,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary ,,volume ,,vii ,by ,,voltaire ,,edition ,,de ,,la ,,pacification ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,voltaire ,a ,,contemporary ,,version ,with ,notes by ,tobias ,smollett1 ,revised and ,modernized ,new ,translations by ,william ,f4 ,fleming1 and an ,introduction by ,oliver ,h4,g4 ,leigh ,a ,,critique ,,and ,,biography ,,by ,,the ,,rt4 ,,hon4 ,,john ,,morley ,,forty-,,three ,,volumes ,one hundred and sixty-eight designs1 comprising reproductions of rare old engravings1 steel plates1 photogravures1 and curious fac-similes ,,volume ,,xi ,e4,r4 ,du,m,o,n,t ,,paris--,,london--,,new ,,york--,,chicago #aija ,the ,,works of ,,voltaire ,between two servants of ,humanity1 who appeared eighteen hundred years apart1 there is a mysterious relation4 99 99 99 99 ,let us say it with a sentiment of profound respect3 ,,jesus ,,wept3 ,,voltaire ,,smiled4 ,of that divine tear and of that human smile is composed the sweetness of the present civilization4 ,,victor ,,hugo4 ,,list ,,of ,,plates--,vol4 ,,vii ,,old ,,rouen--frontispiece ,,montesquieu ,,the ,,dream ,,of ,,human ,,life ,,ancient ,,rome ,illustration3 ,old ,rouen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,voltaire ,a ,,philosophical ,,dictionary4 ,,in ,,ten ,,volumes ,,vol4 ,,vii ,,joseph-,,mission 99 99 99 99 99 ,,joseph4 ,the history of ,joseph1 considering it merely as an object of curiosity and literature1 is one of the most precious monuments of antiquity which has reached us4 ,it appears to be the model of all the ,oriental writers2 it is more affecting than the ,odyssey2 for a hero who pardons is more touching than one who avenges4 ,we regard the ,arabs as the first authors of these ingenious fictions1 which have passed into all languages2 but ,i see among them no adventures comparable to those of ,joseph4 ,almost all in it is wonderful1 and the termination exacts tears of tenderness4 ,he was a young man of sixteen years of age1 of whom his brothers were jealous2 he is sold by them to a caravan of ,ishmaelite merchants1 conducted into ,egypt1 and bought by a eunuch of the king4 ,this eunuch had a wife1 which is not at all extraordinary2 the kislar aga1 a perfect eunuch1 has a seraglio at this day at ,constantinople2 they left him some of his senses1 and nature in consequence is not altogether extinguished4 ,no matter2 the wife of ,potiphar falls in love with the young ,joseph1 who1 faithful to his master and benefactor1 rejects the advances of this woman4 ,she is irritated at it1 and accuses ,joseph of attempting to seduce her4 ,such is the history of ,hippolytus and ,phdra1 of ,bellerophon and ,zenobia1 of ,hebrus and ,damasippa1 of ,myrtilus and ,hippodamia1 etc4 ,it is difficult to know which is the original of all these histories2 but among the ancient ,arabian authors there is a tract relating to the adventure of ,joseph and ,potiphar's wife1 which is very ingenious4 ,the author supposes that ,potiphar1 uncertain between the assertions of his wife and ,joseph1 regarded not ,joseph's tunic1 which his wife had torn as a proof of the young man's outrage4 ,there was a child in a cradle in his wife's chamber2 and ,joseph said that she seized and tore his tunic in the presence of this infant4 ,potiphar consulted the child1 whose mind was very advanced for its age4 ,the child said to ,potiphar3 ,see if the tunic is torn behind or before2 if before1 it is a proof that ,joseph would embrace your wife by force1 and that she defended herself2 if behind1 it is a proof that your wife detained ,joseph4 ,potiphar1 thanks to the genius of the child1 recognized the innocence of his slave4 ,it is thus that this adventure is related in the ,koran1 after the ,arabian author4 ,it informs us not to whom the infant belonged1 who judged with so much wit4 ,if it was not a son of ,potiphar1 ,joseph was not the first whom this woman had seduced4 ,however that may be1 according to ,genesis1 ,joseph is put in prison1 where he finds himself in company with the butler and baker of the king of ,egypt4 ,these two prisoners of state both dreamed one night4 ,joseph explains their dreams2 he predicted that in three days the butler would be received again into favor1 and that the baker would be hanged2 which failed not to happen4 ,two years afterwards the king of ,egypt also dreams1 and his butler tells him that there is a young ,jew in prison who is the first man in the world for the interpretation of dreams4 ,the king causes the young man to be brought to him1 who foretells seven years of abundance and seven of sterility4 ,let us here interrupt the thread of the history to remark1 of what prodigious antiquity is the interpretation of dreams4 ,jacob saw in a dream the mysterious ladder at the top of which was ,god ,himself4 ,in a dream he learned a method of multiplying his flocks1 a method which never succeeded with any but himself4 ,joseph himself had learned by a dream that he should one day govern his brethren4 ,abimelech1 a long time before1 had been warned in a dream1 that ,sarah was the wife of ,abraham4 ,to return to ,joseph3 after explaining the dream of ,pharaoh1 he was made first minister on the spot4 ,we doubt if at present a king could be found1 even in ,asia1 who would bestow such an office in return for an interpreted dream4 ,pharaoh espoused ,joseph to a daughter of ,potiphar4 ,it is said that this ,potiphar was high-priest of ,heliopolis2 he was not therefore the eunuch1 his first master2 or if it was the latter1 he had another title besides that of high-priest2 and his wife had been a mother more than once4 ,however1 the famine happened1 as ,joseph had foretold2 and ,joseph1 to merit the good graces of his king1 forced all the people to sell their land to ,pharaoh1 and all the nation became slaves to procure corn4 ,this is apparently the origin of despotic power4 ,it must be confessed1 that never king made a better bargain2 but the people also should no less bless the prime minister4 ,finally1 the father and brothers of ,joseph had also need of corn1 for the famine was sore in all lands4 ,it is scarcely necessary to relate here how ,joseph received his brethren2 how he pardoned and enriched them4 ,in this history is found all that constitutes an interesting epic poem--exposition1 plot1 recognition1 adventures1 and the marvellous2 nothing is more strongly marked with the stamp of ,oriental genius4 ,what the good man ,jacob1 the father of ,joseph1 answered to ,pharaoh1 ought to strike all those who know how to read4 ,how old art thou8 said the king to him4 ,the days of the years of my pilgrimage1 said the old man1 are an hundred and thirty years2 few and evil have the days of the years of my life been4 ,,jud,a4 ,i never was in ,juda1 thank ,god6 and ,i never will go there4 ,i have met with men of all nations who have returned from it1 and they have all of them told me that the situation of ,jerusalem is horrible2 that all the land round it is stony2 that the mountains are bare2 that the famous river ,jordan is not more than forty feet wide2 that the only good spot in the country is ,jericho2 in short1 they all spoke of it as ,st4 ,jerome did1 who resided a long time in ,bethlehem1 and describes the country as the refuse and rubbish of nature4 ,he says that in summer the inhabitants cannot get even water to drink4 ,this country1 however1 must have appeared to the ,jews luxuriant and delightful1 in comparison with the deserts in which they originated4 ,were the wretched inhabitants of the ,landes to quit them for some of the mountains of ,lampourdan1 how would they exult and delight in the change2 and how would they hope eventually to penetrate into the fine and fruitful districts of ,languedoc1 which would be to them the land of promise6 ,such is precisely the history of the ,jews4 ,jericho and ,jerusalem are ,toulouse and ,montpellier1 and the desert of ,sinai is the country between ,bordeaux and ,bayonne4 ,but if the ,god who conducted the ,israelites wished to bestow upon them a pleasant and fruitful land2 if these wretched people had in fact dwelt in ,egypt1 why did he not permit them to remain in ,egypt8 ,to this we are answered only in the usual language of theology4 ,juda1 it is said1 was the promised land4 ,god said to ,abraham3 ,i will give thee all the country between the river of ,egypt and the ,euphrates4 ,alas6 my friends1 you never have had possession of those fertile banks of the ,euphrates and the ,nile4 ,you have only been duped and made fools of4 ,you have almost always been slaves4 ,to promise and to perform1 my poor unfortunate fellows1 are different things4 ,there was an old rabbi once among you1 who1 when reading your shrewd and sagacious prophecies1 announcing for you a land of milk and honey1 remarked that you had been promised more butter than bread4 ,be assured that were the great ,turk this very day to offer me the lordship 7seigneurie7 of ,jerusalem1 ,i would positively decline it4 ,frederick ,,iii41 when he saw this detestable country1 said1 loudly enough to be distinctly heard1 that ,moses must have been very ill-advised to conduct his tribe of lepers to such a place as that4 ,why1 says ,frederick1 did he not go to ,naples8 ,adieu1 my dear ,jews2 ,i am extremely sorry that the promised land is the lost land4 ,by the ,baron de ,broukans4 ,,julian4 ,,section ,i4 ,justice is often done at last4 ,two or three authors1 either venal or fanatical1 eulogize the cruel and effeminate ,constantine as if he had been a god1 and treat as an absolute miscreant the just1 the wise1 and the great ,julian4 ,all other authors1 copying from these1 repeat both the flattery and the calumny4 ,they become almost an article of faith4 ,at length the age of sound criticism arrives2 and at the end of fourteen hundred years1 enlightened men revise the cause which had been decided by ignorance4 ,in ,constantine we see a man of successful ambition1 internally scoffing at things divine as well as human4 ,he has the insolence to pretend that ,god sent him a standard in the air to assure him of victory4 ,he imbrues himself in the blood of all his relations1 and is lulled to sleep in all the effeminacy of luxury2 but he is a ,christian--he is canonized4 ,julian is sober1 chaste1 disinterested1 brave1 and clement2 but he is not a ,christian--he has long been considered a monster4 ,at the present day--after having compared facts1 memorials and records1 the writings of ,julian and those of his enemies--we are compelled to acknowledge that1 if he was not partial to ,christianity1 he was somewhat excusable in hating a sect stained with the blood of all his family2 and that although he had been persecuted1 imprisoned1 exiled1 and threatened with death by the ,galileans1 under the reign of the cruel and sanguinary ,constantius1 he never persecuted them1 but on the contrary even pardoned ten ,christian soldiers who had conspired against his life4 ,his letters are read and admired3 ,the ,galileans1 says he1 under my predecessor1 suffered exile and imprisonment2 and those who1 according to the change of circumstances1 were called heretics1 were reciprocally massacred in their turn4 ,i have called home their exiles1 ,i have liberated their prisoners1 ,i have restored their property to those who were proscribed1 and have compelled them to live in peace2 but such is the restless rage of these ,galileans that they deplore their inability any longer to devour one another4 ,what a letter6 ,what a sentence1 dictated by philosophy1 against persecuting fanaticism4 ,ten ,christians conspiring against his life1 he detects and he pardons them4 ,how extraordinary a man6 ,what dastardly fanatics must those be who attempt to throw disgrace on his memory6 ,in short1 on investigating facts with impartiality1 we are obliged to admit that ,julian possessed all the qualities of ,trajan1 with the exception of that depraved taste too long pardoned to the ,greeks and ,romans2 all the virtues of ,cato1 without either his obstinacy or ill-humor2 everything that deserves admiration in ,julius ,csar1 and none of his vices4 ,he possessed the continence of ,scipio4 ,finally1 he was in all respects equal to ,marcus ,aurelius1 who was reputed the first of men4 ,there are none who will now venture to repeat1 after that slanderer ,theodoret1 that1 in order to propitiate the gods1 he sacrificed a woman in the temple of ,carres2 none who will repeat any longer the story of the death scene in which he is represented as throwing drops of blood from his hand towards heaven1 calling out to ,jesus ,christ3 ,galilean1 thou hast conquered2 as if he had fought against ,jesus in making war upon the ,persians2 as if this philosopher1 who died with such perfect resignation1 had with alarm and despair recognized ,jesus2 as if he had believed that ,jesus was in the air1 and that the air was heaven6 ,these ridiculous absurdities of men1 denominated fathers of the ,church1 are happily no longer current and respected4 ,still1 however1 the effect of ridicule was1 it seems1 to be tried against him1 as it was by the light and giddy citizens of ,antioch4 ,he is reproached for his ill-combed beard and the manner of his walk4 ,but you1 ,mr4 ,abb de la ,bletterie1 never saw him walk2 you have1 however1 read his letters and his laws1 the monuments of his virtues4 ,of what consequence was it1 comparatively1 that he had a slovenly beard and an abrupt1 headlong walk1 while his heart was full of magnanimity and all his steps tended to virtue6 ,one important fact remains to be examined at the present day4 ,julian is reproached with attempting to falsify the prophecy of ,jesus ,christ1 by rebuilding the temple of ,jerusalem4 ,fires1 it is asserted1 came out of the earth and prevented the continuance of the work4 ,it is said that this was a miracle1 and that this miracle did not convert ,julian1 nor ,alypius1 the superintendent of the enterprise1 nor any individual of the imperial court2 and upon this subject the ,abb de la ,bletterie thus expresses himself3 ,the emperor and the philosophers of his court undoubtedly employed all their knowledge of natural philosophy to deprive the ,deity of the honor of so striking and impressive a prodigy4 ,nature was always the favorite resource of unbelievers2 but she serves the cause of religion so very seasonably1 that they might surely suspect some collusion between them4 #a4 ,it is not true that it is said in the ,gospel1 that the ,jewish temple should not be rebuilt4 ,the gospel of ,matthew1 which was evidently written after the destruction of ,jerusalem by ,titus1 prophesies1 certainly1 that not one stone should remain upon another of the temple of the ,iduman ,herod2 but no evangelist says that it shall never be rebuilt4 ,it is perfectly false that not one stone remained upon another when ,titus demolished it4 ,all its foundations remained together1 with one entire wall and the tower ,antonia4 #b4 ,of what consequence could it be to the ,supreme ,being whether there was a ,jewish temple1 a magazine1 or a mosque1 on the spot where the ,jews were in the habit of slaughtering bullocks and cows8 #c4 ,it is not ascertained whether it was from within the circuit of the walls of the city1 or from within that of the temple1 that those fires proceeded which burned the workmen4 ,but it is not very obvious why the ,jews should burn the workmen of the emperor ,julian1 and not those of the caliph ,omar1 who long afterwards built a mosque upon the ruins of the temple2 or those of the great ,saladin who rebuilt the same mosque4 ,had ,jesus any particular predilection for the mosques of the ,mussulmans8 #d4 ,jesus1 notwithstanding his having predicted that there would not remain one stone upon another in ,jerusalem1 did not prevent the rebuilding of that city4 #e4 ,jesus predicted many things which ,god permitted never to come to pass4 ,he predicted the end of the world1 and his coming in the clouds with great power and majesty1 before or about the end of the then existing generation4 ,the world1 however1 has lasted to the present moment1 and in all probability will last much longer4 #f4 ,if ,julian had written an account of this miracle1 ,i should say that he had been imposed upon by a false and ridiculous report2 ,i should think that the ,christians1 his enemies1 employed every artifice to oppose his enterprise1 that they themselves killed the workmen1 and excited and promoted the belief of their being destroyed by a miracle2 but ,julian does not say a single word on the subject4 ,the war against the ,persians at that time fully occupied his attention2 he put off the rebuilding of the temple to some other time1 and he died before he was able to commence the building4 #g4 ,this prodigy is related by ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 who was a ,pagan4 ,it is very possible that it may have been an interpolation of the ,christians4 ,they have been charged with committing numberless others which have been clearly proved4 ,but it is not the less probable that at a time when nothing was spoken of but prodigies and stories of witchcraft1 ,ammianus ,marcellinus may have reported this fable on the faith of some credulous narrator4 ,from ,titus ,livius to de ,thou1 inclusively1 all historians have been infected with prodigies4 #h4 ,contemporary authors relate that at the same period there was in ,syria a great convulsion of the earth1 which in many places broke out in conflagrations and swallowed up many cities4 ,there was therefore more miracle4 #i4 ,if ,jesus performed miracles1 would it be in order to prevent the rebuilding of a temple in which he had himself sacrificed1 and in which he was circumcised8 ,or would he not rather perform miracles to convert to ,christianity the various nations who at present ridicule it8 ,or rather still1 to render more humane1 more kind1 ,christians themselves1 who1 from ,arius and ,athanasius down to ,roland and the ,paladins of the ,cvennes1 have shed torrents of human blood1 and conducted themselves nearly as might be expected from cannibals8 ,hence ,i conclude that nature is not in collusion1 as ,la ,bletterie expresses it1 with ,christianity1 but that ,la ,bletterie is in collusion with some old women's stories1 one of those persons1 as ,julian phrases it1 quibus cum stolidis aniculis negotium erat4 ,la ,bletterie1 after having done justice to some of ,julian's virtues1 yet concludes the history of that great man by observing1 that his death was the effect of divine vengeance4 ,if that be the case1 all the heroes who have died young1 from ,alexander to ,gustavus ,adolphus1 have1 we must infer1 been punished by ,god4 ,julian died the noblest of deaths1 in the pursuit of his enemies1 after many victories4 ,jovian1 who succeeded him1 reigned a much shorter time than he did1 and reigned in disgrace4 ,i see no divine vengeance in the matter2 and ,i see in ,la ,bletterie himself nothing more than a disingenuous1 dishonest declaimer4 ,but where are the men to be found who will dare to speak out8 ,libanius the ,stoic was one of these extraordinary men4 ,he celebrated the brave and clement ,julian in the presence of ,theodosius1 the wholesale murderer of the ,thessalonians2 but ,le ,beau and ,la ,bletterie fear to praise him in the hearing of their own puny parish officers4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,let any one suppose for a moment that ,julian had abandoned false gods for ,christianity2 then examine him as a man1 a philosopher1 and an emperor2 and let the examiner then point out the man whom he will venture to prefer to him4 ,if he had lived only ten years longer1 there is great probability that he would have given a different form to ,europe from that which it bears at present4 ,the ,christian religion depended upon his life2 the efforts which he made for its destruction rendered his name execrable to the nations who have embraced it4 ,the ,christian priests1 who were his contemporaries1 accuse him of almost every crime1 because he had committed what in their eyes was the greatest of all--he had lowered and humiliated them4 ,it is not long since his name was never quoted without the epithet of apostate attached to it2 and it is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of reason that he has at length ceased to be mentioned under so opprobrious a designation4 ,who would imagine that in one of the ,mercuries of ,paris1 for the year #agde1 the author sharply rebukes a certain writer for failing in the common courtesies of life1 by calling this emperor ,julian the apostate8 ,not more than a hundred years ago the man that would not have treated him as an apostate would himself have been treated as an atheist4 ,what is very singular1 and at the same time perfectly true1 is that if you put out of consideration the various disputes between ,pagans and ,christians1 in which this emperor was engaged2 if you follow him neither to the ,christian churches nor idolatrous temples1 but observe him attentively in his own household1 in camp1 in battle1 in his manners1 his conduct1 and his writings1 you will find him in every respect equal to ,marcus ,aurelius4 ,thus1 the man who has been described as so abominable and execrable1 is perhaps the first1 or at least the second of mankind4 ,always sober1 always temperate1 indulging in no licentious pleasures1 sleeping on a mere bear's skin1 devoting only a few hours1 and even those with regret1 to sleep2 dividing his time between study and business1 generous1 susceptible of friendship1 and an enemy to all pomp1 and pride1 and ostentation4 ,had he been merely a private individual he must have extorted universal admiration4 ,if we consider him in his military character1 we see him constantly at the head of his troops1 establishing or restoring discipline without rigor1 beloved by his soldiers and at the same time restraining their excesses1 conducting his armies almost always on foot1 and showing them an example of enduring every species of hardship1 ever victorious in all his expeditions even to the last moments of his life1 and at length dying at the glorious crisis when the ,persians were routed4 ,his death was that of a hero1 and his last words were those of a philosopher3 ,i submit1 says he1 willingly to the eternal decrees of heaven1 convinced that he who is captivated with life1 when his last hour is arrived1 is more weak and pusillanimous than he who would rush to voluntary death when it is his duty still to live4 ,he converses to the last moment on the immortality of the soul2 manifests no regrets1 shows no weakness1 and speaks only of his submission to the decrees of ,providence4 ,let it be remembered that this is the death of an emperor at the age of thirty-two1 and let it be then decided whether his memory should be insulted4 ,as an emperor1 we see him refusing the title of ,dominus1 which ,constantine affected2 relieving his people from difficulties1 diminishing taxes1 encouraging the arts2 reducing to the moderate amount of seventy ounces each those presents in crowns of gold1 which had before been exacted from every city to the amount of three or four hundred marks2 promoting the strict and general observance of the laws2 restraining both his officers and ministers from oppression1 and preventing as much as possible all corruption4 ,ten ,christian soldiers conspire to assassinate him2 they are discovered1 and ,julian pardons them4 ,the people of ,antioch1 who united insolence to voluptuousness1 offer him an insult2 he revenges himself only like a man of sense2 and while he might have made them feel the weight of imperial power1 he merely makes them feel the superiority of his mind4 ,compare with this conduct the executions which ,theodosius 7who was very near being made a saint7 exhibited in ,antioch1 and the ever dreadful and memorable slaughter of all the inhabitants of ,thessalonica1 for an offence of a somewhat similar description2 and then decide between these two celebrated characters4 ,certain writers1 called fathers of the ,church--,gregory of ,nazianzen1 and ,theodoret--thought it incumbent on them to calumniate him1 because he had abandoned the ,christian religion4 ,they did not consider that it was the triumph of that religion to prevail over so great a man1 and even over a sage1 after having resisted tyrants4 ,one of them says that he took a barbarous vengeance on ,antioch and filled it with blood4 ,how could a fact so public and atrocious escape the knowledge of all other historians8 ,it is perfectly known that he shed no blood at ,antioch but that of the victims sacrificed in the regular services of religion4 ,another ventures to assert that before his death he threw some of his own blood towards heaven1 and exclaimed1 ,galilean1 thou hast conquered4 ,how could a tale so insipid and so improbable1 even for a moment obtain credit8 ,was it against the ,christians that he was then combating8 and is such an act1 are such expressions1 in the slightest degree characteristic of the man8 ,minds of a somewhat superior order to those of ,julian's detractors may perhaps inquire1 how it could occur that a statesman like him1 a man of so much intellect1 a genuine philosopher1 could quit the ,christian religion1 in which he was educated1 for ,paganism1 of which1 it is almost impossible not to suppose1 he must have felt the folly and ridicule4 ,it might be inferred that if ,julian yielded too much to the suggestions of his reason against the mysteries of the ,christian religion1 he ought1 at least in all consistency1 to have yielded more readily to the dictates of the same reason1 when more correctly and decidedly condemning the fables of ,paganism4 ,perhaps1 by attending a little to the progress of his life1 and the nature of his character1 we may discover what it was that inspired him with so strong an aversion to ,christianity4 ,the emperor ,constantine1 his great-uncle1 who had placed the new religion on the throne1 was stained by the murder of his wife1 his son1 his brother-inlaw1 his nephew1 and his father-in-law4 ,the three children of ,constantine began their bloody and baleful reign1 with murdering their uncle and their cousins4 ,from that time followed a series of civil wars and murders4 ,the father1 the brother1 and all the relations of ,julian1 and even ,julian himself1 were marked down for destruction by ,constantius1 his uncle4 ,he escaped this general massacre1 but the first years of his life were passed in exile1 and he at last owed the preservation of his life1 his fortune1 and the title of ,csar1 only to ,eusebia1 the wife of his uncle ,constantius1 who1 after having had the cruelty to proscribe his infancy1 had the imprudence to appoint him ,csar1 and the still further and greater imprudence of then persecuting him4 ,he was1 in the first instance1 a witness of the insolence with which a certain bishop treated his benefactress ,eusebia4 ,he was called ,leontius1 and was bishop of ,tripoli4 ,he sent information to the empress1 that he would not visit her unless she would consent to receive him in a manner corresponding to his episcopal dignity--that is1 that she should advance to receive him at the door1 that she should receive his benediction in a bending attitude1 and that she should remain standing until he granted her permission to be seated4 ,the ,pagan pontiffs were not in the habit of treating princesses precisely in this manner1 and such brutal arrogance could not but make a deep impression on the mind of a young man attached at once to philosophy and simplicity4 ,if he saw that he was in a ,christian family1 he saw1 at the same time1 that he was in a family rendered distinguished by parricides2 if he looked at the court bishops1 he perceived that they were at once audacious and intriguing1 and that all anathematized each other in turn4 ,the hostile parties of ,arius and ,athanasius filled the empire with confusion and carnage2 the ,pagans1 on the contrary1 never had any religious quarrels4 ,it is natural therefore that ,julian1 who had been educated1 let it be remembered1 by philosophic ,pagans1 should have strengthened by their discourses the aversion he must necessarily have felt in his heart for the ,christian religion4 ,it is not more extraordinary to see ,julian quit ,christianity for false gods1 than to see ,constantine quit false gods for ,christianity4 ,it is highly probable that both changed for motives of state policy1 and that this policy was mixed up in the mind of ,julian with the stern loftiness of a stoic soul4 ,the ,pagan priests had no dogmas2 they did not compel men to believe that which was incredible2 they required nothing but sacrifices1 and even sacrifices were not enjoined under rigorous penalties2 they did not set themselves up as the first order in the state1 did not form a state within a state1 and did not mix in affairs of government4 ,these might well be considered motives to induce a man of ,julian's character to declare himself on their side2 and if he had piqued himself upon being nothing besides a ,stoic1 he would have had against him the priests of both religions1 and all the fanatics of each4 ,the common people would not at that time have endured a prince who was content simply with the pure worship of a pure divinity and the strict observance of justice4 ,it was necessary to side with one of the opposing parties4 ,we must therefore believe that ,julian submitted to the ,pagan ceremonies1 as the majority of princes and great men attend the forms of worship in the public temples4 ,they are led thither by the people themselves1 and are often obliged to appear what in fact they are not2 and to be in public the first and greatest slaves of credulity4 ,the ,turkish sultan must bless the name of ,omar4 ,the ,persian sophi must bless the name of ,ali4 ,marcus ,aurelius himself was initiated in the mysteries of ,eleusis4 ,we ought not therefore to be surprised that ,julian should have debased his reason by condescending to the forms and usages of superstition2 but it is impossible not to feel indignant against ,theodoret1 as the only historian who relates that he sacrificed a woman in the temple of the moon at ,carres4 ,this infamous story must be classed with the absurd tale of ,ammianus1 that the genius of the empire appeared to ,julian before his death1 and with the other equally ridiculous one1 that when ,julian attempted to rebuild the temple of ,jerusalem1 there came globes of fire out of the earth1 and consumed all the works and workmen without distinction4 ,iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra4--,horace1 book i1 ep4 ii1 #af4 ,both ,christians and ,pagans equally1 circulated fables concerning ,julian2 but the fables of the ,christians1 who were his enemies1 were filled with calumny4 ,who could ever be induced to believe that a philosopher sacrificed a woman to the moon1 and tore out her entrails with his own hands8 ,is such atrocity compatible with the character of a rigid ,stoic8 ,he never put any ,christians to death4 ,he granted them no favors1 but he never persecuted them4 ,he permitted them1 like a just sovereign1 to keep their own property2 and he wrote in opposition to them like a philosopher4 ,he forbade their teaching in the schools the profane authors1 whom they endeavored to decry--this was not persecuting them2 and he prevented them from tearing one another to pieces in their outrageous hatred and quarrels--this was protecting them4 ,they had in fact therefore nothing with which they could reproach him1 but with having abandoned them1 and with not being of their opinion4 ,they found means1 however1 of rendering execrable to posterity a prince1 who1 but for his change of religion1 would have been admired and beloved by all the world4 ,although we have already treated of ,julian1 under the article on ,apostate2 although1 following the example of every sage1 we have deplored the dreadful calamity he experienced in not being a ,christian1 and have done justice elsewhere to his various excellences1 we must nevertheless say something more upon the subject4 ,we do this in consequence of an imposture equally absurd and atrocious1 which we casually met with in one of those petty dictionaries with which ,france is now inundated1 and which unfortunately are so easily compiled4 ,this dictionary of theology which ,i am now alluding to proceeds from an ex-,jesuit1 called ,paulian1 who repeats the story1 so discredited and absurd1 that the emperor ,julian1 after being mortally wounded in a battle with the ,persians1 threw some of his blood towards heaven1 exclaiming1 ,galilean1 thou hast conquered--a fable which destroys itself1 as ,julian was conqueror in the battle1 and ,jesus ,christ certainly was not the ,god of the ,persians4 ,paulian1 notwithstanding1 dares to assert that the fact is incontestable4 ,and upon what ground does he assert it8 ,upon the ground of its being related by ,theodoret1 the author of so many distinguished lies2 and even this notorious writer himself relates it only as a vague report2 he uses the expression1 ,it is said4 ,this story is worthy of the calumniators who stated that ,julian had sacrificed a woman to the moon1 and that after his death a large chest was found among his movables filled with human heads4 ,this is not the only falsehood and calumny with which this ex-,jesuit ,paulian is chargeable4 ,if these contemptible wretches knew what injury they did to our holy religion1 by endeavoring to support it by imposture1 and by the abominable abuse with which they assail the most respectable characters1 they would be less audacious and infuriated4 ,they care not1 however1 for supporting religion2 what they want is to gain money by their libels2 and despairing of being read by persons of sense1 and taste1 and fashion1 they go on gathering and compiling theological trash1 in hopes that their productions will be adopted in the seminaries4 ,we sincerely ask pardon of our well-informed and respectable readers for introducing such names as those of the ex-,jesuits ,paulian1 ,nonnotte1 and ,patouillet2 but after having trampled to death serpents1 we shall probably be excused for crushing fleas4 ,,just ,,and ,,unjust4 ,who has given us the perception of just and unjust8 ,god1 who gave us a brain and a heart4 ,but when does our reason inform us that there are such things as vice and virtue8 ,just at the same time it teaches us that two and two make four4 ,there is no innate knowledge1 for the same reason that there is no tree that bears leaves and fruit when it first starts above the earth4 ,there is nothing innate1 or fully developed in the first instance2 but--we repeat here what we have often said--,god causes us to be born with organs1 which1 as they grow and become unfolded1 make us feel all that is necessary for our species to feel1 for the conservation of that species4 ,how is this continual mystery performed8 ,tell me1 ye yellow inhabitants of the ,isles of ,sunda1 ye black ,africans1 ye beardless ,indians2 and you--,plato1 ,cicero1 and ,epictetus4 ,you all equally feel that it is better to give the superfluity of your bread1 your rice1 or your manioc1 to the poor man who meekly requests it1 than to kill him or scoop his eyes out4 ,it is evident to the whole world that a benefit is more honorable to the performer than an outrage1 that gentleness is preferable to fury4 ,the only thing required1 then1 is to exercise our reason in discriminating the various shades of what is right and wrong4 ,good and evil are often neighbors2 our passions confound them2 who shall enlighten and direct us8 ,ourselves1 when we are calm and undisturbed4 ,whoever has written on the subject of human duties1 in all countries throughout the world1 has written well1 because he wrote with reason4 ,all have said the same thing2 ,socrates and ,epictetus1 ,confucius and ,cicero1 ,marcus ,antoninus and ,amurath ,,ii4 had the same morality4 ,we would repeat every day to the whole of the human race3 ,morality is uniform and invariable2 it comes from ,god3 dogmas are different2 they come from ourselves4 ,jesus never taught any metaphysical dogmas2 ,he wrote no theological courses2 ,he never said3 ,i am consubstantial2 ,i have two wills and two natures with only one person4 ,he left for the ,cordeliers and the ,jacobins1 who would appear twelve hundred years after ,him1 the delicate and difficult topic of argument1 whether ,his mother was conceived in original sin4 ,he never pronounced marriage to be the visible sign of a thing invisible2 ,he never said a word about concomitant grace2 ,he instituted neither monks nor inquisitors2 ,he appointed nothing of what we see at the present day4 ,god had given the knowledge of just and unjust1 right and wrong1 throughout all the ages which preceded ,christianity4 ,god never changed nor can change4 ,the constitution of our souls1 our principles of reason and morality1 will ever be the same4 ,how is virtue promoted by theological distinctions1 by dogmas founded on those distinctions1 by persecutions founded on those dogmas8 ,nature1 terrified and horror-struck at all these barbarous inventions1 calls aloud to all men3 ,be just1 and not persecuting sophists4 ,you read in the ,zend-,avesta1 which is the summary of the laws of ,zoroaster1 this admirable maxim3 ,when it is doubtful whether the action you are about to perform is just or unjust1 abstain from doing it4 ,what legislator ever spoke better8 ,we have not here the system of probable opinions1 invented by people who call themselves the ,society of ,jesus4 ,,justice4 ,that justice is often extremely unjust1 is not an observation merely of the present day2 summum jus1 summa injuria1 is one of the most ancient proverbs in existence4 ,there are many dreadful ways of being unjust2 as1 for example1 that of racking the innocent ,calas upon equivocal evidence1 and thus incurring the guilt of shedding innocent blood by a too strong reliance on vain presumptions4 ,another method of being unjust is condemning to execution a man who at most deserves only three months' imprisonment2 this species of injustice is that of tyrants1 and particularly of fanatics1 who always become tyrants whenever they obtain the power of doing mischief4 ,we cannot more completely demonstrate this truth than by the letter of a celebrated barrister1 written in #agff1 to the marquis of ,beccaria1 one of the most celebrated professors of jurisprudence1 at this time1 in ,europe3 ,letter ,to ,the ,marquis ,of ,beccaria1 ,professor ,of ,public ,law ,at ,milan1 ,on ,the ,subject ,of ,m4 ,de ,morangies1 #aggb4 ,sir3--,you are a teacher of laws in ,italy1 a country from which we derive all laws except those which have been transmitted to us by our own absurd and contradictory customs1 the remains of that ancient barbarism1 the rust of which subsists to this day in one of the most flourishing kingdoms of the earth4 ,your book upon crimes and punishments opened the eyes of many of the lawyers of ,europe who had been brought up in absurd and inhuman usages2 and men began everywhere to blush at finding themselves still wearing their ancient dress of savages4 ,your opinion was requested on the dreadful execution to which two young gentlemen1 just out of their childhood1 had been sentenced2 one of whom1 having escaped the tortures he was destined to1 has become a most excellent officer in the service of the great king1 while the other1 who had inspired the brightest hopes1 died like a sage1 by a horrible death1 without ostentation and without pusillanimity1 surrounded by no less than five executioners4 ,these lads were accused of indecency in action and words1 a fault which three months' imprisonment would have sufficiently punished1 and which would have been infallibly corrected by time4 ,you replied1 that their judges were assassins1 and that all ,europe was of your opinion4 ,i consulted you on the cannibal sentences passed on ,calas1 on ,sirven1 and ,montbailli2 and you anticipated the decrees which you afterwards issued from the chief courts and officers of law in the kingdom1 which justified injured innocence and re-established the honor of the nation4 ,i at present consult you on a cause of a very different nature4 ,it is at once civil and criminal4 ,it is the case of a man of quality1 a major-general in the army1 who maintains alone his honor and fortune against a whole family of poor and obscure citizens1 and against an immense multitude consisting of the dregs of the people1 whose execrations against him are echoed through the whole of ,france4 ,the poor family accuses the general officer of taking from it by fraud and violence a hundred thousand crowns4 ,the general officer accuses these poor persons of trying to obtain from him a hundred thousand crowns by means equally criminal4 ,they complain that they are not merely in danger of losing an immense property1 which they never appeared to possess1 but also of being oppressed1 insulted1 and beaten by the officers of justice1 who compelled them to declare themselves guilty and consent to their own ruin and punishment4 ,the general solemnly protests1 that these imputations of fraud and violence are atrocious calumnies4 ,the advocates of the two parties contradict each other on all the facts1 on all the inductions1 and even on all the reasonings2 their memorials are called tissues of falsehoods2 and each treats the adverse party as inconsistent and absurd1--an invariable practice in every dispute4 ,when you have had the goodness1 sir1 to read their memorials1 which ,i have now the honor of sending to you1 you will1 ,i trust1 permit me to suggest the difficulties which ,i feel in this case2 they are dictated by perfect impartiality4 ,i know neither of the parties1 and neither of the advocates2 but having1 in the course of four and twenty years1 seen calumny and injustice so often triumph1 ,i may be permitted to endeavor to penetrate the labyrinth in which these monsters unfortunately find shelter4 ,presumptions ,against ,the ,verron ,family4 #a4 ,in the first place1 there are four bills1 payable to order1 for a hundred thousand crowns1 drawn with perfect regularity by an officer otherwise deeply involved in debt2 they are payable for the benefit of a woman of the name of ,verron1 who called herself the widow of a banker4 ,they are presented by her grandson1 ,du ,jonquay1 her heir1 recently admitted a doctor of laws1 although he is ignorant even of orthography4 ,is this enough8 ,yes1 in an ordinary case it would be so2 but if1 in this very extraordinary case1 there is an extreme probability1 that the doctor of laws never did and never could carry the money which he pretends to have delivered in his grandmother's name2 if the grandmother1 who maintained herself with difficulty in a garret1 by the miserable occupation of pawnbroking1 never could have been in the possession of the hundred thousand crowns2 if1 in short1 the grandson and his mother have spontaneously confessed1 and attested the written confession by their actual signatures1 that they attempted to rob the general1 and that he never received more than twelve hundred francs instead of three hundred thousand livres2--in this case1 is not the cause sufficiently cleared up8 ,is not the public sufficiently able to judge from these preliminaries8 #b4 ,i appeal to yourself1 sir1 whether it is probable that the poor widow of a person unknown in society1 who is said to have been a petty stock-jobber1 and not a banker1 could be in possession of so considerable a sum to lend1 at an extreme risk1 to an officer notoriously in debt8 ,the general1 in short1 contends1 that this jobber1 the husband of the woman in question1 died insolvent2 that even his inventory was never paid for2 that this pretended banker was originally a baker's boy in the household of the duke of ,saint-,agnan1 the ,french ambassador in ,spain2 that he afterwards took up the profession of a broker at ,paris2 and that he was compelled by ,m4 ,hraut1 lieutenant of police1 to restore certain promissory notes1 or bills of exchange1 which he had obtained from some young man by extortion2--such the fatality impending over this wretched family from bills of exchange6 ,should all these statements be proved1 do you conceive it at all probable that this family lent a hundred thousand crowns to an involved officer with whom they were upon no terms of friendship or acquaintance8 #c4 ,do you consider it probable1 that the jobber's grandson1 the doctor of laws1 should have gone on foot no less than five leagues1 have made twenty-six journeys1 have mounted and descended three thousand steps1 all in the space of five hours1 without any stopping1 to carry secretly twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-five louis d'or to a man1 to whom1 on the following day1 he publicly gives twelve hundred francs8 ,does not such an account appear to be invented with an utter deficiency of ingenuity1 and even of common sense8 ,do those who believe it appear to be sages8 ,what can you think1 then1 of those who solemnly affirm it without believing it8 #d4 ,is it probable1 that young ,du ,jonquay1 the doctor of laws1 and his own mother1 should have made and signed a declaration1 upon oath1 before a superior judge1 that this whole account was false1 that they had never carried the gold1 and that they were confessed rogues1 if in fact they had not been such1 and if grief and remorse had not extorted this confession of their crime8 ,and when they afterwards say1 that they had made this confession before the commissary1 only because they had previously been assaulted and beaten at the house of a proctor1 would such an excuse be deemed by you reasonable or absurd8 ,can anything be clearer than that1 if this doctor of laws had really been assaulted and beaten in any other house on account of this cause1 he should have demanded justice of the commissary for this violence1 instead of freely signing1 together with his mother1 that they were both guilty of a crime which they had not committed8 ,would it be admissible for them to say3 ,we signed our condemnation because we thought that the general had bought over against us all the police officers and all the chief judges8 ,can good sense listen for a moment to such arguments8 ,would any one have dared to suggest such even in the days of our barbarism1 when we had neither laws1 nor manners1 nor cultivated reason8 ,if ,i may credit the very circumstantial memorials of the general1 the ,verrons1 when put in prison upon his accusation1 at first persisted in the confession of their crime4 ,they wrote two letters to the person whom they had made the depositary of the bills extorted from the general2 they were terrified at the contemplation of their guilt1 which they saw might conduct them to the galleys or to the gibbet4 ,they afterwards gain more firmness and confidence4 ,the persons with whom they were to divide the fruit of their villainy encourage and support them2 and the attractions of the vast sum in their contemplation seduce1 hurry1 and urge them on to persevere in the original charge4 ,they call in to their assistance all the dark frauds and pettifogging chicanery to which they can gain access1 to clear them from a crime which they had themselves actually admitted4 ,they avail themselves with dexterity of the distresses to which the involved officer was occasionally reduced1 to give a color of probability to his attempting the re-establishment of his affairs by the robbery or theft of a hundred thousand crowns4 ,they rouse the commiseration of the populace1 which at ,paris is easily stimulated and frenzied4 ,they appeal successfully for compassion to the members of the bar1 who make it a point of indispensable duty to employ their eloquence in their behalf1 and to support the weak against the powerful1 the people against the nobility4 ,the clearest case becomes in time the most obscure4 ,a simple cause1 which the police magistrate would have terminated in four days1 goes on increasing for more than a whole year by the mire and filth introduced into it through the numberless channels of chicanery1 interest1 and party spirit4 ,you will perceive that the whole of this statement is a summary of memorials or documents that appeared in this celebrated cause4 ,presumptions ,in ,favor ,of ,the ,verron ,family4 ,we shall consider the defence of the grandmother1 the mother1 and the grandson 7doctor of laws71 against these strong presumptions4 #a4 ,the hundred thousand crowns 7or very nearly that sum71 which it is pretended the widow ,verron never was possessed of1 were formerly made over to her by her husband1 in trust1 together with the silver plate4 ,this deposit was secretly brought to her six months after her husband's death1 by a man of the name of ,chotard4 ,she placed them out1 and always secretly1 with a notary called ,gilet1 who restored them to her1 still secretly1 in #agfj4 ,she had therefore1 in fact1 the hundred thousand crowns which her adversary pretends she never possessed4 #b4 ,she died in extreme old age1 while the cause was going on1 protesting1 after receiving the sacrament1 that these hundred thousand crowns were carried in gold to the general officer by her grandson1 in twenty-six journeys on foot1 on ,sept4 #bc1 #agga4 #c4 ,it is not at all probable1 that an officer accustomed to borrowing1 and broken down in circumstances1 should have given bills payable to order for the sum of three hundred thousand livres1 to a person unknown to him1 unless he had actually received that sum4 #d4 ,there are witnesses who saw counted out and ranged in order the bags filled with this gold1 and who saw the doctor of laws carry it to the general on foot1 under his great coat1 in twenty-six journeys1 occupying the space of five hours4 ,and he made these twenty-six astonishing journeys merely to satisfy the general1 who had particularly requested secrecy4 #e4 ,the doctor of laws adds3 ,our grandmother and ourselves lived1 it is true1 in a garret1 and we lent a little money upon pledges2 but we lived so merely upon a principle of judicious economy2 the object was to buy for me the office of a counsellor of parliament1 at a time when the magistracy was purchasable4 ,it is true that my three sisters gain their subsistence by needle-work and embroidery2 the reason of which was1 that my grandmother kept all her property for me4 ,it is true that ,i have kept company only with procuresses1 coachmen1 and lackeys3 ,i acknowledge that ,i speak and that ,i write in their style2 but ,i might not on that account be less worthy of becoming a magistrate1 by making1 after all1 a good use of my time4 #f4 ,all worthy persons have commiserated our misfortune4 ,m4 ,aubourg1 a farmer-general1 as respectable as any in ,paris1 has generously taken our side1 and his voice has obtained for us that of the public4 ,this defence appears in some part of it plausible4 ,their adversary refutes it in the following manner3 ,arguments ,of ,the ,major-,general ,against ,those ,of ,the ,verron ,family4 #a4 ,the story of the deposit must be considered by every man of sense as equally false and ridiculous with that of the six-and-twenty journeys on foot4 ,if the poor jobber1 the husband of the old woman1 had intended to give at his death so much money to his wife1 he might have done it in a direct way from hand to hand1 without the intervention of a third person4 ,if he had been possessed of the pretended silver plate1 one-half of it must have belonged to the wife1 as equal owner of their united goods4 ,she would not have remained quiet for the space of six months1 in a paltry lodging of two hundred francs a year1 without reclaiming her plate1 and exerting her utmost efforts to obtain her right4 ,chotard also1 the alleged friend of her husband and herself1 would not have suffered her to remain for six long months in a state of such great indigence and anxiety4 ,there was1 in reality1 a person of the name of ,chotard2 but he was a man ruined by debts and debauchery2 a fraudulent bankrupt who embezzled forty thousand crowns from the tax office of the farmers-general in which he held a situation1 and who is not likely to have given up a hundred thousand crowns to the grandmother of the doctor in laws4 ,the widow ,verron pretends1 that she employed her money at interest1 always it appears in secrecy1 with a notary of the name of ,gilet1 but no trace of this fact can be found in the office of that notary4 ,she declares1 that this notary returned her the money1 still secretly1 in the year #agfj3 he was at that time dead4 ,if all these facts be true1 it must be admitted that the cause of ,du ,jonquay and the ,verrons1 built on a foundation of such ridiculous lies1 must inevitably fall to the ground4 #b4 ,the will of widow ,verron1 made half an hour before her death1 with death and the name of ,god on her lips1 is1 to