,transcriber's note3 ,this production is based on https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/meditati onsmoral#jj;guiz_/page_/n#c #a ,meditations ,and ,moral ,sketches4 ,by ,m4 ,guizot4 ,translated ,from ,the ,french ,by ,john1 ,marquis ,of ,ormonde1 ,k4 ,p4 ,m4 ,guizot has recently collected his essays on religion1 philosophy1 and education into a single volume1 under the title of ',meditations and ,moral ,studies4' ,this work1 which at present is scarcely known in ,england1 deserves particular attention4--,quarterly ,review1 ,no4 #ahg1 ,dublin3 ,hodges ,and ,smith1 #ajd1 ,grafton ,street4 #ahee4 #b ,dublin3 ,printed ,by ,r4 ,d4 ,webb1 ,gt4 ,brunswick-,st4 #c ,translator's ,preface4 ,the three following ,essays1 although written some time back1 appear to bear so strongly on a question daily and hourly discussed among ourselves1 that ,i make but one apology for presenting them in an ,english form1 which is to the illustrious author1 whose sentiments 7notwithstanding all the attention ,i have given to the task7 ,i cannot but fear ,i may yet have failed in representing4 #d ,the ,translation contained in the following pages originated in the simple desire to facilitate the access to sentiments deemed beneficial4 ,he who undertook this pleasing and benevolent task1 has been removed from this earthly scene4 ,let it be hoped that this solemn truth may add interest to his labours for others1 and that his earnest wishes for their benefit may be in some measure realized4 #e ,preface4 ,when ,i collected these moral sketches1 which were written at different times and under varying circumstances1 ,i did not think that ,i needed to add anything to them4 ,a recent event1 however1 has determined me1 in now publishing them1 to say a few words more4 ,having been called upon on the #cjth of last ,april to take the chair at a meeting of the ,protestant ,bible ,society1 ,i expressed myself in these terms3-- ,what is after all1 speaking religiously1 the great question1 the most important question which at present occupies the minds of men8 ,it is the question in debate between those who acknowledge and those who deny a supernatural1 certain1 and sovereign order of things1 although inscrutable to human reason4 ,the question in dispute1 to call things by their right names1 between supernaturalism and naturalism4 ,on the one side1 unbelievers1 pantheists1 pure rationalists1 and sceptics of all kinds4 ,on the other1 ,christians4 ,amongst the first1 the best still allow to the statue of the ,deity1 if ,i may make use of such an expression1 a place in the world and in the human soul2 but to the statue only1--an image1 a marble4 ,god himself is no longer there4 ,christians alone possess the living ,god4 #f ,it is the living ,god whom we need6 ,our present and future safety requires that faith in supernatural order1 that respect for and submission to supernatural order should again pervade the world and the human soul1--the greatest minds as well as the simplest1 the most elevated classes as well as the most humble4 ,the truly efficacious and regenerating influence of religious belief depends on this condition4 ,without it1 all is superficial1 almost worthless4 ,we may1 at this day1 with safety strive to re-animate and propagate the ,christian faith2 for liberty--religious and civil liberty--is abroad to prevent faith begetting tyranny and oppression of the conscience--another sort of impiety4 ,the friends of liberty of conscience may fearlessly return to the ,god of the ,christian2 there are no longer1 nor will there ever henceforth be1 captives or slaves around his altars4 ,let1 then1 ,christian faith and piety return2 they will bring back in their train neither injustice nor violence4 ,doubtless1 much care must be taken and many contests sustained1 in order that religious liberty may be preserved unharmed in the midst of growing religious fervour2 but this beautiful harmony will be attained1 and will do honour to our time4 ,between ,christians of different communions there may exist henceforth but those struggles of free faith and piety1 which alone are permitted by the law of ,god1 and are alone worthy of ,his attention4 #g ,these words have been remarked upon1 and either approved of or objected to1 in very different senses1 by philosophers and by ,christians4 ,on the day after they had been uttered1 ,mr4 ,louis ,veuillot said in l',univers1--,monsieur ,guizot made a speech which we have read with a sentiment of respect and sympathy1 mingled with some grief4 ,it would be impossible for us to do otherwise than highly honour the man who makes1 even a-propos of a movement which we do not approve and which is far from being good1 so noble a profession of ,christian faith4 ,it would be impossible for us not to regret deeply that so great and generous a spirit1 one so well formed to comprehend unity1 and so naturally disposed to submit himself to it1 not only does not perceive that he is out of place amidst the separated members of the mother church1 but even takes the lead in a movement which has been and still is opposed strongly to the doctrine of that church4 ,what is ,christianity8 ,it is authority4 ,what is ,protestantism8 ,it is free inquiry2 and the ,protestant ,bible ,society is the practice of free inquiry driven to its last and indefinite limit4 ,on the same day ,m4 ,charles ,gourand said in l',ordre-- ,monsieur ,guizot's speech breathes at once the spirit of faith in revelation and love of religious liberty4 ,but he must conform his practice to his precepts4 #h ,if it is thought that there exists no serious difference between a rationalist1 however thoroughly convinced and honest he may be1 whether called ,plato1 ,descartes1 or ,leibnitz1 and an atheist2 if it is thought that apart from the teaching of the church all religious belief is superficial and nearly vain2 then there is no room for hesitation1 it is within the pale of the true church1 of that great ,catholic ,church1 which from ,st4 ,paul to ,de ,maistre1 has bent under the same discipline so many haughty spirits and great minds1 that an asylum and pardon are to be sought4 ,for if it be allowable to insinuate that atheism is logical rationalism1 it is still more so to say that ,protestantism is but inconsistent rationalism4 ,in fact1 either private judgment has the sway in matters of faith2 and has it entirely1 for who can flatter himself that he can take a part in free enquiry and say to it1 ',thus far shalt thou go1 and no further6' or else it is authority which bears rule4 ,but neither can she1 any more than private judgment1 do so by halves2 she must have all or nothing4 ,a compromise between the two systems is chimerical2 fusion is still more hopeless1 if possible1 in religious than in political systems4 ,i shall not discuss the matter2 ,i shall lay aside every personal question1 every controverted point1 every argument4 ,controversy opens the abyss which it pretends to fill1 for it adds the obstinacy of self-love to differences of opinion4 ,to overcome objections raised by honourable and sincere men gives me but little pleasure4 ,i have a higher desire4 ,i aspire to unite myself with them in the truth4 ,two ideas fill my mind1 and predominate on this subject4 ,i wish to set them forth in pure and bright light4 ,if ,i succeed1 if ,i can transfuse them into other minds1 they will do their own work1 and render unnecessary the controversy from which ,i abstain4 #i ,it would not be worth while to live if we gathered from a long life1 no other fruit than a little experience and prudence in the affairs of this world1 against the moment of leaving it4 ,the prospect of human affairs1 and the inward trials of the soul1 afford brighter gleams1 which spread themselves over the mysteries of nature and the destiny of man1 and of this universe in the midst of which man is placed4 ,i have received from practical life1 deeper insight into these formidable questions1 than meditation and science have ever given me4 ,the first and most important is this4 ,the world and mankind do not explain themselves naturally and simply by themselves1 by the sole virtue of the fixed laws which preside over them1 or of the passing determinations which display themselves4 ,neither nature and her power1 nor man and his acts1 suffice to explain the prospect which human intellect contemplates or catches a glimpse of4 ,then1 as nature and man are insufficient to explain themselves1 it follows that they are equally so to govern themselves4 ,the government of the universe and of the human race differs from that aggregate of natural laws and facts which human reason observes there1 as much as from the accidental laws and facts which human liberty introduces4 ,that is to say1 that beyond the natural and human order which falls under our notice1 is the supernatural and superhuman order which ,god directs and developes beyond the reach of our researches4 #aj ,and when man ceases to believe this to be the case1 ceases to believe in this supernatural order1 and to live under the influence of this belief1 then disorder intrudes among men and societies of men1 and there commits ravages which would infallibly lead to their destruction1 did not the wise goodness of ,god restrain them in their faults1 and render them incapable of absolutely withdrawing themselves from the empire of truth1 much as they may misunderstand it4 ,that the religious question is now fairly raised between those who1 more or less explicitly and from a variety of motives1 do not admit this supernatural order of things1 that is1 the greater number of philosophers whatever their denomination2 and those who really admit it1 that is1 all ,christians2 is what no serious mind can deny4 ,do ,i mean then to put on a level and confound all who disallow supernatural order1 whether unbelievers or sceptics1 atheists or rationalists8 ,god forbid ,i should imagine1 far less express1 anything so absurdly and heinously wicked6 ,i know the happy inconsistencies of the mind of man1 and the clouds which1 to the eyes of the most learned1 cover the paths they are treading4 #aa ,surely1 between the impious man who denies ,god1 and the rationalist who is satisfied that1 without going further than nature leads1 and taking for granted ,i know not what transformation1 he has found and established a ,god1--the interval is immense2 immense1 doubtless1 in the eye of divine justice1 as well as of human equity4 ,and such is our levity and intellectual depravity1 that in this vast space eminent minds and ingenuous hearts may1 and1 alas6 probably always will be met1 at every step between gross materialism and pure deism4 ,the variety and forms of error are infinite and infinitely varied2 and man1 when falling into it1 makes infinite efforts to retain some fragments of truth2 and ,god permits him to succeed or honestly persuade himself he has done so1 which will one day prove his excuse or else be to him a plank of safety4 ,i admit all distinctions1 all inequalities1 all sincerity4 ,i only affirm two things2 one1 that all the philosophic schools of our day1 different as may be their systems and merits1 have this in common1 that they deny this supernatural order1 and strive to explain and govern man and the world without its aid2 the other1 that where faith in this order does not exist1 the bases of moral and social order are deeply and increasingly shaken1 man having ceased to live in presence of the only power which really surpasses him1 and which is able at once to satisfy and direct him4 ,natural order is the field open to man's knowledge4 ,supernatural order is so in degree to his faith and hope2 but knowledge does not penetrate it4 ,in the order of nature man exercises a share of action and power2 in supernatural order he has but to submit4 ,it has been said in the spirit of conciliation and peace1 ,religion and ,philosophy are sisters who should mutually respect and protect each other4 #ab ,the words bear the stamp of the chimras of human pride4 ,philosophy springs from man2 it is the work of his mind4 ,religion comes from ,god2 man receives it1 and often alters it after reception1 but he does not create it4 ,religion and philosophy are not sisters4 ,they are daughters1 the one of ,our ,father which is in ,heaven1 the other of mere human genius4 ,and their condition in this world is no more equal than their origin4 ,authority is the apanage of religion2 liberty is that of philosophy4 ,i now approach the second of the dominant ideas1 more than ever essential to true order1 and which ,i wish to bring prominently forward4 ,christianity1 says ,m4 ,veuillot1 is authority4 ,it is true2 ,christianity is authority1 but it is not authority only2 it is the entire man1 all his nature and all his destiny4 ,now1 moral obedience is the nature and destiny of man2 that is1 obedience in a state of liberty4 ,god created man to obey ,his laws2 he created him free that he might morally obey4 ,liberty1 like authority1 is of divine institution2 the work of man is revolt and tyranny4 ,in the social state1 authority and liberty need protection1 and both have a right to it4 ,there is need of control1 both for the governors and the governed1 for both are men4 ,hence political laws and institutions which now sustain1 now limit power2 that is1 which decide on what conditions and by what means authority is to be exercised and liberty secured4 #ac ,what is the measure of authority necessary for ,government1 what the extent of liberty possible in human society8 ,what are the means of action1 what the pledges to be given alike to authority and religion8 ,matters depending on circumstances1 variable according to the times1 the social condition1 the manners1 races1 and different degrees of civilization amongst nations4 ,it belongs to the politician to solve these questions4 ,when ,christianity appeared in the world1 appeal was first made to liberty1 the moral liberty of man4 ,this was necessary1 as it came to abolish ancient creeds which were protected by the established powers4 ,in this struggle1 not only did growing ,christianity never attack or question the existing authorities1 but it formally acknowledged their rights1 and while respecting them herself ordered others to respect them also4 ,but at the same time1 as regards the relations of men towards ,god1 she appealed to the free consciences of men1 and affirmed in principle the same liberty which she practised4 ,we must obey ,god rather than man1 said ,st4 ,peter4 ,try the spirits whether they be of ,god1 said ,st4 ,john4 ,i speak as to wise men1 judge ye what ,i say1 said ,st4 ,paul4 ,at the creation ,god prescribed obedience to men under penalty of death2 in the day of regeneration ,god set man's liberty in motion to begin the work of salvation4 #ad ,there is no partiality with ,god1 no void in his designs2 when he acts upon man he takes human nature as a whole2 our inclinations1 our wants1 our interests1 our various rights are all before his eyes4 ,he at the same time provides for and satisfies all2 authority as well as liberty1 liberty as well as authority4 ,it is a dangerous mistake to misapprehend this complete and harmonious character of the divine work1 and to mutilate it by seeking weapons in it for our human dissensions4 ,christ came to save mankind1 not to give a party triumph4 ,christianity began by invoking liberty and giving her action4 ,she then overcame1 and set forth her authority4 ,she then accommodated herself to the various forms and degrees of authority and liberty which the course of events brought out here and there in the world4 ,associated with the destinies and deeds of the human race1 ,christianity has suffered for our mistakes and faults1 and has been often altered and compromised by the waywardness of human liberty and authority4 ,but by her origin and essence she is beyond the reach of their struggles1 inexhaustible in her virtue to heal contradictory evils1 and always ready to afford help on the side where danger threatens or redress is needed4 ,in the actual state of society and disposition1 it is authority1 and with authority order1 which are in danger3 ,christianity owes them all her support4 ,i know of no greater falsehood or more gross perversion than that of the men who in this day strive to turn the ,christian religion to the promotion of that brutal and foolish anarchy which they denominate social democracy4 ,the gospel and history are equally repugnant to this absurd profanation4 #ae ,the cause of civil authority and of the ,christian religion is clearly common4 ,divine order and human order1 the ,state and the ,church1 have common dangers and common enemies4 ,may ,god grant them common wisdom2 for while at the same time each separately and both in concert must re-establish authority in her position and rights1 they must also solve another and newer problem1 and satisfy other and pressing wants4 ,i have nothing to say to those men who think that for many ages society in ,europe1 and especially in ,france1 governments as well as the minds of men1 have pursued a totally wrong road1 and that there is nothing in the prevailing character and tendency of our actual civilisation but error1 corruption and decay4 ,i understand that1 thinking thus1 they deem retrograde reaction necessary as well as legitimate1 and venture upon it accordingly4 ,as regards such1 ,i can but express my profound conviction2 