,transcriber's note3 ,this production is
 based on                               
https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/meditati
onsonact#jj;guiz_/page_/n#f4    #a      
,meditations         ,actual ,state ,of 
,christianity1              ,and ,on    
,the ,attacks         ,which ,are ,now  
,being ,made ,upon ,it4                 
,by ,m4 ,guizot4             ,translated
 ,under ,the ,superintendence        ,of
 ,the ,author                           
,new ,york3           ,charles ,scribner
  ,co41                 #fed ,broadway4 
#b    #c                    ,preface4   
,when ,i published1 two years ago1 the  
first series of these  ,meditations1 the
 series which had for its object the    
essence of ,christianity1 that is to    
say1 the natural problems to  which     
,christianity is the answer1 the        
fundamental dogmas by which  it solves  
those problems1 and the supernatural    
facts upon which  those dogmas repose1  
,i indicated the general plan of the    
work  which ,i so commenced1 and the    

order into which its different  parts   
would be distributed4    ,next to the   
essence of the ,christian ,religion1 ,i 
said in my  ,preface1 comes its history2
 and this will be the subject of a      
second series of ,meditations1 in which 
,i shall examine the  authenticity of   
the ,scriptures2 the primary causes of  
the  foundation of ,christianity2  #d   
,christian faith1 as it has always      
existed throughout its  different ages  
and in spite of all its vicissitudes2   
the great  religious crisis in the      
sixteenth century1 which divided the    
,church and ,europe between ,romanism   
and ,protestantism2 finally1  those     
antichristian crises which1 at different
 epochs and in  different countries1    
have set in question and imperiled      
,christianity itself1 but which dangers 
it has ever surmounted4  ,the third     
series of ,meditations will be          
consecrated to the  study of the actual 
state of the ,christian religion1 its   
internal  and external condition4 ,i    

shall retrace the regeneration of       
,christianity which occurred among us at
 the commencement of the  nineteenth    
century1 both in the ,church of ,rome   
and in the  ,protestant ,churches2 the  
impulse imparted to it at the same epoch
  by the ,spiritualistic ,philosophy    
that then began again to  flourish1 and 
the movement in the contrary direction  
which showed  itself very remarkably    
soon afterward in the resurrection of   
,materialism1 of ,pantheism1 of         
,skepticism1 and in works of  historical
 criticism4  #e  ,i shall attempt to    
determine the idea1 and consequently1 in
 my  opinion1 the fundamental error of  
these different systems1 the  avowed and
 active enemies of ,christianity4       
,finally1 in the fourth  series of these
 ,meditations1 ,i shall endeavor to     
discriminate and to characterize the    
future destiny of the  ,christian       
religion1 and to indicate by what course
 it is called  upon to conquer          
completely1 and to sway morally1 this   

little  corner of the universe1 termed  
by us our earth1 in which unfold        
themselves the designs and power of     
,god1 just as1 doubtless1 they  do in an
 infinity of worlds unknown to us4      
,still adhering in its entirety to the  
plan which ,i thus proposed1  ,i        
nevertheless now invert the order4 ,i   
publish the  ,meditations concerning the
 actual state of ,christianity  before  
those which propose for their object its
 history4 ,i am  struck by two          
circumstances in the actual state of    
opinions upon  religious questions4 ,on 
the one side1 the sentiments contrary to
  or favorable to ,christianity are     
defining themselves each day  with      
greater precision4  #f  ,beliefs become 
firmer beliefs2 opinions hostile to them
 receive  fuller developments4 ,on the  
other side1 vacillating minds are       
occupying themselves more and more with 
the struggle to which  they are         
witnesses3 minds1 earnest at once and   
sincere1 feel the  disturbing influence 

of the doctrines hostile to             
,christianity2  many again are uneasy at
 these doctrines1 many demand a refuge  
from them1 without finding it or daring 
to seek it in the  essential facts and  
principles of the ,christian faith4     
,between  the adversaries of            
,christianity and its defenders the     
discussion  grows each day in importance
 and gravity2 and with it also grows    
the perplexity in the minds of the      
spectators4 ,by setting in full  light  
this actual state of the ,christian     
religion1 by comparing  the forces at   
its disposal with those of the systems  
that it  combats1 ,i proceed thither    
where the emergency is the greatest2 ,i 
betake myself at once to the very field 
of battle4 ,i shall  afterward resume   
the history of ,christianity from its   
first  establishment down to our own    
time1 and then finally consider the     
prospect open to it in the future4    #g
    ,i regard with very complicated     
feelings1 with feelings of great        

perplexity1 the actual state of my      
country2 its intellectual and  moral    
state as well as its social and its     
political state4 ,i have  a mind full at
 once of confidence and of disquietude1 
of hope and  of alarm4 ,whether for good
 or for evil1 the crisis in which the   
civilized world is plunged is infinitely
 more serious than our  fathers         
predicted it would be2 more so than even
 we1 who are  already experiencing from 
it the most different consequences1     
believe it ourselves to be4 ,sublime    
truths1 excellent principles1  are      
intrinsically blended with ideas        
essentially false and  perverse4 ,a     
noble work of progress1 a hideous work  
of  destruction1 are in operation       
simultaneously in men's opinions  and in
 society4 ,humanity never so floated    
between heaven and the  abyss4 ,it is   
especially when ,i regard the generation
 now  advancing1 when ,i hear what they 
affirm1 when ,i gather a hint of  what  
they desire and hope for1 it is         

especially then that ,i feel  at once   
sympathy and anxiety4  #h  ,sentiments  
of propriety and of generosity abound in
 those young  hearts2 they reject1 when 
once convinced of their justice1        
neither the ideas which they before did 
not admit1 nor the curb  to which by the
 inspiration of the divine law even     
human ambition  does not refuse to      
submit2 but by a strange and deplorable 
amalgam1 good instincts and evil        
tendencies exist in them                
simultaneously2 ideas the least         
reconcilable clash together1 and        
persist in them at the same time4 ,the  
,truth does not rid them of  the error2 
a light indeed shines upon them1 but out
 of a chaotic  darkness which that light
 has not the power to dissipate4    ,in 
the presence of this condition of men's 
minds1 under the  impulse of the        
sentiment which it inspires1 ,i publish 
this second  series of ,meditations4  #i
  ,in touching upon the great questions 
at present under debate in  the         

philosophical world1 in expressing my   
opinion concerning  ,rationalism1       
,positivism1 ,pantheism1 ,materialism1  
,skepticism1 ,i  have not for a moment  
pretended to discuss these different    
systems completely and scientifically4  
,although ,i am convinced  that they are
 no more in a condition to support any  
profound  examination of severe reason  
than to stand the first regard of       
common sense1 the object which ,i       
propose to myself is to indicate  only  
their radical and incurable vice4 ,this 
is no treatise of  ,metaphysics2 it is  
only an appeal addressed to upright and 
independent minds2 an appeal made to    
induce them to subject  science to the  
test of the human conscience1 and to    
regard with  distrust systems1 which1 in
 the name of a pretended scientific     
truth1 would1 between the intellectual  
order and the moral order1  between the 
thought and the life of man1 destroy the
 harmony  established by the law of     
,god4        ,guizot4      ,val-,richer1

 ,april1 #ahff4    #aj  #aa             
,contents4                              
,page          ,preface                 
#c    ,i4    ,the ,awakening ,of        
,christianity ,in        ,france ,in    
,the ,nineteenth ,century        #ac    
,,ii4   ,spiritualism                   
#bah    ,,iii4  ,rationalism            
#bde    ,,iv4   ,positivism             
#bfg    ,v4    ,pantheism               
#caj    ,,vi4   ,materialism            
#ccj    ,,vii4  ,skepticism             
#cej    ,,viii4 ,impiety1 ,recklessness1
 ,and ,perplexity  #cfi    #ab    #ac   
,meditations ,on ,the ,actual ,state ,of
             ,the ,christian ,religion4 
,first ,meditation4          ,the       
,awakening ,of ,christianity ,in        
,france ,in ,the ,nineteenth ,century4  
,in #agig1 ,la ,rveillire-,lpeaux1 one  
of the five ,directors who  then        
constituted the government of ,france1  
having just read to  that class of the  
,institut ,footnote #a of which he was a
 member  a memorial respecting          

,theophilanthropism1 and the forms      
suitable  for this new worship1         
consulted ,talleyrand upon the subject2 
the  latter replied1 ,i have but a      
single observation to make3 ,jesus      
,christ1 to found his religion1 suffered
 himself to be crucified1  and he rose  
again4 ,you should try to do as much4   
,footnote #a3 ,the class of moral and   
political sciences4    #ad    ,nor was  
it long before events justified the     
ironical counsel4 ,in  #ahjb1 hardly    
four years afterward1                   
,theophilanthropism and its  apostle1   
the dream and the dreamer1 had          
disappeared from the  stage where they  
had been powerless in influence1 barren 
in  consequence4 ,the strong hand of    
,napoleon again solemnly set up in      
,france the religion of ,christ         
crucified and ,christ risen1 and in     
that same year the brilliant genius of  
,chateaubriand again placed  before the 
eyes of his countrymen the beauties of  
,christianity4  ,the great politician   

and the great writer bowed each of them 
before the ,cross2 the ,cross was the   
point from which each  started--the one 
to reconstruct the ,christian ,church in
 ,france1  the other to prove how       
capable a ,christian writer is of       
charming  ,french society and of        
stirring its emotions4    #ae    ,in    
these days1 and in some parts of        
,christendom1 the ,concordat  and the   
,gnie du ,christianisme1 the one as a   
political  institution1 the other as a  
literary production1 have lost          
something of their vogue4 ,catholics1   
zealous and sincere1  criticise severely
 the defects of the ,concordat2 they    
regard it  as sometimes incomplete1     
sometimes tyrannical3 they reproach it  
with assailing the rights of religious  
society1 of paralyzing its  influence1  
and restricting its liberty4 ,some go so
 far as to  express wishes for the      
separation of ,church and ,state1 and   
for  their entire independence of each  
other1 the only certain  guarantee to   

either1 they affirm1 of a real moral    
influence4  ,protestants1 equally       
zealous and sincere1 entertain the same 
opinions and the same wishes4 ,not      
contented with this1 the latter  have   
gone further1 and acted2 they have      
separated themselves from  the          
,protestant ,church recognized by the   
,state1 and have founded  independent   
,churches1 self-governing and           
self-sufficing2 nor have  they demanded 
anything from the ,state but the liberty
 that is  every citizen's due4  #af  ,in
 a work recently published1 ,footnote #b
 a pastor of one of  these ,churches1 a 
man distinguished both by the elevation 
of his  mind and the generosity of his  
sentiments1 ,m4 ,edmond de  ,pressens1  
has gone still farther4        ,footnote
 #b3 ,l'glise et la ,revolution         
franaise1      histoire des relations de
 l'glise et de l'tat1      de           
#aghi-ahjb4 #hvo4 #ahfd4    ,not content
 with defending the principle of the    
separation of  ,church and ,state1 he   

has endeavored to prove that1 in #ahjb1 
the  ,concordat was1 on the part of     
,napoleon1 simply an act of tyranny  and
 ambition2 that it was1 as far as       
,christianity is concerned1  an untoward
 incident2 and that if the ,christian   
,church1 at the  time spontaneously     
regenerating itself1 had been left free 
and  uncontrolled1 it would have risen  
by its own proper strength1 and  would  
have grown in influence and in faith far
 more than the  ,concordat has permitted
 it to do4 ,i am far from proposing to  
discuss here1 as a general proposition1 
the system of separation  of ,church and
 ,state1 or its worth in a religious or 
social point  of view2  #ag  such a     
system ,i do not regard as the ideal of 
religious society3  the co-existence1 ,i
 would rather say the competition1 of   
,churches  recognized by the ,state and 
of ,dissenting ,churches independently  
constituting themselves and             
self-sufficing1 is1 in my opinion1  the 
system most in conformity with the      

nature of things1 and most  favorable to
 the solidity and general efficiency of 
religion4  ,that is a question rather of
 epoch1 time1 manners1 and social       
condition than of principle4 ,but1      
however this may be1 ,i hold it  as     
certain that1 in #ahjb1 the ,concordat  
was1 on the part of  ,napoleon1 far more
 an act of superior sagacity than of    
arbitrary  power1 and that it was for   
the ,christian religion in ,france an   
event as salutary as necessary4 ,after  
the anarchy and the orgies  of the      
,revolution1 nothing but the solemn     
recognition of  ,christianity by the    
,state could have given satisfaction to 
the  public sentiment1 and insured to   
the religion of ,christ the  dignity and
 the stability1 the recovery of which   
was so essential  to its influence4  #ah
  ,nothing is more liable to error than 
an attempt to appreciate1  with         
reference to present circumstances and  
the actual condition  of men's minds1   
what was possible and good sixty years  

ago2 and ,i  am convinced1 that in spite
 of his zeal for the separation of      
,church and ,state1 ,m4 ,edmond de      
,pressens1 had he lived in #ahjb1  would
 have been as little satisfied as       
,france herself with a  ,christian      
,church restored in accordance with the 
plan of the ,abbe  ,grgoire1 ,the       
,concordat was a mixed and imperfect    
measure1  subject to grave objections1  
and the source of numberless            
difficulties2 but1 taken altogether1 the
 measure was grand and  salutary2 it    
gave at once to the ,christian movement 
a sanction  and an impulse that no other
 scheme would have been capable of      
imparting4    ,m4 de ,chateaubriand and 
the ,gnie du ,christianisme are entitled
  to the same justice4 ,i am ready1 with
 regard to both book and  author1 to    
concede the truth of all the objections 
and of all the  defects that the        
severest critic may be able or may wish 
to  detect2 their grand and salutary    
action will not be the less a  living   

fact4  #ai  ,it is with books as it is  
with men2 it is by their qualities1     
whatever their faults1 that they command
 position and exercise  sway1 and       
wherever superior qualities are         
discernible1 their  efficacy remains in 
spite of any faults1 in spite of any    
defects1  by which they may be          
accompanied4 ,notwithstanding its       
imperfections in a religious and        
literary point of view1 the  ,gnie du   
,christianisme was in both these        
respects a performance  at the same time
 remarkable and powerful3 it strongly   
moved men's  minds1 it gave a fresh     
impulse to men's imaginations1 it       
reanimated and placed in their proper   
rank the traditions and the  early      
impressions of ,christianity4 ,no       
criticism1 however  legitimate1 can ever
 deprive that work of the place that it 
at  once assumed in the religious and   
the literary history of its  time and   
country4  #bj  ,neither the ,concordat  
nor the ,gnie du ,christianisme was1 in 

#ahjb1 the result of a spirit of blind  
and barren reaction4  ,napoleon and     
,chateaubriand were both1 of them hardy 
innovators4  ,at the side of the ancient
 religion which he re-established1      
,napoleon firmly maintained also the    
liberty of conscience1  whether in      
matters of worship or philosophy4 ,at   
the very instant  when the ,concordat   
was proclaimed and the ,gnie du         
,christianisme was published1 the       
learned physiologist1 ,cabanis1  also   
published his treatise on the relations 
of man's physical  and moral nature1 a  
work which characterized man as a mere  
machine4 ,and in recalling ,france to an
 admiration of the beauties  of         
,christian literature1 ,chateaubriand   
imaged them to her in  forms of language
 so novel and so original1 that many    
among the  severe guardians of the      
,french language treated him as an      
outrageous and barbarous writer4 ,a new 
era opened at this epoch  in ,france for
 religion and for literature4  #ba      

,christianity and systems opposed to    
,christianity1 ,roman  ,catholicism1    
,protestantism1 and ,philosophy1 a taste
 for classics1  and a tendency to       
romanticism1 unfolded themselves        
simultaneously1 surprised to be living  
together1 and at the same  time         
encountering one another as ardent      
combatants4    ,i have no design to     
retrace here their contests nor to      
constitute  myself their judge4 ,let but
 a great arena be thrown open1 and the  
crowd rushes in1 carrying with it its   
confusion and its buzz4  ,happily1 the  
tumult is not of long duration4 ,in this
 mighty  movement of men's minds in     
,france at the commencement of the      
nineteenth century ,i occupy myself with
 a single grand fact--the  ,awakening of
 ,christianity1 its different           
characteristics1 its  different results4
 ,the crisis itself had illustrious     
witnesses4 ,i  will interrogate these   
alone4    ,after ,napoleon and          
,chateaubriand1 the first whom ,i meet  

with are  two ,catholic writers1 who    
have left behind them great and         
deserved reputations4 ,m4 de ,bonald and
 ,m4 de ,maistre hoisted the  banner of 
,christianity valiantly1 and at an early
 date4  #bb  ,but their ideas and their 
writings were rather political than     
religious3 the exigencies of public     
order occupied their  attention far more
 than those of man's soul1 and their    
works were  rather attacks upon the     
,french ,revolution than a defense of   
the  faith of ,christians4 ,by a        
coincidence very remarkable1 although   
at the same time very natural1 the first
 production of each--,the  ,theory of   
,power1 by ,m4 de ,bonald1 and the      
,considerations on  ,france1 by ,m4 de  
,maistre--was published at the same     
moment1 in  #agif1 and each in a foreign
 land1 where the authors were living  as
 emigrants4 ,in the first ardor of the  
reaction1 and with the  impassioned and 
vague feelings that it suggested1 each  
wrote  against the ,revolution that     

shook the world and wrecked his own     
fortunes4 ,potent intelligences both1   
profound moralists1 eminent  writers2   
but their philosophy is a philosophy of 
circumstance and  of party4 ,their      
theories they use as arms2 their books  
as a  discharge4  #bc  ,m4 de ,bonald is
 a lofty-minded original thinker1 but   
subtle1 too1  and complex2 disposed to  
content himself with verbal combinations
  and distinctions1 and sparing no labor
 to contrive his vast web  of arguments 
proper to entrap the unwary adversary4  
,m4 de  ,maistre1 on the contrary1      
blasts him with the absoluteness of his 
assertion1 the poignancy of his irony1  
the rude eloquence of his  invectives4  
,he is a powerful1 a charming           
extemporizer4 ,both of  them excel in   
seizing and presenting in a striking    
manner one  great side1 but only one of 
the great sides1 in questions or        
measures4 ,they see not these in their  
variety and in their  entirety4         
,combatants approved--the one tenacious1

 the other  impetuous--they both        
committed two grave faults3 they        
instituted  a closer bond between       
statesmanship and religion than is      
proper  or suitable to either2 they     
could not discover any other remedy  for
 anarchy than absolutism4 ,in the       
natural and never-ending  conflict of   
the two great forces whose co-existence 
imparts vital  energy to human          
society--authority and liberty--they    
declared for  the former alone1 thus    
ignoring the right of thought1 the      
spirit  of our times1 and the general   
course of ,christian civilization4  #bd 
,when attacked in her essence1 ,religion
 should be defended as she  was founded1
 in herself and for herself1 setting    
aside every  political consideration1   
and in the name alone of the problems   
which lay siege to man's soul1 and of   
the relations of man's soul  with ,god4 
,render unto ,cesar the things which are
 ,cesar's1 and  unto ,god the things    
that are ,god's1 said ,jesus to the     

,pharisees  when they sought to         
embarrass and to compromise him         
politically4  ,thus did ,jesus himself  
define the proper and paramount         
characteristic of his work4 ,he did not 
come to destroy or to  found any        
government2 he came to feed1 to         
regulate1 and to save  the human soul1  
leaving to time and to the natural      
efficacy of  events the development of  
the social consequence of his religious 
faith and of his religious law4 ,m4 de  
,bonald and ,m4 de ,maistre  joined too 
often together ,god and ,cesar4  #be    
,they thought too much of ,cesar while  
defending ,god4 ,in doing this  they    
changed and compromised the character of
 that great  movement1 the ,awakening of
 ,christianity1 which their conduct     
otherwise provoked and served4 ,footnote
 #c        ,footnote #c3 ,the dead move 
quick1 says the poet ,burger in      his
 ballad of ,leonora4 ,the men and the   
books ,i record died at      a period   
already distant from us2 and in spite of

 their fame      that abides1 they are  
probably little known to the generation 
at present in possession of the stage4  
,i regard it1      therefore1 as not    
improper for me to mention below the    
titles      of their principal works1 of
 which ,i have in the text sought       
to determine the true character4        
,those of ,m4 de ,bonald are3        #a4
 ,la ,thorie du pouvoir politique et    
religieux4 #c vols4 #hvo4               
,constance3 #agif4        #b4 ,la       
,lgislation4 primitive4 #c vols4 #hvo4  
,paris3 #ahba4        #c4 ,l',essai sur 
le divorce4 #a vol4 #hvo4 ,paris4       
#d4 ,les ,recherches philosophique4 #b  
vols4 #hvo4 #ahah and #ahbf4        #e4 
,les ,mlanges littraires et politiques4 
#b vols4 #hvo4        #f4 ,penses et    
discours4 #b vols4 #hvo4        ,all    
these writings1 with some others1 have  
been collected in      the complete     
edition of the works of ,m4 de ,bonald1 
in seven      volumes4 #hvo4 ,paris3    
#ahed4        ,the principal works of   

,m4 de ,maistre are3        #a4         
,considerations sur la ,france4 #a vol4 
#hvo4 #agif4        #b4 ,essai sur le   
principe gnrateur des constitutions     
politiques et des autres institutions   
humaines4 #a vol4 #hvo4      #ahaj4     
#c4 ,du ,pape4 #b vols4 #hvo4 #ahai4    
#d4 ,de l'glise gallicane dans son      
rapport avec le souverain      pontife4 
#hvo4 #ahba4        #e4 ,examen de la   
philosophic de ,bacon4 #b vols4 #hvo4   
#ahcf4        #f4 ,soires de            
,saint-,ptersbourg4 #b vols4 #hvo4      
#g4 ,lettres et opuscules indits4 #b    
vols4 #hvo4 #ahea4        #h4 ,mmoires  
politiques et correspondance du comte de
      ,maistre1 publis par ,m4 ,albert  
,blanc4 #b vols4 #hvo4 #aheh4    #bf    
,after these two great writers1 another 
great writer1 7shall ,i  term him       
,catholic87 the ,abb de la ,mennais1    
placed himself upon  the same path1 but 
to arrive at a very different issue4    
,he1 too1  made authority alone the     
basis of man's faith and of human       

society2 but seeking to ascertain the   
sign which distinguishes  legitimate    
authority1 and which entitles it to     
unarguing  submission1 he fixed this    
sign in the general and traditional     
assent of mankind4 ,the common consent  
or authority1  there1 said he1 we find  
the natural rule of our  judgment2 and  
what but folly can reject that rule1 and
 listen to  its own reason in preference
 to the reason of all8 444 ,the search  
for certitude is the search for a reason
 not liable to error at  all1 that is1  
for a reason that is infallible4  #bg   
,now this infallible reason must        
necessarily be either the reason  of    
each individual or the reason of all    
men2 in fact1 of human  reason4 ,it is  
not the reason of each individual1 for  
men  contradict one another1 and nothing
 frequently is more discordant  and more
 contradictory than their judgments2    
therefore it is the  reason of all4     
,footnote #d        ,footnote #d3 ,essai
 sur l'indiffrence en matire de         

religion1      t4 ii1 p4 #ei4 ,dfense de
 l',essai sur l'indiffrence1 chap4 x1   
pp4 #acc-adh4    ,in holding this       
language in his very first work1 the    
,abb de la  ,mennais was already        
forgetting that he was a ,christian and 
a  ,catholic4 ,when a man demands here  
below an infallible authority1  he must 
not seek it from any human source4 ,the 
reason of all8  7,that is1 the reason of
 the majority of men in all the ages of 
the world1 for the reason of all is a   
fallacy47 ,what is  such reason1 but the
 sovereignty of superior numbers in the 
spiritual order8 ,having fixed his      
principle1 the ,abb de la  ,mennais kept
 it in sight everywhere4 ,after having  
established an  infallible authority in 
the name of the reason of all1 he       
proclaimed the absolute sovereignty in  
the name of universal  suffrage4  #bh   
,but this apostle of universal reason   
was at the same time the  proudest      
worshiper of his own reason4 ,under the 
pressure of  events without1 and of an  

ardent controversy1 a transformation    
took place in him1 marked at once by its
 logical deductions and  its moral      
inconsistency3 he changed his camp      
without changing his  principles2 in the
 attempt to lead the supreme authority  
of his  ,church to admit his principles 
he had failed2 and from that  instant   
the very spirit of revolt that he had so
 severely rebuked  broke loose in his   
soul and in his writings1 finding       
expression  at one time in an           
indignation full of hatred leveled at   
the  powerful1 the rich1 and the        
fortunate ones of the world2 at  another
 time in a tender sympathy for the      
miseries of humanity4  ,the ,words of a 
,believer are the eloquent outburst of  
this  tumult in his soul4 ,plunged in   
the chaos of sentiments the most        
contradictory1 and yet claiming to be   
always consistent with  himself1 the    
champion of authority became in the     
,state the most  baited of democrats1   
and in the ,church the haughtiest of    

rebels4    #bi    ,it is not without    
sorrow that ,i thus express my          
unreserved  opinion of a man of superior
 talent--mind lofty1 soul intense2 a    
man in the sequel profoundly sad        
himself1 although haughty in his  very  
fall4 ,one cannot read in their stormy  
succession the  numerous writings of the
 ,abb de la ,mennais without recognizing
  in them traces1 ,i will not say of his
 intellectual  perplexities--his pride  
did not feel them--but of the sufferings
  of his soul1 whether for good or for  
evil4 ,a noble nature1 but  full of     
exaggeration in his opinions1 of        
fanatical arrogance1 and  of angry      
asperity in his polemics4 ,one title to 
our gratitude  remains to the ,abb de la
 ,mennais--he thundered to purpose      
against the gross and vulgar            
forgetfulness of the great moral        
interests of humanity4 ,his essay on    
indifference in religious  questions    
inflicted a rude blow upon that vice of 
the time1 and  recalled men's souls to  

regions above4  #cj  ,and thus it was   
that he1 too1 rendered service to the   
great  movement and awakening of        
,christians in the nineteenth century1  
and that he merits his place in that    
movement although he  deserted it4      
,footnote #e        ,footnote #e3 ,the  
principal works of the ,abb de la       
,mennais      are3        #a4 ,l',essai 
sur l'indiffrence en matire de religion1
 avec la      dfense de l',essai4 #e    
vols4 #hvo4 ,the first volume appeared  
in      #ahag4        #b4 ,de la        
,religion considre dans ses rapports    
avec l'ordre      civil et politique4 #a
 vol4 #hvo4 #ahbe4        #c4 ,les      
,paroles d'un ,croyant4 #hvo4 #ahcd4    
#d4 ,les ,affaires de ,rome4 #hvo4      
#ahcf4        #e4 ,esquisse d'une       
philosophic4 #d vols4 #hvo4 #ahda-ahdf4 
,all      his works1 including numerous 
pamphlets and articles      published in
 religious and political journals1 have 
been      collected in two editions3 one
 in #ab vols4 #hvo41 #ahcf-ahcg2        

the other in #aa vols4 #hvo41 #ahdd and 
following years4 ,besides      the      
above1 there are his ,posthumous ,works1
 #b vols4 #hvo41      #ahef1 and his    
,correspondence1 #b vols4 #hvo41 #aheh4 
,at the same time that great minds were 
thus at work in order to  restore to the
 belief in ,christianity and the belief 
in  ,catholicism its honor and its      
authority1 another influence was        
operating in the same direction1 with   
less notoriety but no less  effect4  #ca
  ,the ,jesuits were re-establishing    
themselves in ,france--were  founding   
houses of education and noviciates for  
their order--were  opening chapels1     
preaching1 teaching1 careless of the    
existence  in ,france of laws           
proscribing them2 occupying themselves  
solely  with fulfilling what they       
regarded as a duty1 and a duty1 too1    
springing from a right believed by them 
to be superior to the  laws4 ,that duty 
for them was to uphold the ,church of   
,rome2 that  right was the right of     

preaching and teaching1 according to the
  faith of the ,church4 ,the ,jesuits   
have also been considered and           
represented as politicians in the garb  
of monks1 rather than  genuine members  
of the monastic orders4 ,often1 in      
effect1 in  their acts and in their     
words1 they have appeared as            
politicians1  and politicians1 too1 with
 a certain indulgence for the world and 
the world's masters2 but1 at bottom1    
they have been and they are  essentially
 monastic--an order perhaps the most    
ardent of all1  for they are of all     
orders the order most completely devoted
 to  the cause of religious authority4  
#cb    ,there are commonplaces that have
 to be continually repeated1 so  apt are
 men to forget them4 ,in religions      
society1 as well as in  civil society1  
there are two great moral               
forces--,authority and  ,liberty2 these 
coexist of necessity--have dominion turn
 by turn1  and have alternately their   
heroes and their martyrs4 ,regarded     

either with respect to its political or 
religious constitution1  society cannot 
long dispense with either ,authority or 
with  ,liberty2 and each of these two   
forces is liable to abuse its           
influence1 and to lose it by the very   
abuse4    ,when ,authority has had a    
long dominion1 and its abuse too has    
been long1 a reaction occurs3 ,liberty  
has her revenge2 but in her  turn is    
prone to compromise her interests by    
abuses and by  excess4 ,it is the       
history of all human society2 facts     
prove it  quite as much as common sense 
foretells it4 ,in the bosom of this     
general fact it is the peculiar         
character1 as it is the glory1 of       
,christianity that it has fully accepted
 these two rival forces2  and the one in
 the face of the other--authority and   
liberty--both of divine origin4  #cc    
,christianity has constantly accounted  
them for such as they  are--the one the 
revealed law of ,god1 the other the     
innate right of  man1 whom ,god created 

free and responsible4 ,the history of   
the  ,jews is only that of the intimate 
and continued relations between  ,god as
 sovereign and man as free agent2 ,god  
uttering and giving  the law1 man using 
his liberty at one time to fulfill1 at  
another  to reject1 the law of ,god4    
,when the great day of humanity dawned  
and ,jesus came1 it was in liberty's    
name1 and in claiming the  right of the 
soul to obey the divine law according to
 its  convictions1 that ,christianity   
engaged in its primitive struggle  of   
three centuries4 ,under this banner1    
too1 it conquered1 and  under it        
religious society and civil society     
combined without  becoming identical4   
,the tempestuous and painful fecundity  
of the  middle ages succeeded to the    
tyrannical unity of the ,roman  empire1 
so sterile in result4  #cd  ,hence      
principles the most inconsistent1 issues
 the most  contradictory--the power of  
religion and the power of the           
state--popes and kings now supporting1  

now combating each other's  ambitious   
purposes1 and thwarting each other's    
measures1 without  any regard to law or 
right2 liberty sometimes suffering      
cruelly  by their alliance1 sometimes   
happily profiting by their  dissensions2
 on some occasions popes1 on others     
monarchs  protecting liberty against    
their reciprocal pretensions and        
excesses4 ,spiritual and temporal       
princes still wavered in their  maxims  
and in their policy1 and did not during 
the middle ages  systematically and on  
all occasions form coalitions1 of which 
liberty was to pay the cost4 ,liberty1  
on the contrary1 continued  to subsist  
and to grow in the midst of their       
rivalries and of her  own sufferings4   
,but these rivalries and these          
sufferings produced  a chaos which      
recurred incessantly1 and became ever   
more and more  intolerable1 precisely on
 account of the progress still made1 and
  which no effort could stifle4  #ce    
,the great body of ,christians at last  

demanded some issue from  this chaos2   
then those who wielded the religious    
power and the  civil power1 now         
separately1 now in concert1 endeavored  
to  satisfy the craving of the world2   
and by their councils1  pragmatic       
sanctions1 encyclical letters and       
concordats1 sought to  reform the abuses
 and the grievances which1 as men loudly
  proclaimed1 existed1 if not in the    
,church itself1 at least in the         
relations of the ,church with the       
,state4 ,whether from want of  wisdom1  
virtue1 courage1 or sagacity in their   
authors1 or from  their measures being  
too superficial1 or meeting with too    
much  opposition1 those attempts failed2
 and the reform that was to  have       
proceeded from ,authority herself       
remained without  accomplishment4 ,then 
came the reform by insurrection1 in the 
name  of ,faith and ,liberty2 and as    
happens in similar crises1 whether  of  
the ,church or the ,state1 the supreme  
authority of ,romanism was  attacked1   

not only in its abuses and its vices1   
but in its  principle and its very      
existence4  #cf  ,rome then committed   
the fault almost always committed by    
,power  when seriously menaced--it      
defended itself by pushing its          
principle and its right to the extreme1 
without holding account  of any other   
principle or of any other right4 ,in the
 name of  ,unity and ,infallibility in  
matters of faith1 the supreme power in  
the ,church of ,rome allied itself with 
the absolute power in the  ,state1 and  
supported the latter in its resistance  
to liberty4  ,under the inspiration of  
their founder and hero1 ,loyola1 whose  
genius was that of a fanatic and a      
mystic1 but who was adroit in           
organizing and realizing his design1 the
 order of the ,jesuits  sprung into     
existence4 ,this order was born of this 
war and for  this war--a chosen troop1  
charged in the name of the faith to be  
the uncompromising defenders of         
authority in ,church and in ,state4     

#cg    ,since that epoch three centuries
 have passed1 and the fourth is  in its 
turn sweeping by us2 neither times nor  
chances have been  wanting to causes to 
produce their effects1 nor to men to    
accomplish their designs2 principles and
 events have received  their development
 over a vast space2 and in the light of 
heaven  the different systems have been 
put to the test of successes and  of    
reverses4 ,absolutism has had its       
triumphs and its victories2  more than  
once the faults of its adversaries have 
played into its  hands1 and it has found
 able and glorious champions4 ,it has   
not  succeeded in arresting the course  
of a civilization full of  liberty and  
yet still greedy to have more4 ,it has  
taken its place  in the midst of liberty
 as a temporary necessity1 never as a   
preponderating tendency4 ,more than     
this1 even in the epochs when  its      
influence was its height1 and its       
splendor the greatest1  ,absolutism has 
often served the cause hostile to its   

own4 ,louis  ,,xiv4 seconded the        
movement of mind and the people's       
progress2  ,napoleon sowed in every     
direction the germs of social           
advancement  or innovation4  #ch  ,and  
now1 even there1 where liberty does not 
exist1 ,absolutism  does not avow       
itself2 it furls its banner1 and admits 
institutions contrary to its principles1
 reserving to itself the  right to      
elude1 or to render them powerless4     
,experience has  pronounced its         
judgment2 whatever the problems that the
 future  will have to solve1 or the     
trials which the future will have to    
encounter1 the cause of ,absolutism is a
 lost cause throughout  ,christendom4   
,at the commencement of this century1   
the ,jesuits1 unfortunately  for them1  
and yet very naturally1 were regarded as
 devoted to  that cause4 ,after having  
served it in the eighteenth century1    
they had been the first victims of its  
decline2 the papal and the  monarchical 
sovereignty had sacrificed them to the  

new opinions1  just as mariners in a    
tempest throw overboard their heavy     
ordnance4 ,when the nineteenth century  
opened1 all was greatly  changed2 the   
,revolution was not only victorious1 but
 earnestly  engaged in conciliating     
parties by disavowing and making amends 
for its excesses4 ,after the commission 
of so many follies and  crimes in the   
pursuit of liberty1 ,france submitted   
once more with  the greatest            
satisfaction to the voice of authority4 
#ci    ,how would they then reconstruct 
that ,french policy that had been  at   
once so overthrown and so regenerated8  
,by what means would  they conciliate   
new and ancient ideas1 new and ancient  
interests8  ,upon what terms would      
,authority and ,liberty consent to be   
reconciled1 and to live henceforth side 
by side--,authority  soaring triumphant 
after her fall1 ,liberty embarrassed    
with her  recent excesses2 and yet both 
of them more than ever necessary to     
society1 if society was to be healthy   

and strong8 ,this was  evidently the    
vital question of the new century4 ,god 
placed its  solution at first in the    
hands of ,napoleon1 the crown and the   
scourge of the ,revolution1 the most    
remarkable example at once of  reaction 
and of progress recorded in the history 
of the world4    #dj    ,in this        
condition1 so new to ,france1 the       
situation of the ,jesuits  was          
embarrassing and perilous4 ,napoleon was
 again re-establishing  the ,church of  
,rome1 and at the same time enforcing   
the maxims of  ,absolutism--a double    
title to their sympathy4 ,on the other  
hand1  he was consolidating the         
,revolution1 and maintaining and putting
  into practice some of its essential   
principles1 among others1  that of      
freedom of conscience4 ,napoleon        
arrogated also to himself  the right of 
dictating and acting as master in the   
,church as in  the ,state1 at ,rome as  
at ,paris2 he was neither a serious     
believer  in the faith of ,christ nor a 

sure friend of the ,papacy4 ,in this    
twofold aspect1 the ,jesuits could not  
but regard him with  distrust4 ,the     
distrust was mutual3 for if ,napoleon   
was for the  ,jesuits a too faithful and
 too ambitious heir of the ,revolution1 
the ,jesuits were for him ,catholics too
 independent and too  devoted to their  
,church and to its chief4 ,as far back  
as #ahjd1  their establishments1        
scarcely disguised under different      
names1  had been a source of disquietude
 to ,napoleon4  #da  ,he directed them  
to be closed1 enforced the laws which   
denied to  religious corporations an    
independent existence1 and founded the  
,university1 which at the same time he  
invested with the privilege  of         
teaching4 ,this system was not abolished
 at the ,restoration4  ,the ,jesuits    
then entered into the simultaneous      
possession of two  forces novel to      
them--the one sprang from the support of
 power1  the other was derived from the 
progress of liberty4 ,they had the      

favor of the court1 and might wield as  
their own arms1 and in  their own       
interests1 the liberal principles that  
were dear to the  people4 ,a position   
excellent1 had they known how to        
restrict  themselves to their religious 
mission1 keep aloof from political      
contests1 and devote themselves         
exclusively to the task of  awakening   
the faith of ,christians1 and arousing  
them to a  ,christian life6 ,their      
action upon the soul might have extended
  their influence beyond their peculiar 
sphere to the world  without4 ,had they 
not then a striking instance of such an 
influence even in their own order8  #db 
,to what cause1 thirty years ago1 did   
the ,pre ,ravignan owe the  respect and 
moral authority with which he was       
surrounded1 not  only by members of his 
own ,church1 but by men not remarkable  
for  their faith8 ,far less to his      
talent as an orator1 than to the        
thorough sincerity and disinterestedness
 of his religious  character4 ,he was a 

believer1 a pious ,christian1 and a     
stranger  to every mental reservation2  
neither was he a partisan1 but  solely  
occupied with the service of ,god1 of   
his ,church1 and of  his order1 at the  
same time that he was propagating the   
faith and  enforcing piety4 ,he declared
 himself aloud a ,jesuit1 but the       
declaration excited no distrust even in 
his adversaries4 ,if his  order had     
imitated his example1 it would have     
obtained a similar  success4 ,nor was   
the instance new4 ,in the seventeenth   
century1 at  the court of ,louis ,,xiv41
 ,bourdaloue displayed the same virtues 
as  the ,pre ,ravignan in our own days2 
and1 in all certitude1 did  more honor  
and rendered more service to his ,church
 and order than  had ever been done or  
rendered by ,pre la ,chaise4    #dc     
,i shall not attempt to examine how far 
the ,jesuits in effect were  really     
engaged1 or what was the degree of their
 direct agency in  the intrigues of the 
retrograde party who were seeking to    

repossess themselves of the relics of   
the ancient institutions1  in the idle  
hope of reconstructing the social       
edifice upon those  ruined foundations4 
,i am convinced that ,france felt at    
this epoch  far too much alarm for this 
party and its allies1 ,jesuits or no    
,jesuits1 just as the ,monarchy itself  
felt too much apprehension  of the      
,revolutionists4 ,no graver fault can be
 committed by  nations or by governments
 than to give way to fears out of       
proportion with the dangers which they  
encounter4 ,france had no  reason under 
the ,restoration to dread either the    
triumph of  ,theocracy or of            
,absolutism2 and yet she was alarmed at 
both1 and  the people persisted in      
believing that the ,jesuits were serving
  this double cause--that of the ancient
 rgime of the ,papacy1 and  of the      
ancient rgime of the ,monarchy4  #dd    
,the ,jesuits had then to struggle at   
once against the ideas and  the passions
 of modern society1 and the traditions  

and maxims of  ancient ,france herself2 
they had for adversaries1 the laity1 the
  bar1 and the liberals1 respectively   
represented by ,m4 de  ,montlosier1 ,m4 
,benjamin ,constant1 and ,m4 ,dupin4    
,the odds against  them were too great2 
even the ,monarchy itself1 however well 
disposed toward them1 was carried away  
by the movement which  attacked them1   
and ,charles ,x4 did not think his own  
position  strong enough to dispense with
 treating them1 by his ordonnances  of  
the #bast ,june1 #ahbh1 as ,napoleon had
 done by his decree of the  #bb;d ,june1
 #ahjd4 ,throughout this whole period   
the conduct of the  ,jesuits was feebler
 than their cause4 ,sworn and devoted to
 the  defense of ,authority1 they had   
not foresight enough to perceive  by    
what means and on what conditions       
,authority might raise and  consolidate 
itself4  #de  ,haunted by the traditions
 of past times1 and having the history  
of their own order continually before   
their minds1 they no longer  regarded   

the future boldly or confidently2 they  
failed to  appreciate justly the        
present2 they did not believe           
sufficiently  in the power of ,christ's 
faith1 and they believed too implicitly 
in the efficiency of worldly policy4 ,by
 this vulgar blunder they  compromised1 
in the case of many ,christians1 the    
full effect of  that great stirring     
movement of ,christianity1 at the very  
time  that1 with respect to others1 they
 aided it materially4    ,the           
,revolution of #ahcj inflicted a rude   
blow upon these  retrograde tendencies1 
and a new element started up in the     
bosom  of the ,church of ,rome4 ,in the 
midst of the grand manifestation  and   
progress of liberty now realizing itself
 in the ,state1  ,catholics1 genuine and
 ardent too1 conceived the hope of      
turning  both to the profit of the      
,church of ,rome1 and of at last setting
  ,catholicism at peace and in harmony  
with the new social  institutions of    
,france4  #df  ,then the group1 ,i will 

not say the party1 formed itself of men 
at  once generous and hardy1 who did not
 hesitate to declare  themselves        
,ultramontanists1 like the ,pre de      
,ravignan1 ,liberals  like ,m4 de la    
,fayette4 ,it consisted of priests and  
laymen1 of men  of mature years and men 
in the spring-time of life--the ,abb    
,lacordaire1 ,abbe ,gerbet1 ,m4 de      
,montalembert1 and ,m4 de ,coux3 ,i     
confine myself to the names that at the 
outset gleamed on their  banners4 ,they 
founded an agency for the defense of the
  liberties of religion1 and a journal1 
the ,avenir1 to  develop its principles 
and its constitution4 ,but the          
association  was born under an unlucky  
star2 for its little army had for its   
declared chief1 and the object of its   
passionate reverence1 the  ,abbe de la  
,mennais4 ,in the more intimate and     
unrestricted  relations of life this    
great man appears to have exercised     
extraordinarily attractive power over   
his friends and disciples4  #dg  ,cited 

jointly with him on the #cast ,january1 
#ahca1 before the ,cour  d',assises of  
,paris to answer for the appearance of  
two articles  in the ,avenir1 the ,abb  
,lacordaire said1 ,i stand here  near   
the man who began the reconciliation of 
,catholicism with the  world4 ,let me   
tell him how affected ,i am by the part 
that ,god has  made for me in giving me 
him as my master and my father4 ,suffer 
these words of filial piety to penetrate
 to the heart of one so  long           
misunderstood2 suffer me to exclaim with
 the poet3      ,l'amiti d'un grand     
homme est un bienfait des dieux4        
,footnote #f        ,footnote #f3 ,a    
great man's friendship1 blessed gift of 
,heaven4    ,the ,abb ,lacordaire had   
soon to feel the danger and to repel    
with  sorrow the yoke of this seductive 
friendship4 ,the errors and the  evil   
passions of the ,abb de la ,mennais were
 not long in  exploding2 his was a mind 
lofty and powerful1 but without grasp1  
without foresight1 without moderation1  

and without equity2  incapable of       
discerning the different sides of a     
subject and of  embracing all the       
elements of the problem demanding       
solution1 he  was a haughty slave to the
 truth that he served but partially1    
and the somber enemy of every one who   
wounded his pride by  contesting his    
opinions4  #dh  ,he gave to the ,avenir 
a character at once democratic and      
theocratic1 imperious and revolutionary4
 ,all the ideas contrary  to his own1   
all the institutions1 all the           
governments1 that stood  in his way1    
were attacked by him with a degree of   
vehemence1  insult1 and menace never    
surpassed by any political partisan1    
however violent4 ,the maxims of the     
,gallican ,church were1 to cite  his    
words1 an object of disgust and horror2 
opinions as odious  as they were base1  
which1 while rendering even the         
conscience the  accomplice of tyranny1  
make servility a duty and brute force an
  independent and just right4 ,he       

demanded the separation of ,church  and 
,state as a necessity absolute and      
urgent2 for1 said he1 we  regard as     
abolished and of no effect every        
particular law which  contradicts the   
,charter1 and is incompatible with the  
liberties  that it proclaims4  #di  ,in 
the event of such law1 we believe that  
it becomes immediately  and without     
delay the duty of government to come to 
an  understanding with the pope1 and to 
rescind the ,concordat1 which  lost all 
the means of being executed from the    
instant when1 thank  ,god1 the ,catholic
 religion ceased to be a state religion4
 ,four  months had scarcely elapsed     
since the birth of the government of    
,july1 and because the liberty of       
teaching promised by the ,charter  of   
#ahcj was not already in vigor1 the ,abb
 de la ,mennais said to  the ,catholics3
 ,whence comes the oppression that      
weighs upon us8  ,either1 in what       
concerns us1 the government cannot or it
 will not  keep its promises4 ,if it    

cannot1 what is this mockery of a       
sovereignty1 this miserable phantom of  
government1 and what have  we to do with
 it8 ,it is as far as we are concerned  
as if it were  not1 and nothing remains 
to us but to forget it1 and seek  our   
safety in ourselves4  #ej  ,let us      
proclaim aloud who the powers are that  
are hostile to us2  whose servants seek 
only to satisfy blindly their thirst for
  persecution4 ,what attacks leveled at 
a government were ever more             
precipitate1 more violent1 and showed a 
less just appreciation of  facts8 ,what 
revolutionary party ever proclaimed with
 greater  audacity disobedience to the  
laws1 and insurrection as the first  of 
rights and of duties8    ,side by side  
with these violent and insulting        
invectives leveled  at the government of
 ,france1 the ,avenir placed a          
declaration of respect and submission to
 the chief of the ,church  of ,rome3 ,we
 profess1 it said1 the most complete    
obedience to  the authority of the      

,vicar of ,jesus ,christ4 ,we will not  
have  other faith than his faith1 other 
doctrine than his doctrine4 ,all  that  
he approves we approve1 all that he     
condemns we condemn1 and  without the   
shadow of a reservation2 we1 each of us1
 submit to  the judgment of the ,holy   
,see all our past1 all our future       
writings1 of what nature soever they may
 be4 ,here1 at least1 the  revolutionary
 spirit seemed absent1 or1 at all       
events1 was in a  hurry to disavow      
itself4    #ea    ,i am persuaded that1 
in holding this language1 the ,abb de la
  ,mennais was sincere4 ,when an        
exclusive idea or passion sways a  man's
 mind1 nothing is more unknown to him   
than his own future  conduct2 he knows  
even less what he will do than what he  
is  doing4 ,the ,abb de la ,mennais no  
more suspected in #ahca what he  would  
say and what he would do a few years    
later1 than the most  violent leaders of
 the ,french ,revolution suspected in   
#aghi what  they would be and what they 

would do in #agic4 ,the court at ,rome  
was clearer-sighted than its fanatical  
champion2 it had been  under the        
influence of the charm of the first     
works and of the  first successes of the
 ,abb de la ,mennais4 ,it had not1      
however1  failed to perceive what       
pernicious and dangerous seed might     
thence germinate4  #eb  ,the ,avenir    
occasioned it profound disquietude2 the 
principles and the yearnings of modern  
society found therein a  too ready      
acceptance2 the rgime which had governed
 ,france since  #ahcj was too much the  
object of its attacks2 it demanded too  
much  liberty1 and made too much noise  
in doing so2 for beneath that  noise1   
and in the shadow of that liberty1      
fermented the  anarchical doctrines and 
tendencies which in all cases and places
  it is the aim and the policy of the   
court of ,rome to contest4  ,thus the   
,avenir and its writers placed her in a 
position  full of embarrassment2 ,rome  
was anxious neither in any way to       

ignore the services that they had       
rendered and that they might  continue  
to render her1 nor to lose sight of the 
perils that they  made her incur2 ,rome 
desired to preserve silence respecting  
these  writers--neither to avow nor     
disavow them--and to leave it to  time  
to terminate their transport and their  
errors4 ,the ,abb de  la ,mennais did   
not1 however1 permit this expectant     
policy2 he  insisted absolutely that the
 papacy1 by pronouncing upon his        
doctrines and upon his attitude1 should 
publicly either give him  her support or
 withdraw it from him4  #ec  ,all the   
world knows of the journey which he     
undertook in #ahca to  ,rome to obtain  
this result1 and of his stay there in   
company with  the ,abb ,lacordaire and  
,m4 de ,montalembert1 three obscure     
,christians--to use the words of the    
,abb de la ,mennais--men who  thought   
themselves called1 according to the     
expression of the  ,abb ,lacordaire     
before the ,cour d',assises at ,paris1  

to reconcile  ,catholicism with the     
world4 ,the ,pope 7,gregory ,,xvi47     
judged  otherwise1 and by his encyclical
 of the #aeth ,august1 #ahcb1 with      
regret1 but at the same time with as    
much decision as to the  substantial    
matters before him as tenderness to the 
three  pilgrims personally1 condemned   
the ,avenir1 its doctrines1  and its    
tendencies4 ,on the instant1 with the   
concurrence of their  friends1 they     
declared1 all three1 7#ajth ,september1 
#ahcb17 that1  respectfully submitting  
themselves to the authority of the      
,vicar  of ,jesus ,christ1 they         
abandoned the lists in which they had   
faithfully combated during the past two 
years2 that1 in  consequence1 the       
,avenir1 which had been provisionally   
suspended ever since the #aeth ,november
 previously1 would no  longer appear1   
and that the ,general ,agency for the   
,defense of  ,religious ,liberty was    
dissolved4    #ed    ,as the first      
declaration of the writers of the       