all appearance1 in itself a respectable and even pious document4 ,but if it be really in the number of those pious things which are every day observed to be merely instrumental to crime--if this lender upon pledges1 while recommending her soul to ,god1 manifestly lied to ,god1 what importance or weight can the document bring with it8 ,is it not rather the strongest proof of imposture and villainy8 ,the old woman had always been made to state1 while the suit was carried on in her name1 that she possessed only this sum of one hundred thousand crowns which it was intended to rob her of2 that she never had more than that sum2 and yet1 behold6 in her will she mentions five hundred thousand livres of her property6 ,here are two hundred thousand francs more than any one expected1 and here is the widow ,verron convicted out of her own mouth4 ,thus1 in this singular cause1 does the at once atrocious and ridiculous imposture of the family break out on every side1 during the woman's life1 and even when she is within the grasp of death4 #c4 ,it is probable1 and it is even in evidence1 that the general would not trust his bills for a hundred thousand crowns to a doctor of whom he knew little or nothing1 without having an acknowledgment from him4 ,he did1 however1 commit this inadvertence1 which is the fault of an unsuspecting and noble heart2 he was led astray by the youth1 by the candor1 by the apparent generosity of a man not more than twenty-seven years of age1 who was on the point of being raised to the magistracy1 who actually1 upon an urgent occasion1 lent him twelve hundred francs1 and who promised in the course of a few days to obtain for him1 from an opulent company1 the sum of a hundred thousand crowns4 ,here is the knot and difficulty of the cause4 ,we must strictly examine whether it be probable1 that a man1 who is admitted to have received nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold1 should on the very morning after1 come in great haste1 as for a most indispensable occasion1 to the man who the evening before had advanced him twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-five louis d'or4 ,there is not the slightest probability of his doing so4 ,it is still less probable1 as we have already observed1 that a man of distinction1 a general officer1 and the father of a family1 in return for the invaluable and almost unprecedented kindness of lending him a hundred thousand crowns1 should1 instead of the sincerest gratitude to his benefactor1 absolutely endeavor to get him hanged2 and this on the part of a man who had nothing more to do than to await quietly the distant expirations of the periods of payment2 who was under no temptation1 in order to gain time1 to commit such a profligate and atrocious villainy1 and who had never in fact committed any villainy at all4 ,surely it is more natural to think that the man1 whose grandfather was a pettifogging1 paltry jobber1 and whose grandmother was a wretched lender of small sums upon the pledges of absolute misery1 should have availed himself of the blind confidence of an unsuspecting soldier1 to extort from him a hundred thousand crowns1 and that he promised to divide this sum with the depraved and abominable accomplices of his baseness4 #d4 ,there are witnesses who depose in favor of ,du ,jonquay and widow ,verron4 ,let us consider who those witnesses are1 and what they depose4 ,in the first place1 there is a woman of the name of ,tourtera1 a broker1 who supported the widow in her peddling1 insignificant concern of pawnbroking1 and who has been five times in the hospital in consequence of the scandalous impurities of her life2 which can be proved with the utmost ease4 ,there is a coachman called ,gilbert1 who1 sometimes firm1 at other times trembling in his wickedness1 declared to a lady of the name of ,petit1 in the presence of six persons1 that he had been suborned by ,du ,jonquay4 ,he subsequently inquired of many other persons1 whether he should yet be in time to retract1 and reiterated expressions of this nature before witnesses4 ,setting aside1 however1 what has been stated of ,gilbert's disposition to retract1 it is very possible that he might be deceived1 and may not be chargeable with falsehood and perjury4 ,it is possible1 that he might see money at the pawnbroker's1 and that he might be told1 and might believe1 that three hundred thousand livres were there4 ,nothing is more dangerous in many persons than a quick and heated imagination1 which actually makes men think that they have seen what it was absolutely impossible for them to see4 ,then comes a man of the name of ,aubriot1 a godson of the procuress ,tourtera1 and completely under her guidance4 ,he deposes1 that he saw1 in one of the streets of ,paris1 on ,sept4 #bc1 #agga1 ,doctor ,du ,jonquay in his great coat1 carrying bags4 ,surely there is here no conclusive proof that the doctor on that day made twenty-six journeys on foot1 and travelled over five leagues of ground1 to deliver secretly twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-five louis d'or1 even admitting all that this testimony states to be true4 ,it appears clear1 that ,du ,jonquay went this journey to the general1 and that he spoke to him2 and it appears probable1 that he deceived him2 but it is not clear that ,aubriot saw him go and return thirteen times in one morning4 ,it is still less clear1 that this witness could at that time see so many circumstances occurring in the street1 as he was actually laboring under a disorder which there is no necessity to name1 and on that very day underwent for it the severe operation of medicine1 with his legs tottering1 his head swelled1 and his tongue hanging half out of his mouth4 ,this was not precisely the moment for running into the street to see sights4 ,would his friend ,du ,jonquay have said to him3 ,come and risk your life1 to see me traverse a distance of five leagues loaded with gold3 ,i am going to deliver the whole fortune of my family1 secretly1 to a man overwhelmed with debts2 ,i wish to have1 privately1 as a witness1 a person of your character8 ,this is not exceedingly probable4 ,the surgeon who applied the medicine to the witness ,aubriot on this occasion1 states that he was by no means in a situation to go out2 and the son of the surgeon1 in his interrogatory1 refers the case to the academy of surgery4 ,but even admitting that a man of a particularly robust constitution could have gone out and taken some turns in the street in this disgraceful and dreadful situation1 what could it have signified to the point in question8 ,did he see ,du ,jonquay make twenty-six journeys between his garret and the general's hotel8 ,did he see twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-five louis d'or carried by him8 ,was any individual whatever a witness to this prodigy well worthy the ,thousand and ,one ,nights8 ,most certainly not2 no person whatever4 ,what is the amount1 then1 of all his evidence on the subject8 #e4 ,that the daughter of ,mrs4 ,verron1 in her garret1 may have sometimes borrowed small sums on pledges2 that ,mrs4 ,verron may have lent them1 in order to obtain and save a profit1 to make her grandson a counsellor of parliament1 has nothing at all to do with the substance of the case in question4 ,in defiance of all this1 it will ever be evident1 that this magistrate by anticipation did not traverse the five leagues to carry to the general the hundred thousand crowns1 and that the general never received them4 #f4 ,a person named ,aubourg comes forward1 not merely as a witness1 but as a protector and benefactor of oppressed innocence4 ,the advocates of the ,verron family extol this man as a citizen of rare and intrepid virtue4 ,he became feelingly alive to the misfortunes of ,doctor ,du ,jonquay1 his mother1 and grandmother1 although he had no acquaintance with them2 and offered them his credit and his purse1 without any other object than that of assisting persecuted merit4 ,upon examination it is found1 that this hero of disinterested benevolence is a contemptible wretch who began the world as a lackey1 was then successively an upholsterer1 a broker1 and a bankrupt1 and is now1 like ,mrs4 ,verron and ,tourtera1 by profession a pawnbroker4 ,he flies to the assistance of persons of his own profession4 ,the woman ,tourtera1 in the first place1 gave him twenty-five louis d'or1 to interest his probity and kindness in assisting a desolate family4 ,the generous ,aubourg had the greatness of soul to make an agreement with the old grandmother1 almost when she was dying1 by which she gives him fifteen thousand crowns1 on condition of his undertaking to defray the expenses of the cause4 ,he even takes the precaution to have this bargain noticed and confirmed in the will1 dictated1 or pretended to be dictated1 by this old widow of the jobber on her death-bed4 ,this respectable and venerable man then hopes one day to divide with some of the witnesses the spoils that are to be obtained from the general4 ,it is the magnanimous heart of ,aubourg that has formed this disinterested scheme2 it is he who has conducted the cause which he seems to have taken up as a patrimony4 ,he believed the bills payable to order would infallibly be paid4 ,he is in fact a receiver who participates in the plunder effected by robbers1 and who appropriates the better part to himself4 ,such are the replies of the general3 ,i neither subtract from them nor add to them--,i simply state them4 ,i have thus explained to you1 sir1 the whole substance of the cause1 and stated all the strongest arguments on both sides4 ,i request your opinion of the sentence which ought to be pronounced1 if matters should remain in the same state1 if the truth cannot be irrevocably obtained from one or other of the parties1 and made to appear perfectly without a cloud4 ,the reasons of the general officer are thus far convincing4 ,natural equity is on his side4 ,this natural equity1 which ,god has established in the hearts of all men1 is the basis of all law4 ,ought we to destroy this foundation of all justice1 by sentencing a man to pay a hundred thousand crowns which he does not appear to owe8 ,he drew bills for a hundred thousand crowns1 in the vain hope that he should receive the money2 he negotiated with a young man whom he did not know1 just as he would have done with the banker of the king or of the empress-queen4 ,should his bills have more validity than his reasons8 ,a man certainly cannot owe what he has not received4 ,bills1 policies1 bonds1 always imply that the corresponding sums have been delivered and had2 but if there is evidence that no money has been had and delivered1 there can be no obligation to return or pay any4 ,if there is writing against writing1 document against document1 the last dated cancels the former ones4 ,but in the present case the last writing is that of ,du ,jonquay and his mother1 and it states that the opposite party in the cause never received from them a hundred thousand crowns1 and that they are cheats and impostors4 ,what6 because they have disavowed the truth of their confession1 which they state to have been made in consequence of their having received a blow or an assault1 shall another man's property be adjudged to them8 ,i will suppose for a moment 7what is by no means probable71 that the judges1 bound down by forms1 will sentence the general to pay what in fact he does not owe2--will they not in this case destroy his reputation as well as his fortune8 ,will not all who have sided against him in this most singular adventure1 charge him with calumniously accusing his adversaries of a crime of which he is himself guilty8 ,he will lose his honor1 in their estimation1 in losing his property4 ,he will never be acquitted but in the judgments of those who examine profoundly4 ,the number of these is always small4 ,where are the men to be found who have leisure1 attention1 capacity1 impartiality1 to consider anxiously every aspect and bearing of a cause in which they are not themselves interested8 ,they judge in the same way as our ancient parliament judged of books--that is1 without reading them4 ,you1 sir1 are fully acquainted with this1 and know that men generally judge of everything by prejudice1 hearsay1 and chance4 ,no one reflects that the cause of a citizen ought to interest the whole body of citizens1 and that we may ourselves have to endure in despair the same fate which we perceive1 with eyes and feelings of indifference1 falling heavily upon him4 ,we write and comment every day upon the judgments passed by the senate of ,rome and the areopagus of ,athens2 but we think not for a moment of what passes before our own tribunals4 ,you1 sir1 who comprehend all ,europe in your researches and decisions1 will1 ,i sincerely hope1 deign to communicate to me a portion of your light4 ,it is possible1 certainly1 that the formalities and chicanery connected with law proceedings1 and with which ,i am little conversant1 may occasion to the general the loss of the cause in court2 but it appears to me that he must gain it at the tribunal of an enlightened public1 that awful and accurate judge who pronounces after deep investigation1 and who is the final disposer of character4 ,,king4 ,king1 basileus1 tyrannos1 rex1 dux1 imperator1 melch1 baal1 bel1 pharaoh1 eli1 shadai1 adonai1 shak1 sophi1 padisha1 bogdan1 chazan1 kan1 krall1 kong1 knig1 etc4--all expressions which signify the same office1 but which convey very different ideas4 ,in ,greece1 neither basileus nor tyrannos ever conveyed the idea of absolute power4 ,he who was able obtained this power1 but it was always obtained against the inclination of the people4 ,it is clear1 that among the ,romans kings were not despotic4 ,the last ,tarquin deserved to be expelled1 and was so4 ,we have no proof that the petty chiefs of ,italy were ever able1 at their pleasure1 to present a bowstring to the first man of the state1 as is now done to a vile ,turk in his seraglio1 and like barbarous slaves1 still more imbecile1 suffer him to use it without complaint4 ,there was no king on this side the ,alps1 and in the ,north1 at the time we became acquainted with this large quarter of the world4 ,the ,cimbri1 who marched towards ,italy1 and who were exterminated by ,marius1 were like famished wolves1 who issued from those forests with their females and whelps4 ,as to a crowned head among these animals1 or orders on the part of a secretary of state1 of a grand butler1 of a chancellor--any notion of arbitrary taxes1 commissaries1 fiscal edicts1 etc4--they knew no more of any of these than of the vespers and the opera4 ,it is certain that gold and silver1 coined and uncoined1 form an admirable means of placing him who has them not1 in the power of him who has found out the secret of accumulation4 ,it is for the latter alone to possess great officers1 guards1 cooks1 girls1 women1 jailers1 almoners1 pages1 and soldiers4 ,it would be very difficult to insure obedience with nothing to bestow but sheep and sheep-skins4 ,it is also very likely1 after all the revolutions of our globe1 that it was the art of working metals which originally made kings1 as it is the art of casting cannon which now maintains them4 ,csar was right when he said1 that with gold we may procure men1 and with men acquire gold4 ,this secret had been known for ages in ,asia and ,egypt1 where the princes and the priests shared the benefit between them4 ,the prince said to the priest3 ,take this gold1 and in return uphold my power1 and prophesy in my favor2 ,i will be anointed1 and thou shalt anoint me2 constitute oracles1 manufacture miracles2 thou shalt be well paid for thy labor1 provided that ,i am always master4 ,the priest1 thus obtaining land and wealth1 prophesies for himself1 makes the oracles speak for himself1 chases the sovereign from the throne1 and very often takes his place4 ,such is the history of the shotim of ,egypt1 the magi of ,persia1 the soothsayers of ,babylon1 the chazin of ,syria 7if ,i mistake the name it amounts to little7--all which holy persons sought to rule4 ,wars between the throne and the altar have in fact existed in all countries1 even among the miserable ,jews4 ,we1 inhabitants of the temperate zone of ,europe1 have known this well for a dozen centuries4 ,our minds not being so temperate as our climate1 we well know what it has cost us4 ,gold and silver form so entirely the primum mobile of the holy connection between sovereignty and religion1 that many of our kings still send it to ,rome1 where it is seized and shared by priests as soon as it arrives4 ,when1 in this eternal conflict for dominion1 leaders have become powerful1 each has exhibited his pre-eminence in a mode of his own4 ,it was a crime to spit in the presence of the king of the ,medes4 ,the earth must be stricken nine times by the forehead in the presence of the emperor of ,china4 ,a king of ,england imagines that he cannot take a glass of beer unless it be presented on the knees4 ,another king will have his right foot saluted1 and all will take the money of their people4 ,in some countries the krall1 or chazin1 is allowed an income1 as in ,poland1 ,sweden1 and ,great ,britain4 ,in others1 a piece of paper is sufficient for his treasury to obtain all that it requires4 ,since we write upon the rights of the people1 on taxation1 on customs1 etc41 let us endeavor1 by profound reasoning1 to establish the novel maxim1 that a shepherd ought to shear his sheep1 and not to flay them4 ,as to the due limits of the prerogatives of kings1 and of the liberty of the people1 ,i recommend you to examine that question at your ease in some hotel in the town of ,amsterdam4 ,,kiss4 ,i ask pardon of young ladies and gentlemen1 for they will not find here what they may possibly expect4 ,this article is only for learned and serious people1 and will suit very few of them4 ,there is too much of kissing in the comedies of the time of ,molire4 ,the valets are always requesting kisses from the waiting-women1 which is exceedingly flat and disagreeable1 especially when the actors are ugly and must necessarily exhibit against the grain4 ,if the reader is fond of kisses1 let him peruse the ,pastor ,fido3 there is an entire chorus which treats only of kisses1 and the piece itself is founded only on a kiss which ,mirtillo one day bestows on the fair ,amaryllis1 in a game at blindman's buff--un bacio molto saporito4 ,in a chapter on kissing by ,john de la ,casa1 archbishop of ,benevento1 he says1 that people may kiss from the head to the foot4 ,he complains1 however1 of long noses1 and recommends ladies who possess such to have lovers with short ones4 ,to kiss was the ordinary manner of salutation throughout all antiquity4 ,plutarch relates1 that the conspirators1 before they killed ,csar1 kissed his face1 his hands1 and his bosom4 ,tacitus observes1 that when his father-in-law1 ,agricola1 returned to ,rome1 ,domitian kissed him coldly1 said nothing to him1 and left him disregarded in the surrounding crowd4 ,an inferior1 who could not aspire to kiss his superior1 kissed his own hand1 and the latter returned the salute in a similar manner1 if he thought proper4 ,the kiss was ever used in the worship of the gods4 ,job1 in his parable1 which is possibly the oldest of our known books1 says that he had not adored the sun and moon like the other ,arabs1 or suffered his mouth to kiss his hand to them4 ,in the ,west there remains of this civility only the simple and innocent practice yet taught in country places to children--that of kissing their right hands in return for a sugar-plum4 ,it is horrible to betray while saluting2 the assassination of ,csar is thereby rendered much more odious4 ,it is unnecessary to add1 that the kiss of ,judas has become a proverb4 ,joab1 one of the captains of ,david1 being jealous of ,amasa1 another captain1 said to him1 ,art thou in health1 my brother8 and took him by the beard with his right hand to kiss him1 while with the other he drew his sword and smote him so that his bowels were shed upon the ground4 ,we know not of any kissing in the other assassinations so frequent among the ,jews1 except possibly the kisses given by ,judith to the captain ,holofernes1 before she cut off his head in his bed2 but no mention is made of them1 and therefore the fact is only to be regarded as probable4 ,in ,shakespeare's tragedy of ,othello1 the hero1 who is a ,moor1 gives two kisses to his wife before he strangles her4 ,this appears abominable to orderly persons1 but the partisans of ,shakespeare say1 that it is a fine specimen of nature1 especially in a ,moor4 ,when ,john ,galeas ,sforza was assassinated in the cathedral of ,milan1 on ,st4 ,stephen's day2 the two ,medicis1 in the church of ,reparata2 ,admiral ,coligni1 the prince of ,orange1 ,marshal d',ancre1 the brothers ,de ,witt1 and so many others1 there was at least no kissing4 ,among the ancients there was something1 ,i know not what1 symbolical and sacred attached to the kiss1 since the statues of the gods were kissed1 as also their beards1 when the sculptors represented them with beards4 ,the initiated kissed one another in the mysteries of ,ceres1 in sign of concord4 ,the first ,christians1 male and female1 kissed with the mouth at their ,agap1 or love-feasts4 ,they bestowed the holy kiss1 the kiss of peace1 the brotherly and sisterly kiss1 hagion philema4 ,this custom1 lasted for four centuries1 and was finally abolished in distrust of the consequences4 ,it was this custom1 these kisses of peace1 these love-feasts1 these appellations of brother and sister1 which drew on the ,christians1 while little known1 those imputations of debauchery bestowed upon them by the priests of ,jupiter and the priestesses of ,vesta4 ,we read in ,petronius and in other authors1 that the dissolute called one another brother and sister2 and it was thought1 that among ,christians the same licentiousness was intended4 ,they innocently gave occasion for the scandal upon themselves4 ,in the commencement1 seventeen different ,christian societies existed1 as there had been nine among the ,jews1 including the two kinds of ,samaritans4 ,those bodies which considered themselves the most orthodox accused the others of inconceivable impurities4 ,the term gnostic1 at first so honorable1 and which signifies the learned1 enlightened1 pure1 became an epithet of horror and of contempt1 and a reproach of heresy4 ,st4 ,epiphanius1 in the third century1 pretended that the males and females at first tickled each other1 and at length proceeded to lascivious kisses1 judging of the degree of faith in each other by the warmth of them4 ,a ,christian husband in presenting his wife to a newly-initiated member1 would exhort her to receive him1 as above stated1 and was always obeyed4 ,we dare not repeat1 in our chaste language1 all that ,epiphanius adds in ,greek4 ,we shall simply observe1 that this saint was probably a little imposed upon1 that he suffered himself to be transported by his zeal1 and that all the heretics were not execrable debauchees4 ,the sect of pietists1 wishing to imitate the early ,christians1 at present bestow on each other kisses of peace1 on departing from their assemblies1 and also call one another brother and sister4 ,the ancient ceremony was a kiss with the lips1 and the pietists have carefully preserved it4 ,there was no other manner of saluting the ladies in ,france1 ,italy1 ,germany1 and ,england4 ,the cardinals enjoyed the privilege of kissing the lips of queens1 even in ,spain1 though--what is singular--not in ,france1 where the ladies have always had more liberties than elsewhere2 but every country has its ceremonies1 and there is no custom so general but chance may have produced an exception4 ,it was an incivility1 a rudeness1 in receiving the first visit of a nobleman1 if a lady did not kiss his lips--no matter about his mustaches4 ,it is an unpleasant custom1 says ,montaigne1 and offensive to the ladies to have to offer their lips to the three valets in his suite1 however repulsive4 ,this custom is1 however1 the most ancient in the world4 ,if it is disagreeable to a young and pretty mouth to glue itself to one which is old and ugly1 there is also great danger in the junction of fresh and vermilion lips of the age of twenty to twenty-five--a truth which has finally abolished the ceremony of kissing in mysteries and love-feasts4 ,hence also the seclusion of women throughout the ,east1 who kiss only their fathers and brothers--a custom long ago introduced into ,spain by the ,arabs4 ,attend to the danger3 there is a nerve which runs from the mouth to the heart1 and thence lower still1 which produces in the kiss an exquisitely dangerous sensation4 ,virtue may suffer from a prolonged and ardent kiss between two young pietists of the age of eighteen4 ,it is remarkable that mankind1 and turtles1 and pigeons alone practise kissing2 hence the ,latin word columbatim1 which our language cannot render4 ,we cannot decorously dwell longer on this interesting subject1 although ,montaigne says1 ,it should be spoken of without reserve2 we boldly speak of killing1 wounding1 and betraying1 while on this point we dare only whisper4 ,,laughter4 ,that laughter is the sign of joy1 as tears are of grief1 is doubted by no one that ever laughed4 ,they who seek for metaphysical causes of laughter are not mirthful1 while they who are aware that laughter draws the zygomatic muscle backwards towards the ears1 are doubtless very learned4 ,other animals have this muscle as well as ourselves1 yet never laugh any more than they shed tears4 ,the stag1 to be sure1 drops moisture from its eyes when in the extremity of distress1 as does a dog dissected alive2 but they weep not for their mistresses or friends1 as we do4 ,they break not out like us into fits of laughter at the sight of anything droll4 ,man is the only animal which laughs and weeps4 ,as we weep only when we are afflicted1 and laugh only when we are gay1 certain reasoners have pretended that laughter springs from pride1 and that we deem ourselves superior to that which we laugh at4 ,it is true that man1 who is a risible animal1 is also a proud one2 but it is not pride which produces laughter4 ,a child who laughs heartily1 is not merry because he regards himself as superior to those who excite his mirth2 nor1 laughing when he is tickled1 is he to be held guilty of the mortal sin of pride4 ,i was eleven years of age when ,i read to myself1 for the first time1 the ,amphitryon of ,molire1 and laughed until ,i nearly fell backward4 ,was this pride8 ,we are seldom proud when alone4 ,was it pride which caused the master of the golden ass to laugh when he saw the ass eat his supper8 ,he who laughs is joyful at the moment1 and is prompted by no other cause4 ,it is not all joy which produces laughter3 the greatest enjoyments are serious4 ,the pleasures of love1 ambition1 or avarice1 make nobody laugh4 ,laughter may sometimes extend to convulsions2 it is even said that persons may die of laughter4 ,i can scarcely believe it2 but certainly there are more who die of grief4 ,violent emotions1 which sometimes move to tears and sometimes to the appearance of laughter1 no doubt distort the muscles of the mouth2 this1 however1 is not genuine laughter1 but a convulsion and a pain4 ,the tears may sometimes be genuine1 because the object is suffering1 but laughter is not4 ,it must have another name1 and be called the risus sardonicus--sardonic smile4 ,the malicious smile1 the perfidum ridens1 is another thing2 being the joy which is excited by the humiliation of another4 ,the grin1 cachinnus1 is bestowed on those who promise wonders and perform absurdities2 it is nearer to hooting than to laughter4 ,our pride derides the vanity which would impose upon us4 ,they hoot our friend ,frron in ,the ,scotchwoman1 rather than laugh at him4 ,i love to speak of friend ,frron1 as in that case ,i laugh unequivocally4 ,,law 7,,natural74 ,b4 ,what is natural law8 ,a4 ,the instinct by which we feel justice4 ,b4 ,what do you call just and unjust8 ,a4 ,that which appears so to the whole world4 ,b4 ,the world is made up of a great many heads4 ,it is said that at ,lacedmon thieves were applauded1 while at ,athens they were condemned to the mines4 ,a4 ,that is all a mere abuse of words1 mere logomachy and ambiguity4 ,theft was impossible at ,sparta1 where all property was common4 ,what you call theft was the punishment of avarice4 ,b4 ,it was forbidden for a man to marry his sister at ,rome4 ,among the ,egyptians1 the ,athenians1 and even the ,jews1 a man was permitted to marry his sister by the father's side4 ,it is not without regret that ,i cite the small and wretched nation of the ,jews1 who certainly ought never to be considered as a rule for any person1 and who--setting aside religion--were never anything better than an ignorant1 fanatical1 and plundering horde4 ,according to their books1 however1 the young ,tamar1 before she was violated by her brother ,ammon1 addressed him in these words3 ,i pray thee1 my brother1 do not so foolishly1 but ask me in marriage of my father3 he will not refuse thee4 ,a4 ,all these cases amount to mere laws of convention1 arbitrary usages1 transient modes4 ,what is essential remains ever the same4 ,point out to me any country where it would be deemed respectable or decent to plunder me of the fruits of my labor1 to break a solemn promise1 to tell an injurious lie1 to slander1 murder1 or poison1 to be ungrateful to a benefactor1 or to beat a father or mother presenting food to you4 ,b4 ,have you forgotten that ,jean ,jacques1 one of the fathers of the modern ,church1 has said that the first person who dared to enclose and cultivate a piece of ground was an enemy of the human race2 that he ought to be exterminated2 and that the fruits of the earth belonged to all1 and the land to none8 ,have we not already examined this proposition1 so beautiful in itself1 and so conducive to the happiness of society8 ,a4 ,who is this ,jean ,jacques8 ,it is certainly not ,john the ,baptist1 nor ,john the ,evangelist1 nor ,james the ,greater1 nor ,james the ,less2 he must inevitably be some witling of a ,hun1 to write such abominable impertinence1 or some ill-conditioned1 malicious bufo magro1 who is never more happy than when sneering at what all the rest of the world deem most valuable and sacred4 ,for1 instead of damaging and spoiling the estate of a wise and industrious neighbor1 he had only to imitate him1 and induce every head of a family to follow his example1 in order to form in a short time a most flourishing and happy village4 ,the author of the passage quoted seems to me a thoroughly unsocial animal4 ,b4 ,you are of opinion1 then1 that by insulting and plundering the good man1 for surrounding his garden and farmyard with a quick-set hedge1 he has offended against natural law4 ,a4 ,yes1 most certainly2 there is1 ,i must repeat1 a natural law2 and it consists in neither doing ill to another1 nor rejoicing at it1 when from any cause whatsoever it befalls him4 ,b4 ,i conceive that man neither loves ill nor does it with any other view than to his own advantage4 ,but so many men are urged on to obtain advantage to themselves by the injury of another2 revenge is a passion of such violence2 there are examples of it so terrible and fatal2 and ambition1 more terrible and fatal still1 has so drenched the world with blood2 that when ,i survey the frightful picture1 ,i am tempted to confess1 that a man is a being truly diabolical4 ,i may certainly possess1 deeply rooted in my heart1 the notion of what is just and unjust2 but an ,attila1 whom ,st4 ,leon extols and pays his court to2 a ,phocas1 whom ,st4 ,gregory flatters with the most abject meanness2 ,alexander ,,vi41 polluted by so many incests1 murders1 and poisonings1 and with whom the feeble ,louis ,,xii41 commonly called the ,good1 enters into the most strict and base alliance2 a ,cromwell1 whose protection ,cardinal ,mazarin eagerly solicits1 and to gratify whom he expels from ,france the heirs of ,charles ,i41 cousins-german of ,louis ,,xiv4--these1 and a thousand similar examples1 easily to be found in the records of history1 totally disturb and derange my ideas1 and ,i no longer know what ,i am doing or where ,i am4 ,a4 ,well2 but should the knowledge that storms are coming prevent our enjoying the beautiful sunshine and gentle and fragrant gales of the present day8 ,did the earthquake that destroyed half the city of ,lisbon prevent your making a very pleasant journey from ,madrid8 ,if ,attila was a bandit1 and ,cardinal ,mazarin a knave1 are there not some princes and ministers respectable and amiable men8 ,has it not been remarked1 that in the war of #agja1 the ,council of ,louis ,,xiv4 consisted of some of the most virtuous of mankind--the duke of ,beauvilliers1 the ,marquis de ,torcy1 ,marshal ,villars1 and finally ,chamillard1 who was not indeed considered a very able but still an honorable man8 ,does not the idea of just and unjust still exist8 ,it is in fact on this that all laws are founded4 ,the ,greeks call laws the daughters of heaven1 which means simply1 the daughters of nature4 ,have you no laws in your country8 ,b4 ,yes2 some good1 and others bad4 ,a4 ,where could you have taken the idea of them1 but from the notions of natural law which every well-constructed mind has within itself8 ,they must have been derived from these or nothing4 ,b4 ,you are right2 there is a natural law1 but it is still more natural to many people to forget or neglect it4 ,a4 ,it is natural also to be one-eyed1 humpbacked1 lame1 deformed1 and sickly2 but we prefer persons well made and healthy4 ,b4 ,why are there so many one-eyed and deformed minds8 ,a4 ,hush6 ,consult1 however1 the article on ,omnipotence4 ,,law 7,,salic74 ,he who says that the ,salic law was written with a pen from the wing of a two-headed eagle1 by ,pharamond's almoner1 on the back of the patent containing ,constantine's donation1 was not1 perhaps1 very much mistaken4 ,it is1 say the doughty lawyers1 the fundamental law of the ,french ,empire4 ,the great ,jerome ,bignon1 in his book on ,the ,excellence of ,france1 says that this law is derived from natural law1 according to the great ,aristotle1 because in families it was the father who governed1 and no dower was given to daughters1 as we read in relation to the father1 mother1 and brothers of ,rebecca4 ,he asserts that the kingdom of ,france is so excellent that it has religiously preserved this law1 recommended both by ,aristotle and the ,old ,testament4 ,and to prove this excellence of ,france1 he observes also1 that the emperor ,julian thought the wine of ,surne admirable4 ,but in order to demonstrate the excellence of the ,salic law1 he refers to ,froissart1 according to whom the twelve peers of ,france said that the kingdom of ,france is of such high nobility that it never ought to pass in succession to a female4 ,it must be acknowledged that this decision is not a little uncivil to ,spain1 ,england1 ,naples1 and ,hungary1 and more than all the rest to ,russia1 which has seen on its throne four empresses in succession4 ,the kingdom of ,france is of great nobility2 no doubt it is2 but those of ,spain1 of ,mexico1 and ,peru are also of great nobility1 and there is great nobility also in ,russia4 ,it has been alleged that ,sacred ,scripture says the lilies neither toil nor spin2 and thence it has been inferred that women ought not to reign in ,france4 ,this certainly is another instance of powerful reasoning2 but it has been forgotten that the leopards1 which are--it is hard to say why--the arms of ,england1 spin no more than the lilies which are--it is equally hard to say why--the arms of ,france4 ,in a word1 the circumstance that lilies have never been seen to spin does not absolutely demonstrate the exclusion of females from the throne to have been a fundamental law of the ,gauls4 ,of ,fundamental ,laws4 ,the fundamental law of every country is1 that if people are desirous of having bread1 they must sow corn2 that if they wish for clothing1 they must cultivate flax and hemp2 that every owner of a field should have the uncontrolled management and dominion over it1 whether that owner be male or female2 that the half-barbarous ,gaul should kill as many as ever he can of the wholly barbarous ,franks1 when they come from the banks of the ,main1 which they have not the skill and industry to cultivate1 to carry off his harvests and flocks2 without doing which the ,gaul would either become a serf of the ,frank1 or be assassinated by him4 ,it is upon this foundation that an edifice is well supported4 ,one man builds upon a rock1 and his house stands firm2 another on the sands1 and it falls to the ground4 ,but a fundamental law1 arising from the fluctuating inclinations of men1 and yet at the same time irrevocable1 is a contradiction in terms1 a mere creature of imagination1 a chimera1 an absurdity2 the power that makes the laws can change them4 ,the ,golden ,bull was called the fundamental law of the empire4 ,it was ordained that there should never be more than seven ,teutonic electors1 for the very satisfactory and decisive reason that a certain ,jewish chandelier had had no more than seven branches1 and that there are no more than seven gifts of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this fundamental law had the epithet eternal applied to it by the all-powerful authority and infallible knowledge of ,charles ,,iv4 ,god1 however1 did not think fit to allow of this assumption of eternal in ,charles's parchments4 ,he permitted other ,german emperors1 out of their all-powerful authority and infallible knowledge1 to add two branches to the chandelier1 and two presents to the seven gifts of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,accordingly the electors are now nine in number4 ,it was a very fundamental law that the disciples of the ,lord ,jesus should possess no private property1 but have all things in common4 ,there was afterwards a law that the bishops of ,rome should be rich1 and that the people should choose them4 ,the last fundamental law is1 that they are sovereigns1 and elected by a small number of men clothed in scarlet1 and constituting a society absolutely unknown in the time of ,jesus4 ,if the emperor1 king of the ,romans1 always august1 was sovereign master of ,rome in fact1 as he is according to the style of his patents and heraldry1 the pope would be his grand almoner1 until some other law1 forever irrevocable1 was announced1 to be destroyed in its turn by some succeeding one4 ,i will suppose--what may very possibly and naturally happen--that an emperor of ,germany may have no issue but an only daughter1 and that he may be a quiet1 worthy man1 understanding nothing about war4 ,i will suppose that if ,catherine ,,ii4 does not destroy the ,turkish ,empire1 which she has severely shaken in the very year in which ,i am now writing my reverie 7the year #agga71 the ,turk will come and invade this good prince1 notwithstanding his' being cherished and beloved by all his nine electors2 that his daughter puts herself at the head of the troops with two young electors deeply enamored of her2 that she beats the ,ottomans1 as ,deborah beat ,general ,sisera1 and his three hundred thousand soldiers1 and his three thousand chariots of war1 in a little rocky plain at the foot of ,mount ,tabor2 that this warlike princess drives the ,mussulman even beyond ,adrianople2 that her father dies through joy at her success1 or from any other cause2 that the two lovers of the princess induce their seven colleagues to crown her empress1 and that all the princes of the empire1 and all the cities give their consent to it2 what1 in this case1 becomes of the fundamental and eternal law which enacts that the holy ,roman ,empire cannot possibly pass from the lance to the distaff1 that the two-headed eagle cannot spin1 and that it is impossible to sit on the imperial throne without breeches8 ,the old and absurd law would be derided1 and the heroic empress reign at once in safety and in glory4 ,how ,the ,salic ,law ,came ,to ,be ,established4 ,we cannot contest the custom which has indeed passed into law1 that decides against daughters inheriting the crown in ,france while there remains any male of the royal blood4 ,this question has been long determined1 and the seal of antiquity has been put to the decision4 ,had it been expressly brought from heaven1 it could not be more revered by the ,french nation than it is4 ,it certainly does not exactly correspond with the gallant courtesy of the nation2 but the fact is1 that it was in strict and rigorous observance before the nation was ever distinguished for its gallant courtesy4 ,the president ,hnault repeats1 in his ,chronicle1 what had been stated at random before him1 that ,clovis digested the ,salic law in #eaa1 the very year in which he died4 ,i am very well disposed to believe that he actually did digest this law1 and that he knew how to read and write1 just as ,i am to believe that he was only fifteen years old when he undertook the conquest of the ,gauls2 but ,i do sincerely wish that any one would show me in the library of ,st4-,germain-des-,prs1 or of ,st4 ,martin1 the original document of the ,salic law actually signed ,clovis1 or ,clodovic1 or ,hildovic2 from that we should at least learn his real name1 which nobody at present knows4 ,we have two editions of this ,salic law2 one by a person by the name of ,herold1 the other by ,francis ,pithou2 and these are different1 which is by no means a favorable presumption4 ,when the text of a law is given differently in two documents1 it is not only evident that one of the two is false1 but it is highly probable that they are both so4 ,no custom or usage of the ,franks was written in our early times1 and it would be excessively strange that the law of the ,salii should have been so4 ,this law1 moreover1 is in ,latin1 and it does not seem at all probable that1 in the swamps between ,suabia and ,batavia1 ,clovis1 or his predecessors1 should speak ,latin4 ,it is supposed that this law has reference to the kings of ,france2 and yet all the learned are agreed that the ,sicambri1 the ,franks1 and the ,salii1 had no kings1 nor indeed any hereditary chiefs4 ,the title of the ,salic law begins with these words3 ,in ,christi nomine--,in the name of ,christ4 ,it was therefore made out of the ,salic territory1 as ,christ was no more known by these barbarians than by the rest of ,germany and all the countries of the ,north4 ,this law is stated to have been drawn up by four distinguished lawyers of the ,frank nation2 these1 in ,herold's edition1 are called ,vuisogast1 ,arogast1 ,salegast1 and ,vuindogast4 ,in ,pithou's edition1 the names are somewhat different4 ,it has been unluckily discovered that these names are the old names1 somewhat disguised1 of certain cantons of ,germany4 ,in whatever period this law was framed in bad ,latin1 we find1 in the article relating to allodial or freehold lands1 that no part of ,salic land can be inherited by women4 ,it is clear that this pretended law was by no means followed4 ,in the first place1 it appears from the formul of ,marculphus that a father might leave his allodial land to his daughter1 renouncing a certain ,salic law which is impious and abominable4 ,secondly1 if this law be applied to fiefs1 it is evident that the ,english kings1 who were not of the ,norman race1 obtained all their great fiefs in ,france only through daughters4 ,thirdly1 it is alleged to be necessary that a fief should be possessed by a man1 because he was able as well as bound to fight for his lord2 this itself shows that the law could not be understood to affect the rights to the throne4 ,all feudal lords might fight just as well for a queen as for a king4 ,a queen was not obliged to follow the practice so long in use1 to put on a cuirass1 and cover her limbs with armor1 and set off trotting against the enemy upon a carthorse4 ,it is certain1 therefore1 that the ,salic law could have no reference to the crown1 neither in connection with allodial lands1 nor feudal holding and service4 ,mzeray says1 ,the imbecility of the sex precludes their reigning4 ,mzeray speaks here like a man neither of sense nor politeness4 ,history positively and repeatedly falsifies his assertion4 ,queen ,anne of ,england1 who humbled ,louis ,,xiv42 the empress-queen of ,hungary1 who resisted ,king ,louis ,,xv41 ,frederick the ,great1 the elector of ,bavaria1 and various other princes2 ,elizabeth of ,england1 who was the strength and support of our great ,henry2 the empress of ,russia1 of whom we have spoken already2 all these decidedly show that ,mzeray is not more correct than he is courteous in his observation4 ,he could scarcely help knowing that ,queen ,blanche was in fact the reigning monarch under the name of her son2 as ,anne of ,brittany was under that of ,louis ,,xii4 ,velly1 the last writer of the history of ,france1 and who on that very account ought to be the best1 as he possessed all the accumulated materials of his predecessors1 did not1 however1 always know how to turn his advantages to the best account4 ,he inveighs with bitterness against the judicious and profound ,rapin de ,thoyras1 and attempts to prove to him that no princess ever succeeded to the crown while any males remained who were capable of succeeding4 ,that we all know perfectly well1 and ,thoyras never said the contrary4 ,in that long age of barbarism1 when the only concern of ,europe was to commit usurpations and to sustain them1 it must be acknowledged that kings1 being often chiefs of banditti or warriors armed against those banditti1 it was not possible to be subject to the government of a woman4 ,whoever was in possession of a great warhorse would engage in the work of rapine and murder only under the standard of a man mounted upon a great horse like himself4 ,a buckler of oxhide served for a throne4 ,the caliphs governed by the ,koran1 the popes were deemed to govern by the ,gospel4 ,the ,south saw no woman reign before ,joan of ,naples1 who was indebted for her crown entirely to the affection of the people for ,king ,robert1 her grandfather1 and to their hatred of ,andrew1 her husband4 ,this ,andrew was in reality of royal blood1 but had been born in ,hungary1 at that time in a state of barbarism4 ,he disgusted the ,neapolitans by his gross manners1 intemperance1 and drunkenness4 ,the amiable king ,robert was obliged to depart from immemorial usage1 and declare ,joan alone sovereign by his will1 which was approved by the nation4 ,in the ,north we see no queen reigning in her own right before ,margaret of ,waldemar1 who governed for some months in her own name about the year #acgg4 ,spain had no queen in her own right before the able ,isabella in #adfa4 ,in ,england the cruel and bigoted ,mary1 daughter of ,henry ,,viii41 was the first woman who inherited the throne1 as the weak and criminal ,mary ,stuart was in ,scotland in the sixteenth century4 ,the immense territory of ,russia had no female sovereign before the widow of ,peter the ,great4 ,the whole of ,europe1 and indeed ,i might say the whole world1 was governed by warriors in the time when ,philip de ,valois supported his right against ,edward ,,iii4 ,this right of a male who succeeded to a male1 seemed the law of all nations4 ,you are grandson of ,philip the ,fair1 said ,valois to his competitor1 but as my right would be superior to that of the mother1 it must be still more decidedly superior to that of the son4 ,your mother1 in fact1 could not communicate a right which she did not possess4 ,it was therefore perfectly recognized in ,france that a prince of the blood royal1 although in the remotest possible degree1 should be heir to the crown in exclusion even of the daughter of the king4 ,it is a law on which there is now not the slightest dispute whatever4 ,other nations have1 since the full and universal recognition of this principle among ourselves1 adjudged the throne to princesses4 ,but ,france has still observed its ancient usage4 ,time has conferred on this usage the force of the most sacred of laws4 ,at what time the ,salic law was framed or interpreted is not of the slightest consequence2 it does exist1 it is respectable1 it is useful2 and its utility has rendered it sacred4 ,examination ,whether ,daughters ,are ,in ,all ,cases ,deprived ,of ,every ,species ,of ,inheritance ,by ,this ,salic ,law4 ,i have already bestowed the empire on a daughter in defiance of the ,golden ,bull4 ,i shall have no difficulty in conferring on a daughter the kingdom of ,france4 ,i have a better right to dispose of this realm than ,pope ,julian ,,ii41 who deprived ,louis ,,xii4 of it1 and transferred it by his own single authority to the emperor ,maximilian4 ,i am better authorized to plead in behalf of the daughters of the house of ,france1 than ,pope ,gregory ,,xiii4 and ,cordelier ,sextus-,quintus were to exclude from the throne our princes of the blood1 under the pretence actually urged by these excellent priests1 that ,henry ,,iv4 and the princes of ,cond were a bastard and detestable race of ,bourbon--refined and holy words1 which deserve ever to be remembered in order to keep alive the conviction of all we owe to the bishops of ,rome4 ,i may give my vote in the states-general1 and no pope certainly can have any suffrage on it4 ,i therefore give my vote without hesitation1 some three or four hundred years from the present time1 to a daughter of ,france1 then the only descendant remaining in a direct line from ,hugh ,capet4 ,i constitute her queen1 provided she shall have been well educated1 have a sound understanding1 and be no bigot4 ,i interpret in her favor that law which declares que fille ne doit mie succder--that a daughter must in no case come to her succession4 ,i understand by the words1 that she must in no case succeed as long as there shall be any male4 ,but on failure of males1 ,i prove that the kingdom belongs to her by nature1 which ordains it1 and for the benefit of the nation4 ,i invite all good ,frenchmen to show the same respect as myself for the blood of so many kings4 ,i consider this as the only method of preventing factions which would dismember the state4 ,i propose that she shall reign in her own right1 and that she shall be married to some amiable and respectable prince1 who shall assume her name and arms1 and who1 in his own right1 shall possess some territory which shall be annexed to ,france2 as we have seen ,maria ,theresa of ,hungary united in marriage to ,francis1 duke of ,lorraine1 the most excellent prince in the world4 ,what ,celt will refuse to acknowledge her1 unless we should discover some other beautiful and accomplished princess of the issue of ,charlemagne1 whose family was expelled by ,hugh ,capet1 notwithstanding the ,salic law8 or unless indeed we should find a princess fairer and more accomplished still1 an unquestionable descendant from ,clovis1 whose family was before expelled by ,pepin1 his own domestic1 notwithstanding1 be it again remembered1 the ,salic law4 ,i shall certainly find no involved and difficult intrigues necessary to obtain the consecration of my royal heroine at ,rheims1 or ,chartres1 or in the chapel of the ,louvre--for either would effectually answer the purpose2 or even to dispense with any consecration at all4 ,for monarchs reign as well when not consecrated as when consecrated4 ,the kings and queens of ,spain observe no such ceremony4 ,among all the families of the king's secretaries1 no person will be found to dispute the throne with this ,capetian princess4 ,the most illustrious houses are so jealous of each other that they would infinitely prefer obeying the daughter of kings to being under the government of one of their equals4 ,recognized by the whole of ,france1 she will receive the homage of all her subjects with a grace and majesty which will induce them to love as much as they revere her2 and all the poets will compose verses in her honor4 ,,law 7,,civil ,,and ,,ecclesiastical74 ,the following notes were found among the papers of a lawyer1 and are perhaps deserving some consideration3 ,that no ecclesiastical law should be of any force until it has received the express sanction of government4 ,it was upon this principle that ,athens and ,rome were never involved in religious quarrels4 ,these quarrels fall to the lot of those nations only that have never been civilized1 or that have afterwards been again reduced to barbarism4 ,that the magistrate alone should have authority to prohibit labor on festivals1 because it does not become priests to forbid men to cultivate their fields4 ,that everything relating to marriages depends solely upon the magistrate1 and that the priests should be confined to the august function of blessing them4 ,that lending money