that they will have no success4 ,even were they right1 they would have no success4 ,if they were right1 modern society would be condemned to perish2 we should make progress in decay2 but we should not return to what is past4 ,but they are not right4 ,no one is more convinced than ,i am of the immense mistakes and fatal errors of our day4 ,no one more fears and abhors the influence which the revolutionary spirit exercises among us1 and the danger with which that threatens us2 a human ,satan1 at once sceptical and fanatical1 anarchical and tyrannical1 eager to deny and to destroy1 incapable alike of creating aught that can live or of allowing aught to be created and exist under its eye4 #af ,i am one of those who think it absolutely necessary to overcome this fatal spirit1 and to replace in honor and power the spirit of order and faith1 which is the spirit of life and safety4 ,but ,i do not believe that this revolutionary spirit preponderates in modern minds4 ,i do not believe that our civilization has been for ages mere mistake and corruption4 ,i do not believe in the irremediable evil1 or inevitable decay of my time and of my country4 ,the characteristic1 the most important part of modern civilisation is the prodigious increase of the ambition and power of man4 ,recall what has taken place in past ages and that which now goes on1 the long series and vast mass of human toil and success of all kinds in all places1 the many secrets laid bare by science1 the many monuments raised by genius1 the riches created by industry1 the progress of justice1 the ease introduced into the condition of the lowly as well as the great1 the weak as well as the strong2 man marching as a master over the whole space of the earth which he inhabits1 and gauging with an accurate eye the worlds which he cannot reach2 the mind spreading her discoveries and ideas through every recess of human society2 matter in its every form subjected and made subservient to man's use2 this expansive and ascendant ardour which circulates in the whole social body2 this activity universal1 incessant1 and unceasingly fruitful1 which puts every thing in motion1 and works for the general good4 ,never has man advanced so rapidly to the conquest and dominion of the world2 never in his capacity and with the powers of man has he exercised such a rule over nature and society4 #ag ,i know how much there is here of evil and danger1 of intoxication and miscalculation2 these1 however1 are not the symptoms of decline1 they are those of greatness and futurity4 ,it is with this great fact1 this enormous increase of the power and ambition of humanity1 that ,church and ,state1 ,christian and civil government have to deal henceforth4 ,when1 with the help of ,god and outward circumstances1 they shall have brought man back to respect those eternal laws which he has so foolishly misconstrued2 when they shall have again placed bounds to his power1 and subdued the vanity of his pride1 man will still remain powerful and haughty1 conscious of his strength and full of desire for the rights which have excited his ambition4 ,where there is strength1 by natural harmony and in a certain measure1 power and liberty follow4 ,what hereafter will be that measure8 ,what share of influence will man1 each individual man1 exercise on his own and the public destiny8 ,that is the problem2 it may be solved1 it cannot be eluded4 ,the spirit of liberty has entered society in the train of the labours and progress of humanity2 it may be kept in its proper sphere1 it cannot be expelled4 #ah ,everywhere civil governments are aware of this1 and act accordingly4 ,i see the deepest injustice prevailing towards the governments of our day4 ,it is false that they are indifferent to the welfare and progress of nations4 ,it is false that they only look to stability and tyranny4 ,they may doubtless feel personal passions1 old errors2 but whatever their form1 they are all1 from motives of prudence or duty1 seriously impressed with the necessity of respecting the rights and ameliorating the condition of men4 ,and those most opposed to liberal appearances make every day1 in their laws and practice1 a multitude of changes favourable to justice and liberty4 ,i say1 too1 that ,european governments1 amidst the storms of the last sixty years1 have conducted themselves1 taking all into account1 with great moderation4 ,their dignity incessantly insulted1 their existence attacked1 they have not given way1 either during the struggle or after the victory1 to those excesses of passion or power with which the history of the world has been so long filled4 ,they may be shewn to have been neither foreseeing nor able in their methods1 whether of resistance or concession to the new-born spirit2 but it is unjust to set them down as its intractable adversaries4 ,in the formidable strife of our day between governments and revolutions1 history will surely not impute to the former the most insolent contempt of justice and liberty4 ,and if the spirit of revolution were as moderate in its pretensions and acts1 as governments have shown themselves disposed to be towards the spirit of progress1 the great problem of the conciliation of order and liberty1 in civil society1 would be near its solution4 #ai ,the government of religious society1 or to speak with greater accuracy and freedom1 the ,catholic ,church1 has an analogous problem to solve2 the more important because if the state of the minds of men is closely watched1 it is seen that it is in the religious order that the idea of liberty is strongest and most deeply rooted4 ,the right of conscience before ,god appears and is1 in fact1 very superior to that of conscience before men4 ,if there be1 in the life of the soul1 one portion in which the intervention of force is more than elsewhere unrighteous and odious1 it is clearly when the relation of the soul with her ,creator and ,judge is in question1 and when the question for her is of eternity and salvation4 ,here1 moreover1 is a feeling which we have all experienced1 a principle to which we have all paid homage4 ,christians or philosophers1 ,catholics or ,protestants1 we have all had and still have1 even amidst the most civilized nations1 need to invoke in our turn religious liberty1 as that which1 of all the cries for liberty1 most surely arouses in the heart the idea of a sacred right and necessity1 that which excites the most lively susceptibility and most general sympathy4 ,i feel a profound respect for the ,catholic ,church4 ,she has been during centuries the ,christian ,church of all ,europe4 ,she is the great ,christian ,church of ,france4 ,i look upon her dignity1 her liberty1 her moral authority1 as essential to the fate of entire ,christianity2 and did ,i believe that the ,catholic church could not1 without self-abjuration1 accept in the ,state the principle of religious liberty1 ,i should be silent2 for above all things ,i detest hypocrisy and subtlety4 ,but it is not so4 #bj ,let the ,catholic ,church maintain fully her fundamental principles1 her permanent inspiration1 her doctrinal infallibility1 her unity4 ,let her by her laws and internal discipline interdict to her faithful followers all that may tend to the injury of these2 it is her right as well as her faith4 ,but let her at the same time fully admit1 not of the separation of the ,church and ,state1 that clumsy expedient which lowers and weakens both under the pretext of freeing both1 but of the separation of spiritual and temporal order1 of the civil and religious state1 and acknowledge the illegality of all forcible interference in spiritual order1 albeit in the cause of truth4 ,let her thus accept religious liberty as a law1 not of religious society1 but of policy1 as a right not of the ,christian1 but of the citizen4 ,at once will the pretended incompatibility between modern society and the ,catholic ,church disappear4 ,the problem of peace between civil and religious society will be solved4 ,the ,catholic ,church can pursue this course2 for all that religiously constitutes it1 all her spiritual order thus remains intact and independent3 and if she so pursues it2 if1 while she firmly upholds her principles and rights as a religious society1 she accepts loyally the principles of our political order and the religious liberty which forms a part of it2 not only will she lay the foundation of peace between herself and civil society1 but she will assure to herself great strength and a great future4 #ba ,christianity has many conquests to make and to repeat4 ,for the re-establishment of social order and the moral welfare of the soul1 she must regain much ground4 ,nor is it known how rapidly obstacles and resistance would disappear before her1 if the dread of her old intolerance were dispelled1 and respect for religious liberty on the part of the ,catholic ,church herself considered as assured4 ,i would go still further1 and submit to ,christians another consideration4 ,there is amongst ,christians of whatever church a common faith4 ,they believe in a divine revelation contained in the gospels1 and in ,jesus ,christ who came upon earth to save the world4 ,for ,christians of whatever church there is now a common cause4 ,they have to maintain ,christian faith and law against impiety and anarchy4 ,this faith and this necessity1 common to all ,christians1 are of infinitely greater moment than all the differences which separate them4 ,do ,i say that they ought at all hazards to set aside those differences1 and in the name of their common faith and common danger undergo fusion1--to use an expression of the day1--and form hereafter but one and the same church8 #bb ,i do not dream of it4 ,the re-establishment of unity in the bosom of ,christianity by the re-union of all ,christian churches1 has been the desire and the endeavour of the greatest minds1 both ,catholic and ,protestant4 ,bossuet and ,leibnitz have attempted it4 ,even now the idea is present to many noble spirits1 and pious bishops have so expressed it to me1 with a confidence by which ,i feel profoundly honoured4 ,i respect the sympathetic wish1 but ,i do not believe that it can be realised4 ,between temporal order and human interests1 fusion1 difficult as it may be1 is always possible2 for interests may be made to agree through the force and in the name of necessity4 ,in spiritual order and between religious beliefs1 no such agreement is possible1 for necessity can never become truth4 ,faith does not admit of fusion2 she insists on unity4 ,but where the unity of the church does not exist1 when the fusion of different churches is impossible1 and when religious liberty is established1 there is room for practical good sense and ,christian charity4 ,good sense tells ,christians that they are all in front of the same enemy1 much more dangerous to them than they can be to each other2 for should he triumph1 the blow will fall on each4 ,amongst the upper classes1 the war against religion manifests itself only under the forms of reserved scepticism or rationalism2 timid1 often serious and polite1 rather seeking to screen than display itself4 ,but at the bottom of society1 and amidst the masses1 it is passionate impiety which is at work1 and for the sake of victory becomes subservient to the most gross and furious interests4 ,the ,christian faith1 in its essential and vital character1 that is1 faith and submission to supernatural ,christian order1 is alone capable of sustaining the contest4 #bc ,let ,christians1 whether ,catholic or ,protestant1 be convinced of it1 the loss of credit and authority on either side would redound to the advantage not of ,protestantism or ,catholicism1 but of impiety4 ,it is then for all ,christians1 whatever their differences in their ,christian sphere1 an obvious interest and imperative duty to accept and maintain each other as natural allies against anti-christian impiety4 ,it will require all their strength1 all their united efforts1 to triumph finally in this warfare1 and save at once ,christianity and society4 ,what interest dictates to ,christians1 ,christian charity commands4 ,i use without hesitation plain words to express the ideas and sentiments which ,i feel1 and even amidst the coldness of heart which is one of the most melancholy evils of my day1 ,i feel no embarrassment in speaking to ,christians of ,christian charity4 ,when religious struggles are the ruling passion and great practical business of an epoch1--when different creeds are arrayed1 wielding temporal as well as spiritual arms1 with the mutual hope of subjecting if not of extirpating1--,i feel that ,christian charity is difficult to exercise4 ,the temptations are too strong1 the interests too pressing to be surmounted4 ,the ,chancellor ,de ,l',hopital and the ,president ,de ,thou1 though recommending peace to ,catholics and ,protestants1 would hardly have dreamt1 on the eve or the morrow of a massacre or a battle1 of speaking to them of charity4 #bd ,but when material strife has ceased1 when religious liberty is established in manners as well as in the laws1 when in fact and truth the different religious creeds are obliged to live peaceably one with another1 why should not the desire arise of adorning and furthering peace by the exercise of charity8 ,when the coarser passions are powerless1 why should not the more mild and equitable feelings develope themselves8 ,i know the force of traditions1 of recollections1 as well as the permanent differences which tend to support controversy1 even when purely speculative4 ,nevertheless1 prolonged peace and freedom have much influence in calming the soul4 ,at this day we have before us a signal instance1 and ,i do not hesitate to repeat that to which ,i gave utterance in the ,bible ,society3--,see what is passing in ,england2 there1 doubtless1 the irritation of the ,protestants is great1 there is a general and passionate movement in favour of a popular and powerful faith4 ,the government itself associates with and follows this movement4 ,english ,protestantism shows itself strongly inclined to seek security and satisfaction at the expense of the religious liberty of the ,catholics4 ,well6 although matters wear this appearance1 nothing is really done2 they dare not2 they cannot2 and in the bottom of their hearts they desire not to do so4 ,amidst this ,protestant excitement1 the religious liberty of ,english ,catholics still remains and extends4 ,they have liberty of worship2 their churches are open1 nay1 increasing in number2 their priests perform their duties without interruption3 they possess the liberty of the press2 they publicly defend their creed and their conduct1 and have freedom of speech and power of voting in parliament1 where they strenuously uphold their cause4 #be ,a noble sight1 which1 after having justly filled the friends of religious liberty with uneasiness1 ought now to give them every satisfaction4 ,the spirit of persecution had reappeared1 that of justice and liberty met it face to face1 and in spite of appearances remained master of the field4 ,may ,christians1 ,catholic and ,protestant1 at last acknowledge it2 it will be hereafter more natural than they imagine1 to live in the exercise of ,christian charity1 for they have lost the habit1 almost the power of efficacious oppression4 ,a few words more1 and ,i have done4 ,under a well grounded and well understood system of religious freedom1 not only can different religious sects live peacefully and harmoniously together1 but can contribute1 by their pacific co-existence1 to their mutual religious prosperity4 ,what has been for ,catholicism in ,france one of the most glorious and pious periods8 ,surely1 the seventeenth century4 ,french ,catholicism then flourished in the presence of ,protestantism1 which was still tolerated1 and ,jansenism1 then in full vigour4 ,what has prevented the ,anglican church from falling into that apathy which has appeared more than once ready to overcome her8 ,what but the neighbourhood of opposing and half free sects1 who have always kept her in play1 and forced her to overcome her langour8 ,there is no establishment1 no power1 that is not benefited by a sense of control1 and by the necessity of making an effort to maintain its position4 #bf ,it is good to overcome1 not to exterminate an enemy2 and in spiritual as in temporal orders1 the reign of liberty bestows on all their just rewards4 ,while it preserves their rights to the weak1 it incessantly regenerates the victorious4 ,doubtless1 ,catholicism leans on the principle of authority2 but without detaching itself from this base1 it can admit1 and in the course of its career has often admitted1 very different degrees of liberty4 ,from the eleventh to the fourteenth century1 while the ,catholic church was for civil society a great school of authority1 she was in her own bosom a great theatre of freedom4 ,for in her councils1 her congregations1 her correspondence with the faithful1 discussion between her chiefs was ever open and animated4 ,it is not for me to ask whether our times advise or warrant a return to such methods of government2 and ,i am rather disposed to hesitate than undertake the task4 ,but one great fact strikes me2 one which deserves1 if ,i mistake not1 the entire attention of the ,catholic clergy3 it is that the disposition of the mind and heart of the faithful who are under their charge is not always the same1 and neither