,avenir1  after their acquittal by the  
,cour d',assises at ,paris1 had been    
sincere1 so was also the declaration    
sincere which was published  by them    
immediately after their condemnation by 
the papacy2 but  they promised more than
 they could perform4 ,when a deep social
  wound has been laid bare1 and measures
 on a large scale have been  adopted to 
cure it1 it is no longer in the power of
 any  individual to keep that wound     
secret1 or to stifle the hope of a      
remedy4 ,how many times in the course of
 this century has not the  papacy1 and  
have not the ardent champions of        
liberty1 condemned  and combated the    
efforts made to reconcile ,catholicism  
with  modern civilization1 and to cause 
the ,church to accept the  liberties of 
civil society1 and the ,state to        
recognize the rights  of the ,church8   
#ee  ,how often has the ,church by its  
censures signalized such efforts  as    
impious and suicidal8 ,what wit1 what   
eloquence1 have not been  displayed by  

the ,liberals to declare their vanity1  
their  worthlessness8 ,to what          
reproaches1 invectives1 and sarcasms    
have  not their advocates had to submit8
 ,but no ecclesiastical censure1  no    
wrath of religion1 no mockery of        
liberalism has arrested the  march of   
this great idea4 ,it has made1 and it   
continues every day  to force1 its way  
in spite of condemnations1 attacks1 and 
obstacles of every description4 ,why8   
,for paramount reasons1  impossible to  
be lost sight of4 ,for ,christianity and
 modern  civilization confront each     
other2 there exists in the public a     
profound and irrepressible feeling of   
their reciprocal right and  strength--a 
profound and irrepressible feeling that 
their  disagreement is an immense evil  
for society and for men's souls2  that  
neither the new civil liberties nor the 
ancient forms of  belief and influences 
of ,christianity can ever perish2 that1 
necessary1 both of them1 to nations and 
to individuals1 they are  both of them  

destined to live1 and consequently to   
live together4  #ef  ,when and in what  
manner will this feeling realize its    
object1 and  when will the ancient      
,church and modern civilization have    
solved  the problem of their mutual     
pacification8 ,no one can at this       
moment pronounce2 but in all certitude1 
the problem will not for  that cease to 
weigh upon the world1 or the world to   
strive at its  solution4 ,even the men  
who1 in a spirit of pious submission or 
in  a paroxysm of sadness and           
discouragement might wish1 after having 
attempted it1 to renounce the work1     
could never remain inactive  before a   
necessity becoming more and more urgent2
 they doubtless  would not be long      
before they returned to the lists from  
which  they might have consented to     
withdraw4    #eg    ,and this is what   
happened to the three eminent men who   
had made  so precipitate a journey to   
,rome1 and had importuned her at an     
inconvenient moment1 summoning her at   

once to solve the momentous  questions  
they had raised4 ,they returned from    
,rome with the  intention of submitting 
to the decision of the ,pope2 but       
slumber  to such souls was impossible1  
and it was not long before men saw      
them1 the three1 resuming1 although by  
the most contrary paths1  all the       
activity of their minds and of their    
lives4 ,the ,abb de  la ,mennais threw  
himself with impetuosity into the       
revolt--a  revolt radical against the   
,church and against the ,state2         
furiously demanding from the populace   
and from revolutions the  success which 
he could not obtain in the bosom of     
order1 and in  concert with the         
authority previously so ardently        
defended by  him4 ,far from following in
 his new and violent course1 the ,abb   
,lacordaire and ,m4 de ,montalembert    
separated from him1 and  returned each  
to his natural and tranquil position2   
the one to  that of a simple priest1    
almoner of the convent of the           

,visitation1 and preacher in the chapel 
of the ,college ,stanislas2  the other  
to that of a young and brilliant        
political orator1  already a favorite in
 the chamber of ,peers1 although its    
members  did not always think or vote   
with him4  #eh  ,both remained          
,romanists at heart2 they zealously     
shared in the  great movement of        
,christianity1 now roused from her      
slumber1 but  without ceasing to be     
,liberals in their ,catholicism1 or     
without  arresting their efforts to     
reconcile the ,church with the rgime  of
 liberty4    ,the position of each1 and 
the genius of each1 determined the      
share that he took in the duties1 and   
the place that he selected  for the     
field of his action4 ,the ,abb          
,lacordaire1 from the pulpit  of ,notre 
,dame1 developed1 or rather let me say1 
painted1 in all  their splendor1 the    
truths1 the beauties1 the moral and     
social  excellences of the ,christian   
,faith and of the ,catholic ,church4 ,m4

  de ,montalembert1 in the house of     
,peers and in literature1 was the       
ardent and indefatigable champion of the
 ,church1 of its maxims1  and of its    
rights4  #ei  ,to neither was there any 
lack of success any more than any lack  
of talent and of zeal4 ,a numerous      
auditory1 young and old1 from  the      
salons and from the schools1 believers  
and freethinkers1  flocked round the    
,abb ,lacordaire1 all feeling the       
attraction1  and almost all the charm2  
many among them yielding to the         
persuasion of that eloquence so fresh   
and vivid1 and abundant1  and unlooked  
for--impetuous without rudeness1 hardy  
yet graceful1  natural even where there 
was temerity of thought or of           
expression1 and repairing or vailing    
these faults by the  enchantment of     
candor and of originality4 ,different1  
but not  inferior1 were the merits and  
the successes of ,m4 de  ,montalembert4 
,he was a combatant young too1 a        
fearless ,christian1  both in the       

political arena and in society2 and he  
carried with  him in his polemics to the
 service of the ,state a sincerity of   
passion1 a rich and mobile eloquence1   
piquant strokes of wit1 an  outpouring  
of indignant conviction1 all of which   
deeply stirred  the emotions of his     
auditors1 whether friends or            
adversaries1 and  left in the mind of   
calm spectators an impression of        
approving  satisfaction1 however        
frequently a shock might be given to    
their  feelings of moderation and of    
fairness4  #fj  ,in the ,conferences of 
the ,abb ,lacordaire it cannot be denied
  that many failings and many omissions 
are observable2 although  expressed     
clearly and with vivacity1 his thought  
was often  superficial2 there was in    
turn a singular mixture of precipitate  
enthusiasm and of discretion1 the former
 displaying itself in his  exordiums1   
the latter at the close of his          
discourses4 ,he  announced courageously 
his opinions1 but accompanied them by   

more  reservations than are usually     
expected from one of his ,church and    
party3 thus at the same time1 that      
throughout all his discourses1  and in  
their general character1 he showed      
himself the friend of  religious        
liberty1 he hesitated sometimes even    
when the occasion  required him to      
proclaim its fundamental principle and  
to rebuke  its violations4  #fa  ,on his
 side1 ,m4 de ,montalembert gave himself
 up entirely to the  impression and the 
combat of the moment2 in his legitimate 
ardor  for free instruction1 the then   
chosen object of his public life1  he   
held obstacles1 however real1 of no     
account2 he ignored the  time necessary 
for its final triumph1 as well as the   
real  progress1 although partial1 which 
it had obtained1 from the  co-operation 
or the sufferance of the government of  
#ahcj2 and in  his uncompromising       
defense of the ,church1 he was more     
violent  against the members of the     
executive government than his own       

sentiments and his real political views 
would1 in moments of cool  reflection1  
have permitted him to be4 ,the ,abb     
,lacordaire did not  sound sufficiently 
the sources of his opinions2 ,m4 de     
,montalembert did not properly measure  
his attacks4 ,but in spite  of their    
shortcomings and of our own1 of their   
faults and of our  own1 in all the      
struggles that grew out of religious    
questions  between us1 they rendered    
constantly faithful and powerful        
services to their cause1 which1         
notwithstanding our dissentiments  on   
other points1 was really the cause of   
,christ's ,faith awaking  to new birth  
and life on the bosom of ,liberty4      
#fb    ,it is not without well          
reflecting that ,i term that our  cause4
 ,when religious liberty reigns in a    
,state1 it is a great  and a too common 
error to believe that the statesmen     
charged with  its government have no    
religious belief whatever2 that they are
  careless in matters of faith because  

they embrace and advocate  the cause of 
liberty of conscience4 ,the soul does   
not abdicate  the right to its proper   
and intimate life1 because it respects  
in  other souls the rights of that same 
life2 and nothing is more  logical or   
more legitimate than to sustain with    
fervor the  principle of freedom of     
conscience1 and yet to be at the same   
time a true and an earnest ,christian4  
#fc    ,i have not here to make a       
profession of faith for others2 but ,i  
affirm that1 from #ahcj to #ahdh1 the   
,prince whom ,i had the honor  to serve1
 and the ,cabinets to which ,i had the  
honor to belong1  not only always had at
 heart the maintenance1 however         
difficult1  of the principle of         
religious liberty1 but that they always 
felicitated themselves upon the progress
 made by the ,christian  ,faith1 even   
when the manner of that progress was for
 them a  source of serious              
embarrassment4 ,in #ahda we were placed1
 in this  respect1 in a most trying     

position4 ,great was the general        
astonishment1 and violent were the      
attacks made upon us1 when1  with a     
devotedness to ,catholicism even bolder 
than had been his  conferences at ,notre
 ,dame1 the ,abb ,lacordaire returned   
from ,rome  a monk1 and a monk of an    
order which has left more somber        
memories behind it than any other1 that 
of ,st4 ,dominic4 ,this is  not the     
place to examine what the utility may be
 in our days to  the ,catholic ,church  
of the monastic orders1 or to inquire   
whether  the services they are capable  
of rendering the ,church outweigh  the  
objections and the feelings of repulsion
 and uneasiness which  they arouse4  #fd
  ,no well-read man can deny their      
having1 in seasons of chaotic           
confusion1 effectually served the cause1
 not only of the  ,christian ,faith1 but
 of civilization1 of science1 and even  
of  liberty4    ,the condition of       
society and of the human mind is now    
very  different1 and the monastic orders

 cannot take the same position  or      
produce the same effects4 ,but whatever 
we may think of the  opportuneness of   
their reconstruction1 of the right there
 can be  no doubt4 ,under a system      
sanctioning freedom of conscience and   
free institutions1 associations for     
religious purposes cannot be  worse     
treated than those for purposes of      
industry1 commerce1 or  literature4 ,the
 ,state is required to exercise upon    
combinations  of every kind a certain   
degree of surveillance2 but doubtless   
the  union of souls and of lives under  
one rule and in one costume1  with a    
view to eternal interests1 is not a     
juster cause for  disquietude than a    
union of purses and of labor for the    
purpose  of economizing both1 with a    
view to worldly interests4  #fe  ,in    
#ahbi1 some young ,catholic ,liberals1  
,,mm4 de ,carn1 de ,cazals1  de         
,champagny1 de ,montalembert1 ,foisset  
de ,meaux1 ,henri ,gouraud1  founded a  
periodical1 ,le ,correspondant1 devoted 

to the  reconciliation of ,catholicism  
with the free social institutions  of   
the age4 ,the ,correspondant had been   
suspended in #ahce1  but reappeared in  
#ahdc1 under the editorship of ,m4      
,charles  ,lenormant1 one of those      
friends ,i have lost who retain in my   
memory the place they occupied in my    
life4 ,in conducting this  work1 he kept
 ever in view the principles in which it
 had  originated1 and among other       
positions1 he defended in #ahde1 with   
the frank intrepidity both of a         
,catholic and of a ,liberal1 the  rights
 of those religious associations which  
were at the time the  object of violent 
debate4 ,footnote #g        ,footnote   
#g3 ,des associations religieuses dans  
le      catholicisme2 de leur esprit1 de
 leur histoire et de leur      avenir2  
par ,charles ,lenormant1 de l',institut4
 ,paris3 #ahde4    #ff    ,the cabinet  
abstained from all measures of          
repression1 and left  the new monks     
freely to their chances of success or   

failure4  ,twenty-five years have since 
elapsed2 the ,pre ,lacordaire mounted   
once more1 in his costume as a          
,dominican1 his pulpit in  ,notre-,dame2
 he resuscitated in ,france an order    
forgotten1 or the  object of dread only2
 and to what trouble or embarrassment1  
,i  ask1 to what complaints even1 has   
this resuscitation led8 ,to what        
pretensions of ambition have these monks
 laid claim8 what  turbulent disposition
 have they manifested8 ,they have paced 
meekly along our streets2 they have     
preached eloquently in our  churches2   
they have founded some houses of        
education2 they have  made use of their 
rights as freemen1 without offering in  
any way  to infringe the liberty of any 
other class of citizens4 ,more than  all
 this3 the sincerity of their sentiments
 and language has been  put to the      
proof2 the ,pre ,lacordaire resumed1 as 
a ,dominican1 at  ,paris1 at ,toulouse1 
at ,nancy1 at ,bordeaux1 the conferences
 and  the preaching that had rendered   

him popular as a simple priest2  they   
became1 perhaps1 more liberal even than 
they had been  originally4  #fg  ,when  
the tempest of #ahdh had given birth1 in
 the imaginations of  all men1 to every 
kind of dream1 and had opened to every  
ambition  every career1 the ,pre        
,lacordaire was returned by the popular 
suffrage as ,deputy to the ,constituent 
,assembly4 ,for a moment he  thought a  
new era opening for his ,church--perhaps
 for himself4 ,in  this arena1 upon     
which the passions of party were        
unchained amid  the general darkness    
resting upon society1 he soon discovered
  that the priest and monk of our day   
was not in his proper place2  he        
withdrew from it to resume1 in his      
modest retreat at ,sorze1  his true     
mission as a ,christian teacher4 ,he    
afterward issued from  it1 but for a    
moment only1 to express in the ,french  
,academy his  faith as a ,catholic1 and 
his confidence in the democratic        
principles of modern times4 ,such are   

the peaceable1 such the only  results   
among us1 of the re-establishment of the
 order of the  ,dominicans and of the   
glory of its restorer4    #fh    ,its   
only results8 ,not so2 if the work of   
the ,pre  ,lacordaire did not exercise  
any important influence upon the  laity1
 it was attended with fruitful and      
salutary effects in the  ,church of     
,rome itself4 ,like him1 other priests  
had the courage to  brave the prejudices
 of the age respecting the religious    
orders2  like him1 others refused to    
suffer themselves to be subjugated by   
the alarms felt by most members of their
 ,church at the names of  ,science and  
of ,liberty2 and like him1 they scrupled
 not to devote  themselves to a common  
life and a common rule1 to work         
together1 according to their own        
expressions1 to secure the  triumph of  
,christian truth1 and its triumph by    
means of  ,philosophy and ,science4     
,thus was re-established1 under the     
direction of the pious curate of        

,saint-,roch1 the ,pre ,pttot1  the     
congregation of the ,oratoire--that     
learned and modest society  that gave to
 ,france ,malebranche and ,massillon1   
and of which  ,bossuet said1 two        
centuries ago3 ,the immense love for the
 ,church  of the ,cardinal de ,brulle   
inspired him with the design of  forming
 a company1 to which he desired to give 
no other spirit  than the very spirit of
 the ,church1 no other rule than its    
canons1 no other superiors than its     
bishops1 no other goods than  its       
charity1 no other solemn vows than those
 of baptism and the  priesthood4 444    
#fi  ,there1 to form true priests1 they 
lead them to the fountain of  truth2    
they have always in their hands the     
sacred volume1 to  search there         
unceasingly its literal sense by study1 
its spirit  by prayer1 its depth of     
meaning by retreat from the world1 and  
its end by charity--the termination of  
everything and the  treasure of         
,christianity--',christiani nominis     

thesaurus1' as  ,tertullian terms it4   
,footnote #h        ,footnote #h3       
,bossuet1 ,oraison funbre du pre        
,bourgoing1      delivered in #affb1    
vol4 viii1 p4 #bga4    #gj    ,dating   
its restoration from only thirteen years
 ago1 the new  congregation of the      
,oratoire is still not numerous1 and    
remains  little known2 it is poor1 and  
it desires to remain so2 it has  need of
 extension and of support1 but at the   
very outset of its  new career it proved
 itself faithful to its origin and      
worthy of  the words of ,bossuet4 ,one  
of its founders1 the ,pre ,gratry1 took 
his place at once in the first rank of  
the ,christian apologists1  moralists1  
and writers of the day3 he is a man at  
once animated  and gentle1 full of his  
peculiar ideas and sentiments1 which he 
carries to an enthusiastic height1 but  
without pride and without  jealousy1 and
 ardently propagating them by his books1
 his  lectures1 and his conversation4   
,these are all distinguished by         

eloquent appeals to human sympathies1   
touching even where they do  not        
convince1 and leaving the mind always in
 emotion at the  prospects which they   
open4 ,another member of the new        
,oratoire1  the ,pre ,valvoger1 has     
given a succinct account1 in a learned  
work1 7,introduction historique et      
critique aux livres du ,nouveau         
,testament17 of the ,researches and     
,evidences of ,christianity1 by  the    
principal foreign theologians4  #ga     
,under the strong influence of the      
opinions of its first founders1  and at 
the same time comprehending the mind and
 the requirements  of ,france at the    
present day1 the rising congregation of 
the  ,oratoire does not evade           
examination or discussion2 it respects  
science1 and in the religious truths    
which it teaches1 and its  relations    
with the souls that it summons to       
believe1 it does not  shrink from       
accepting fearlessly the terms and the  
forms of  liberty4    ,in the midst of  

this great movement of men's minds in   
matters of  religion1 what has been done
 since the opening of this century by   
the chiefs of the ,catholic ,church of  
,france1 by their bishops and  by the   
clergy1 called1 by their alliance with  
the ,state and by  their own rights1 to 
assume the education and the ,christian 
direction of the human soul8    ,they   
were at first and especially occupied   
with the real  resuscitation of that    
,christian religion1 now returning to   
,french  society1 to its rank there and 
to its mission1 but returning as  exiles
 return--ill provided1 disorganized1 and
 to a home that  seems no home4  #gb    
,to render back to ,france1 now         
,catholic1 churches for its worship1    
priests for its churches1 seminaries to 
form its priests1 pupils  to people     
those seminaries2 to assure also to the 
edifice thus  rising from its ruins the 
time for its proper establishment and   
consolidation--such1 under the first    
empire1 was the dominant  thought1      

almost the exclusive thought1 of the    
,episcopacy1 of the  clergy instituted  
by the ,concordat4 ,a work great and    
difficult1  for which neither materials 
nor workmen were at hand1 and which     
required for its accomplishment strong  
support and a long period  of repose4   
,the clergy of this epoch have been     
justly reproached  with their uniform   
obsequiousness to the ,emperor          
,napoleon4 ,no  doubt it was a shameful 
spectacle1 in #ahaa1 which those docile 
bishops afforded1 when they assembled in
 council and were never  weary of       
lavishing caresses upon the despot who  
had not only  stripped the chief of     
their ,church1 ,pius ,,vii41 of his     
dominions1  but was then detaining him a
 prisoner at ,savona1 denying his       
natural counselors1 the cardinals1 all  
access to him1 refusing  him even a     
secretary to write his letters1 and     
charging an  officer of the gendarmerie 
to watch by day and by night all his    
movements4  #gc  ,only a single fact    

explains and somewhat excuses the       
pusillanimity of the clergy when        
confronted with this tyranny3  these    
bishops had seen ,christianity          
proscribed1 its churches  closed1       
profaned1 demolished1 its priests hunted
 and massacred1  their flocks left      
without any worship1 any guide1 any     
consolation4 ,the chance of the         
recurrence of such events filled  them  
with horror4 ,who could affirm that     
there was no such chance1  and that the 
reality of the eve was not the          
possibility of the  morrow8 ,with such  
causes of apprehension a good priest    
might feel  his conscience profoundly   
troubled2 and a timid priest might      
regard his weakness as justified4 ,what 
sacrifices were not  permissible1 nay1  
even imperative1 to prevent such        
disasters8    #gd    ,still1 the violent
 measures of ,napoleon did not fail to  
encounter1 sometimes rebukes1 and       
occasionally resistance1 on the  part of
 the clergy2 it was not only that some  

prelates ,footnote  #i in the council1  
with more courage than moderation1      
censured  his conduct toward the ,pope3 
the council itself--forgetting at  last1
 in its anxiety to vindicate the honor  
of the whole body1  its long habit of   
obsequiousness--voted an address to the 
,emperor1 an act of independence which  
occasioned its abrupt  dissolution4     
,footnote #i3 ,among others ,m4         
d',avian1 ,archbishop of ,bordeaux1     
,m4 de ,boulogne1 ,bishop of ,troyes1   
and ,m4 de ,broglie1 ,bishop      of    
,gaud4    ,and of the two ecclesiastics 
to whose counsels1 from just motives  of
 esteem1 ,napoleon showed least         
disinclination to give ear1  one--the   
,abb mery1 ,superior ,general of the    
,congregation of  ,st4 ,sulpice--had    
just previously1 not long before he     
died1  openly1 yet with dignity1        
resisted the ,emperor2 ,footnote #aj the
  other1 ,m4 ,duvoisin1 ,bishop of      
,nantes1 dictated upon his deathbed     
these powerful and affectionate lines3  

,i supplicate the ,emperor  to restore  
the holy ,father to liberty4 ,his       
captivity troubles the  extreme moments 
of my life4 ,on several occasions ,i had
 the honor  to inform the ,emperor of   
the affliction which this captivity is  
causing to the whole of ,christendom1   
and of the inconveniences  which would  
attend its prolongation4 ,the happiness 
of his ,majesty  himself1 ,i believe1   
depends upon the return of his ,holiness
 to  ,rome4       ,footnote #aj3 ,vie de
 ,m4 mery1 suprieur gnral du sminaire   
et de la compagnie de ,saint-,sulpice1  
t4 ii1 pp4 #bcf-cdf4     ,paris3 #ahfb4 
#ge    ,idly does ,despotism excuse its 
arbitrary acts1 as if they  resulted    
from the want of foresight or the       
servility of its  flatterers2 for the   
blindest have their gleams of light1 and
 even  the most timid their intrepid    
moments1 during which they speak  the   
truth1 although they speak it in vain4  
,under the ,restoration1 it was no      
longer fear1 but hope--hope1            

ill-founded1 too--which misled the      
,french clergy1 betrayed them  into the 
commission of many faults1 and checked  
the progress of  roused ,christendom4   
#gf  ,in the then reaction against the  
,revolution1 ecclesiastical  ambition   
had its part2 partisans of the ,crown   
and of ,rome--ardent  ones--some through
 sincere devotion1 others from political
  calculation1 believed it to be        
necessary and possible to restore  to   
the ,catholic clergy a part at least of 
the social position and  of the direct  
authority which they had possessed      
before #aghi4  ,this was evincing a     
strange ignorance of the fundamental    
character of ,french society1 such as it
 has been made by its  history and by   
its great modern ,revolution4 ,french   
society is  essentially and insuperably 
laic2 the separation of temporals  from 
spirituals1 and the empire of the laity 
in public affairs1  are consummated and 
dominant facts1 not to be attacked1 or  
even  menaced1 without occasioning      

throughout the whole framework of       
society an irritation and a disquietude1
 perilous alike for  ,church and for    
,state4 ,nothing in ,france at the      
present moment is  more fatal to the    
influence of religion than the chance1  
or the  appearance even1 of             
ecclesiastical domination4  #gg  ,this  
chance and this appearance were1 under  
the ,restoration1 the  plague of the    
,catholic religion and of the ,french   
clergy--a  plague the grave consequences
 of which are the more to be  deplored  
as it was neither very deep-seated nor  
very formidable4  ,it is a fact too     
little remarked1 that the clergy were   
not then  the principal authors of the  
faults which subsequently both they  and
 religion had such cause to rue4 ,no    
doubt many inadmissible  claims1 many   
unreasonable and offensive requirements1
 many rash  expectations1 proceeded from
 the ranks of the clergy2 but there  was
 in all this more a suggestion of their 
past history1 or an  unmeaning vanity1  

than a real and ardent ambition2 even   
the  clergy felt instinctively that     
political power was not now suited  to  
them1 and that ,france would no longer  
accept at their hands as  ministers even
 a ,cardinal ,richelieu or a ,cardinal  
,mazarin4  #gh  ,at first the           
contra-revolutionary and                
non-ecclesiastical party in  the        
,chamber of #ahae1 and1 afterward1 the  
blind fanatical coterie  of the ,court  
of ,charles the ,tenth1 hurried the     
clergy into their  own vortex1 and      
compromised the cause of religion by    
making its  ministers instruments of    
their influence and auxiliaries in their
  combats4 ,the ecclesiastics had not   
the courage to resist2 in  spite of     
their distaste for the new spirit which 
was abroad1 most  of the bishops and of 
the priesthood1 warned by their         
experience  in the ,revolution1 would   
have preferred to remain out of the     
sphere of politics1 and to confine      
themselves to the functions of  their   

religious mission1 rather than to be    
constantly struggling  against popular  
opinions2 so1 when any opportunity      
presented  itself to show their         
sympathy1 they hastened to embrace it4  
,when1  in #ahbd1 the bill of ,m4 de    
,villle for the conversion of the       
,rentes created a great stir among the  
,bourgeoisie of ,paris1  it was the     
,archbishop of ,paris1 ,m4 de ,qulen1   
who constituted  himself in the ,chamber
 of ,peers the principal organ of the   
,opposition2 and when1 in #ahbh1 the    
movement of public opinion and  of the  
magistracy against the religions        
congregations wrested  from the ,king   
7,charles the ,tenth7 the ,ordonnances  
of the #bast  ,june1 the ,bishop of     
,beauvais1 ,m4 ,feutries1 at that time  
the  ,minister of ,ecclesiastical       
,affairs1 did not hesitate to           
countersign them4  #gi  ,the members of 
the priesthood live in close contact    
with the  people1 and cannot long remain
 in ignorance of the real state of      

their opinions1 or long persist in      
holding them lightly4 ,the  ,french     
clergy1 as a whole1 were more resigned  
to the new state of  society than ,king 
,charles the ,tenth and his intimate    
friends2 the  false ideas and the       
unreasonable political pretensions of   
the  monarch and of the coterie which   
formed his court1 far more than  the    
religious bigotry of the ,church1       
occasioned the great faults  committed  
under the ,restoration4    #hj    ,at   
all epochs and in all parties some man  
is always met with in  whom are centered
 and personified whatever good sense1   
sound  views1 and wise purposes there   
are in the party to which he  belongs4  
,such a man under the ,restoration and  
for the lay  ,legitimists was ,m4 de    
,villle4 ,true to his friends1 he       
nevertheless knew1 or ,i should rather  
say he promptly learned in  public life 
to understand1 what ,france then        
actually was1 and  what qualities1 to be
 successful1 her government should      

possess4  ,if he had had toward his     
party and his king as much independence 
and firmness in action as he had correct
 appreciation in thought1  he might     
perhaps have obtained a more complete   
and more lasting  success4 ,the clergy  
on their side also had at this epoch a  
faithful representative of whatever     
religious or political  sagacity existed
 in the ,french ,church3 it is here to  
the ,abb  ,frayssinous1 ,bishop of      
,hermopolis1 that the honor and the     
merit  belong4 ,his task was far easier 
than that of ,m4 de ,villle1 for  he was
 never put to any trial3 he had no      
struggle to sustain2 he  remained       
naturally1 or kept himself voluntarily1 
out of the arena  of events and of      
parties2 but it was in this precisely   
that he  showed his good sense1 and his 
correct appreciation of the  permanent  
interests and the real dispositions of  
the clergy of  his time4  #ha  ,neither 
as theologian1 nor as orator1 nor as    
statesman was the  ,abb ,frayssinous a  

man of eminence1 or remarkable for power
 of  intellect2 but in the different    
phases of his career1 in his  personal  
conduct1 and in his writings1 he had an 
unerring  instinct of what was just and 
possible1 and showed no common tact  in 
retiring with dignity from untenable    
positions1 and escaping  from questions 
that he could not settle4 ,upon these   
occasions he  would confine himself to  
his mission of a priest and moralist of 
the ,christian religion4 ,from #ahjc to 
#ahbb he held1 suspended1 and  resumed  
in the ,church of ,st4 ,sulpice1 his    
conferences upon  religious subjects2   
remarkable not only by a judicious      
defense  of the great truths of         
,christianity1 but by a continuous1     
although somewhat timorous1 effort to   
place the doctrines of the  ,church in  
harmony with the principles of natural  
justice and of  civil liberty4  #hb  ,he
 was not1 like the ,pre ,lacordaire or  
,m4 de ,montalembert1 a  ,catholic      
,liberal2 he was a priest--moderate and 

equitable1 not  from luke-warmness in   
his faith1 but from respect to legal    
rights  and human sentiments4 ,although 
his conferences had not the  success and
 popularity that distinguished later1 in
 ,notre-,dame1  those of the ,pre       
,lacordaire1 they attracted a numerous  
auditory1  and exercised material       
influence in giving to the awakening of 
,christianity a wider range and a firmer
 basis4 ,footnote #aa        ,footnote  
#aa3 ,the conferences of the ,abb       
,frayssinous at      ,st4 ,sulpice have 
been published under this title3        
,defense du      ,christianisme1 ou     
confrences sur la religion4 #c vols4    
#hvo4      ,paris3 #ahbe4 ,the ,abb     
,frayssinous published also in #ahah a  
work with the following title3 ,les     
vrais principes de      l'glise         
gallicane sur la puissance              
ecclesiastique1 la      ,papaut1 les    
,liberts gallicanes1 la ,promotion des  
vques1      les trois ,concordats1 et   
les ,appels comme d'abus4    #hc    ,in 

his work upon the true principles of the
 ,gallican ,church1 the  ,abb           
,frayssinous manifested the same        
moderate and conciliatory  spirit--not  
always tracing principles to their      
sources1 but never  pushing facts or    
ideas to their extreme consequences2    
while  remaining the faithful servant of
 the ,church he showed himself  also    
rather the friend of ,christian peace   
than the jealous  advocate of           
ecclesiastical power4 ,his mode of life 
was as modest  as his opinions2 he never
 made power his aim1 neither did he ever
  seek for honors1 whether political1   
ecclesiastical1 or academic2  he        
declined them even when within his      
reach4 ,he joined the  ,cabinet in      
#ahbd1 as ,minister of ,ecclesiastical  
,affairs and of  ,public ,instruction2  
he withdrew from it in #ahbh1 when the  
mounting wave of ,liberalism demanded   
that a more vigorous policy  should be  
adopted against the religious           
congregations than the  pupil and orator

 of ,st4 ,sulpice was willing to        
sanction4 ,he  neither had the qualities
 necessary for governing the ,french    
clergy1 nor did he pretend to govern    
them2 but he represented  them1         
nevertheless1 in all their more         
irreproachable and prudent  opinions4   
#hd  ,unfortunately1 mere common sense  
and prudence do not suffice more  in the
 ,church than in the ,state to save     
nations from the  consequences of their 
faults of omission and commission2 for  
this  object1 higher qualities are      
necessary as well as more rude  efforts4
    ,it was one of the first effects of 
the ,revolution in #ahcj1 to  make      
visible to all the injury that the      
faults of their friends1  rather than   
the blows of their adversaries1 had     
inflicted1 under  the ,restoration1 upon
 the clergy1 and through the clergy upon
  religion4 ,the acts of violence which1
 during the revolutionary  crisis from  
#ahcj to #ahcb1 were directed at the    
,churches--the  crosses thrown down1 the

 insulting cries1 and antichristian     
manifestations2 a little later1 the riot
 before the church of ,st4  ,germain    
l',auxerrois1 on the occasion of the    
service celebrated on  the anniversary  
of the death of the ,duke de ,berri--the
  archiepiscopal palace ruined and      
pillaged--the church broken into  and   
closed--the menaces directed at the     
priests--what were all  these deplorable
 acts but the explosion of a popular    
reaction1  provoked by the share a part 
of the clergy had taken in favor of  a  
retrograde policy--of a return to the   
ancient rgime and to  absolutism8  #he  
,violent men profited by this reaction  
to satisfy their impiety  and           
licentiousness1 but they could never    
have excited the  movement or made it   
successful had they hoisted their own   
banner2  there must be some little truth
 before a populace will suffer  itself  
to be so misled2 and the crowd who in   
,february1 #ahca1 so  furiously rose in 
insurrection before ,st4 ,germain       

l',auxerrois1  would have paused in     
astonishment had it perceived that what 
it  was so brutally attacking and       
destroying was--not the ancient  rgime1 
not absolutism--but religion and        
liberty4    ,to put an end to this      
confusion1 full at once of deception and
 of  peril1 but a single thing was      
required3 to banish from the  ,church1  
and from its relations with the ,state1 
worldly ambition  and influences1 and to
 replace them by influences of a moral  
description2 instead of a political     
banner1 they should have only  hoisted  
the banner of religious faith and       
liberty of conscience4  #hf  ,that was  
the great work1 or1 to use a better     
expression1 the  great progress1 which  
from #ahcj to #ahdh was aimed at and    
accomplished4    ,the efforts made and  
the debates instituted at this epoch by 
the  most eminent champions of the      
,church are remarkable1 because they  no
 longer proposed to restore any fragment
 of its ancient power1  but to insure to

 it its place and its share in the new  
public  institutions of liberty4 ,the   
little militant party of ,catholic      
,liberals quitted the arena of the      
ancient political regime1 and  took up  
their position on that of the new       
constitution1 claiming  for the ,church1
 for its ministers1 and for its faithful
 subjects1  the exercise of all the     
rights and the free development of all  
the power that1 under the constitution1 
either belonged1 or ought  to belong1 to
 all citizens4  #hg  ,they made no      
reservation of opinion1 no effort more  
or less  covert1 in furtherance of any  
pretensions of bygone times1  whether   
dynastic1 aristocratic1 or theocratic2  
the frank  acceptance of the present age
 and actual society1 provided that      
,christian faith1 ,christian morals1 and
 ,christian institutions1  might have   
free room to work2 such was1 in the     
midst of all the  factions and political
 plottings of this period1 the constant 
attitude of the ,catholic ,liberal      

party1 that is1 of ,m4 de               
,montalembert1 the ,pre ,lacordaire1 ,m4
 ,charles ,lenormant1 ,frederic         
,ozanam1 and of the friends in small    
number grouped around them4    ,whoever 
feels astonished that their number was  
so small1 shows  little acquaintance    
with our country or our times4 ,the     
enterprise  which they undertook was    
singularly bold and difficult2 to drag  
,france out of its rut of incredulity   
and irreligion1 and at the  same time to
 extricate ,catholicism from its rut of 
impolicy1 its  alliance with absolutism1
 its timorous immobility in the presence
  of liberty2 to proclaim and           
simultaneously to defend1 in            
spirituals1 the ,christian faith1 and1  
in temporals1 the regime of  liberty4   
#hh  ,certainly in ,france1 and in the  
#aith century1 the devotion of men  to  
such a task supposes an enthusiasm and  
an energy of conviction  of which few   
are capable2 and if the new ,christian  
,liberals  flattered themselves that    

success would be easy1 events must soon 
have disabused them4 ,attacked with     
ardor by the opponents of all  religion1
 they were also assailed by ,catholics  
devoted to the  ancient rgime of the    
,church1 and alarmed at the new system  
pressed upon their acceptance4 ,the     
former of these two attacks  caused the 
,catholic ,liberals neither surprise nor
 embarrassment2  but the latter brought 
with it bitter annoyance and            
disappointment1 for they found directly 
opposed to them members  of their own   
faith4 ,soon they were to have as their 
adversary a  man who1 by his vigorous   
talents--employed with equal violence   
against the incredulous of all shades of
 opinions1 and against  the ,catholic   
,liberals--too exercised an influence   
upon a great  number of ,catholics1     
whether of the laity or priesthood1 and 
indisposed them to any reconciliation   
with that modern society  which he      
irritated still more against them4  #hi 
,i knew ,m4 ,veuillot at the            

commencement of his literary career1    
when he accompanied ,general ,bugeaud to
 the seat of his government  in         
,algeria4 ,at this epoch he addressed to
 me two memorials upon  the subject of  
the moral condition of the colony and of
 the army4  ,they struck me by their    
decided tone1 and the                   
straightforwardness  and candor with    
which he expressed sentiments already   
distinguished by devotion4 ,already he  
regarded the religion of  his own       
,church1 and of it alone1 as the sure   
basis of  human morality and social     
order2 but he had not yet proclaimed as 
his doctrine the deplorable error that  
,faith enjoins war upon  ,liberty4 ,he  
merited a better understanding of the   
cause of  ,christianity2 he merited to  
be a better advocate of the ,church at  
,rome than an advocate who1 although one
 of its most devoted  defenders1 has yet
 most injured the cause that he sought  
to  serve4    #ij    ,these political   
revolutions and these domestic          

dissensions left1  in the period that   
ensued after #ahcj1 the ,catholic       
,church in a  difficult situation1 but  
in one salutary for it and fruitful of  
consequences4 ,the clergy no longer     
counted on the favor of  ,government1   
but they had at the same time to fear   
from it neither  violence nor hostility4
 ,left to themselves1 they felt the     
necessity of independent existence1 and 
saw that they must  replace credit with 
the authorities by influence with the   
country2 and this influence they were   
likely to obtain4 ,if they  did not     
possess all the privileges which they   
coveted1 they had  enough to enable them
 every day to conquer additional powers1
  supposing them willing and sagacious  
enough to take the trouble  and employ  
the right means4  #ia  ,in my opinion1  
they did not do at this epoch1 in the   
interest of  religion and of the        
,church1 all that their position        
permitted1 or  all that their mission   
required at their hands2 but temporal or

  spiritual governors1 layman or        
priests1 who ever did1 ,i do not  say   
what he ought1 but what he could have   
done8 ,the greater part  of the bishops 
and of the priests were vacillating and 
timorous2  the problem before them went 
beyond their opinions1 and the  events  
beyond their strength2 the impetuous    
,liberalism of ,m4 de  ,montalembert and
 of his friends disquieted them2 they   
saw in him  rather a valiant champion   
than a representative they could rely   
upon4 ,among those who joined with him  
in the struggle for the  freedom of     
instruction1 there were some who showed1
 with  reference to the ,government of  
#ahcj and the ,university1 little       
fairness or prudence3 these injured the 
cause rather than served  it4 ,whether  
from submission to orders from ,rome1 or
 from their  natural impulse1 the       
clergy1 taken as a whole1 showed little 
taste for liberty2 even while they      
demanded it1 they were rather  inclined 
to immobility than progress4  #ib  ,but 

whatever the fears and hesitations of   
individuals1 when the  general current  
of ideas and of popular opinions once   
penetrates  to the classes least        
disposed to entertain them1 it never    
fails1  whether they avow it1 or whether
 they even know it1 to swell and  to    
advance4 ,around and among the clergy   
themselves the spirit of  progress and  
of liberty gained ground1 although by   
insensible  degrees4 ,here and there    
individual priests1 like the ,abb       
,bautain1 formerly a student with ,m4   
,jouffroy at the cole  ,normale1 and    
,professor of ,philosophy in the        
,faculty of ,letters at  ,strasbourg1   
propagated in the ,church the liberal   
movement1  forming for it in different  
places new centers of action4 ,the      
spirit which had awakened ,christianity 
manifested itself1 too1 in  our great   
lay establishments for the higher course
 of  instruction2 not always without    
check1 but still with a success  the    
more conspicuous the more it was        

contested4  #ic  ,in #ahdf1 some        
disturbances1 occasioned by a           
thoughtless and  puerile intolerance1   
made by ,m4 ,lenormant1 at that time my 
substitute 7supplant7 in the chair of   
,modern ,history at the  ,faculty of    
,letters1 determine to withdraw from the
 ,sorbonne1  where he had made a        
courageous avowal of his faith2 but ,m4 
,ozanam1 the worthy successor to the    
chair of ,m4 ,fauriel1  maintained in   
the same place the same principles with 
a more  successful perseverance1 and    
with such a depth of conviction and     
such a warmth of emotion that sometimes 
he carried the feelings  of his auditors
 away with him1 and sometimes commanded 
respectful  attention even from those   
most confirmed in their incredulity4    
,and while the spirit of ,christianity  
was thus manifesting itself  in the free
 ,faculty of ,letters1 the teaching of  
the ,faculty of  ,theology attested1    
under that same roof1 a notable progress
 in  knowledge and in ,liberalism4 ,the 

,abb ,maret1 in his lectures on  the    
,dogmas of ,religion1 the ,abb ,frre1 in
 his discourses on the  ,scriptures2 the
 ,abb ,dupanloup and the ,abb ,gerbet1  
in their  lectures on ,sacred           
,eloquence1 displayed not only a firm   
and  active faith1 but views upon       
philosophy1 history1 and literature1    
necessarily implying an acquaintance    
with the works of human  science1 and an
 appreciation of the rights of liberty4 
#id  ,ecclesiastics and laymen1 not     
members of the scientific               
establishments of the ,state1 published1
 under the name of the  ,universit      
,catholique1 a series of courses in     
which philosophy1  history1 natural     
sciences1 archaeology1 and the arts were
  explained and taught in harmony with  
the dogmas and sentiments of  religious 
men4 ,and even far from ,paris1 in      
several great  episcopal seminaries1    
classical and theological studies took a
  wider range1 and attained a scientific
 value that they had not  for a long    

time possessed4    ,faith1 if it hath   
not works1 is dead1 being alone1 says   
the  ,apostle ,st4 ,james4 ,christianity
 has borne abundant fruits since  its   
awakening at the commencement of this   
century4 ,i have before  me the ,manual 
des uvres et institutions de charit de  
,paris1  published in #ahfb1 by order of
 the archbishop1 ,m4 ,sibour4  #ie      
,independently of the establishments    
under the direction of  ,government1 ,i 
find in it #ajg charitable institutions 
or  associations1 of every kind1        
originated and supported by zealous     
,christians in the interval between     
#ahbj and #ahdh4 ,of these ,i will  only
 cite some of the principal ones1 to    
establish their  character and their    
progress4 ,in the year #ahbb the idea   
struck  two poor servants at ,lyons to  
make the rounds of their parish and     
collect weekly one sou from each person1
 in aid of the conversion  of infidels4 
,this was the origin of the association 
called  l'uvre de la propagation de la  

,foi1 now under the direction of  two   
councils1 composed of members of the    
clergy and of the laity1  having their  
sittings1 one at ,lyons1 the other at   
,paris4 ,the  report published by this  
association in ,june1 #ahbd1 showed for 
the two years1 #ahbc and #ahbd1 a       
receipt of #hj1jjj fr41  7#cbjjl47 ,this
 association received in #ahfd the sum  
of  #e1jij1jda fr4 #dh cent41           
7#bjc1fjal4 #acs4  #c;d417 in which     
amount ,france alone figures for        
#c1dgi1bij  fr4 #fe cent41 7#aci1agal4  
#abs4 #f;d417 and it  divided #d1feh1fgb
 fr4 #ef cent4 7#ahf1cdfl4 #ahs4  #f;d47
 among five hundred dioceses1 and       
appropriated those  funds to the support
 of the ,catholic missionaries in the   
five  parts of the world4  #if  ,it     
counted from the year #aheb1 #a1ejj1jjj 
subscribers1 and it  distributed        
#agj1jjj copies of its ,annals1         
7,annales de  propagation de la ,foi17  
which form a sequel to the ,lettres     
dificantes1 and keep the ,christian     

world informed of their  doings4 ,in    
,may1 #ahcc1 eight young men1 at the    
suggestion of  ,frederic ,ozanam1       
wishing1 said the ,per ,lacordaire1 to  
give  one more proof of what            
,christianity can effect in behalf of   
the  poor1 began to ascend to those     
upper stories which were the  hidden    
haunts of the misery of their quarter4  
,men saw youths in  the flower of their 
age and fresh from school regularly     
visiting1  without any feeling of       
repulsion1 the most abject habitations1 
and conveying to their unknown and      
suffering tenants a passing  vision of  
charity4  #ig  ,twenty years later1 in  
#ahec1 ,ozanam said at ,florence1 when  
on his  death-bed3 ,instead of eight    
only1 at ,paris alone we are two        
thousand strong1 and we visit five      
thousand families1 that is to  say1     
about twenty thousand individuals1 or a 
quarter of the poor  contained in that  
great city4 ,the conferences in ,france 
alone  number five hundred1 and we have 

them too in ,england1 in ,spain1        
,belgium1 ,america1 and even in         
,jerusalem4 ,nine years afterward1  in  
#ahfb1 when the ,government1 listening  
to mistaken counsels1  suppressed the   
,general ,council of the ,conferences of
 ,st4 ,vincent  de ,paul1 and by doing  
so destroyed the central bond that kept 
the  society together1 the latter       
counted more than #cjjj local           
conferences2 it consisted of about      
#cj1jjj members1 who visited in  their  
homes more than #ajj1jjj indigent       
families1 and had already  introduced   
into the greater part of the principal  
cities a system  which exercised a      
control over the interests of           
apprentices and  of prisoners4  #ih     
,during the course of the same epoch the
 ,sisters of ,charity1 whose  number1 a 
century after their foundation by ,st4  
,vincent de ,paul1  had not exceeded    
#aejj1 already reached #ah1jjj1 of whom 
#af1jjj  were ,frenchwomen2 and at this 
moment they are plying throughout  the  

world their works of piety and charity4 
,another society1 ,les  petites surs des
 pauvres1 was founded in #ahde1 in      
imitation of  ,jeanne ,jugan1 a poor    
servant1 a native of ,brittany1 who had 
been  just crowned by the ,french       
,academy4 ,this society receives and    
succors in their establishment nearly   
#bj1jjj aged men4 ,another  association1
 ,les ,frres de la doctrine ,chrtienne1 
which had in  the year #ahdd1 #dfh      
schools1 maintains this year 7#ahfe7    
#ibj1 and  the number of the pupils has 
increased from #aih1ahh to #cce1chb4    
,state and ecclesiastical documents     
attest1 that by concurring  causes of   
encouragement on the part of the ,state1
 of local  subventions and of private   
donations1 ten thousand churches have   
been1 during the last fifty years1      
built1 rebuilt1 or suitably  adapted for
 the performance of the services of the 
,church of  ,rome4  #ii  ,i might cite  
many similar facts4 ,in all the         
directions and under  all the forms in  

which piety and charity manifest        
themselves1  faith and liberty1 and     
faith and science have1 since the       
awakening of ,christianity and since the
 cause of religion has  been separated  
from politics1 drawn nearer to one      
another1 and  faith and its             
manifestation by charity have made a    
simultaneous  advance and a like        
progress4    ,had the ,government of    
#ahcj remained standing2 had ,state and 
,church each retained reciprocally the  
same situation and the same  attitude1  
the facts to which ,i have just alluded 
might have long  remained unobserved4   
,society does not1 any more than        
individuals1  render an account to      
itself of the intimate relations of its 
existence1 or of the transformations to 
which these give rise2  but ,providence 
has its moments when it suddenly        
lightens up the  stage of the world and 
reveals to all actors and spectators the
  import and the effect of what is      
passing around them4  #ajj  ,the        

