jesuits4 ,some state that he resuscitated nine dead persons4 ,but ,r4,p4 ,ribadeneira1 in his ,flower of the ,saints1 limits himself to asserting that he resuscitated only four4 ,that is sufficient4 ,providence was desirous that1 in less than a hundred years1 there should have been thousands of ,catholics in the islands of ,japan4 ,but the devil sowed his tares among the good grain4 ,the ,jesuits1 according to what is generally believed1 entered into a conspiracy1 followed by a civil war1 in which all the ,christians were exterminated in #afch4 ,the nation then closed its ports against all foreigners except the ,dutch1 who were considered merchants and not ,christians1 and were first compelled to trample on the cross in order to gain leave to sell their wares in the prison in which they are shut up1 when they land at ,nagasaki4 ,the ,catholic1 ,apostolic1 and ,roman religion has become proscribed in ,china in our own time1 but with circumstances of less cruelty4 ,the ,r4,r4,p4,p4 ,jesuits had not1 indeed1 resuscitated the dead at the court of ,pekin2 they were contented with teaching astronomy1 casting cannon1 and being mandarins4 ,their unfortunate disputes with the ,dominicans and others gave such offence to the great ,emperor ,yonchin that that prince1 who was justice and goodness personified1 was blind enough to refuse permission any longer to teach our holy religion1 in respect to which our missionaries so little agreed4 ,he expelled them1 but with a kindness truly paternal1 supplying them with means of subsistence1 and conveyance to the confines of his empire4 ,all ,asia1 all ,africa1 the half of ,europe1 all that belongs to the ,english and ,dutch in ,america1 all the unconquered ,american tribes1 all the southern climes1 which constitute a fifth portion of the globe1 remain the prey of the demon1 in order to fulfil those sacred words1 many are called1 but few are chosen4--,matt4 xx41 #af4 ,of the ,signification of the ,word ,church4 ,picture of the ,primitive ,church4 ,its ,degeneracy4 ,examination into those ,societies which have ,attempted to ,re-establish the ,primitive ,church1 and ,particularly into that of the ,primitives called ,quakers4 ,the term church among the ,greeks signified the assembly of the people4 ,when the ,hebrew books were translated into ,greek1 synagogue was rendered by church1 and the same term was employed to express the ,jewish society1 the political congregation1 the ,jewish assembly1 the ,jewish people4 ,thus it is said in the ,book of ,numbers1 ,why hast thou conducted the church into the wilderness2 and in ,deuteronomy1 ,the eunuch1 the ,moabite1 and the ,ammonite1 shall not enter the church2 the ,idumans and the ,egyptians shall not enter the church1 even to the third generation4 ,jesus ,christ says1 in ,st4 ,matthew1 ,if thy brother have sinned against thee have offended thee rebuke him1 between yourselves4 ,take with you one or two witnesses1 that1 from the mouth of two or three witnesses1 everything may be made clear2 and1 if he hear not them1 complain to the assembly of the people1 to the church2 and1 if he hear not the church1 let him be to thee as a heathen or a publican4 ,verily1 ,i say unto you1 so shall it come to pass1 whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven1 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven--an illusion to the keys of doors which close and unclose the latch4 ,the case is here1 that of two men1 one of whom has offended the other1 and persists4 ,he could not be made to appear in the assembly1 in the ,christian church1 as there was none2 the person against whom his companion complained could not be judged by a bishop and priests who were not in existence2 besides which1 it is to be observed1 that neither ,jewish priests nor ,christian priests ever became judges in quarrels between private persons4 ,it was a matter of police4 ,bishops did not become judges till about the time of ,valentinian ,,iii4 ,the commentators have therefore concluded that the sacred writer of this gospel makes our ,lord speak in this passage by anticipation--that it is an allegory1 a prediction of what would take place when the ,christian church should be formed and established4 ,selden makes an important remark on this passage1 that1 among the ,jews1 publicans or collectors of the royal moneys were not excommunicated4 ,the populace might detest them1 but as they were indispensable officers1 appointed by the prince1 the idea had never occurred to any one of separating them from the assembly4 ,the ,jews were at that time under the administration of the proconsul of ,syria1 whose jurisdiction extended to the confines of ,galilee1 and to the island of ,cyprus1 where he had deputies4 ,it would have been highly imprudent in any to show publicly their abomination of the legal officers of the proconsul4 ,injustice1 even1 would have been added to imprudence1 for the ,roman knights--equestrians--who farmed the public domain and collected ,csar's money1 were authorized by the laws4 ,st4 ,augustine1 in his eighty-first sermon1 may perhaps suggest reflections for comprehending this passage4 ,he is speaking of those who retain their hatred1 who are slow to pardon4 ,cepisti habere fratrem tuum tanquam publicanum4 ,ligas ilium in terra2 sed ut juste alliges vide2 nam injusta vincula dirsumpit justitia4 ,cum autem correxeris et concordaveris cum fratre tuo solvisti eum in terra4 ,you began to regard your brother as a publican2 that is1 to bind him on the earth4 ,but be cautious that you bind him justly1 for justice breaks unjust bonds4 ,but when you have corrected1 and afterwards agreed with your brother1 you have loosed him on earth4 ,from ,st4 ,augustine's interpretation1 it seems that the person offended shut up the offender in prison2 and that it is to be understood that1 if the offender is put in bonds on earth1 he is also in heavenly bonds2 but that if the offended person is inexorable1 he becomes bound himself4 ,in ,st4 ,augustine's explanation there is nothing whatever relating to the ,church4 ,the whole matter relates to pardoning or not pardoning an injury4 ,st4 ,augustine is not speaking here of the sacerdotal power of remitting sins in the name of ,god4 ,that is a right recognized in other places2 a right derived from the sacrament of confession4 ,st4 ,augustine1 profound as he is in types and allegories1 does not consider this famous passage as alluding to the absolution given or refused by the ministers of the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 in the sacrament of penance4 ,of the ,church in ,christian ,societies4 ,in the greater part of ,christian states we perceive no more than four churches--the ,greek1 the ,roman1 the ,lutheran1 and the reformed or ,calvinistic4 ,it is thus in ,germany4 ,the ,primitives or ,quakers1 the ,anabaptists1 the ,socinians1 the ,memnonists1 the ,pietists1 the ,moravians1 the ,jews1 and others1 do not form a church4 ,the ,jewish religion has preserved the designation of synagogue4 ,the ,christian sects which are tolerated have only private assemblies1 conventicles4 ,it is the same in ,london4 ,we do not find the ,catholic ,church in ,sweden1 nor in ,denmark1 nor in the north of ,germany1 nor in ,holland1 nor in three quarters of ,switzerland1 nor in the three kingdoms of ,great ,britain4 ,of the ,primitive ,church1 and of ,those ,who ,have ,endeavored to ,re-establish ,it4 ,the ,jews1 as well as all the different people of ,syria1 were divided into many different congregations1 as we have already seen4 ,all were aimed at a mystical perfection4 ,a ray of purer light shone upon the disciples of ,st4 ,john1 who still subsist near ,mosul4 ,at last1 the ,son of ,god1 announced by ,st4 ,john1 appeared on earth1 whose disciples were always on a perfect equality4 ,jesus had expressly enjoined them1 ,there shall not be any of you either first or last4444 ,i came to serve1 not to be served4 ,he who strives to be master over others shall be their servant4 ,one proof of equality is that the ,christians at first took no other designation than that of brethren4 ,they assembled in expectation of the spirit4 ,they prophesied when they were inspired4 ,st4 ,paul1 in his first letter to the ,corinthians1 says to them1 ,if1 in your assembly1 any one of you have the gift of a psalm1 a doctrine1 a revelation1 a language1 an interpretation1 let all be done for edification4 ,if any speak languages1 as two or three may do in succession1 let there be an interpreter4 ,let two or three prophets speak1 and the others judge2 and if anything be revealed to another while one is speaking1 let the latter be silent2 for you may all prophesy one by one1 that all may learn and all exhort2 the spirit of prophecy is subject to the prophets2 for the ,lord is a ,god of peace4444 ,thus1 then1 my brethren1 be all of you desirous of prophesying1 and hinder not the speaking of languages4 ,i have translated literally1 both out of reverence for the text1 and to avoid any disputes about words4 ,st4 ,paul1 in the same epistle1 admits that women may prophesy2 although1 in the fourteenth chapter1 he forbids their speaking in the assemblies4 ,every woman1 says he1 praying or prophesying without having a veil over her head1 dishonoreth her head1 for it is the same as if she were shaven4 ,it is clear1 from all these passages and from many others1 that the first ,christians were all equal1 not merely as brethren in ,jesus ,christ1 but as having equal gifts4 ,the spirit was communicated to them equally4 ,they equally spoke different languages2 they had equally the gift of prophesying1 without distinction of rank1 age1 or sex4 ,the apostles who instructed the neophytes possessed over them1 unquestionably1 that natural pre-eminence which the preceptor has over the pupil2 but of jurisdiction1 of temporal authority1 of what the world calls honors1 of distinction in dress1 of emblems of superiority1 assuredly neither they1 nor those who succeeded them1 had any4 ,they possessed another1 and a very different superiority1 that of persuasion4 ,the brethren put their money into one common stock4 ,seven persons were chosen by themselves out of their own body1 to take charge of the tables1 and to provide for the common wants4 ,they chose1 in ,jerusalem itself1 those whom we call ,stephen1 ,philip1 ,procorus1 ,nicanor1 ,timon1 ,parmenas1 and ,nicholas4 ,it is remarkable that1 among seven persons chosen by a ,jewish community1 six were ,greeks4 ,after the time of the apostles we find no example of any ,christian who possessed any other power over other ,christians than that of instructing1 exhorting1 expelling demons from the bodies of energumens1 and performing miracles4 ,all is spiritual2 nothing savors of worldly pomp4 ,it was only in the third century that the spirit of pride1 vanity1 and interest1 began to be manifested among the believers on every side4 ,the agap had now become splendid festivals1 and attracted reproach for the luxury and profusion which attended them4 ,tertullian acknowledges it4 ,yes1 says he1 we make splendid and plentiful entertainments1 but was not the same done at the mysteries of ,athens and of ,egypt8 ,whatever learning we display1 it is useful and pious1 as the poor benefit by it4 ,quantiscumque sumptibus constet1 lucrum est pietatis1 si quidem inopes refrigerio isto juvamus4 ,about this very period1 certain societies of ,christians1 who pronounced themselves more perfect than the rest1 the ,montanists1 for example1 who boasted of so many prophecies and so austere a morality2 who regarded second nuptials as absolute adulteries1 and flight from persecution as apostasy2 who had exhibited in public holy convulsions and ecstasies1 and pretended to speak with ,god face to face1 were convicted1 it was said1 of mixing the blood of an infant1 a year old1 with the bread of the eucharist4 ,they brought upon the true ,christians this dreadful reproach1 which exposed them to persecutions4 ,their method of proceeding1 according to ,st4 ,augustine1 was this3 they pricked the whole body of the infant with pins and1 kneading up flour with the blood1 made bread of it4 ,if any one died by eating it1 they honored him as a martyr4 ,manners were so corrupted that the holy fathers were incessantly complaining of it4 ,hear what ,st4 ,cyprian says1 in his book concerning tombs3 ,every priest1 says he1 seeks for wealth and honor with insatiable avidity4 ,bishops are without religion2 women without modesty2 knavery is general2 profane swearing and perjury abound2 animosities divide ,christians asunder2 bishops abandon their pupils to attend the exchange1 and obtain opulence by merchandise2 in short1 we please ourselves alone1 and excite the disgust of all the rest of the world4 ,before the occurrence of these scandals1 the priest ,novatian had been the cause of a very dreadful one to the people of ,rome4 ,he was the first anti-pope4 ,the bishopric of ,rome1 although secret1 and liable to persecution1 was an object of ambition and avarice1 on account of the liberal contributions of the ,christians1 and the authority attached to that high situation4 ,we will not here describe again what is contained in so many authentic documents1 and what we every day hear from the mouths of persons correctly informed--the prodigious number of schisms and wars2 the six hundred years of fierce hostility between the empire and the priesthood2 the wealth of nations1 flowing through a thousand channels1 sometimes into ,rome1 sometimes into ,avignon1 when the popes1 for two and seventy years together1 fixed their residence in that place2 the blood rushing in streams throughout ,europe1 either for the interest of a tiara utterly unknown to ,jesus ,christ1 or on account of unintelligible questions which ,he never mentioned4 ,our religion is not less sacred or less divine for having been so defiled by guilt and steeped in carnage4 ,when the frenzy of domination1 that dreadful passion of the human heart1 had reached its greatest excess2 when the monk ,hildebrand1 elected bishop of ,rome against the laws1 wrested that capital from the emperors1 and forbade all the bishops of the west from bearing the name of pope1 in order to appropriate it to himself alone2 when the bishops of ,germany1 following his example1 made themselves sovereigns1 which all those of ,france and ,england also attempted2 from those dreadful times down even to our own1 certain ,christian societies have arisen which1 under a hundred different names1 have endeavored to re-establish the primitive equality in ,christendom4 ,but what had been practicable in a small society1 concealed from the world1 was no longer so in extensive kingdoms4 ,the church militant and triumphant could no longer be the church humble and unknown4 ,the bishops and the large1 rich1 and powerful monastic communities1 uniting under the standards of the new pontificate of ,rome1 fought at that time pro aris et focis1 for their hearths and altars4 ,crusades1 armies1 sieges1 battles1 rapine1 tortures1 assassinations by the hand of the executioner1 assassinations by the hands of priests of both the contending parties1 poisonings1 devastations by fire and sword--all were employed to support and to pull down the new ecclesiastical administration2 and the cradle of the primitive church was so hidden as to be scarcely discoverable under the blood and bones of the slain4 ,of the ,primitives called ,quakers4 ,the religious and civil wars of ,great ,britain having desolated ,england1 ,scotland1 and ,ireland1 in the unfortunate reign of ,charles ,i41 ,william ,penn1 son of a vice-admiral1 resolved to go and establish what he called the primitive ,church on the shores of ,north ,america1 in a climate which appeared to him to be mild and congenial to his own manners4 ,his sect went under the denomination of ,quakers1 a ludicrous designation1 but which they merited1 by the trembling of the body which they affected when preaching1 and by a nasal pronunciation1 such as peculiarly distinguished one species of monks in the ,roman ,church1 the ,capuchins4 ,but men may both snuffle and shake1 and yet be meek1 frugal1 modest1 just1 and charitable4 ,no one denies that this society of ,primitives displayed an example of all those virtues4 ,penn saw that the ,english bishops and the ,presbyterians had been the cause of a dreadful war on account of a surplice1 lawn sleeves1 and a liturgy4 ,he would have neither liturgy1 lawn1 nor surplice4 ,the apostles had none of them4 ,jesus ,christ had baptized none4 ,the associates of ,penn declined baptism4 ,the first believers were equal2 these new comers aimed at being so1 as far as possible4 ,the first disciples received the spirit1 and spoke in the assembly2 they had no altars1 no temples1 no ornaments1 no tapers1 incense1 or ceremonies4 ,penn and his followers flattered themselves that they received the spirit1 and they renounced all pomp and ceremony4 ,charity was in high esteem with the disciples of the ,saviour2 those of ,penn formed a common purse for assisting the poor4 ,thus these imitators of the ,essenians and first ,christians1 although in error with respect to doctrines and ceremonies1 were an astonishing model of order and morals to every other society of ,christians4 ,at length this singular man went1 with five hundred of his followers1 to form an establishment in what was at that time the most savage district of ,america4 ,queen ,christina of ,sweden had been desirous of founding a colony there1 which1 however1 had not prospered4 ,the ,primitives of ,penn were more successful4 ,it was on the banks of the ,delaware1 near the fortieth degree of latitude4 ,this country belonged to the king of ,england only because there were no others who claimed it1 and because the people whom we call savages1 and who might have cultivated it1 had always remained far distant in the recesses of the forests4 ,if ,england had possessed this country merely by right of conquest1 ,penn and his ,primitives would have held such an asylum in horror4 ,they looked upon the pretended right of conquest only as a violation of the right of nature1 and as absolute robbery4 ,king ,charles ,,ii4 made ,penn sovereign of all this wild country by a charter granted ,march #d1 #afha4 ,in the following year ,penn promulgated his code of laws4 ,the first was complete civil liberty1 in consequence of which every colonist possessing five acres of land became a member of the legislature4 ,the next was an absolute prohibition against advocates and attorneys ever taking fees4 ,the third was the admission of all religions1 and even the permission to every inhabitant to worship ,god in his own house1 without ever taking part in public worship4 ,this is the law last mentioned1 in the terms of its enactment3 ,liberty of conscience being a right which all men have received from nature with their very being1 and which all peaceable persons ought to maintain1 it is positively established that no person shall be compelled to join in any public exercise of religion4 ,but every one is expressly allowed full power to engage freely in the public or private exercise of his religion1 without incurring thereby any trouble or impediment1 under any pretext2 provided that he acknowledge his belief in one only eternal ,god ,almighty1 the creator1 preserver1 and governor of the universe1 and that he fulfil all the duties of civil society which he is bound to perform to his fellow citizens4 ,this law is even more indulgent1 more humane1 than that which was given to the people of ,carolina by ,locke1 the ,plato of ,england1 so superior to the ,plato of ,greece4 ,locke permitted no public religions except such as should be approved by seven fathers of families4 ,this is a different sort of wisdom from ,penn's4 ,but that which reflects immortal honor on both legislators1 and which should operate as an eternal example to mankind1 is1 that this liberty of conscience has not occasioned the least disturbance4 ,it might1 on the contrary1 be said that ,god had showered down the most distinguished blessings on the colony of ,pennsylvania4 ,it consisted1 in #afhb1 of five hundred persons1 and in less than a century its population had increased to nearly three hundred thousand4 ,one half of the colonists are of the primitive religion2 twenty different religions comprise the other half4 ,there are twelve fine chapels in ,philadelphia1 and in other places every house is a chapel4 ,this city has deserved its name3 ,brotherly ,love4 ,seven other cities1 and innumerable small towns1 flourish under this law of concord4 ,three hundred vessels leave the port in the course of every year4 ,this state1 which seems to deserve perpetual duration1 was very nearly destroyed in the fatal war of #agee1 when the ,french1 with their savage allies on one side1 and the ,english1 with theirs1 on the other1 began with disputing about some frozen districts of ,nova ,scotia4 ,the ,primitives1 faithful to their pacific system of ,christianity1 declined to take up arms4 ,the savages killed some of their colonists on the frontier2 the ,primitives made no reprisals4 ,they even refused1 for a long time1 to pay the troops4 ,they addressed the ,english general in these words3 ,men are like pieces of clay1 which are broken to pieces one against another4 ,why should we aid in breaking one another to pieces8 ,at last1 in the general assembly of the legislature of ,pennsylvania1 the other religions prevailed2 troops were raised2 the ,primitives contributed money1 but declined being armed4 ,they obtained their object1 which was peace with their neighbors4 ,these pretended savages said to them1 ,send us a descendant of the great ,penn1 who never deceived us2 with him we will treat4 ,a grandson of that great man was deputed1 and peace was concluded4 ,many of the ,primitives had negro slaves to cultivate their estates4 ,but they blushed at having1 in this instance1 imitated other ,christians4 ,they gave liberty to their slaves in #agfi4 ,at present all the other colonists imitate them in liberty of conscience1 and although there are among them ,presbyterians and persons of the high church party1 no one is molested about his creed4 ,it is this which has rendered the ,english power in ,america equal to that of ,spain1 with all its mines of gold and silver4 ,if any method could be devised to enervate the ,english colonies it would be to establish in them the ,inquisition4 ,the example of the ,primitives1 called ,quakers1 has given rise in ,pennsylvania to a new society1 in a district which it calls ,euphrates4 ,this is the sect of ,dunkers or ,dumpers1 a sect much more secluded from the world than ,penn's2 a sort of religious hospitallers1 all clothed uniformly4 ,married persons are not permitted to reside in the city of ,euphrates3 they reside in the country1 which they cultivate4 ,the public treasury supplies all their wants in times of scarcity4 ,this society administers baptism only to adults4 ,it rejects the doctrine of original sin as impious1 and that of the eternity of punishment as barbarous4 ,the purity of their lives permits them not to imagine that ,god will torment ,his creatures cruelly or eternally4 ,gone astray in a corner of the new world1 far from the great flock of the ,catholic ,church1 they are1 up to the present hour1 notwithstanding this unfortunate error1 the most just and most inimitable of men4 ,quarrel between the ,greek and ,latin ,churches in ,asia and ,europe4 ,it has been a matter of lamentation to all good men for nearly fourteen centuries that the ,greek and ,latin ,churches have always been rivals1 and that the robe of ,jesus ,christ1 which was without a seam1 has been continually rent asunder4 ,this opposition is perfectly natural4 ,rome and ,constantinople hate each other4 ,when masters cherish a mutual aversion1 their dependents entertain no mutual regard4 ,the two communions have disputed on the superiority of language1 the antiquity of sees1 on learning1 eloquence1 and power4 ,it is certain that1 for a long time1 the ,greeks possessed all the advantage4 ,they boasted that they had been the masters of the ,latins1 and that they had taught them everything4 ,the ,gospels were written in ,greek4 ,there was not a doctrine1 a rite1 a mystery1 a usage1 which was not ,greek2 from the word baptism to the word eucharist all was ,greek4 ,no fathers of the ,church were known except among the ,greeks till ,st4 ,jerome1 and even he was not a ,roman1 but a ,dalmatian4 ,st4 ,augustine1 who flourished soon after ,st4 ,jerome1 was an ,african4 ,the seven great ecumenical councils were held in ,greek cities3 the bishops of ,rome were never present at them1 because they were acquainted only with their own ,latin language1 which was already exceedingly corrupted4 ,the hostility between ,rome and ,constantinople broke out in #deb1 at the ,council of ,chalcedon1 which had been assembled to decide whether ,jesus ,christ had possessed two natures and one person1 or two persons with one nature4 ,it was there decided that the ,church of ,constantinople was in every respect equal to that of ,rome1 as to honors1 and the patriarch of the one equal in every respect to the patriarch of the other4 ,the pope1 ,st4 ,leo1 admitted the two natures1 but neither he nor his successors admitted the equality4 ,it may be observed that1 in this dispute about rank and pre-eminence1 both parties were in direct opposition to the injunction of ,jesus ,christ1 recorded in the ,gospel3 ,there shall not be among you first or last4 ,saints are saints1 but pride will insinuate itself everywhere4 ,the same disposition which made a mason's son1 who had been raised to a bishopric1 foam with rage because he was not addressed by the title of my lord1 has set the whole ,christian world in flames4 ,the ,romans were always less addicted to disputation1 less subtle1 than the ,greeks1 but they were much more politic4 ,the bishops of the east1 while they argued1 yet remained subjects3 the bishop of ,rome1 without arguments1 contrived eventually to establish his power on the ruins of the western empire4 ,and what ,virgil said of the ,scipios and ,csars might be said of the popes3 ,romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam--neid1 i4 #bhf4 ,this mutual hatred led1 at length1 to actual division1 in the time of ,photius1 papa or overseer of the ,byzantine ,church1 and ,nicholas ,i41 papa or overseer of the ,roman ,church4 ,as1 unfortunately1 an ecclesiastical quarrel scarcely ever occurs without something ludicrous being attached to it1 it happened1 in this instance1 that the contest began between two patriarchs1 both of whom were eunuchs3 ,ignatius and ,photius1 who disputed the chair of ,constantinople1 were both emasculated4 ,this mutilation depriving them of the power of becoming natural fathers1 they could become fathers only of the ,church4 ,it is observed that persons of this unfortunate description are meddling1 malignant1 and plotting4 ,ignatius and ,photius kept the whole ,greek court in a state of turbulence4 ,the ,latin1 ,nicholas ,i41 having taken the part of ,ignatius1 ,photius declared him a heretic1 on account of his admitting the doctrine that the breath of ,god1 or the ,holy ,spirit1 proceeded from the ,father and the ,son1 contrary to the unanimous decision of the whole ,church1 which had decided that it proceeded from the ,father only4 ,besides this heretical doctrine respecting the procession1 ,nicholas ate1 and permitted to be eaten1 eggs and cheese in ,lent4 ,in fine1 as the very climax of unbelief1 the ,roman papa had his beard shaved1 which1 to the ,greek papas1 was nothing less than downright apostasy2 as ,moses1 the patriarchs1 and ,jesus ,christ were always1 by the ,greek and ,latin painters1 pictured with beards4 ,when1 in #hgi1 the patriarch ,photius was restored to his seat by the eighth ecumenical council--consisting of four hundred bishops1 three hundred of whom had condemned him in the preceding council--he was acknowledged by ,pope ,john as his brother4 ,two legates1 despatched by him to this council1 joined the ,greek ,church1 and declared that whoever asserted the ,holy ,spirit proceeded from the ,father and the ,son was a ,judas4 ,but the practice of shaving the chin and eating eggs in ,lent being persisted in1 the two churches always remained divided4 ,the schism was completed in #ajec and #ajed1 when ,michael ,cerularius1 patriarch of ,constantinople1 publicly condemned the bishop of ,rome1 ,leo ,,ix41 and all the ,latins1 adding to all the reproaches against them by ,photius that1 contrary to the practice of the apostles1 they dared to make use of unleavened bread in the eucharist2 that they wickedly ate blood puddings1 and twisted the necks1 instead of cutting off the heads1 of pigeons intended for the table4 ,all the ,latin churches in the ,greek empire were shut up1 and all intercourse with those who ate blood puddings was forbidden4 ,pope ,leo ,,ix4 entered into serious negotiation on this matter with the ,emperor ,constantine ,monomachus1 and obtained some mitigations4 ,it was precisely at this period that those celebrated ,norman gentlemen1 the sons of ,tancred de ,hauteville1 despising at once the pope and the ,greek emperor1 plundered everything they could in ,apulia and ,calabria1 and ate blood puddings with the utmost hardihood4 ,the ,greek emperor favored the pope as much as he was able2 but nothing could reconcile the ,greeks with the ,latins4 ,the ,greeks regarded their adversaries as barbarians1 who did not know a single word of ,greek4 ,the irruption of the ,crusaders1 under pretence of delivering the ,holy ,land1 but in reality to gain possession of ,constantinople1 completed the hatred entertained against the ,romans4 ,but the power of the ,latin ,church increased every day1 and the ,greeks were at length gradually vanquished by the ,turks4 ,the popes1 long since1 became powerful and wealthy sovereigns2 the whole ,greek ,church became slaves from the time of ,mahomet ,,ii41 except ,russia1 which was then a barbarous country1 and in which the ,church was of no account4 ,whoever is but slightly informed of