,,of ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,religious ,,opinions4 ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,french ,,of ,,mr4 ,,necker4 ,,london3 ,,printed ,,for ,j4 ,,johnson1 ,no #gb1 ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,church-,,yard4 ,m4,,dcc4,,lxxxviii4 ,,advertisement4 ,in rendering this ,work into ,english some ,liberties have been taken by the ,translator1 which seemed necessary to preserve the ,spirit of the ,original4 ,,contents4 ,,chap4 ,i4 ,on the ,connection of ,religious ,principles with public ,order ,page #a ,,chap4 ,,ii4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,a ,parallel and of ,laws and ,opinions #dh ,,chap4 ,,iii4 ,an ,objection drawn from our natural ,dispositions to ,goodness #ih ,,chap4 ,,iv4 ,an ,objection drawn from the good ,conduct of many irreligious ,men #ajd ,,chap4 ,v4 ,the ,influence of ,religious ,principles on our ,happiness #aah ,,chap4 ,,vi4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,the ,influence of ,virtue on ,happiness #adi ,,chap4 ,,vii4 ,on ,religious ,opinions1 in their ,relation with ,sovereigns #afi ,,chap4 ,,viii4 ,an ,objection drawn from the ,wars and from the ,commotions which ,religion has given ,rise to #ahi ,,chap4 ,,ix4 ,another ,objection examined4 ,the ,sabbath #aif ,,chap4 ,x4 ,an ,observation on a particular ,circumstance of public ,worship #bjf ,,chap4 ,,xi4 ,that the single ,idea of a ,god is a sufficient ,support of ,morality #baj ,,chap4 ,,xii4 ,that there is a ,god #bgh ,,chap4 ,,xiii4 ,the same ,subject continued #bif ,,chap4 ,,xiv4 ,the same ,subject continued #caf ,,chap4 ,,xv4 ,on the ,respect that is due from true ,philosophy to ,religion #chb ,,chap4 ,,xvi4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,reflections on ,intolerance #cii ,,chap4 ,,xvii4 ,reflections on the ,morality of the ,christian ,religion #dag ,,chap4 ,,xviii4 ,conclusion #ddf ,,introduction4 ,my thoughts having been detached from the study and disquisition of those truths which have the political good of the state for their object2 and being no longer obliged to fix any attention on those particular arrangements of the public interest1 which are necessarily connected with the operations of government2 ,i found myself abandoned1 as it were1 by all the important concerns of life4 ,restless and wandering in this kind of void1 my soul1 still active1 felt the want of employment4 ,i sometimes formed the design of tracing my ideas of men and characters2 ,i imagined that long experience in the midst of those active scenes which discover the passions1 had taught me to know them well2 but elevating my views1 my heart was filled with a different ambition1 and a desire to reconcile the sublimest thoughts with those meditations from which ,i was constrained to withdraw myself4 ,guided by this sentiment1 ,i remarked1 with satisfaction1 that there existed a natural connection between the different truths which contribute to the happiness of mankind4 ,our prejudices and our passions frequently attempt to disunite them2 but to the eye of an attentive observer1 they have all one common origin4 ,from a similar affinity1 the general views of administration1 the spirit of laws1 morality1 and religious opinions1 are closely connected2 and it is by carefully preserving an alliance so beautiful1 that we raise a rampart round those works1 which are destined for the prosperity of states and the tranquillity of nations4 ,one could not have taken an active part in the administration of public affairs2 or made it the object of stedfast attention2 one could not have compared the several relations of this great whole1 with the natural dispositions of minds and characters2 nor indeed observed men in a perpetual state of rivalry and competition1 without perceiving1 how much the wisest governments need support from the influence of that invisible spring which acts in secret on the consciences of individuals4 ,thus whilst ,i am endeavouring to form some reflections on the importance of religious opinions1 ,i am not so far removed from my former habit of thinking as may1 at the first glance1 be imagined2 and as in writing on the management of finances1 ,i omitted no argument to prove that there is an intimate connexion between the efficacy of governments1 and the wisdom with which they are conducted2 between the virtue of princes1 and the confidence of their subjects1 ,i think ,i am still proceeding in the same train of sentiment and reflection1 when struck with that spirit of indifference which is so general1 ,i endeavour to refer the duties of men to those principles which afford them the most natural support4 ,after having studied the interests of a great nation1 and run over the circle of our political societies1 we approach nearer perhaps to those sublime ideas which bind the general structure of mankind to that infinite and ,almighty ,being1 who is the first grand cause of all1 and universal mover of the universe4 ,in the rapid course of an active administration1 indeed one cannot indulge similar reflections2 but they are forming and preparing themselves in the midst of the tumult of business1 and the tranquillity of retirement enables us to strengthen and extend them4 ,the calm which succeeds hurry and confusion1 seems the reason most favourable to meditation2 and if any remembrance1 or retrospective views of what is past should inspire you with a kind of melancholy1 you will be involuntarily led back to contemplations which border on those ideas with which you have been long conversant4 ,it is thus the mariner1 after having renounced the dangers of the sea1 sometimes seats himself on the beach1 and there1 a more tranquil observer1 considers attentively the boundless ocean1 the regular succession of the waves1 the impression of the winds1 the flux and reflux of the tide1 and that magnificent firmament1 where1 during the night1 among lights innumerable1 he distinguishes the lucid point1 which serves as a guide to the navigators4 ,it is in vain1 in those high stations under government1 to interest yourself about the happiness of mankind in general2 it is in vain1 that1 penetrated with a just respect for the important duties of office1 a public character shall dare to take in hand the cause of the people1 and incessantly apply himself to the defence of the weak1 in opposition to the attacks of the powerful2 he soon perceives how bounded are his abilities1 and how limited are those1 even of sovereignty itself4 ,pity for the distresses of the individual is checked by the law of civil rights2 benevolence by justice2 and liberty by its own abuses3 you perpetually behold merit struggling with patronage1 honour with fortune1 and patriotism with the interest of the individual4 ,there is no such thing as real disinterestedness in the passions1 only by fits and starts2 unless great circumstances1 or vigorous virtue in an administration1 forcibly renewed the idea of public good1 a general langour would take place in every mind1 and society itself would appear one confused mass of opposite interests1 which the supreme authority keeps within bounds for the maintenance of peace1 without any inquietude about real harmony1 or any revolution favourable to the manners or happiness of the public4 ,from the midst of these clashings and contradictions1 continually recurring1 a minister1 possessed of a reflecting mind1 is incessantly called back to the idea of imperfection2 he will1 undoubtedly1 be sorry1 when he sees the great disproportion which exists between his duty and his powers2 and he will sometimes grieve and be discouraged1 at perceiving the obstacles he must surmount1 and the difficulties he must overcome3 he raises1 with labour and care1 banks on the strand1 the waters swell1 their course becomes more rapid1 and the first precautions rendered insufficient1 oblige him to have recourse to new works1 which1 thrown down in their turn1 hurry on a continued succession of fruitless toil and useless attempts4 ,what then would be the consequence1 if once the salutary chain of religious sentiments were broken8 ,what would be the event1 if the action of that powerful spring were ever entirely destroyed8 ,you would soon see every part of the social structure tremble from its foundation1 and the hand of government unable to sustain the vast and tottering edifice4 ,the sovereign1 and the laws which are the interpreters of his wisdom1 should have two grand objects1 the maintenance of public order1 and the increase of private happiness4 ,but to accomplish both1 the aid of religion is absolutely necessary4 ,the sovereign cannot influence the happiness of individuals1 but by a general solicitude2 because the sentiments which spring from the different characters of men1 or merely from the circumstances of their respective situations1 are independent of him4 ,neither can he ensure the preservation of public order1 but by rules and institutions1 which are only applicable to actions1 and to those actions positively proved4 ,it is necessary also that the laws should extend their influence to society in a uniform manner2 they should always have a tendency to diminish the number of distinctions1 shades1 and modifications1 that are to be found in the actions of men2 in short1 to prevent those abuses inseparably attendant on arbitrary decisions4 ,such are the bounds of sovereign authority1 and such the necessary developement of its means and powers4 ,religion1 to attain the same ends1 employs other motives essentially different3 first1 it is not in a vague and general manner1 that she influences the happiness of mankind2 it is by addressing all men individually2 by penetrating the heart of every human being1 and pouring into it consolation and hope2 by presenting to the imagination every thing that can insensibly lead it captive2 by taking possession of men's sentiments2 by occupying their thoughts2 and by availing herself of this dominion over them1 to sustain their courage1 and to afford them comfort under their afflictions and disappointments4 ,in this manner religion concurs to maintain good order1 by means absolutely distinct from those of government2 for she not only governs our actions1 but even our sentiments3 it is with the errors and inclinations of each man in particular1 that she seeks to combat4 ,religion1 in demonstrating the presence of the ,deity1 on all occasions1 however secret1 exercises an habitual authority over the consciences of men2 she seems to assist them under the perturbations of fear1 and yet attends them in their flight2 she equally notices their intentions1 projects1 and repentance2 and in the method which she takes1 seems as undulating and flexible in all her motions1 as the empire of the law appears immoveable and constrained4 ,i should not1 at present1 extend these reflections any further2 but1 if religion1 in some measure1 completes the imperfect work of legislation2 if it ought to supply the insufficiency of those means which government is under the necessity of adopting1 the subject ,i propose to treat of seems not foreign to those objects of meditation1 which the study of administration ought to comprehend4 ,i well know1 that it is impossible to explain the importance of religion1 without1 at the same time1 fixing the attention on the grand truths on which it depends2 and you must also frequently touch on many subjects that are closely connected with the deepest metaphysics4 ,we are1 at least1 obliged to seek for a defence against those arguments which sap the foundation of the most necessary opinions2 by which the most impassioned sentiments have been discouraged2 by which some would reduce man to a vegetable1 make the universe the result of chance1 and morality a state trick4 ,as soon as ,i discovered how far my subject was likely to lead me1 ,i felt myself intimidated2 but ,i could not allow this to be a sufficient reason for relinquishing my undertaking2 and since the greater part of the philosophers of the present age are united in opposition to those opinions1 which the light of nature seems to have rendered sacred1 it is become indispensably necessary1 to admit to the combat all that offer2 nay1 even to select a champion from the main body of the army1 when all the strong ones are already gone over to the camp of the enemy4 ,there is nothing which seems to engross the attention of mankind more than metaphysical enquiries1 for it is by thinking alone they can be fathomed2 the light gained by acquired knowledge is1 in some measure1 lost in those obscure depths which it is necessary to sound1 and that immense space which it is necessary to traverse4 ,thus1 it were better1 perhaps1 that each should enter by chance into these labyrinths1 where the paths1 already traced1 lead to no one determined point4 ,i have1 besides1 often observed1 that1 even for those researches1 where the helps of science are most useful1 we ought to set a certain value on the particular excursion of each genius1 which seeks out for itself a way1 and which1 indebted to nature alone for its peculiar formation1 preserves in its progress a character of its own2 it is then1 and then only1 that we are not invested with the distinguishing marks of slavishness of thinking2 but when1 by devoting ourselves to reflection1 we coincide with the opinions of others1 this conformity has nothing of servility in it1 and the marks of imitation are not even recognized4 ,in vain would man resist the impression of truth2 in vain would he defend himself by a ridiculous indifference for ancient opinions2 there never could be an idea more worthy to occupy our meditations1 there never could be an idea1 on which we might be more fully permitted to expatiate1 according to our knowledge and penetration1 than that sublime one of a ,supreme ,being1 and the relation we bear to him3 an idea1 which though far removed from us by its immensity1 every moment strikes the soul with admiration1 and inspires the heart with hope4 ,it appears to me1 that there are interests which may be considered as patriotic by intelligent and feeling beings2 and while the inhabitants of the same country1 and the subjects of the same prince1 employ themselves diligently in one common plan of defence1 the citizens of the world ought to be incessantly anxious to give every new and possible support to those exalted opinions on which the true greatness of their existence is founded1 which preserves the imagination from that frightful spectacle of an existence without origin1 of action without liberty1 and futurity without hope4 ,thus after having1 as ,i think1 proved myself a citizen of ,france1 by my administration1 as well as my writings1 ,i wish to unite myself to a fraternity still more extended--that of the whole human race3 it is thus1 without dispersing our sentiments1 we may be able nevertheless to communicate ourselves a great way off1 and enlarge in some measure the limits of our circle3 glory be to our thinking faculties for it6 ,to that spiritual portion of ourselves which can take in the past1 dart into futurity1 and intimately associate itself with the destiny of men of all countries1 and of all ages4 ,without doubt1 a veil is thrown over the greater part of those truths1 to which our curiosity would willingly attain2 but those which a beneficent ,god has permitted us to see1 are amply sufficient for our guide and instruction2 and we cannot1 for a continuance divert our attention without a species of slothful negligence1 and a total indifference to the superior interests of man4 ,how little is every thing indeed1 when put in competition with those meditations1 which give to our existence a new extent1 and which1 in detaching us from the dust of the earth1 seem to unite our souls to an infinity of space1 and our duration of a day to the eternity of time6 ,above all1 it is for you to determine1 who have sensibility--who feel the want of a ,supreme ,being1 and who seek to find in him that support so necessary to your weakness1 that defender and that assurance1 without which painful inquietude will be perpetually tormenting you1 and troubling those soft1 tender affections which constitute your happiness4 ,however1 ,i must say1 there never perhaps was a period1 when it was more essentially necessary to recal to the minds of men1 the importance of religious sentiments2 at present they are but prejudices1 if we may credit the spirit of licentiousness and levity2 the laws dictated by fashion2 and more particularly essential since we have had philosophical instructions1 which excite the various deviations of vanity1 and rally the wanderings of the imagination4 ,there is not any form of religion1 undoubtedly1 to which ideas more or less mystical have not been annexed2 and of which the evidence has not been in proportion to the dictatorial language1 and authoritative tone1 which has been made use of in teaching and defending it2 as such1 one might at any given period have been tempted to dispute about particular parts of worship1 which different nations have adopted2 but it is principally in the present age1 that a certain class of men has sprung up1 distinguished for their wit and talents2 and who1 intoxicated by the facility with which they have gained a victory1 have extended their ambition1 and had the daring courage to attack the reserved body of that army of which the front ranks had already given way4 ,this struggle between persons1 one of whom would imperiously rule by faith alone1 whilst the other thinks he has a right to reject with disdain every thing that has not been demonstrated1 will always be a fruitless combat2 and only serve to nourish blind aversion and unjust contempt4 ,some seek to wound their adversaries1 others to humble them2 in the mean time the good of mankind1 and the true benefit of society1 are absolutely lost sight of2 yes1 the real love of useful truths1 the impartial search after them1 and the desire of pointing them out1 these sentiments1 so amiable and so truly laudable1 seem to be entirely unknown4 ,i see1 permit me to say it1 ,i see at the two extremities of the arena1 the savage inquisitor1 and the inconsiderate philosopher2 but neither the faggots lighted by the one1 nor the derisions of the other1 will ever diffuse any salutary instruction2 and in the eyes of a rational man1 the intolerance of monks adds no more to the dominion of true religious sentiments1 than the jests of a few licentious wits have effected a triumph in favour of philosophy4 ,it is between these opposite opinions1 and in the midst of wanderings equally dangerous1 that we must attempt to mark out our way2 but as all the opinions of men are subject to change2 at present1 when their minds are more averse to the maxims of intolerance1 it is religion itself that principally needs support2 and such is the daily diminution of it1 that means supplying the deficiency seem to be already publicly preparing4 ,for some time past we have heard of nothing but the necessity of composing a moral catechism1 in which religious principles should not be introduced1 as resources that are now out of date1 and when it is time they were discarded4 ,without doubt these principles might be more effectually attacked1 could they ever be represented as totally useless for the maintenance of public order2 and if the cold lessons of a political philosophy could be substituted for those sublime ideas1 which1 by the spiritual tie of religion1 binds the heart and mind to the purest morality4 ,let us now examine if we should gain any thing by the exchange2 let us see1 if the means they propose to employ can be put in competition with those which ought to be made use of2 and1 if they are more solid1 and more efficacious2 let us see1 if this new doctrine1 which is recommended1 will produce in the soul the same degree of consolation2 if it is calculated for those hearts which are possessed of sensibility2 and1 above all1 let us attentively consider1 if it can be suitable to the measure of intelligence1 and the social situation of the greater part of mankind4 ,in short1 in considering the various questions1 which in any manner1 relate to the important subject we have undertaken to treat1 let us not be afraid to resist1 as well as we can1 the foolish ambition of those1 who1 availing themselves of the superiority of their understanding1 wish to deprive man of his dignity1 to place him on a level with the dust under his feet1 and make his foresight a punishment3--melancholy and deplorable destiny6 from which1 however1 we are permitted to seek to defend ourselves2 cruel and disastrous opinion6 which tears up by the roots every thing which surrounds it1 which relaxes the most necessary bands1 and1 in an instant1 destroys the most delightful charm of life4 ,o thou ,god unknown6----but whose beneficent idea has ever filled my soul1 if thou ever throwest a look on those efforts which man makes to approach thee1 sustain my resolution1 enlighten my understanding1 raise my thoughts1 and reject not the desire ,i have to unite still more1 if possible1 the order and happiness of society1 with the intimate and perfect conception of thy divinity1 and the lively idea of thy sublime existence4 ,,of ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,religious ,,opinions4 ,,chap4 ,i4 ,on the ,connection of ,religious ,principles with public ,order4 ,we know not distinctly the origin of most political societies2 but as soon as history exhibits men united in a national body1 we perceive1 at the same time1 the establishment of public worship1 and the application of religious sentiments1 to the maintenance of good order and subordination4 ,religious sentiments1 by the sanction of an oath1 bind the people to the magistrates1 and the magistrates to their engagements2 they inspire a reverential respect for the obligations contracted between sovereigns2 and these sentiments1 still more authoritative than discipline1 attach the soldier to his commander2 in short1 religious opinions1 by their influence on the manners of individuals1 have produced an infinite number of illustrious actions and instances of heroical disinterestedness1 of which history has transmitted us the remembrance4 ,but as we have seen a philosophy spring up among nations the most enlightened1 anxiously employed in depriving religion of all that merited respect1 dissertations on times far removed from us1 and the various systems that they would endeavour violently to associate with religion1 would become an endless source of controversy4 ,it is then1 by reasoning alone1 by that exercise of the mind1 which belongs equally to all countries and all ages1 that we can support the cause which we have taken in hand to defend4 ,there is1 perhaps1 something weak and servile in our wishing to draw assistance from ancient opinions2 reason ought not1 like vanity1 to adorn herself with old parchments1 and the display of a genealogical tree2 more dignified in her proceeding1 and proud of her immortal nature1 she ought to derive every thing from herself2 she should disregard past times1 and be1 if ,i may use the phrase1 the contemporary of all ages4 ,it was reserved1 particularly for some writers of our age1 to attack even the utility of religion2 and to seek to substitute1 instead of its active influence1 the inanimate instruction of a political philosophy4 ,religion1 say they1 is a scaffold fallen into ruins1 and it is high time to give to morality a more solid support4 ,but what support will that be8 we must1 in order to discover1 and form a just idea of it2 distinctly consider the different motives of action on which depend the relations that subsist between men2 and it will be necessary to estimate1 afterwards1 the kind and degree of assistance which we may reasonably expect from a like support4 ,it appears to me1 that in renouncing the efficacious aid of religion1 we may easily form an idea of the means that they will endeavour to make use of to attach men to the observance of the rules of morality1 and to restrain the dangerous excesses of their passions4 ,they would1 undoubtedly1 place a proper value on the connection which subsists between private and general interest2 they would avail themselves of the authority of laws1 and the fear of punishment2 and they would confide still more in the ascendency of public opinion1 and the ambition1 that every one ought to have1 of gaining the esteem and confidence of his fellow-creatures4 ,let us examine separately these different motives2 and first1 attentively considering the union of private with public interest1 let us see if this union is real1 and if we can deduce from such a principle any moral instruction truly efficacious4 ,society is very far from being a perfect work2 we ought not to consider as an harmonious composition the different relations of which we are witnesses1 and particularly the habitual contrast of power and weakness1 of slavery and authority1 riches and poverty1 of luxury and misery2 so much inequality2 such a motly piece could not form an edifice respectable for the justness of its proportions4 ,civil and political order is not then excellent by its nature1 and we cannot perceive its agreement1 till we have deeply studied1 and formed to ourselves those reflections which legislators had to make1 and the difficulties that they had to surmount4 ,it is then only1 with the assistance of the most attentive meditation1 that we discover how those particular relations1 which are established by social laws1 form1 nevertheless1 that system of equilibrium1 which is most proper to bind together an immense diversity of interests2 but a great obstacle to the influence of political morality is1 the necessity of giving1 for the basis of the love of order1 an abstract and complicated idea4 ,what effect on vulgar minds would the scientific harmony of the whole have1 opposed daily to the sentiment of injustice and inequality1 which arises from the aspect of every part of the social constitution1 when we acquire the knowledge of it1 in a manner solitary and circumscribed2 and how limited is the number of those1 who can continually draw together all the scattered links of this vast chain6 ,it could not be avoided1 in the best regulated societies1 that some should enjoy1 without labour or difficulty1 all the conveniencies of life2 and that others1 and far the greater number1 should be obliged to earn1 by the sweat of their brow1 a subsistence the most scanty1 and a recompense the most confined4 ,it is not to be prevented1 that some will find1 when oppressed by sickness1 all the assistance which officious tenderness and skill can afford2 whilst others are reduced to partake1 in public hospitals1 the bare relief that humanity has provided for the indigent4 ,we cannot prevent some from being in a situation to lavish on their families all the advantages of a complete education2 whilst others1 impatient to free themselves from a charge so heavy1 are constrained to watch eagerly for the first appearance of natural strength1 to make their children apply to some profitable labour4 ,in short1 we cannot avoid perpetually contrasting the splendour of magnificence with the tatters which misery displays4 ,such are the effects1 inseparable from the laws1 respecting property4 ,these are truths1 the principles of which ,i have had occasion to discuss in the work which ,i composed on administration and political conomy2 but ,i ought to repeat them here1 since they are found closely connected with other general views4 ,the eminent power of property is one of the social institutions1 the influence of which has the greatest extent2 this consideration was applicable to the commerce of grain2 it ought to be present to the mind1 in disquisitions on the duties of administration2 and it is still more important1 when the question is to be examined1 what kind of moral instruction may be proper for mankind8 ,in effect1 if it appertains to the essence of the laws of right1 constantly to introduce and maintain an immense disparity in the distribution of property2 were it an essential part of these laws1 to reduce the most numerous class of citizens1 to that which is simply the most necessary2 the inevitable result of such a constitution would be1 to nourish1 amongst men1 a sentiment of habitual envy and jealousy4 ,vainly would you demonstrate1 that these laws are the only ones capable of exciting labour1 animating industry1 preventing disorder1 and opposing obstacles to arbitrary acts of authority2 all these considerations sufficient1 we grant1 to fix the opinion and the will of the legislator1 would not strike in the same manner the man thrown on the earth1 without property1 without resources1 and without hopes2 and he will never render free homage to the beauty of the whole1 when there is nothing for him but deformity1 abjectness1 and contempt4 ,men1 in most of their political reasonings1 are deceived by resemblances and analogies3 the interest of society is certainly composed of the interests of all its members2 but it does not follow from this explication1 that there is an immediate and constant correspondence between the general and private interest2 such an approximation1 could only be applicable to an imaginary social state2 and which we might represent as divided into many parts1 of which the rich would be the head1 and the poor the feet and hands3 but political society is not one and the same body1 except under certain relations1 whilst1 relatively to other interests1 it partakes in as many ramifications of them as there are individuals4 ,those considerations1 to which we annex an idea of general interest1 would be very often susceptible of numberless observations2 but the principles1 we are accustomed to receive and transmit1 in their most common acceptation2 and we discover not the mixt ideas which compose them1 but at the moment when we analyze the principles1 in order to draw consequences from them1 in like manner as we perceive not the variety of colours in a ray of light1 till the moment we divide them by means of a prism4 ,the formation of social laws1 with reason1 ought to appear one of our most admirable conceptions2 but this system is not so united in all its parts1 that a striking disorder would always be the necessary effect of some irregular movement3 thus the man1 who violates the laws1 does not quickly discover the relation of his actions with the interest of society2 but at the instant enjoys1 or thinks to joy1 the fruit of his usurpations4 ,should a theatre be on fire1 it is certainly the interest of the assembly that every one go out with order2 but if the people1 most distant from the entrance1 believed they should be able to escape sooner from the danger1 by forcing their way through the crowd which surrounds them1 they would assuredly determine on this violence1 unless a coercive power prevented them2 yet the common utility of restricting ourselves to order in such circumstances1 would appear an idea more simple1 and more distinct1 than is the universal importance of maintaining civil order in society4 ,the only natural defence of this order1 is government2 its function obliges it ever to consider the whole2 but the need which it has of power to carry its decrees into execution1 proves evidently1 that it is the adversary of many1 even when acting in the name of all4 ,we are then under a great illusion1 if we hope to be able to found morality on the connection of private interest with that of the public2 and if we imagine1 that the empire of social laws can be separated from the support of religion4 ,the authority of these laws has nothing decisive for those who have not assisted to establish them2 and were we to give to the hereditary distinctions of property an origin the most remote1 it is no less true1 on this account that the poor succeeding inhabitants of the earth1 struck with the unequal division of its rich domains1 and not perceiving the limits and lines of separation traced by nature1 would have some right to say2 these compacts1 these partitions1 this diversity of lots1 which procures to some abundance and repose2 to others1 poverty and labour2 all this legislation1 in short1 is only advantageous to a small number of privileged men2 and we will not subscribe to it1 unless compelled by the fear of personal danger4 ,what are then1 they would add1 these ideas of right and wrong1 with which we are entertained8 ,what are these dissertations on the necessity of adopting some order in society1 and of observing rules8 ,our mind bends not to those principles1 which1 general in theory1 become particular in practice4 ,we find some satisfaction and compensation1 when the idea of virtue1 of submission1 and of sacrifice1 are united to religious sentiments2 when we believe we shall render an account of our actions to a ,supreme ,being1 whose laws and will we adore1 and from whom we have received every thing1 and whose approbation presents itself to our eyes1 as a motive of emulation1 and an object of recompense3 but if the contracted bounds of life limit the narrow circle in which all our interest ought to confine itself1 where all our speculations and our hopes terminate1 what respect owe we then to those whom nature has formed our equals8 ,to those men sprung from lifeless clay1 to return to it again with us1 and to be lost for ever in the same dust8 ,they have only invented these laws of justice1 to be more tranquil usurpers4 ,let them descend from their exalted rank1 that they may be put on our level1 or1 at least1 present us with a partition less unequal1 and we shall then be able to conceive1 that the observance of the laws of right is of importance to us2 till then1 we shall have just motives for being the enemies of civil order1 which we find so disadvantageous2 and we do not comprehend how1 in the midst of so many gratifications which excite our envy1 it is1 in the name of our own interest1 that we ought to renounce them4 ,such is the secret language which men1 overwhelmed with the distress of their situation1 would not fail to use2 or those who1 merely in a state of habitual inferiority1 found themselves continually hurt by the splendid sight of luxury and magnificence4 ,it would not be an easy task to combat these sentiments1 by endeavouring to paint forcibly the vanity of pleasure in general1 and the illusion of most of those objects which captivate our ambition1 and the apathy which follows in their train4 ,these reflections1 without doubt1 have their weight and efficacy2 but if we attentively consider the subject1 every thing that deserves the name of consolation in this world1 cannot be addressed with any advantage2 but to minds prepared for mild sentiments1 by an idea of religion and of piety1 more or less distinct2 we cannot1 in the same manner1 relieve the barren and ferocious despondency of an unhappy and envious man1 who has thrown far behind him all hope4 ,concentred in the bare interests of a life1 which is for him eternity1 and the universe itself2 it is the passion of the moment which enslaves him1 and nothing can disengage him from it2 he has not the means to catch any vague idea1 nor of being content2 and as even reason has need1 every instant1 of the aid of the imagination1 he cannot be encouraged1 either by the discourse of his friends1 or his own reflections4 ,besides1 if we can maintain1 in general1 that the allotments of happiness and misery are more equal than we imagine2 if we can reasonably advance1 that labour is preferable to idleness2 if we can say1 with truth1 that embarrassments and inquietudes often accompany wealth1 and that contentment of mind appears to be the portion of the middle state of life2 we ought to acknowledge1 at the same time1 that these axioms are only perfectly just in the eyes of the moralist1 who considers man in a comprehensive point of view1 and who makes his calculation upon a whole life3 but1 in the recurrence of our daily desires and hopes1 it is impossible to excite to labour by the expectation of fortune1 and detract1 at the same time1 this fortune1 in decrying the pleasures and conveniences that it procures4 ,these subtle ideas1 without excepting those which may be defended1 can never be applicable to real circumstances2 and if we sometimes use with success such kind of reflections to alleviate unavailing sorrow and regret1 it is when we have only shadows to cope with4 ,in short1 when we have reduced to precept1 all the well known reflections1 on the apparent1 but delusive advantages of rank and fortune1 we cannot prevent uncultivated minds from being continually struck with the extreme inequality of the different contracts which the rich make with the poor2 it might be said1 in those moments1 that one portion of mankind was formed only for the convenience of another2 the poor man sacrifices his time and his strength to multiply round the rich gratifications of every kind2 and he1 when he gives in exchange the most scanty subsistence1 does not deprive himself of any thing2 since the extent of his physical wants is bounded by the laws of nature3 equality then is only re-established by the lassitude and apathy which the enjoyment even of pleasure produces4 ,but these disgusts compose the back ground in the picture of life2 the people perceive them not2 and as they have only been acquainted with want1 they cannot form any idea of the langour attendant on satiety4 ,will any one imprudently say1 that if the distinctions of property are an obstacle to the establishment of a political system of morality1 we ought1 therefore1 to labour to destroy them8 ,but if in past ages1 when the different degrees of talents and knowledge were not so unequal1 men were not able to preserve a community of possessions1 can you imagine1 that these primitive relations could be re-established at a time when the superiority of rank and power is enforced by the immoveable strength of disciplined armies8 ,besides1 when even in the composition of an ideal world1 we should have introduced the most exact division of the various possessions esteemed by men1 it would still be necessary1 to preserve a system of real equality1 that every one should execute faithfully the duties imposed on him by universal morality2 since this is incumbent on every individual1 for the sacrifice that all the members of society have made2 which society ought to recompense every citizen in particular1 for the restriction to which he submits himself4 ,it is essential to observe still further1 that it is not only personal interest1 when clearly understood1 which ought to be annexed to the idea of public order2 it is the same interest when led astray by the passions1 then a mere guide is no longer sufficient2 a yoke must be imposed2 a check always acting1 which must be used absolutely4 ,nothing can be more chimerical than to pretend to restrain a man1 hurried on by an impetuous imagination1 by endeavouring to recal to his remembrance some principles and instructions1 which1 in the terms of an academic thesis#a1 ought to be the result of analysis1 of methodizing1 of the art of dividing1 of developing1 and circumscribing ideas4 ,it would be1 at present1 a hardy enterprize1 to attempt to conduct men by reason alone1 since the first thing that reason discovers is its own weakness2 but when we want to rest on maxims which admit of controversy2 when we wish to oppose to the strong