the same measure nor the same quality of religious nutriment is requisite at all times1 if ,i may so speak1 for ,christian souls4 ,after the fall of the ,roman empire1 when the mission of the ,catholic clergy was to convert the barbarians1 and to cause a little moral light to penetrate amongst the rude conquerors1 and the miserable population who lived under their yoke1 it was above all by the firm and striking exercise of religious authority that the priests were enabled to attain their end4 #bg ,they found amongst the ,christian population1 high and low1 many passions to repress1 and but few intellectual wants to satisfy4 ,there was greater need to strike and to govern the imagination than to nourish and direct mental activity4 ,time and individuals are now different4 ,minds are now active1 varied1 curious1 eager4 ,the spiritual life of faithful ,christians1 of the most faithful as well as the most wavering1 is infinitely more animated than it was formerly4 ,souls so disposed require a moral rule proportionably animated2 one which1 while it guides1 may give to their innate activity a greater share of satisfaction4 ,i am expressing a profound conviction1--one1 ,i will venture to say1 free from any reservation or ill-will1--when ,i say that henceforth the ,catholic church1 without any sacrifice of authority1 will be obliged1 for the government of the soul1 to admit of more intellectual and spontaneous movement on the part of the faithful than was required in other times4 ,yet ,i am convinced that when once the ,catholic church shall herself have acknowledged this new moral state of ,christian society1 she will also know how to provide for it4 #bh ,in a recent publication1 ,footnote #a a justly eminent stranger1 ,m4 ,donoso ,cortes1 speaking of me in terms which ,i cannot allow myself to repeat1 said1 ,the great mistake into which ,m4 ,guizot has fallen1 in his ',history of ,european ,civilization1' is the having attempted the impossible task of explaining visible things by visible things1 natural things by natural things2 which is as superfluous as to explain a fact by itself1 a thing by the thing itself2 because all visible and natural things1 considered as visible and natural1 are one and the same thing4 ,footnote #a3 ,essai sur le ,catholicisme1 le ,liberalisme1 et le ,socialisme1 par ,m4 ,donoso ,cortes1 ,marquis de ,valdegamas1 p4 #ii-aje4 ,m4 ,donoso ,cortes will be convinced1 ,i hope1 that such is not my idea2 and that1 far from resting satisfied with visible and natural things1 ,i believe in supernatural order1 and in its necessity to explain and govern the world4 ,philosophers1 ,i think1 will on their side acknowledge that if ,i reject their doctrine1 ,i do not abandon their right4 ,i do not say this with the view of seeking the frivolous honour of maintaining at the same time two great causes1 but to affirm a double truth to which ,i yield my entire conviction and devotion1 ,christian faith and religious freedom4 ,the welfare of all nations demands these as its price4 ,guizot4 ,val ,richer1 ,september1 #ahea4 #bi ,essay ,i4 ,on ,the ,state ,of ,men's ,souls4 #cj #ca ,on ,the ,state ,of ,men's ,souls4 7,october1 #ahch47 ,the sublimity of the gospel consists in two sentiments1 which manifest themselves in it simultaneously1--hatred of evil1 and tenderness for man who does evil2 horror of sin1 to speak as the gospel speaks1 and love of the sinner4 ,how profound a depth of judgment as well as of moral justice6 ,how admirable a knowledge of things as well as of men6 ,for evil is truly hateful both in itself and in its effects2 and men1 the best of men1 are surcharged with evil4 ,yet1 at the same time1 man is infinitely capable of good1 infinitely worthy of affection2 and with all his imperfections1 a being to be loved beyond expression4 ,how great1 too1 the knowledge displayed of the true conditions of moral authority6 ,it is not acquaintance with the nature of man1 but power over him1 that the ,gospel seeks4 ,yet to influence men morally1 it is needful both to love and reform them2 to win their confidence by love and their respect by severity4 #cb ,severity and love are the two engines wherewith to control the heart of man1 for men know by instinct their moral wants--those which press them down as well as those which please them4 ,they are deeply troubled by the sense of their imperfections2 they wish to be raised4 ,love felt and inspired is at once their noblest and their most lively joy2 they desire to love and be beloved4 ,complete control over them1 ,i mean moral control1 involves these two conditions1--that much be required from them of virtue1 much be bestowed on them of love4 ,the last century had thus much good2 it loved mankind and men4 ,it bore a really deep affection to them1 and wished them well4 ,but as it was a critical and reasoning age1 the sentiment of love often disguised itself in the dress and shape of controversy and analysis4 ,nevertheless1 the feeling was there1 sincere and powerful4 ,that spirit of universal justice and humanity which characterized the epoch1 whence did it spring if not from a lively sympathy with man1 and a tender interest in his welfare8 ,but1 together with this virtue1 the last century certainly exhibited one great defect2 it did not feel for evil the aversion it deserves4 ,not only as regarded certain rules of conduct and certain duties1 but as concerned a rule in general and the very principle of duty1 the spirits of the day were victims to doubt1 that great corrupter of the human heart4 ,in the moral system1 stability and elevation go together2 to waver is to descend2 uncertainty is the sign and the cause of abasement4 ,not knowing where the evil existed1 or even if it did exist1 the eighteenth century denied or excused it when met with1 instead of execrating and opposing it to the utmost4 #cc ,and with the fixed points the long perspectives disappeared4 ,by an admirable law of his nature1 in order that man may hope he must believe1 and believe in good4 ,virtue alone demands an eternity4 ,doubting about duty1 they doubted their own future4 ,moral faith tottered2 ,god veiled his countenance4 ,in such a state of mind1 in an age which loved man and interested itself about him1 man must have been an object of pity4 ,what a destiny was that of a creature thus powerful yet faltering2 always in motion1 yet not knowing where to fix his foot firmly in this world1 or where to fix his gaze beyond it6 ,to aspire so high1 in order to fall low and pass away so quickly6 ,such ambition without a worthy object6 ,such labour without any sure results6 ,what father1 if he thought his child were reserved for such a lot1 but would feel overwhelmed by compassion and grief8 ,but no6 at the same time that the last century loved men it admired them2 and ,i can understand this4 ,god and duty being abandoned1 what remains of great and good if it be not man8 ,imperfect as is human nature1 a mixture of good and evil1 good is found there2 the power of good makes itself felt4 ,all that it possesses of what is elevated1 rich1 tender1 or attractive1 does not necessarily vanish because the mind misunderstands its source and government4 #cd ,and if it should happen1 as it then did1 that these great mental errors should occur in the midst of a period of great intellectual developement1 of a great outflowing of sympathetic and noble sentiments1 of a great march in the condition of mankind2 if1 at the moment when man rises highest and shines with most brilliancy1 he loses sight of his compass1 his ,god1 how can he do otherwise than admire himself8 how avoid a feeling of pride8 ,he has no longer faith or hope on high1 yet he advances1 prospers1 becomes rich1 triumphs4 ,he must believe2 he must hope in himself2 he must worship himself4 ,does religion fall8 ,then idolatry must arise1 the idolatry of man for man4 ,man was the god of the eighteenth century1 the object of worship as well as of love4 ,thence a great and deplorable leaning to human nature1 to its weaknesses and inclinations4 ,it was loved1 but with a blind and weak love1 which could only approve1 caress1 and promise1 having nothing to advise1 nothing to require4 ,thence an immoderate thirst1 in the name of and for man1 of immediate worldly and palpable happiness4 ,loving man truly1 and having nothing to offer him in this world superior to this world's happiness1 nothing better or eternal beyond1 it was necessary that men should be happy1 that all should be happy here below2 as here below their destiny and their treasure were contained4 #ce ,to accept the imperfect condition of humanity may be the part of selfishness which cares for nothing1 and of faith which hopes for everything2 but he who loves men1 and yet can only dispose in their favour the blessings of this life and this world1 cannot resign himself to a lot for the most part so rude1 to progress so slow and always so incomplete4 ,he is compelled to find much more to bestow on men1 to distribute something1 and at once1 to all4 ,and as spirits imbued with so noble a longing do not dream of the impossibility of satisfying it1 they are compelled to assign to the sufferings and hardships of the human state an accidental and factitious cause1 one which human wisdom and power can overcome4 ,hence the other maxim of the last century1 that1 left to themselves and their natural equilibrium1 men and things go on well2 that evil proceeds not from our innate nature and state1 but merely from the ill regulated state of society1 where the few have substituted their will and interest for the wills and interests of the many2 that it is society and not men that need reformation1 as the latter would not need it had not society corrupted him4 ,a maxim which has given rise1 and naturally1 to the sorest and most plausible of modern grievances1 that incurable impatience of whatever is1 that boundless disquiet1 that insatiable thirst for change in the pursuit of a social condition which shall give at last to man1 to every man1 all the happiness to which he aspires4 #cf ,this is the state in which the eighteenth century has placed men's souls4 ,and ,i here speak of upright1 honest1 and sincere minds1 not carried away by selfishness1 not domineered over by evil passions1 which think of others1 and only wish for themselves as well as for those others what they consider legitimate4 ,the great mistakes and ills of any epoch are those of the good4 ,these must be looked to and provided against1 for there lies the hidden danger4 ,who can struggle against ill if the good are themselves infected with it8 ,i have seen the last of the master spirits of the eighteenth century--those who had remained faithful to it4 ,i have seen them emerging from our revolution after their fearful experience of it4 ,the condition of their minds was a touching and instructive spectacle4 ,they were sorrowful1 but not discouraged2 full of esteem and affection for mankind2 full of confidence and hope despite so many mistakes and reverses4 ,the same fertility of wit1 the same generosity of heart1 the same spirit of justice and progress animated them4 ,they accounted for their momentary failure by the violence of passion1 the force of old habits1 the want of public intelligence1 the too hasty application of good principles carried to too great a length4 ,and while their explanation bore witness to their sincerity and perseverance1 still there was visible and perceptible in them at every step a persistance in the same mistakes2 the same absence of moral dogma and religious faith2 the same idolatry of man1 the same tenderness towards him1 the same pretensions for him4 ,they had lost nothing of their noble ambition or tender sympathy for human nature1 but they had learned nothing of its inward laws nor of the true methods for its government4 #cg ,thus a secret feeling of disquiet was apparent through the constancy of their ideas and of their hope2 and they remained melancholy after their explanation1 as if hardly satisfied with it themselves4 ,we are far in advance of our fathers4 ,i was carried here by a cannon shot1 said ,danton to ,m4 de ,talleyrand1 who saw him at the ,ministere de la ,justice4 ,the same shot has carried us all a hundred leagues from our cradle4 ,we have learnt much4 ,we have seen novel appearances under a new light4 ,the intelligence and power of man2 his reason1 his morality1 his power of action1 and resistance to direction and restraint in the affairs of the world2 all has been put to the proof1 gauged1 and measured4 ,we know how deeply seated and closely hidden is the evil in our nature1 yet how readily and terribly it occasionally breaks out4 ,we know the bounds both of our spirit and of our will4 ,we have been powerful1 immensely powerful2 and yet we have been unable to accomplish our will because it was in opposition to the laws of eternal wisdom1 and our power was shivered against them like glass4 ,at this price1 we have acquired a more accurate and profound knowledge of ourselves and our condition4 ,we no longer put ourselves off with desires or arguments1 appearances or hopes4 ,we see that which is4 ,we live more than our fathers did in the truth4 ,we are wiser and more modest4 #ch ,but our wisdom has one grave defect4 ,it is still1 if ,i may so speak1 but an outward good1 which influences our life and conduct1 but has not yet penetrated our soul and become for us a moral property1 a moral wealth4 ,it redounds to the honour and greatness of man that he is not content with what is1 merely because it is4 ,the mere fact does not suffice2 he wishes to see more4 ,for the fact he would discover an end1 a reason4 ,he wishes to attach it to the laws of his own inward nature1 his own destiny2 to feel it in relation to and harmony with his soul4 ,then only in man's eyes does a fact assume a moral aspect and acquire a moral power2 then only does man accept it and obey it with respect as truth1 instead of yielding and submitting to it with pain as a necessity4 ,moreover1 we do not yet understand all the lessons of experience which we have received and recognized4 ,they have not yet assumed in our moral being the rank which belongs to them4 ,they are for us unimpeachable facts rather than great and good laws2 and mistakes rather than progress4 ,they direct more than they have enlightened us1 and if we conform our actions and thoughts to them1 it is because we are subdued rather than convinced4 ,were it not so1 why this dejection1 this secret disgust1 this indifference1 this bluntness1 this chill which now so often accompany wisdom and sound sense8 ,you say you are discouraged1 you do not hope1 you do not dare any more to attempt aught that is difficult and great4 ,what then has happened8 #ci ,what has this experience1 at the same time so much vaunted and so mournful1 taught you8 ,that duty1 not interest or passion1 is the principle of morality2 that ,god has not ceased to watch over the world2 that he resists the proud and punishes the guilty2 that order has her natural and inviolable laws1 and avenges herself on those who mistake them2 that evil1 always present1 always at our door1 in us and about us1 needs to be incessantly resisted4 ,of what do you complain8 ,these are advances1 not mistakes2 truths reconquered1 power recovered1 not hopes thrown away4 ,it is true1 man was carried away by an ambition beyond his strength and right2 it must be brought down1 his reason and his will must agree to restore what they attempted to usurp4 ,instead of setting up and adoring himself as a monarch1 man here must acknowledge his primitive imperfection1 his definite insufficiency1 and yield submission in thought and life on the bosom of liberty4 ,but is it nothing that this liberty is now more firmly established than man has ever known it8 ,is the general progress of justice and happiness in the world nothing8 ,is there not therein a fitting reward for the toils and sufferings of our age8 ,is there not1 after so many mistakes1 enough to satisfy the most exacting1 to refresh the most exhausted8 ,let us look higher4 ,in return for the sacrifices required from our pride1 in compensation for the demonstrated weakness of our nature and the marked bounds of our power1 has nothing been given to us8 #dj ,do we not regain more than we lose8 ,do we not ascend more than we have been forced to descend8 ,the eighteenth century had inflated us with pride1 yet had in reality only lowered us4 ,in making us monarchs of this world1 it had at the same time confined and reduced us to it alone4 ,no more immensity1 no more eternity for the soul2 no longer a bond of kindred between ,god and man4 ,we came and passed over the earth like all that springs from and returns to it4 ,our noblest ambition1 our purest desires1 our most sublime flights1 all that there is in us of noble and truly divine1 was no more than a delusion and a burden4 ,not only in respect of our worldly goods and joys1 but of ourselves and for ever1 we had to exclaim1 vanity of vanities1 all is vanity4 ,we have escaped2 we are leaving this confined and low condition2 we are rising2 we are again about to attain our dignity1 our hope1 our futurity1 our soul4 ,we can no more parade ourselves in our pride1 but we are no longer plunged into and abandoned in misery2 we find again a ,master here below1 and also our ,father which is in heaven4 ,i know how much there is of the frivolous and superficial