,revolution of #ahdh threw upon the     
progress of the ,catholic  ,church and  
its relations with ,french society since
 #ahcj the clear  light of such a       
revelation4    ,in this sudden          
subversion of all things1 in the        
presence of a  republic extemporized    
upon the ruins of three monarchies--the 
monarchy of glory1 the monarchy of      
tradition1 and the monarchy of  public  
opinion--in the midst of this nation1   
suddenly insurgent  and beyond either   
its aim or expectation sovereign1 what  
became  of the ,church8 ,what did its   
ministers8 ,if some of them             
participated in the current dreams1     
certainly the majority were  full of    
anguish and alarm2 they did not combat  
the new  institutions2 they did not     
pretend to exercise any influence for   
or against any party2 they sought only  
to purify the ,republic by  securing in 
it a place for ,religion2 they did not  
stand aloof  from the people2 they      
showed themselves1 in its great         

assemblages  and in its ftes1 planting  
the cross of ,jesus by the side of the  
tree of liberty4  #aja  ,never did the  
,church stand so aloof from politics2   
never was she  more modest in her       
attitude2 never less exacting--,i will  
not say  more obsequious1 as far as the 
,government or the public was           
concerned2 never more absorbed with her 
mission of piety and  morality1 whatever
 the ,government of ,france might be1   
and whoever  her masters4    ,and what  
in their turn was the conduct of the    
people toward the  ,church8 ,i do not   
mean to say that they confided in her1  
or showed  her much affection4 ,the     
popular movement in #ahdh was no doubt  
far  from being religious2 and the      
ideas1 acts1 and language which         
proceeded from it every instant1 were   
well calculated to disturb  and sadden  
the hearts of ,christians2 but religion 
and its  ministers were in no respect   
ill treated1 insulted1 or  persecuted2  
their forms of worship were not         

interrupted3 when  they showed          
themselves out of doors1 they were      
received with  respect2 and at the sight
 of a virtuous archbishop mortally      
wounded in the streets1 in the very     
endeavor to appease the civil  war by   
the exhibition of the cross1 a painful  
stupor seized the  people2 a pang of    
remorse and of shame traversed those    
masses of  disbelievers at the sight of 
a martyr4  #ajb  ,it was clear that in  
the interval between #ahcj and #ahdh1   
although  the ,christian ,church had not
 aroused in the people either faith  or 
sympathy1 that ,church had at least won 
liberty and peace4 ,when  the           
revolutionary fever had subsided1 when  
the ,republic had given  itself a chief1
 and was waiting for a master1 it was no
 longer in  the street1 by popular      
impressions1 but in the ,assemblies1 and
 by  the constituted authorities1 that  
the great questions of the day  were put
 and were solved4 ,there1 too1 the      
progress1 which the  ,catholic ,church  

had made1 became immediately evident1   
and its  gains were ascertained4 ,it    
counted at this moment among its most   
zealous servants a man new to public    
affairs1 who had entered  political life
 as an adherent of the ,legitimist      
,opposition to the  ,monarchy of #ahcj1 
a man who accepted the ,republic1 and   
had  acquired in a few days a just      
renown by his courageous resistance  to 
anarchy4  #ajc  ,by a choice1 fortunate 
but at the same time unforeseen1 ,m4 de 
,falloux became the ,minister of ,public
 ,instruction and of ,worship  in the   
first cabinet formed by the ,prince     
,president of the  ,republic4 ,the new  
minister immediately devoted himself to 
the  important measure that the         
,catholic ,church had had in view ever  
since the year #ahcj1 that is1 to the   
complete establishment1  under the      
sanction of the law1 of the principle of
 liberty of  instruction4 ,he proceeded 
in his task at once with intelligence   
and boldness4 ,to prepare his project of

 law1 he appointed a  numerous          
commission1 and summoned to it the most 
eminent men1 who  represented views and 
interests the most diverse2 laymen and  
ecclesiastics1 ,romanists1 ,protestants 
and philosophers1  ,republicans1        
,legitimists1 ,orleanists and           
,bonapartists1 ,m4 ,thiers  and the ,abb
 ,dupanloup1 ,m4 ,cousin and ,m4 de     
,montalembert1 ,m4  ,saint ,marc        
,girardin and ,m4 ,cochin1 ,m4 ,cuvier  
and the ,abb ,sibour4  ,footnote #ab    
,footnote #ab3 ,the following is a      
complete list of the members      of the
 ,commission1 as given in the ,moniteur 
of the #bb;d      ,june1 #ahdi3 ,m4     
,thiers1 president2 ,,mm4 ,cousin1 ,st4 
,marc      ,girardin1 ,dubois1 the ,abb 
,dupanloup1 ,peupin1 ,janvier1          
,laurentie1 ,freslon1 ,ballaguet1 de    
,montalembert1 ,fresneau1      ,poulain 
de ,bossay1 ,cuvier1 ,michel1 ,armand de
 ,melun1 ,henri de      ,riancey1       
,cochin1 the ,abb ,sibour1              
,roux-,lavergne1 de                     

,montreuil-,housset1 and ,alexis        
,chevalier1 secretary4    #ajd    ,m4   
,thiers was the president of this       
commission1 which sat during  five      
months4 ,it discussed every question    
respecting the  organization of public  
instruction with a passionate ardor1    
and1  at the same time1 with an earnest 
and sincere desire to  conciliate1 by   
their resolutions1 all opinions4        
,according to the  character of the     
times and the state of public sentiment1
  critical and perilous situations      
precipitate men sometimes to the        
commission of insane acts of violence1  
and sometimes keep them  within the line
 of fairness and prudence4 ,the project 
of law  which issued from the commission
 of ,m4 de ,falloux had the merit  of   
prudence4  #aje  ,in making mutual      
concessions1 the representatives of the 
different systems took good care to     
protest that they did not  renounce     
their peculiar principles--a language   
which made  sometimes their resolutions 

have the air of a superficial and       
incoherent compromise2 but men could1   
nevertheless1 observe how  conspicuous  
that project was for its large and      
practical  character1 and its respect   
for different rights2 and they could    
also see how the ,state1 the ,church1   
and private establishments  were left   
free to compete in matters of public    
instruction4 ,when  this project was    
discussed in the ,legislative ,assembly1
 ,m4 de  ,falloux was no longer         
minister2 but the impulse had been      
given1  and his measure was out of      
danger2 his successor1 ,m4 de ,parien1  
too1 gave it the support which it       
deserved2 and after a  discussion which 
occupied thirty-seven sittings1 the     
,assembly1 by  a strong majority1 passed
 the law1 without introducing any       
important modification4 ,the ,liberty of
 ,instruction was founded4    #ajf      
,fifteen years have passed1 and it      
subsists4 ,the ,state1 the  ,church1    
private institutions founded by laymen  

or by  ecclesiastics1 have competed     
actively during all that period4        
,religious congregations1 ,lazarists1   
,dominicans1 ,oratorians1  ,jesuits1    
have in this struggle displayed all the 
enthusiasm of  faith1 all the ardor of  
reciprocal rivalry4 ,the ,jesuits1 since
  the year #ahej1 have opened twenty    
colleges for secondary  instruction1 and
 have founded at ,paris1 for courses of 
study  preparatory to the special       
schools1 an establishment whose         
successes have attracted the attention  
of the government and of  the public2   
for it sends every year to the ,military
 ,schools1 the  ,polytechnic1 ,naval1 or
 ,central1 an extraordinary number of   
successful candidates1 who have passed  
with honor1 although the  competition   
has been extensive and the examinations 
are severe4  #ajg  ,a great school1     
founded by the ,archbishop of ,paris for
 the higher  branches of ecclesiastical 
study in the ancient house of the       
,carmelites1 has formed priests who1 in 

the public examinations  and theses1    
have proved themselves capable of taking
 rank by the  side of the best pupils of
 the lay establishment of the cole      
,normale ,suprieure4 ,everywhere the    
,university has encountered  numerous   
and ardent rivals2 and it has been at   
the same time in  its own interior a    
prey to painful trials4 ,under the      
pretext of  an interest for studies of a
 scientific and practical nature1       
classical and philosophical studies have
 been displaced and  depreciated4 ,at   
the very moment that the ,university was
 losing  its privileges beyond1 it saw  
its principles and its organization     
shaken inside its walls4    ,faithful to
 her convictions and traditions1 even   
while accepting  the experiments and the
 struggles that were forced upon her1   
the  ,university has surmounted perils  
from within and rivalries from  without2
 on the one side1 little by little1 it  
has returned to  its system of a large  
and solid teaching of the classics2 on  

the  other1 the level of the studies in 
its principal establishments  has been  
raised1 and the number of its pupils has
 been ever on  the increase4  #ajh  ,the
 ,lyces counted 7in #ahej7 #ai1cjj2 they
 have now 7#ahfe7 more  than #cj1jjj    
pupils4 ,the ,state has thrown open the 
career of  instruction to the ,church1  
and has at the same time redoubled its  
own solicitude and success4 ,liberty of 
instruction has calmed  both the        
anxieties of the religious party that   
made them demand  it1 and those         
anxieties of the laity which that       
liberty had  inspired4 ,it has given    
peace to the ,state and to the ,church1 
at  the same time that it has excited   
their emulation and stimulated  their   
progress4    ,an incident which made    
some noise at the time has1 under the   
new  regime1 shown the force of the     
,liberal spirit1 and proved that1  when 
needed1 it would have unforeseen        
defenders4  #aji  ,under the influence  
of a blind zeal1 a pious ecclesiastic1  

the  ,abb ,graume1 demanded by what     
right the literature of pagan  antiquity
 occupied the place it did in public    
teaching2 denounced  it as the devouring
 canker of modern societies2 and        
insisted  that the ,christian classics  
should replace in our schools the       
,greek and ,latin classics4 ,what was   
this but to reject one of the  great    
cradles of modern civilization2 to      
condemn the renaissance  of literature  
in the fifteenth century1 as well as the
 religious  reform in the sixteenth     
century2 and to close to the minds of   
rising generations of ,christians the   
general history of the  world6 ,this    
attack upon the system of public        
instruction which  had been in vigor    
during the last four centuries in all   
the  ,states of ,christendom1 met from a
 part of the ,romanists with a          
sympathetic reception3 bishops1 eminent 
for learning1 thanked its  author2 ,m4  
,veuillot constituted himself his       
champion4 ,but in the  ,catholic ,church

 itself1 as well as in the ,university1 
the fire of  the defense silenced that  
of the attack2 ecclesiastics1 as        
eminent by their piety as by their      
science1 the ,bishop of ,orleans  at    
their head1 proclaimed aloud their      
sympathy for the  comprehensive scheme  
and the liberal studies which embrace   
all  the fair works of man's            
intelligence4  #aaj  ,the ,jesuits on   
this occasion set an example of broad   
views and  common sense2 they introduced
 no modification into the programmes  of
 their colleges2 the ,pres ,cahoux and  
,daniel demonstrated their  propriety1  
nay1 their necessity2 and the literature
 of the ,greeks  and of the ,romans has 
preserved in the education of           
,christians  the place which it gained  
in their history by the right of genius 
and by the splendor of its productions4 
,scarcely had this controversy on a     
literary and moral subject  been        
settled1 when questions of far more     
gravity were raised1 and  more          

profoundly agitated ,christian society4 
,christians found  themselves attacked  
simultaneously upon scientific and upon 
political grounds4 ,men denied to the   
,christian ,faith its  reasonableness   
and its vital sources--to the ,church of
 ,rome its  traditional and historical  
rgime1 and the temporal power of its    
chief4    #aaa    ,two things strike me 
in this double attack--on the one hand  
its  timidity1 yet gravity2 on the      
other1 the powerful resistance  which it
 encounters4 ,nothing is less novel than
 a denial of the  supernatural character
 of ,christianity1 and of its primitive 
facts1 of its miracles1 of the divinity 
of its founder4 ,the  eighteenth century
 carried on this war in a far more      
violent1  rude1 and iniquitous spirit   
than the nineteenth century has done4   
,m4 ,renan1 in the attempt to dethrone  
,jesus1 has at least treated  him with  
admiration and respect2 not from        
calculation1 ,i feel  assured1 but from 
the natural tone of his mind4 ,in our   

time1 men  have instincts and tastes1 at
 once inconsequent and prudent2 at  the 
very time when they engage in a deadly  
struggle they affect  to carry thither  
the cool impartiality of spectators2    
they  flatter themselves that they unite
 the acumen of the critic to  the       
feeling of the poet4 ,the skeptic shows 
no disinclination to  play the mystic2  
and the erudite man strives to cover    
with the  vail of fancy the ruin that he
 makes4  #aab  ,hume was a more stubborn
 skeptic1 and ,voltaire an enemy more   
daring4 ,if ,i pass from philosophy to  
politics1 and from books to  events1 ,i 
observe the war undergoing a similar    
transformation4  ,what a contrast       
between the attacks of the ,directory   
and the  ,emperor ,napoleon the ,first  
upon the ,papacy1 and the circumspect   
and hesitating treatment of which1 in   
spite of the blows that it  receives1   
the ,papacy is in these days the object8
 ,are we to  conclude that the general  
course of events has changed1 and that  

the flood1 which for a century whirled  
,europe along1 is arrested  and         
subsiding8 ,certainly not3 there are    
abundant facts to prove  the contrary4  
,whether regarded as a religious or a   
political  question1 whether considered 
as affecting opinions or interests1  the
 contest between authority and liberty1 
between faith and  incredulity1 is      
carried on more earnestly and more      
systematically  now than ever3          
principles on each side are pushed to   
their  extreme consequences1 and        
contrasted in a manner never before the 
case4  #aac  ,but experience imposes a  
restraint upon men even where it does   
not change them4 ,in the years of       
internal order which the ,empire        
insured1 and in the years of liberty to 
which the constitutional  ,monarchy gave
 the sanction of its laws1 the different
 parties  learned to appreciate the     
obstacles with which they had to        
contend1 and to measure their own       
strength and that of their  opponents3  

they now know that everything is not    
possible to them2  and necessity has    
inculcated a certain amount of equity   
and good  sense4 ,the experience of the 
past1 as well as that of each day1      
convinces them of their inability to    
insure a complete success to  their     
systems and their designs4 ,its         
adversaries thought  ,christianity      
expiring2 but they soon saw that it was 
still full  of life3 while they express 
their surprise and persevere in their   
warfare1 they admit its practical       
influence1 render homage to its  moral  
value1 and strive1 although they contest
 its rights1 to  appropriate to         
themselves the inheritance of its       
blessings4  #aad  ,the wind has often   
blown from the right quarter for        
,catholic  ,absolutists during this     
century2 they have enjoyed the favor of 
more than one master1 and more than once
 they have requited him  by devoted     
services4 ,more than once1 also1 they   
have obtained  from the supreme head of 

their ,church official declarations1    
which have been used by them against the
 ,catholic ,liberals4 ,the              
,absolutists1 nevertheless1 have not    
succeeded in changing the  tendency of  
,christian societies2 they have arrested
 the course  neither of ideas nor       
events2 their defeats have cost them    
dearer  than their victories were worth2
 and in spite of the obstinate          
infatuation of parties1 ,i doubt whether
 they themselves believe  in the        
progress of their cause4 ,and how often 
has the ,papacy  itself in our days been
 insulted and despoiled8 ,has it not    
even  been vanquished and expelled8     
#aae  ,still1 in spite of what it has   
suffered1 sometimes from  revolutions1  
sometimes from arbitrary power1 it has  
outlived not  only the triumphs of its  
enemies1 but its own impolitic measures3
  and at this day1 assailed by          
freethinkers in spirituals1 by          
ambitious neighbors in temporals1       
menaced with abandonment even  by its   

protectors1 it is more energetically    
defended and  efficaciously supported   
than it ever was at the commencement of 
this century in its reverses4 ,pius     
,,vii4 never received such  pecuniary   
contributions as have been forwarded to 
,pius ,,ix4 in his  necessities2 and if 
the ,french bishops were now summoned to
 a  council1 their conduct would1 beyond
 doubt1 be more dignified and  more     
influential than was that of their      
predecessors in #ahaa4    ,why such     
changes in a situation itself in effect 
unchanged8  ,whence these hesitating    
measures1 this embarrassed attitude of  
the adversaries of the ,christian faith 
and of the ,christian  ,church8 ,what   
cause at the same time gives such       
boldness and even  success to their     
defenders8    #aaf    ,each age has its 
own peculiar and characteristic mission1
 and one  from which it cannot escape2  
every human being has his share in  it1 
whether he knows it or not4 ,as a       
consequence of the truths  and the      

errors1 of the good and evil1 of the    
triumphs and  reverses of the preceding 
centuries1 the nineteenth century has   
before it a special task1 which will    
employ all its energies1 and  which will
 also1 ,i hope1 constitute its glory4   
,it has both in the  ,state and in the  
,church found the two supreme forces    
that preside  over man's life1 and over 
that of society1 ,authority and         
,liberty1  in violent conflict1 in turn 
intoxicated with victory1 or            
vanquished1 ruined4 ,it is the mission  
of the nineteenth century  to make them 
live together1 and live in peace2 or at 
least in an  antagonism entailing upon  
neither any mortal danger4 ,the         
recognition of1 and respect for1        
authority2 the acceptance and  guarantee
 of freedom2 these are the imperative   
necessities which  our age is called    
upon to feel and to satisfy1 both in    
,state and  ,church4  #aag  ,nor does   
this imply1 as is often pretended1 any  
inconsistency or  any compromise of     

principle or any policy of expedients2  
it is  not by inconsistency that great  
questions are settled1 it is not  by    
expedients that we content the cravings 
of men's souls1 or  calm the anxieties  
of human society2 for mankind yields    
genuine  submission and feels real      
confidence only where it believes in    
the existence of truth and justice4 ,the
 recognition1 veneration1  and guarantee
 of the different rights which co-exist 
naturally  and necessarily in human     
societies--of the rights1 both of       
individuals and of the ,state--of the   
rights of religious society  and of     
civil society--of the rights of little  
local societies as  well as of the grand
 general society--of the rights of      
conscience  as well as of tradition--of 
the rights of the future as well as  of 
those of the past--these are the        
dominant principles of which  the       
nineteenth century has to insure the    
triumph4  #aah  ,triumphs assured1 if   
,liberals and ,christians are both of   

them  determined to accomplish it6      
,notwithstanding all the violent        
emotions of party1 and of all our       
differences on intellectual and  social 
subjects1 the consciousness of this     
situation is ever  before our minds2 and
 whether we admit it or not1 the        
alliance of  the liberal movement with  
the movement of awakened ,christianity1 
is the grand measure and the grand hope 
of the day4    ,a ,catholic priest1 now 
a bishop1 inquiring the origin of the   
actual disputes of religion1 and their  
probable issue1 expresses  himself as   
follows3--,free institutions1 freedom of
 conscience1  political liberty1 civil  
liberty1 individual liberty1 liberty of 
families1 of education1 and of opinions1
 equality before the  laws1 the equal   
division of imposts and of public       
charges1 these  are all points upon     
which we make no difficulty2 we accept  
them  frankly2 we appeal to them on     
solemn occasions of public  discussion2 
we accept1 we invoke the principles and 

the liberties  proclaimed in #aghi2 even
 those who combat those principles and  
those liberties admit that liberty of   
religion and free education  have become
 acknowledged1 self-evident truths 7des 
verits de  bon sens74 ,footnote #ac     
,footnote #ac3 ,de la ,pacification     
religieuse4 ,by the ,abb                
,dupanloup1 pp4 #bfc1 #bid1 #cjf4       
,paris1 #ahde4    #aai    ,this         
,catholic1 this bishop1 is no timorous  
priest1 disposed to  make every         
sacrifice for the purpose of            
conciliation4 ,it is the  same priest1  
who1 from the first attack made upon the
  constitution of the ,catholic ,church1
 has always distinguished  himself by   
the warmth and ability with which he has
 defended it4  ,the ,papacy1 its rights1
 its temporal independence and spiritual
  sovereignty never had a champion more 
resolute1 more opposed to  weak         
concessions or fallacious compromises1  
more constantly  intrepid in the breach 
than the ,bishop of ,orleans4    #abj   

,when the contest was warmest1 the ,pope
 7,pius ,,ix47 published his            
,encyclical of the #hth of ,december1   
#ahfd4 ,exempt from every  feeling of   
prejudice and hostility1 and having no  
connection or  relation with the ,papacy
 to make me pause1 ,i feel no hesitation
  in saying what ,i think of this       
document1 at once the occasion and  the 
pretext for such a stir4 ,in my opinion 
the error was a grave  one4 ,regarded as
 doctrine1 the ,encyclical was dignified
 and yet  embarrassed1 positive and yet 
evasive2 it confounded in the same      
sweeping condemnation salutary truths   
and pernicious errors1 the  principles  
of liberty and the maxims of            
licentiousness2 it made  an effort to   
maintain1 in point of right1 the ancient
 traditions  and pretensions of ,rome1  
without avowing in point of fact that   
the ideas and potent influences of      
modern civilization were the  objects of
 its declared and unceasing hostility4  
,in a system like  that of the present  

day--a system of publicity and freedom  
of  discussion--this manner of          
proceeding1 its inconsistencies1 its    
reticence1 its obscurities1 whether     
arising from instinct or  premeditation1
 have ceased to be good policy1 and in  
fact serve  no purpose whatever4  #aba  
,as a measure to meet a particular      
emergency1 the ,encyclical of  the #hth 
of ,december #ahfd did not resemble that
 of ,gregory ,,xvi4 in  #ahcb2 it was   
not called for by such extravagances as 
those of the  ,avenir1 or those of the  
,abb de la ,mennais2 no urgent          
necessity1 no public exigency required  
that ,rome should pronounce  itself2 the
 debate between the ,catholic           
,absolutists and the  ,catholic         
,liberals was of ancient date1 and was  
evidently destined  to long duration2   
the ,papacy could not flatter itself    
that it  could put an end to this       
contest by any peremptoriness of        
decision2 her indulgent consideration   
was as due to the one party  as to the  

other4 ,doubtless the ,catholic         
,liberals had not shown  less zeal for  
her cause1 nor had the services which   
they had  rendered been less important2 
it was not a moment of peril for  ,rome1
 and ,rome was bound in justice1 without
 any open declaration  at least1 to     
maintain toward them an attitude of     
reserve4  #abb  ,the party1 even before 
the publication of the ,encyclical1 had 
earned1 as it still merits1 her         
gratitude and her esteem2 neither  ,m4  
de ,montalembert1 nor the ,prince       
,albert de ,broglie1 nor ,m4 de         
,falloux1 nor ,m4 ,cochin1 nor any of   
their friends had imitated the  example 
of the ,abb de la ,mennais2 nor has one 
of them shown  subsequently any         
irritation1 or even uttered a word of   
complaint2  they have maintained a      
respectful silence4 ,the ,bishop of     
,orleans  has done even more4 ,a man of 
action as well as of faith1 he  thought 
in the midst of the storm excited by the
 ,encyclical of  the #hth of ,december1 

that he was bound to consider the perils
  rather than the faults1 and that it   
became a priest who had  supported      
liberty to support authority also when  
the object of  attack4 ,he threw himself
 into the arena to cover the ,papacy at 
all hazards with his valiant arms3 after
 having played the part  of a sagacious 
counselor1 he played that of a faithful 
champion1  and he inflicted upon her    
adversaries blows so sturdy1 that the   
latter were in their turn obliged to put
 themselves upon their  defense1 even in
 the midst of the success that the      
,encyclical  had insured them4    #abc  
,the ,bishop of ,orleans is probably    
reserved for many other  struggles2 he  
may even be hurried by a warlike        
temperament to  carry the war into a    
field where it is uncalled for2 but ,i  
shall  be both surprised and grieved if 
he do not always remain what he  is at  
this moment in the ,church of ,france1  
the most enlightened  representative of 
its mission1 moral and social1 as well  

as the  most intrepid defender of its   
true and legitimate interests4          
,whether the matter in debate concerns  
religious or social affairs  and        
contests1 parties are liable to two     
errors of equal gravity3  they may      
misapprehend their respective perils1 or
 their  respective strength4 ,wisdom    
consists in a just appreciation of      
these perils and of these forces1 and it
 is upon such an  appreciation precisely
 that success itself depends4 ,the      
actual  perils to which ,catholicism is 
exposed are evident to all4 ,it  owes   
its development and its constitution to 
times essentially  different from the   
present4 ,it adapts itself with         
reluctance to  the principles required  
and the demands made upon it in this    
age4  #abd  ,its antagonists think and  
assert that it will never so adapt      
itself4 ,most of the lookers-on1 who are
 indifferent or  vacillating--and their 
number is great--incline to believe its 
antagonists in the right4 ,this is the  

trial through which  ,catholicism is at 
this moment passing4 ,to pass through it
  triumphantly1 it has two great forces 
to rely upon2 the one is1  the reaction 
in favor of religion occasioned by the  
follies and  the crimes of the          
,revolution1 the other is1 the liberal  
movement  that took place among the     
,catholics after the faults of the      
,restoration1 and the new opening made  
for them by the ,government  of #ahcj4  
,the ,concordat built up again the      
edifice of the ,catholic  ,church2      
,liberalism is laboring to penetrate its
 sanctuary1 and1  without impairing its 
faith1 to obtain for it once more the   
sympathies of civil government4  #abe   
,let sincere ,catholics reflect well    
upon their course1 for here is  their   
main stay1 here their best chance for   
the future2 let them  maintain with a   
firm hand the strong constitution of    
their  ,church1 but accept frankly1 and 
at once claim1 their share also  in the 
liberties of their age2 let them take   

care of their  anchors and spread their 
sails1 for this is the conduct          
prescribed to them by the supreme       
interest1 which should be their  law1   
the future interests1 ,i mean1 of       
,christianity4    ,the time has been    
short1 but the experiment has been made 
and is  successful4 ,i have now         
enumerated the principal events         
connected  with religion which have     
taken place in the course of this       
century in the bosom of the ,catholic   
,church of ,france4 ,in spite  of the   
obstacles1 the oscillations1 the        
deviations1 and the  faults that are    
remarkable1 the awakening of            
,christianity is  evident4 ,under the   
influence of the causes which ,i have   
pointed  out1 ,christian faith has      
evidently made progress2 ,christian     
science1 progress2 ,christian charity1  
as shown by works1  progress2 ,christian
 force1 progress2 progress incomplete   
and  insufficient but still progress1   
real1 and fall of fruit1  symptomatic of

 vital energy and future promise4  #abf 
,let not the enemies of ,christianity   
deceive themselves2 they are  waging a  
combat of life and of death1 but their  
antagonist is not  in extremis6         
---------------------------------       
,,ii4 ,awakening ,of ,christianity ,in  
,france4      ,i pass without any       
transitional stage from the awakening of
  ,christianity in the ,roman ,catholic 
,church to the awakening of             
,christianity in the ,protestant        
,church4 ,what need of a transition8  ,i
 am not quitting the ,christian ,church4
 ,with respect to their  claims as      
,christians1 ,protestant nations have   
been put to the  test4 ,they have had1  
like ,catholic nations1 to pass through 
violent struggles1 to combat evil       
tendencies1 to undergo perilous  trials2
 but the peculiar characteristic of     
,christianity1 the  simultaneous action 
of faith and of science1 of authority   
and  liberty1 has received a glorious   
development in the bosom of  ,protestant

 nations4  #abg  ,england and ,holland1 
,protestant ,germany1 ,sweden1 ,denmark1
  ,switzerland1 and the ,united ,states 
of ,america1 have had their  vices1     
their crimes1 their sufferings1 and     
their reverses2 but1  after all1 these  
,states have in the last four centuries 
labored  with effect at the solution1 in
 a ,christian sense1 of that grand      
problem of human society--the moral and 
physical progress of the  masses1 as    
well as the political guarantee of their
 rights and  liberties4 ,and in these   
days the ,states to which ,i have       
alluded  resist effectually the         
shocks--now of anarchy1 now of          
despotism1  which alternately trouble   
the peace of ,christendom4 ,as for the  
,christian ,faith itself1 if1 in        
,protestant countries1 it does not      
escape the attacks elsewhere made upon  
it1 neither is it without  its powerful 
defenders and faithful followers4 ,in   
those  countries1 ,christian ,churches  
are full of adherents1 and the  cause of

 ,christianity finds every day valiant  
champions to devote  to its service the 
arms which science and liberty supply4  
#abh  ,there is on the part of the      
,romanists a puerile infatuation upon   
this subject1 which makes them          
absolutely close their eyes to  facts2  
by an error fatal to themselves1 they   
persist in imputing  the fermentation in
 society1 and the abandonment of        
religion1 to  the influence of the      
,protestant nations--nations among whom 
these two scourges are combated with at 
least as much resolution  and effect as 
elsewhere4 ,it is not my wish to        
institute  disparaging comparisons1 or  
to foment a rivalry opposed to the      
spirit of ,christ's religion4           
,protestantism is not1 in  ,christendom1
 the last1 neither is it the sole       
bulwark of  ,christianity2 but there    
exists none that is stronger1 that      
offers  fewer weak points to assailants1
 or that is better provided with        
faithful and able defenders4    #abi    

,at the commencement of this century1   
and in the years which  followed the    
promulgation of the ,concordat1 the     
,protestants1 like  the ,catholics in   
,france1 thought only of the            
re-establishment of  their worship and  
of the liberty of their faith4 ,a       
liberty the  more precious in their     
eyes1 as it followed upon two centuries 
of  persecutions and of sufferings of   
which we cannot1 in these days1  read   
the accounts without mingled sentiments 
of astonishment1 of  indignation1 and of
 sorrow4 ,faithfully should men guard   
the  memory of such outrages2 they would
 be infinitely better than  they are if 
they had always present to their minds  
the vivid  pictures of the iniquities   
and woes which fill the page of their   
history2 and evils would not so soon    
recur if they were not so  soon         
forgotten4 ,the system of ,terrorism    
under the ,revolution had  confounded   
,catholic and ,protestant in a common   
oppression2 it had  abolished the forms 

of worship of each1 denied all free     
expression of opinion to ,christians2   
and without distinction  condemned to   
the same scaffold the pastors of the    
desert and  the bishops of the ,court of
 ,versailles--,rabaut ,saint-,etienne as
  well as the nuns of ,verdun4  #acj    
,when this terrible regime had ceased to
 exist1 neither party had  religiously  
or politically any desires or           
pretensions that were  not extremely    
moderate3 the one thing regarded by all 
as the  sovereign good was1 the right to
 live without molestation and the       
liberty to address their prayers to ,god
 in the light of day4 ,no  other subject
 so seriously interested them2 and they 
heartily  wished to show their gratitude
 and deference to the ,government1      
which1 while it gave security to their  
bodies1 permitted their  souls to       
breathe freely4 ,the condition of the   
,protestants was in  one sense better   
than that of the ,catholics1 for the    
former were  now experiencing the joy1  

not only of a deliverance but of a      
positive conquest2 they had just escaped
 as well from the system  of ,terrorism1
 as from the ancient rgime2 they had    
lost nothing  to regret2 no revengeful  
feeling made them desire a reaction2    
their sole aspiration was for the       
consolidation of their rights1  and of  
their new acquisitions4  #aca  ,you who 
lived1 as we did1 under the yoke of     
intolerance1 7thus  they were addressed 
in #ahjg by ,m4 ,rabaut-,dupuy1 formerly
  president of the legislative body1 and
 the last surviving son of  one of their
 most estimable pastors17 you1 the      
relics of so many  persecuted           
generations1 behold6 compare6 ,it is no 
longer in the  desert and at the peril  
of your lives that you render to the    
,creator the homage which is his due4   
,our temples are restored to  us1 and   
every day beholds new ones erected4 ,our
 pastors are  recognized as public      
functionaries2 they receive salaries    
from  the ,state2 a barbarous law no    

longer suspends the sword over  their   
heads4 ,alas6 to those whom we have     
survived it was  permitted1 it is true1 
to ascend ,mount ,nebo1 and to obtain   
thence  a glimpse of the promised land1 
but it is we alone who have taken       
possession4    ,what wonder if1 on the  
morrow after the ,concordat1 which had  
procured them the free exercise of their
 faith and the  impartiality of the law1
 the ,protestants acquiesced without    
difficulty in the incomplete            
organization with which the new  system 
had left their ,church1 and that they   
troubled themselves  little with the    
attacks made upon its independence and  
its  dignity6    #acb    ,but this      
modest enjoyment of their new privileges
 did not render  them indifferent to    
their ancient belief1 and they returned 
to  the open practice of ,christ's faith
 simultaneously with the  acquisition of
 their liberty4 ,in #ahab1 in the midst 
of the  profound silence which reigned  
throughout the ,empire1 a professor  of 

the faculty of ,protestant theology at  
,montauban1 ,m4 ,grasc1  attacked1 in   
his teaching1 the dogma of the ,trinity4
 ,earnest  remonstrances were instantly 
made from the general body of the       
,protestants in ,france2 a great number 
of consistories1 among  others those of 
,nmes1 of ,montpellier1 ,montauban1     
,alais1 ,anduze1  ,saint ,hippolyte1    
pastors and laity1 addressed their      
complaints1  some to the ,doyen of the  
faculty of theology1 others to ,m4 ,gasc
  himself1 demanding1 all of them1 the  
maintenance of the doctrine  of the     
,protestant ,church4  #acc  ,the grand  
master of the ,university1 ,m4 de       
,fontanes1 earnestly  invited the       
professor not to depart from it1 and ,m4
 ,gasc himself  admitted that his       
teaching ought to be in conformity4 ,the
 spirit  which had animated the         
,reformation in ,france in the sixteenth
  century was still living in the       
nineteenth2 and under the  new-born     
system of liberty1 the ,awakening of    

,christianity  announced itself by a    
summons to the faith4    ,when1 under   
the ,restoration1 ,france had regained  
her political  liberty1 it was not long 
before that liberty bore its natural    
fruits in ,french ,protestantism2 it was
 accompanied1 both on  religious and    
political subjects1 by the manifestation
 of  discordant ideas and discordant    
tendencies1 which were soon to  struggle
 for victory4  #acd  ,as at epochs of   
great intellectual crises eminent men   
emerge who  represent dominant ideas1 so
 now ,m4 ,samuel ,vincent and ,m4       
,daniel  ,encontre immediately appeared 
in the ,protestant ,church3 both were   
pastors1 and each worthily represented  
one of the two principles  which        
naturally develop themselves in the     
bosom of ,protestantism1  faith in      
traditions and the right of private     
judgment2 principles  different without 
being contradictory2 principles which   
may  subsist in peace provided they     
remain respectively in their  proper    

places1 and within the limits of their  
rights4 ,m4 ,samuel  ,vincent was a man 
of a mind remarkably comprehensive and  
of great  versatility and fecundity2 but
 his habits at the same time were  those
 of a student1 fitting him rather for   
intellectual  meditation than qualifying
 him either for expansive sympathies or 
for action2 he was versed in the        
philosophy and erudite criticism  of    
,germany1 at that time novel and rare to
 ,france2 he made the  essence of       
,christianity1 according to his own     
expression1 to  consist in the liberty  
of inquiry4 ,footnote #ad3              
,footnote #ad3 ,vues sur le             
protestantisme en ,france1 par ,m4      
,samuel ,vincent4 #b;e dition1 p4 #ae4  
,paris1 #ahei4    #ace    ,he rejected  
all written articles of faith1 every    
limited idea of  religious unity1 and   
claimed within the ,church1 for both    
pastors  and congregation1 the greatest 
latitude in matters of opinion and  of  
teaching4 ,but when he clung closely to 

this view of the  subject1 and was      
pressed to indicate the extreme point to
 which1  within the ,church itself1 the 
diversity of men's individual  beliefs  
might be carried1 his embarrassment     
became extreme1 for  he had too much    
sense to admit that this diversity had  
no limit1  and that a ,church1 whether  
,protestant or not1 could exist without 
certain articles of faith common to all 
its members1 and  recognized by them    
all4 ,protestantism1 said he himself1   
must  not be merely a negation2 it      
should also have its real and  positive 
side2 it must be beyond all things a    
religion2 that is  to say1 it must be in
 the possession of the means to endure  
and  of the means to edify men by the   
propagation of a doctrine  benevolent   
and ,christian4 444 ,christianity is the
 basis of  ecclesiastical teaching4     
,footnote #ae        ,footnote #ae3     
,vues sur le protestantisme en ,france1 
par ,m4      ,samuel ,vincent1 pp4 #ag1 
#bb4    #acf    ,when1 after having laid

 down this principle1 ,m4 ,samuel       
,vincent  inquired how the ,protestant  
,church could remain a ,church1 and a   
,christian ,church1 in the midst of the 
independence of individual  beliefs1 he 
found no other way out of the difficulty
 than to  determine1 he said1 by        
conventions1 oral and unwritten1 a      
certain number of opinions that each man
 should1 in the interest  of the general
 peace1 be entreated to keep to himself4
 ,footnote  #af        ,footnote #af3   
,vues sur le protestantisme en ,france1 
p4 #bd4    ,how strange a proceeding1   
how difficult of realization1 to        
prescribe with once voice silence and   
liberty6 ,m4 ,samuel ,vincent  did not  
attempt to determine what those opinions
 were which1 in  order to maintain the  
existence of a ,christian ,church in the
  midst of the broadest system of free  
inquiry1 each man should be  entreated  
to keep to himself4  #acg  ,as for      
himself1 he professed his faith in the  
supernatural1 in  the revelation of the 

,old and of the ,new ,testaments1 in the
  inspiration of the ,scriptures1 in the
 divinity of ,jesus ,christ2  in the    
grand historical facts as well as in the
 moral precepts of  the ,gospel2 he was 
one of the pastors1 too1 who signed the 
remonstrance of the consistory of ,nmes1
 for the irregularity in  preaching of  
which ,professor ,grasc had been guilty4
 ,did ,m4 ,samuel  ,vincent regard every
 opinion contrary to these great        
evangelical  doctrines as an opinion    
which each man should1 in the interest  
of  the general peace1 be entreated to  
keep to himself8 ,i doubt  whether he   
would have dared to engraft upon the    
liberty of  judgment such a reservation2
 but ,i doubt at the same time if he    
would have persisted in regarding as    
true and faithful pastors of  the       
,protestant ,church1 men who should have
 openly deserted and  combated1 in its  
most essential foundations1 that        
,christian faith  which he himself      
professed4 ,he dreaded almost equally   

unity  defined1 and dissent declared4   
,he would have remained in the          
embarrassment into which those          
inevitably fall who neither accept  one 
basis and manifesto of a common faith1  
nor admit the moral  necessity of a     
separation into free and distinct       
,churches when a  common faith does not 
exist4 ,footnote #ag        ,footnote   
#ag3 ,the principal works of ,m4 ,samuel
 ,vincent are3      #a4 ,vues sur le    
protestantisme en ,france1 premire      
dition4 #b      vols4 #hvo4 #ahbi4 ,a   
second edition1 in #a vol4 #abmo41 was  
published in #ahei by ,m4               
,prvost-,paradol4        #b4            
,observations sur l'unit religieuse et  
observations sur la      voie d'autorit 
applique a la religion1 7#ahbj17 contre 
l',essai sur l'indiffrance en matire de 
religion de l',abb      de la ,mennais4 
#c4 ,meditations ou recueil de sermons1 
#ahbi4        #d4 ,mlanges de religion  
de morale et de critique sacre4 ,a      
periodical published from #ahbj to      

#ahbe4    #ach    ,no such embarrassment
 was experienced by ,m4 ,daniel         
,encontre when  he began his career to  
serve the movement of awakened          
,christianity in the bosom of ,french   
,protestantism4 ,i will not  venture    
here to cite the precise words1 harsh   
and severe1  employed by him on the     
#acth of ,december1 #ahaf1 at           
,montauban1 in  his capacity of ,doyen  
of the faculty of ,protestant ,theology1
  respecting those termed by him the    
pretended ministers of the  ,gospel1    
disbelievers in the ,gospel and in the  
divinity of ,jesus  ,christ4  #aci  ,he 
regarded harmony of faith and language1 
harmony between  shepherd and flock1 as 
the first law of religious society4     
,born  in a grotto of ,la ,vaunage1 to  
which his mother had fled to escape     
from the flames of persecution2 devoted 
from his birth by his  father1 the      
,pastor ,pierre ,encontre1 to the       
service of a preacher  in the desert1   
,m4 ,daniel ,encontre belonged to that  

class of  indomitable ,protestants who  
cling to their faith through all the    
perils1 sufferings1 and sacrifices which
 it entails4 ,his first  steps in life  
seemed to indicate in him other         
aptitudes1 and to  promise for him a    
different career4 ,after having studied 
divinity  at ,lausanne and at ,geneva1  
and been consecrated by his father      
himself to the ministry of the ,gospel  
in an assembly in the  desert1 he seemed
 to doubt his own vocation2 for while   
performing the functions of his ministry
 he devoted himself to  the study of    
mathematics1 physics1 philosophy1 and   
the classical  languages1 with an       
enthusiasm eager to become familiar with
 every  department of knowledge1 and    
encountering no hinderance from1        
internal obstacles or from preconceived 
opinions4  #adj  ,having established    
himself at ,montpellier1 where his taste
 for  science found subjects of         
gratification1 he led there1 during the 
dark days of the ,revolution1 a life    

very obscure1 and at the same  time most
 laborious2 giving lessons to the master
 masons upon  stone-cutting1 imparting  
instruction1 rendering the aids of      
religion to ,protestants1 celebrating   
the baptismal and marriage  services1   
and pursuing at the same time his labors
 in geometry1  botany1 philosophy1      
divinity1 literature1 and even poetry4  
,when  order began to be re-established1
 he was led by his own natural  tastes  
and the counsel of his friends to select
 as his career  that of public          
instruction4 ,he competed for and       
obtained1 first  the appointment of     
professor of literature at the cole     
,centrale  of ,montpellier2 then that of
 the higher mathematics1 at the ,lyce   
and in the faculty of science1 of which 
he was nominated ,doyen4  #ada  ,as his 
merits established themselves by        
repeated proofs1 his  reputation        
increased2 the papers of learned        
societies were filled  with his         
contributions1 and the cole             

,polytechnique with his  pupils4 ,i have
 met in our department1 said ,fourcroy1 
two or  three heads equal to his1 but   
not one superior4 ,m4 de ,candolle      
gladly selected him to aid him in his   
,researches respecting the  ,botany of  
the ,ancients2 and ,m4 de ,fontanes has 
more than once  spoken of him to me as  
one of the men who most honored the     
,university4 ,but in him1 neither the   
mathematician1 the botanist1  nor the   
philologist took precedence of the      
,christian4 ,at one time  as expounder  
of ,moses and of ,genesis1 ,footnote #ah
 at another as  a writer defending the  
,apostles1 accused of being a copyist of
  ,plato4 ,footnote #ai he neglected no 
occasion of placing his  scientific     
attainments at the service of           
,christianity2        ,footnote #ah3    
,dissertation sur le vrai systme du     
monde      compar avec le rcit que ,mose
 fait de la cration4      ,montpellier1 
#ahjg4        ,footnote #ai3 ,lettre    
,m4 ,combes-,dounous1 auteur d'un ,essai

      historique sur ,platon4 ,paris1   
#ahaa4        ,a remarkable essay of ,m4
 ,daniel ,encontre1 sur le ,pch         
original1 was published1 after his      
death1 in #ahbb1 and he      left a     
great number of manuscripts1 among      
others a ,trait      sur l'glise1 7#fjj 
pages17 written in ,latin2 ,etudes      
thologiques1 a ,hebrew ,grammar1 a      
,cours de philosophie1 a      ,cours de 
litrature ,franaise1 a ,flore biblique1 
several      ,memoires de mathmatiques  
transcendantes1 etc4 ,as a teacher      
of transcendental mathematics at        
,montpellier he had as pupil      ,m4   
,auguste ,comte1 the head of the cole   
positiviste1 who1      in spite of the  
profound diversity of their opinions1   
regarded it as a duty to dedicate to him
 in #ahef his      treatise1 ,sur la    
,synthse subjective1 in testimony of    
admiration and of gratitude4    #adb    
and when1 in #ahad1 he was asked to quit
 ,montpellier1 to abandon  his habits1  
his tastes1 and his friends1 for the    

chair of the  professorship of divinity 
at ,montauban1 where he was to fulfill  
the functions of ,doyen1 he sacrificed  
without hesitation the  enjoyment of his
 life to his religious vocation1 and    
applied  himself with unceasing energy  
to the warlike activity of a  ,christian
 professor1 until the day when1 overcome
 by fatigue and  sickness1 he accorded  
to himself the melancholy satisfaction  
of  returning to ,montpellier1 in order 
to die near the tomb of a  beloved      
daughter1 who had long aided him in his 
labors4    #adc    ,the destinies of    
,protestantism in ,france have1 to a    
singular  degree1 been at once varied   
and uniform1 confused and simple4       
,after having in the sixteenth century  
valiantly disputed the  victory1 it was 
vanquished1 decimated1 expelled4 ,but it
 resisted1  and survived not only its   
defeat1 but the gradual process of its  
enfeeblement and its expulsion4 ,in the 
course of the seventeenth  and          
eighteenth centuries the ,french        