at interest is purely an object of the civil law1 as that alone presides over commerce4 ,that all ecclesiastical persons should be1 in all cases whatever1 under the perfect control of the government1 because they are subjects of the state4 ,that men should never be so disgracefully ridiculous as to pay to a foreign priest the first year's revenue of an estate1 conferred by citizens upon a priest who is their fellow-citizen4 ,that no priest should possess authority to deprive a citizen even of the smallest of his privileges1 under the pretence that that citizen is a sinner2 because the priest1 himself a sinner1 ought to pray for sinners1 and not to judge them4 ,that magistrates1 cultivators1 and priests1 should alike contribute to the expenses of the state1 because all alike belong to the state4 ,that there should be only one system of weights and measures1 and usages4 ,that the punishment of criminals should be rendered useful4 ,a man that is hanged is no longer useful2 but a man condemned to the public works is still serviceable to his country1 and a living lecture against crime4 ,that the whole law should be clear1 uniform1 and precise2 to interpret it is almost always to corrupt it4 ,that nothing should be held infamous but vice4 ,that taxes should be imposed always in just proportion4 ,that law should never be in contradiction to usage2 for1 if the usage is good1 the law is worth nothing4 ,,laws4 ,,section ,i4 ,it is difficult to point out a single nation living under a system of good laws4 ,this is not attributable merely to the circumstance that laws are the productions of men1 for men have produced works of great utility and excellence2 and those who invented and brought to perfection the various arts of life were capable of devising a respectable code of jurisprudence4 ,but laws have proceeded1 in almost every state1 from the interest of the legislator1 from the urgency of the moment1 from ignorance1 and from superstition1 and have accordingly been made at random1 and irregularly1 just in the same manner in which cities have been built4 ,take a view of ,paris1 and observe the contrast between that quarter of it where the fish-market 7,halles7 is situated1 the ,st4 ,pierre-aux-bufs1 the streets ,brisemiche and ,pet-au-diable and the beauty and splendor of the ,louvre and the ,tuileries4 ,this is a correct image of our laws4 ,it was only after ,london had been reduced to ashes that it became at all fit to be inhabited4 ,the streets1 after that catastrophe1 were widened and straightened4 ,if you are desirous of having good laws1 burn those which you have at present1 and make fresh ones4 ,the ,romans were without fixed laws for the space of three hundred years2 they were obliged to go and request some from the ,athenians1 who gave them such bad ones that they were almost all of them soon abrogated4 ,how could ,athens itself be in possession of a judicious and complete system8 ,that of ,draco was necessarily abolished1 and that of ,solon soon expired4 ,our customary or common law of ,paris is interpreted differently by four-and-twenty commentaries1 which decidedly proves1 the same number of times1 that it is ill conceived4 ,it is in contradiction to a hundred and forty other usages1 all having the force of law in the same nation1 and all in contradiction to each other4 ,there are therefore1 in a single department in ,europe1 between the ,alps and the ,pyrenees1 more than forty distinct small populations1 who call themselves fellow-countrymen1 but who are in reality as much strangers to one another as ,tonquin is to ,cochin ,china4 ,it is the same in all provinces of ,spain4 ,it is in ,germany much worse4 ,no one there knows what are the rights of the chief or of the members4 ,the inhabitant of the banks of the ,elbe is connected with the cultivator of ,suabia only in speaking nearly the same language1 which1 it must be admitted1 is rather an unpolished and coarse one4 ,the ,english nation has more uniformity2 but having extricated itself from servitude and barbarism only by occasional efforts1 by fits and convulsive starts1 and having even in its state of freedom retained many laws formerly promulgated1 either by the great tyrants who contended in rivalship for the throne1 or the petty tyrants who seized upon the power and honors of the prelacy1 it has formed altogether a body of laws of great vigor and efficacy1 but which still exhibit many bruises and wounds1 very clumsily patched and plastered4 ,the intellect of ,europe has made greater progress within the last hundred years than the whole world had done before since the days of ,brahma1 ,fohi1 ,zoroaster1 and the ,thaut of ,egypt4 ,what then is the cause that legislation has made so little8 ,after the fifth century1 we were all savages4 ,such are the revolutions which take place on the globe2 brigands pillaging and cultivators pillaged made up the masses of mankind from the recesses of the ,baltic ,sea to the ,strait of ,gibraltar2 and when the ,arabs made their appearance in the ,south1 the desolation of ravage and confusion was universal4 ,in our department of ,europe1 the small number1 being composed of daring and ignorant men1 used to conquest and completely armed for battle1 and the greater number1 composed of ignorant1 unarmed slaves1 scarcely any one of either class knowing how to read or write--not even ,charlemagne himself--it happened very naturally that the ,roman ,church1 with its pen and ceremonies1 obtained the guidance and government of those who passed their life on horseback with their lances couched and the morion on their heads4 ,the descendants of the ,sicambri1 the ,burgundians1 the ,ostrogoths1 ,visigoths1 ,lombards1 ,heruli1 etc41 felt the necessity of something in the shape of laws4 ,they sought for them where they were to be found4 ,the bishops of ,rome knew how to make them in ,latin4 ,the barbarians received them with greater respect in consequence of not understanding them4 ,the decretals of the popes1 some genuine1 others most impudently forged1 became the code of the new governors1 regas2 lords1 leus2 and barons1 who had appropriated the lands4 ,they were the wolves who suffered themselves to be chained up by the foxes4 ,they retained their ferocity1 but it was subjugated by credulity and the fear which credulity naturally produces4 ,gradually ,europe1 with the exception of ,greece and what still belonged to the ,eastern ,empire1 became subjected to the dominion of ,rome1 and the poet's verse might be again applied as correctly as before3 ,romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam4--neid1 i1 #bhf4 ,the subject world shall ,rome's dominion own1 ,and prostrate shall adore the nation of the gown4 --,,dryden4 ,almost all treaties being accompanied by the sign of the cross1 and by an oath which was frequently administered over some relics1 everything was thus brought within the jurisdiction of the ,church4 ,rome1 as metropolitan1 was supreme judge in causes1 from the ,cimbrian ,chersonesus to ,gascony2 and a thousand feudal lords1 uniting their own peculiar usages with the canon law1 produced in the result that monstrous jurisprudence of which there at present exist so many remains4 ,which would have been better--no laws at all1 or such as these8 ,it was beneficial to an empire of more vast extent than that of ,rome to remain for a long time in a state of chaos2 for1 as every valuable institution was still to be formed1 it was easier to build a new edifice than to repair one whose ruins were looked upon as sacred4 ,the legislatrix of the ,north1 in #agfg1 collected deputies from all the provinces which contained about twelve hundred thousand square leagues4 ,there were ,pagans1 ,mahometans of the sect of ,ali1 and others of the sect of ,omar1 and about twelve different sects of ,christians4 ,every law was distinctly proposed to this new synod2 and if it appeared conformable to the interest of all the provinces1 it then received the sanction of the empress and the nation4 ,the first law that was brought forward and carried1 was a law of toleration1 that the ,greek priest might never forget that the ,latin priest was his fellow-man2 that the ,mussulman might bear with his ,pagan brother2 and that the ,roman ,catholic might not be tempted to sacrifice his brother ,presbyterian4 ,the empress wrote with her own hand1 in this grand council of legislation1 ,among so many different creeds1 the most injurious error would be intolerance4 ,it is now unanimously agreed that there is in a state only one authority2 that the proper expressions to be used are1 civil power1 and ecclesiastical discipline2 and that the allegory of the two swords is a dogma of discord4 ,she began with emancipating the serfs of her own particular domain4 ,she emancipated all those of the ecclesiastical domains4 ,she might thus be said to have created men out of slaves4 ,the prelates and monks were paid out of the public treasury4 ,punishments were proportioned to crimes1 and the punishments were of a useful character2 offenders were for the greater part condemned to labor on public works1 as the dead man can be of no service to the living4 ,the torture was abolished1 because it punishes a man before he is known to be guilty2 because the ,romans never put any to the torture but their slaves2 and because torture tends to saving the guilty and destroying the innocent4 ,this important business had proceeded thus far1 when ,mustapha ,,iii41 the son of ,mahmoud1 obliged the empress to suspend her code and proceed to fighting4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,i have attempted to discover some ray of light in the mythological times of ,china which precede ,fohi1 but ,i have attempted in vain4 ,at the period1 however1 in which ,fohi flourished1 which was about three thousand years before the new and common era of our northwestern part of the world1 ,i perceive wise and mild laws already established by a beneficent sovereign4 ,the ancient books of the ,five ,kings1 consecrated by the respect of so many ages1 treat of the institution of agriculture1 of pastoral economy1 of domestic economy1 of that simple astronomy which regulates the different seasons1 and of the music which1 by different modulations1 summoned men to their respective occupations4 ,fohi flourished1 beyond dispute1 more than five thousand years ago4 ,we may therefore form some judgment of the great antiquity of an immense population1 thus instructed by an emperor on every topic that could contribute to their happiness4 ,in the laws of that monarch ,i see nothing but what is mild1 useful and amiable4 ,i was afterwards induced to inspect the code of a small nation1 or horde1 which arrived about two thousand years after the period of which we have been speaking1 from a frightful desert on the banks of the river ,jordan1 in a country enclosed and bristled with peaked mountains4 ,these laws have been transmitted to ourselves1 and are daily held up to us as the model of wisdom4 ,the following are a few of them3 ,not to eat the pelican1 nor the ossifrage1 nor the griffin1 nor the ixion1 nor the eel1 nor the hare1 because the hare ruminates1 and has not its foot cloven4 ,against men sleeping with their wives during certain periodical affections1 under pain of death to both of the offending parties4 ,to exterminate without pity all the unfortunate inhabitants of the land of ,canaan1 who were not even acquainted with them2 to slaughter the whole2 to massacre all1 men and women1 old men1 children1 and animals1 for the greater glory of ,god4 ,to sacrifice to the ,lord whatever any man shall have devoted as an anathema to the ,lord1 and to slay it without power of ransom4 ,to burn widows who1 not being able to be married again to their brothers-in-law1 had otherwise consoled themselves on the highway or elsewhere1 etc4 ,a ,jesuit1 who was formerly a missionary among the cannibals1 at the time when ,canada still belonged to the king of ,france1 related to me that once1 as he was explaining these ,jewish laws to his neophytes1 a little impudent ,frenchman1 who was present at the catechising1 cried out1 ,they are the laws of cannibals4 ,one of the ,indians replied to him1 ,you are to know1 ,mr4 ,flippant1 that we are people of some decency and kindness4 ,we never had among us any such laws2 and if we had not some kindness and decency1 we should treat you as an inhabitant of ,canaan1 in order to teach you civil language4 ,it appears upon a comparison of the code of the ,chinese with that of the ,hebrews1 that laws naturally follow the manners of the people who make them4 ,if vultures and doves had laws1 they would undoubtedly be of a very different character4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,sheep live in society very mildly and agreeably2 their character passes for being a very gentle one1 because we do not see the prodigious quantity of animals devoured by them4 ,we may1 however1 conceive that they eat them very innocently and without knowing it1 just as we do when we eat ,sassenage cheese4 ,the republic of sheep is a faithful image of the age of gold4 ,a hen-roost exhibits the most perfect representation of monarchy4 ,there is no king comparable to a cock4 ,if he marches haughtily and fiercely in the midst of his people1 it is not out of vanity4 ,if the enemy is advancing1 he does not content himself with issuing an order to his subjects to go and be killed for him1 in virtue of his unfailing knowledge and resistless power2 he goes in person himself1 ranges his young troops behind him1 and fights to the last gasp4 ,if he conquers1 it is himself who sings the ,te ,deum4 ,in his civil or domestic life1 there is nothing so gallant1 so respectable1 and so disinterested4 ,whether he has in his royal beak a grain of corn or a grub-worm1 he bestows it on the first of his female subjects that comes within his presence4 ,in short1 ,solomon in his harem was not to be compared to a cock in a farm-yard4 ,if it be true that bees are governed by a queen to whom all her subjects make love1 that is a more perfect government still4 ,ants are considered as constituting an excellent democracy4 ,this is superior to every other state1 as all are1 in consequence of such a constitution1 on terms of equality1 and every individual is employed for the happiness of all4 ,the republic of beavers is superior even to that of ants2 at least1 if we may judge by their performances in masonry4 ,monkeys are more like merry-andrews than a regularly governed people2 they do not appear associated under fixed and fundamental laws1 like the species previously noticed4 ,we resemble monkeys more than any other animals in the talent of imitation1 in the levity of our ideas1 and in that inconstancy which has always prevented our having uniform and durable laws4 ,when nature formed our species1 and imparted to us a certain portion of instinct1 self-love for our own preservation1 benevolence for the safety and comfort of others1 love which is common to every class of animal being1 and the inexplicable gift of combining more ideas than all the inferior animals together--after bestowing on us this outfit she said to us3 ,go1 and do the best you can4 ,there is not a good code of laws in any single country4 ,the reason is obvious3 laws have been made for particular purposes1 according to time1 place1 exigencies1 and not with general and systematic views4 ,when the exigencies upon which laws were founded are changed or removed1 the laws themselves become ridiculous4 ,thus the law which forbade eating pork and drinking wine was perfectly reasonable in ,arabia1 where pork and wine are injurious2 but at ,constantinople it is absurd4 ,the law which confers the whole fief or landed property on the eldest son1 is a very good one in a time of general anarchy and pillage4 ,the eldest is then the commander of the castle1 which sooner or later will be attacked by brigands2 the younger brothers will be his chief officers1 and the laborers his soldiers4 ,all that is to be apprehended is that the younger brother may assassinate or poison the elder1 his liege lord1 in order to become himself the master of the premises2 but such instances are uncommon1 because nature has so combined our instincts and passions1 that we feel a stronger horror against assassinating our elder brother1 than we feel a desire to succeed to his authority and estate4 ,but this law1 which was suitable enough to the owners of the gloomy1 secluded1 and turreted mansions1 in the days of ,chilperic1 is detestable when the case relates wholly to the division of family property in a civilized and well-governed city4 ,to the disgrace of mankind1 the laws of play or gaming are1 it is well known1 the only ones that are throughout just1 clear1 inviolable1 and carried into impartial and perfect execution4 ,why is the ,indian who laid down the laws of a game of chess willingly and promptly obeyed all over the world1 while the decretals of the popes1 for example1 are at present an object of horror and contempt8 ,the reason is1 that the inventor of chess combined everything with caution and exactness for the satisfaction of the players1 and that the popes in their decretals looked solely to their own advantage4 ,the ,indian was desirous at once of exercising the minds of men and furnishing them with amusement2 the popes were desirous of debasing and brutifying them4 ,accordingly1 the game of chess has remained substantially the same for upwards of five thousand years1 and is common to all the inhabitants of the earth2 while the decretals are known only at ,spoleto1 ,orvieto1 and ,loretto1 and are there secretly despised even by the most shallow and contemptible of the practitioners4 ,,section ,,iv4 ,during the reigns of ,vespasian and ,titus1 when the ,romans were disembowelling the ,jews1 a rich ,israelite fled with all the gold he had accumulated by his occupation as a usurer1 and conveyed to ,ezion-,geber the whole of his family1 which consisted of his wife1 then far advanced in years1 a son1 and a daughter2 he had in his train two eunuchs1 one of whom acted as a cook1 and the other as a laborer and vine-dresser2 and a pious ,essenian1 who knew the ,pentateuch completely by heart1 acted as his almoner4 ,all these embarked at the port of ,ezion-,geber1 traversed the sea commonly called ,red1 although it is far from being so1 and entered the ,persian ,gulf to go in search of the land of ,ophir1 without knowing where it was4 ,a dreadful tempest soon after this came on1 which drove the ,hebrew family towards the coast of ,india2 and the vessel was wrecked on one of the ,maldive islands now called ,padrabranca1 but which was at that time uninhabited4 ,the old usurer and his wife were drowned2 the son and daughter1 the two eunuchs1 and the almoner were saved4 ,they took as much of the provisions out of the wreck as they were able2 erected for themselves little cabins on the island1 and lived there with considerable convenience and comfort4 ,you are aware that the island of ,padrabranca is within five degrees of the line1 and that it furnishes the largest cocoanuts and the best pineapples in the world2 it was pleasant to have such a lovely asylum at a time when the favorite people of ,god were elsewhere exposed to persecution and massacre2 but the ,essenian could not refrain from tears when he reflected1 that perhaps those on that happy island were the only ,jews remaining on the earth1 and that the seed of ,abraham was to be annihilated4 ,its restoration depends entirely upon you1 said the young ,jew2 marry my sister4 ,i would willingly1 said the almoner1 but it is against the law4 ,i am an ,essenian2 ,i have made a vow never to marry2 the law enjoins the strictest observance of a vow2 the ,jewish race may come to an end1 if it must be so2 but ,i will certainly not marry your sister in order to prevent it1 beautiful and amiable as ,i admit she is4 ,my two eunuchs1 resumed the ,jew1 can be of no service in this affair2 ,i will therefore marry her myself1 if you have no objection2 and you shall bestow the usual marriage benediction4 ,i had a hundred times rather be disembowelled by the ,roman soldiers1 said the almoner1 than to be instrumental to your committing incest2 were she your sister by the father's side only1 the law would allow of your marriage2 but as she is your sister by the same mother1 such a marriage would be abominable4 ,i can readily admit1 returned the young man1 that it would be a crime at ,jerusalem1 where ,i might see many other young women1 one of whom ,i might marry2 but in the isle of ,padrabranca1 where ,i see nothing but cocoanuts1 pineapples1 and oysters1 ,i consider the case to be very allowable4 ,the ,jew accordingly married his sister1 and had a daughter by her1 notwithstanding all the protestations of the ,essenian2 and this was the only offspring of a marriage which one of them thought very legitimate1 and the other absolutely abominable4 ,after the expiration of fourteen years1 the mother died2 and the father said to the almoner1 ,have you at length got rid of your old prejudices8 ,will you marry my daughter8 ,god preserve me from it1 said the ,essenian4 ,then1 said the father1 ,i will marry her myself1 come what will of it2 for ,i cannot bear that the seed of ,abraham should be totally annihilated4 ,the ,essenian1 struck with inexpressible horror1 would dwell no longer with a man who thus violated and defiled the law1 and fled4 ,the new-married man loudly called after him1 saying1 ,stay here1 my friend4 ,i am observing the law of nature1 and doing good to my country2 do not abandon your friends4 ,the other suffered him to call1 and continue to call1 in vain2 his head was full of the law2 and he stopped not till he had reached1 by swimming1 another island4 ,this was the large island of ,attola1 highly populous and civilized2 as soon as he landed he was made a slave4 ,he complained bitterly of the inhospitable manner in which he had been received2 he was told that such was the law1 and that1 ever since the island had been very nearly surprised and taken by the inhabitants of that of ,ada1 it had been wisely enacted that all strangers landing at ,attola should be made slaves4 ,it is impossible that can ever be a law1 said the ,essenian1 for it is not in the ,pentateuch4 ,he was told in reply1 that it was to be found in the digest of the country2 and he remained a slave3 fortunately he had a kind and wealthy master1 who treated him very well1 and to whom he became strongly attached4 ,some murderers once came to the house in which he lived1 to kill his master and carry off his treasure4 ,they inquired of the slaves if he was at home1 and had much money there4 ,we assure you1 on our oaths1 said the slaves1 that he is not at home4 ,but the ,essenian said3 ,the law does not allow lying2 ,i swear to you that he is at home1 and that he has a great deal of money4 ,the master was1 in consequence1 robbed and murdered2 the slaves accused the ,essenian1 before the judges1 of having betrayed his master4 ,the ,essenian said1 that he would tell no lies1 and that nothing in the world should induce him to tell one2 and he was hanged4 ,this history was related to me1 with many similar ones1 on the last voyage ,i made from ,india to ,france4 ,when ,i arrived1 ,i went to ,versailles on business1 and saw in the street a beautiful woman1 followed by many others who were also beautiful4 ,who is that beautiful woman8 said ,i to the barrister who had accompanied me2 for ,i had a cause then depending before the ,parliament of ,paris about some dresses that ,i had had made in ,india1 and ,i was desirous of having my counsel as much with me as possible4 ,she is the daughter of the king1 said he1 she is amiable and beneficent2 it is a great pity that1 in no case or circumstance whatever1 such a woman as that can become queen of ,france4 ,what6 ,i replied1 if we had the misfortune to lose all her relations and the princes of the blood--which ,god forbid--would not she1 in that case1 succeed to the throne of her father8 ,no1 said the counsellor2 the ,salic law expressly forbids it4 ,and who made this ,salic law8 said ,i to the counsellor4 ,i do not at all know1 said he2 but it is pretended1 that among an ancient people called the ,salii1 who were unable either to read or write1 there existed a written law1 which enacted1 that in the ,salic territory a daughter should not inherit any freehold4 ,and ,i1 said ,i to him1 ,i abolish that law2 you assure me that this princess is amiable and beneficent2 she would1 therefore1 should the calamity occur of her being the last existing personage of royal blood1 have an incontestable right to the crown3 my mother inherited from her father2 and in the case supposed1 ,i am resolved that this princess shall inherit from hers4 ,on the ensuing day1 my suit was decided in one of the chambers of parliament1 and ,i lost everything by a single vote2 my counsellor told me1 that in another chamber ,i should have gained everything by a single vote4 ,that is a very curious circumstance1 said ,i3 at that rate each chamber proceeds by a different law4 ,that is just the case1 said he3 there are twenty-five commentaries on the common law of ,paris3 that is to say1 it is proved five and twenty times over1 that the common law of ,paris is equivocal2 and if there had been five and twenty chambers of judges1 there would be just as many different systems of jurisprudence4 ,we have a province1 continued he1 fifteen leagues distant from ,paris1 called ,normandy1 where the judgment in your cause would have been very different from what it was here4 ,this statement excited in me a strong desire to see ,normandy2 and ,i accordingly went thither with one of my brothers4 ,at the first inn1 we met with a young man who was almost in a state of despair4 ,i inquired of him what was his misfortune2 he told me it was having an elder brother4 ,where1 said ,i1 can be the great calamity of having an elder brother8 ,the brother ,i have is my elder1 and yet we live very happily together4 ,alas6 sir1 said he to me1 the law of this place gives everything to the elder brother1 and of course leaves nothing for the younger ones4 ,that1 said ,i1 is enough1 indeed1 to disturb and distress you2 among us everything is divided equally2 and yet1 sometimes1 brothers have no great affection for one another4 ,these little adventures occasioned me to make some observations1 which of course were very ingenious and profound1 upon the subject of laws2 and ,i easily perceived that it was with them as it is with our garments3 ,i must wear a doliman at ,constantinople1 and a coat at ,paris4 ,if all human laws1 said ,i1 are matters of convention1 nothing is necessary but to make a good bargain4 ,the citizens of ,delhi and ,agra say that they have made a very bad one with ,tamerlane3 those of ,london congratulate themselves on having made a very good one with ,king ,william of ,orange4 ,a citizen of ,london once said to me3 ,laws are made by necessity1 and observed through force4 ,i asked him if force did not also occasionally make laws1 and if ,william1 the bastard and conqueror1 had not chosen simply to issue his orders without condescending to make any convention or bargain with the ,english at all4 ,true1 said he1 it was so3 we were oxen at that time2 ,william brought us under the yoke1 and drove us with a goad2 since that period we have been metamorphosed into men2 the horns1 however1 remain with us still1 and we use them as weapons against every man who attempts making us work for him and not for ourselves4 ,with my mind full of all these reflections1 ,i could not help feeling a sensible gratification in thinking1 that there exists a natural law entirely independent of all human conventions3 ,the fruit of my labor ought to be my own3 ,i am bound to honor my father and mother3 ,i have no right over the life of my neighbor1 nor has my neighbor over mine1 etc4 ,but when ,i considered1 that from ,chedorlaomer to ,mentzel1 colonel of hussars1 every one kills and plunders his neighbor according to law1 and with his patent in his pocket1 ,i was greatly distressed4 ,i was told that laws existed even among robbers1 and that there were laws also in war4 ,i asked what were the laws of war4 ,they are1 said some one1 to hang up a brave officer for maintaining a weak post without cannon2 to hang a prisoner1 if the enemy have hanged any of yours2 to ravage with fire and sword those villages which shall not have delivered up their means of subsistence by an appointed day1 agreeably to the commands of the gracious sovereign of the vicinage4 ,good1 said ,i1 that is the true spirit of laws4 ,after acquiring a good deal of information1 ,i found that there existed some wise laws1 by which a shepherd is condemned to nine years' imprisonment and labor in the galleys1 for having given his sheep a little foreign salt4 ,my neighbor was ruined by a suit on account of two oaks belonging to him1 which he had cut down in his wood1 because he had omitted a mere form of technicality with which it was almost impossible that he should have been acquainted2 his wife died1 in consequence1 in misery2 and his son is languishing out a painful existence4 ,i admit that these laws are just1 although their execution is a little severe2 but ,i must acknowledge ,i am no friend to laws which authorize a hundred thousand neighbors loyally to set about cutting one another's throats4 ,it appears to me that the greater part of mankind have received from nature a sufficient portion of what is called common sense for making laws1 but that the whole world has not justice enough to make good laws4 ,simple and tranquil cultivators1 collected from every part of the world1 would easily agree that every one should be free to sell the superfluity of his own corn to his neighbor1 and that every law contrary to it is both inhuman and absurd2 that the value of money1 being the representative of commodities1 ought no more to be tampered with than the produce of the earth2 that the father of a family should be master in his own house2 that religion should collect men together1 to unite them in kindness and friendship1 and not to make them fanatics and persecutors2 and that those who labor ought not to be deprived of the fruits of their labor1 to endow superstition and idleness4 ,in the course of an hour1 thirty laws of this description1 all of a nature beneficial to mankind1 would be unanimously agreed to4 ,but let ,tamerlane arrive and subjugate ,india1 and you will then see nothing but arbitrary laws4 ,one will oppress and grind down a whole province1 merely to enrich one of ,tamerlane's collectors of revenue2 another will screw up to the crime of high treason1 speaking contemptuously of the mistress of a rajah's chief valet2 a third will extort from the farmer a moiety of his harvest1 and dispute with him the right to the remainder2 in short1 there will be laws by which a ,tartar sergeant will be authorized to seize your children in the cradle--to make one1 who is robust1 a soldier--to convert another1 who is weak1 into a eunuch--and thus to leave the father and mother without assistance and without consolation4 ,but which would be preferable1 being ,tamerlane's dog or his subject8 ,it is evident that the condition of his dog would be by far the better one4 ,,laws 7,,spirit ,,of74 ,it would be admirable1 if from all the books upon laws by ,bodin1 ,hobbes1 ,grotius1 ,puffendorf1 ,montesquieu1 ,barbeyrac1 and ,burlamaqui1 some general law was adopted by the whole of the tribunals of ,europe upon succession1 contracts1 revenue offences1 etc4 ,but neither the citations of ,grotius1 nor those of ,puffendorf1 nor those of the ,spirit of ,laws1 have ever led to a sentence in the ,chtelet of ,paris or the ,old ,bailey of ,london4 ,we weary ourselves with ,grotius1 pass some agreeable moments with ,montesquieu2 but if process be deemed advisable1 we run to our attorney4 ,it has been said that the letter kills1 but that in the spirit there is life4 ,it is decidedly the contrary in the book of ,montesquieu2 the spirit is diffusive1 and the letter teaches nothing4 ,false ,citations ,in ,the ,spirit ,of ,laws1 ,and ,false ,consequences ,drawn ,from ,them ,by ,the ,author4 ,it is observed1 that the ,english1 to favor liberty1 have abstracted all the intermediate powers which formed part of their constitution4 ,on the contrary1 they have preserved the ,upper ,house1 and the greater part of the jurisdictions which stand between the crown and the people4 ,the establishment of a vizier in a despotic state is a fundamental law4 ,illustration3 ,montesquieu4 ,a judicious critic has remarked that this is as much as to say that the office of the mayors of the palace was a fundamental office4 ,constantine was highly despotic1 yet had no grand vizier4 ,louis ,,xiv4 was less despotic1 and had no first minister4 ,the popes are sufficiently despotic1 and yet seldom possess them4 ,the sale of employments is good in monarchical states1 because it makes it the profession of persons of family to undertake employments1 which they would not fulfil from disinterested motives alone4 ,is it ,montesquieu who writes these odious lines8 ,what6 because the vices of ,francis ,i4 deranged the public finances1 must we sell to ignorant young men the right of deciding upon the honor1 fortune1 and lives of the people8 ,what6 is it good in a monarchy1 that the office of magistrate should become a family provision8 ,if this infamy was salutary1 some other country would have adopted it as well as ,france2 but there is not another monarchy on earth which has merited the opprobrium4 ,this monstrous anomaly sprang from the prodigality of a ruined and spendthrift monarch1 and the vanity of certain citizens whose fathers possessed money2 and the wretched abuse has always been weakly attacked1 because it was felt that reimbursement would be difficult4 ,it would be a thousand times better1 said a great jurisconsult1 to sell the treasure of all the convents1 and the plate of all the churches1 than to sell justice4 ,when ,francis ,i4 seized the silver grating of ,st4 ,martin1 he did harm to no one2 ,st4 ,martin complained not1 and parted very easily with his screen2 but to sell the place of judge1 and at the same time make the judge swear that he has not bought it1 is a base sacrilege4 ,let us complain that ,montesquieu has dishonored his work by such paradoxes--but at the same time let us pardon him4 ,his uncle purchased the office of a provincial president1 and bequeathed it to him4 ,human nature is to be recognized in everything1 and there are none of us without weakness4 ,behold how industriously the ,muscovite government seeks to emerge from despotism4 ,is it in abolishing the patriarchate and the active militia of the strelitzes2 in being the absolute master of the troops1 of the revenue1 and of the church1 of which the functionaries are paid from the public treasury alone8 or is it proved by making laws to render that power as sacred as it is mighty8 ,it is melancholy1 that in so many citations and so many maxims1 the contrary of what is asserted should be almost always the truth4 ,the luxury of those who possess the necessaries of life only1 will be zero2 the luxury of those who possess as much again1 will be equal to one2 of those who possess double the means of the latter1 three2 and so on4 ,the latter will possess three times the excess beyond the necessaries of life2 but it by no means follows that he will possess three times as many luxuries2 for he may be thrice as avaricious1 or may employ the superfluity in commerce1 or in portions to his daughters4 ,these propositions are not affairs of arithmetic1 and such calculations are miserable quackery4 ,the ,samnites had a fine custom1 which must have produced admirable results4 ,the young man declared the most worthy chose a wife where he pleased2 he who had the next number of suffrages in his favor followed1 and so on throughout4 ,the author has mistaken the ,sunites1 a people of ,scythia1 for the ,samnites1 in the neighborhood of ,rome4 ,he quotes a fragment of ,nicholas de ,demas1 preserved by ,stobus3 but is the said ,nicholas a sufficient authority8 ,this fine custom would moreover be very injurious in a well-governed country2 for if the judges should be deceived in the young man declared the most worthy2 if the female selected should not like him2 or if he were objectionable in the eyes of the girl's parents1 very fatal results might follow4 ,on reading the admirable work of ,tacitus on the manners of the ,germans1 it will be seen that it is from them the ,english drew the idea of their political government4 ,that admirable system originated in the woods4 ,the houses of peers and of commons1 and the ,english courts of law and equity1 found in the woods6 ,who would have supposed it8 ,without doubt1 the ,english owe their squadrons and their commerce to the manners of the ,germans2 and the sermons of ,tillotson to those pious ,german sorcerers who sacrificed their prisoners1 and judged of their success in war by the manner in which the blood flowed4 ,we must believe1 also1 that the ,english are indebted for their fine manufactures to the laudable practice of the ,germans1 who1 as ,tacitus observers1 preferred robbery to toil4 ,aristotle ranked among monarchies the governments both of ,persia and ,lacedmon2 but who cannot perceive that the one was a despotism1 the other a republic8 ,who1 on the contrary1 cannot perceive that ,lacedmon had a single king for four hundred years1 and two kings until the extinction of the ,heraclid1 a period of about a thousand years8 ,we know that no king was despotic of right1 not even in ,persia2 but every bold and dissembling prince who amasses money1 becomes despotic in a little time1 either in ,persia or ,lacedmon2 and1 therefore1 ,aristotle distinguishes every state possessing perpetual and hereditary chiefs1 from republics4 ,people of warm climates are timid1 like old men2 those of cold countries are courageous1 like young ones4 ,we should take great care how general propositions escape us4 ,no one has ever been able to make a ,laplander or an ,esquimaux warlike1 while the ,arabs in fourscore years conquered a territory which exceeded that of the whole ,roman ,empire4 ,this maxim of ,m4 ,montesquieu is equally erroneous with all the rest on the subject of climate4 ,louis ,,xiii4 was extremely averse to passing a law which made the negroes of the ,french colonies slaves2 but when he was given to understand that it was the most certain way of converting them1 he consented4 ,where did the author pick up this anecdote8 ,the first arrangement for the treatment of the negroes was made in #afgc1 thirty years after the death of ,louis ,,xiii4 ,this resembles the refusal of ,francis ,i4 to listen to the project of ,christopher ,columbus1 who had discovered the ,antilles before ,francis ,i4 was born4 ,the ,romans never exhibited any jealousy on the score of commerce4 ,it was as a rival1 not as a commercial nation1 that they attacked ,carthage4 ,it was both as a warlike and as a commercial nation1 as the learned ,huet proves in his ,commerce of the ,ancients1 when he shows that the ,romans were addicted to commerce a long time before the first ,punic war4 ,the sterility of the territory of ,athens established a popular government there1 and the fertility of that of ,lacedmon an aristocratic one4 ,whence this chimera8 ,from enslaved ,athens we still derive cotton1 silk1 rice1 corn1 oil1 and skins2 and from the country of ,lacedmon nothing4 ,athens was twenty times richer than ,lacedmon4 ,with respect to the comparative fertility of the soil1 it is necessary to visit those countries to appreciate it2 but the form of a government is never attributed to the greater or less fertility4 ,venice had very little corn when her nobles governed4 ,genoa is assuredly not fertile1 and yet is an aristocracy4 ,geneva is a more popular state1 and has not the means of existing a fortnight upon its own productions4 ,sweden1 which is equally poor1 has for a long time submitted to the yoke of a monarchy2 while fertile ,poland is aristocratic4 ,i cannot conceive how general rules can be established1 which may be falsified upon the slightest appeal to experience4 ,in ,europe1 empires have never been able to exist4 ,yet the ,roman ,empire existed for five hundred years1 and that of the ,turks has maintained itself since the year #adec4 ,the duration of the great empires of ,asia is principally owing to the prevalence of vast plains4 ,m4 ,montesquieu forgets the mountains which cross ,natolia and ,syria1 ,caucasus1 ,taurus1 ,ararat1 ,imaus1 and others1 the ramifications of which extend throughout ,asia4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after thus convincing ourselves that errors abound in the ,spirit of ,laws2 after everybody is satisfied that this work wants method1 and possesses neither plan nor order1 it is proper to inquire into that which really forms its merit1 and which has led to its great reputation4 ,in the first place1 it is written with great wit1 while the authors of all the other books on this subject are tedious4 ,it was on this account that a lady1 who possessed as much wit as ,montesquieu1 observed1 that his book was l'esprit sur les lois4 ,it can never be more correctly defined4 ,a still stronger reason is that the book exhibits grand views1 attacks tyranny1 superstition1 and grinding taxation--three things which mankind detest4 ,the author consoles slaves in lamenting their fetters1 and the slaves in return applaud him4 ,one of the most bitter and absurd of his enemies1 who contributed most by his rage to exalt the name of ,montesquieu throughout ,europe1 was the journalist of the ,convulsionaries4 ,he called him a ,spinozist and deist2 that is to say1 he accused him at the same time of not believing in ,god and of believing in ,god alone4 ,he reproaches him with his esteem for ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,epictetus1 and the ,stoics2 and for not loving ,jansenists--the ,abb de ,st4 ,cyran and ,father ,quesnel4 ,he asserts that he has committed an unpardonable crime in calling ,bayle a great man4 ,he pretends that the ,spirit of ,laws is one of those monstrous works with which ,france has been inundated since the ,bull ,unigenitus1 which has corrupted the consciences of all people4 ,this tatterdemalion from his garret1 deriving at least three hundred per cent4 from his ecclesiastical gazette1 declaimed like a fool against interest upon money at the legal rate4 ,he was seconded by some pedants of his own sort2 and the whole concluded in their resembling the slaves placed at the foot of the statue of ,louis ,,xiv42 they are crushed1 and gnaw their own flesh in revenge4 ,montesquieu was almost always in error with the learned1 because he was not learned2 but he was always right against the fanatics and promoters of slavery4 ,europe owes him eternal gratitude4 ,,lent4 ,,section ,i4 ,our questions on ,lent will merely regard the police4 ,it appeared useful to have a time in the year in which we should eat fewer oxen1 calves1 lambs1 and poultry4 ,young fowls and pigeons are not ready in ,february and ,march1 the time in which ,lent falls2 and it is good to cease the carnage for some weeks in countries in which pastures are not so fertile as those of ,england and ,holland4 ,the magistrates of police have very wisely ordered that meat should be a little dearer at ,paris during this time1 and that the profit should be given to the hospitals4 ,it is an almost insensible tribute paid by luxury and gluttony to indigence2 for it is the rich who are not able to keep ,lent--the poor fast all the year4 ,there are very few farming men who eat meat once a month4 ,if they ate of it every day1 there would not be enough for the most flourishing kingdom4 ,twenty millions of pounds of meat a day would make seven thousand three hundred millions of pounds a year4 ,this calculation is alarming4 ,the small number of the rich1 financiers1 prelates1 principal magistrates1 great lords1 and great ladies who condescend to have maigre served at their tables1 fast during six weeks on soles1 salmon1 turbots1 sturgeons1 etc4 ,one of our most famous financiers had couriers1 who for a hundred crowns brought him fresh sea fish every day to ,paris4 ,this expense supported the couriers1 the dealers who sold the horses1 the fishermen who furnished the fish1 the makers of nets1 constructors of boats1 and the druggists from whom were procured the refined spices which give to a fish a taste superior to that of meat4 ,lucullus could not have kept ,lent more voluptuously4 ,it should further be remarked that fresh sea fish1 in coming to ,paris1 pays a considerable tax4 ,the secretaries of the rich1 their valets de chambre1 ladies' maids1 and stewards1 partake of the dessert of ,crsus1 and fast as deliciously as he4 ,it is not the same with the poor2 not only if for four sous they partake of a small portion of tough mutton do they commit a great sin1 but they seek in vain for this miserable aliment4 ,what do they therefore feed upon8 ,chestnuts1 rye bread1 the cheeses which they have pressed from the milk of their cows1 goats or sheep1 and some few of the eggs of their poultry4 ,there are churches which forbid them the eggs and the milk4 ,what then remains for them to eat8 ,nothing4 ,they consent to fast2 but they consent not to die4 ,it is absolutely necessary that they should live1 if it be only to cultivate the lands of the fat rectors and lazy monks4 ,we therefore ask1 if it belongs not to the magistrates of the police of the kingdom1 charged with watching over the health of the inhabitants1 to give them permission to eat the cheeses which their own hands have formed1 and the eggs which their fowls have laid8 ,it appears that milk1 eggs1 cheese1 and all which can nourish the farmer1 are regulated by the police1 and not by a religious rule4 ,we hear not that ,jesus ,christ forbade omelets to ,his apostles2 ,he said to them3 ,eat such things as are set before you4 ,the ,holy ,church has ordained ,lent1 but in quality of the ,church it commands it only to the heart2 it can inflict spiritual pains alone2 it cannot as formerly burn a poor man1 who1 having only some rusty bacon1 put a slice of it on a piece of black bread the day after ,shrove ,tuesday4 ,sometimes in the provinces the pastors go beyond their duty1 and forgetting the rights of the magistracy1 undertake to go among the innkeepers and cooks1 to see if they have not some ounces of meat in their saucepans1 some old fowls on their hooks1 or some eggs in a cupboard2 for eggs are forbidden in ,lent4 ,they intimidate the poor people1 and proceed to violence towards the unfortunates1 who know not that it belongs alone to the magistracy to interfere4 ,it is an odious and punishable inquisition4 ,the magistrates alone can be rightly informed of the more or less abundant provisions required by the poor people of the provinces4 ,the clergy have occupations more sublime4 ,should it not therefore belong to the magistrates to regulate what the people eat in ,lent8 ,who should pry into the legal consumption of a country if not the police of that country8 ,,section ,,ii4 ,did the first who were advised to fast put themselves under this regimen by order of the physician1 for indigestion8 ,the want of appetite which we feel in grief--was it the first origin of fast-days prescribed in melancholy religions8 ,did the ,jews take the custom of fasting from the ,egyptians1 all of whose rites they imitated1 including flagellation and the scape-goat8 ,why fasted ,jesus for forty days in the desert1 where ,he was tempted by the devil--by the ,chathbull8 ,st4 ,matthew remarks that after this ,lent ,he was hungry2 ,he was therefore not hungry during the fast4 ,why1 in days of abstinence1 does the ,roman ,church consider it a crime to eat terrestrial animals1 and a good work to be served with soles and salmon8 ,the rich ,papist who shall have five hundred francs' worth of fish upon his table shall be saved1 and the poor wretch dying with hunger1 who shall have eaten four sous' worth of salt pork1 shall be damned4 ,why must we ask permission of the bishop to eat eggs8 ,if a king ordered his people never to eat eggs1 would he not be thought the most ridiculous of tyrants8 ,how strange the aversion of bishops to omelets6 ,can we believe that among ,papists there have been tribunals imbecile1 dull1 and barbarous enough to condemn to death poor citizens1 who had no other crimes than that of having eaten of horseflesh in ,lent8 ,the fact is but too true2 ,i have in my hands a sentence of this kind4 ,what renders it still more strange is that the judges who passed such sentences believed themselves superior to the ,iroquois4 ,foolish and cruel priests1 to whom do you order ,lent8 ,is it to the rich8 they take good care to observe it4 ,is it to the poor8 they keep ,lent all the year4 ,the unhappy peasant scarcely ever eats meat1 and has not wherewithal to buy fish4 ,fools that you are1 when will you correct your absurd laws8 ,,leprosy1 ,,etc4 ,this article relates to two powerful divinities1 one ancient and the other modern1 which have reigned in our hemisphere4 ,the reverend father ,dom ,calmet1 a great antiquarian1 that is1 a great compiler of what was said in former times and what is repeated at the present day1 has confounded lues with leprosy4 ,he maintains that it was the lues with which the worthy ,job was afflicted1 and he supposes1 after a confident and arrogant commentator of the name of ,pineida1 that the lues and leprosy are precisely the same disorder4 ,calmet is not a physician1 neither is he a reasoner1 but he is a citer of authorities2 and in his vocation of commentator1 citations are always substituted for reasons4 ,when ,astruc1 in his history of lues1 quotes authorities that the disorder came in fact from ,san ,domingo1 and that the ,spaniards brought it from ,america1 his citations are somewhat more conclusive4 ,there are two circumstances which1 in my opinion1 prove that lues originated in ,america2 the first is1 the multitude of authors1 both medical and surgical1 of the sixteenth century1 who attest the fact2 and the second is1 the silence of all the physicians and all the poets of antiquity1 who never were acquainted with this disease1 and never had even a name for it4 ,i here speak of the silence of physicians and of poets as equally demonstrative4 ,the former1 beginning with ,hippocrates1 would not have failed to describe this malady1 to state its symptoms1 to apply to it a name1 and suggest some remedy4 ,the poets1 equally as malicious and sarcastic as physicians are studious and investigative1 would have detailed in their satires1 with minute particularity1 all the symptoms and consequences of this dreadful disorder2 you do not find1 however1 a single verse in ,horace or ,catullus1 in ,martial or ,juvenal1 which has the slightest reference to lues1 although they expatiate on all the effects of debauchery with the utmost freedom and delight4 ,it is very certain that smallpox was not known to the ,romans before the sixth century2 that the ,american lues was not introduced into ,europe until the fifteenth century2 and that leprosy is as different from those two maladies1 as palsy from ,st4 ,guy's or ,st4 ,vitus' dance4 ,leprosy was a scabious disease of a dreadful character4 ,the ,jews were more subject to it than any other people living in hot climates1 because they had neither linen1 nor domestic baths4 ,these people were so negligent of cleanliness and the decencies of life that their legislators were obliged to make a law to compel them even to wash their hands4 ,all that we gained in the end by engaging in the crusades1 was leprosy2 and of all that we had taken1 that was the only thing that remained with us4 ,it was necessary everywhere to build lazarettos1 in which to confine the unfortunate victims of a disease at once pestilential and incurable4 ,leprosy1 as well as fanaticism and usury1 had been a distinguishing characteristic of the ,jews4 ,these wretched people having no physicians1 the priests took upon themselves the management and regulation of leprosy1 and made it a concern of religion4 ,this has occasioned some indiscreet and profane critics to remark that the ,jews were no better than a nation of savages under the direction of their jugglers4 ,their priests in fact never cured leprosy1 but they cut off from society those who were infected by it1 and thus acquired a power of the greatest importance4 ,every man laboring under this disease was imprisoned1 like a thief or a robber2 and thus a woman who was desirous of getting rid of her husband had only to secure the sanction of the priest1 and the unfortunate husband