in the return of our time to religious hopes and beliefs4 ,i know how much even serious minds are doubtful and agitated upon this subject1 the evils that are still at work1 the problems that await solution1 and that perhaps a tardy one4 ,nevertheless1 we have got back to the right track4 ,man does not increase his distance from ,god2 he has turned towards the ,east2 he seeks the light4 #da ,here we still yield rather to the force of facts than of ideas2 and experience is credited rather than conviction4 ,still we believe in experience rather than in our own talent1 and submit to facts though we hardly render a free and enlightened homage to the truths of which they witness4 ,it is not yet adoration1 but it is the fear of ,god1 that beginning of wisdom4 ,had we already reached the point of adoration--were the wisdom for which we have so dearly paid really established amongst us1 in the affairs of this world and in those of eternity1 in questions political1 moral1 and religious1 in short1 in everything2 and were we fully satisfied as to the rational lawfulness and practical utility of her counsels1 if she enlightened our understandings as she rules our conduct--we should be far other than we are2 more tranquil1 more confiding1 more firm1 more worthy1 more exalted4 ,we should distinguish further2 we should advance higher and faster in the paths of new and amending progress1 in which we now walk slowly and with bended head1 as if constrained and humbled4 ,but1 ,i repeat1 it is needful1 for this salutary transformation of our ideas to be accomplished1 that our experience may become our reason4 ,we have more good sense than enlightenment2 we act better than we think4 ,inwardly and deeply we are imbued with prejudices which fetter although they do not rule us2 we are still doubtful about the very truths by which we test our deeds2 only doubt has changed its form and language4 ,with our fathers it was infatuated and bold2 with us it is detracting and useless4 #db ,pride has turned it into contempt2 and because we do not experience for human nature the unbounded ambition and chimerical hopes which formerly prevailed1 we no longer love men tenderly1 nor think well of their nature1 nor take an interest in their destiny4 ,we imagine that wisdom binds us to indifference and immobility4 ,many1 too1 of the ills of the eighteenth century1 which sprung from the maxims then prevalent1 and which1 to all appearance1 ought to have expired with them1 still exist4 ,we no longer have the same tenderness for man1 nor do we show greater aversion to evil4 ,indifference has not made us more strict4 ,for though human nature is no longer judged with the same blind partiality1 we are still full of indulgence towards it1 and cowardly in our treatment of it2 we exhibit towards it the same complaisance1 without feeling the former esteem and love4 ,materialist and impious doctrines are on the decline1 but we are more than ever tormented by an eager thirst for immediate material happiness4 ,is it true then1 as is said1 that we are in a state of moral decay8 ,is our age destined to continue the evil of its precursor1 and while losing its virtues add to it its own evils8 ,i confidently answer in the negative4 ,nothing would tempt me to flatter the age ,i live in1 but ,i love it4 ,i am struck by its evil2 ,i think a remedy urgently called for1 an immediate struggle necessary2 ,i also see in it much good1 a good deep and fruitful and sufficient with the help of ,god to resist and conquer the evil4 #dc ,i said just now that the great mistakes1 the serious maladies of any period are those of the good4 ,on the other side1 it is in the sound ideas and good dispositions of the same class that the moral force of an epoch and its means of safety are to be found4 ,now the general and ruling disposition of the good at the present day is the spirit of order1 the deep desire for order after so much trouble and contest4 ,this is said to be merely the result of prudence1 of a clear idea of interest1 not of morality4 ,in my opinion this is an inconsiderate sentence2 one which shows little knowledge of man and of what passes within him1 of which he is often himself unconscious4 ,there is morality1 true morality1 in the spirit of order1 especially when largely developed and hardly tried4 ,the word interest is pronounced disdainfully1 as if it implied pure selfishness1 and excluded virtue4 ,thanks be to ,god1 who has created legitimate interests4 ,interests inherent to legitimate situations and relations are essentially moral and animated by moral impulsion4 ,the father of a family who protects his household1 the labourer who takes care of the fruit of his industry1 act for their own interest it is true1 and according to the dictates of prudence4 ,but around and connected with this interest are grouped the most praiseworthy feelings1 domestic affections1 respect of the law1 care for the future1 defence of right1 fulfilment of duty1 efforts1 devotion1 sacrifice4 #dd ,who will refuse to these the name of morality8 ,public instinct answers this question4 ,there are but two parties1 said a man of simple mind1 and a stranger to all sophism1 that of honest men and that of rogues4 ,when it was desired to define and rally under one banner the party of order in ,france1 it was inscribed ,the ,charter and ,property4 ,footnote #b ,footnote #b3 ,la ,charte et les gens de bien4 ,in fact1 at the present day the ideas of honesty1 dignity1 morality1 and virtue are closely allied with that of order4 ,public morality is in the general mind the cause of order as well as of individual security4 ,it is because1 after so many convulsions as corrupt as painful1 the taste for and love of order are amongst us the first effect1 the first symptom of attachment to the maxims and practice of duty4 ,besides1 democratic societies1 still so novel and mysterious1 are little known and ill understood4 ,their virtues want the clat1--,i will go further1 want the finish1 the charm which belong to the elevation of persons1 the beauty of form1 the influence of time1 the complete1 varied and harmonious developement of great and glorious human nature4 ,yet they want neither virtue itself nor morality4 ,there will be found in these crowded and unknown masses1 in their laborious and modest lives1 much uprightness1 much simple justice1 much active benevolence1 much submission to law1 much resignation to their lot1 a rare power of effort and sacrifice1 a noble and touching disposition to forgetfulness of self1 without pretension1 without noise1 without reward4 #de ,even the jealousy of all superiority1 the passion of envy--that poison of democratic society1--does not always affect as much as might be apprehended their moral judgment4 ,this venom has affected us deeply2 nevertheless1 excellence is met with joy and welcomed with gratitude as a service done to society1 which feels the necessity of being elevated and purified4 ,respect is more genuine1 taste more correct while it remains a stranger to systematic opinions1 to mere flights of fancy1 and to all romantic emphasis4 ,by a singular and very significant phenomenon1 the exaggeration and emphasis of the present period tend towards evil and disorder4 ,the declaimer plunges into the mire4 ,our times wish good to be true1 simple1 sedate1 and sensible4 ,it is only because it is good1 a moral good1 that it is esteemed and loved4 ,it is asked to appear but what it is4 ,where such a disposition prevails2 where good is thus honored for itself1 and for itself alone1 there may still be much evil1 and very serious evil2 but such can hardly be the lot of the future4 ,we are hardly yet advancing towards a future4 ,as yet we have struggled1 and still strive to acquire from the heritage of the last century a spoil that suits us2 a heritage so loaded1 so mingled1 that it has plunged us in confusion4 ,we have co-existing in us good and bad1 true and false1 in direct opposition4 #df ,we bear about in ourselves the most contradictory ideas and sentiments4 ,we are driven about and stagger under their varying influence4 ,now we try to reject all absolutely1 now to forget all and live from day to day without thought or design4 ,vain efforts6 ,the problem harasses every soul1 agitates or wearies it1 leaves it in doubt or inactivity4 ,none can elude it4 ,a solution is necessary in moral as well as in political order1 for individuals as for the state4 ,for this is not a purely political question1 which can be settled wholly and completely by charter1 law1 or cabinet4 ,it is a matter which comes home to each of us2 one for which each of us individually has to provide4 ,we must keep1 apart from the impulse which the eighteenth century has given to the world and the minds of men1 that which agrees with the eternal order which that era often mistook for the world and the human mind4 ,the new truths and laws which come to us from that date1 as well as the immutable truths and laws which it overlooked1 must live and reign together in our thoughts2 we must know for a certainty and unhesitatingly practice what they demand from us4 ,on this condition only shall we see the end of that mixture of agitation and depression1 this doubting both of well and ill regulated minds1 this barrenness of movement as of wisdom which are the peculiar evils of our era4 ,government and people reciprocally accuse each other of this evil1 and charge on each other the task of applying a remedy4 ,let ,power be dignified1 firm1 active1 fertile1 says the one2 let it sustain and animate1 rule and aid society2 society will assist1 evils will be remedied1 good will be done2 but it is for ,power to take the initiative and responsibility in all this4 #dg ,how can ,i do it8 replies ,power4 ,how undertake the responsibility8 ,it is in society itself--in the mind itself--that the evil exists4 ,they are weak1 tottering1 inactive2 full of doubts and fears4 ,let people ascend in the social scale2 let them show self-control4 ,i do not prevent them4 ,no one can ask me to do more2 ,i can do no more4 ,the defence of both weakness of mind and heart is bad4 ,the regeneration of our time demands from all both duty and exertion4 ,from power1 because it is set on high1 it sees and is seen2 it shows the light and holds the standard4 ,if it lowers them1 society falls into darkness and disorder4 ,from society too1 from every individual1 for we are all infected by the evil which we call upon power to cure4 ,yet power of itself is not able to cure1 individually and collectively1 the evils for which we ask a remedy4 ,our active and intelligent co-operation is indispensible4 ,and it is precisely in this coalition of public power and individual will that the value and honor of free governments consist4 ,hence they are morally and politically powerful1 salutary for immortal souls as for temporal occasions4 ,this good must be the work of all4 ,power or society1 rulers or plain citizens1 let us each look to our own share in the great work1 and perform our own part of the general duty4 ,to him who shall be able the best and speediest to fulfil his1 will belong the glory as well as the power inherent to success4 #dh #di ,essay ,,ii4 ,on ,religion ,in ,modern ,societies4 #ej #ea ,on ,religion ,in ,modern ,societies4 7,february1 #ahch47 ,it is the fashion of the day loudly to lament over the condition of that great mass--the people4 ,their wants and sufferings are paraded4 ,we are told of their lives so burdened and monotonous1 so rude and precarious1 so much fatigue1 yet so little effect1 so much danger and ennui1 work so heavy1 repose so slight1 a future so uncertain4 ,this is true4 ,the condition of the masses in this world is neither easy1 cheerful1 nor certain4 ,it is impossible to contemplate without deep commiseration so many human creatures carrying1 from their cradle to their tomb1 so grievous a burden1 and withal scarcely able to meet their wants1 the wants of their children1 of their father1 their mother2 incessantly seeking some necessary of life for those most dear1 yet not always finding it2 having it perhaps to-day1 uncertain of it tomorrow2 and continually preoccupied about their material existence1 scarcely able to give a thought to their moral being4 #eb ,it is painful1 most painful to witness1 most painful to reflect on4 ,yet is much reflection necessary4 ,it were a grievous wrong and a grievous danger to forget it4 ,more or less thought has been ever given to the subject4 ,what said they who thought the most thereon8 ,they advised those who were the fortunate of this world to practise justice1 goodness1 charity2 to apply themselves to seeking out and relieving the unhappy4 ,to the unfortunate they recommended good conduct1 moderate desires1 submission to authority1 resignation1 and hope4 ,they explained the destiny of man1 showed all it possesses of sadness and sublimity1 the compensations which are found in the different states1 the pleasures which are common to all4 ,they tried to cure1 amongst the ills of men1 those which men can cure2 and1 with regard to those which are incurable here below1 they strove to raise men's eyes to the remedies in ,god's hands4 ,this was the language of religion4 ,these were the words and advice she addressed to high and low1 rich and poor1 to children in her catechisms1 to men in her sermons1 from the pulpit and from the sanctuary1 by the sick bed1 to all1 at all seasons1 and by every means4 ,the means of publicity and popular movement at that time belonged almost exclusively to religion4 ,what the tribune1 the press1 the post--these trumpets of modern civilization--now are1 the churches1 the pulpit1 religious instruction1 pastoral superintendence formerly were ,religion then addressed the masses4 ,she never forgot the people4 ,she was ever able to gain access there4 #ec ,and while she thus interested herself for them1 and strove to lighten or partly bear the burden of life1 she also sympathised with men of all classes and all conditions1 and with the burdens all bear1 the blows which reach all1 the wounds which all receive as they tread their appointed path4 ,to-day1 while occupying ourselves much and justly with the material sufferings and fatigue which are shared by so many1 we forget too much the moral fatigues and sufferings of which all partake2 the trials1 the agonies of the soul1 the mistakes1 the ennui1 the anguish1 in short1 the universal lot of man--which are the more poignant as the mind has more freedom and life more leisure4 ,high or low1 rich or poor1 the elite or the multitude1 let us pity each other1 let us pity every one4 ,we are all1 as we advance in our career1 weary and heavy laden2 we all deserve pity4 ,we deserve it now more than ever4 ,never1 it is true1 has the condition of man been more equal or better4 ,but the desires of men have far outrun their progress4 ,never was ambition more impatient and widespread4 ,never were so many hearts a prey to the thirst for wealth and pleasure4 ,pleasures refined and grovelling1 a thirst of material well-being and of intellectual variety1 a spirit of activity and luxury1 of adventure and idleness3 everything appears possible1 desirable1 and accessible to all4 ,it is not that passion is strong1 or that man is disposed to take much trouble for the gratification of his desires4 #ed ,he wishes feebly1 desires immoderately2 and the great scope of his desire throws him into a state of uneasiness1 in which all that he already possesses appears but as the drop of water forgotten as soon as swallowed1 and which irritates thirst instead of quenching it4 ,the world has never seen such a conflict of imperfect desires1 fancies1 pretensions1 exactions2 never heard such a clamour of voices demanding together as their right all they have not and all that pleases them4 ,and these voices are not raised to ,god4 ,ambition1 is at once extended and debased4 ,when the teachers of the people were religious preceptors1 they tried to detach the popular thought from the things of earth1 and by raising desires and hopes to heaven1 to restrain and calm them here4 ,they knew that here1 do what they might1 satisfaction was impossible4 ,the popular teachers of this day think otherwise and speak another language4 ,in the presence of the hard lot and burning ambition of man1 at the very time that they are displaying their misery and fomenting their desires1 they are telling them that this earth contains what will satisfy them2 and that if each be not as happy as he would be1 it is not in the nature of things nor of his own nature that he should complain1 but of the vices of society1 and the usurpations of a certain class of men4 ,all are placed in this world to be happy2 all have the same right to happiness2 the world can afford happiness to all4 ,words like these resound daily in the ears of all1 knock at the portals of every heart1 penetrate by every crevice into the most remote folds of society4 #ee ,and then we are astonished at the deep agitation and uneasiness under which nations and individuals1 states and souls are labouring6 ,for myself1 ,i wonder the uneasiness is not greater1 the agitation more violent1 the explosion more sudden4 ,such ideas and such words are enough to set humanity astray and rouse it to revolt4 ,and the preserving care of ,providence1 the innate and spontaneous wisdom which men cannot absolutely shake off1 must be powerful to prevent such