motive of personal interest1 a moral consideration which cannot act but with the concurrence of profound reflection2 we recollect the doctrine of the first conomists1 who1 in establishing the extravagant principles respecting an exclusive right of exporting or monopolizing grain1 put off the care of preventing popular commotions till they should happen4 ,it appears to me1 that false reasoning1 on the union of private with public interest1 arises from applying to the present state of society1 the principles which have served as the base for their formation2 this very natural confusion is one grand source of error4 ,let us try to render clear a proposition1 which1 at first1 appears difficult to comprehend2 and in this light we will suppose1 for a moment the future generation assembled in idea1 in an imaginary world1 and ignorant before they inhabit the earth1 who those individuals are that shall be born of parents loaded with the gifts of fortune1 and those who are beset with misery from their cradle4 ,they are instructed in the principles of civil rights1 and the convenience of the laws of order1 has been represented to them1 and a sketch is drawn of the disorder1 which would be the inevitable consequence of a continual variation in the division of property2 then all those who are to compose the new generation1 equally uncertain of the lot that the chance of birth reserves for them1 subscribe unanimously to those events which await them2 and at the very moment in which the relations of society exist only in speculation1 it might be truly said1 that the personal interest is lost in the public2 but this identity ceases1 when each1 arrived on the earth1 has taken possession of his lot2 it is then no longer possible1 that the various personal interests should concur to the maintenance of these prodigious gradations of rank and fortune1 which are derived from the chance of birth2 and those to whom cares and wants have fallen1 will not be resigned to the inferiority of their condition1 but by a grand religious principle alone1 which can make them perceive an eternal justice1 and place them in imagination before time1 and before the laws4 ,there is nothing so easy1 as the establishment of conventions1 and making rules to be observed1 till the moment of the drawing of a lottery2 every one then1 at the same point of view1 finds all good1 all just1 and well contrived1 and peace reigns by common agreement2 but as soon as the blanks and prizes are known1 the mind changes1 the temper grows sour2 and without the check of authority1 it would become unmanageable1 envious1 quarrelsome1 and sometimes unjust and violent4 ,we see1 however1 the consequence to be drawn from the preceding reflections2 that political societies in contemplation1 and in reality1 present to our observation two different periods2 and as these periods are not separated by any apparent limits1 they are almost always confounded in the mind of the political moralist4 ,he who believes in the union of private interest with that of the public1 and who celebrates this harmony1 has only considered society in its general and primitive plan2 he who thinks1 on the contrary1 that the whole is wrong and discordant1 because there is a great difference of power and fortune1 has considered it only under its actual vicissitudes4 ,both these mistakes have received a sanction from celebrated writers4 ,the man hurried away by a lively imagination1 and strongly impressed by present objects1 has been struck by the inequality of conditions2 and the philosopher1 who1 transported by his abstractions beyond the circle of human society1 has only perceived those relations and principles which led men to form the first institution of civil laws4 ,thus1 every where we see1 that most disputes relate to mere difference of positions1 and to the various points of view in which the same subject is considered2 there are so many stations in the moral world1 that1 according to that which we choose1 the picture changes entirely4 ,hitherto we have endeavoured to understand the effect which we might expect from a system of morality1 by applying this kind of instruction only to private interest1 when most clearly ascertained4 ,it remains now to show1 that every species of education1 which demands time and reflection1 cannot belong1 in any manner1 to the class of men most numerous2 and to be sensible of this truth1 it is sufficient to turn our attention on the social state of those who are destitute of property1 and talents which might supply its place2 obliged to have recourse to hard labour1 where nothing is required but to employ their bodily strength1 their concurrence1 and the power of riches reduce the wages of this numerous class to what is absolutely necessary2 they cannot without difficulty support their children1 and they may well be impatient of qualifying them for useful occupations to relieve themselves2 and this prevents their being sent to public schools1 except during their infancy3 thus1 ignorance and poverty are in the midst of our societies1 and the hereditary lot of the greater part of the citizens2 there is only to be found an alleviation of this general law1 in those countries where the constitution of the government encourages the high price of labour1 and gives the poor some means of resisting the despotism of fortune4 ,however1 if such is the inevitable effect of our civil and political legislation1 how shall we be able to bind men without distinction1 to the maintenance of public order1 by any instruction1 ,i do not say complicated1 but to which the exercise of long reasoning forms only a necessary introduction8 ,it would not be sufficient to endow institutions2 it would be still more necessary to pay the scholars for their time2 since1 for the lower class1 time is1 even very early in life1 their only means of subsistence4 ,nevertheless1 morality is not1 like other human sciences1 a knowledge1 that we may be at liberty to acquire at our leisure2 the quickest instruction is still too slow1 since man has a natural power of doing evil before his mind is in a state to apply to reflection1 and connect the most simple ideas4 ,it is not then a political catechism which would be proper for the instruction of the people2 it is not a course of precepts founded on the union of public and private interest1 which can suit with the measure of their understanding2 when a doctrine of that kind would appear as just as it seems to me liable to be disputed1 they will never be able to render the principles of it distinct enough1 to apply them to the purposes of instructing those whose education continues for so short a time4 ,morality1 founded on religion1 by its active influence1 is precisely adapted to the particular situation of the greater number of men2 and this agreement is so perfect1 that it seems one of the remarkable features of universal harmony4 ,religion alone has power to persuade with celerity1 because it excites passion1 whilst it informs the understanding1 because it alone has the means of rendering obvious what it recommends2 because it speaks in the name of ,god1 and it is easy to inspire respect for him1 whose power is every where evident to the eyes of the simple and skilful1 to the eyes of children1 and men advanced to maturity4 ,in order to attack this truth1 let it not be said1 that the idea of a ,god is of all others the most incomprehensible2 and if it is possible to derive useful instruction from so metaphysical a principle1 we ought to expect more good from precepts which depend on the common relations of life4 ,such an objection is a mere subtilty2 the distinct knowledge of the essence of a ,god1 the creator of the world1 is1 undoubtedly above the comprehension of men of every age1 and all faculties2 but it is not the same with the vague idea of a heavenly power1 who punishes and who rewards2 parental authority1 and the helplessness of infancy1 prepare us early for ideas of obedience and command2 and the world is such a stupendous wonder1 a theatre of such continual prodigies1 that it is easy to annex1 at an early period1 hope and fear to the idea of a ,supreme ,being4 ,thus1 the infinity of a ,god1 creator and director of the universe1 is so far from having power to divert our respect and adoration1 that even the clouds with which he invelopes himself1 lend a new force to religious sentiments4 ,a man often remains uninterested amidst3 the discoveries of his reason2 but it is always easy to move him1 whenever we address ourselves to his imagination2 for this faculty of our mind excites us continually to action1 by presenting to our eyes a great space1 and by keeping us always at a certain distance from the object we have in view4 ,man is so disposed to wonder at a power1 of which he is ignorant of the springs2 this sentiment is so natural to him1 that what we ought to guard against the most in his education1 is the inconsiderate insinuation of various terrors1 of which he is susceptible4 ,thus1 not only the true idea of the existence of an ,all-powerful ,god1 but mere credulous faith in superstitious opinions1 will always have more power over the common class of men1 than abstract precepts1 or general considerations4 ,i know not even1 if it might not be said1 with truth1 that the future of this short life1 when we contemplate it1 is further from us than the distant perspective offered to the mind by religion2 because our imagination is less restrained1 and the minutest description of reason can never equal in power1 the lively and impulsive ardour of the affections of our souls4 ,i resume the series of my reflections1 and set down here an important observation3 which is1 that the more the increase of taxes keeps the people in despondency and misery1 the more indispensable is it to give them a religious education2 for it is in the irritation of wretchedness1 that we all have need of a powerful restraint and of daily consolations4 ,the successive abuse of strength and authority1 in overturning all the relations which originally existed between men1 have raised1 in the midst of them1 an edifice so artificial1 and in which there reigns so much disproportion1 that the idea of a ,god is become more necessary than ever1 to serve as a leveller of this confused assemblage of disparities2 and if we can ever imagine1 that a people should exist1 subject only to the laws of a political morality1 we should represent1 without doubt1 a rising nation1 which would be restrained by the vigour of patriotism in its prime2 a nation which would occupy a country where riches had not had time to accumulate2 where the distance of the habitations from each other contributed to the maintenance of domestic manners2 where agriculture1 that simple and peaceful occupation1 would be the favourite employment2 where the work of the hands would obtain a recompense proportioned to the scarcity of the workmen1 and the extensive usefulness of the labour2 we should represent1 in short1 a nation where the laws and the form of government would favour1 during a long time1 equality of rank and property4 ,but in our ancient kingdoms in ,europe1 where the growth of riches continually augments the difference of fortunes and the distance of conditions2--in our old political bodies1 where we are crowded together1 and where misery and magnificence are ever mingled1 it must be a morality1 fortified by religion1 that shall restrain these numerous spectators of so many possessions and objects of envy1 and who1 placed so near every thing which they call happiness1 can yet never aspire to it4 ,it may be asked1 perhaps1 in consequence of these reflections1 whether religion1 which strengthens every tie1 and fortifies every obligation1 is not favourable to tyranny8 ,such a conclusion would be unreasonable2 but religion1 which affords comfort under every affliction1 would necessarily sooth also the ills which arise from despotism2 however1 it is neither the origin1 nor the support of it3 religion1 well understood1 would not lend its support but to order and justice2 and the instructions of political morality proposes to itself the same end4 ,thus1 in both plans of education1 the rights of the sovereign1 as well as those of the citizens1 constitute simply one of the elementary parts of the general system of our duties4 ,i shall only observe1 that the insufficiency of political morality would appear still more obvious1 in a country where the nation1 subject to the authority of an absolute prince1 would have no share in the government2 for personal interest no longer having an habitual communication with the general interest1 there would be just ground to fear1 that in wishing to hold out the union of these two interests as the essential motive of virtue1 the greater number would retain only this idea1 that personality was admitted for the first principle2 and consequently every one ought to reserve to himself the right of judging of the times and circumstances when self-love and patriotism are to be separated1 or united4 ,and how many errors would not this produce8 ,public good1 like all abstract ideas1 has not a precise definition2 it is for the greater part of mankind a sea without bounds1 and it requires not much address or shrewdness to confound all our analogies4 ,we may know how we would form1 according to our taste1 the alliance of all the moral ideas1 in considering with what facility men know how to reconcile with one quality the habitual infirmities of their character2 he who wounds without discretion1 prides himself in his frankness and courage2 he who is cowardly and timid in his sentiments and in his words1 boasts of his caution and circumspection2 and by a new refinement of which ,i have seen singular examples1 he who asks of the sovereign pecuniary favours1 endeavours to persuade him that he is impelled to this solicitation1 only by a noble love of honourable distinction2 every one is ingenious in fixing the point of union which connects his passions with some virtue3 would they then be less expert at finding some conformity between their own interest and that of the public8 ,i cannot1 ,i avow1 without disgust1 and even horror1 conceive the absurd notion of a political society1 destitute of that governing motive afforded by religion1 and restrained only by a pretended connexion of their private interest with the general4 ,what circumscribed judges6 ,what a multiplicity of opinions1 sentiments1 and wills6 ,all would be in confusion1 if we left to men the liberty of drawing their own conclusions3 they must absolutely have a simple idea to regulate their conduct1 especially when the application of this principle may be infinitely diversified4 ,god in delivering his laws on ,mount ,sinai1 had need but to say1 ,thou shalt not steal2 and with the awful idea of that ,god1 whom every thing recals to our minds1 whom every thing impresses on the human heart1 this short commandment preserves1 at all times1 a sufficient authority2 but when political philosophy says1 ,thou shalt not steal1 it would be necessary to add to this precept a train of reasoning1 on the laws of right1 on the inequality of conditions1 and on the various social relations2 in order to persuade us that it comprehends every motive1 that it answers all objections1 and resists all attacks4 ,it is necessary1 further1 that by the lessons of this philosophy the most uncultivated minds should be qualified to follow the different ramifications which unite1 disunite1 and reunite afresh the personal to the public interest3 what an enterprize6 ,it is1 perhaps1 like wishing to employ a course of anatomy1 in order to direct a child in the choice of such aliments as are proper for it1 instead of beginning to conduct it by the counsels and the authority of its mother4 ,the same remarks are applicable to all the virtues1 of which the observance is essential to public order3 what method would plain reasoning take to persuade a single man1 that he ought not to deprive a husband of the affections of his wife8 ,where would you assign him a distinct recompense for the sacrifice of his passion8 ,what windings should we not be obliged to run over1 to demonstrate to an ambitious man1 that he ought not1 in secret1 to calumniate his rival2 to the solitary miser1 armed with indifference1 that he ought not to remove himself from every occasion of doing good2 to a disposition ardent and revengeful1 that he ought not to obey those urgent impulses which hurry him away2 to a man in want1 that he ought not to have recourse to falsehood to procure attention1 or to deceive in any other manner8 ,and how many other positions would offer the same difficulties1 and still greater8 ,abstract ideas1 the best arranged1 can never conquer us but by long arguments1 since the peculiar nature of these ideas is to disengage our reasoning from the feelings1 and consequently from striking and sudden impressions2 besides1 political morality1 like every thing which the mind only produces1 would be always for us merely an opinion2 an opinion from which we should have a right to appeal1 at any time1 to the tribunal of our reason4 ,the lessons of men are nothing but representations of their judgment2 and the sentiments of some draw not the will of others4 ,there is not any principle of morality1 which1 under forms absolutely human1 would not be susceptible of exceptions1 or of some modification2 and there is nothing so compounded as the idea of the connexion of virtue with happiness3 in short1 while our understanding has a difficulty in comprehending and clearly distinguishing that union1 the objects of our passions are every where apparent1 and all our senses are preengaged by them4 ,the miser beholds gold and silver2 the ambitious man1 those honours which are conferred on others2 the debauchee1 the objects of his luxury2 virtue has nothing left but reasoning2 and is then in want of being sustained by religious sentiments1 and by the enlivening hopes which accompany them4 ,thus1 in a government where you would wish to substitute political morality for a religious education1 it would become1 perhaps1 indispensable to guard men from receiving any ideas calculated to exalt their minds2 it would be necessary to divert them from the different competitions which excite self-love and ambition2 they must withdraw themselves from the habitual society of women2 and it would be still more incumbent on them to abolish the use of money1 that attracting and confused image of all kinds of gratifications3 in short1 in taking from men their religious hopes1 and depriving them thus of the encouragements to virtue which the imagination gives birth to1 every exertion must be tried to prevent this unruly imagination from seconding vice1 and all the passions contrary to public order3 it was because ,telemachus was accompanied by a ,divinity1 that he could1 without danger1 visit the sumptuous court of ,sesostris1 and the enchanting abodes of ,eucharis and ,calypso4 ,it is indeed an age the most pleasant1 as well as the safest of our life1 which we cannot pass without a guide2 we must then1 in order to pass with security through the tempestuous days of youth1 have principles which command us1 and not reflections to counsel us2 these have not any power but in proportion to the vigour of the mind1 and the mind is only formed by experience and a long conflict of opinions4 ,religious instructions have the peculiar advantage of seizing the imagination1 and of interesting our sensibility1 those two brilliant faculties of our early years3 thus1 then even supposing that we could establish a course of political morality1 sufficiently propped by reasoning1 for defending from vice men enlightened by maturity1 ,i should still say1 that a similar philosophy would not be suitable to youth1 and that this armour is too heavy for them4 ,in short1 the lessons of human wisdom1 which cannot govern us during the ardour of our passions1 are equally insufficient1 when our strength being broken by disease1 we are no longer in a state to comprehend a variety of relations2 instead of which1 such is the pleasing emotions that accompany the language of religion1 that in the successive decline of our faculties1 this language still keeps pace with them4 ,nevertheless1 if we were ever to be persuaded1 that there was on earth a more certain encouragement to virtue than religion1 its powers would be immediately weakened2 it would not be half so interesting1 nor could reign when divided2 if its sentiments did not overflow1 as we may say1 the human heart1 all its influence would vanish4 ,religious instruction1 in assembling all the means proper to excite men to virtue1 neglects not1 it is true1 to point out the relations1 which exist between the observance of the laws of morality and the happiness of life2 but it is as an accessary motive1 that these considerations are presented2 and it is not necessary to support them by the same proofs as a fundamental principle requires4 ,also1 when people are taught early that vices and crimes lead to misery on earth1 these doctrines make not a lasting impression on them1 but in proportion as we succeed at the same time1 in convincing them of the constant influence of a ,providence over all the events of this world4 ,one important reason still exempts religious professors1 from attaching themselves to demonstrate1 that the principal advantages which excite the envy of men1 are an absolute consequence of the observance of the laws of order3 it is1 that sacrifices1 supported by an idea of duty1 are changed into real satisfactions2 and the sentiments1 which the virtuous enjoy from piety1 compose an essential part of their happiness4 ,but what consolation can a man have by way of return2 what secret approbation can we grant him1 when we know not any other authority than that of political morality1 and when virtue is nothing but an opposition between private and public interest8 ,religion certainly proposes to man his own happiness1 as an object and ultimate end2 but as this happiness is placed at a distance1 religion conducts us to it by wholesome restrictions and temporary sacrifices2 it regards only the sublimest part of us1 that which disunites us from the present moment1 in order to connect us with futurity2 it offers us hopes1 which withdraw us from worldly interest1 so far as is necessary to prevent us from being immoderately devoted to the disorderly impressions of our senses1 and the tyranny of our passions4 ,irreligion1 on the contrary1 whose lessons teach us1 that we are only masters of the present moment1 concentres us more and more within ourselves1 and there is nothing beautiful or good in this condition2 for grandeur1 of every kind1 relates to the extent of those relations which we comprehend2 and1 in a like acceptation1 our sentiments submit to the same laws4 ,those who represent the obligations of religion as indifferent1 assure us1 that we may repose safely the maintenance of morality on some general sentiments1 which we have adopted2 but do not consider that these sentiments derive their origin1 and almost all their force1 from that spirit of religion which they wish to weaken4 ,yes1 even humanity1 this emotion of a noble soul1 is animated and fortified by the idea of a ,supreme ,being2 the alliance between men holds but feebly from the conformity of their organization2 nor can it be attributed to the similitude of their passions1 that continual source of so much hatred2 it depends essentially on our connexion with the same author1 the same superintendant1 the same judge2 it is founded on the equality of our right to the same hopes1 and on that train of duties inculcated by education1 and rendered respectable by the habitual dominion of religious opinions4 ,alas6 it is a melancholy avowal1 that men have so many infirmities1 so much injustice1 selfishness1 and ingratitude1 at least1 in the eyes of those who have observed them collectively1 that we never can keep them in harmony by the mere lessons of wisdom3 it is not always because they are amiable that we love them2 it is sometimes1 and very often indeed1 because we ought to love them1 that we find them amiable4 ,yes1 goodness and forbearance1 these qualities the most simple1 still require to be compared1 from time to time1 with an idea general and predominate1 the band of all our virtues4 ,the passions of others wound us in so many ways1 and there is often so much depth and energy in our self-love1 that we have need of some succour to be constantly generous in our sentiments1 and to be really interested for all our fellow-creatures1 in the midst of whom we are placed4 ,in short1 not to dissemble1 if a man once came to consider himself as a being that is the child of chance1 or of blind necessity1 and tending only to the dust from whence he sprung1 and to which he must return1 he would despise himself2 and far from seeking to rise to noble and virtuous reflections1 he would consider this species of ambition as a fantastic idea1 which consumes in a vain and illusory manner1 a part of those fleeting minutes which he has to pass on earth2 and all his attention being fixed on the shortness of life1 and on the eternal silence which must close the scene1 he would only think how to devour this reign of a moment4 ,how dangerous then would it be1 on this supposition1 to show to men the extremity of the chain which unites them together6 ,it is in worldly affairs this knowledge of having received the last favour1 which renders them ungrateful towards those from whom they no longer expect any thing2 and the same sentiment would weaken the power of morality if our lease was manifestly only for this world4 ,it is then religion which ought to strengthen those ties1 and defend the entire system of our duty against the stratagems of reasoning and the artifices of our minds2 it is necessary1 in order to oblige all men1 to consider with respect the laws of morality1 to teach them early that the social virtues are an homage rendered to the perfections and to the beneficent intentions of the ,sovereign ,author of ,nature1 of that ,infinite ,being who is pleased with the preservation of order1 and the private sacrifices which the accomplishment of this grand design requires4 ,and when ,i see modern philosophers tracing1 with an able hand1 the general plan of our duties2 when ,i see them fix with judgment the reciprocal obligations of citizens1 and giving1 at last1 for the basis to this legislation1 personal interest and the love of praise3 ,i recollect the system of those ,indian philosophers1 who1 after having studied the revolutions of the heavenly bodies1 being perplexed to determine the power which sustained the vaulted firmament1 thought they had freed it from difficulty1 by placing the universe on the back of an elephant1 and this elephant on a tortoise4 ,we shall imitate these philosophers1 and1 like them1 shall never proceed but by degradation1 whenever1 by endeavouring to form a chain of duties and moral principles1 we do not place the last link above worldly considerations1 and beyond the limits of our social conventions4 ,,chap4 ,,ii4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,a ,parallel between the ,influence of ,religious ,principles1 and of ,laws and ,opinions4 ,after having examined1 as ,i have just done1 in the preceding chapter1 if it were possible to found morality on the connexion of private with public interest1 it remains for me to consider1 if the punishments inflicted by the sovereign1 if the sceptre1 which public opinion sways1 have sufficient power to restrain men1 and bind them to the observance of their duty4 ,it is necessary to proceed by common ideas1 in order to advance one degree in the research of truth3 thus ,i ought at first1 in this place1 to recollect1 that the penal laws cannot be applied but to offences known and proved2 this consideration contracts their power within a very narrow circle2 however1 crimes secretly committed1 are not the only ones which are beyond the cognizance of laws2 we must place in this rank every reprehensible action1 which1 for want of a distinct character1 can never be pointed out2 the number of them is prodigious3 the rigour of parents1 ingratitude of children1 the inhumanity of abandoning their nurses1 treachery in friendship1 the violation of domestic comfort1 disunion sown in the bosoms of families1 levity of principles in every social connexion1 perfidious counsels1 artful and slanderous insinuations1 rigorous exercise of authority1 favour and partiality of judges1 their inattention1 their idleness and severity1 endeavours to obtain places of importance1 with a consciousness of incapacity1 corrupt flatteries addressed to sovereigns or ministers1 statesmen indifferent to public good1 their vile and pernicious jealousies1 and their political dissensions1 excited in order to render themselves necessary1 wars instigated by ambition1 intolerance under the cover of zeal2 in short1 many other fatal evils which the laws cannot either follow or describe1 and which often do much mischief1 before they give any opportunity for public censure4 ,we ought not even to desire that this censure pass certain bounds1 because authority1 applied to obscure faults1 or those susceptible of various interpretations1 easily degenerates into tyranny2 and as there is nothing so transitory as thought1 nothing so secret as our sentiments2 none but an invisible power1 whose authority seems to participate of the divine1 has a right to enter into the secrets of our hearts4 ,it is then only1 at the tribunal of his own conscience1 that a man can be interrogated about a number of actions and intentions which escape the inspection of government4 ,let us beware of overturning the authority of a judge so active and enlightened2 let us beware of weakening it voluntarily1 and let us not be so imprudent as to repose only on social discipline4 ,i will even venture to say1 that the power of conscience is perhaps still more necessary in the age we live in1 than in any of the preceding2 though society no longer presents us with a view of those vices and crimes which shock us by their deformity2 yet licentiousness of morals1 and refinement of manners1 have almost imperceptibly blended good and evil1 vice and decency1 falsehood and truth1 selfishness and magnanimity2 it is more important then ever1 to oppose to this secret depravity1 an interior authority1 which pries into the mysterious windings of disguise1 and whose action may be as penetrating as our dissimulation seems artful and well contrived4 ,it is1 undoubtedly1 because a similar authority appears absolutely necessary to the maintenance of public order1 that several philosophic writers have endeavoured to introduce it as a principle of atheism4 ,in such a system the whole is fictitious2 they speak of our blushing at the recollection of our follies1 of dreading our own secret reproaches1 and of being afraid of the condemnation1 which1 in the calm of reflection1 we shall pronounce against ourselves2 but these sentiments1 which have so much force with the idea of a ,god1 they know not what to unite them with1 when they would give only for a guide the most active personal interest1 and when all the grand communications1 established between men by religious opinions1 are absolutely broken2 conscience is then an expression void of meaning1 a useless word in the language4 ,we may still feel remorse1 that is to say1 regret at being deceived in the pursuits of ambition1 in promoting our interest1 in the choice of means which we employ to obtain the respect and praise of others2 in short1 in the various calculations of our worldly advantage3 but such remorse is only an exaltation of our self-love2 we deify1 in some measure1 our judgment and understanding1 and we make at last all our actions appear before these false idols1 to reproach us with our errors and weaknesses2 we thus voluntarily become our own tormentors2 but when this perfection is too importunate1 we have it in our power to command our tyrants to use more indulgence towards us4 ,it is not the same with the reproaches of conscience2 the sentiments which produce them have nothing compounded or artificial in them1 we cannot corrupt our judge1 nor enter into a compromise with him2 that which seduces men never deceives him1 and amidst the giddiness of prosperity1 in the intoxication of the greatest success1 his looks are inevitably fixed on us2 and we cannot but with terror enjoy the applause and the triumphs which we have not merited4 ,we read in several modern books1 that with good laws we should always have morality sufficient2 but ,i cannot adopt this opinion4 ,man is a being so compounded1 and his relations with his species are so various and so fine1 that to regulate his mind1 and direct his conduct1 he has need of a multitude of sentiments1 on which the commands of the sovereign have not any hold2 they are all simple and declared duties1 which the legislators have reduced to precepts1 and this rough building1 termed civil laws1 leaves vacancies throughout4 ,the laws require merely a blind obedience2 and as they enjoin and defend only actions1 are absolutely indifferent to the private sentiments of men2 the moral edifice which they raise is in several parts a mere exterior form1 and it is at the roof1 if ,i may say so1 that they have begun4 ,religion proceeds in a manner diametrically opposite2 it is in the heart1 it is in the recesses of conscience1 that it lays its first base2 it appears to be acquainted with the grand secrets of nature2 it sows in the earth a grain1 and this grain is nourished1 and transformed into numerous branches1 which1 without any effort1 spring up1 and extend themselves to all dimensions and in every kind of form4 ,i will suppose1 nevertheless1 that we believed it sufficient for the maintenance of public order1 to reduce morality to the spirit of civil laws1 it would still be out of the power of men to draw from this assimilation familiar instructions proper to form a code of education2 for these laws1 simple in their commands1 are not so in their principles4 ,we perceive not immediately why revenge1 the most just1 is prohibited2 why we have not the power to do ourselves justice by the same means a ravisher would use2 why we have not a right to resist with violence the tyrannic oppressor2 in short1 why certain actions1 some indifferent in themselves1 and some hurtful to others1 are condemned in a general and uniform manner3 a kind of combination is necessary to discover1 that the legislator himself is wandering from natural ideas1 in order to prevent every person from being a judge in his own cause1 and to avoid that1 those exceptions and distinctions1 of which every circumstance is susceptible1 might never be determined by the judgment of individuals4 ,in the same manner1 from those indirect motives1 the laws treat with more rigour an offence difficult to define1 than a disorder more reprehensible in itself2 but of which the excesses might be easily perceived3 and they observe still the same rule with respect to crimes which are surrounded by greater allurements1 though this seduction is even a motive for indulgence in the eyes of simple justice2 in short1 the laws1 in adopting a more determinate method1 to constrain debtors to the discharge of their obligations1 prove that they are not compassionate to unforeseen misfortunes1 nor actuated by other motives of equity which merit an equal interest2 all their attention is fixed on the relation of engagements with the political resources1 which arise from commerce and its transactions4 ,there exists thus a multitude of prohibitions of punishments1 or gradations in the penalties1 which have not any connexion but with the general views of the legislation1 and agree not with the circumscribed good sense1 which determines the judgment of individuals4 ,it is then often1 by considerations very extensive and complicated1 that an action is criminal or reprehensible in the eyes of the law3 thus1 we know not how to erect1 on this base alone1 a system of morality1 of which every one can have a clear perception2 and since the legislator carefully avoids submitting any thing to private examination1 because he sacrifices often to this principle natural justice1 how then can he wish1 at the same time1 to give us for a rule of conduct a political morality1 which is all founded on reasoning8 ,it is of consequence still to observe1 that to the eyes of the greater number of men1 the sense of the laws1 and the decrees formed by those who interpret them1 ought necessarily to be identified and blended1 and form only one point of view2 and as the judges are frequently exposed to error1 the true spirit of legislation remains often in obscurity1 and we with difficulty discern it4 ,it is1 perhaps1 because laws are the work of our understanding1 that we are disposed to grant them a universal dominion3 but ,i will avow1 ,i am far from thinking that they can ever be substituted instead of the salutary influence of religion1 and that ,i believe them insufficient even to regulate the things immediately under their jurisdiction2 thus ,i would request you to reflect1 if the unfortunate errors with which we reproach criminal tribunals1 have not their source in the faults committed by sovereign authority2 when it has referred all the duties of the judges to the injunctions of the law1 and when it has refused to confide any longer in the conscience and private sentiments of the magistrates4 ,let us render this observation more clear by a single example chosen from a number4 ,we demand at present1 that the legislator explain himself afresh on the grand question1 what witnesses are necessary8 but will he not always run the risk of being deceived1 whether he absolutely rejects a probable evidence1 or whether he makes the fate of a criminal depend upon it8 ,how will he determine1 that the testimony of an honest man1 identifying the person of an assassin1 in his own cause1 should not be reckoned any thing by the judge2 and how can he pretend also1 that a testimony of this nature is sufficient to determine a condemnation1 when he who gives the evidence appears suspicious1 either from the motives1 which we must suppose actuate him1 or from the improbability of his assertion8 ,reason is then placed between two extremes2 but intermediate ideas not being consonant with the absolute language of law1 we ought1 in such circumstances1 to leave much to the wisdom and integrity of the magistrates2 and so far from serving innocence by acting otherwise1 we visibly endanger it2 because judges habituate themselves to render the laws responsible for every thing1 and respectfully submit to the letter1 instead of obeying the spirit1 which is the earnest desire of obtaining truth4 ,what then1 some will say1 would you wish that there should be no positive instructions1 neither to serve for a guide in the examination of crimes1 nor to determine the character by which these crimes may be distinguished8 ,this was never in my mind2 but ,i could wish1 that in an affair of such serious importance1 they would unite to the judgment which proceeded from the prudence of the legislator1 that which may be brought by the wisdom of the judges2 ,i could wish1 that the criminal legislation prescribed to the magistrates1 not all that they are obliged to do1 but