,protestants lost the  protection of the
 laws1 their secure sanctuaries1 their  
great  chiefs1 their great divines1     
their great writers2 but they  preserved
 nevertheless their faith and their     
religious honor4 ,in  the times that    
ensued their successors remained        
faithful to the  belief and the customs 
of their fathers2 even persecuted and   
condemned to death1 having their        
property confiscated1 or become  tenants
 of prisons and laborers in the galleys1
 they found in  their very sufferings a 
resource to confirm them in the         
principles of ,protestant piety4  #add  
,theological controversies died away    
from among them1 leaving  behind them   
the fundamentals of                     
,christianity--living and guiding       
principles4    ,among the higher and    
wealthier classes1 the philosophical    
ideas  of the eighteenth century made   
also their way2 the great liberal       
movement filled the ,protestant section 
of the nation with joy1  and commanded  

its sympathy without detaching it from  
its  religious habits and traditions4   
,in its members faith had ceased  to be 
erudite2 the popular ,protestant        
sentiment had been always  profoundly   
biblical and evangelical4 ,freer and    
more fortunately  situated than their   
fathers1 the ,french ,protestants now   
anxiously  desired to remain1 as they   
had been1 ,christians2 and when1 in     
#agij1 ,rabaut ,saint-,etienne1 who     
succeeded the ,abb de ,montesquieu  as  
,president of the ,constituent          
,assembly1 wrote to his aged  father1   
the ,pastor ,paul ,rabaut1 ,the         
,president of the ,national  ,assembly  
is at your feet1 he manifested to the   
humble and  zealous preacher in the     
assemblies of the desert1 the pride at  
once of a politician1 the piety of a    
son1 and the fidelity of a  ,protestant4
    #ade    ,m4 ,daniel ,encontre was1  
at the commencement of the nineteenth   
century1 the faithful representative of 
this traditionally  religious character 

of ,french ,protestantism2 just as ,m4  
,samuel  ,vincent was the well-meaning  
and sincere introducer to it of the     
science and criticism of the ,germans4  
,the former corresponded  more closely  
to the pious and national spirit of     
,protestant  ,france of the olden times2
 the latter to the tendencies1 at once  
novel and indefinitely latitudinarian1  
of a foreign philosophy  and a foreign  
erudition4 ,doubtless1 neither measured 
the range of  the religious crisis of   
which they were themselves the symptoms2
  neither foresaw that within the bosom 
of ,protestantism that  crisis was to be
 marked by an avowed struggle between   
,rationalism  in its progress and       
,christianity in its reaction4    #adf  
,this crisis began to manifest itself at
 ,geneva4 ,the mocking  skepticism of   
,voltaire1 the rhetorical deism of      
,rousseau1  proclaimed at its gates1 had
 deeply undermined the faith of  ,christ
 in the very city of ,calvin4 ,it was   
not merely some of the  ,calvinistic    

doctrines of the sixteenth century that 
the pastors  of ,geneva doubted or      
denied1 but it was also the fundamental 
articles of ,christianity2 they         
abandoned not only the ,dogmas of       
predestination and salvation by faith   
alone1 but the dogmas of  original sin1 
and of the divinity of ,jesus ,christ4  
,in #ahaj  according to some1 as far    
back as #ahjb according to others1      
symptoms of an evangelical reaction     
showed themselves at ,geneva  among the 
students in theology1 some of whom      
afterward became  distinguished pastors 
or writers4 ,it was not long before     
,,mm4  ,gaussen1 ,malan1 ,gonthier1     
,bost1 ,merle d',aubign1 displayed their
  orthodox fervor and their ability4 ,in
 #ahaf a pious ,scot1 ,mr4  ,robert     
,haldane1 previously an intrepid sailor1
 who had only  quitted his calling to   
devote himself entirely to the service  
of  his faith1 went to ,geneva1 and     
contracted with the young  ,methodists  
of that city relations of the greatest  

intimacy and  activity4  #adg  ,they had
 meetings2 they discussed1 they         
preached1 they prayed1  they wrote4 ,mr4
 ,haldane could hardly express himself  
in ,french2  having his ,english ,bible 
continually at hand1 he turned over its 
pages incessantly1 pointed out to his   
friends the passages that  he regarded  
as decisive1 invited them to read them  
aloud from  their ,french ,bible1 and   
then commented upon them in a manner    
that  always commanded their favorable  
attention1 the conviction of the        
commentator had such moving and         
persuasive power4 ,footnote #bj         
,footnote #bj3 ,genve religieuse au     
,,xix sicle3 par le ,baron      de      
,goltz2 traduit de l'allemand par ,c4   
,malan3 #hvo41 pp4      #acg-adi4 ,genve
 et ,paris4 #ahfb4    #adh    ,in #ahaf 
and #ahag the evangelical reaction made 
rapid progress1  and the body of        
,genevese pastors resolved to combat it 
by the  voice of authority4 ,they found1
 however1 no better method of  doing so 

than by insisting upon what1 twelve     
years later1 even ,m4  ,samuel ,vincent 
did not scruple to recommend2 they      
prescribed  silence even whilst they    
proclaimed liberty4 ,without--these are 
their words--giving any judgment upon   
the questions really  involved1 and     
without controlling in any respect the  
liberty of  opinions1 they imposed a    
solemn engagement both upon students    
demanding to be consecrated to the      
sacred ministry1 and upon  ministers    
candidates for pastoral functions in the
 ,church of  ,geneva4 ,it was conceived 
as follows3 ,as long as we reside and   
preach in the churches of the ,canton of
 ,geneva1 we promise to  abstain from   
establishing1 either in entire          
discourses or in  parts of discourses   
directed to this object1 our            
opinion--first1  of the manner in which 
the divine nature was incarnate in the  
person of ,jesus ,christ2 secondly1 of  
original sin2 thirdly1 of  the mode in  
which grace operates1 or grace is       

efficient2  fourthly1 of predestination4
 ,we promise also not to combat1 in  any
 public discourse1 the opinion of any   
pastors or ministers  touching these    
subjects4 ,footnote #ba        ,footnote
 #ba3 ,genve religieuse au ,,xix sicle3 
par le ,baron      de ,goltz2 p4 #aec4  
#adi    ,it is difficult to understand  
how men ever could have flattered       
themselves with the hope of             
re-establishing peace in the ,church  by
 the employment of so sorry an          
expedient4 ,liberty1 that has  rent     
asunder such heavy chains1 does not     
permit itself to be  confined by so     
flimsy a net4 ,the immediate effect of  
the  regulation of the ,genevese pastors
 was an outburst of discontent4  ,the   
more violent ,methodists1 ,,mm4 ,malan  
and ,bost at their head1  proclaimed    
aloud their separation from the         
established ,church2  the more moderate1
 among others1 ,,mm4 ,gaussen and ,merle
 d',aubign1  persisted in remaining1 by 
right of their ministry1 in its bosom1  

holding themselves responsible          
representatives there of  the doctrines 
of the ,reformation1 which1 in fact1    
they did  continue to preach and to     
teach4  #aej  ,the body of pastors at   
first used great forbearance toward     
them1  and respected their liberty2 and 
when the populace1 irritated at  the    
agitation caused in families by the     
,dissenters1 and offended  by the       
austerity of their precepts1 made       
hostile demonstrations  toward them1 the
 ,council of ,geneva had the wisdom and 
fairness to  use measures of repression2
 but1 soon becoming weary of this       
painful duty1 the ,council formally     
forbade1 without its express            
permission1 any book of religious       
controversy to be printed at  ,geneva4  
#aea  ,the body of pastors soon         
pronounced as vehement a condemnation of
  the moderate ,methodists as of the    
ultra ,dissenters4 ,the moderate        
,methodists then in their turn resorted 
to energetic measures in  support of    

their cause3 they founded an evangelical
 society and a  school of theology2     
devoted the one to propagate the zeal   
and the  other to teach the principles  
of the ,christian reaction2 and  fifteen
 years after the commencement of the    
struggle1 the chiefs  of the party which
 had proclaimed that the free divergence
 of  individual belief in the bosom of  
the ,church was the great fact  of our  
epoch1 and the great step that the      
,reformation had in our  days to        
make--these chiefs1 being the body of   
pastors1 the  ,consistory1 and the      
,council of ,state at ,geneva1 suspended
 ,m4  ,gaussen from his functions of    
pastor in the parish of ,satigny for    
having taken part in the organization of
 an independent form of  worship1 and of
 a school of independent theology2 a    
proceeding1  they said1 incompatible    
with the peace of the ,church1 and to be
  regarded as an act of insubordination1
 tending to bring  ecclesiastical       
authority into discredit4 ,footnote #bb 

,footnote #bb3 ,genve religieuse au     
,,xix sicle3 par le ,baron      de      
,goltz2 pp4 #cgi-chd4    ,such religious
 ferment in the primitive home of the   
,french  ,reformation1 and at the very  
gates of ,france1 could not fail to     
exercise a powerful influence upon the  
,french ,protestant ,church4  #aeb  ,on 
quitting ,geneva in #ahag1 ,mr4 ,robert 
,haldane proceeded to  ,montauban1 where
 he formed friendships with some of the 
,professors of the ,faculty1 and among  
others with ,m4 ,daniel  ,encontre4 ,he 
published there also a work in ,french1 
which his  friends hastened to          
circulate4 ,it was styled ,emmanuel3    
vues  ,scripturaires sur ,jsus-,christ4 
,in #ahah1 a society formed in          
,england1 named the ,continental        
,society1 specially devoted  itself to  
the purpose of seconding on the         
,continent the progress  of this        
,christian reaction4 ,an ,english       
dissenter1 ,mr4 ,mark ,wilks1  pastor of
 the ,american community formed at      

,paris1 was the most  efficient agent of
 the societies which had this object in 
view4  ,it might be said of ,mr4 ,wilks1
 wrote lately the ,pastor  ,juillerat1  
that he might have governed an empire1  
his character  was so energetic1 his    
mind so active and enterprising4 ,he    
brought  me aid of every description3   
money was required1 he had money2       
pamphlets and books were wanted1 no one 
was better provided2 no  one understood 
better the details pertaining to the    
printing and  publication of papers4    
#aec  ,several ,protestant journals and 
magazines1 ,la ,voix de la  ,religion   
,chrtienne au ,,xix sicle1 ,les         
,archives du  ,christianisme au ,,xix   
sicle1 ,les ,mlanges de ,religion1 de   
,morale1 et de ,critique ,sacre1        
,l',evangeliste1 ,la ,revue             
,protestante1 ,le ,semeur1 etc41 etc41  
were at this epoch  successively founded
 and carried in different directions    
throughout the scattered ,protestant    
,church1 from its central  organization1

 the fervor which had there been        
kindled4 ,genuine  zeal for religion is 
not satisfied by action from a distance1
 or  by action upon unknown persons1 or 
by indirect means1 as by books  and by  
journals3 it demands direct oral        
communication from man to  man--the     
union of men's souls in common prayer4  
,certain young  pastors who had at first
 shared in the evangelical movement at  
,geneva1 ,,mm4 ,neff1 ,pyt1 ,bost1      
,gonthier1 scattered themselves over    
,france1 some assuming functions as     
local pastors1 others as  traveling     
missionaries1 attracting to their       
proximity groups of  zealous            
,protestants1 animating the lukewarm1   
and erecting in  every place where they 
made any stay little centers of         
,christianity1 which radiated to the    
neighboring country around4  #aed       
,distinct associations1 some officially 
recognized by the ,state1  others having
 no public character1 ,footnote #bc gave
 to the  labors of isolated individuals 

the publicity1 the unity1 the           
permanence which they required2 and a   
special organization  7colportage       
biblique7 which at its commencement     
numbered only  seven1 but a few years   
afterward had sixty agents1 all of them1
  although obscure individuals1 as      
zealous as their patrons were  zealous1 
caused the ,holy ,scriptures and        
religious tracts to  penetrate into     
parts of ,france hopelessly inaccessible
 to any  other method of communication  
and of instruction4        ,footnote    
#bc3 ,la ,socit biblique1 la ,socit pour
      l'encouragement de l'instruction  
primaire parmi les      protestants1 la 
,socit vanglique de ,france1 la ,socit  
des      traits religieuse1 la ,socit   
des missions protestantes1 la           
,socit centrale pour les intrts         
protestants1 la ,socit                  
d'vangelisation1 etc4    #aee    ,to a  
movement so earnest and so general1     
although propagated by a  small number  
of persons in the heart of a population 

itself  forming but a small minority in 
the nation at large1 obstacles  would   
inevitably occur4 ,they were encountered
 on all hands and of  all kinds1        
religious and political--from the       
administration1 from  popular           
prejudices1 from the distrust of the    
,government1 from the  hostility of the 
,roman ,catholic clergy1 from           
differences of  opinion on theological  
points among ,protestants themselves1   
from  the amour propre of individuals1  
and the perplexed or  timorous ideas of 
subalterns in authority4 ,the activity  
of the  ,protestant societies created   
uneasiness in bishops and priests1  who 
strove not merely to counteract their   
influence1 but to  interfere with their 
liberty of action4 ,mayors of towns1    
judges  of the peace1 sometimes too1    
magistrates and administrators of  more 
elevated rank1 lent their aid to these  
exceptionable  proceedings4 ,hence arose
 suspicions1 complaints1 and struggles  
which retarded the new-born impulse of  

awakening ,christianity4  #aef  ,but the
 earnest perseverance of its patrons1   
the general wisdom  of the supreme      
,government1 and the authority1 growing 
more and  more each day1 of the         
principles of justice and of liberty1   
gradually surmounted all these          
obstacles4 ,it was the ,restoration     
that recognized the chief ,protestant   
societies and gave them the  sanction of
 the law4 ,under the ,government of     
#ahcj they used their  rights with more 
confidence and fewer hinderances4 ,the  
equitable  intentions of ,king ,louis   
,philippe and of his counselors upon    
religious matters could not be doubtful1
 whatever their caution  not to cause   
uneasiness or wound the susceptibilities
 of the  ,roman ,catholics4 ,the        
,protestants now believed it to be no   
longer  necessary to look to foreign    
support4 ,formed at ,paris in #ahcc1    
the ,evangelical ,society of ,france    
experienced a momentary impulse  of     
national jealousy1 the result of which  

was some coldness in  its relations with
 the ,continental ,society of ,london2  
but as soon  as the latter perceived    
that its direct interference was rather 
an embarrassment than a necessity to the
 ,christian reaction in  ,france1 it    
withdrew its agency without withholding 
its sympathy1  and handed over to the   
,evangelical ,society of ,france all the
  stations and religious charities which
 had up to that time been  founded by   
its exertions4    #aeg    ,the awakening
 of ,christianity among the ,protestants
 of ,france had  now produced such      
results that it mattered little who the 
patrons  of the movement might be2 it   
had assumed its true character1 and  was
 drawing its strength from the fountain 
of truth4 ,in times of  religious       
incredulity and of religious            
indifference1 and even in  the          
transitional times which immediately    
ensue1 it is the error  of many1 and    
even of men who respect and support     
religion1 to  consider it in the light  

of a great political institution--a     
salutary system of moral police1 however
 necessary to society1  indebted for its
 merits and its prerogatives rather to  
its  practical utility than to its      
intrinsic truth4  #aeh  ,grave error1   
misconceiving both the nature and the   
origin of  religion1 and calculated to  
deprive it both of its empire and its   
dignity6 ,utility men hold as of great  
account1 but it is only  truth that     
commands unconditional surrender4       
,utility enjoins  prudence and          
forbearance2 truth alone inspires       
feelings of  confidingness and devotion4
 ,a religion having no other guarantee  
for its influence and its endurance than
 its social utility would  be very near 
its ruin4 ,men have need of1 nay1 they  
thirst for  truth in their relations    
with ,god1 even more than in their      
relations with one another2 the         
spontaneous prayer1 adoration1          
obedience1 suppose faith4 ,it was in the
 very name of the verity  of the        

,christian religion1 of that verity     
manifested in its  history by the word  
and even by the presence of ,god1 that  
the  awakening of ,christians was       
accomplished among us4 ,the laborers  in
 this great work felt the faith of      
,christianity1 and they  diffused it2   
had they spoken only of the social      
utility of  ,christianity1 they would   
never have made the conquest of a single
  human soul4    #aei    ,at first sight
 one is tempted to attribute this       
success to energy  of faith on the part 
of these laborers in the cause1 to the  
active and devoted perseverance of their
 zeal4 ,again a mistake6  ,not that     
human merit was without its share in the
 results2 but  even where the faith was 
thus propagated1 the share that that    
faith itself had in the result was      
infinitely greater1 from its  own proper
 and inherent virtue1 than any share of 
men4  ,incredulity and indifferentism   
may diffuse themselves and pretend  to  
dominate2 they leave unsolved the       

problems that lie in the  depth of man's
 soul3 they do not rid him of his       
perplexities1 of  instinct or of        
reflection1 as to the world's creation  
and man's  creation1 the origin of good 
and evil1 providence and fate1 human    
liberty and human responsibility1 man's 
immortality and his  future state4  #afj
  ,instead of the denials and the doubts
 that had been thrown over  these       
unescapable questions1 those who applied
 themselves fully  to rouse awakened    
,christianity1 recalled the human soul  
to the  memory of positive solutions of 
these questions2 solutions in           
accordance with the traditions of their 
native land1 in  accordance with their  
habits as members of families1 and in   
harmony with the recollections of early 
childhood2 solutions  often contested1  
never refuted2 always recurring in the  
lapse of  ages1 and century after       
century6 ,it was from the intrinsic and 
permanent value of the doctrines which  
they were preaching1 and  not from      

themselves1 that the laborers in the    
work derived their  force and their     
credit4    ,they had another principle  
of force as well2 a force born and      
developed in the bosom of the ,christian
 religion1 and in that  alone2 they had 
the passionate desire to save human     
souls4 ,men  are not1 they never have   
been1 struck as they ought to have been 
struck with the beauty of this passion1 
or with its novelty in  the moral       
history of the world1 or with the part  
that it has  played among ,christian    
nations4  #afa  ,before the era of      
,christianity1 in times of ,asiatic and 
,european  antiquity1 pagans and        
philosophers busied themselves about the
  destiny of men after the close of     
their earthly life1 and with  curiosity1
 too1 did they sound the obscurity2 but 
the ardent  solicitude for the eternal  
welfare of human souls1 the             
never-wearying labor to prepare human   
souls for eternity--to set  them even   
during this existence in intimate       

relations with ,god1  and to prepare    
them to undergo ,god's judgments2--we   
have in all  this a fact essentially    
,christian1 one of the sublimest        
characteristics of ,christianity1 and   
one of the most striking  marks of its  
divine origin4 ,god constantly in       
relation with  mankind and with every   
man1 ,god present during the actual life
 of  every man1 and ,god the arbiter of 
his future destiny2 the  immortality of 
each human soul1 and the connection     
between his  actual life and his future 
destiny2 the immense value of each      
human soul in the eyes of ,god1 and the 
immense import to the soul  of the      
future that awaits it3 these are the    
convictions and the  affirmations all   
implied in the one passion alluded to1  
the  passion for the salvation of men's 
souls1 which was the whole  life of our 
,saviour ,jesus ,christ1 which passed by
 his example and  by his precepts into  
the life of his primitive disciples1 and
  which1 amid the diversities of age1   

people1 manners1 opinions1  has remained
 the characteristic feature and the     
inspiring breath  of the genius of      
,christianity2 breath which animated the
 men who  in our days labored1 and with 
success1 to revive ,christian faith     
among the ,protestants of ,france6  #afb
  ,their zeal was employed in a very    
circumscribed sphere2 beyond it  their  
names were unknown1 and unknown they    
have remained4 ,what  spectators1 what  
readers1 what public knew at that time1 
or know  even at this moment1 what      
manner of men they were or what their   
deeds--those men who called themselves  
,neff1 ,bost1 ,pyt1 ,gonthier1          
,audebez1 ,cook1 ,wilks1 ,haldane8  #afc
  ,but who1 ,i would ask1 in the time of
 ,tacitus and of ,pliny1 knew  what     
manner of men they were1 and what the   
deeds of ,peter1 ,paul1  ,john1         
,matthew1 ,philip--the unknown disciples
 of the ,master1  unknown himself1 who  
had overcome the world8 ,notoriety is   
not  essential to influence2 and in the 

sphere of the soul1 as in the  order of 
nature1 fountains are not the less      
abundant because  their springs are     
hidden in obscurity4 ,the ,christian    
missionaries  of our time did not       
trouble themselves to lessen that       
obscurity4  ,to literary celebrity they 
had no pretension1 nor did they seek    
the triumph of any political idea1 of   
any specific system of  ecclesiastical  
organization1 of any favorite plan in   
which their  personal vanity was        
interested3 the salvation of human souls
 was  their only passion1 and their only
 object4 ,they looked upon  themselves  
as humble servants commissioned to      
remind men of  promises which they had  
forgotten--of promises of salvation by  
faith in ,jesus4 ,the stir of the       
reaction1 one of themselves has  said1  
bore impressed upon it the character of 
youth1 or even of  childhood4  #afd     
,the humblest pastor on his circuit     
became a missionary2 his  transit was   
regarded almost like that of a meteor4  

,on the instant  an assembly was        
convoked1 it numbered twenty1 thirty1   
fifty1 a  hundred1 two hundred persons1 
collected to listen joyfully1 as if  it 
were a great novelty or miracle1 to that
 ,gospel which we know  by heart2--alas6
 which we know by heart far more than we
 have it  in the heart6 ,footnote #bd   
,footnote #bd3 ,mmoires pouvant servir  
l'histoire du rveil      religieux des  
glises protestantes de la ,suisse et de 
la      ,france1 par ,a4 ,bost1 7#ahed17
 t4 #a1 p4 #bdj4    ,who could mistake1 
on hearing such sentiments and such     
language1  the really ,christian        
character of the reaction8              
,never-ending weakness of man's nature1 
and inevitable  imperfection of man's   
work1 even when man is walking in the   
ways  of ,god6 ,in the midst of         
awakening ,christianity1 and of this    
fervent return to the faith of the      
,gospel1 reappeared some of the  ancient
 pretensions of theology1 and among     
others the pretension  to penetrate the 

decrees of ,god and to define the terms 
of man's  salvation4    #afe    ,in     
,february1 #ahah1 the pious and orthodox
 ,doyen of the  ,protestant ,faculty of 
,montauban1 ,m4 ,daniel ,encontre1      
rendering an  account of the work of    
,mr4 ,robert ,haldane1 7,emmanuel1 ou   
vues  ,scripturaires sur ,jsus-,christ17
 which had just appeared1  hastened1    
after having justly commended it1 to    
add3 ,the  concluding pages of the      
',emmanuel' express sentiments which    
,evangelical ,christians are far from   
sharing4 ,the author lays down  the     
principle1 that all men who do not      
believe in the perfect  equality of the 
,son and of the ,father1 are enemies    
alike of both ,father and ,son2 that    
they deny1 and  blaspheme against both1 
and cannot avoid eternal death4 ,he     
regards the forbearance we show to them 
as infinitely criminal1  and seems even 
inclined to condemn all who have not the
 courage  to condemn them4 ,as for me1  
,i venture to believe that it is the    

duty of a ,christian to work out his own
 salvation without  allowing himself to 
pronounce upon the salvation of others4 
#aff  ,judge not1 that ye be not judged1
 says ,he whom we all  acknowledge as   
our ,master2 and ,st4 ,paul adds1 ',who 
art  thou that condemnest another man's 
servant8' ,i seize this  opportunity to 
declare to all men desirous to hear it1 
that ,i  believe firmly in the divinity 
of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and that   
,i adopt in every respect the ,nican    
,creed4 ,i dare to affirm  besides1 that
 these sentiments are actually those of 
all the  members of our ,faculty1 as    
they have always been those of our      
,churches4 ,it seems to me that persons 
who know not ,jesus ,christ  as ',god   
above all things1 blessed eternally1'   
are much to be  pitied1 and want the    
greatest of all consolations4 ,this     
error  appears the more dangerous1      
because it is generally followed by     
other errors2 for the truths which are  
the objects of faith are  so connected  

and riveted together1 that it is        
impossible to  discard one without      
shaking or overturning all the others4  
#afg  ,these truths form together a     
majestic edifice1 to which all its      
parts are absolutely necessary1 and     
which falls in ruins if a  breach be    
made anywhere2 and particularly1 if the 
first stone  removed be the keystone of 
the corner4 ,but what would become of   
us all1 if the erring1 even when they   
err in good faith1 had no  hope of      
access to the throne of grace8 ,men who1
 as ,i do1 feel how  much they need     
,god's mercy1 and man's indulgence1 feel
 little  disposition to be severe toward
 others4 ,footnote #be        ,footnote 
#be3 ,archives du ,christianisme aux    
,,xix e sicle1 t4      #a1 pp4 #fc-ff4  
,in holding this language1 ,m4 ,encontre
 was not merely performing1  on his own 
account1 an act of humility and of      
,christian charity2  he was touching    
upon one of the supreme questions which1
 in our  days1 are occasioning a crisis 

in ,christendom2 and he was  indicating 
its true and its sole solution4 ,like   
all passions1  7the best are not        
exempt17 the passion for the salvation  
of man's  soul is full of enthusiasm and
 fall of blindness2 it believes too     
readily in the possibility of attaining 
the object2 it is too  unscrupulous and 
undiscriminating in the means4  #afh    
,hence sprung religious tyranny and     
theological intolerance3 the  powerful  
thought they could compel the human soul
 to work out its  own salvation2 the    
learned believed they could define the  
conditions of that salvation4 ,mistakes1
 both of them1 profoundly               
antichristian6 ,just as no power of man 
has the right to strip any  single soul1
 created by ,god free and responsible1  
of its liberty  of conscience2 so1      
equally1 no science of man can define   
the laws  and the facts that shall      
regulate the future state of the soul4  
,liberty is1 on this earth1 the         
principle of the moral life of  man2    

man's state beyond this earth is a      
question between him and  his ,maker1   
and to be determined by the use which   
man may have  here made of his liberty4 
,to respect ,god's gift of liberty to   
man1 and the mystery of ,god's decrees  
respecting man's salvation1  is in      
reality the law of ,christians2 and it  
is only on this  double condition that  
there really is either any awakening or 
any  progress of ,christians4    #afi   
,nothing does more honor to the memory  
of ,m4 ,daniel ,encontre than  to have  
been one of the first to understand and 
to fulfill this  double duty4 ,firmly   
attached to those fundamental articles  
of  belief which are ,christianity      
itself1 he was strange to every         
narrowness or exaggeration of doctrine1 
to every presumptuousness  of opinion1  
and to every theological intolerance2   
his piety was  comprehensive1 without   
there being any vagueness in his faith2 
his ,christianity was that of a         
,liberal2 nor did his attainments  as a 

mathematician indispose him to remain a 
,christian4    ,scarcely was ,m4        
,encontre dead1 when two new men1 both1 
like him1  eminent as pastors and       
professors--,m4 ,alexandre ,vinet and   
,m4  ,adolphe ,monod--appeared on the   
religious arena1 and gave more  clat to 
the ,christian reaction by using similar
 means1 and by  impelling the           
,protestant ,church of ,france in the   
same direction4    #agj    ,although he 
was born and continually lived and wrote
 in  ,switzerland1 ,m4 ,alexandre ,vinet
 was of ,french extraction2 he  belongs 
to ,france as much as to ,switzerland1  
for he knew1 and  understood1 and loved 
,france as much as he did ,switzerland4 
,he  served1 too1 the cause of religious
 liberty1 and the ,christian  reaction1 
in ,france not less than in             
,switzerland4 ,a delicate  child1 son of
 a poor and an austere school-master1   
who destined  him to the obscure life of
 a village clergyman1 he manifested     
from the commencement of his laborious  

career an ardent taste for  literature  
and for study1 which promised him a rich
 reward in the  intellectual enjoyment  
of the chef-d'oeuvres of ancient and    
modern literature4 ,he was found upon   
one occasion in his little  chamber in a
 fit of enthusiasm and affected to tears
 by a perusal  of the ,cid4 ,at the age 
of twenty he became ,professor of       
,french  ,literature at ,ble2 and there 
he devoted himself to the service  of   
every candidate upon the ,rhine or upon 
the ,swiss ,alps who  required to be    
taught to comprehend and admire the     
great writers  of ,france of whatever   
age1 and in whatever department of      
literature4  #aga  ,philosophers and    
orators1 prose-writers and poets1       
,christians or  ,freethinkers1          
,catholics or ,protestants1             
,conservatives or  ,reformers1          
,classicists or ,romanticists--all the  
men who have  constituted the           
intellectual and literary glory of      
,france1  obtained in this fervent      

,methodist of the ,valdenses an admirer 
as  warm as he was intelligent and      
impartial4 ,the prevailing              
characteristic of ,m4 ,vinet's literary 
essays and criticisms is  their         
geniality2 and wherever he encounters   
any spark or trace of  the true or the  
beautiful1 under whatever banner they   
appear1 and  however they may be mingled
 with opinions otherwise shocking to    
his feelings1 he is at once attracted   
and moved1 and he admires  and praises  
with enthusiasm4 ,his was a mind of     
comprehensive  sympathies1 open to every
 impression1 keen to appreciate1 always 
ready to enjoy everything that deserved 
to give pleasure1 even  although it     
might be only momentarily and in        
passing4    #agb    ,this passionate    
admirer of the beautiful1 this critic1  
so  liberal-minded and so impartial1 was
 a sound and uncompromising  moralist1  
as well as a pious and firm ,christian4 
,the predominant  idea of all his       
literary judgments is moral2 and this   

determines  the tone of his criticism1  
and the impression which it leaves      
behind it1 without ever rendering it    
either harsh1 or illiberal1  or         
narrow-minded4 ,in the sphere of        
positive belief1 without  importing into
 controversies between believer and     
believer any  microscopic criticism of  
detail1 ,m4 ,vinet has never1 upon the  
divine origin and the fundamental dogmas
 of ,christianity1 had the  least       
hesitation1 never made the smallest     
concession2 he grapples  directly with  
the most specious and the most popular  
objections  of his adversaries1 and     
combats them with a conviction the      
expression of which becomes more and    
more eloquent the clearer  and the more 
complete its manifestation4 ,to attempt 
to  distinguish morality from dogma1 he 
says1 is to attempt to  distinguish a   
river from its source4  #agc  ,the      
,christian dogma is at its outset a     
morality1 although a  ,christian one4   
,just as ,god1 in the creed of          

,christianity1 reveals  himself under a 
form that nature did not announce1      
,christian  morality1 in its turn1      
invests itself with a character that    
nature would never have impressed upon  
it4 ,man finding his own  inability to  
make himself a religion1 ,god came to   
aid him in his  weakness4 ,it is now    
rather more than eighteen centuries     
since1 in  an obscure corner of the     
world1 there appeared a man4 ,i do not  
say that a long series of prophets had  
announced the coming of  that man2 that 
a long series of miracles had marked    
with the seal  of ,god the nation where 
he was to be born1 and even the prophecy
  which foretold him2 that1 in a word1  
an imposing mass of evidence  surrounds 
and authenticates him4 ,i say merely    
that that man  preached a religion4     
,that religion is not natural religion2 
the  dogmas of the existence of ,god and
 of the soul's immortality are          
everywhere taken for granted in his     
discourses--never taught1  never proved4

  #agd  ,neither are the ideas which he 
teaches deduced logically from the      
primitive axioms of reason2 that which  
he teaches1 that which  forms the       
substance of his doctrine1 embraces     
subjects which  confound the reason1 and
 to which the reason has neither way nor
  access2 he preaches a ,god on earth1 a
 ,god man1 a ,god poor1 a ,god          
crucified2 he preaches wrath involving  
the innocent1 mercy  exempting the      
guilty from all condemnation1 ,god the  
victim of  man1 and man forming one     
person with ,god2 he preaches a new     
birth1 without which man can never be   
saved2 he preaches the  sovereignty of  
,god's grace1 and the plenitude of the  
liberty of  man4 ,i do not in any way   
qualify his teaching2 ,i give them to   
you  as they are1 and without disguise2 
,i seek not to justify them4  ,you may1 
if you please1 feel surprise1 you may   
take offense2  scruple not to do so4    
,but when you have to your heart's      
content  wondered at their strangeness1 

,i on my side will propose to you       
another subject for your wonder4  #age  
,these strange dogmas conquered the     
world4 ,in their very infancy  they     
invaded learned ,athens1 rich ,corinth1 
haughty ,rome4 ,they  gathered together 
',confessors' from workshops1 from      
prisons1 from  schools1 from the courts 
of justice1 and from thrones4           
,conquerors  of civilization1 they      
triumphed over barbarism2 they made to  
pass  under the same yoke the degraded  
,roman1 the savage ,sicambrian4  ,the   
forms of society have changed2 society  
has been dissolved and  moulded afresh4 
,they alone have endured in their       
integrity4 ,no  other doctrine1 whether 
of philosophy or of religion1 lasted3   
each had its time2 each time its idea2  
and1 as a celebrated  writer has said1  
the religious sentiment1 abandoned to   
itself1  chose for itself moulds in     
accordance with the time1 which it      
broke when the time was no longer there4
 ,but the dogma of the  ,cross persisted

 in recurring4  #agf  ,had it only taken
 possession of a certain class of       
persons it  would have been much1 it    
would perhaps have been even            
inexplicable2 but you find followers of 
the ,cross in the camp and  in civil    
life1 among the rich and among the poor1
 among the bold  and among the timid1   
among the learned and among the         
ignorant4  ,this dogma is good for all1 
everywhere1 always2 it never grows  old4
 ,the religion of the ,cross appears    
nowhere in arrear of  civilization2 on  
the contrary1 far as civilization may   
progress1  it ever finds ,christianity  
in advance4 ,suppose not that a         
complaisant ,christianity will ever     
cancel any article or expunge  any idea 
to accommodate itself to the age3 no1 it
 derives its  strength from its         
inflexibility1 and needs not make any   
surrender  to be in harmony with what is
 beautiful1 legitimate1 true2 for it  is
 in itself the type of them all4 ,still 
it is not a religion  which flatters    

man2 and the worldly1 by keeping aloof1 
show  plainly enough that ,christianity 
is a strange doctrine4 ,those who  dare 
not reject it strive to render it       
palatable4 ,they strip it  of what      
offends them--of its myths1 as they are 
pleased to style  them2 they almost make
 out of ,christ's doctrine a            
rationalism4  #agg  ,but1 singular to   
say1 once a rationalism it has no longer
 any  force2 in this respect resembling 
one of the most marvelous  creatures in 
the animate world1 to which it is death 
to lose its  sting4 ,the strange dogmas 
disappear1 but with them all  zeal1     
fervor1 sanctity1 charity1 disappear    
also2 the salt of the  earth has lost   
its savor1 and we know not by what means
 to  restore it4 ,but1 on the other     
hand1 do you learn that somewhere  or   
other there is an awakening of          
,christians1 that ,christianity  is     
resuscitating1 that faith shows signs of
 life1 that zeal  abounds8 ,ask not in  
what soil these precious plants are     

springing2 you may pronounce yourself3  
it is in the rude and  rugged soil of   
orthodoxy1 in the shade of the mysteries
 which  confound human reason1 and of   
which human reason would like so  much  
to get rid1 444 ,some passages in the   
fair work of ,m4  ,saint-,marc ,girardin
 upon dramatic literature might1 at     
least ,i  fear so1 lead to the          
conclusion that ,christianity is1 in its
  essence1 only the result of a natural 
progress of man's mind1 a  gradual      
development of ancient wisdom4  #agh    
,such1 for instance1 is the passage     
where the author tells us that  the     
,greeks were advancing step by step     
toward ,christian  spiritualism4 ,we    
regret that ,m4 ,saint-,marc ,girardin  
did not say  in what sense he understood
 this1 and within what limits4 ,we hope 
that he will not see in us the champion 
of a captious orthodoxy1  if we say that
 nothing so much weakens the authority  
of  ,christianity1 that nothing         
prejudices in men's minds its cause     

more1 than to treat it as a link in the 
chain1 which chain in  reality it       
severed4 ,that events1 that is1         
,providence1 did  aforehand hollow a bed
 in the regions of the west for this    
divine  river1 what believer1 however   
rigid1 would ever entertain any  scruple
 in admitting8 ,but still it is         
essential that we should  not           
misapprehend the source whence that     
river welled forth4  #agi  ,no natural  
development of events1 either among the 
,jews or among  the ,greeks1 can account
 for the existence of ,christianity4    
,whatever the progress made by the      
ancients1 there never was a  time when  
there existed not an infinity between   
their ideas1 and  the ideas of          
,christianity2 and infinity alone can   
fill up the  gulf between4 ,there is an 
end of ,christianity if men agree in    
thinking the contrary--if they succeed  
in causing the  ,supernatural to assume 
a place in one of the compartments of   
the  ,philosophy of ,history4 ,as far as

 we are concerned1 we would  prefer for 
the ,christian religion the most        
outrageous denial1 to  an admiration    
circumscribed within such limits4       
,christ's faith is  nothing if not1 like
 ,melchisedek without earthly parent    
here  below1 and without genealogy4     
,footnote #bf        ,footnote #bf3     
,essai sur la manifestation des         
convictions      religieuses1 p4 #he4   
,premiers discours1 pp4 #ad1 #ej1 #ec4  
,littrature ,franaise1 vol4 iii1 p4     
#fbc4    #ahj    ,whoever indicated with
 greater distinctness the keystone in   
the  edifice of ,christianity1 or ever  
clung to it more closely8 ,m4  ,vinet   
occupied himself in turn with freedom of
 conscience and of  man's thought1 with 
the faith of ,christ1 and with the      
literature  of ,france4 ,these three    
subjects became the passions of his     
life1  stirring his soul1 though at     
unequal depths4 ,but of these three     
only one1 the passion for literature1   
was a source to him of  tranquil and    

unmitigated enjoyment4 ,in his advocacy 
of man's  liberty and of ,christianity1 
,m4 ,vinet had to pass not only  through
 the ordeal of intellectual labors and  
combats1 but  through the solicitudes   
and sorrows of life4 ,the defender of   
the  liberty of forms of worship1       
crowned as such by the ,societ  ,franais
 de la ,morale ,chrtienne1 lived to see 
this liberty  attacked in his native    
,switzerland1 at once by popular fury   
and  by civil authority4 ,the fervent   
promoter of the ,christian  reaction1   
beheld one hundred and sixty evangelical
 pastors of the  ,canton of the ,vaud1  
his companions in this pious work1      
forced to  quit their ,chairs in order  
to preserve their faith4  #aha  ,and it 
was in sickness1 and at the approach of 
death1 that ,m4  ,vinet had to undergo  
all this4 ,neither his faith nor the    
tranquillity of his soul was disturbed4 
,he continued1 to his last  hour1 to be 
the active champion of liberty1 the     
faithful servant  of ,christ1 the       

eloquent admirer and commentator upon   
,french  literature1 which he followed  
in all its phases1 whether calm or      
stormy1 whether pure or defiled4 ,after 
all1 so he wrote in  #ahde1 ,i am not   
one of those who despair2 ,god1 without 
any  violence to our freedom of action1 
rather by that freedom itself1  conducts
 us to the unknown shores4 ,the ports at
 which we land do  not all of them      
afford secure mooring2 we know something
 of that  even in this little country4  
,our progress will be slow1 and amid    
storms2 but the circle of universal     
truth will be completed1 and  man's     
sense of moral right and wrong will be  
improved1 at the  same time that man's  
science will be enriched4  #ahb  ,i     
should feel horror if ,i thought that   
,some ,one is not at  the center of all 
this movement1 holding all its elements 
in his  hand2 ,some ,one to whom1       
whether they know him or do not  know   
him1 the aspirations of all creatures   
ascend in their  sorrow1 and whom they  

instinctively salute with the sweet     
reassuring name of ',father4' ,footnote 
#bg        ,footnote #bg3 ,notice sur   
,m4 ,alexandra ,vinet1 par ,m4 ,e4      
,souvestre1 published in the ,magazin   
,pittoresque de #ahdh1 p4      #ha4     
,the principal works of ,m4 ,alexandre  
,vinet are3        #a4 ,trait et        
,polmique sur la libert des cultes4     
#ahbf1 #aheb4        #b4 ,discours sur  
quelques sujets religieux4 #ahca1 #ahec4
        #c4 ,essais de philosophic et de
 morale religieuse4 #ahcg4        #d4   
,essai sur la manifestation des         
convictions religieuses1 et      sur la 
sparation de l'glise et de tat4 #ahdb1  
#aheh4        #e4 tudes et mditations   
vangliques4 #ahdg1 #ahdi1 #ahea4        
#f4 tudes sur ,pascal4 #ahdh1 #ahef4    
#g4 ,chrestomathie ,franaise1 ,histoire 
de la littrature      ,franaise au      
,,xviii sicle1 et tudes sur la          
littrature      ,franaise au ,,xix      
sicle4 #ahbi1 #ahdi1 #ahec1 etc4        
,he wrote1 besides1 numerous short      

pieces1 and articles in      reviews and
 journals1 suggested by topics of the   
day4    ,upon a single point1 the       
relations of ,church and ,state1 his    
usual  comprehensiveness of view and    
independence of thought appeared to     
abandon ,m4 ,vinet4  #ahc  ,justly      
struck and afflicted by his own         
experience of the  inconveniences of a  
strict bond between ,church and ,state1 
disgusted at the servility and falsity  
which frequently are1  sometimes on the 
part of the ,state1 sometimes on the    
part of the  ,church1 its results1 he   
concluded that in all cases all alliance
  between the two conditions of society 
is radically vicious2 and  he declared  
their entire separation a general and   
absolute  principle1 the sole reasonable
 and just system1 the sole  efficacious 
guarantee of truth and of liberty in    
spirituals or  temporals4 ,he thus      
ignored1 it appears to me1 the natural  
causes  which produce1 and the human    
motives which sanction1 a certain       

alliance between societies civil and    
ecclesiastical2 he ignored  also the    
inestimable advantages which1 at certain
 times and in  certain circumstances1   
each may derive1 and has actually       
derived1  from that alliance4 ,in the   
,united ,states of ,america1 the entire 
separation of the ,state and of the     
different ,churches was  necessary and  
salutary1 for it was the spontaneous    
consequence of  the condition of men's  
minds1 and of the position of society4  
#ahd  ,in ,england1 in spite of the acts
 of injustice1 and the ills  engendered 
by the intimate union of the state with 
a ,church  legally constituted and      
having exclusive privileges1 the        
coexistence of the ,church of ,england  
with the freedom1 more and  more every  
day complete and recognized1 of the     
,churches of the  ,dissenters1 was for  
the ,christian religion a potent        
principle of  life1 of force1 and of    
durability4    ,and if we go back to the
 ancient history of ,europe1 who can    

doubt  that at the fall of the ,roman   
,empire1 if the ,state and the ,church  
had not1 although distinct institutions1
 been allied1 the  development of       
,christianity would have been far less  
energetic1  and its conquest of its     
barbarous conquerors far more           
problematical8 ,this is1 ,i repeat1 a   
question not of principle1  but of time1
 of place1 of circumstance1 and of      
condition of  society4 ,a complete      
separation of ,church and ,state may be 
good  and practicable2 it is neither the
 only good system1 nor is it  always a  
practicable system4    #ahe    ,an      
alliance of the two upon certain fixed  
terms has its  inconveniences and its   
perils1 but its effects may be also very
  salutary2 it may be essential1 and    
does not of necessity exclude  religious
 sincerity or religious liberty4 ,m4    
,vinet1 in discussing  the subject1 lost
 sight of the general history of human  
societies1 and attached too much        
importance to the specious and          

transient facts which he had before his 
eyes4    ,if ,m4 ,vinet were now living1
 he might in his own country behold  two
 fair examples of the good results of   
the mixed systems which  he so          
absolutely condemned4 ,in the ,cantons  
of the ,vaud and of  ,geneva1 after the 
violent and painful contests to which ,i
 have  above referred1 a dissenting     
,independent ,church was established  by
 the side of a ,church recognized and   
supported by the ,state4 ,in  neither   
canton was this establishment a         
temporary expedient1 the  fruit of a    
momentary ardor2 the ,independent       
,church has  consolidated and developed 
itself2 it endures and prospers4 ,like  
the ,establishment1 it has its pastors1 
its churches1 its  solemnities1 its     
schools for general and for superior    
instruction4  #ahf  ,i have before me   
facts and figures which prove its       
vitality and  its progress4 ,and not    
only did the ,established ,church       
finally  acquiesce in the peaceable     

existence of the independent ,church1   
it also profited by it1 and its salutary
 influence has been  frankly            
acknowledged by its worthiest pastors4  
,in ,switzerland1 as  in ,england1      
,scotland1 and ,holland1 and in our days
 more easily  and more promptly than in 
ancient times1 the existence on the one 
side of a national ,church recognized by
 the ,state1 has given to  the different
 forms of ,christian belief a stability 
and a dignity  which have secured its   
permanent effects upon succeeding       
generations2 the existence1 on the other
 side1 of independent  ,churches1 and   
the religious emulation between the two 
establishments1 have turned in both to  
the profit of faith and of  piety4      
#ahg    ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod seemed1 even
 more than ,m4 ,vinet1 to promise by    
natural bent of his character1 and by   
the incidents of his life1  to become   
the champion of an entire separation of 
,church and  ,state4 ,at the very       
commencement of his career1 he suffered 

from a  ,government based upon their    
connection4 ,pastor at ,lyons1 in #ahca1
  of the established ,protestant        
,church1 he was dismissed from these    
functions by the ,consistory of that    
city1 as too exacting in his  orthodoxy1
 and as troubling by his exigencies the 
peace of his  ,church4 ,he then became  
the founder and pastor of a small       
dissenting and independent ,church at   
,lyons4 ,the energy with which  he      
expressed his convictions1 and the      
excellence of his  preaching1 rapidly   
spread1 and increased his renown for    
piety4  ,numerous ,protestants          
manifested the desire to see him once   
more  within the pale of the national   
,church4 ,he made no objection2 a       
,chair becoming vacant in the ,faculty  
of ,montauban1 ,m4 ,adolphe  ,monod was 
nominated1 and from #ahcf to #ahdg he   
both lectured and  preached at          
,montauban with a commanding ability    
that made itself  felt1 not only among  
the majority of the students1 but       

propagated  its influences to a distance
 among the principal centers of  ,french
 ,protestantism4  #ahh  ,in #ahdg he was
 summoned to ,paris as the suffragan of 
another  pastor1 ,m4 ,juillerat4 ,nor   
did he scruple to accept this secondary 
and precarious situation4 ,he had full  
confidence in the divine  vocation1 and 
was firmly resolved to proceed to any   
place where  the faith of ,christ might 
demand his services4 ,he had1 in the    
evangelical chair1 even more success at 
,paris than at ,lyons and  ,montauban4  
,when1 after the ,revolution of #ahdh1 a
 general assembly  of the ,reformed     
,churches of ,france assembled for the  
purposes of  considering their          
institutions and discussing points of   
common  interest1 a grave question was  
raised1 and became the subject of  warm 
and lengthened debate3 ,should ,french  
,protestants proclaim  their ancient    
,confession of ,faith1 that of          
,rochelle1 or should  they proclaim a   
confession of new articles2 or lastly1  

should  they remain passive and do      
nothing8 some1 and particularly their   
pastor1 ,m4 ,frederic ,monod1 elder     
brother of ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod1         
announced their determination to retire 
from the assembly and  from the         
established ,church1 unless they adopted
 a ,confession of  ,faith in accordance 
with the traditional principles of the  
,reformation4  #ahi  ,the inertness of  
the hesitating and timid assembly was   
equivalent  to a refusal1 and they did  
in effect retire4 ,to the great         
surprise and great regret of his        
adversaries1 ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod1       
although favorable to the principles of 
the ,confession of ,faith1  did not     
follow the example by retiring2 he even 
succeeded his  brother as titular pastor
 in the ,church of ,paris1 and published
  to the world the motives of his       
conduct4 ,footnote #bh        ,footnote 
#bh3 ,in his work entitled1 ,pourquoi je
 demeure dans      l'glise tablie4      
#aij    ,his motives were good1 such as 

a man of elevated character and         
energetic purpose might conceive and    
might avow4 ,in spite of  their         
importance1 the questions which concern 
the organization of  the ,church and its
 eternal relations were1 in the eyes of 
,m4  ,adolphe ,monod1 only secondary    
considerations1 subject in a  certain   
measure to time and to circumstance4    
,for him the question  of faith was     
supreme2 and he occupied himself        
infinitely more  with the spiritual     
state of souls than with ecclesiastical 
government4 ,to the serious thinker the 
,christian faith is quite  different    
from any conception or conviction of the
 understanding2  it is a general        
condition of the whole man2 it is the   
very life  of the soul2 not merely its  
actual life1 but the source and the     
guarantee of its future life4 ,the faith
 in ,christ ,jesus1 the  ,redeemer1 the 
,saviour1 makes the life of a           
,christian2 and the  life of a          
,christian is a preparation for an      

eternal salvation4  ,with this faith    
penetrating to his very marrow1 and with
 the  intimate persuasion of its        
consequences1 the duty of giving a      
voice to that faith1 and of diffusing   
it1 was the dominant idea1  the         
permanent passion1 of ,m4 ,adolphe      
,monod4  #aia  ,he had not himself been 
always firmly settled in his religious  
convictions2 he had been a prey to great
 moral perplexities1 and  to attacks of 
profound melancholy4 ,when he had       
escaped from  these--or rather1 to use  
his own words1 when ,god had become     
really the master of his heart--he had  
no other thought but that  of bringing  
other souls to the same state1 and of   
rousing them to  a faith in ,christ1    
with a view to their eternal salvation4 
,the  position which he regarded as of  
all the most appropriate for  himself1  
was one in which he could most          
profitably forward this  work4 ,when in 
#ahdh the question was thus put to him1 
and when he  had been convinced both by 

his past observation of the ,protestant 
,church of ,france during the last      
twenty years1 and by his own  experience
 of it1 that the established ,church    
offered to him in  his ,christian       
purpose the vastest field of exertion1  
and the best  chance of success1 he did 
not hesitate to remain in it4 ,i find   
in the situation1 he said1 grave        
disorders1 of which it is my  duty to   
seek unceasingly the reform2 but that   
situation has also  its hopeful side4   
#aib  ,a long development of my ideas   
would be superfluous2 let us  confine   
ourselves to some striking facts4 ,try  
and reckon how many  orthodox pastors   
our ,church possessed when the reaction 
began in  #ahai1 and then make a similar
 calculation for #ahdi4 ,i do not mean  
to fix the precise numbers2 but is it   
too much to say1 that in  the course of 
a single generation the number of       
orthodox pastors  is ten1 fifteen1      
twenty times perhaps as great8 ,this    
applies to  the clergy1 of whom         

everywhere the immense influence is     
felt4  ,among their congregations it is 
less easy to follows things2 but  the   
attentive observer does not fail to mark
 similar indications4  ,behold our      
religious societies3 are not the most   
popular among  them those which hoisted 
most manfully the colors of orthodoxy8  
,and if some are in a languishing       
condition1 is it not because  they      
offered in this respect fewest          
guarantees8 ,evidently the  first       
condition of existence for our religious
 institutions of  charity is sound      
doctrine4  #aic  ,my readers1 permit me 
to question you still more closely4     
,throw  your eyes upon the eight or ten 
families best known to you1  beginning  
with your own1 and compare what they are
 now with what  they were in #ahai2     
contrast their occupations1 tastes1     
sacrifices1 and intercourse1 the modes  
of education1 the books  read1          
friendships formed1 and so on2 and then 
declare1 thankless  ones1 if ,god has   

allowed you to be without encouragement4
  ,footnote #bi        ,footnote #bi3   
,pourquoi je demeure dans l'glise       
tablie1 par      ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod1   
pp4 #be-cb4 ,paris1 #ahdi4    ,m4       
,adolphe ,monod had good reason to draw 
attention to this  general progress of  
,christianity2 but there was another    
progress  also deserving notice1 that   
which he had himself made1 and which  he
 was making more and more every day1 in 
the attainment of the  true and         
distinguishing character of a           
,christian4    #aid    ,at the          
commencement of his career as a minister
 of the ,gospel1 in  his different      
controversies1 and especially in his    
controversy  with the ,consistory of    
,lyons1 he had shown rudeness1          
impatience1  and want of foresight2 he  
had been too precipitate in enforcing   
his faith by arguments1 and too much    
disposed to undervalue the  obstacles in
 its way4 ,thanks to his genuine        
sincerity and the  natural elevation of 

his character1 time1 experience1 and    
success  had given at once breadth and  
suppleness to his thought4 ,faith  had  
generated modesty1 and hope patience4   
,contrary to the  ordinary bias of men1 
his liberalism had increased in the same
  measure as his strength4 ,as an act of
 duty he made in #ahdh an  avowal of the
 state of his mind in this respect4 ,the
 age1 he  said1 reproaches us with      
'exclusisme1' 7exclusiveness17 a  new   
word expressly invented to denote its   
favorite charge2 for  false ideas the   
age has only the resource of a barbarous
  phraseology4 ,this 'exclusisme' is the
 sole thing which the  age cannot       
tolerate in matters of doctrine3 it is  
prepared1 it  says to itself1 to take   
everything within its pale except the   
'exclusives4'  #aie  ,thus they demand  
from us only one change in the          
profession of our  faith2 they call upon
 us to substitute for our usual         
prefatory  formula1 ',this is the       
truth1' the words1 ',this is my         

opinion4'  ,and if they1 in claiming    
such qualification of language1 limited 
their demand to things which1 in spite  
of any relative  importance1 do not     
constitute the substance of the faith   
and of  the life of a ,christian1 we    
should do what they require2 perhaps  ,i
 should rather say1 we do it already1 as
 brother should do to  brother1 and in  
the interest of truth itself4 ,it is one
 of the  distinctive features of the    
awakening of ,christians in our epoch1  
that charitably sparing in the absolute 
dogmatism of which the  sixteenth       
century was prodigal1 they make dogmas  
of only a small  number of fundamental  
doctrines4 ,and even of these they      
strive to  contract the circle1 until   
having reached the vital forces1 the    
very heart1 so to say1 of truth1 they   
sum it up in one single  name1 ,jesus   
,christ1 and in one single word1 grace4 
#aif  ,whoever is of that faith1        
whatever name he bears elsewhere1 and   
whatever place he occupies in the       