the state of affair in the ,levant knows that the sultan confers the patriarchate of the ,greeks by a cross and a ring1 without any apprehension of being excommunicated1 as some of the ,german emperors were by the popes1 for this same ceremony4 ,it is certainly true that the church of ,stamboul has preserved1 in appearance1 the liberty of choosing its archbishop2 but never1 in fact1 chooses any other than the person pointed out by the ,ottoman court4 ,this preferment costs1 at present1 about eighty thousand francs1 which the person chosen contrives to get refunded from the ,greeks4 ,if any canon of influence and wealth comes forward1 and offers the grand vizier a large sum1 the titular possessor is deprived1 and the place given to the last bidder2 precisely as the see of ,rome was disposed of1 in the tenth century1 by ,marozia and ,theodora4 ,if the titular patriarch resists1 he receives fifty blows on the soles of his feet1 and is banished4 ,sometimes he is beheaded1 as was the case with ,lucas ,cyrille1 in #afch4 ,the ,grand ,turk disposes of all the other bishoprics1 in the same manner1 for money2 and the price charged for every bishopric under ,mahomet ,,ii4 is always stated in the patent2 but the additional sum paid is not mentioned in it4 ,it is not exactly known what a ,greek priest gives for his bishopric4 ,these patents are rather diverting documents3 ,i grant to ,n----1 a ,christian priest1 this order1 for the perfection of his felicity4 ,i command him to reside in the city herein named1 as bishop of the infidel ,christians1 according to their ancient usage1 and their vain and extravagant ceremonies1 willing and ordaining that all ,christians of that district shall acknowledge him1 and that no monk or priest shall marry without his permission4 ,that is to say1 without paying for the same4 ,the slavery of this ,church is equal to its ignorance4 ,but the ,greeks have only what they deserve4 ,they were wholly absorbed in disputes about the light on ,mount ,tabor1 and the umbilical cord1 at the very time of the taking of ,constantinople4 ,while recording these melancholy truths we entertain the hope that the ,empress ,catherine ,,ii4 will give the ,greeks their liberty4 ,would she could restore to them that courage and that intellect which they possessed in the days of ,miltiades and ,themistocles2 and that ,mount ,athos supplied good soldiers and fewer monks4 ,of the ,present ,greek ,church4 ,the ,greek ,church has scarcely deserved the toleration which the ,mussulmans granted it4 ,the following observations are from ,mr4 ,porter1 the ,english ambassador in ,turkey3 ,i am inclined to draw a veil over1 those scandalous disputes between the ,greeks and ,romans1 on the subject of ,bethlehem and the holy land1 as they denominate it4 ,the unjust and odious proceedings which these have occasioned between them are a disgrace to the ,christian name4 ,in the midst of these debates the ambassador appointed to protect the ,romish communion becomes1 with all high dignity1 an object of sincere compassion4 ,in every country where the ,roman ,catholic prevails1 immense sums are levied in order to support against the ,greek's equivocal pretensions to the precarious possession of a corner of the world reputed holy2 and to preserve in the hands of the monks of the ,latin communion the remains of an old stable at ,bethlehem1 where a chapel has been erected1 and where on the doubtful authority of oral tradition1 it is pretended that ,christ was born2 as also a tomb1 which may be1 and most probably may not be1 what is called his sepulchre2 for the precise situation of these two places is as little ascertained as that which contains the ashes of ,csar4 ,what renders the ,greeks yet more contemptible in the eyes of the ,turks is the miracle which they perform every year at ,easter4 ,the poor bishop of ,jerusalem is inclosed in a small cave1 which is passed off for the tomb of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 with packets of small wax tapers2 he strikes fire1 lights one of these little tapers1 and comes out of his cave exclaiming3 ,the fire is come down from heaven1 and the holy taper is lighted4 ,all the ,greeks immediately buy up these tapers1 and the money is divided between the ,turkish commander and the bishop4 ,the deplorable state of this ,church1 under the dominion of the ,turk1 may be judged from this single trait4 ,the ,greek ,church in ,russia has of late assumed a much more respectable consistency1 since the ,empress ,catherine ,,ii4 has delivered it from its secular cares2 she has taken from it four hundred thousand slaves1 which it possessed4 ,it is now paid out of the imperial treasury1 entirely dependent on the government1 and restricted by wise laws2 it can effect nothing but good1 and is every day becoming more learned and useful4 ,it possesses a preacher of the name of ,plato1 who has composed sermons which the ,plato of antiquity would not have disdained4 ,,church ,,of ,,england4 ,england is the country of sects2 mult sunt mansiones in domo patris mei3 an ,englishman1 like a free man1 goes to heaven which way he pleases4 ,however1 although every one can serve ,god in his own way1 the national religion--that in which fortunes are made--is the ,episcopal1 called the ,church of ,england1 or emphatically1 ,the ,church4 ,no one can have employment of any consequence1 either in ,england or ,ireland1 without being members of the establishment4 ,this reasoning1 which is highly demonstrative1 has converted so many nonconformists that at present there is not a twentieth part of the nation out of the bosom of the dominant church4 ,illustration3 ,empress ,catherine4 ,the ,english clergy have retained many ,catholic ceremonies1 and above all that of receiving tithes1 with a very scrupulous attention4 ,they also possess the pious ambition of ruling the people1 for what village rector would not be a pope if he could8 ,with regard to manners1 the ,english clergy are more decorous than those of ,france1 chiefly because the ecclesiastics are brought up in the universities of ,oxford and ,cambridge1 far from the corruption of the metropolis4 ,they are not called to the dignities of the ,church until very late1 and at an age when men1 having no other passion than avarice1 their ambition is less aspiring4 ,employments are1 in ,england1 the recompense of long service in the church1 as well as in the army4 ,you do not there see young men become bishops or colonels on leaving college2 and1 moreover1 almost all the priests are married4 ,the pedantry and awkwardness of manners1 acquired in the universities1 and the little commerce they have with women1 generally oblige a bishop to be contented with the one which belongs to him4 ,the clergy go sometimes to the tavern1 because custom permits it1 and if they get ,bacchi plenum it is in the college style1 gravely and with due decorum4 ,that indefinable character which is neither ecclesiastical nor secular1 which we call abb1 is unknown in ,england4 ,the ecclesiastics there are generally respected1 and for the greater part pedants4 ,when the latter learn that in ,france young men distinguished by their debaucheries1 and raised to the prelacy by the intrigues of women1 publicly make love2 vie with each other in the composition of love songs2 give luxurious suppers every day1 from which they arise to implore the light of the ,holy ,spirit1 and boldly call themselves the apostles' successors--they thank ,god they are ,protestants4 ,but what then8 ,they arc vile heretics1 and fit only for burning1 as master ,francis ,rabelais says1 with all the devils4 ,hence ,i drop the subject4 ,,church ,,property4 ,the ,gospel forbids those who would attain perfection to amass treasures1 and to preserve their temporal goods3 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth1 where moth and rust doth corrupt1 and where thieves break through and steal4 ,if thou wilt be perfect1 go and sell that thou hast1 and give to the poor4 ,and every one that hath forsaken houses1 or brethren1 or sisters1 or father1 or mother1 or wife1 or children1 or lands1 for my name's sake1 shall receive an hundred-fold1 and shall inherit everlasting life4 ,the apostles and their first successors would not receive estates2 they only accepted the value1 and1 after having provided what was necessary for their subsistence1 they distributed the rest among the poor4 ,sapphira and ,ananias did not give their goods to ,st4 ,peter1 but they sold them and brought him the price3 ,vende qu habes et da pauperibus4 ,the ,church already possessed considerable property at the close of the third century1 since ,diocletian and ,maximian had pronounced the confiscation of it1 in #cjb4 ,as soon as ,constantine was upon the throne he permitted the churches to be endowed like the temples of the ancient religion1 and from that time the ,church acquired rich estates4 ,st4 ,jerome complains of it in one of his letters to ,eustochium3 ,when you see them1 says he1 accost the rich widows whom they meet with a soft and sanctified air1 you would think that their hands were only extended to give them their blessing2 but it is1 on the contrary1 to receive the price of their hypocrisy4 ,the holy priests received without claiming4 ,valentinian ,i4 thought it right to forbid the ecclesiastics from receiving anything from widows and women1 by will or otherwise4 ,this law1 which is found in the ,theodosian code1 was revoked by ,marcian and ,justinian4 ,justinian1 to favor the ecclesiastics1 forbade the judges1 by his new code xviii4 chap4 ii41 to annul the wills made in favor of the ,church1 even when executed without the formalities prescribed by the laws4 ,anastasius had enacted1 in #dga1 that church property should be held by a prescription1 or title1 of forty years' duration4 ,justinian inserted this law in his code2 but this prince1 who was continually changing his jurisprudence1 subsequently extended this proscription to a century4 ,immediately several ecclesiastics1 unworthy of their profession1 forged false titles1 and drew out of the dust old testaments1 void by the ancient laws1 but valid according to the new4 ,citizens were deprived of their patrimonies by fraud2 and possessions1 which until then were considered inviolable1 were usurped by the ,church4 ,in short1 the abuse was so crying that ,justinian himself was obliged to re-establish the dispositions of the law of ,anastasius1 by his novel cxxxi4 chap4 vi4 ,the possessions of the ,church during the first five centuries of our era were regulated by deacons1 who distributed them to the clergy and to the poor4 ,this community ceased at the end of the fifth century1 and ,church property was divided into four parts--one being given to the bishops1 another to the clergy1 a third to the place of worship1 and the fourth to the poor4 ,soon after this division the bishops alone took charge of the whole four portions1 and this is the reason why the inferior clergy are generally very poor4 ,monks possessing ,slaves4 ,what is still more melancholy1 the ,benedictines1 ,bernardines1 and even the ,chartreux are permitted to have mortmains and slaves4 ,under their domination in several provinces of ,france and ,germany are still recognized3 personal slavery1 slavery of property1 and slavery of person and property4 ,slavery of the person consists in the incapacity of a man's disposing of his property in favor of his children1 if they have not always lived with their father in the same house1 and at the same table1 in which case all belongs to the monks4 ,the fortune of an inhabitant of ,mount ,jura1 put into the hands of a notary1 becomes1 even in ,paris1 the prey of those who have originally embraced evangelical poverty at ,mount ,jura4 ,the son asks alms at the door of the house which his father has built2 and the monks1 far from giving them1 even arrogate to themselves the right of not paying his father's creditors1 and of regarding as void all the mortgages on the house of which they take possession4 ,in vain the widow throws herself at their feet to obtain a part of her dowry4 ,this dowry1 these debts1 this paternal property1 all belong1 by divine right1 to the monks4 ,the creditors1 the widow1 and the children are all left to die in beggary4 ,real slavery is that which is effected by residence4 ,whoever occupies a house within the domain of these monks1 and lives in it a year and a day1 becomes their serf for life4 ,it has sometimes happened that a ,french merchant1 and father of a family1 led by his business into this barbarous country1 has taken a house for a year4 ,dying afterwards in his own country1 in another province of ,france1 his widow and children have been quite astonished to see officers1 armed with writs1 come and take away their furniture1 sell it in the name of ,st4 ,claude1 and drive away a whole family from the house of their father4 ,mixed slavery is that which1 being composed of the two1 is1 of all that rapacity has ever invented1 the most execrable1 and beyond the conception even of freebooters4 ,there are1 then1 ,christian people groaning in a triple slavery under monks who have taken the vow of humility and poverty4 ,you will ask how governments suffer these fatal contradictions8 ,it is because the monks are rich and the vassals are poor4 ,it is because the monks1 to preserve their ,hunnish rights1 make presents to their commissaries and to the mistresses of those who might interpose their authority to put down their oppression4 ,the strong always crush the weak2 but why must monks be the stronger8 ,,cicero4 ,it is at a time when1 in ,france1 the fine arts are in a state of decline2 in an age of paradox1 and amidst the degradation and persecution of literature and philosophy1 that an attempt is made to tarnish the name of ,cicero4 ,and who is the man who thus endeavors to throw disgrace upon his memory8 ,it is one who lends his services in defence of persons accused like himself2 it is an advocate1 who has studied eloquence under that great master2 it is a citizen who appears to be1 like ,cicero1 animated by devotion to the public good4 ,in a book entitled ,navigable ,canals1 a book abounding in grand and patriotic rather than practical views1 we feel no small astonishment at finding the following philippic against ,cicero1 who was never concerned in digging canals3 ,the most glorious trait in the history of ,cicero is the destruction of ,catiline's conspiracy1 which1 regarded in its true light1 produced little sensation at ,rome1 except in consequence of his affecting to give it importance4 ,the danger existed much more in his discourses than in the affair itself4 ,it was an enterprise of debauchees which it was easy to disconcert4 ,neither the principal nor the accomplices had taken the slightest measure to insure the success of their guilty attempt4 ,there was nothing astonishing in this singular matter but the blustering which attended all the proceedings of the consul1 and the facility with which he was permitted to sacrifice to his self-love so many scions of illustrious families4 ,besides1 the life of ,cicero abounds in traits of meanness4 ,his eloquence was as venal as his soul was pusillanimous4 ,if his tongue was not guided by interest it was guided by fear or hope4 ,the desire of obtaining partisans led him to the tribune1 to defend1 without a blush1 men more dishonorable1 and incalculably more dangerous1 than ,catiline4 ,his clients were nearly all miscreants1 and1 by a singular exercise of divine justice1 he at last met death from the hands of one of those wretches whom his skill had extricated from the fangs of human justice4 ,we answer that1 regarded in its true light1 the conspiracy of ,catiline excited at ,rome somewhat more than a slight sensation4 ,it plunged her into the greatest disturbance and danger4 ,it was terminated only by a battle so bloody that there is no example of equal carnage1 and scarcely any of equal valor4 ,all the soldiers of ,catiline1 after having killed half of the army of ,petrius1 were killed1 to the last man4 ,catiline perished1 covered with wounds1 upon a heap of the slain2 and all were found with their countenances sternly glaring upon the enemy4 ,this was not an enterprise so wonderfully easy as to be disconcerted4 ,csar encouraged it2 ,csar learned from it to conspire on a future day more successfully against his country4 ,cicero defended1 without a blush1 men more dishonorable1 and incalculably more dangerous than ,catiline6 ,was this when he defended in the tribune ,sicily against ,verres1 and the ,roman republic against ,antony8 ,was it when he exhorted the clemency of ,csar in favor of ,ligarius and ,king ,deiotarus8 or when he obtained the right of citizenship for the poet ,archias8 or when1 in his exquisite oration for the ,manilian law1 he obtained every ,roman suffrage on behalf of the great ,pompey8 ,he pleaded for ,milo1 the murderer of ,clodius2 but ,clodius had deserved the tragical end he met with by his outrages4 ,clodius had been involved in the conspiracy of ,catiline2 ,clodius was his mortal enemy4 ,he had irritated ,rome against him1 and had punished him for having saved ,rome4 ,milo was his friend4 ,what6 is it in our time that any one ventures to assert that ,god punished ,cicero for having defended a military tribune called ,popilius ,lena1 and that divine vengeance made this same ,popilius ,lena the instrument of his assassination8 ,no one knows whether ,popilius ,lena was guilty of the crime of which he was acquitted1 after ,cicero's defence of him upon his trial2 but all know that the monster was guilty of the most horrible ingratitude1 the most infamous avarice1 and the most detestable cruelty to obtain the money of three wretches like himself4 ,it was reserved for our times to hold up the assassination of ,cicero as an act of divine justice4 ,the triumvirs would not have dared to do it4 ,every age1 before the present1 has detested and deplored the manner of his death4 ,cicero is reproached with too frequently boasting that he had saved ,rome1 and with being too fond of glory4 ,but his enemies endeavored to stain his glory4 ,a tyrannical faction condemned him to exile1 and razed his house1 because he had preserved every house in ,rome from the flames which ,catiline had prepared for them4 ,men are permitted and even bound to boast of their services1 when they meet with forgetfulness or ingratitude1 and more particularly when they are converted into crimes4 ,scipio is still admired for having answered his accusers in these words3 ,this is the anniversary of the day on which ,i vanquished ,hannibal2 let us go and return thanks to the gods4 ,the whole assembly followed him to the ,capitol1 and our hearts follow him thither also1 as we read the passage in history2 though1 after all1 it would have been better to have delivered in his accounts than to extricate himself from the attack by a bon mot4 ,cicero1 in the same manner1 excited the admiration of the ,roman people when1 on the day in which his consulship expired1 being obliged to take the customary oaths1 and preparing to address the people as was usual1 he was hindered by the tribune ,matellus1 who was desirous of insulting him4 ,cicero had begun with these words3 ,i swear1--the tribune interrupted him1 and declared that he would not suffer him to make a speech4 ,a great murmuring was heard4 ,cicero paused a moment1 and elevating his full and melodious voice1 he exclaimed1 as a short substitute for his intended speech1 ,i swear that ,i have saved the country4 ,the assembly cried out with delight and enthusiasm1 ,we swear that he has spoken the truth4 ,that moment was the most brilliant of his life4 ,this is the true way of loving glory4 ,i do not know where ,i have read these unknown verses3 ,romains1 j'aime la gloire1 et ne veux point m'en taire ,des travaux des humains c'est le digne salaire1 ,ce n'est qu'en vous qu'il la faut acheter2 ,qui n'ose la vouloir1 n'ose la mriter4 ,romans1 ,i own that glory ,i regard ,of human toil the only just reward2 ,placed in your hands the immortal guerdon lies1 ,and he will ne'er deserve who slights the prize4 ,can we despise ,cicero if we consider his conduct in his government of ,cilicia1 which was then one of the most important provinces of the ,roman ,empire1 in consequence of its contiguity to ,syria and the ,parthian ,empire4 ,laodicea1 one of the most beautiful cities of the ,east1 was the capital of it4 ,this province was then as flourishing as it is at the present day degraded under the government of the ,turks1 who never had a ,cicero4 ,he begins by protecting ,ariobarzanes1 king of ,cappadocia1 and he refuses the presents which that king desires to make him4 ,the ,parthians come and attack ,antioch in a state of perfect peace4 ,cicero hastily marches towards it1 comes up with the ,parthians by forced marches at ,mount ,taurus1 routs them1 pursues them in their retreat1 and ,arsaces1 their general1 is slain1 with a part of his army4 ,thence he rushes on ,pendenissum1 the capital of a country in alliance with the ,parthians1 and takes it1 and the province is reduced to submission4 ,he instantly directs his forces against the tribes of people called ,tiburanians1 and defeats them1 and his troops confer on him the title of ,imperator1 which he preserved all his life4 ,he would have obtained the honors of a triumph at ,rome if he had not been opposed by ,cato1 who induced the senate merely to decree public rejoicings and thanks to the gods1 when1 in fact1 they were due to ,cicero4 ,if we picture to ourselves the equity and disinterestedness of ,cicero in his government2 his activity1 his affability--two virtues so rarely compatible2 the benefits which he accumulated upon the people over whom he was an absolute sovereign2 it will be extremely difficult to withhold from such a man our esteem4 ,if we reflect that this is the same man who first introduced philosophy into ,rome2 that his ,tusculan ,questions1 and his book ,on the ,nature of the ,gods1 are the two noblest works that ever were written by mere human wisdom1 and that his treatise1 ,de ,officiis1 is the most useful one that we possess in morals2 we shall find it still more difficult to despise ,cicero4 ,we pity those who do not read him2 we pity still more those who refuse to do him justice4 ,to the ,french detractor we may well oppose the lines of the ,spanish ,martial1 in his epigram against ,antony 7book v41 epig4 #fi1 v4 #g73 ,quid prosunt sacr pretiosa silentia linguae8 ,incipient omnes pro ,cicerone loqui4 ,why still his tongue with vengeance weak1 ,for ,cicero all the world will speak6 ,see1 likewise1 what is said by ,juvenal 7sat4 iv41 v4 #bdd73 ,roma patrem patriae ,ciceronem libera dixit4 ,freed ,rome1 him father of his country called4 ,,circumcision4 ,when ,herodotus narrates what he was told by the barbarians among whom he travelled1 he narrates fooleries1 after the manner of the greater part of travellers4 ,thus1 it is not to be supposed that he expects to be believed in his recital of the adventure of ,gyges and ,candaules2 of ,arion1 carried on the back of a dolphin2 of the oracle which was consulted on what ,crsus was at the time doing1 that he was then going to dress a tortoise in a stew-pan2 of ,darius' horse1 which1 being the first out of a certain number to neigh1 in fact proclaimed his master a king2 and of a hundred other fables1 fit to amuse children1 and to be compiled by rhetoricians4 ,but when he speaks of what he has seen1 of the customs of people he has examined1 of their antiquities which he has consulted1 he then addresses himself to men4 ,it appears1 says he1 in his book ,euterpe1 that the inhabitants of ,colchis sprang from ,egypt4 ,i judge so from my own observations rather than from hearsay2 for ,i found that1 at ,colchis1 the ancient ,egyptians were more frequently recalled to my mind than the ancient customs of ,colchis were when ,i was in ,egypt4 ,these inhabitants of the shores of the ,euxine ,sea stated themselves to be a colony founded by ,sesostris4 ,as for myself1 ,i should think this probable1 not merely because they are dark and woolly-haired1 but because the inhabitants of ,colchis1 ,egypt1 and ,ethiopia are the only people in the world who1 from time immemorial1 have practised circumcision2 for the ,phnicians1 and the people of ,palestine1 confess that they adopted the practice from the ,egyptians4 ,the ,syrians1 who at present inhabit the banks of ,thermodon1 acknowledge that it is1 comparatively1 but recently that they have conformed to it4 ,it is principally from this usage that they are considered of ,egyptian origin4 ,with respect to ,ethiopia and ,egypt1 as this ceremony is of great antiquity in both nations1 ,i cannot by any means ascertain which has derived it from the other4 ,it is1 however1 probable that the ,ethiopians received it from the ,egyptians2 while1 on the contrary1 the ,phnicians have abolished the practice of circumcising new-born children since the enlargement of their commerce with the ,greeks4 ,from this passage of ,herodotus it is evident that many people had adopted circumcision from ,egypt1 but no nation ever pretended to have received it from the ,jews4 ,to whom1 then1 can we attribute the origin of this custom2 to a nation from whom five or six others acknowledge they took it1 or to another nation1 much less powerful1 less commercial1 less warlike1 hid away in a corner of ,arabia ,petra1 and which never communicated any one of its usages to any other people8 ,the ,jews admit that they were1 many ages since1 received in ,egypt out of charity4 ,is it not probable that the lesser people imitated a usage of the superior one1 and that the ,jews adopted some customs from their masters8 ,clement of ,alexandria relates that ,pythagoras1 when travelling among the ,egyptians1 was obliged to be circumcised in order to be admitted to their mysteries4 ,it was1 therefore1 absolutely necessary to be circumcised to be a priest in ,egypt4 ,those priests existed when ,joseph arrived in ,egypt4 ,the government was of great antiquity1 and the ancient ceremonies of the country were observed with the most scrupulous exactness4 ,the ,jews acknowledge that they remained in ,egypt two hundred and five years4 ,they say that1 during that period1 they did not become circumcised4 ,it is clear1 then1 that for two hundred and five years the ,egyptians did not receive circumcision from the ,jews4 ,would they have adopted it from them after the ,jews had stolen the vessels which they had lent them1 and1 according to their own account1 fled with their plunder into the wilderness8 ,will a master adopt the principal symbol of the religion of a robbing and runaway slave8 ,it is not in human nature4 ,it is stated in the ,book of ,joshua that the ,jews were circumcised in the wilderness4 ,i have delivered you from what constituted your reproach among the ,egyptians4 ,but what could this reproach be1 to a people living between ,phnicians1 ,arabians1 and ,egyptians1 but something which rendered them contemptible to these three nations8 ,how effectually is that reproach removed by abstracting a small portion of the prepuce8 ,must not this be considered the natural meaning of the passage8 ,the ,book of ,genesis relates that ,abraham had been circumcised before4 ,but ,abraham travelled in ,egypt1 which had been long a flourishing kingdom1 governed by a powerful king4 ,there is nothing to prevent the supposition that circumcision was1 in this very ancient kingdom1 an established usage4 ,moreover1 the circumcision of ,abraham led to no continuation2 his posterity was not circumcised till the time of ,joshua4 ,but1 before the time of ,joshua1 the ,jews1 by their own acknowledgment1 adopted many of the customs of the ,egyptians4 ,they imitated them in many sacrifices1 in many ceremonies2 as1 for example1 in the fasts observed on the eves of the feasts of ,isis2 in ablutions2 in the custom of shaving the heads of the priests2 in the incense1 the branched candle-stick1 the sacrifice of the red-haired cow1 the purification with hyssop1 the abstinence from swine's flesh1 the dread of using the kitchen utensils of foreigners2 everything testifies that the little people of ,hebrews1 notwithstanding its aversion to the great ,egyptian nation1 had retained a vast number of the usages of its former masters4 ,the goat ,azazel1 which was despatched into the wilderness laden with the sins of the people1 was a visible imitation of an ,egyptian practice4 ,the rabbis are agreed1 even1 that the word ,azazel is not ,hebrew4 ,nothing1 therefore1 could exist to have prevented the ,hebrews from imitating the ,egyptians in circumcision1 as the ,arabs1 their neighbors1 did4 ,it is by no means extraordinary that ,god1 who sanctified baptism1 a practice so ancient among the ,asiatics1 should also have sanctified circumcision1 not less ancient among the ,africans4 ,we have already remarked that he has a sovereign right to attach his favors to any symbol that he chooses4 ,as to what remains since the time when1 under ,joshua1 the ,jewish people became circumcised1 it has retained that usage down to the present day4 ,the ,arabs1 also1 have faithfully adhered to it2 but the ,egyptians1 who1 in the earlier ages1 circumcised both their males and females1 in the course of time abandoned the practice entirely as to the latter1 and at last applied it solely to priests1 astrologers1 and prophets4 ,this we learn from ,clement of ,alexandria1 and ,origen4 ,in fact1 it is not clear that the ,ptolemies ever received circumcision4 ,the ,latin authors who treat the ,jews with such profound contempt as to apply to them in derision the expressions1 curtus ,apella1 credat ,judus ,apella1 curti ,judi never apply such epithets to the ,egyptians4 ,the whole population of ,egypt is at present circumcised1 but for another reason than that which operated formerly2 namely1 because ,mahometanism adopted the ancient circumcision of ,arabia4 ,it is this ,arabian circumcision which has extended to the ,ethiopians1 among whom males and females are both still circumcised4 ,we