was shut up--it was the lettre de cachet of the day4 ,the ,jews and those by whom they were governed were so ignorant that they imagined the moth-holes in garments1 and the mildew upon walls1 to be the effects of leprosy4 ,they actually conceived their houses and clothes to have leprosy2 thus the people themselves1 and their very rags and hovels1 were all brought under the rod of the priesthood4 ,one proof that1 at the time of the first introduction of the lues1 there was no connection between that disorder and leprosy1 is that the few lepers that remained at the conclusion of the fifteenth century were offended at any kind of comparison between themselves and those who were affected by lues4 ,some of the persons thus affected were in the first instance sent to the hospital for lepers1 but were received by them with indignation4 ,the lepers presented a petition to be separated from them2 as persons imprisoned for debt or affairs of honor claim a right not to be confounded with the common herd of criminals4 ,we have already observed that the ,parliament of ,paris1 on ,march #f1 #adif1 issued an order1 by which all persons laboring under lues1 unless they were citizens of ,paris1 were enjoined to depart within twenty-four hours1 under pain of being hanged4 ,this order was neither ,christian1 legal1 nor judicious2 but it proves that lues was regarded as a new plague which had nothing in common with leprosy2 as lepers were not hanged for residing in ,paris1 while those afflicted by lues were so4 ,men may bring the leprosy on themselves by their uncleanliness and filth1 just as is done by a species of animals to which the very lowest of the vulgar may too naturally be compared2 but with respect to lues1 it was a present made to ,america by nature4 ,we have already reproached this same nature1 at once so kind and so malicious1 so sagacious and yet so blind1 with defeating her own object by thus poisoning the source of life2 and we still sincerely regret that we have found no solution of this dreadful difficulty4 ,we have seen elsewhere that man in general1 one with another1 or 7as it is expressed7 on the average1 does not live above two-and-twenty years2 and during these two-and-twenty years he is liable to two-and-twenty thousand evils1 many of which are incurable4 ,yet even in this dreadful state men still strut and figure on the stage of life2 they make love at the hazard of destruction2 and intrigue1 carry on war1 and form projects1 just as if they were to live in luxury and delight for a thousand ages4 ,,letters 7,,men ,,of74 ,in the barbarous times when the ,franks1 ,germans1 ,bretons1 ,lombards1 and ,spanish ,mozarabians knew neither how to read nor write1 we instituted schools and universities almost entirely composed of ecclesiastics1 who1 knowing only their own jargon1 taught this jargon to those who would learn it4 ,academies were not founded until long after2 the latter have despised the follies of the schools1 but they have not always dared to oppose them1 because there are follies which we respect when they are attached to respectable things4 ,men of letters who have rendered the most service to the small number of thinking beings scattered over the earth are isolated scholars1 true sages shut up in their closets1 who have neither publicly disputed in the universities1 nor said things by halves in the academies2 and such have almost all been persecuted4 ,our miserable race is so created that those who walk in the beaten path always throw stones at those who would show them a new one4 ,montesquieu says that the ,scythians put out the eyes of their slaves that they might be more attentive to the making of their butter4 ,it is thus that the ,inquisition acts1 and almost every one is blinded in the countries in which this monster reigns4 ,in ,england people have had two eyes for more than a hundred years4 ,the ,french are beginning to open one eye--but sometimes men in place will not even permit us to be one-eyed4 ,these miserable statesmen are like ,doctor ,balouard of the ,italian comedy1 who will only be served by the fool ,harlequin1 and who fears to have too penetrating a servant4 ,compose odes in praise of ,lord ,superbus ,fatus1 madrigals for his mistress2 dedicate a book of geography to his porter1 and you will be well received4 ,enlighten men1 and you will be crushed4 ,descartes is obliged to quit his country2 ,gassendi is calumniated2 ,arnaud passes his days in exile2 all the philosophers are treated as the prophets were among the ,jews4 ,who would believe that in the eighteenth century1 a philosopher has been dragged before the secular tribunals1 and treated as impious by reasoning theologians1 for having said that men could not practise the arts if they had no hands8 ,i expect that they will soon condemn to the galleys the first who shall have the insolence to say that a man could not think if he had no head2 for a learned bachelor will say to him1 the soul is a pure spirit1 the head is only matter2 ,god can place the soul in the heel as well as in the brain2 therefore ,i denounce you as a blasphemer4 ,the great misfortune of a man of letters is not perhaps being the object of the jealousy of his brothers1 the victim of cabals1 and the contempt of the powerful of the world--it is being judged by fools4 ,fools sometimes go very far1 particularly when fanaticism is joined to folly1 and folly to the spirit of vengeance4 ,further1 the great misfortune of a man of letters is generally to hold to nothing4 ,a citizen buys a little situation1 and is maintained by his fellow-citizens4 ,if any injustice is done to him1 he soon finds defenders4 ,the literary man is without aid2 he resembles the flying fish2 if he rises a little1 the birds devour him2 if he dives1 the fishes eat him up4 ,every public man pays tribute to malignity2 but he is repaid in deniers and honors4 ,,libel4 ,small1 offensive books are termed libels4 ,these books are usually small1 because the authors1 having few reasons to give1 and usually writing not to inform1 but mislead1 if they are desirous of being read1 must necessarily be brief4 ,names are rarely used on these occasions1 for assassins fear being detected in the employment of forbidden weapons4 ,in the time of the ,league and the ,fronde1 political libels abounded4 ,every dispute in ,england produces hundreds2 and a library might be formed of those written against ,louis ,,xiv4 ,we have had theological libels for sixteen hundred years2 and what is worse1 these are esteemed holy by the vulgar4 ,only see how ,st4 ,jerome treats ,rufinus and ,vigilantius4 ,the latest libels are those of the ,molinists and ,jansenists1 which amount to thousands4 ,of all this mass there remains only ,the ,provincial ,letters4 ,men of letters may dispute the number of their libels with the theologians4 ,boileau and ,fontenelle1 who attacked one another with epigrams1 both said that their chambers would not contain the libels with which they had been assailed4 ,all these disappear like the leaves in autumn4 ,some people have maintained that anything offensive written against a neighbor is a libel4 ,according to them1 the railing attacks which the prophets occasionally sang to the kings of ,israel1 were defamatory libels to excite the people to rise up against them4 ,as the populace1 however1 read but little anywhere1 it is believed that these half-disclosed satires never did any great harm4 ,sedition is produced by speaking to assemblies of the people1 rather than by writing for them4 ,for this reason1 one of the first things done by ,queen ,elizabeth of ,england on her accession1 was to order that for six months no one should preach without express permission4 ,the ,anti-,cato of ,csar was a libel1 but ,csar did more harm to ,cato by the battle of ,pharsalia1 than by his ,diatribes4 ,the ,philippics of ,cicero were libels1 but the proscriptions of the ,triumvirs were far more terrible libels4 ,st4 ,cyril and ,st4 ,gregory ,nazianzen compiled libels against the emperor ,julian1 but they were so generous as not to publish them until after his death4 ,nothing resembles libels more than certain manifestoes of sovereigns4 ,the secretaries of the sultan ,mustapha made a libel of his declaration of war4 ,god has punished them for it2 but the same spirit which animated ,csar1 ,cicero1 and the secretaries of ,mustapha1 reigns in all the reptiles who spin libels in their garrets4 ,natura est semper sibi consona4 ,who would believe that the souls of ,garasse1 ,nonnotte1 ,paulian1 ,frron1 and he of ,langliviet1 calling himself ,la ,beaumelle1 were in this respect of the same temper as those of ,csar1 ,cicero1 ,st4 ,cyril1 and of the secretary of the grand seignior8 ,nothing is1 however1 more certain4 ,,liberty4 ,either ,i am much deceived1 or ,locke has very well defined liberty to be power4 ,i am still further deceived1 or ,collins1 a celebrated magistrate of ,london1 is the only philosopher who has profoundly developed this idea1 while ,clarke has only answered him as a theologian4 ,of all that has been written in ,france on liberty1 the following little dialogue has appeared to me the most comprehensive3 ,a4 ,a battery of cannon is discharged at our ears2 have you the liberty to hear it1 or not to hear it1 as you please8 ,b4 ,undoubtedly ,i cannot hinder myself from hearing it4 ,a4 ,are you willing that these cannon shall take off your head and those of your wife and daughter who walk with you8 ,b4 ,what a question6 ,i cannot1 at least while ,i am in my right senses1 wish such a thing2 it is impossible4 ,a4 ,good2 you necessarily hear these cannon1 and you necessarily wish not for the death of yourself and your family by a discharge from them4 ,you have neither the power of not hearing it1 nor the power of wishing to remain here4 ,b4 ,that is clear4 ,a4 ,you have1 ,i perceive1 advanced thirty paces to be out of the reach of the cannon2 you have had the power of walking these few steps with me4 ,b4 ,that is also very clear4 ,a4 ,and if you had been paralytic1 you could not have avoided being exposed to this battery2 you would necessarily have heard1 and received a wound from the cannon2 and you would have as necessarily died4 ,b4 ,nothing is more true4 ,a4 ,in what then consists your liberty1 if not in the power that your body has acquired of performing that which from absolute necessity your will requires8 ,b4 ,you embarrass me4 ,liberty then is nothing more than the power of doing what ,i wish8 ,a4 ,reflect2 and see whether liberty can be understood otherwise4 ,b4 ,in this case1 my hunting dog is as free as myself2 he has necessarily the will to run when he sees a hare2 and the power of running1 if there is nothing the matter with his legs4 ,i have therefore nothing above my dog2 you reduce me to the state of the beasts4 ,a4 ,these are poor sophisms1 and they are poor sophists who have instructed you4 ,you are unwilling to be free like your dog4 ,do you not eat1 sleep1 and propagate like him1 and nearly in the same attitudes8 ,would you smell otherwise than by your nose8 ,why would you possess liberty differently from your dog8 ,b4 ,but ,i have a soul which reasons1 and my dog scarcely reasons at all4 ,he has nothing beyond simple ideas1 while ,i have a thousand metaphysical ideas4 ,a4 ,well1 you are a thousand times more free than he is2 you have a thousand times more power of thinking than he has2 but still you are not free in any other manner than your dog is free4 ,b4 ,what6 am ,i not free to will what ,i like8 ,a4 ,what do you understand by that8 ,b4 ,i understand what all the world understands4 ,is it not every day said that the will is free8 ,a4 ,an adage is not a reason2 explain yourself better4 ,b4 ,i understand that ,i am free to will as ,i please4 ,a4 ,with your permission1 that is nonsense2 see you not that it is ridiculous to say--,i will will8 ,consequently1 you necessarily will the ideas only which are presented to you4 ,will you be married1 yes or no8 ,b4 ,suppose ,i answer that ,i will neither the one nor the other4 ,a4 ,in that case you would answer like him who said3 ,some believe ,cardinal ,mazarin dead1 others believe him living2 ,i believe neither the one nor the other4 ,b4 ,well1 ,i will marry6 ,a4 ,aye1 that is an answer4 ,why will you marry8 ,b4 ,because ,i am in love with a young1 beautiful1 sweet1 well-educated1 rich girl1 who sings very well1 whose parents are very honest people1 and ,i flatter myself that ,i am beloved by her and welcome to the family4 ,a4 ,there is a reason4 ,you see that you cannot will without a motive4 ,i declare to you that you are free to marry1 that is to say1 that you have the power of signing the contract1 keeping the wedding1 and sleeping with your wife4 ,b4 ,how6 ,i cannot will without a motive8 ,then what will become of the other proverb--,sit pro ratione voluntas--my will is my reason--,i will because ,i will8 ,a4 ,it is an absurd one1 my dear friend2 you would then have an effect without a cause4 ,b4 ,what6 when ,i play at odd or even1 have ,i a reason for choosing even rather than odd8 ,a4 ,undoubtedly4 ,b4 ,and what is the reason1 if you please8 ,a4 ,it is1 that the idea of even is presented to your mind rather than the opposite idea4 ,it would be extraordinary if there were cases in which we will because there is a motive1 and others in which we will without one4 ,when you would marry1 you evidently perceive the predominant reason for it2 you perceive it not when you play at odd or even1 and yet there must be one4 ,b4 ,therefore1 once more1 ,i am not free4 ,a4 ,your will is not free1 but your actions are4 ,you are free to act when you have the power of acting4 ,b4 ,but all the books that ,i have read on the liberty of indifference-- ,a4 ,what do you understand by the liberty of indifference8 ,b4 ,i understand spitting on the right or the left hand--sleeping on the right or left side--walking up and down four times or five4 ,a4 ,that would be a pleasant liberty1 truly6 ,god would have made you a fine present1 much to boast of1 certainly6 ,what use to you would be a power which could only be exercised on such futile occasions8 ,but in truth it is ridiculous to suppose the will of willing to spit on the right or left4 ,not only is the will of willing absurd1 but it is certain that several little circumstances determine these acts which you call indifferent4 ,you are no more free in these acts than in others4 ,yet you are free at all times1 and in all places1 when you can do what you wish to do4 ,b4 ,i suspect that you are right4 ,i will think upon it4 ,,liberty ,,of ,,opinion4 ,towards the year #agjg1 the time at which the ,english gained the battle of ,saragossa1 protected ,portugal1 and for some time gave a king to ,spain1 ,lord ,boldmind1 a general officer who had been wounded1 was at the waters of ,barges4 ,he there met with ,count ,medroso1 who having fallen from his horse behind the baggage1 at a league and a half from the field of battle1 also came to take the waters4 ,he was a familiar of the ,inquisition1 while ,lord ,boldmind was only familiar in conversation4 ,one day after their wine1 he held this dialogue with ,medroso3 ,,boldmind4 --,you are then the sergeant of the ,dominicans8 ,you exercise a villainous trade4 ,,medroso4 --,it is true2 but ,i would rather be their servant than their victim1 and ,i have preferred the unhappiness of burning my neighbor to that of being roasted myself4 ,,boldmind4 --,what a horrible alternative6 ,you were a hundred times happier under the yoke of the ,moors1 who freely suffered you to abide in all your superstitions1 and conquerors as they were1 arrogated not to themselves the strange right of sending souls to hell4 ,,medroso4 --,what would you have8 ,it is not permitted us either to write1 speak1 or even to think4 ,if we speak1 it is easy to misinterpret our words1 and still more our writings2 and as we cannot be condemned in an auto-da-f for our secret thoughts1 we are menaced with being burned eternally by the order of ,god himself1 if we think not like the ,jacobins4 ,they have persuaded the government that if we had common sense the entire state would be in combustion1 and the nation become the most miserable upon earth4 ,,boldmind4 --,do you believe that we ,english who cover the seas with vessels1 and who go to gain battles for you in the south of ,europe1 can be so unhappy8 ,do you perceive that the ,dutch1 who have ravished from you almost all your discoveries in ,india1 and who at present are ranked as your protectors1 are cursed of ,god for having given entire liberty to the press1 and for making commerce of the thoughts of men8 ,has the ,roman ,empire been less powerful because ,tullius ,cicero has written with freedom8 ,,medroso4 --,who is this ,tullius ,cicero8 ,i have never heard his name pronounced at ,st4 ,hermandad4 ,,boldmind4 --,he was a bachelor of the university of ,rome1 who wrote that which he thought1 like ,julius ,csar1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,titus ,lucretius ,carus1 ,plinius1 ,seneca1 and other sages4 ,,medroso4 --,i know none of them2 but ,i am told that the ,catholic religion1 ,biscayan and ,roman1 is lost if we begin to think4 ,,boldmind4 --,it is not for you to believe it2 for you are sure that your religion is divine1 and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it4 ,if that is the case1 nothing will ever destroy it4 ,,medroso4 --,no2 but it may be reduced to very little2 and it is through having thought1 that ,sweden1 ,denmark1 all your island1 and the half of ,germany groan under the frightful misfortune of not being subjects of the pope4 ,it is even said that1 if men continue to follow their false lights1 they will soon have merely the simple adoration of ,god and of virtue4 ,if the gates of hell ever prevail so far1 what will become of the holy office8 ,,boldmind4 --,if the first ,christians had not the liberty of thought1 does it not follow that there would have been no ,christianity8 ,,medroso4 --,i understand you not4 ,,boldmind4 --,i readily believe it4 ,i would say1 that if ,tiberius and the first emperors had fostered ,jacobins1 they would have hindered the first ,christians from having pens and ink2 and had it not been a long time permitted in the ,roman ,empire to think freely1 it would be impossible for the ,christians to establish their dogmas4 ,if1 therefore1 ,christianity was only formed by liberty of opinion1 by what contradiction1 by what injustice1 would you now destroy the liberty on which alone it is founded8 ,when some affair of interest is proposed to us1 do we not examine it for a long time before we conclude upon it8 ,what interest in the world is so great as our eternal happiness or misery8 ,there are a hundred religions on earth which all condemn us if we believe your dogmas1 which they call impious and absurd2 why1 therefore1 not examine these dogmas8 ,,medroso4 --,how can ,i examine them8 ,i am not a ,jacobin4 ,,boldmind4 --,you are a man1 and that is sufficient4 ,,medroso4 --,alas6 you are more of a man than ,i am4 ,,boldmind4 --,you have only to teach yourself to think2 you are born with a mind1 you are a bird in the cage of the ,inquisition1 the holy office has clipped your wings1 but they will grow again4 ,he who knows not geometry can learn it3 all men can instruct themselves4 ,is it not shameful to put your soul into the hands of those to whom you would not intrust your money8 ,dare to think for yourself4 ,,medroso4 --,it is said that if the world thought for itself1 it would produce strange confusion4 ,,boldmind4 --,quite the contrary4 ,when we assist at a spectacle1 every one freely tells his opinion of it1 and the public peace is not thereby disturbed2 but if some insolent protector of a poet would force all people of taste to proclaim that to be good which appears to them bad1 blows would follow1 and the two parties would throw apples of discord at one another's heads1 as once happened at ,london4 ,tyrants over mind have caused a part of the misfortunes of the world4 ,we are happy in ,england only because every one freely enjoys the right of speaking his opinion4 ,,medroso4 --,we are all very tranquil at ,lisbon1 where no person dares speak his4 ,,boldmind4 --,you are tranquil1 but you are not happy3 it is the tranquillity of galley-slaves1 who row in cadence and in silence4 ,,medroso4 --,you believe1 then1 that my soul is at the galleys8 ,,boldmind4 --,yes1 and ,i would deliver it4 ,,medroso4 --,but if ,i find myself well at the galleys8 ,,boldmind4 --,why1 then1 you deserve to be there4 ,,liberty ,,of ,,the ,,press4 ,what harm can the prediction of ,jean ,jacques do to ,russia8 ,any8 ,we allow him to explain it in a mystical1 typical1 allegorical sense1 according to custom4 ,the nations which will destroy the ,russians will possess the belles-lettres1 mathematics1 wit1 and politeness1 which degrade man and pervert nature4 ,from five to six thousand pamphlets have been printed in ,holland against ,louis ,,xiv41 none of which contributed to make him lose the battles of ,blenheim1 ,turin1 and ,ramillies4 ,in general1 we have as natural a right to make use of our pens as our language1 at our peril1 risk1 and fortune4 ,i know many books which fatigue1 but ,i know of none which have done real evil4 ,theologians1 or pretended politicians1 cry3 ,religion is destroyed1 the government is lost1 if you print certain truths or certain paradoxes4 ,never attempt to think1 till you have demanded permission from a monk or an officer4 ,it is against good order for a man to think for himself4 ,homer1 ,plato1 ,cicero1 ,virgil1 ,pliny1 ,horace1 never published anything but with the approbation of the doctors of the ,sorbonne and of the holy ,inquisition4 ,see into what horrible decay the liberty of the press brought ,england and ,holland4 ,it is true that they possess the commerce of the whole world1 and that ,england is victorious on sea and land2 but it is merely a false greatness1 a false opulence3 they hasten with long strides to their ruin4 ,an enlightened people cannot exist4 ,none can reason more justly1 my friends2 but let us see1 if you please1 what state has been lost by a book4 ,the most dangerous1 the most pernicious of all1 is that of ,spinoza4 ,not only in the character of a ,jew he attacks the ,new ,testament1 but in the character of a scholar he ruins the ,old2 his system of atheism is a thousand times better composed and reasoned than those of ,straton and of ,epicurus4 ,we have need of the most profound sagacity to answer to the arguments by which he endeavors to prove that one substance cannot form another4 ,like yourself1 ,i detest this book1 which ,i perhaps understand better than you1 and to which you have very badly replied2 but have you discovered that this book has changed the face of the world8 ,has any preacher lost a florin of his income by the publication of the works of ,spinoza8 ,is there a bishop whose rents have diminished8 ,on the contrary1 their revenues have doubled since his time3 all the ill is reduced to a small number of peaceable readers1 who have examined the arguments of ,spinoza in their closets1 and have written for or against them works but little known4 ,for yourselves1 it is of little consequence to have caused to be printed ad usum ,delphini1 the atheism of ,lucretius--as you have already been reproached with doing--no trouble1 no scandal1 has ensued from it3 so leave ,spinoza to live in peace in ,holland4 ,lucretius was left in repose at ,rome4 ,but if there appears among you any new book1 the ideas of which shock your own--supposing you have any--or of which the author may be of a party contrary to yours--or what is worse1 of which the author may not be of any party at all--then you cry out ,fire6 and let all be noise1 scandal1 and uproar in your small corner of the earth4 ,there is an abominable man who has printed that if we had no hands we could not make shoes nor stockings4 ,devotees cry out1 furred doctors assemble1 alarms multiply from college to college1 from house to house1 and why8 ,for five or six pages1 about which there no longer will be a question at the end of three months4 ,does a book displease you8 refute it4 ,does it tire you8 read it not4 ,oh6 say you to me1 the books of ,luther and ,calvin have destroyed the ,roman ,catholic religion in one-half of ,europe8 ,why say not also1 that the books of the patriarch ,photius have destroyed this ,roman religion in ,asia1 ,africa1 ,greece1 and ,russia8 ,you deceive yourself very grossly1 when you think that you have been ruined by books4 ,the empire of ,russia is two thousand leagues in extent1 and there are not six men who are aware of the points disputed by the ,greek and ,latin ,church4 ,if the monk ,luther1 ,john ,calvin1 and the vicar ,zuinglius had been content with writing1 ,rome would yet subjugate all the states that it has lost2 but these people and their adherents ran from town to town1 from house to house1 exciting the women1 and were maintained by princes4 ,fury1 which tormented ,amata1 and which1 according to ,virgil1 whipped her like a top1 was not more turbulent4 ,know1 that one enthusiastic1 factious1 ignorant1 supple1 vehement ,capuchin1 the emissary of some ambitious monks1 preaching1 confessing1 communicating1 and caballing1 will much sooner overthrow a province than a hundred authors can enlighten it4 ,it was not the ,koran which caused ,mahomet to succeed3 it was ,mahomet who caused the success of the ,koran4 ,no6 ,rome has not been vanquished by books2 it has been so by having caused ,europe to revolt at its rapacity2 by the public sale of indulgences2 for having insulted men1 and wishing to govern them like domestic animals2 for having abused its power to such an extent that it is astonishing a single village remains to it4 ,henry ,,viii41 ,elizabeth1 the duke of ,saxe1 the landgrave of ,hesse1 the princes of ,orange1 the ,conds and ,colignys1 have done all1 and books nothing4 ,trumpets have never gained battles1 nor caused any walls to fall except those of ,jericho4 ,you fear books1 as certain small cantons fear violins4 ,let us read1 and let us dance--these two amusements will never do any harm to the world4 ,,life4 ,the following passage is found in the ,systme de la ,nature1 ,london edition1 page #hd3 ,we ought to define life1 before we reason concerning soul2 but ,i hold it to be impossible to do so4 ,on the contrary1 ,i think a definition of life quite possible4 ,life is organization with the faculty of sensation4 ,thus all animals are said to live4 ,life is attributed to plants1 only by a species of metaphor or catachresis4 ,they are organized and vegetate2 but being incapable of sensation1 do not properly possess life4 ,we may1 however1 live without actual sensation2 for we feel nothing in a complete apoplexy1 in a lethargy1 or in a sound sleep without dreams2 but yet possess the capacity of sensation4 ,many persons1 it is too well known1 have been buried alive1 like ,roman vestals1 and it is what happens after every battle1 especially in cold countries4 ,a soldier lies without motion1 and breathless1 who1 if he were duly assisted1 might recover2 but to settle the matter speedily1 they bury him4 ,what is this capacity of sensation8 ,formerly1 life and soul meant the same thing1 and the one was no better understood than the other2 at bottom1 is it more understood at present8 ,in the sacred books of the ,jews1 soul is always used for life4 ,dixit etiam ,deus1 producant aqu reptile anim viventis4 7,and ,god said1 let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature which hath a living soul47 ,creavit ,deus cete grandia1 et omnem animam viventem1 atque motabilem quam produxerant aqu4 7,and ,god created great dragons 7tannitiim71 and every living soul that moveth1 which the waters brought forth47 ,it is difficult to explain the creation of these watery dragons1 but such is the text1 and it is for us to submit to it4 ,producat terra animam viventem in genere suo1 jumenta et reptilia4 7,let the earth produce the living soul after its kind1 cattle and creeping things47 ,et in quibus est anima vivens1 ad vescendum4 7,and to everything wherein there is a living soul every green herb1 for meat47 ,et inspiravit in faciem ejus spiraculum vit1 et factus est homo in animam viventem4 7,and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life1 and man became a living soul47 ,sanguinem enim animarum vestrarum requiram de manu cunctarum betiarum1 et de manu hominis1 etc4 7,i shall require back your souls from the hands of man and beast47 ,souls here evidently signify lives4 ,the sacred text certainly did not mean that beasts had swallowed the souls of men1 but their blood1 which is their life2 and as to the hands given by this text to beasts1 it signifies their claws4 ,in short1 more than two hundred passages may be quoted in which the soul is used for the life1 both of beasts and man2 but not one which explains either life or soul4 ,if life be the faculty of sensation1 whence this faculty8 ,in reply to this question1 all the learned quote systems1 and these systems are destructive of one another4 ,but why the anxiety to ascertain the source of sensation8 ,it is as difficult to conceive the power which binds all things to a common centre as to conceive the cause of animal sensation4 ,the direction of the needle towards the pole1 the paths of comets1 and a thousand other phenomena are equally incomprehensible4 ,properties of matter exist1 the principle of which will never be known to us2 and that of sensation1 without which there cannot be life1 is among the number4 ,is it possible to live without experiencing sensation8 ,no4 ,an infant which dies in a lethargy that has lasted from its birth has existed1 but not lived4 ,let us imagine an idiot unable to form complex ideas1 but who possesses sensation2 he certainly lives without thinking1 forming simple ideas from his sensations4 ,thought1 therefore1 is not necessary to life1 since this idiot has lived without thinking4 ,hence1 certain thinkers think that thought is not of the essence of man4 ,they maintain that many idiots who think not1 are men2 and so decidedly men as to produce other men1 without the power of constructing a single argument4 ,the doctors who maintain the essentiality of thought1 reply that these idiots have certain ideas from their sensation4 ,bold reasoners rejoin1 that a well-taught mind possesses more consecutive ideas1 and is very superior to these idiots1 whence has sprung a grand dispute upon the soul1 of which we shall speak--possibly at too great a length--in the article on ,soul4 ,,love4 ,there are so many kinds of love1 that in order to define it1 we scarcely know which to direct our attention to4 ,some boldly apply the name of love to a caprice of a few days1 a connection without attachment1 passion without affection1 the affectations of cicisbeism1 a cold usage1 a romantic fancy1 a taste speedily followed by a distaste4 ,they apply the name to a thousand chimeras4 ,should any philosophers be inclined profoundly to investigate a subject in itself so little philosophical1 they may recur to the banquet of ,plato1 in which ,socrates1 the decent and honorable lover of ,alcibiades and ,agathon1 converses with them on the metaphysics of love4 ,lucretius speaks of it more as a natural philosopher2 and ,virgil follows the example of ,lucretius4 ,amor omnibus idem4 ,it is the embroidery of imagination on the stuff of nature4 ,if you wish to form an idea of love1 look at the sparrows in your garden2 behold your doves2 contemplate the bull when introduced to the heifer2 look at that powerful and spirited horse which two of your grooms are conducting to the mare that quietly awaits him1 and is evidently pleased at his approach2 observe the flashing of his eyes1 notice the strength and loudness of his neighings1 the boundings1 the curvetings1 the ears erect1 the mouth opening with convulsive gaspings1 the distended nostrils1 the breath of fire1 the raised and waving mane1 and the impetuous movement with which he rushes towards the object which nature has destined for him2 do not1 however1 be jealous of his happiness2 but reflect on the advantages of the human species2 they afford ample compensation in love for all those which nature has conferred on mere animals--strength1 beauty1 lightness1 and rapidity4 ,there are some classes1 however1 even of animals totally unacquainted with sexual association4 ,fishes are destitute of this enjoyment4 ,the female deposits her millions of eggs on the slime of the waters1 and the male that meets them passes over them and communicates the vital principle1 never consorting with1 or perhaps even perceiving the female to whom they belong4 ,the greater part of those animals which copulate are sensible of the enjoyment only by a single sense2 and when appetite is satisfied1 the whole is over4 ,no animal1 besides man1 is acquainted with embraces2 his whole frame is susceptible2 his lips particularly experience a delight which never wearies1 and which is exclusively the portion of his species2 finally1 he can surrender himself at all seasons to the endearments of love1 while mere animals possess only limited periods4 ,if you reflect on these high pre-eminences1 you will readily join in the earl of ,rochester's remark1 that love would impel a whole nation of atheists to worship the divinity4 ,as men have been endowed with the talent of perfecting whatever nature has bestowed upon them1 they have accordingly perfected the gift of love4 ,cleanliness1 personal attention1 and regard to health render the frame more sensitive1 and consequently increase its capacity of gratification4 ,all the other amiable and valuable sentiments enter afterwards into that of love1 like the metals which amalgamate with gold2 friendship and esteem readily fly to its support2 and talents both of body and of mind are new and strengthening bonds4 ,nam facit ipsa suis interdum femina factis1 ,morigerisque modis1 et mundo corpore cultu ,ut facile insuescat secum vir degere vitam4 --,,lucretius1 iv1 #abge4 ,self-love1 above all1 draws closer all these various ties4 ,men pride themselves in the choice they have made2 and the numberless illusions that crowd around constitute the ornament of the work1 of which the foundation is so firmly laid by nature4 ,such are the advantages possessed by man above the various tribes of animals4 ,but1 if he enjoys delights of which they are ignorant1 howe many vexations and disgusts1 on the other hand1 is he exposed to1 from which they are free6 ,the most dreadful of these is occasioned by nature's having poisoned the pleasures of love and sources of life over three-quarters of the world by a terrible disease1 to which man alone is subject2 nor is it with this pestilence as with various other maladies1 which are the natural consequences of excess4 ,it was not introduced into the world by debauchery4 ,the ,phrynes and ,laises1 the ,floras and ,messalinas1 were never attacked by it4 ,it originated in islands where mankind dwelt together in innocence1 and has thence been spread throughout the ,old ,world4 ,if nature could in any instance be accused of despising her own work1 thwarting her own plan1 and counteracting her own views1 it would be in this detestable scourge which has polluted the earth with horror and shame4 ,and can this1 then1 be the best of all possible worlds8 ,what6 if ,csar and ,antony and ,octavius never had this disease1 was it not possible to prevent ,francis the ,first from dying of it8 ,no1 it is said2 things were so ordered all for the best2 ,i am disposed to believe it2 but it is unfortunate for those to whom ,rabelais has dedicated his book4 ,erotic philosophers have frequently discussed the question1 whether ,hlose could truly love ,ablard after he became a monk and mutilated8 ,one of these states much wronged the other4 ,be comforted1 however1 ,ablard1 you were really beloved2 imagination comes in aid of the heart4 ,men feel a pleasure in remaining at table1 although they can no longer eat4 ,is it love8 is it simply recollection8 is it friendship8 ,it is a something compounded of all these4 ,it is a confused feeling1 resembling the fantastic passions which the dead retained in the ,elysian ,fields4 ,the heroes who while living had shone in the chariot races1 guided imaginary chariots after death4 ,hlose lived with you on illusions and supplements4 ,she sometimes caressed you1 and with so much the more pleasure as1 after vowing at ,paraclet that she would love you no more1 her caresses were become more precious to her in proportion as they had become more culpable4 ,a woman can never form a passion for a eunuch1 but she may retain her passion for her lover after his becoming one1 if he still remains amiable4 ,the case is different with respect to a lover grown old in the service2 the external appearance is no longer the same2 wrinkles affright1 grizzly eyebrows repel1 decaying teeth disgust1 infirmities drive away2 all that can be done or expected is to have the virtue of being a patient and kind nurse1 and bearing with the man that was once beloved1 all which amounts to--burying the dead4 ,,love ,,of ,,god4 ,the disputes that have occurred about the love of ,god have kindled as much hatred as any theological quarrel4 ,the ,jesuits and ,jansenists have been contending for a hundred years as to which party loved ,god in the most suitable and appropriate manner1 and which should at the same time most completely harass and torment their neighbor4 ,when the author of ,telemachus1 who was in high reputation at the court of ,louis ,,xiv41 recommended men to love ,god in a manner which did not happen to coincide with that of the author of the ,funeral ,orations1 the latter1 who was a complete master of the weapons of controversy1 declared open war against him1 and procured his condemnation in the ancient city of ,romulus1 where ,god was the very object most loved1 after domination1 ease1 luxury1 pleasure1 and money4 ,if ,madame ,guyon had been acquainted with the story of the good old woman1 who brought a chafingdish to burn paradise1 and a pitcher of water to extinguish hell1 that ,god might be loved for ,himself alone1 she would not perhaps have written so much as she did4 ,she must inevitably have felt that she could herself never say anything better than that2 but she loved ,god and nonsense so sincerely that she was imprisoned for four months1 on account of her affectionate attachment2 treatment decidedly rigorous and unjust4 ,why punish as a criminal a woman whose only offence was composing verse in the style of the ,abb ,cotin1 and prose in the taste of the popular favorite ,punchinello8 ,it is strange that the author of ,telemachus and the frigid loves of ,eucharis should have said in his ,maxims of ,saints1 after the blessed ,francis de ,sales3 ,i have scarcely any desires2 but1 were ,i to be born again1 ,i should not have any at all4 ,if ,god came to me1 ,i would also go to ,him2 if it were not ,his will to come to me1 ,i would stay where ,i was1 and not go to ,him4 ,his whole work turns upon this proposition4 ,francis de ,sales was not condemned1 but ,fnelon was4 ,why should that have been8 the reason is1 that ,francis de ,sales had not a bitter enemy at the court of ,turin1 and that ,fnelon had one at ,versailles4 ,the most sensible thing that was written upon this mystical controversy is to be found perhaps in ,boileau's satire1 ,on the ,love of ,god1 although that is certainly by no means his best work4 ,qui fait exactement ce que1 ma loi commande1 ,a pour moi1 dit ce ,dieu1 l'amour que je demande4 --,,ep4 xii4 #ii4 ,attend exactly to my law's command1 ,such1 says this ,god1 the worship ,i demand4 ,if we must pass from the thorns of theology to those of philosophy1 which are not so long and are less piercing1 it seems clear that an object may be loved by any one without any reference to self1 without any mixture of interested self-love4 ,we cannot compare divine things to earthly ones1 or the love of ,god to any other love4 ,we have an infinity of steps to mount above our grovelling human inclinations before we can reach that sublime love4 ,since1 however1 we have nothing to rest upon except the earth1 let us draw our comparisons from that4 ,we view some masterpiece of art1 in painting1 sculpture1 architecture1 poetry1 or eloquence2 we hear a piece of music that absolutely enchants our ears and souls2 we admire it1 we love it1 without any return of the slightest advantage to ourselves from this attachment2 it is a pure and refined feeling2 we proceed sometimes so far as to entertain veneration or friendship for the author2 and were he present should cordially embrace him4 ,this is almost the only way in which we can explain our profound admiration and the impulses of our heart towards the eternal architect of the world4 ,we survey the work with an astonishment made up of respect and a sense of our own nothingness1 and our heart warms and rises as much as possible towards the divine artificer4 ,but what is this feeling8 ,a something vague and indeterminate--an impression that has no connection with our ordinary affections4 ,a soul more susceptible than another1 more withdrawn from worldly business and cares1 may be so affected by the spectacle of nature as to feel the most ardent as well as pious aspirations towards the eternal ,lord who formed it4 ,could such an amiable affection of the mind1 could so powerful a charm1 so strong an evidence of feeling1 incur censure8 ,was it possible in reality to condemn the affectionate and grateful disposition of the archbishop of ,cambray8 ,notwithstanding the expressions of ,st4 ,francis de ,sales1 above given1 he adhered steadily to this assertion1 that the author may be loved merely and simply for the beauty of his works4 ,with what heresy could he be reproached8 ,the extravagances of style of a lady of ,montargis1 and a few unguarded expressions of his own1 were not a little injurious to him4 ,where was the harm that he had done8 ,nothing at present is known about the matter4 ,this dispute1 like numberless others1 is completely annihilated4 ,were every dogmatist to say to himself3 ,a few years hence no one will care a straw for my dogmas1 there would be far less dogmatizing in the world than there is6 ,ah6 ,louis the ,fourteenth6 ,louis the ,fourteenth6 when two men of genius had departed so far from the natural scope and direction of their talents1 as to write the most obscure and tiresome works ever written in your dominions1 how much better would it have been to have left them to their own wranglings6 ,pour finir tous ces dbats-l1 ,tu n'avais qu' les laisser faire4 ,to end debates in such a tone ',twas but to leave the men alone4 ,it is observable under all the articles of morality and history1 by what an invisible chain1 by what unknown springs1 all the ideas that disturb our minds and all the events that poison our days are bound together and brought to co-operate in the formation of our destinies4 ,fnelon dies in exile in consequence of holding two or three mystical conversations with a pious but fanciful woman4 ,cardinal ,bouillon1 nephew of the great ,turenne1 is persecuted in consequence of not himself persecuting at ,rome the archbishop of ,cambray1 his friend3 he is compelled to quit ,france1 and he also loses his whole fortune4 ,by a like chain of causes and effects1 the son of a solicitor at ,vire detects1 in a dozen of obscure phrases of a book printed at ,amsterdam1 what is sufficient to fill all the dungeons of ,france with victims2 and at length1 from the depth of those dungeons arises a cry for redress and vengeance1 the echo of which lays prostrate on the earth an able and tyrannical society which had been established by an ignorant madman4 ,,love 7,,socratic ,,love74 ,if the love called ,socratic and ,platonic is only a becoming sentiment1 it is to be applauded2 if an unnatural license1 we must blush for ,greece4 ,it is as certain as the knowledge of antiquity can well be1 that ,socratic love was not an infamous passion4 ,it is the word love which has deceived the world4 ,those called the lovers of a young man were precisely such as among us are called the minions of our princes--honorable youths attached to the education of a child of distinction1 partaking of the same studies and the same military exercises--a warlike and correct custom1 which has been perverted into nocturnal feasts and midnight orgies4 ,the company of lovers instituted by ,laius was an invincible troop of young warriors1 bound by oath each to preserve the life of any other at the expense of his own4 ,ancient discipline never exhibited anything more fine4 ,sextus ,empiricus and others have boldly affirmed that this vice was recommended by the laws of ,persia4 ,let them cite the text of such a law2 let them exhibit the code of the ,persians2 and if such an abomination be even found there1 still ,i would disbelieve it1 and maintain that the thing was not true1 because it is impossible4 ,no2 it is not in human nature to make a law which contradicts and outrages nature itself--a law which would annihilate mankind1 if it were literally observed4 ,moreover1 ,i will show you the ancient law of the ,persians as given in the ,sadder4 ,it says1 in article or gate #i1 that the greatest sin must not be committed4 ,it is in vain that a modern writer seeks to justify ,sextus ,empiricus and pederasty4 ,the laws of ,zoroaster1 with which he is unacquainted1 incontrovertibly prove that this vice was never recommended to the ,persians4 ,it might as well be said that it is recommended to the ,turks4 ,they boldly practise it1 but their laws condemn it4 ,how many persons have mistaken shameful practices1 which are only tolerated in a country1 for its laws4 ,sextus ,empiricus1 who doubted everything1 should have doubted this piece of jurisprudence4 ,if he had lived in our days1 and witnessed the proceedings of two or three young ,jesuits with their pupils1 would he have been justified in the assertion that such practices were permitted by the institutes of ,ignatius ,loyola8 ,it will be permitted to me here to allude to the ,socratic love of the reverend father ,polycarp1 a ,carmelite1 who was driven away from the small town of ,gex in #agga1 in which place he taught religion and ,latin to about a dozen scholars4 ,he was at once their confessor1 tutor1 and something more4 ,few have had more occupations1 spiritual and temporal4 ,all was discovered2 and he retired into ,switzerland1 a country very distant from ,greece4 ,the monks charged with the education of youth have always exhibited a little of this tendency1 which is a necessary consequence of the celibacy to which the poor men are condemned4 ,this vice was so common at ,rome that it was impossible to punish a crime which almost every one committed4 ,octavius ,augustus1 that murderer1 debauchee1 and coward1 who exiled ,ovid1 thought it right in ,virgil to sing the charms of ,alexis4 ,horace1 his other poetical favorite1 constructed small odes on ,ligurinus2 and this same ,horace1 who praised ,augustus for reforming manners1 speak in his satires in much the same way of both boys and girls4 ,yet the ancient law ,scantinia1 which forbade pederasty1 always existed1 and was put in force by the emperor ,philip1 who drove away from ,rome the boys who made a profession of it4 ,if1 however1 ,rome had witty and licentious students1 like ,petronius1 it had also such preceptors as ,quintilian2 and attend to the precautions he lays down in his chapter of ,the ,preceptor1 in order to preserve the purity of early youth4 ,cavendum non solum crimine turpitudinis1 sed etiam suspicione4 ,we must not only beware of a shameful crime but even of the suspicion of it4 ,to conclude1 ,i firmly believe that no civilized nation ever existed which made formal laws against morals4 ,observations ,by ,another ,hand4 ,we may be permitted to make a few additional reflections on an odious and disgusting subject1 which however1 unfortunately1 forms a part of the history of opinions and manners4 ,this offence may be traced to the remotest periods of civilization4 ,greek and ,roman history in particular allows us not to doubt it4 ,it was common before people formed regular societies1 and were governed by written laws4 ,the latter fact is the reason that the laws have treated it with so much indulgence4 ,severe laws cannot be proposed to a free people against a vice1 whatever it may be1 which is common and habitual4 ,for a long time many of the ,german nations had written laws which admitted of composition and murder4 ,solon contented himself with forbidding these odious practices between the citizens and slaves4 ,the ,athenians might perceive the policy of this interdiction1 and submit to it2 especially as it operated against the slaves only1 and was enacted to prevent them from corrupting the young free men4 ,fathers of families1 however lax their morals1 had no motive to oppose it4 ,the severity of the manners of women in ,greece1 the use of public baths1 and the passion for games in which men appeared altogether naked1 fostered this turpitude1 notwithstanding the progress of society and morals4 ,lycurgus1 by allowing more liberty to the women1 and by certain other institutions1 succeeded in rendering this vice less common in ,sparta than in the other towns of ,greece4 ,when the manners of a people become less rustic1 as they improve in arts1 luxury1 and riches1 if they retain their former vices1 they at least endeavor to veil them4 ,christian morality1 by attaching shame to connections between unmarried people1 by rendering marriage indissoluble1 and proscribing concubinage by ecclesiastical censures1 has rendered adultery common4 ,every sort of voluptuousness having been equally made sinful1 that species is naturally preferred which is necessarily the most secret2 and thus1 by a singular contradiction1 absolute crimes are often made more frequent1 more tolerated1 and less shameful in public opinion1 than simple weaknesses4 ,when the western nations began a course of refinement1 they sought to conceal adultery under the veil of what is called gallantry4 ,then men loudly avowed a passion in which it was presumed the women did not share4 ,the lovers dared demand nothing2 and it was only after more than ten years of pure love1 of combats and victories at tournaments that a cavalier might hope to discover a moment of weakness in the object of his adoration4 ,there remains a sufficient number of records of these times to convince us that the state of manners fostered this species of hypocrisy4 ,it was similar among the ,greeks1 when they had become polished4 ,connections between males were not shameful2 young people united themselves to each other by oaths1 but it was to live and die for their country4 ,it was usual for a person of ripe age to attach himself to a young man in a state of adolescence1 ostensibly to form1 instruct1 and guide him2 and the passion which mingled in these friendships was a sort of love--but still innocent love4 ,such was the veil with which public decency concealed vices which general opinion tolerated4 ,in short1 in the same manner as chivalric gallantry is often made a theme for eulogy in modern society1 as proper to elevate the soul and inspire courage1 was it common among the ,greeks to eulogize that love which attached citizens to each other4 ,plato said that the ,thebans acted laudably in adopting it1 because it was necessary to polish their manners1 supply greater energy to their souls and to their spirits1 which were benumbed by the nature of their climate4 ,we perceive by this1 that a virtuous friendship alone was treated of by ,plato4 ,thus1 when a ,christian prince proclaimed a tournament1 at which every one appeared in the colors of his mistress1 it was with the laudable intention of exciting emulation among its knights1 and to soften manners2 it was not adultery1 but gallantry1 that he would encourage within his dominions4 ,in ,athens1 according to ,plato1 they set bounds to their toleration4 ,in monarchical states1 it was politic to prevent these attachments between men1 but in republics they materially tended to prevent the double establishment of tyranny4 ,in the sacrifice of a citizen1 a tyrant knew not whose vengeance he might arm against himself1 and was liable1 without ceasing1 to witness conspiracies grow out of the resolutions which this ambiguous affection produced among men4 ,in the meantime1 in spite of ideas so remote from our sentiments and manners1 this practice was regarded as very shameful among the ,greeks1 every time it was exhibited without the excuse of friendship or political ties4 ,when ,philip of ,macedon saw extended on the field of battle of ,chronea1 the soldiers who composed the sacred battalion or band