language--unceasingly repeated and universally heard--from plunging the world again into chaos4 ,no1 it is not true that this earth possesses that which will suffice for the ambition and happiness of her inhabitants4 ,it is not true that the untoward results or vices of human institutions are the sole or even the principal causes of the sad and painful lot of so many among men4 ,let these institutions become daily more just1 more careful of the general welfare2 it is the right of mankind4 ,it is to the honour of our age that it adopted this thought and perseveres in trying to accomplish it4 ,former times took too light a share in the sufferings of the multitude4 ,their pretensions were too humble as regards justice and happiness for all4 ,ours are more extended1 more lofty2 and we give1 with good reason1 to our advance in this path the noble name of civilization4 ,god forbid that we should turn aside from the noble work1 or be discouraged about such a noble hope4 ,but we must not feed ourselves with pride and illusion1 we must not promise to ourselves that which we cannot expect to attain of ourselves and by our ingenuity4 #ef ,there is a defect in our nature and an evil in our condition which eludes all human efforts4 ,the disorder is within ourselves1 and were every other source dried up1 would arise from ourselves and our own will4 ,an inequality of suffering is amongst the providential laws of our destiny4 ,it is at once superiority and infirmity1 greatness and misery4 ,as free beings1 we can create and do in fact without ceasing create evil4 ,as immortal beings1 neither the secrets of our lot nor the limits of our ambition are on this earth1 and the life we lead here is but a very short scene of the unknown life which awaits us4 ,regulate institutions as you will1 distribute all enjoyment as you please1 neither your wisdom nor your wealth will fill the abyss4 ,the liberty of man is stronger than the institutions of society4 ,the mind of man is greater than worldly goods4 ,there will always be found in him more desires than social knowledge can regulate or satisfy1 more sufferings than it can either prevent or cure4 ,religion1 religion6 is the cry of universal man everywhere1 at all times1 except in some day of awful extremity or shameful degradation4 ,religion1 to restrain or crown man's ambition4 ,religion1 to sustain or support us in our griefs1 whether referring to body or soul4 ,let not policy the most strong1 the most just1 flatter itself that it can effect this without religion4 ,the greater and more extensive the social movement1 the less able is it to direct tottering humanity4 ,a higher power than any on earth is needed1 a longer prospect than that of this life4 ,god and eternity are necessary4 #eg ,we require harmony also and agreement between religion and policy4 ,called to act on the same individual1 and as a final attempt for the same result1 how can they work together unless possessing a common basis of thought1 sentiments1 and designs8 ,whatever distance may intervene1 there is an intimate connection between the earthly and religious ideas of men1 between their desires for time and those for eternity4 ,did incoherence and contradiction alone exist1 were our affairs1 opinions1 and hopes here completely estranged from those beyond this world1 were religion capable only of improving and sustaining our actual life and society1 their ideas1 works1 institutions and manners1 far from serving the cause of1 and mutually assisting each other would reciprocally fetter and weaken one another4 ,the world would jest at piety1 piety would take offence at the world1 and that which should be upon earth the source of order and peace would become a fresh spring of anarchy and war4 ,and let neither religion or policy be alarmed about its independence and dignity4 ,i do not wish that either should purchase by cowardly concession or costly sacrifice the harmony which ought to prevail between them4 ,on the contrary1 ,i wish they should on all occasions act according to the pure truth of things1 and accomplish together their special and peculiar mission4 #eh ,clever men have looked upon religion as a source of order1 a sort of social police1 a useful and even indispensable matter1 but otherwise without intrinsic value or any real and definite importance to the individual1 unless to afford a chimerical satisfaction to certain weaknesses of the human mind and heart4 ,thence arises a superficial and hypocritical respect1 which barely covers a disdainful coldness ill-calculated to resist any prolonged trial1 which humiliates religion if she is content with it1 or otherwise irritates and misleads her4 ,great and religious men have in their turn looked on the world and the life of the world1 either generally or at certain periods1 as an evil in itself1 an essential obstacle to the empire of divine laws1 and to the accomplishment of our moral destiny4 ,hence the follies of ascetics and sectarians2 hence1 too1 theocratic pretensions1 pitiable mistakes of the spirit of religion1 which has thus entered into hostility with human society1 wishing now to flee from it1 now to subdue it4 ,the errors on both sides are great and dangerous4 ,religious creeds seek to solve the fundamental problems of our nature and individual destiny4 ,that is their first and chief design1 greater even in their eyes than the maintenance of order in society4 ,for this reason1 and for this reason especially1 respect is due to them2 they deal with that which is most inward1 most powerful1 and most noble in man4 ,and the policy which does not discern these facts1 or discerning does not respectfully bow before them1 shows itself futile1 ignorant of the nature of man1 incapable of guiding him at moments of importance4 #ei ,on the other hand1 this earth is not a place of banishment where man lives an exile4 ,society is not a scene of perdition1 which a man must go through with disgust and terror4 ,the earth is man's first country2 ,god has placed him here4 ,society is the natural condition of man2 ,god has made it for him4 ,this world and social life do not bound our destiny2 but it is in this world and by this social life that our destiny is begun and developed4 ,we owe to society our assistance1 given affectionately and respectfully1 whatever the form of its organisation and the difficulties of our task4 ,these forms and difficulties change with places and times1 but they possess only a secondary importance1 and make no change in the general condition or fundamental duty of man4 ,religion1 without being indifferent to what there is of true or false1 good or bad1 in the casual and variable part of the social world1 attaches herself to what is essential and permanent1 training men to go straight towards heaven beneath every sky and by every road4 ,it is the glory of ,christianity to have been the first to place religion on this height1 and in this the only religious point of view4 ,and yet1 neither reasons nor temptations were wanting at its origin1 to make it denounce temporal society1 and either separate from or declare war against it4 ,still it never dreamt of such a course4 ,at the moment when the ,christian faith restored to man his lost dignity and raised him to his forfeited position1 she made herself liable for him without a murmur to slavery1 despotism1 iniquities1 inequalities1 incomparable miseries4 #fj ,not one revolutionary intention or idea1 to use a modern phrase1 is to be traced near the cradle of ,christianity4 ,christians in the name of their faith heroically resist persecution and tyranny1 but they do not undertake to change the state of society or of mankind4 ,they share in it1 they adapt themselves to it1 whatever its principles1 forms1 consequences4 ,they do more4 ,the world is old and corrupt2 they denounce and vigorously resist its corruptions and vices3 but they do not curse1 they do not avoid the world4 ,they view it with indignation yet with affection1 with grief yet with hope4 ,rigid minds1 ardent imaginations1 take fright at the sight of the world1 and fly to the deserts of the ,thebais or retreat within the walls of a cloister4 ,brilliant apparitions are those who impress the minds of nations1 and renew the well-nigh forgotten strife between austere and impure passions2 but these are only exceptions in the history of ,christianity1 imposing and powerful indeed1 but they do not characterise the ,christian religion1 do not predominate in it1 do not constitute its essence and general tendency4 ,christianity has made monks1 yet never was a religion less monkish4 ,never was a religion introduced into the world which entered more into it1 more easily accommodated itself to it1 to all its phases and all its facts4 ,opposed to this day in the very country which saw its birth1 ,christianity spreads to the east and west1 to the north and south4 #fa ,it penetrates the old monarchies of ,asia and the deep forests of ,germany1 the schools of ,athens and of ,rome1 the wandering tribes of the desert2 and nowhere does it disturb itself about traditions1 institutions1 governments2 it allies itself and lives in peace with the most diverse societies4 ,it knows that everywhere and amidst all the variety of social forms it can pursue its own work1 that truly religious work1 the regeneration and safety of the soul4 ,in later days1 after a definite victory1 amidst ,roman ruins and barbarian chaos1 through necessity as well as love of power1 ,christianity has sought and exercised a more direct and commanding influence over civil society2 an influence sometimes salutary1 sometimes opposed to the nature of things1 and often injurious to religion itself4 ,yet taking things as a whole1 and setting aside some remarkable deviations1 the ,christian ,church has with admirable wisdom been a stranger1 in her intercourse with the world1 to all narrow and exclusive spirit2 has never attached to any peculiar social regime her honor and destiny4 ,she has lived in kindly and intimate relation with the most different governments1 with social systems the most opposed1 monarchy1 republic1 aristocracy1 democracy4 ,here on a level with the state1 there subordinate1 elsewhere independent4 ,broad and varied in her internal organization1 as called for by her external relations2 always sedulous to maintain between social and religious life1 between the ideas and feelings by which men hold to earth or ascend to heaven1 that harmony by which heaven and earth both profit4 #fb ,in our days1 owing to the course of events and reciprocal faults1 this harmony has been profoundly affected4 ,religion and society have for some time ceased to comprehend and agree with each other4 ,the ideas1 sentiments1 and interests which now prevail in temporal life are and have often been condemned and reproved in the name of those which pertain to eternal life4 ,religion sometimes pronounces her anathemas upon the new world1 and keeps herself aloof from it4 ,the world seems ready to abide by both anathema and separation4 ,the evil is immense2 it is one which aggravates all our other ills1 which takes from social order and private life their security and dignity1 their repose and hope4 ,to cure this evil1 to bring together the spirit of ,christianity and the spirit of the age1 the old religion and new society1 to end their hostility1 and to induce a mutual understanding and acceptance1 is the origin of a work too little known1 that called the ,universite ,catholique which its authors have continued for three years with the most praiseworthy perseverance4 ,thanks be theirs2 thanks to men so truly pious1 so truly catholic1 who cast over new society1 over constitutional ,france1 a glance so equitable and affectionate4 ,this gleam of justice towards our day1 this hope loudly declared that it will accept eternal truth and must not be cursed in her name1 is a proof of high intelligence on their part4 ,god forbid that with frivolous blindness we should soothe each other with flattery4 #fc ,our society has gone astray more than once on the most important matters1 and even while triumphant is smitten with a serious disorder4 ,and yet our time is a great time1 which has done great things and opened great destinies4 ,this society1 so stormy1 so confused1 so tottering1 sometimes so chimerical and arrogant1 sometimes so material and grovelling1 has nevertheless done homage and lent force to that which is most elevated and divine within us1 our intelligence and justice4 ,much truth is contained in the motto of her banner2 and wishing that this truth might be efficacious2 she has displayed1 in order to make it penetrate into deeds1 an energy and ability which have astonished the world and drawn it after her4 ,such boldness of conception1 such power of execution1 such a development of mind1 of passion1 of strength1 so many results positive and visible obtained rapidly1 the general progress of happiness1 wealth1 and order1 of practical and plain justice in social relations and affairs1--is there nought here but error8 ,are these the symptoms of decline8 ,do we not rather recognise one of those formidable but beneficial crises brought on by providence when desirous to renew the world8 ,proclaim without reserve to society the evil it has done1 the evil it is undergoing2 point out in all their extent and gravity its errors1 its faults1 its omissions1 its weaknesses1 its excesses1 its crimes2 but do not expect her to yield to injustice or wrong4 ,she knows what she is and what she may become4 ,the good she has devised1 the good she has done to mankind1 she would have honoured and loved4 ,on these terms only will she redress and direct4 #fd ,she is in the right4 ,one must seek for1 listen to1 and trust severe though stern friends4 ,confidence should never be placed in an enemy4 ,i do not think that the authors of l',universit ,catholique render to society all the justice it deserves2 but they have no concealed ill-will to it1 no design against it4 ,they understand and admit the essential principles upon which it is founded1 and they try seriously and sincerely to re-establish between these principles and catholic doctrines1 a harmony which shall not be merely superficial and apparent4 ,their plan is simple4 ,after having traced a general outline of human sciences1 together with the ties which unite them either among themselves or to the sublime unity to which they tend1 they place therein special courses for each different science of material as of intellectual order1 and try in those courses how to make religion penetrate into science1 how science into religion1 keeping both in sight1 so that they may recognise1 approach1 and unite with each other in their common progress2 consequently their body is a dumb university1 where all science is taught by writings according to and in a catholic spirit1 as they would be viva voce at a real university1 where all the professors would be ,catholics1 truly devoted to their faith and their science4 #fe ,i have no design of entering into the scientific merits of these courses1 or of disputing all their assertions and ideas4 ,some1 as the ,course of introduction to the study of ,christian ,truths1 by ,m4 l',abbe ,gerbet2 the ,course on ,christian ,art1 by ,m4 ,rio2 the ,course on the ,general ,history of ,hebrew ,literature1 by ,m4 de ,cazels2 contain real instruction1 elevated and ingenious views1 and sometimes rare talent in style1 and much attraction for the reader4 ,in a literary review joined to these ,courses one finds occasional articles1 amongst others those by ,m4 le ,comte de ,montalembert1 full of curious research and noble sentiments2 written too with a moral earnestness which pleases and touches1 even when it goes beyond what is true4 ,it would be easy to collect from the entire work sufficiently numerous traces of superficial science1 somewhat vague philosophy1 or declamatory literature4 ,i might here and there detect1 and this is more important1 some traces of old habits1 and of that old spirit of hostility from which the authors of the collection have in general tried to keep themselves clear4 ,possibly1 had ,i the honor of seeing them1 ,i might venture in the freedom of conversation to urge them to weigh carefully in this respect their sentiments and language1 to preserve constantly between their ideas and expressions1 agreement with the general intentions which animate them and at which they aim4 ,let them be in this sense strict censors of their own work4 ,as for me1 ,i cannot be one2 ,i cannot seek underhand means as regards the execution of a great and just idea to which ,i wish success4 ,i admit of incompleteness and imperfection1 even incoherency in a human work1 provided it be in itself good1 and that good predominates in its effects as well as intentions4 ,the pleasure of criticism is mean2 and for my own part ,i feel none in pointing out faults which ,i should like to efface4 #ff ,i prefer congratulating the authors of l',universit ,catholique on the firmness and fidelity with which they have remained faithful to their name and standard4 ,in their excellent design1 and on account of the conciliatory spirit which pervaded it1 they encountered a shoal under their prow4 ,they ran the danger of being induced to become effeminate and enervated1 to pervert their own doctrines1 the ,catholic doctrines and spirit1 in order to render their accommodation more in accordance