must acknowledge that this ceremony appears at first a very strange one2 but we should remember that1 from the earliest times1 the oriental priests consecrated themselves to their deities by peculiar marks4 ,an ivy leaf was indented with a graver on the priests of ,bacchus4 ,lucian tells us that those devoted to the goddess ,isis impressed characters upon their wrist and neck4 ,the priests of ,cybele made themselves eunuchs4 ,it is highly probable that the ,egyptians1 who revered the instrument of human production1 and bore its image in pomp in their processions1 conceived the idea of offering to ,isis and ,osiris through whom everything on earth was produced1 a small portion of that organ with which these deities had connected the perpetuation of the human species4 ,ancient oriental manners are so prodigiously different from our own that scarcely anything will appear extraordinary to a man of even but little reading4 ,a ,parisian is excessively surprised when he is told that the ,hottentots deprive their male children of one of the evidences of virility4 ,the ,hottentots are perhaps surprised that the ,parisians preserve both4 ,,clerk--,,clergy4 ,there may be something perhaps still remaining for remark under this head1 even after ,du ,cange's ,dictionary and the ,encyclopdia4 ,we may observe1 for instance1 that so wonderful was the respect paid to learning1 about the eleventh and twelfth centuries1 that a custom was introduced and followed in ,france1 in ,germany1 and in ,england1 of remitting the punishment of the halter to every condemned criminal who was able to read4 ,so necessary to the state was every man who possessed such an extent of knowledge4 ,william the ,bastard1 the conqueror of ,england1 carried thither this custom4 ,it was called benefit of clergy--beneficum clericorum aut clergicorum4 ,we have remarked1 in more places than one1 that old usages1 lost in other countries1 are found again in ,england1 as in the island of ,samothrace were discovered the ancient mysteries of ,orpheus4 ,to this day the benefit of clergy subsists among the ,english1 in all its vigor1 for manslaughter1 and for any theft not exceeding a certain amount of value1 and being the first offence4 ,the prisoner who is able to read demands his benefit of clergy1 which cannot be refused him4 ,the judge refers to the chaplain of the prison1 who presents a book to the prisoner1 upon which the judge puts the question to the chaplain1 ,legit8 ,does he read8 ,the chaplain replies3 ,legit ut clericus4 ,he reads like a clergyman4 ,after this the punishment of the prisoner is restricted to the application of a hot branding iron to the palm of his hand4 ,of the ,celibacy of the ,clergy4 ,it is asked whether1 in the first ages of the ,church1 marriage was permitted to the clergy1 and when it was forbidden8 ,it is unquestionable that the clergy of the ,jewish religion1 far from being bound to celibacy1 were1 on the contrary1 urged to marriage1 not merely by the example of their patriarchs1 but by the disgrace attached to not leaving posterity4 ,in the times1 however1 that preceded the first calamities which befell the ,jews1 certain sects of rigorists arose--,essenians1 ,judaites1 ,therapeut1 ,herodians2 in some of which--the ,essenians and ,therapeut1 for examples--the most devout of the sect abstained from marriage4 ,this continence was an imitation of the chastity of the vestals1 instituted by ,numa ,pompilius2 of the daughter of ,pythagoras1 who founded a convent2 of the priests of ,diana2 of the ,pythia of ,delphos2 and1 in more remote antiquity1 of the priestesses of ,apollo1 and even of the priestesses of ,bacchus4 ,the priests of ,cybele not only bound themselves by vows of chastity1 but1 to preclude the violation of their vows1 became eunuchs4 ,plutarch1 in the eighth question of his ,table-talk1 informs us that1 in ,egypt1 there are colleges of priests which renounce marriage4 ,the first ,christians1 although professing to lead a life as pure as that of the ,essenians and ,therapeut1 did not consider celibacy as a virtue4 ,we have seen that nearly all the apostles and disciples were married4 ,st4 ,paul writes to ,titus3 ,choose for a priest him who is the husband of one wife1 having believing children1 and not under accusation of dissoluteness4 ,he says the same to ,timothy3 ,let the superintendent be the husband of one wife4 ,he seems to think so highly of marriage that1 in the same epistle to ,timothy1 he says3 ,the wife1 notwithstanding her prevarication1 shall be saved in child-bearing4 ,the proceedings of the ,council of ,nice1 on the subject of married priests1 deserve great attention4 ,some bishops1 according to the relations of ,sozomen and ,socrates1 proposed a law commanding bishops and priests thenceforward to abstain from their wives2 but ,st4 ,paphnucius the ,martyr1 bishop of ,thebes1 in ,egypt1 strenuously opposed it2 observing1 that marriage was chastity2 and the council adopted his opinion4 ,suidas1 ,gelasius1 ,cesicenus1 ,cassiodorus1 and ,nicephorus ,callistus1 record precisely the same thing4 ,the council merely forbade the clergy from living with agapet1 or female associates besides their own wives1 except their mothers1 sisters1 aunts1 and others whose age would preclude suspicion4 ,after that time1 the celibacy of the clergy was recommended1 without being commanded4 ,st4 ,jerome1 a devout recluse1 was1 of all the fathers1 highest in his eulogiums of the celibacy of priests2 yet he resolutely1 supports the cause of ,carterius1 a ,spanish bishop1 who had been married twice4 ,were ,i1 says he1 to enumerate all the bishops who have entered into second nuptials1 ,i should name as many as were present at the ,council of ,rimini--,tantus numerus congregabitur ut ,riminensis synodus superetur4 ,the examples of clergymen married1 and living with their wives1 are innumerable4 ,sydonius1 bishop of ,clermont1 in ,auvergne1 in the fifth century1 married ,papianilla1 daughter of the ,emperor ,avitus1 and the house of ,polignac claims descent from this marriage4 ,simplicius1 bishop of ,bourges1 had two children by his wife ,palladia4 ,st4 ,gregory of ,nazianzen was the son of another ,gregory1 bishop of ,nazianzen1 and of ,nonna1 by whom that bishop had three children--,cesarius1 ,gorgonia1 and the saint4 ,in the ,roman decretals1 under the canon ,osius1 we find a very long list of bishops who were the sons of priests4 ,pope ,osius himself was the son of a sub-deacon ,stephen2 and ,pope ,boniface ,i41 son of the priest ,jocondo4 ,pope ,felix ,,iii4 was the son of ,felix1 a priest1 and was himself one of the grandfathers of ,gregory the ,great4 ,the priest ,projectus was the father of ,john ,,ii42 and ,gordian1 the father of ,agapet4 ,pope ,sylvester was the son of ,pope ,hormisdas4 ,theodore ,i4 was born of a marriage of ,theodore1 patriarch of ,jerusalem2 a circumstance which should produce the reconciliation of the two ,churches4 ,at length1 after several councils had been held without effect on the subject of the celibacy1 which ought always to accompany the priesthood1 ,pope ,gregory excommunicated all married priests2 either to add respectability to the ,church1 by the greater rigor of its discipline1 or to attach more closely to the court of ,rome the bishops and priests of other countries1 who would thus have no other family than the ,church4 ,this law was not established without great opposition4 ,it is a very remarkable circumstance that the ,council of ,basel1 having deposed1 at least nominally1 ,pope ,eugenius ,,iv41 and elected ,amadeus of ,savoy1 many bishops having objected against that prince that he had been married1 neas ,sylvius1 who was afterwards pope1 under the name of ,pius ,,ii41 supported the election of ,amadeus in these words3 ,non solum qui uxorem habuit1 sed uxorem habens1 potest assumere--,not only may he be made a pope who has been married1 but also he who is so4 ,this ,pius ,,ii4 was consistent4 ,peruse his letters to his mistress1 in the collection of his works4 ,he was convinced1 that to defraud nature of her rights was absolute insanity1 and that it was the duty of man not to destroy1 but to control her4 ,however this may be1 since the ,council of ,trent there has no longer been any dispute about the celibacy of the ,roman ,catholic clergy2 there have been only desires4 ,all ,protestant communions are1 on this point1 in opposition to ,rome4 ,in the ,greek ,church1 which at present extends from the frontiers of ,china to ,cape ,matapan1 the priests may marry once4 ,customs everywhere vary2 discipline changes conformably to time and place4 ,we here only record facts2 we enter into no controversy4 ,of ,clerks of the ,closet1 ,since ,denominated ,secretaries of ,state and ,ministers4 ,clerks of the closet1 clerks of the king1 more recently denominated secretaries of state1 in ,france and ,england1 were originally the king's notaries4 ,they were afterwards called secretaries of orders --secrtaires des commandemens4 ,this we are informed of by the learned and laborious ,pasquier4 ,his authority is unquestionable1 as he had under his inspection the registers of the chamber of accounts1 which1 in our own times1 have been destroyed by fire4 ,at the unfortunate peace of ,cateau-,cambrsis1 a clerk of ,philip ,,ii41 having taken the title of secretary of state1 de l',aubespine1 who was secretary of orders to the king of ,france1 and his notary1 took that title likewise1 that the honors of both might be equal1 whatever might be the case with their emoluments4 ,in ,england1 before the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 there was only one secretary of the king1 who stood while he presented memorials and petitions to the council4 ,henry ,,viii4 appointed two1 and conferred on them the same titles and prerogatives as in ,spain4 ,the great nobles did not1 at that period1 accept these situations2 but1 in time1 they have become of so much consequence that peers of the realm and commanders of armies are now invested with them4 ,thus everything changes4 ,there is at present no relic in ,france of the government of ,hugh ,capet1 nor in ,england of the administration of ,william the ,bastard4 ,,climate4 ,it is certain that the sun and atmosphere mark their empire on all the productions of nature1 from man to mushrooms4 ,in the grand age of ,louis ,,xiv41 the ingenious ,fontenelle remarked3 ,one might imagine that the torrid and two frigid zones are not well suited to the sciences4 ,down to the present day they have not travelled beyond ,egypt and ,mauritania1 on the one side1 nor on the other beyond ,sweden4 ,perhaps it is not owing to mere chance that they are retained within ,mount ,atlas and the ,baltic ,sea4 ,we know not whether these may not be the limits appointed to them by nature1 or whether we may ever hope to see great authors among ,laplanders or negroes4 ,chardin1 one of those travellers who reason and investigate1 goes still further than ,fontenelle1 when speaking of ,persia4 ,the temperature of warm climates1 says he1 enervates the mind as well as the body1 and dissipates that fire which the imagination requires for invention4 ,in such climates men are incapable of the long studies and intense application which are necessary to the production of first-rate works in the liberal and mechanic arts1 etc4 ,chardin did not consider that ,sadi and ,lokman were ,persians4 ,he did not recollect that ,archimedes belonged to ,sicily1 where the heat is greater than in three-fourths of ,persia4 ,he forgot that ,pythagoras formerly taught geometry to the ,brahmins4 ,the ,abb ,dubos supported and developed1 as well as he was able1 the opinion of ,chardin4 ,one hundred and fifty years before them1 ,bodin made it the foundation of his system in his ,republic1 and in his ,method of ,history2 he asserts that the influence of climate is the principle both of the government and the religion of nations4 ,diodorus of ,sicily was of the same opinion long before ,bodin4 ,the author of the ,spirit of ,laws1 without quoting any authority1 carried this idea farther than ,chardin and ,bodin4 ,a certain part of the nation believed him to have first suggested it1 and imputed it to him as a crime4 ,this was quite in character with that part of the nation alluded to4 ,there are everywhere men who possess more zeal than understanding4 ,we might ask those who maintain that climate does everything1 why the ,emperor ,julian1 in his ,misopogon says that what pleased him in the ,parisians was the gravity of their characters and the severity of their manners2 and why these ,parisians1 without the slightest change of climate1 are now like playful children1 at whom the government punishes and smiles at the same moment1 and who themselves1 the moment after1 also smile and sing lampoons upon their masters4 ,why are the ,egyptians1 who are described as having been still more grave than the ,parisians1 at present the most lazy1 frivolous1 and cowardly of people1 after having1 as we are told1 conquered the whole world for their pleasure1 under a king called ,sesostris8 ,why are there no longer ,anacreons1 ,aristotles1 or ,zeuxises at ,athens8 ,whence comes it that ,rome1 instead of its ,ciceros1 ,catos1 and ,livys1 has merely citizens who dare not speak their minds1 and a brutalized populace1 whose supreme happiness consists in having oil cheap1 and in gazing at processions8 ,cicero1 in his letters1 is occasionally very jocular on the ,english4 ,he desires his brother ,quintus1 ,csar's lieutenant1 to inform him whether he has found any great philosophers among them1 in his expedition to ,britain4 ,he little suspected that that country would one day produce mathematicians whom he could not understand4 ,yet the climate has not at all changed1 and the sky of ,london is as cloudy now as it was then4 ,everything changes1 both in bodies and minds1 by time4 ,perhaps the ,americans will in some future period cross the sea to instruct ,europeans in the arts4 ,climate has some influence1 government a hundred times more2 religion and government combined more still4 ,influence of ,climate4 ,climate influences religion in respect to ceremonies and usages4 ,a legislator could have experienced no difficulty in inducing the ,indians to bathe in the ,ganges at certain appearances of the moon2 it is a high gratification to them4 ,had any one proposed a like bath to the people who inhabit the banks of the ,dwina1 near ,archangel1 he would have been stoned4 ,forbid pork to an ,arab1 who after eating this species of animal food 7the most miserable and disgusting in his own country7 would be affected by leprosy1 he will obey you with joy2 prohibit it to a ,westphalian1 and he will be tempted to knock you down4 ,abstinence from wine is a good precept of religion in ,arabia1 where orange1 citron1 and lemon waters are necessary to health4 ,mahomet would not have forbidden wine in ,switzerland1 especially before going to battle4 ,there are usages merely fanciful4 ,why did the priests of ,egypt devise circumcision8 ,it was not for the sake of health4 ,cambyses1 who treated as they deserved both them and their bull ,apis1 the courtiers of ,cambyses1 and his soldiers1 enjoyed perfectly good health without such mutilation4 ,climate has no peculiar influence over this particular portion of the person of a priest4 ,the offering in question was made to ,isis1 probably on the same principle as the firstlings of the fruits of the earth were everywhere offered4 ,it was typical of an offering of the first fruits of life4 ,religions have always turned on two pivots--forms of ceremonies1 and faith4 ,forms and ceremonies depend much on climate2 faith not at all4 ,a doctrine will be received with equal facility under the equator or near the pole4 ,it will be afterwards equally rejected at ,batavia and the ,orcades1 while it will be maintained1 unguibus et rostro--with tooth and nail--at ,salamanca4 ,this depends not on sun and atmosphere1 but solely upon opinion1 that fickle empress of the world4 ,certain libations of wine will be naturally enjoined in a country abounding in vineyards2 and it would never occur to the mind of any legislator to institute sacred mysteries1 which could not be celebrated without wine1 in such a country as ,norway4 ,it will be expressly commanded to burn incense in the court of a temple where beasts are killed in honor of the ,divinity1 and for the priests' supper4 ,this slaughter-house1 called a temple1 would be a place of abominable infection1 if it were not continually purified2 and without the use of aromatics1 the religion of the ancients would have introduced the plague4 ,the interior of the temple was even festooned with flowers to sweeten the air4 ,the cow will not be sacrificed in the burning territory of the ,indian peninsula1 because it supplies the necessary article of milk1 and is very rare in arid and barren districts1 and because its flesh1 being dry and tough1 and yielding but little nourishment1 would afford the ,brahmins but miserable cheer4 ,on the contrary1 the cow will be considered sacred1 in consequence of its rareness and utility4 ,the temple of ,jupiter ,ammon1 where the heat is excessive1 will be entered only with bare feet4 ,to perform his devotions at ,copenhagen1 a man requires his feet to be warm and well covered4 ,it is not thus with doctrine4 ,polytheism has been believed in all climates2 and it is equally easy for a ,crim ,tartar and an inhabitant of ,mecca to acknowledge one only incommunicable ,god1 neither begotten nor begetting4 ,it is by doctrine1 more than by rites1 that a religion extends from one climate to another4 ,the doctrine of the unity of ,god passed rapidly from ,medina to ,mount ,caucasus4 ,climate1 then1 yields to opinion4 ,the ,arabs said to the ,turks3 ,we practiced the ceremony of circumcision in ,arabia without very well knowing why4 ,it was an ancient usage of the priests of ,egypt to offer to ,oshiret1 or ,osiris1 a small portion of what they considered most valuable4 ,we had adopted this custom three thousand years before we became ,mahometans4 ,you will become circumcised like us2 you will bind yourself to sleep with one of your wives every ,friday1 and to give two and a half per cent4 of your income annually to the poor4 ,we drink nothing but water and sherbet2 all intoxicating liquors are forbidden us4 ,in ,arabia they are pernicious4 ,you will embrace the same regimen1 although you should be passionately fond of wine2 and even although1 on the banks of the ,phasis and ,araxes1 it should often be necessary for you4 ,in short1 if you wish to go to heaven1 and to obtain good places there1 you will take the road through ,mecca4 ,the inhabitants north of the ,caucasus subject themselves to these laws1 and adopt1 in the fullest extent1 a religion which was never framed for them4 ,in ,egypt the emblematical worship of animals succeeded to the doctrines of ,thaut4 ,the gods of the ,romans afterwards shared ,egypt with the dogs1 the cats1 and the crocodiles4 ,to the ,roman religion succeeded ,christianity2 that was completely banished by ,mahometanism1 which will perhaps be superseded by some new religion4 ,in all these changes climate has effected nothing2 government has done everything4 ,we are here considering only second causes1 without raising our unhallowed eyes to that ,providence which directs them4 ,the ,christian religion1 which received its birth in ,syria1 and grew up towards its fulness of stature in ,alexandria1 inhabits now those countries where ,teutat and ,irminsul1 ,freya and ,odin1 were formerly adored4 ,there are some nations whose religion is not the result either of climate or of government4 ,what cause detached the north of ,germany1 ,denmark1 three parts of ,switzerland1 ,holland1 ,england1 ,scotland1 and ,ireland1 from the ,romish communion8 ,poverty4 ,indulgences1 and deliverance from purgatory for the souls of those whose bodies were at that time in possession of very little money1 were sold too dear4 ,the prelates and monks absorbed the whole revenue of a province4 ,people adopted a cheaper religion4 ,in short1 after numerous civil wars1 it was concluded that the pope's religion was a good one for nobles1 and the reformed one for citizens4 ,time will show whether the religion of the ,greeks or of the ,turks will prevail on the coasts of the ,euxine and gean seas4 ,,coherence--,,cohesion--,,adhesion4 ,the power by which the parts of bodies are kept together4 ,it is a phenomenon the most common1 but the least understood4 ,newton derides the hooked atoms1 by means of which it has been attempted to explain coherence2 for it still remained to be known why they are hooked1 and why they cohere4 ,he treats with no greater respect those who have explained cohesion by rest4 ,it is1 says he1 an occult quality4 ,he has recourse to an attraction4 ,but is not this attraction1 which may indeed exist1 but is by no means capable of demonstration1 itself an occult quality8 ,the grand attraction of the heavenly bodies is demonstrated and calculated4 ,that of adhering bodies is incalculable4 ,but how can we admit a force that is immeasurable to be of the same nature as one that can be measured8 ,nevertheless1 it is demonstrated that the force of attraction acts upon all the planets and all heavy bodies in proportion to their solidity2 but it acts on all the particles of matter2 it is1 therefore1 very probable that1 while it exists in every part in reference to the whole1 it exists also in every part in reference to cohesion2 coherence1 therefore1 may be the effect of attraction4 ,this opinion appears admissible till a better one can be found1 and that better is not easily to be met with4 ,,commerce4 ,since the fall of ,carthage1 no people had been powerful in commerce and arms at the same time1 until ,venice set the example4 ,the ,portuguese having passed the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 were1 for some time1 great lords on the coast of ,india1 and even formidable in ,europe4 ,the ,united ,provinces have only been warriors in spite of themselves1 and it was not as united between themselves1 but as united with ,england that they assisted to hold the balance of ,europe at the commencement of the eighteenth century4 ,carthage1 ,venice1 and ,amsterdam have been powerful2 but they have acted like those people among us1 who1 having amassed money by trade1 buy lordly estates4 ,neither ,carthage1 ,venice1 ,holland1 nor any people1 have commenced by being warriors1 and even conquerors1 to finish by being merchants4 ,the ,english only answer this description2 they had fought a long time before they knew how to reckon4 ,they did not know1 when they gained the battles of ,agincourt1 ,crcy1 and ,poitiers1 that they were able to deal largely in corn1 and make broadcloth1 which would be of much more value to them than such victories4 ,the knowledge of these arts alone has augmented1 enriched1 and strengthened the nation4 ,it is only because the ,english have become merchants that ,london exceeds ,paris in extent and number of citizens2 that they can spread two hundred ships of war over the seas1 and keep royal allies in pay4 ,when ,louis ,,xiv4 made ,italy tremble1 and his armies1 already masters of ,savoy and ,piedmont1 were ready to take ,turin1 ,prince ,eugene was obliged to march to the skirts of ,germany1 to the succor of the duke of ,savoy4 ,having no money1 without which he could neither take nor defend towns1 he had recourse to the ,english merchants4 ,in half an hour they advanced him the sum of five millions of livres1 with which he delivered ,turin1 beat the ,french1 and wrote this little billet to those who had lent it him3 ,gentlemen1 ,i have received your money1 and ,i flatter myself that ,i have employed it to your satisfaction4 ,all this excites just pride in an ,english merchant1 and makes him venture to compare himself1 and not without reason1 to a ,roman citizen4 ,thus the younger sons of a peer of the realm disdain not to be merchants4 ,lord ,townsend1 minister of state1 had a brother who was contented with being a merchant in the city4 ,at the time that ,lord ,orford governed ,england1 his younger brother was a factor at ,aleppo1 whence he would not return1 and where he died4 ,this custom--which1 however1 begins to decline--appeared monstrous to the petty ,german princes4 ,they could not conceive how the son of a peer of ,england was only a rich and powerful trader1 while in ,germany they are all princes4 ,we have seen nearly thirty highnesses of the same name1 having nothing for their fortunes but old armories and aristocratical hauteur4 ,in ,france1 anybody may be a marquis that likes2 and whoever arrives at ,paris from a remote province1 with money to spend1 and a name ending in ac or ille1 may say3 ,a man like me6 ,a man of my quality6 and sovereignly despise a merchant2 while the merchant so often hears his profession spoken of with disdain that he is weak enough to blush at it4 ,which is the more useful to a state--a well-powdered lord1 who knows precisely at what hour the king rises and retires1 and who gives himself airs of greatness1 while playing the part of a slave in the antechamber of a minister2 or a merchant who enriches his country1 sends orders from his office to ,surat and ,aleppo1 and contributes to the happiness of the world8 ,,common ,,sense4 ,there is sometimes in vulgar expressions an image of what passes in the heart of all men4 ,sensus communis signified among the ,romans not only common sense1 but also humanity and sensibility4 ,as we are not equal to the ,romans1 this word with us conveys not half what it did with them4 ,it signifies only good sense--plain1 straightforward reasoning--the first notion of ordinary things--a medium between dulness and intellect4 ,to say1 that man has not common sense1 is a gross insult2 while the expression1 that man has common sense1 is an affront also2 it would imply that he was not quite stupid1 but that he wanted intellect4 ,but what is the meaning of common sense1 if it be not sense8 ,men1 when they invented this term1 supposed that nothing entered the mind except by the senses2 otherwise would they have used the word sense to signify the result of the common faculty of reason8 ,it is said1 sometimes1 that common sense is very rare4 ,what does this expression mean8 ,that1 in many men1 dawning reason is arrested in its progress by some prejudices2 that a man who judges reasonably on one affair will deceive himself grossly in another4 ,the ,arab1 who1 besides being a good calculator1 was a learned chemist and an exact astronomer1 nevertheless believed that ,mahomet put half of the moon into his sleeve4 ,how is it that he was so much above common sense in the three sciences above mentioned1 and beneath it when he proceeded to the subject of half the moon8 ,it is because1 in the first case1 he had seen with his own eyes1 and perfected his own intelligence2 and1 in the second1 he had used the eyes of others1 by shutting his own1 and perverting the common sense within him4 ,how could this strange perversion of mind operate8 ,how could the ideas which had so regular and firm a footing in his brain1 on many subjects1 halt on another a thousand times more palpable and easy to comprehend8 ,this man had always the same principles of intelligence in him2 he must have therefore possessed a vitiated organ1 as it sometimes happens that the most delicate epicure has a depraved taste in regard to a particular kind of nourishment4 ,how did the organ of this ,arab1 who saw half of the moon in ,mahomet's sleeve1 become disordered--,by fear4 ,it had been told him that if he did not believe in this sleeve his soul1 immediately after his death1 in passing over the narrow bridge1 would fall forever into the abyss4 ,he was told much worse--if ever you doubt this sleeve1 one dervish will treat you with ignominy2 another will prove you mad1 because1 having all possible motives for credibility1 you will not submit your superb reason to evidence2 a third will refer you to the little divan of a small province1 and you will be legally impaled4 ,all this produces a panic in the good ,arab1 his wife1 sister1 and all his little family4 ,they possess good sense in all the rest1 but on this article their imagination is diseased like that of ,pascal1 who continually saw a precipice near his couch4 ,but did our ,arab really believe in the sleeve of ,mahomet8 ,no2 he endeavored to believe it2 he said1 ,it is impossible1 but true--,i believe that which ,i do not credit4 ,he formed a chaos of ideas in his head in regard to this sleeve1 which he feared to disentangle1 and he gave up his common sense4 ,,confession4 ,repentance for one's faults is the only thing that can repair the loss of innocence2 and to appear to repent of them1 we must begin by acknowledging them4 ,confession1 therefore1 is almost as ancient as civil society4 ,confession was practised in all the mysteries of ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,samothrace4 ,we are told1 in the life of ,marcus ,aurelius1 that when he deigned to participate in the ,eleusinian mysteries1 he confessed himself to the hierophant1 though no man had less need of confession than himself4 ,this might be a very salutary ceremony2 it might also become very detrimental2 for such is the case with all human institutions4 ,we know the answer of the ,spartan whom a hierophant would have persuaded to confess himself3 ,to whom should ,i acknowledge my faults8 to ,god1 or to thee8 ,to ,god1 said the priest4 ,retire1 then1 ,o man4 ,it is hard to determine at what time this practice was established among the ,jews1 who borrowed a great many of their rites from their neighbors4 ,the ,mishna1 which is the collection of the ,jewish laws1 says that often1 in confessing1 they placed their hand upon a calf belonging to the priest2 and this was called the confession of calves4 ,it is said1 in the same ,mishna1 that every culprit under sentence of death1 went and confessed himself before witnesses1 in some retired spot1 a short time before his execution4 ,if he felt himself guilty he said1 ,may my death atone for all my sins6 ,if innocent1 he said1 ,may my death atone for all my sins1 excepting that of which ,i am now accused4 ,on the day of the feast which was called by the ,jews the solemn atonement1 the devout among them confessed to one another1 specifying their sins4 ,the confessor repeated three times thirteen words of the seventy-seventh ,psalm1 at the same time giving the confessed thirty-nine stripes1 which the latter returned1 and they went away quits4 ,it is said that this ceremony is still in use4 ,st4 ,john's reputation for sanctity brought crowds to confess to him1 as they came to be baptized by him with the baptism of justice2 but we are not informed that ,st4 ,john gave his penitents thirty-nine stripes4 ,confession was not then a sacrament2 for this there are several reasons4 ,the first is1 that the word sacrament was at that time unknown1 which reason is of itself sufficient4 ,the ,christians took their confession from the ,jewish rites1 and not from the mysteries of ,isis and ,ceres4 ,the ,jews confessed to their associates1 and the ,christians did also4 ,it afterwards appeared more convenient that this should be the privilege of the priests4 ,no rite1 no ceremony1 can be established but in process of time4 ,it was hardly possible that some trace should not remain of the ancient usage of the laity of confessing to one another4 ,in ,constantine's reign1 it was at first the practice publicly to confess public offences4 ,in the fifth century1 after the schism of ,novatus and ,novatian1 penitentiaries were instituted for the absolution of such as had fallen into idolatry4 ,this confession to penitentiary priests was abolished under the ,emperor ,theodosius4 ,a woman having accused herself aloud1 to the penitentiary of ,constantinople1 of lying with the deacon1 caused so much scandal and disturbance throughout the city that ,nectarius permitted all the faithful to approach the holy table without confession1 and to communicate in obedience to their consciences alone4 ,hence these words of ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom1 who succeeded ,nectarius3 ,confess yourselves continually to ,god2 ,i do not bring you forward on a stage to discover your faults to your fellow-servants2 show your wounds to ,god1 and ask of ,him their cure2 acknowledge your sins to ,him who will not reproach you before men2 it were vain to strive to hide them from ,him who knows all things1 etc4 ,it is said that the practice of auricular confession did not begin in the west until about the seventh century1 when it was instituted by the abbots1 who required their monks to come and acknowledge their offences to them twice a year4 ,these abbots it was who invented the formula3 ,i absolve thee to the utmost of my power and thy need4 ,it would surely have been more respectful towards the ,supreme ,being1 as well as more just1 to say3 ,may ,he forgive both thy faults and mine6 ,the good which confession has done is that it has sometimes procured restitution from petty thieves4 ,the ill is1 that1 in the internal troubles of states1 it has sometimes forced the penitents to be conscientiously rebellious and blood-thirsty4 ,the ,guelph priests refused absolution to the ,ghibellines1 and the ,ghibellines to the ,guelphs4 ,the counsellor of state1 ,lnet1 relates1 in his ,memoirs1 that all he could do in ,burgundy to make the people rise in favor of the ,prince ,cond1 detained at ,vincennes by ,cardinal ,mazarin1 was to let loose the priests in the confessionals--speaking of them as bloodhounds1 who were to fan the flame of civil war in the privacy of the confessional4 ,at the siege of ,barcelona1 the monks refused absolution to all who remained faithful to ,philip ,v4 ,in the last revolution of ,genoa1 it was intimated to all consciences that there was no salvation for whosoever should not take up arms against the ,austrians4 ,this salutary remedy has1 in every age1 been converted into a poison4 ,whether a ,sforza1 a ,medici1 a ,prince of ,orange1 or a ,king of ,france was to be assassinated1 the parricide always prepared himself by the sacrament of confession4 ,louis ,,xi41 and the ,marchioness de ,brinvilliers always confessed as soon as they had committed any great crime2 and they confessed often1 as gluttons take medicines to increase their appetite4 ,the ,disclosure of ,confessions4 ,jaurigini and ,balthazar ,grard1 the assassins of ,william ,i41 ,prince of ,orange1 the dominican ,jacques ,clment1 ,jean ,chtel1 the ,feuillant ,ravaillac1 and all the other parricides of that day1 confessed themselves before committing their crimes4 ,fanaticism1 in those deplorable ages1 had arrived at such a pitch that confession was but an additional pledge for the consummation of villainy4 ,it became sacred for this reason--that confession is a sacrament4 ,strada himself says3 ,jaurigni non ante facinus aggredi sustinuit1 quam expiatam noxis animam apud ,dominicanum sacerdotem clesti pane firmaverit4 ,jaurigini did not venture upon this act until he had purged his soul by confession at the feet of a ,dominican1 and fortified it by the celestial bread4 ,we find1 in the interrogatory of ,ravaillac1 that the wretched man1 quitting the ,feuillans1 and wishing to be received among the ,jesuits1 applied to the ,jesuit d',aubigny and1 after speaking of several apparitions that he had seen1 showed him a knife1 on the blade of which was engraved a heart and a cross1 and said1 ,this heart indicates that the king's heart must be brought to make war on the ,huguenots4 ,perhaps1 if this d',aubigny had been zealous and prudent enough to have informed the king of these words1 and given him a faithful picture of the man who had uttered them1 the best of kings would not have been assassinated4 ,on ,august #bj1 #afaj1 three months after the death of ,henry ,,iv41 whose wounds yet bleed in the heart of every ,frenchman1 the ,advocate-,general ,sirvin1 still of illustrious memory1 required that the ,jesuits should be made to sign the four following rules3 #a4 ,that the council is above the pope4 #b4 ,that the pope cannot deprive the king of any of his rights by excommunication4 #c4 ,that ecclesiastics1 like other persons1 are entirely subject to the king4 #d4 ,that a priest who is made acquainted1 by confession1 with a conspiracy against the king and the state1 must disclose it to the magistrates4 ,on the #bbnd1 the parliament passed a decree1 by which it forbade the ,jesuits to instruct youth before they had signed these four articles2 but the court of ,rome was then so powerful1 and that of ,france so feeble1 that this decree was of no effect4 ,a fact worthy of attention is1 that this same court of ,rome1 which did not choose that confession should be disclosed when the lives of sovereigns were endangered1 obliged its confessors to denounce to the inquisitors those whom their female penitents accused in confession of having seduced and abused them4 ,paul ,,iv41 ,pius ,,iv41 ,clement ,,viii41 and ,gregory ,,xv41 ordered these disclosures to be made4 ,this was a very embarrassing snare for confessors and female penitents2 it was making the sacrament a register of informations1 and even of sacrileges4 ,for1 by the ancient canons1 and especially by the ,lateran ,council under ,innocent ,,iii41 every priest that disclosed a confession1 of whatever nature1 was to be interdicted and condemned to perpetual imprisonment4 ,but this is not the worst2 here are four popes1 of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 ordering the disclosure of a sin of impurity1 but not permitting that of a parricide4 ,a woman1 in the sacrament1 declares1 or pretends1 before a carmelite1 that a cordelier has seduced her2 and the carmelite must denounce the cordelier4 ,a fanatical assassin1 thinking that he serves ,god by killing his prince1 comes and consults a confessor on this case of conscience2 and the confessor commits a sacrilege if he saves his sovereign's life4 ,this absurd and horrible contradiction is one unfortunate consequence of the constant opposition existing for so many centuries between the civil and ecclesiastical laws4 ,the citizen finds himself1 on fifty occasions1 placed without alternative between sacrilege and high treason2 the rules of good and evil being not yet drawn from beneath the chaos under which they have so long been buried4 ,the ,jesuit ,coton's reply to ,henry ,,iv4 will endure longer than his order4 ,would you reveal the confession of a man who had resolved to assassinate me8 ,no2 but ,i would throw myself between him and you4 ,father ,coton's maxim has not always been followed4 ,in some countries there are state mysteries unknown to the public1 of which revealed confessions form no inconsiderable part4 ,by means of suborned confessors the secrets of prisoners are learned4 ,some confessors1 to reconcile their conscience with their interest1 make use of a singular artifice4 ,they give an account1 not precisely of what the prisoner has told them1 but of what he has not told them4 ,if1 for example1 they are employed to find out whether an accused person has for his accomplice a ,frenchman or an ,italian1 they say to the man who employs them1 the prisoner has sworn to me that no ,italian was informed of his designs2 whence it is concluded that the suspected ,frenchman is guilty4 ,bodin thus expresses himself1 in his book1 ,de la ,rpublique3 ,nor must it be concealed1 if the culprit is discovered to have conspired against the life of the sovereign1 or even to have willed it only2 as in the case of a gentleman of ,normandy1 who confessed to a monk that he had a mind to kill ,francis ,i4 ,the monk apprised the king1 who sent the gentleman to the court of parliament1 where he was condemned to death1 as ,i learned from ,m4 ,canage1 an advocate in parliament4 ,the writer of this article was himself almost witness to a disclosure still more important and singular4 ,it is known how the ,jesuit ,daubenton betrayed ,philip ,v41 king of ,spain1 to whom he was confessor4 ,he thought1 from a very mistaken policy1 that he should report the secrets of his penitent to the duke of ,orleans1 regent of the kingdom1 and had the imprudence to write to him what he should not1 even verbally1 communicate to any one4 ,the duke of ,orleans sent his letter to the king of ,spain4 ,the ,jesuit was discarded1 and died a short time after4 ,this is an authenticated fact4 ,it is still a grave and perplexing question1 in what cases confessions should be disclosed4 ,for1 if we decide that it should be in cases of human high treason1 this treason may be made to include any direct offence against majesty1 even the smuggling of salt or muslins4 ,much more should high treasons against the ,divine ,majesty be disclosed2 and these may be extended to the smallest faults1 as having missed evening service4 ,it would1 then1 be very important to come to a perfect understanding about what confessions should be disclosed1 and what should be kept secret4 ,yet would such a decision be very dangerous2 for how many things are there which must not be investigated6 ,pontas1 who1 in three folio volumes1 decides on all the possible cases of conscience in ,france1 and is unknown to the rest of the world1 says that on no occasion should confession be disclosed4 ,the parliaments have decided the contrary4 ,which are we to believe8 ,pontas1 or the guardians of the laws of the realm1 who watch over the lives of princes and the safety of the state8 ,whether ,laymen and ,women ,have ,been ,confessors8 ,as1 in the old law1 the laity confessed to one another2 so1 in the new law1 they long had the same privilege by custom4 ,in proof of this1 let it suffice to cite the celebrated ,joinville1 who expressly says that the constable of ,cyprus confessed himself to him1 and he gave him absolution1 according to the right which he had so to do4 ,st4 ,thomas1 in his dream1 expresses himself thus3 ,confessio ex defectu sacerdotis laico facta1 sacramentalis est quodam modo4 ,confession made to a layman1 in default of a priest1 is in some sort sacramental4 ,we find in the life of ,st4 ,burgundosarius1 and in the rule of an unknown saint1 that the nuns confessed their very grossest sins to their abbess4 ,the rule of ,st4 ,donatus ordains that the nuns shall discover their faults to their superior three times a day4 ,the capitulars of our kings say that abbesses must be forbidden the exercise of the right which they have arrogated against the custom of the holy church1 of giving benediction and imposing hands1 which seems to signify the pronouncing of absolution1 and supposes the confession of sins4 ,marcus1 patriarch of ,alexandria1 asks ,balzamon1 a celebrated canonist of his time1 whether permission should be granted to abbesses to hear confessions1 to which ,balzamon answers in the negative4 ,we have1 in the canon law1 a decree of ,pope ,innocent ,,iii41 enjoining the bishops of ,valencia and ,burgos1 in ,spain1 to prevent certain abbesses from blessing their nuns1 from confessing1 and from public preaching3 ,although1 says he1 the blessed ,virgin ,mary was superior to all the apostles in dignity and in merit1 yet it is not to her1 but to the apostles1 that the ,lord has confided the keys of the kingdom of heaven4 ,so ancient was this right1 that we find it established in the rules of ,st4 ,basil4 ,he permits abbesses to confess their nuns1 conjointly with a priest4 ,father ,martne1 in his ,rights of the ,church1 says that1 for a long time1 abbesses confessed their nuns2 but1 adds he1 they were so curious1 that it was found necessary to deprive them of this privilege4 ,the ex-,jesuit ,nonnotte should confess himself and do penance2 not for having been one of the most ignorant of daubers on paper1 for that is no crime2 not for having given the name of errors to truths which he did not understand2 but for having1 with the most insolent stupidity1 calumniated the author of this article1 and called his brother raca 7a fool71 while he denied these facts and many others1 about which he knew not one word4 ,he has put himself in danger of hell fire2 let us hope that he will ask pardon of ,god for his enormous folly4 ,we desire not the death of a sinner1 but that he turn from his wickedness and live4 ,it has long been debated why men1 very famous in this part of the world where confession is in use1 have died without this sacrament4 ,such are ,leo ,x41 ,plisson1 and ,cardinal ,dubois4 ,the cardinal had his perineum opened by ,la ,peyronie's bistoury2 but he might have confessed and communicated before the operation4 ,plisson1 who was a ,protestant until he was forty years old1 became a convert that he might be made master of requests and have benefices4 ,as for ,pope ,leo ,x41 when surprised by death1 he was so much occupied with temporal concerns1 that he had no time to think of spiritual ones4 ,confession ,tickets4 ,in ,protestant countries confession is made to ,god2 in ,catholic ones1 to man4 ,the ,protestants say you can hide nothing from ,god1 whereas man knows only what you choose to tell him4 ,as we shall never meddle with controversy1 we shall not enter here into this old dispute4 ,our literary society is composed of ,catholics and ,protestants1 united by the love of letters2 we must not suffer ecclesiastical quarrels to sow dissension among us4 ,we will content ourselves with once more repeating the fine answer of the ,greek already mentioned1 to the priest who would have had him confess in the mysteries of ,ceres3 ,is it to ,god1 or to thee1 that ,i am to address myself8 ,to ,god4 ,depart then1 ,o man4 ,in ,italy1 and in all the countries of obedience1 every one1 without distinction1 must confess and communicate4 ,if you have a stock of enormous sins on hand1 you have also grand penitentiaries to absolve you4 ,if your confession is worth nothing1 so much the worse for you4 ,at a very reasonable rate1 you get a printed receipt1 which admits you to communion2 and all the receipts are thrown into a pix2 such is the rule4 ,these bearers' tickets were unknown at ,paris until about the year #agej1 when an archbishop of ,paris bethought himself of introducing a sort of spiritual bank1 to extirpate ,jansenism and insure the triumph of the bull ,unigenitus4 ,it was his pleasure that extreme unction and the viaticum should be refused to every sick person who did not produce a ticket of confession1 signed by a constitutionary priest4 ,this was refusing the sacrament to nine-tenths of ,paris4 ,in vain was he told3 ,think what you are doing2 either these sacraments are necessary1 to escape damnation1 or salvation may be obtained without them by faith1 hope1 charity1 good works1 and the merits of our ,saviour4 ,if salvation be attainable without this viaticum1 your tickets are useless2 if the sacraments be absolutely necessary1 you damn all whom you deprive of them2 you consign to eternal fire seven hundred thousand souls1 supposing you live long enough to bury them2 this is violent2 calm yourself1 and let each one die as well as he can4 ,in this dilemma he gave no answer1 but persisted4 ,it is horrible to convert religion1 which should be man's consolation1 into his torment4 ,the parliament1 in whose hands is the high police1 finding that society was disturbed1 opposed--according to custom--decrees to mandaments4 ,but ecclesiastical discipline would not yield to legal authority4 ,the magistracy was under the necessity of using force1 and to send archers to obtain for the ,parisians confession1 communion1 and interment4 ,by this excess of absurdity1 men's minds were soured and cabals were formed at court1 as if there had been a farmer-general to be appointed1 or a minister to be disgraced4 ,in the discussion of a question there are always incidents mixed up that have no radical connection with it2 and in this case so much so1 that all the members of the parliament were exiled1 as was also the archbishop in his turn4 ,these confession tickets would1 in the times preceding1 have caused a civil war1 but happily1 in our days1 they produced only civil cavils4 ,the spirit of philosophy1 which is no other than reason1 has become1 with all honest men1 the only antidote against these epidemic disorders4 ,,confiscation4 ,it is well observed1 in the ,dictionnaire ,encyclopdique1 in the article ,confiscation1 that the fisc1 whether public1 or royal1 or seignorial1 or imperial1 or disloyal1 was a small basket of reeds or osiers1 in which was put the little money that was received or could be extorted4 ,we now use bags2 the royal fisc is the royal bag4 ,in several countries of ,europe it is a received maxim1 that whosoever confiscates the body1 confiscates the goods also4 ,this usage is established in those countries in particular where custom holds the place of law2 and in all cases1 an entire family is punished for the fault of one man only4 ,to confiscate the body1 is not to put a man's body into his sovereign lord's basket4 ,this phrase1 in the barbarous language of the bar1 means to get possession of the body of a citizen1 in order either to take away his life1 or to condemn him to banishment for life4 ,if he is put to death1 or escapes death by flight1 his goods are seized4 ,thus it is not enough to put a man to death for his offences2 his children1 too1 must be deprived of the means of living4 ,in more countries than one1 the rigor of custom confiscates the property of a man who has voluntarily released himself from the miseries of this life1 and his children are reduced to beggary because their father is dead4 ,in some ,roman ,catholic provinces1 the head of a family is condemned to the galleys for life1 by an arbitrary sentence1 for having harbored a preacher in his house1 or for having heard one of his sermons in some cavern or desert place1 and his wife and family are forced to beg their bread4 ,this jurisprudence1 which consists in depriving orphans of their food1 was unknown to the ,roman commonwealth4 ,sulla introduced it in his proscriptions1 and it must be acknowledged that a rapine invented by ,sulla was not an example to be followed4 ,nor was this law1 which seems to have been dictated by inhumanity and avarice alone1 followed either by ,csar1 or by the good ,emperor ,trajan1 or by the ,antonines1 whose names are still pronounced in every nation with love and reverence4 ,even under ,justinian1 confiscations took place only in cases of high treason4 ,those who were accused having been1 for the most part1 men of great possessions1 it seems that ,justinian made this ordinance through avarice alone4 ,it also appears that1 in the times of feudal anarchy1 the princes and lords of lands1 being not very rich1 sought to increase their treasure by the condemnation of their subjects4 ,they were allowed to draw a revenue from crime4 ,their laws being arbitrary1 and the ,roman jurisprudence unknown among them1 their customs1 whether whimsical or cruel1 prevailed4 ,but now that the power of sovereigns is founded on immense and assured wealth1 their treasure needs no longer to be swollen by the slender wreck of the fortunes of some unhappy family4 ,it is true that the goods so appropriated are abandoned to the first who asks for them4 ,but is it for one citizen to fatten on the remains of the blood of another citizen8 ,confiscation is not admitted in countries where the ,roman law is established1 except within the jurisdiction of the parliament of ,toulouse4 ,it was formerly established at ,calais1 where it was abolished by the ,english when they were masters of that place4 ,it appears very strange that the inhabitants of the capital live under a more rigorous law than those of the smaller towns2 so true is it1 that jurisprudence has often been established by chance1 without regularity1 without uniformity1 as the huts are built in a village4 ,the following was spoken by ,advocate-,general ,omer ,talon1 in full parliament1 at the most glorious period in the annals of ,france1 in #afgc1 concerning the property of one ,mademoiselle de ,canillac1 which had been confiscated4 ,reader1 attend to this speech2 it is not in the style of ,cicero's oratory1 but it is curious3 ,in the thirteenth chapter of ,deuteronomy1 ,god says1 ',if thou shalt find a city where idolatry prevails1 thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword1 destroying it utterly1 and all that is therein4 ,and thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof1 and shalt burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof1 every whit1 for the ,lord thy ,god4' ,so1 in the crime of high treason1 the king seized the property1 and the children were deprived of it4 ,naboth having been proceeded against1 'quia maledixerat regi1' ,king ,ahab took possession of his inheritance4 ,david1 being apprised that ,mephibosheth had taken part in the rebellion1 gave all his goods to ,sheba1 who brought him the news--',tibi sunt omnia qu fuerunt ,mephibosheth4' ,the question here was1 who should inherit the property of ,mademoiselle de ,canillac--property formerly confiscated from her father1 abandoned by the king to a keeper of the royal treasure1 and afterwards given by this keeper of the royal treasure to the testatrix4 ,and in this case of a woman of ,auvergne a lawyer refers us to that of ,ahab1 one of the petty kings of a part of ,palestine1 who confiscated ,naboth's vineyard1 after assassinating its proprietor with the poniard of ,jewish justice--an abominable act1 which has become a proverb to inspire men with a horror for usurpation4 ,assuredly1 ,naboth's vineyard has no connection with ,mademoiselle de ,canillac's inheritance4 ,nor do the murder and confiscation of the goods of ,mephibosheth1 grandson of ,king ,saul1 and son of ,david's friend ,jonathan1 bear a much greater affinity to this lady's will4 ,with this pedantry1 this rage for citations foreign to the subject2 with this ignorance of the first principles of human nature2 with these ill-conceived and ill-adapted prejudices1 has jurisprudence been treated on by men who1 in their sphere1 have had some reputation4 ,,conscience4 ,,section ,i4 ,of the ,conscience of ,good and of ,evil4 ,locke has demonstrated--if we may use that term in morals and metaphysics--that we have no innate ideas or principles4 ,he was obliged to demonstrate this position at great length1 as the contrary was at that time universally believed4 ,it hence clearly follows that it is necessary to instil just ideas and good principles into the mind as soon as it acquires the use of its faculties4 ,locke adduces the example of savages1 who kill and devour their neighbors without any remorse of conscience2 and of ,christian soldiers1 decently educated1 who1 on the taking of a city by assault1 plunder1 slay1 and violate1 not merely without remorse1 but with rapture1 honor1 and glory1 and with the applause of all their comrades4 ,it is perfectly certain that1 in the massacres of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 and in the autos-da-f the holy acts of faith of the ,inquisition1 no murderer's conscience ever upbraided him with having massacred men1 women1 and children1 or with the shrieks1 faintings1 and dying tortures of his miserable victims1 whose only crime consisted in keeping ,easter in a manner different from that of the inquisitors4 ,it results1 therefore1 from what has been stated1 that we have no other conscience than what is created in us by the spirit of the age1 by example1 and by our own dispositions and reflections4 ,man is born without principles1 but with the faculty of receiving them4 ,his natural disposition will incline him either to cruelty or kindness2 his understanding will in time inform him that the square of twelve is a hundred and forty-four1 and that he ought not to do to others what he would not that others should do to him2 but he will not1 of himself1 acquire these truths in early childhood4 ,he will not understand the first1 and he will not feel the second4 ,a young savage who1 when hungry1 has received from his father a piece of another savage to eat1 will1 on the morrow1 ask for the like meal1 without thinking about any obligation not to treat a neighbor otherwise than he would be treated himself4 ,he acts1 mechanically and irresistibly1 directly contrary to the eternal principle4 ,nature has made a provision against such horrors4 ,she has given to man a disposition to pity1 and the power of comprehending truth4 ,these two gifts of ,god constitute the foundation of civil society4 ,this is the reason there have ever been but few cannibals2 and which renders life1 among civilized nations1 a little tolerable4 ,fathers and mothers bestow on their children an education which soon renders them social1 and this education confers on them a conscience4 ,pure religion and morality1 early inculcated1 so strongly impress the human heart that1 from the age of sixteen or seventeen1 a single bad action will not be performed without the upbraidings of conscience4 ,then rush on those headlong passions which war against conscience1 and sometimes destroy it4 ,during the conflict1 men1 hurried on by the tempest of their feelings1 on various occasions consult the advice of others2 as1 in physical diseases1 they ask it of those who appear to enjoy good health4 ,this it is which has produced casuists2 that is1 persons who decide on cases of conscience4 ,one of the wisest casuists was ,cicero4 ,in his book of ,offices1 or ,duties of man1 he investigates points of the greatest nicety2 but long before him ,zoroaster had appeared in the world to guide the conscience by the most beautiful precept1 ,if you doubt whether an action be good or bad1 abstain from doing it4 ,we treat of this elsewhere4 ,whether a ,judge ,should ,decide according to his ,conscience1 or according to the ,evidence4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 you are a great saint1 and a great divine1 and no ,dominican has a greater veneration for you than ,i have2 but you have decided1 in your ,summary1 that a judge ought to give sentence according to the evidence produced against the person accused1 although he knows that person to be perfectly innocent4 ,you maintain that the deposition of witnesses1 which must inevitably be false1 and the pretended proofs resulting from the process1 which are impertinent1 ought to weigh down the testimony of his own senses4 ,he saw the crime committed by another2 and yet1 according to you1 he ought in conscience to condemn the accused1 although his conscience tells him the accused is innocent4 ,according to your doctrine1 therefore1 if the judge had himself committed the crime in question1 his conscience ought to oblige him to condemn the man falsely accused of it4 ,in my conscience1 great saint1 ,i conceive that you are most absurdly and most dreadfully deceived4 ,it is a pity that1 while possessing such a knowledge of canon law1 you should be so little acquainted with natural law4 ,the duty of a magistrate to be just1 precedes that of being a formalist4 ,if1 in virtue of evidence which can never exceed probability1 ,i were to condemn a man whose innocence ,i was otherwise convinced of1 ,i should consider myself a fool and an assassin4 ,fortunately all the tribunals of the world think differently from you4 ,i know not whether ,farinaceus and ,grillandus may be of your opinion4 ,however that may be1 if ever you meet with ,cicero1 ,ulpian1 ,trebonian1 ,demoulin1 the ,chancellor de l',hpital1 or the ,chancellor d',aguesseau1 in the shades1 be sure to ask pardon of them for falling into such an error4 ,of a ,deceitful ,conscience4 ,the best thing perhaps that was ever said upon this important subject is in the witty work of ,tristram ,shandy1 written by a clergyman of the name of ,sterne1 the second ,rabelais of ,england4 ,it resembles those small satires of antiquity1 the essential spirit of which is so piquant and precious4 ,an old half-pay captain and his corporal1 assisted by ,doctor ,slop1 put a number of very ridiculous questions4 ,in these questions the ,french divines are not spared4 ,mention is particularly made of a memoir presented to the ,sorbonne by a surgeon1 requesting