of friends at ,thebes1 all killed in the ranks in which they had combated3 ,i will never believe1 he exclaimed1 that such brave men have committed or suffered anything shameful4 ,this expression from a man himself soiled with this infamy furnishes an indisputable proof of the general opinion of ,greece4 ,at ,rome1 this opinion was still stronger4 ,many ,greek heroes1 regarded as virtuous men1 have been supposed addicted to the vice2 but among the ,romans it was never attributed to any of those characters in whom great virtue was acknowledged4 ,it only seems1 that with these two nations no idea of crime or even dishonor was attached to it unless carried to excess1 which renders even a passion for women disgraceful4 ,pederasty is rare among us1 and would be unknown1 but for the defects of public education4 ,montesquieu pretends that it prevails in certain ,mahometan nations1 in consequence of the facility of possessing women4 ,in our opinion1 for facility we should read difficulty4 ,,luxury4 ,,section ,i4 ,in a country where all the inhabitants went bare-footed1 could luxury be imputed to the first man who made a pair of shoes for himself8 ,or rather1 was he not a man of sense and industry8 ,is it not just the same with him who procured the first shirt8 ,with respect to the man who had it washed and ironed1 ,i consider him as an absolute genius1 abundant in resources1 and qualified to govern a state4 ,those however who were not used to wear clean shirts1 considered him as a rich1 effeminate coxcomb who was likely to corrupt the nation4 ,beware of luxury1 said ,cato to the ,romans2 you have conquered the province of ,phasis1 but never eat any pheasants4 ,you have subjugated the country in which cotton grows2 still however continue to sleep on the bare ground4 ,you have plundered the gold1 and silver1 and jewels of innumerable nations1 but never become such fools as to use them4 ,after taking everything1 remain destitute of everything4 ,highway robbers should be virtuous and free4 ,lucullus replied1 ,you should rather wish1 my good friend1 that ,crassus1 and ,pompey1 and ,csar1 and myself should spend all that we have taken in luxury4 ,great robbers must fight about the division of the spoil2 but ,rome will inevitably be enslaved1 and it will be enslaved by one or other of us much more speedily1 and much more securely1 if we place that value upon money that you do1 than if we spend it in superfluities and pleasures4 ,wish that ,pompey and ,csar may so far impoverish themselves as not to have money enough to pay the armies4 ,not long since a ,norwegian was upbraiding a ,dutchman with luxury4 ,where now1 says he1 are the happy times when a merchant1 quitting ,amsterdam for the great ,indies1 left a quarter of smoked beef in his kitchen and found it untouched on his return8 ,where are your wooden spoons and iron forks8 ,is it not shameful for a sensible ,dutchman to sleep in a bed of damask8 ,go to ,batavia1 replied the ,amsterdammer2 gain1 as ,i have done1 ten tons of gold2 and then see if you have not some inclination to be well clothed1 well fed1 and well lodged4 ,since this conversation1 twenty volumes have been written about luxury1 and these books have neither increased nor diminished it4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,luxury has been declaimed against for the space of two thousand years1 both in verse and prose2 and yet it has been always liked4 ,what has not been said of the ,romans8 ,when1 in the earlier periods of their history1 these banditti ravaged and carried off their neighbor's harvests2 when1 in order to augment their own wretched village1 they destroyed the poor villages of the ,volsci and ,samnites1 they were1 we are told1 men disinterested and virtuous4 ,they could not as yet1 be it remembered1 carry away gold1 and silver2 and jewels1 because the towns which they sacked and plundered had none2 nor did their woods and swamps produce partridges or pheasants2 yet people1 forsooth1 extol their temperance6 ,when1 by a succession of violences1 they had pillaged and robbed every country from the recesses of the ,adriatic to the ,euphrates1 and had sense enough to enjoy the fruit of their rapine2 when they cultivated the arts1 and tasted all the pleasures of life1 and communicated them also to the nations which they conquered2 then1 we are told1 they ceased to be wise and good4 ,all such declamations tend just to prove this--that a robber ought not to eat the dinner he has taken1 nor wear the habit he has stolen1 nor ornament his finger with the ring he has plundered from another4 ,all this1 it is said1 should be thrown into the river1 in order to live like good people2 but how much better would it be to say1 never rob--it is your duty not to rob8 ,condemn the brigands when they plunder2 but do not treat them as fools or madmen for enjoying their plunder4 ,after a number of ,english sailors have obtained their prize money for the capture of ,pondicherry1 or ,havana1 can they be blamed for purchasing a little pleasure in ,london1 in return for the labor and pain they have suffered in the uncongenial climes of ,asia or ,america8 ,the declaimers we have mentioned would wish men to bury the riches that might be accumulated by the fortune of war1 or by agriculture1 commerce1 and industry in general4 ,they cite ,lacedmon2 why do they not also cite the republic of ,san ,marino8 ,what benefit did ,sparta do to ,greece8 ,had she ever a ,demosthenes1 a ,sophocles1 an ,apelles1 or a ,phidias8 ,the luxury of ,athens formed great men of every description4 ,sparta had certainly some great captains1 but even these in a smaller number than other cities4 ,but allowing that a small republic like ,lacedmon may maintain its poverty1 men uniformly die1 whether they are in want of everything1 or enjoying the various means of rendering life agreeable4 ,the savage of ,canada subsists and attains old age1 as well as the ,english citizen who has fifty thousand guineas a year4 ,but who will ever compare the country of the ,iroquois to ,england8 ,let the republic of ,ragusa and the canton of ,zug enact sumptuary laws2 they are right in so doing4 ,the poor must not expend beyond their means2 but ,i have somewhere read1 that if partially injurious1 luxury benefits a great nation upon the whole4 ,sachez surtout que le luxe enrichit ,un grand tat1 s'il en perd un petit4 ,if by luxury you mean excess1 we know that excess is universally pernicious1 in abstinence as well as gluttony1 in parsimony or profusion4 ,i know not how it has happened1 that in my own village1 where the soil is poor and meagre1 the imposts heavy1 and the prohibition against a man's exporting the corn he has himself sown and reaped1 intolerable1 there is hardly a single cultivator who is not well clothed1 and who has not an ample supply of warmth and food4 ,should this cultivator go to plough in his best clothes and with his hair dressed and powdered1 there would in that case exist the greatest and most absurd luxury2 but were a wealthy citizen of ,paris or ,london to appear at the play in the dress of this peasant1 he would exhibit the grossest and most ridiculous parsimony4 ,est modus in rebus1 sunt certi denique fines1 ,quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum4 --,,horace1 i4 sat4 i4 v4 #ajf4 ,some certain mean in all things may be found1 ,to mark our virtues1 and our vices1 bound4 --,,francis4 ,on the invention of scissors1 which are certainly not of the very highest antiquity1 what was not said of those who pared their nails and cut off some of their hair that was hanging down over their noses8 ,they were undoubtedly considered as prodigals and coxcombs1 who bought at an extravagant price an instrument just calculated to spoil the work of the ,creator4 ,what an enormous sin to pare the horn which ,god ,himself made to grow at our fingers' ends6 ,it was absolutely an insult to the ,divine ,being ,himself4 ,when shirts and socks were invented1 it was far worse4 ,it is well known with what wrath and indignation the old counsellors1 who had never worn socks1 exclaimed against the young magistrates who encouraged so dreadful and fatal a luxury4 ,,madness4 ,what is madness8 ,to have erroneous perceptions1 and to reason correctly from them8 ,let the wisest man1 if he would understand madness1 attend to the succession of his ideas while he dreams4 ,if he be troubled with indigestion during the night1 a thousand incoherent ideas torment him2 it seems as if nature punished him for having taken too much food1 or for having injudiciously selected it1 by supplying involuntary conceptions2 for we think but little during sleep1 except when annoyed by a bad digestion4 ,unquiet dreams are in reality a transient madness4 ,madness is a malady which necessarily hinders a man from thinking and acting like other men4 ,not being able to manage property1 the madman is withheld from it2 incapable of ideas suitable to society1 he is shut out from it2 if he be dangerous1 he is confined altogether2 and if he be furious1 they bind him4 ,sometimes he is cured by baths1 by bleeding1 and by regimen4 ,this man is not1 however1 deprived of ideas2 he frequently possesses them like other men1 and often when he sleeps4 ,we might inquire how the spiritual and immortal soul1 lodged in his brain1 receives all its ideas correctly and distinctly1 without the capacity of judgment4 ,it perceives objects1 as the souls of ,aristotle1 of ,plato1 of ,locke1 and of ,newton1 perceived them4 ,it hears the same sounds1 and possesses the same sense of feeling--how therefore1 receiving impressions like the wisest1 does the soul of the madman connect them extravagantly1 and prove unable to disperse them8 ,if this simple and eternal substance enjoys the same properties as the souls which are lodged in the sagest brains1 it ought to reason like them4 ,why does it not8 ,if my madman sees a thing red1 while the wise men see it blue2 if when my sages hear music1 my madman hears the braying of an ass2 if when they attend a sermon1 he imagines himself to be listening to a comedy2 if when they understand yes1 he understands no2 then ,i conceive clearly that his soul ought to think contrary to theirs4 ,but my madman having the same perceptions as they have1 there is no apparent reason why his soul1 having received all the necessary materials1 cannot make a proper use of them4 ,it is pure1 they say1 and subject to no infirmity2 behold it provided with all the necessary assistance2 nothing which passes in the body can change its essence2 yet it is shut up in a close carriage1 and conveyed to ,charenton4 ,this reflection may lead us to suspect that the faculty of thought1 bestowed by ,god upon man1 is subject to derangement like the other senses4 ,a madman is an invalid whose brain is diseased1 while the gouty man is one who suffers in his feet and hands4 ,people think by means of the brain1 and walk on their feet1 without knowing anything of the source of either this incomprehensible power of walking1 or the equally incomprehensible power of thinking2 besides1 the gout may be in the head1 instead of the feet4 ,in short1 after a thousand arguments1 faith alone can convince us of the possibility of a simple and immaterial substance liable to disease4 ,the learned may say to the madman3 ,my friend1 although deprived of common sense1 thy soul is as pure1 as spiritual1 and as immortal1 as our own2 but our souls are happily lodged1 and thine not so4 ,the windows of its dwelling are closed2 it wants air1 and is stifled4 ,the madman1 in a lucid interval1 will reply to them3 ,my friends1 you beg the question1 as usual4 ,my windows are as wide open as your own1 since ,i can perceive the same objects and listen to the same sounds4 ,it necessarily follows that my soul makes a bad use of my senses2 or that my soul is a vitiated sense1 a depraved faculty4 ,in a word1 either my soul is itself diseased1 or ,i have no soul4 ,one of the doctors may reply3 ,my brother1 ,god has possibly created foolish souls1 as well as wise ones4 ,the madman will answer3 ,if ,i believed what you say1 ,i should be a still greater madman than ,i am4 ,have the kindness1 you who know so much1 to tell me why ,i am mad8 ,supposing the doctors to retain a little sense1 they would say3 ,we know nothing about the matter4 ,neither are they more able to comprehend how a brain possesses regular ideas1 and makes a due use of them4 ,they call themselves sages1 and are as weak as their patient4 ,if the interval of reason of the madman lasts long enough1 he will say to them3 ,miserable mortals1 who neither know the cause of my malady1 nor how to cure it6 ,tremble1 lest ye become altogether like me1 or even still worse than ,i am6 ,you are not of the highest rank1 like ,charles ,,vi4 of ,france1 ,henry ,,vi4 of ,england1 and the ,german emperor ,wincenslaus1 who all lost their reason in the same century4 ,you have not nearly so much wit as ,blaise ,pascal1 ,james ,abadie1 or ,jonathan ,swift1 who all became insane4 ,the last of them founded a hospital for us2 shall ,i go there and retain places for you8 ,n4,b4 ,i regret that ,hippocrates should have prescribed the blood of an ass's colt for madness2 and ,i am still more sorry that the ,manuel des ,dames asserts that it may be cured by catching the itch4 ,pleasant prescriptions these1 and apparently invented by those who were to take them6 ,,magic4 ,magic is a more plausible science than astrology and the doctrine of genii4 ,as soon as we began to think that there was in man a being quite distinct from matter1 and that the understanding exists after death1 we gave this understanding a fine1 subtile1 aerial body1 resembling the body in which it was lodged4 ,two quite natural reasons introduced this opinion2 the first is1 that in all languages the soul was called spirit1 breath1 wind4 ,this spirit1 this breath1 this wind1 was therefore very fine and delicate4 ,the second is1 that if the soul of a man had not retained a form similar to that which it possessed during its life1 we should not have been able after death to distinguish the soul of one man from that of another4 ,this soul1 this shade1 which existed1 separated from its body1 might very well show itself upon occasion1 revisit the place which it had inhabited1 its parents and friends1 speak to them and instruct them4 ,in all this there is no incompatibility4 ,as departed souls might very well teach those whom they came to visit the secret of conjuring them1 they failed not to do so2 and the word ,abraxa1 pronounced with some ceremonies1 brought up souls with whom he who pronounced it wished to speak4 ,i suppose an ,egyptian saying to a philosopher3 ,i descend in a right line from the magicians of ,pharaoh1 who changed rods into serpents1 and the waters of the ,nile into blood2 one of my ancestors married the witch of ,endor1 who conjured up the soul of ,samuel at the request of ,saul2 she communicated her secrets to her husband1 who made her the confidant of his own2 ,i possess this inheritance from my father and mother2 my genealogy is well attested2 ,i command the spirits and elements4 ,the philosopher1 in reply1 will have nothing to do but to demand his protection2 for if disposed to deny and dispute1 the magician will shut his mouth by saying3 ,you cannot deny the facts2 my ancestors have been incontestably great magicians1 and you doubt it not2 you have no reason to believe that ,i am inferior to them1 particularly when a man of honor like myself assures you that he is a sorcerer4 ,the philosopher1 to be sure1 might say to him3 ,do me the pleasure to conjure up a shade2 allow me to speak to a soul2 change this water into blood1 and this rod into a serpent4 ,the magician will answer3 ,i work not for philosophers2 but ,i have shown spirits to very respectable ladies1 and to simple people who never dispute2 you should at least believe that it is very possible for me to have these secrets1 since you are forced to confess that my ancestors possessed them4 ,what was done formerly can be done now2 and you ought to believe in magic without my being obliged to exercise my art before you4 ,these reasons are so good that all nations have had sorcerers4 ,the greatest sorcerers were paid by the state1 in order to discover the future clearly in the heart and liver of an ox4 ,why1 therefore1 have others so long been punished with death8 ,they have done more marvellous things2 they should1 therefore1 be more honored2 above all1 their power should be feared4 ,nothing is more ridiculous than to condemn a true magician to be burned2 for we should presume that he can extinguish the fire and twist the necks of his judges4 ,all that we can do is to say to him3 ,my friend1 we do not burn you as a true sorcerer1 but as a false one2 you boast of an admirable art which you possess not2 we treat you as a man who utters false money2 the more we love the good1 the more severely we punish those who give us counterfeits2 we know very well that there were formerly venerable conjurors1 but we have reason to believe that you are not one1 since you suffer yourself to be burned like a fool4 ,it is true1 that the magician so pushed might say3 ,my conscience extends not so far as to extinguish a pile without water1 and to kill my judges with words4 ,i can only call up spirits1 read the future1 and change certain substances into others2 my power is bounded2 but you should not for that reason burn me at a slow fire4 ,it is as if you caused a physician to be hanged who could cure fever1 and not a paralysis4 ,the judges might1 however1 still reasonably observe3 ,show us then some secret of your art1 or consent to be burned with a good grace4 ,,malady--,,medicine4 ,i will suppose that a fair princess who never heard speak of anatomy is ill either from having eaten or danced too much1 or having done too much of what several princesses occasionally do4 ,i suppose the following controversy takes place3 ,,physician4 ,madam1 for your health to be good1 it is necessary for your cerebrum and cerebellum to distribute a fine1 well-conditioned marrow1 in the spine of your back down to your highness's rump2 and that this marrow should equally animate fifteen pairs of nerves1 each right and left4 ,it is necessary that your heart should contract and dilate itself with a constantly equal force2 and that all the blood which it forces into your arteries should circulate in all these arteries and veins about six hundred times a day4 ,this blood1 in circulating with a rapidity which surpasses that of the ,rhone1 ought to dispose on its passage of that which continually forms the lymph1 urine1 bile1 etc41 of your highness--of that which furnishes all these secretions1 which insensibly render your skin soft1 fresh1 and fair1 that without them would be yellow1 gray1 dry1 and shrivelled1 like old parchment4 ,,princess4 ,well1 sir1 the king pays you to attend to all this3 fail not to put all things in their place1 and to make my liquids circulate so that ,i may be comfortable4 ,i warn you that ,i will not suffer with impunity4 ,,physician4 ,madam1 address your orders to the ,author of nature4 ,the sole power which made millions of planets and comets to revolve round millions of suns has directed the course of your blood4 ,,princess4 ,what6 are you a physician1 and can you prescribe nothing8 ,,physician4 ,no1 madam2 we can only take away from1 we can add nothing to nature4 ,your servants clean your palace1 but the architect built it4 ,if your highness has eaten greedily1 ,i can cleanse your entrails with cassia1 manna1 and pods of senna2 it is a broom which ,i introduce to cleanse your inside4 ,if you have a cancer1 ,i must cut off your breast1 but ,i cannot give you another4 ,have you a stone in your bladder8 ,i can deliver you from it4 ,i can cut off a gangrened foot1 leaving you to walk on the other4 ,in a word1 we physicians perfectly resemble teethdrawers1 who extract a decayed tooth1 without the power of substituting a sound one1 quacks as they are4 ,,princess4 ,you make me tremble2 ,i believed that physicians cured all maladies4 ,,physician4 ,we infallibly cure all those which cure themselves4 ,it is generally1 and with very few exceptions1 with internal maladies as with external wounds4 ,nature alone cures those which are not mortal4 ,those which are so will find no resource in it4 ,,princess4 ,what6 all these secrets for purifying the blood1 of which my ladies have spoken to me2 this ,baume de ,vie of the ,sieur de ,lievre2 these packets of the ,sieur ,arnauld2 all these pills so much praised by femmes de chambre-- ,,physician4 ,are so many inventions to get money1 and to flatter patients1 while nature alone acts4 ,,princess4 ,but there are specifics8 ,,physician4 ,yes1 madam1 like the water of youth in romances4 ,,princess4 ,in what1 then1 consists medicine8 ,,physician4 ,i have already told you1 in cleaning and keeping in order the house which we cannot rebuild4 ,,princess4 ,there are1 however1 salutary things1 and others hurtful8 ,,physician4 ,you have guessed all the secret4 ,eat moderately that which you know by experience will agree with you4 ,nothing is good for the body but what is easily digested4 ,what medicine will best assist digestion8 ,exercise4 ,what best recruit your strength8 ,sleep4 ,what will diminish incurable ills8 ,patience4 ,what change a bad constitution8 ,nothing4 ,in all violent maladies1 we have only the recipe of ,molire1 seipnare1 purgare2 and1 if we will1 clisterium donare4 ,there is not a fourth4 ,all1 ,i have told you amounts only to keeping a house in order1 to which we cannot add a peg4 ,all art consists in adaptation4 ,,princess4 ,you puff not your merchandise4 ,you are an honest man4 ,when ,i am queen1 ,i will make you my first physician4 ,,physician4 ,let nature be your first physician4 ,it is she who made all4 ,of those who have lived beyond a hundred years1 none were of the faculty4 ,the king of ,france has already buried forty of his physicians1 as many chief physicians1 besides physicians of the establishment1 and others4 ,,princess4 ,and1 truly1 ,i hope to bury you also4 ,,man4 ,to know the natural philosophy of the human race1 it is necessary to read works of anatomy1 or rather to go through a course of anatomy4 ,to be acquainted with the man we call moral1 it is above all necessary to have lived and reflected4 ,are not all moral works contained in these words of ,job8 ,man that is born of a woman hath but a few days to live1 and is full of trouble4 ,he cometh forth like a flower1 and is cut down3 he fleeth as a shadow1 and continueth not4 ,we have already seen that the human race has not above two-and-twenty years to live1 reckoning those who die at their nurses' breasts1 and those who for a hundred years drag on the remains of a miserable and imbecile life4 ,it is a fine apologue1 that ancient fable of the first man who was at first destined to live twenty years at most1 and who reduced it to five years by estimating one life with another4 ,the man was in despair1 and had near him a caterpillar1 a butterfly1 a peacock1 a horse1 a fox1 and an ape4 ,prolong my life1 said he to ,jupiter2 ,i am more worthy than these animals2 it is just that ,i and my family should live long to command all beasts4 ,willingly1 said ,jupiter2 but ,i have only a certain number of days to divide among the whole of the beings to whom ,i have granted life4 ,i can only give to thee by taking away from others2 for imagine not1 that because ,i am ,jupiter1 ,i am infinite and all-powerful2 ,i have my nature and my limits4 ,now ,i will grant thee some years more1 by taking them from these six animals1 of which thou art jealous1 on condition that thou shalt successively assume their manner of living4 ,man shall first be a caterpillar1 dragging himself along in his earliest infancy4 ,until fifteen1 he shall have the lightness of a butterfly2 in his youth1 the vanity of a peacock4 ,in manhood he must undergo the labors of a horse4 ,towards fifty1 he shall have the tricks of a fox2 and in his old age1 be ugly and ridiculous like an ape4 ,this1 in general1 is the destiny of man4 ,remark further1 that notwithstanding these bounties of ,jupiter1 the animal man has still but two or three and twenty years to live1 at most4 ,taking mankind in general1 of this a third must be taken away for sleep1 during which we are in a certain sense dead2 thus there remain fifteen1 and from these fifteen we must take at least eight for our first infancy1 which is1 as it has been called1 the vestibule of life4 ,the clear product will be seven years1 and of these seven years the half at least is consumed in grief of all kinds4 ,take three years and a half for labor1 fatigue1 and dissatisfaction1 and we shall have none remaining4 ,well1 poor animal1 will you still be proud8 ,unfortunately1 in this fable ,jupiter forgot to dress this animal as he clothed the ass1 horse1 peacock1 and even the caterpillar4 ,man had only his bare skin1 which1 continually exposed to the sun1 rain1 and hail1 became chapped1 tanned1 and spotted4 ,the male in our continent was disfigured by spare hairs on his body1 which rendered him frightful without covering him4 ,his face was hidden by these hairs4 ,his skin became a rough soil which bore a forest of stalks1 the roots of which tended upwards1 and the branches of which grew downwards4 ,it was in this state and in this image1 that this animal ventured to paint ,god1 when in course of time he learned the art of description4 ,the female being more weak1 became still more disgusting and frightful in her old age2 and1 in short1 without tailors1 and mantua-makers1 one-half of mankind would never have dared to show itself to the other4 ,yet1 before having clothes1 before even knowing how to speak1 some ages must have passed away--a truth which has been proved1 but which must be often repeated4 ,it is a little extraordinary that we should have harassed an innocent1 estimable man of our time1 the good ,helvetius1 for having said that if men had not hands1 they could not build houses and work tapestry4 ,apparently1 those who have condemned this proposition1 have discovered a secret for cutting stones and wood1 and working at the needle with their feet4 ,i liked the author of the work ,on ,mind4 ,this man was worth more than all his enemies together2 but ,i never approved either the errors of his book1 or the trivial truths which he so emphatically enforced4 ,i have1 however1 boldly taken his part when absurd men have condemned him for these same truths4 ,i have no terms to express the excess of my contempt for those who1 for example's sake1 would magisterially proscribe this passage3 ,the ,turks can only be considered deists4 ,how then1 pedant6 would you have them regarded as atheists1 because they adore only one ,god6 ,you condemn this other proposition3 ,the man of sense knows that men are what they must be2 that all hatred against them is unjust2 that a fool commits fooleries as a wild stock bears bitter fruits4 ,so1 crabbed stocks of the schools1 you persecute a man because he hates you not6 ,let us1 however1 leave the schools1 and pursue our subject4 ,reason1 industrious hands1 a head capable of generalizing ideas1 a language pliant enough to express them--these are great benefits granted by the ,supreme ,being to man1 to the exclusion of other animals4 ,the male in general lives rather a shorter time than the female4 ,he is also generally larger in proportion4 ,a man of the loftiest stature is commonly two or three inches higher than the tallest woman4 ,his strength is almost always superior2 he is more active2 and having all his organs stronger1 he is more capable of a fixed attention4 ,all arts have been invented by him1 and not by woman4 ,we should remark1 that it is not the fire of imagination1 but persevering meditation and combination of ideas which have invented arts1 as mechanics1 gunpowder1 printing1 dialling1 etc4 ,man alone knows that he must die1 and knows it only by experience4 ,a child brought up alone1 and transported into a desert island1 would dream of death no more than a plant or a cat4 ,a singular man has written that the human body is a fruit1 which is green until old age1 and that the moment of death is that of maturity4 ,a strange maturity1 ashes and putrefaction6 ,the head of this philosopher was not ripe4 ,how many extravagances has the rage for telling novelties produced8 ,the principal occupations of our race are the provision of food1 lodging1 and clothing2 all the rest are nearly accessory2 and it is this poor accessory which has produced so many ravages and murders4 ,different ,races ,of ,men4 ,we have elsewhere seen how many different races of men this globe contains1 and to what degrees the first negro and the first white who met were astonished at one another4 ,it is likely enough that several weakly species of men and animals have perished4 ,it is thus that we no longer discover any of the murex1 of which the species has probably been devoured by other animals who several ages after visited the shores inhabited by this little shellfish4 ,st4 ,jerome1 in his ,history of the ,father of the ,desert1 speaks of a centaur who had a conversation with ,st4 ,anthony the hermit4 ,he afterwards gives an account of a much longer discourse that the same ,anthony had with a satyr4 ,st4 ,augustine1 in his thirty-third sermon1 addressed ,to his ,brothers in the ,desert1 tell things as extraordinary as ,jerome4 ,i was already bishop of ,hippo1 when ,i went into ,ethiopia with some servants of ,christ1 there to preach the gospel4 ,in this country we saw many men and women without heads1 who had two great eyes in their breasts4 ,in countries still more southerly1 we saw a people who had but one eye in their foreheads1 etc4 ,apparently1 ,augustine and ,jerome then spoke with economy2 they augmented the works of creation to raise greater admiration of the works of ,god4 ,they sought to astonish men by fables1 to render them more submissive to the yoke of faith4 ,we can be very good ,christians without believing in centaurs1 men without heads1 or with only one eye1 one leg1 etc4 ,but can we doubt that the interior structure of a negro may be different to that of a white1 since the mucous netted membrane beneath the skin is white in the one1 and black in the other8 ,i have already told you so1 but you are deaf4 ,the ,albinos and the ,darians--the first originally of ,africa1 and the second of the middle of ,america--are as different from us as from the negroes4 ,there are yellow1 red1 and gray races4 ,we have already seen that all the ,americans are without beards or hair on their bodies1 except the head and eyebrows4 ,all are equally men1 but only as a fir1 an oak1 and a pear tree are equally trees2 the pear tree comes not from the fir1 nor the fir from the oak4 ,but whence comes it1 that in the midst of the ,pacific ,ocean1 in an island named ,otaheite1 the men are bearded8 ,it is to ask why we are so1 while the ,peruvians1 ,mexicans1 and ,canadians are not4 ,it is to ask1 why apes have tails1 and why nature has refused us an ornament which1 at least among us1 is an extreme rarity4 ,the inclinations and characters of men differ as much as their climates and governments4 ,it has never been possible to compose a regiment of ,laplanders and ,samoyeds1 whilst the ,siberians1 their neighbors1 become intrepid soldiers4 ,neither can you make good grenadiers of a poor ,darian or an ,albino4 ,it is not because they have partridge eyes1 or that their hair and eyebrows are like the finest and whitest silk2 but it is because their bodies1 and consequently their courage1 partake of the most extreme weakness4 ,there is none but a blind man1 and even an obstinate blind man1 who can deny the existence of all these different species4 ,it is as great and remarkable as that of apes4 ,that ,all ,races ,of ,men ,have ,constantly ,lived ,in ,society4 ,all the men whom we have discovered in the most uncultivated and frightful countries herd together like beavers1 ants1 bees1 and several other species of animals4 ,we have never seen countries in which they lived separate2 or in which the male only joined with the female by chance1 and abandoned her the moment after in disgust2 or in which the mother estranged herself from her children1 after having brought them up2 or in which human beings lived without family and society4 ,some poor jesters have abused their understandings so far as to hazard the astonishing paradox1 that man is originally created to live alone1 and that it is society which has depraved his nature4 ,they might as well say that herrings were created to swim alone in the sea2 and that it is by an excess of corruption1 that they pass in a troop from the ,frozen ,ocean to our shores2 that formerly cranes flew in the air singly1 and that1 by a violation of their natural instinct1 they have subsequently chosen to travel in company4 ,every animal has its instinct1 and the instinct of man1 fortified by reason1 disposes him towards society1 as towards eating and drinking4 ,so far from the want of society having degraded man1 it is estrangement from society which degrades him4 ,whoever lived absolutely alone1 would soon lose the faculty of thinking and expressing himself2 he would be a burden to himself1 and it would only remain to metamorphose him into a beast4 ,an excess of powerless pride1 which rises up against the pride of others1 may induce a melancholy man to fly from his fellows2 but it is a species of depravity1 and punishes itself4 ,that pride is its own punishment1 which frets itself into solitude and secretly resents being despised and forgotten4 ,it is enduring the most horrible slavery1 in order to be free4 ,we have enlarged the bounds of ordinary folly so far as to say that it is not natural for a man to be attached to a woman during the nine months of her pregnancy4 ,the appetite is satisfied1 says the author of these paradoxes2 the man has no longer any want of woman1 nor the woman of man2 and the latter need not have the least care1 nor perhaps the least idea of the effects of the transient intercourse4 ,they go different ways1 and there is no appearance1 until the end of nine months1 that they have ever been known to one another4 ,why should he help her after her delivery8 ,why assist to bring up a child whom he cannot instinctively know belongs to him alone8 ,all this is execrable2 but happily nothing is more false4 ,if this barbarous indifference was the true instinct of nature1 mankind would always have acted thus4 ,instinct is unchangeable1 its inconsistencies are very rare2 the father would always abandon the mother1 and the mother would abandon her child4 ,there would have been much fewer men on earth than voracious animals2 for the wild beasts better provided and better armed1 have a more prompt instinct1 more sure means of living1 and a more certain nourishment than mankind4 ,our nature is very different from the frightful romance which this man1 possessed of the devil1 has made of it4 ,except some barbarous souls entirely brutish1 or perhaps a philosopher more brutal still1 the roughest man1 by a prevailing instinct1 loves the child which is not yet born1 the womb which bears it2 and the mother redoubles her love for him from whom she has received the germ of a being similar to himself4 ,the instinct of the colliers of the ,black ,forest speaks to them as loudly1 and animates them as strongly in favor of their children as the instinct of pigeons and nightingales induces them to feed their little ones4 ,time has therefore been sadly lost in writing these abominable absurdities4 ,the great fault of all these paradoxical books lies in always supposing nature very different from what it is4 ,if the satires on man and woman written by ,boileau were not pleasantries1 they would sin in the essential point of supposing all men fools and all women coquettes4 ,the same author1 an enemy to society1 like the fox without a tail who would have his companions cut off theirs1 thus in a magisterial style expresses himself3 ,the first who1 having enclosed an estate1 took upon himself to say3 ',this is mine1' and found people simple enough to believe him1 was the true founder of society4 ,what crimes1 wars1 murders1 miseries1 and horrors1 might have been spared to mankind if some one1 seizing the stakes1 or filling up the pit1 had cried to his companions3 ',take care how you listen to this impostor2 you are lost if you forget that the fruits are common to all1 and that the earth belongs to nobody6' ,thus1 according to this fine philosopher1 a thief1 a destroyer1 would have been the benefactor of mankind1 and we should punish an honest man who says to his children3 ,let us imitate our neighbor2 he has enclosed his field1 the beasts will no longer ravage it1 his land will become more fertile2 let us work ours as he has labored his2 it will aid us1 and we shall improve it4 ,each family cultivating its own enclosure1 we shall be better fed1 more healthy1 more peaceable1 and less unhappy4 ,we will endeavor to establish a distributive justice1 which will console our unhappy race2 and we shall be raised above the foxes and polecats1 to whom this babbler would compare us4 ,would not this discourse be more sensible and honest than that of the savage fool who would destroy the good man's orchard8 ,what philosophy therefore is that which says things that common sense disclaims from ,china to ,canada8 ,is it not that of a beggar1 who would have all the rich robbed by the poor1 in order that fraternal union might be better established among men8 ,it is true1 that if all the hedges1 forests1 and plains were covered with wholesome and delicious fruits1 it would be impossible1 unjust1 and ridiculous1 to guard them4 ,if there are any islands in which nature produces food and all necessaries without trouble1 let us go and live there1 far from the trash of our laws2 but as soon as you have peopled them1 we must return to meum and tuum1 and to laws which are often very bad1 but which we cannot rationally abolish4 ,is ,man ,born ,wicked8 ,is it not demonstrated that man is not born perverse and the child of the devil8 ,if such was his nature1 he would commit enormous crimes and barbarities as soon as he could walk2 he would use the first knife he could find1 to wound whoever displeased him4 ,he would necessarily resemble little wolves and foxes1 who bite as soon as they can4 ,on the contrary1 throughout the world1 he partakes of the nature of the lamb1 while he is an infant4 ,why1 therefore1 and how is it1 that he so often becomes a wolf and fox8 ,is it not that1 being born neither good nor wicked1 education1 example1 the government into which he is thrown--in short1 occasion of every kind--determines him to virtue or vice8 ,perhaps human nature could not be otherwise4 ,man could not always have false thoughts1 nor always true affections2 be always sweet1 or always cruel4 ,it is demonstrable that woman is elevated beyond men in the scale of goodness4 ,we see a hundred brothers enemies to each other1 to one ,clytemnestra4 ,there are professions which necessarily render the soul pitiless--those of the soldier1 the butcher1 the officer of justice1 and the jailer2 and all trades which are founded on the annoyance of others4 ,the officer1 the soldier1 the jailer1 for example1 are only happy in making others miserable4 ,it is true1 they are necessary against malefactors1 and so far useful to society2 but of a thousand men of the kind1 there is not one who acts from the motive of the public good1 or who even reflects that it is a public good4 ,it is above all a curious thing to hear them speak of their prowess as they count the number of their victims2 their snares to entrap them1 the ills which they have made them suffer1 and the money which they have got by it4 ,whoever has been able to descend to the subaltern detail of the bar2 whoever has only heard lawyears reason familiarly among themselves1 and applaud themselves for the miseries of their clients1 must have a very poor opinion of human nature4 ,there are more frightful possessions still1 which are1 however1 canvassed for like a canonship4 ,there are some which change an honest man into a rogue1 and which accustom him to lie in spite of himself1 to deceive almost without perceiving it1 to put a blind before the eyes of others1 to prostrate himself by the interest and vanity of his situation1 and without remorse to plunge mankind into stupid blindness4 ,women1 incessantly occupied with the education of their children1 and shut up in their domestic cares1 are excluded from all these professions1 which pervert human nature and render it atrocious4 ,they are everywhere less barbarous than men4 ,physics join with morals to prevent them from great crimes2 their blood is milder2 they are less addicted to strong liquors1 which inspire ferocity4 ,an evident proof is1 that of a thousand victims of justice in a thousand executed assassins1 we scarcely reckon four women4 ,it is also proved elsewhere1 ,i believe1 that in ,asia there are not two examples of women condemned to a public punishment4 ,it appears1 therefore1 that our customs and habits have rendered the male species very wicked4 ,if this truth was general and without exceptions1 the species would be more horrible than spiders1 wolves1 and polecats are to our eyes4 ,but happily1 professions which harden the heart and fill it with odious passions1 are very rare4 ,observe1 that in a nation of twenty millions1 there are at most two hundred thousand soldiers4 ,this is but one soldier to two hundred individuals4 ,these two hundred thousand soldiers are held in the most severe discipline1 and there are among them very honest people1 who return to their villages and finish their old age as good fathers and husbands4 ,the number of other trades which are dangerous to manners1 is but small4 ,laborers1 artisans1 and artists are too much occupied often to deliver themselves up to crime4 ,the earth will always bear detestable wretches1 and books will always exaggerate the number1 which1 rather than being greater1 is less than we say4 ,if mankind had been under the empire of the devil1 there would be no longer any person upon earth4 ,let us console ourselves3 we have seen1 and we shall always see1 fine minds from ,pekin to la ,rochelle2 and whatever licentiates and bachelors may say1 the ,tituses1 ,trajans1 ,antoninuses1 and ,peter ,bayles were very honest men4 ,of ,man ,in ,the ,state ,of ,pure ,nature4 ,what would man be in the state which we call that of pure nature8 ,an animal much below the first ,iroquois whom we found in the north of ,america4 ,he would be very inferior to these ,iroquois1 since they knew how to light fires and make arrows4 ,he would require ages to arrive at these two arts4 ,man1 abandoned to pure nature1 would have1 for his language1 only a few inarticulate sounds2 the species would be reduced to a very small number1 from the difficulty of getting nourishment and the want of help1 at least in our harsh climates4 ,he would have no more knowledge of ,god and the soul1 than of mathematics2 these ideas would be lost in the care of procuring food4 ,the race of beavers would be infinitely preferable4 ,man would then be only precisely like a robust child2 and we have seen many men who are not much above that state1 as it is4 ,the ,laplanders1 the ,samoyeds1 the inhabitants of ,kamchatka1 the ,kaffirs1 and ,hottentots are--with respect to man in a state of pure nature--that which the courts of ,cyrus and ,semiramis were in comparison with the inhabitants of the ,cvennes4 ,yet the inhabitants of ,kamchatka and the ,hottentots of our days1 so superior to men entirely savage1 are animals who live six months of the year in caverns1 where they eat the vermin by which they are eaten4 ,in general1 mankind is not above two or three degrees more civilized than the ,kamchatkans4 ,the multitude of brute beasts called men1 compared with the little number of those who think1 is at least in the proportion of a hundred to one in many nations4 ,it is pleasant to contemplate on one side1 ,father ,malebranche1 who treats familiarly of the ,word2 and on the other1 these millions of animals similar to him1 who have never heard speak of the ,word1 and who have not one metaphysical idea4 ,between men of pure instinct and men of genius floats this immense number occupied solely with subsisting4 ,this subsistence costs us so much pains1 that in the north of ,america an image of ,god often runs five or six leagues to get a dinner2 whilst among us the image of ,god bedews the ground with the sweat of his brow1 in order to procure bread4 ,add to this bread--or the equivalent--a hut1 and a poor dress1 and you will have man such as he is in general1 from one end of the universe to the other3 and it is only in a multitude of ages that he has been able to arrive at this high degree of attainment4 ,finally1 after other ages1 things got to the point at which we see them4 ,here we represent a tragedy in music2 there we kill one another on the high seas of another hemisphere1 with a thousand pieces of cannon4 ,the opera and a ship of war of the first rank always astonish my imagination4 ,i doubt whether they can be carried much farther in any of the globes with which the heavens are studded4 ,more than half the habitable world1 however1 is still peopled with two-footed animals1 who live in the horrible state approaching to pure nature1 existing and clothing themselves with difficulty1 scarcely enjoying the gift of speech1 scarcely perceiving that they are unfortunate1 and living and dying almost without knowing it4 ,examination ,of ,a ,thought ,of ,pascal ,on ,man4 ,i can conceive a man without hands or feet1 and ,i could even conceive him without a head1 if experience taught me not that it is with the head he thinks4 ,it is therefore thought which makes the being of man1 without which we cannot conceive him4--7,thoughts of ,pascal47 ,how6 conceive a man1 without feet1 hands1 and head8 ,this would be as different a thing from a man as a gourd4 ,if all men were without heads1 how could yours conceive that there are animals like yourselves1 since they would have nothing of what principally constitutes your being8 ,a head is something2 the five senses are contained in it1 and thought also4 ,an animal1 which from the nape of its neck downwards might resemble a man1 or one of those apes which we call ourang-outang or the man of the woods1 would no more be a man than an ape or a bear whose head and tail were cut off4 ,it is therefore thought which makes the being of a man4 ,in this case1 thought would be his essence1 as extent and solidity are the essence of matter4 ,man would think essentially and always1 as matter is always extended and solid4 ,he would think in a profound sleep without dreams1 in a fit1 in a lethargy1 in the womb of his mother4 ,i well know that ,i never thought in any of these states2 ,i confess it often2 and ,i doubt not that others are like myself4 ,if thought was as essential to man as extent is to matter1 it would follow that ,god cannot deprive this animal of understanding1 since he cannot deprive matter of extent--for then it would be no longer matter4 ,now1 if understanding be essential to man1 he is a thinking being by nature1 as ,god is ,god by nature4 ,if desirous to define ,god1 as such poor beings as ourselves can define ,him1 ,i should say1 that thought is ,his being1 ,his essence2 but as to man--6 ,we have the faculties of thinking1 walking1 talking1 eating1 and sleeping1 but we do not always use these faculties1 it is not in our nature4 ,thought1 with us1 is it not an attribute8 and so much an attribute that it is sometimes weak1 sometimes strong1 sometimes reasonable1 and sometimes extravagant8 ,it hides itself1 shows itself1 flies1 returns1 is nothing1 is reproduced4 ,essence is quite another thing2 it never varies2 it knows nothing of more or less4 ,what1 therefore1 would be the animal supposed by ,pascal8 ,a being of reason4 ,he might just as well have supposed a tree to which ,god might have given thought1 as it is said that the gods granted voices to the trees of ,dodona4 ,operation ,of ,god ,on ,man4 ,people who have founded systems on the communication of ,god with man have said that ,god acts directly physically on man in certain cases only1 when ,god grants certain particular gifts2 and they have called this action physical premotion4 ,diocles and ,erophiles1 those two great enthusiasts1 maintain this opinion1 and have partisans4 ,now we recognize a ,god quite as well as these people1 because we cannot conceive that any one of the beings which surround us could be produced of itself4 ,by the fact alone that something exists1 the necessary ,eternal ,being must be necessarily the cause of all4 ,with these reasoners1 we admit the possibility of ,god making himself understood to some favorites2 but we go farther1 we believe that ,he makes ,himself understood by all men1 in all places1 and in all times1 since to all he gives life1 motion1 digestion1 thought1 and instinct4 ,is there in the vilest of animals1 and in the most sublime philosophers1 a being who can will motion1 digestion1 desire1 love1 instinct1 or thought8 ,no2 but we act1 we love1 we have instincts2 as for example1 an invincible liking to certain objects1 an insupportable aversion to others1 a promptitude to execute the movements necessary to our preservation1 as those of sucking the breasts of our nurses1 swimming when we are strong and our bosoms large enough1 biting our bread1 drinking1 stooping to avoid a blow from a stone1 collecting our force to clear a ditch1 etc4 ,we accomplish a thousand such actions without thinking of them1 though they are all profoundly mathematical4 ,in short1 we think and feel without knowing how4 ,in good earnest1 is it more difficult for ,god to work all within us by means of which we are ignorant1 than to stir us internally sometimes1 by the efficacious grace of ,jupiter1 of which these gentlemen talk to us unceasingly8 ,where is the man who1 when he looks into himself1 perceives not that he is a puppet of ,providence8 ,i think--but can ,i give myself a thought8 ,alas6 if ,i thought of myself1 ,i should know what ideas ,i might entertain the next moment--a thing which nobody knows4 ,i acquire a knowledge1 but ,i could not give it to myself4 ,my intelligence cannot be the cause of it2 for the cause must contain the effect3 ,now1 my first acquired knowledge was not in my understanding2 being the first1 it was given to me by him who formed me1 and who gives all1 whatever it may be4 ,i am astonished1 when ,i am told that my first knowledge cannot alone give me a second2 that it must contain it4 ,the proof that we give ourselves no ideas is that we receive them in our dreams2 and certainly1 it is neither our will nor attention which makes us think in dreams4 ,there are poets who make verses sleeping2 geometricians who measure triangles4 ,all proves to us that there is a power which acts within us without consulting us4 ,all our sentiments1 are they not involuntary8 ,hearing1 taste1 and sight are nothing by themselves4 ,we feel1 in spite of ourselves3 we do nothing of ourselves3 we are nothing without a ,supreme ,power which enacts all things4 ,the most superstitious allow these truths1 but they apply them only to people of their own class4 ,they affirm that ,god acts physically on certain privileged persons4 ,we are more religious than they2 we believe that the ,great ,being acts on all living things1 as on all matter4 ,is it therefore more difficult for ,him to stir all men than to stir some of them8 ,will ,god be ,god for your little sect alone8 ,he is equally so for me1 who do not belong to it4 ,a new philosopher goes further than you2 it seemed to him that ,god alone exists4 ,he pretends that we are all in ,him2 and we say that it is ,god who sees and acts in all that has life4 ,jupiter est quodcumque vides2 quodcumque moveris4 ,to proceed4 ,your physical premotion introduces ,god acting in you4 ,what need have you then of a soul8 ,of what good is this little unknown and incomprehensible being8 ,do you give a soul to the sun1 which enlightens so many globes8 ,and if this star so great1 so astonishing1 and so necessary1 has no soul1 why should man have one8 ,god who made us1 does ,he not suffice for us8 ,what1 therefore1 is become of the axiom8 ,effect not that by many1 which can be accomplished by one4 ,this soul1 which you have imagined to be a substance1 is therefore really only a faculty1 granted by the ,great ,being1 and not by a person4 ,it is a property given to our organs1 and not a substance4 ,man1 his reason uncorrupted by metaphysics1 could never imagine that he was double2 that he was composed of two beings1 the one mortal1 