all from which they are not exempt2 not all that is sufficient to determine their opinion1 but all which ought to be the indispensable condition of a capital punishment4 ,guided by such a spirit1 the commands given by the law1 would be a safeguard against the ignorance1 or possible prevarication of the judges2 but as any general rule1 any immutable principle1 is not applicable to an infinite diversity of circumstances1 ,i would give to innocence a new defender1 interesting in a more immediate manner the morality of the judges to search for and examine the truth1 and to recal continually all the extent of their obligations2 ,i could wish1 that previous to their passing a sentence of condemnation1 raising one of their hands towards heaven1 they pronounced with earnestness these words3 8,i attest1 that the man accused before us1 appears to me guilty1 according to the law1 and according to my own private judgment40 ,it is not sufficient1 that we command a judge to examine with probity1 if the proofs of an offence1 are conformable to those required by the statute2 it is necessary to inform a magistrate1 that he ought to enquire into the truth by all the means that scrupulous anxiety can suggest2 he should know1 that1 called to decide on the life and the honour of men1 his understanding and his heart1 ought to be enlisted in the cause of humanity1 and that there are not any limits opposed to bound his duty2 then1 without failing in any of the enquiries ordained by the laws1 he would force himself to go still further1 that no evidence proper to make an impression on a reasonable man might be rejected1 at the same time1 that none might have so decisive a force1 that the examination of circumstances would ever appear useless2 the judges then would make use of that sagacity1 which seems to discern instinctively2 they would not then disdain to read even the looks of the accuser and the accused1 and they would not believe it a matter of indifference to observe with attention1 all those emotions of nature1 where sometimes truth is painted with so much energy2 then1 in short1 innocence would be under the protection of something as pure as itself1 the scrupulous conscience of a judge4 ,we have never1 perhaps1 sufficiently considered how much a methodical order1 when we confine ourselves too servilely to it1 contracts the bounds of the mind2 it becomes then like a foot-path traced between two banks1 which prevents our discovering what is not in a strait line4 ,the strict observance of method diverts us also from consulting that light1 sometimes so lively1 of which the soul only is the focus2 for in subjecting us to a positive course of things always regular1 and in making us find pleasure in a determined path1 which offers continual repose to our thoughts1 it incapacitates for thinking that delicate perception of natural sentiments1 which has nothing fixed or circumscribed1 but whose free flight often makes us approach to truth1 as by a kind of instinct or inspiration4 ,i should stray too far from my subject1 if ,i extended these reflections1 and ,i hasten to connect them with the subject of this chapter1 in repeating again1 that if the laws are insufficient1 even in those decisions submitted to their authority1 and if the they have absolute need of the aid of religion1 whenever they impose on their private expounders duties a little complicated2 they would be still less able to supply the habitual and daily influence of that motive1 the most powerful of all1 and the only one at the same time1 of which the action will be sufficiently penetrating to follow us in the mazes of our conduct1 and in the labyrinth of our thoughts4 ,i ought now to direct your attention towards other considerations4 ,all that is required by public order1 all that is of importance to society1 some will say1 is1 that criminals may not escape the sword of justice1 and that an attentive superintendance discover them under the cloud where they seek to conceal themselves4 ,i will not here recal the various obstacles1 which are opposed to the plenitude of this vigilance2 every one may perceive them1 or form an idea of them2 but ,i hasten to observe1 that in considering society in its actual state1 we ought not to forget1 that religious sentiments have greatly diminished the talk of government2 a scene quite new would open1 if we had for our guide only political morality2 it would not then be a few men without principles1 who would trouble the public order1 more able actors would mix in the throng1 some conducted by mature reflection1 and others1 carried away by seducing appearances1 would be incessantly at war with all those1 whose fortune excited their jealousy2 and then only we should know how many opportunities there are of doing evil1 and injuring others4 ,it would also happen1 that all these enemies of public order not being disconcerted by the reproaches of their conscience1 would become every day more expert in the art of avoiding the observation of justice2 and the dangers to which the imprudent exposed themselves1 would not discourage the ingenious4 ,it is then1 if ,i may be permitted so to express myself1 because the laws find men in a healthy state1 prepared by religious instruction1 that they can restrain them2 but if a system of education merely political was ever to prevail1 new precautions and new chains would become absolutely necessary1 and after having freed us from the mild ties of religion1 the projectors of such a system would increase our civil slavery1 would bend our necks under the hardest of all yokes1 that which is imposed by our fellow-creatures4 ,religion1 whose influence they wish us to reject1 is better appropriated than they think1 to the mixture of pride and weakness1 which constitutes our nature1 and for us1 such as we are2 its action is far preferable to that of the penal laws2 it is not1 before his equals1 armed with the rod of vengeance1 that the culprit is made to appear2 it is not to their ignorance1 or to their inexorable justice1 that he is abandoned2 it is at the tribunal of his own conscience1 that religion informs against him2 before a ,god1 sovereign of the world1 that it humbles1 and in the name of a tender and merciful ,father that it comforts him4 ,alas6 while you at once take from us both our consolation and our true dignity1 you wish to refer every thing to private interest and public punishment2 but permit me to listen to those commands which come from on high2 leave me to divert my attention from the menacing sceptre which the potentates of the earth weild in their hand2 leave me to account with ,him1 before whom they shrink into nothing2 leave me1 in short1 to address myself to him who pardons1 and who1 at the moment ,i have offended1 permits me still to love him1 and rely on his grace6--,alas6 without the idea of a ,god1--without this connexion with a ,supreme ,being1 author of all nature1 we should only listen to the vile counsels of selfish prudence1 we should only have to flatter and adore the rulers of nations1 and all those who in an absolute monarchy1 are the numerous representatives of the authority of the prince2 yes1 talents1 sentiments1 ought to bend before these distributors of so much good and evil1 if nothing exists beyond worldly interest2 and when once every one cringes1 there is no more dignity in the character1 men become incapable of any great action1 and unequal to any moral excellence4 ,religious opinions have the double merit of maintaining us in the obedience due to the laws and the soveriegn1 and of nourishing in our hearts a sentiment which sustains our courage1 and which reminds men of their true grandeur2 teaches submission without meanness1 and prevents1 above all1 cowardly humiliations before transitory idols1 in showing at a distance the last period1 when all must return to an equality before the ,master of the ,world4 ,the idea of a ,god1 at the same distance from all men1 serves also to console us for that shocking superiority of rank and fortune under the oppression of which we live2 it is necessary to transport ourselves to the heights religion discovers1 to consider with a kind of calmness and indifference the frivolous pretentions of some1 and the confident haughtiness of others2 and such objects of regret1 or of envy1 which appeared a ,colossus to our imagination1 are changed into a grain of sand1 when we contrast them with the grand prospects which such sublime meditations display to our view4 ,they are then blind1 or indifferent to our interest1 who wish to substitute1 instead of religious instructions1 political and worldly maxims2 and in like manner1 those are inflexible and unfeeling1 who believe they shall be able to conduct men only by terror2 and who1 in contesting the salutary influence of religious opinions1 expect less from them than the axe of the lictors1 and the apparatus of execution4 ,what is then this wretched system8 ,for supposing even that the different means of securing public tranquillity were equal in their effect1 should we not prefer religious principles1 which prevent crimes1 to the strict laws which punish them8 ,i understand not besides1 how1 with the same hand that they repel religious sentiments1 they wish to raise every where scaffolds1 and multiply1 without scruple1 those frightful theatres of severity2 for if men1 hurried onwards to crimes1 were only governed by blind necessity1 alas6 what do they deserve8 ,and if we still determine to destroy them as examples1 we should assist at their execution1 as at that of beings devoted for the good of society1 as ,iphigenia was sacrificed at ,aulis for the salvation of ,greece4 ,religion is1 in another respect1 superior to the laws1 which are ever armed for vengeance2 instead of that1 religion1 even when threatening1 nourishes also the hopes of pardon and felicity2 and ,i believe1 contrary to the generally received opinion1 that man1 by his nature1 is more constantly animated by hope1 than restrained by fear2 the former of these sentiments compose the tenor of our life1 whilst the latter is the effect of an extraordinary circumstance1 or particular situation2 in short1 courage1 or want of consideration1 turns our attention from danger1 whilst ideas of happiness are perpetually present1 and blended1 if ,i may use the expression1 with our whole existence4 ,i perceive1 however1 that some may say to me1 it is not only of civil and penal laws that we mean to speak1 when we maintain that good public institutions would be an efficacious substitute for the influence of religion2 it would be necessary to introduce laws of education1 proper to modify1 beforehand1 the mind and form the character4 ,but they have not explained1 and ,i am ignorant that there are such laws1 which they wish to distinguish from the general doctrines we are acquainted with2 doctrines susceptible1 undoubtedly1 of different degrees of perfection1 which1 before instructing us not only in the virtues simple and real1 but in all those mixed and conventional1 have necessarily a vague character1 and could not separate themselves from the support that they borrow from the fixed and precise ideas of religion4 ,they may cite the example of ,sparta1 where the state undertook the education of the citizens1 and formed by laws the extraordinary manners which history has delineated2 but that government1 aided in this enterprize by all the influence of paternal authority1 nevertheless proposed but two great objects1 the encouragement of martial qualities1 and the maintenance of liberty3 morality was not made interesting1 though among us it requires so much application2 and it was rendered less necessary1 as every institution tended to introduce a perfect equality of rank and fortune1 and opposed all kind of communication with foreigners4 ,in short1 it was1 after all1 a religious opinion which subjected the ,spartans to the authority of their legislator2 and without their confidence in the oracle of ,delphos1 ,lycurgus had only been a celebrated philosopher4 ,we are still further1 at present1 from the disposition and situation which would allow laws of education to govern us1 supported only by a political spirit2 in order to make the trial1 we must be divided into little associations2 and by some means1 not yet discovered1 be able to oppose invincible obstacles to the enlargement of them1 and to preserve us from the desires and voluptuousness which are the inevitable consequence of an augmentation of wealth1 and the progress of the arts and sciences3 in short1 and it is a singular remark1 at a period when man is become a being the most compounded1 on account of these social modifications1 he has need1 more than ever1 of a principle which will penetrate to the very source of his numerous affections2 consequently it would be necessary suddenly to carry him back to his primitive simplicity1 to make him agree1 in some measure1 with the limited extent of an education purely civil4 ,let me add1 that a like education could not be adapted to the commonalty1 as in ,sparta2 they must be separated from the citizens1 and kept in servitude3 an observation which leads me to a very important reflection2 it is1 that in a country where slavery would be introduced1 where the most numerous class would be governed by the continual fear of the severest chastisement1 they would be able to confide more in the mere ascendency of political morality2 for this morality only having to keep in order the part of society represented by those who have property1 the task would not be difficult2 but among us1 where happily all men1 without any distinction1 are subject to the yoke of the law1 an authority so extensive1 must necessarily be strengthened and seconded by the universal influence of religious opinions4 ,i shall conclude this part of my subject by one reflection more2 supposing1 even in the sovereign authority1 an exertion sufficiently general to prevent or repress evil1 religion would still have this great advantage1 that it inculcates the beneficent virtues1 which the laws cannot reach2 and yet1 in the actual state of society1 it is become impossible to omit those virtues4 ,it is not sufficient to be just1 when the laws of property reduce to bare necessaries the most numerous class of men1 whose weak resources the most trivial accident disconcerts2 and ,i hesitate not to say1 that such is the extreme inequality established by these laws1 that we ought at present to consider the spirit of beneficence and forbearance1 as constituting a part of social order2 as in all places and times1 it softens by its assistance the excess of wretchedness1 and by an innumerable multitude of springs spreads itself as the vital juice1 through forlorn beings1 whom misery had almost exhausted4 ,but if this spirit1 properly intermediate between the rigour of civil rights1 and the original title of humanity1 did not exist1 or should ever be extinct1 we should see all the subordinate ties relax imperceptibly2 and a man1 loaded with the favours of fortune1 never presenting himself to the people under the form of a benefactor2 they would more forcibly feel the great extent of his privileges1 and would accustom themselves to discuss them4 ,men must then find a way of moderating the despotism of fortune1 or render homage to religion1 which1 by the sublime idea of an exchange between the blessings of heaven and earth1 obliges the rich to give what the laws cannot demand4 ,religion then comes continually to assist the civil legislation1 it speaks a language unknown to the laws1 it warms that sensibility which ought to advance even before reason2 it acts like light and interior warmth1 as it both enlightens and animates2 and what we have not sufficiently observed1 is1 that in society its moral sentiments are the imperceptible tie of a number of parts1 which seem to be held by their own agreement1 and which would be successively detached1 if the chain which united them was ever to be broken3 we shall more clearly perceive this truth1 in the examination we are going to make of the connexion of opinion with morality4 ,when we imagine we should be able to subject men to the observance of public order1 and inspire them with the love of virtue1 by motives independent of religion1 we propose1 undoubtedly1 to put in action two powerful springs2 the desire of esteem and praise2 and the fear of contempt and shame4 ,thus1 to follow my subject in all its branches1 ,i ought necessarily to examine what is the degree of force of these different motives1 and what is also their true application4 ,i have already spoken1 in other works of mine1 of the opinion of the world1 and of its salutary effects2 but the subject ,i am now treating obliges me to consider it under a different point of view1 and it is by placing myself behind the scene1 that ,i shall be able to fulfil this task4 ,i remark1 at first1 that the opinion of the world exercises its influence in a very confined space1 as it is particularly called in to judge men1 whose rank and employments have some splendour in the world2 the opinion of the public is an approbation or censure1 exercised in the name of the general interest2 thus it ought only to be applied to actions and to words1 which either directly or indirectly affect this interest4 ,the private conduct of him who discharges in society the most important functions1 is indeed submitted to the judgment and superintendance of the public at large2 and we ought not to wonder that it should1 since in similar circumstances the principles of an individual appear an earnest1 or presage of his public virtues2 but all those1 whose sole occupation is to spend their income1 those who are entirely devoted to dissipation1 and have not any connexion with the grand interests of the community1 become independent of the opinion of the world2 or at least they do not experience its severity1 till1 by foolish extravagance or inconsiderate pretentions1 they draw the attention of the public on their conduct4 ,in short1 a great number of men1 who1 by the obscurity of their condition and moderate fortune1 find themselves lost in a crowd1 will never dread a power that singles out of the ranks its heroes and victims3 thus people1 concealed under humble roofs scattered in the country1 are as indifferent to the opinion of the world1 as are to the rays of the sun1 those unhappy tribes who labour at the bottom of mines1 and pass their whole lives in a dark subterraneous cavern4 ,we cannot then form any kind of comparison between the peculiar ascendency of reputation1 and the general influence of religious morality4 ,fame only recompenses rare actions2 and would have nothing to bestow on a nation of heroes4 ,religion tends continually to render virtue common2 but the universal success of its instructions would take away nothing from the value of its benefits4 ,in order to receive the rewards which fame bestows1 men must appear with splendour on the stage of life4 ,religion1 on the contrary1 extends its most distinguished favours to those who despise praise1 and who do good in secret4 ,the world almost always requires1 that talents and knowledge should accompany virtue2 and it is thus that the love of praise becomes the seed and spring of great actions4 ,religion never imposes this condition2 its recompenses belong to the ignorant as well as the learned1 to the humble spirit as well as to the exalted genius2 and it is in animating equally all men1 in exciting universal activity1 that it effectually concurs to the maintenance of civil order4 ,the world1 only judging of actions in their state of maturity1 takes not any account of efforts2 and1 as men do not seize the palm till the moment when they approach the goal1 it is necessary1 at the commencement of the career1 that every one should derive from his own force his courage and perseverance4 ,religion1 on the contrary1 if ,i may say so1 dwells with us from the moment that we begin to think2 it welcomes our intentions1 strengthens our resolutions1 and supports us even in the hour of temptation2 it is1 at all times1 and in all situations1 that we experience its influence1 as we are continually reminded of its rewards4 ,fame distributing only favours1 whose principal value arises from comparisons and competitions1 often draws on its favourites the envenomed breath of slander1 and then sometimes they doubt about their real value4 ,religion mingles no bitterness with its reward2 it is in obscurity that it confers content2 and as it has treasures for all the world1 what is granted to some never impoverishes others4 ,the world is often mistaken in its judgment1 because in the midst of so vast a circle it is often difficult to distinguish true merit and the splendour which follows it1 from the false colours of hypocrisy4 ,religion extends its influence to the inmost recesses of the heart1 and places there an observer1 who has a closer view of men than their actions afford1 and whom they cannot either deceive or surprise4 ,in short1 ,i will say it1 there are moments when the opinion of the world loses its force1 and becomes enervated or governed by a servile spirit1 it searches to find faults in the oppressed1 and attributes grand intentions to powerful men1 that it may1 without shame1 abandon one1 and celebrate the other4 ,ah6 it is in such moments we return with delight to the precepts of religion1 to those independent principles1 which1 while they illustrate every thing deserving of esteem or contempt1 enable us to follow the dictates of our heart1 and speak according to our conscience6 ,thus1 the opinion of the world1 whose influence ,i have seen increase1 which unites so many motives to excite men to distinguished actions1 and to exalt them even to the great virtues1 still ought never to be compared with the universal1 invariable influence of religion1 and with those sentiments which its precepts inspire men of all ages1 of all conditions1 and every degree of understanding4 ,would it be straying from my subject1 to remark here the illusion we are under1 if we expect any important utility to arise from those marks of distinction lately introduced into ,france1 under the name of public rewards for virtue8 ,those trivial favours of opinion can never be decreed but to a few dispersed actions2 and it might be apprehended1 that if we rendered such institutions permanent and general1 they might turn the attention of the people at large from the grand recompense1 which ought to be the spring and encouragement of all that is great and virtuous4 ,experienced hunters1 at the moment when all the pack is still pursuing the most noble ranger of the forest1 would not permit them to turn1 to run after a prey which darted out of a lurking hole or thicket4 ,the establishments on which ,i here fix my attention1 have1 perhaps1 also the inconvenience of rousing a sentiment of surprise at the appearance of a good action1 and announcing thus too distinctly1 that they believe them rare1 and above the common exertions of humanity2 and if we extended still further these institutions1 they would only introduce a spirit of parade1 always ready to languish1 when applause was distant2 and it would be a great misfortune1 if such a spirit ever took place of simple and modest integrity1 which receives from itself its motives and reward3 virtue and vanity make a bad mixture2 men are then accustomed only to act to be seen1 and these opportunities1 at present not very numerous1 they wish to choose4 ,there is besides a class of men so ill treated by fortune1 that we should commit a great mistake in habituating them to connect continually calculations of probable rewards from men1 with the practice of their duty2 they would too often be deceived4 ,it is then1 we cannot too often repeat it1 it is respect for morality1 which it is necessary to maintain1 by strengthening religious principles1 its most solid foundation2 all other extraordinary helps derive their force from novelty2 and at the period when society would have the greatest need of their succour1 it would1 perhaps1 have arrived at its greatest depravity4 ,thus far at present1 ,i have considered the influence of opinion1 only in general2 but men manifest more in a private manner1 the idea that they have conceived of each other2 and this sentiment1 which takes then the simple name of esteem1 is connected with a determinate knowledge of the moral character of those with whom we have an habitual correspondence2 esteem under this view1 has not the splendour of reputation2 but as every one can pretend to it in the circle where his birth and occupations have placed him1 the hope of obtaining it ought to be reckoned among the grand motives which excite us to the observance of morality4 ,however1 if we supposed that this esteem was entirely separated from religious sentiments1 it would be like many other advantages1 which every one would estimate by his own fancy2 for whatever comes solely from men1 can only have a price relative to our connexion with them3 thus the esteem of one1 or of several persons1 would not indemnify for such a sacrifice2 and often also this sentiment1 on their part1 would appear inferior to some other objects1 of ambition2 in a word1 from the moment every preference1 every valuation was brought to a standard1 each would insensibly have his own book of rates2 and the justness of them would depend on the degree of judgment and foresight of every individual4 ,but how can we imagine that perfection in morality would ever be secure1 when it depended on wavering and arbitrary comparisons1 whose foundation would be continually changed by the various circumstances and situations of life8 ,the motives which religion presents are absolutely different2 it is not by confused contrasts1 that it directs men2 it is a predominate interest to which they are recalled2 it is round a beacon1 of which the brilliant flames are seen on all sides1 that they are assembled2 in short the rules which it prescribes are not uncertain1 and the advantages which it promises do not admit of an equivalent4 ,let us further observe here1 that selfishness1 after having compared the enjoyment of esteem with pleasures of a different kind1 would not fail to reckon the chances which afford a hope of imposing on men2 and in the midst of these perplexed calculations1 the passion of the moment would be almost always victorious4 ,besides1 we might ask1 what is the esteem of others1 to that numerous class which misery makes solitary8 ,and what is it but a sentiment1 of which the effect is never obvious1 to those whose view is limited to the present day1 or the next1 because they only live by instantaneous resources8 ,all the advantages annexed to reputation are promisory notes1 of which it is necessary to be able to wait the distant expiration2 reflection and knowledge only acquaint us with their value2 and the ignorance of the greater part of a nation would render them unequal to this kind of combination4 ,if then1 after having taken a view of the lowest1 ,i observe those who compose the superior class1 ,i will venture a reflection of a very different kind2 that in a country where we have the hope of obtaining the most splendid marks of distinction1 and where fame has power to raise heroes1 great ministers1 and men of genius in every profession1 we do not find that the duties of private life are best known and the most respected4 ,men1 uniting to celebrate with ardour great talents and actions1 consider with more indifference the morals and manners of individuals2 they make an ideal beauty1 composed of every thing which contributes to the celebrity of their country and the honour of their nation2 but by accustoming themselves to refer every thing to these interests1 they become extremely negligent with respect to common virtues1 and sometimes they even decide1 that the rare qualities of the mind may absolutely dispense with them4 ,besides1 if fame can serve to reward the most assiduous labour and painful self-denial1 it is far from being necessary1 that moderate sentiments of esteem should indemnify those who obtain them for the sacrifice of their passions2 it does not follow1 that this sentiment should give them strength to resist the multiplied seductions that the hopes of ambition and the chances of fortune present to our view2 and this consideration acquires more force in a kingdom1 where1 among the distinctions of which the favour of the prince is the origin1 there are some which attract so much homage1 that they resemble fame itself4 ,in short1 and what ,i am going to say comprehends1 in a general manner1 the various questions which ,i have just treated3 the esteem of men1 even when this sentiment seems the most foreign to religion1 receives1 nevertheless1 from it its principal strength1 and even origin2 it is a reflection of great importance1 and of which ,i will endeavour to demonstrate the truth4 ,we ought1 at first1 to ask what is the original principle of society1 which gives weight to the various expressions of the sentiment of esteem3 we shall find1 undoubtedly1 that it is a distinct idea of the duties of men1 a notion of good morals1 as general as firm4 ,now the duties of life cannot be fulfilled without the assistance of religion1 since the connexion of private and public interest1 the only foundation of the virtues of our framing1 is1 as we have demonstrated an imperfect system1 and susceptible of a multitude of exceptions1 or arbitrary interpretations4 ,it is necessary then that our social obligations should be fixed in an authentic manner1 if we wish that our judgment and the sentiments which we adopt should be a real indication of the relation the conduct of men has with moral perfection2 but1 if this perfection was only determined by human conventions1 if it was despoiled of the majesty which religion invests it with1 reputation1 and sentiments of esteem1 which are the pledge and stamp of good morals1 would insensibly lose their value2 we should then recollect that coin1 which some vainly wished to preserve the current value of in commerce1 after having materially altered either the weight or the standard2 and1 in effect1 to follow the simile a moment longer1 how could we alter the essence of morality more1 and lessen the respect which is due to it1 than by separating it from the sublime motives which religion presents1 to unite it only to political considerations4 ,one objection ,i ought to obviate3 it may be said1 perhaps1 that the influence of honour in the army1 seems to be a proof that reputation1 without the aid of any other impulse1 would have sufficient influence to direct the mind to the end which we propose to ourselves4 ,this objection does not appear to me decisive3 honour in armies preserves a great ascendency1 because amongst men thus assembled1 it is impossible to escape shame1 and the punishment incurred by cowardice2 it is in war that the power of authority and that of fame unite all their forces1 because that they exercise their influence on men engaged in one action1 actuated by the same spirit1 by that singular subordination1 termed discipline4 ,thus1 when in the commencement of the ,roman republic1 the army participated more of the air of the city1 and was not yet familiarized to the military yoke1 it was then only through the sanction of an oath1 supported by religious sentiments1 that the general contrived to prevent the inconstancy and defection of those who followed him to the camp4 ,whatever then may be at present1 the power of honour in armies1 whatever at present may be its influence in the field of battle1 where the actors1 spectators1 and judges1 are on the same stage1 and have nothing else to do but to practise1 remark1 and praise a particular virtue1 we should not be able to draw any deduction from it1 applicable to the social relations1 whose extent is immense1 and to whose diversity there is no bound4 ,besides1 military honour is very far from being foreign to the general principles of morality1 and consequently to religious opinions1 the most solid support of those principles2 for sentiments which contain1 in some manner1 the idea of a noble sacrifice1 would lose great part of their force1 if the great basis of our duty was ever shaken4 ,a perfect model is necessary to fix the admiration of men2 and it is only by an intercourse more or less constant with that first model1 that several opinions which seem1 in appearance1 to arise merely from convenience have consistency4 ,however1 there has resulted from our warlike customs an opinion purely social1 which is very powerful3 it is that of the point of honour1 when we consider it in its singular and simple acceptation1 when a man is ready to sacrifice his life to guard himself from the slightest humiliation4 ,this opinion1 it is true1 only dictates its rules among equals1 and the exercise of its authority extends to an inconsiderable part of a nation1 which1 wholly given up to worldly concerns1 are occupied entirely with comparisons and distinctions2 it is one of the ancient appendages of military honour1 and in uniting all its force towards a single idea it is become a simple principle1 which has been blindly transmitted and as blindly respected4 ,it is by the effect of a similar habit that savages affix all their glory to a contempt of bodily pain1 and to demonstrations of gaiety1 in the midst of the most cruel torments4 ,can we doubt1 that their supernatural exultation would not be weakened1 at the very instant they were acquainted with our most common ideas of virtue8 likewise our notions of honour1 which1 in its exaggerated state1 resembles their death songs1 would not resist metaphysical arguments1 if ever metaphysics became our sole guide in morality2 for after having analyzed the motives of our most important obligations1 we should analyze also our fine-spun sentiment1 which makes us regardless of danger4 ,yes1 if respect for religion was absolutely destroyed2 if this simple opinion1 which carries with it so many obligations1 and serves to defend so many duties1 had no other support1 the idea of honour would soon be weakened2 and our personal interest1 insensibly disengaged from all the ties of the imagination1 would take a character so rude1 and so determined1 that our habitual impressions1 and our relation with others1 would be absolutely changed4 ,permit me then to make another reflection3 it will be always easy to subject men to a governing opinion1 when they themselves1 and those who govern them1 unite al their efforts to attain the same end2 but1 if this governing opinion is not1 like religion1 the general principle of our conduct2 if it cannot give us laws in the different situations of life1 it would serve only to throw us out of an equilibrium1 or at least its utility would be partial and momentary ,nevertheless1 if1 with a design of remedying this inconvenience1 we searched to multiply these opinions1 they would weaken each other2 for every time we wish strongly to restrain the imagination1 it is necessary that a single idea1 a single authority1 a single object of interest1 should engage the attention of men4 ,perfection1 in this respect1 is the choice of a single principle1 whose consequence extends to all2 and such is the particular merit of religious opinions4 ,we can then1 in the name of reason1 of policy1 and philosophy1 demand some respect for them2 and ,i ought to repeat1 since it is time for me to resume my subject1 that esteem or contempt1 honour or shame1 are so far from being able to supply the place of the active influence of religion1 that its sentiments confirm the opinion of the world1 and1 more or less1 obviously direct it4 ,it follows1 that we should soon reason shrewdly1 on the value which we ought to set on the esteem of the world1 if the expression of its approbation was not united in our contemplation to something more noble than the judgment of mankind1 and if an awful respect for virtue was not imbibed by means of a religious education4 ,we should soon experience that1 in wishing to found every thing on the calculations of worldly wisdom1 these same calculations would destroy all2 and morality having at once lost its grand support1 we should try in vain to prop it by a scaffold of laws1 and the vain efforts of an opinion without a guide4 ,hypocrisy and dissimulation would become immediately a necessary science1 a legitimate defence1 which would weary the attention of every inspector2 and testimonies of esteem appearing only an ingenious encouragement granted to the sacrifices of selfishness1 the applause decreed to a generous mode of conduct would be insensibly discredited by those who gave and by those who received them1 and would end1 perhaps1 in becoming a secret object of derision1 as mere play from one to another4 ,every thing is replaced and firmly established by religion2 it surrounds1 ,i may say1 the whole system of morality1 resembling that universal and mysterious force of physical nature1 which retains the planets in their orbits1 and subjects them to a regular revolution2 and which1 in the midst of the general order it maintains1 escapes the observation of men1 and appears to their feeble sight unconscious of its own work4 ,,chap4 ,,iii4 ,an ,objection drawn from our natural ,dispositions to ,goodness4 ,men1 according to the opinion of some1 have received from nature a secret tendency towards every thing just1 good1 and virtuous2 and from this happy inclination1 the task of the moralist is confined to prevent the alteration of our original constitution3 an easy task1 add they1 and which may be fulfilled without any extraordinary effort1 and without having recourse to religion4 ,we ought1 at first1 to observe1 that the existence of this excellent innate goodness has been a long time a subject of debate1 as every assertion always will be1 of which we cannot demonstrate the truth1 either by argument or experience4 ,we shall never be able to perceive distinctly the natural dispositions of men1 since1 to our view1 they are never separated from the improvement1 or the modification1 which they owe to education and habit4 ,one or two examples they produce of children arrived at maturity found in a forest2 but we are ignorant at what precise age they were abandoned by their parents1 and what might have been their dispositions1 if1 brought back to society1 they had not been guided by instruction1 or restrained by fear and subordination4 ,it is not very probable1 that man derived from his original nature all the dispositions which lead to goodness2 such a thought agrees not with his pride or dignity1 since the intellectual faculties with which he is endowed1 the power he has of gradually tending to perfection1 announce to him that he ought to fulfil his career with the assistance of reason1 and that1 very different from those beings governed by an invariable instinct1 he should elevate himself as much above them1 by cultivating the abilities entrusted to him1 as by the granduer of the destiny to which he is permitted to aspire4 ,reason1 however1 our faithful guide1 would be insufficient to attach us to sentiments of order1 justice1 and beneficence1 if it was not seconded by a nature proper to receive the impression of every noble sentiment2 but such reflections1 far from favouring any system of independence or impiety1 receive from religious opinions their principal force4 ,what is1 in effect1 in this respect the course of our thoughts8 ,we attribute1 at first1 to a ,supreme and ,universal ,being all the perfections which seem to constitute his essence2 and from this principle we are led to presume1 that we1 his intelligent creatures1 and his most noble work1 participate1 in some manner1 of the ,divine spirit1 of which we are an emanation3 but1 if we could ever be persuaded1 that our confidence in the idea of a ,god is a deceitful illusion1 we should not have any reason to believe that the mere child of nature1 blind and without a guide1 would be disposed to good1 rather than evil4 ,we must derive our opinion of innate goodness from a secret sentiment1 and from a perfect conviction of the existence of a power which keeps every thing in order1 the model of all perfection3 but1 as we obtain equally from this power1 the faculties which render us capable of acquiring knowledge1 of improving by experience1 of extending our views into futurity1 and elevating our thoughts to ,god2 we should not know how to distinguish these last expedients of ability and virtue from those which belong to our first instinct2 and we have no interest in doing it4 ,that which we perceive most clearly is1 that there is a correspondence1 a harmony between all the parts of our moral nature2 and therefore we cannot deny the existence of our natural inclination towards goodness1 nor consider this inclination as a disposition which has not need of any religious sentiment to acquire strength1 and become a rational conductor through the rough road of life4 ,the production of salutary fruits requires1 before all things1 a favourable soil2 but this advantage would be useless without seed and the labour of the husbandman1 and the fertilizing warmth of the sun3 the ,author of ,nature has thought fit that a great number of causes should concur continually to renovate the productions of the earth2 and the same intention1 the same plan1 seems to have determined the principle and the developement of all the gifts of the mind3 it is necessary1 in order to attach intelligent beings to the love of virtue1 and respect for morality1 that not only happy natural dispositions1 but still more1 a judicious education1 good laws1 and1 above all1 a continual intercourse with the ,supreme ,being1 from which alone can arise firm resolutions1 and every ardent thought1 should concur2 but men ambitious of submitting a great number of relations to their weak comprehension1 would wish to confine them to a few causes4 ,we shall discover1 every moment1 the truth of this observation2 actuated by a similar motive1 many wish to attribute every thing to education2 whilst others pretend1 that our natural dispositions are the only source of our actions and intentions1 of our vices and virtues4 ,perhaps1 in fact1 there is1 in the universe1 but one expedient and spring1 one prolific idea1 the root of every other3 yet1 as it is at the origin of this idea1 and not in its innumerable developements1 that its unity can be perceived1 the first grand disposer of nature3 only ought to be in possession of the secret2 and we1 who see1 of the immense mechanism of the world1 but a few wheels1 become almost ridiculous1 when we make choice sometimes of one1 and sometimes of another1 to refer to it exclusively1 the cause of motion1 and the simplest properties of the different parts of the natural or moral world4 ,,chap4 ,,iv4 ,an ,objection drawn from the good ,conduct of many irreligious ,men4 ,you may think1 perhaps1 after having read the preceding chapter1 that ,i have taken little room to treat a question on which so much has been written2 but if it be allowed that ,i have made some approaches to truth1 ,i shall not need any excuse4 ,the researches after truth resemble those circles which we trace sometimes one round another2 the furthest from the centre has necessarily the greatest extent4 ,i will then endeavour1 with the same brevity1 to examine the objection which is to make the subject of this chapter4 ,society1 some say1 is at present filled with persons1 who1 to borrow the expression of the times1 are absolutely disengaged from every kind of prejudice1 who believe not even the existence of a ,supreme ,being2 and yet1 their conduct appears as regular as that of the most religious men4 ,before replying to this objection ,i ought to make an important observation4 ,the detractors of a religious spirit habitually confound1 in their discourse1 devotion and piety2 they attribute besides to devotion an exaggerated sense1 which its natural definition will not bear2 and derive from this misconception a great advantage4 ,piety1 simple in its sentiments and deportment1 commonly escapes the heedless glance of a man of the world2 and the greater part of those who speak of it1 would have some difficulty to delineate it well2 devotion1 on the contrary1 such as we are accustomed to represent1 seems to attach some value to appearances2 it displays itself1 it makes a parade of the austerity of its principles2 and often soured by the sacrifices1 of the constraint1 which it has imposed on itself as a law1 it contracts a rough and inflexible spirit1 which banishes sentiment1 amiable and indulgent3 in short1 devotion is sometimes mixed with hypocrisy1 and then it is only a despicable assemblage of the most contemptible vices4 ,it is easy to judge1 from these two pictures1 that judicious piety1 rational and indulgent1 forms the true characteristic of a religious spirit1 considered in its purity4 ,it is then with morality1 inspired by a like spirit1 that it is necessary to compare those men1 who are guided only by the principles they frame to themselves2 and ,i believe1 that one of these two systems of morality is far superior to the other2 but we run a risk of deceiving ourselves in our observations1 when we do not extend them beyond the narrow circle1 known amongst us by the name of society4 ,men1 in the circumscribed relations which arise from the communications of idleness and dissipation1 require of each other1 only qualities applicable to these kind of relations2 their code of laws is very short1 integrity in the commerce of life1 constancy in friendship1 or1 at least1 politeness in our intercourse1 a kind of elevation in their discourse and manner2 in short1 probity is the grand outline2 and this is all that is required1 in order to display ourselves to the best advantage in the midst of the active scenes which surround us1 where we sometimes form a confederacy proper to serve as a support of the great virtues2 but what they wish for before every thing is1 a grant of indulgence in favour of vices1 which do not disturb the order or the peace of their pleasures1 and which only render unhappy parents1 husbands1 and creditors1 vassals and the commonalty4 ,far distant1 indeed1 from a like tolerance1 are those collective obligations which morality dictates1 obligations1 of which ,i made a concise sketch1 when ,i compared them with those which are imposed by civil laws4 ,it is then only1 after having retraced ourselves the entire system of our duties1 it is only after having compared them with the conventions softened by fashionable society1 that we are in a state to judge1 if the conduct of persons1 disengaged from every religious tie1 ought to be given as an example1 and if their morality can suffice for all the circumstances of life4 ,but in admitting1 for a moment1 this supposition1 we should not have a right to draw any deduction contrary to the truths1 which ,i have endeavoured to establish2 for all those who free themselves at a certain age1 from the yoke of religion1 have been at least prepared by it to respect virtue4 ,principles inculcated early in life1 have a great influence on the human heart1 a long time even after our understanding has rejected the reasoning which served as the basis of those principles3 the soul1 formed when the reason begins to dawn1 to the love of order1 and sustained in this disposition by the force of habit1 never entirely loses this principle4 ,so that1 whatever be the opinions adopted when the judgment is formed1 it is slowly1 and by degrees1 that these opinions act on the character and direct the conduct4 ,besides1 while religion maintains amongst the greater number of men1 a profound respect for morality1 those who reject these sentiments know1 nevertheless1 that probity leads to esteem1 and to the various advantages which depend on it4 ,of course1 a virtuous atheist merely makes us recollect1 that he lives where virtue is respected2 and it is not the inefficacy1 but1 on the contrary1 the indirect influence of religious opinions1 which his conduct demonstrates to me4 ,i think ,i see1 in a beautiful piece of mechanism1 a small part broken off from the chain1 and which maintains its place1 by the force still subsisting of general equilibrium4 ,what6 would you have need of religion to be an honest man8 ,here is an interrogative1 with which they hope to embarrass those who wish to preserve to morality its best support2 and the dread that some have of not giving an honourable idea of their sentiments1 induces them to reply with quickness1 that certainly they should not need the check of religion1 and that the dictates of their heart would always be sufficient to direct them4 ,this answer is undoubtedly very respectable2 but for my part1 ,i avow1 ,i should merely say1 that virtue has so many charms1 when it has been a long time practised1 that a truly sensible man would continue to be just1 even when every religious sentiment was annihilated2 but that it is uncertain whether1 with a political education1 his principles might have been the same2 and ,i should add further1 that no one1 perhaps1 could be certain1 that he would have sufficient strength to resist a revolution of ideas similar to those that we have just supposed1 were he to fall at the same time into a state of misery and dejection1 which would make him revolt at the enjoyments and the triumphs of others4 ,it is always in a like situation1 that it is necessary to place ourselves1 to judge properly of certain questions2 for all those who enjoy the favours of fortune1 have1 in consequence of this fortunate condition1 fewer objects of envy1 and are less subject to temptations2 and in the midst of the different comforts1 which peaceably surround them1 it is not the principles of others of which they know the want4 ,as for philosophical writers1 if it were amongst them1 that we are to search for the principal defenders of the new opinions1 and if1 at the same time1 their moral conduct was cited as an example1 we should have to observe1 that a retired life1 love of study1 and a constant habit of reflection1 ought to spread a kind of calm over their sentiments2 besides1 delivered up to abstraction1 or preoccupied by general ideas1 they know not all the passions1 and they are seldom personally engaged in those ardent pursuits which stimulate society4 ,they cannot then determine1 with certainty1 what would have been the degree of their resisting force1 if without any other defensive arms than their principles1 and no guide but convenience1 they had to combat against the allurements of fortune and ambition1 which present themselves in every step of our worldly career4 ,they have also1 like all the inventors and the propagators of a new system1 vanity1 which engages them to multiply the number of their disciples3 and how1 in fact1 could they be able to flatter themselves with any success1 if1 in attacking the most respectable opinions1 they had not endeavoured to prove that their doctrines were not in opposition to morality4 ,besides1 it is very necessary1 after having silently sapped the foundation of our dwelling1 that they support for some time the edifice1 were it only while they have with us a common habitation2 were it only during the interval when we should be able to judge in their presence1 of the utility of their instructions3 in short1 very often1 perhaps1 the dupes of their own heart1 they have been induced to believe that1 because they were at the same time irreligious by system1 and just by character and habit1 religion and virtue have not a necessary union2 and if it is true1 that in the grand interests of life1 the slightest doubt has some influence on our actions1 would it be possible1 that at the time when they would seek to shake religious opinions1 even when they are ridiculed in conversation1 that they would still endeavour to preserve a secret connexion with them1 by the propriety of their conduct8 ,it is thus that1 in the disputes of princes1 or in the quarrels of ministers1 the members of the same family have sometimes the art of dividing themselves1 in order1 at all events1 that one of their friends should be in each party4 ,these different reflections ought necessarily to be taken into consideration1 before we give ourselves up to the inferences that they would wish to draw from the manners of irreligious men2 but1 to discredit their arguments1 it is sufficient to observe1 that we cannot make any application of them to the most numerous class of men3 honest atheists have never existed among the commonalty1 religion comprehends all their knowledge in morality2 and if once they were to lose this guide1 their conduct would be absolutely dependent on chance and circumstances4 ,it is still essential to observe1 that1 according to the motives to which we can attribute the relaxation of moral principles1 there exists a great difference between the various characters which attend vicious actions3 a depraved man1 though religious1 does wrong by accident1 through weakness1 and according to the successive transports of his passions2 but the wicked atheist has not a fixed time2 opportunities do not surprise him1 he searches for them1 or waits for them with impatience2 he yields not through the contagion of imitation2 but he takes pleasure in setting an example2 he is not a corrupt fruit1 he is himself the tree of evil4 ,another objection is raised1 but of a very different kind3 they point out the contrast1 frequently perceived1 between the conduct and the religious sentiments of the greater part of men2 an opposition from whence they would wish to conclude1 that these sentiments are not a certain safeguard3 and they add1 to support their argument1 that in examining the belief of all those1 whose licentious life is terminated by an ignomious death1 we perceive that the greater number is composed of people blindly subject to religious opinions4 ,undoubtedly1 these opinions form not1 at all times1 a complete resistance to the different starts of our passions2 but it suffices1 that they may be the most efficacious4 ,there has been1 and there ever will be1 vicious men in the bosom of society1 even where religion has the greatest influence2 for it acts not on us like a mechanical force1 by weights1 levers1 and springs1 of which we can calculate exactly the power2 it is not an arbitrary modification of our nature2 but we are enlightened1 guided1 and animated1 according to our dispositions and sensibility1 and according to the degree of our own efforts in the numerous conflicts which we have to sustain2 it would be then an evident piece of treachery1 to attack religion1 by drawing a picture of the vices and crimes1 from which it has not been able to guard society1 instead of fixing our attention on all the disorders which it checks or prevents4 ,they would be equally wrong1 who represent the general languor of religion1 as a proof that it has1 in our time1 very little influence on morality2 it would be necessary rather to remark1 how great must have been that power1 which even in the decline of its force is still sufficient to concur to the maintenance of public order2 we should be authorized to say1 how valuable is the whole1 when we receive so much advantage from a part8 ,in short1 the consequence that they would wish to draw from the opinions1 and from the faith of wretches sinking under the sword of justice1 in an abuse of reasoning3 men termed religious1 forming the major part of the populace1 we must among them necessarily meet the greater number of malefactors2 in the same manner that we are sure to find1 in this class1 more men of a particular age1 stature1 or complexion2 but1 if they have a right to use such an argument to censure a religious education1 they might1 with the same reason1 contest the salubrity of breast milk1 alledging1 that many sick and dying persons have received this nourishment4 ,we should never confound a common circumstance with a general cause2 these are two ideas absolutely distinct4 ,there are other objections which equally deserve to be discussed2 but they will find a place1 with more propriety1 after the chapter where1 ,i shall examine1 under different heads1 the influence of religious opinions on our happiness4 ,you have seen1 and you will perceive still more1 in the progress of this work1 that ,i do not endeavour to elude difficulties2 for before ,i determined to defend1 according to my abilities1 a cause which ,i could wish to render dear to mankind1 ,i carefully studied the means2 and after having fortified myself against the systems opposite to my sentiments1 ,i fear not to examine the motives which serve to support them4 ,,chap4 ,v4 ,the ,influence of ,religious ,principles on our ,happiness4 ,as we have shown the close connexion of morality with religious opinions1 we have already pointed out the principal relation of these opinions with public good1 since the repose and interior tranquillity of society essentially depend on the maintenance of civil order1 and the exact observance of the laws of justice4 ,but a great part of human happiness does not arise from the community3 thus1 the benefits religion imparts would be very imperfect1 if they were not extended to our most intimate sentiments1 if they were not useful in those secret conflicts of different affections which agitate our souls1 and which pre-occupy our thoughts4 ,religion is very far from deserving this reproach2 that which raises it indeed above every kind of legislation is1 that it influences equally public good and private happiness4 ,we ought to examine this truth2 but to do it philosophically1 we must necessarily contemplate1 and pry into our nature1 and examine1 for a moment1 into the first causes of the enjoyments or the anxieties of our minds4 ,men1 when they have advanced a few steps in the world1 and as soon as their intellectual faculties begin to open1 extend their views1 and live in the future2 sensual pleasures and bodily pain only detain them in the present2 but in the long intervals which exist between the renewal of these sensations1 it is by anticipation and memory that they are happy or miserable2 and recollection is only interesting1 as it is perceived to keep up the connexion between the past and future4 ,undoubtedly1 the influence of the future1 on all our moral affections1 escapes often our notice2 to cite some examples of this truth1 we believe1 that only the present moment produces happiness1 when we receive elogiums1 obtain some mark of distinction1 or are informed of an unexpected augmentation of our fortune2 and still more1 when we are pleased with the sport of our imagination1 or the discoveries of our reason in our closet or in conversation4 ,these enjoyments1 and many others similar1 we call present happiness2 though there is not any one of them which does not owe its value1 and even reality1 to the single idea of futurity4 ,in fact1 respect1 applause1 the triumphs of self-love1 the forerunners of fame1 and even fame itself1 are the acquisitions which education and habit have rendered precious1 in exhibiting always beyond them some other advantage1 of which these first were only the symbols4 ,often1 indeed1 the last object of our ambition is but an enjoyment of opinion1 the confused image of some possession more real4 ,every where we see vague hopes hurry away our imagination2 we see the expected good1 the immediate end of our meditation1 or the obscure motive of the estimation we annex to the various satisfactions1 of which our present happiness is composed4 ,thus1 indirectly1 and almost unknown to ourselves1 all is in perspective in our moral existence2 and it is by this reasoning that1 always deluded1 we are seldom perfectly deceived4 ,subjected by long habit1 it is in vain that we would wish to separate the imaginary advantages of opinion from the delusions of hope which surround them1 and by which we have been seduced all our life4 ,there is but a small part of the moral system1 which we cannot make agree with this manner of explaining the principal cause of our pleasures and of our pains4 ,i am very far1 however1 from wishing to make the sentiments1 which unite men by the charm of friendship1 depend on the same principle2 and which have such an essential influence on their happiness4 ,all is real in these affections1 since they are a simple association of ourselves to others1 and them to us2 in this view it may be considered as1 in some measure1 prolonging our own existence2 but this division1 so intimate1 of the good and evil of life1 does not destroy their essence4 ,friendship doubles our pleasures and our comforts2 and it is by the close alliance of two sympathizing souls that we are fortified against all events2 but it is always with the same passions that it is necessary to combat2 thus whether we remain solitary1 or live in others1 the future preserves its influence over us4 ,if such is1 however1 our moral nature1 that the object of our wishes will always be at some distance2 if our thoughts1 like the course of the waves1 are ever active1 and pressing forward2 if our present enjoyments have a secret tie with the imaginary advantages of opinion1 of which the last term is still a fleeting shadow2 in short1 if all is future in the fate of man2 with what interest1 with what love1 with what respect1 ought we not to consider this beautiful system of hope1 of which religious opinions are the majestic foundation6 ,what encouragement they present6 ,what an end to all other ends6 ,what a grand and precious idea1 by its connexion with the most intimate and general sentiment1 the desire of prolonging our existence6 ,that which men dread most1 is the image of an eternal annihilation2 the absolute destruction of all the faculties which compose their being1 is for them the downfall of the whole universe2 and they are anxious to seek for a refuge against this overwhelming thought4 ,undoubtedly1 it is according to nature1 according to the degree of strength of their religious opinions1 that men seize with more or less confidence the hopes which they give1 and the recompense they promise2 but1 doubt and obscurity have a powerful action1 while supreme happiness is the object2 for even in the affairs of this life1 the grandeur of the prize offered to our ambition excites still more our ardour1 than the probability of success4 ,but where should we fix1 where attach the slightest hope1 if even the idea of a ,god1 this first prop of religion1 was ever destroyed2 if1 from the infancy of men1 we did not present to their reflection1 that worldly considerations are as transient as themselves2 and if1 early in life1 they were humbled in their own eyes2 if men applied themselves to stifle the internal sentiments1 which inform them of the spirituality of their souls8 ,discouraged in this manner1 by the first principles of their education1 slackened in all the movements which carry thier reflections into futurity1 they would often take retrospective views3 the past recalling an irreparable loss1 would too much captivate their attention2 and their minds1 in the midst of time1 would no more be in a necessary equilibrium to enjoy the present moment2 in short1 this moment1 which is not1 in reality1 but an imperceptible fraction1 would appear almost nothing to our eyes1 if it were not united in our contemplations1 to the unknown number of days and years which are before us4 ,it is then1 because that there is nothing limited in the ideas of happiness and duration1 with which religious sentiments impress us1 that our imagination is not forced to recoil on itself1 when it is insensibly lost in the immensity of futurity4 ,when1 in following the course of a noble river1 a vast horizon is presented to our view1 we turn not our observation on the sandy banks we are coasting3 but if1 changing our situation1 or twilight narrowing this horizon1 our attention was turned on the barren flat we are near2 then only we should remark all its dryness and sterility4 ,it is the same in the career of life3 when the grand ideas of infinity elevate our thoughts and our hopes1 we are less affected by the weariness and difficulties strewed in our path2 but1 if changing our principles1 a gloomy philosophy were to obscure our perspective1 our whole attention drawn back on the surrounding objects1 we should then very distinctly discover the void and illusion of the satisfactions of which our moral nature is susceptible4 ,let us recollect1 then1 all the happiness which we owe to religious sentiments and obvious reflections1 which1 in attracting us continually towards the future1 seem willing to save from the present moment the purest part of ourselves2 these are1 without our perceiving it1 the enchantments of the moral world2 if it were possible that1 by cold reasoning1 we at length destroyed them1 a sad melancholy would ally itself to most of our reflections2 and it would seem as if a winding-sheet had taken place of that transparent veil1 through which the prospects of life are embellished4 ,undoubtedly1 there would be still some charm in the days of youth1 when the pleasures of the senses press on us1 and fill a considerable time2 but when the passions are tempered by age1 when our strength has been broken by years1 or prematurely attacked by sickness2 in short1 when the time is arrived1 when men are constrained to seek1 in the principles of morality1 the chief support of their happiness2 what would become of them1 if those hopes and opinions were dissipated1 which afford solid comfort and encouragement2 and if an imagination1 thus active1 were weakened1 which enlivens all the objects that anticipation can reach8 ,reflect1 then1 with attention1 on the different consequences which would be the fatal train of the annihilation of religious opinions2 it is not a single idea1 a single view1 that men would lose2 it would be1 besides1 the interest and the charm of all their desires and ambition4 ,there is nothing indifferent1 when our actions and designs can be in any respect attached to a duty2 there is nothing indifferent1 when the exercise and the improvement of our faculties appear the commencement of an existence1 whose termination is unknown3 but1 when this period offers itself on all sides to our view1 when we approach it every moment1 what strong illusion would be sufficient to defend us from a sad despondency8 ,strictly circumscribed in the space of life1 its limits would be in such a manner present to our mind1 to every sentiment and enterprize perhaps1 that we should be tempted to examine1 what it is which can merit1 on our part1 an assiduous research2 what it is which deserves close and painful application4 ,indeed1 fame itself1 which is called immortal1 would no more hurry us on in the same manner1 if we had a secret conviction1 that it cannot grow1 rise1 subsist1 but in such portions of space1 and such durations of time1 as our imagination cannot conceive4 ,it is necessary1 that the uncertain future be still our country1 in order that we should be able to feel that unquiet love of a long celebrity1 and those ardent impulses towards great things which is the salutary effect of it4 ,we deceive ourselves then1 ,i think1 when we accuse religion of necessarily rendering the business and the pleasures of the world uninteresting2 its chief pleasures1 on the contrary1 are derived from religion1 from those ideas of eternity1 which it presents to our mind1 which serve to sustain the enchantments of hope1 and the sense of those duties of which our moral nature is ingeniously composed4 ,religious opinions are perfectly adapted to our nature1 to our weaknesses and perfections2 they come to our succour in our real difficulties1 and in those which the abuse of our foresight creates4 ,but in what is grand and elevated in our nature1 it sympathizes most3 for1 if men are animated by noble thoughts2 if they respect their intelligence1 their chief ornament2 if they are interested about the dignity of their nature1 they will fly1 with transport1 to bow before religion1 which ennobles their faculties1 preserves their strength of mind1 and which1 through its sentiments1 unites them to ,him1 whose power astonishes their understanding4 ,it is then that1 considering themselves as an emanation of the ,infinite ,being1 the commencement of all things1 they will not let themselves be drawn aside by a philosophy1 whose sad lessons tend to persuade us1 that reason1 liberty1 all this immaterial essence of ourselves1 is the mere result of a fortuitous combination1 and an harmony without intelligence4 ,we have never perhaps observed1 with sufficient attention1 the different kinds of happiness which would be destroyed1 or at least sensibly weakened1 if this discouraging doctrine was ever propagated4 ,what would then become of the most sublime of all sentiments1 that of admiration1 if1 instead of the grand view of the universe1 far from reviving the idea of a ,supreme ,being1 we retraced only a vast existence1 but without design1 cause1 or destination2 and if the astonishment of our minds was itself but one of the spontaneous accidents of blind matter8 ,what would become of the pleasure which we find in the developement1 exercise1 and progress of our faculties1 if this intelligence1 of which we love to glory1 was only the result of chance1 and if all our ideas were but a mere obedience to the eternal law of motion2 if our liberty was but a fiction1 and if we had not1 if ,i may say so1 any possession of ourselves8 ,what would become then of that active spirit of curiosity1 whose charm excites us to observe continually the wonders with which we are surrounded1 and which inspires1 at the same time1 the desire of penetrating1 in some measure1 into the mystery of our existence1 and the secret of our origin8 ,certainly it would little avail us to study the course of nature1 if this science could only teach us to comprehend the afflicting particulars of our mechanical slavery3 a prisoner cannot be pleased to draw the form of his fetters1 or reckon the links of his chains4 ,but how beautiful is the world1 when it is represented to us as the result of a single and grand thought1 and when we find every where the stamp of an eternal intelligence2 and how pleasing to live with the sentiments of astonishment and adoration deeply impressed on our hearts6 ,but what a subject of glory are the endowments of the mind1 when we can consider them as a participation of a sublime nature1 of which ,god alone is the perfect model4 ,and how delightful then to yield to the ambition of elevating ourselves still more1 by exercising our thoughts and improving all our faculties6 ,in short1 how many charms has the observation of nature1 when1 at every new discovery1 we believe we advance a step towards an acquaintance with that exalted wisdom which has prescribed laws to the universe1 and maintains it in harmony6 ,it is then1 and only then1 that the study is truly interesting1 and the progress of knowledge becomes an increase of happiness4 ,yes1 under the influence of opinions1 arising from the notions of materialists1 all is languishing in our curiosity1 all is mere instinct in our admiration1 all is fictitious in the sentiments which we have of ourselves2 but with the idea of a ,god1 all is lively1 all is reasonable and true3 in short1 this happy and prolific idea appears as necessary to the moral nature of man1 as heat is to plants and to all the vegetable world4 ,you may think1 perhaps1 that in examining the influence of religion on happiness1 ,i have dwelt on several considerations1 which are not of equal importance to all men2 there are1 indeed1 some more particularly adapted to that part of society1 whose minds are improved by education2 but ,i am very far from wishing to divert a moment my attention from the numerous class of the inhabitants of the earth1 whose happiness and misery arises from a simple idea1 proportioned to the extent of their interests and reflections4 ,those who seem to have a more pressing and constant need of the assistance of religion1 have been left by the misfortunes of their parents to the wide world1 devoid of property1 and deprived also of those resources which depend on education4 ,this class of men1 condemned to hard labour1 are1 as it were1 confined in a rough and uniformly barren path1 where every day resembles the last1 where they have not any confused expectations1 or flattering illusion to divert them3 they know that there is a wall of separation between them and fortune2 and if they carried their views in life forward1 they would only discover the dreadful state any infirmity would reduce them to2 and the deplorable situation to which they might be exposed1 by the cruel neglect which attends old age4 ,with what transport1 in this situation1 would they not catch at the comfortable hopes which religion presents6 ,with what satisfaction would they not learn1 that after this probationary state1 where so much disproportion overwhelmed them1 there would come a time of equality6 ,what would be their complaints1 if they were to renounce a sentiment which still conforms itself1 for their advantage1 to a general idea1 the only one1 in short1 of which they can make use in all events and circumstances of life4 ,it is ,god's will1 they say to themselves1 and this first thought supports their resignation3 ,god will recompense you1 ,god will return it to you1 say they to others1 when they receive alms2 and these words remind them1 that the ,god of the rich and powerful is also theirs2 and that far from being indifferent to their fate1 ,he deigns ,himself to discharge their obligations4 ,how many other popular expressions continually recal the same sentiment of confidence and consolation4 ,it is this continual relation of the poor with the ,deity which raises them in their own eyes1 and which prevents their sinking under the weight of contempt with which they are oppressed1 and gives them sometimes courage to resist the pride of earthly greatness4 ,what grander effect could be produced by an idea so simple8 ,thus1 among the different things which characterise religion1 ,i remark1 above all1 what seems more particularly the seal of a divine hand2 it is1 that the moral advantages1 of which religion is the source1 resembling the grand blessings of nature1 belong equally to all men2 and as the sun1 in the distribution of its rays1 observes neither rank nor fortune1 in the same way those comforting sentiments1 which are connected with the conception of a ,supreme ,being1 and the hopes united to it1 become the property of the poor as well as the rich1 of the weak as well as the powerful1 and can be as securely enjoyed under the lowly roof of a cottage1 as in a superb palace4 ,it is civil laws which increase1 or give a sanction to the inequality of possessions2 and it is religion which sweetens the bitterness of this hard disproportion4 ,we could not avoid feeling a compassion as painful as well founded1 if1 in considering attentively the fate of the greater number of men1 we supposed them all at one stroke deprived of the only thought which supported their courage2 they would no more have a ,god to confide their sorrows with2 they would no more attend his ordinances to search for the sentiments of resignation and tranquillity2 they would have no motive for raising their looks to heaven2 their eyes would be cast down1 fixed for ever on this abode of grief1 of death1 and eternal silence4 ,then despair would even stifle their groans1 and all their reflections preying on themselves1 would only serve to corrode their hearts2 then those tears which they have a satisfaction in shedding1 and which are attracted by the tender persuasion1 that there exists some where commiseration and goodness1 these consoling tears would no more moisten their eyes4 ,who has not seen1 sometimes1 those veteran soldiers1 who are prostrate here and there on the pavement of a sanctuary1 erected in the midst of their august retreat8 ,their hair1 which time has whitened2 their forehead marked with honourable scars2 that tottering step1 which age only could impress on them1 all inspire at first respect2 but by what sentiments are we not affected1 when we see them lift up and join with difficulty their weak hands1 to invoke the ,god of the universe1 of their heart and mind2 when we see them forget1 in this interesting devotion1 their present pains and past griefs2 when we see them rise with a countenance more serene1 and expressive of the tranquillity and hope devotion has infused through their souls4 ,complain not in those moments1 you who judge of the happiness of this world only from its enjoyments2 their looks are humbled1 their body trembles1 and death awaits their steps2 but this inevitable end1 whose image only terrifies us1 they see coming without alarm2 they1 through religion1 have approached ,him who is good1 who can do every thing1 whom none ever loved without receiving comfort4 ,come and contemplate this sight1 you who despise religion1 you who term yourselves superior2 come and see the real value of your pretended knowledge for promoting happiness4 ,change the fate of men1 and give them all1 if you can1 some portion of the enjoyments of life1 or respect a sentiment which serves them to repulse the injuries of fortune2 and since even the policy of tyrants has never dared to destroy it1 since their power would be insufficient to enable them to succeed in the savage attempt1 you1 to whom nature has given superior endowments1 be not more cruel1 more inexorable than they2 or if1 by a pitiless doctrine1 you wish to deprive the old1 the sick1 and the indigent1 of the only idea of happiness which they can apply to1 go from prison to prison1 and to those dreary cells1 where the wretched prisoners struggle with their chains1 and shut with your own hands1 if you have the heart to do it1 the only aperture through which any ray of light can reach them4 ,it is not1 however1 a single class of society which derives an habitual assistance from religion1 it is all those who have to complain of the abuse of authority1 of public injustice1 and the different vicissitudes of their fate2 it is the innocent man who is condemned1 the virtuous man who is slandered1 the man who has once acted inconsistently1 and been censured with too much rigour2 all those1 in short1 who1 convinced of the purity of their own conscience1 seek for1 above all1 a secret witness of their intentions1 and an enlightened judge of their conduct4 ,a man of an exalted character1 endowed with sensibility of heart1 experiences also the necessity of forming to himself an image of an unknown ,being1 to which he can unite all the ideas of perfection which fill his imagination2 it is to ,him that he refers those different sentiments1 which