,universal ,church--,lutheran1          
,anglican1 ,methodist1 ,moravian1       
,baptist1 nay1 ,roman ,catholic1 or     
,greek ,catholic1 we receive that man as
 a brother in ,christ ,jesus2  and not  
we only1 but the whole contemporary     
,evangelical ,church1  with certain     
exceptions becoming every day rarer1 and
 arising  from a narrow or sectarian    
pietism4 ,hence the ',evangelical       
,alliance1' formed in our own time of   
more than twenty ,protestant            
denominations1 the prelude only to      
another evangelical alliance  which will
 exclude none who rely upon the sole    
merits of ,jesus  ,christ1 the ,saviour 
and ,lord of all4    ,our 'exclusisme1' 
besides1 has not for its objects        
individuals but doctrines4 ,absolute    
affirmation is legitimate  when the     
object is to define the faith1 which is 
the promise of  salvation1 for ,god has 
clearly revealed it in his word2 but    
when  the object is to mark the         
individuals who possess that saving     

faith1 similar affirmation could not be 
used without temerity2  for ,god has    
nowhere revealed to us either the       
internal state of  any man1 or the final
 lot reserved for him4  #aig  ,we       
exclude no man1 we judge no man1 alive  
or dead2  the judgment of the quick and 
of the dead belongs to ,god alone4      
,doubtless we estimate1 according to our
 ability1 the spiritual  condition of a 
man by his works1 as we do a tree by its
 fruits2  ,jesus himself invites us to  
do so4 ,doubtless1 when we see a man    
living and dying in the works of the    
faith1 we hope for him1 and  our hope   
may grow even to a firm assurance2 and  
when1 on the  contrary1 we see a man    
living and dying in the works of        
incredulity1 we have a feeling of       
anxiety for him--a feeling as  painful  
as it is mysterious4 ,but1 after all1   
neither in the first  case nor in the   
second1 and still less in the second    
than the  first1 are we authorized to   
pronounce any personal judgment2 and    

but for the paradoxical turn of the     
expression1 ,i would willingly  adopt   
the language of the devout ,bunyan3     
,three things would  astonish me in     
heaven2 first1 not to see there certain 
persons  whom ,i expect to see there2   
secondly1 to see there those ,i do not  
expect to see there2 and thirdly1 which 
would surprise me most1  to see myself  
there4' ,footnote #cj        ,footnote  
#cj3 ,sermon sur l',exclusisme1 ou      
l'unit de la foi1      in the ,recueil  
des ,sermons de ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod4    
#cme srie1 t4      ii1 pp4 #chf-cij4    
,paris1 #ahfj4 ,the sermons of ,m4      
,adolphe ,monod      have been collected
 and published in four vols4 #hvo4      
,paris1      #ahef-ahfj4 ,he also wrote 
several small works1 among others3      
#a4 ,lucile1 ou la lecture de la ,bible4
 #ahda4        #b4 ,la ,destitution     
d',adolphe ,monod1 rcit indit1 rdig par 
luimme4 #ahfd4        #c4 ,rcit des     
confrences qui ont eu lieu en #ahcd1    
entre      quelques ,catholiques        

,remains et ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod4 ,paris1
      #ahfj4        #d4 ,les adieux     
d',adolphe ,monod  ses amis et  l'glise4
      ,paris1 #ahef4    #aih    ,a piety
 so profound1 and at the same time so   
modest and so large1  expressed with an 
eloquence which combined an impassioned 
earnestness of language with an         
impassioned earnestness of  conviction1 
could not fail to exercise great        
influence4 ,as a  preacher1 ,m4 ,adolphe
 ,monod was powerful4  #aii  ,he had    
acquired1 not by careful and cold       
observation1 but by an  assiduous and   
conscientious study of the ,gospels and 
of himself1  a remarkable knowledge of  
human nature1 of its strength and of    
its weakness1 of its deficiencies and of
 its aspirations4 ,he laid  siege1 so to
 speak1 to the souls of men1 and he     
pressed the siege  ardently and with    
skill2 he assailed all their gates1 and 
pursued  them to their innermost        
defenses1 keeping constantly displayed  
the banner of ,christ1 and inspiring    

them with the perfect  confidence that  
he was urging them to take their stand1 
too1 beneath it1 not from any human     
motive1 or any desire of  glory to      
himself1 but from a serious desire for  
their souls'  welfare1 and from it      
alone4 ,thus did he gain over to his    
,divine  ,master the hearts disposed to 
receive him1 strongly shake the  purpose
 of those not confirmed in their        
rebellion1 and leave  astonished and    
intimidated those whom he did not bring 
over4 ,as  pastor also his influence was
 extraordinary2 his life was the        
reflection and the commentary upon his  
preaching4  #bjj  ,he applied first to  
his own case the precepts of his faith1 
and  the conclusions therefrom logically
 deducible4 ,as he said nothing  that he
 did not think1 so he thought nothing   
that he did not  practice2 and without  
being readily impressionable1 like that 
of  ,m4 ,vinet1 his zeal was expansive1 
and his piety gave him no rest  from the
 task of diffusing by example and       

precept the faith and  the practice of  
,christianity4 ,attacked by a painful   
and incurable  illness1 which at last   
condemned him to immobility1 he did not 
suffer it to render him inactive and    
useless4 ,every ,sunday during  the last
 six months of his life1 his family1    
some pastors his  colleagues1 and as    
many attached friends as his chamber    
could  receive1 gathered around his bed1
 and his zeal surmounted his  pain4 ,he 
addressed to them1 to use his very      
words1 sometimes the  regret of a dying 
man1 sometimes the results of his own   
experiences of faith and of life4 ,the  
devout assemblage was  again convoked1  
at his expressed wish1 for the #fth     
,april1 #ahef4  #bja  ,but that day1    
before the hour fixed for the assembly  
had arrived1  ,god took to him his      
servant1 granting the wish expressed in 
his  own often repeated prayer1 ,let my 
life only terminate with my  ministry1  
and my ministry only with my life4      
,footnote #ca        ,footnote #ca3     

,these are the words inserted in a      
publication      bearing the title ,les 
adieux d',adolphe ,monod  sa famille et 
a l'glise1 in which the last            
exhortations and conversations      of  
this dying ,christian have been piously 
collected4 ,p4 viii4      ,paris1 #ahef4
    ,eighteen months before the decease 
of ,m4 ,adolphe ,monod1 an  eminent     
pastor of the ,lutheran ,church of      
,paris1 his friend and  fellow-laborer  
in the work of ,christianity1 ,m4       
,edouard ,verny1  died suddenly in the  
,evangelical ,chair at ,strasbourg1     
while  preaching upon the words         
addressed by the ,apostles to the       
,christians of ,antioch1 ,it seemed good
 to the ,holy ,ghost1 and to  us1 to lay
 upon you no greater burden than these  
necessary  things1 words not less       
liberal than pious1 and faithfully      
expressing the sentiments of the        
,christian orator1 who died while       
commenting upon them4  #bjb  ,the mind  
of ,m4 ,verny was naturally liberal and 

independent2 his  intellectual career   
had commenced with philosophical        
studies1 and  he had retained a strong  
bias in favor of the progress of        
thought4 ,this did not1 however1 prevent
 him from promptly and  calmly          
appreciating the opinions which he did  
not share4 ,without  possessing either  
the impassioned style or the power of   
,m4  ,adolphe ,monod1 he was not less   
devoted to the cause of  ,christianity2 
and he convinced those by the charms of 
his manner1  into whose minds ,m4 ,monod
 entered by force and as a conqueror4   
,footnote #cb        ,footnote #cb3     
,although ,m4 ,verny had long preached1 
and had      often written in religious 
reviews and journals1 and               
particularly in the ,semeur1 very few   
monuments remain of      his ideas and  
of his talents4 ,the principal are3     
#a4 ,a sermon ,upon the ,unity of the   
,church1 preached in the      church of 
,bolbec in #ahed4        #b4 ,two       
sermons1 one ,upon the ,prayer of the   

,canaanite ,woman2      the other ,upon 
,repentance2 preached at ,paris in #ahdc
 and      #ahdf4        #c4 ,the sermon 
,sur l',ouverture solennelle de la      
session du      ,consistoire suprieur de
 l'glise de la ,confession              
d',augsbourg1 preached at ,strasbourg on
 the #aith of ,october1      #ahed3     
while preaching which ,m4 ,verny died in
 the pulpit4        #d4 ,an ,essai sur  
les droits de la science1 inserted in   
the      ,revue de ,thologie et de      
,philosophie ,chrtienne1 published      
at ,strasbourg by ,m4 ,colani4 ,vol4 ix1
 pp4 #bjh-bdh4 #ahed4 ,this      essay  
was to have been followed by an ,essai  
sur les devoirs      de la foi1 of which
 the sudden death of ,m4 ,verny         
prevented      the completion4    #bjc  
,although the ,protestant ,church of    
,france thereby sustained an  immense   
loss1 it had a striking and salutary    
spectacle also  presented to it by the  
end of these two servants of ,christ1   
the  one dying suddenly1 in the         

plenitude of his strength1 at the very  
moment when from his pulpit he was      
maintaining with distinguished  ability 
the doctrines of his ,master2 the other1
 from his bed1  gathering with pain what
 of breath remained to him in this      
world1  to pour once more a flood of    
faith into the souls of his  auditors4  
,such lives1 such deaths1 could not     
remain sterile of result2  under their  
influence the ,christian faith was      
relumed2 it again  spread itself among  
the ,protestants of ,france4 ,nor was   
this that  arid cold faith which men    
accept to acquit their consciences1 and 
to rid themselves of a trouble and a    
scruple2 nor that vague and  dreamy     
faith which feasts rather upon its own  
emotions1 than  nourishes itself with   
the truths which are the voice of ,god4 
#bjd  ,a ,christian's faith is neither  
an act of prudent submission nor a      
paroxysm of mystic fervor4 ,conviction  
and sentiment1 the firm  adhesion of the
 mind1 and the filial love of the heart1

 meet in  that faith in essential and   
intimate union4 ,it is the light  coming
 from on high1 and bringing down with it
 the genial  principles of vital warmth 
and fecundity2 out of which1 like       
salubrious waters from a pure source1   
flow freely and in  abundance the works 
of human charity4 ,i have lying before  
me a  list of the different charities to
 which ,christianity has in our  own    
days since the reaction given birth in  
the ,protestant ,church  of ,france4    
,footnote #cc        ,footnote #cc3     
,expos des oeuvres de la charit         
protestante en      ,france1 par ,h4 de 
,triqueti1 membre du conseil presbytral 
et      du diaconat de l'glise rforme de
 ,paris4 #ahmo4 #ahfc4    #bje    ,i see
 there manifold associations1           
enterprises supposing a long  duration  
of existence1 unremitting efforts for   
the moral  development of men2 for the  
bodily solace of their earthly          
condition2 for the propagation and the  
defense of freedom of  opinion in       

religious matters2 for the support and  
diffusion of  the faith itself3 all     
these objects1 at once so various and so
  analogous1 are being laboriously      
worked out both by the  independent     
,protestant ,churches1 and by the       
,protestant ,church  established from   
the ,state4 ,m4 ,edmond de ,pressens and
 ,m4 ,eugne  ,bersier devote their      
talents and their zeal to the same forms
 of  ,christian belief as were advocated
 by ,m4 ,alexandre ,vinet and ,m4       
,adolphe ,monod4 ,in spite of the free  
divergence of sentiment and  the        
diversity of ecclesiastical government  
in ,french  ,protestantism1 we may      
observe in its bosom a progress of      
,christian ,faith1 a progress in works  
of ,christian ,charity1 a  progress in  
,christian ,science1 and a progress in  
,christian  ,influence4  #bjf  ,i use   
the same terms employed by me in        
speaking of the  contemporary ,catholic 
,church of ,rome1 because ,i find before
 me  similar facts4 ,these facts do not 

announce the reconciliation of  the two 
,churches--profound differences of      
opinion continue to  separate them2 but 
these facts are1 in both ,churches1     
signs of  the ,awakening of             
,christianity4                          
--------------------------------------- 
,,iii4 ,awakening ,of ,christianity ,in 
,france4      ,but the world has not    
changed since ,god at its creation      
delivered  it up to the disputes of     
mankind2 nor have the diversity and     
conflict of ideas and of passions ever  
ceased to be the condition  of humanity4
 ,by the side of the movement of        
,christianity to which  ,i refer1 a     
movement in the contrary direction is   
manifesting  itself1 and is pursuing its
 course4 ,christianity at its ,awakening
  is challenged to ruder combats4       
,philosophy refuses to its  fundamental 
dogmas the marks and the rights of      
rational truth4  #bjg  ,an erudite      
criticism contests its historical       
evidence4 ,the  natural sciences        

proclaim that they do not require its   
aid to  account for man and for the     
world4 ,it is affirmed as a principle1  
and maintained in learned societies1    
that morality is entirely  independent  
of religion4 ,man in his aspirations for
 liberty1 that  generous passion of the 
age1 retains a profound resentment for  
the chains and the sufferings which1    
under pretext of  ,christianity1 human  
conscience and human thought have so    
long  been made to endure4 ,the         
influence of these bitter reminiscences 
is manifesting itself in the different  
,christian ,churches under  various     
forms1 and with different effects4 ,many
 liberals so dread  the prospect of the 
,church of ,rome obtaining power over   
civil  society that they hardly accord  
to this ,church the rights of  common   
liberty2 or1 if they do so at all1 they 
do it reluctantly  and little by little4
    #bjh    ,among the ,protestants1    
some push the pretensions of liberty so 
far as to insist that in religious      

society a community of faith  should    
count for nothing2 that a man should be 
entitled to remain  a member of a       
,church1 and even to remain its         
minister1 although  he profess          
respecting the essential facts and      
dogmas of the  ,church the most         
contradictory opinions1 and opinions the
  strangest to its traditions and its   
texts4 ,with respect to ,roman          
,catholics1 the dominant question is    
that of liberty4 ,are the  liberties of 
civil society to be accorded to the     
,church8 ,are  those of the ,church to  
be allowed to remain intact in the bosom
  of the ,state8 ,in ,protestantism1 on 
the other hand1 the complete  liberty of
 religion in the midst of civil society1
 the right of  every individual to avow 
his belief1 and to solemnize his own    
forms of worship--these are all         
privileges already acquired1 and        
contested as little by any orthodox     
believer as by any  freethinker4 ,the   
questions really here agitated are      

questions of  faith and of discipline4  
,are a common faith and a uniform       
internal discipline essential to the    
,church8 ,here is the debate4  #bji     
,but above all these special questions  
and these different  situations of the  
various ,christian ,churches rise1 for  
,romanist  and ,protestant alike1 the   
general question and the common         
situation2 it is ,christianity itself   
which is engaged in the  contest1 and   
its awakening spirit confronts the      
antichristian  movement4    ,let us not 
delude ourselves as to the character1   
the force1 or  the danger of this       
antichristian movement4 ,it is not      
merely a  feverish excitability in men's
 minds1 a simple revolutionary  crisis  
in the religious order4 ,no2 we have    
here earnest  convictions at work1 and  
the prospect of a long war4 ,impatience 
of an ancient yoke1 a spirit of         
reaction1 a love of innovation1         
frivolous instincts not a few1 as well  
as evil impulses1 may  claim a          

share--and a large share--in the attacks
 of which  ,christianity is in these    
days the object2 but what gives to these
  attacks their most formidable         
character is a sentiment far more       
serious1 one that has made heroes and   
martyrs1 the love of truth  at all risk 
and in despite of consequence1 for the  
sake of truth  and for its sake alone4  
#baj  ,the feeling that makes man thirst
 for truth is an honor to human  nature4
 ,if he fancies that he has found that  
truth1 man abandons  himself with       
transport to the satisfaction of his    
cravings1 and  does not scruple to drink
 even to intoxication at this pure      
source4 ,but here he is incurring a     
great danger3 man is not  merely an     
intelligence whose vocation during his  
brief transit  through this world       
confines him only to study and science3 
he is  an active1 responsible being2 a  
being engaged in a life full of  labors1
 with a future life before him full of  
mystery2 a laborer  in a career having a

 particular interest for himself1 and   
yet  forming part of a general scheme1  
of the design of which he has  but      
imperfect glimpses4 ,very incomplete and
 very imperfect is  that man's state of 
intellectual action1 who restricts      
himself to  that which appears to him to
 be scientific truth1 who does not1  at 
the same time1 submit his thought to all
 the tests to which he  is himself      
subject1 and who does not examine       
whether that thought  be in harmony with
 the laws of his nature--whether it     
respect or  transgress the limits       
imposed upon his means of knowledge4    
#baa  ,the danger of falling into error 
becomes greater in proportion as  this  
incomplete and imperfect state of his   
mind is in itself a  noble state1 a     
state that satisfies noble impulses1 and
 procures  noble means of enjoyment4    
,the most eminent among the actual      
adversaries of ,christianity believe    
themselves the interpreters  and the    
defenders of truth2 some of             

philosophical truth2 others  of         
historical truth1 others again of the   
truth of the facts and  laws of the     
physical world4 ,they are all proud of  
belonging to  the department of pure    
science1 and of making of scientific    
truth  the sole object1 the sole rule of
 their labors2 but they are also  all   
forgetful of some conditions--nay1 the  
most indispensable  ones--to which      
science is bound to conform2 some       
tests--and the  most legitimate ones--to
 which science is obliged to submit4    
#bab    ,they claim1 too1 the honor of  
bearing the banner of a grand and  noble
 cause1 the cause of ,liberty4 ,that    
,christianity alone  restored to man1 as
 man1 and for no other reason1 his      
rights to  liberty1 is a fact that the  
comparative histories of the world1     
whether ,christian or ,pagan1 place     
beyond all doubt2 for confront  these   
two histories1 and name the nations     
among whom the idea of  the dignity of  
man's liberty became a general idea1    

powerful in  influence and fruitful in  
consequence6 ,another fact equally      
historic and certain is1 that           
,christianity knew how to adapt  itself1
 and did readily adapt itself1 to the   
different states of  society1 and the   
different forms of government2 that it  
set  itself up and maintained its rank  
in republics as well as  monarchies1    
under constitutional regimes as well as 
in  despotisms1 in the midst of         
democratical as well as  aristocratical 
institutions2 and1 beyond doubt1 it was 
not in  free states that it displayed   
least vigor1 or met with the  smallest  
success4  #bac  ,these two great facts  
are nowadays lost sight of4             
,christianity is  accused of being      
hostile to ,liberty and incompatible    
with the  spirit of modern societies2   
and this is1 indeed1 the chief charge   
laid to its score4 ,true it is1 that the
 charge is not without  deriving        
countenance from the history of ,europe 
in modern times2  worldly interests1    

selfish passions1 events complex and    
obscure1  in which moral order and      
social order have been compromised1 have
  as it were suspended in certain       
countries the liberal action of         
,christianity1 and enlisted momentarily 
the cause of ,liberty under  a banner   
not ,christian4 ,the error is profound1 
but transient2 the  traditional         
influences of ages will resume their    
empire1 the  grand events their course2 
,christ's religion and man's liberty    
will once more remember that each stands
 in need of the other1  and that their  
alliance in the bosom of order is their 
natural  and necessary condition4 ,that 
they do misunderstand each other        
occasions the most serious crisis at    
this moment in modern  society4    #bad 
,here1 too1 is the gravest peril which  
the ,christian religion has  in our days
 to surmount4 ,appreciate the force of  
the two  sentiments to which ,i just now
 referred1 the love of science and  the 
love of liberty2 understand through what

 phases of  degeneration and of         
deceptive transformation those          
sentiments  may1 in the ardor of pursuit
 and of combat1 have to pass2 reckon    
up1 if reckon you can1 all the false    
ideas1 the chimerical hopes1  which they
 may suggest2 and then add to the       
amount1 and as their  consequences1 the 
immoral and anarchical passions which   
may make  those sentiments their pretext
 and their tools2 and in doing  this1   
you will find that you have passed in   
review the forces of  that enemy now    
waging an implacable war against        
,christianity1  although a war to which 
,christianity is called upon to put an  
end4    #bae    ,i do not in any respect
 underrate the forces of that army4 ,i  
disparage no more their quality than    
their numbers4 ,to maintain  the combat 
worthily and efficaciously we should1 at
 the onset1  accord to our adversaries  
the whole amount of their merits as     
well as of their strength1 and then     
attack them in their  strongest         

entrenchments4 ,i have charged the      
enemies of  ,christianity with puerile  
presumptuousness when they refuse to    
see the energy and the progress of the  
awakening of ,christianity4  ,it is of  
infinite importance to ,christians1 on  
their side1 not to  be blind to the     
ardor and the effects which that        
,antichristian  demonstration is        
producing1 of which their ,faith and    
their ,church  are the aim4 ,i am firmly
 convinced that in this war             
,christianity  will conquer2 but it will
 leave its enemies with arms still in   
their hands4 ,it will no more gain over 
them any complete or  definitive victory
 than it will be able to conclude with  
them any  serious or durable peace4 ,in 
the actual state of men's minds and  of 
society1 the struggle will go on between
 the followers and the  opponents of    
,christianity2 the two armies will      
continue to deploy  their forces in the 
face each of the other2 and that of the 
,christians1 in order to defend and to  

extend its domain1 will be  incessantly 
called upon to watch and to combat the  
movements of  its enemy4  #baf  ,while  
combating them it will be also obliged  
to comply with the  terms that truth    
exacts1 and the conditions that liberty 
imposes4  ,from these exigencies and    
these conditions ,christianity has      
nothing to dread--that is1 if it accepts
 them boldly1 and in its  turn imposes  
them upon its enemies4 ,let man's       
science1 labors1  and systems be        
submitted to the same tests1 and handled
 with the  same freedom of examination1 
as are being applied to the  foundations
 and the doctrines of ,christian faith2 
this is all  that ,christians are       
entitled to1 all that they need to      
demand4    ,thus far ,i have explained  
the actual state of the ,christian      
religion in ,france1 the sources of its 
strength and of its  weakness1 its      
awakening and its perils4 ,it is my     
intention now to  examine the actual    
state of those doctrines and systems    

which  repudiate1 or which more or less 
deny and combat ,christianity4  #bag    
,when ,i have passed the hostile army in
 review1 ,i will once more  confront    
,christianity with its adversaries1 and 
endeavor to  distinguish1 by contrasting
 them1 on which side the truth is1 on   
which side the right1 and on which side 
the hope of future  success4            
--------------------------------------- 
#bah                ,second ,meditation4
                  ,spiritualism4      ,i
 witnessed the birth--not1 certainly1   
the birth of ,spiritualism1  for this   
was1 like its twin brother ,materialism1
 born in the  cradle of ,philosophy1 and
 while the steps of ,philosophy were    
still those of an infant--but the birth 
of the spiritualistic  school of the    
nineteenth century4 ,this birth was a   
national  reaction against the          
,sensualism of the eighteenth           
century--just  as the ,christian        
,awakening was a reaction against the   
impiety of  the same epoch4 ,theories do

 not escape the influence of events3    
after the ideas come the facts1 to pour 
upon those ideas floods  of light1 and  
to reveal the vices1 whether of         
philosophy or of  policy1 in all their  
practical consequences4  #bai  ,the     
,sensualism--that is to say1 to style it
 by its true name1 the  ,materialism--of
 the eighteenth century1 did not pass   
triumphantly  through this test3 it     
still reigned in ,france at the         
commencement  of the nineteenth century1
 but it was the reign of an antiquated  
sovereign in decline--a sovereign of    
whom the public know the  defects1 and  
whose successor is at hand4    ,m4      
,royer-,collard was the first who had   
the merit and the honor of  bringing    
back ,spiritualism into the teaching of 
philosophy and  into the minds of the   
people2 his was a return simply to the  
spiritualistic doctrines of the         
seventeenth century2 but still a  real  
progress1 effected by a novel route1 and
 a really scientific  method4 ,m4       

,royer-,collard was neither a           
philosopher by profession  nor the      
disciple of any master1 nor was his mind
 a mind disposed  to take up with       
systems--he observed1 he read1 he       
studied and  reflected1 as a looker on1 
and an earnest judge of the world and   
of men4 ,in philosophy and his          
professional chair1 as later in         
politics and in the chamber1 he was an  
original and profound  thinker4  #bbj   
,his mind united good sense with        
loftiness of sentiment1  circumspection 
with self-respect2 he was thoroughly    
imbued with  the spirit of his times1 at
 the same time that he refused to       
accept its yoke4 ,in his grave and      
independent course of  instruction1 he  
treated philosophical questions as they 
presented  themselves step by step1 each
 on its own account1 without  troubling 
himself about anything but the discovery
 of the truth2  and still less with any 
zealous endeavor to set together or     
resolve all the questions upon a general

 system1 the result of  any learned     
premeditation4 ,those who had           
opportunities of  listening to him1 and 
even those whose only means of judgment 
are  the fragments published by ,m4     
,jouffroy1 ,footnote #cd  characterize  
his lessons as directed1 each of them1  
toward some  special questions well     
determined beforehand1 and they regard  
them as models of analysis and of       
philosophical criticism1  scrupulously  
confined by the lecturer to the facts   
and the  results that the inductive     
process discovers in the facts          
themselves4      ,footnote #cd3 ,in his 
,traduction des oeuvres compltes de     
,reid1 vol4 iii1 pp4 #bii-ddi1 vol4 iv1 
pp4 #bgc-dea4    #bba    ,he had been a 
great reader of the writings of the     
,scotch  philosophers1 held them in high
 esteem1 and walked in their  steps2 his
 views were1 however1 loftier1 and his  
footing firmer1  although not less      
prudent4 ,he had in his short           
philosophical  career two rare pieces of

 good fortune3 one was1 that he had a   
friend in ,m4 ,maine de ,biran1 a       
profound and enthusiastic observer  of  
the human soul in his own soul--a subtle
 metaphysician1 almost  a mystic1 whom  
,i would1 if ,i dared1 name the ,saint  
,theresa of  philosophy2 his other      
advantage was1 that he had for his      
disciple  ,m4 ,cousin1 the congenial    
rival and eloquent interpreter of the   
great philosophers of all ages4 ,m4     
,cousin1 in his turn1 has been          
fortunate in having for his disciple ,m4
 ,jouffroy--a disciple1 of  mind        
original and independent1 following a   
master accomplished in  the art of      
observing intellectual and moral facts1 
and of  describing them and ordering    
them1 without altering their  essential 
character4  #bbb  ,sometimes1 it is     
true1 ,m4 ,cousin yields to the ambition
 of his  thought1 or is swayed by the   
intellectual current of opinions in     
vogue2 but very soon his common sense   
checks1 or at least sets  him on his    

guard--a common sense that finds lucid  
expression1 and  is distinguished by    
probity of intent4 ,such are the        
founders and  the glorious chiefs of the
 spiritualistic school of the           
nineteenth century4    ,nor have they   
failed to find disciples and heirs      
worthy of such  predecessors4 ,for some 
years past it has been the custom1 in   
certain regions of the learned world1 to
 demand1 frivolously  enough1 and in a  
tone not free from irony1 ,what has     
become of  the spiritualistic           
school--what can it be about8 ,i will   
not  answer for it as ,tertullian did to
 the ,pagans1 ,we are only of           
yesterday1 and we are everywhere--in    
your domains1 your cities1  your isles1 
your fortresses1 your communes1 your    
councils1 your  camps1 your tribes1 your
 'decuries1' in the palace1 the senate1 
the forum2 we only leave you your       
temples4 ,footnote #ce        ,footnote 
#ce3 ,tertullian ,apologet41 ch4 xxxvii4
    #bbc    ,the modern ,spiritualists  

had no such conquests to make1 and it is
  fitting for philosophers to be more   
modest2 but however short my  experience
 may have taught me that the human      
memory may in  similar cases sometimes  
be1 ,i am astonished that men should so 
forget facts1 and facts1 too1 that are  
recent and patent4 ,what  school of     
philosophy ever furnished in half a     
century so many men  and so many works1 
some of eminence1 all of them of        
distinguished  merit8 ,i will cite only 
a few names3 ,,mm4 de ,rmusat1 ,damiron1
  ,adolphe ,garnier1 ,franck1 ,jules    
,simon1 ,barthlemy1 ,saint-,hilaire1    
,saisset1 ,caro1 ,bersot1 ,lvque1       
,bouillier1 ,janet1 some of whom  have  
scarcely disappeared from the stage of  
the world1 and others  are only just    
arrived there--they belong all to the   
spiritualistic school1 to which they    
have all done honor by  important works 
on philosophy1 whether speculative1     
historical1  political1 economic1 or    
practical4  #bbd  ,their doctrines1 it  

is true1 have now been for some time    
hotly  attacked1 and the wind of the day
 does not blow into their sails4  ,they 
have1 besides1 in my opinion1 been wrong
 in this respect1  that they have not   
directed sufficient attention to these  
polemics2 that they have combated in a  
manner too indirect1 or  with too little
 energy2 the ideas in whose name their  
own have  been assailed2 a certain share
 of languor and of embarrassment is  at 
this moment the malady of the best minds
 and of the sincerest  convictions4 ,but
 in spite of the blows which it receives
 and  returns1 although with            
insufficient sturdiness1 the            
spiritualistic school1 if we judge it by
 the names and the works  which belong  
to it1 by their talent1 and their fame1 
remains in  our century in possession of
 the domain and of the banner of        
philosophy4    ,its merits will present 
themselves still more clearly if we     
examine closely the results of its      
labors4    #bbe    ,the first and the   

most important result1 in a point of    
view  purely philosophical1 is1 that the
 ,spiritualists of our days have  given 
to their researches and to their ideas a
 character really  scientific3 they have
 introduced into the study of man and of
 the  intellectual world1 the method    
practiced with so much success in  the  
study of man and of the material        
world--that is to say1 they  have taken 
the observation of facts as the point of
 departure and  the constant guide of   
their investigations4 ,are there in man 
and  in the intellectual world1 as there
 are in man and in the  material world1 
facts capable of being observed1 seized1
  described1 classified1 generalized8   
,this is the question which  the        
spiritualistic school proposed and      
discussed at the outset4 ,i  have no    
hesitation in saying1 that it resolved  
it in the  affirmative1 and that1 thanks
 to this school1 psychology has  assumed
 its rank among the positive sciences1  
just as physiology  did4 ,like          

physiology1 geology1 or botany1         
psychology has its  special object1 its 
determined domain1 in which it proceeds 
absolutely according to the same method 
observed by the physical  sciences in   
their domain4  #bbf  ,that this method1 
the observation of facts1 of their value
 and  their laws1 is in psychology more 
difficult to be followed than  in the   
physical sciences1 is certain2 but this 
certainly does not  deprive psychology  
either of its domain or of its          
scientific  character4 ,it is a science 
by the same right and upon the same     
conditions as all the others are so4    
,the labors of the  spiritualistic      
school1 and particularly those of ,m4   
,jouffroy1  have given it a solid       
foundation3 and this has been formally  
recognized by several even among the    
adversaries of this school1  among      
others by ,m4 ,taine and ,m4 ,berthelot4
 ,footnote #cf        ,footnote #cf3 ,i 
read in the ,mtaphysique et la ,science 
of ,m4      ,vacherot3        ,the      

,metaphysician3        ,in his denial of
 psychology1 ,i stop at once the author 
of      the 'positive philosophy1' and  
,i demand of him by what right      he  
thus banishes from the domain of the    
experimental sciences      a science of 
observation4        ,the man of         
learning3        ,it constitutes in     
effect 'hiatus' in this philosophy1 and 
a      hiatus which all the sound minds 
of the positive school are              
beginning to admit4 ,m4 ,littr1 for     
example1 may make his      reservations 
of opinion as to the manner in which our
      psychologists understand          
psychology1 and as to the method        
which they apply to it2 but he has too  
much sense not to      admit that the   
intelligence--all that constitutes man's
      identity1 the moral man--is the   
object of a peculiar study1      of     
which many previous works have shown the
 possibility1 and      many practical   
results prove the high and vital        
interest4--      ,vacherot1 la          

,mtaphysique et la ,science1 vol4 iii1  
p4 #aha4    #bbg    ,it is in the name  
of science and by the processes of      
science that  the ,spiritualists of the 
nineteenth have combated the            
,sensualists  of the eighteenth century4
 ,they have not1 it is true1 absolutely 
crushed ,materialism1 that child and    
legitimate heir of  ,sensualism2 but    
while dethroning the parent1 they have  
compelled  the child sometimes to avow  
himself boldly1 sometimes to  transform 
himself1 and to assume other features   
and other arms  than those of his       
cradle4 ,i will only cite the lecture of
 ,m4  ,cousin on the ,sensualistic      
,philosophy in the ,eighteenth          
,century1 and the essay of the ,duke de 
,broglie on the ,existence  of the      
,soul1 ,footnote #cg written on the     
occasion of the work  of ,m4 ,broussais3
 ,de l',irrritation et de la ,folie4    
,footnote #cg3 ,this essay1 first       
inserted in #ahbh in the ,revue         
,franaise1 has been reprinted in the    

,ecrits et discours      divers of the  
,duke de ,broglie1 collected and        
published in      #ahfc4    #bbh        
,whoever1 after having read them1 would 
still persist in  maintaining the       
,sensualism of ,locke and of ,condillac1
 or in  refusing to see the consequences
 to which ,sensualism leads1 would      
prove1 in my opinion1 that he has not   
understood either the  question put1 or 
the doctrine combated and refuted4 ,we  
have here  a result acquired for the    
science of the intellectual world1 and  
we owe the result to the polemics of the
 spiritualistic school4    ,that school 
has obtained another result more        
important still1 and  which belongs no  
longer to the polemics of simple        
negation1 but  to positive doctrine2 it 
has set in the broad light of day the   
real and fundamental principle of       
morals1 the distinction as to  the      
essentials of moral good and evil1 as   
well as the law of  obligation1 that    
categorical imperative1 the sole refuge 

which  ,kant found against ,skepticism4 
#bbi  ,neither the interest well defined
 of each individual1 nor the  interest  
of the greater numbers1 nor any         
sentimental sympathy1  nor any system of
 positive written law1 can1 for the     
future1 be  considered as the basis of  
morals4 ,an attempt is made in the      
present day to establish another thesis1
 and to represent  morality as          
absolutely independent of religion4     
,grave error1  which discards from      
morality1 if not its principle1 at least
 its  source and its object1 its author 
and its future2 an error1  however1 very
 different from those errors which      
dispense even  with the principle of    
morals1 and assign as the rule for the  
conduct of men1 motives having in       
themselves nothing moral1  nothing      
absolute4 ,the fact that man's          
conscience and man's reason  recognize  
the distinction of moral good and evil1 
and at the same  time the duty of       
practicing that good as the law of human

  actions1 is a fact which we may now   
regard as acquired to  philosophy4  #bcj
  ,the treatise ,du ,bien1 in the work  
of ,m4 ,cousin upon ,le ,vrai1  le      
,beau1 et le ,bien1 the preface of ,m4  
,jouffroy to the ,outlines  of ,moral   
,philosophy1 by ,dugald ,stewart1 and   
the ,essia sur la  ,morale1 in the      
,mlanges ,philosophiques1 which ,m4     
,jouffroy  published in #ahcc1 the book 
of ,m4 ,jules ,simon upon ,le ,devoir1  
these are all solid and brilliant works1
 by which the  spiritualistic school has
 victoriously established the truth to  
which ,i have referred4    ,and in      
establishing it1 it has paid a          
remarkable act of homage to  another    
fact1 and rendered an immense service by
 enforcing a  truth1 with which are     
intimately connected man's rights in    
this  world1 as well as his prospects   
beyond this world3 ,i mean the  fact of 
man's liberty4 ,this is no question of  
pure theory and  scientific curiosity2  
but a vital question1 whose solution has

  for man1 in time present and time     
future1 the most important  practical   
consequences4 ,upon what grounds would  
the claim of man  to liberty in the     
social state rest1 what would become of 
his  hopes and fears of a future        
eternity1 if man were not a being       
morally free and responsible for the    
decisions which determine  his acts8    
#bca  ,the civil liberty of man during  
his life on earth1 and his  future      
destiny after his life on earth1 closely
 depend upon the  fact of his free      
volition and upon the responsibility    
which  accompanies it4 ,without free    
volition man falls in this world1       
without rights1 under the yoke of       
whatever force may take  possession of  
him1 or use him as its instrument2 what 
remains for  man1 then1 but to tremble  
at the destiny which awaits him beyond  
this world by virtue of the unknown     
decree of his ,sovereign  ,master8 ,to  
the spiritualistic school belongs the   
honor of having  firmly established and 

rendered plain the psychological fact of
  the freedom of the human will2 nor in 
doing so has it allowed  itself to be   
troubled and blinded by the ontological 
questions  which that fact suggests1 or 
by the difficulty attending the         
solution of these questions4            
,consequently1 it has accepted upon     
this point the limits of man's science1 
and at the same time  maintained the    
rights of man's nature4 ,it has laid in 
man's  liberty and man's responsibility 
the legitimate foundation of  political 
liberty1 as well as that of the personal
 morality of  man and of man's future4  
#bcb    ,thus1 then1 the spiritualistic 
school of the nineteenth century  is at 
once scientific1 moral1 liberal4        
,eminent merits1 rare  combination in   
any time1 and still more so in our time6
    ,with these great merits1 and in    
spite of them1 two omissions are  still 
remarkably striking4    ,the            
spiritualistic school1 our contemporary1
 has halted abruptly  before the        

sovereign problems which weigh upon the 
human soul1  and which1 in the first    
series of these ,meditations1 ,i styled 
natural problems2 ,footnote #ch it has  
in no respect furthered  their solution 
according to reason1 or accepted their  
solution  according to ,christianity2   
its ,theodicy has remained far in       
arrear of its ,psychology4              
,footnote #ch3 ,meditations on the      
,essence of the ,christian              
,religion4    ,halted it has1 also1     
before any practical solution of these  
same  problems2 nor has it eliminated   
either any faith or any law which       
suffices for man's soul or man's conduct
 in life--in short1 any  religion4  #bcc
  ,m4 ,jules ,simon1 in his work        
entitled ,la ,religion ,naturelle1 ,,mm4
  ,saisset and ,de ,rmusat1 in their    
,essais de ,philosophie  ,religieuse1   
have striven1 irrespectively of all     
positive  revelation1 to give to man's  
soul and to man's conduct that          
satisfaction and that religious rule    

which both require4 ,i doubt  their     
counting much upon the success of their 
attempts2 ,i doubt  their believing that
 their natural religion1 or their       
religious  philosophy1 are sufficient   
substitutes for ,christianity4 ,far     
other things than such drops of science 
are required to appease  the thirst of  
humanity for religion4    ,whence1 in   
the spiritualistic school1 this double  
hiatus--this  twofold weakness1 whence8 
,in my opinion1 the causes are          
themselves twofold4 ,the  spiritualistic
 school has been at once too timid and  
too proud4  ,it has not seen in the     
psychological facts which it was        
observing  and describing1 all that they
 contain and reveal upon the subject  of
 the great natural problems of man and  
of the world2 it has  neglected the     
cosmological facts and the historical   
facts which  concur to throw light upon 
those problems2 its psychology has      
remained isolated and incomplete4  #bcd 
,it has1 at the same time1 failed to see

 the limits of psychology  and of human 
science in general2 not having succeeded
 in  advancing the torch of science into
 the regions where access to  it is     
denied1 it has refused to accept the    
light descending upon  man by another   
way than that of science4    ,like      
,plato1 ,descartes1 ,leibnitz1 ,reid1   
and ,kant1 ,m4 ,cousin1 now  the most   
eminent representative of the           
spiritualistic school1  establishes1 by 
virtue of psychological observation1    
these two  great facts3 first1 that     
there exist universal and necessary     
principles manifesting themselves in the
 human mind1 and reigning  there without
 being capable of being subverted1 which
 are called  into action by sensations  
coming from the external world2         
secondly1 that these sensations1 so     
coming from the external  world1 do not 
in any way supply the human mind with   
these  universal and necessary          
principles1 and that they can explain   
neither their presence nor their origin4

  #bce  ,such1 for instance1 are the    
principles1 that everything which       
begins to appear has a cause--that every
 quality belongs to a  substance6       
,footnote #ci ,sensualism is not in a   
position to  account in any way for     
these two principles1 or to find them   
among those facts that form all its     
psychology4        ,footnote #ci3 ,du   
,vrai1 du ,beau1 et du ,bien1 pp4       
#ai-ff4 #aheg4    ,i am not called upon 
to develop or to discuss this idea1     
which1  for my part1 ,i fully admit2    
enough that ,i mention it as a          
fundamental doctrine of the             
spiritualistic school4    ,the          
philosophers1 who have admitted the     
existence of these  universal and       
necessary principles1 have assigned them
 different  names1 and have enumerated  
and classified them differently2 but    
whether they style them ideas1 or innate
 ideas1 or laws1 or  forms1 or          
categories of the understanding--whether
 they  enlarge or limit their           

number--they agree as to their nature1  
and  declare them inherent in the human 
mind itself1 which applies  them1 so to 
say1 as its own peculiar property in its
 appreciation  of the external world2 so
 far is the mind from borrowing them    
from that world6    #bcf    ,these      
universal and necessary principles once 
admitted and  characterized1 some of the
 philosophers who so admit and          
characterize them1 the ,scotch          
philosophers for instance1 go no        
further1 and adhere to the psychological
 fact without examining  its value or   
its consequences in an ontological      
sense4 ,others1  like ,kant1 refuse to  
that psychological fact all ontological 
value1 and are of opinion that nothing  
authorizes us in affirming  that those  
principles1 inherent in the internal    
existence of the  human mind1 are true  
in the domain beyond the human mind1 or 
that  they regulate the realities of the
 external world1 as they  regulate our  
intellectual activity4  #bcg  ,others1  

finally1 ,m4 ,cousin1 with ,plato1      
,descartes1 ,leibnitz1  ,fnlon1 and     
,bossuet1 see the work of ,god1 and     
consequently ,god  himself1 in the      
universal and necessary principles which
 preside  over the intellectual         
existence of man2 and they recognize    
,god as  the infinite and sovereign     
being in whom the necessary principles  
reside2 and they regard these as the    
manifestations of him1 and  think that  
he placed them in the intelligence of   
man when he  placed man himself in the  
middle of the world4    ,to this        
doctrine ,i firmly adhere2 but why does 
the spiritualistic  school so stop      
short1 why does it not advance to the   
very end of  the path upon which it has 
entered8 ,it admits ,god as the being in
  whom these necessary principles       
reside1 and from whom man has  received 
them2 what does this mean but that it   
recognizes in ,god  the author and      
instructor of man8 ,and to recognize in 
,god the  author and the instructor of  

man1 what is this but to recognize  the 
fact of the creation1 and the fact of   
the primitive  revelation inherent in   
the fact of the creation8  #bch  ,these 
two truths are involved in the fact that
 the necessary  principles exist in the 
mind of man1 and that man derives them1 
not from his relations with the external
 world1 but from himself1  and from the 
source whence he himself emanates--from 
,god1 his  ,creator4 ,god has created   
man armed at all points1 as well in the 
order of the intellect as of matter1    
complete in his soul as in  his body3   
that is to say1 ,god has given to him at
 his creation  the necessary principles 
of his intellectual life1 just as he has
  given him the necessary mechanism of  
his physical organization4  ,scientific 
psychology thus mounts up to that       
supreme point where  it meets ,christian
 revelation4 ,there is1 on its part1    
inconsistency or timidity in not        
recognizing and proclaiming the         
existence of that light to which it so  

attains4    ,what was the import1 what  
the form1 of that primitive revelation8 
,has the revelation itself been renewed 
at any epoch subsequent to  the         
creation8 ,if so1 by what instruments   
and with what incidents  has it been    
renewed8 ,these are questions to which  
,i shall recur1  but which for the      
moment ,i do not approach2 ,i wish here 
only to  establish the fact of the      
divine revelation in the sphere and in  
the terms of scientific psychology4     
#bci    ,facts in cosmogony lead to the 
same conclusion4 ,i repeat here  what ,i
 said in the first series of these      
,meditations1 when  speaking of the     
dogma of the creation3      ,the only   
serious opponents of the dogma of the   
creation are    those who maintain that 
the universe1 the earth1 and man upon   
the earth1 have existed from all        
eternity1 and1 collectively1    in the  
state in which they now are4 ,no one1   
however1 can hold    this language1 to  
which facts are invincibly opposed4 ,how

 many    ages man has existed on the    
earth is a question that has been       
largely discussed1 and is still under   
discussion4 ,the inquiry    in no way   
affects the dogma of the creation       
itself2 it is a    certain and          
recognized fact that man has not always 
existed on    the earth1 and that the   
earth has for long periods undergone    
different changes incompatible with     
man's existence4 ,man1    therefore1 had
 a beginning3 man has come upon the     
earth4    ,footnote #dj        ,footnote
 #dj3 ,meditations on the ,essence of   
the ,christian      ,religion1 page #ah4
    #bdj    ,he did not come there by   
spontaneous generation--that is to say1 
by any creative force or organizing     
power inherent in matter4  ,scientific  
observation overturns more and more1    
every day1 this  hypothesis1 which1 in  
other respects also1 it is impossible to
  admit as any explanation of the first 
appearance upon the earth  of the       
complete man1 the man in a condition to 

survive4 ,another  delusion of which we 
must rid ourselves1 said1 lately1 a     
member  of the ,academy of ,sciences1 as
 he quitted the lecture-room where  ,m4 
,pasteur had been throwing upon this    
subject the light of his  luminous and  
scrupulous criticism4 ,the hypothesis of
 the  progressive transformation of     
species does not explain better the     
existence of man1 such as we now see him
 upon the earth4  #bda  ,this hypothesis
 is also rejected by the exact student  
of facts2  even if admitted1 it would   
still leave existing the same  problems2
 for1 whence came these primitive types1
 whose  successive transformations have1
 as supposed1 produced the  existing    
species8 ,god is as necessary to create 
the ape or the  primitive type of the   
ape as he is necessary to create man    
himself4 ,scientific cosmology accords  
with scientific psychology4  ,god1 the  
creator and instructor of man1 is the   
grand fact which  each of these sciences
 encounters at the summit of its labors4