permission to baptize unborn children by means of a clyster-pipe1 which might be introduced into the womb without injuring either the mother or the child4 ,at length the corporal is directed to read to them a sermon1 composed by the same clergyman1 ,sterne4 ,among many particulars1 superior even to those of ,rembrandt and ,calot1 it describes a gentleman1 a man of the world1 spending his time in the pleasures of the table1 in gaming1 and debauchery1 yet doing nothing to expose himself to the reproaches of what is called good company1 and consequently never incurring his own4 ,his conscience and his honor accompany him to the theatres1 to the gaming houses1 and are more particularly present when he liberally pays his lady under protection4 ,he punishes severely1 when in office1 the petty larcenies of the vulgar1 lives a life of gayety1 and dies without the slightest feeling of remorse4 ,doctor ,slop interrupts the reading to observe that such a case was impossible with respect to a follower of the ,church of ,england1 and could happen only among papists4 ,at last the sermon adduces the example of ,david1 who sometimes possessed a conscience tender and enlightened1 at others hardened and dark4 ,when he has it in his power to assassinate his king in a cavern1 he scruples going beyond cutting off a corner of his robe--here is the tender conscience4 ,he passes an entire year without feeling the slightest compunction for his adultery with ,bathsheba and his murder of ,uriah--here is the same conscience in a state of obduracy and darkness4 ,such1 says the preacher1 are the greater number of mankind4 ,we concede to this clergyman that the great ones of the world are very often in this state2 the torrent of pleasures and affairs urges them almost irresistibly on2 they have no time to keep a conscience4 ,conscience is proper enough for the people2 but even the people dispense with it1 when the question is how to gain money4 ,it is judicious1 however1 at times1 to endeavor to awaken conscience both in mantua-makers and in monarchs1 by the inculcation of a morality calculated to make an impression upon both2 but1 in order to make this impression1 it is necessary to preach better than modern preachers usually do1 who seldom talk effectively to either4 ,liberty of ,conscience4 ,translated from the ,german4 ,we do not adopt the whole of the following article2 but1 as it contains some truths1 we did not consider ourselves obliged to omit it2 and we do not feel ourselves called upon to justify what may be advanced in it with too great rashness or severity4--,author4 ,the almoner of ,prince ----1 who is a ,roman ,catholic1 threatened an anabaptist that he would get him banished from the small estates which the prince governed4 ,he told him that there were only three authorized sects in the empire--that which eats ,jesus ,christ1 by faith alone1 in a morsel of bread1 while drinking out of a cup2 that which eats ,jesus ,christ with bread alone2 and that which eats ,jesus ,christ in body and in soul1 without either bread or wine2 and that as for the anabaptist who does not in any way eat ,god1 he was not fit to live in monseigneur's territory4 ,at last1 the conversation kindling into greater violence1 the almoner fiercely threatened the anabaptist that he would get him hanged4 ',so much the worse for his highness1' replied the anabaptist2 ',i am a large manufacturer2 ,i employ two hundred workmen2 ,i occasion the influx of two hundred thousand crowns a year into his territories2 my family will go and settle somewhere else2 monseigneur will in consequence be a loser4' ',but suppose monseigneur hangs up your two hundred workmen and your family1' rejoined the almoner1 'and gives your manufactory to good ,catholics8' ',i defy him to do it1' says the old gentleman4 ',a manufactory is not to be given like a farm2 because industry cannot be given4 ,it would be more silly for him to act so than to order all his horses to be killed1 because1 being a bad horseman1 one may have thrown him off his back4 ,the interest of monseigneur does not consist in my swallowing the godhead in a wafer1 but in my procuring something to eat for his subjects1 and increasing the revenues by my industry4 ,i am a gentleman2 and although ,i had the misfortune not to be born such1 my occupation would compel me to become one2 for mercantile transactions are of a very different nature from those of a court1 and from your own4 ,there can be no success in them without probity4 ,of what consequence is it to you that ,i was baptized at what is called the age of discretion1 and you while you were an infant8 ,of what consequence is it to you that ,i worship ,god after the manner of my fathers8 ,were you able to follow up your wise maxims1 from one end of the world to the other1 you will hang up the ,greek1 who does not believe that the spirit proceeds from the ,father and the ,son2 all the ,english1 all the ,hollanders1 ,danes1 ,swedes1 ,icelanders1 ,prussians1 ,hanoverians1 ,saxons1 ,holsteiners1 ,hessians1 ,wrtembergers1 ,bernese1 ,hamburgers1 ,cossacks1 ,wallachians1 and ,russians1 none of whom believe the pope to be infallible2 all the ,mussulmans1 who believe in one ,god1 and who give him neither father nor mother2 the ,indians1 whose religion is more ancient than the ,jewish2 and the lettered ,chinese1 who1 for the space of four thousand years1 have served one only ,god without superstition and without fanaticism4 ,this1 then1 is what you would perform had you but the power6' ',most assuredly1' says the monk1 'for the zeal of the house of the ,lord devours me4' ',zelus domus su comedit me4' ',just tell me now1 my good almoner1' resumed the anabaptist1 'are you a ,dominican1 or a ,jesuit1 or a devil8' ',i am a ,jesuit1' says the other4 ',alas1 my friend1 if you are not a devil1 why do you advance things so utterly diabolical8' ',because the reverend father1 the rector1 has commanded me to do so4' ',and who commanded the reverend father1 the rector1 to commit such an abomination8' ',the provincial4' ',from whom did the provincial receive the command8' ',from our general1 and all to please the pope4' ,the poor anabaptist exclaimed3 ',ye holy popes1 who are at ,rome in possession of the throne of the ,csars--archbishops1 bishops1 and abbs1 become sovereigns1 ,i respect and fly you2 but if1 in the recesses of your heart1 you confess that your opulence and power are founded only on the ignorance and stupidity of our fathers1 at least enjoy them with moderation4 ,we do not wish to dethrone you2 but do not crush us4 ,enjoy yourselves1 and let us be quiet4 ,if otherwise1 tremble1 lest at last people should lose their patience1 and reduce you1 for the good of your souls1 to the condition of the apostles1 of whom you pretend to be the successors4' ',wretch6 you would wish the pope and the bishop of ,wrtemberg to gain heaven by evangelical poverty6' ',you1 reverend father1 would wish to have me hanged6' ,illustration3 ,i'm a ,jesuit4 ,,consequence4 ,what is our real nature1 and what sort of a curious and contemptible understanding do we possess8 ,a man may1 it appears1 draw the most correct and luminous conclusions1 and yet be destitute of common sense4 ,this is1 in fact1 too true4 ,the ,athenian fool1 who believed that all the vessels which came into the port belonged to him1 could calculate to a nicety what the cargoes of those vessels were worth1 and within how many days they would arrive from ,smyrna at the ,pirus4 ,we have seen idiots who could calculate and reason in a still more extraordinary manner4 ,they were not idiots1 then1 you tell me4 ,i ask your pardon--they certainly were4 ,they rested their whole superstructure on an absurd principle2 they regularly strung together chimeras4 ,a man may walk well1 and go astray at the same time2 and1 then1 the better he walks the farther astray he goes4 ,the ,fo of the ,indians was son of an elephant1 who condescended to produce offspring by an ,indian princess1 who1 in consequence of this species of left-handed union1 was brought to bed of the god ,fo4 ,this princess was sister to an emperor of the ,indies4 ,fo1 then1 was the nephew of that emperor1 and the grandson of the elephant and the monarch were cousins-german2 therefore1 according to the laws of the state1 the race of the emperor being extinct1 the descendants of the elephant become the rightful successors4 ,admit the principle1 and the conclusion is perfectly correct4 ,it is said that the divine elephant was nine standard feet in height4 ,you reasonably suppose that the gate of his stable should be above nine feet in height1 in order to admit his entering with ease4 ,he consumed twenty pounds of rice every day1 and twenty pounds of sugar1 and drank twenty-five pounds of water4 ,you find1 by using your arithmetic1 that he swallows thirty-six thousand five hundred pounds weight in the course of a year2 it is impossible to reckon more correctly4 ,but did your elephant ever1 in fact1 exist8 ,was he the emperor's brother-in-law8 ,had his wife a child by this left-handed union8 ,this is the matter to be investigated4 ,twenty different authors1 who lived in ,cochin ,china1 have successively written about it2 it is incumbent on you to collate these twenty authors1 to weigh their testimonies1 to consult ancient records1 to see if there is any mention of this elephant in the public registers2 to examine whether the whole account is not a fable1 which certain impostors have an interest in sanctioning4 ,you proceed upon an extravagant principle1 but draw from it correct conclusions4 ,logic is not so much wanting to men as the source of logic4 ,it is not sufficient for a madman to say six vessels which belong to me carry two hundred tons each2 the ton is two thousand pounds weight2 ,i have therefore twelve hundred thousand pounds weight of merchandise in the port of the ,pirus4 ,the great point is1 are those vessels yours8 ,that is the principle upon which your fortune depends2 when that is settled1 you may estimate and reckon up afterwards4 ,an ignorant man1 who is a fanatic1 and who at the same time strictly draws his conclusions from his premises1 ought sometimes to be smothered to death as a madman4 ,he has read that ,phineas1 transported by a holy zeal1 having found a ,jew in bed with a ,midianitish woman1 slew them both1 and was imitated by the ,levites1 who massacred every household that consisted one-half of ,midianites and the other of ,jews4 ,he learns that ,mr4 ----1 his ,catholic neighbor1 intrigued with ,mrs4 ----1 another neighbor1 but a ,huguenot1 and he will kill both of them without scruple4 ,it is impossible to act in greater consistency with principle2 but what is the remedy for this dreadful disease of the soul8 ,it is to accustom children betimes to admit nothing which shocks reason1 to avoid relating to them histories of ghosts1 apparitions1 witches1 demoniacal possessions1 and ridiculous prodigies4 ,a girl of an active and susceptible imagination hears a story of demoniacal possessions2 her nerves become shaken1 she falls into convulsions1 and believes herself possessed by a demon or devil4 ,i actually saw one young woman die in consequence of the shock her frame received from these abominable histories4 ,,constantine4 ,,section ,i4 ,the ,age of ,constantine4 ,among the ages which followed the ,augustan1 that of ,constantine merits particular distinction4 ,it is immortalized by the great changes which it ushered into the world4 ,it commenced1 it is true1 with bringing back barbarism4 ,not merely were there no ,ciceros1 ,horaces1 and ,virgils1 any longer to be found1 but there was not even a ,lucan or a ,seneca2 there was not even a philosophic and accurate historian4 ,nothing was to be seen but equivocal satires or mere random panegyrics4 ,it was at that time that the ,christians began to write history1 but they took not ,titus ,livy1 or ,thucydides as their models4 ,the followers of the ancient religion wrote with no greater eloquence or truth4 ,the two parties1 in a state of mutual exasperation1 did not very scrupulously investigate the charges which they heaped upon their adversaries2 and hence it arises that the same man is sometimes represented as a god and sometimes as a monster4 ,the decline of everything1 in the commonest mechanical arts1 as well as in eloquence and virtue1 took place after the reign of ,marcus ,aurelius4 ,he was the last emperor of the sect of stoics1 who elevated man above himself by rendering him severe to himself only1 and compassionate to others4 ,after the death of this emperor1 who was a genuine philosopher1 there was nothing but tyranny and confusion4 ,the soldiers frequently disposed of the empire4 ,the senate had fallen into such complete contempt that1 in the time of ,gallienus1 an express law was enacted to prevent senators from engaging in war4 ,thirty heads of parties were seen1 at one time1 assuming the title of emperor in thirty provinces of the empire4 ,the barbarians already poured in1 on every side1 in the middle of the third century1 on this rent and lacerated empire4 ,yet it was held together by the mere military discipline on which it had been founded4 ,during all these calamities1 ,christianity gradually established itself1 particularly in ,egypt1 ,syria1 and on the coasts of ,asia ,minor4 ,the ,roman ,empire admitted all sorts of religions1 as well as all sects of philosophy4 ,the worship of ,osiris was permitted1 and even the ,jews were left in the enjoyment of considerable privileges1 notwithstanding their revolts4 ,but the people in the provinces frequently rose up against the ,christians4 ,the magistrates persecuted them1 and edicts were frequently obtained against them from the emperors4 ,there is no ground for astonishment at the general hatred in which ,christians were at first held1 while so many other religions were tolerated4 ,the reason was that neither ,egyptians nor ,jews1 nor the worshippers of the goddess of ,syria and so many other foreign deities1 ever declared open hostility to the gods of the empire4 ,they did not array themselves against the established religion2 but one of the most imperious duties of the ,christians was to exterminate the prevailing worship4 ,the priests of the gods raised a clamor on perceiving the diminution of sacrifices and offerings2 and the people1 ever fanatical and impetuous1 were stirred up against the ,christians1 while in the meantime many emperors protected them4 ,adrian expressly forbade the persecution of them4 ,marcus ,aurelius commanded that they should not be prosecuted on account of religion4 ,caracalla1 ,heliogabalus1 ,alexander1 ,philip1 and ,gallienus left them entire liberty4 ,they had1 in the third century1 public churches numerously attended and very opulent2 and so great was the liberty they enjoyed that1 in the course of that century1 they held sixteen councils4 ,the road to dignities was shut up against the first ,christians1 who were nearly all of obscure condition1 and they turned their attention to commerce1 and some of them amassed great affluence4 ,this is the resource of all societies that cannot have access to offices in the state4 ,such has been the case with the ,calvinists in ,france1 all the ,nonconformists in ,england1 the ,catholics in ,holland1 the ,armenians in ,persia1 the ,banians in ,india1 and the ,jews all over the world4 ,however1 at last the toleration was so great1 and the administration of the government so mild1 that the ,christians gained access to all the honors and dignities of the state4 ,they did not sacrifice to the gods of the empire2 they were not molested1 whether they attended or avoided the temples2 there was at ,rome the most perfect liberty with respect to the exercises of their religion2 none were compelled to engage in them4 ,the ,christians1 therefore1 enjoyed the same liberty as others4 ,it is so true that they attained to honors1 that ,diocletian and ,galerius deprived no fewer than three hundred and three of them of those honors1 in the persecution of which we shall have to speak4 ,it is our duty to adore ,providence in all its dispensations2 but ,i confine myself to political history4 ,manes1 under the reign of ,probus1 about the year #bgh1 formed a new religion in ,alexandria4 ,the principles of this sect were made up of some ancient doctrines of the ,persians and certain tenets of ,christianity4 ,probus1 and his successor1 ,carus1 left ,manes and the ,christians in the enjoyment of peace4 ,numerien permitted them entire liberty4 ,diocletian protected the ,christians1 and tolerated the ,manichans1 during twelve years2 but in #bif he issued an edict against the ,manichans1 and proscribed them as enemies to the empire and adherents of the ,persians4 ,the ,christians were not comprehended in the edict2 they continued in tranquillity under ,diocletian1 and made open profession of their religion throughout the whole empire until the latter years of that prince's reign4 ,to complete the sketch1 it is necessary to describe of what at that period the ,roman ,empire consisted4 ,notwithstanding internal and foreign shocks1 notwithstanding the incursions of barbarians1 it comprised all the possessions of the grand seignor at the present day1 except ,arabia2 all that the house of ,austria possesses in ,germany1 and all the ,german provinces as far as the ,elbe2 ,italy1 ,france1 ,spain1 ,england1 and half of ,scotland2 all ,africa as far as the desert of ,sahara1 and even the ,canary ,isles4 ,all these nations were retained under the yoke by bodies of military less considerable than would be raised by ,germany and ,france at the present day1 when in actual war4 ,this immense power became more confirmed and enlarged1 from ,csar down to ,theodosius1 as well by laws1 police1 and real services conferred on the people1 as by arms and terror4 ,it is even yet a matter of astonishment that none of these conquered nations have been able1 since they became their own rulers1 to form such highways1 and to erect such amphitheatres and public baths1 as their conquerors bestowed upon them4 ,countries which are at present nearly barbarous and deserted1 were then populous and well governed4 ,such1 were ,epirus1 ,macedonia1 ,thessaly1 ,illyria1 ,pannonia1 with ,asia ,minor1 and the coasts of ,africa2 but it must also be admitted that ,germany1 ,france1 and ,britain were then very different from what they are now4 ,these three states are those which have most benefited by governing themselves2 yet it required nearly twelve centuries to place those kingdoms in the flourishing situation in which we now behold them2 but it must be acknowledged that all the rest have lost much by passing under different laws4 ,the ruins of ,asia ,minor and ,greece1 the depopulation of ,egypt and the barbarism of ,africa1 are still existing testimonials of ,roman greatness4 ,the great number of flourishing cities which covered those countries had now become miserable villages1 and the soil had become barren under the hands of a brutalized population4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,character of ,constantine4 ,i will not here speak of the confusion which agitated the empire after the abdication of ,diocletian4 ,there were after his death six emperors at once4 ,constantine triumphed over them all1 changed the religion of the empire1 and was not merely the author of that great revolution1 but of all those which have since occurred in the west4 ,what was his character8 ,ask it of ,julian1 of ,zosimus1 of ,sozomen1 and of ,victor2 they will tell you that he acted at first like a great prince1 afterwards as a public robber1 and that the last stage of his life was that of a sensualist1 a trifler1 and a prodigal4 ,they will describe him as ever ambitious1 cruel1 and sanguinary4 ,ask his character of ,eusebius1 of ,gregory ,nazianzen1 and ,lactantius2 they will inform you that he was a perfect man4 ,between these two extremes authentic facts alone can enable us to obtain the truth4 ,he had a father-in-law1 whom he impelled to hang himself2 he had a brother-in-law whom he ordered to be strangled2 he had a nephew twelve or thirteen years old1 whose throat he ordered to be cut2 he had an eldest son1 whom he beheaded2 he had a wife1 whom he ordered to be suffocated in a bath4 ,an old ,gallic author said that he loved to make a clear house4 ,if you add to all these domestic acts that1 being on the banks of the ,rhine in pursuit of some hordes of ,franks who resided in those parts1 and having taken their kings1 who probably were of the family of our ,pharamond or ,clodion le ,chevelu1 he exposed them to beasts for his diversion2 you may infer from all this1 without any apprehension of being deceived1 that he was not the most courteous and accommodating personage in the world4 ,let us examine1 in this place1 the principal events of his reign4 ,his father1 ,constantius ,chlorus1 was in the heart of ,britain1 where he had for some months assumed the title of emperor4 ,constantine was at ,nicomedia1 with the emperor ,galerius4 ,he asked permission of the emperor to go to see his father1 who was ill4 ,galerius granted it1 without difficulty4 ,constantine set off with government relays1 called veredarii4 ,it might be said to be as dangerous to be a post-horse as to be a member of the family of ,constantine1 for he ordered all the horses to be hamstrung after he had done with them1 fearful lest ,galerius should revoke his permission and order him to return to ,nicomedia4 ,he found his father at the point of death1 and caused himself to be recognized emperor by the small number of ,roman troops at that time in ,britain4 ,an election of a ,roman emperor at ,york1 by five or six thousand men1 was not likely to be considered legitimate at ,rome4 ,it wanted at least the formula of ,senatus populusque ,romanus4 ,the senate1 the people1 and the prtorian bands unanimously elected ,maxentius1 son of the ,csar ,maximilian ,hercules1 who had been already ,csar1 and brother of that ,fausta whom ,constantine had married1 and whom he afterwards caused to be suffocated4 ,this ,maxentius is called a tyrant and usurper by our historians1 who are uniformly the partisans of the successful4 ,he was the protector of the pagan religion against ,constantine1 who already began to declare himself for the ,christians4 ,being both pagan and vanquished1 he could not but be an abominable man4 ,eusebius tells us that ,constantine1 when going to ,rome to fight ,maxentius1 saw in the clouds1 as well as his whole army1 the grand imperial standard called the labarum1 surmounted with a ,latin ,p4 or a large ,greek ,r4 with a cross in saltier1 and certain ,greek words which signified1 ,by this sign thou shalt conquer4 ,some authors pretend that this sign appeared to him at ,besancon1 others at ,cologne1 some at ,trier and others at ,troyes4 ,it is strange that in all these places heaven should have expressed its meaning in ,greek4 ,it would have appeared more natural to the weak understandings of men that this sign should have appeared in ,italy on the day of the battle2 but then it would have been necessary that the inscription should have been in ,latin4 ,a learned antiquary1 of the name of ,loisel1 has refuted this narrative2 but he was treated as a reprobate4 ,it might1 however1 be worth while to reflect that this war was not a war of religion1 that ,constantine was not a saint1 that he died suspected of being an ,arian1 after having persecuted the orthodox2 and1 therefore1 that there is no very obvious motive to support this prodigy4 ,after this victory1 the senate hastened to pay its devotion to the conqueror1 and to express its detestation of the memory of the conquered4 ,the triumphal arch of ,marcus ,aurelius was speedily dismantled to adorn that of ,constantine4 ,a statue of gold was prepared for him1 an honor which had never been shown except to the gods4 ,he received it1 notwithstanding the labarum1 and received further the title of ,pontifex ,maximus1 which he retained all his life4 ,his first care1 according to ,zosimus1 was to exterminate the whole race of the tyrant1 and his principal friends2 after which he assisted very graciously at the public spectacles and games4 ,the aged ,diocletian was at that time dying in his retreat at ,salonica4 ,constantine should not have been in such haste to pull down his statues at ,rome2 he should have recollected that the forgotten emperor had been the benefactor of his father1 and that he was indebted to him for the empire4 ,although he had conquered ,maxentius1 ,licinius1 his brother-in-law1 an ,augustus like himself1 was still to be got rid of2 and ,licinius was equally anxious to be rid of ,constantine1 if he had it in his power4 ,however1 their quarrels not having yet broken out in hostility1 they issued conjointly at ,milan1 in #cac1 the celebrated edict of liberty of conscience4 ,we grant1 they say1 to all the liberty of following whatever religion they please1 in order to draw down the blessing of heaven upon us and our subjects2 we declare that we have granted to the ,christians the free and full power of exercising their religion2 it being understood that all others shall enjoy the same liberty1 in order to preserve the tranquillity of our government4 ,a volume might be written on such an edict1 but ,i shall merely venture a few lines4 ,constantine was not as yet a ,christian2 nor1 indeed1 was his colleague1 ,licinius1 one4 ,there was still an emperor or a tyrant to be exterminated2 this was a determined pagan1 of the name of ,maximin4 ,licinius fought with him before he fought with ,constantine4 ,heaven was still more favorable to him than to ,constantine himself2 for the latter had only the apparition of a standard1 but ,licinius that of an angel4 ,this angel taught him a prayer1 by means of which he would be sure to vanquish the barbarian ,maximin4 ,licinius wrote it down1 ordered it to be recited three times by his army1 and obtained a complete victory4 ,if this same ,licinius1 the brother-in-law of ,constantine1 had reigned happily1 we should have heard of nothing but his angel2 but ,constantine having had him hanged1 and his son slain1 and become absolute master of everything1 nothing has been talked of but ,constantine's labarum4 ,it is believed that he put to death his eldest son ,crispus1 and his own wife ,fausta1 the same year that he convened the ,council of ,nice4 ,zosimus and ,sozomen pretend that1 the heathen priests having told him that there were no expiations for such great crimes1 he then made open profession of ,christianity1 and demolished many temples in the ,east4 ,it is not very probable that the pagan pontiffs should have omitted so fine an opportunity of getting back their grand pontiff1 who had abandoned them4 ,however1 it is by no means impossible that there might be among them some severe men2 scrupulous and austere persons are to be found everywhere4 ,what is more extraordinary is1 that ,constantine1 after becoming a ,christian1 performed no penance for his parricide4 ,it was at ,rome that he exercised that cruelty1 and from that time residence at ,rome became hateful to him4 ,he quitted it forever1 and went to lay the foundations of ,constantinople4 ,how dared he say1 in one of his rescripts1 that he transferred the seat of empire to ,constantinople1 by the command of ,god himself8 ,is it anything but an impudent mockery of ,god and man8 ,if ,god had given him any command1 would it not have been--not to assassinate his wife and son8 ,diocletian had already furnished an example of transferring the empire towards ,asia4 ,the pride1 the despotism1 and the general manners of the ,asiatics disgusted the ,romans1 depraved and slavish as they had become4 ,the emperors had not ventured to require1 at ,rome1 that their feet should be kissed1 nor to introduce a crowd of eunuchs into their palaces4 ,diocletian began in ,nicomedia1 and ,constantine completed the system at ,constantinople1 to assimilate the ,roman court to the courts of the ,persians4 ,the city of ,rome from that time languished in decay1 and the old ,roman spirit declined with her4 ,constantine thus effected the greatest injury to the empire that was in his power4 ,of all the emperors1 he was unquestionably the most absolute4 ,augustus had left an image of liberty2 ,tiberius1 and even ,nero1 had humored the senate and people of ,rome2 ,constantine humored none4 ,he had at first established his power in ,rome by disbanding those haughty prtorians who considered themselves the masters of the emperors4 ,he made an entire separation between the gown and the sword4 ,the depositories of the laws1 kept down under military power1 were only jurists in chains4 ,the provinces of the empire were governed upon a new system4 ,the grand object of ,constantine was to be master in everything2 he was so in the ,church1 as well as in the ,state4 ,we behold him convoking and opening the ,council of ,nice2 advancing into the midst of the assembled fathers1 covered over with jewels1 and with the diadem on his head1 seating himself in the highest place1 and banishing unconcernedly sometimes ,arius and sometimes ,athanasius4 ,he put himself at the head of ,christianity without being a ,christian2 for at that time baptism was essential to any person's becoming one2 he was only a catechumen4 ,the usage of waiting for the approach of death before immersing in the water of regeneration1 was beginning to decline with respect to private individuals4 ,if ,constantine1 by delaying his baptism till near the point of death1 entertained the notion that he might commit every act with impunity in the hope of a complete expiation1 it was unfortunate for the human race that such an opinion should have ever suggested itself to the mind of a man in possession of uncontrolled power4 ,,contradictions4 ,,section ,i4 ,the more we see of the world1 the more we see it abounding in contradictions and inconsistencies4 ,to begin with the ,grand ,turk3 he orders every head that he dislikes struck off1 and can very rarely preserve his own4 ,if we pass from the ,grand ,turk to the ,holy ,father1 