visible1 and palpable--the other immortal1 invisible1 and impalpable4 ,would it not require ages of controversy to arrive at this expedient of joining together two substances so dissimilar2 tangible and intangible1 simple and compound1 invulnerable and suffering1 eternal and fleeting8 ,men have only supposed a soul by the same error which made them suppose in us a being called memory1 which being they afterwards made a divinity4 ,they made this memory the mother of the ,muses2 they embodied the various talents of nature in so many goddesses1 the daughters of memory4 ,they also made a god of the secret power by which nature forms the blood of animals1 and called it the god of sanguification4 ,the ,roman people indeed had similar gods for the faculties of eating and drinking1 for the act of marriage1 for the act of voiding excrements4 ,they were so many particular souls1 which produced in us all these actions4 ,it was the metaphysics of the populace4 ,this shameful and ridiculous superstition was evidently derived from that which imagined in man a small divine substance1 different from man himself4 ,this substance is still admitted in all the schools2 and with condescension we grant to the ,great ,being1 to the ,eternal ,maker1 to ,god1 the permission of joining ,his concurrence to the soul4 ,thus we suppose1 that for will and deed1 both ,god and our souls are necessary4 ,but to concur signifies to aid1 to participate4 ,god therefore is only second with us2 it is degrading ,him2 it is putting ,him on a level with us1 or making ,him play the most inferior part4 ,take not from ,him ,his rank and pre-eminence3 make not of the ,sovereign of ,nature the mere servant of mankind4 ,two species of reasoners1 well credited in the world--atheists and theologians--will oppose our doubts4 ,the atheists will say1 that in admitting reason in man and instinct in brutes1 as properties1 it is very useless to admit a ,god into this system2 that ,god is still more incomprehensible than a soul2 that it is unworthy a sage to believe that which he conceives not4 ,they let fly against us all the arguments of ,straton and ,lucretius4 ,we will answer them by one word only3 ,you exist2 therefore there is a ,god4 ,theologians will give us more trouble4 ,they will first tell us3 ,we agree with you that ,god is the first cause of all2 but ,he is not the only one4 ,a high priest of ,minerva says expressly3 ,the second agent operates by virtue of the first2 the first induces a second2 the second involves a third2 all are acting by virtue of ,god1 and ,he is the cause of all actions acting4 ,we will answer1 with all the respect we owe to this high priest3 ,there is1 and there can only exist1 one true cause4 ,all the others1 which are subsequent1 are but instruments4 ,i discover a spring--,i make use of it to move a machine2 ,i discovered the spring and made the machine4 ,i am the sole cause4 ,that is undoubted4 ,the high priest will reply3 ,you take liberty away from men4 ,i reply3 ,no2 liberty consists in the faculty of willing1 and in that of doing what you will1 when nothing prevents you4 ,god has made man upon these conditions1 and he must be contented with them4 ,my priest will persist1 and say1 that we make ,god the author of sin4 ,then we shall answer him3 ,i am sorry for it2 but ,god is made the author of sin in all systems1 except in that of the atheists4 ,for if ,he concurs with the actions of perverse men1 as with those of the just1 it is evident that to concur is to do1 since ,he who concurs is also the creator of all4 ,if ,god alone permits sin1 it is ,he who commits it2 since to permit and to do is the same thing to the absolute master of all4 ,if ,he foresees that men will do evil1 he should not form men4 ,we have never eluded the force of these ancient arguments2 we have never weakened them4 ,whoever has produced all1 has certainly produced good and evil4 ,the system of absolute predestination1 the doctrine of concurrence1 equally plunge us into this labyrinth1 from which we cannot extricate ourselves4 ,all that we can say is1 that evil is for us1 and not for ,god4 ,nero assassinates his preceptor and his mother2 another murders his relations and neighbors2 a high priest poisons1 strangles1 and beheads twenty ,roman lords1 on rising from the bed of his daughter4 ,this is of no more importance to the ,being1 the ,universal ,soul of the ,world1 than sheep eaten by the wolves or by us1 or than flies devoured by spiders4 ,there is no evil for the ,great ,being2 to ,him it is only the play of the great machine which incessantly moves by eternal laws4 ,if the wicked become--whether during their lives or subsequently--more unhappy than those whom they have sacrificed to their passions2 if they suffer as they have made others suffer1 it is still an inevitable consequence of the immutable laws by which the ,great ,being necessarily acts4 ,we know but a very small part of these laws2 we have but a very weak portion of understanding2 we have only resignation in our power4 ,of all systems1 is not that which makes us acquainted with our insignificance the most reasonable8 ,men--as all philosophers of antiquity have said--made ,god in their own image2 which is the reason why the first ,anaxagoras1 as ancient as ,orpheus1 expresses himself thus in his verses3 ,if the birds figured to themselves a ,god1 he would have wings2 that of horses would run with four legs4 ,the vulgar imagine ,god to be a king1 who holds his seat of justice in his court4 ,tender hearts represent him as a father who takes care of his children4 ,the sage attributes to ,him no human affection4 ,he acknowledges a necessary eternal power which animates all nature1 and resigns himself to it4 ,general ,reflection ,on ,man4 ,it requires twenty years to raise man from the state of a plant1 in which he abides in his mother's womb1 and from the pure animal state1 which is the lot of his earliest infancy1 to that in which the maturity of reason begins to dawn4 ,he has required thirty ages to become a little acquainted with his own bodily structure4 ,he would require eternity to become acquainted with his soul4 ,he requires but an instant to kill himself4 ,,marriage4 ,,section ,i4 ,i once met with a reasoner who said3 ,induce your subjects to marry as early as possible4 ,let them be exempt from taxes the first year2 and let their portion be assessed on those who at the same age are in a state of celibacy4 ,the more married men you have1 the fewer crimes there will be4 ,examine the frightful columns of your criminal calendars2 you will there find a hundred youths executed for one father of a family4 ,marriage renders men more virtuous and more wise4 ,the father of a family is not willing to blush before his children2 he is afraid to make shame their inheritance4 ,let your soldiers marry1 and they will no longer desert4 ,bound to their families1 they will be bound to their country4 ,an unmarried soldier is frequently nothing but a vagabond1 to whom it matters not whether he serves the king of ,naples or the king of ,morocco4 ,the ,roman warriors were married3 they fought for their wives and their children2 and they made slaves of the wives and the children of other nations4 ,a great ,italian politician1 who was1 besides1 learned in the ,eastern tongues1 a thing rare among our politicians1 said to me in my youth3 ,caro figlio1 remember that the ,jews never had but one good institution--that of abhorring virginity4 ,if that little nation of superstitious jobbers had not regarded marriage as the first of the human obligations--if there had been among them convents of nuns--they would have been inevitably lost4 ,the ,marriage ,contract4 ,marriage is a contract in the law of nations1 of which the ,roman ,catholics have made a sacrament4 ,but the sacrament and the contract are two very different things2 with the one are connected the civil effects1 with the other the graces of the church4 ,so when the contract is conformable to the law of nations1 it must produce every civil effect4 ,the absence of the sacrament can operate only in the privation of spiritual graces4 ,such has been the jurisprudence of all ages1 and of all nations1 excepting the ,french4 ,such was the opinion of the most accredited fathers of the ,church4 ,go through the ,theodosian and ,justinian codes1 and you will find no law proscribing the marriages of persons of another creed1 not even when contracted between them and ,catholics4 ,it is true1 that ,constantius--that son of ,constantine as cruel as his father--forbade the ,jews1 on pain of death1 to marry ,christian women2 and that ,valentinian1 ,theodosius1 and ,arcadius made the same prohibition1 under the like penalty1 to the ,jewish women4 ,but under the emperor ,marcian these laws had ceased to be observed2 and ,justinian rejected them from his code4 ,besides1 they were made against the ,jews only2 no one ever thought of applying them to the marriage of pagans or heretics with the followers of the prevailing religion4 ,consult ,st4 ,augustine1 and he will tell you that in his time the marriages of believers with unbelievers were not considered illicit1 because no gospel text had condemned them3 ,qu matrimonia cum in fidelibus1 nostris temporibus1 jam non putantur esse peccata2 quoniam in ,novo ,testamento nihil inde preceptum est1 et ideo aut licere creditum est1 aut velut dubium derelictum4 ,augustine says1 moreover1 that these marriages often work the conversion of the unbelieving party4 ,he cites the example of his own father1 who embraced the ,christian religion because his wife1 ,manica1 professed ,christianity4 ,clotilda1 by the conversion of ,clovis1 and ,theolinda1 by that of ,agilulf1 king of the ,lombards1 rendered greater service to the ,church than if they had married orthodox princes4 ,consult the declaration of ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv4 of ,nov4 #d1 #agda4 ,you will find in it these words3 ,quod vero spectat ad ea conjugia qu1 absque forma a ,tridentino statuta1 contrahuntur a catholicis cum hreticis1 sive catholicus vir hriticam feminam ducat1 sive catholica fmina heretico viro nubat2 si hujusmodi matrimonium sit contractum aut in posterum contracti contingat1 ,tridentini forma non servata1 declarat ,sanctitas sua1 alio non concurrente impedimento1 validum habendum esse1 sciat conjux catholicus se istius matrimonii vinculo perpetuo ligatum4--,with respect to such marriages as1 transgressing the enactment of the ,council of ,trent1 are contracted by ,catholics with heretics2 whether by a ,catholic man with a heretical woman1 or by a ,catholic woman with a heretical man2 if such matrimony already is1 or hereafter shall be contracted1 the rules of the council not being observed1 his holiness declares1 that if there be no other impediment1 it shall be held valid1 the ,catholic man or woman understanding that he or she is by such matrimony bound until death4 ,by what astonishing contradiction is it1 that the ,french laws in this matter are more severe than those of the ,church8 ,the first law by which this severity was established in ,france was the edict of ,louis ,,xiv41 of ,november1 #afhj1 which deserves to be repeated4 ,louis1444 ,the canons of the councils having forbidden marriages of ,catholics with heretics1 as a public scandal and a profanation of the sacrament1 we have deemed it the more necessary to prevent them for the future1 as we have found that the toleration of such marriages exposes ,catholics to the continual temptation of perverting it1 etc4 ,for these causes1444 it is our will and pleasure1 that in future our subjects of the ,roman ,catholic and ,apostolic religion may not1 under any pretext whatsoever1 contract marriage with those of the pretended reformed religion1 declaring such marriages to be invalid1 and the issue of them illegitimate4 ,it is singular enough1 that the laws of the ,church should have been made the foundation for annulling marriages which the ,church never annulled4 ,in this edict we find the sacrament confounded with the civil contract2 and from this confusion have proceeded the strange laws in ,france concerning marriage4 ,st4 ,augustine approved marriages of the orthodox with heretics1 for he hoped that the faithful spouse would convert the other2 and ,louis ,,xiv4 condemns them1 lest the heterodox should pervert the believer4 ,in ,franche-,comt there exists a yet more cruel law4 ,this is an edict of the archduke ,albert and his wife ,isabella1 of ,dec4 #bj1 #aeii1 which forbids ,catholics to marry heretics1 on pain of confiscation of body and goods4 ,the same edict pronounces the same penalty on such as shall be convicted of eating mutton on ,friday or ,saturday4 ,what laws6 and what law-givers6--,a quels matres1 grand ,dieu1 livrez-vous l'univers6 ,,section ,,ii4 ,if our laws reprove marriages of ,catholics with persons of a different religion1 do they grant the civil effects at least to marriages of ,french ,protestants with ,french persons of the same sect8 ,there are now in the kingdom a million of ,protestants2 yet the validity of their marriage is still a question in the tribunals4 ,here again is one of those cases in which our jurisprudence is contradictory to the decisions of the ,church1 and also to itself4 ,in the papal declaration1 quoted in the foregoing section1 ,benedict ,,xiv4 decides that marriages of ,protestants1 contracted according to their rites1 are no less valid than if they had been performed according to the forms established by the ,council of ,trent2 and that a husband who turns ,catholic cannot break this tie and form a new one with a person of his new religion4 ,barak ,levi1 by birth a ,jew1 and a native of ,haguenan1 had there married ,mendel ,cerf1 of the same town and the same religion4 ,this ,jew came to ,paris in #ageb2 and on ,may #ac1 #aged1 he was baptized4 ,he sent a summons to his wife at ,haguenan to come and join him at ,paris4 ,in a second summons he consented that this wife1 when she had come to join him1 should continue to live in her own ,jewish sect4 ,to these summonses ,mendel ,cerf replied that she would not return with him1 and that she required him to send her1 according to the ,jewish forms1 a bill of divorce1 in order that she might marry another ,jew4 ,levi was not satisfied with this answer2 he sent no bill of divorce2 but he caused his wife to appear before the official of ,strasburg1 who1 by a sentence of ,sept4 #g1 #aged1 declared that1 in the sight of the ,church1 he was at liberty to marry a ,catholic woman4 ,furnished with this sentence1 the ,christianized ,jew came into the diocese of ,soissons1 and there made promise of marriage to a young woman of ,villeneuve4 ,the clergyman refused to publish the banns4 ,levi communicated to him the summonses he had sent to his wife1 the sentence of the official of ,strasburg1 and a certificate from the secretary of the bishopric of that place1 attesting1 that in that diocese baptized ,jews had at all times been permitted to contract new marriages with ,catholics1 and that this usage had constantly been recognized by the ,supreme ,council of ,colmar4 ,but these documents appeared to the parson of ,villeneuve to be insufficient4 ,levi was obliged to summon him before the official of ,soissons4 ,this official did not think1 like him of ,strasburg1 that the marriage of ,levi with ,mendel ,cerf was null or dissoluble4 ,by his sentence of ,feb4 #e1 #agef1 he declared the ,jew's claim to be inadmissible4 ,the latter appealed from this sentence to the ,parliament of ,paris1 where he was not only opposed by the public ministry1 but1 by a decree of ,jan4 #b1 #ageh1 the sentence was confirmed1 and ,levi was again forbidden to contract any marriage during the life of ,mendel ,cerf4 ,here1 then1 a marriage contracted between ,french ,jews1 according to the ,jewish rites1 was declared valid by the first court in the kingdom4 ,but1 some years afterwards1 the same question was decided differently in another parliament1 on the subject of a marriage contracted between two ,french ,protestants1 who had been married in the presence of their parents by a minister of their own communion4 ,the ,protestant spouse had1 like the ,jew1 changed his religion2 and after he had concluded a second marriage with a ,catholic1 the ,parliament of ,grenoble confirmed this second marriage1 and declared the first to be null4 ,if we pass from jurisprudence to legislation1 we shall find it as obscure on this important matter as on so many others4 ,a decree of the council1 of ,sept4 #ae1 #afhe1 says3 ,protestants may marry1 provided1 however1 that it be in the presence of the principal officer of justice1 and that the publication preceding such marriages shall be made at the royal see nearest the place of abode of each of the ,protestants desirous of marrying1 and at the audience only4 ,this decree was not revoked by the edict which1 three weeks after1 suppressed the ,edict of ,nantes4 ,but after the declaration of ,may #ad1 #agbd1 drawn up by ,cardinal ,fleury1 the judges would no longer preside over the marriages of ,protestants1 nor permit their banns to be published in their audiences4 ,by ,article ,,xv4 of this law1 the forms prescribed by the canons are to be observed in marriages1 as well of new converts as of all the rest of the king's subjects4 ,this general expression1 all the rest of the king's subjects1 has been thought to comprehend the ,protestants1 as well as the ,catholics1 and on this interpretation1 such marriages of ,protestants as were not solemnized according to the canonical forms have been annulled4 ,nevertheless1 it seems that the marriages of ,protestants having been authorized by an express law1 they cannot now be admitted but by another express law carrying with it this penalty4 ,besides1 the term new converts1 mentioned in the declaration1 appears to indicate that the term that follows relates to the ,catholics only4 ,in short1 when the civil law is obscure or ambiguous1 ought not the judges to decide according to the natural and the moral law8 ,does it not result from all this that laws often have need of reformation1 and princes of consulting better informed counsellors1 rejecting priestly ministers1 and distrusting courtiers in the garb of confessors8 ,,mary ,,magdalen4 ,i must own that ,i know not where the author of the ,critical ,history of ,jesus ,christ found that ,st4 ,mary ,magdalen had a criminal intimacy 7des complaisances criminelles7 with the ,saviour of the world4 ,he says 7page #acj1 line #aa of the note7 that this is an assertion of the ,albigenses4 ,i have never read this horrible blasphemy either in the history of the ,albigenses1 or in their profession of faith4 ,it is one of the great many things of which ,i am ignorant4 ,i know that the ,albigenses had the dire misfortune of not being ,roman ,catholics2 but1 otherwise1 it seems to me1 they had the most profound reverence for the person of ,jesus4 ,this author of the ,critical ,history of ,jesus ,christ refers us to the ,christiade1 a sort of poem in prose--granting that there are such things as poems in prose4 ,i have1 therefore1 been obliged to consult the passage of the ,christiade in which this accusation is made4 ,it is in the fourth book or canto1 page #cce1 note #a2 the poet of the ,christiade cites no authority4 ,in an epic poem1 indeed1 citations may be spared2 but great authorities are requisite in prose1 when so grave an assertion is made--one which makes every ,christian's hair stand erect4 ,whether the ,albigenses advanced this impiety or not1 the only result is that the author of the ,christiade sports on the brink of criminality4 ,he somewhat imitates the famous sermon of ,menot4 ,he introduces us to ,mary ,magdalen1 the sister of ,martha and ,lazarus1 brilliant with all the charms of youth and beauty1 burning with every desire1 and immersed in every voluptuousness4 ,according to him1 she is a lady at court1 exalted in birth and in riches2 her brother ,lazarus was count of ,bethany1 and herself marchioness of ,magdalet4 ,martha had a splendid portion1 but he does not tell us where her estates lay4 ,she had1 says the man of the ,christiade1 a hundred servants1 and a crowd of lovers2 she might have threatened the liberty of the whole world4 ,but riches1 dignities1 ambitions1 grandeur1 never were so dear to ,magdalen as the seductive error which caused her to be named the sinner4 ,such was the sovereign beauty of the capital when the young and divine hero arrived there from the extremities of ,galilee4 ,her other passions yielded to the ambition of subduing the hero of whom she had heard4 ,the author of the ,christiade then imitates ,virgil4 ,the marchioness of ,magdalet conjures her portioned sister to furnish her coquettish designs upon her young hero1 as ,dido employed her sister ,anna to gain the pious neas4 ,she goes to hear ,christ's sermon in the temple1 although he never preached there4 ,her heart flies before her to the hero she adores2 she awaits but one favorable look to triumph over him1 to subdue this master of hearts and make him her captive4 ,she then goes to him at the house of ,simon the ,leper1 a very rich man1 who was giving him a grand supper1 although the women were never admitted at these feastings1 especially among the ,pharisees4 ,she pours a large pot of perfumes upon his legs1 wipes them with her beautiful fair hair1 and kisses them4 ,i shall not inquire whether the picture which the author draws of ,magdalen's holy transports is not more worldly than devout2 whether the kisses given are not expressed rather too warmly2 nor whether this fine hair with which she wipes her hero's legs1 does not remind one too strongly of ,trimalcion1 who1 at dinner1 wiped his hands with the hair of a young and beautiful slave4 ,he must himself have felt that his pictures might be fancied too glowing2 for he anticipates criticism by giving some pieces from a sermon of ,massillon's on ,magdalen4 ,one passage is as follows3 ,magdalen had sacrificed her reputation to the world4 ,her bashfulness and her birth at first defended her against the emotions of her passion2 and it is most likely1 that to the first shaft which assailed her1 she opposed the barrier of her modesty and her pride2 but when she had lent her ear to the serpent1 and consulted her own wisdom1 her heart was open to all assaults of passion4 ,magdalen loved the world1 and thenceforward all was sacrificed to this love2 neither the pride that springs from birth1 nor the modesty which is the ornament of her sex1 is spared in this sacrifice2 nothing can withhold her2 neither the railleries of worldlings1 nor the infidelities of her infatuated lovers1 whom she fain would please1 but by whom she cannot make herself esteemed--for virtue only is estimable2 nothing can make her ashamed2 and like the prostitute in the ,apocalypse1 she bears on her forehead the name of mystery2 that is1 she was veiled1 and was no longer known but in the character of the foolish passion4 ,i have sought this passage in ,massillon's sermons1 but it certainly is not in the edition which ,i possess4 ,i will venture to say more--it is not in his style4 ,the author of the ,christiade should have informed us where he picked up this rhapsody of ,massillon's1 as he should have told us where he read that the ,albigenses dared to impute to ,jesus ,christ an unworthy intercourse with ,mary ,magdalen4 ,as for the marchioness1 she is not again mentioned in the work4 ,the author spares us her voyage to ,marseilles with ,lazarus1 and the rest of her adventures4 ,what could induce a man of learning1 and sometimes of eloquence1 as the author of the ,christiade appears to be1 to compose this pretended poem8 ,it was1 as he tells us in his preface1 the example of ,milton2 but we well know how deceitful are examples4 ,milton1 who--be it observed--did not hazard that weakly monstrosity1 a poem in prose--,milton1 who in his ,paradise ,lost1 has1 amid the multitude of harsh and obscure lines of which it is full1 scattered some very fine blank verse--could not please any but fanatical ,whigs1 as the ,abb ,grcourt says3 ,en chantant l'univers perdu pour une pomme1 ,et ,dieu pour le damner crant le premier homme4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,by singing ,how ,god made man on purpose for hell-fire1 ,and how a stolen apple damned us all4 ,he might delight the ,presbyterians by making ,sin cohabit with ,death2 by firing off twenty-four pounders in heaven2 by making dryness fight with damp1 and heat with cold2 by cleaving angels in two1 whose halves immediately joined again2 by building a bridge over chaos2 by representing the ,messiah taking from a chest in heaven a great pair of compasses to describe the circuit of the earth1 etc4 ,virgil and ,horace would1 perhaps1 have thought these ideas rather strange4 ,but if they succeeded in ,england by the aid of some very happy lines1 the author of the ,christiade was mistaken in expecting his romance to succeed without the assistance of fine verses1 which are indeed very difficult to make4 ,but1 says our author1 one ,jerome ,vida1 bishop of ,alba1 once wrote a very powerful ,christiade in ,latin verse1 in which he transcribes many lines from ,virgil4 ,well1 my friend1 why did you write yours in ,french prose8 ,why did not you1 too1 imitate ,virgil8 ,but the late ,m4 d',escorbiac1 of ,toulouse1 also wrote a ,christiade4 ,alas6 why were you so unfortunate as to become the ape of ,m4 d',escorbiac8 ,but ,milton1 too1 wrote his romance of the ,new ,testament1 his ,paradise ,regained1 in blank verse1 frequently resembling the worst prose4 ,leave it1 then1 to ,milton to set ,satan and ,jesus constantly at war4 ,let it be his to cause a drove of swine to be driven along by a legion of devils2 that is1 by six thousand seven hundred1 who take possession of these swine--there being three devils and seven-twentieths per pig--and drown them in a lake4 ,it well becomes ,milton to make the devil propose to ,god that they shall take a good supper together4 ,in ,milton1 the devil may at his ease cover the table with ortolans1 partridges1 soles1 sturgeons1 and make ,hebe and ,ganymede hand wine to ,jesus ,christ4 ,in ,milton1 the devil may take ,god up a little hill1 from the top of which he shows him the capital1 the ,molucca ,islands1 and the ,indian city2 the birthplace of the beauteous ,angelica1 who turned ,orlando's brain2 after which he may offer to ,god all this1 provided that ,god will adore him4 ,but even ,milton labored in vain2 people have laughed at him4 ,they have laughed at poor brother ,berruyer1 the ,jesuit4 ,they have laughed at you4 ,bear it with patience6 ,,martyrs4 ,,section ,i4 ,martyr1 witness2 martyrdom1 testimony4 ,the early ,christian community at first gave the name of martyrs to those who announced new truths to mankind1 who gave testimony to ,jesus2 who confessed ,jesus2 in the same manner as they gave the name of saints to the presbyters1 to the supervisors of the community1 and to their female benefactors2 this is the reason why ,st4 ,jerome1 in his letters1 often calls his initiated ,paul1 ,st4 ,paul4 ,all the first bishops were called saints4 ,subsequently1 the name of martyrs was given only to deceased ,christians1 or to those who had been tortured for punishment2 and the little chapels that were erected to them received afterwards the name of martyrion4 ,it is a great question1 why the ,roman ,empire always tolerated in its bosom the ,jewish sect1 even after the two horrible wars of ,titus and ,adrian2 why it tolerated the worship of ,isis at several times2 and why it frequently persecuted ,christianity4 ,it is evident that the ,jews1 who paid dearly for their synagogues1 denounced the ,christians as mortal foes1 and excited the people against them4 ,it is moreover evident that the ,jews1 occupied with the trade of brokers and usurers1 did not preach against the ancient religion of the empire1 and that the ,christians1 who were all busy in controversy1 preached against the public worship1 sought to destroy it1 often burned the temples1 and broke the consecrated statues1 as ,st4 ,theodosius did at ,amasia1 and ,st4 ,polyeuctus in ,mitylene4 ,the orthodox ,christians1 sure that their religion was the only true one1 did not tolerate any other4 ,in consequence1 they themselves were hardly tolerated4 ,some of them were punished and died for the faith--and these were the martyrs4 ,this name is so respectable that it should not be prodigally bestowed2 it is not right to assume the name and arms of a family to which one does not belong4 ,very heavy penalties have been established against those who have the audacity to decorate themselves with the cross of ,malta or of ,st4 ,louis1 without being chevaliers of those orders4 ,the learned ,dodwell1 the dexterous ,middleton1 the judicious ,blondel1 the exact ,tillemont1 the scrutinizing ,launoy1 and many others1 all zealous for the glory of the true martyrs1 have excluded from their catalogue an obscure multitude on whom this great title had been lavished4 ,we have remarked that these learned men were sanctioned by the direct acknowledgment of ,origen1 who1 in his ,refutation of ,celsus1 confesses that there are very few martyrs1 and those at a great distance of time1 and that it is easy to reckon them4 ,nevertheless1 the ,benedictine ,ruinart--who calls himself ,don ,ruinart1 although he was no ,spaniard--has contradicted all these learned persons6 ,he has candidly given us many stories of martyrs which have appeared to the critics very suspicious4 ,many sensible persons have doubted various anecdotes relating to the legends recounted by ,don ,ruinart1 from beginning to end4 #a4 ,of ,saint ,symphorosia ,and ,her ,seven ,children4 ,their scruples commence with ,st4 ,symphorosia and her seven children who suffered martyrdom with her2 which appears1 at first sight1 too much imitated from the seven ,maccabees4 ,it is not known whence this legend comes2 and that is at once a great cause of skepticism4 ,it is therein related that the emperor ,adrian himself wished to interrogate the unknown ,symphorosia1 to ascertain if she was a ,christian4 ,this would have been more extraordinary than if ,louis ,,xiv4 had subjected a ,huguenot to an interrogatory4 ,you will further observe that ,adrian1 far from being a persecutor of the ,christians1 was their greatest protector4 ,he had then a long conversation with ,symphorosia1 and putting himself in a passion1 he said to her3 ,i will sacrifice you to the gods2 as if the ,roman emperors sacrificed women in their devotions4 ,in the sequel1 he caused her to be thrown into the ,anio--which was not a usual mode of immolation4 ,he afterwards had one of her sons cloven in two from the top of his head to his middle2 a second from side to side2 a third was broken on the wheel2 a fourth was only stabbed in the stomach2 a fifth right to the heart2 a sixth had his throat cut2 the seventh died of a parcel of needles thrust into his breast4 ,the emperor ,adrian was fond of variety4 ,he commanded that they should be buried near the temple of ,hercules--although no one is ever buried in ,rome1 much less near the temples1 which would have been a horrible profanation4 ,the legend adds that the chief priest of the temple named the place of their interment the ,seven ,biotanates4 ,if it was extraordinary that a monument should be erected at ,rome to persons thus treated1 it was no less so that a high priest should concern himself with the inscription2 and further1 that this ,roman priest should make a ,greek epitaph for them4 ,but what is still more strange is that it is pretended that this word biotanates signifies the seven tortured4 ,biotanates is a fabricated word1 which one does not meet with in any author2 and this signification can only be given to it by a play upon words1 falsely using the word thenon4 ,there is scarcely any fable worse constructed4 ,the writers of legends knew how to lie1 but none of them knew how to lie skilfully4 ,the learned ,lacroze1 librarian to ,frederick the ,great1 king of ,prussia1 observed3 ,i know not whether ,ruinart is sincere1 but ,i am afraid he is silly4 #b4 ,of ,st4 ,felicita ,and ,seven ,more ,children4 ,it is from ,surius that this legend is taken4 ,this ,surius is rather notorious for his absurdities4 ,he was a monk of the sixteenth century1 who writes about the martyrs of the second as if he had been present4 ,he pretends that that wicked man1 that tyrant1 ,marcus ,aurelius ,antoninus ,pius1 ordered the prefect of ,rome to institute a process against ,st4 ,felicita1 to have her and her seven children put to death1 because there was a rumor that she was a ,christian4 ,the prefect held his tribunal in the ,campus ,martius1 which1 however1 was at that time used only for the reviewing of troops2 and the first thing the prefect did was to cause a blow to be given her in full assembly4 ,the long discourses of the magistrates and the accused are worthy of the historian4 ,he finishes by putting the seven brothers to death by different punishments1 like the seven children of ,st4 ,symphorosia4 ,this is only a duplicate affair4 ,but as for ,st4 ,felicita1 he leaves her there1 and does not say another word about her4 #c4 ,of ,saint ,polycarp4 ,eusebius relates that ,st4 ,polycarp1 being informed in a dream that he should be burned in three days1 made it known to his friends4 ,the legend-maker adds that the lieutenant of police at ,smyrna1 whose name was ,herodius1 had him seized by his archers2 that he was abandoned to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre2 that the sky opened1 and a heavenly voice cried to him3 ,be of good courage1 ,polycarp2 that the hour of letting loose the lions in the amphitheatre having passed1 the people went about collecting wood from all the houses to burn him with2 that the saint addressed himself to the ,god of the archangels--although the word archangel was not then known--that the flames formed themselves round him into a triumphal arch without touching him2 that his body had the smell of baked bread2 but that1 having resisted the fire1 he could not preserve himself against a sabre-cut2 that his blood put out the burning pile1 and that there sprung from it a dove which flew straight to heaven4 ,to which planet is not precisely known4 #d4 ,of ,saint ,ptolomais4 ,we follow the order of ,don ,ruinart2 but we have no wish to call in question the martyrdom of ,st4 ,ptolomais1 which is extracted from ,st4 ,justin's ,apology4 ,we could make some difficulties with regard to the woman who was accused by her husband of being a ,christian1 and who baffled him by giving him a bill of divorce4 ,we might ask why1 in this history1 there is no further mention of this woman8 ,we might make it manifest that in the time of ,marcus ,aurelius1 women were not permitted to demand divorces of their husbands2 that this permission was only granted them under the emperor ,julian2 and that this so much repeated story of the ,christian woman who repudiated her husband--while no pagan would have dared to imagine such a thing--cannot well be other than a fable4 ,but we do not desire to raise unpleasant disputes4 ,as for the little probability there is in the compilation of ,don ,ruinart1 we have too much respect for the subject he treats of to start objections4 ,we have not made any to the ,letter of the ,churches of ,vienna and ,lyons1 because there is still a great deal of obscurity connected with it2 but we shall be pardoned for defending the memory of the great ,marcus ,aurelius1 thus outraged in the life of ,st4 ,symphorian of ,autun1 who was probably a relation of ,st4 ,symphorosia4 #e4 ,of ,st4 ,symphorian ,of ,autun4 ,this legend1 the author of which is unknown1 begins thus3 ,the emperor ,marcus ,aurelius had just raised a frightful tempest against the ,church1 and his fulminating edicts assailed on all sides the religion of ,jesus ,christ1 at the time when ,st4 ,symphorian lived at ,autun in all the splendor that high birth and uncommon virtue can confer4 ,he was of a ,christian family1 one of the most considerable of the city1 etc4 ,marcus ,aurelius issued no sanguinary edicts against the ,christians4 ,it is a very criminal calumny4 ,tillemont himself admits that he was the best prince the ,romans ever had2 that his reign was a golden age2 and that he verified what he often quoted from ,plato1 that nations would only be happy when kings were philosophers4 ,of all the emperors1 this was the one who promulgated the best laws2 he protected the wise1 but persecuted no ,christians1 of whom he had a great many in his service4 ,the writer of the legend relates that ,st4 ,symphorian having refused to adore ,cybele1 the city judge inquired3 ,who is this man8 ,now it is impossible that the judge of ,autun should not have known the most considerable person in ,autun4 ,he was declared by the sentence to be guilty of treason1 divine and human4 ,the ,romans never employed this formula2 and that alone should deprive the pretended martyr of ,autun of all credit4 ,in order the better to refute this calumny against the sacred memory of ,marcus ,aurelius1 let us bring under view the discourse of ,meliton1 bishop of ,sardis1 to this best of emperors1 reported verbatim by ,eusebius3 ,the continual succession of good fortune which has attended the empire1 without its happiness being disturbed by a single disgrace1 since our religion1 which was born with it1 has grown in its bosom1 is an evident proof that it contributes eminently to its greatness and glory4 ,among all the emperors1 ,nero and ,domitian alone1 deceived by certain impostors1 have spread calumnies against us1 which1 as usual1 have found some partial credence among the people4 ,but your pious ancestors have corrected the people's ignorance1 and by public edicts have repressed the audacity of those who attempted to treat us ill4 ,your grandfather ,adrian wrote in our favor to ,fundanus1 governor of ,asia1 and to many other persons4 ,the emperor1 your father1 during the period when you divided with him the cares of government1 wrote to the inhabitants of ,larissa1 of ,thessalonica1 of ,athens1 and in short to all the people of ,greece1 to repress the seditions and tumults which have been excited against us4 ,this declaration by a most pious1 learned1 and veracious bishop is sufficient to confound forever all the lies and legends which may be regarded as the ,arabian tales of ,christianity4 #f4 ,of ,another ,saint ,felicita1 ,and ,of ,saint ,perpetua4 ,if it were an object to dispute the legend of ,felicita and ,perpetua1 it would not be difficult to show how suspicious it is4 ,these ,carthaginian martyrs are only known by a writing1 without date1 of the church of ,salzburg4 ,now1 it is a great way from this part of ,bavaria to ,goletta4 ,we are not informed under what emperor this ,felicita and this ,perpetua received the crown of martyrdom4 ,the astounding sights with which this history is filled do not discover a very profound historian4 ,a ladder entirely of gold1 bordered with lances and swords2 a dragon at the top of the ladder2 a large garden near the dragon2 sheep from which an old man drew milk2 a reservoir full of water2 a bottle of water whence they drank without diminishing the liquid2 ,st4 ,perpetua fighting entirely naked against a wicked ,egyptian2 some handsome young men1 all naked1 who took her part2 herself at last become a man and a vigorous wrestler2 these are1 it appears to me1 conceits which should not have place in a respectable book4 ,there is one other reflection very important to make4 ,it is that the style of all these stories of martyrdom1 which took place at such different periods1 is everywhere alike1 everywhere equally puerile and bombastic4 ,you find the same turns of expression1 the same phrases1 in the history of a martyr under ,domitian and of another under ,galerius4 ,there are the same epithets1 the same exaggerations4 ,by the little we understand of style1 we perceive that the same hand has compiled them all4 ,i do not here pretend to make a book against ,don ,ruinart2 and while ,i always respect1 admire1 and invoke the true martyrs with the ,holy ,church1 ,i confine myself to making it perceived1 by one or two striking examples1 how dangerous it is to mix what is purely ridiculous with what ought to be venerated4 #g4 ,of ,saint ,theodotus ,of ,the ,city ,of ,ancyra1 ,and ,of ,the ,seven ,virgins2 ,written ,by ,nisus1 ,an ,eye-,witness1 ,and ,extracted ,from ,bollandus4 ,many critics1 as eminent for wisdom as for true piety1 have already given us to understand that the legend of ,st4 ,theodotus the ,publican is a profanation and a species of impiety which ought to have been suppressed4 ,the following is the story of ,theodotus4 ,we shall often employ the exact words of the ,genuine ,acts1 compiled by ,don ,ruinart4 ,his trade of publican supplied him with the means of exercising his episcopal functions4 ,illustrious tavern6 consecrated to piety instead of debauchery4444 ,sometimes ,theodotus was a physician1 sometimes he furnished tit-bits to the faithful4 ,a tavern was seen to be to the ,christians what ,noah's ark was to those whom ,god wished to save from the deluge4 ,this publican ,theodotus1 walking by the river ,halis with his companions towards a town adjacent to the city of ,ancyra1 a fresh and soft plot of turf offered them a delicious couch2 a spring which issued a few steps off1 from the foot of the rock1 and which by a channel crowned with flowers came running past them in order to quench their thirst1 offered them clear and pure water4 ,trees bearing fruit1 mixed with wild ones1 furnished them with shade and fruits2 and an assemblage of skilful nightingales1 whom the grasshoppers relieved every now and then1 formed a charming concert1 etc4 ,the clergyman of the place1 named ,fronton1 having arrived1 and the publican having drunk with him on the grass1 the fresh green of which was relieved by the various gradations of color in the flowers1 he said to the clergyman3 ',ah1 father6 what a pleasure it would be to build a chapel here4' ',yes1' said ,fronton1 'but it would be necessary to have some relics to begin with4' ',well1 well1' replied ,st4 ,theodotus1 'you shall have some soon1 ,i give you my word2 here is my ring1 which ,i give you as a pledge2 build your chapel quickly4' ,the publican had the gift of prophecy1 and knew well what he was saying4 ,he went away to the city of ,ancyra1 while the clergyman ,fronton set himself about building4 ,he found there the most horrible persecution1 which lasted very long4 ,seven ,christian virgins1 of whom the youngest was seventy years old1 had just been condemned1 according to custom1 to lose their virginity1 through the agency of all the young men of the city4 ,the youth of ,ancyra1 who had probably more urgent affairs1 were in no hurry to execute the sentence4 ,one only could be found obedient to justice4 ,he applied himself to ,st4 ,thecusa1 and carried her into a closet with surprising courage4 ,thecusa threw herself on her knees1 and said to him1 ,for ,god's sake1 my son1 a little shame6 ,behold these lacklustre eyes1 this half-dead flesh1 these greasy wrinkles1 which seventy years have ploughed in my forehead1 this face of the color of the earth2 abandon thoughts so unworthy of a young man like you--,jesus ,christ entreats you by my mouth4 ,he asks it of you as a favor1 and if you grant it ,him1 you may expect ,his entire gratitude4 ,the discourse of the old woman1 and her countenance made the executioner recollect himself4 ,the seven virgins were not deflowered4 ,the irritated governor sought for another punishment2 he caused them to be initiated forthwith in the mysteries of ,diana and ,minerva4 ,it is true that great feasts had been instituted in honor of those divinities1 but the mysteries of ,diana and ,minerva were not known to antiquity4 ,st4 ,nil1 an intimate friend of the publican ,theodotus1 and the author of this marvellous story1 was not quite correct4 ,according to him1 these seven pretty lasses were placed quite naked on the car which carried the great ,diana and the wise ,minerva to the banks of a neighboring lake4 ,the ,thucydides ,st4 ,nil still appears to be very ill-informed here4 ,the priestesses were always covered with veils2 and the ,roman magistrates never caused the goddesses of chastity and wisdom to be attended by girls who showed themselves both before and behind to the people4 ,st4 ,nil adds that the car was preceded by two choirs of priestesses of ,bacchus1 who carried the thyrses in their hands4 ,st4 ,nil has here mistaken the priestesses of ,minerva for those of ,bacchus4 ,he was not versed in the liturgy of ,ancyra4 ,entering the city1 the publican saw this sad spectacle--the governor1 the priestesses1 the car1 ,minerva1 and the seven maidens4 ,he runs to throw himself on his knees in a hut1 along with a nephew of ,st4 ,thecusa4 ,he beseeches heaven that the seven ladies should be dead rather than naked4 ,his prayer is heard2 he learns that the seven damsels1 instead of being deflowered1 have been thrown into the lake with stones round their necks1 by order of the governor4 ,their virginity is in safe-keeping4 ,at this news the saint1 raising himself from the ground and placing himself upon his knees1 turned his eyes towards heaven2 and in the midst of the various emotions he experienced of love1 joy1 and gratitude1 he said1 ,i give ,thee thanks1 ,o ,lord6 that ,thou has not rejected the prayer of ,thy servant4 ,he slept2 and during his sleep1 ,st4 ,thecusa1 the youngest of the drowned women1 appeared to him4 ,how now1 son ,theodotus6 she said1 you are sleeping without thinking of us3 have you forgotten so soon the care ,i took of your youth8 ,do not1 dear ,theodotus1 suffer our bodies to be devoured by the fishes4 ,go to the lake1 but beware of a traitor4 ,this traitor was1 in fact1 the nephew of ,st4 ,thecusa4 ,i omit here a multitude of miraculous adventures that happened to the publican1 in order to come to the most important4 ,a celestial cavalier1 armed cap-a-pie1 preceded by a celestial flambeau1 descends from the height of the empyrean1 conducts the publican to the lake in the midst of storms1 drives away all the soldiers who guard the shore1 and gives ,theodotus time to fish up the seven old women and to bury them4 ,the nephew of ,st4 ,thecusa unfortunately went and told all4 ,theodotus was seized1 and for three days all sorts of punishments were tried in vain to kill him4 ,they could only attain their object by cleaving his skull2 an operation which saints are never proof against4 ,he was still to be buried4 ,his friend the minister ,fronton--to whom ,theodotus1 in his capacity of publican1 had given two leathern bottles filled with wine--made the guards drunk1 and carried off the body4 ,theodotus then appeared in body and spirit to the minister3 ,well1 my friend1 he said to him1 did ,i not say well1 that you should have relics for your chapel8 ,such is what is narrated by ,st4 ,nil1 an eye-witness1 who could neither be deceived nor deceive2 such is what ,don ,ruinart has quoted as a genuine act4 ,now every man of sense1 every intelligent ,christian1 will ask himself1 whether a better mode could be adopted of dishonoring the most holy and venerated religion in the world1 and of turning it into ridicule8 ,i shall not speak of the ,eleven ,thousand ,virgins2 ,i shall not discuss the fable of the ,theban legion1 composed--says the author--of six thousand six hundred men1 all ,christians coming from the ,east by ,mount ,st4 ,bernard1 suffering martyrdom in the year #bhf1 the period of the most profound peace as regarded the ,church1 and in the gorge of a mountain where it is impossible to place #cjj men abreast2 a fable written more than #eej years after the event2 a fable in which a king of ,burgundy is spoken of who never existed2 a fable1 in short1 acknowledged to be absurd by all the learned who have not lost their reason4 ,behold what ,don ,ruinart narrates seriously6 ,let us pray to ,god for the good sense of ,don ,ruinart6 ,,section ,,ii4 ,how does it happen that1 in the enlightened age in which we live1 learned and useful writers are still found who nevertheless follow the stream of old errors1 and who corrupt many truths by admitted fables8 ,they reckon the era of the martyrs from the first year of the empire of ,diocletian1 who was then far enough from inflicting martyrdom on anybody4 ,they forget that his wife ,prisca was a ,christian1 that the principal officers of his household were ,christians2 that he protected them constantly during eighteen years2 that they built at ,nicomedia a church more sumptuous than his palace2 and that they would never have been persecuted if they had not outraged the ,csar ,valerius4 ,is it possible that any one should still dare to assert that ,diocletian died of age1 despair1 and misery2 he who was seen to quit life like a philosopher1 as he had quitted the empire2 he who1 solicited to resume the supreme power loved better to cultivate his fine gardens at ,salonica1 than to reign again over the whole of the then known world8 ,oh1 ye compilers6 will you never cease to compile8 ,you have usefully employed your three fingers2 employ still more usefully your reason4 ,what6 you repeat to me that ,st4 ,peter reigned over the faithful at ,rome for twenty-five years1 and that ,nero had him put to death together with ,st4 ,paul1 in order to avenge the death of ,simon the ,magician1 whose legs they had broken by their prayers8 ,to report such fables1 though with the best motive1 is to insult ,christianity4 ,the poor creatures who still repeat these absurdities are copyists who renew in octavo and duodecimo old stories that honest men no longer read1 and who have never opened a book of wholesome criticism4 ,they rake up the antiquated tales of the ,church2 they know nothing of either ,middleton1 or ,dodwell1 or ,bruker1 or ,dumoulin1 or ,fabricius1 or ,grabius1 or even ,dupin1 or of any one of those who have lately carried light into the darkness4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,we are fooled with martyrdoms that make us break out into laughter4 ,the ,tituses1 the ,trajans1 the ,marcus ,aureliuses1 are painted as monsters of cruelty4 ,fleury1 abb of ,loc ,dieu1 has disgraced his ecclesiastical history by tales which a sensible old woman would not tell to little children4 ,can it be seriously repeated1 that the ,romans condemned seven virgins1 each seventy years old1 to pass through the hands of all the young men of the city of ,ancyra--those ,romans who punished the ,vestals with death for the least gallantry8 ,a hundred tales of this sort are found in the martyrologies4 ,the narrators have hoped to render the ancient ,romans odious1 and they have rendered themselves ridiculous4 ,do you want good1 well-authenticated barbarities--good and well-attested massacres1 rivers of blood which have actually flowed--fathers1 mothers1 husbands1 wives1 infants at the breast1 who have in reality had their throats cut1 and been heaped on one another8 ,persecuting monsters6 seek these truths only in your own annals3 you will find them in the crusades against the ,albigenses1 in the massacres of ,merindol and ,cabrire1 in the frightful day of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 in the massacres of ,ireland1 in the valleys of the ,pays de ,vaud4 ,it becomes you well1 barbarians as you are1 to impute extravagant cruelties to the best of emperors2 you who have deluged ,europe with blood1 and covered it with corpses1 in order to prove that the same body can be in a thousand places at once1 and that the pope can sell indulgences6 ,cease to calumniate the ,romans1 your law-givers1 and ask pardon of ,god for the abominations of your forefathers6 ,it is not the torture1 you say1 which makes martyrdom2 it is the cause4 ,well6 ,i agree with you that your victims ought not to be designated by the name of martyr1 which signifies witness2 but what name shall we give to your executioners8 ,phalaris and ,busiris were the gentlest of men in comparison with you4 ,does not your ,inquisition1 which still remains1 make reason1 nature1 and religion boil with indignation6 ,great ,god6 if mankind should reduce to ashes that infernal tribunal1 would they be unacceptable in thy avenging eyes8 ,,mass4 ,the mass1 in ordinary language1 is the greatest and most august of the ceremonies of the ,church4 ,different names are given to it1 according to the rites practised in the various countries where it is celebrated2 as the ,mozarabian or ,gothic mass1 the ,greek mass1 the ,latin mass4 ,durandus and ,eckius call those masses dry1 in which no consecration is made1 as that which is appointed to be said in particular by aspirants to the priesthood2 and ,cardinal ,bona relates1 on the authority of ,william of ,nangis1 that ,st4 ,louis1 in his voyage abroad1 had it said in this manner1 lest the motion of the vessel should spill the consecrated wine4 ,he also quoted ,gnbrard1 who says that he assisted at ,turin1 in #aehg1 at a similar mass1 celebrated in a church1 but after dinner and very late1 for the funeral of a person of rank4 ,pierre le ,chantre also speaks of the two-fold1 three-fold1 and even four-fold mass1 in which the priest celebrated the mass of the day or the feast1 as far as the offertory1 then began a second1 third1 and sometimes a fourth1 as far as the same place2 after which he said as many secretas as he had begun masses2 he recited the canon only once for the whole2 and at the end he added as many collects as he had joined together masses4 ,it was not until about the close of the fourth century that the word mass began to signify the celebration of the eucharist4 ,the learned ,beatus ,rhenanus1 in his notes on ,tertullian1 observes1 that ,st4 ,ambrose consecrated this popular expression1 missa1 taken from the sending out of the catechumens1 after the reading of the gospel4 ,in the ,apostolical ,constitutions1 we find a liturgy in the name of ,st4 ,james1 by which it appears1 that instead of invoking the saints in the canon of the mass1 the primitive ,church prayed for them4 ,we also offer to ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 said the celebrator1 this bread and this chalice for all the saints that have been pleasing in ,thy sight from the beginning of ages3 for the patriarchs1 the prophets1 the just1 the apostles1 the martyrs1 the confessors1 bishops1 priests1 deacons1 subdeacons1 readers1 chanters1 virgins1 widows1 laymen1 and all whose names are known unto ,thee4 ,but ,st4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 who lived in the fourth century1 substituted this explanation3 ,after which1 says he1 we commemorate those who die before us1 and first the patriarchs1 apostles1 and martyrs1 that ,god may receive our prayers through their intercession4 ,this proves--as will be said in the article on ,relics--that the worship of the saints was then beginning to be introduced into the ,church4 ,illustration3 ,ancient ,rome4 ,noel ,alexander cites acts of ,st4 ,andrew1 in which that apostle is made to say3 ,i offer up every day1 on the altar of the only true ,god1 not the flesh of bulls1 nor the blood of goats1 but the unspotted lamb1 which still remains living and entire after it is sacrificed1 and all the faithful eat of its flesh2 but this learned ,dominican acknowledges that this piece was unknown until the eighth century4 ,the first who cited it was therius1 bishop of ,osma in ,spain1 who wrote against lipard in #ghh4 ,abdias relates that ,st4 ,john1 being warned by the ,lord of the termination of his career1 prepared for death and recommended his ,church to ,god4 ,he then had bread brought to him1 which he took1 and lifting up his hands to heaven1 blessed it1 broke it1 and distributed it among those who were present1 saying3 ,let my portion be yours1 and let yours be mine4 ,this manner of celebrating the eucharist--which means thanksgiving--is more conformable to the institution of that ceremony4 ,st4 ,luke indeed informs us1 that ,jesus1 after distributing bread and wine among his apostles1 who were supping with him1 said to them3 ,do this in memory of me4 ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark say1 moreover1 that ,jesus sang a hymn4 ,st4 ,john1 who in his gospel mentions neither the distribution of the bread and wine1 nor the hymn1 speaks of the latter at great length in his ,acts1 of which we give the text1 as quoted by the ,second ,council of ,nice3 ,before our ,lord was taken by the ,jews1 says this well-beloved apostle of ,jesus1 ,he assembled us all together1 and said to us3 ',let us sing a hymn in honor of the ,father1 after which we will execute the design we have conceived4' ,he ordered us therefore to form a circle1 holding one another by the hand2 then1 having placed ,himself in the middle of the circle1 ,he said to us3 ',amen2 follow me4' ,then ,he began the canticle1 and said3 ',glory be to ,thee1 ,o ,father6' ,we all answered1 ',amen4' ,jesus continued1 saying1 ',glory to the ,word1' etc4 ',glory to the ,spirit1' etc4 ',glory to ,grace1' etc41 and the apostles constantly answered1 ',amen4' ,after some other doxologies1 ,jesus said1 ,i will save1 and ,i will be saved1 ,amen4 ,i will unbind1 and ,i will be unbound1 ,amen4 ,i will be wounded1 and ,i will wound1 ,amen4 ,i will be born1 and ,i will beget1 ,amen4 ,i will eat1 and ,i will be consumed1 ,amen4 ,i will be hearkened to1 and ,i will hearken1 ,amen4 ,i will be comprehended by the spirit1 being all spirit1 all understanding1 ,amen4 ,i will be washed1 and ,i will wash1 ,amen4 ,grace brings dancing2 ,i will play on the flute2 all of you dance1 ,amen4 ,i will sing sorrowful airs2 now all of you lament1 ,amen4 ,st4 ,augustine1 who begins a part of this hymn in his ,epistle to ,ceretius1 gives also the following3 ,i will deck1 and ,i will be decked4 ,i am a lamp to those who see me and know me4 ,i am the door for all who will knock at it4 ,do you1 who see what ,i do1 be careful not to speak of it4 ,this dance of ,jesus and the apostles is evidently imitated from that of the ,egyptian ,therapeut1 who danced after supper in their assemblies1 at first divided into two choirs1 then united the men and the women together1 as at the feast of ,bacchus1 after swallowing plenty of celestial wine as ,philo says4 ,besides we know1 that according to the ,jewish tradition1 after their coming out of ,egypt1 and passing the ,red ,sea1 whence the solemnity of the ,passover took its name1 ,moses and his sister assembled two musical choirs1 one composed of men1 the other of women1 who1 while dancing1 sang a canticle of thanksgiving4 ,these instruments instantaneously assembled1 these choirs arranged with so much promptitude1 the facility with which the songs and dances are executed1 suppose a training in these two exercises much anterior to the moment of execution4 ,the usage was afterwards perpetrated among the ,jews4 ,the daughters of ,shiloh were dancing according to custom1 at the solemn feast of the ,lord1 when the young men of the tribe of ,benjamin1 to whom they had been refused for wives1 carried them off by the counsel of the old men of ,israel4 ,and at this day1 in ,palestine1 the women1 assembled near the tombs of their relatives1 dance in a mournful manner1 and utter cries of lamentation4 ,we also know that the first ,christians held among themselves agap1 or feasts of charity1 in memory of the last supper which ,jesus celebrated with his apostles1 from which the ,pagans took occasion to bring against them the most odious charges2 on which1 to banish every shadow of licentiousness1 the pastors forbade the kiss of peace1 that concluded the ceremony to be given between persons of different sexes4 ,but various abuses1 which were even then complained of by ,st4 ,paul1 and which the ,council of ,gangres1 in the year #cbd1 vainly undertook to reform1 at length caused the agap to be abolished in #cig1 by the ,third ,council of ,carthage1 of which the forty-first canon ordained1 that the holy mysteries should be celebrated fasting4 ,it will not be doubted that these feastings were accompanied by dances1 when it is recollected that1 according to ,scaliger1 the bishops were called in the ,latin ,church prsules1 7from prsiliendo7 only because they led off the dance4 ,heliot1 in his ,history of the ,monastic ,orders1 says also1 that during the persecutions which disturbed the peace of the first ,christians1 congregations were formed of men and women1 who1 after the manner of the ,therapeut1 retired into the deserts1 where they assembled in the hamlets on ,sundays and feast days1 and danced piously1 singing the prayers of the ,church4 ,in ,portugal1 in ,spain1 and in ,roussillon1 solemn dances are still performed in honor of the mysteries of ,christianity4 ,on every vigil of a feast of the ,virgin1 the young women assemble before the doors of the churches dedicated to her1 and pass the night in dancing round1 and singing hymns and canticles in honor of her4 ,cardinal ,ximenes restored in his time1 in the cathedral of ,toledo1 the ancient usage of the ,mozarabian mass1 during which dances are performed in the choir and the nave1 with equal order and devotion4 ,in ,france too1 about the middle of the last century1 the priests and all the people of the ,limoges might be seen dancing round in the collegiate church1 singing3 ,sant ,marcian pregas pernous et nous epingaren per bous--that is1 ,st4 ,martian1 pray for us1 and we will dance for you4 ,and lastly1 the ,jesuit ,menestrier1 in the preface to his ,treatise on ,ballets1 published in #afhb1 says1 that he had himself seen the canons of some churches take the singing boys by the hand on ,easter day1 and dance in the choir1 singing hymns of rejoicing4 ,what has been said in the article on ,calends1 of the extravagant dances of the feast of fools1 exhibits a part of the abuses which have caused dancing to be discontinued in the ceremonies of the mass1 which1 the greater their gravity1 are the better calculated to impose on the simple4 ,,massacres4 ,it is perhaps as difficult as it is useless to ascertain whether mazzacrium1 a word of the low ,latin1 is the root of massacre1 or whether massacre is the root of mazzacrium4 ,a massacre signifies a number of men killed4 ,there was yesterday a great massacre near ,warsaw--near ,cracow4 ,we never say3 ,there has been a massacre of a man2 yet we do say3 ,a man has been massacred3 in that case it is understood that he has been killed barbarously by many blows4 ,poetry makes use of the word massacred for killed1 assassinated3 ,que par ses propres mains son pre massacr4--,cinna4 ,an ,englishman has made a compilation of all the massacres perpetrated on account of religion since the first centuries of our vulgar era4 ,i have been very much tempted to write against the ,english author2 but his memoir not appearing to be exaggerated1 ,i have restrained myself4 ,for the future ,i hope there will be no more such calculations to make4 ,but to whom shall we be indebted for that8 ,,master4 ,,section ,i4 ,how unfortunate am ,i to have been born6 said ,ardassan ,ougli1 a young icoglan of the grand sultan of the ,turks4 ,yet if ,i depended only on the sultan--but ,i am also subject to the chief of my oda1 to the cassigi bachi2 and when ,i receive my pay1 ,i must prostrate myself before a clerk of the teftardar1 who keeps back half of it4 ,i was not seven years old1 when1 in spite of myself1 ,i was circumcised with great ceremony1 and was ill for a fortnight after it4 ,the dervish who prays to us is also my master2 an iman is still more my master1 and the mullah still more so than the iman4 ,the cadi is another master1 the kadeslesker a greater2 the mufti a greater than all these together4 ,the kiaia of the grand vizier with one word could cause me to be thrown into the canal2 and finally1 the grand vizier could have me beheaded1 and the skin of my head stripped off1 without any person caring about the matter4 ,great ,god1 how many masters6 ,if ,i had as many souls and bodies as ,i have duties to fulfil1 ,i could not bear it4 ,oh ,allah6 why hast thou not made me an owl8 ,i should live free in my hole and eat mice at my ease1 without masters or servants4 ,this is assuredly the true destiny of man2 there were no masters until it was perverted2 no man was made to serve another continually4 ,if things were in order1 each should charitably help his neighbor4 ,the quick-sighted would conduct the blind1 the active would be crutches to the lame4 ,this would be the paradise of ,mahomet1 instead of the hell which is formed precisely under the inconceivably narrow bridge4 ,thus spoke ,ardassan ,ougli1 after being bastinadoed by one of his masters4 ,some years afterwards1 ,ardassan ,ougli became a pasha with three tails4 ,he made a prodigious fortune1 and firmly believed that all men except the grand ,turk and the grand vizier were born to serve him1 and all women to give him pleasure according to his wishes4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,how can one man become the master of another8 ,and by what kind of incomprehensible magic has he been able to become the master of several other men8 ,a great number of good volumes have been written on this subject1 but ,i give the preference to an ,indian fable1 because it is short1 and fables explain everything4 ,adimo1 the father of all the ,indians1 had two sons and two daughters by his wife ,pocriti4 ,the eldest was a vigorous giant1 the youngest was a little hunchback1 the two girls were pretty4 ,as soon as the giant was strong enough1 he lay with his two sisters1 and caused the little hunchback to serve him4 ,of his two sisters1 the one was his cook1 the other his gardener4 ,when the giant would sleep1 he began by chaining his little brother to a tree2 and when the latter fled from him1 he caught him in four strides1 and gave him twenty blows with the strength of an ox4 ,the dwarf submitted and became the best subject in the world4 ,the giant1 satisfied with seeing him fulfil the duties of a subject1 permitted him to sleep with one of his sisters1 with whom he was disgusted4 ,the children who sprang from this marriage were not quite hunchbacks1 but they were sufficiently deformed4 ,they were brought up in the fear of ,god and of the giant4 ,they received an excellent education2 they were taught that their uncle was a giant by divine right1 who could do what he pleased with all his family2 that if he had some pretty niece or grand-niece1 he should have her without difficulty1 and not one should marry her unless he permitted it4 ,the giant dying1 his son1 who was neither so strong or so great as he was1 believed himself to be like his father1 a giant by divine right4 ,he pretended to make all the men work for him1 and slept with all the girls4 ,the family lagued against him3 he was killed1 and they became a republic4 ,the ,siamese pretend1 that on the contrary the family commenced by being republican2 and that the giant existed not until after a great many years and dissensions3 but all the authors of ,benares and ,siam agree that men lived an infinity of ages before they had the wit to make laws1 and they prove it by an unanswerable argument1 which is that even at present1 when all the world piques itself upon having wit1 we have not yet found the means of making a score of laws passably good4 ,it is still1 for example1 an insoluble question in ,india1 whether republics were established before or after monarchies2 if confusion has appeared more horrible to men than despotism6 ,i am ignorant how it happened in order of time1 but in that of nature we must agree that men are all born equal3 violence and ability made the first masters2 laws have made the present4 ,,matter4 ,,section ,i4 ,a ,polite ,dialogue ,between ,a ,demoniac ,and ,a ,philosopher4 ,,demoniac4 ,yes1 thou enemy of ,god and man1 who believest that ,god is all-powerful1 and is at liberty to confer the gift of thought on every being whom ,he shall vouchsafe to choose1 ,i will go and denounce thee to the inquisitor2 ,i will have thee burned4 ,beware1 ,i warn thee for the last time4 ,,philosopher4 ,are these your arguments8 ,is it thus you teach mankind8 ,i admire your mildness4 ,,demoniac4 ,come1 ,i will be patient for a moment while the fagots are preparing4 ,answer me3 ,what is spirit8 ,,philosopher4 ,i know not4 ,,demoniac4 ,what is matter8 ,,philosopher4 ,i scarcely know4 ,i believe it to have extent1 solidity1 resistance1 gravity1 divisibility1 mobility4 ,god may have given it a thousand other qualities of which ,i am ignorant4 ,,demoniac4 ,a thousand other qualities1 traitor6 ,i see what thou wouldst be at2 thou wouldst tell me that ,god can animate matter1 that ,he has given instinct to animals1 that ,he is the ,master of all4 ,,philosopher4 ,but it may very well be1 that ,he has granted to this matter many properties which you cannot comprehend4 ,,demoniac4 ,which ,i cannot comprehend1 villain6 ,,philosopher4 ,yes4 ,his power goes much further than your understanding4 ,,demoniac4 ,his power6 ,his power6 thou talkest like a true atheist4 ,,philosopher4 ,however1 ,i have the testimony of many holy fathers on my side4 ,,demoniac4 ,go to1 go to3 neither ,god nor they shall prevent us from burning thee alive--the death inflicted on parricides and on philosophers who are not of our opinion4 ,,philosopher4 ,was it the devil or yourself that invented this method of arguing8 ,,demoniac4 ,vile wretch6 darest thou to couple my name with the devil's8 7,here the demoniac strikes the philosopher1 who returns him the blow with interest47 ,,philosopher4 ,help6 philosophers6 ,,demoniac4 ,holy brotherhood6 help6 7,here half a dozen philosophers arrive on one side1 and on the other rush in a hundred ,dominicans1 with a hundred ,familiars of the ,inquisition1 and a hundred alguazils4 ,the contest is too unequal47 ,,section ,,ii4 ,when wise men are asked what is the soul they answer that they know not4 ,if they are asked what matter is1 they make the same reply4 ,it is true that there are professors1 and particularly scholars1 who know all this perfectly2 and when they have repeated that matter has extent and divisibility1 they think they have said all2 being pressed1 however1 to say what this thing is which is extended1 they find themselves considerably embarrassed4 ,it is composed of parts1 say they4 ,and of what are these parts composed8 ,are the elements of the parts divisible8 ,then they are mute1 or they talk a great deal2 which are equally suspicious4 ,is this almost unknown being called matter1 eternal8 ,such was the belief of all antiquity4 ,has it of itself force8 ,many philosophers have thought so4 ,have those who deny it a right to deny it8 ,you conceive not that matter can have anything of itself2 but how can you be assured that it has not of itself the properties necessary to it8 ,you are ignorant of its nature1 and you refuse it the modes which nevertheless are in its nature3 for it can no sooner have been1 than it has been in a certain fashion--it has had figure1 and having necessarily figure1 is it impossible that it should not have had other modes attached to its configuration8 ,matter exists1 but you know it only by your sensations4 ,alas6 of what avail have been all the subtleties of the mind since man first reasoned8 ,geometry has taught us many truths1 metaphysics very few4 ,we weigh matter1 we measure it1 we decompose it2 and if we seek to advance one step beyond these gross operations1 we find ourselves powerless1 and before us an immeasurable abyss4 ,pray forgive all mankind who were deceived in thinking that matter existed by itself4 ,could they do otherwise8 ,how are we to imagine that what is without succession has not always been8 ,if it were not necessary for matter to exist1 why should it exist8 ,and if it were necessary that it should be1 why should it not have been forever8 ,no axiom has ever been more universally received than this3 ,of nothing1 nothing comes4 ,indeed the contrary is incomprehensible4 ,with every nation1 chaos preceded the arrangement which a divine hand made of the whole world4 ,the eternity of matter has with no people been injurious to the worship of the ,divinity4 ,religion was never startled at the recognition of an eternal ,god as the master of an eternal matter4 ,we of the present day are so happy as to know by faith that ,god brought matter out of nothing2 but no nation has ever been instructed in this dogma2 even the ,jews were ignorant of it4 ,the first verse of ,genesis says1 that the ,gods--,elom1 not ,eloi--made heaven and earth4 ,it does not say1 that heaven and earth were created out of nothing4 ,philo1 who lived at the only time when the ,jews had any erudition1 says1 in his ,chapter on the ,creation1 ,god1 being good by nature1 bore no envy against substance1 matter2 which of itself had nothing good1 having by nature only inertness1 confusion1 and disorder2 it was bad1 and ,he vouchsafed to make it good4 ,the idea of chaos put into order by a ,god1 is to be found in all ancient theogonies4 ,hesiod repeated the opinion of the ,orientals1 when he said in his ,theogony1 ,chaos was that which first existed4 ,the whole ,roman ,empire spoke in these words of ,ovid3 ,sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille ,deorum ,congeriem secuit4 ,matter then1 in the hands of ,god1 was considered like clay under the potter's wheel1 if these feeble images may be used to express ,his divine power4 ,matter1 being eternal1 must have had eternal properties--as configuration1 the vis inerti1 motion1 and divisibility4 ,but this divisibility is only a consequence of motion2 for without motion nothing is divided1 nor separated1 nor arranged4 ,motion therefore was regarded as essential to matter4 ,chaos had been a confused motion1 and the arrangement of the universe was a regular motion1 communicated to all bodies by the ,master of the world4 ,but how can matter have motion by itself1 as it has1 according to all the ancients1 extent and divisibility8 ,but it cannot be conceived to be without extent1 and it may be conceived to be without motion4 ,to this it was answered3 ,it is impossible that matter should not be permeable2 and being permeable1 something must be continually passing through its pores4 ,why should there be passages1 if nothing passes8 ,reply and rejoinder might thus be continued forever4 ,the system of the eternity of matter1 like all other systems1 has very great difficulties4 ,that of the formation of matter out of nothing is no less incomprehensible4 ,we must admit it1 and not flatter ourselves with accounting for it2 philosophy does not account for everything4 ,how many incomprehensible things are we not obliged to admit1 even in geometry6 ,can any one conceive two lines constantly approaching each other1 yet never meeting8 ,geometricians indeed will tell you1 the properties of asymptotes are demonstrated2 you cannot help admitting them--but creation is not2 why then admit it8 ,why is it hard for you to believe1 like all the ancients1 in the eternity of matter8 ,the theologian will press you on the other side1 and say3 ,if you believe in the eternity of matter then you acknowledge two principles--,god and matter2 you fall into the error of ,zoroaster and of ,manes4 ,no answer can be given to the geometricians1 for those folks know of nothing but their lines1 their superficies1 and their solids2 but you may say to the theologians3 ,wherein am ,i a ,manichan8 ,here are stones which an architect has not made1 but of which he has erected an immense building4 ,i do not admit two architects2 the rough stones have obeyed power and genius4 ,happily1 whatever system a man embraces1 it is in no way hurtful to morality2 for what imports it whether matter is made or arranged8 ,god is still an absolute master4 ,whether chaos was created out of nothing1 or only reduced to order1 it is still our duty to be virtuous2 scarcely any of these metaphysical questions affect the conduct of life4 ,it is with disputes as with table talk2 each one forgets after dinner what he has said1 and goes whithersoever his interest or his inclination calls him4 ,,meetings 7,,public74 ,meeting1 assemble1 is a general term applicable to any collection of people for secular1 sacred1 political1 conversational1 festive1 or corporate purposes2 in short1 to all occasions on which numbers meet together4 ,it is a term which prevents all verbal disputes1 and all abusive and injurious implications by which men are in the habit of stigmatizing societies to which they do not themselves belong4 ,the legal meeting or assembly of the ,athenians was called the church4 ,this word church1 being peculiarly appropriated among us to express a convocation of ,catholics in one place1 we did not in the first instance apply it to the public assembly of ,protestants2 but used indeed the expression--a flock of ,huguenots4 ,politeness however1 which in time explodes all noxious terms1 at length employed for the purpose the term assembly or meeting1 which offends no one4 ,in ,england the dominant ,church applies the name of meeting to the churches of all the non-conformists4 ,the word assembly is particularly suitable to a collection of persons invited to go and pass their evening at a house where the host receives them with courtesy and kindness1 and where play1 conversation1 supper1 and dancing1 constitute their amusements4 ,if the number invited be small1 it is not called an assembly1 but a rendezvous of friends2 and friends are never very numerous4 ,assemblies are called1 in ,italian1 conversazione1 ridotto4 ,the word ridotto is properly what we once signified by the word reduit1 intrenchment2 but reduit having sunk into a term of contempt among us1 our editors translated ridout by redoubt4 ,the papers informed us1 among the important intelligence contained in them relating to ,europe1 that many noblemen of the highest consideration went to take chocolate at the house of the princess ,borghese2 and that there was a redoubt there4 ,it was announced to ,europe1 in another paragraph1 that there would be a redoubt on the following ,tuesday at the house of her excellency the marchioness of ,santafior4 ,it was found1 however1 that in relating the events of war1 it was necessary to speak of real redoubts1 which in fact implied things actually redoubtable and formidable1 from which cannon were discharged4 ,the word was1 therefore1 in such circumstances1 obviously unsuitable to the ridotti pacifici1 the pacific redoubts of mere amusement2 and the old term assembly was restored1 which is indeed the only proper one4 ,rendezvous is occasionally used1 but it is more adapted to a small company1 and most of all for two individuals4 ,,messiah4 ,advertisement4 ,this article is by ,m4 ,polier de ,bottens1 of an old ,french family1 settled for two hundred years in ,switzerland4 ,he is first pastor of ,lausanne1 and his knowledge is equal to his piety4 ,he composed this article for the great ,encyclopdia1 in which it was inserted4 ,only those passages were suppressed which the examiners thought might be abused by the ,catholics1 less learned and less pious than the author4 ,it was received with applause by all the wise4 ,it was printed at the same time in another small dictionary1 and was attributed in ,france to a man whom there was no reluctance to molest4 ,the article was supposed to be impious1 because it was supposed to be by a layman2 and the work and its pretended author were violently attacked4 ,the man thus accused contented himself with laughing at the mistake4 ,he beheld with compassion this instance of the errors and injustices which men are every day committing in their judgments2 for he had the wise and learned priest's manuscript1 written by his own hand4 ,it is still in his possession1 and will be shown to whoever may choose to examine it4 ,in it will be found the very erasures made by this layman himself1 to prevent malignant interpretations4 ,now we reprint this article in all the integrity of the original4 ,we have contracted it only to prevent repeating what we have printed elsewhere2 but we have not added a single word4 ,the best of this affair is1 that one of the venerable author's brethren wrote the most ridiculous things in the world against this article of his reverend brother's1 thinking that he was writing against a common enemy4 ,this is like fighting in the dark1 when one is attacked by one's own party4 ,it has a thousand times happened that controversialists have condemned passages in ,st4 ,augustine and ,st4 ,jerome1 not knowing that they were by those fathers4 ,they would anathematize a part of the ,new ,testament if they had not heard by whom it was written4 ,thus it is that men too often judge4 99 99 99 99 99 ,messiah1 ,messias4 ,this word comes from the ,hebrew1 and is synonymous with the ,greek word ,christ4 ,both are terms consecrated in religion1 which are now no longer given to any but the anointed by eminence--the ,sovereign ,deliverer whom the ancient ,jewish people expected1 for whose coming they still sigh1 and whom the ,christians find in the person of ,jesus the ,son of ,mary1 whom they consider as the anointed of the ,lord1 the ,messiah promised to humanity4 ,the ,greeks also use the word ,elcimmeros1 meaning the same thing as ,christos4 ,in the ,old ,testament we see that the word ,messiah1 far from being peculiar to the ,deliverer1 for whose coming the people of ,israel sighed1 was not even so to the true and faithful servants of ,god1 but that this name was often given to idolatrous kings and princes1 who were1 in the hands of the ,eternal1 the ministers of ,his vengeance1 or instruments for executing the counsels of ,his wisdom4 ,so the author of ,ecclesiasticus says of ,elisha3 ,qui ungis reges ad penitentiam2 or1 as it is rendered by the ,septuagint1 ad vindictam--,you anoint kings to execute the vengeance of the ,lord4 ,therefore ,he sent a prophet to anoint ,jehu1 king of ,israel1 and announced sacred unction to ,hazael1 king of ,damascus and ,syria2 those two princes being the ,messiahs of the ,most ,high1 to revenge the crimes and abominations of the house of ,ahab4 ,but in ,isaiah1 xlv41 #a1 the name of ,messiah is expressly given to ,cyrus3 ,thus saith the ,lord to ,cyrus1 ,his anointed1 ,his ,messiah1 whose right hand ,i have holden to subdue nations before him4 etc4 ,ezekiel1 in his ,revelations1 xxviii41 #ad1 gives the name of ,messiah to the king of ,tyre1 whom he also calls ,cherubin1 and speaks of him and his glory in terms full of an emphasis of which it is easier to feel the beauties than to catch the sense4 ,son of man1 says the ,eternal to the prophet1 take up a lamentation upon the king of ,tyre1 and say unto him1 ,thus saith the ,lord ,god2 thou sealest up the sun1 full of wisdom1 and perfect in beauty4 ,thou hast been the ,lord's ,garden of ,eden--or1 according to other versions1 ,thou wast all the ,lord's delight--every precious stone was thy covering2 the sardius1 topaz1 and the diamond2 the beryl1 the onyx1 and the jasper2 the sapphire1 the emerald1 and the carbuncle and gold3 the workmanship of thy tabrets and thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created4 ,thou wast a ,cherubin1 a ,messiah1 for protection1 and ,i set thee up2 thou hast been upon the holy mountain of ,god2 thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire4 ,thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created till iniquity was found in thee4 ,and the name of ,messiah1 in ,greek1 ,christ1 was given to the king1 prophets1 and high priests of the ,hebrews4 ,we read1 in ,i4 ,kings1 xii41 #e3 ,the ,lord is witness against you1 and his ,messiah is witness2 that is1 the king whom he has set up4 ,and elsewhere3 ,touch not my ,anointed2 do no evil to my prophets4444 ,david1 animated by the ,spirit of ,god1 repeatedly gives to his father-in-law ,saul1 whom he had no cause to love--he gives1 ,i say1 to this reprobate king1 from whom the ,spirit of the ,eternal was withdrawn1 the name and title of ,anointed1 or ,messiah of the ,lord4 ,god preserve me1 says he frequently1 from laying my hand upon the ,lord's ,anointed1 upon ,god's ,messiah4 ,if the fine title of ,messiah1 or ,anointed of the ,eternal1 was given to idolatrous kings1 to cruel and tyrannical princes1 it very often indeed1 in our ancient oracles1 designated the real ,anointed of the ,lord1 the ,messiah by eminence2 the object of the desire and expectation of all the faithful of ,israel4 ,thus ,hannah1 the mother of ,samuel1 concluded her canticle with these remarkable words1 which cannot apply to any king1 for we know that at that time the ,jews had not one3 ,the ,lord shall judge the ends of the earth2 and ,he shall give strength unto ,his king1 and exalt the horn of ,his ,messiah4 ,we find the same word in the following oracles3 ,psalm ii1 #b2 ,jeremiah1 ,lamentations1 iv1 #bj2 ,daniel1 ix1 #be2 ,habakkuk1 iii1 #ac4 ,if we compare all these different oracles1 and in general all those ordinarily applied to the ,messiah1 there will result contradictions1 almost irreconcilable1 justifying to a certain point the obstinacy of the people to whom these oracles were given4 ,how indeed could these be conceived1 before the event had so well justified it in the person of ,jesus1 ,son of ,mary8 ,how1 ,i say1 could there be conceived an intelligence in some sort divine and human together2 a being both great and lovely1 triumphing over the devil1 yet tempted and carried away by that infernal spirit1 that prince of the powers of the air1 and made to travel in spite of himself2 at once master and servant1 king and subject1 sacrificer and victim1 mortal and immortal1 rich and poor1 a glorious conqueror1 whose reign shall have no end1 who is to subdue all nature by prodigies1 and yet a man of sorrows1 without the conveniences1 often without the absolute necessaries of this life1 of which he calls himself king2 and that he comes1 covered with glory and honor1 terminating a life of innocence and wretchedness1 of incessant crosses and contradictions1 by a death alike shameful and cruel1 finding in this very humiliation1 this extraordinary abasement1 the source of an unparalleled elevation1 which raises him to the summit of glory1 power1 and felicity2 that is1 to the rank of the first of creatures8 ,all ,christians agree in finding these characteristics1 apparently so incompatible1 in the person of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 whom they call the ,christ2 ,his followers gave ,him this title by eminence1 not that ,he had been anointed in a sensible and material manner1 as some kings1 prophets1 and sacrificers anciently were1 but because the ,divine ,spirit had designated ,him for those great offices1 and ,he had received the spiritual unction necessary thereunto4 ,we had proceeded thus far on so competent an article1 when a ,dutch preacher1 more celebrated for this discovery than for the indifferent productions of a genius otherwise feeble and ill-formed1 showed to us that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,messiah of ,god1 was anointed at the three grand periods of ,his life1 as our ,king1 our ,prophet1 and our ,sacrificer4 ,at the time of ,his baptism1 the voice of the ,sovereign ,master of nature declared ,him to be ,his ,son1 ,his only1 ,his well-beloved ,son1 and for that very reason ,his representative4 ,when on ,mount ,tabor ,he was transfigured and associated with ,moses and ,elias1 the same supernatural voice announces ,him to humanity as the ,son of ,him who loves and who sends the prophets2 as ,he who is to be hearkened to in preference to all others4 ,in ,gethsemane1 an angel comes down from heaven to support ,him in the extreme anguish occasioned by the approach of ,his torments1 and strengthen ,him against the terrible apprehensions of a death which ,he cannot avoid1 and enable ,him to become a sacrificer the more excellent1 as ,himself is the pure and innocent victim that ,he is about to offer4 ,the judicious ,dutch preacher1 a disciple of the illustrious ,cocceius1 finds the sacramental oil of these different celestial unctions in the visible signs which the power of ,god caused to appear on ,his anointed2 in ,his baptism1 the shadow of the dove1 representing the ,holy ,ghost coming down from ,him2 on ,tabor1 the miraculous cloud1 which enveloped ,him2 in ,gethsemane1 the bloody sweat1 which covered ,his whole body4 ,after this1 it would indeed be the height of incredulity not to recognize by these marks the ,lord's ,anointed by eminence--the promised ,messiah2 nor doubtless could we sufficiently deplore the inconceivable blindness of the ,jewish people1 but that it was part of the plan of ,god's infinite wisdom1 and was1 in ,his merciful views1 essential to the accomplishment of ,his work and the salvation of humanity4 ,but it must also be acknowledged1 that in the state of oppression in which the ,jewish people were groaning1 and after all the glorious promises which the ,eternal had so often made them1 they must have longed for the coming of a ,messiah1 and looked towards it as the period of their happy deliverance2 and that they are therefore to an extent excusable for not having recognized a deliverer in the person of the ,lord ,jesus1 since it is in man's nature to care more for the body than for the spirit1 and to be more sensible to present wants than flattered by advantages to come1 and for that very reason1 always uncertain4 ,it must indeed be believed that ,abraham1 and after him a very small number of patriarchs and prophets1 were capable of forming an idea of the nature of the spiritual reign of the ,messiah2 but these ideas would necessarily be limited to the narrow circle of the inspired1 and it is not astonishing that1 being unknown to the multitude1 these notions were so far altered that1 when the ,saviour appeared in ,juda1 the people1 their doctors1 and even their princes1 expected a monarch--a conqueror--who1 by the rapidity of his conquests was to subdue the whole world4 ,and how could these flattering ideas be reconciled with the abject and apparently miserable condition of ,jesus ,christ8 ,so1 feeling scandalized by ,his announcing ,himself as the ,messiah1 they persecuted ,him1 rejected ,him1 and put ,him to the most ignominious death4 ,having since then found nothing tending to the fulfilment of their oracles1 and being unwilling to renounce them1 they indulge in all sorts of ideas1 each one more chimerical than the one preceding4 ,thus1 when they beheld the triumphs of the ,christian religion1 and found that most of their ancient oracles might be explained spiritually1 and applied to ,jesus ,christ1 they thought proper1 against the opinion of their fathers1 to deny that the passages which we allege against them are to be understood of the ,messiah1 thus torturing our ,holy ,scriptures to their own loss4 ,some of them maintain that their oracles have been misunderstood2 that it is in vain to long for the coming of a ,messiah1 since ,he has already come in the person of ,ezechias4 ,such was the opinion of the famous ,hillel4 ,others more lax1 or politely yielding to times and circumstances1 assert that the belief in the coming of a ,messiah is not a fundamental article of faith1 and that the denying of this dogma either does not injure the integrity of the law1 or injures it but slightly4 ,thus the ,jew ,albo said to the pope1 that to deny the coming of the ,messiah was only to cut off a branch of the tree without touching the root4 ,the celebrated rabbi1 ,solomon ,jarchi or ,raschi1 who lived at the commencement of the twelfth century1 says1 in his ,talmudes1 that the ancient ,hebrews believed the ,messiah to have been born on the day of the last destruction of ,jerusalem by the ,roman armies4 ,this is indeed calling in the physician when the man is dead4 ,the rabbi ,kimchi1 who also lived in the twelfth century1 announced that the ,messiah1 whose coming he believed to be very near1 would drive the ,christians out of ,juda1 which was then in their possession2 and it is true that the ,christians lost the ,holy ,land2 but it was ,saladin who vanquished them4 ,had that conqueror but protected the ,jews1 and declared for them1 it is not unlikely that in their enthusiasm they would have made him their ,messiah4 ,sacred writers1 and our ,lord ,jesus ,himself1 often compare the reign of the ,messiah and eternal beatitude to a nuptial festival or a banquet2 but the ,talmudists have strangely abused these parables2 according to them1 the ,messiah will give to his people1 assembled in the land of ,canaan1 a repast in which the wine will be that which was made by ,adam himself in the terrestrial paradise1 and which is kept dry1 in vast cellars1 by the angels at the centre of the earth4 ,at the first course will be served up the famous fish called the great ,leviathan1 which swallows up at once a smaller fish1 which smaller fish is nevertheless three hundred leagues long2 the whole mass of the waters is laid upon ,leviathan4 ,in the beginning ,god created a male and a female of this fish2 but lest they should overturn the land1 and fill the world with their kind1 ,god killed the female1 and salted her for the ,messiah's feast4 ,the rabbis add1 that there will also be killed for this repast the bull ,behemoth1 which is so large that he eats each day the hay from a thousand mountains4 ,the female of this bull was killed in the beginning of the world1 that so prodigious a species might not multiply1 since this could only have injured the other creatures2 but they assure us that the ,eternal did not salt her1 because dried cow is not so good as she-,leviathan4 ,the ,jews still put such faith in these rabbinical reveries that they often swear by their share of the bull ,behemoth1 as some impious ,christians swear by their share of paradise4 ,after such gross ideas of the coming of the ,messiah1 and of ,his reign1 is it astonishing that the ,jews1 ancient as well as modern1 and also some of the primitive ,christians unhappily tinctured with all these reveries1 could not elevate themselves to the idea of the divine nature of the ,lord's ,anointed1 and did not consider the ,messiah as ,god8 ,observe how the ,jews express themselves on this point in the work entitled ,judi ,lusitani ,qustiones ad ,christianos4 ,to acknowledge a ,god-man1 say they1 is to abuse your own reason1 to make to yourself a monster--a centaur--the strange compound of two natures which cannot coalesce4 ,they add1 that the prophets do not teach that the ,messiah is ,god-man2 that they expressly distinguish between ,god and ,david1 declaring the former to be ,master1 the latter servant4 ,when the ,saviour appeared1 the prophecies1 though clear1 were unfortunately obscured by the prejudices imbibed even at the mother's breast4 ,jesus ,christ ,himself1 either from deference towards or for fear of shocking1 the public opinion1 seems to have been very reserved concerning ,his divinity4 ,he wished1 says ,st4 ,chrysostom1 insensibly to accustom ,his auditors to the belief of a mystery so far above their reason4 ,if ,he takes upon ,him the authority of a ,god1 by pardoning sin1 this action raises up against ,him all who are witnesses of it4 ,his most evident miracles cannot even convince of ,his divinity those in whose favor they are worked4 ,when1 before the tribunal of the ,sovereign ,sacrificer1 ,he acknowledges1 by a modest intimation1 that ,he is the ,son of ,god1 the high priest tears his robe and cries1 ',blasphemy6' ,before the sending of the ,holy ,ghost1 the apostles did not even suspect the divinity of their dear ,master4 ,he asks them what the people think of ,him2 and they answer1 that some take ,him for ,elias1 other for ,jeremiah1 or some other prophet4 ,a particular revelation is necessary to make known to ,st4 ,peter1 that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4 ,the ,jews1 revolting against the divinity of ,christ1 have resorted to all sorts of expedients to destroy this great mystery2 they distort the meaning of their own oracles1 or do not apply them to the ,messiah2 they assert that the name of ,god1 ,elo1 is not peculiar to the ,divinity1 but is given1 even by sacred writers1 to judges1 to magistrates1 and in general to such as are high in authority2 they do1 indeed1 cite a great many passages of the ,holy ,scriptures that justify this observation1 but which do not in the least affect the express terms of the ancient oracles concerning the ,messiah4 ,lastly1 they assert1 that if the ,saviour1 and after ,him the evangelists1 the apostles1 and the first ,christians1 call ,jesus the ,son of ,god1 this august term did not in the evangelical times signify anything but the opposite of son of ,belial--that is1 a good man1 a servant of ,god1 in opposition to a wicked man1 one without the fear of ,god4 ,if the ,jews have disputed with ,jesus ,christ ,his quality of ,messiah and ,his divinity1 they have also used every endeavor to bring ,him into contempt1 by casting on ,his birth1 ,his life1 and ,his death1 all the ridicule and opprobrium that their criminal malevolence could imagine4 ,of all the works which the blindness of the ,jews has produced1 there is none more odious and more extravagant than the ancient book entitled ,sepher ,toldos ,jeschu1 brought to light by ,wagenseil1 in the second volume of his work entitled ,tela ,ignea1 etc4 ,in this ,sepher ,toldos ,jeschu1 we find a monstrous history of the life of our ,saviour1 forged with the utmost passion and disingenuousness4 ,for instance1 they have dared to write that one ,panther1 or ,pandera1 an inhabitant of ,bethlehem1 fell in love with a young woman married to ,jokanam4 ,by this impure commerce he had a son called ,jesua or ,jesu4 ,the father of this child was obliged to fly1 and retired to ,babylon4 ,as for young ,jesu1 he was not sent to the schools2 but--adds our author--he had the insolence to raise his head and uncover himself before the sacrificers1 instead of appearing before them with his head bent down and his face covered1 as was the custom--a piece of effrontery which was warmly rebuked2 this caused his birth to be inquired into1 which was found to be impure1 and soon exposed him to ignominy4 ,this detestable book1 ,sepher ,toldos ,jeschu1 was known in the second century3 ,celsus confidently cites it and ,origen refutes it in his ninth chapter4 ,there is another book also entitled ,toldos ,jeschu1 published by ,huldric in #agjc1 which more closely follows the ,gospel of the ,infancy1 but which is full of the grossest anachronisms4 ,it places both the birth and death of ,jesus ,christ in the reign of ,herod the ,great1 stating that complaints were made of the adultery of ,panther and ,mary1 the mother of ,jesus1 to that prince4 ,the author1 who takes the name of ,jonathan1 and calls himself a contemporary of ,jesus ,christ1 living at ,jerusalem1 pretends that ,herod consulted1 in the affair of ,jesus ,christ1 the senators of a city in the land of ,csarea4 ,we will not follow so absurd an author through all his contradictions4 ,yet it is under cover of all these calumnies that the ,jews keep up their implacable hatred against the ,christians and the gospel4 ,they have done their utmost to alter the chronology of the ,old ,testament1 and to raise doubts and difficulties respecting the time of our ,saviour's coming4 ,ahmed-ben-,cassum-la-,andacousy1 a ,moor of ,granada1 who lived about the close of the sixteenth century1 cites an ancient ,arabian manuscript1 which was found1 together with sixteen plates of lead engraved with ,arabian characters1 in a grotto near ,granada4 ,don ,pedro y ,quinones1 archbishop of ,granada1 has himself borne testimony to this fact4 ,these leaden plates1 called those of ,granada1 were afterwards carried to ,rome1 where1 after several years' investigation1 they were at last condemned as apocryphal1 in the pontificate of ,alexander ,,vii42 they contain only fabulous stories relating to the lives of ,mary and her ,son4 ,the time of ,messiah1 coupled with the epithet false1 is still given to those impostors who1 at various times1 have sought to abuse the credulity of the ,jewish nation4 ,there were some of these false ,messiahs even before the coming of the true ,anointed of ,god4 ,the wise ,gamaliel mentions one ,theodas1 whose history we read in ,josephus' ,jewish ,antiquities1 book xx4 chap4 #b4 ,he boasted of crossing the ,jordan without wetting his feet2 he drew many people after him2 but the ,romans1 having fallen upon his little troop1 dispersed them1 cut off the head of their unfortunate chief1 and exposed it in ,jerusalem4 ,gamaliel also speaks of ,judas the ,galilean1 who is doubtless the same of whom ,josephus makes mention in the second chapter of the second book of the ,jewish ,war4 ,he says that this false prophet had gathered together nearly thirty thousand men2 but hyperbole is the ,jewish historian's characteristic4 ,in the apostolic times1 there was ,simon1 surnamed the ,magician1 who contrived to bewitch the people of ,samaria1 so that they considered him as the great power of ,god4 ,in the following century1 in the years #agh and #agi of the ,christian era1 in the reign of ,adrian1 appeared the false ,messiah1 ,barcochebas1 at the head of an army4 ,the emperor sent against them ,julius ,severus1 who1 after several encounters1 enclosed them in the town of ,bither2 after an obstinate defence it was carried1 and ,barcochebas taken and put to death4 ,adrian thought he could not better prevent the continual revolt of the ,jews than by issuing an edict1 forbidding them to go to ,jerusalem2 he also had guards stationed at the gates of the city1 to prevent the rest of the people of ,israel from entering it4 ,we read in ,socrates1 an ecclesiastical historian1 that in the year #dcd1 there appeared in the island of ,candia a false ,messiah calling himself ,moses4 ,he said he was the ancient deliverer of the ,hebrews1 raised from the dead to deliver them again4 ,a century afterwards1 in #ecj1 there was in ,palestine a false ,messiah named ,julian2 he announced himself as a great conqueror1 who1 at the head of his nation1 should destroy by arms the whole ,christian people4 ,seduced by his promises1 the armed ,jews butchered many of the ,christians4 ,the emperor ,justinian sent troops against him2 battle was given to the false ,christ2 he was taken1 and condemned to the most ignominious death4 ,at the beginning of the eighth century1 ,serenus1 a ,spanish ,jew1 gave himself out as a ,messiah1 preached1 had some disciples1 and1 like them1 died in misery4 ,several false ,messiahs arose in the twelfth century4 ,one appeared in ,france in the reign of ,louis the ,young2 he and all his adherents were hanged1 without its ever being known what was the name of the master or of the disciples4 ,the thirteenth century was fruitful in false ,messiahs2 there appeared seven or eight in ,arabia1 ,persia1 ,spain1 and ,moravia2 one of them1 calling himself ,david el ,roy1 passed for a very great magician2 he reduced the ,jews1 and was at the head of a considerable party2 but this ,messiah was assassinated4 ,james ,zeigler1 of ,moravia1 who lived in the middle of the sixteenth century1 announced the approaching manifestation of the ,messiah1 born1 as he declared1 fourteen years before2 he had seen him1 he said1 at ,strasburg1 and he kept by him with great care a sword and a sceptre1 to place them in his hands as soon as he should be old enough to teach4 ,in the year #afbd1 another ,zeigler confirmed the prediction of the former4 ,in the year #afff1 ,sabatei ,sevi1 born at ,aleppo1 called himself the ,messiah foretold by the ,zeiglers4 ,he began with preaching on the highways and in the fields1 the ,turks laughing at him1 while his disciples admired him4 ,it appears that he did not gain over the mass of the ,jewish nation at first2 for the chiefs of the synagogue of ,smyrna passed sentence of death against him2 but he escaped with the fear only1 and with banishment4 ,he contracted three marriages1 of which it is asserted he did not consummate one1 saying that it was beneath him so to do4 ,he took into partnership one ,nathan ,levi2 the latter personated the prophet ,elias1 who was to go before the ,messiah4 ,they repaired to ,jerusalem1 and ,nathan there announced ,sabatei ,sevi as the deliverer of nations4 ,the ,jewish populace declared for them1 but such as had anything to lose anathematized them4 ,to avoid the storm1 ,sevi fled to ,constantinople1 and thence to ,smyrna1 whither ,nathan ,levi sent to him four ambassadors1 who acknowledged and publicly saluted him as the ,messiah4 ,this embassy imposed on the people1 and also on some of the doctors1 who declared ,sabatei ,sevi to be the ,messiah1 and king of the ,hebrews4 ,but the synagogue of ,smyrna condemned its king to be impaled4 ,sabatei put himself under the protection of the cadi of ,smyrna1 and soon had the whole ,jewish people on his side2 he had two thrones prepared1 one for himself1 the other for his favorite wife2 he took the title of king of kings1 and gave to his brother1 ,joseph ,sevi1 that of king of ,judah4 ,he promised the ,jews the certain conquest of the ,ottoman ,empire2 and even carried his insolence so far as to have the emperor's name struck out of the ,jewish liturgy1 and his own substituted4 ,he was thrown into prison at the ,dardanelles2 and the ,jews gave out that his life was spared only because the ,turks well knew he was immortal4 ,the governor of the ,dardanelles grew rich by the presents which the ,jews lavished1 