    ,the whole current of history       
contains the same teaching4 ,i admit    
that error abounds in history1 that it  
is full of false  assertions1 of        
recitals tortured from the truth1 facts 
mutilated1  legends invented by men as  
imaginations4 ,it is not1 for all that1 
the less certain that in a great part   
the truth still remains  there1 that    
certain historical events are           
authenticated and  attested by          
undeniable testimony4 ,i mention here   
only two1  because connected with the   
subject which engages me4  #bdb  ,it is 
a general belief1 a universal tradition 
in the history of  nations1 that1 either
 at the moment of the creation1 or at   
some  epoch subsequent to creation1 the 
,god1 or the gods1 whom those  nations  
respectively adored1 had had direct     
relations with man2  had become manifest
 to him by different acts or under      
different  forms1 and had assumed a     
place and exercised an active influence 
upon man's destinies4 ,the idea of a    

single revelation1 or of a  succession  
of revelations--revelations             
characterized at one time  by a strange 
grossness1 at another by a subtle       
mysticism1 is a  thing ever recurring in
 the history of humanity4 ,the tradition
 of  the special revelation1 proclaimed 
first by the ,hebrews1 and  after them  
by the ,christians1 is equally          
undeniable2 criticism  may apply itself 
to the volumes that contain the         
accounts2 may  contest the authenticity 
or exactitude or date of particular     
books2 but so far from ever negativing1 
it will not even weaken  the evidence of
 the existence and the powerful         
influence of the  religious tradition   
which gave birth to ,judaism and to     
,christianity4  #bdc  ,we have here a   
remarkable historical fact1 manifesting 
at once  the natural faith of mankind in
 the divine revelation1 and in the      
relations of the ,creator with his      
creatures4    ,if the spiritualistic    
school refused from its very origin to  

admit these facts1 drawn from cosmogony 
and from man's history1  into the sphere
 of its labors2 if it limited psychology
 to its  peculiar scientific object--the
 study of the human soul--,i am far     
from making such refusal matter of      
reproach3 for the  ,spiritualists did   
thereby nothing but what they were      
entitled and  called upon to do4 ,but   
they have fallen into a twofold error4  
,while observing and describing         
psychological facts1 they did not       
perceive nor accept all that they       
imported3 they saw in the  intelligent  
man the work and the trace of ,god2 but 
they did not  see what was implied in   
that man besides--that is1 revelation as
  well as creation4 ,they did not leave 
pure psychology to demand of  kindred   
sciences1 such as cosmology and history1
 whether their  results accorded or did 
not accord with the results that they   
had  deduced from psychology4  #bdd  ,in
 short1 on the one side they stopped    
short of the limits of the  domain of   

psychology2 and on the other1 they      
confined themselves  to it too          
exclusively4    ,from this twofold error
 sprang another still more serious4     
,spiritualism gave birth to             
,rationalism--a transformation as       
unnatural as unfortunate1 which has     
rendered the science of man  and of the 
intellectual world still more inexact   
and incomplete6                         
--------------------------------------- 
#bde                 ,third ,meditation4
                   ,rationalism4      ,a
 man of a mind as unprejudiced as rare1 
one who will never be  suspected of any 
undue bias for ,christianity1 ,m4       
,sainte-,beuve1  avowing to me recently 
the high esteem with which ,m4          
,alexandre  ,vinet inspired him1        
borrowed an expression of ,pascal's3    
,the  heart has its reasons1 which the  
reason does not comprehend4  ,footnote  
#da        ,footnote #da3 ,between this 
phrase and that of ,pascal there is     
a slight difference4 ,pascal said1 ,le  

cur a des raisons que      la raison ne 
connat point3 ,the heart has reasons    
that the      reason knows not at all4  
,penses de ,pascal1 edition of ,m4      
,faugre1 #ahdd1 vol4 ii1 p4 #agb4    ,i 
only admit half of what is implied in   
this conciliatory phrase2  and these are
 my reasons4    #bdf    ,true religious 
faith1 or1 to call things by their real 
names1  ,christian faith1 is founded    
upon instincts and upon sentiment at    
the same time that it is founded upon   
reasons4 ,if reason do not  accept the  
sentiments of the heart1 on which side  
is the fault8  ,is the fault with the   
heart1 that it feels them1 or is it with
  the reason1 that it does not          
comprehend them8    ,my reply to this   
question is easy4 ,i reject the         
distinction made4  ,i admit no such     
persons as are respectively styled the  
heart1 the  reason4 ,here is only an    
attempt at a psychological anatomy2 no  
true enunciation of a real fact4 ,man1  
the human being1 is  essentially one1   

and single3 he has the faculty of       
self-observation and self-study1 but in 
exercising it he does not  destroy the  
unity of his nature2 it is not his mere 
reason1 it is  himself1 and his whole   
self1 that makes himself the object of  
his  observation and of his study1 and  
that cannot but recognize  himself and  
accept himself in his entirety4 ,he has 
no right to  say1 with an air of        
scientific disdain1 ,my reason          
comprehends  not the reasons of my      
heart4  #bdg  ,he must perforce say3 ,i 
comprehend not myself2 he must perforce 
proclaim1 not the incoherency of his    
being1 but the insufficiency  or the    
incompetency of what he styles his      
reason4    ,philosophy1 like poetry1 is 
full of personifications that  mislead2 
the one personifies by images1 the other
 by  abstractions4 ,both have need of   
them--the one for its creations1  the   
other for its studies2 ,i am far from   
seeking to deny their  respective use4  
,all that ,i contend for is1 that we    

must not  misconceive the real import of
 these expedients of human  language2 we
 must not1 by taking them for realities1
 lose sight  of or destroy what are     
really and genuinely realities1 the     
entities of divine creation4    ,i      
insist the more on this error1 because  
in the philosophy of our  time it is a  
common and a potent error1 and the      
source too of  other errors1 deplorable 
as well in a scientific as in a moral   
and practical point of view4 ,condillac 
and his disciples had set  apart and    
specially studied in man the faculty of 
sensation1 and  they were thereby led to
 make out of this faculty1 and out of it
  alone1 man himself and the whole man4 
#bdh  ,kant and his school considered   
particularly in man the faculty of  the 
reason and judgment1 and very soon      
reason came with them to  constitute the
 whole man4 ,i am far from intending to 
examine in  its fundamental principles  
and its entirety the system of ,kant1   
the greatest philosophical work upon the

 human understanding that  any man has  
produced since the time of ,plato4 ,i   
single out this  fact1 that it treats   
the reason as the proper1 special1 and  
paramount object of philosophy4 ,warned 
by his profound1  scrupulous genius1    
,kant did not limit himself to a point  
of view  so narrow1 although so lofty2  
he studied man's reason under its       
different aspects1 he constituted       
himself the critic of pure  reason1 the 
critic of practical reason1 the critic  
of sthetic  reason--that is1 of reason  
applied to the discrimination of the    
beautiful2 he decomposed1 so to say1 the
 reason itself into as  many different  
faculties as he found different phases  
in the  intellectual and moral life of  
man2 but the faculty that he  styled the
 reason remained the basis of his study 
and of his  system4  #bdi  ,it became in
 his school1 and in the schools akin to 
it1  pre-eminently the intellectual     
substance1 the basis of man and of      
philosophy2 and the human being himself1

 in his personal unity1  with all his   
life and his free will1 entirely        
disappeared from  their teaching4    ,as
 results of this system ,i will cite    
only two facts1 very  different in their
 nature1 both very foreign to the       
founder of  the system and his          
disciples1 but which serve the better to
  reveal that system's faultiness1 as   
these facts are1 although its  indirect1
 remote1 and involuntary1 nevertheless1 
its undeniable  consequences4    ,when1 
in #agic1 the frenzied men who disposed1
 as masters1 of the  destinies of       
,france1 abolished the ,christian       
religion and  ,christian worship1 they  
resolved1 nevertheless1 to give to men  
an  object to adore4 ,they instituted   
the worship of reason4  #bej  ,the      
church of ,notre-,dame at ,paris was    
metamorphosed into a temple  of reason2 
a young woman was made to figure there  
as the goddess  of reason2 and the      
orator of the ,national ,convention1    
,chaumette1  cried aloud as he pointed  

her out to the people1 ,behold living   
,reason2 we celebrate here to-day the   
sole true worship1 the  worship of      
,liberty and of ,reason4    ,at the     
distance of three quarters of a century 
from the date of  these revolutionary   
orgies1 in #ahfe1 not in ,france but in 
,england1 a man of earnest intentions1  
superior mind1 and  extensive learning1 
whose sincerity is evident1 and his     
sentiments moral at once and moderate1  
writes a book entitled1  ,rationalism in
 ,europe2 and the object of this book is
 to  establish1 that all the good       
effected in ,europe since the fall of   
the ,roman empire1 all the progress made
 by states in justice1 in  humanity1 in 
liberty1 and general happiness--whether 
in the  sphere of science or of         
practical industry--is due to the       
influence of ,rationalism1 to its       
developments and its conquests4  #bea   
,mr4 ,lecky is not a metaphysician2 he  
attaches no precise and  philosophical  
meaning to the word ,rationalism2 he    

does not  trouble himself about the     
system of ,kant1 nor the place occupied 
in it by the pure1 the practical1 or the
 aesthetic reason2 he  only retraces the
 intellectual and social history of     
,europe1 and  all the happy results that
 this history commemorates1 all the     
salutary consequences of the activity of
 the human mind1 of the  liberty of     
man's thought1 of the amelioration of   
human  institutions and manners1 he sums
 up all in a single name1  attributes   
them to a single cause1 and assigns all 
the honor to  the progress of           
,rationalism6    #beb    ,arrived1      
nevertheless1 at the conclusion of his  
work1 a single  reflection disquiets    
,mr4 ,lecky3 he asks himself whether1 in
  extolling the happy effects of what he
 styles ,rationalism1 he has  not gone  
too far1 said too much1 and hoped too   
much3      ,utility is perhaps the      
highest motive to which reason can      
attain4 444 ,it is from the moral or    
religious faculty alone    that we      

obtain the conception of the purely     
disinterested4 444    ,the substitution 
of the philosophical conception of truth
 for    its own sake1 for the           
theological conception of the guilt of  
error1 has been in this respect a clear 
gain2 and the political    movement     
which has resulted chiefly from the     
introduction of    the spirit of        
,rationalism into politics1 has         
produced1 and is    producing1 some of  
the most splendid instances of          
self-sacrifice4 ,on the whole1 however1 
the general tendency of    these        
influences is unfavorable to enthusiasm1
 and both in    actions and in          
speculations this tendency is painfully 
visible4    ,with a far higher level of 
average excellence than in former       
times1 our age exhibits a marked decline
 in the spirit of    self-sacrifice1 in 
the appreciation of the more poetical or
    religious aspect of our nature4 ,the
 history of self-sacrifice    during the
 last eighteen hundred years has been   

mainly the    history of the action of  
,christianity upon the world4  #bec     
,ignorance and error have1 no doubt1    
often directed the heroic    spirit into
 wrong channels1 and have sometimes even
 made it a    cause of great evil to    
mankind2 but it is the moral type and   
beauty1 the enlarged conception and     
persuasive power of the    ,christian   
faith1 that have chiefly called it into 
being1 and it    is by their influence  
alone that it can be permanently        
sustained4 444      ,this is the shadow 
resting upon the otherwise brilliant    
picture the history of ,rationalism     
presents4 ,the destruction of    the    
belief in witchcraft and of religious   
persecutions2 the    decay of those     
ghastly notions concerning future       
punishments1    which for centuries     
diseased the imaginations and embittered
    the character of mankind2 the       
emancipation of suffering               
nationalities2 the abolition of the     
belief in the guilt of    error1 which  

paralyzed the intellectual1 and of the  
asceticism    which paralyzed the       
material progress of mankind1 may be    
justly    regarded as among the greatest
 triumphs of civilization2 but    when  
we look back to the cheerful alacrity   
with which1 in some    former ages1 men 
sacrificed all their material and       
intellectual    interests to what they  
believed to be right1 and when we       
realize the unclouded assurance that was
 their reward1 it is    impossible to   
deny that we have lost something in our 
progress4 ,footnote #db        ,footnote
 #db3 ,history of the ,rise and         
,influence of the ,spirit      of       
,rationalism in ,europe1 by ,w4 ,e4 ,h4 
,lecky1 vol4 ii1 #ahff1      third      
edition1 pp4 #djc-dji4    #bed    ,but  
to leave ,england and ,mr4 ,lecky1 and  
to return once more to  ,france4 ,i turn
 to the pages of a rationalistic        
philosopher more  profound1 and more    
profoundly troubled1 too1 in his        
sentiments  than ,mr4 ,lecky4 ,i find   

there1 in an essay of ,m4 ,edmond       
,scherer1  entitled ,the ,crisis of     
,protestantism1 ,footnote #dc the       
following passage3        ,footnote #dc3
 ,mlanges d'histoire religieuse4 ,pp4   
#bej-bed4      #ahfd4    #bee      ,that
 which is really imperiled is not so    
much ,protestantism2    it is           
,christianity1 it is very religion4 ,as 
for natural    religion1 that exists    
only in books4 ,religions which have    
vital    force and influence are        
positive religions2 that is1 religions  
which have a ,church1 and particular    
rites1 and dogmas4 ,what are    these   
dogmas8 ,taken in their intimate        
meaning1 they are the    solutions of   
the great problems which have ever      
disquieted the    mind of man--the      
origin of the world1 and of evil2 the   
expiation2 the future of humanity4 ,the 
doctrines of religion    are a sort of  
revealed metaphysics4      ,considered  
in its form1 dogma is the               
supernatural--not merely    because     

religions were born at an epoch when the
 imagination    was greedy of miracles1 
and when the imagination1 in her        
nivet1 associated herself with          
everything2 but also    because1 as may 
be readily understood1 it is impossible 
for a    positive religion to have any  
other origin than a revelation2    it is
 necessarily a history of the           
intervention of ,god in the    destinies
 of man1 the account of acts by which   
,god created and    saved the world--it 
is that or it is nothing4 ,we see then  
at    once that in religion everything  
is not religious4 ,there is in    every 
religion a multitude of elements1       
historical1 physical1    and            
metaphysical1 as to which its dogmas may
 come into conflict    with science4    
,nevertheless1 it is not of this        
antagonism that ,i    would here speak4 
,the religious sentiment has also its   
critical    action2 it also may enter   
into a struggle with religion4    #bef  
,as long as the authority of the priest 

or of the book    preserves its         
prestige1 the believer receives his     
religion    ready made for him1 without 
himself making distinctions2 but as     
soon as that authority is shaken1 a man1
 if he do not entirely    reject his    
first belief1 will at least no longer   
accept it    without reservations4 ,he  
only retains so much of it as           
enlightens or touches him1 so much as   
commends itself to his    understanding 
or to his heart2 so much1 in a word1 as 
gives a    satisfaction to his religious
 requirements4      ,thus it is that    
religious sentiment becomes the measure 
of    religious truth4 ,it receives all 
in religion that addresses    itself to 
the soul1 all that nourishes and        
fortifies the soul1    all that raises  
the soul to the infinite and the ideal1 
all    that unites the soul to ,god4    
#beg    ,religious sentiment            
appropriates it all1 but it appropriates
    nothing more4 ,let but a thing      
become indifferent1 and it feels    it  

as an importunity1 and looks upon it in 
the light of an    element strange1     
useless1 arbitrary4 ,it rejects1 for    
this    reason1 doctrines purely        
speculative as well as facts purely     
marvelous4 ,man requires his religion to
 be entirely religious2    that is to   
say1 to be in all respects in direct    
relation with    piety1 and1 so to      
speak1 to be vertical to his conscience4
 ,the    more his faith purifies itself1
 the more a man eliminates from    his  
religion dogmas which1 having no root   
either in the divine    nature or man's 
nature1 appear on that very account to  
have no    ground to exist at all4      
,at first sight this gradual            
emancipation of faith and this          
corresponding progress of religion in   
the ways of ,spiritualism1    seem a    
natural process by means of which       
religious opinion and    the human mind 
contrive to maintain themselves in a    
state of    constant equilibrium4  #beh 
,we imagine all difficulties removed1   

and fancy that we catch a    glimpse of 
the religious future of humanity in a   
sort of    ,christian ,rationalism1 a   
rational ,christianity not excluding    
fervor of devotion1 but leaving all its 
liberty to man's    thought4      ,i    
demand nothing better as far as ,i am   
concerned2 but ,i cannot    refrain from
 asking1 not without anxiety1 whether   
,christian    ,rationalism is really a  
religion4 ,what remains in the crucible 
after the operation just detailed8 ,is  
the residue really the    essence of the
 positive dogmas1 or is it but a caput  
mortuum8 ,when ,christianity is rendered
 translucent to man's    mind1          
conformable to man's reason and man's   
moral appreciation    of things1 does it
 still possess any great virtue8 ,does  
it not    very much resemble ,deism1 and
 is it not equally lean and    sterile8 
,does not the potent influence of       
religious belief    reside in its       
dogmatic formulas and marvelous legends 
just as    much as in anything more     

essentially religious that it           
possesses8  #bei    ,is there not even  
somewhat of superstition in genuine     
piety1    and is it possible for piety  
to dispense with that popular    system 
of metaphysics1 that attractive         
mythology1 which men    strive to       
eliminate from it8 ,do not the elements 
which you    pretend to abstract from   
religion constitute the alloy1 without  
which the precious metal becomes        
unsuitable for the rough    usages of   
life8 ,in short1 when criticism shall   
have succeeded    in overthrowing the   
supernatural as useless1 and dogmas as  
irrational2 when the religious sentiment
 on the one side1 and a    scrupulous   
reason on the other1 shall have         
penetrated man's    belief1 assimilated 
and transformed it2 when no other       
authority    shall remain standing1 save
 that of the personal conscience of     
each individual2 when1 in a word1 man   
having torn every vail    and penetrated
 every mystery1 shall behold that ,god  

face to    face to whom he aspires1 will
 it not be discovered that that    ,god 
is1 after all1 nothing else than man    
himself1 the    conscience and the      
reason of humanity personified8 ,will   
not    religion1 in the very attempt to 
become more religious1 have    ceased to
 exist8    #bfj    ,such1 according to  
the views of its most eminent           
representatives1  are the potent        
influences and the final results of     
,rationalism4  ,after having confusedly 
attributed to it all the progress of    
man's thought and of man's civilization1
 ,mr4 ,lecky expresses the  apprehension
 that he has lowered the nature of man1 
by depriving  him 7these are his very   
words7 of our noblest quality1 of the   
divine spark1 the principle in us of    
everything that is heroic1  the complete
 and pure devotedness of ,christian     
faith4 ,m4 ,scherer  asks himself sadly 
if in rejecting all dogma and all       
positive  revelation1 in obliging       
religious sentiment to be               

self-sufficing1  and to feed itself with
 its own and single virtue1 rational    
criticism does not inflict a deadly blow
 upon religion itself2  and ,m4         
,sainte-,beuve1 in the same perplexity1 
contents himself  with saying1 as       
resignedly1 though more coldly1 ,the    
heart has  its reasons1 which the reason
 comprehends not4    #bfa    ,nothing is
 so affecting to me1 but nothing1 at the
 same time1  throws such light upon the 
subject of my meditations as this       
involuntary1 this invincible anxiety    
observable in men of lofty  sentiments  
and profound convictions1 when          
confronting the chasms  in their system1
 and dealing with the incoherences of   
their own  convictions4 ,however        
profound1 however different my own      
conviction may be1 ,i have no desire to 
engage1 either with them  or against    
them1 in any direct or prolonged        
controversy4 ,i have  been engaged all  
my life in frequent and ardent polemics4
 ,those  could not be well avoided by a 

man like myself1 forced not merely  to  
combat human opinions1 but to grapple   
with human affairs2 and  called upon to 
resolve1 upon the instant1 practical and
 urgent  questions4 ,but while ,i       
voluntarily submitted to the necessity  
of  precipitate and unforeseen          
struggles1 experience has taught me     
their inconveniences and their perils4  
#bfb  ,the combatants on each side are  
prone to make use of weapons of  too    
offensive a nature2 men involve         
themselves for party  interests and     
party honor1 and push their conclusions 
with  obstinate pertinacity beyond the  
strictness of truth1 sometimes  even    
beyond their own intentions4 ,i do not  
wish in the arena of  philosophy to run 
the risk of striking upon any similar   
rock2 but  avoiding all personal        
polemics1 all controversy of detail1 ,i 
will  express upon the essence of       
,rationalism1 although only in a        
general manner1 my sincere and intimate 
convictions4    ,there are in           

,rationalism two fundamental errors4    
,first1 it  mutilates man while it      
studies him2 it holds as of no account  
several of the constituent elements and 
essential facts of human  nature1 of    
which it ignores the meaning and the    
import4 ,secondly1  ,rationalism extends
 the pretensions of human science beyond
 its  rights1 and beyond its legitimate 
limits4    #bfc    ,the instincts1 the  
sentiments1 of humanity are certainly   
not  sufficient reasons for scientific  
conviction1 nor conclusive  proofs in   
support of any particular system        
whatever4 ,the  instinctive belief of   
the human race in one or more           
supernatural  forces is no demonstration
 of the reality of the supernatural2    
and the aspirings of man's soul for a   
life beyond this  terrestrial one does  
not rationally prove the soul's         
immortality4  ,error may occur in human 
instincts or sentiments just as much as 
in human ideas4 ,but when these         
instincts and these sentiments are      

universal1 permanent1 indestructible1   
encountered in all ages and  in all     
countries--when they resist and survive 
all attacks1 all  doubts of reason or   
science--they are1 beyond all question1 
considerable facts1 and facts which the 
human understanding  cannot but         
recognize and respect4 ,if these        
instincts and  sentiments do not solve  
the problems which trouble man's        
understanding1 at least they demand     
imperiously some solution2 if  they     
throw no light upon his road to science1
 they oblige him to  see that that road 
has its mysteries4  #bfd  ,rationalism  
mutilates humanity when it ignores such 
facts1  regarding them as vain illusions
 because it cannot explain them2  and   
when1 after this mutilation1 it assigns 
the entire empire to  a single portion  
of the human nature1 to a single        
faculty1 called  by it reason1 as if    
reason constituted the entire man1      
,rationalism does in the intellectual   
world what it would be doing  in the    

physical world did it deny the reality  
of night because it  only sees the day  
clearly4    ,rationalism is the more    
wrong in thus discarding facts which it 
does not explain1 that in its proper    
domain similar facts occur1  and that   
its science of reason arrives also      
finally at mysteries4  ,i mentioned it  
before1 as a truth acquired to          
philosophy1 that  there exist in the    
human mind certain universal and        
necessary  principles1 neither furnished
 to the mind by impressions derived     
from the external world1 nor created by 
the mind itself2 and that  those        
principles are inherent in the nature of
 the mind1 and come  to it from another 
source than that of sensation1 or any   
discovery of man's own thought4  #bfe   
,we have here a psychological fact      
which1 after the profound  studies of   
the spiritualistic school from the time 
of ,plato down  to ,m4 ,cousin1         
,rationalism is obliged to admit4 ,to   
what does this  fact tend1 and what is  

its logical consequence8 ,what but ,god1
  creation1 revelation1 and the         
relations of ,god with man8 ,will       
,rationalism give any better explanation
 of these divine laws of  the human mind
 than it has given of the instincts and 
of the  sentiments of the human heart8  
or will it ignore the one result  as it 
has ignored the other8    ,but now to   
touch upon the radical and permanent    
error of  ,rationalism4 ,it regards all 
things as accessible to the  researches 
and to the methods of human science4    
,when ,spiritualism  has recognized and 
proclaimed the essential and necessary  
facts  which constitute the intellectual
 and moral being by it styled  man1 it  
halts abruptly2 it hesitates also to    
recognize and  proclaim the mysterious  
facts in that sanctuary the very door of
  which it has reached2 it does not     
resign itself to adore what  lies behind
 the vail2 it is inconsequent and timid1
 although  respectful and modest4  #bff 
,rationalism1 on the contrary1 is       

presumptuous and audacious2 its         
ambition is to see clearly1 to touch    
what is in the center of the  sanctuary1
 as it sees and touches what is on its  
outside4 ,its  pretension is that it may
 study and know1 by its ordinary        
processes1 as well the invisible world1 
its ,sovereign and its  laws1 as the    
visible world in which man is now       
placed2 and it  wars upon ,christianity 
because ,christianity admits no such    
pretension4 ,but ,christianity here     
encounters another adversary1           
,positivism4 ,positivism arrests its    
progress1 saying3 ,i do not  know1      
nobody knows1 if an invisible world be  
or be not a really  existing thing4 ,it 
is a mere loss of time to think of it1  
for  nothing can be known about it with 
certainty4 ,all religion1 all           
metaphysics1 are chimerical and vain    
sciences2 there is no  science but the  
science of the physical world1 of its   
facts and  of its laws6                 
--------------------------------------- 

#bfg              ,fourth ,meditation4  
,positivism4      ,i seek no quarrel    
with words1 even when they provoke it4  
,positivism is a word1 in language a    
barbarism1 in philosophy a  presumption4
 ,unlike ,geology1 ,ideology1 ,theology1
 ,physics1 it  qualifies a doctrine1 not
 by its object1 but by its supposed     
merit4 ,all science pretends to         
positiveness--that is1 to be  founded   
upon fact and truth4 ,but ,positivism   
alone arrogates to  itself this quality4
 ,it is an arrogance1 in my opinion1    
radically  unjustifiable4    ,i knew its
 founder1 ,m4 ,auguste ,comte1          
personally4 ,i had some  communication  
with him in the period from #ahbd to    
#ahcj4 ,i then  was struck by the       
elevation of his sentiments and by the  
vigor of  his mind4  #bfh  ,in ,october1
 #ahcb1 at the moment when ,i was       
entering upon my  functions as ,minister
 of ,public ,instruction1 he came to me 
and  formally demanded that ,i should   
create for him in the ,college of       

,france a professorship of general      
history for the physical and            
mathematical sciences4 ,i see no cause  
to express myself here  otherwise than  
,i have already done in my ,memoirs as  
to the  impression produced upon me by  
his conversation and his personal       
bearing4 ,he explained to me drearily   
and confusedly his views  upon man1     
society1 civilization1 religion1        
philosophy1 history4  ,he was a man     
single-minded1 honest1 of profound      
convictions1  devoted to his own ideas1 
in appearance modest1 although at heart 
prodigiously vain2 he sincerely believed
 that it was his calling  to open a new 
era for the mind of man and for human   
society4  ,while listening to him1 ,i   
could hardly refrain from expressing my 
astonishment that a mind so vigorous    
should at the same time be  so narrow as
 not even to perceive the nature and    
bearing of the  facts with which he was 
dealing1 and the questions which he was 
authoritatively deciding2 that a        

character so disinterested  should not  
be warned by his own proper             
sentiments--which were  moral in spite  
of his system--of its falsity and its   
negation of  morality4  #bfi  ,i did not
 even make any attempt at discussion    
with ,m4 ,comte3 his  sincerity1 his    
enthusiasm1 and the delusion that       
blinded him1  inspired me with that sad 
esteem that takes refuge in silence4    
,had ,i even judged it fitting to create
 the chair which he  demanded1 ,i should
 not for a moment have dreamed of       
assigning it  to him4 ,footnote #dd     
,footnote #dd3 ,mmoires pour servir a   
l'histoire de mon      temps1 t4 iii1   
pp4 #abe-g4 ,in the sixth volume of     
these      ,mmoires ,i have rectified an
 error inadvertently committed by       
me as to the epoch of my first relations
 with ,m4 ,auguste      ,comte4    #bgj 
,i should have been as silent and still 
more sad if ,i had then  known the      
trials through which ,m4 ,auguste ,comte
 had already  passed4 ,he had been1 in  

#ahbc1 a prey to a violent attack of    
mental alienation1 and in #ahbg1 during 
a paroxysm of gloomy  melancholy1 he had
 thrown himself from the ,pont des ,arts
 into the  ,seine1 but had been rescued 
by one of the king's guard4 ,more than  
once1 in the course of his subsequent   
life1 this mental trouble  seemed upon  
the point of recurring4    ,many will be
 tempted to demand how a man so little  
master of  himself1 and whose mind was  
under so little government1 could  ever 
have succeeded in producing a doctrine  
so considerable1 and  in exercising such
 real influence upon the philosophical  
world4  ,the fact is nevertheless beyond
 question4 ,whether the cause is to  be 
referred to the merit of ,m4 ,comte and 
of his doctrine1 or to  the state of    
men's minds at the time1 it is certain  
that not only  in ,france but in        
,europe1 and particularly in ,england1  
numerous  and honorable disciples came  
over to his ideas1 and that  ,positivism
 became a school wanting neither in     

sincerity nor  credit4 ,when such men as
 ,m4 ,littr1 at ,paris1 and ,mr4 ,j4    
,stuart  ,mill1 in ,london1 declare     
themselves his adherents1 the doctrine  
has claims to a serious examination4    
#bga    ,m4 ,auguste ,comte lived       
constantly1 as far as he was            
individually  concerned1 under the      
empire of a fixed idea1 which occasioned
 him  many a painful disappointment2 and
 he lived1 as far as his system  was    
concerned1 under the empire of a false  
idea1 which associated  with views just 
in themselves and sometimes grand1 one  
pervading  and permanent error4    ,his 
fixed personal idea consisted in his    
thinking himself called  to regenerate  
human science and human society by the  
single  virtue of his doctrine4 ,besides
 their share in the  presumptuousness   
which is the common character of        
mankind1 minds  that are inventive and  
fond of systematizing are particularly  
prone to extend beyond their legitimate 
bearings--nay1 beyond all  bounds--the  

pretensions and the hopes which their   
ideas suggest4  ,m4 ,auguste ,comte was 
one of the most striking instances1 as  
well  as one of the most honest victims1
 of this intellectual  intoxication--the
 noblest although not the least         
fantastic form  of human pride4  #bgb   
,the ,christian religion has its        
apostles and it has its  missionaries1  
speaking in the name of a ,master other 
than  themselves1 and preaching a faith 
they did not themselves  originate4 ,m4 
,auguste ,comte was his own proper      
apostle--the  inventor and missionary of
 his own proper faith4 ,of profound     
convictions1 with no selfish1 worldly   
views1 he aspired to the  entire empire 
of the intellect1 believing both the    
interests of  social order and the honor
 of the human mind involved in the      
triumph of his doctrine2 he ardently    
desired not only its  propagation1 but  
its organization as a permanent and     
potent  institution1 to insure and      
perpetuate his triumph4 ,the real and   

practical government of nations1        
according to him1 was only1 as  it ought
 to be only1 a sort of stewardship1     
charged with the duty  of realizing and 
carrying into effect the ideas of       
thinking men4  ,the systematic          
separation of the two elementary forces1
 the  ,spiritual and the ,temporal1 so  
he wrote to ,mr4 ,j4 ,stuart ,mill1     
constitutes certainly the principal     
condition for a  denouement of the      
actual situation4  #bgc  ,i admit that  
the special requirements of a situation 
where those  two forces are confounded  
may authorize1 and sometimes oblige1    
philosophers1 in the interest of a final
 regeneration1 to  participate1 by way  
of exception1 in actual political life1 
although an inclination for such a life 
exposes them to the  danger of many a   
quicksand1 and demands that their       
principles  should be firmly settled1 to
 avoid the risk of a real deviation4    
,to embody my thought upon this subject 
in a palpable example  relative to a    

great occurrence1 ,i blame the          
philosopher ,condorcet  for having      
suffered himself to be returned as      
member to our  glorious ,convention1 in 
which men of action were leaders1 and   
properly so1 whereas ,condorcet could   
never be so placed as to  regard things 
from the same point of view2 hence that 
false  position for which in the sequel 
he had so cruelly to suffer4  #bgd  ,but
 on the contrary1 ,i should have        
regarded it as very natural  for him to 
develop a great activity in the club of 
the ,jacobins2  for1 placed beyond the  
sphere of the government1 properly so   
called1 that club constituted at that   
time a sort of spiritual  power1 in that
 remarkable and so little comprehended  
combination  of things which            
characterized the revolutionary rgime4  
444 ,i  have learned with much          
satisfaction1 he added1 still addressing
  ,mr4 ,mill1 that the wise energy of   
your resistance has succeeded  in       
triumphing over the blind persistence of

 your friends who urge  you toward a    
parliamentary career4 ,i shall propose  
in my last  volume1 and in direct terms1
 the institution1 by individual         
efforts1 of an ,european committee1     
charged permanently with the  direction 
of a common movement of philosophical   
regeneration1  when once ,positivism    
shall have planted its standard--that   
is1  its lighthouse1 ,i should term     
it--in the midst of the disorder  and   
confusion that reigns2 and ,i hope that 
this will be the  result of the         
publication of my work in its complete  
state4  ,footnote #de        ,footnote  
#de3 ,letters of the #bjth ,november1   
#ahda1 and #dth      ,march1 #ahdb1     
published in the work of ,m4 ,littr1    
entitled1      ,auguste ,comte and the  
,positive ,philosophy1 pp4 #dbd1 #dbe1  
#dbg1 #dbi4    #bge    ,one can scarcely
 refrain from a smile when he           
contemplates these  dreams reduced to   
the form of system1 ignoring every      
sentiment of  reality1 and expounded    

with the confidence of fanaticism in the
  name of a science called ,positive4   
,here it is that we find the  fixed and 
dominant idea that pervaded and         
compromised the whole  life of ,m4      
,auguste ,comte4 ,whoever did not accept
 his doctrine and  his system1 was for  
him either a retrogradist full of       
prejudice1  or an ignoramus without     
scientific education1 or an interested  
and jealous enemy4 ,whoever1 on the     
other hand1 lent himself to  his views  
on any point1 or for any time1 however  
short1 became in  the eyes of ,m4 ,comte
 his conquest and his property1 his     
philosophical serf1 as it were1 bound to
 his master by the tenure  of duty1 and 
the render of services from which he    
could never  hope to enfranchise        
himself1 without the risk of being      
treated  upon the instant as a deserter 
or a rebel1 and of seeing at once       
broken the closest and most approved    
bonds of intimacy and  friendship4  #bgf
  ,he had so entire a confidence in his 

own intellectual  superiority1 and in   
the rights which it conferred1 that he  
expressed it sometimes with a nivet     
amounting almost to  idolatry4 ,one day1
 believing that he had won over to his  
ideas ,m4  ,armand ,marrast1 then the   
editor of the ,national1 he wrote  thus 
to his wife3 ,marrast no longer feels   
any repugnance in  admitting the        
indispensable fact of my intellectual   
superiority2  he is in this respect1 in 
my opinion1 especially influenced by    
,mill1 whom he holds1 and with reason1  
in high account4 ,to speak  plainly and 
in general terms1 ,i believe that1 at   
the point at  which ,i have now arrived1
 ,i have no occasion to do more than to 
continue to exist2 the kind of          
preponderance which ,i covet  cannot1   
henceforth1 fail to devolve upon me4    
,footnote #df        ,footnote #df3     
,letter of the #c;d ,december1 #ahdb3   
,auguste ,comte      et la philosophic  
positive2 p4 #cbd4    #bgg    ,shortly  
after the date of this letter1 ,m4      

,comte was separated  from his wife and 
embroiled with ,mr4 ,mill himself1 who  
had not1  as the former fancied1        
fulfilled toward him all the duties of  
an  accepted and loyal disciple4    ,i  
pass from the fixed idea of the man to  
the false idea of his  system2 it       
appears over and over again at each step
 in the ,cours  de philosophie positive 
of ,m4 ,auguste ,comte1 ,footnote #dg   
and  in the imposing biography          
consecrated to his memory by his most   
accomplished disciple1 ,m4 ,littr4      
,footnote #dh        ,footnote #dg3 ,six
 volumes #hvo41 published in the        
interval      from #ahcj to #ahdb       
inclusive4        ,footnote #dh3        
,auguste ,comte et la philosophic       
positive4 #hvo4      #ahfc4    ,i       
extract from different parts of these   
volumes the passages in  which the      
fundamental doctrine is most clearly    
expressed3      ,positive philosophy is 
the whole body of human knowledge4      
,human knowledge is the result of the   

study of the forces    belonging to     
matter1 and of the conditions or laws   
governing    those forces4 ,footnote #di
        ,footnote #di3 ,ibid41 p4 #db4  
,the fundamental character of positive  
philosophy is1 that it    regards all   
phenomena as subjected to invariable    
natural laws1    and considers as       
absolutely inaccessible to us1 and as   
having    no sense for us1 every inquiry
 into what is termed either    primary  
or final causes4 ,footnote #ej          
,footnote #ej3 ,cours de philosophic    
positive1 by ,m4 ,auguste      ,comte1  
vol4 i1 p4 #ad4    #bgh      ,the       
scientific path1 in which ,i have1 ever 
since ,i began to    think1 continued to
 walk1 the labors that ,i obstinately   
pursue    to elevate social theories to 
the rank of physical science are        
evidently1 radically1 and absolutely    
opposed to everything that    has a     
religious or metaphysical tendency4     
,footnote #ea        ,footnote #ea3     
,auguste ,comte et la philosophic       

positive1 by ,m4      ,littr1 p4 #aid4  
,my positive philosophy is incompatible 
with every theological    or            
metaphysical philosophy1 and            
consequently equally so with    every   
corresponding system of policy4         
,footnote #eb        ,footnote #eb3     
,ibid41 p4 #baj4      ,m4 ,comte1 says  
,m4 ,littr1 made it a duty to speak in  
public    without any reticence1 to     
deduce his positive truths1 and to      
confront them with the conceptions of   
,theology and of    ,metaphysics4 4 4 4 
',religiosity' is in his eyes not only a
    weakness1 but an avowal of want of  
power4 ,footnote #ec        ,footnote   
#ec3 ,auguste ,comte et la phil4 pos41  
by ,m4 ,littr1      pp4 #aih-bee4       
#bgi      ,the 'positive state' is that 
state of the mind in which it           
conceives that phenomena are governed by
 constant laws1 from    which prayer and
 adoration can demand nothing1 but to   
which    intelligence and science may   
address their demands2 so that1 by      

familiarizing himself with those laws   
more and more1 and by    conforming to  
them more and more1 man acquires an     
ever-growing    empire over nature and  
over himself1 which empire is the sum of
    all civilization4 ,the 'theological 
state1' on the contrary1 is    that     
state of the mind which conceives that  
phenomena are the    results of         
volition1 or1 if the social development 
has arrived    at ,monotheism1 that they
 are the results of a single1 all-wise1 
and all-powerful will4 ,this providence1
 essentially collective    where        
,polytheism is supposed1 essentially    
single in the case of    ,monotheism1   
governs the world1 dispenses its good   
and its evil1    lays its finger upon   
human events1 and regards the destiny of
    each individual man4  #bhj    ,such 
is the contrast between the two         
doctrines4 444 ,profiting    by the     
instruction of the illustrious ,de      
,maistre1 our ,french    priests at last
 comprehended that ultramontanism was   

the only    logical consequence         
deducible from their essential          
principles4    ,the more the positive   
school defines the real character of its
    progress1 the more must we see this 
retrograde concentration    also develop
 itself2 which will involve at some     
later epoch    ,deists themselves1 as   
,positivism proceeds to gain complete   
ascendancy2 an ascendancy1 in other     
respects1 far more likely    to be      
furthered than retarded by such         
coordination of its    adversaries1 for 
this will tend to give at last to the   
struggles of philosophy a decisive      
character2 but the    ,positivists will 
alone succeed in prevailing 7at least as
 far    as speculative doctrines are    
concerned7 over the coalition of    all 
the philosophical forces of the ancient 
school1 whether    metaphysical or      
theological4 ,footnote #ed              
,footnote #ed3 ,auguste ,comte et la    
phil4 pos41 by ,m4 ,littr1      pp4     
#cgj1 #dcd4     #bha    ,m4 ,comte had  

even more aversion for ,metaphysics than
 for  ,theology4 ,he took particular    
offense at the contemporary             
spiritualistic school1 and the          
scientific psychology of ,,mm4  ,royer1 
,collard1 ,maine de ,biran1 ,cousin1 and
 ,jouffroy4      ,in no view1 said he1  
is there any room for this illusory     
psychology2 this final transformation of
 a theology1 which men    strive1       
nowadays1 so idly to reanimate2         
for--without troubling    itself either 
with the physiological study of our     
intellectual    organs1 or with the     
observation of those rational processes1
    which in effect direct our different
 scientific    researches--,psychology  
pretends to arrive at the discovery of  
the fundamental laws of the human mind  
by contemplating that    very mind--that
 is to say1 by making complete          
abstraction both    of causes and of    
effects4 ,footnote #ee        ,footnote 
#ee3 ,cours de philosophic positive1 by 
,m4 ,auguste      ,comte1 vol4 i1 p4    

#cd4    #bhb    ,even while absolutely  
rejecting ,theology1 ,m4 ,comte treated 
it  with more esteem than ,metaphysics4 
,we are1 he said1 too disposed1         
nowadays1 to ignore the    immense      
benefits due to religious influence4    
,the positive    philosophy1 however    
paradoxical it may be to claim for it   
such    a peculiarity1 is virtually the 
only philosophy capable of    worthily  
appreciating all the participation of   
the spirit of    religion in the whole  
grand development of humanity4 ,is it   
not    directly evident that1 as by an  
invincible organic necessity1    moral  
efforts have almost always to combat to 
some degree or    other the most        
energetic impulses of our nature2 the   
theological spirit was imperatively     
called upon to furnish to    social     
discipline that general basis which was 
quite    indispensable at a time when   
human foresight1 whether of men in      
masses or of men as individuals1 was    
certainly far too limited    to offer   

any sufficient point d'appui to         
influences    purely rational8    #bhc  
444 ,when the positive philosophy shall 
have acquired that    character of      
universality which it is still without1 
it will be    capable of replacing      
entirely1 with all its native           
superiority1    that theological        
philosophy and that metaphysical        
philosophy of    which this universality
 is in these days the sole real         
peculiarity1 and which1 deprived of this
 motive for preference1    will have for
 our successors nothing but an          
historical    existence4 ,footnote #ef  
,footnote #ef3 ,cours de philosophic    
positive1 by ,m4 ,comte1      vol4 v1 p4
 #gc2 vol4 i1 p4 #bc4    ,i do not pause
 to notice in how many respects this    
language is  superficial1 confused1 and 
incoherent4 ,i only draw attention to   
the fundamental idea which it           
manifests--matter1 the forces of        
matter1 and its laws2 these are the sole
 objects of human  knowledge1 the sole  

domain of the human mind4 ,aware of1 and
  embarrassed by the objections which   
the idea has from the  beginning of time
 excited1 ,m4 ,littr has striven to rid 
himself  of them by an admission1       
sincere no doubt1 like everything that  
he thinks1 and everything that he says1 
but full in its turn of  confusion and  
incoherence4    #bhd      ,the positive 
philosophy1 says he1 is at once a system
 which    comprehends all that is known 
of the world of man and of    society1  
and also a general method1 containing in
 itself all    the ways by which men    
have come to learn all these things4    
,what    is beyond1 whether1 materially 
speaking1 that space without    limit1  
or intellectually that concatenation of 
never-ending    causes1 all this is     
absolutely inaccessible to the human    
mind4    ,by inaccessible is not meant  
null or non-existent4 ,immensity in     
matter1 as in intellect1 is connected by
 a close band with what    we know1 and 
it is only by such an alliance that it  

becomes an    idea positive in itself1  
and of the same order2 what ,i mean is1 
that by so touching and bordering what  
we know1 immensity    appears under the 
double character of reality and of      
inaccessibility4 ,it is an ocean which  
dashes upon our shores1    and for which
 we have nor bark nor sail1 but the     
clear vision    of which is as salutary 
as it is formidable4 ,footnote #eg      
,footnote #eg3 ,auguste ,comte et la    
phil4 pos41 by ,m4 ,littr1      p4 #eai4
    #bhe    ,the vision so admitted by  
,m4 ,littr is not clear1 and neither is 
it salutary2 but vague1 and without     
result4 ,the imagery does not  destroy  
the system which it seeks to vail from  
us4 ,every  religious belief1 every     
spiritual doctrine1 ,god and the human  
soul1 are discarded by ,positivism1 and 
treated as arbitrary and  transitory    
hypotheses1 which1 however they may have
 conduced to  the development of        
humanity1 ought now to be rejected by   
human  reason1 just as the foot may     

throw down the ladder which has  enabled
 it to mount to the summit4 ,to call    
things by their proper  names1          
,positivism is ,materialism and         
,atheism1 with more or less             
explicitness1 confidently or            
hesitatingly1 accepted as the last  term
 of human science1 and when hard        
pressed1 taking refuge in  the darkness 
of skepticism4    ,what are the         
foundations upon which ,positivism      
rests8 ,what facts1  what proofs1 does  
,m4 ,auguste ,comte adduce in support of
 his  principles1 that matter1 its      
forces1 and its laws1 constitute the    
sole object of human knowledge1 the sole
 domain of the human  mind8    #bhf     
,he appeals to two arguments--the one   
metaphysical1 the other  historical2 the
 one derived from the mind of man       
itself1 the  other from the history of  
humanity4    ,i cannot here follow ,m4  
,comte in his long and complex          
explanation  of the two orders of proofs
 to which he appeals in support of his  

system2 what ,i shall say will1 ,i      
think1 suffice to demonstrate  that     
neither can stand any serious           
examination4    ,as a metaphysician--for
 metaphysician he must permit himself to
  be called1 since he makes use of      
metaphysics1 whatever his  antipathy for
 philosophers who bear that name2--as   
metaphysician1 ,i repeat1 ,m4 ,auguste  
,comte belongs to the  sensualistic     
school1 ,he thinks with ,locke and      
,condillac1 that man  deduces all his   
ideas and all his knowledge from        
impressions  received by him from the   
outer world1 and from the reflections   
which he makes upon those impressions4  
#bhg  ,he takes1 therefore1 as his      
starting point1 the maxim of that       
school which proclaims that there is    
nothing in the intelligence  which has  
not first been in the sense4            
,nevertheless1 whether by  an act of    
proper and remarkable sagacity1 or      
struck by the reply  of ,leibnitz1      
unless the intelligence itself1 he      

admits that  sensation does not account 
for all that passes and develops  itself
 in the mind of the observer of the     
external world4 ,if1  he says1 on the   
one side every positive theory must     
necessarily  be founded upon            
observation1 it is1 on the other side1  
equally  plain that to apply itself to  
the task of observation1 our mind  has  
need of some 'theory4' ,if1 in          
contemplating the phenomena1 we  do not 
immediately attach them to certain      
principles1 not only  would it be       
impossible for us to combine these      
isolated  observations1 so as to draw   
any fruit therefrom2 but we should be   
entirely incapable of retaining them1   
and in most cases the facts  would      
remain before our eyes unnoticed4  #bhh 
,the need at all times of some 'theory' 
whereby to associate  facts1 combined   
with the evident impossibility of the   
human mind  at its origin forming       
'theories' out of observations1 is a    
fact  which it is impossible to ignore4 

,footnote #eh        ,footnote #eh3     
,cours de philosophic positive1 par ,m4 
,auguste      ,comte1 vol4 i4 p4 #h4    
,this fact1 thus proved by ,m4 ,comte   
himself2 this necessary part  of the    
human mind1 indispensable to enable it  
to acquire  knowledge of the external   
world2 this theory1 anterior to all     
observation1 which man requires for the 
purpose himself of  observing1 what are 
they else than those universal and      
necessary  principles proclaimed by the 
spiritualistic school1 and to which  ,i 
recently referred8--principles inherent 
in the human mind1  which it applies as 
from its own stores in taking cognizance
 of  the external world1 and by virtue  
of which1 just as one mounts a  river up
 to its source1 man mounts and mounts up
 to ,god1 and up  to the relations of   
man with ,god4    #bhi    ,but1         
admitting the same fact1 ,m4 ,comte does
 not explain it in  this way4 ,this     
theory2 these principles anterior to    
external  observation1 and which the    

mind absolutely requires in order to  be
 able to observe1 are1 according to him1
 pure inventions of the  human mind     
itself1 temporary instruments which the 
mind creates  and employs in its labors 
until it can obtain better4 ,between1   
says he1 two difficulties1 pressed on   
the one hand by the  necessity of       
observing in order to form 'theories1'  
and on the  other by the no less        
imperious necessity of creating         
'theories'  in order to be able to      
deliver itself up to a series of        
coherent  observations1 the human mind  
at its birth would find itself shut  in 
by a vicious circle from which it would 
never have had any  means of escaping1  
had it not succeeded in opening a       
natural  issue by the spontaneous       
development of theological conceptions1 
which presented a point to which his    
efforts might be  concentrated1 and     
which might furnish aliment for his     
activity4  #bij  ,it is1 in effect1 very
 remarkable1 that questions the most    

radically inaccessible to our           
capacities1 the intimate nature of      
being1 the origin and the end of all    
phenomena1 should be  precisely those   
which the intelligence propounds to     
itself1 as of  paramount importance in  
that primitive condition1 all the other 
problems really admitting of solution   
being almost regarded as  unworthy of   
serious meditation4 ,the reason of this 
it is not  difficult to discover1 for   
experience alone could have given us    
the measure of our strength2 and if man 
had not begun by  entertaining an       
exaggerated opinion of that strength1 it
 would  never have been capable of      
acquiring all the development of which  
it is susceptible4 ,so much does our    
organization exact4  ,footnote #ei      
,footnote #ei3 ,cours de philosophie    
positive1 par ,m4 ,auguste      ,comte1 
vol4 i1 pp4 #i1 #aj4    #bia    ,strange
 error of a man1 whose supreme          
pretension it is to found  all human    
knowledge upon the observation of facts6