are useless amidst the corruptions which surround him2 it is in ,god alone that he can find an inexhaustible subject of astonishment and adoration2 and with ,him alone can he renew and purify his sentiments1 when he is wearied with the sight of the vices of the world1 and the habitual return of the same passions4 ,in short1 at every instant the happy idea of a ,god softens and embellishes our path through life1 and by it we associate ourselves with delight to all the beauties of nature2 by it every thing animated enters into communication with us2 yes1 the noise of the wind1 the murmurs of the water1 the peaceable agitation of plants1 all serves to support1 or melt our souls1 provided that our thoughts can rise to a universal cause1 provided we can discover every where the works of ,him whom we love1 provided we can distinguish the vestiges of ,his footsteps and the traces of ,his intentions2 and1 above all1 if we can suppose1 that we ourselves contribute to the display of ,his power1 and the splendour of ,his goodness4 ,but it is principally over the enjoyments of friendship that piety spreads a new charm2 bounds1 limits1 cannot agree with the sentiment which is as infinite as thought1 it would not subsist1 at least would be troubled with continual anxiety2 we should not consider without terror the revolution of years and the rapid course of time1 if those benevolent opinions1 which enlarge for us the future1 did not come to our assistance4 ,thus1 when we find ourselves separated from the objects of our affection1 lonely meditations bring them back to aid the general idea of happiness1 which1 more or less1 distinctly terminates our view2 then the tender melancholy1 in which one is lost1 is changed into pleasing emotions3 and you have1 above all1 need of those precious opinions1 you1 who1 timid in a bustling world1 or discouraged by disappointments1 find yourself a solitary wanderer on the earth1 because you partake not of the passions which agitate the greater part of mankind6 ,you want a friend1 and you only see pecuniary associations2 you want a comforter1 and you only see the ambitious1 strangers to all those who have not power or a distinguished reputation2 a tender confident is at least necessary1 and the active scenes of society disperses the affections and diminishes every interest4 ,in short1 when you have this friend1 this confident1 this comforter2 when you have acquired it by the most tender union2 when you live in a son1 a husband1 or a cherished wife1 what other idea1 but that of a ,god1 can come to your relief1 when the frightful image of a separation presents itself to your thoughts8 ,it is1 indeed1 in such moments that we embrace with transport all those opinions which tend to foster the idea of continuity and duration8 ,how gladly then we lend an ear to those words of comfort which are so perfectly consonant with the desires and the wants of our soul6 ,what association of ideas1 so frightful as that of the eternal annihilation of life and love8 ,how can we unite to that soft division of interests and of sentiments1 to that charm of our days2 how can we unite to so much of existence and happiness1 the internal persuasion and habitual image of a death without hope1 a destruction without return8 ,how can we offer only the idea of oblivion to those affectionate minds1 who have centred all their self-love1 all their ambition in the object of their esteem and tenderness2 and who1 after having renounced themselves1 are1 as it were1 deposited entirely in the bosom of another1 to subsist there by the same breath of life and the same destiny8 ,in short1 near the tomb1 which1 perhaps1 they will one day bedew with their tears1 how can they pronounce the overwhelming words1 forever6--forever6--,oh6 horrors of horrors1 both for the mind and feelings6 and if it be necessary that the contemplations of a man of feeling approach a moment to the frightful confines1 let a benevolent cloud at least cover the dark abyss6 ,tears and sorrow still afford some comfort1 when we give them to a beloved shade1 when we can mix with our griefs the name of a ,god1 and when this name appears to you the cement of all nature3 but if in the universe all was deaf to our voice2 if no echoes were to repeat our plaints2 if the shades of eternal darkness had hid from us the object of our love1 and if they were advancing to drag us into the same night2 if he is the most unhappy being1 he who survives1 and cannot even hope1 that what death has severed will again be united2 if1 when his whole soul was filled with the recollection of a loved object1 he could not say1 he is in some place1 his heart so affectionate1 his soul so pure and heavenly waits for me1 and calls me perhaps to be near that unknown ,being1 whom we have1 with common consent1 adored2 and if1 instead of a thought so dear1 it was necessary1 without any doubt1 to consider the earth as a sepulchre forever shut--my heart dies within me--unable to contend with the dreadful images1 the universe itself seems to dissolve1 and overwhelm us in its downfall4 ,o source of so many hopes1 sublime idea of a ,god6 abandon not the man who has sensibility2 ,thou art his courage1 ,thou art his futurity1 ,thou art his life2 leave him not desolate1 and1 above all1 defend him from the ascendency of a barren and fatal philosophy1 which would afflict his heart by pretending to comfort it4 ,well1 ,i make another effort1 and ,i address myself to you1 who boast of being enlightened by a fresh ray of wisdom4 ,i am lost in the most profound grief2 a father1 a mother1 who guided me by their counsels1 and watched over me by their tenderness1 these protecting parents have just been taken from me2 a son1 a daughter1 both my comfort and pride1 have been cut off in the prime of youth2 a faithful companion1 whose words1 sentiments1 and actions1 were the support of my life1 has vanished from my arms2--a moment of strength remains with me1 ,i come to you1 ye philosophers2 what have you to say8--8,seek for dissipation1 turn your thoughts to some other object1 an abyss not to be fathomed separates thee for ever from the objects of thy tenderness2 and these recollections1 which pierce thee through with so many sorrows1 they are only a form of vegetation1 the last play of organized matter40 ,alas6 have you ever loved1 and can you pronounce tranquilly these cruel words6 ,banish far from me such consolations1 ,i dread them more than my anguish4 ,and thou1 ,o daughter of heaven1 lovely and mild religion1 what wouldst thou say8 ,hope1 hope2 8what ,god gave thee--,he can again restore40 ,what a difference between these two languages6 ,one abases1 the other exalts us6 ,it is left to men to choose1 amongst their different guides1 or rather to determine1 whether they prefer darkness to light1 death to life2 whether they prefer blighting winds to refreshing dews2 the frost of winter to the charms of spring2 and the insensible stone to the most brilliant gifts of animated nature4 ,i will say it3 the world1 without the idea of a ,god1 would be only a desert1 embellished by a few delusions2--yet man1 disenchanted by the light of reason1 would find nothing throughout but subjects of sadness4 ,i have seen them1 the dreams of ambition1 the allurements of fame1 and the vain shews of grandeur2 and even when the illusion was most dazzling1 my heart always retired into itself1 and was attracted to an idea more grand1 to a consolation more substantial2 ,i have experienced1 that the idea of the existence of a ,supreme ,being threw a charm over every circumstance of life2 ,i have found1 that this sentiment alone was able to inspire men with true dignity3 for every thing which is merely personal is of little value1 all that places some an inch high above others2 it is necessary1 in order to have any reason to glory1 that1 at the same time we exalt ourselves1 we elevate human nature2 we must refer it to that sublime intelligence1 which seems to have dignified it with some of its attributes4 ,we then hardly perceive those trivial distinctions which are attached to transitory things1 on which vanity exercises her sway2 it is then that we leave to this queen of the world her rattle and toys1 and that we search elsewhere another portion2 it is then also that virtue1 exalted sentiments1 and grand views1 appear the only glory of which man ought to be jealous4 ,,chap4 ,,vi4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,the ,influence of ,virtue on ,happiness4 ,it is not sufficient to have demonstrated1 that religion1 so necessary to feeling minds1 agrees perfectly with the moral nature of men2 it is still necessary to observe1 that the habitual exercise of virtue1 enjoined as a duty in the name of ,god1 is not in opposition with happiness2 and after having considered a truth so important1 ,i will prove1 that it is not contrary to what has been said in the first chapter of this work1 on the impossibility of making men attentive to public order1 only by the motive of personal interest4 ,we cannot deny1 that virtue often obliges us to conquer our appetites1 and struggle with our passions2 but if these conflicts1 and the victory which attends them1 lead to more solid and durable satisfactions1 than those which folly and vice portrays the image of1 they would misconceive the restrictions of morality1 who perpetually united the idea of self-denial with that of a sacrifice4 ,we cannot fix our attention on the various objects of desire which occupy the thoughts of men1 without seeing clearly1 that if they abandoned themselves1 unrestrained1 to all their wild propensities1 they would often stray far from the state of happiness which forms the object of their wishes4 ,any of the blessings1 strewed here and there in our path1 cannot fill the void of life4 ,are they the gratifications of the senses which captivate us8 ,their duration is determined by our weakness2 and we cannot break loose from the immutable limits opposed by nature4 ,are they the advantages dependent on opinion that we look for1 such as honour and praise2 or the exterior splendour1 which fortune gives8 ,you will soon perceive1 that quickly after they are obtained the charm is flown2 they resemble ,proteus in the fable1 who only appeared a ,god at a distance4 ,men then have more need than is supposed of an interest independent of their senses and imagination2 and this interest we find in the duties morality inculcates and establishes4 ,in all times1 in all circumstances1 we have a choice between good and evil3 thus1 virtue may be continually in a state of action1 and we may find the application of it even in the most apparently indifferent relations of life1 because virtue only has the privilege of connecting little things to a great object2 and that it can only be encouraged by conscience1 which1 in accompanying all our actions and meditations1 seems to augment our existence1 and procure those satisfactions which are not known to the crowd who do not act from principle4 ,sensual pleasures1 the desires of vanity1 the longings of ambition1 would soon extinguish themselves1 if they were not fed by the continual activity of society1 which produces new scenes1 and displays every moment some changes of decoration4 ,virtue1 satisfied with its views1 has not need of a succession of similar desires2 its paths are varied1 but the end is ever the same4 ,we cannot search for the enjoyments of life in the imaginary advantages of opinion1 without allowing others to construct the laws on which our happiness is founded2 and of course discord must result1 which leaves us a prey to every kind of emotion4 ,virtue has not any associates in her counsels1 she judges herself of all that is good2 and in this respect a virtuous man is the most independent of all beings1 for it is from himself alone that he receives commands1 and expects approbation4 ,yes1 the obscure man1 who does good in secret1 is more master of his destiny1 than the being ever will be who seems loaded with all the favours of fortune1 and has need1 that fashion and transient gratifications come to determine his taste1 and give laws to his vanity1 to enable him to enjoy them ,the little passions of the world1 trying to render us happy1 lead us on from one illusion to another1 and the last boundary always appears at a distance4 ,virtue1 very different1 has its recompenses within itself3 it is not in events nor in uncertain success that it places contentment2 it is even in our resolution1 in the calmness which accompanies it1 and the secret sentiment which precedes it4 ,recollection ever composes the principal happiness of virtue1 whilst worldly vanity is tormented by the remembrance of what is gone for ever2 and with regard to the passions in general1 the past is but a gloomy shadow1 out of which proceed1 from time to time1 sorrow and remorse4 ,the intervals which occur between the starts of violent passions1 are almost always filled by sadness and apathy2 we all know1 according to the laws of nature1 that lively and ardent sensations produce languor the moment the tumult is over4 ,virtue1 in the enjoyment of those pleasures peculiar to itself1 knows nothing of those irregular emotions1 because all its principles are firm1 and it acts round its own centre2 besides1 it also invites us continually to set a just value on that happiness which is most proper for us2 it dictates its first laws in the bosom of domestic life1 and employs all its strength to sustain1 by the ties of duty1 our most rational and simple affections4 ,virtue1 which is the offspring of religion1 is of the greatest use in delivering men from the tormenting solicitude of doubt1 by presenting a general system of conduct2 and above all1 by marking fixed points to direct them1 by telling them what to love1 choose1 and do4 ,thus1 whilst men1 carried away by their imagination1 continually allow that they are deceived by phantoms1 and lend the most glowing colours to those which have just escaped them1 virtue sets no value but on what it possesses1 and knows not regret4 ,it would seem1 at the first glance1 that the desires and caprices of the imagination cannot agree with any kind of restraint2 however1 it is not less true1 that these trifling forerunners of our will have need of a guide1 and often of a master2 our first inclinations and sentiments are frequently uncertain1 weak1 and wavering2 it is of consequence to our happiness1 that this trembling stalk should be fixed and supported2 and such is the service virtue renders to the human mind4 ,we see not any uniformity in the conduct of those who are not influenced by motives of duty2 they have too many things to regulate1 too many to decide about every instant1 when convenience is their only guide3 to simplify the management of ourselves1 we should submit to the government of a principle1 which may be easily applied to most of our deliberations4 ,in short1 virtue has this great advantage1 that it finds its happiness in a kind of respect for the rights and claims of the different members of the community1 and that all its sentiments seem to unite themselves to the general harmony4 ,the passions1 on the contrary1 are almost always hostile2 the vain man desires that others should grace his triumphs2 the proud wishes them to feel their inferiority2 the ambitious1 that they keep clear of his pursuit2 the imperious1 that they bend to him4 ,it is the same of the different competitions1 which an excessive love of praise1 high reputation1 or fortune1 gives birth to2 in the path they choose every one would wish to go alone1 or advance before all the rest1 and occupied about their own interest1 they clash inconsiderately with those of others4 ,virtue1 very different in following its course1 fears neither rivals nor competitors2 it does not jostle with any one1 the road is spacious1 and all may walk at their ease2 it is an orderly alliance1 of which morality is the knot1 drawing together1 by the same motives and hopes held in common1 that chain of duties and sentiments which unite the virtues of men to the ideal model of all perfection4 ,virtue1 which guards us from the snares of our senses1 and checks our blind desires1 is besides the basis of the most precious wisdom2 but it is not the interest of a day1 or the pleasures of a moment1 that it protects1 it is the whole of life1 that it takes under its superintendency2 it is1 to speak metaphorically1 the vindicator of futurity1 the representative of duration1 and becomes1 to the feelings1 what foresight is to the mind4 ,we must then1 with respect to private manners1 consider virtue as a prudent friend1 taught by the experience of all ages1 who directs our steps1 and never lets the flambeau waver1 whose salutary light ought to guide them4 ,our tumultuous passions dispute the honour of partaking the government3 it is necessary a master should assign to each its proper limits1 one who can keep in peace all these petty domestic tyrants2 which reminds us of the image of ,ulysses1 arriving suddenly in the midst of the hundred kings who had taken possession of his palace4 ,virtue1 some will say1 severe in its judgments1 and austere in its forms1 would it not deprive us of the greatest happiness1 the pleasure of being beloved8 ,i reply1 that virtue1 in its most improved state1 has not this character2 ,i represent it to myself as a just sentiment of order1 far from banishing all other comforts1 it leads to them3 thus1 benevolence and forbearance1 which agree so well with human weakness2 the social spirit so consistent with our nature2 urbanity in discourse and manner2 that amiable expression of a heart1 which seeks to unite itself with others2 all these qualities1 very far from being strangers to virtue1 are its attendants and brightest ornament4 ,virtue allies itself to all the ideas which can give extent to our mind1 and early in life accustoms us to discern relations1 and to sacrifice frequently our present affections to distant considerations2 it is1 of all our sentiments1 that which carries us farthest out of ourselves1 and consequently has the nearest resemblance with abstract thinking4 ,it is then1 through the assistance of virtue1 that a man acquires all his knowledge of his strength and all his grandeur4 ,vice1 on the contrary1 concentres us in a little space2 it seems to be conscious of its own deformity1 and fears all that surrounds it2 it endeavours to fix on a single object1 on a single moment1 and would wish to have power to draw into a point our whole existence4 ,i must still add1 that virtue1 by uniting a motive to all our actions1 and by directing towards an end all our sentiments1 habituates our mind to order1 and justness of conception2 and prevents our wandering in too great a space3 thus ,i have often thought1 that it was not only by his vices1 that an immoral man is dangerous in the administration of public affairs2 we ought to fear him also as unable to comprehend a whole1 and for his want of capacity to rally all his thoughts and direct them towards any general principle3 every kind of harmony is unknown to him1 every rule is become a burthen2 he is busy1 but only by starts2 and it is by accident that a man1 always versatile1 stumbles on what is right4 ,it may then truly be said1 that morality serves as ballast to our sentiments1 its aid enables us to go on without being agitated continually by the caprices of our imagination1 without being obliged to turn back at the first appearance of an obstacle4 ,virtue then enlarges the mind1 gives dignity to the character1 and invests it with every thing becoming4 ,of all the qualities of men1 the most rare1 the most apt to create respect1 is1 that elevation of thought1 sentiment1 and manners2 that majestic consistency of character which truth alone can preserve1 but which the least exaggeration1 the most trivial affectation1 would disconcert or banish4 ,this resembles not pride1 and still less vanity1 as one of its ornaments is1 that it never seeks for the homage of others3 the man endowed with real dignity1 is placed above even his judges2 he accounts not with them1 he lives under the government of his conscience1 and1 proud of such a noble ruler1 he does not wish for any other dependence3 but as this grandeur is entirely within himself1 it ceases to exist1 when he dictates to others what he expects from them2 it can only be restrained in its just limits by virtues which do not pretend to dazzle4 ,it is to the same principle1 that men owe that noble respect for virtue1 the most graceful ornament of a great soul2 they owe to it also that simplicity in thinking and speaking1 that happy habit of a conscience not in want of being on its guard4 ,a man truly honest considers disguise as a detractor1 and desires to appear as he really is2 it is not his interest to conceal his weaknesses1 for in a generous heart they are almost always united to something good2 and perhaps frankness would have become the policy of his mind1 if it had not been one of the qualities of his character4 ,there is1 in every virtue1 a kind of beauty which charms us without reflection3 our moral sense1 when it is improved by education1 is pleased with that social harmony which the sentiments of justice preserves4 ,these enjoyments are unknown to men1 whose selfishness renders them insensible to every kind of concord1 and they appear to me to deserve our contempt in one essential point2 it is1 that they profit by the respect others have for order1 without being willing to subject themselves to the same rules1 and without declaring publicly their intention2 it seems to me1 that1 in this view1 a defect of morality is indeed a breach of the laws of hospitality4 ,in short1 talents1 those faculties of the mind which belong more immediately to nature1 can never be applied to great things without the aid of morality2 there is no other way of uniting the interest of men1 and of attaining their love and respect4 ,honesty resembles the ancient idioms1 according to which you must know how to speak1 when you wish to be understood by the generality2 and a language is never well known1 but by constant practice4 ,the understanding is sometimes sufficient to acquire an ascendency in circumscribed relations2 you there take men one by one2 and you often engage them by proportioning yourself to their depth3 but on a vast theatre1 and principally in public administration1 where we have need of captivating men in a body1 it is necessary to search for a band which will embrace all2 and it is only by a union of talents and virtue that this chain can be formed4 ,and when ,i see the homage paid by a nation to virtuous characters2 when ,i remark the almost instinctive judgment which assists in discerning them2 when ,i see that they praise and love only what they can connect to pure virtue1 and noble intention1 ,i return to my favourite sentiment1 and believe ,i recognize in these emotions the stamp of a hand divine4 ,after having tried to give a feeble sketch of the various recompenses and different satisfactions which seem to appertain to regularity of principles1 and propriety of conduct1 you will perhaps ask1 if you have not a right to conclude from these reflections1 that we can attach men to morality by the mere motive of personal interest2 ,i have already mentioned1 that ,i intended to answer such an objection1 and now is the time to do it4 ,virtue1 in its most improved state2 virtue1 such as we have just represented1 is not the work of a moment2 it is necessary that it should be called forth and strengthened by degrees2 but it would be nipped when it first begins to unfold itself1 if we destroyed the simple opinions which serve to educate it1 if we overturned the only end which can be perceived by all minds2 and if we weakened the sentiments which connect it with those who respect the laws of morality1 and who promote this cultivation by their commendations and esteem4 ,besides1 it is not virtue only1 but virtue united to different motives1 which contributes to our happiness4 ,this observation is very important1 and with great facility you may be made to feel the full force of it4 ,employment is generally reckoned the surest source of agreeable impressions of which we are susceptible2 but its charm would vanish1 if it did not lead to some recompense1 if it did not show1 in perspective1 an increase of wealth1 an enjoyment for our self-love1 a chance for fame1 or some other advantages of which we are desirous4 ,vainly1 say some1 that the exercise of our faculties is of itself a pleasure2 certainly1 because that it offers to our view a train of prospects which succeed each other4 ,but there must always be a strong motive to direct us to the right road1 and make us set off2 our bark must be driven by the wind2 in short1 every kind of labour requires encouragement1 although this labour1 proportioned to our strength1 may be more favourable to happiness then sloth and idleness2 and this truth would strike us still more1 if we had ability to analyze a sentiment with sufficient attention1 to distinguish clearly the happiness which is annexed to action and employment1 from that which necessarily relates to the end and to the motive of that action4 ,the reflections1 which ,i have just made1 may be applied to virtue2 we can easily1 in studying its different effects1 perceive1 that it is an excellent guide in the course of life2 but we discover1 at the same time1 that it has need1 as well as employment1 of a spur1 a simple encouragement on a par with our understanding3 it is in religion that virtue finds this encouragement1 and we shall not be able to separate it from the motives and hopes it presents1 without disconcerting every connexion it has with human happiness4 ,it will be easy to perceive the great benefit which must arise from morality2 but at the same time it must be remarked1 that to follow its dictates with confidence and firmness1 knowledge and strong powers of reflection are necessarily required in the study of so compounded a truth3 we are then in want of a motive to excite our first effort1 which subjects us to self-denial1 and determines us to struggle with courage against the dominion of the present moment4 ,in short1 even when1 by the art of sophistry1 some philosophers have1 at length1 thrown into confusion the true principles of order and happiness2 when1 by the force of address1 they have led us to doubt about the kind and degree of power which it is necessary to assign to religion1 it should not1 however1 be the legislators of the nation who ought to lend an ear to their subtle distinctions4 ,metaphysical sentiments and ideas are not proper for statesman1 but in their own defence2 to assist them to guard themselves from the ascendency of brilliant errors1 and to confirm the respect due to useful truths3 but when they have to guide minds1 when they wish to excite activity1 it is always1 if they are wise1 the most simple idea that they will make use of2 and they will be very careful not to despise those habitual principles1 to which time1 still more then knowledge1 has given a sanction4 ,these are so many lessons1 which long experience seems to have gradually disengaged from every thing foreign to natural morality and the secret sentiments of men4 ,,chap4 ,,vii4 ,on ,religious ,opinions1 in their ,relation with ,sovereigns4 ,many nations1 either by choice1 or necessity1 have deposited their wills in the hands of an individual2 and have thus erected a perpetual monument to the spirit of discord1 and injustice1 which has so frequently reigned amongst men4 ,it is true1 that from time to time they have wished to recollect that they were capable of knowing themselves their true interest2 but monarchs mistrusting their inconstancy1 have taken care to fortify the springs of authority1 by surrounding themselves with standing armies2 and they have only left them the power of being disgusted with slavery3 soldiers and taxes have supported each other2 and through the assistance of this corresponding action1 they have become masters and directors of every thing4 ,how much good and evil depend on them8 ,we then necessarily wish them to possess a vigorous morality1 proportioned to their immense duties2 but what force will your morality have1 if they perceive at last1 that it is not supported by a divine sanction2 if they consider it as a human institution1 which they have power to break1 and which they are in the habit of modifying8 ,at least they will have the liberty1 like other men1 to examine if their private interest agrees with that of the public1 and their conduct will depend on the result of this calculation4 ,i will acknowledge1 that at the point of elevation1 where kings find themselves placed1 they ought not to be acquainted with those passions which proceed from our petty competitions2 but how many other sentiments have they not to repress8 ,and with what celerity it is necessary to do it2 since they do not experience any contradiction1 they are not1 like us1 obliged to reflect and consider6 ,besides1 though sovereigns are supposed to be sheltered by their situation1 from the irritations of self-love1 and from the desires of fortune and advancement1 they are not1 however1 disengaged from every passion of this kind2 it is towards other princes that they feel them2 and envy1 ambition1 and revenge1 become often very dangerous1 as they associate with these passions those of the nation they govern1 by means of a war4 ,it is then that1 freed from religious ties1 and sure of not accounting with any body1 they would find morality a very ingenious invention1 to render the maintenance of public order more easy1 and to preserve the subordination which secures their power2 but1 would not acknowledge such a master for themselves1 and would dispense with bowing to its dictates4 ,you will say1 undoubtedly1 that a virtuous king would be recompensed by the applause of his subjects3 but ,i have already shown1 that the influence of public opinion would be very weak1 if the principles of morality1 which serve to guide this opinion1 were not supported by religion4 ,we should also observe1 that elogiums and applause1 homage so encouraging to private men1 have not an equal power over princes1 who cannot1 like individuals1 consider this suffrage as an earnest1 or forerunner of exaltation2 it is by the continual view of the advantages and triumphs of others1 that the desire of respect and distinction is continually kept alive2 and it may1 perhaps1 proceed a little from the stimulation of envy1 or at least from those jarring pretentions1 and from those struggles of self-love1 of which society alone is the theatre4 ,princes without rivals are not subject to the same impressions2 and the flattery they have so early imbibed1 and the praises which are lavished on them from the simple motive of hope1 all serve to render them less sensible to deserved applause2 in short1 this exaggerated praise soon becomes a dull monotony1 which extinguishes1 by its uniformity1 that emulation which a just homage sometimes inspires4 ,there would be then great danger in reposing too much on the power of public opinion1 if we were to consider it as a check able to replace with princes the compressing force of religion4 ,i must now make an essential remark3 those who surround a monarch1 often mislead his judgment by the nature and the application of the elogiums which they lavish on him4 ,the praise of men1 in a monarchy1 always has a taint of slavery3 thus1 in such countries1 a look1 a word from the prince1 which seems to efface1 for an instant1 the distance that separates him from his subjects1 delights them2 and their enthusiasm in those moments serves to persuade the monarch1 that it is sufficient for him to smile1 to render his people happy3 dangerous illusion1 sad effect of servility3 in short1 in consequence of the character which is impressed by an habitual yoke1 men are pleased with exalting the power of him to whom they are obliged to submit2 they love to see their servile companions multiplied2 and as the greater part of them have seldom any access to the prince1 vanity persuades them1 that in affecting to partake of the royal grandeur1 they contract a kind of familiarity with it2 therefore1 without reflecting whether it will be more in the power of the sovereign to make them happy1 when1 by enlarging his dominions1 he shall have more subjects1 and of course more duties to fulfil1 they celebrate1 above all1 the conquering warrior1 and thus invite princes to prefer the pursuit of military glory to every other2 and1 as the multitude can quickly comprehend this kind of merit2 as the gaining of a battle is a simple idea1 easily conceived by men of every condition and turn of mind1 it happens1 by this reasoning1 that these triumphs are the most highly extolled2 and even that men1 on account of them1 can excuse every other failure1 broken treaties1 violated oaths1 alliances abandoned--,in short1 such is the mad folly of our praise1 that the tranquillity of the state1 the repose of the people1 the mild benefits of peace1 appear no more than the last consequence of the labours and the success of a monarch2 and even history frequently represents this fortunate time1 as the days of obscurity in which heroes of blood and carnage are educated2 kings1 discontented with their destiny1 are warriors through ambition1 and happy by the victories1 to which we annex our first honours1 and the most noble wreaths of fame4 ,it is thus1 however1 that the prevailing opinion1 and the rumour of renown1 can sometimes deceive princes1 though inconsistent with the instructions of morality and the legislation of yore1 which point out the true interest of the people as the first object of a sovereign's anxious solicitude2 and instead of a sounding name1 and dazzling qualities1 enforce those requisite to form the guardian and protector of the felicity of the public2 duties of a vast extent1 and which are discharged by the secret labours of paternal vigilance1 still more than by the noise of the drum and the instruments of destruction4 ,let us consider1 however1 the influence the opinion of the world will have on sovereigns1 in directing only our views towards the interior functions of administration4 ,an essential observation presents itself at first to the mind3 it is1 that the thirst for glory is especially felt when a great abuse is to be reformed1 and when we can hope to make regularity succeed to confusion2 but when this task is fulfilled1 and that it is only necessary to preserve and support what is good1 the love of renown has not sufficient aliment1 and it is then that the virtue of princes becomes the only faithful guardian of the public interest4 ,a reign1 such as we have formed an idea of1 would carry away from the following ones every subject of dazzling splendour2 and it would be necessary that new troubles and fears re-animated the sentiment of admiration1 to give it its ancient ascendency and original force4 ,we should be able also1 and this picture would be very different1 to figure to ourselves a period1 when1 by the successive degradation of character1 the opinion of the public would no longer indicate the way to fame1 nor resound to excite ambition2 the recompenses it offers would not be a motive sufficiently powerful to influence men4 ,thus1 in a country1 in a metropolis1 where covetousness seemed triumphant1 where every body would appear to pursue that fortune which is only acquired by intrigue1 and the vices of those who bestow it1 respect for the real interest of the people1 and attention to lighten their burthens1 would no longer purchase renown4 ,in like manner1 in a country where despotism reigns1 and the people are accustomed to prostrate themselves before power1 they would acknowledge no other idol2 we should not there be able to acquire a contemporary fame by elevation of character1 by tempering with wisdom the exercise of authority1 and allowing the citizens to enjoy that degree of freedom1 which does not degenerate into licentiousness4 ,it is then morality1 and morality alone1 which comes at all times1 and in all circumstances1 to resist the revolutions of habit and opinion1 of which history furnishes examples1 and of which men are ever susceptible4 ,i ought not to neglect another very important consideration3 princes1 by the elevation of their rank1 and influence on the national manners1 find that they are in that singular situation1 where one is more called to direct the reigning opinion1 than to receive instruction and encouragement from it3 thus we are impelled to wish1 that a monarch should have principles which flow from his heart1 and which depend on his reflections1 from which he may be able to derive1 at all times1 a force properly his own1 a natural courage4 ,it is necessary for a prince to investigate and decide on his own conduct2 and a sublime morality should nourish in his heart an ideal model of perfection1 with which he can continually compare the opinions of the world and the private judgment of his conscience4 ,in short1 and this last reflection which ,i have made will apply1 in a general manner1 to the preceding remarks2 the opinion of the public1 the just complaints of the people1 are sometimes a long while in reaching the prince2 they ring in the kingdom before he hears the rumour2 they wander round the palace1 but the whispers do not reach him2 vanity1 pride1 and every vice excludes them2 the old courtiers sneer1 and the insignificant pursuers of credit or favour amuse themselves by indulging their turn for ridicule4 ,the ministers1 who are followed by the clamour1 are often importuned by it2 and when it reaches their master1 find some method to weaken its impression1 attributing these commotions to private passions1 and giving the name of cabal to a just indignation against vice4 ,yes1 such is the unhappy fate of princes1 that the peace of a state is often tottering1 before the opinion of the world reaches them1 and discovers the truth2 a new consideration1 very proper to convince us1 that the power of opinion can never equal in utility those grand principles of morality1 which1 by the aid of religion1 are fixed1 in the hearts of men1 to give them laws1 without distinction of birth1 rank1 or dignity4 ,but if1 from sovereigns1 we carry our views to those who share their confidence1 we shall perceive still more the absolute necessity of an active and governing morality4 ,ministers1 without virtue1 are more to be feared than sovereigns indifferent to public good2 newly come out of the crowd they know better than the monarch the selfish use that they can make of all the passions and vices2 and as they are connected with society1 as they have a continual relation with the different orders of the state1 their corruptions are propagated1 and their dangerous influence spreads to a great distance4 ,attacked1 nevertheless1 by the public1 they become still more mischievous in their means of warding off danger1 for despairing of disguise before the attentive eyes of a whole people1 they turn their address against the prince2 they study1 they pry into his weaknesses1 and artfully encourage those which may protect or cover the defects of their character2 they apply themselves1 at the same time1 to adorn immorality with every grace which can render it amiable1 and they endeavour to make virtue hateful1 by delineating it as austere1 