with the ideas and spirit of the age4 ,more than once analogous attempts1 conceived in the best intentions1 have split on this rock4 ,it is thus that we have heard applied to natural religion and the general spirit of religion2 these maxims that the dogma is of little consequence1 the moral only being of importance1 that various creeds must be brought back to those portions which they hold in common1 and formulas and prayers be drawn up which may suit all alike3 thence the desire to transform the great principles and facts of ,christianity into symbols left to the interpretations of philosophy2 those strange efforts also to unite the revolutionary with the religious spirit2 or1 lastly1 those attempts to deny1 or at least consign to oblivion the past of the ,catholic church1 her traditions1 her customs1 which ages and events have united with her1 and substitute1 under the name of ,primitive1 a newly invented ,catholicism4 #fg ,false conceptions1 vain endeavours1 from which pious feeling and a certain knowledge of our social state have not always been free1 but which denote little knowledge of human nature or religion1 and a superficial appreciation of the means by which great institutions1 whether religious or civil1 are founded and endure4 ,no doubt but that ,catholicism has something1 has much to do in order to adapt itself to all that is new in the world1 and to take in our social system the place and part suitable to it4 ,but let it be true to itself1 let it not deny its origin1 its history1 its doctrine1 its law2 let it not stoop to cowardice or hypocrisy4 ,it would lose its dignity which is essential to its strength1 it would fail in obtaining the new strength which it needs4 ,were ,i not convinced that harmony may be re-established between the old religion and modern society with truth and honor to both1 ,i would not counsel the attempt4 ,god does not admit of the possibility of falsehood in such high positions for such great objects4 ,let1 then1 l',universit ,catholique proceed in its course of exact and scrupulous orthodoxy4 ,it is said1 ,i hope truly1 that she has many of the clergy for readers4 ,they should be on their guard against attacks on these points4 ,sometimes1 despite appearances of moderation1 the attempts succeed1 and strike a blow on the vital conditions of their existence4 ,by others they are drawn into the very passions and pursuits from which their mission is mainly intended to keep mankind4 ,generally such have hitherto had but little success4 #fh ,the most recent example1 that of ,m4 l',abb de ,lamennais1 has eventuated in one of the most melancholy spectacles of error and fall that man can present4 ,surely there are here just reasons for distrust and hesitation4 ,the authors of l',universit ,catholique are clearly aware of it themselves2 for they have been careful to keep themselves clear of these unhappy flights1 and to remain1 in their own words1 immovably attached to the rock of the ,church4 ,they doubtless are so from conviction and duty4 ,they should also be so from prudence1 and attend to all the sentiments1 scruples1 and susceptibilities of the ,catholic portion of the public4 ,it is this public especially whom they address1 it is the public whom they wish to enlighten1 satisfy1 reassure1 and reconcile with the true progress1 the accomplished facts and necessities of our time4 ,that is really the great service wanted by modern society4 ,let them never lose sight of this essential end4 ,and as to that part of the public which is ruled by the spirit of the age1 no doubt their language should reassure and quiet it also1 and draw it back to religion1 for it has very justly its own susceptibilities and distrusts4 ,but let not the authors of l',universit ,catholique deceive themselves2 they will inspire the public with the greater respect and confidence according as they are themselves found serious and faithful4 ,the public will be the more easily attracted to religion1 as she presents herself stable and lofty2 for1 in the uneasiness which is now prevalent1 the public aspire to something fixed and elevated1 despite of the passions which still keep it wavering and abased4 #fi ,whilst in ,catholicism this new religious and social movement1 of which l',universit ,catholique appears to be the most serious manifestation1 is beginning1 an analogous work is going on in the other ,christian communions1 and reveals itself by remarkable signs4 ,for many years something fruitful and active has been at work in ,french ,protestantism4 ,almost immediately after the establishment of peace and international relations in #ahad1 the ,english dissenters1 struck by the languid state of religion in ,france1 and animated by faith and a strong desire for proselytism1 undertook the task of awaking amidst their continental co-religionists the religious spirit1 or1 more precisely1 ,protestant ,christian feelings4 ,journeys1 correspondence1 publications1 sermons1 pious associations--of which some1 as the ,bible ,society1 the ,society for the ,propagation of the ,gospel1 the ,religious ,tract ,society1 possess extent and notoriety--were the instruments used to forward their design2 a design which excited and still excites in ,french ,protestantism some trouble and embarrassment4 ,the established ,protestant church was moved4 ,indifference took offence4 ,toleration and reason felt some alarm4 ,impressions not altogether at first void of reason2 facts which deserve observation and watchfulness1 but of which the importance in our society1 and with the guarantees of our laws and customs1 is1 in my opinion1 much less than that of the religious feeling which roused them1 and its character and results4 #gj ,the ,christian faith1 the real and profound faith in the constituent dogmas of ,christianity1 is springing up again amidst ,protestants1 but accompanied by that liberty and assiduous search which alter the form of unity but keep up religious vitality2 which cares less for the government of men's minds than for the internal life of their souls4 ,this life has its instincts1 its imperious and everlasting wants4 ,there is no indifference1 no authority1 which does or can abolish or cause to be long forgotten the essential and eternal problems of our nature and destiny4 ,whence does evil spring in the world and in ourselves8 ,how is it to be escaped8 ,is our own liberty sufficient8 ,is ,god's power over and in us needed8 ,what are the relations here below and hereafter between ,god and our souls8 ,what lot awaits us beyond this life1 and how far do our resolutions and actions influence it8 ,this is the definite and practical object of religion4 ,these the questions to which mankind has1 through all ages1 in all the earth1 in every condition1 in the confusion of controversy1 in the secret heart desired and asked an answer4 ,this is promised to him by ,christianity4 ,the dogmas of that faith are replies to these questions1 so vital to man generally and individually4 ,these replies are contained in ,christian books1 and are succeeded by the precepts1 the consolation1 and the hopes which flow from them4 ,to seek them there1 to read them1 to draw continually from that spring the means of opposing the evil inclinations1 the passions1 the weaknesses1 the disquiet1 the langour of the soul1 thereby sustaining it in this world and regenerating it for eternity2 such is the ,christian ,protestant spirit1 the spirit which is again animating the ,french ,protestants2 the spirit which has had and may again have its faults1 like all great ambitions and all great aspirations of the human soul1 but which is nevertheless a spirit of true piety and true morality2 which suffices for our most exalted intellects1 and exercises for all1 in all1 the most salutary influence over our inward dispositions and outward actions4 #ga ,many periodical works1 amongst them the ,semeur1 ,footnote #c and the ,archives of ,christianity in the ,,xix4 ,century1 are devoted to this spirit1 and seek to satisfy and spread it4 ,footnote #c3 ,the ,semeur has ceased to appear4 ,in them all publications1 all the incidents which belong at home or abroad to ,christian life1 are examined1 commented on1 debated with a reality and earnestness of conviction always rare1 but now especially so4 ,men of rare ability1 too1 and first of all ,m4 ,vinet1 professor of ,french literature at ,lausanne1 write for the ,semeur1 and often with the most distinguished talent4 ,i might find in these works1 even without going very deeply into the question of their doctrines1 some traces of political radicalism1 very injurious to religion2 and also1 in matters of religion1 traces of a severe and somewhat exclusive spirit1 which1 when dominant1 tends to sectarianism and fanaticism4 ,but clearly here as elsewhere the good spirit of the age1 the spirit of light1 of justice1 and universal benevolence will every day make its way2 will clothe the religious spirit of ideas and sentiments in words which will suit them admirably1 but which they have not always worn4 #gb ,and thus here as elsewhere ,i prefer dwelling on what is good to what is evil4 ,when the movement which is good preponderates1 ,i believe in its power2 ,i trust to it1 strenuous as may be the opposition1 tardy as its progress may appear4 ,have we not besides1 in liberty1 liberty of conscience and speech1 the most certain and efficacious of guarantees against fanaticism and religious despotism4 ,l',universit ,catholique maintains1 and will unceasingly uphold the maxims1 traditions1 and laws of ,catholicism4 ,at her side1 the spirit of ,protestantism reveals herself full of faith and vigour4 ,and as in the bosom of ,protestantism the ,semeur and the ,archives of ,christianity do not express the feelings of all1 other collections--the ,protestant ,review1 the ,free ,enquiry1 the ,evangelist--labour to make clear and nourish another idea1 more scientific1 more attached to modern notions and a national church1 more occupied in enlightening than deeply stirring the mind4 ,i do not doubt but that1 in this fresh springing up of different beliefs1 men interested in their success1 and the different sections of the public whom they address1 reciprocally inspire but little mistrust or disquiet2 that the remembrance of ancient dislikes1 ancient animosity still lurk in many a heart1 and may break out afresh4 ,it may be occasionally discerned1 with all its want of reflection and its harshness4 ,however1 take it altogether1 the spirit of antipathy and contest1 which has so long prevailed in the religious sphere1 is becoming weaker and less common4 #gc ,each creed is more occupied about itself than about others2 more anxious to impress the hearts that are inclined to its reception or have received it1 than quarrel with those who maintain their own belief4 ,this is the natural result of liberty1 and the check imposed on every belief by the civil power which sustains it4 ,it is also the most favourable condition for the very creeds themselves1 as obliging them to proceed directly towards their true object1 and prevents them from turning aside to alter or lower themselves in despotism or rebellion4 ,the spirit of religion comes again into the world to conquer but not to usurp4 ,religious creeds rise and increase together1 at once free and contented2 free to elevate themselves1 to elevate souls to heaven1 restrained by their mental liberty and by the independence of the civil power4 ,let us honor the community in the bosom of which such a sight is possible6 ,it needs1 it absolutely needs that religion should step in to purify and strengthen it2 but religion can do her work there without dishonor or sacrifice1 and when she can1 it becomes her bounden duty to do so4 #gd #ge ,essay ,,iii4 ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 ,and ,philosophy ,in ,france4 #gf #gg ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 ,and ,philosophy ,in ,france4 7,july1 #ahch47 ,it is of ,catholicism and ,protestantism1 not of religion or even ,christianity in general1 that ,i wish to speak4 ,i regret that ,i cannot find a word to suit me better than ,philosophy4 ,the nature of things forbids it4 ,but in order to make myself at once and clearly understood1 ,i hasten to say that ,i here call ,philosophy every opinion which disclaims1 under whatever name or shape1 any faith as restrictive of human thought1 and which leaves thought1 in religious matters as in all others1 free to believe or not to believe1 and guide itself by its own authority4 ,it is also of ,france1 and ,france alone1 that ,i speak4 ,the condition of ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 and ,philosophy is not the same in ,france and elsewhere1 after our moral and social revolutions1 as it is in countries which have not undergone such changes4 ,i wish to say nothing but that which results from and applies to precise facts4 ,the time has arrived in such matters for dealing with real facts1 and setting aside general terms which avoid the questions they affect to settle4 #gh ,i am convinced that ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 and ,philosophy1 in the bosom of the novel state of society in ,france under the ,charter1 can live peaceably1 both as regards themselves and society2 in peace not only material but moral1 not only obligatory but voluntary1--without submission1 without abasement1--both with truth and with honor4 ,i wish to prove it4 ,i repeat my first position4 ,this peace must be established2 it is necessary4 ,look at the state of things4 ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 ,philosophy1 and modern ,french society can neither destroy one another1 nor change nor remodel themselves as they wish4 ,they are facts1 old1 powerful1 living1 and indestructible from the remotest times4 ,they have resisted the longest and most severe trials1 ages of order and days of chaos4 ,for ages has new ,france1 the ,france of the ,charter1 been forming itself and increasing4 ,every thing has opposed it1 yet everything has contributed to its triumph1 the church1 nobility1 royalty1 the court1 the greatness of ,louis ,,xiv41 the inactivity of ,louis ,,xv41 the wars of the empire1 the peace after the restoration4 ,she has surmounted even her own faults1 as well as the efforts of her enemies4 #gi ,catholicism was born at the same time and in the same cradle as modern ,europe4 ,it has associated itself with all the labours of ,european civilization4 ,it has survived all its transformations4 ,in our own days it has sustained the most terrible shock that has ever been encountered by a creed and a church4 ,it has been raised up again by the hands of the very destroyers themselves4 ,it appears again4 ,enter the family circle1 traverse the country1 then will be seen what the power of ,catholicism is1 in spite of the lukewarmness of many of the faithful members--even of many of the priests4 ,the lot of ,protestantism in ,france has been hard4 ,it has had against it the king and the people1 the literati of the seventeenth1 the philosophers of the eighteenth century2 at one time it appeared as if extirpated by ,catholicism1 at another as absorbed by philosophy4 ,it has yielded neither to persecution nor ridicule4 ,it still exists1 and is no sooner restored to liberty than it exhibits all its ancient fervour4 ,as for ,philosophy1 she has sustained many checks amidst her triumphs4 ,it is easy to set forth her follies and mistakes4 ,she has much to amend in what is past1 but nothing to fear for the future4 ,most of the principles which she proclaimed have become rights4 ,the rights have become facts4 ,the new social condition to which philosophy has given rise will not be more averse to her than the old one which she has overcome4 ,these are all clearly powers full of life1 and which a long futurity awaits4 ,they have struggled roughly but in vain4 ,they have been unable to destroy each other4 #hj ,they will neither change or perish4 ,no doubt they will modify themselves according to their new position4 ,they will listen to reason4 ,they will bow to necessity1 but without renouncing their principles or sacrificing their nature4 ,they can make no such concession4 ,what characteristics and vitality they have must remain4 ,to renounce this would be to die4 ,thus1 without metamorphosis and as ,god and time have made them1 are these powers called to dwell side by side under the same social roof4 ,what will happen if they do not live in peace1 sincere peace8 ,shall we again see the old wars which our fathers have seen8 ,war between ,catholicism and ,protestantism8 ,between religious creeds and philosophy8 ,between the ,church and the new-modelled ,state8 ,shall we see a revival of every fanaticism1 lay and clerical1 philosophic and religious8 ,it is not likely4 ,here and there1 indeed1 in books1 in newspapers1 even in the gravest publications1 hints are given of such a restoration of things3 attacks by ,catholics on ,protestant impiety1 by ,protestants against popish idolatry1 by devotees against reason and its lights1 by philosophers against faith and the clergy4 ,a war of words1 often sincere1 frequently cold1 always powerless4 ,doubtless1 the old leaven of hatred and war1 deep laid in every human heart1 still exists1 but it will no more arouse society4 ,customs as well as laws will prevent this4 ,even the inclination will soon fail those most anxious for it4 #ha ,the