 ,at his very  first step1 at the first 
difficulty which he encounters1 ,m4     
,comte  observes inexactly and          
incompletely1 does not see in the facts 
all that the facts contain1 and only    
explains them by assigning  to the human
 mind1 in its primitive and spontaneous 
operations1 a  hypothesis1 the          
hypothesis of theological conceptions4  
,god1 and  man's relations with ,god1 is
 a human invention1 destined to  support
 man at the commencement of his career  
as an intelligent  being1 and to occupy 
provisionally the place of science6     
,the source of this misapprehension1 the
 capital error of  ,positivism in its   
metaphysical argument1 is1 that it      
ignores the  nature and the limits of   
science4    ,the famous enthymme of     
,descartes1 ,i think1 therefore ,i am1  
is a pleonasm4 ,as soon as the human    
being says to itself ,i1 the  human     
being affirms its own existence1 and    
distinguishes itself  from that external
 world whence it derives impressions of 

which  it is not the author4  #bib  ,in 
this primary fact are revealed the two  
primary objects of  human knowledge3 on 
the one side the human being himself1   
the  individual person that feels and   
perceives1 that feels himself  and      
perceives himself2 on the other side1   
the external world that  is felt and    
perceived3 the subject and the object1  
7the  moi and the non-moi47 ,such is the
 twofold field1 at  the beginning of his
 intellectual existence1 opened to the  
knowing faculty of man4    ,in each of  
these fields1 whether the human being   
makes himself or  whether he makes the  
external world the object of his        
contemplation1 he proceeds by the same  
method2 he considers  particular facts1 
classes these under more general facts  
which  serve as their summary1 and      
recognizes laws that govern them1  these
 laws being themselves facts4 ,when this
 method of  observation and of          
generalization is applied to the outer  
world1  understanding by that world the 

human body also1 it gives birth  to the 
sciences of physics and of physiology4  
#bic  ,when such method is applied to   
the human being1 regarded as  distinct  
from the body in which he lives and by  
which he acts1 it  gives birth to the   
science of psychology1 logic1 and       
morals4 ,it  is not here my intention to
 propose a classification of the        
sciences1 but only to determine the     
domain of science properly so           
called--that is to say1 the field in    
which the human mind by  observation    
gets directly at facts and at the laws  
of facts4    ,philosophers1 in their    
study of man and of the world1 do not   
sufficiently consult language1 the      
general language1 the common  language1 
that instinctive expression of the      
activity of the  human mind4 ,i         
interrogate our native language upon the
 question  which now occupies me1 and ,i
 find it reflecting the greatest  light4
 ,it has1 to express the results of the 
intellectual process  which takes place 

in man1 when regarded as the spectator  
of the  universe and of himself1 many   
different words3 connatre1  savoir1     
croire1 connaissance1 science1 croyance1
 foi4  #bid  ,these are not mere        
different names to express the same idea
 and  the same fact1 they are signs of  
different facts and of diverse  states  
of the human soul4 ,if we interrogate   
the languages of  civilized nations1    
ancient or modern1 we find in all of    
them1  with more or less abundance1     
precision or subtlety1 a similar        
variety of terms corresponding to a     
similar diversity of facts4             
,talleyrand said once in the chamber of 
,peers1 ,there is somebody  who has more
 intellect than ,napoleon1 more         
intellect than  ,voltaire2 that somebody
 is the ,public4 ,i also say1 there is a
  more profound observer than ,bacon1 a 
greater philosopher than  ,kant2 it is  
mankind4 ,mankind is right when it      
distinguishes in  its languages         
knowledge from science and from belief1 

science  from belief and from faith4    
,bossuet wrote a book entitled ,de la   
,connaissance de ,dieu et de soi-mme2   
the idea would never have  occurred to  
him of entitling it ,de la science de   
,dieu et de  soi-mme2 it would have     
shocked his good sense as much as his   
piety4  #bie  ,the child believes the   
smile and the speech of its mother2 in  
its  belief there is certainly no       
scientific appreciation 7no science7  of
 the relations which unite it to its    
mother1 and of the reasons  which make  
it believe in her4 ,knowledge1 science1 
belief1 and  faith1 are facts           
essentially distinct1 although all      
equally  natural to the human soul2 and 
it is impossible to confound them1  to  
take one for the other1 to annul one in 
favor of the other1 or  to attempt to   
reduce them to one term1 without        
ignoring  realities1 and falling into   
enormous errors4    ,such has been the  
constant error of ,m4 ,auguste ,comte1  
and such is  the radical vice of        

,positivism4 ,m4 ,comte ignores the     
natural and  permanent diversity in the 
intellectual states through which a  man
 may pass in his ardent pursuit of      
truth4 ,he refuses here to  recognize   
any state as legitimate and definitive  
except the  scientific state4 ,he       
regards intuitive knowledge and         
instinctive  belief as preparatory and  
transitory states1 states without any   
rational authority2 as1 in short1 simple
 steps on the way to that  scientific   
state which alone sets man in possession
 of the truth4  #bif  ,positivism is    
thus led to extend the pretensions of   
science  beyond its proper domain1 that 
is1 beyond the finite world1 its  facts 
and its laws2 and as science finds      
itself incapable of  observing and of   
defining infinity1 ,positivism is1      
perforce1  reduced either to deny       
infinity1 or to declare infinity        
absolutely inaccessible to the human    
mind1 and so to pass it over  in        
silence4    ,this negation discovers    

another immense error of the school and 
of its chief4 ,convinced1 and with      
reason1 that the observation of  facts  
is the natural and constant process of  
the human  understanding in its labor   
after knowledge1 ,m4 ,auguste ,comte has
  ill understood1 and incompletely      
understood1 the results of this  labor4 
,he failed to perceive that it was      
observation itself1  carried on and     
accomplished by the process1 no less    
natural and  no less legitimate1 of     
induction1 which was revealing to the   
mind  its peculiar facts and its        
peculiar laws1 as well as the facts  and
 the laws of the external world1 within 
which that mind is  placed4  #big  ,m4  
,comte ended by ignoring or denying the 
elements   priori of human knowledge2   
that is to say1 the universal and       
necessary principles by which man raises
 himself to ,god1 and has  relations    
with ,god4 ,thus ,m4 ,comte mutilates   
the human mind1  because he fails to    
observe it and to recognize it in its   

entirety4    ,he is impelled by his     
system to another and still more serious
  mutilation of human nature4 ,after    
having declared matter1 its  forces and 
its laws1 to be the single object of    
human knowledge1  and these laws to be  
inherent in matter1 eternal and         
invariable1  what is to be said of human
 liberty8 ,what place is to be assigned 
to human liberty in this world1 in which
 it is powerless to  create anything or 
to change anything1 and in which there  
exists  no power from which it can      
demand anything or obtain anything8     
#bih  ,evidently1 in such a system human
 liberty is a chimera1 an idle  luxury  
of human nature2 man1 with all his      
faculties1 has nothing  to do but to    
study matter carefully1 its forces and  
its laws1 to  adapt himself to them1 and
 to make the best use he can of them1   
with a view to his welfare and to the   
satisfaction of his  desires4 ,fatalism 
is the law of man as of the world within
 which  he lives6    ,the moral         

instincts1 and the naturally lofty mind 
of ,m4 ,comte  revolted at this         
consequence1 although it flowed         
imperiously from  his system4 ,the      
respect which he felt for the method of 
observation1 and for the facts which it 
attains to1 did not  permit him         
absolutely to ignore or expressly to    
deny the  psychological fact of man's   
liberty4 ,sometimes he attempts to  find
 it a place in that sum of external     
facts and fixed laws  which is1 in his  
opinion1 the sole field for man's       
activity and  for man's science4  #bii  
,but such is the want of coherence of   
idea1 that ,m4 ,comte is  visibly       
embarrassed2 consequently1 in his       
works--more especially  in his ,cours de
 philosophie positive1--the most solid  
and  consistent of all his writings in  
its fundamental principles--he  sets    
almost completely aside the essential   
fact of human liberty1  and of free will
 in the individual man2 and in those    
books in  which he treats of social     

organization1 when he finds himself     
face to face with the wants and the     
rights of political liberty1  that      
natural consequence of individual free  
will and of the  responsibility         
attaching to it1 he struggles to elude  
questions  of this kind1 feeling the    
impossibility of reconciling the        
principle of moral order with the       
despotism and the fatalism of  the      
material world2 and when he explains his
 views as to the  government of human   
societies1 it is easy to see that1      
although  writing ,i am1 head and heart 
,republican1 ,footnote #fj he is1  in   
his dreams1 rather substituting a       
scientific domination for a  theocratic 
domination than instituting any liberal 
rgime4        ,footnote #fj3 ,auguste   
,comte et la phil4 pos41 by ,m4 ,littr1 
p4 #bea4    #cjj    ,after metaphysics  
comes history4 ,m4 ,comte appeals to the
 annals  of all nations and all ages in 
confirmation of his system of the  world
 and of humanity4 ,this history is to be

 divided1 according  to him1 into three 
successive states1 the theological      
state1 the  metaphysical state1 and the 
scientific state4 ,in the theological   
state and epoch1 the human mind and     
social institutions are under  the      
empire of pretended supernatural powers1
 of several such or  of only one such1  
invented by man for the solution of the 
natural  problems which lay siege to    
man1 and for the determination of the   
laws1 with which the social order cannot
 dispense4 ,in the  metaphysical epoch  
and state1 vain abstractions essay to   
replace  the supernatural powers of the 
theological state1 and only end in  an  
anarchy1 both of opinions and society4  
,the third epoch is  destined to be the 
reign of positive science1 founded      
solely upon  observation and respect for
 the facts1 the forces1 and the laws  of
 that external world which is the       
theater of man's existence4  ,the first 
two states are1 according to him1       
essentially  irrational and transitory4 

,they are the first steps of that which 
,m4 ,comte styles the grand evolution of
 humanity1 of which the  rgime of       
science is the end and the summit4      
#cja    ,it would be difficult more     
entirely to deform1 difficult to show   
greater ignorance of man's general      
history4 ,that which ,m4 ,comte  regards
 as three successive states in the      
history of the human  race is only the  
complex and permanent condition of      
humanity1  agitated by movements swaying
 in different directions1 according  as 
it meets with the successes or          
encounters the reverses1 the  hopes1 or 
the fears to which different nations and
 generations  are subject4 ,that        
theological conceptions and metaphysical
  meditations are only transitory facts1
 which1 according to the  expression of 
,m4 ,comte1 will have henceforth only an
 historical  existence1 is an assertion 
no more true of such facts than of      
those that the study of physics         
supplies4 ,these different  yearnings of

 the mind1 and their different labors1  
are the very  essence--the              
indestructible and indivisible          
essence--of human  nature4  #cjb  ,at no
 time and in no country have men more   
ceased1 or will they  more cease1 to    
pray to ,god1 and to strive to          
comprehend him1 than  they will cease to
 study the physical world1 and to make  
it  subserve their interests4 ,nations  
and generations of individuals1  in     
different ages1 have advanced more or   
less in one or other of  these careers  
of intellectual activity2 and so they   
will continue  to advance4 ,religious   
faith1 metaphysical meditation1 and     
scientific inquiry have their           
alternations of enthusiasm and of       
languor1 of glory and of sterility2 they
 appear and they prosper1  sometimes    
separately1 sometimes simultaneously4   
,if ,india plunged  herself deep among  
the symbols of mythology and amid the   
void of  ,pantheism1 ,greece cultivated 
with like success the metaphysical  and 

the natural sciences--,aristotle was the
 contemporary of  ,plato4 ,where other  
nations fluctuated variously between    
theological conceptions1 metaphysical   
abstractions1 and  scientific studies1  
the ,hebrew people continued1 in the    
theological state1 ,monotheists4  #cjc  
,in the sixteenth century1 when the     
spirit of free inquiry and of           
independence was awakened1 and made its 
influence felt far and  wide1 ,christian
 faith1 at the same time1 was           
resuscitated and  confirmed2 and the    
eighteenth century founded at once the  
political liberty of ,protestant        
,england and the philosophical and      
literary glory of ,catholic ,france4    
,the human mind has1 according  to time 
and place1 its favorite labors and its  
favorite impulses2  but it subsists     
always one and entire2 it never         
renounces any one  of its grand hopes or
 of its grand operations2 and those men 
strangely mutilate and debase it who    
represent the mind as  having1 during   

ages1 lost itself in the vain effort to 
attain a  knowledge of ,god and of its  
own nature1 and who condemn it          
henceforth to take up its quarters in   
the science of matter--of  its          
forces--of its laws4    #cjd    ,why    
need ,i appeal to history for a proof of
 the simultaneous and  indestructible   
co-existence of these different         
conditions of  humanity1 among which ,m4
 ,auguste ,comte refuses to admit more  
than  one as rational and definitive8   
,m4 ,comte has himself  undertaken--he  
alone--to furnish me with this proof4   
,this  intractable adversary of all     
religious belief and tendency could     
not1 even for the short space of this   
life1 himself remain  indifferent to    
such belief and tendency2 during this   
brief period  he traversed1 and in the  
inverse order of his own theories1 each 
of the different intellectual states    
which he had assigned as the  successive
 stages of the human race4 ,he had      
placed the  theological state at the    

beginning and the scientific state at   
the close of the career of humanity2    
after having made his own  dbut by the  
scientific state1 it was as impossible  
for  him1 as it is for the human race1  
to content himself with that1  and he   
himself ended there1 where1 according to
 him1 mankind had  commenced1 namely1   
with the theological state4 ,he had     
declared  his positive philosophy to be 
in radical and absolute  contradiction  
to every kind of religious or           
metaphysical  tendency4  #cje  ,he had  
separated with clat from the            
,saint-,simonians1 for  they will soon1 
he said1 sink themselves in ridicule and
  contempt4 ,only imagine1 their heads  
are turned to such a degree1  that they 
propose nothing less than the           
establishment of a real1  new religion1 
a sort of incarnation of the divinity in
 the person  of ,saint-,simon4 ,footnote
 #fa        ,footnote #fa3 ,letter of   
the #ith ,december1 #ahbh1 to ,m4       
,gustave      d',eichthal4 ,auguste     

,comte et la philosophie positive1 by   
,m4      ,littr1 p4 #agc4    ,and some  
years after holding this language1 and  
while still in  the plenitude of bodily 
vigor and thought1 ,m4 ,comte in his    
turn  launched into a theological       
career2 he took it upon him to          
transform ,positivism into a religion4  
,by the most violent of all  personified
 abstractions1 he made out of humanity  
the great  being1 the real being1       
sovereign and adorable1 and he placed   
that  being in the place of ,god1       
declaring himself at the same time to   
be his chief priest4  #cjf  ,he had more
 than once proclaimed that all religion 
was  essentially founded upon the       
supernatural2 and yet a religion all    
natural--the religion of humanity1 the  
worship of humanity1 the  church of     
humanity1 were summoned by him to       
succeed to the  ,christian religion and 
to the ,church of ,christ4 ,on the #aith
 of  ,october1 #ahea1 when terminating  
his third philosophical course on  the  

general histories of humanity1 ,m4      
,comte summed it up in these  words3 ,in
 the name of the past and of the future1
 the  theoretical servitors and the     
practical servitors of humanity are     
about to assume worthily the direction  
of the general affairs of  this world1  
in order to construct1 at last1 the true
 providence1  moral1 intellectual1 and  
material1 at the same time excluding    
irrevocably from political supremacy all
 the different slaves of                
,god--,catholics1 ,protestants1 or      
,deists--as being at once in  arrear of 
the age and its perturbators4 ,the      
positivist religion  thus proclaimed1 a 
positivist catechism and a positivist   
calendar--these last both composed by   
,m4 ,comte--reduced his  principles to  
practice4  #cjg  ,in a series of        
conversations between ,the ,priest and  
the ,woman1  the catechism first        
establishes and explains the dogma1 then
 the  worship1 of the new religion1 its 
internal order and its external  order1 

its private worship and its public      
worship4 ,and the  calendar1 by a       
retrospective chronology1 determines for
 any given  year of thirteen months1 and
 for the seven days of the week1 the    
names of the grand servitors in every   
department of humanity1 who  are to     
replace the ,christian saints3 three    
hundred and sixty-four  names1 men and  
women1 with one hundred and sixty-five  
additional  names1 are inscribed upon   
this list1 which begins with ,moses and 
ends with ,bichat1 passing through      
,homer1 ,aristotle1 ,archimedes1  ,csar1
 ,saint ,paul1 ,charlemagne1 ,dante1    
,gutenburg1 ,shakspeare1  ,descartes1   
and ,frederic the ,second6    ,a chaos  
is a sorry sight2 a chaos of the soul a 
still sorrier  spectacle than a chaos of
 worlds6 ,epochs of moral and social    
crises1 even while they bring on and    
prepare for mankind eras of  mighty     
progress1 throw also great and potent   
intellects into  chaos4  #cjh  ,under   
the seduction of a noble ambition1 and  

the delusion of a  partial success1 they
 enthusiastically attach themselves to  
some  special subject1 some incomplete  
idea2 vain of their shallow and         
confused systems1 or rather of the      
brilliant coloring in which  they invest
 them1 they pretend to explain and      
regulate man and  the world1 and yet are
 nothing more than their superficial and
  presumptuous observers4 ,among these  
great lost ones of  humanity1 7,i borrow
 a phrase of their own17 ,m4 ,comte was 
one of  the most disinterested and the  
most sincere4 ,the sincerity and  the   
courage evinced by him in expressing his
 convictions led him  on from           
inconsequence to inconsequence2 in his  
benighted course  he caught glimpses    
occasionally of grand ideas1 and of     
these he  apprehended neither the scope 
nor the connection3 first it was an     
idea of a science excluding all idea of 
religion2 and then a  certain idea of a 
religion reconciled with and intimately 
united  with the idea of science2 turn  

by turn he gave himself up to the  one  
and to the other with a blind and a     
daring devotedness4  #cji  ,had he      
appeared in ,greece at the great era of 
philosophy1 or in  ,france in the       
seventeenth century1 in the midst of the
 great  ,christian controversy1 he would
 have been taxed with insanity--at  the 
one epoch1 not only by ,plato but by    
,aristotle2 at the other1  not only by  
,bossuet but by ,spinoza4 ,in our days  
he has been more  fortunate3 he attached
 himself passionately to the method of  
observation of facts1 which is the very 
character of science1 and  although his 
observations were superficial1 inexact1 
and  incomplete--although he fell into  
the strangest  inconsistencies--the     
fundamental principle of his system1 and
 the  coincidence of his primary ideas  
with the method and the tendency  of the
 physical sciences1 the darling study of
 our age1 have  given him more          
importance and more influence than were 
really his  due4                        

-------------------------------    #caj 
,fifth ,meditation4                     
,pantheism4      ,no two essays at      
philosophy are more dissimilar--,i      
should indeed  say more                 
contradictory--than ,pantheism and      
,positivism4 ,what  ,positivism declares
 to be impossible1 ,pantheism seeks to  
accomplish2 what ,positivism forbids man
 to seek1 ,pantheism  promises to give  
him4 ,it is the fundamental principle of
  ,positivism to confine the human mind 
to the finite world1 its  facts and its 
laws2 ,pantheism aspires at a knowledge 
and a  comprehension of ,infinity1 and  
of the relations of the finite  with    
,infinity4 ,i have explained ,god1      
,god's nature and his  attributes1 says 
,spinoza4 ,footnote #fb        ,footnote
 #fb3 ,ethics1 #ast part2 of ,god3      
,appendix1 vol4 i1 p4      #ci4 ,french 
translation by ,m4 ,saisset4    #caa    
,i hasten to explain1 in order to       
prevent misconstruction2 it is  to      
,pantheism1 properly so called--to the  

sole system that merits  the name--that 
my remarks are here applicable4 ,we     
must1 says  ,m4 ,cousin1 it seems1      
distinguish two kinds of ,pantheism4    
,the  assertion that this visible       
universe1 indefinite or infinite1       
suffices to itself1 and that there is   
nothing to be sought for  beyond1 is the
 ,pantheism of ,diderot1 ,helvetius1 de 
la ,mettrie1  d',holbach4 ,this         
,pantheism is clearly ,atheism1 and it  
would not be  very easy to comprehend   
the complacent indulgence that should   
spare it that name of ,atheism--a name1 
unfortunately1 of ancient  date1 which  
would then have no longer any object to 
fit it1 and  would need to be erased    
from our dictionary4 ,but is it possible
  for a similar ,pantheism to be imputed
 to ,spinoza8 ,with the ,french         
,encyclopedists1 things exist in        
particularity and individuals  singly3  
the universe is an assemblage of        
individuals--an  assemblage without     
unity1 or of which the sole unity is a  

presumed primary matter1 which the      
philosopher admits or which he  does not
 admit1 but with which his thought has  
no business1 to  occupy itself4  #cab   
,with ,spinoza1 on the contrary1 the    
single substance is all1 and  the       
individuals are nothing4 ,this substance
 is not the nominal  unity of the       
assemblage of individuals1 each of which
 exists  singly1 but is the single      
really existing substance1 and in the   
presence of that substance the world and
 man are but shadows2 so  that from the 
',ethics' may be gathered an exaggerated
 ,theism  which leaves no individual    
existing as such4 ,rigorously1 and at   
bottom1 there is here perhaps only one  
and the same system1 but a  system1     
nevertheless1 with two very different   
forms--the one1  where ,god is nothing  
but the ,universe2 the other1 where the 
,universe exists only in ,god4 ,footnote
 #fc        ,footnote #fc3 ,histoire    
gnrale de la philosophie1 p4 #dcc1      
ed4 #ahfc4    #cac    ,i think1 with ,m4

 ,cousin1 that1 rigorously and at       
bottom1 there is  here but one and the  
same system1 but in appearance1 and ,i  
say  besides1 in the opinion of its     
authors1 the difference is great1  and  
requires to be noticed4 ,i postpone for 
the subject  ,materialism1 all that ,i  
have to say upon the subject of the     
so-called ,pantheism1 which admits no   
other existence than either  that of the
 individualities that people the visible
 universe1 or  that of the primary      
matter whence they have issued4 ,i      
occupy  myself1 at this moment1 solely  
with the idealistic ,pantheism4    ,do  
we wish to behold a spectacle of how    
weak the human mind  really is in the   
midst of all its grandeur1 and of the   
limits  which must finally and abruptly 
check its progress1 however high  its   
flight1 we will read ,plotinus1         
,spinoza1 and ,hegel1 three  martyrs to 
intellectual ambition1 differing very   
much according  to the difference of the
 eras and the nations to which they     

respectively belong1 but similar in this
 point at least1 that  they ignore the  
visible world1 and leave it behind them1
 to enter  that world which dazzles     
their sight1 where they plunge into a   
void in quest of what they call ,being6 
#cad    ,two passions have impelled1 are
 impelling1 and will1 probably1  still  
occasionally impel men of eminent powers
 of mind to  ,pantheism3 the passionate 
craving for an universal science1 and   
the passionate longing for universal    
unity--feelings noble both1  but        
illegitimate and incapable of           
satisfaction4    ,i have resolved1 said 
,spinoza1 to search if there exist a    
real  ,good1 a ,good capable1 singly1 of
 filling the entire soul after it  shall
 have rejected all the rest--in a word1 
a ,good that gives  the soul1 when the  
soul finds it and possesses it1 the     
eternal  and supreme happiness4 444 ,man
 is essentially a being that  thinks1   
and the highest degree of human         
knowledge ought to be the  highest      

degree of human felicity4 444 ,my       
sources of enjoyment  consist in the    
exercise of the reason4 ,footnote #fd   
,footnote #fd3 uvres de ,spinoza1       
,french translation of ,m4      ,emile  
,saisset1 vol4 i1 pp4 #ae1 #af4    #cae 
,what obliviousness of man's nature and 
of man's life6 ,man is not  merely a    
being that thinks1 but a being that     
feels1 wills1 and  acts1 a being moral  
and responsible for his acts1 at the    
same  time that he is a being of        
intelligence1 and a being insatiate of  
knowledge4 ,it is by his thought that he
 accounts to himself for  his           
sentiments1 and for the motives of his  
acts1 but it is not  from his thought   
that he derives either his sentiments or
 his  liberty1 neither does knowledge   
constitute his sole enjoyment4  ,spinoza
 mutilates man strangely when he places 
the highest  degree of human felicity in
 the highest degree of human  knowledge4
 ,man is more exacting than the         
philosopher1 and it  requires infinitely

 more to satisfy the most modest human  
soul  than to satisfy the proudest mind4
 ,infinitely more in respect of         
happiness1 infinitely less in respect of
 science6 ,not that ,i  would make their
 intellectual ambition a reproach to    
philosophers1 even when it leads them   
astray4  #caf  ,it is an honor to the   
human mind that it aspires higher than  
it  can attain1 that it torments itself 
in the struggle to carry its  science   
into that invisible world1 which it     
instinctively feels  by anticipation1   
just as it does into that visible world 
that it  sees4 ,god granted to man this 
privilege2 he implanted in his soul  the
 ardent desire to know him and to       
possess him fully4 ,but at  the same    
time1 ,god granted to men in general    
certain instincts  and spontaneous      
beliefs which adequately satisfy this   
desire  without the necessity of any    
profound study4 ,what would have  become
 of the human race if1 in order to      
believe in ,god1 to hope  in him1 and to

 pray to him1 man had been obliged to   
wait until  philosophers had resolved   
the problems which still weigh upon     
their genius8 ,as ,god1 in creating man 
free1 took care that  the maintenance of
 the general order in this world should 
not be  completely abandoned to the     
disputes of men1 so did he provide  for 
the spiritual nourishment of mankind1   
without denying to the  great ambitious 
ones of the earth either the prospect of
 a  satisfaction more complete1 or the  
right to search for it4    #cag    ,let 
us never tire of repeating1 this is the 
mystery of man's  mixed nature--an      
indication of a destiny in store for him
  superior to his actual condition4 ,he 
carries within him the ideas  of        
infinity1 of perfection1 and yet here   
below he is nothing but  a finite being1
 imperfect1 equally incapable of        
sufficing to  himself and of satisfying 
himself1 either in the domain of        
thought or of actual life4 ,there are   
more things in heaven and  upon earth   

than philosophy--than even the          
philosophy 'of the  absolute'--can      
explain4 444 ,to comprehend ,god1 it    
needs to be  ,god4 ,a child might have  
said as much to ,hegel4 ,these words ,i 
borrow from ,m4 ,edmond ,scherer's      
exposition of the doctrine of  ,hegel4  
,footnote #fe        ,footnote #fe3     
,melanges d'histoire religieuse1 pp4    
#cff1 #cda4      #ahfd4    ,jesus in    
effect said1 eighteen centuries ago3 ,i 
praise thee1  ,father1 ,lord of heaven  
and of earth1 that thou hast hidden     
these  things from the wise and prudent1
 and hast revealed them unto  babes4    
#cah    ,pantheists are entirely of the 
opinion of ,m4 ,scherer1 for to  enable 
man to comprehend ,god1 they have found 
no other expedient  than to make of man 
himself the ,god that man is desirous of
  comprehending4 ,the passion for an    
universal science has ended by          
receiving no being as ,god but man4     
,the passion for universal unity has led
 to the same result4 ,that  truth is    

one--that is to say1 that all truths1   
whatever their  object1 are in harmony  
with one another--the very word truth   
implies and proclaims4 ,from the unity  
of truth the ,pantheists  passed1 with a
 single bound1 to the unity of being4   
,they  identified idea and reality1     
science and existence1 confounding  all 
things in order to reduce them to one   
single thing1 and  abolishing all beings
 in order to concentrate them all in one
 and  the same being1 which1 after all1 
is nothing more than an  impersonal     
notion and a barren name1 falling in its
 turn into the  void4    #cai    ,by    
what path did the ,pantheists arrive at 
this abyss8 ,what was  the process      
employed by men of eminent powers of    
mind to  construct a system so          
singularly factitious and hypothetical1 
and  yet pretending1 at the same time1  
to be so necessary and so  rigorously   
philosophical8    ,like some great men  
of antiquity1 7and their number is      
considerable17 who sought to explain    

nature and the physical  world by       
incomplete and precipitate hypotheses   
and systems1  invented irrespectively of
 either facts or their laws1 the        
,pantheists by similar means            
proceeded--nay1 are proceeding--to      
explain man1 the universe1 and ,god2 the
 ,infinite and the finite4  ,the method 
which for three centuries has           
constituted the glory of  the natural   
sciences1 and made their progress       
lasting1 the exact  study of facts and  
their relations2 that method so long    
strange  not only to general philosophy 
but to the special sciences             
themselves--,i may at once call it by   
its proper name1 the  scientific        
method--was formerly1 and remains still1
 strange to  the ,pantheists2 to        
,spinoza as to ,plotinus1 to ,hegel as  
to  ,spinoza4  #cbj  ,whether ,plotinus 
plunges into an ecstacy to arrive at and
  comprehend ,god in uniting man to ,god
 by the virtue of  contemplation2 or    
,spinoza1 defining substance1 makes it  

the principle from which to deduce his  
theory of the universe and  of its      
unity2 or ,hegel1 speaking of idea in   
order to  arrive at the same result as  
,spinoza1 seeks to obtain from his  term
 substance--it is the same defect that  
appears in the  labors of all these     
potent intelligences1 not only in their 
development1 but in the very point from 
which they start2 for  observation of   
facts and of their laws they substitute 
the  affirmation and the definition of  
an axiom1 and the deduction1  logical1  
it is true1 of its consequences4 ,they  
disdain and set  aside all study of the 
realities of the universe1 believing    
themselves to be in possession of a key 
to open its secrets4    #cba    ,they   
see not that their key is a deception1  
that at each step  facts evident1       
indestructible1 give the flattest denial
 to their  inferences1 and that to      
maintain their arbitrary and            
insufficient  principle they are forced 
to ignore and to deny other facts1      

themselves evident1 indestructible4     
,psychological observation proves and   
irresistibly establishes  three facts1  
however the consequences of these facts 
themselves  may lead to questions and   
controversies4    #a4 ,man believes in  
his own existence1 and in his own       
personality4  ,he feels himself and     
perceives himself to be a being1 real   
and  distinct from every other being4   
#b4 ,man feels himself and knows himself
 to be a free agent4 ,of the  freedom of
 his resolves1 whatever the motives and 
deliberations  which precede them1 man  
has an intimate and assured             
consciousness4    #c4 ,good and evil    
exist in man1 and exist in the world2   
moral good  and evil as well as physical
 good and evil4 ,whatever may be        
thought of their origin1 the mixture and
 the struggle of good and  of evil1 in  
the moral order and in the physical     
order1 are facts  evident in themselves1
 and attested by the conscience and by  
the  experience of the human race4      

#cbb    ,pantheism sometimes ignores and
 omits1 sometimes formally denies1      
these facts1 which psychology attests   
and proves4 ,there is1  however1 a      
notable difference in this point in the 
three great  representatives of         
,pantheism4 ,thanks to the ,platonic    
school1 from  which he sprang1          
,plotinus1 in treating the different    
questions of  man's liberty and of the  
reality of good and of evil1 soars in an
  elevated region where the truth now   
shines in splendor1 now  obscures itself
 and disappears in the labyrinth in     
which the  philosopher himself is       
entangled as soon as he attempts to     
explain the one and infinite ,being and 
that ,being's relations  with nature and
 with man4 ,spinoza is more consequent  
and plainer4  ,he formally denies all   
individuality1 all human liberty4       
,substance1 the being is single and     
universal4  #cbc  ,all act of man1 as   
every fact of nature1 is produced by    
fated  laws and causes3 ,free will is a 

chimera1 flattering to our pride  and in
 reality founded upon our ignorance4    
,all that ,i can say to  those who      
believe that they can1 by virtue of any 
free decision  of the soul1 speak or be 
silent--or1 to use a single word1       
act--is that they dream with their eyes 
open4 ,footnote #ff        ,footnote    
#ff3 uvres de ,spinoza1 ,french         
translation of ,m4 ,e4      ,saisset1   
vol4 i1 ,introduction1 p4 clii4    444  
,nothing1 adds he1 is bad in itself4    
,good and evil indicate  nothing        
positive in things considered in        
themselves1 and are  nothing but manners
 of thinking4 ,not only has every man   
the right  to seek his good1 his        
pleasure1 but he cannot do otherwise4   
444  ,the measure of each man's right is
 his power4 444 ,he who does not  yet   
know reason1 or who1 having not as yet  
contracted the habit  of virtue1 lives  
according to the laws only of his       
appetites1 is  as much in his right as  
he who regulates his life according to  

the laws of reason4  #cbd  ,in other    
words1 just as the sage has an absolute 
right to do all  that his reason        
dictates to him1 or to live according to
 the laws  of his reason1 in the same   
manner has the ignorant man and the     
madman a right to everything that his   
appetite impels him to  take2 in other  
words1 the right to live according to   
the laws of  appetite4 444 ,and he is no
 more obliged to live according to the  
laws of good sense than a cat is obliged
 to live under the laws  that govern the
 nature of a lion4 444 ,hence we        
conclude that a  compact has only a     
value proportioned to its utility2 where
 the  utility disappears the compact    
disappears too with it1 and loses  all  
its authority4 ,there is1 then1 folly in
 pretending to bind a  man forever to   
his word2 unless1 at least1 man so      
contrive that  the breach of the compact
 shall entail for him that violates it  
more danger than profit4 ,footnote #fg  
,footnote #fg3 uvres de ,spinoza1 vol4  

i1 pp4 clix1 clx4    #cbe    ,hegel is  
less absolute and less blind4 ,of a mind
 large1 and from  its greatness         
naturally just1 he escaped at moments   
the yoke of  his system4 ,struck by the 
particular truths1 moral1 historical1   
sthetic1 that offered themselves to his 
view in the theater of  the universe1 he
 admitted them without very well knowing
 what  place he should assign to them4  
,he was1 said one of his most           
intelligent disciples1 a conciliator in 
his philosophy4 ,his  philosophy stands 
midway between ,theism and ,pantheism2  
between  historical right1 as the       
expression of actual reason1 and the    
absolute right to liberty and equality1 
as the end of universal  history4 ,his  
system seems to sanction the most       
profound piety1  and to regard          
,christianity as the true and absolute  
religion1 at  the very time when it     
appears also as its negation2 just as in
  politics it presents itself as at one 
and the same moment  conservative and   

progressive1 favorable to existing      
rights and  yet revolutionary4          
,footnote #fh        ,footnote #fh3     
,histoires de la philosophie allemande  
depuis      ,kant jusqu'a ,hegel1 by ,s4
 ,willm3 a work crowned by the          
,institute3 vol4 iv1 p4 #ccg4    #cbf   
,it is impossible1 says ,m4 ,edmond     
,scherer1 to read ,hegel  without asking
 ourselves if he1 be serious4 ,he falls 
incessantly  into a style of images and 
personifications2 and one would  suppose
 one's self1 in perusing his writings1  
to be present at  the formation of a    
mythology1 at the development of a world
 like  that of the ancient ,gnostics1 in
 which notions assumed forms and        
marched on1 passing through all kinds of
 adventures4 ,footnote  #fi             
,footnote #fi3 ,melanges d'histoire     
religieuse1 pp4 #bih1 #hch4    ,m4      
,edmond ,scherer's is a mind hard to    
please1 which is ever  struck and       
offended by incoherence of objects1     
futility of  artificial combinations1   

and vain play upon words1 even where he 
recognizes or admires the genius4 ,the  
philosophical rout is not  embarrassed  
for so slight a cause2 it marches       
straight to the  object toward which the
 dominant idea1 once adopted1 gives the 
impulse4 ,in spite of its complexities  
and of its craving for the              
reconciliation of religion and of       
politics1 the ,pantheism of  ,hegel has 
borne its natural fruits4  #cbg  ,a     
school has resulted from it1 which1 in  
accordance with its  proper and         
independent manifestations1 a learned   
and moderate  judge1 ,m4 ,willm1        
characterizes in these words3 ,the new  
,german  philosophy1 of which           
,feuerbach1 ,bruno ,bauer1 and ,arnold  
,rge are  the principal chiefs1 comes1  
in its ultimate results1 in contact     
with the ,humanism of ,m4 ,pierre       
,leroux1 the  ,positivism of ,m4        
,auguste ,comte1 and the ,atheism of    
,m4 ,proudhon4 ,it tends to substitute  
for the ancient worship the  worship of 

humanity1 and to found a new worship    
dispensing with  ,god1 and with morality
 properly so called4 444 ,there is no   
such  thing as theology but only        
anthropology2 for the  mind of humanity 
is the divine mind realized4 ,there is  
no longer  any other piety than         
devotedness to the objects of humanity2 
no  longer any other prayer than the    
contemplation of the human mind4  444   
,man accomplishes every reasonable      
object if he accomplishes  his own      
peculiar object1 and he cannot do better
 than employ all  his faculties to      
realize his own objects4 ,man's will be 
done3 such is the principle of the new  
law4 ,footnote #gj        ,footnote #gj3
 ,histoire de la philosophie allemande1 
depuis      ,kant jusqu'a ,hegel3 by ,s4
 ,willm3 vol4 iv1 pp4 #fbd1 #fbf4       
#cbh    ,such is the inevitable result  
at which ,pantheism1 even that kind     
termed idealistic ,pantheism1 ultimately
 arrives1 whatever the  elevation of    
mind and the morality of intent in its  

first  authors4 ,this is no scientific  
doctrine1 founded upon the  observation 
of facts and their laws2 it is an       
hypothesis framed  by dint of violent   
abstractions1 verbal commutations and   
reasoning1 in the blindness of a thought
 drunk with itself4 ,under  the breath  
of ,pantheism all beings--real and      
personal  beings--vanish1 and are       
replaced by an abstraction becoming in  
its turn the ,being par excellence2 the 
sole being1  although without           
personality and without volition1       
swallowing up  all things in a          
bottomless abyss1 which absorbs that    
being1 too1  after it has already       
absorbed everything that it has sought  
so to  explain4    #cbi    ,was there   
ever1 in the conceptions of mythology1  
or in the  mystical dreams of the human 
imagination1 anything so artificial1    
anything so vain1 as this hypothesis1   
which at its very  beginning1 as well as
 throughout its entire course1 loses    
sight  of the best attested facts       

respecting man and the world2 and1      
shocking equally science and common     
sense1 departs as much from  the method 
of philosophy as from the spontaneous   
instincts of  mankind8                  
--------------------------------------- 
#ccj               ,sixth ,meditation4  
,materialism4      ,materialistic       
,pantheism is more consistent and more  
intelligible4  ,i must at once restore  
to it its genuine name2 it has no right 
to  that of ,pantheism3 it sees ,god    
neither in the universe nor in  man2 the
 eternal world and ephemeral individuals
 are1 in its  eyes1 only combinations   
and different forms of matter4 ,it is   
,materialism in its principle1 and      
,atheism in its consequences4    ,two   
things strike me in the actual state of 
men's minds2 the  progress that         
,materialism is making1 and its constant
 timidity in  that very progress4       
#cca    ,the progress of ,materialism is
 evident2 progress in the learned  world
 and in the unlearned world1 in the name

 of the scientific  studies and of      
popular tendencies4 ,a contemporary     
spiritualistic  philosopher1 as         
distinguished by intellectual probity as
 by the  independence and the moderation
 of his opinions1 of whom the ,duke  de 
,broglie1 on learning his death1        
exclaimed1 ,we have lost a  sage--,m4   
,damiron ,i mean--published eight years 
ago his  ,mmoires pour servir           
l'histoire de la philosophie au #ah     
sicle2 he had read it in successive     
parts to the ,acadmie  des ,sciences    
,morales et ,politiques4 ,he said in his
 preface1  ,men are disposed a second   
time to have ,sensualism2 they insist   
upon something that they may oppose to  
and substitute for pure  and simple     
,spiritualism3 be it so2 but then let   
them at least  well understand what it  
is that they are asking for4  #ccb  ,it 
is not merely ,locke1 the moderate chief
 of the school1 nor is  it d',alembert1 
nor ,saint-,lambert1 nor even           
,helvetius2 these keep  themselves      

relatively within bounds3 it is ,diderot
 who has so  little moderation1 it is   
d',holbach1 it is ,naigeon1 it is       
,lalande1  and de la ,mettrie2 it is a  
whole order of minds1 not very  eminent1
 but very decided and very consistent   
and logical in  their materialism2      
materialists in all and for all1 from   
the soul  up to ,god--not forgetting1 be
 it remembered1 liberty1 duty1 a  future
 life1 etc4 444 ,these men1 with their  
heads in the air and  their masks in    
their hand1 with a confidence in        
themselves and a  faith almost          
confounding itself with religion1       
profess openly as  truth1 fatalism1     
egotism1 and atheism4 ,this is what men 
want1 and  what1 if they wish to be     
logical1 men must want1 when1 closely or
  remotely1 they adhere to a philosophy 
that reduces everything to  sensation1  
and that which is the object of         
sensation4 ,let there  then be no       
illusion upon this subject2 all the     
principles of  morals and of religion   

are at stake4 ,sensualism is what it    
is1 and can be nothing else4 ,it was    
made a complete system  in the          
eighteenth century2 nothing remains in  
it that can be  either made or remade2  
and if men recur to it in our days1 the 
mechanism and the form may be           
altered--for these are  variable--but   
not the essential substance1 for that is
 not  so4  #ccc  ,there are not two     
manners of being consequent any more in 
this  system than in any other2 however 
the attempt may be made1 men  can never 
by any reproduction render it what it is
 not1 and what  its nature prevents it  
from ever being2 so we must take it or  
we  must leave it alone2 we cannot      
change its principles4 ,footnote  #ga   
,footnote #ga3 ,memoires pour servir    
l'histoire de la      philosophie au #ah
 sicle1 by ,ph4 ,damiron1 member of the 
,institute2 vol4 i1 p4 xiv4 #aheh4      
,what ,m4 ,damiron eight years ago felt 
would occur1 has been  accomplished     
rapidly4 ,sensualism1 in its true nature

 as  ,materialism1 has resumed its      
activity and returned to the stage2  now
 tacitly admitted by sober1 studious    
men1 now loudly professed  and loudly   
proclaimed by the enfants terribles of  
the school2  professed and proclaimed   
not only with all its principles1 but   
with all its consequences4    #ccd    ,a
 profound sentiment of hesitation and   
embarrassment clings1  nevertheless1 to 
the doctrine of ,materialism4 ,the most 
distinguished of its adepts struggle to 
give explanations that  look like       
disavowals1 and many repudiate the      
charge of being  ,materialists as if it 
were an insult4 ,i have never1 says ,m4 
de  ,remusat1 observed without          
astonishment the testy sensibility of   
philosophers upon this point4 ,who is   
there that has not witnessed  the       
indignation manifested by the followers 
of the philosophy of  sensation when    
they hear retraced to them the positive 
consequences of this doctrine8 ,it seems
 just as if their rightful  claims were 

being disavowed1 or as if they were     
being denounced2  as if the ,inquisition
 were still at hand1 with its tortures  
and  its auto-da-fs2 or as if their     
refuters were sending them to           
martyrdom4 ,a general timidity reigns   
throughout their school2  they seem to  
think freedom of opinions never         
sufficiently  assured1 and society never
 tolerant enough1 for their philosophy  
to declare and avow itself for such as  
it is4  #cce  ,whether from shame or    
from fear1 ,materialism asks to be      
tenderly  handled1 suspects that every  
one who defines her has the designs  of 
a persecutor1 makes protestations of her
 good intentions1 and  is alarmed at her
 very faith4 ,she defends herself from  
the  imputation of believing only in the
 senses1 even while making  sensation   
the one universal fact4 ,it might be    
said that she  blushes at matter just as
 persons infirm of faith blush at the   
name of ,jesus4 ,perhaps this may be an 
indirect proof of the  distrust which   

their cause inspires in ,materialists1  
and an  involuntary avowal that the     
human mind belongs not to them4         
,footnote #gb        ,footnote #gb3     
,essais de philosophie1 by ,charles de  
,remusat3      vol4 ii1 p4 #agi4        
,whence arise1 what signify1 these two  
contradictory facts3 on the  one side1  
the perseverance and the facility with  
which1 in our  days1 ,materialism       
reproduces and propagates itself2 on the
 other  side1 the uneasiness and the    
timidity which it inspires in many  of  
those even who admit it8    #ccf        
,materialism is the doctrine of         
appearances4 ,specious doctrine1  says  
,m4 ,vacherot1 to those whose conception
 of things depends  solely upon their   
ability to picture them to themselves4  
,footnote #gc        ,footnote #gc3 ,la 
mtaphysique et la science1 vol4 i1 p4   
#aga4    ,it is by their material       
appearances that1 at the outset1 the    
external world and man himself manifest 
themselves to the human  mind4 ,it is   

only by reflection and by a process of  
observation  within itself that it      
penetrates beyond mere appearances1 and 
discovers what appearances alone would  
never enable it to see4 ,to  minds at   
once active and superficial1            
inquisitive1 impatient to  acquire      
science1 although not very nice as to   
the kind1  ,materialism is a commodious 
and apparently clear solution of        
certain difficult and obscure questions 
which fasten irresistibly  upon the     
human understanding4    #ccg    ,besides
 all this1 these questions1 and the     
different solutions of  which they are  
susceptible1 have their epochs of ardor 
or  languor1 of favor or discredit4 ,in 
our days1 the fruitful  activity and the
 brilliant progress of the sciences of  
the  material world1 come in aid of the 
doctrine of ,materialism4 ,this         
progress is1 however1 far from being as 
exclusive of other  progress as is often
 said4 ,although less popular than a few
 years  ago1 ,spiritualism has not      

ceased to be an active and influential  
doctrine in the elevated region of      
philosophy1 and the ,christian          
awakening persists and develops itself  
energetically in the face  of the       
adversaries of ,christianity4 ,the times
 in which we live  are entitled to more 
justice than men accord to them2        
intellectual labors are now very        
extensive and very varied2 the  most    
different tendencies coexist1 and pursue
 their independent  career4 ,even in    
this1 ,materialism is again the doctrine
 of  appearances2 it is neither so      
strong nor so near its triumph as  it   
has the air of being4    #cch           
,nothing proves this better than the    
hesitation and persistent  embarrassment
 of the most distinguished among its    
adherents4 ,the  circumstance noticed by
 ,m4 de ,remusat twenty-five years ago1 
is  recurring at the present day as     
plainly as ever4 ,sometimes we  find    
disavowals of the consequences of the   
principle of  ,materialism1 and attempts

 of all kinds to escape from those      
consequences2 sometimes we find efforts 
made to disguise the  principle itself  
under purer colors4 ,a general and      
enduring  instinct in man persists in   
protesting against the appearances  upon
 which ,materialism is founded4 ,man    
does not believe either  himself or the 
universe to be exclusively matter4 ,the 
distinction  between matter and mind is 
a natural and spontaneous1 a primitive  
and permanent1 belief of the human race4
    ,and is this1 then1 merely an       
instinct and an aspiration1 a proud     
pretension of human nature8 ,is it not1 
on the contrary1 the  innate sentiment1 
the intimate knowledge of that essential
 fact  in humanity of which observation 
recognizes and evidences the  existence8
    #cci    ,the fact to which ,i allude
 is the following3 ,as soon as a        
consciousness of life is awakened in    
man--as soon as he feels and  perceives 
what is taking place within him--he has 
a perception of  himself as of a real1  

personal1 and distinct being4 ,he gives 
voice to this feeling and this          
perception as soon as he uses the  word 
,i1 and he does so before he has any    
clear knowledge in  detail of the being 
whose existence he so recognizes and    
affirms4    ,when1 in the natural       
development of life1 man thus makes     
himself  as a real and personal being1  
the object of his own observation1  he  
recognizes in himself as such real and  
personal being certain  facts in their  
nature essentially different4 ,on the   
one side1 he  recognizes a body inherent
 in his being1 which forms part of his  
being1 and through which he communicates
 with the external world1  either by the
 impressions which he receives from that
 world1 or  by the modes in which he    
acts upon that world4  #cdj  ,on the    
other side1 whether he regard himself   
as1 so to say1 the  theater of action1  
or as the very actor1 he recognizes     
himself to  be a single being1 a being  
permanent and abiding1 ever the same  in

 the midst of the variety of his        
personal impressions or of his  actions 
upon the world beyond him2 and this1    
too1 in spite of the  complications and 
incessant transformations of his body1  
the  organ and the medium of those      
impressions and actions4    ,thus it is 
that in man's consciousness there is a  
manifestation  and proof at once of the 
unity and of the complex nature of the  
human being2 that is1 in accordance with
 the spontaneous language  of mankind1  
at once of the distinction and of the   
union of the  soul and of the body4     
,this is the primitive and essential    
fact of  man in his actual life4    #cda
    ,in proportion as the human being   
develops himself1 as he extends  the    
circle of his observations upon the     
world and upon himself1  special facts  
confirm the general truth of which ,i   
have just  given a summary1 and prove   
the essential distinction of the soul   
and the body by the essential diversity 
of the properties of  each4 ,thus the   

body1 in its organization and in its    
life1 is  subject to fixed and          
pre-established laws1 over which man's  
will  has no control or power2 whereas  
the soul is essentially free1  and      
capable of determining itself and of    
acting from motives  foreign to the laws
 which govern the body4 ,fatality is the
  condition of the human being in       
corporeal existence2 liberty is  his    
privilege in his moral life4 ,i say in  
his moral life1 and the  expression     
reveals between the soul and the body   
another  essential and ineffaceable     
difference4 ,the body is strange to     
every idea of morality1 abandoned to the
 exigencies of its  necessities and its 
appetites2 it has no aspiration1 no     
tendency  but to satisfy them4  #cdb    
,the soul has needs and desires of quite
 a different kind1 and  they are often  
contrary to those of the body2 and      
however often  the soul may yield to the
 tendencies of the body1 not seldom also
  does it withstand and surmount them2  

and this both in persons of  obscure    
condition1 and in those who stand in the
 public gaze of  men4 ,when the body is 
dominant in man1 man tends toward       
,materialism2 when he listens to the    
aspirations of soul it is1 on  the      
contrary1 to ,spiritualism that his     
nature rises4 ,the  complexity of his   
nature manifests itself in the          
development of  his life as in the first
 instinct of his consciousness2 at      
whatever epoch he is the subject either 
of his own or of our  observation he    
cannot be called exclusively body1      
matter1 without  facts giving his       
assertion at each step the flattest     
contradiction4    ,whence comes this    
essential and primordial fact--the fact 
of the  complexity and yet unity of the 
human being8 ,how is this union of  soul
 and body accomplished8 their mutual    
influences exercised1  how8 ,here1      
according to religion1 is the mystery2  
here1 for  philosophy1 lies the problem4
    #cdc    ,materialism is but an      

hypothesis adopted for the explanation  
of  this great fact1 and the hypothesis 
consists not in the solution  of the    
problem1 but in its suppression by the  
denial of the fact  itself4 ,what need1 
they say1 to seek to explain how the    
union of  soul and body is accomplished8
 ,neither this complexity of the  human 
being nor his unity in that complexity  
is a reality4 ,man is  only a product   
and an ephemeral form of matter6    ,i  
shall not refuse myself the pleasure of 
refuting this  hypothesis by the mouth  
of a contemporary philosopher1 whom ,i  
shall soon myself have to combat4       
,nothing1 says ,m4 ,vacherot1  proves   
that the hypothesis of ,materialism is  
true2 on the  contrary1 positive facts  
evidence its falsity4 444 ,if the soul  
be  only the result of the play of the  
organs1 how is it that the  soul is able
 to resist the impressions and the      
appetites of the  body1 to direct1      
concentrate1 and govern its faculties8  
,if the  will be but the instinct in a  

different form1 how explain its  empire 
over the instinct8  #cdd  ,this fact is 
an irresistible argument2 it is the rock
 upon which  ,materialism has always    
wrecked itself1 and upon which it will  
continue to do so4 444 ,the wisdom of   
the ancients pronounced its  decree more
 than two thousand years ago4 ',do we   
not see1' says  ,socrates1 according to 
,plato1 'that the soul governs all the  
elements of which it is pretended that  
it is composed8 that the  soul resists  
them throughout the whole course of     
life1 and  subdues them in every way1   
repressing some harshly and painfully1  
as where the gymnastic or the medical   
method is resorted to2  repressing      
others more gently1 rebuking these1     
warning those1  speaking to desires1 to 
anger1 to fear1 as to things of a nature
  alien to its own8 ,so ,homer1 in the  
,odyssey1 represents ,ulysses  as       
,smiting his breast1 and chiding thus   
his heart3     ,bear this1 ,o heart1    
thou that hast worse endured4 ,footnote 