imperious1 unsociable1 and almost incompatible with our morals and manners3 it is thus that ministers1 not restrained by principles1 occasion not only the misery of a country whilst their influence lasts1 but they poison the source of public felicity1 by weakening in the monarch his sentiments of duty1 diverting his good dispositions1 and discouraging1 if ,i may say so1 his natural virtues4 ,in short1 the picture which ,i have just drawn will produce another important observation3 the prince1 after having wandered out of the path of true glory1 may return1 when he pleases1 to the love of virtue and greatness2 all the avenues are open to him1 all hearts ready to welcome him1 we have an inclination to love him1 and desire to esteem him1 whom fate has placed at the head of the nation2 and who1 invested with the majesty which he borrows from a long train of ancestors1 exhibits himself surrounded by all the enchantments of a diadem2 we adopt with pleasure any interpretation which can excuse his conduct2 we impute to ill counsels the faults which he has committed2 and we are eager to enter with him into a new contract of esteem and hope4 ,it is not the same with ministers2 a like indulgence is not due to them1 because they cannot throw the blame on others1 and all their actions proceed from themselves2 when they have once lost the opinion of the public1 their depravity will increase daily2 because1 to maintain their post they are obliged to redouble their intrigues and dissimulation4 ,i have maturely reflected3 the religion of princes1 of ministers1 of government in general1 is the first source of the happiness of the people2 we despise it1 because it is not our invention1 and we often give the preference to those artifices of the mind1 which seduce us as being our own work2 and perhaps they are wanted1 after having lost sight of this sure and faithful guide1 this companion of true genius1 which1 like it1 prefers easy and simple means4 ,yes1 this exalted virtue1 resembling superior abilities1 rejects equally those weak resources and inventions1 which derive not their origin from an elevated sentiment or grand thought2 and1 whilst one obliges a statesman to respect honour1 justice1 and truth1 the other discovers the union of these principles with the just means which strengthen authority1 and with the true glory and durable success of politics2 in short1 whilst one renders him anxious about the happiness of the people1 the other shows how1 from the bosom of this happiness1 they would see rise insensibly an agreement of interests and of wills1 of whose extensive use we are still ignorant4 ,if we wish to dwell a moment on the private happiness of princes1 we shall readily perceive1 that they have a real want of the encouragement religion affords4 ,their distinguished authority appears1 indeed1 to their mind1 a singular privilege2 they believe this power should extend to every thing1 and they indiscretly endeavour to accelerate the moments of enjoyment2 but as they cannot change the law of nature1 it happens1 that in delivering themselves up to every thing which seduces their imagination1 they experience as quickly the sad langour of indifference1 and the oppression of apathy4 ,kings1 in the exercise of their intellectual faculties are exposed to the same extremes2 providence having placed them on the pinnacle of fortune1 they consequently have not been led from one view to another1 and know not those gradations which actuate their subjects in the name of vanity1 self-love1 or fortune4--,alas6 we obey so quickly1 and their desires are so soon gratified1 that their taste and inclinations cannot be renewed with the quickness necessary to enable them to fill the irksome void which so frequently occurs4 ,if the magnificent end which religion offers were to be obscured1 and if1 henceforth1 we were to consider it as a fallacious illusion1 unworthy of our attention1 kings would soon attain to that term when the future would appear to their mind a barren uniformity1 a space without colour or form4 ,the numerous duties of princes1 undoubtedly1 afford a continual source of satisfaction2 but it is necessary that they should be able to connect all their obligations to a grand idea1 the only one which can constantly animate their actions and thoughts1 who have need of neither favour nor advancement from their fellow-creatures4 ,and how much would it contribute to their happiness sometimes1 to imagine themselves between this world1 in which they are weary of their own power1 and that magnificent future2 the sublime contemplation of which would carry them1 with a new charm1 to the exercise of their authority6 ,what pleasure then would flow from this authority1 the source of so much good6--,what pleasure would they not find in more closely imitating the divine beneficence1 the most comfortable of all ideas1 and what a moment for him1 when particularly conscious of the presence of the exalted friend of the whole human race1 he should be able to reflect1 in the morning1 on the people he was going to make happy2 and in the evening1 on those he had actually done good to4 ,what a difference between these delicious moments1 whose influence the nation feels1 and those insignificant levees1 only known to courtiers1 in which the monarch is the spectacle1 and tastes the sad pleasure of seeing so many men cringing before his own image4 ,what a difference1 even between these rapturous sensations1 and those raised by flattery1 or the dazzling parade which surrounds him1 in the midst of which he cannot discern himself1 whether he is a great man1 or only a king4 ,in short1 we ought to acknowledge1 that the more extensive the horizon1 which opens before sovereigns1 the greater is the number of duties presented to their reflections1 the more they must feel the want of that sustaining power so infinitely superior to their own strength3 they are conscious of the disproportion which exists between the extent of their authority and the means entrusted to human nature2 and it is only by supporting themselves against that mysterious pillar1 erected by religion1 that they can be firm1 and consider without affright1 that ,providence has called them to regulate and direct the destiny of a whole empire4 ,it was when profoundly meditating on the existence of a ,god2 reflecting on the influence and various relations of such a grand thought1 that ,marcus ,aurelius discovered all the extent of his duties1 and felt1 at the same time1 the courage and the will to fulfil them4 ,the happy and constant agreement of his actions and principles made his reign an illustrious example of wisdom and morality4 ,we must confess1 that it is to virtue1 supported by every sentiment which it imprints on the human heart1 that we should wish to confide the sacred deposit of public happiness2 this alone is always faithful and vigilant1 surpasses the spur of praise1 and1 by the ascendency of a great example1 leads men to the knowledge of every thing they ought to admire4 ,,chap4 ,,viii4 ,an ,objection drawn from the ,wars and from the ,commotions which ,religion has given ,rise to4 ,i shall present1 at first1 this objection in all its force1 or rather ,i will not seek to weaken it2 it would be needless to recal to the memory of men all the evils that have happened during a long series of years1 with which we have reason to reproach the blind and savage zeal of religious fanaticism4 ,every one has present to his mind those multiplied acts of intolerance which have sullied the annals of history2 every one knows the scenes of discord1 of war1 and fury1 which theological controversies have caused amongst men2 they have been informed of the fatal consequences which these enterprizes have brought in their train1 and which the rare virtues of a great king have not been able to justify4 ,in short1 to maintain1 in all ages1 a remembrance of the fatal abuses which have been committed in the name of the ,god of ,peace1 it would be sufficient to describe those direful days1 when some different tenet produced a sentence of proscription1 and the frightful signal of the most cruel frenzies4 ,it is thus then1 that in all times1 by an absurd tyranny1 or by a ferocious enthusiasm1 triumphs have been contrived for the eager detractors of religion4 ,let us examine1 however1 if the deductions that they wish to draw from these errors of the human mind1 are founded on reason and justice4 ,i shall not stop to observe1 that religion has oftener been the pretext1 than the true motive1 of the unhappy convulsions of which it appears at present the sole origin2 or stop to recal the various political advantages1 which could only arise from such a grand principle of action2 those august testimonies are commemorated in history3 ,i shall only borrow the support of reason1 and shall bound my discussion to a few simple reflections4 ,do you think1 that by relating the different abuses of authority we could prove the advantage of anarchy8 ,could we decry every species of jurisprudence1 by recounting all the ills which have been produced by chicane8 ,should we be able to throw an odium on the sciences1 by recalling all the fatal discoveries which are owing to our researches8 ,would it be proper to stifle every kind of self-love and activity1 by reciting the different crimes which covetousness1 pride1 and ambition have given rise to8 ,and ought we1 then1 to desire to annihilate religion1 because fanaticism has made an instrument of it to distress the human species8 ,all these questions are similar1 and all should be resolved in the same manner3 thus we may say with respect to them1 that in all our interests and passions1 it is by acquired knowledge1 and the light of reason1 that right is separated from wrong2 but we ought never to confound their proximity with a real identity4 ,fanaticism and religion have not any connection1 though very often these ideas are found united4 ,it is not the worship of the common ,father of men2 it is not the morality of the gospel1 whose precepts lead to goodness and forbearance1 which inspires the spirit of persecution2 we should attribute it to a blind madness1 resembling all those wild errors and crimes which dishonour humanity4 ,but since1 at present1 the excesses to which men abandon themselves do not induce us to condemn1 as a misfortune1 all the sentiments of which the criminal passions are only the extreme1 why do we wish to refuse religion the gratitude which is its due1 because sometimes it has given birth to hatred and unhappy divisions8 ,it would be necessary rather to remark1 that intolerant zeal is1 of all the errors of the human mind1 that on which the progress of our knowledge appears to have had most influence4 ,in fact1 whilst fanaticism1 gradually weakened1 seems to be now verging to its decline1 the disorders connected with the common passions of ambition1 love of wealth1 and thirst of pleasure1 remain in all their force4 ,however1 what sentiment1 what predominant idea1 has a greater claim to pardon for its mistakes than devotion8 ,by what an infinite number of benefits the pure spirit of religion makes amends for the abuses which spring from the false interpretation of its precepts4 ,it is to this spirit1 as we have shown1 that men owe the stability of public order and the firm principles of justice3 it procures the indigent the succours of charity1 and virtue its encouragement2 oppressed innocence its only refuge1 and sensibility its dearest hopes4 ,yes1 the pure spirit of religion surrounds us on every side1 it makes the charm1 of solitude1 the band of society1 the invigorater of intimate affections2 and can we calumniate it and wish to destroy it1 on recollecting the tyrannic opinions of some priests and sovereigns1 whose principles and conduct we now detest8 ,i shall further remark1 and ask why men denounce a sentence of reprobation against religion1 and give as the motive1 the ancient wars of which it has been the origin2 whilst they never contest the importance of commerce1 though rivers of blood have been continually shed for the smallest advantage on this account8 ,can they be so mistaken in their judgment1 as to compare a few pecuniary advantages1 which one political state never enjoys1 but at the expence of another1 with those1 as precious as they are universal1 of which religion is the origin and support8 ,in short1 among the various arguments that are employed to attack these opinions1 the most frivolous1 undoubtedly1 is that which derives all its force from the errors and faults of which the present times do not furnish any example4 ,what should we say if1 at the moment when a superb edifice was firm on its foundation1 we should be exhorted to level it with the ground1 by a relation of all the accidents its erection occasioned8 ,throwing then a painful retrospect on the period of history1 when religion was made the pretext of wars and cruelty2 let us oppose to the return of those sanguinary scenes1 let us oppose to the spirit of intolerance all the force of wisdom1 and the instructions of that religion which they pretend to serve by a blind zeal4 ,but far from freeing us from the respect which we owe to such salutary opinions1 which men have abused1 let us take advantage of experience1 as a new defence against the wanderings of our imaginations1 and the surprises of our passions#b4 ,,chap4 ,,ix4 ,another ,objection examined4 ,the ,sabbath4 ,i do not intend to place among the objections ,i ought to discuss1 nor in the number of arguments1 that it is important to examine1 the various opinions on such and such parts of religious worship1 nor the difficulties raised against the adoption of some dogmatic notion1 thought essential by some1 and considered with indifference by others3 it is not a treatise of controversial theology which ,i wish to compose2 and it is still less the doctrines of one particular church1 which ,i would oppose to that of another2 all of them connect morality to the commands of a ,supreme ,being2 they all of them see in the public worship the respectful expression of a sentiment of love and gratitude towards the ,author of ,nature4 ,thus1 those who might think they perceived some imperfections in the system1 or in the forms of worship1 adopted in a nation1 should not use this objection to dispute the utility of religion1 since the reflections1 which have been just made on its importance1 may be applied equally to the doctrines of all countries1 and the principles of every sect4 ,i shall dwell then on the only difficulty which interests1 without distinction1 the different religions of ,europe4 ,the establishment of public worship1 and the necessity of consecrating at least one day in every week1 occasions1 say some1 a suspension of labour too frequent2 and this suspension injures the state1 and diminishes the resources of the people4 ,i may at first observe1 that such objections would appear very weak1 if compared with the great advantages which men owe to religion6 ,an increase of wealth can never outweigh order1 morality1 and happiness4 ,but ,i must go further to prove1 that a day of rest1 devoted amongst us to public worship1 cannot injure the political strength2 and that so far from being contrary to the interests of the people1 it protects and favours them2 and as ,i invariably prefer such interests to all others1 ,i shall begin by demonstrating1 in a few words1 the justness of this proposition4 ,we should be mistaken if we thought1 that in a given space of time1 men forced1 by the inequality of conditions1 to live by their labour1 would1 by observing the precepts of religion1 better their situation1 if they were not obliged to rest from labour one day in every week4 ,it is necessary1 in order to perceive this truth1 to examine1 first1 what is now the measure of wages2 it is not an exact proportion between labour and its reward4 ,in fact1 if we consulted only the light of reason and equity1 no one1 ,i believe1 would dare to decide1 that the most scanty necessaries is the just price of fatiguing and painful labour1 which commences at the dawn1 and does not finish till the setting of the sun3 we should not be able to maintain1 that in the midst of his enjoyments1 and in the bosom of luxurious idleness1 the rich ought not to grant any other retribution to those who sacrifice their time and strength to increase their revenue and multiply their enjoyments4 ,it is not then by the principles of common sense or reflection1 that the wages of the generality have been fixed2 it is a compact established by power1 a yoke to which the weak must submit4 ,the possessor of a vast domain would see all his riches vanish1 if numerous labourers did not come to cultivate his estate1 and carry into his store-house the fruit of their toil2 but1 as the number of men without property is immense1 their concurrence1 and the pressing need that they have to labour for a subsistence1 obliges them to receive the law from him who can1 in the bosom of ease1 wait quietly for their services2 and it results from this habitual relation between the rich and poor1 that the wages for hard labour are constantly reduced to the most scanty allowance1 that is to say1 to what is only sufficient to satisfy their daily and indispensable wants4 ,this system once settled1 if it were possible1 that1 by a revolution in our nature1 men could live and preserve their strength without allotting every day some hours to repose and sleep1 it is beyond doubt1 that the work of twenty hours would be required for the same wages now granted for twelve4 ,or1 by an assimilation1 agreeing with the hypothesis ,i have just mentioned1 suppose that a moral revolution permitted labourers to work the seventh day1 they would consequently1 in a short time1 require of them the extraordinary labour at the former rate2 and this levelling would take place through the gradual diminution of the price of labour4 ,the class of society1 which1 in exerting its power1 has regulated the present wages1 not according to reason and equity1 but according to the necessities of the labourers1 would quickly discern its own interest2 and that when a day more was paid for1 the people could bear a diminution of the seventh part of their wages1 and be in their old state4 ,thus1 though before the change had thoroughly taken place1 all those who live by labour would think that they had acquired a new resource2 yet they would soon be brought to their former condition2 for it is the same with social order as with the law of equilibrium in nature1 which combines ranks and places1 every thing according to the immutable law of the proportion of force4 ,men1 devoid of property1 after having been some time deceived1 would only get an increase of work by the abolition of the ,sabbath2 and as this truth does not present itself naturally to the mind1 we ought to consider1 as an essential service of religion1 its having secured the greater number of men from a degree of oppression1 to which they would have run blindly1 if they had been at liberty to make a choice4 ,the daily labour of one class of society surpasses the reasonable measure of its strength1 and hastens the days of decripitude2 it was then absolutely necessary that the customary course of these labours should be1 for a time1 suspended2 but as the people1 pressed by wants of every kind1 are exposed to be seduced by the slightest appearance of advantage1 it was further necessary to their happiness1 that the interruption of thier fatigues1 fixed by a religious duty1 appeared not to them the voluntary sacrifice of fortune1 and did not leave in them any regret4 ,in short1 they are pleased when they think of those days of rest1 which produce a little alteration in their manner of living2 and they require that alteration1 not to be depressed by a continual train and repetition of the same occupations4 ,thus1 were you to assert artfully1 that the people are not as comfortable of a ,sunday1 as during the week1 it would be at least true1 that one is softened by the expectation of the other2 there are people so very wretched1 and probably1 on that account1 so bounded are their desires1 that the most trifling variety is a substitute for hope4 ,it seems to me1 that the hearts of the common people may be sometimes cheered with the thought of being once a week dressed like their superiors2 when they are absolute masters of their time1 and can say1--and ,i also--,i am free#c4 ,i must now examine the second proposition which ,i have mentioned4 ,you have made obvious1 some will say1 that an augmentation of the days of labour would occasion a reduction of the wages allowed for it1 we may then reasonably ask1 if this result would not favour commerce1 and contribute1 in some respect1 to increase the political strength8 ,undoubtedly you may consider under this point of view1 the diminution of the reward of industry2 but the political strength being always a relative idea1 and derived from comparisons with other states1 this strength can never be augmented or diminished by a circumstance common to all the countries of ,europe4 ,were a barbarous ambition to abolish in one state the ,sabbath1 the abolition would probably procure it a degree of superiority1 if it was the only one that adopted such a change2 but as soon as others followed their example1 the advantage would disappear4 ,however1 the same arguments ought to serve to convince us1 that those countries1 where the intervals of inaction occur oftener1 have necessarily a political disadvantage1 with regard to others1 where ,sunday and a few solemn feasts are the only days of rest prescribed by government4 ,we may conclude from these observations1 that so far from finding fault with religion for appointing a day of rest1 devoted every week to public worship1 we ought to acknowledge with pleasure1 that such an institution is a benevolent act1 extended to the most numerous class of the inhabitants of the earth1 the most deserving our consideration and protection2 from which we require so much1 and return so little3 towards that unfortunate class1 whose youth and maturity the rich profit by1 and abandon them when the hour is come1 when they have no more strength left but to enable them to pray and weep4 ,,chap4 ,x4 ,an ,observation on a particular ,circumstance of public ,worship4 ,it is not sufficient1 that sovereigns are persuaded of the influence of religion on the morality and happiness of men2 they ought to make use of proper means to maintain this salutary action2 and1 of course1 every part of public worship becomes of the greatest importance4 ,educated in a religion1 thought by some to approach nearer the first ideas of christianity1 yet as it has adopted several principles by no means consonant with the ,catholic faith1 it would be unwise in me to discuss any of the questions which divide the two churches2 and ,i should do it without any good accruing from it1 so much are we disposed to refer to early prejudices1 the ideas which are most intimately blended with the sentiments and feeling of a man2 we like to take a general view1 and this method agrees with our indolence2 but it leads us often astray4 ,i think1 however1 that the minds of the people are now sufficiently enlightened1 to permit me to advise the superiors of both church and state1 to examine attentively1 if it is not full time to make more use of the vulgar tongue1 and if we are not warned1 by the present depravity of morals1 to alter the manner of performing divine service in this respect4 ,it is only during an interval of the grand mass that the priest addresses to country people some words of exhortation in their own language2 it was natural to consider this moment as the most proper to dispose the mind to respect and attention2 but perhaps1 even the pomp of an august ceremony1 by attracting strongly the imagination1 withdraws the generality from the importance of the other parts of divine worship2 and it frequently happens in country places1 that many people go out of the church during the sermon1 and return at the moment of consecration4 ,i think also1 that public prayers should always be in the vulgar tongue1 and they might easily be made interesting and affecting1 as there are not any religious discourses which sympathize more with human weakness2 and as our wants and anxieties may be made use of to raise us towards the ,supreme ,being1 the best of all bands might be chosen to win the multitude4 ,i must observe besides1 that part of the country people1 especially in harvest time1 and other seasons1 when the husbandman is particularly busy1 assist only at early mass1 and then they see but a part of the religious ceremonies#d4 ,and1 if the practice and liberty of working on a ,sunday was more extended1 the inhabitants of the country1 still more confined to the first mass1 would hear neither prayers nor instructive discourses in their own language during the whole year4 ,certainly there must be something altered in these religious institutions in order to make them more efficaciously serve to support morality1 and comfort the most numerous class of the human race4 ,country people1 whose labour produces our wealth1 ought to be taken care of with paternal anxiety2 and since they are not exposed to those disorderly passions which find nourishment in a metropolis2 since mild and prudent means still suffice to maintain them in the habit of duty2 both the superiors in church and state have to answer1 in some measure1 for the corruption of their manners and dispositions4 ,,chap4 ,,xi4 ,that the single ,idea of a ,god is a sufficient ,support of ,morality4 ,after having shown that morality has need of a supernatural support1 you have reason to expect1 that ,i should explain the intimate and immediate relation which unites religion to the love of virtue1 and the observance of order4 ,i will endeavour1 then1 to discuss this important question2 and in order to arrive at the truth1 ,i shall follow first the course of those simple sentiments and natural thoughts1 which guide the mind and the heart of man1 in every climate and country under heaven4 ,it is easy to unite all the moral legislation1 and the entire system of our duties1 by means only of the idea of a ,god4 ,the universe1 notwithstanding its magnificence and its immensity1 would be a mere nothing1 if its ,supreme ,author had not peopled it with intelligent beings1 capable of contemplating so many wonders1 and of receiving happiness from them2 but the faculties with which we are endowed1 consciousness of possessing them1 and the liberty to act1 all announce to us that we are united to a grand combination1 that we have a part to take on the vast stage of the world4 ,the most simple reason1 that which resembles instinct1 would have been sufficient to enable us to take care of the body1 and to have concentred us in ourselves2 more would not have been necessary for those who have so little to do4 ,thus1 when ,i see that the mind is susceptible of continual improvement1 when ,i see that men enjoy the power of assisting each other1 and of communicating their ideas1 in a manner so much superior to other animals2 when ,i fix my attention on our social dispositions1 and on all the relative qualities which compose our nature1 ,i cannot avoid thinking1 that we have a plan of conduct to follow towards others1 and that in our pilgrimage on earth we must be circumspect1 having obstacles to conquer1 sacrifices to make1 and obligations to fulfil4 ,men then appear to be led to religion by the most excellent gifts of nature1 and by all that they have in them of the sublime2 but we ought to remark1 as a singular resemblance1 that their wants also1 and their extreme weakness1 lead them to the same object4 ,whatever may be my emotions1 when ,i reflect on the present imperious laws to which ,i am obliged to submit1 and when ,i recal to mind the grandeur and magnificence which ,i have been a witness of1 ,i raise continually my soul towards the ,sovereign ,director of events1 and am led by instinct1 as well as by a rational sentiment1 to address my prayers to ,him4 ,it appears to the unfortunate1 when they view so many wonders which their understanding cannot grasp1 that so little is wanting to guard them from the dangers which threaten them1 they implore the commiseration of ,him whose formidable power bursts from all sides4 ,but1 while they admire and adore1 they must imitate ,his perfections1 and not expect mercy when they show none4 ,purity of heart only can render an intercourse with the ,supreme ,being interesting2 and prayers are merely a solemn kind of mockery1 when they do not produce virtue and forbearance1 when they do not render us kindly affected to each other2 our very state of dependence1 our wants and weaknesses1 should bind us to those beings who equally share the blessings so liberally bestowed1 and have the same evils to endure4 ,thus discontent1 the fear of futurity1 the anxiety caused by misfortunes1 all the sentiments1 which engage men to disturb social order1 take another character1 or are at least sensibly modified2 when1 from their first suffering1 they can elevate their wishes to ,god1 but dare not do it1 with a heart sullied by criminal intentions4 ,it is not only prayer which leads us to religion2 another communication with the ,supreme ,being1 gratitude1 produces the same effect4 ,a man1 persuaded of the existence of a sovereign power1 and who gladly connects with the divine protection his success and happiness1 feels1 at the same time1 a desire to express his gratitude2 and not being able to do any thing for him who bestows all1 he seeks to form an idea of the perfections of that ,supreme ,being1 in order to comprehend the system of conduct most conformable to his attributes4 ,at first1 what reflections possess our mind1 what emotions agitate our souls1 when we contemplate the universe8 ,when we respectfully admire that magnificent harmony1 which is the incomprehensible result of an innumerable multitude of different powers3 struck with this vast whole1 where we discover an agreement so perfect1 how is it possible for us to avoid considering order as a distinct mark of the wisdom and of the design of ,omnipotence8 ,and how is it possible for us not to think1 that we render him the most worthy homage1 at the time we make use of the free intelligence which he has endowed us with4 ,then in the composition of a social structure1 a work which has been entrusted to us1 we shall try to penetrate the ideas of wisdom and order1 of which all nature presents such a grand example2 then1 in establishing the relations which unite men1 we shall carefully study the laws of moral order1 and we shall find them all founded on the reciprocation of duties1 which submit to a regular movement different jarring personal interests4 ,in short1 the idea of a ,god1 ,creator1 ,regenerator1 and ,preserver of the ,universe1 by invariable laws1 and by a train of the same causes and the same effects1 seems to call us to the conception of a universal morality1 which1 in imitation of the unknown springs of the natural world1 may be as the necessary tie of this succession of intelligent beings1 who always1 with the same passions1 come to pass and repass on the earth1 to seek1 or to fly1 to assist1 or to hurt each other1 according to the strength or the weakness of the knot which unites them1 and according to the wisdom or inconsistency of the principles which direct their opinions4 ,the attentive study of man and of his nature ought to contribute to confirm in us the idea which we have just pointed out4 ,we cannot1 in fact1 consider the prodigious difference which exists between the minds and characters of men2 we cannot fix our attention on the length to which this difference may be carried1 by the perfectibility of which they are susceptible2 we cannot1 in short1 reflect on a like constitution1 without being induced to think1 that the counterpoise of these extraordinary means of force and usurpation must proceed from reason1 from that singular authority which only can establish1 between men1 relations of justice and convenience1 proper to maintain an equilibrium and harmony in the midst of so many disparities3 it is thus1 that respect for morality seems evidently to make a part of the general view and primitive idea of the ,supreme ,disposer of the universe4 ,and what pleasure shall we not find in the persuasion1 that the cultivation of virtue1 that the observance of order1 offers us the means of pleasing our ,divine ,benefactor6 ,it is by that alone that we can hope to concur1 however feebly1 in the execution of his grand designs2 and in the centre of so many blessings1 surrounded by so many signs of a particular protection1 how highly ought we to value this means of communication with the ,author of our existence8 ,thus1 then1 the homage of adoration and gratitude which we render to the ,deity1 leads us to a sentiment of respect for the laws of morality2 and this sentiment1 in its turn1 serves continually to maintain in us the idea of a ,supreme ,being4 ,independent of the reflections which we have just presented1 morality1 considered in all its extent1 has need of being strengthened by this disposition of the soul1 which makes us interested in the happiness of others2 and it is besides1 in one of the most glorious perfections of the ,deity1 that we find the first model of this precious sentiment4 ,yes1 we cannot deny it3 either our existence proceeds from no cause1 or we owe it to the goodness of the ,supreme ,being4 ,life1 some will say1 undoubtedly is a mixture of pains and pleasures3 but1 if we are candid we shall confess1 that those moments1 when it ceases to appear to us a benefit1 do not often occur in life3 in youth1 existence is thought the greatest blessing1 and the other seasons of life offer pleasures less animated1 certainly1 but which agree better with the progress of our understanding1 and the increase of our experience4 ,it is true1 that in order to free ourselves from a sentiment of gratitude1 we often think that we would not accept of a renewal of life1 on condition of our running over a second time our career1 and returning step by step in the same track4 ,but we should consider1 that we do not fix a just value on the benefits which we have received2 for when we take a retrospective view of life1 we see it stripped of its two principal ornaments1 curiosity and hope2 and it is not in this state that it was given to us1 and that we have enjoyed it4 ,it is1 perhaps1 not in our power to replace ourselves1 by contemplation1 in the situation where the imagination made our chief pleasure1 a slight breath has easily effaced it from our memory3 it is evident that we enjoy life1 because we look forward with affright to the moment when we shall be forced to renounce it2 but1 as this happiness is composed of present pleasures1 and those which we anticipate1 we cease to be good judges of the value of life1 when this future prospect is not presented to our eyes1 but under the form of the past2 for we know not how to appreciate1 with a languishing recollection1 that which we have loved in the moment of hope4 ,physical evils are not either the end or the condition of our nature1 they are its accidents3 the happiness of infancy1 which shows in its primitive purity the works of the ,deity1 visibly point out the goodness of the ,supreme ,being2 and how can we avoid believing1 that we owe our origin to a benevolent design1 since it is a desire of happiness1 which has been given to serve as the motive of all our actions8 ,we should indeed speak well of life1 if we had not corrupted its comforts by artificial sentiments1 which we have substituted instead of nature2 if we had not submitted so many realities to pride and vanity2 if1 instead of assisting each other to be happy1 we had not employed our thoughts to make others submit to us4 ,undoubtedly there are some sufferings annexed to our existence1 as in the natural world there are apparent defects4 ,let us employ our minds on the most exalted subjects1 and we shall no longer be a prey to envy and discontent4 ,it is on the consideration of detached events2 it is in some particular circumstances1 that we raise doubts about the goodness of ,god2 but we immediately discern it when we compare particulars which wound us1 with the great whole of which they make a part2 we discover then1 that the misfortunes which we are so quickly offended with are a simple appendage of a general system1 where all the characters of a beneficent intelligence are evidently traced4 ,it is necessary then to view the whole of life to discover the intention of the author of nature2 and in meditating in this manner1 we shall return always to a sentiment of respect and gratitude4 ,this simple idea is very extensive in its application2 it seems to me1 above all1 that it serves to console us under the ills of life2 the man who is penetrated by it can say to himself1 the transitory evil to which ,i am subject1 is perhaps one of the inevitable effects of this universal harmony1 the most noble and the most extensive of all conceptions4 ,thus1 in the moments when ,i bemoan my fate1 ,i ought not to think myself forsaken1 ,i ought not to accuse ,him1 whose infinite wisdom is present to my view1 ,him whose general laws have so often appeared to me a visible expression of real goodness4 ,it is in vain1 some will say1 it is in vain that you would wish to make us attend to these considerations2 we only remark1 that our earthly happiness is at least inferior to that which our imagination so readily forms the picture of2 and we do not perceive1 in such a disposition1 the union of perfections which ought to be ascribed to the ,supreme ,being4 ,this objection is presented under different forms in the writings of all the enemies to religion2 and they have drawn consequences1 sometimes against the goodness of ,god1 his power1 his wisdom1 and justice4 ,it is necessary1 clearly to explain this difficulty1 to be in a state to form to ourselves an idea of the perfection of an ,infinite ,being2 but in all our attempts1 we only carry to the extreme every quality which we conceive2 instead of that1 perfection in the works of the ,creator1 probably consists in a kind of gradation and harmony1 the secret of which we cannot either embrace1 or penetrate2 and we ought still more to be on our guard1 when we form any conception of the essence of the ,deity1 as by confining ourselves solely to reconcile his sovereign power with his perfect goodness1 we should never fix the boundary when these two properties will be in an equilibrium3 for after having exhausted every supposition1 we might still ask1 why the number of rational beings is not more extended8 ,we might ask1 why every grain of sand is not one of those beings8 why there is not a number equal to that infinite divisibility of which we form the idea8 ,in short1 from extreme to extreme1 and always in arguing on the sovereign power1 the least inanimate atom1 the least void in nature1 would appear a boundary to the goodness of the ,supreme ,being4 ,we see then to what a point we may wander1 when we abandon common sense for the vague excursions of a metaphysical spirit4 ,i think1 if no other proofs could be found1 the power of ,god would be sufficient to demonstrate his goodness2 for this power informs us every instant1 that if the ,supreme ,ruler of the ,world had intended the misery of rational beings1 he would have had1 to fulfil this intention1 means as rapid as numerous4 ,he needed not have created worlds2 nor have made them so convenient and beautiful2 a terrific gulph1 and eternal darkness might have been sufficient to collect together those unfortunate beings1 and make them feel their misery4 ,let us not dwell on these gloomy subjects1 let us follow a just emotion of gratitude2 we shall be eager then to render homage to that indelible character of love and goodness which we see stamped on all nature4 ,an unknown power opens our eyes to the light1 and permits us to view the wonders of the universe3 it awakens in us those enchanting sensations which first point out the charms of life2 it enriches us with that intellectual gift which re-assembles round us past ages1 and the time to come2 it confers1 in an early hour1 an empire1 by endowing us with those two sublime faculties1 will and liberty2 in short1 it renders us sensible to the real pleasure of loving and being beloved2 and when1 by the effect of a general plan1 of which we have but an imperfect conception1 it spreads here and there some difficulties in the road of life2 it seems to wish to soften them1 by showing us always the future through the enchanting medium of the imagination4 ,could it be then without any interest or goodness1 that this magnificent system was conceived1 and preserved by so many superb demonstrations of wisdom and power8 ,what should we be in the sight of the ,eternal1 if he did not love us8 ,we do not adorn his majestic universe1 or lend to the dawn its magnificent colours2 neither have we covered the earth with a verdant carpet1 or bid the celestial bodies revolve in the immense expanse2 he asked not counsel of us--we should be nothing in his eyes1 if he was indifferent to our gratitude1 and if he took not any pleasure in the happiness of his creatures4 ,in short1 were we to turn our attention from so many striking proofs of the goodness of ,god2 were they to be effaced from our memory1 we should still find1 in the recesses of our heart1 a sufficient evidence of this comfortable truth1 we should perceive that we are good and affectionate1 when not perverted by passion2 and we should be led to think1 that such an inclination in beings who have received every thing1 must necessarily be the seal of their ,divine ,author4 ,in order to exalt this sentiment1 we must refer it continually to the idea of a ,supreme ,being2 for there is1 we doubt not1 a correspondence of instinct and reflection between our virtue and the perfections of him who is the origin of all things2 and provided we do not resist our natural emotions1 we shall perceive from those very perfections all that is sufficient to excite our worship and adoration2 above all1 whatever is necessary to serve as an example for our conduct1 and to afford principles of morality4 ,i ought now to examine some important objections2 for why should ,i fear to present them8 a love for systems and opinions ought not to exist1 in treating a subject on which so many have expatiated1 and which belongs equally to all men4 ,though we are allowed1 when seeking truth eagerly1 to wish to find it united to the sentiments which form our happiness1 and the principles which are the foundation of public order4 ,we admit1 say some1 that there are many perfections peculiar to the ,supreme ,being1 the study and knowledge of which ought to serve to sustain the laws of morality2 but one of the essential properties of the divine essence oversets the whole structure1 it is prescience3 for1 as ,god knows beforehand what we are to do1 it follows1 that all our actions are irrevocably determined2 and thus man is not free4 ,and1 if such is his condition1 he deserves neither praise nor censure2 he has no means of pleasing or displeasing the ,supreme ,being1 and the ideas of good and evil1 of virtue and vice1 are absolutely chimerical4 ,i shall1 at first1 make a very simple reply to this objection1 but a very decisive one3 it is that1 if against appearances you should happen to persuade me1 that there now exists an absolute contradiction between the liberty of man and the prescience of the ,deity1 it is on the nature and extent of this prescience that ,i shall raise my doubts2 for1 forced to choose1 ,i should rather mistrust the judgment of my own mind1 than that of an internal persuasion4 ,it is by these same considerations1 that it will always be impossible to prove to men that they are not free3 we could only succeed with the assistance of reasoning1 and reasoning being already a beginning of art1 a kind of exterior combination of reflections1 this means1 in some measure out of us1 would not have power to eradicate a sentiment which seems the first that we are conscious of4 ,we soon discover the limits of our faculties1 in the efforts which we make to acquire a just idea of the divine prescience3 we can very well suppose1 that ,god foresees with certainty what we only conjecture about1 and in extending without end the bounds which occur to our mind1 we shall proportion in our imagination1 the knowledge of the ,creator to the immensity of space1 and to the infinity of time2 but beyond these vague ideas we shall err in all our speculations4 ,how is it possible1 that men1 who know not even the nature of their own souls1 should be able to determine the nature of prescience8 ,how is it possible1 that they can know whether this prescience is the effect of a rapid calculation of him1 who embraces at one glance the relation and effects of every moral and natural cause8 how can they discern1 whether this prescience1 in an ,infinite ,being1 is distinct from simple knowledge8 ,how can they know whether that ,being1 by a property beyond our conception1 does not exist before and after events1 whether he is not1 in some manner1 the intellectual time1 and whether our divisions of years and ages1 would not disappear before his immoveable existence and eternal duration4 ,it results1 however1 from these considerations1 that on account of our extreme ignorance we cannot accurately define prescience2 but we are reduced to examine whether this prescience1 considered in a general manner1 is incompatible with the liberty of man4 ,this opinion1 ,i think1 should not be adopted4 ,prescience does not determine future events1 for the mere knowledge of the future makes not the future4 ,it is not prescience which necessitates the actions of men1 because it does not change the natural order of things2 but all future events are fixed1 whether foreseen or not2 for constraint and liberty conduct equally to a positive term3 thus1 all that will happen is as immutable as that which is past1 since the present was the future of yesterday1 and will be to morrow the past4 ,it is then abstractedly certain1 that an event1 either foreseen or not1 will take place some time2 but if liberty is not contrary to this inevitable certainty1 how would it be more so1 because their exists a ,being who is acquainted previously with the precise nature of events8 ,we may then say1 with truth1 that the knowledge of the future is no more an obstacle to liberty1 than the remembrance of the past2 and prophecies1 like histories1 are only recitals1 whose place is not the same in the order of time2 but not having any influence on events1 do not constrain the will1 cannot enslave the sentiments1 or subject men to the law of necessity4 ,we will confess1 however1 that if prescience was founded on the possibility of calculating the actions of men1 like the movements of an organized machine1 liberty could not exist2 but then it would not be prescience which opposed this liberty1 it would be because we are automatons2 for with such a constitution we should be without liberty1 were even the ,supreme ,being not to have any knowledge of futurity4 ,it is in vain1 in order to convince us we are not free1 that some would represent us as necessarily submitting to the impulse of various exterior objects2 comprehending1 among those objects1 every thing that is subtle in moral ideas1 and uniting them under the general name of motives1 and giving afterwards to these motives a physical force which we are bound to obey2 but to be free1 is it necessary that we act without motives8 then man would be indeed evidently a piece of mechanism4 ,it is certain1 that we are1 in all our actions1 determined by reason1 taste1 or a cause of preference2 but it is our mind which comprehends these various considerations1 which weighs1 compares1 and modifies2 it is our mind which listens to the counsels of virtue1 and which replies to the language of our passions2 it is in order to enlighten itself that it borrows from the memory the succours of experience2 it is then our mind which prepares1 composes1 and improves every thing which we term motives1 and it is after this intellectual labour that we act4 ,there is too much order1 unity1 and harmony in our thoughts1 to allow us to suppose them the mere effect of exterior objects2 which1 under the form of ideas1 come without order to impress themselves on our brain2 and until we are made acquainted with the works of chaos1 we shall believe with reason that every where there is that unity1 that order2 that there is a faculty capable of re-assembling every thing that is scattered1 and uniting to one end all that is mixed without design4 ,as soon as we are impelled to believe1 that there is a master of all our perceptions1 and that we feel this master act1 how is it possible not to be certain that it is our mind which acts8 ,it is then1 in breaking loose from its operations1 that we are stripped of our liberty1 and that we at length suppose that our will is the necessary consequence of all exterior objects1 as if it were the colours1 and not the painter1 which produced a picture4 ,however1 if we secure our mind from that dependence to which some wish to reduce it1 our actions will not obey these irresistible emotions2 for if they grant that we have liberty of thought1 we have free will4 ,we ought to consider our senses as messengers1 which bring to our mind new subjects of reflection2 but they are in such a manner subordinate to the sublime part of ourselves1 that they act only under direction2 sometimes the ruling principle commands them to bring representations of the beauties of nature1 to examine assiduously the registers of the human mind1 to take the rule and the compass1 and render an exact account of that which it desires to know with precision2 sometimes they are taught to acquire more power1 and when the soul wishes to communicate with men1 when it wishes to address posterity1 it orders them to perpetuate in indelible characters all that it has maturely combined1 all that it has discovered1 and all it hopes to add to the treasures of our knowledge4 ,is it not the master rather than the slave of our senses1 or the blind play of their caprice8 ,there is besides another observation1 which seems to contrast with the absolute empire1 that some are willing to grant to exterior objects over the powers of our soul2 for it is in the silence of meditation that the action of our mind is not interrupted3 we experience that we have the power of recalling past ideas1 and that we can connect those ideas with the prospect of the future1 and to various imaginary circumstances of which we compose this picture2 our reflection is then the result1 but not the work of those exterior objects we are acquainted with4 ,these two words1 work and result1 which in some acceptations have a great resemblance1 have here very different meanings2 and it is only in confounding them1 that the objection against the existence of our liberty is favoured4 ,we cannot form any judgment1 without previously discussing every argument proper to throw a light on the subject2 and the result of such enquiries determines our will2 but these enquiries are themselves the work of our mind4 ,in short1 all the degrees which lead to the end of our intellectual researches1 are simple antecedents1 and not absolute motives3 there is1 in the operations of our mind1 as in every thing which is not immoveable1 a train of causes and effects2 but this train does not characterize necessity more than liberty4 ,in restoring thus to our soul its original dignity1 do you not perceive1 that we approach nearer to nature1 than in adopting those systems and explications which assimilate our intellectual faculties to the regular vibrations of a pendulum8 or would you like better still to compare them to those little balls which go out of their niches to strike our brain1 which by various ramifications1 produce that shock which impels our will8 ,i see1 in all this1 only childish figures1 put in the place of those names which indicate at least1 by their abstraction1 the indefinite extent of the ideas which they represent1 and the respect they merit4 ,it is easy to call a motive a little moving ball2 it is easy to call uncertainty or repentance the combat of two of these balls1 till the arrival of a third forms a determination2 and the concurrence of many to the same point excites1 in us1 an impetuous passion3 but who sees not that1 after having endeavoured to debase the functions of the mind by these wretched comparisons1 the difficulty remains undiminished8 ,in short1 if the meditations and the researches of our minds1 on the existence and the nature of our liberty1 presents us only impenetrable clouds and obscurity1 is it not singular1 that in the midst of this darkness we should reject all the information of our instinctive sentiments1 which only can clearly explain every thing that we in vain search for by other means8 ,what would you say of a man born blind1 who would not be directed by the voice8 ,we are assuredly better instructed in the constitution of our nature by our feelings1 than by metaphysical arguments6 they compose an internal part of the essence of our soul2 and we ought to consider them1 in some measure1 as a sally of the incomprehensible formation1 whose mysteries we cannot penetrate4 ,such a doctrine1 which came to us from a divine hand1 is more deserving of confidence than the interpretations of men4 ,there are secrets which philosophers try in vain to explain1 all their efforts are useless to represent by comparison1 that which is alone and without resemblance4 ,one would think1 that nature1 guessing the false reasoning which would mislead us1 has purposely bestowed an inward conviction of the existence of our free will1 in composing our natural life of two movements very distinct3 one depends on a necessity1 whose laws we are not acquainted with1 and do not govern2 whilst the other is entirely submitted to the government of our reason4 ,such a comparison would be sufficient to convince us1 if we sought merely for the truth4 ,when ,spinosa desired to throw contempt on our instinctive perceptions1 he said1 it is the same as if a weather-cock1 at the very moment it was the plaything of the winds1 believed itself to be the cause1 and consequently that it had free will4 ,what signifies such an argument1 unless it is to prove1 that it is possible to suppose a fiction so perfect1 that it would apparently be equivalent to a reality8 ,but ,i would ask1 by what foolish design of an intelligent being1 or even by what fortuitous assemblage of blind nature1 is it that man should have every moment a will precisely conformable to his actions1 if there is not a real correspondence between every part8 ,we could oppose to the hypothesis of ,spinosa another argument1 which would lead to a conclusion absolutely contrary2 that is1 if the most apparent liberty may be only a fiction1 by a particular concurrence of our will with an action ordained2 it is also incontestible1 that were we to suppose the existence1 or simple possibility of a free-will1 we could not have a different idea of it1 than that which we have already2 and the liberty of ,god himself would not appear to our thoughts under any other form4 ,it is very essential to remark1 that when we reflect about our faculties1 we with ease imagine a superior degree of intelligence1 of knowledge1 of memory1 of foresight1 and of every other property of our understanding2 liberty is the only part of ourselves to which our imagination cannot add any thing4 ,i shall not pursue other subtle arguments1 which have been produced1 to corroborate my opinion2 it is not to some men1 but to all1 that ,i desire to speak1 because ,i wish to be universally useful3 ,i shall then always dwell on the principal reflections1 whenever they appear to me sufficient to influence the opinion of sound minds1 and to fix them on those important truths which are the surest foundation of public happiness4 ,self-love might induce many to follow a question as far as it would go1 and vainly glory in spinning it out2 but self-love1 applied to profound meditations1 is itself a great subtilty4 ,let us examine other arguments used to combat principles which we have established4 ,it is in vain1 some will say1 to endeavour to prove the existence of a ,god1 as a real support of the laws of morality2 all this system will fall to pieces1 if we are not informed1 at the same time1 in what manner this ,god rewards and punishes4 ,i shall observe1 at first1 that such an objection cannot make a very deep impression1 but when it is connected in our minds with some doubt of the existence of a ,supreme ,being3 a question that ,i shall not yet treat2 for supposing an internal conviction of this last truth1 supposing1 in all its force1 the idea of a ,god present to our thoughts2 ,i ask1 whether in order to please ,him1 we should not have need of knowing precisely the period when we could perceive distinct signs of his approbation and beneficence8 ,i ask1 again1 whether1 to avoid incurring ,his displeasure1 it would be equally necessary for us to know how1 and in what manner1 ,he would punish us8 ,undoubtedly not3 for in taking a comprehensive view of the rewards and punishments which may proceed from a ,supreme ,being1 struck with ,his grandeur1 and astonished by ,his power1 the vague idea of infinity would obtrude2 and this idea1 so awful1 would suffice to govern our sentiments1 and fix our principles of conduct4 ,we should be careful not to propose conditions to ,him who has drawn us out of nothing1 and we should wait with respect for the moment1 when1 in ,his profound wisdom1 ,he may think proper to make us better acquainted with ,his attributes4 ,men may say to each other1 secure my wages1 ,i want them on such a day1 ,i demand them on such an hour2 they barter things of equal value1 and during a short space of time2 but in the intercourse of man with the ,deity1 what a difference6--,the creature and the ,creator--the child of dust and the source of life--a fleeting moment and eternity--an imperceptible atom and the ,infinite ,being6--our understanding is struck by the contrast6 ,how then should we adapt to such disproportions the rules and notions which we have introduced into our trivial transactions8 ,you require that in order to feel the desire of pleasing the ,supreme ,being1 ,he should every moment bestow gifts on those1 who1 by their sentiments and actions1 appear worthy of his goodness2 and1 to inspire the fear of offending ,him1 you wish that1 without delay1 ,he would let ,his vengeance crush the wicked4 ,certainly you would be scrupulous observers of ,his will on such conditions1 for less stable hopes and fears detain you servilely near a monarch2 and ,i may venture to say1 that you would be equally attentive to the ,ruler of the ,world1 if1 in order to reward or punish you1 he was to alter the laws of nature4 ,but do we not1 you may add1 see that ,god does not interfere in any manner to direct things here below3 you do not perceive ,him2 but do you more clearly discover the power which gives life and motion8 ,it is not because ,he does not exist1 but because ,he is above the flight of your mind4 ,we do not know what to say to a man who rejects the opinion of the existence of a ,god2 for without that guide all our ideas are wandering1 and have not any other connexion but that of the wildest imagination2 but if you grant that the world had an origin1 if you suppose a ,god1 creator and preserver1 what arguments would you use to induce us to believe that this ,god has no relation to us2 that ,he does not take any notice of us1 and that ,he is thus separated from the offspring of ,his intelligence and love8 ,you add1 vice is every where triumphant1 an honest man often languishes in despondency and obscurity2 and you cannot reconcile this injustice with the idea of a ,divine ,providence6 ,one may at first deny the assertion which forms the basis of this reproach1 or dispute at least the consequences that are drawn from it3 these ideas of triumph and abasement1 of splendour and obscurity1 are sometimes very foreign to the internal sentiments1 which only constitute happiness and misery2 and for my part1 ,i am persuaded1 that if we take for a rule of comparison1 not some particular situation1 or some1 scattered events1 but the whole of life1 and the generality of men2 we shall then find1 that the most constant satisfactions attend those minds which are filled with a mild piety1 firm and rational1 such as the pure idea of the ,deity ought to inspire2 and ,i am equally persuaded1 that virtue1 united to this piety1 which knows how to soften every sacrifice1 is the safest guide in the path of life4 ,perhaps1 ignorant as we are of our nature and destination1 it is not our interest that uninterrupted rewards should excite us to virtue2 for if this virtue were our title and hope with ,god for the present1 and the time to come1 we ought not to desire that it should degenerate into an evident calculation1 into a sentiment bordering on selfishness4 ,it would then be very difficult to give a proper definition of liberty1 if1 by the effect of rapid justice1 a constant proportion of good and evil1 accompanied every determination of our mind2 we should then1 morally as well as physically1 be impelled by an imperious instinct1 and the merit of our actions would be absolutely destroyed4 ,i mean by all this to ask1 what would be our merit or demerit1 if our life is only for an instant1 and if nothing is to follow8 ,the persuasion of the existence of a ,god1 without a certainty of the immortality of our soul1 cannot impose any obligation2 but the real connexion between these two ideas is too frequently overlooked4 ,undoubtedly1 left to our understanding1 this word certainty is not made for us1 or at least it is not applicable to our relation with the ,deity1 and to the judgment we form of his designs and will4 ,we are too far removed from the ,high and lofty ,one1 who inhabiteth eternity1 to pretend to measure ,his thoughts by our bounded views4 ,they are covered with a veil1 and we always obscurely discern that which is hid in the depths of ,his wisdom3 but the more this ,god1 whom we adore1 escapes by ,his immensity from our conceptions1 the less have we a right to limit ,his perfections1 in order to refuse ,him the power of transporting our existence beyond the narrow circle submitted to our view2 and ,i know not how it would be possible to persuade us1 that this action of the ,deity would surpass in grandeur the creation of the world1 or the formation of animated beings3 the habit of observing a great wonder may weaken our astonishment1 but should not eradicate our admiration4 ,we cannot reach1 but by reflection1 to those events of which the future is still the depository2 but if every thing which surrounds us attests the grandeur of the ,supreme ,being2 if the mind1 in its meditations1 without terror1 approaches the confines of infinity1 why mistrust that he can perform in favour of men1 a magnificent union of ,omnipotence and perfect goodness8 ,why reject1 as an absurd confidence1 the idea of another existence8 ,we see1 without astonishment1 the feeble chrysalis force its way from the tomb it wove for itself1 and appear under a new form4 ,we cannot be anticipated witnesses of the perpetuity of our intelligence2 but its vast extent would appear to us1 were we not familiarized with it1 a greater phnomenon than duration4 ,in short1 why do ,i resist an idea of a continuation of existence1 since ,i am forced to give credit to my birth8 ,there is a greater distance from nothing to life1 than from life to its sequel1 or renewal under a new form3 ,i am clearly acquainted with the commencement of existence1 ,i know death only by conjecture4 ,we now enjoy the light and blessings brought to us by a beneficent heavenly ,teacher2 could it be1 that he alone would be a stranger to his own glory and virtues8 ,i cannot say1 why this contrast makes an impression on me2 but it is among the number of superficial ideas which occur to my mind1 when ,i reflect on this subject4 ,a comforting thought still strikes me1 the natural order of the universe appears to me a finished system3 we perceive a perfect regularity between the revolution of the heavenly bodies1 an invariable succession in vegetable life1 an almost incredible precision in that immense quantity of volatile particles submitted to the laws of affinity2 and think every thing in its right place1 and that all fulfil exactly their destination in the grand and complete system of nature4 ,but if we turn afterwards our attention on the multitude of beings inferior to men1 we shall discover also1 that their action is as complete and conformable in every respect to the faculties they are endowed with1 since they are governed by an imperious instinct4 ,full of these ideas1 struck with astonishment at the appearance of an harmony so general1 have we not just grounds to presume1 that man1 transported into infinite space by his intelligence2 that man1 susceptible of improvement1 and continually combatting obstacles2 that man1 in short1 this most noble work of nature1 only commences in this sublunary world his race8 ,and1 since all which composes the material order of the universe appears to us in an harmony so admirable1 ought we not then to conclude1 that the moral order in which we perceive some things vague and not determinate2 that the moral order is connected with another life more sublime and more astonishing than the other parts of creation1 and will one day be ultimately developed8 ,this singular disproportion between the harmony of the physical and apparent confusion of the moral world1 seems to announce a time of equilibrium and completion2 a time when we shall all know its relation with the wisdom of the ,creator1 as we already perceive the wisdom of ,his designs1 in the perfect agreement of the innumerable blessings on sature with the present wants of man1 and every other animated creature4 ,the grandeur of the human mind is indeed a vast subject of reflection2 this marvellous constitution seems to remind us perpetually of a design proportioned to such a noble conception2 it seems almost unnecessary that ,god should have endowed the soul with such noble faculties for such a short life as ours1 to fulfil its limited plans and trivial pursuits3 thus every thing authorizes us to carry our views further2 were ,i to see such men as ,columbus1 ,vesputius1 ,vasco de ,gama1 in a ship1 ,i should not suppose that they were mere coasters4 ,some try to destroy our hopes1 by endeavouring to prove1 that the soul is material1 and that it ought to be assimilated to every thing which perishes before us2 but the forms only change1 the vivifying force does not perish2 perhaps the soul resembles it1 but with this difference1 that as it is composed of memory1 reflection1 and foresight1 it exists only by a series of consequences1 which forms the distinct attributes and particular character of its essence3 it follows then1 that it cannot be generalized like the blind force which animates in a universal manner vegetation2 but that every soul is in some measure a world to itself1 and that it ought to preserve separately an identity of interest1 and consciousness of preceding thoughts4 ,thus1 in this system1 the corporeal body1 which distinguishes us to the eyes of others1 is only the transitory habitation of that soul which is not to die2 of that soul susceptible of continual improvement1 and which1 by degrees we can have no idea of1 will probably approach insensibly to that magnificent period1 when it will be thought worthy of knowing more intimately the ,author of ,nature4 ,how can we conceive the action of the soul on our senses1 without a point of contact8 and how conceive that contact1 without the idea of matter8 ,for it is only by experience we are acquainted with the necessity of it to occasion a motion2 and without that previous knowledge1 the rapidity with which one body sometimes strikes another1 could only have been represented by the length of time necessary for its approach to it3 however1 if we had not any metaphysical knowledge of the cause of motion1 and if experience only guided our judgment in this respect1 why resist an idea that there is within us a faculty which acts of itself8 the intimate feeling which we have of it1 is certainly an argument for its existence4 ,we cannot1 besides1 maintain1 that a like property may be opposite to the nature of things2 since if we adopt the system of the creation of the world1 this property may proceed1 like all others1 from the ,divine ,power2 and if we admit1 on the contrary1 the irreligious opinion of the eternity of the universe1 there must have been from eternity a general movement without impulsion1 without exterior contact1 or any cause out of itself2 and the action of our souls might be subject to the same laws4 ,the idea of the necessity of a contact1 to effect a movement1 would never have occurred1 if we had bounded our observations to the influence of our ideas on our determinations1 and the influence of those determinations on our physical being4 ,in short1 the laws of attraction and repulsion are subject to great exceptions2 which exceptions may serve to support the system of the spirituality of the soul4 ,we may be allowed to say1 that there exists a vacuum in the universe1 since1 without this vacuum1 there could not have been any motion8 ,it is known that this motion depends on the laws of attraction but how can attraction act through a vacuum1 unless it is by a spiritual force1 which acts without contact1 and notwithstanding the absolute interruption of matter8 ,it is then this force1 or its equivalent1 that ,i may adopt to define the cause of the impressions of which our souls are susceptible4 ,let others explain1 in their turn1 by what material communication1 the sight of a few immoveable characters1 traced on insensible marble1 disturbs my soul4 ,it is very easy to comprehend by what mechanism the eye distinguishes these characters2 but there ends the physical action1 for we cannot attribute to that action1 the general power of producing sensations in the mind1 since1 perhaps1 many other men may consider the same characters1 without receiving any impression4 ,it is very possible1 that our intellectual preceptions have not any connection with motion1 such as we conceive it4 ,our interior nature1 which we distinguish by the name of immaterial1 is probably subject to laws very different from those which govern nature in general2 but as we are obliged to apply to the mysteries of our souls1 those expressions which serve to delineate or to interpret the phnomena submitted to our inspection2 these expressions1 and their continual use1 have insensibly habituated us to certain opinions1 about the causes and developement of our intellectual faculties4 ,it is thus that1 after having used the words motion1 rest1 agitation1 and action1 to discriminate different affections of our souls1 of which we know very little1 we have afterwards assimilated them1 foolishly1 to our moral nature1 to all the ideas which were represented by these denominations2 and even death itself1 of which we have not any clear knowledge1 but by the dissolution of our physical being2 death1 an image borrowed from things which are under the inspection of our senses1 has not1 perhaps1 either relation or analogy with the nature and essence of our spirit2 all these are incomprehensible secrets1 not mixt with any thing we are acquainted with4 ,we act1 in this respect1 like men born deaf1 who apply to sounds those terms which they were accustomed to use1 to express the sensations the other senses produced4 ,i shall only add another observation to the ideas on which ,i have just dwelt3 perhaps we should never have thought of applying the words which express action and motion1 to all the operations of our souls1 if we had not at first divided our spiritual being into a great number of dependencies1 such as attention1 reflection1 thought1 judgment1 imagination1 memory1 and foresight2 and if afterwards1 in order to render intelligible the variable relations of these abstract parts of our mind 7these parts of a unit which we have taken to pieces1 though it composed that single being ourself7 we had not been obliged to have recourse to some plain expressions1 like those of action1 motion1 attraction1 and repulsion2 but this familiar use of these expressions1 in order to explain the accidents of our intellectual system1 very much resembles the use which we make of ,x in ,algebra1 to express unknown terms4 ,in short1 were we to submit the action of our souls to the laws of a particular movement1 forming one of the dependencies of the great one1 we should still have to explain the cause of the consciousness that we have of this action1 which ,atheists refuse to nature itself1 at the very moment they make it the ,god of the ,universe4 ,were reasoning able to subject all the operations of our mind to the impressions of external objects1 we could not rank under the same laws1 that consciousness which we have of our existence1 and of the different faculties of the soul4 ,this consciousness is not an effect1 or the production of any known force1 since it has been always in us independent of any external object1 consequently we cannot investigate it4 ,the conception of the existence of our souls1 is as incomprehensible to us as that of eternity2 what a profound thought1 which even our imagination cannot embrace6 ,let us admit1 however1 for a moment1 that all the operations of our souls are determined by some impulsion1 whatever it may be1 we shall still be struck with the absolute difference which exists1 according to our knowledge between the regular movements of matter1 and the almost infinite and unaccountable emotions of our hearts and minds2 so variable and so differently modified1 that the attention is lost in the examination of them4 ,and after having vainly endeavoured to conceive the union established between our thoughts and exterior objects1 we have still to form an idea of the actions of these thoughts on themselves1 their progression and connection2 our mind led astray1 lost in such a meditation1 leaves us only a consciousness of our weakness1 and we feel1 that there is an intellectual altitude which the human faculties can never reach4 ,we distinguish1 in a single character which our judgment can decypher1 an absolute difference between soul and matter3 we cannot avoid representing the latter as infinitely divisible1 whilst1 on the contrary1 all the efforts of our imagination could never divide that indivisible unit which composes the soul1 and which is the sovereign over our will1 thoughts1 and all our faculties#e4 ,but if we examine again1 under another appearance1 the properties of matter1 we know not how to assimilate to them the emotions of our soul2 for we distinctly feel those emotions1 let their number be ever so numerous1 when even they act together and terminate in the same center1 which is that ,indivisible ,being before alluded to2 whereas matter1 by an essential property1 cannot1 in the same instant be pressed or struck in several manners1 unless it is in parts which have a tendency to different centres4 ,there is not then any resemblance between the impressions that our souls receive1 and the various effects which may be attributed to the action of all the material substances of which we can form any conception3 they are always connected with the idea of space and extent2 but that centre1 where all our perceptions meet1 that ,judge1 who dictates laws in the internal empire1 whose revolutions we only know1 that last ,director of our will1 this ,indivisible ,being1 at the same time our friend and master1 is not to be found in any compounded idea2 and this unity so simple1 ought necessarily to convince us1 that nothing which is submitted to the dominion of our senses1 can serve as a type of the idea which we are to form of the soul4 ,we discover the traces of this truth1 when we fix our attention on the comparisons with which our spiritual unit1 our identical self1 is continually occupied3 we imagine it seated on a throne1 listening1 and examining the various reasons which ought to determine its action2 we see it1 like ,nero1 yielding sometimes to ,narcissus1 and sometimes to ,burrhus2 but at the same time we distinctly perceive all the counsellors1 all the flatterers1 all the enemies which surround it2 we never remark but a single master in the midst of the tumult and the intrigues of this court4 ,whilst our soul then is thrown into motion by contemplation1 and by the imperceptible modification of a fugitive idea1 as well as by every thing which is opposed to material action1 why should we not suppose that it is purely intelligent and spiritual8 ,it must be confessed1 that sometimes our corporeal infirmities influence our minds2 but this relation is not a proof of identity1 since our body may be an instrument entrusted to our soul1 one of the organs which it is to make a transitory use of4 ,the continuity of existence1 considered abstractedly1 certainly is in the universe a simple and natural state2 and the temporary existence is perhaps the only one which is heterogeneous and accidental2 the soul seems too noble to be assimilated to the latter state1 it may exist in a different manner when joined to a material substance1 but that connection does not make it lose its original essence4 ,it is to be acknowledged1 that it is through the medium of our senses we know all the force of our existence2 and that they are those parts of our mixt being which strike us most during a little while2 and it is perhaps by a law of the same kind that we see men1 engrossed by a great passion1 entirely strangers to every other moral affection2 but1 why should it be contrary to the nature of things1 that the soul1 once stripped of its terrestrial cloathing1 should be acquainted with the nature of its existence1 and at the same time perceive those truths which now are obscured by clouds4 ,an innate fire languishes a long time unknown in a rough stone1 that stone is struck1 and we see issue out a splendid light2 this is perhaps a faint picture of the state in which our soul is when death breaks its fetters4 ,in short1 in a matter so obscure every supposition is admissable1 which assures us that the soul is not on earth in a state of enchantment1 or in a kind of interruption of its ordinary existence4 ,all that we see of the universe is an assemblage of