he confirms the election of emperors1 and has kings among his vassals2 but he is not so powerful as a duke of ,savoy4 ,he expedites orders for ,america and ,africa1 yet could not withhold the slightest of its privileges from the republic of ,lucca4 ,the emperor is the king of the ,romans2 but the right of their king consists in holding the pope's stirrup1 and handing the water to him at mass4 ,the ,english serve their monarch upon their knees1 but they depose1 imprison1 and behead him4 ,men who make a vow of poverty1 gain in consequence an income of about two hundred thousand crowns2 and1 in virtue of their vow of humility1 they become absolute sovereigns4 ,the plurality of benefices with care of souls is severely denounced at ,rome1 yet every day it despatches a bull to some ,german1 to enable him to hold five or six bishoprics at once4 ,the reason1 we are told1 is that the ,german bishops have no cure of souls4 ,the chancellor of ,france is the first person in the ,state1 but he cannot sit at table with the king1 at least he could not till lately1 although a colonel1 who is scarcely perhaps a gentleman--gentil-homme --may enjoy that distinction4 ,the wife of a provincial governor is a queen in the province1 but merely a citizen's wife at court4 ,persons convicted of the crime of nonconformity are publicly roasted1 and in all our colleges the second eclogue of ,virgil is explained with great gravity1 including ,corydon's declarations of love to the beautiful ,alexis2 and it is remarked to the boys that1 although ,alexis be fair and ,amyntas brown1 yet ,amyntas may still deserve the preference4 ,if an unfortunate philosopher1 without intending the least harm1 takes it into his head that the earth turns round1 or to imagine that light comes from the sun1 or to suppose that matter may contain some other properties than those with which we are acquainted1 he is cried down as a blasphemer1 and a disturber of the public peace2 and yet there are translations in usum ,delphini of the ,tusculan ,questions of ,cicero1 and of ,lucretius1 which are two complete courses of irreligion4 ,courts of justice no longer believe that persons are possessed by devils1 and laugh at sorcerers2 but ,gauffredi and ,grandier were burned for sorcery2 and one-half of a parliament wanted to sentence to the stake a monk accused of having bewitched a girl of eighteen by breathing upon her4 ,the skeptical philosopher ,bayle was persecuted1 even in ,holland4 ,la ,motte le ,vayer1 more of a skeptic1 but less of a philosopher1 was preceptor of the king ,louis ,,xiv41 and of the king's brother4 ,gourville was hanged in effigy at ,paris1 while ,french minister in ,germany4 ,the celebrated atheist ,spinoza lived and died in peace4 ,vanini1 who had merely written against ,aristotle1 was burned as an atheist2 he has1 in consequence1 obtained the honor of making one article in the histories of the learned1 and in all the dictionaries1 which1 in fact1 constitute immense repositories of lies1 mixed up with a very small portion of truth4 ,open these books1 and you will there find not merely that ,vanini publicly taught atheism in his writings1 but that twelve professors of his sect went with him to ,naples with the intention of everywhere making proselytes4 ,afterwards1 open the books of ,vanini1 and you will be astonished to find in them nothing but proofs of the existence of ,god4 ,read the following passage1 taken from his ,amphitheatrum1 a work equally unknown and condemned2 ,god is ,his own original and boundary1 without end and without beginning1 requiring neither the one nor the other1 and father of all beginning and end2 ,he ever exists1 but not in time2 to ,him there has been no past1 and will be no future2 ,he reigns everywhere1 without being in any place2 immovable without rest1 rapid without motion2 ,he is all1 and out of all2 ,he is in all1 without being enclosed2 out of everything1 without being excluded from anything2 good1 but without quality2 entire1 but without parts2 immutable1 while changing the whole universe2 ,his will is ,his power2 absolute1 there is nothing of ,him of what is merely possible2 all in ,him is real2 ,he is the first1 the middle1 and the last2 finally1 although constituting all1 ,he is above all beings1 out of them1 within them1 beyond them1 before them1 and after them4 ,it was after such a profession of faith that ,vanini was declared an atheist4 ,upon what grounds was he condemned8 ,simply upon the deposition of a man named ,francon4 ,in vain did his books depose in favor of him2 a single enemy deprived him of life1 and stigmatized his name throughout ,europe4 ,the little book called ,cymbalum ,mundi1 which is merely a cold imitation of ,lucian1 and which has not the slightest or remotest reference to ,christianity1 was condemned to be burned4 ,but ,rabelais was printed cum privilegio2 and a free course was allowed to the ,turkish ,spy1 and even to the ,persian ,letters2 that volatile1 ingenious1 and daring work1 in which there is one whole letter in favor of suicide2 another in which we find these words3 ,if we suppose such a thing as religion2 a third1 in which it is expressly said that the bishops have no other functions than dispensing with the observance of the laws2 and1 finally1 another in which the pope is said to be a magician1 who makes people believe that three are one1 and that the bread we eat is not bread1 etc4 ,the ,abb ,st4 ,pierre1 a man who could frequently deceive himself1 but who never wrote without a view to the public good1 and whose works were called by ,cardinal ,dubois1 ,the dreams of an honest citizen2 the ,abb ,st4 ,pierre1 ,i say1 was unanimously expelled from the ,french ,academy for having1 in some political work1 preferred the establishment of councils under the regency to that of secretaries of state under ,louis ,,xiv42 and for saying that towards the close of that glorious reign the finances were wretchedly conducted4 ,the author of the ,persian ,letters has not mentioned ,louis ,,xiv4 in his book1 except to say that he was a magician who could make his subjects believe that paper was money2 that he liked no government but that of ,turkey2 that he preferred a man who handed him a napkin to a man who gained him battles2 that he had conferred a pension on a man who had run away two leagues1 and a government upon another who had run away four2 that he was overwhelmed with poverty1 although it is said1 in the same letter1 that his finances are inexhaustible4 ,observe1 then1 ,i repeat1 all that this writer1 in the only work then known to be his1 has said of ,louis ,,xiv41 the patron of the ,french ,academy4 ,we may add1 too1 as a climax of contradiction1 that that society admitted him as a member for having turned them into ridicule2 for1 of all the books by which the public have been entertained at the expense of the society1 there is not one in which it has been treated more disrespectfully than in the ,persian ,letters4 ,see that letter wherein he says1 ,the members of this body have no other business than incessantly to chatter2 panegyric comes and takes its place as it were spontaneously in their eternal gabble1 etc4 ,after having thus treated this society1 they praise him1 on his introduction1 for his skill in drawing likenesses4 ,were ,i disposed to continue the research into the contraries to be found in the empire of letters1 ,i might give the history of every man of learning or wit2 just in the same manner as1 if ,i were inclined to detail the contradictions existing in society1 it would be necessary to write the history of mankind4 ,an ,asiatic1 who should travel to ,europe1 might well consider us as pagans2 our week days bear the names of ,mars1 ,mercury1 ,jupiter1 and ,venus2 and the nuptials of ,cupid and ,psyche are painted in the pope's palace2 but1 particularly1 were this ,asiatic to attend at our opera1 he would not hesitate in concluding it to be a festival in honor of the pagan deities4 ,if he endeavored to gain more precise information respecting our manners1 he would experience still greater astonishment2 he would see1 in ,spain1 that a severe law forbids any foreigner from having the slightest share1 however indirect1 in the commerce of ,america2 and that1 notwithstanding1 foreigners--through the medium of ,spanish factors--carry on a commerce with it to the extent of fifteen millions a year4 ,thus ,spain can be enriched only by the violation of a law always subsisting and always evaded4 ,he would see that in another country the government establishes and encourages a company for trading to the ,indies1 while the divines of that country have declared the receiving of dividends upon the shares offensive in the sight of ,god4 ,he would see that the offices of a judge1 a commander1 a privy counsellor1 are purchased2 he would be unable to comprehend why it is stated in the patents appointing to such offices that they have been bestowed gratis and without purchase1 while the receipt for the sum given for them is attached to the commission itself4 ,would not our ,asiatic be surprised1 also1 to see comedians salaried by sovereigns1 and excommunicated by priests8 ,he would inquire why a plebeian lieutenant-general1 who had won battles1 should be subject to the taille1 like a peasant2 and a sheriff should be considered1 at least in reference to this point1 as noble as a ,montmorency2 why1 while regular dramas are forbidden to be performed during a week sacred to edification1 merry-andrews are permitted to offend even the least delicate ears with their ribaldry4 ,he would almost everywhere see our usages in opposition to our laws2 and were we to travel to ,asia1 we should discover the existence of exactly similar contradictions4 ,men are everywhere inconsistent alike4 ,they have made laws by piecemeal1 as breaches are repaired in walls4 ,here the eldest sons take everything they are able from the younger ones2 there all share equally4 ,sometimes the ,church has ordered duels1 sometimes it has anathematized them4 ,the partisans and the opponents of ,aristotle have been both excommunicated in their turn2 as have also the wearers of long hair and short hair4 ,there has been but one perfect law in the world1 and that was designed to regulate a species of folly--that is to say1 play4 ,the laws of play are the only ones which admit of no exception1 relaxation1 change or tyranny4 ,a man who has been a lackey1 if he plays at lansquenet with kings1 is paid with perfect readiness when he wins4 ,in other cases the law is everywhere a sword1 with which the strongest party cuts in pieces the weakest4 ,in the meantime the world goes on as if everything was wisely arranged2 irregularity is part of our nature4 ,our social world is like the natural globe1 rude and unshapely1 but possessing a principle of preservation2 it would be folly to wish that mountains1 seas1 and rivers were traced in regular and finished forms2 it would be a still greater folly to expect from man the perfection of wisdom2 it would be as weak as to wish to attach wings to dogs or horns to eagles4 ,examples ,taken from ,history1 from ,sacred ,scripture1 from ,numerous ,authors1 etc4 ,we have just been instancing a variety of contradictions in our usages1 our manners1 and our laws1 but we have not said enough4 ,everything1 particularly in ,europe1 has been made in the same manner as ,harlequin's habit4 ,his master1 when he wanted to have a dress made for him1 had not a piece of cloth1 and therefore took old cuttings of all sorts of colors4 ,harlequin was laughed at1 but then he was clothed4 ,the ,germans are a brave nation1 whom neither the ,germanicuses nor the ,trajans were ever able completely to subjugate4 ,all the ,german nations that dwelt beyond the ,elbe were invincible1 although badly armed2 and from these gloomy climes issued forth1 in part1 the avengers of the world4 ,germany1 far from constituting the ,roman ,empire1 has been instrumental in destroying it4 ,this empire had found a refuge at ,constantinople1 when a ,german--an ,austrasian--went from ,aix-la-,chapelle to ,rome1 to strip the ,greek ,csars of the remainder of their possessions in ,italy4 ,he assumed the name of ,csar ,imperator2 but neither he nor his successors even ventured to reside at ,rome4 ,that capital could not either boast or regret that from the time of ,augustulus1 the final excrement of the genuine ,roman ,empire1 a single ,csar had lived and been buried within its walls4 ,it is difficult to suppose the empire can be holy1 as it professes three different religions1 of which two are declared impious1 abominable1 damnable1 and damned1 by the court of ,rome1 which the whole imperial court considers in such cases to be supreme4 ,it is certainly not ,roman1 since the emperor has not any residence at ,rome4 ,in ,england people wait upon the king kneeling4 ,the constant maxim is1 ,the king can do no wrong2 his ministers only can deserve blame2 he is as infallible in his actions as the pope in his judgments4 ,such is the fundamental1 the ,salic law of ,england4 ,yet the parliament sat in judgment on its king1 ,edward ,,ii41 who had been vanquished and taken prisoner by his wife2 he was declared to have done all possible wrong1 and deprived of all his rights to the crown4 ,sir ,william ,tressel went to him in prison1 and made him the following complimentary address3 ,i1 ,william ,tressel1 as proxy for the parliament and the whole ,english nation1 revoke the homage formerly paid you2 ,i put you to defiance1 and deprive you of royal power1 and from this time forth we will hold no allegiance to you4 ,the parliament tried and sentenced ,king ,richard ,,ii41 grandson of the great ,edward ,,iii4 ,thirty-one articles of accusation were brought against him1 among which two are not a little singular--that he had borrowed money and not repaid it2 and that he had asserted before witnesses that he was master of the lives and properties of his subjects4 ,the parliament deposed ,henry ,,vi41 who1 undoubtedly1 was exceedingly wrong1 but in a somewhat different sense3 he was imbecile4 ,the parliament declared ,edward ,,iv4 a traitor1 and confiscated his goods2 and afterwards1 on his being successful1 restored him4 ,as for ,richard ,,iii41 he undoubtedly committed more wrong than all the others2 he was a ,nero1 but a bold one2 and the parliament did not declare his wrongs till after he was slain4 ,the ,house of ,commons imputed to ,charles ,i4 more wrong than he was justly chargeable with1 and brought him to the scaffold4 ,parliament voted that ,james ,,ii4 had committed very gross and flagrant wrongs1 and particularly that of withdrawing himself from the kingdom4 ,it declared the throne vacant2 that is1 it deposed him4 ,in the present day1 ,junius writes to the king of ,england that he is faulty in being good and wise4 ,if these are not contradictions1 ,i know not where to find them4 ,contradictions in ,certain ,rites4 ,next to those great political contradictions1 which are subdivided into innumerable little ones1 nothing more forcibly attracts our notice than the contradiction apparent in reference to some of our rites4 ,we hate ,judaism4 ,no longer than fifteen years ago ,jews were still burned at the stake4 ,we consider them as murderers of our ,god1 and yet we assemble every ,sunday to chant ,jewish psalms and canticles2 it is only owing to our ignorance of the language that we do not recite them in ,hebrew4 ,but the fifteen first bishops1 the priests1 deacons and congregation of ,jerusalem1 which was the cradle of the ,christian religion1 always recited the ,jewish psalms in the ,jewish idiom of the ,syriac language2 and1 till the time of the ,caliph ,omar1 almost all the ,christians1 from ,tyre to ,aleppo1 prayed in that ,jewish idiom4 ,at present any one reciting the psalms as they were originally composed1 or chanting them in the ,jewish language1 would be suspected of being a circumcised ,jew1 and might be burned as one2 at least1 not more than twenty years since1 that would have been his fate1 although ,jesus ,christ was circumcised1 as were also his apostles and disciples4 ,i set aside the mysterious doctrines of our holy religion--everything that is an object of faith--everything that we ought to approach only with awe and submission4 ,i look only at externals2 ,i refer simply to observances2 ,i ask if anything was ever more contradictory8 ,contradictions in ,things and ,men4 ,if any literary society is inclined to undertake a history of contradictions1 ,i will subscribe for twenty folio volumes4 ,the world displays nothing but contradictions4 ,what would be necessary to put an end to them8 ,to assemble the states-general of the human race4 ,but1 according to the nature and constitution of mankind1 it would be a new contradiction were they to agree4 ,bring together all the rabbits in the world1 and there would not be two different minds among them4 ,i know only two descriptions of immovable beings in the world--geometricians and brute animals2 they are guided by two invariable rules--demonstration and instinct4 ,some disputes1 indeed1 have occurred between geometricians1 but brutes have never varied4 ,the contrasts1 the lights and shades1 in which men are represented in history1 are not contradictions2 they are faithful portraits of human nature4 ,every day both censure and admiration are applied to ,alexander1 the murderer of ,clitus1 but the avenger of ,greece2 the conqueror of ,persia1 and the founder of ,alexandria2 to ,csar1 the debauchee1 who robbed the public treasury of ,rome to enslave his country1 but whose clemency was equal to his valor1 and whose genius was equal to his courage2 to ,mahomet1 the impostor and robber1 but the only legislator of religion that ever displayed courage1 or founded a great empire2 to the enthusiast1 ,cromwell1 at once knave and fanatic1 the murderer of his king by form of law1 but equally profound as a politician1 and valiant as a warrior4 ,a thousand contrasts frequently present themselves at once to the mind1 and these contrasts are in nature4 ,they are not more astonishing than a fine day followed by a tempest4 ,apparent ,contradictions in ,books4 ,we must accurately distinguish in books1 and particularly the sacred ones1 between apparent and real contradictions4 ,it is said in the ,pentateuch that ,moses was the meekest of men1 and that he ordered twenty-three thousand ,hebrews to be slain who had worshipped the golden calf1 and twenty-four thousand more1 who had1 like himself1 married ,midianitish women4 ,but sagacious commentators have adduced solid proofs that ,moses possessed a most amiable temper1 and that he only executed the vengeance of ,god in massacring these forty-seven thousand ,israelites1 as just stated4 ,some daring critics have pretended to perceive a contradiction in the narrative in which it is said that ,moses changed all the waters of ,egypt into blood1 and that the magicians of ,pharaoh afterwards performed the same prodigy--the ,book of ,exodus leaving no interval of time between the miracle of ,moses and the magical operation of the enchanters4 ,it appears1 at first view1 impossible that these magicians should change to blood that which was already made such2 but the difficulty may be removed by supposing that ,moses had allowed the waters to resume their original nature1 in order to give ,pharaoh time for reflection4 ,this supposition is the more plausible1 inasmuch as1 if not expressly favored by the text1 the latter is not contrary to it4 ,the same skeptics inquire how1 after all the horses were destroyed by hail1 in the sixth plague1 ,pharaoh was able to pursue the ,jewish nation with cavalry4 ,but this contradiction is not even an apparent one1 since the hail which killed all the horses that were out in the fields1 could not fall on those which were in the stables4 ,one of the greatest contradictions which has been supposed to be found in the history of the kings is the utter scarcity of offensive and defensive arms among the ,jews at the time of the accession of ,saul1 compared with the army of three hundred and thirty thousand men1 whom he conducted against the ,ammonites who were besieging ,jabesh ,gilead4 ,it is a fact related that1 then1 and even after that battle1 there was not a lance1 not even a single sword1 among the whole ,hebrew people2 that the ,philistines prevented the ,hebrews from manufacturing swords and lances2 that the ,hebrews were obliged to have recourse to the ,philistines for sharpening and repairing their plowshares1 mattocks1 axes1 and pruning-hooks4 ,this acknowledgment seems to prove that the ,hebrews consisted of only a very small number1 and that the ,philistines were a powerful and victorious nation1 who kept the ,israelites under the yoke1 and treated them as slaves2 in short1 that it was impossible for ,saul to collect three hundred and thirty thousand fighting men1 etc4 ,the reverend ,father ,calmet says it is probable that there is a little exaggeration in what is stated about ,saul and ,jonathan2 but that learned man forgets that the other commentators ascribe the first victories of ,saul and ,jonathan to one of those decided miracles which ,god so often condescended to perform in favor of his miserable people4 ,jonathan1 with his armor-bearer only1 at the very beginning1 slew twenty of the enemy2 and the ,philistines1 utterly confounded1 turned their arms against each other4 ,the author of the ,book of ,kings positively declares that it was a miracle of ,god3 ,accidit quasi miraculum a ,deo4 ,there is1 therefore1 no contradiction4 ,the enemies of the ,christian religion1 the ,celsuses1 the ,porphyrys1 and the ,julians1 have exhausted the sagacity of their understandings upon this subject4 ,the ,jewish writers have availed themselves of all the advantages they derived from their superior knowledge of the ,hebrew language to explain these apparent contradictions4 ,they have been followed even by ,christians1 such as ,lord ,herbert1 ,wollaston1 ,tindal1 ,toland1 ,collins1 ,shaftesbury1 ,woolston1 ,gordon1 ,bolingbroke1 and many others of different nations4 ,frret1 perpetual secretary of the ,academy of ,belles ,lettres in ,france1 the learned ,le ,clerc himself1 and ,simon of the ,oratory thought they perceived some contradictions which might be ascribed to the copyists4 ,an immense number of other critics have endeavored to remove or correct contradictions which appeared to them inexplicable4 ,we read in a dangerous little book1 composed with much art3 ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,luke give each a genealogy of ,christ different from the other2 and lest it should be thought that the differences are only slight1 such as might be imputed to neglect or oversight1 the contrary may easily be shown by reading the first chapter of ,matthew and the third of ,luke4 ,we shall then see that fifteen generations more are enumerated in the one than in the other2 that1 from ,david1 they completely separate2 that they join again at ,salathiel2 but that1 after his son1 they again separate1 and do not reunite again but in ,joseph4 ,in the same genealogy1 ,st4 ,matthew again falls into a manifest contradiction1 for he says that ,uzziah was the father of ,jotham2 and in the ,paralipomena1 book ,i1 chap4 iii41 v4 ,,ii1 #ab1 we find three generations between them--,joas1 ,amazias1 and ,azarias--of whom ,luke1 as well as ,matthew1 make no mention4 ,further1 this genealogy has nothing to do with that of ,jesus1 since1 according to our creed1 ,joseph had had no intercourse with ,mary4 ,in order to reply to this objection1 urged from the time of ,origen1 and renewed from age to age1 we must read ,julius ,africanus4 ,see the two genealogies reconciled in the following table1 as we find it in the repository of ecclesiastical writers3 ,,david4 ,solomon and his ,nathan and his descendants1 enumerated descendants1 enumerated by ,saint by ,saint ,matthew4 ,luke4 ,,esther4 ,mathan1 her first ,melchi1 or rather husband4 ,mathat1 her second husband4 ,the wife of these two persons successively1 ,jacob1 son of married first to ,heli1 ,heli4 ,mathan1 the by whom she had no first husband4 child1 and afterwards to ,jacob1 his brother4 ,joseph1 natural ,legitimate son of son of ,jacob4 ,heli4 ,there is another method to reconcile the two genealogies1 by ,st4 ,epiphanius4 ,according to him1 ,jacob ,panther1 descended from ,solomon1 is the father of ,joseph and of ,cleophas4 ,joseph has six children by his first wife--,james1 ,joshua1 ,simeon1 ,jude1 ,mary1 and ,salome4 ,he then espouses the ,virgin ,mary1 the mother of ,jesus1 and the daughter of ,joachim and ,anne4 ,there are many other methods of explaining these two genealogies4 ,see the ,dissertation of ,father ,calmet1 in which he endeavors to reconcile ,st4 ,matthew with ,st4 ,luke1 on the genealogy of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the same learned skeptics1 who make it their business to compare dates1 to explore books and medals1 to collate ancient authors1 and to seek for truth by human skill and study1 and who lose in their knowledge the simplicity of their faith1 reproach ,st4 ,luke with contradicting the other evangelists1 and in being mistaken in what he advances on the subject of our ,lord's birth4 ,the author of the ,analysis of the ,christian ,religion thus rashly expresses himself on the subject 7p4 #bc73 ,st4 ,luke says that ,cyrenius was the governor of ,syria1 when ,augustus ordered the numbering of all the people of the empire4 ,we will show how many decided falsehoods are contained in these few words4 ,first1 ,tacitus and ,suetonius1 the most precise of historians1 say not a single word of the pretended numbering of the whole empire1 which certainly would have been a very singular event1 since there never had been one under any emperor--at least1 no author mentions such a case4 ,secondly1 ,cyrenius did not arrive in ,syria till ten years after the time fixed by ,st4 ,luke2 it was then governed by ,quintilius ,varus1 as ,tertullian relates1 and as is confirmed by medals4 ,we contend that in fact there never was a numbering of the whole ,roman empire1 but only a census of ,roman citizens1 according to usage2 although it is possible that the copyists may have written numbering for census4 ,with regard to ,cyrenius1 whom the copyists have made ,cirinus1 it is certain that he was not governor of ,syria at the time of the birth of ,jesus ,christ1 the governor being ,quintilius ,varus2 but it is very probable that ,quintilius might send into ,juda this same ,cyrenius1 who ten years after succeeded him in the government of ,syria4 ,we cannot dissemble1 however1 that this explanation still leaves some difficulties4 ,in the first place1 the census made under ,augustus does not correspond in time with the birth of ,jesus ,christ4 ,secondly1 the ,jews were not comprised in that census4 ,joseph and his wife were not ,roman citizens4 ,mary1 therefore1 it is said1 being under no necessity1 was not likely to go from ,nazareth1 which is at the extremity of ,juda1 within a few miles of ,mount ,tabor1 in the midst of the desert1 to lie in at ,bethlehem1 which is eighty miles from ,nazareth4 ,but it might easily happen that ,cirinus1 or ,cyrenius1 having been sent to ,jerusalem by ,quintilius ,varus to impose a poll-tax1 ,joseph and ,mary were summoned by the magistrate of ,bethlehem to go and pay the tax in the town of ,bethlehem1 the place of their birth4 ,in this there is nothing contradictory4 ,the critics may endeavor to weaken this solution by representing that it was ,herod only who imposed taxes2 that the ,romans at that time levied nothing on ,juda2 that ,augustus left ,herod completely his own master for the tribute which that ,idumean paid to the empire4 ,but1 in an emergency1 it is not impossible to make some arrangement with a tributary prince1 and send him an intendant to establish in concert with him the new tax4 ,we will not here say1 like so many others1 that copyists have committed many errors1 and that in the version we possess there are to be found more than ten thousand2 we had rather say with the doctors of the ,church and the most enlightened persons1 that the ,gospels were given us only to teach us to live holily1 and not to criticise learnedly4 ,these pretended contradictions produced a dreadful impression on the much lamented ,john ,meslier1 rector of ,etrepigni and ,but in ,champagne4 ,this truly virtuous and charitable1 but at the same time melancholy1 man1 being possessed of scarcely any other books than the ,bible and some of the fathers1 read them with a studiousness of attention that became fatal to him4 ,although bound by the duties of his office to inculcate docility upon his flock1 he was not sufficiently docile himself4 ,he saw apparent contradictions1 and shut his eyes to the means suggested for reconciling them4 ,he imagined that he perceived the most frightful contradictions between ,jesus being born a ,jew and afterwards being recognized as ,god2 in regard to that ,god known from the first as the son of ,joseph the carpenter and the brother of ,james1 yet descended from an empyrean which does not exist1 to destroy sin upon earth that is still covered with crimes2 in regard to that ,god1 the son of a common artisan and a descendant of ,david on the side of his father1 who was not in fact his father2 between the creator of all worlds1 and the descendant of the adulterous ,bathsheba1 the prurient ,ruth1 the incestuous ,tamar1 the prostitute of ,jericho1 the wife of ,abraham1 so suspiciously attractive to a king of ,egypt1 and again at the age of ninety years to a king of ,gerar4 ,meslier expatiates with an impiety absolutely monstrous on these pretended contradictions1 as they struck him1 for which1 however1 he might easily have found an explanation1 had he possessed only a small portion of docility4 ,at length his gloom so grew upon him in his solitude that he actually became horror-stricken at that holy religion which it was his duty to preach and love2 and1 listening only to his seduced and wandering reason1 he abjured ,christianity by a will written