#gd        ,footnote #gd3        1   1  
1 4     4      ,odyssey1 ,book xx1 v4   
#ag4    #cde    ',do you think1' adds   
,socrates1 'that ,homer would have so   
expressed himself had1 in his           
conception1 the soul been a mere        
harmony1 necessarily governed by the    
passions of the body8 ,did he  not      
rather think that the soul ought to     
govern and master those  passions1 and  
that the soul is something far more     
divine than any  harmony8' ,footnote #ge
        ,footnote #ge3 ,la ,mtaphysique 
et la science1 by ,m4 ,vacherot1        
vol4 i1 p4 #agd2 ,plato1 ,phd1 xliii4   
,materialists themselves have felt the  
feebleness of their  hypothesis2 to     
support it they have invented a second  
hypothesis4  ,no force without matter1  
no matter without force1 ,footnote #gf  
says ,dr4 ,buchner1 at the present day  
one of the most resolute  interpreters  
of the doctrine4 ,that is to say1 not   
being able to  explain facts by matter  
alone1 as matter is observed and        

conceived naturally by the human mind1  
they endow matter with  what they term  
force1 a principle of movement and of   
production4        ,footnote #gf3 ,le   
,materialisme contemporain en           
,allemagne1 by      ,m4 ,paul ,janet1 of
 the ,institute1 p4 #bj4 #ahfd4    #cdf 
,matter and force are1 it is now said1  
inseparable2 both have  existed from all
 eternity4 ,thus1 imperiously urged by  
instinct  and by their observation of   
facts1 they begin again by              
distinguishing and naming separately    
matter and force2 then1 all  at once1   
they confound them1 treat them as united
 in their  essence and from all         
eternity1 and conclude by believing that
  they have succeeded in giving an      
explanation of man and of the  world6   
,in this1 what do they more than add an 
abstraction to an  abstraction1 and an  
hypothesis to an hypothesis8 ,we are    
here in  the presence of facts that are 
certain and yet perplexing2 in  presence
 of an external world1 which evidently  

has not always  been such as it is1     
which had a beginning1 which is         
continuing to  develop itself according 
to certain laws1 and which is tending to
  certain ends2 in the presence1 too1 of
 man1 evidently a being at  once one and
 complex1 identical and yet variable4   
,the ancients  gave names and           
explanations to those incontestible     
facts1 but the  names and explanations  
are now rejected6  #cdg  ,still1 names  
and explanations are needed2 man must   
put something  in the place of ,god1    
,creator1 and ,providence--in the place 
of  mind1 and matter1 and soul1 and     
body4 ,it is not for the first  time    
that man finds himself confronted by    
this necessity1 or that  he essays to   
satisfy it2 many abstractions1 many     
words1 have been  already employed for  
this purpose4 ,god was replaced by      
nature1 by substance1 by cause2 the     
human  soul was transformed into vital  
principle2 the vital  principle was     
elevated to the dignity of soul4 ,it    

seems that  these words1 these          
abstractions1 have had their time and   
lost  their credit2 and so now it is    
force which replaces  them2 force is    
mind1 force is soul1  force creates1    
force is ,god4 ,it is enough now that   
they incorporate force with body2 the   
problem no longer exists2  man and the  
universe are laid bare6    #cdh    ,when
 ,leibnitz1 to combat the ,idealism of  
,descartes1 and the  ,pantheism of      
,spinoza1 developed the idea of force1  
he did not  foresee that that very      
notion would be one day made use of to  
reduce to nonentities ,god1 the human   
soul1 all real and personal  being1 all 
first and final cause2 to reduce1 in    
short1 everything  to a medley of       
mechanics and dynamics incarnate in     
matter6    ,however specious it may     
appear to superficial minds1 or to minds
  prejudiced in its favor by the        
peculiar nature of their studies  and of
 their habitual labors1 ,materialism1   
like ,pantheism1 is  only an            

hypothesis--an hypothesis constructed by
 dint of mere  abstractions and purely  
verbal assertions4 ,these not only      
disregard or suppress the facts which   
they pretend to explain1  but are in    
direct contradiction with facts         
themselves recognized  and proved by    
psychological observation4 ,it is1 in   
effect1 an  hypothesis1 7,i am forced   
here to repeat what ,i before affirmed  
of  ,pantheism17 equally revolting to   
true science and to common  sense4      
#cdi    ,the hypothesis of ,materialism 
has but a single merit2 it is more      
consistent than those of the other      
systems4 ,but even to this  merit       
,materialism loses its title whenever it
 shrinks from  pushing its principles   
boldly to their consequences1 whether   
philosophical or practical3 that is to  
say1 whenever it shrinks  from denying  
man's liberty1 a moral law1 the         
necessary principles  of the human      
mind--whenever1 in short1 it shrinks    
from  proclaiming its ultimate results1 

which are1 as ,m4 ,damiron puts  them1  
,fatalism1 ,egotism1 ,atheism4          
,philosophers are right in  seeking for 
truth and in respecting truth for itself
 and at every  risk2 but there are some 
consequences which are the clearest     
evidence of a vice in principle2 and    
this vice1 in ,materialism1  is the     
blind forgetfulness of the best proved  
facts and the most  essential elements  
of human nature4                        
--------------------------------------- 
#cej               ,seventh ,meditation4
                  ,skepticism4          
,there are two kinds of ,skepticism1    
experimental ,skepticism and  systematic
 ,skepticism4 ,experimental ,skepticism 
is the result of  the incertitude which 
arises in men's minds from the spectacle
 of  the infinite variety1 discordance1 
and mobility of human  opinions4        
,systematic ,skepticism1 on the other   
hand1 challenges  the power itself of   
the human understanding1 and declares it
  incapable of knowing things in their  

essence--reality in itself4  ,the one is
 doubt applied in practice2 the other is
 doubt affirmed  as a principle4    #cea
    ,in an essay on ,skepticism1 written
 in #ahcj1 ,m4 ,jouffroy treated        
experimental and practical skepticism   
with great contempt3 this  skepticism   
founds itself1 says he1 only upon the   
apparent  contradictions of human       
judgment4 ,to prove that there is a     
contradiction either between the results
 at which each faculty of  the mind when
 taken separately arrives1 or between   
the final  results attained by different
 faculties1 as by the sense and by  the 
reason2 to establish that there is a    
contradiction of a like  nature between 
the opinions received by different men  
or by  different nations1 or between    
those opinions themselves1 which1  at   
different epochs1 have variously for a  
time contented  humanity2 then to       
conclude from all this that the human   
intelligence regards in turn as true    
things which are  contradictory1 and    

that consequently there is for that     
intelligence no truth at all3 such is   
all the mechanism in which  this        
second-rate skepticism consists which   
has fascinated1 and  still continues to 
fascinate1 whole hosts of little minds4 
,long  ago this skepticism was refuted1 
and at all its points2 long ago  the    
unity of human truth was demonstrated1  
after having been  admitted  priori in  
all ages by their leading minds4  #ceb  
,this kind of skepticism is a theme upon
 which men will long  continue to       
dilate2 the darling subject for wits1 it
 merits not  to arrest the attention of 
philosophers4    ,by way of amends1     
however1 for these remarks1 ,m4         
,jouffroy makes  an immense concession  
to the systematic skepticism which      
declares  the human mind incapable of   
knowing things as they really are in    
themselves1 for he admits this          
skepticism to be rationally  legitimate2
 the foundation of all belief1 says he1 
is an act  of faith1 blind but          

irresistible4 ,in effect there is no    
contradiction between faith and         
skepticism2 for man believes by         
instinct and doubts by reason4 444      
,skeptics fall into no  contradiction   
when1 in the practice of life1 they     
believe their  senses1 their            
consciousness1 their memory1 and when   
they act in  consequence2 they obey the 
laws of their instinctive nature by so  
believing1 and they obey their rational 
natures by confessing  that their       
beliefs are illegitimate4  #cec  ,so we 
equally excuse humanity which believes1 
and skepticism  which doubts2 but we    
cannot equally excuse the philosophers  
who  have combated skepticism by        
striving to demonstrate the rational    
legitimacy of human belief4 ,when men   
affirm that mankind  believes1 and that 
skeptics do so with mankind1 they affirm
 a  fact in itself incontestable2 when  
they add that mankind believes  itself  
right in believing1 that is to say1     
virtually admits that  the human        

intelligence sees things as they are1   
this is true too1  and skeptics do not  
deny it2 but when1 grappling with       
skepticism  itself1 men pretend to show 
that the human intelligence really  sees
 things as they are1 this is a          
pretension which ,i cannot  understand4 
,what6 do they not perceive that this   
pretension is  nothing less than the    
pretension of demonstrating the human   
intelligence by the human intelligence1 
which has been1 is1 and  will be        
eternally impossible8 ,we believe       
skepticism forever  invincible1 because 
we regard skepticism as the final word  
of the  reason concerning the reason    
itself4 ,footnote #gg        ,footnote  
#gg3 ,mlanges philosophique1 pp4        
#bch-bdj4    #ced    ,i do not agree    
with ,m4 ,jouffroy in his disdain for   
experimental  and practical skepticism4 
,this is not1 it is true1 a system which
  philosophers are called upon to       
refute1 but a fact which ought to       
occupy an important place with them1 for

 by showing to us how  incomplete human 
science is1 and human error how         
frequent1 it  sets us on our guard      
against all presumptuous confidence in  
our  own ideas1 and against intolerance 
toward the ideas of others--two  of the 
most dangerous infirmities to which     
human intelligence  and society are     
liable4 ,but as for the reasoning which 
impels ,m4  ,jouffroy to accept the     
systematic and definitive skepticism as 
to  the intrinsic reality of things1 ,i 
repudiate it altogether4 ,if  that were1
 as he says1 the final word of the      
reason respecting  the reason itself1 it
 would be the negation1 or to use a     
better  expression1 the suicide1 of     
man's reason and of the human           
intelligence4    #cee    ,in his        
discourse which he pronounced in #ahac1 
on resuming his  functions at the       
,facult des ,lettres1 ,m4               
,royer-,collard summed  up his          
conclusions upon this fundamental       
question--conclusions  very different1  

more different essentially than even    
apparently  they are1 from those arrived
 at by ,m4 ,jouffroy4 ,whereas ,m4      
,jouffroy believes systematic skepticism
 forever invincible1  because he regards
 it as the final word of the reason     
concerning  the reason1 ,m4             
,royer-,collard1 on the contrary1 ends  
his  discourse with these words3 ,we    
cannot divide man2 we cannot  assign a  
part only to skepticism2 as soon as     
skepticism once  penetrates into the    
understanding1 in it8 invades it        
throughout4 ,i would confirm this       
conclusion of ,m4 ,royer-,collard1  by  
carrying still further the reasoning    
which led him to it4    #cef    ,the    
most general result1 says he1 presented 
by the history of  modern               
philosophy--its most striking           
characteristic when  contrasted with    
ancient philosophy--is its skepticism   
with  respect to the existence of the   
external world2 that world in  which    
mankind has so long believed1 which     

begins to reveal itself  in us with our 
existence itself1 and in the bosom of   
which we are  forced to perceive        
ourselves as mere fragments of its      
immensity4  444 ,i am not here to reason
 in favor of the received opinion2  that
 opinion needs neither proofs nor       
defenders2 it is rooted  deeply enough  
in our most intimate nature to brave all
 attack4 ,it  is not the world that     
risks anything at the hands of the      
philosophers2 it is rather the honor of 
philosophy which suffers  some          
discredit2 it is rather philosophy that 
relieves the vulgar  from a part of the 
respect which philosophy yet demands at 
its  hands1 when it gives birth to      
paradoxes bearing1 seemingly1 the  very 
impress of folly4  #ceg  ,moreover1     
whether the material world really exist 
or not1 is not  a matter in controversy2
 this question would resolve itself into
  one still more general--whether all   
those facilities of ours1 of  which the 
authority is indivisible1 are organs of 

truth or organs  of falsehood2 and upon 
this point we shall ever be driven to   
accept the testimony of those very      
organs4 ,the sole question  which       
belongs to philosophical analysis1      
consists in examining if  it be certain 
that our faculties attest to us the     
existence of an  external world1 and if 
the human race believes in this         
existence2  for if it believes in it1   
this universal belief becomes a fact in 
our intellectual constitution2 and      
whether this fact be a  primitive one1  
or a deduction from any anterior        
fact--whether it  be the immediate      
teaching of nature or an acquisition by 
reasoning--it is entitled to its place  
unmutilated in the  synthetic table of  
science4 ,has it disappeared8 ,then the 
man of  philosophy is not the man of    
nature2 science is false1 and           
consequently1 the analysis without      
fidelity2 and one may rest  assured that
 philosophers have inserted in the      
understanding some  principle1 or some  

fact1 which was not there before2 or    
that they  have not collected with care 
all the principles and facts which  are 
actually there4    #ceh    ,having thus 
formalized the question1 ,m4            
,royer-,collard follows it  up with an  
inquiry as exact as it is profound1 of  
the  psychological fact of the          
perception of the external world which  
accompanies the fact of sensation3 this 
inquiry leads him to this  conclusion3  
,sensation has no object2 sensation is  
merely relative to the    sentient      
being2 if not perceived1 sensation does 
not exist4 ,but    the perception1 which
 affirms an external existence1 supposes
    two things--the mind which          
perceives1 and the object which is      
perceived2 the being that thinks1 and   
the being that is the    subject-matter 
of thought4 ,just as the sensation is   
relative to    the mind1 so is the act  
of the perception relative to it also1  
and just so does it suppose the mind2   
the object1 on the    contrary1 supposes

 neither the mind nor the mind's        
perception4  #cei    ,the object does   
not exist because we perceive it2 but we
    perceive it because it              
exists--because we are endowed with the 
faculty of perception4 ,in a city       
inhabited no longer1 there    remain no 
sensation1 no idea1 no judgment2 the    
houses remain1    and even the streets1 
and with them nature1 with all nature's 
laws1 which are not suspended in their  
course4 ,to the universe1    the        
energetic presence of its ,creator      
suffices2 it does not    require our    
presence2 the absence of spectators     
would not make    it languish2 it       
existed before us1 it will exist after  
us2 its    reality is independent of us 
and of our thoughts--it is    absolute4 
,the authority which persuades us of    
this is no less    than that of the     
consciousness itself2 it is the         
authority of    the primitive laws of   
thought1 and to man's mind those laws   
are    absolute laws of truth4 ,the same

 draught may convey the    impression of
 sweetness and of bitterness1 because   
sensation is    relative to the variable
 state of sensibility1 and sensibility  
itself is relative to organization2 but 
the laws of the mind    are an immutable
 standard4  #cfj    ,the imperfection of
 knowledge does not render it uncertain1
 and    although it admits of degrees1  
it does not admit of    contradiction4  
,our limited faculties do not1 it is    
true1    perceive all that there is in  
things2 but still1 what they do         
perceive1 is in effect there just as    
they perceive it4 444    ,if a man call 
upon me to prove this by reasoning1 ,i  
shall1 in    my turn1 demand of him1    
too1 that he first prove to me by       
reasoning that reasoning is more        
convincing than perception2    that he  
at least prove that the memory1 without 
which there is    no such thing as      
reasoning1 is a faculty more to be      
relied upon    than those faculties     
whose testimony they reject4            

,intellectual life is an uninterrupted  
succession1 not merely    of ideas1 but 
of beliefs1 explicit or implicit4 ,the  
beliefs of    the mind are the force of 
the soul and the moving incentives of   
the will4 ,whatever determines us to    
believe we call evidence4    444 ,reason
 renders no account of what is evident2 
to condemn it    to do so is to         
annihilate it1 for it also has need of  
an    evidence peculiar to itself4  #cfa
    ,did not reasoning rest upon        
principles anterior to the reason1      
analysis would be without end1 and      
synthesis without    commencement4 ,the 
fundamental laws of belief constitute   
the    intelligence itself2 and as those
 laws all flow from the same    source1 
they have the same authority2 they judge
 by the same    right2 there is no      
appeal from the tribunal of one to that 
of    another4 ,whoever revolts against 
any single one of these laws1    revolts
 against them all1 and so abdicates all 
his nature4 ,are    there weapons of    

legitimate use against that faculty by  
which    we perceive the external world8
 ,these same weapons may be    turned   
against the conscience1 the memory1 the 
moral sense1    against reason itself4  
444 ,let but1 in any single point1 the  
nature of knowledge--the nature1 ,i say1
 and not the degree--be    made         
subordinate to our means of knowing1 and
 all certitude is    at an end2 nothing 
is true1 nothing is false4 ,but it is   
not    enough to say this2 for all is   
true and false altogether1 since        
truth and falsehood no longer differ    
from sweet and bitter4  #cfb    ,the    
void itself is then deprived of its     
absolute nullity3 it    enters into the 
domain of the relative2 it is something1
    nothing1 according to the           
conformation of the spectator's eye4    
,the useful is the sole subject that the
 understanding    contemplates1 the sole
 subject for which the heart has to make
    its laws4 ,a legislation capricious 
and without efficacy1 which    applies  

only shifting rules to actions1 and     
which has none for    the intentions and
 for the desires4 ,this is not mere     
declamation2 all these consequences have
 been deduced from    skeptical         
doctrines with an exactitude leaving    
nothing to be    either desired or      
contested4 ,it is then a fact that      
public and    private morality1 the     
order of society and the happiness of   
individuals1 are directly at stake in   
the controversy between    true         
philosophy and false philosophy         
respecting the reality of    knowledge4 
,for when existences themselves become  
problems1 what    force remains to the  
bond that unites them8 ,we cannot divide
    the entire man2 we cannot assign a  
part only to skepticism2 as    soon as  
skepticism once penetrates into the     
understanding it    invades it          
throughout4 ,footnote #gh               
,footnote #gh3 ,fragments de ,m4        
,royer-,collard1 in the works of        
,reid1 translation of ,m4 ,jouffroy1    

vol4 iv1 pp4 #dbf-dea4    #cfc    ,i    
retrench nothing1 change nothing in     
these remarkable words that  express so 
energetically the conclusions of the    
common sense of  mankind4 ,i would only 
render them still more complete1 by     
illustrating in its primitive and       
indestructible unity the fact  upon     
which they are founded4 ,we cannot      
divide man1 says ,m4  ,royer-,collard4  
,here is precisely the risk that        
philosophical  science incurs1 and to   
which it too often succumbs4 ,it divides
  man in order to study him2 and after  
having so studied him1 when  it seeks to
 deduce from its laborious operation    
what man in his  complete and living    
reality is1 we find the result a strange
  misapprehension1 because science has  
neglected to re-establish  the unity    
which it broke4  #cfd  ,it puts         
together1 it is true1 the scattered     
members1 but the  being itself has      
disappeared2 and then it is that        
philosophers  know not how to solve the 

problems or to extricate themselves     
from the doubts by which they are       
confronted4 ,entire1 living1  one1 the  
human being explained himself2 mutilated
 and severed  into distinct parts1 that 
being loses all power and falls into    
obscurity4    ,what is sensation1 what  
perception1 judgment1 reasoning1 reason1
  will1 consciousness8 ,they are the    
human being1 feeling1  perceiving1      
judging1 reasoning1 willing1 and        
observing what is  passing within him4  
,this is no troop of actors playing1    
each his  part1 in a complex drama2 but 
a being single and alive1 actor and     
sole spectator in the drama of his      
proper life4    ,what is this one and   
single being doing when he feels1       
perceives1  judges1 reasons1 wills1 and 
watches what is occurring within        
himself8 ,he is taking cognizance at    
once of himself1 and what is  not       
himself4  #cfe  ,his own existence and  
the existence of that which is not      
himself1  reveal themselves to him from 

the very first in those diverse  facts  
and acts which philosophical science    
discriminates1 and  calls by the        
particular names of sensation1          
perception1 judgment1  reason1 will1    
consciousness4 ,the primitive and       
essential fact at  the root of all1 is  
the fact itself of the cognizance which 
man  takes of himself1 and of what is   
not himself4 ,a cognizance1 at  first   
confused1 and always incomplete1 but at 
the same time  direct and certain4 ,not 
by way of deduction1 nor as a mere      
appearance1 but by way of immediate     
intuition1 and as a positive  reality1  
does the human being become aware of his
 own existence  and of that existence   
which is not his4 ,this fact is lost    
sight  of1 or at least is not           
characterized exactly and as it is in   
itself1 when it is said that man        
believes naturally and  inevitably in   
his own existence1 and in that of the   
external  world4 ,this is a very        
different thing from belief3 it is      

knowledge itself of that double reality1
 internal and  external1 called by the  
name of ,man and ,world4  #cff          
,philosophers ignore1 and they change   
the nature of this fact1  when1 merely  
playing with verbal distinctions and    
reasonings1  they condemn the human mind
 not to issue forth from itself1 when   
they refuse to it the right to affirm as
 real1 out of the mind  and in itself1  
that which1 in the mind and for the     
mind1 the mind  yet admits to be true4  
,the human being may deceive himself1   
and often does deceive  himself in such 
or such a special affirmation as to     
external  realities2 it has of them only
 a knowledge incomplete1 and liable  to 
error2 but its general and permanent    
affirmation as to their  existence is   
still folly justified and legitimate2 it
 knows them  as it knows itself1 by the 
same proof and by the same natural      
process4 ,m4 ,royer-,collard expresses  
admirably this great fact  when he says3
 ,the universe does not exist because we

 perceive  it2 but we perceive it       
because it exists4 444 ,it needs not our
  presence2 the absence of spectators   
would not make it languish  away2 it was
 before us1 it will still be after us2  
its reality is  independent of us3 it is
 absolute4    #cfg    ,systematic       
skepticism is not1 like ,materialism and
 ,pantheism1 an  hypothesis invented1   
although unsuccessfully invented1 in    
order  to solve the grand problem of    
soul and body1 of finite and  infinite2 
its error is not less considerable1     
although of a  different character4 ,it 
consists in a defective examination of  
the primitive fact of the human mind1   
and in the misapprehension  of the      
nature and the import of that fact4     
,this fact is by no  means1 as ,m4      
,jouffroy affirms1 a faith blind and    
irresistible1  disavowed by rational    
science2 it is really the natural       
knowledge1 and the earliest knowledge   
acquired by the human being  when it    
enters into activity2 a knowledge1      

confused and  incomplete1 either of     
itself or of what is not itself2 but    
still  a knowledge direct and certain of
 the existence of itself1 and of  the   
existence of what is not itself4 ,man   
believes by instinct  and doubts by     
reason1 adds ,m4 ,jouffroy2 skeptics    
obey the law  of their instinctive      
nature when they believe1 like the mass 
of  mankind1 in their senses1 their     
consciousness1 their memory1 and  when  
they act in consequence2 so also they   
obey their rational  nature when they   
confess that their beliefs are          
illegitimate4    #cfh    ,this is       
strangely to ignore--,i permit myself   
the use of  this1 here1 incorrect       
expression--at once the reality of      
facts1  and the value of words4 ,what   
,m4 ,jouffroy terms instinct1  is the   
intuitive consciousness of internal     
reality and of  external reality1 and   
this consciousness the human being      
acquires  directly by the complete and  
indivisible exercise of all his         

faculties2 what he terms reason is the  
result of the  isolated operation of one
 of the faculties of the human being1   
who virtually forgets1 when he          
decomposes himself for his own  study1  
what he really is4 ,skepticism is not   
the final word of  the reason respecting
 the reason2 it is the suicide of the   
reason by a negation falsely termed     
scientific1 of natural  evidence1 and of
 the common sense of mankind4           
--------------------------------------- 
#cfi                ,eighth ,meditation4
      ,impiety1 ,recklessness1 ,and     
,perplexity4      ,the different        
systems1 of each of which ,i have       
endeavored to show  the essential and   
characteristic vice1 do not remain      
confined to  learned regions1 or to the 
classes to which1 from profession or    
from taste1 man and the world are a     
special object of study4 ,the  breath of
 science penetrates to a distance1 and  
pervades1 unseen  itself1 places even   
where ignorance reigns4 ,how often in   

remote  cities and even rural districts1
 among a population alien to  every kind
 of study1 have ,i met with and         
discovered the traces of  ,rationalism1 
of ,positivism1 of ,pantheism1          
,materialism1  ,skepticism2 and yet     
these had been imported1 imperceptibly  
and in  manner that the sense could not 
detect1 like a noxious miasma1  into    
places where their very names were      
unknown2 and yet they  bore everywhere  
their natural fruits6  #cgj  ,there is a
 contagion in the intellectual as well  
as in the moral  order2 and the         
facility1 the rapidity1 the universality
 of  communication1 which contribute so 
much to the force and the  grandeur of  
modern civilization1 are as much at the 
disposal of  evil as of good1 of error  
as of truth4    ,the effects of this    
intellectual contagion vary with the    
social  regions into which it           
penetrates1 and the dispositions that it
  there encounters4 ,when the systems of
 philosophy present  themselves         

confusedly to minds in which ambitious  
and passionate  feelings are fermenting1
 and these feelings are capable of being
  aided by those systems1 their action  
is prompt and forcible4 ,at  epochs and 
among classes where pride and ambition  
of intellect  reign without bounds1     
,rationalism and ,pantheism are received
 with  favor4 ,in those1 on the other   
hand1 conspicuous for the almost        
exclusive study of the material world1  
or for the ardor with  which men thirst 
after physical enjoyments1 ,positivism  
and  ,materialism seem very readily to  
prevail4  #cga  ,after long             
perturbations of society1 and in the    
midst of the  disappointments and the   
jaded feelings that they leave behind   
them1 many minds fall involuntarily into
 skepticism1 or make it  even their     
refuge4 ,these different social facts1  
and the  influence which they give to   
the different systems of philosophy1    
manifest themselves in our days in the  
state of men's minds1 and  they do so   

whether men be learned or unlearned1    
demonstrative or  taciturn4    ,three   
dispositions of the mind are very       
observable and very  general--impiety1  
recklessness as to religion1 and        
religious  perplexity4    ,i feel no    
difficulty in thus ranging side by side 
things which  are coexisting1 and       
developing themselves simultaneously    
although  contrary in their nature4     
,there are epochs when a great current  
rises and hurries society toward a      
single object and by a single  way4     
#cgb  ,others there are where different 
currents cross and combat one  another1 
and impel society at the same moment    
toward different  objects4 ,the spirit  
of authority and of faith was very      
predominant in the seventeenth century2 
the spirit of  independence and of      
innovation in the eighteenth4 ,the      
nineteenth  century is sweeping on its  
way under the empire of tendencies      
various but simultaneous in their power 
and their activity2 the  different      

principles and elements of our society1 
good or the  reverse1 confront one      
another1 awaiting the moment when they  
may  again be harmonized4 ,i retraced   
the awakening of ,christianity and  its 
progress2 ,i seek in no respect to      
qualify any remark that ,i  have made1  
either as to that important movement or 
as to the  confidence with which it     
inspires me2 but ,i1 at the same time1  
believe also in the forcible influence  
of the antichristian  demonstrations    
which are taking the form of impiety or 
of  recklessness2 nor can ,i disregard  
the force of that religious  perplexity 
into which this great struggle throws so
 many men of  feeble purpose1 and even  
some men of eminent powers of mind4     
#cgc    ,in our days impiety is         
spreading1 and assuming serious         
development1 more especially among the  
operative classes1 and in  that young   
generation that issues from the middle  
classes1 and is  destined to follow the 
liberal professions4 ,not that the      

infection is universal even there2 on   
the contrary1 those classes  show also  
the most different tendencies2 among    
them1 too1 the  progress of the         
,christian awakening has made itself    
felt1 and  religious belief is treated  
with more respect4 ,there1 however1 it  
is that the evil of impiety has its     
focus and its center of  expansion4     
,sometimes it manifests itself under    
gross and cynical  forms1 sometimes with
 a pretension to thought and learning2  
now  by the brutal licentiousness of its
 behavior1 now by the arrogant  yet     
embarrassed expression of its opinions4 
#cgd  ,last year ,i received an         
invitation to attend the great congress 
of students assembled at ,lige2 an      
invitation which1 although ,i  expressed
 for the purpose of this assemblage a   
real and a sincere  interest1 ,i        
declined4 ,when ,i learned what the     
ideas were that had  been there loudly  
expressed--when ,i read that the        
question had  there been put as one     

between ,god and man1 and that the      
idolatry  of man had been proclaimed in 
the place of the adoration of  ,god1--,i
 experienced two sentiments the most    
contradictory1 a  lively satisfaction   
that ,i had held myself aloof from such 
a  scene1 and a profound regret1 at the 
same time1 that ,i had not  been present
 to protest against such an invasion of 
,pantheism and  of ,atheism into young  
souls1 upon whom my thoughts only rest  
with  sentiments of affectionate        
hopefulness4 ,i have grown old1 ,i have 
had to undergo painful disappointments1 
but in spite of all1 my  first impulse  
has ever been to believe in the prompt  
efficacy of  truth when it knocks       
unhesitatingly at the door of the mind2 
nor  is it without reluctance that ,i   
bring myself to wait for time and       
experience to unvail what is error4     
#cge  ,of the two kinds of impiety which
 ,i have just alluded to1 the  impiety  
which is gross and cynical1 which       
springs from immorality  and which      

produces immorality1 is undoubtedly the 
more fatal to  the human soul1 to its   
dignity and its future lot2 but         
systematic  impiety--impiety that       
establishes itself into doctrine--is the
  more dangerous for human societies2   
for1 enamored of itself1 it  takes its  
pride in self-glorification and         
self-propagation4 ,the  ambitious ones  
of impiety obtain more credit than      
those1 the  chief characteristic of     
whose impiety is licentiousness4        
,recklessness in religion is in our days
 a more widely spread evil  than        
impiety4 ,i do not here speak of that   
indifferentism with  respect to         
religious subjects that the ,abb de la  
,mennais so  eloquently attacked2 that  
sentiment may be profound1 and it may   
be frivolous2 it may spring from        
,materialism1 from ,skepticism1  from a 
thoughtful impiety1 as well as from a   
gross forgetfulness  of the paramount   
questions which exercise the human mind4
  #cgf  ,the recklessness now so common 

gives no thought at all to these        
subjects1 does not picture to itself    
that there is any ground for  so doing2 
where this tendency prevails1 man's     
thought confines  itself to its         
terrestrial1 its actual life2 the       
business and the  interests of this life
 alone occupy him1 alone content him2   
there  is1 as it were1 a sleep of all   
those instincts and requirements  of the
 human soul which go beyond this low    
region1 and if not a  complete          
abdication1 at least a sluggish torpor  
of the heavenly  part of our nature4    
,let not the friends of a religious life
 and of the ,christian  faith deceive   
themselves2 it is here that they have   
the greatest  obstacles to encounter1   
the deadest weight to lift and to       
remove4  ,aggression provokes           
resistance2 a struggle leads to the     
marshaling of the different hostile     
forces2 nor does the learning  of the   
believer dread to enter the arena with  
the learning of the  incredulous4  #cgg 

,but recklessness in religion is like a 
vast ,dead ,sea in which no  being      
lives1 an immense barren desert in which
 no vegetation  pushes4 ,it is1 if not  
the most revolting1 at least the most   
formidable evil of the day4 ,it is      
against this evil that  ,christians are 
bound1 more especially1 to direct their 
energies1  for there are a world and an 
entire population here to be  conquered4
    ,nor will points d'appui or means of
 action fail them in  this great work4  
,for if religious recklessness is in our
 days  deplorably common1 neither is    
perplexity as to religious matters  a   
stranger among us4 ,it springs from     
sentiments and out of  interests very   
different in their natures1 sometimes   
merely on  the surface1 sometimes in the
 depths of the soul4 ,there is a kind   
of perplexity founded upon the dictates 
of common sense1 and  entitled to every 
respect1 but to which ,i do not accord1 
nevertheless1 the epithet of religious2 
this perplexity is  generated by the    

instinct or the experience of the       
utility of  religion for the maintenance
 of order in society1 not merely in  the
 great public society1 but also in the  
smaller domestic  societies1 that is1 in
 the state as well as in families4  #cgh
  ,a man of distinguished mental        
capacity and of an honorable  character1
 elve of the ,ecole politechnique1 and  
ingnieur  en chef in one of our great   
departments1 was one day speaking to  me
 with sorrow of the attacks leveled at  
,christianity4 ,it is  not1 he said1 on 
my own account that ,i regret these     
attacks2  you know ,i am a              
',voltairean2' but ,i ask for regularity
 and peace  in my own household2 ,i     
felicitate myself that my wife is a     
,christian1 and ,i mean my daughters to 
be brought up like  ,christian women4   
,these demolishers know not what they   
are doing2  it is not merely upon our   
,churches1 it is upon our houses1 our   
homes and their inmates1 that their     
blows are telling6    #cgi    ,there is 

a perplexity more serious and more      
profound--a  perplexity really          
religious--one suggested not merely by  
the  necessity of social order1 but by  
that of moral security1 of  harmony1 of 
confidence1 and of intimate hopefulness 
in the  presence of the problems and of 
the chances that weigh upon man4  ,this 
perplexity takes place not merely in the
 minds of thinking  men--of men who     
render to themselves an account of their
 internal  troubles1 and who avow them  
undisguisedly2 it causes agitation  and 
spreads desolation among multitudes of  
single-minded1 modest1  and silent men1 
who suffer from the antichristian       
malaria  spread around them4 ,what      
framer of statistics shall count their  
number8 what philosopher minister       
successfully to their disease8    ,i go 
further still4 ,i listen to contemporary
 philosophers  themselves1 and ,i find  
in the cases of some of the more eminent
  an intellectual perplexity1 showing   
itself clearly through  opinions the    

most systematic1 and the furthest       
removed from the  ,christian religion4  
,i shall name but two--,m4 ,vacherot and
 ,m4  ,edmond ,scherer4  #chj  ,i have  
no intention of entering here into a    
special examination  of their ideas2 ,i 
seek only to show the state of their    
minds and  of their souls1 as it results
 from the tenor of their works4    ,i   
have read1 and read over again1 with    
scrupulous attention1 the  two principal
 philosophical treatises of ,m4         
,vacherot1 ,la  ,mtaphysique et la      
,science ou ,principes de ,philosophie  
,positive1 ,footnote #gi and the ,essais
 de ,philosophie  ,critique4 ,footnote  
#hj        ,footnote #gi3 ,second       
edition1 three vols4 #abmo41 #ahfc4     
,footnote #hj3 ,one vol4 #hvo41 #ahfd4  
,m4 ,vacherot does not desire to be1 nor
 is he really1 in his  conscience and in
 his own eyes1 an advocate either of    
,materialism1 or ,positivism1 or        
,pantheism1 or ,atheism1 or             
,skepticism4  #cha  ,he analyzes and he 

refutes successively these different    
systems1  as conceived and expounded by 
their most distinguished                
representatives2 he defends himself1 and
 with warmth1 from the  charge of       
adhering to them3 a man1 he says1 is not
 an ,atheist1  a ,materialist1 a        
,pantheist1 an ,idealist1 because he    
does not  believe in ,god1 soul1 mind1  
matter1 world--in all these             
metaphysical words taken in a given     
acceptation4 ,the true  ,atheist1 if    
such a one exists1 is he whose mind is  
grossly  empirical1 and wanting in the  
sense of what is intelligible1  ideal1  
and divine4 ,the true ,pantheist is he  
who identifies  truth and reality1 ,god 
and the world1 whether1 like ,spinoza   
and  ,goethe1 he deifies the world1 or  
like the ,stoics1 he materializes  ,god4
 ,the true ,materialist is he who       
degrades man to the  beast1 either by   
denying him his superior and really     
human  faculties1 or by deriving these  
from animal faculties4 ,the true        

,idealist1 like ,berkeley1 is he who    
rejects all external  reality as an     
illusion1 whatever the conception of    
that reality2  whether it be as a thing 
made up of forces and of laws1 or as    
consisting of extended matter4 444 ,all 
these words require to be  defined and  
explained1 or they necessarily occasion 
mysteries1  contradictions1 and         
absurdities4 ,in their vague            
complexities they  do not express ideas 
of sufficient simplicity1 nor do they   
answer  to ideas sufficiently precise   
for science to adopt them  unreservedly 
and without distinction4 444  #chb  ,a  
chosen few exist whose sympathy is dear 
to me2 ,i remain  profoundly attached to
 all the truths which they1 with reason1
  regard as constituting the strength1  
life1 and honor of  philosophy4 ,i      
remain1 like them1 a ,spiritualist1 an  
,idealist1 a  ,theist1 although with    
other methods1 another language1 and    
also1  beyond a doubt1 with notable     
reservations4 ,footnote #ha             

,footnote #ha3 ,la ,mtaphysique et la   
science2 in the      ,introduction and  
the ,preface1 vol4 i41 pp4 xvi1 xxxiv4  
,nor is ,m4 ,vacherot more of a ,skeptic
 than of a ,materialist and a           
,pantheist2 he believes firmly in       
absolute truth1 in scientific           
metaphysics1 and in the universal and   
essential principles which  form their  
bases4 ,metaphysics1 he says1 have      
nothing to dread  from analysis2 it is a
 test from which they can only issue    
with  honor4 ,the truths  priori upon   
which the science rests1  will inspire  
no more doubt so soon as it comes to be 
well  understood that those truths are  
founded upon the ordinary  principles of
 demonstration1 like all the truths     
priori  of the other sciences4  #chc    
,metaphysics have1 and will ever have   
for their object1 the ,being  infinite1 
necessary1 absolute1 and universal4 ,now
 the ideas of  being1 infinite1         
necessary1 absolute1 universal1 are so  
involved  in the notion of appearance1  

finite1 contingent1 relative1           
individual1 that it is impossible for   
the human mind to separate  them4       
,accordingly1 in order to be entitled to
 deny ,metaphysics1  and the truths     
which are peculiar to them1 we must     
first mutilate  the human mind1 and     
reduce it to the pure faculties of      
sensation  and imagination which are    
common to it with animals4 ,from the    
moment when the reason1 the thought1 the
 faculty peculiar to the  human         
intelligence1 enters the field1 it      
brings necessarily with  it the object  
of sensation and of imagination1 under  
the  categories of quantity1 quality1   
being1 relation1 unity4  #chd  ,then it 
is that appear to the mind the          
distinction1 and afterward  the logical 
connection1 of the two terms            
corresponding to each  category1 of the 
finite and the infinite1 of the         
contingent and  the necessary1 of the   
individual and the universal1 of the    
relative and the absolute1 of appearance

 and being4 ,the thought  enters then   
perforce1 whether it is conscious of it 
or not1 upon  the peculiar ground of    
,metaphysics4 ,nothing but a gross and1 
so  to say1 an animal empiricism1 has   
the right to deny the  conceptions and  
the truths of this science1 and the     
denial is a  denegation of the higher   
faculties of the intelligence4          
,footnote #hb        ,footnote #hb3 ,la 
,mtaphysique et la science2 ,preface1   
vol4 i1      p4 xlviii4    ,it is       
impossible to disavow more indignantly  
,materialism1  ,atheism1 ,skepticism1   
with their principles and their         
consequences4 ,but after all these      
declarations and these  disavowals1 when
 ,m4 ,vacherot has to draw his          
conclusions1 and has  to set the        
affirmation of his own ideas by the side
 of his  criticism of the ideas of other
 writers2 when he1 in his turn1         
undertakes to explain ,god and the      
world1 this twofold object of           
,metaphysics1 the perplexity of the     

thinker becomes at once  apparent1 and  
he falls1 in spite of himself1 into the 
very paths  from which he proposed to   
escape4    #che    ,what do you         
understand by ,god8 says he2 the perfect
 ,being8 ,he  is the ,god of ,plato1    
,aristotle1 ,descartes1 ,malebranche1   
,leibnitz2  he is the ,god of all the   
theologians with whom ,divinity  and    
,perfection are synonyms4 ,that ,god is 
our ,god too4 ,but  if1 of this ,god1   
immutable in his perfection1 elevated   
beyond  time1 space1 the movement of    
universal life1 you make anything  else 
than an ideal of the thought1 ,i confess
 ,i no longer  comprehend him4 444      
,these ideas1 all equally reducible to  
the  idea of the ,perfect1 as understood
 by ,plato1 ,descartes1  ,malebranche1  
,fnlon1 ,leibnitz1 can have no objective
  reality1 and only exist in the ideal  
order of pure thought2  absolutely in   
the same manner as the figures of       
geometry do1  which lose all the        
vigorousness and all the exactitude of  

their  definition elsewhere than in the 
domain of the understanding4 444  #chf  
,perfection exists1 can only exist1 in  
the thought4 ,it is of the  essence of  
perfection to be purely ideal2 and the  
remark applies  as truly to the ,perfect
 ,being of ,descartes and of ,leibnitz  
as to  the 'intelligible world' of      
,plato and of ,malebranche4 ,a 'perfect 
,god1' or a 'real ,god8' ,theology must 
make its choice4 ,a perfect  ,god is    
only an ideal ,god4 ,footnote #hc       
,footnote #hc3 ,la ,mtaphysique et la   
science2 vol4 i1 pp4 xii1      #a1 vol4 
iii1 p4 #bdg4    ,that is to say1 that  
for ,metaphysics to admit ,god1 the     
,being ,god must vanish1 and remain only
 a conception1 a  notion1 an idea4 ,it  
may be that to a philosopher or two this
 may  seem still ,theism2 to the human  
soul1 and to the human race1 it  is     
,atheism1 and nothing else4    ,god thus
 made to vanish1 what becomes in its    
turn of the world8    #chg    ,here ,god
 reappears4 ,as for the real ,god1 says 

,m4  ,vacherot1 he lives1 he develops   
himself in the immensity of  space and  
in the eternity of time2 he appears to  
us under the  infinite variety of forms 
which are his manifestations--he is     
,cosmos4 444 ,the world thought of is   
something else  than the world imagined4
 ,imagination represents to us the      
world as an immense mass of dispersed   
matter1 as an infinite  collection of   
forces disseminated in the vast fields  
of space4  ,the idea does not occur to  
men of vulgar minds1 nor even to our    
men of learning1 that this image of     
universal life cannot for an  instant   
support the glance of reason2 they do   
not perceive that  void is synonymous   
with nothing1 that the atom is  an      
unintelligible hypothesis2 that being is
 always and  everywhere1 without any    
possible solution of continuity1 either 
in time or in space2 that the universal 
life is one in its  apparent dispersion2
 and finally1 that the world is a       
being1 and not merely a whole4 ,footnote

 #hd        ,footnote #hd3 ,la          
,mtaphysique et la science1 vol4 iii1 p4
      #bdg2 vol4 i1 p4 lii4    ,what is 
this if it be not ,pantheism8    #chh   
,and these incoherences1 these          
contradictions1 these relapses of  ,m4  
,vacherot into systems that he disavows1
 and that he has just  combated1 what   
are they but striking evidences of the  
vanity of  his efforts1 like those of so
 many others1 to explain1 unaided by    
,god1 ,god and the universe8    ,of     
another nature is the perplexity of ,m4 
,edmond ,scherer2 his is  the           
disquietude of the critic1 not the      
embarrassment of the  metaphysician4 ,m4
 ,edmond ,scherer was a believing       
,christian1 a  believer zealous in his  
faith1 and active in its cause4 ,the    
examination of systems and of facts1    
historical criticism and  philosophical 
criticism1 impelled him to skepticism2  
not to that  skepticism which is        
indifferent and strange to all personal 
conviction4 ,m4 ,scherer believes in    

truth and in the rights of  truth2 but  
where that truth8 ,he seeks it1 he finds
 it not2 he  wanders among systems and  
facts as in a labyrinth1 discovering at 
each step that his path is the wrong    
one1 and from it  nevertheless finding  
no issue4 ,he is still aware that       
humanity  cannot live in a labyrinth1   
that it requires--nay1 absolutely       
requires--to issue forth1 to behold1 or 
at least to catch  glimpses of1 the     
light of day4  #chi  ,he has a sentiment
 of the moral requirements of human     
nature1 of  man's life2 and he sees well
 that the negations and the doubts of   
the different systems of philosophy can 
never satisfy those  requirements4 ,i   
have already cited1 in the course of    
these  ,meditations1 some of the        
passages in which this perplexity       
strikingly manifests itself2 a          
perplexity full at once of pride  and   
sadness1 which1 although it does not    
shake ,m4 ,scherer in his  convictions1 
makes him nevertheless see their vanity4

 ,footnote  #he ,he knows that its own  
thought suffices not for the human      
soul2 perhaps it is his own soul        
suggests to him that knowledge4         
,footnote #he3 ,see particularly the    
passage cited in the ,third             
,meditation 7,rationalism7 of this      
volume1 p4 #bef1 etc41 and in      the  
,meditation on the ,essence of the      
,christian ,religion1      7,third      
,meditation1 the ,supernatural17 p4     
#aai4    #cij    ,why is it that        
,christianity1 in spite of all the      
attacks which it  has had to undergo1   
and all the ordeals through which it has
 been  made to pass1 has for eighteen   
centuries satisfied infinitely  better  
the spontaneous instincts and invincible
 cravings of  humanity8 ,is it not      
because it is pure from the errors which
  vitiate the different systems of      
philosophy just passed in  review8      
because it fills up the void that those 
systems either  create or leave in the  
human soul8 because1 in short1 it       

conducts  man higher to the fountain of 
light8 ,question paramount1 to which    
these ,meditations are intended as the  
prelude1 and which ,i  shall essay to   
solve1 by confronting1 as ,i before     
said1 ,footnote  #hf ,christianity with 
its opponents1 and by showing that1 if  
it  succeeds where they fail1 the reason
 is1 that1 sprung from a  higher source 
than man1 it alone has the right to     
succeed1 for it  alone knows man rightly
 as he is--as one entire being2 it alone
  satisfies man by furnishing him with a
 rule for his guidance  through life4   
,footnote #hf3 ,first ,meditation1 p4   
#bjj4                        ,the ,end4