voices which still preach this strife1 passionate1 radical1 and mortal1 either of ,christian communities between themselves1 or of ,philosophy against ,christianity1 are the voices of dying men1 already deserted on the battle-field where they persist in staying4 ,this is rather what will happen4 ,living neither in peace nor at war1 forced to admit vicinity without friendship1 and distrust without violence1 ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 ,philosophy1 and in their train society in general1 will descend1 grow cold1 and languish4 ,the dignity and power which spring from truly moral communications will be equally wanting in all4 ,a dry and barren spirit will prevail in relations which are purely official and matters of routine2 and we should see spreading and strengthening itself1 becoming permanent and in some sort legally consecrated1 that spirit of indifference at the same time disdainful yet subordinate1 cold yet insecure4 ,this is the lot of societies which are kept together by the bond of administrative regulations alone1 void of moral life1 that is1 of faith and devotion4 ,was it then to arrive at this state of things1 that for ages human genius displayed itself so gloriously in our country8 ,was it to end at last in this degradation that all the great creeds1 all the moral forces1 have contended with so much eagerness and glory for the empire of our society8 ,they must save it and themselves from this disgraceful peril4 ,they must accept1 respect1 and loyally serve the new social state2 they must learn to live amicably together in its bosom4 #hb ,i say they must6 ,it is an immense point in a great work to look upon success as indispensable and vital4 ,the feeling of necessity gives to those whom that necessity pleases1 much power2 to the opposite party much resignation4 ,a passionate desire supports even more than it deceives4 ,and here there is indeed room for such a desire2 for1 during a long future1 the honor and moral repose of society are at stake4 ,it cannot remain in this state of apathy and uneasiness in which the mind languishes and exhausts itself4 ,man desires for his soul more activity and more security1 a firmer ground1 a higher flight4 ,the true agreement of the great intellectual powers can alone grant him these4 ,how can this be accomplished8 ,i grapple at once with the more notorious and serious of the difficulties1--the nature of ,catholicism and the conditions of its agreement with the new state of society which has attacked it1 and been in its turn so roughly attacked4 ,i set aside1 too1 without hesitation1 the questions of religion1 properly so called2 questions which concern the dealings of ,god with man1 questions about the safety of the human soul4 ,not that ,i look on them with indifference1 or that their importance is not now as it has always been1 overwhelming and immense4 ,it ought1 on the contrary1 to be frequently repeated1 for in our day it has been too much forgotten1 and it is the real object1 and substance1 nay1 the essence of religion4 ,the moral quality1 the rule of conduct for man in his relations with man1 is important4 #hc ,the mental calm and resignation of men in the trials of life is important4 ,the ,christian religion teaches these1 and thence its great position upon earth and in society4 ,but it does more1 it goes far beyond human society and this world4 ,it binds man to ,god1 it reveals to him the secret of this awful tie1 it teaches him what he ought to believe and do in respect to his relation to ,god and his prospect of eternity4 ,imperishable things from which man may turn aside his gaze1 but which do not disappear from his nature2 sublime wants from which he cannot free himself1 though he may mistake and deny them--the law of these things1 the satisfying of these wants1 that is to say1 the dogma and its consequences1 constitute the ,christian religion1 the first which has really understood and embraced its object4 ,but in these questions and in the dogmas which reply to them1 nothing can now arouse between ,catholicism and civil society either conflict or embarrassment4 ,in this matter1 the ,state proclaims not only the liberty but the right of the church1 and declares itself absolutely incompetent to interfere4 ,and here lies whatever truth exists in that deplorable and confused saying which has excited so much comment1 ,the law is atheistical4 ,surely not so4 ,the law is not atheistical4 ,how should it be so8 ,is the law a real living being1 a being with a soul which approaches to or recedes from ,god1 which may be lost or saved8 ,human societies1 says ,m4 ,royer ,collard1 live and die on the earth1 there they fulfil their destinies4 ,but they do not comprehend man as an entire4 #hd ,after he has bound himself to society there still remains to him the noblest part of himself1 the high faculties by which he raises himself to ,god1 to a future life1 to unknown good in an invisible world4 ,we1 as individuals1 as beings endowed with immortality1 have a different destiny from states4 ,and it is on this account that the ,state should not interfere with that other destiny4 ,as its nature and aim are different from her own1 as the two have nothing in common1 to interfere must produce confusion and usurpation4 ,that which the state now proclaims was taught to it by the ,church1 the ,catholic ,church4 ,during centuries when the state wished to interfere in matters of opinion and salvation1 did not the ,church distinctly reject such pretensions4 ,and how did she do so8 ,by the distinction of temporal and spiritual1 of terrestrial and eternal life1 that is1 by the incompetence of the state to deal with the relations of the soul with ,god4 ,and the ,catholic ,church was right in sustaining this principle1 the forgetfulness of which has cost her much4 ,how did she lose a portion of her empire8 ,how came ,henry ,,viii4 amongst others to separate from her8 ,by proclaiming the temporal power competent to matters of faith and salvation4 ,let ,catholicism go back to the sixteenth century1 to the history of the reformation4 ,it is by the confusion of the two powers1 by this religious competence of the state1 that she has suffered the rudest shocks4 #he ,the ,catholic ,church has no more dangerous enemies than lay theologians1 whether princes or doctors4 ,they are the more dangerous foes because religious motives are not those which alone may animate them1 and lay usurpations in matters of faith have often served as a veil to the most worldly interests4 ,had the religious incompetence of the state always been acknowledged1 the church would not so often have seen her property as well as her power in danger or lost4 ,she has henceforth nothing similar to fear4 ,usurpation is on both sides forbidden4 ,her kingdom belongs to herself alone2 she possesses it completely and securely4 ,on this side1 the great side of ,christian religion in this world1 peace is easy and may be sincere between ,catholicism and the new social state4 ,let us see where the real difficulty exists4 ,the government of the ,catholic ,church is a power invested in her own domain1 and in matters of faith and salvation1 with the character of infallibility4 ,i put aside1 great as they are1 all secondary questions1 such as the knowledge of the conditions and limits in which infallibility exists1 to whom it belongs1 to the ,holy ,seat or to ,councils1 or to the ,holy ,seat and ,councils united4 ,i look to the one principle which is found in every combination and form of ,catholic belief4 ,the principle itself is founded on the perpetuity of divine revelation1 faithfully preserved in the church by means of tradition1 and renewed when needful by the inspiration of the ,holy ,spirit1 which ceases not to descend on the successor of ,st4 ,peter who was placed at the head of the church by ,jesus ,christ himself4 #hf ,this is the essential and vital principle1 the base and summit1 the ,alpha and ,omega of ,catholicism4 ,against a power of such a nature and origin1 where it really manifests itself1 all discussion1 resistance1 and separation are unlawful4 ,the new state of society and constitutional ,france has its principle also1 which has become that of its government4 ,all human power is fallible1 and must be controlled and limited4 ,every human society has the right of controlling and limiting1 directly and indirectly1 in such and such measures1 and under such or such form1 the power which it obeys4 ,i do not soften the problem4 ,i set forth the two principles4 ,they are essentially different2 they are said to be hostile4 ,they would be so indeed1 could they meet and display themselves in the same sphere4 ,but here ,i find the remedy ,i sought4 ,when ages ago the church so loudly and vehemently insisted on the distinction of the spiritual and temporal1 she was acting in the interest of her own dignity and founding her own liberty4 ,she was doing more4 ,she thereby maintained the dignity of man1 and laid the foundations of liberty of conscience4 #hg ,the separation of spiritual from temporal1 the doctrine of the church2 and the separation of the religious and civil state1 the doctrine of our constitutional regime2 the independence of religious society in matters of faith1 conquered by the church in the earlier days of modern ,europe2 and liberty of conscience1 a victory achieved by modern society1--have one and the same principle at the root4 ,the application and form may be different1 the origin and moral signification entirely agree4 ,hence the means of peace and harmony between ,catholicism and our new society4 ,suppose that the two principles1 the separation of spiritual and temporal1 of the religious and civil state1 were 7and it is possible1 since at the root they agree7 sincerely and completely allowed1 respected and practised by church and state2 whence would the conflict spring8 ,the ,catholic church would loudly maintain her infallibility in the religious sphere1 that is1 as regards the connexion between spiritual power and the faithful4 ,the state would insist upon liberty of conscience and thought in the social sphere1 that is1 in the relations of the temporal power with the citizens4 ,each power would advance according to its principles1 parallel1 and without collision4 ,what then is the obstacle8 ,it is rather historical than reasonable4 ,it arises from the passed deeds and ancient life of the two powers1 rather than from their essential principles and actual relations4 #hh ,the separation of the spiritual and temporal originates in the chaos of the middle ages4 ,it sprung from thence1 as the sun appears through a dark and stormy sky4 ,principles and powers1 ideas and situations1 all have been in our ,europe wonderfully obscure1 confused1 incoherent1 incomplete4 ,there has long been a depth of temporal affairs mixed with spiritual1 spiritual with temporal1 in the existence and constitution of the church and state4 ,hence the temptations and attempts1 both frequent and terrible1 at reciprocal usurpation4 ,the confusion of facts and violence of passions struggled incessantly against the principle which strove to restrain them4 ,that is the lot of truth here4 ,it is boasted of but disdained1 invoked yet rejected1 at once admitted and proscribed2 here supreme1 there powerless4 ,man deserves no better1 the world fares no better than that4 ,however1 after many efforts on certain memorable days some truth does detach itself1 and rises so high that she shines brightly and commands respect4 ,the separation of the spiritual and temporal has had this fortune4 ,church and state1 bishops and philosophers1 opinion and law have contributed in turn to secure it for her4 ,it is a principle now so well established amongst us1 that neither persons nor things1 neither mind nor art1 could be kept long clear from its influence4 ,since the great ambitions which have disturbed the world be but foolish pretensions1 it behoves them carefully to avoid the last risk they can run1 that of becoming ridiculous squabbles4 #hi ,let the two powers1 instead of painfully lowering themselves to seize though but for a few days1 some fragments from the past confusion1 admit fully both as regards right and deed their mutual incompetence2 let each establish itself firmly in its special sphere1 let each loudly proclaim its principle--the ,catholic church1 its infallibility in religious orders2 the ,state1 the liberty of thought in social concerns4 ,not only will they then live in peace1 but they will respect and serve themselves really in spirit and in truth1 and not in a superficial appearance which is unworthy of both4 ,i say they will respect each other in spirit and in truth1 and ,i regret that ,i can but glance at the subject4 ,certainly1 setting aside all faith and law1 the vital principle of ,catholicism1 the religious infallibility of the church1--and the vital principle of our civil society1 the liberty of conscience and thought1--have a right to the respect1 the former of the boldest thinkers1 the latter of the most pious and the strictest minds4 ,but ,i have not room here to enter suitably on such a question2 ,i may attempt it some day4 ,as to the practical benefits of a true pacification to the ,catholic ,church and to constitutional ,france1 they are immense4 ,what is the prevailing ill of our temporal society8 #ij ,the weakening of authority4 ,i do not allude to that strength which insists on being obeyed4 ,never had power greater command of it2 never perhaps so much4 ,i allude to that authority recognized beforehand on principle in a general way1 received and felt as a right which is not obliged to resort to force2 that authority before which the spirit bows without abasement of heart1 and which speaks from on high with the influence not of constraint1 but nevertheless of necessity4 ,that is truly authority4 ,it is not the only principle of the social state4 ,it does not suffice for the government of men4 ,but without it nothing will suffice2 neither argument unceasingly persevered in1 nor well-understood interest1 nor the material preponderance of numbers4 ,where authority is wanting1 whatever the force1 obedience is precarious or mean1 even near the extreme of rebellion or of servility4 ,catholicism has the essence of authority2 it is authority itself1 systematically conceived and organised4 ,it lays it down in principle1 and puts it in practice with great firmness of teaching1 and a rare intelligence of human nature4 ,did this spirit prevail in our society1 or did it lean towards it1 there would be need to seek elsewhere counterbalances and limits4 ,but the danger is clearly not there2 and whilst our institutions and manners cherish in us the spirit of individual independence in thought as well as life1 it is a great blessing to society1 to its morality as well as its repose1 that other causes1 other methods of teaching maintain the principle of authority and the spirit of internal submission4 ,i learnt in the army what one learns no where else--respect2 said an old retired non-commissioned officer of the ,imperial ,guard1 in #ahbj4 #ia ,catholicism is the greatest1 the most holy school of respect that the world has ever seen4 ,france was brought up in this school1 in spite of the ill use which human passions have often made of her precepts4 ,the abuse is now little formidable2 the benefit ought to be great1 for we have great need of it4 ,catholicism itself is suffering at present from a grievous malady4 ,this is the prevailing coldness and routine1 the predominance of form over foundation1 of external practice over internal feelings4 ,this arises from the often hypocritical incredulity of the eighteenth century1 not very distant from the nineteenth2 and also from the preponderance1 which has long been excessive1 in the church1 of the government over the vital principle1 of ecclesiastical authority over religious life4 ,some analogy existed in this respect between the church and state in the last century4 ,on both sides power was afoot with its old organization1 in the hands of its former possessors2 but amongst the subjects there was little faith and little love4 ,what is it1 nevertheless1 that has saved ,catholicism from shipwreck8 ,it is that it was a popular religion and faith4 ,the ,catholic government yielded1 the ,catholic people survived4 ,m4 de ,monlosier was right2 in our days1 too1 it was the cross of wood which saved the world4 #ib ,the safety is yet incomplete4 ,the church has risen1 but many a soul languishes4 ,catholicism needs faith1 a more inward and lively faith4 ,it is the vague and ill-regulated feeling of this want1 which has for some time inspired those dreams of absolute independence1 of rupture between church and state1 those shiverings of the fever of democracy1 which1 under the name of ,m4 l',abb de ,lamennais1 have scandalised the faithful and made the indifferent smile4 ,mad1 shameful dreams which urge ,catholicism to abjure her principles and history1 to hand herself over to the contagion of modern evil and to dishonour while she destroys herself4 ,it is not in such devious ways that ,catholicism will find religious life4 ,this will1 on the contrary1 be found by her remaining faithful to herself in the new position frankly accepted4 ,this position is worthy1 strong1 favorable to the progress of faith and fervour4 ,it possesses towards the state a fair measure of liberty and alliance1 