in his own hand1 of which he left three copies behind him at his death1 which took place in #agcb4 ,the copy of this will has been often printed1 and exhibits1 in truth1 a most cruel stumbling-block4 ,a clergyman1 who at the point of death1 asks pardon of ,god and his parishioners for having taught the doctrines of ,christianity2 a charitable clergyman1 who holds ,christianity in execration because many who profess it are depraved2 who is shocked at the pomp and pride of ,rome1 and exasperated by the difficulties of the sacred volume2 a clergyman who speaks of ,christianity like ,porphyry1 ,jamblichus1 ,epictetus1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 and ,julian6 ,and this just as he is to make his appearance before ,god6 ,how fatal a case for him1 and for all who may be led astray by his example6 ,in a similar manner the unfortunate preacher ,antony1 misled by the apparent contradictions which he imagined he saw between the new and the old law1 between the cultivated olive and the wild olive1 wretchedly abandoned the ,christian religion for the ,jewish2 and1 more courageous than ,john ,meslier1 preferred death to recantation4 ,it is evident from the will of ,john ,meslier that the apparent contradictions of the gospel were the principal cause of unsettling the mind of that unfortunate pastor1 who was1 in other respects1 a man of the strictest virtue1 and whom it is impossible to think of without compassion4 ,meslier is deeply impressed by the two genealogies1 which seem in direct opposition2 he had not seen the method of reconciling them2 he feels agitated and provoked to see that ,st4 ,matthew makes the father and mother of the child travel into ,egypt1 after having received the homage of the three eastern magi or kings1 and while old ,king ,herod1 under the apprehension of being dethroned by an infant just born at ,bethlehem1 causes the slaughter of all the infants in the country1 in order to prevent such a revolution4 ,he is astonished that neither ,st4 ,luke1 nor ,st4 ,mark1 nor ,st4 ,john make any mention of this massacre4 ,he is confounded at observing that ,st4 ,luke makes ,joseph1 and the blessed ,virgin ,mary1 and ,jesus our ,saviour1 remain at ,bethlehem1 after which they withdraw to ,nazareth4 ,he should have seen that the ,holy ,father might at first go into ,egypt1 and some time afterwards to ,nazareth1 which was their country4 ,if ,st4 ,matthew alone makes mention of the three magi1 and of the star which guided them to ,bethlehem from the remote climes of the ,east1 and of the massacre of the children2 if the other evangelists take no notice of these events1 they do not contradict ,st4 ,matthew2 silence is not contradiction4 ,if the three first evangelists--,st4 ,matthew1 ,st4 ,mark1 and ,st4 ,luke--make ,jesus ,christ to have lived but three months from his baptism in ,galilee till his crucifixion at ,jerusalem2 and if ,st4 ,john extends that time to three years and three months1 it is easy to approximate ,st4 ,john to the other evangelists1 as he does not expressly state that ,jesus ,christ preached in ,galilee for three years and three months1 but only leaves it to be inferred from his narrative4 ,should a man renounce his religion upon simple inferences1 upon points of controversy1 upon difficulties in chronology8 ,it is impossible1 says ,meslier1 to harmonize ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke2 since the first says that ,jesus1 when he left the wilderness1 went to ,capernaum1 and the second that he went to ,nazareth4 ,st4 ,john says that ,andrew was the first who became a follower of ,jesus ,christ2 the three other evangelists say that it was ,simon ,peter4 ,he pretends1 also1 that they contradict each other with respect to the day when ,jesus celebrated the ,passover1 the hour and place of ,his execution1 the time of ,his appearance and resurrection4 ,he is convinced that books which contradict each other cannot be inspired by the ,holy ,spirit2 but it is not an article of faith to believe that the ,holy ,spirit inspired every syllable2 it did not guide the hand of the copyist2 it permitted the operation of secondary causes2 it was sufficient that it condescended to reveal the principal mysteries1 and that in the course of time it instituted a church for explaining them4 ,all those contradictions1 with which the gospels have been so often and so bitterly reproached1 are explained by sagacious commentators2 far from being injurious1 they mutually clear up each other2 they present reciprocal helps in the concordances and harmony of the four gospels4 ,and if there are many difficulties which we cannot solve1 mysteries which we cannot comprehend1 adventures which we cannot credit1 prodigies which shock the weakness of the human understanding1 and contradictions which it is impossible to reconcile1 it is in order to exercise our faith and to humiliate our reason4 ,contradictions in ,judgments ,upon ,works of ,literature or ,art4 ,i have sometimes heard it said of a good judge on these subjects1 and of exquisite taste1 that man decides according to mere caprice4 ,he yesterday described ,poussin as an admirable painter2 to-day he represents him as an ordinary one4 ,the fact is1 that ,poussin has merited both praise and censure4 ,there is no contradiction in being enraptured by the delicious scenes of the ,horatii and ,curiatii1 of the ,cid1 of ,augustus and of ,cinna1 and afterwards in seeing1 with disgust and indignation1 fifteen tragedies in succession1 containing no interest1 no beauty1 and not even written in ,french4 ,it is the author himself who is contradictory4 ,it is he who has the misfortune to differ entirely from himself4 ,the critic would contradict himself1 if he equally applauded what is excellent and detestable4 ,he will admire in ,homer the description of the girdle of ,venus2 the parting of ,hector and ,andromache2 the interview between ,achilles and ,priam4 ,but will he equally applaud those passages which describe the gods as abusing and fighting with one another2 the uniformity in battles which decide nothing2 the brutal ferocity of the heroes1 and the avarice by which they are almost all actuated2 in short1 a poem which terminates with a truce of eleven days1 unquestionably exciting an expectation of the continuation of the war and the taking of ,troy1 which1 however1 are not related8 ,a good critic will frequently pass from approbation to censure1 however excellent the work may be which he is perusing4 ,,contrast4 ,contrast1 opposition of figures1 situations1 fortune1 manners1 etc4 ,a modest shepherdess forms a beautiful contrast in a painting with a haughty princess4 ,the part of the impostor and that of ,aristes constitute a very admirable contrast in ,tartuffe4 ,the little may contrast with the great in painting1 but cannot be said to be contrary to it4 ,opposition of colors contrasts2 but there are also colors contrary to each other2 that is1 which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it4 ,contradictory is a term to be used only in logic4 ,it is contradictory for anything to be and not to be2 to be in many places at once2 to be of a certain number or size1 and not to be so4 ,an opinion1 a discourse1 or a decree1 we may call contradictory4 ,the different fortunes of ,charles ,,xii4 have been contrary1 but not contradictory2 they form in history a beautiful contrast4 ,it is a striking contrast--and the two things are perfectly contrary--but it is not contradictory1 that the pope should be worshipped in ,rome1 and burned in ,london on the same day2 that while he was called ,god's vicegerent in ,italy1 he should be represented in the streets of ,moscow as a hog1 for the amusement of ,peter the ,great4 ,mahomet1 stationed at the right hand of ,god over half the globe1 and damned over the other half1 is the greatest of contrasts4 ,travel far from your own country1 and everything will be contrast for you4 ,the white man who first saw a negro was much astonished2 but the first who said that the negro was the offspring of a white pair astonishes me much more2 ,i do not agree with him4 ,a painter who represents white men1 negroes1 and olive-colored people1 may display fine contrasts4 ,,convulsionaries4 ,about the year #agbd the cemetery of ,st4 ,mdard abounded in amusement1 and many miracles were performed there4 ,the following epigram by the duchess of ,maine gives a tolerable account of the character of most of them3 ,un dcrotteur la ,royale1 ,du talon gauche estropi1 ,obtint1 pour grce speciale1 ,d'tre tortueux de l'autre pied4 ,a ,port-,royal shoe-black1 who had one lame leg1 ,to make both alike the ,lord's favor did beg2 ,heaven listened1 and straightway a miracle came1 ,for quickly he rose up1 with both his legs lame4 ,the miracles continued1 as is well known1 until a guard was stationed at the cemetery4 ,de par le roi1 dfense ,dieu ,de faire miracles en ce lieu4 ,louis to ,god3--,to keep the peace1 ,here miracles must henceforth cease4 ,it is also well known that the ,jesuits1 being no longer able to perform similar miracles1 in consequence of ,xavier having exhausted their stock of grace and miraculous power1 by resuscitating nine dead persons at one time1 resolved in order to counteract the credit of the ,jansenists1 to engrave a print of ,jesus ,christ dressed as a ,jesuit4 ,the ,jansenists1 on the other hand1 in order to give a satisfactory proof that ,jesus ,christ had not assumed the habit of a ,jesuit1 filled ,paris with convulsions1 and attracted great crowds of people to witness them4 ,the counsellor of parliament1 ,carr de ,montgeron1 went to present to the king a quarto collection of all these miracles1 attested by a thousand witnesses4 ,he was very properly shut up in a chteau1 where attempts were made to restore his senses by regimen2 but truth always prevails over persecution1 and the miracles lasted for thirty years together1 without interruption4 ,sister ,rose1 ,sister ,illumine1 and the sisters ,promise and ,comfitte1 were scourged with great energy1 without1 however1 exhibiting any appearance of the whipping next day4 ,they were bastinadoed on their stomachs without injury1 and placed before a large fire2 but1 being defended by certain pomades and preparations1 were not burned4 ,at length1 as every art is constantly advancing towards perfection1 their persecutors concluded with actually thrusting swords through their chairs1 and with crucifying them4 ,a famous schoolmaster had also the benefit of crucifixion2 all which was done to convince the world that a certain bull was ridiculous1 a fact that might have been easily proved without so much trouble4 ,however1 ,jesuits and ,jansenists all united against the ,spirit of ,laws1 and against1 and against4444 and against4444 and4444 ,and after all this we dare to ridicule ,laplanders1 ,samoyeds1 and negroes6 ,,corn4 ,they must be skeptics indeed who doubt that pain comes from panis4 ,but to make bread we must have corn4 ,the ,gauls had corn in the time of ,csar2 but whence did they take the word bl8 ,it is pretended that it is from bladum1 a word employed in the barbarous ,latin of the middle age by the ,chancellor ,desvignes1 or ,de ,erneis1 whose eyes1 it is said1 were torn out by order of the ,emperor ,frederick ,,ii4 ,but the ,latin words of these barbarous ages were only ancient ,celtic or ,teutonic words ,latinized4 ,bladum then comes from our blead1 and not our blead from bladum4 ,the ,italians call it bioda1 and the countries in which the ancient ,roman language is preserved1 still say blia4 ,this knowledge is not infinitely useful2 but we are curious to know where the ,gauls and ,teutons found corn to sow8 ,we are told that the ,tyrians brought it into ,spain1 the ,spaniards into ,gaul1 and the ,gauls into ,germany4 ,and where did the ,tyrians get this corn8 ,probably from the ,greeks1 in exchange for their alphabet4 ,who made this present to the ,greeks8 ,it was the goddess ,ceres1 without doubt2 and having ascended to ,ceres1 we can scarcely go any higher4 ,ceres must have descended from heaven expressly to give us wheat1 rye1 and barley4 ,however1 as the credit of ,ceres1 who gave corn to the ,greeks1 and that of ,ishet1 or ,isis1 who gratified the ,egyptians with it1 are at present very much decayed1 we may still be said to remain in uncertainty as to the origin of corn4 ,sanchoniathon tells us that ,dagon or ,dagan1 one of the grandsons of ,thaut1 had the superintendence of the corn in ,phnicia4 ,now his ,thaut was near the time of our ,jared2 from which it appears that corn is very ancient1 and that it is of the same antiquity as grass4 ,perhaps this ,dagon was the first who made bread1 but that is not demonstrated4 ,what a strange thing that we should know positively that we are obliged to ,noah for wine1 and that we do not know to whom we owe the invention of bread4 ,and what is still more strange1 we are still so ungrateful to ,noah that1 while we have more than two thousand songs in honor of ,bacchus1 we scarcely sing one in honor of our benefactor1 ,noah4 ,a ,jew assured me that corn came without cultivation in ,mesopotamia1 as apples1 wild pears1 chestnuts1 and medlars1 in the west4 ,it is as well to believe him1 until we are sure of the contrary2 for it is necessary that corn should grow spontaneously somewhere4 ,it has become the ordinary and indispensable nourishment in the finest climates1 and in all the north4 ,the great philosophers whose talents we estimate so highly1 and whose systems we do not follow1 have pretended1 in the natural history of the dog 7page #aie71 that men created corn2 and that our ancestors1 by means of sowing tares and cow-grass together1 changed them into wheat4 ,as these philosophers are not of our opinion on shells1 they will permit us to differ from them on corn4 ,we do not think that tulips could ever have been produced from jasmine4 ,we find that the germ of corn is quite different from that of tares1 and we do not believe in any transmutation4 ,when it shall be proved to us1 we will retract4 ,we have seen1 in the article ,breadtree1 that in three-quarters of the earth bread is not eaten4 ,it is pretended that the ,ethiopians laughed at the ,egyptians1 who lived on bread4 ,but since corn is our chief nourishment1 it has become one of the greatest objects of commerce and politics4 ,so much has been written on this subject1 that if a laborer sowed as many pounds of wheat as we have volumes on this commodity1 he might expect a more ample harvest1 and become richer than those who1 in their painted and gilded saloons1 are ignorant of the excess of his oppression and misery4 ,egypt became the best country in the world for wheat when1 after several ages1 which it is difficult to reckon exactly1 the inhabitants found the secret of rendering a destructive river--which had always inundated the country1 and was only useful to the rats1 insects1 reptiles1 and crocodiles of ,egypt--serviceable to the fecundity of the soil4 ,its waters1 mixed with a black mud1 were neither useful to quench the thirst of the inhabitants1 nor for ablution4 ,it must have required a long time and prodigious labor to subdue the river1 to divide it into canals1 to found towns on lands formerly movable1 and to change the caverns of the rocks into vast buildings4 ,all this is more astonishing than the pyramids2 for being accomplished1 behold a people sure of the best corn in the world1 without the necessity of labor6 ,it is the inhabitant of this country who raises and fattens poultry superior to that of ,caux1 who is habited in the finest linen in the most temperate climate1 and who has none of the real wants of other people4 ,towards the year #agej1 the ,french nation1 surfeited with tragedies1 comedies1 operas1 romances1 and romantic histories--with moral reflections still more romantic1 and with theological disputes on grace and on convulsionaries1 began to reason upon corn4 ,they even forgot the vine1 in treating of wheat and rye4 ,useful things were written on agriculture1 and everybody read them except the laborers4 ,the good people imagined1 as they walked out of the comic opera1 that ,france had a prodigious quantity of corn to sell1 and the cry of the nation at last obtained of the government1 in #agfd1 the liberty of exportation4 ,accordingly they exported4 ,the result was exactly what it had been in the time of ,henry ,,iv41 they sold a little too much1 and a barren year succeeding1 ,mademoiselle ,bernard was obliged1 for the second time1 to sell her necklace to get linen and chemises4 ,now the complainants passed from one extreme to the other1 and complained against the exportation that they had so recently demanded1 which shows how difficult it is to please all the world and his wife4 ,able and well-meaning people1 without interest1 have written1 with as much sagacity as courage1 in favor of the unlimited liberty of the commerce in grain4 ,others1 of as much mind1 and with equally pure views1 have written in the idea of limiting this liberty2 and the ,neapolitan ,abb ,gagliana amused the ,french nation on the exportation of corn1 by finding out the secret of making1 even in ,french1 dialogues as amusing as our best romances1 and as instructive as our good serious books4 ,if this work did not diminish the price of bread1 it gave great pleasure to the nation1 which was what it valued most4 ,the partisans of unlimited exportation answered him smartly4 ,the result was that the readers no longer knew where they were1 and the greater part took to reading romances1 expecting that the three or four following years of abundance would enable them to judge4 ,the ladies were no longer able to distinguish wheat from rye1 while honest devotees continued to believe that grain must lie and rot in the ground in order to spring up again4 ,,councils4 ,meetings of ,ecclesiastics1 ,called ,together to ,resolve ,doubts or ,questions on ,points of ,faith or ,discipline4 ,the use of councils was not unknown to the followers of the ancient religion of ,zerdusht1 whom we call ,zoroaster4 ,about the year #bjj of our era1 ,ardeshir ,babecan1 king of ,persia1 called together forty thousand priests1 to consult them touching some of his doubts about paradise and hell1 which they call the gehen--a term adopted by the ,jews during their captivity at ,babylon1 as they did the names of the angels and of the months4 ,erdoviraph1 the most celebrated of the magi1 having drunk three glasses of a soporific wine1 had an ecstasy which lasted seven days and seven nights1 during which his soul was transported to ,god4 ,when the paroxysm was over1 he reassured the faith of the king1 by relating to him the great many wonderful things he had seen in the other world1 and having them written down4 ,we know that ,jesus was called ,christ1 a ,greek word signifying anointed2 and his doctrine ,christianity1 or gospel1 i4e41 good news1 because having1 as was his custom1 entered one ,sabbath day the synagogue of ,nazareth1 where he was brought up1 ,he applied to ,himself this passage of ,isaiah1 which ,he had just read3 ,the spirit of the ,lord is on me1 because ,he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor4 ,they of the synagogue did1 to be sure1 drive ,him out of their town1 and carry ,him to a point of the hill1 on which it was built1 in order to throw ,him headlong from it2 and ,his relatives went out to lay hold on ,him1 for they were told1 and they said1 that ,he was beside ,himself4 ,nor is it less certain that ,jesus constantly declared ,he had come not to destroy the law or the prophecies1 but to fulfil them4 ,but1 as ,he left nothing written1 ,his first disciples were divided on the famous question1 whether the ,gentiles were to be circumcised and ordered to keep the ,mosaic law4 ,the apostles and the priests1 therefore1 assembled at ,jerusalem to examine this point1 and1 after many conferences1 they wrote to the brethren among the ,gentiles1 at ,antioch1 in ,syria1 and in ,cilicia1 a letter of which we give the substance3 ,it has seemed good to the ,holy ,ghost and to us1 not to impose upon you any obligations but those which are necessary1 viz41 to abstain from meats offered up to idols1 from blood1 from the flesh of choked animals1 and from fornication4 ,the decision of this council did not prevent ,peter1 when at ,antioch1 from continuing to eat with the ,gentiles1 before some of the circumcised1 who came from ,james1 had arrived4 ,but ,paul1 seeing that he did not walk straight in the path of gospel truth1 resisted him to the face1 saying to him before them all4 ,if thou1 being a ,jew1 livest after the manner of ,gentiles1 and not as do the ,jews1 why compellest thou the ,gentiles to live as do the ,jews8 ,indeed ,peter had lived like the ,gentiles ever since he had seen1 in a trance1 heaven opened1 and a certain vessel descending unto him1 as it had been a great sheet1 knit at the four corners1 and let down to the earth2 wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth1 and wild beasts1 and creeping things1 and fowls of the air4 ,and there came a voice to him1 ,rise1 ,peter1 kill and eat4 ,paul1 who so loudly reproved ,peter for using this dissimulation to make them believe that he still observed the law1 had himself recourse to a similar feint at ,jerusalem4 ,being accused of teaching the ,jews who were among the ,gentiles to renounce ,moses1 he went and purified himself in the temple for seven days1 in order that all might know that what they had heard of him was false1 and that he continued to observe the law2 this1 too1 was done by the advice of all the priests1 assembled at the house of ,james--which priests were the same who had decided with the ,holy ,ghost1 that these observations were unnecessary4 ,councils were afterwards distinguished into general and particular4 ,particular councils are of three kinds--national1 convoked by the prince1 the patriarch1 or the primate2 provincial1 assembled by the metropolitan or archbishop2 and diocesan1 or synods held by each bishop4 ,the following is a decree of one of the councils held at ,macon3 ,whenever a layman meet a priest or a deacon on the road1 he shall offer him his arm2 if the priest and the layman are both on horseback1 the layman shall stop and salute the priest reverently2 and if the priest be on foot1 and the layman on horseback1 the layman shall dismount1 and shall not mount again until the ecclesiastic be at a certain distance2 all on pain of interdiction for as long a time as it shall please the metropolitan4 ,the list of the councils1 in ,morri's ,dictionary1 occupies more than sixteen pages1 but as authors are not agreed concerning the number of general councils1 we shall here confine ourselves to the results of the first eight that were assembled by order of the emperors4 ,two priests of ,alexandria1 seeking to know whether ,jesus was ,god or creature1 not only did the bishops and priests dispute but the whole people were divided1 and the disorder arrived at such a pitch that the ,pagans ridiculed ,christianity on the stage4 ,the emperor ,constantine first wrote in these terms to ,bishop ,alexander and the priest ,arius1 the authors of the dissension3 ,these questions1 which are unnecessary1 and spring only from unprofitable idleness1 may be discussed in order to exercise the intellect2 but they should not be repeated in the hearing of the people4 ,being divided on so small a matter1 it is not just that you should govern1 according to your thoughts1 so great a multitude of ,god's people4 ,such conduct is mean and puerile1 unworthy of the priestly office1 and of men of sense4 ,i do not say this to compel you entirely to agree on this frivolous question1 whatever it is4 ,you may1 with a private difference1 preserve unity1 provided these subtleties and different opinions remain secret in your inmost thoughts4 ,the emperor1 having learned that his letter was without effect1 resolved1 by the advice of the bishops1 to convoke an ecumenical council--i4e41 a council of the whole habitable earth1 and chose for the place of meeting the town of ,nica1 in ,bithynia4 ,there came thither two thousand and forty-eight bishops1 who1 as ,eutychius relates1 were all of different sentiments and opinions4 ,this prince1 having had the patience to hear them dispute on this point1 was much surprised at finding among them so little unanimity2 and the author of the ,arabic preface to this council says that the records of these disputes amounted to forty volumes4 ,this prodigious number of bishops will not appear incredible when it is recollected that ,usher1 quoted by ,selden1 relates that ,st4 ,patrick1 who lived in the fifth century1 founded three hundred and sixty-five churches1 and ordained the like number of bishops2 which proves that then each church had its bishop1 that is1 its overlooker4 ,in the ,council of ,nice there was read a letter from ,eusebius of ,nicomedia1 containing manifest heresy1 and discovering the cabal of ,arius's party4 ,in it was said1 among other things1 that if ,jesus were acknowledged to be the ,son of ,god uncreated1 ,he must also be acknowledged to be consubstantial with the ,father4 ,therefore it was that ,athanasius1 a deacon of ,alexandria1 persuaded the fathers to dwell on the word consubstantial1 which had been rejected as improper by the ,council of ,antioch1 held against ,paul of ,samosata2 but he took it in a gross sense1 marking division2 as we say1 that several pieces of money are of the same metal3 whereas the orthodox explained the term consubstantial so well1 that the emperor himself comprehended that it involved no corporeal idea--signified no division of the absolutely immaterial and spiritual substance of the ,father--but was to be understood in a divine and ineffable sense4 ,they moreover showed the injustice of the ,arians in rejecting this word on pretence that it was not in the ,scriptures--they who employ so many words which are not there to be found2 and who say that the ,son of ,god was brought out of nothing1 and had not existed from all eternity4 ,constantine then wrote two letters at the same time1 to give publicity to the ordinances of the council1 and make them known to such as had not attended it4 ,the first1 addressed to the churches in general1 says1 in so many words1 that the question of the faith has been examined1 and so well cleared up1 that no difficulty remains4 ,in the second1 among others1 the church of ,alexandria is thus addressed3 ,what three hundred bishops have ordained is no other than the seed of the only ,son of ,god2 the ,holy ,ghost has declared the will of ,god through these great men1 whom he inspired4 ,now1 then1 let none doubt--let none dispute1 but each one return with all his heart into the way of truth4 ,the ecclesiastical writers are not agreed as to the number of bishops who subscribed to the ordinances of this council4 ,eusebius reckons only two hundred and fifty2 ,eustathius of ,antioch1 cited by ,theodoret1 two hundred and seventy2 ,st4 ,athanasius1 in his epistle to the ,solitaries1 three hundred1 like ,constantine2 while1 in his letter to the ,africans1 he speaks of three hundred and eighteen4 ,yet these four authors were eye-witnesses1 and worthy of great faith4 ,this number #cah1 which ,pope ,st4 ,leo calls mysterious1 has been adopted by most of the fathers of the church4 ,st4 ,ambrose assures us that the number of #cah bishops was a proof of the presence of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ in his ,council of ,nica1 because the cross designates three hundred1 and the name of ,jesus eighteen4 ,st4 ,hilary1 in his defence of the word consubstantial1 approved in the ,council of ,nice1 though condemned fifty-five years before in the ,council of ,antioch1 reasons thus3 ,eighty bishops rejected the word consubstantial1 but three hundred and eighteen have received it4 ,now this latter number seems to me a sacred number1 for if is that of the men who accompanied ,abraham1 when1 after his victory over the impious kings1 he was blessed by him who is the type of the eternal priesthood4 ,and ,selden relates that ,dorotheus1 metropolitan of ,monembasis1 said there were precisely three hundred and eighteen fathers at this council1 because three hundred and eighteen years had elapsed since the incarnation4 ,all chronologists place this council in the year #cbe of our modern era2 but ,dorotheus deducts seven years1 to make his comparison complete2 this1 however1 is a mere trifle4 ,besides1 it was not until the ,council of ,lestines1 in #gdc1 that the years began to be counted from the incarnation of ,jesus4 ,dionysius the ,less had imagined this epoch in his solar cycle of the year #ebf1 and ,bede had made use of it in his ,ecclesiastical ,history4 ,it will not be a subject of astonishment that ,constantine adopted the opinion of the three hundred or three hundred and eighteen bishops who held the divinity of ,jesus1 when it is borne in mind that ,eusebius of ,nicomedia1 one of the principal leaders of the ,arian party1 had been an accomplice in the cruelty of ,licinius1 in the massacres of the bishops1 and the persecutions of the ,christians4 ,of this the emperor himself accuses him1 in the private letter which he wrote to the church of ,nicomedia3 ,he sent spies about me1 says he1 in the troubles1 and did everything but take up arms for the tyrant4 ,i have proofs of this from the priests and deacons of his train1 whom ,i took4 ,during the ,council of ,nica1 with what eagerness and what impudence he maintained1 against the testimony of his conscience1 the error exploded on every side6 repeatedly imploring my protection1 lest1 being convicted of so great a crime1 he should lose his dignity4 ,he shamefully circumvented and took me by surprise1 and carried everything as he chose4 ,again1 see what has been done but lately by him and ,theogenes4 ,constantine here alludes to the fraud which ,eusebius of ,nicomedia and ,theogenes of ,nica resorted to in subscribing4 ,in the word omoousios1 they inserted an iota1 making it omoiousios1 meaning of like substance2 whereas the first means of the same substance4 ,we