in order to visit their king1 their imprisoned ,messiah1 who1 though in irons1 retained all his dignity1 and made them kiss his feet4 ,meanwhile the sultan1 who was holding his court at ,adrianople1 resolved to put an end to this farce3 he sent for ,sevi1 and told him that if he was the ,messiah he must be invulnerable2 to which ,sevi assented4 ,the grand signor then had him placed as a mark for the arrows of his icoglans4 ,the ,messiah confessed that he was not invulnerable1 and protested that ,god sent him only to bear testimony to the holy ,mussulman religion4 ,being beaten by the ministers of the law1 he turned ,mahometan2 he lived and died equally despised by the ,jews and ,mussulmans2 which cast such discredit on the profession of false ,messiah1 that ,sevi was the last that appeared4 ,,metamorphosis4 ,it may very naturally be supposed that the metamorphoses with which our earth abounds suggested the imagination to the ,orientals--who have imagined everything--that the souls of men passed from one body to another4 ,an almost imperceptible point becomes a grub1 and that grub becomes a butterfly2 an acorn is transformed into an oak2 an egg into a bird2 water becomes cloud and thunder2 wood is changed into fire and ashes2 everything1 in short1 in nature1 appears to be metamorphosed4 ,what was thus obviously and distinctly perceptible in grosser bodies was soon conceived to take place with respect to souls1 which were considered slight1 shadowy1 and scarcely material figures4 ,the idea of metempsychosis is perhaps the most ancient dogma of the known world1 and prevails still in a great part of ,india and of ,china4 ,it is highly probable1 again1 that the various metamorphoses which we witness in nature produced those ancient fables which ,ovid has collected and embellished in his admirable work4 ,even the ,jews had their metamorphoses4 ,if ,niobe was changed into a stone1 ,edith1 the wife of ,lot1 was changed into a statue of salt4 ,if ,eurydice remained in hell for having looked behind her1 it was for precisely the same indiscretion that this wife of ,lot was deprived of her human nature4 ,the village in which ,baucis and ,philemon resided in ,phrygia is changed into a lake2 the same event occurs to ,sodom4 ,the daughters of ,anius converted water into oil2 we have in ,scripture a metamorphosis very similar1 but more true and more sacred4 ,cadmus was changed into a serpent2 the rod of ,aaron becomes a serpent also4 ,the gods frequently change themselves into men2 the ,jews never saw angels but in the form of men2 angels ate with ,abraham4 ,paul1 in his ,second ,epistle to the ,corinthians1 says that an angel of ,satan has buffeted him3 ,angelus ,satan me colaphizet4 ,,metaphysics4 ,trans naturam1--beyond nature4 ,but what is that which is beyond nature8 ,by nature1 it is to be presumed1 is meant matter1 and metaphysics relates to that which is not matter4 ,for example3 to your reasoning1 which is neither long1 nor wide1 nor high1 nor solid1 nor pointed2 your soul1 to yourself unknown1 which produces your reasoning4 ,spirits1 which the world has always talked of1 and to which mankind appropriated1 for a long period1 a body so attenuated and shadowy1 that it could scarcely be called body2 but from which1 at length1 they have removed every shadow of body1 without knowing what it was that was left4 ,the manner in which these spirits perceive1 without any embarrassment1 from the five senses2 in which they think1 without a head2 and in which they communicate their thoughts1 without words and signs4 ,finally1 ,god1 whom we know by ,his works1 but whom our pride impels us to define2 ,god1 whose power we feel to be immense2 ,god1 between whom and ourselves exists the abyss of infinity1 and yet whose nature we dare to attempt to fathom4 ,these are the objects of metaphysics4 ,we might further add to these the principles of pure mathematics1 points without extension1 lines without width1 superficies without thickness1 units infinitely divisible1 etc4 ,bayle himself considered these objects as those which were denominated entia rationis1 beings of reason2 they are1 however1 in fact1 only material things considered in their masses1 their superficies1 their simple lengths and breadths1 and the extremities of these simple lengths and breadths4 ,all measures are precise and demonstrated4 ,metaphysics has nothing to do with geometry4 ,thus a man may be a metaphysician without being a geometrician4 ,metaphysics is more entertaining2 it constitutes often the romance of the mind4 ,in geometry1 on the contrary1 we must calculate and measure2 this is a perpetual trouble1 and most minds had rather dream pleasantly than fatigue themselves with hard work4 ,,mind 7,,limits ,,of ,,the ,,human74 ,newton was one day asked why he stepped forward when he was so inclined2 and from what cause his arm and his hand obeyed his will8 ,he honestly replied1 that he knew nothing about the matter4 ,but at least1 said they to him1 you who are so well acquainted with the gravitation of planets1 will tell us why they turn one way sooner than another8 ,newton still avowed his ignorance4 ,those who teach that the ocean was salted for fear it should corrupt1 and that the tides were created to conduct our ships into port1 were a little ashamed when told that the ,mediterranean has ports and no tide4 ,muschembrock himself has fallen into this error4 ,who has ever been able to determine precisely how a billet of wood is changed into red-hot charcoal1 and by what mechanism lime is heated by cold water8 ,the first motion of the heart in animals--is that accounted for8 ,has it been exactly discovered how the business of generation is arranged8 ,has any one divined the cause of sensation1 ideas1 and memory8 ,we know no more of the essence of matter than the children who touch its superficies4 ,who will instruct us in the mechanism by which the grain of corn1 which we cast into the earth1 disposes itself to produce a stalk surmounted with an ear2 or why the sun produces an apple on one tree and a chestnut on the next to it8 ,many doctors have said3 ,what know ,i not8 ,montaigne said3 ,what know ,i8 ,unbending decider6 pedagogue in phrases6 furred reasoner6 thou inquirest after the limits of the human mind--they are at the end of thy nose4 ,,miracles4 ,,section ,i4 ,a miracle1 according to the true meaning of the word1 is something admirable2 and agreeable to this1 all is miracle4 ,the stupendous order of nature1 the revolution of a hundred millions of worlds around a million of suns1 the activity of light1 the life of animals1 all are grand and perpetual miracles4 ,according to common acceptation1 we call a miracle the violation of these divine and eternal laws4 ,a solar eclipse at the time of the full moon1 or a dead man walking two leagues and carrying his head in his arms1 we denominate a miracle4 ,many natural philosophers maintain1 that in this sense there are no miracles2 and advance the following arguments3 ,a miracle is the violation of mathematical1 divine1 immutable1 eternal laws4 ,by the very exposition itself1 a miracle is a contradiction in terms3 a law cannot at the same time be immutable and violated4 ,but they are asked1 cannot a law1 established by ,god ,himself1 be suspended by its author8 ,they have the hardihood to reply that it cannot2 and that it is impossible a being infinitely wise can have made laws to violate them4 ,he could not1 they say1 derange the machine but with a view of making it work better2 but it is evident that ,god1 all-wise and omnipotent1 originally made this immense machine1 the universe1 as good and perfect as ,he was able2 if ,he saw that some imperfections would arise from the nature of matter1 ,he provided for that in the beginning2 and1 accordingly1 ,he will never change anything in it4 ,moreover1 ,god can do nothing without reason2 but what reason could induce him to disfigure for a time ,his own work8 ,it is done1 they are told1 in favor of mankind4 ,they reply3 ,we must presume1 then1 that it is in favor of all mankind2 for it is impossible to conceive that the divine nature should occupy itself only about a few men in particular1 and not for the whole human race2 and even the whole human race itself is a very small concern2 it is less than a small ant-hill1 in comparison with all the beings inhabiting immensity4 ,but is it not the most absurd of all extravagances to imagine that the ,infinite ,supreme should1 in favor of three or four hundred emmets on this little heap of earth1 derange the operation of the vast machinery that moves the universe8 ,but1 admitting that ,god chose to distinguish a small number of men by particular favors1 is there any necessity that1 in order to accomplish this object1 ,he should change what ,he established for all periods and for all places8 ,he certainly can have no need of this inconstancy in order to bestow favors on any of ,his creatures3 ,his favors consist in ,his laws themselves3 he has foreseen all and arranged all1 with a view to them4 ,all invariably obey the force which ,he has impressed forever on nature4 ,for what purpose would ,god perform a miracle8 ,to accomplish some particular design upon living beings8 ,he would then1 in reality1 be supposed to say3 ,i have not been able to effect by my construction of the universe1 by my divine decrees1 by my eternal laws1 a particular object2 ,i am now going to change my eternal ideas and immutable laws1 to endeavor to accomplish what ,i have not been able to do by means of them4 ,this would be an avowal of ,his weakness1 not of ,his power2 it would appear in such a being an inconceivable contradiction4 ,accordingly1 therefore1 to dare to ascribe miracles to ,god is1 if man can in reality insult ,god1 actually offering ,him that insult4 ,it is saying to ,him3 ,you are a weak and inconsistent ,being4 ,it is1 therefore1 absurd to believe in miracles2 it is1 in fact1 dishonoring the divinity4 ,these philosophers1 however1 are not suffered thus to declaim without opposition4 ,you may extol1 it is replied1 as much as you please1 the immutability of the ,supreme ,being1 the eternity of ,his laws1 and the regularity of ,his infinitude of worlds2 but our little heap of earth has1 notwithstanding all that you have advanced1 been completely covered over with miracles in every part and time4 ,histories relate as many prodigies as natural events4 ,the daughters of the high priest ,anius changed whatever they pleased to corn1 wine1 and oil2 ,athalide1 the daughter of ,mercury1 revived again several times2 sculapius resuscitated ,hippolytus2 ,hercules rescued ,alcestes from the hand of death2 and ,heres returned to the world after having passed fifteen days in hell4 ,romulus and ,remus were the offspring of a god and a vestal4 ,the ,palladium descended from heaven on the city of ,troy2 the hair of ,berenice was changed into a constellation2 the cot of ,baucis and ,philemon was converted into a superb temple2 the head of ,orpheus delivered oracles after his death2 the walls of ,thebes spontaneously constructed themselves to the sound of a flute1 in the presence of the ,greeks2 the cures effected in the temple of sculapius were absolutely innumerable1 and we have monuments still existing containing the very names of persons who were eye-witnesses of his miracles4 ,mention to me a single nation in which the most incredible prodigies have not been performed1 and especially in those periods in which the people scarcely knew how to write or read4 ,the philosophers make no answer to these objections1 but by slightly raising their shoulders and by a smile2 but the ,christian philosophers say3 ,we are believers in the miracles of our holy religion2 we believe them by faith and not by our reason1 which we are very cautious how we listen to2 for when faith speaks1 it is well known that reason ought to be silent4 ,we have a firm and entire faith in the miracles of ,jesus ,christ and the apostles1 but permit us to entertain some doubt about many others3 permit us1 for example1 to suspend our judgment on what is related by a very simple man1 although he has obtained the title of great4 ,he assures us1 that a certain monk was so much in the habit of performing miracles1 that the prior at length forbade him to exercise his talent in that line4 ,the monk obeyed2 but seeing a poor tiler fall from the top of a house1 he hesitated for a moment between the desire to save the unfortunate man's life1 and the sacred duty of obedience to his superior4 ,he merely ordered the tiler to stay in the air till he should receive further instructions1 and ran as fast as his legs would carry him to communicate the urgency of the circumstances to the prior4 ,the prior absolved him from the sin he had committed in beginning the miracle without permission1 and gave him leave to finish it1 provided he stopped with the same1 and never again repeated his fault4 ,the philosophers may certainly be excused for entertaining a little doubt of this legend4 ,but how can you deny1 they are asked1 that ,st4 ,gervais and ,st4 ,protais appeared in a dream to ,st4 ,ambrose1 and informed him of the spot in which were deposited their relics8 that ,st4 ,ambrose had them disinterred8 and that they restored sight to a man that was blind8 ,st4 ,augustine was at ,milan at the very time1 and it is he who relates the miracle1 using the expression1 in the twenty-second book of his work called the ,city of ,god1 immenso populo teste--in the presence of an immense number of people4 ,here is one of the very best attested and established miracles4 ,the philosophers1 however1 say that they do not believe one word about ,gervais and ,protais appearing to any person whatever2 that it is a matter of very little consequence to mankind where the remains of their carcasses lie2 that they have no more faith in this blind man than in ,vespasian's2 that it is a useless miracle1 and that ,god does nothing that is useless2 and they adhere to the principles they began with4 ,my respect for ,st4 ,gervais and ,st4 ,protais prevents me from being of the same opinion as these philosophers3 ,i merely state their incredulity4 ,they lay great stress on the well-known passage of ,lucian1 to be found in the death of ,peregrinus3 ,when an expert juggler turns ,christian1 he is sure to make his fortune4 ,but as ,lucian is a profane author1 we ought surely to set him aside as of no authority4 ,these philosophers cannot even make up their minds to believe the miracles performed in the second century4 ,even eye-witnesses to the facts may write and attest till the day of doom1 that after the bishop of ,smyrna1 ,st4 ,polycarp1 was condemned to be burned1 and actually in the midst of the flames1 they heard a voice from heaven exclaiming3 ,courage1 ,polycarp6 be strong1 and show yourself a man2 that1 at the very instant1 the flames quitted his body1 and formed a pavilion of fire above his head1 and from the midst of the pile there flew out a dove2 when1 at length1 ,polycarp's enemies ended his life by cutting off his head4 ,all these facts and attestations are in vain4 ,for what good1 say these unimpressible and incredulous men1 for what good was this miracle8 ,why did the flames lose their nature1 and the axe of the executioner retain all its power of destruction8 ,whence comes it that so many martyrs escaped unhurt out of boiling oil1 but were unable to resist the edge of the sword8 ,it is answered1 such was the will of ,god4 ,but the philosophers would wish to see and hear all this themselves1 before they believe it4 ,those who strengthen their reasonings by learning will tell you that the fathers of the ,church have frequently declared that miracles were in their days performed no longer4 ,st4 ,chrysostom says expressly3 ,the extraordinary gifts of the spirit were bestowed even on the unworthy1 because the ,church at that time had need of miracles2 but now1 they are not bestowed even on the worthy1 because the ,church has need of them no longer4 ,he afterwards declares1 that there is no one now who raises the dead1 or even who heals the sick4 ,st4 ,augustine himself1 notwithstanding the miracles of ,gervais and ,protais1 says1 in his ,city of ,god3 ,why are not such miracles as were wrought formerly wrought now8 and he assigns the same reason as ,st4 ,chrysostom for it4 ,cur inquiunt1 nunc illa miracula qu prdicatis facta esse non fiunt8 ,possem quidem dicere necessaria prius fuisse1 quam crederet mundus1 ad hoc ut crederet mundus4 ,it is objected to the philosophers1 that ,st4 ,augustine1 notwithstanding this avowal1 mentions nevertheless an old cobbler of ,hippo1 who1 having lost his garment1 went to pray in the chapel of the twenty martyrs1 and on his return found a fish1 in the body of which was a gold ring2 and that the cook who dressed the fish said to the cobbler3 ,see what a present the twenty martyrs have made you6 ,to this the philosophers reply1 that there is nothing in the event here related in opposition to the laws of nature2 that natural philosophy is not contradicted or shocked by a fish's swallowing a gold ring1 or a cook's delivering such ring to a cobbler2 that1 in short1 there is no miracle at all in the case4 ,if these philosophers are reminded that1 according to ,st4 ,jerome1 in his ,life of ,paul the ,hermit1 that hermit had many conversations with satyrs and fauns2 that a raven carried to him every day1 for thirty years together1 half of a loaf for his dinner1 and a whole one on the day that ,st4 ,anthony went to visit him1 they might reply again1 that all this is not absolutely inconsistent with natural philosophy2 that satyrs and fauns may have existed2 and that1 at all events1 whether the narrative be a recital of facts1 or only a story fit for children1 it has nothing at all to do with the miracles of our ,lord and ,his apostles4 ,many good ,christians have contested the ,history of ,st4 ,simeon ,stylites1 written by ,theodoret2 many miracles considered authentic by the ,greek ,church have been called in question by many ,latins1 just as the ,latin miracles have been suspected by the ,greek ,church4 ,afterwards1 the ,protestants appeared on the stage1 and treated the miracles of both churches certainly with very little respect or ceremony4 ,a learned ,jesuit1 who was long a preacher in the ,indies1 deplores that neither his colleagues nor himself could ever perform a miracle4 ,xavier laments1 in many of his letters1 that he has not the gift of languages4 ,he says1 that among the ,japanese he is merely like a dumb statue3 yet the ,jesuits have written that he resuscitated eight persons4 ,that was certainly no trifling matter2 but it must be recollected that he resuscitated them six thousand leagues distant4 ,persons have since been found1 who have pretended that the abolition of the ,jesuits in ,france is a much greater miracle than any performed by ,xavier and ,ignatius4 ,however that may be1 all ,christians agree that the miracles of ,jesus ,christ and the apostles are incontestably true2 but that we may certainly be permitted to doubt some stated to have been performed in our own times1 and which have not been completely authenticated4 ,it would certainly1 for example1 be very desirable1 in order to the firm and clear establishment of a miracle1 that it should be performed in the presence of the ,academy of ,sciences of ,paris1 or the ,royal ,society of ,london1 and the ,faculty of ,medicine1 assisted by a detachment of guards to keep in due order and distance the populace1 who might by their rudeness or indiscretion prevent the operation of the miracle4 ,a philosopher was once asked what he should say if he saw the sun stand still1 that is1 if the motion of the earth around that star were to cease2 if all the dead were to rise again2 and if the mountains were to go and throw themselves together into the sea1 all in order to prove some important truth1 like that1 for instance1 of versatile grace8 ,what should ,i say8 answered the philosopher2 ,i should become a ,manichan2 ,i should say that one principle counteracted the performance of another4 ,,section ,,ii4 ,define your terms1 you will permit me again to say1 or we shall never understand one another4 ,miraculum res miranda1 prodigium1 portentum1 monstrum4--,miracle1 something admirable2 prodigy1 implying something astonishing2 portentous1 bearing with it novelty2 monster1 something to show 7 montrer7 on account of its variety4 ,such are the first ideas that men formed of miracles4 ,as everything is refined and improved upon1 such also would be the case with this definition4 ,a miracle is said to be that which is impossible to nature4 ,but it was not considered that this was in fact saying all miracle is absolutely impossible4 ,for what is nature8 ,you understand by it the eternal order of things4 ,a miracle would therefore be impossible in such an order4 ,in this sense ,god could not work a miracle4 ,if you mean by miracle an effect of which you cannot perceive the cause1 in that sense all is miracle4 ,the attraction and direction of the magnet are continual miracles4 ,a snail whose head is renewed is a miracle4 ,the birth of every animal1 the production of every vegetable1 are miracles of every day4 ,but we are so accustomed to these prodigies1 that they have lost their name of admirable--of miraculous4 ,the ,indians are no longer astonished by cannon4 ,we have therefore formed for ourselves another idea of a miracle4 ,it is1 according to the common opinion1 what never has happened and never will happen4 ,such is the idea formed of ,samson's jawbone of an ass2 of the conversation between the ass and ,balaam1 and that between a serpent and ,eve2 of the chariot with four horses that conveyed away ,elijah2 of the fish that kept ,jonah in its belly seventy-two hours2 of the ten plagues of ,egypt2 of the walls of ,jericho1 and of the sun and moon standing still at mid-day1 etc4 ,in order to believe a miracle1 it is not enough merely to have seen it2 for a man may be deceived4 ,a fool is often called a dealer in wonders2 and not merely do many excellent persons think that they have seen what they have not seen1 and heard what was never said to them2 not only do they thus become witnesses of miracles1 but they become also subjects of miracles4 ,they have been sometimes diseased1 and sometimes cured by supernatural power2 they have been changed into wolves2 they have travelled through the air on broomsticks2 they have become both incubi and succubi4 ,it is necessary that the miracle should have been seen by a great number of very sensible people1 in sound health1 and perfectly disinterested in the affair4 ,it is above all necessary1 that it should have been solemnly attested by them2 for if solemn forms of authentication are deemed necessary with respect to transactions of very simple character1 such as the purchase of a house1 a marriage contract1 or a will1 what particular and minute cautionary formalities must not be deemed requisite in order to verify things naturally impossible1 on which the destiny of the world is to depend8 ,even when an authentic miracle is performed1 it in fact proves nothing2 for ,scripture tells you1 in a great variety of places1 that impostors may perform miracles1 and that if any man1 after having performed them1 should proclaim another ,god than that of the ,jews1 he ought to be stoned to death4 ,it is requisite1 therefore1 that the doctrine should be confirmed by the miracles1 and the miracles by the doctrine4 ,even this1 however1 is not sufficient4 ,as impostors may preach a very correct and pure morality1 the better to deceive1 and it is admitted that impostors1 like the magicians of ,pharaoh1 may perform miracles2 it is in addition necessary1 that these miracles should have been announced by prophecies4 ,in order to be convinced of the truth of these prophecies1 it is necessary that they should have been heard clearly announced1 and seen really accomplished4 ,it is necessary to possess perfectly the language in which they are preserved4 ,it is not sufficient1 even1 that you are a witness of their miraculous fulfilment2 for you may be deceived by false appearances4 ,it is necessary that the miracle and prophecy should be verified on oath by the heads of the nation2 and even after all this there will be some doubters4 ,for it is possible for a nation to be interested in the forgery of a prophecy or a miracle2 and when interest mixes with the transaction1 you may consider the whole affair as worth nothing4 ,if a predicted miracle be not as public and as well verified as an eclipse that is announced in the almanac1 be assured that it is nothing better than a juggler's trick or an old woman's tale4 ,,section ,,iii4 ,a theocracy can be founded only upon miracles4 ,everything in it must be divine4 ,the ,great ,sovereign speaks to men only in prodigies4 ,these are his ministers and letters patent4 ,his orders are intimated by the ocean's covering the earth to drown nations1 or opening a way through its depths1 that they may pass upon dry land4 ,accordingly you perceive1 that in the ,jewish history all is miracle2 from the creation of ,adam1 and the formation of ,eve1 who was made of one of the ribs of ,adam1 to the time of the insignificant kingling ,saul4 ,even in the time of this same ,saul1 theocracy participates in power with royalty4 ,there are still1 consequently1 miracles performed from time to time2 but there is no longer that splendid train of prodigies which continually astonishes and interrupts nature4 ,the ten plagues of ,egypt are not renewed2 the sun and moon do not stand still at mid-day1 in order to give a commander time to exterminate a few runaways1 already nearly destroyed by a shower of stones from the clouds4 ,no ,samson again extirpates a thousand ,philistines by the jaw-bone of an ass4 ,asses no longer talk rationally with men2 walls no longer fall prostrate at the mere sound of trumpets2 cities are not swallowed up in a lake by the fire of heaven2 the race of man is not a second time destroyed by a deluge4 ,but the finger of ,god is still manifested2 the shade of ,saul is permitted to appear at the invocation of the sorceress1 and ,god ,himself promises ,david that he will defeat the ,philistines at ,baal-perazim4 ,god gathers together ,his celestial army in the reign of ,ahab1 and asks the spirits3 ,who will go and deceive ,ahab1 and persuade him to go up to war against ,ramoth ,gilead8 ,and there came forth a lying spirit and stood before the ,lord and said1 ,i will persuade him4 ,but the prophet ,micaiah alone heard this conversation1 and he received a blow on the cheek from another prophet1 called ,zedekiah1 for having announced the ill-omened prodigy4 ,of miracles performed in the sight of the whole nation1 and changing the laws of all nature1 we see no more until the time of ,elijah1 for whom the ,lord despatched a chariot of fire and horses of fire1 which conveyed him rapidly from the banks of the ,jordan to heaven1 although no one knew where heaven was4 ,from the commencement of historical times1 that is1 from the time of the conquests of ,alexander1 we see no more miracles among the ,jews4 ,when ,pompey comes to make himself master of ,jerusalem--when ,crassus plunders the temple--when ,pompey puts to death the king of the ,jews by the hands of the executioner--when ,anthony confers the kingdom of ,juda on the ,arabian ,herod--when ,titus takes ,jerusalem by assault1 and when it is razed to the ground by ,arian--not a single miracle is ever performed4 ,thus it is with every nation upon earth4 ,they begin with theocracy2 they end in a manner simply and naturally human4 ,the greater the progress made in society and knowledge1 the fewer there are of prodigies4 ,we well know that the theocracy of the ,jews was the only true one1 and that those of other nations were false2 but in all other respects1 the case was precisely the same with them as with the ,jews4 ,in ,egypt1 in the time of ,vulcan1 and in that of ,isis and ,osiris1 everything was out of the laws of nature2 under the ,ptolemies everything resumed its natural course4 ,in the remote periods of ,phos1 ,chrysos1 and ,ephestes1 gods and mortals conversed in ,chaldee with the most interesting familiarity4 ,a god warned ,king ,xissuter that there would be a deluge in ,armenia1 and that it was necessary he should1 as soon as possible1 build a vessel five stadii in length and two in width4 ,such things do not happen to the ,dariuses and the ,alexanders4 ,the fish ,oannes1 in former times1 came every day out of the ,euphrates to preach upon its banks2 but there is no preaching fish now4 ,it is true that ,st4 ,anthony of ,padua went and preached to the fishes2 however1 such things happen so very rarely that they are scarcely to be taken any account of4 ,numa held long conversations with the nymph ,egeria2 but we never read that ,csar had any with ,venus1 although he was descended from her in the direct line4 ,the world1 we see1 is constantly advancing a little1 and refining gradually4 ,but after being extricated out of one slough for a time1 mankind are soon plunged into another4 ,to ages of civilization succeed ages of barbarism2 that barbarism is again expelled1 and again reappears3 it is the regular alternation of day and night4 ,of ,those ,who ,have ,been ,so ,impiously ,rash ,as ,to ,deny ,the ,miracles ,of ,jesus ,christ4 ,among the moderns1 ,thomas ,woolston1 a learned member of the ,university of ,cambridge1 appears to me to have been the first who ventured to interpret the ,gospels merely in a typical1 allegorical1 and spiritual sense1 and boldly maintained that not one of the miracles of ,jesus was actually performed4 ,he wrote without method or art1 and in a style confused and coarse1 but not destitute of vigor4 ,his six discourses against the miracles of ,jesus ,christ were publicly sold at ,london1 in his own house4 ,in the course of two years1 from #agcg to #agci1 he had three editions of them printed1 of twenty thousand copies each1 and yet it is now very difficult to procure one from the booksellers4 ,never was ,christianity so daringly assailed by any ,christian4 ,few writers entertain less awe or respect for the public1 and no priest ever declared himself more openly the enemy of priests4 ,he even dared to justify this hatred by that of ,jesus ,christ against the ,pharisees and ,scribes2 and he said that he should not1 like ,jesus ,christ1 become their victim1 because he had come into the world in a more enlightened age4 ,he certainly hoped to justify his rashness by his adoption of the mystical sense2 but he employs expressions so contemptuous and abusive that every ,christian ear is shocked at them4 ,if we may believe him1 when ,jesus sent the devil into the herd of two thousand swine1 ,he did neither more nor less than commit a robbery on their owners4 ,if the story had been told of ,mahomet1 he would have been considered as an abominable wizard1 and a sworn slave to the devil4 ,and if the proprietor of the swine1 and the merchants who in the outer court of the temple sold beasts for sacrifices1 and whom ,jesus drove out with a scourge1 came to demand justice when he was apprehended1 it is clear that he was deservedly condemned1 as there never was a jury in ,england that would not have found him guilty4 ,he tells her fortune to the woman of ,samaria1 just like a wandering ,bohemian or ,gypsy4 ,this alone was sufficient to cause ,his banishment1 which was the punishment inflicted upon fortune-tellers1 or diviners1 by ,tiberius4 ,i am astonished1 says he1 that the gypsies do not proclaim themselves the genuine disciples of ,jesus1 as their vocation is the same4 ,however1 ,i am glad to see that ,he did not extort money from the ,samaritan woman1 differing in this respect from our clergy1 who take care to be well paid for their divinations4 ,i follow the order of the pages in his book4 ,the author goes on to the entrance of ,jesus ,christ into ,jerusalem4 ,it is not clear1 he says1 whether ,he was mounted on a male or female ass1 or upon the foal of an ass1 or upon all three together4 ,he compares ,jesus1 when tempted by the devil1 to ,st4 ,dunstan1 who seized the devil by the nose2 and he gives the preference to ,st4 ,dunstan4 ,at the article of the fig-tree1 which was cursed with barrenness for not producing figs out of season for them1 he describes ,jesus as a mere vagabond1 a mendicant friar1 who before ,he turned field-preacher was no better than a journeyman carpenter4 ,it is surprising1 he says1 that the court of ,rome has not among all its relics some little fancy-box or joint-stool of ,his workmanship4 ,in a word1 it is difficult to carry blasphemy further4 ,after diverting himself with the probationary fish-pool of ,bethesda1 the waters of which were troubled or stirred once in every year by an angel1 he inquires how it could well be1 that neither ,flavius ,josephus1 nor ,philo should ever mention this angel2 why ,st4 ,john should be the sole historian of this miracle2 and by what other miracle it happened that no ,roman ever saw this angel1 or ever even heard his name mentioned8 ,the water changed into wine at the marriage of ,cana1 according to him1 excites the laughter and contempt of all who are not imbruted by superstition4 ,what6 says he1 ,john expressly says that the guests were already intoxicated1 'methus tosi'2 and ,god comes down to earth and performs ,his first miracle to enable them to drink still more6 ,god1 made man1 commences ,his mission by assisting at a village wedding4 ,whether ,jesus and ,his mother were drunk1 as were others of the company1 is not certain4 ,the familiarity of the lady with a soldier leads to the presumption that she was fond of her bottle2 that her ,son1 however1 was somewhat affected by the wine1 appears from ,his answering ,his mother so 'waspishly and snappishly' as ,he did1 when ,he said1 ',woman1 what have ,i to do with thee8' ,it may be inferred from these words that ,mary was not a virgin1 and that ,jesus was not her son2 had it been otherwise1 ,he would not have thus insulted ,his father and mother in violation of one of the most sacred commandments of the law4 ,however1 ,he complied with ,his mother's request2 ,he fills eighteen jars with water1 and makes punch of it4 ,these are the very words of ,thomas ,woolston1 and must fill every ,christian soul with indignation4 ,it is with regret1 and even with trembling1 that ,i quote these passages2 but there have been sixty thousand copies of this work printed1 all bearing the name of the author1 and all publicly sold at his house4 ,it can never be said that ,i calumniate him4 ,it is to the dead raised again by ,jesus ,christ that he principally directs his attention4 ,he contends that a dead man restored to life would have been an object of attention and astonishment to the universe2 that all the ,jewish magistracy1 and more especially ,pilate1 would have made the most minute investigations and obtained the most authentic depositions2 that ,tiberius enjoined all proconsuls1 prtors1 and governors of provinces to inform him with exactness of every event that took place2 that ,lazarus1 who had been dead four whole days1 would have been most strictly interrogated2 and that no little curiosity would have been excited to know what had become1 during that time1 of his soul4 ,with what eager interest would ,tiberius and the whole ,roman senate have questioned him1 and not indeed only him1 but the daughter of ,jairus and the son of the widow of ,nain8 ,three dead persons restored to life would have been three attestations to the divinity of ,jesus1 which almost in a single moment would have made the whole world ,christian4 ,but instead of all this1 the whole world1 for more than two hundred years1 knew nothing about these resplendent and decisive evidences4 ,it is not till a hundred years have rolled away from the date of the events that some obscure individuals show one another the writings that contain the relation of those miracles4 ,eighty-nine emperors reckoning those who had only the name of tyrants1 never hear the slightest mention of these resurrections1 although they must inevitably have held all nature in amazement4 ,neither the ,jewish historian ,josephus1 nor the learned ,philo1 nor any ,greek or ,roman historian at all notices these prodigies4 ,in short1 ,woolston has the imprudence to say that the history of ,lazarus is so brimful of absurdities that ,st4 ,john1 when he wrote it1 had outlived his senses4 ,supposing1 says ,woolston1 that ,god should in our own times send an ambassador to ,london to convert the hireling clergy1 and that ambassador should raise the dead1 what would the clergy say8 ,he blasphemes the incarnation1 the resurrection1 and the ascension of ,jesus ,christ1 just upon the same system2 and he calls these miracles3 ,the most manifest and the most barefaced imposture that ever was put upon the world6 ,what is perhaps more singular still is that each of his discourses is dedicated to a bishop4 ,his dedications are certainly not exactly in the ,french style4 ,he bestows no flattery nor compliments4 ,he upbraids them with their pride and avarice1 their ambition and faction1 and smiles with triumph at the thought of their being now1 like every other class of citizens1 in complete subjection to the laws of the state4 ,at last these bishops1 tired of being insulted by an undignified member of the ,university of ,cambridge1 determined upon a formal appeal to the laws4 ,they instituted a prosecution against ,woolston in the ,king's ,bench1 and he was tried before ,chief-,justice ,raymond1 in #agbi1 when he was imprisoned1 condemned to pay a fine1 and obliged to give security to the amount of a hundred and fifty pounds sterling4 ,his friends furnished him with the security1 and he did not in fact die in prison1 as in some of our careless and ill-compiled dictionaries he is stated to have done4 ,he died at his own house in ,london1 after having uttered these words3 ,this is a pass that every man must come to4 ,some time before his death1 a female zealot meeting him in the street was gross enough to spit in his face2 he calmly wiped his face and bowed to her4 ,his manners were mild and pleasing4 ,he was obstinately infatuated with the mystical meaning1 and blasphemed the literal one2 but let us hope that he repented on his death-bed1 and that ,god has showed him mercy4 ,about the same period there appeared in ,france the will of ,john ,meslier1 clergyman 7cur7 of ,but and ,entrepigni1 in ,champagne1 of whom we have already spoken1 under the article on ,contradictions4 ,it was both a wonderful and a melancholy spectacle to see two priests at the same time writing against the ,christian religion4 ,meslier is still more violent than ,woolston4 ,he ventures to treat the devil's carrying off our ,lord to the top of a mountain1 the marriage of ,cana1 and the loaves and fishes1 as absurd tales1 injurious to the ,supreme ,being1 which for three hundred years were unknown to the whole ,roman ,empire1 and at last advanced from the dregs of the community to the throne of the emperors1 when policy compelled them to adopt the nonsense of the people1 in order to keep them the better in subjection4 ,the declamations of the ,english priest do not approach in vehemence those of the priest of ,champagne4 ,woolston occasionally showed discretion4 ,meslier never has any2 he is a man so sensitively sore to the crimes to which he has been witness that he renders the ,christian religion responsible for them1 forgetting that it condemns them4 ,there is not a single miracle which is not with him an object of scorn or horror2 no prophecy which he does not compare with the prophecies of ,nostradamus4 ,he even goes so far as to compare ,jesus ,christ to ,don ,quixote1 and ,st4 ,peter to ,sancho ,panza2 and what is most of all to be deplored is1 that he wrote these blasphemies against ,jesus ,christ1 when he might be said to be in the very arms of death--at a moment when the most deceitful are sincere1 and the most intrepid tremble4 ,too strongly impressed by some injuries that had been done him by his superiors in authority2 too deeply affected by the great difficulties which he met with in the ,scripture1 he became exasperated against it more than ,acosta and all the ,jews2 more than ,porphyry1 ,celsus1 ,iamblichus1 ,julian1 ,libanius1 ,maximus1 ,simmachus1 or any other whatever of the partisans of human reason against the divine incomprehensibilities of our religion4 ,many abridgments of his work have been printed2 but happily the persons in authority suppressed them as fast as they appeared4 ,a priest of ,bonne-,nouvelle1 near ,paris1 wrote also on the same subject2 and it thus happened that at the very time the abb ,becheran and the rest of the ,convulsionaries were performing miracles1 three priests were writing against the genuine ,gospel miracles4 ,the most clever work that has been written against the miracles and prophecies is that of my ,lord ,bolingbroke4 ,but happily it is so voluminous1 so destitute of method1 so verbose1 and so abounding in long and sometimes complicated sentences1 that it requires a great deal of patience to read him4 ,there have been some minds so constituted that they have been enchanted by the miracles of ,moses and ,joshua1 but have not entertained for those of ,jesus ,christ the respect to which they are entitled4 ,their imagination--raised by the grand spectacle of the sea opening a passage through its depths1 and suspending its waves that a horde of ,hebrews might safely go through2 by the ten plagues of ,egypt1 and by the stars that stopped in their course over ,gibeon and ,ajalon1 etc4--could not with ease and satisfaction be let down again1 so as to admire the comparatively petty miracles of the water changed into wine1 the withered fig-tree1 and the swine drowned in the little lake of ,gadara4 ,vaghenseil said that it was like hearing a rustic ditty after attending a grand concert4 ,the ,talmud pretends that there have been many ,christians who1 after comparing the miracles of the ,old ,testament with those of the ,new ,testament1 embraced ,judaism2 they consider it impossible that the ,sovereign ,lord of ,nature should have wrought such stupendous prodigies for a religion ,he intended to annihilate4 ,what6 they exclaim1 can it possibly be1 that for a series of ages ,he should have exhibited a train of astonishing and tremendous miracles in favor of a true religion that was to become a false one8 ,what6 can it be that ,god ,himself has recorded that this religion shall never perish1 and that those who attempt to destroy it shall be stoned to death1 and yet that ,he has nevertheless sent ,his own ,son1 ,who is no other than ,himself1 to annihilate what ,he was employed so many ages in erecting8 ,there is much more to be added to these remarks2 this ,son1 they continue1 this ,eternal ,god1 having made ,himself a ,jew1 adheres to the ,jewish religion during the whole of ,his life2 ,he performs all the functions of it1 ,he frequents the ,jewish temple1 ,he announces nothing contrary to the ,jewish law1 and all ,his disciples are ,jews and observe the ,jewish ceremonies4 ,it most certainly is not ,he who established the ,christian religion4 ,it was established by the dissident ,jews who united with the ,platonists4 ,there is not a single dogma of ,christianity that was preached by ,jesus ,christ4 ,such is the reasoning of these rash men1 who1 with minds at once hypocritical and audacious1 dare to criticise the works of ,god1 and admit the miracles of the ,old ,testament for the sole purpose of rejecting those of the ,new ,testament4 ,of this number was the unfortunate priest of ,pont--,mousson in ,lorraine1 called ,nicholas ,anthony2 he was known by no other name4 ,after he had received what is called the four minors in ,lorraine1 the ,calvinistic preacher ,ferri1 happening to go to ,pont--,mousson1 raised in his mind very serious scruples1 and persuaded him that the four minors were the mark of the beast4 ,anthony1 driven almost to distraction by the thought of carrying about him the mark of the beast1 had it immediately effaced by ,ferri1 embraced the ,protestant religion1 and became a minister at ,geneva about the year #afcj4 ,with a head full of rabbinical learning1 he thought that if the ,protestants were right in reference to the ,papists1 the ,jews were much more so in reference to all the different sects of ,christianity whatever4 ,from the village of ,divonne1 where he was pastor1 he went to be received as a ,jew at ,venice1 together with a young apprentice in theology whom he had persuaded to adopt his own principles1 but who afterwards abandoned him1 not experiencing any call to martyrdom4 ,at first the minister1 ,nicholas ,anthony1 abstained from uttering the name of ,jesus ,christ in his sermons and prayers2 in a short time1 however1 becoming animated and emboldened by the example of the ,jewish saints1 who confidently professed ,judaism before the princes of ,tyre and ,babylon1 he travelled barefooted to ,geneva1 to confess before the judges and magistrates that there is only one religion upon earth1 because there is only one ,god2 that that religion is the ,jewish2 that it is absolutely necessary to become circumcised2 and that it is a horrible crime to eat bacon and blood pudding4 ,he pathetically exhorted all the people of ,geneva1 who crowded to hear him1 no longer to continue children of ,belial1 but to become good ,jews1 in order to deserve the kingdom of heaven4 ,he was apprehended1 and put in chains4 ,the little ,council of ,geneva1 which at that period did nothing without consulting the council of preachers1 asked their advice in this emergency4 ,the most sensible of them recommended that poor ,anthony should be bled in the cephalic vein1 use the bath1 and be kept upon gruel and broths2 after which he might perhaps gradually be induced to pronounce the name of ,jesus ,christ1 or at least to hear it pronounced1 without grinding his teeth1 as had hitherto been his practice4 ,they added1 that the laws bore with ,jews2 that there were eight thousand of them even in ,rome itself2 that many merchants are true ,jews1 and therefore that as ,rome admitted within its walls eight thousand children of the synagogue1 ,geneva might well tolerate one4 ,at the sound of toleration the rest of the pastors1 who were the majority1 gnashing their teeth still more than ,anthony did at the name of ,jesus ,christ1 and also eager to find an opportunity to burn a man1 which could not be done every day1 called peremptorily for the burning4 ,they resolved that nothing could serve more to establish genuine ,christianity2 that the ,spaniards had obtained so much reputation in the world only by burning the ,jews every year1 and that after all1 if the ,old ,testament must prevail over the ,new ,testament1 ,god would not fail to come and extinguish the flames of the pile1 as he did at ,babylon for ,shadrach1 ,meshac1 and ,abednego2 in which case all must go back again to the ,old ,testament2 but that1 in the meantime1 it was indispensable to burn ,nicholas ,anthony4 ,on the breaking up of the meeting1 they concluded with the observation3 ,we must put the wicked out of the way--the very words they used4 ,the long-headed syndics1 ,sarasin and ,godefroi1 agreed that the reasoning of the ,calvinistic sanhedrim was admirable1 and by the right of the strongest party1 condemned ,nicholas ,anthony1 the weakest of men1 to die the same death as ,calanus and the counsellor ,dubourg4 ,this sentence was carried into execution on ,april #bj1 #afcb1 in a very beautiful lawn or meadow1 called ,plain-,palais1 in the presence of twenty thousand persons1 who blessed the new law1 and the wonderful sense of the syndics ,sarasin and ,godefroi4 ,the ,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob did not renew the miracle of the furnace of ,babylon in favor of poor ,anthony4 ,abauzit1 an author of great veracity1 relates in his notes1 that he died in the greatest constancy1 and persisted in his opinions even at the stake on the pile2 he broke out into no passionate invective against his judges when the executioner was tying him to the stake2 he displayed neither pride nor pusillanimity2 he neither wept nor sighed2 he was resigned4 ,never did martyr consummate his sacrifice with a more lively faith2 never did philosopher contemplate a death of horror with greater firmness4 ,this clearly proves that his folly or madness was at all events attended with sincere conviction4 ,let us implore of the ,god of both the ,old and the ,new ,testaments that he will grant him mercy4 ,i would say as much for the ,jesuit ,malagrida1 who was still more infatuated and mad than ,nicholas ,anthony2 as ,i would also for the ex-,jesuits ,patouillet and ,paulian1 should they ever be brought to the stake4 ,a great number of writers1 whose misfortune it was to be philosophers rather than ,christians1 have been bold enough to deny the miracles of our ,lord2 but after the four priests already noticed1 there is no necessity to enumerate other instances4 ,let us lament over these four unfortunate men1 led astray by their own deceitful reason1 and precipitated by the gloom of their feelings into an abyss so dreadful and so fatal4 ,,mission4 ,it is far from our object in this article to reflect upon the zeal of our missionaries1 or the truth of our religion2 these are sufficiently known in ,christian ,europe1 and duly respected4 ,my object is merely to make some remarks on the very curious and edifying letters of the reverend fathers1 the ,jesuits1 who are not equally respectable4 ,scarcely do they arrive in ,india before they commence preaching1 convert millions of ,indians1 and perform millions of miracles4 ,far be it from me to contradict their assertions4 ,we all know how easy it must be for a ,biscayan1 a ,bergamask1 or a ,norman to learn the ,indian language in a few days1 and preach like an ,indian4 ,with regard to miracles1 nothing is more easy than to perform them at a distance of six thousand leagues1 since so many have been performed at ,paris1 in the parish of ,st4 ,mdard4 ,the sufficing grace of the ,molinists could undoubtedly operate on the banks of the ,ganges1 as well as the efficacious grace of the ,jansenists on those of the river of the ,gobelins4 ,we have1 however1 said so much already about miracles that we shall pursue the subject no further4 ,a reverend father ,jesuit arrived in the course of the past year at ,delhi1 at the court of the great ,mogul4 ,he was not a man profoundly skilled in mathematics1 or highly gifted in mind1 who had come to correct the calendar1 or to establish his fortune1 but one of those poor1 honest1 zealous ,jesuits1 one of those soldiers who are despatched on particular duty by their general1 and who obey orders without reasoning about them4 ,m4 ,andrais1 my factor1 asked him what his business might be at ,delhi4 ,he replied that he had orders from the reverend father ,ricci to deliver the ,great ,mogul from the paws of the devil1 and convert his whole court4 ,,the ,,jesuit4 ,i have already baptized twenty infants in the street1 without their knowing anything at all about the matter1 by throwing a few drops of water upon their heads4 ,they are now just so many angels1 provided they are happy enough to die directly4 ,i cured a poor old woman of the megrims by making the sign of the cross behind her4 ,i hope in a short time to convert the ,mahometans of the court and the ,gentoos among the people4 ,you will see in ,delhi1 ,agra1 and ,benares1 as many good ,catholics1 adorers of the ,virgin ,mary1 as you now do idolaters1 adoring the devil4 ,m4 ,,andrais4 ,you think then1 my worthy father1 that the inhabitants of these countries adore idols and the devil8 ,,the ,,jesuit4 ,undoubtedly1 as they are not of my religion4 ,m4 ,,andrais4 ,very well4 ,but when there are as many ,catholics in ,india as idolaters1 are you not afraid that they will fight against one another2 that blood will flow for a long period1 and the whole country be a scene of pillage and devastation8 ,this has happened in every country in which you have obtained a footing hitherto4 ,,the ,,jesuit4 ,you make one pause for a moment2 but nothing could happen better than that which you suggest as being so probable4 ,the slaughtered ,catholics would go to paradise--to the garden--and the ,gentoos to the everlasting fire of hell created for them from all eternity1 according to the great mercy of ,god1 and for ,his great glory2 for ,god is exceedingly glorious4 ,m4 ,,andrais4 ,but suppose that you should be informed against1 and punished at the whipping post8 ,,the ,,jesuit4 ,that would also be for ,his glory4 ,however1 ,i conjure you to keep my secret1 and save me from the honor and happiness of martyrdom4