towards the faithful the suitable independence as well as the needful intimacy2 no evil hopes1 no worldly distractions1 nothing which can render zeal impure or even suspected2 but nothing1 on the other hand1 which attacks the traditions or customs of the ,church1 nothing which tends to deprive it of the august character of elevation and stability4 ,the ,catholic ,church is thus placed in constitutional ,france2 and success1 religious and social1 belong to the use of proper measures1 as by proper measures success is certain4 #ic ,the situation of ,protestantism is more simple3 some persons even affect to consider it more favourable4 ,the general feeling which prevails in our days1 our political and domestic alliances1 the analogy of principle between constitutional ,france and ,protestant ,england1 all seem to say that ,protestantism is in favour4 ,there are some even who pretend to the discovery of a plot to make ,france ,protestant4 ,this does not deserve even a passing remark4 ,there was a time1 not very distant1 when ,protestantism did not seem so well placed in ,france4 ,i do not speak of the ,restoration2 even under the empire it was often said that ,protestantism had a republican tendency1 that her maxims were contrary to stability and power4 ,the spirits of ,protestantism and revolution were considered as related4 ,this is still repeated4 ,it has become a party theme2 and ,protestantism is perseveringly represented as incompatible with social order1 peaceful dispositions1 and monarchy4 ,happily1 ,protestantism is not a thing of yesterday in ,europe2 it appeals to history and facts for a reply4 ,if there be any where three countries which1 for fifty years1 amidst the overthrow of ideas1 states1 and dynasties have given striking proofs of affection for their institutions and princes1 for the conservative and monarchical spirit1 they are assuredly ,england1 ,holland1 ,prussia--three ,protestant countries1 the three ,protestant countries par excellence in ,europe2 countries1 too1 wonderful for order1 for industry1 and for prosperity2 countries which greatly conduce to the power and glory of modern civilization4 ,there can be no more decisive answer to the worn out declamations of ancient party spirit1 nor do they deserve more ample discussion4 #id ,french ,protestantism is peculiarly free from this ridiculous reproach4 ,it has not been remarkable for receiving too much protection or justice4 ,it enjoys them as a new acquisition1 with modesty and gratitude4 ,never was a religious society disposed to evince towards the civil power greater deference and respect4 ,protestantism1 by a singular amalgamation1 has been blamed for too much deference even in this respect4 ,it has been accused of lowering religion1 and making the church subservient to the state4 ,this1 it is said1 is the consequence of the fall of the ecclesiastical hierarchy1 the great governing power of the ,catholic church1 which ,protestantism has attacked4 ,thus the division between spiritual and temporal has disappeared2 the spiritual has fallen under the yoke of the civil power4 ,i have already said sufficient of the separation of spiritual and temporal1 to avoid the suspicion of thinking ill of it4 ,it is one of the most glorious forms which1 in modern ,europe1 the independence of thought and faith has assumed4 ,it is the principle in virtue of which ,catholicism must1 in the midst of modern institutions and ideas1 assume a worthy and secure place4 #ie ,but in spiritual as in temporal order1 it is necessary that liberty have but one aspect and be exclusively attached to this or that combination4 ,religion has more than one method of preserving her dignity and independence2 ,god plants it and causes it to prosper in more than one soil1 in more than one climate4 ,in fact1 taking things together1 faith has been strong1 and conscience has displayed itself with energy in ,protestant countries1 in spite of the doubtful lines of demarcation between the two domains1 and the too frequent intervention of the civil power in religious matters4 ,this is because the civil power has never made religious matters its chief concern4 ,politics1 governments1 properly so called1 have absorbed its attention and power4 ,sooner or later1 it has ended by leaving consciences to themselves2 it has1 at all events1 left the reins more loose and the field more free than has been the case in ,catholic countries1 where there has been a power devoted to the sole task of ruling spiritual society4 ,thus1 too1 there is in every society1 political or religious1 a certain intimate and permanent tendency which gets the better of all forms of organization and all accidents of situation4 ,protestantism sprang from free enquiry4 ,it is her standard4 ,it has never been abandoned by her1 whatever share she may have taken in the civil rule2 ,i will go so far as to say1 the civil despotism4 ,in short1 human thought1 in religion as in every other matter1 has displayed itself with infinite activity and freedom in ,protestant countries4 #if ,do we forget1 besides1 the first and most powerful cause of spiritual independence8 ,it is that ,protestantism1--she cannot avoid it1--admits into her bosom great differences of faith and practice1 dissents1 separations1 sects in short4 ,she may have often condemned and persecuted them1 but she has never deemed herself obliged to curse and extirpate them4 ,they have lived and multiplied under ,protestantism1 in the teeth of the national church2 ill-treated1 humiliated1 but never forced from some last retreat2 always1 to a certain degree1 protected by the spirit of free enquiry1 its examples and recollections4 ,this affords a strong pledge for liberty of conscience1 and opens an asylum to all who may have been attacked or vexed on account of their faith by the civil power4 ,if the ,anglican church has1 with some justice1 though much exaggeration1 been accused of complaisance towards the temporal sovereign1 the ,english dissenters have1 on the other hand1 unceasingly proclaimed their haughty independence of her4 ,the shield which the ,catholic church has found in the separation of the spiritual and temporal1 has been found by ,protestantism in the freedom1 even though incomplete1 of religious dissent and the multiplicity of sects4 ,and as a just reward for this dawn of liberty1 the ,protestant sects are not so widely severed as they appear to be from the national ,church and the ,state4 ,persecuted1 irritated1 even rebellious1 they have nevertheless strongly adhered1 with hidden yet deep feeling1 to the common centre of belief and the public destiny4 ,an ardent ,puritan was1 under ,queen ,elizabeth1 sent to the pillory and condemned to have his hand cut off4 #ig ,the hand falls2 with his left1 he raises his large hat1 crying ,god save the ,queen6 ,almost invariably in critical circumstances1 when the vital interests of the national religion or of the country appeared to be compromised1 the ,english dissenters have rallied round the state1 and though forsaking her religious banner1 have still served her with exemplary devotion4 ,i have little taste for sectarian spirit1 but never should ,protestantism when in power set up as a national church1 and treat dissenters with rigour or disdain2 for it owes in part to them the maintenance of its dignity1 as well as the fervour of faith and the progress of liberty of conscience4 ,above all1 never should our constitutional monarchy trouble itself about dissent1 should it one day arise1 in ,french ,protestantism4 ,it could not possess political importance1 or tend to weaken the tie which binds the ,protestants of ,france to the new social condition and its governing power4 ,protestantism1 while free from political danger1 has1 in a purely religious point of view1 much good to do in ,france2 not by drawing ,france to her standard1 by converting her1 to use the customary phrase4 ,conversions on either side are and will henceforward be few1 and the importance which some persons attach to them as a matter of joy or regret is somewhat puerile4 ,it is a step and a most important step for the individuals1 but one of no social moment4 ,france will not become ,protestant4 ,protestantism will not become extinct in ,france4 ,one reason among many is decisive4 #ih ,the struggle of these days of ideas and empire is not between ,catholicism and ,protestantism4 ,impiety and immorality are the enemies which both have to resist4 ,to restore the spirit of religion is the work to which both are called4 ,the work1 like the evil1 is immense4 ,a slight probing of the wound1 a short but serious glance at the moral state of the masses of men1 whose minds are so fluctuating1 whose hearts so empty1 who desire so much and hope so little1 who pass so rapidly from the excitement of fever to mental torpor1--and the observer will be penetrated with sadness and alarm4 ,catholics or ,protestants1 priests or laymen1 be ye whom ye may1 do not1 if believers1 be uneasy about each other2 reserve that for those who believe not4 ,there is the field for work1 there the harvest4 ,the field is open to ,protestantism as to ,catholicism2 work will not be wanting to either2 each has the aptitude and peculiar qualities to enable it to labour with success4 ,we suffer from very different moral complaints4 ,some are above all things wearied and disgusted with the uncertainty and disorder of men's minds4 ,they need a harbour sheltered from every point1 a light which is ever steady1 a guiding hand which never trembles4 ,they ask from religion rather support to weakness than aliment for activity4 ,they require her1 while elevating1 to sustain them2 while touching their hearts1 to keep down their understandings2 while animating their inward life1 to give them at the same time1 and above all else1 a deep sense of security4 #ii ,catholicism is wonderfully adapted to this frame of mind1 now so common4 ,she has gratifications for desires1 remedies for suffering4 ,she knows how at once to subdue and to please4 ,her grasp is strong1 her prospects full of charm for the imagination4 ,she excels in occupying while soothing the soul1 which she suits after periods of great fatigue2 for without leaving it cold or idle1 she saves it much trouble1 and undertakes for it the burden of responsibility4 ,for another class of minds1 though also suffering and separated from religion1 more intellectual and physical activity is required4 ,they too feel the need of returning to ,god and the faith2 but they are used to examine everything themselves1 and only to receive that which they acquire by their own labour4 ,they wish to shun incredulity1 but liberty is dear to them2 there is in their religious tendency more thirst than lassitude4 ,to such1 ,protestantism may gain access1 for while it speaks to them of piety and faith1 it encourages and invites them to make use of their reason and liberty4 ,it has been accused of coldness4 ,that is a mistake4 ,in ceaselessly appealing to free and personal examination it takes deep root in the soul1 and becomes easily an inward faith1 in which the activity of the understanding keeps up instead of extinguishing the fervour of the heart4 ,and hence its connexion with the modern spirit1 which formerly in its youth was at the same time reasoning and enthusiastic1 eager for conviction as for liberty1 and which1 despite its momentary quiescence1 has retained its old nature and will infallibly resume its double character4 #ajj ,catholicism and ,protestantism must never lose sight of our system of society1 for it is on this that they must work4 ,let each of them appeal to it in its own way1 looking for and attending to the wounds or wants for the cure or satisfaction of which they are best calculated4 ,that is their true1 their efficacious and disinterested mission1 not looking at each other and seeking a renewal of controversy4 ,in general1 ,i believe controversy is but of little use1 and has little religious effect4 ,in every age it has taken but a small part in the triumph of great moral truths4 ,they establish themselves1 especially at their first appearing1 by direct and dogmatic exposition4 ,we have in the gospels the most remarkable and august example4 ,from their earliest day1 neither motive or occasion of controversy was wanting with ,jew or pagan4 ,yet we scarcely meet with it in the preaching either of ,jesus ,christ or of the apostles4 ,they lay down their rule of faith1 their precepts2 they knock without ceasing at the doors of the hearts which they desire to enter4 ,they do not trouble themselves to argue with their adversaries4 ,controversy arises later1 and when it does1 it soon disfigures the truth1 for it distributes it in fragments among parties1 sects1 men2 and each holds fast1 with the intractable blindness of self-love1 to the fragment which has fallen to his lot1 in which he wishes to see1 and that others should see1 truth in her entirety4 #aja ,let them keep clear of controversy2 let them attend little to each other1 much to themselves and their task4 ,catholicism and ,protestantism will then dwell peaceably1 not only within its new state1 but together4 ,i know that this peace will not be that spiritual unity which has been so talked of4 ,spiritual unity1 beautiful in itself1 is in this world chimerical2 and from chimerical it becomes tyrannical4 ,as finite and free beings1 that is to say1 incomplete and fallible1 unity escapes us1 and we constantly miss it4 ,harmony in liberty is the only unity to which men here below can pretend4 ,or1 rather1 it is for them the best1 the only mode of elevation towards that true unity which all violence1 all constraint1--that is1 every invasion of spiritual by material order1--throws back and obscures1 under the pretext of attaining it4 ,harmony in liberty is the spirit of ,christianity4 ,it is charity united with zeal4 ,it is also the object of philosophy1 for it is the true1 the moral sense of the principle of toleration and equal protection of the rites of worship2 a principle which impiety has violated by trying to set it up as the standard of indifference and contempt for religion1 but which allies itself wondrously with zeal and faith1 for on their right it is itself founded4 ,the alliance must be ratified4 ,i say must in concluding1 as ,i did when beginning4 ,peace between religious creeds is now imposed on all alike by our social condition4 ,harmony in liberty is their legal condition1 their charter4 ,let them yield to it in spirit as in act2 let them love it while obeying it4 ,i fear not the fate of a false prophet1 when ,i predict that religion will be thereby as great a gainer as society4 #ajb ,as to ,philosophy1 she has in our days the glory of not having remained a ,utopia4 ,from discoveries she has proceeded to conquests4 ,she has metamorphosed her ideas into facts and institutions2 a formidable change1 as it reveals not only the errors of the first thought1 but for a time misleads and corrupts it by plunging it into the vortex of human passions2 nevertheless a great glory1 and one which assigns to philosophy a high position in the new social state4 ,it is a rare privilege to be able1 without embarrassment1 worthily to acknowledge and abjure error4 ,philosophy can do this1 for1 politically speaking1 victory belongs to her1 and not only victory but power4 ,though much self-deceived1 she has done much4 ,she has reason for pride as well as for modesty4 ,she can afford to show herself just1 benevolent1 and respectful to her former adversaries4 ,she cannot be charged with weakness or cowardice4 ,practically1 experience has enlightened her4 ,she knows better than she did the true condition of morality and human society4 ,she knows that she herself is not all-sufficient1 that she suffices not entirely for souls or nations1 that in human nature and in the general course of affairs the share due to religion is immense1 and that philosophy should not contest it with her4 #ajc ,to go still deeper1 philosophy herself is about to become seriously and sincerely religious4 ,like ,catholicism1 like ,protestantism1 she cannot change her nature1 she must remain philosophy1 that is to say free and independant thought1 whatever her field of action4 ,but as regards religious questions1 she sees that she has often been short-sighted and hasty1 that neither impiety nor indifference constitutes true knowledge1 that the proudest spirit may humble itself before ,god1 and that there is philosophy in faith itself4 ,all this is still very vague1 and ,i speak but vaguely of it4 ,however1 so it is4 ,it is on this slope that philosophy is now placed1 and along it that she must hereafter advance4 ,her future must be great in the midst of that society which she has formed4 ,the future must be great for spiritual order as a whole1 religious and philosophical4 ,may this destiny be accomplished6 ,may spiritual order recover her activity and renown1 with a peace and harmony hitherto unknown4 ,therein consists the dignity of man6 therein the strength of society4 ,end4 ,transcriber's note3 ,the following text is not part of the originals book1 but seems worthy of inclusion4 ,deacidified using the ,bookkeeper process4 ,neutralizing agent3 ,magnesium ,oxide ,treatment ,date3 ,april #bjje ,preservation ,technologies ,a ,world ,leader ,in ,paper ,preservation #aaa ,thomson ,park ,drive ,cranberry ,township1 ,,pa #afjff 7#gbd7 #ggi-baaa