hereby see that these bishops yielded to the fear of being displaced or banished2 for the emperor had threatened with exile such as should not subscribe4 ,the other ,eusebius1 too1 bishop of ,csarea1 approved the word consubstantial1 after condemning it the day before4 ,however1 ,theonas of ,marmarica1 and ,secundus of ,ptolemais continued obstinately attached to ,arius2 and1 the council1 having condemned them with him1 ,constantine banished them1 and declared by an edict that whosoever should be convicted of concealing any of the writings of ,arius instead of burning them1 should be punished with death4 ,three months after1 ,eusebius of ,nicomedia and ,theogenes were likewise exiled into ,gaul4 ,it is said that1 having gained over the individual who1 by the emperor's order1 kept the acts of the council1 they had erased their signatures1 and begun to teach in public that the ,son must not be believed to be consubstantial with the ,father4 ,happily1 to replace their signatures and preserve entire the mysterious number three hundred and eighteen1 the expedient was tried of laying the book1 in which the acts were divided into sessions1 on the tomb of ,chrysanthus and ,mysonius1 who had died while the council was in session2 the night was passed in prayer and the next morning it was found that these two bishops had signed4 ,it was by an expedient nearly similar1 that the fathers of the same council distinguished the authentic from the apocryphal books of ,scripture4 ,having placed them altogether upon the altar1 the apocryphal books fell to the ground of themselves4 ,two other councils1 assembled by the emperor ,constantine1 in the year #cei1 the one1 of upwards of four hundred bishops1 at ,rimini1 the other1 of more than a hundred and fifty1 at ,seleucia2 after long debates1 rejected the word consubstantial1 already condemned1 as we have before said1 by a ,council of ,antioch4 ,but these councils are recognized only by the ,socinians4 ,the ,nicene fathers had been so much occupied with the consubstantiality of the ,son1 that they had made no mention of the church in their symbol1 but contented themselves with saying1 ,we also believe in the ,holy ,ghost4 ,this omission was supplied in the second general council1 convoked at ,constantinople1 in #cha1 by ,theodosius4 ,the ,holy ,ghost was there declared to be the ,lord and giver of life1 proceeding from the ,father1 who with the ,father and ,son is worshipped and glorified1 who spake by the prophets4 ,afterwards the ,latin church would have the ,holy ,ghost proceed from the ,son also2 and the filioque was added to the symbol3 first in ,spain1 in #ddg2 then in ,france1 at the ,council of ,lyons1 in #abgd2 and lastly at ,rome1 notwithstanding the complaints made by the ,greeks against this innovation4 ,the divinity of ,jesus being once established1 it was natural to give to his mother the title of ,mother of ,god4 ,however1 ,nestorius1 patriarch of ,constantinople1 maintained in his sermons that this would be justifying the folly of the ,pagans1 who gave mothers to their gods4 ,theodosius the younger1 to have this great question decided1 assembled the third general council at ,ephesus1 in the year #dca1 and in it ,mary was acknowledged to be the mother of ,god4 ,another heresy of ,nestorius1 likewise condemned at ,ephesus1 was that of admitting two persons in ,jesus4 ,nevertheless1 the patriarch ,photius subsequently acknowledged two natures in ,jesus4 ,a monk named ,eutyches1 who had already exclaimed loudly against ,nestorius1 affirmed1 the better to contradict them both1 that ,jesus had also but one nature4 ,but this time the monk was wrong2 although1 in #ddi1 his opinion had been maintained by blows in a numerous council at ,ephesus4 ,eutyches was nevertheless anathematized1 two years afterwards1 by the fourth general council1 held under the emperor ,marcian at ,chalcedon1 in which two natures were assigned to ,jesus4 ,it was still to be determined1 with one person and two natures1 how many wills ,jesus was to have4 ,the fifth general council1 which in the year #eec quelled1 by ,justinian's order1 the contentions about the doctrine of three bishops1 had no leisure to settle this important point4 ,it was not until the year #fhj that the sixth general council1 also convened at ,constantinople by ,constantine ,pogonatus1 informed us that ,jesus had precisely two wills4 ,this council1 in condemning the ,monothelites1 who admitted only one1 made no exception from the anathema in favor of ,pope ,honorius ,i41 who1 in a letter given by ,baronius1 had said to the patriarch of ,constantinople3 ,we confess in ,jesus ,christ one only will4 ,we do not see that either the councils or the ,scriptures authorize us to think otherwise4 ,but whether1 from the works of divinity and of humanity which are in him1 we are to look for two operations1 is a point of little importance1 and one which ,i leave it to the grammarians to decide4 ,thus1 in this instance1 with ,god's permission1 the account between the ,greek and ,latin churches was balanced4 ,as the patriarch ,nestorius had been condemned for acknowledging two persons in ,jesus1 so ,pope ,honorius was now condemned for admitting but one will in ,jesus4 ,the seventh general council1 or the second of ,nice1 was assembled in #ghg1 by ,constantine1 son of ,leo and ,irene1 to re-establish the worship of images4 ,the reader must know that two ,councils of ,constantinople1 the first in #gcj1 under the emperor ,leo1 the other twenty-four years after1 under ,constantine ,copronymus1 had thought proper to proscribe images1 conformably to the ,mosaic law and to the usage of the early ages of ,christianity4 ,so1 also1 the ,nicene decree1 in which it is said that whosoever shall not render service and adoration to the images of the saints as to the ,trinity1 shall be deemed anathematized1 at first encountered some opposition4 ,the bishops who introduced it1 in a ,council of ,constantinople1 held in #ghi1 were turned out by soldiers4 ,the same decree was also rejected with scorn by the ,council of ,frankfort in #gid1 and by the ,caroline books1 published by order of ,charlemagne4 ,but the second ,council of ,nice was at length confirmed at ,constantinople under the emperor ,michael and his mother ,theodora1 in the year #hdb1 by a numerous council1 which anathematized the enemies of holy images4 ,be it here observed1 it was by two women1 the empresses ,irene and ,theodora1 that the images were protected4 ,we pass on to the eighth general council4 ,under the emperor ,basilius1 ,photius1 ordained patriarch of ,constantinople in place of ,ignatius1 had the ,latin church condemned for the filioque and other practices1 by a council of the year #hff3 but ,ignatius being recalled the following year1 another council removed ,photius2 and in the year #hfi the ,latins1 in their turn1 condemned the ,greek church in what they called the eighth general council--while those in the ,east gave this name to another council1 which1 ten years after1 annulled what the preceding one had done1 and restored ,photius4 ,these four councils were held at ,constantinople2 the others1 called general by the ,latins1 having been composed of the bishops of the ,west only1 the popes1 with the aid of false decretals1 gradually arrogated the right of convoking them4 ,the last of these which assembled at ,trent1 from #aede to #aefc1 neither served to convert the enemies of papacy nor to subdue them4 ,its decrees1 in discipline1 have been scarcely admitted into any one ,catholic nation3 its only effect has been to verify these words of ,st4 ,gregory ,nazianzen3 ,i have not seen one council that has acted with good faith1 or that has not augmented the evils complained of rather than cured them4 ,ambition and the love of disputation1 beyond the power of words to express1 reign in every assembly of bishops4 ,however1 the ,council of ,constance1 in #adae1 having decided that a council-general receives its authority immediately from ,jesus ,christ1 which authority every person1 of whatever rank or dignity1 is bound to obey in all that concerns the faith2 and the ,council of ,basel having afterwards confirmed this decree1 which it holds to be an article of faith which cannot be neglected without renouncing salvation1 it is clear how deeply every one is interested in paying submission to councils4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,notice of the ,general ,councils4 ,assembly1 council of state1 parliament1 states-general1 formerly signified the same thing4 ,in the primitive ages nothing was written in ,celtic1 nor in ,german1 nor in ,spanish4 ,the little that was written was conceived in the ,latin tongue by a few clerks1 who expressed every meeting of lendes1 herren1 or ricohombres1 by the word concilium4 ,hence it is that we find in the sixth1 seventh1 and eighth centuries so many councils which were nothing more than councils of state4 ,we shall here speak only of the great councils called general1 whether by the ,greek or by the ,latin church4 ,at ,rome they were called synods1 as they were in the ,east in the primitive ages--for the ,latins borrowed names as well as things from the ,greeks4 ,in #cbe there was a great council in the city of ,nica1 convoked by ,constantine4 ,the form of its decision was this3 ,we believe that ,jesus is of one substance with the ,father1 ,god of ,god1 light of light1 begotten1 not made4 ,we also believe in the ,holy ,ghost4 ,nicephorus affirms that two bishops1 ,chrysanthus and ,mysonius1 who had died during the first sittings1 rose again to sign the condemnation of ,arius1 and incontinently died again1 as ,i have already observed4 ,baronius maintains this fact1 but ,fleury says nothing of it4 ,in #cei the emperor ,constantius assembled the great councils of ,rimini and of ,seleucia1 consisting of six hundred bishops1 with a prodigious number of priests4 ,these two councils1 corresponding together1 undo all that the ,council of ,nice did1 and proscribe the consubstantiality4 ,but this was afterwards regarded as a false council4 ,in #cha was held1 by order of the emperor ,theodosius1 a great council at ,constantinople1 of one hundred and fifty bishops1 who anathematize the ,council of ,rimini4 ,st4 ,gregory ,nazianzen presides1 and the bishop of ,rome sends deputies to it4 ,now is added to the ,nicene symbol3 ,jesus ,christ was incarnate1 by the ,holy ,ghost1 of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,he was crucified for us under ,pontius ,pilate4 ,he was buried1 and on the third day he rose again1 according to the ,scriptures4 ,he sits at the right hand of the ,father4 ,we also believe in the ,holy ,ghost1 the ,lord and giver of life1 who proceeds from the ,father4 ,in #dca a great council was convoked at ,ephesus1 by the emperor ,theodosius ,,ii4 ,nestorius1 bishop of ,constantinople1 having violently persecuted all who were not of his opinion on theological points1 undergoes persecution in his turn1 for having maintained that the ,holy ,virgin ,mary1 mother of ,jesus ,christ1 was not mother of ,god2 because said he1 ,jesus ,christ being the word1 the ,son of ,god1 consubstantial with ,his ,father1 ,mary could not1 at the same time1 be mother of ,god the ,father and of ,god the ,son4 ,st4 ,cyril exclaims loudly against him4 ,nestorius demands an ecumenical council1 and obtains it4 ,nestorius is condemned2 but ,cyril is also displaced by a committee of the council4 ,the emperor reverses all that has been done in this council1 then permits it to re-assemble4 ,the deputies from ,rome arrive very late4 ,the troubles increasing1 the emperor has ,nestorius and ,cyril arrested4 ,at last he orders all the bishops to return1 each to his church1 and after all no conclusion is reached4 ,such was the famous ,council of ,ephesus4 ,in #ddi another great council1 afterward called the banditti1 met at ,ephesus4 ,the number of bishops assembled is a hundred and thirty2 and ,dioscorus1 bishop of ,alexandria1 presided4 ,there are two deputies from the church of ,rome1 and several abbots4 ,the question is1 whether ,jesus ,christ has two natures4 ,the bishops and all the monks of ,egypt exclaim that all who would divide ,jesus ,christ ought themselves to be torn in two4 ,the two natures are anathematized2 and there is a fight in full council1 as at the little ,council of ,cirta in #cee1 and at the minor ,council of ,carthage4 ,in #deb1 the great ,council of ,chalcedon was convoked by ,pulcheria1 who married ,marcian on condition that he should be only the highest of her subjects4 ,st4 ,leo1 bishop of ,rome1 having great influence1 takes advantage of the troubles which the quarrel about the two natures has occasioned in the empire1 and presides at the council by his legates--of which we have no former example4 ,but the fathers of the council1 apprehending that the church of the ,west will1 from this precedent1 pretend to the superiority over that of the ,east1 decide by their twenty-eighth canon1 that the see of ,constantinople1 and that of ,rome1 shall enjoy alike the same advantages and the same privileges4 ,this was the origin of the long enmity which prevailed1 and still prevails1 between the two churches4 ,this ,council of ,chalcedon established the two natures in one only person4 ,nicephorus relates that1 at this same council1 the bishops1 after a long dispute on the subject of images1 laid each his opinion in writing on the tomb of ,st4 ,euphemia1 and passed the night in prayer4 ,the next morning the orthodox writings were found in the saint's hand1 and the others at her feet4 ,in #eec1 a great council at ,constantinople was convoked by ,justinian1 who was an amateur theologian1 to discuss three small writings1 called the three chapters1 of which nothing is now known4 ,there were also disputes on some passages of ,origen4 ,vigilius1 bishop of ,rome1 would have gone thither in person2 but ,justinian had him put in prison1 and the ,patriarch of ,constantinople presided4 ,no member of the ,latin church attended2 for at that time ,greek was no longer understood in the ,west1 which had become entirely barbarous4 ,in #fhj1 another general council at ,constantinople was convoked by ,constantine the bearded4 ,this was the first council called by the ,latins in trullo1 because it was held in an apartment of the imperial palace4 ,the emperor1 himself1 presided2 on his right hand were the patriarchs of ,constantinople and ,antioch2 on his left1 the deputies from ,rome and ,jerusalem4 ,it was there decided that ,jesus ,christ had two wills2 and ,pope ,honorius ,i41 was condemned as a ,monothelite1 i4e41 as wishing ,jesus ,christ to have but one will4 ,in #ghg1 the second ,council of ,nice was convoked by ,irene1 in the name of the emperor ,constantine1 her son1 whom she had deprived of his eyes4 ,her husband1 ,leo1 had abolished the worship of images1 as contrary to the simplicity of the primitive ages1 and leading to idolatry4 ,irene re-established this worship2 she herself spoke in the council1 which was the only one held by a woman4 ,two legates from ,pope ,adrian ,v41 attended1 but did not speak1 for they did not understand ,greek3 the patriarch did all4 ,seven years after1 the ,franks1 having heard that a council at ,constantinople had ordained the adoration of images1 assemble1 by order of ,charles1 son of ,pepin1 afterwards named ,charlemagne1 a very numerous council at ,frankfort4 ,here the second ,council of ,nice is spoken of as an impertinent and arrogant synod1 held in ,greece for the worshipping of pictures4 ,in #hdb1 a great council at ,constantinople was convoked by the empress ,theodora4 ,the worship of images was solemnly established4 ,the ,greeks have still a feast in honor of this council1 called the orthodoxia4 ,theodora did not preside4 ,in #hfa1 a great council at ,constantinople1 consisting of three hundred and eighteen bishops1 was convoked by the emperor ,michael4 ,st4 ,ignatius1 patriarch of ,constantinople1 is deposed1 and ,photius elected4 ,in #hff1 another great council was held at ,constantinople1 in which ,pope ,nicholas ,,iii4 is deposed for contumacy1 and excommunicated4 ,in #hfi was another great council at ,constantinople1 in which ,photius1 in turn1 is deposed and excommunicated1 and ,st4 ,ignatius restored4 ,in #hgi1 another great council assembled at ,constantinople1 in which ,photius1 already restored1 is acknowledged as true patriarch by the legates of ,pope ,john ,,viii4 ,here the great ecumenical council1 in which ,photius was deposed1 receives the appellation of conciliabulum4 ,pope ,john ,,viii4 declares all those to be ,judases who say that the ,holy ,ghost proceeds from the ,father and the ,son4 ,in #aabb-c1 a great council at ,rome was held in the church of ,st4 ,john of ,lateran by ,pope ,calixtus ,,ii4 ,this was the first general council convoked by the popes4 ,the emperors of the ,west had now scarcely any authority2 and the emperors of the ,east pressed by the ,mahometans and by the ,crusaders1 held none but wretched little councils4 ,it is not precisely known what this ,lateran was4 ,some small councils had before been assembled in the ,lateran4 ,some say that it was a house built by one ,lateran in ,nero's time2 others1 that it was ,st4 ,john's church itself1 built by ,bishop ,sylvester4 ,in this council1 the bishops complained heavily of the monks4 ,they possess1 said they1 the churches1 the lands1 the castles1 the tithes1 the offerings of the living and the dead2 they have only to take from us the ring and the crosier4 ,the monks remained in possession4 ,in #aaci was another great ,council of ,lateran1 by ,pope ,innocent ,,ii4 ,it is said there were present a thousand bishops4 ,a great many1 certainly4 ,here the ecclesiastical tithes are declared to be of divine right1 and all laymen possessing any of them are excommunicated4 ,in #aagi was another great ,council of ,lateran1 by ,pope ,alexander ,,iii4 ,there were three hundred bishops and one ,greek abbot4 ,the decrees are all on discipline4 ,the plurality of benefices is forbidden4 ,in #abae was the last general ,council of ,lateran1 by ,pope ,innocent ,,iii41 composed of four hundred and twelve bishops1 and eight hundred abbots4 ,at this time1 which is that of the ,crusades1 the popes have established a ,latin patriarch at ,jerusalem1 and one at ,constantinople4 ,these patriarchs attend the council4 ,this great council says that1 ,god having given the doctrine of salvation to men by ,moses1 at length caused ,his son to be born of a virgin1 to show the way more clearly1 and that no one can be saved out of the ,catholic church4 ,the transubstantiation was not known until after this council4 ,it forbade the establishment of new religious orders2 but1 since that time1 no less than eighty have been instituted4 ,it was in this council that ,raymond1 count of ,toulouse1 was stripped of all his lands4 ,in #abde a great council assembled at the imperial city of ,lyons4 ,innocent ,,iv4 brings thither the emperor of ,constantinople1 ,john ,palologus1 and makes him sit beside him4 ,he deposes the emperor ,frederick as a felon1 and gives the cardinals red hats1 as a sign of hostility to ,frederick4 ,this was the source of thirty years of civil war4 ,in #abgd another general council was held at ,lyons4 ,five hundred bishops1 seventy great and a thousand lesser abbots4 ,the ,greek emperor1 ,michael ,palologus1 that he may have the protection of the pope1 sends his ,greek patriarch1 ,theophanes1 to unite1 in his name1 with the ,latin church4 ,but the ,greek church disowns these bishops4 ,in #acaa1 ,pope ,clement ,v4 assembled a general council in the small town of ,vienne1 in ,dauphiny1 in which he abolishes the ,order of the ,templars4 ,it is here ordained that the ,bgares1 ,beguins1 and ,bguines shall be burned4 ,these were a species of heretics1 to whom was imputed all that had formerly been imputed to the primitive ,christians4 ,in #adad1 the great ,council of ,constance was convoked by an emperor who resumes his rights1 viz43 by ,sigismund4 ,here ,pope ,john ,,xxiii41 convicted of numerous crimes1 is deposed2 and ,john ,huss and ,jerome of ,prague1 convicted of obstinacy1 are burned4 ,in #adca1 a great council was held at ,basel1 where they in vain depose ,pope ,eugene ,,iv41 who is too clever for the council4 ,in #adch1 a great council assembled at ,ferrara1 transferred to ,florence1 where the excommunicated pope excommunicates the council1 and declares it guilty of high treason4 ,here a feigned union is made with the ,greek church1 crushed by the ,turkish synods held sword in hand4 ,pope ,julius ,,ii4 would have had his ,council of ,lateran1 in #aeab1 pass for an ecumenical council4 ,in it that pope solemnly excommunicated ,louis ,,xii41 king of ,france1 laid ,france under an interdict1 summoned the whole parliament of ,provence to appear before him1 and excommunicated all the philosophers1 because most of them had taken part with ,louis ,,xii4 ,yet this council was not1 like that of ,ephesus1 called the ,council of ,robbers4 ,in #aecg1 the ,council of ,trent was convoked1 first at ,mantua1 by ,paul ,,iii41 afterwards at ,trent in #aedc1 and terminated in ,december1 #aefa1 under ,pius ,,vi4 ,catholic princes submitted to it on points of doctrine1 and two or three of them in matters of discipline4 ,it is thought that henceforward there will be no more general councils than there will be states-general in ,france or ,spain4 ,in the ,vatican there is a fine picture1 containing a list of the general councils1 in which are inscribed such only as are approved by the court of ,rome4 ,every one puts what he chooses in his own archives4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,infallibility of ,councils4 ,all councils are1 doubtless1 infallible1 being composed of men4 ,it is not possible that the passions1 that intrigues1 that the spirit of contention1 that hatred or jealousy1 that prejudice or ignorance1 should ever influence these assemblies4 ,but why1 it will be said1 have so many councils been opposed to one another8 ,to exercise our faith4 ,they were all right1 each in its time4 ,at this day1 the ,roman ,catholics believe in such councils only as are approved in the ,vatican2 the ,greek ,catholics believe only in those approved at ,constantinople2 and the ,protestants make a jest of both the one and the other3 so that every one ought to be content4 ,we shall here examine only the great councils3 the lesser ones are not worth the trouble4 ,the first was that of ,nice1 assembled in the year #cbe of the modern era1 after ,constantine had written and sent by ,osius his noble letter to the rather turbulent clergy of ,alexandria4 ,it was debated whether ,jesus was created or uncreated4 ,this in no way concerned morality1 which is the only thing essential4 ,whether ,jesus was in time or before time1 it is not the less our duty to be honest4 ,after much altercation1 it was at last decided that the ,son was as old as the ,father1 and consubstantial with the ,father4 ,this decision is not very easy of comprehension1 which makes it but the more sublime4 ,seventeen bishops protested against the decree2 and an old ,alexandrian chronicle1 preserved at ,oxford1 says that two thousand priests likewise protested4 ,but prelates make not much account of mere priests1 who are in general poor4 ,however1 there was nothing said of the ,trinity in this first council4 ,the formula runs thus3 ,we believe ,jesus to be consubstantial with the ,father1 ,god of ,god1 light of light1 begotten1 not made2 we also believe in the ,holy ,ghost4 ,it must be acknowledged that the ,holy ,ghost was treated very cavalierly4 ,we have already said1 that in the supplement to the ,council of ,nice it is related that the fathers1 being much perplexed to find out which were the authentic and which the apocryphal books of the ,old and the ,new ,testament1 laid them all upon an altar1 and the books which they were to reject fell to the ground4 ,what a pity that so fine an ordeal has been lost6 ,after the first ,council of ,nice1 composed of three hundred and seventeen infallible bishops1 another council was held at ,rimini2 on which occasion the number of the infallible was four hundred1 without reckoning a strong detachment1 at ,seleucia1 of about two hundred4 ,these six hundred bishops1 after four months of contention1 unanimously took from ,jesus his consubstantiality4 ,it has since been restored to him1 except by the ,socinians3 so nothing is amiss4 ,one of the great councils was that of ,ephesus1 in #dca4 ,there1 as already stated1 ,nestorius1 bishop of ,constantinople1 a great persecutor of heretics1 was himself condemned as a heretic1 for having maintained that1 although ,jesus was really ,god1 yet ,his mother was not absolutely mother of ,god1 but mother of ,jesus4 ,st4 ,cyril procured the condemnation of ,nestorius2 but the partisans of ,nestorius also procured the deposition of ,st4 ,cyril1 in the same council2 which put the ,holy ,ghost in considerable perplexity4 ,here1 gentle reader1 carefully observe1 that the ,gospel says not one syllable of the consubstantiality of the ,word1 nor of ,mary's having had the honor of being mother of ,god1 no more than of the other disputed points which brought together so many infallible councils4 ,eutyches was a monk1 who had cried out sturdily against ,nestorius1 whose heresy was nothing less than supposing two persons in ,jesus2 which is quite frightful4 ,the monk1 the better to contradict his adversary1 affirmed that ,jesus had but one nature4 ,one ,flavian1 bishop of ,constantinople1 maintained against him1 that there must absolutely be two natures in ,jesus4 ,thereupon1 a numerous council was held at ,ephesus in #ddi1 and the argument made use of was the cudgel1 as in the lesser council of ,cirta1 in #cee1 and in a certain conference held at ,carthage4 ,flavian's nature was well thrashed1 and two natures were assigned to ,jesus4 ,at the ,council of ,chalcedon1 in #dea1 ,jesus was again reduced to one nature4 ,i pass by councils held on less weighty questions1 and come to the sixth general ,council of ,constantinople1 assembled to ascertain precisely whether ,jesus--who1 after having for a long period had but one nature1 was then possessed of two--had also two wills4 ,it is obvious how important this knowledge is to doing the will of ,god4 ,this council was convoked by ,constantine the ,bearded1 as all the others had been by the preceding emperors4 ,the legates from the bishop of ,rome were on the left hand1 and the patriarchs of ,constantinople and ,antioch on the right4 ,the train-bearers at ,rome may1 for aught ,i know1 assert that the left hand is the place of honor4 ,however1 the result was that ,jesus obtained two wills4 ,the ,mosaic law forbade images4 ,painters and sculptors had never made their fortunes among the ,jews4 ,we do not find that ,jesus ever had any pictures1 excepting perhaps that of ,mary1 painted by ,luke4 ,it is1 however1 certain that ,jesus ,christ nowhere recommends the worship of images4 ,nevertheless the primitive ,christians began to worship them about the end of the fourth century1 when they had become familiar with the fine arts4 ,in the eighth century this abuse had arrived at such a pitch that ,constantine ,copronymus assembled1 at ,constantinople1 a council of three hundred and twenty bishops1 who anathematized image-worship1 and declared it to be idolatry4 ,the empress ,irene1 the same who afterwards had her son's eyes torn out1 convoked the second ,council of ,nice in #ghg1 when the adoration of images was re-established4 ,but in #gid ,charlemagne had another council held at ,frankfort1 which declared the second of ,nice idolatrous4 ,pope ,adrian ,,iv4 sent two legates to it1 but he did not convoke it4 ,the first great council convoked by a pope was the first of ,lateran1 in #aaci2 there were about a thousand bishops assembled2 but scarcely anything was done1 except that all those were anathematized who said that the ,church was too rich4 ,in #aagi1 another great council of ,lateran was held by ,alexander ,,iii41 in which the cardinals1 for the first time1 took precedence of the bishops4 ,the discussions were confined to matters of discipline4 ,in another great council of ,lateran1 in #abae1 ,pope ,innocent ,,iii4 stripped the count of ,toulouse of all his possessions1 by virtue of his excommunication4 ,it was then that the first mention was made of transubstantiation4 ,in #abde1 was held a general council at ,lyons1 then an imperial city1 in which ,pope ,innocent ,,iv4 excommunicated the emperor ,frederick ,,ii41 and consequently deposed him1 and forbade him the use of fire and water4 ,on this occasion1 a red hat was given to the cardinals1 to remind them that they must imbrue their hands in the blood of the emperor's partisans4 ,this council was the cause of the destruction of the house of ,suabia1 and of thirty years of anarchy in ,italy and ,germany4 ,in a general council held at ,vienne1 in ,dauphiny1 in #acaa1 the ,order of the ,templars was abolished3 its principal members having been condemned to the most horrible deaths1 on charges most imperfectly established4 ,the great ,council of ,constance1 in #adad1 contented itself with dismissing ,pope ,john ,,xxiii41 convicted of a thousand crimes1 but had ,john ,huss and ,jerome of ,prague burned for being obstinate2 obstinacy being a much more grievous crime than either murder1 rape1 simony1 or sodomy4 ,in #adcj was held the great council of ,basel1 not recognized at ,rome because it deposed ,pope ,eugenius ,,iv41 who would not be deposed4 ,the ,romans reckon among the general councils the fifth ,council of ,lateran1 convoked against ,louis ,,xii41 king of ,france1 by ,pope ,julius ,,ii42 but that warlike pope dying1 the council had no result4 ,lastly1 we have the great ,council of ,trent1 which is not received in ,france in matters of discipline2 but its doctrine is indisputable1 since1 as ,fra ,paolo ,sarpi tells us1 the ,holy ,ghost arrived at ,trent from ,rome every week in the courier's bag4 ,but ,fra ,paolo ,sarpi was a little tainted with heresy4