incomprehensible phnomena2 and when we wish to discover the conclusion1 through the aid of the ideas most on a level with our intelligence1 we wander perhaps from truth2 since1 according to appearances1 it is in the depths of infinity that it reposes4 ,i doubt1 whether we can allow the authority of those metaphysical arguments which are made use of to defend the spirituality of the soul to be decisive2 but they are sufficient to repulse the different attacks of materialists4 ,the most evident opinion to me is1 that we are too weak to comprehend the secret we search for4 ,we have1 according to our petty knowledge1 divided the universe into two parts1 spirit and matter2 but this division serves only to distinguish the little we know from that which we have no knowledge of2 there is perhaps an infinite gradation between the different properties which compose motion and life1 instinct and intelligence2 we can only express the ideas conceived by our understandings1 and the general words which we make use of1 serve only to detect the vain ambition of our mind2 but with respect to the universe1 in considering its immensity1 we shall find1 that there is sufficient space for all the shades and modifications we have no idea of4 ,we confess1 that it is the connection between our physical powers and intellectual faculties1 and the action that they seem to have on each other1 which nourishes our doubts and anxieties2 but without this relation1 without the appearance of our fall1 all would be distinct in the fate of man1 all would be manifest4 ,it is then1 because that there is a shade in the midst of the picture1 which continually catches our attention1 that we have need to collect the light of the mind and the feelings1 in order to see in perspective our destiny2 and it is from this motive that we find it necessary1 above all1 to be penetrated with the idea of a ,god1 and to search for1 in his power and goodness1 the last explication which we want4 ,there is1 in the judgments of men1 a contrast which ,i have often been struck with4 ,those people1 who1 at the sight of the immensity of the universe1 at the view of the wonders in the midst of which they are placed1 fear not to attribute to our intellectual faculties the power of interpreting and understanding every thing1 and even the capacity of attaining almost to the hidden secrets of our nature2 these same people are nevertheless most eager to strip the soul of its true dignity1 and the most obstinate in refusing it spirituality and duration1 and every thing else which can exalt it4 ,but happily1 these refusals or concessions fix not our fate3 the nature of the soul will always be as unknown as the essence of the ,supreme ,being2 and it is one of the proofs of its grandeur1 to be wrapped up in the same mysteries which hide from us the universal spirit4 ,but there are simple ideas and sentiments1 which seem to bring along with them more comfort and hope than metaphysical arguments4 ,we cannot profoundly meditate on the marvellous attributes of thought2 we cannot attentively contemplate the vast empire which has been submitted to it1 or reflect on the faculty with which it is endowed1 of fixing the past1 approaching the future1 and bringing into a small compass the expanded views of nature1 and of containing1 if ,i may use the phrase1 in one point the infinity of space1 and the immensity of time2 we cannot consider such a wonder1 without continually uniting a sentiment of admiration to the idea of an end worthy of such a grand conception1 worthy of ,him whose wisdom we adore4 ,shall we1 however1 be able to discover this end1 in the passing breath1 in the fleeting moments which compose life8 ,shall we be able to discover it in a succession of phantoms1 which seem destined only to trace the progress of time8 ,shall we1 above all1 perceive it in this general system of destruction8 and ought we to annihilate in the same manner the insensible plant1 which perishes without having known life2 and the intelligent man1 who every day explores the charms of existence8 ,let us not thus degrade our fate and nature2 and let us judge and hope better of that which is unknown4 ,life1 which is a means of improvement1 should not lead to an eternal death2 the mind1 that prolific source of knowledge1 should not be lost in the dark shades of forgetfulness2 sensibility and all its mild and pure emotions1 which so tenderly unite us to others1 and enliven our days1 ought not to be dissipated as if it were the vapour of a dream2 conscience1 that severe judge was not intended to deceive us2 and piety and virtue are not vainly to elevate our views towards that model of affection1 the object of our love and adoration4 ,the ,supreme ,being1 to whom all times belong1 seems already to have sealed our union with futurity by endowing us with foresight1 and placing in the recesses of our heart the passionate desire of a longer duration1 and the confused sentiment which it gives of obtaining it4 ,there are some relations still obscure1 some connections between our moral nature and futurity2 and perhaps our wishes1 our hopes1 are a sixth sense1 a faint sense1 if ,i may be allowed to express myself so1 of which we shall one day experience the satisfaction4 ,sometimes also ,i imagine1 that love1 the most noble ornament of our nature1 love1 sublime enchantment1 is a mysterious pledge of the truth of these hopes2 for in disengaging us from ourselves1 transporting us beyond the limits of our being1 it seems the first step towards an immortal nature2 and in presenting to us the idea1 in offering to us the example of an existence out of ourselves1 it seems to interpret by our feelings that which our minds cannot comprehend4 ,in short1 and this reflection is the most awful of all1 when ,i see the mind of man grasp at the knowledge of a ,god2 when ,i see him1 at least1 draw near to such a grand idea2 such a sublime degree of elevation prepares me1 in some manner1 for the high destiny of the soul2 ,i search for a proportion between this immense thought and all the interests of the world1 and ,i discover none2 ,i search for a proportion between these boundless meditations and the narrow picture of life1 and ,i perceive none3 there is then1 ,i doubt not1 some magnificent secret beyond all that we can discern2 some astonishing wonder behind this curtain still unfurled2 on all sides we discover the commencement of it4 ,how imagine1 how resolve the thought1 that all which affects and animates us1 all which guides and captivates us1 is a series of enchantments1 an assemblage of illusions8 ,the universe and its majestic pomp would then have been only destined to serve as the theater of a vain representation2 and such a grand idea1 so magnificent a conception would have had for an object a mere dazzling chimera4 ,what would then have signified that mixture of real beauties and false appearances8 ,what had signified that concourse of phantoms1 which1 without design or end1 would be less admirable than a ray of light1 destined to enlighten our abode8 ,in short1 what had signified in men that union of sublime thoughts and deceitful hopes8 ,guard us from giving credit to such a supposition6 ,is it to ,him then1 whose power has not any limits1 that we dare to attribute the artifices of weakness8 ,should we have seen every where order1 design1 and exactness1 as far as our understanding can reach1 and as soon as we are arrived at the utmost boundary of our faculties1 should we stop the views of the ,supreme ,intelligence1 and imagine that all is finished1 because futurity is unknown8 ,alas6 we endure but a moment1 and we presume to know the past and the future6 ,but grant us only the idea of a ,god2 do not deprive us of our confidence in ,him2 it is in relying on that grand truth1 that we shall be able to guard our hopes against all the metaphysical arguments which we are not immediately prepared to answer4 ,would you object1 that hope is not sufficient to determine men to the observance of morality1 and to subject them to the sacrifices which the practice of virtue seems to impose8 ,what then attracts them1 in all the bustle of life1 unless it is hope2 what is it that renders them greedy of honour and of fortune1 unless it is expectation8 ,and when they obtain the object of their wishes1 they have frequently only the imaginary advantages hope created4 ,why then would you ask for a demonstrated certainty1 in order to devote yourself to all the researches which the human mind can conceive to be the most grand1 the most worthy of an ardent pursuit8 ,on the contrary1 the most trifling degree of expectation should become a motive of encouragement4 ,and what is it1 of all our interests1 which could be put in competition with the most fugitive idea1 with the slightest hope of pleasing the ,master of the ,world1 and maintaining the intercourse which seems to be indicated by our natural sentiments1 and by the first perceptions of our minds8 ,i would wish to go still further1 and ,i would demand1 not of all men1 but of some at least1 if1 were even this life to be their only heritage1 they would think themselves freed from the desire of pleasing the ,sovereign ,author of ,nature4 ,the moment that is given us to know and admire ,him1 would it not still be a blessing8 ,we celebrate the memory of those princes who have done good to men2 are we not to do the same with ,him to whom we are indebted for our existence2 to ,him who has contrived1 if ,i may be allowed to say so1 the various enjoyments we are so unwilling to detach ourselves from8 ,shall we dare1 weak and ignorant as we are1 to measure the wisdom1 and calculate the power of our ,benefactor1 and rashly reproach him for not having done more for us8 ,this would be the language of ingratitude4 ,but1 as ,i have shown1 our sentiments have not been put to this test2 and it is on more liberal terms that we have been admitted to treat with the ,supreme ,being3 ,he has surrounded us with every thing that can encourage our expectations2 ,he allows us1 by contemplation1 to attain almost a knowledge of his perfections2 ,he lets us read them in that collection of glory and magnificence which the universe displays2 ,he permits us to perceive his power and goodness1 infinity and happiness2 and by that succession of ideas he has guided our wishes and our hopes4 ,how grand is the contemplation of the ,eternal1 they who have sensibility can tell6 ,but this idea should be very early implanted in the human heart1 it is necessary that it should be connected with our first feelings1 that it should rise by degrees1 in order to gain strength before men are thrown into the midst of that world which boasts of being freed from childish prejudices2 left1 hurried along by its levity1 they follow every day a new master1 and render themselves the slaves of pleasure and vanity4 ,and that which is to maintain1 amongst men1 the principles first inculcated1 is public worship1 an idea as beautiful as simple1 and the most proper to vivify all that is vague and abstract in reasoning and instruction3 public worship1 in assembling men1 and in turning them without public shame to their weaknesses1 and in equalising every individual before the ,master of the world1 will be1 in this point of view a grand lesson of morality2 but this worship1 besides1 habitually reminds some of their duty1 and is for others a constant source of consolation2 in short1 almost all men1 astonished and overwhelmed by the ideas of grandeur and infinity1 which the appearance of the universe1 and the exercise of their own thoughts1 present to them1 aspire to find repose in the sentiment of adoration which unites them in a more intimate manner to ,god1 than the developement of their reason ever will4 ,we should guard ourselves carefully from despising the emotions of piety1 which cannot be separated from its advantages2 and philosophers themselves know not how far they would go1 when they try to reduce the interests of men to the narrow circle of demonstrated truths3 that which we perceive confusedly1 is more precious than all we have a certain knowledge of2 that which we anticipate1 is of more value than the blessings scattered round us4 ,thus1 we should be miserably impoverished1 if they could retrench from the various comforts which we shall never possess1 but through the aid of the imagination4 ,however1 if we take this imagination as a guide and encouragement1 when we are engaged in the pursuits of fortune and ambition1 and if the wise themselves find that to be good which serves to nourish our passions1 why would you reject it1 when1 simply more grand and more sublime in its object1 it becomes the support of our weaknesses1 the safeguard of our principles1 and the source of our most interesting consolations8 ,it is the part of legislators to study these truths1 and to direct towards them the spirit of laws1 and the uncertain course of opinions4 ,how honourable is it for them to be called to form the august alliance which is to unite happiness with morality1 and morality with the existence of a ,god6 ,,chap4 ,,xii4 ,that there is a ,god4 ,that there is a ,god6 ,how is it possible to avoid being penetrated with an awful respect in uttering these words8 ,how reflect on them without the deepest humility1 and even an emotion of surprise1 that man1 this weak creature1 this atom dispersed in the immensity of space1 undertakes to add some weight to a truth1 of which all nature is the splendid witness8 ,however1 if this truth is our supreme good1 if we are nothing without it1 how can we banish it from our minds8 ,does it not constrain us to dwell continually on the subject8 ,compared with it1 all other thoughts are insignificant and uninteresting2 it gives birth to1 and sustains all the sentiments on which the happiness of an intelligent creature depends4 ,i confess ,i tremblingly discussed the different objections which are employed to destroy our confidence in the existence of a ,supreme ,being2 ,i dreaded the melancholy which those arguments produced2 ,i was afraid to feel the impression of it myself1 and thus to hazard the opinion most dear to my heart1 and most essential to my happiness2 it appeared to me1 that a few general ideas1 supported by lively feelings1 would have been sufficient for my tranquillity2 and without an interest more extended1 without the desire of opposing1 according to my powers1 a spirit of indifference and false philosophy1 which is every day gaining ground1 ,i should never have stepped beyond my circle4 ,but1 ,i am far from regretting the part ,i have taken3 ,i have ran over1 without much trouble1 those books where the most pernicious doctrines are ingeniously disseminated2 and have thought that a person1 endowed with common sense1 on whom metaphysical subtleties were obtruded1 would resemble those savages who are brought sometimes amongst us1 and who1 from the depraved refinement of our morals and manners1 have often recalled us1 by some natural reflections1 to those simple principles which we have abandoned1 to those ancient truths whose vestiges are lost4 ,the whole structure of religion would be overturned1 if1 by the strength or artifices of reasoning1 men could destroy our confidence in the existence of a ,supreme ,being3 morality1 being detached from the opinions which sustain it1 would remain a wavering1 unsupported notion1 only defended by a policy1 whose power time would insensibly weaken4 ,a fatal languor invading every mind1 where would be that universal interest1 that sentiment felt by all men1 and proper to form a general alliance between them8 ,then those1 who1 with pure intentions1 can only be guided and sustained by an intimate persuasion1 would retire sad1 and leave to others the care of supporting moral order by fictions and falsehoods2 they would pity that dismayed race1 called to appear and pass away like flowers1 which bloom but for a day2 they would despise those animated phantoms which only come to make a buz with their vanity and trivial passions1 and fall in a little while into eternal oblivion4 ,all that appears beautiful in the universe1 and excites our enthusiasm1 would soon lose its splendour and enchantment1 if we perceived nothing in this brilliant scene but the play of some atoms1 and the uniform walk of blind necessity2 for it is always because a thing may be otherwise1 that it acquires a claim to our admiration3 in short1 that soul1 that spirit1 which vivifies man1 that faculty of thought which surprises and confounds those who reflect1 would only appear a vain movement1 if nothing was before1 or was to follow1 if some unknown breath1 or general intelligence1 did not animate nature4 ,but we have dwelt too long on those gloomy thoughts2 reassume your light and life1 admirable works of ,god2 come and confound the pride of some1 and comfort others2 come and take possession of our souls1 and direct our affections towards ,him whom we ought to love1 towards ,him who is the eternal model of perfect wisdom1 and unlimitted goodness6 ,i shall not endeavour to prove that there is a ,god1 by reciting all the wonders the works of nature display to our eyes2 several celebrated writers have already done it1 and have missed their aim4 ,infinity can only be represented by astonishment and respect1 which overwhelms all our thoughts3 and when we labour to explain the successive and varied picture of the wonders of nature1 this change of objects is more calculated to relax our admiration than to increase it2 for any change eases our mind1 by affording those relaxations which our weakness has need of2 and if we were to investigate only one phnomenon1 we should soon discover the utmost extent of our faculties4 ,we find the limits of our understanding in the examination of the organization of the smallest insect1 as well as in observing the faculties of the soul2 and the mysteries of the simplest vegetation is as far above the reach of our intelligence1 as the principal agent of the universe4 ,it is then as a hymn of praise to the ,supreme ,being1 and not as necessary instruction that ,i freely follow the course of my thoughts4 ,i shall begin by throwing a rapid glance on the principal characters of wisdom and grandeur1 which we are all equally struck with1 when we contemplate the wonder of the universe4 ,what a sight is that of the world6 ,what a magnificent picture for those who can be roused out of the state of indifference1 in which habit has thrown them4 ,we know not where to begin1 or stop1 when we expatiate on so many wonders2 and the most noble of all is1 the faculty which has been bestowed on us of admiring and conceiving them4 ,what an astonishing and sublime relation is that of the innumerable beauties of nature1 with the intelligence which permits us to enjoy1 and to be made happy by them6 ,what relation so surprising1 as that of the order and harmony of the universe1 with the moral intelligence which enables us to anticipate the enjoyments of wisdom and unclouded knowledge6 ,nature is immense1 and all that it contains1 all that it spreads with so much splendour1 seems within the reach of our sensibility1 or the powers of our mind2 and these faculties1 invisible and incomprehensible1 unite to form1 that wonder of wonders1 which we call felicity4 ,let not these plain words turn our attention from the magical ideas which they represent4 ,it is because the grand phnomena of our existence cannot either be defined or expressed many ways1 that they are so much more wonderful2 and those words1 used by common consent1 soul1 mind1 sensation1 life1 happiness1 and many others besides1 which we pronounce so slightly1 confound not less our understanding1 when we wish to discuss the essence of the properties of which they are the sign4 ,it is for this reason1 among several others1 that the admiration of particulars1 in the works of nature1 is always insufficient for those who have sensibility1 as such admiration is necessarily placed between two ideas susceptible of being known2 ideas which we connect through the aid of our own knowledge2 but the charm of our relation with the wonders which surround us1 arises from experiencing every instant the impression of an infinite grandeur2 and feeling the necessity of flying to that mild refuge of ignorance and weakness1 the sublime idea of a ,god4 ,we are continually carried towards this idea by the vain efforts which we make1 in order to penetrate the secrets of our own nature2 and when ,i fix my attention on those astonishing mysteries1 which seem to terminate1 in some manner1 the power of our thoughts1 ,i represent them with emotion1 as the only barrier which separates us from the infinite spirit1 the source of all knowledge4 ,men endowed with the greatest genius1 perceive quickly the bounds of their faculties when they wish to go very far in the study of abstract metaphysical truths2 but the simplest and least exercised mind1 can distinguish the proofs of that order1 which announces with so much splendour the end and design of sovereign wisdom4 ,it seems1 that all the knowledge proper to interest men has been placed within their reach4 ,the learned astronomer1 observing the course of our globe round the sun1 perceives the cause of that regular succession of repose and vegetation1 which secures the earth its fecundity1 and adorns every season with renewed beauties2 but the simple cultivator1 who sees the treasurers of the earth renovated every year1 and answer1 with singular precision1 to the wants of animated beings1 is not less a witness of a phnomenon which is sufficient to excite his admiration and gratitude6 ,newton analyzed light1 and calculated the swiftness with which it runs over the immensity of space2 but the ignorant herdsman1 who sees1 when he wakes1 his hut enlightened by the same rays which animate all nature1 is equally benefitted by them4 ,the indefatigable anatomist attains a just idea of our inimitable structure1 and the ingenious texture of our different organs2 but the man most devoid of instruction1 who reflects an instant on the pleasures1 and the variety of the sensations1 which we find ourselves susceptible of1 partakes the blessing equally4 ,the transcendent knowledge of some people1 is a degree of superiority which disappears when contrasted with the incomprehensible grandeur of nature2 when we contemplate infinity1 those talents which exalt one man above another are no more seen2 and probably it is beyond the limits of our intelligence that the greatest wonders of nature begin4 ,the knowledge of all ages has not explained what is the imperious authority of our will over our actions1 nor how our thoughts could reach the most remote ages1 how our souls could investigate that innumerable multitude of present objects1 of recollections and anticipations2 neither has it informed us how all those excellencies of the mind1 sometimes remain unknown to itself1 nor how they are sometimes at its command1 issuing out of their long obscurity1 and succeeding each other with method1 or are profusely poured forth4 ,at the sight of these astonishing phnomena1 we think man presumptuous1 when1 puffed up with pride1 he mistakes the measure of his strength and wishes to penetrate into the secrets1 whose confines are shut by an invisible hand4 ,he should be content to know1 that his existence is united to so many wonders2 he should be satisfied with being the principal object of the liberality of nature1 and he should adore with reverential respect that powerful ,sovereign1 who bestows so many blessings on him1 and who has made him to sympathize with all the powers of heaven and earth4 ,the globe on which we live runs over every year a space of two hundred millions of leagues2 and in this immense course1 its distance from the sun1 determined by immutable laws1 is exactly proportioned to the degree of the temperature necessary to our feeble nature1 and to the successive return of that precious vegetation1 without which no animated being could subsist4 ,that celestial body1 which fertilizes the seeds of life shut up in the bosom of the earth1 is1 at the same time1 the source of that light which opens to our view the glorious sight of the universe4 ,the rays of the sun run over in eight minutes about thirty millions of leagues3 such an impetuous motion would be sufficient to pulverize the largest masses of matter2 but1 by an admirable combination1 such is the incomprehensible tenuity of these rays1 that they strike the most tender of our organs1 not only without wounding it2 but with a measure so delicate and precise1 that they excite in us those extatic sensations1 which are the origin and the indispensable condition of our greatest enjoyments4 ,man1 in immensity1 is only an imperceptible point2 and yet1 by his senses and intelligence1 he seems in communication with the whole universe2 but how pleasant and peaceable is this communication6 ,it is almost that of a prince with his subjects3 all is animated round man1 all relates to his desires and wants2 the action of the elements1 every thing on earth1 like the rays of light1 seems to be proportioned to his faculties and strength2 and whilst the celestial bodies move with a rapidity which terrifies our imagination1 and whilst they hurry along in their course our dwelling1 we are tranquil in the bosom of an asylum1 and under the protecting shelter allotted us2 we enjoy there in peace a multitude of blessings1 which1 by another wonderful affinity1 ally themselves to our taste1 and all the sentiments we are endowed with4 ,in short1 and it is another favour1 man is permitted to be1 in some things1 the contriver of his own happiness1 by his will and ingenuity2 he has embellished his habitation1 and united several ornaments to the simple beauties of nature2 he has improved1 by his care1 the salutary plants2 and even in those which seemed the most dangerous he has discovered some wholesome property1 and carefully separated it from the envenomed parts which surrounded it2 he can soften metals1 and make them serve to augment his strength2 he obliges the marble to obey him1 and assume what form he desires2 he gives laws to the elements1 or circumscribes their empire2 he stops the invasion of the sea2 he restrains the rivers in their natural bed1 and sometimes obliges them to take a different course1 in order to spread their benign influence2 he erects a shelter against the fury of the winds1 and by an ingenious contrivance1 makes use of that impetuous force1 which he could not at first dream of defending himself from2 even the fire1 whose terrible action seems to presage destruction1 he subjugates1 and renders it1 if ,i may so express myself1 the confident of his industry1 and the companion of his labours4 ,what a source of reflections is this dominion of the mind over the most dreadful effects of the movement of blind matter4 ,it seems as if the ,supreme ,being1 in submitting thus to the intelligence of men the most powerful elements1 chose to give us an anticipation of the empire which ,his sovereign wisdom has over the universe4 ,however1 it is in the influence of our spiritual faculties on themselves1 that we observe1 above all1 their admirable nature2 we see1 with astonishment1 the perfections which they acquire by their own action4 ,intelligence1 considered in a general manner1 undoubtedly is a great phnomenon2 but it is a still greater wonder1 to see the thoughts of a man reach1 by the most ingenious means1 the knowledge of others1 and form an alliance between the past and present productions of the mind4 ,it is by such an alliance that the sciences have been improved1 and that the mind of man has been acquainted with all its strength4 ,the mighty of the earth cannot break this association1 nor subject to their tyrannic divisions the noble heritage of knowledge2 this gift1 so precious1 preserves the stamp of a divine hand2--and no one has yet been able to say it is mine4 ,the most noble use that has ever been made of the admirable union of so many talents1 and so much knowledge1 was to demonstrate how every thing in nature relates to the idea of a first cause2 which forcibly announces a design full of wisdom1 and a beneficent intention2 but now1 unhappily1 these proofs of the existence of a ,god are not sufficient2 imperious philosophers have laboured to subvert every thing founded on the connection and wonderful harmony of the system of nature2 it is not sufficient to oppose to these new opinions the mere authority of final causes2 they do not contest that there is a perfect conformity between our desires and wants1 between our senses and the bounties of nature2 they do not contest1 from the cedar to the hyssop1 from the insect to man1 that there is a beauty of proportion in the whole1 which is to be found equally in the relation that objects have with each other1 as well as in their different parts2 but this admirable harmony1 in which the pious man1 the man of feeling1 perceives with delight the stamp of an eternal intelligence2 others less fortunate1 undoubtedly1 obstinately present it to us as a fortuitous collision1 as a play of atoms agitated by a blind movement1 or as nature itself1 existing thus from all eternity4 ,what trouble they take to invent and defend these systems destructive of our happiness and hopes6 ,i prefer my feelings to all this philosophy2 but1 to avoid an encounter would be to favour their presumption1 and give additional strength to their opinions4 ,thus ,i shall treat the most important question that man can consider4 ,i shall endeavour first to show1 that the different conjectures on the origin of the world all centre in the single opinion of the eternal and necessary existence of every thing which is2 and ,i shall afterwards compare the basis of that system with the reason of that happy and simple belief which unites the idea of a ,supreme ,being with all we see and know2 in short1 to the universe1 the most unlimitted of our conceptions4 ,,chap4 ,,xiii4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,when we see the authors of the different systems1 concerning the formation of the world1 reject the idea of a ,god1 under the pretext1 that this idea is foreign to the nature of our perceptions1 should we not have a right to expect some better substitute for it8 ,but1 far from answering our expectations1 they abandon themselves to all the wanderings of the most fantastic imagination4 ,in fact1 whether we refer the origin of the universe to the effect of hazard1 the fortuitous concourse of atoms1 or whether we establish another hypothesis derived from the same principle1 it is necessary at least to suppose the eternal existence of an innumerable multitude of little particles of matter1 placed without order in the immensity of space2 and to suppose1 afterwards1 that these atoms1 disseminated to infinity1 attracted each other1 and corresponded by the inherent properties of their nature2 and that there resulted1 from their adhesion1 not only organized1 but intelligent faculties2 it is necessary1 in short1 to suppose1 that all those incomprehensible atoms have been settled with admirable order through the effect of a blind motion1 and by the result of some of the possible chances in the infinity of accidental combinations4 ,indeed1 after so many suppositions without example or foundation1 that of an ,intelligent ,being1 soul and director of the universe1 had been more analogous and more consonant with our knowledge4 ,let us return to the hypothesis we have just mentioned4 ,we shall then recognize the trifling habit of the mind2 it is accustomed to proceed from simple to compound ideas1 every time it meditates1 invents1 or executes3 thus1 by an inverse method1 the composers of systems have thought1 that1 in order to connect the universe to its origin1 it was sufficient to detach1 by the exercise of thinking1 all its parts1 and to break and subdivide them afterwards to infinity2 but whatever may be the tenuity of these atoms1 their existence1 having organized and intellectual properties1 which we should be obliged to grant them1 would be a wonder almost equal to those phnomena which surround us4 ,when we see a plant grow1 embellished with different colours1 we only think of the period when its vegetation may be perceived by our senses2 but the seed of this plant1 or if you like better1 the organized atoms1 the first principle of this seed1 would have offered also a grand subject of admiration1 if we had been endowed with the faculties necessary to penetrate into the occult secrets of nature4 ,but perhaps1 in transforming into an imperceptible powder all the parts of matter1 which have been collected to compose the world1 we have only before our eyes a fugitive vapour1 to which even our imagination cannot reach2 and those who unfortunately love and defend this admiration1 find besides1 in the system of divisible atoms1 means to defer1 according to their fancy1 the moment of their astonishment4 ,all these fantastic combinations serve only to lead us astray in our researches2 and ,i do not think it a matter of indifference to make a general observation4 ,the study of the first elements1 of all the sciences which we acquire1 such as geometry1 languages1 civil legislation1 and several others1 appear to us the simplest parts of our instruction4 ,it is not the same1 when we seek to know the laws of the physical world2 for the works of nature never appear more simple than in their compounded state2 they are then1 to our mind1 that which harmony is to the ear2 it is the agreement of all parts which forms a union perfectly proportioned to our intelligence4 ,thus1 man1 for example1 that wonderful alliance of so many different faculties1 does not astonish our understanding1 but appears to us in one point of view1 a simple idea2 but we are troubled1 and1 as it were1 dismayed1 when we try to analyze him1 or mount to the elements of his liberty1 will1 thought1 and all the other properties of his nature4 ,we only advance towards infinity1 and consequently towards the most profound darkness1 when we destroy the world in order to divide it into atoms1 out of the midst of which we make it issue afresh1 after having rallied all we have dispersed4 ,let us admit1 for a moment1 that there exists organized and intelligent atoms1 and that they are such1 either by their nature1 or by their adhesion to other atoms4 ,we are now1 of all these scattered atoms1 to compose the universe1 that master-piece of harmony1 and perfect assemblage of every beauty and variety1 that inexhaustible source of every sentiment of admiration2 and in rejecting the idea of a ,god1 creator and preserver1 we must have recourse to the power of chance1 that is to say1 to the effects of an unknown continual motion1 which1 without any rule1 produces1 in a limited time1 all the combinations imaginable2 but1 in order to effect an infinite variety of combinations1 it is not only necessary to admit a continual motion1 but besides1 to suppose this continual motion changes its direction in all the parts of space subject to its influence4 ,the existence of such a change1 and a similar diversity in the laws of motion1 is a new supposition which may be ranked with the other wild ones4 ,however1 after these chimerical systems have been granted1 we are not freed from the difficulties which the notion of the formation of the world by a fortuitous concourse of atoms produces4 ,it is difficult to comprehend how particles of matter1 agitated in every manner1 and susceptible1 as has been supposed1 of an infinity of different adhesions1 should not have formed such a mixture1 such a contexture1 as would have rendered1 the harmonious composition of the universe in all its parts1 impossible4 ,when we represent to ourselves1 abstractedly1 the unlimmitted number of chances that may be attributed to a blind movement1 the imagination1 unable to conceive1 is left to guess how an infinite number of atoms1 endowed with a property of uniting themselves1 under an infinite diversity of movements1 could compose the heavenly bodies2 but1 as long before that period1 when such an accidental throw would become probable2 these same atoms might have formed an innumerable multitude of partial combinations2 if one of these combinations had been incompatible with the harmony and composition of a world1 that world could not have been formed4 ,the same considerations may be applied to animated beings3 chance might have produced men susceptible of life1 and the transmission of it1 long before chance gave them all the faculties which they enjoy2 and if they had been formed with only four senses1 they could not have acquired a fifth2 for the same reason that we do not see a new one spring up4 ,besides1 the chance which might have produced living beings1 must have always preceded the chance which afforded those beings every thing necessary for their subsistence and preservation4 ,it may indeed be supposed1 that atoms assembled in a manner incompatible with the disposition of the universe1 have been separated by the continuation of the motion introduced into the immensity of space2 but this continual motion1 sufficient to sever that which it has joined1 would it not have destroyed that harmony which has been the result of one of the fortuitous chances to which the formation of the world has been attributed8 ,will some object1 that all the parts of matter1 once united in the masses and proportions which constitute the heavenly bodies1 have been maintained by the impression of a predominant force at the same time invariable8 ,but how is it possible to reconcile the existence and dominion of such a force with that continual motion1 which was requisite for the composition of the universe8 ,it may be also demonstrated1 that the formation of worlds1 by the chances of a blind motion1 and their regular continuity of existence1 are two propositions which disagree4 ,let us explain this idea4 ,the play of atoms1 necessary in order to produce the unformed masses of the heavenly bodies1 being infinitely less complicated than that which is necessary to produce them1 inhabited as they are with intelligent beings1 must have happened long before the other4 ,thus1 in the system of the composition of the universe1 by the fortuitous concourse of atoms1 it is necessary to suppose1 that these atoms1 after having been united to form the heavenly bodies1 have been severed1 and united again1 as many times as was necessary1 to produce a planet inhabited by intelligent beings4 ,since beings thus endowed add nothing to the stability of the world1 since they do not contribute to the grand coalition of all its parts2 why the same blind motion which has united1 dissolved1 and assembled so often every part of the earth1 before it was composed1 such as it is2 why does it not produce some alteration now8 ,it should again reduce to powder our world1 or at least1 let us perceive the commencement of some new form4 ,it is not only to a world inhabited by intelligent beings1 that the arguments1 just mentioned1 may be applicable2 for we perceive around us an innumerable multitude of beauties and features of harmony1 which were not necessary to the preservation of our world1 and which1 according to every rule of probability1 would never have existed1 unless we supposed1 that the earth has been formed1 dissolved1 and reproduced1 an infinity of times1 before having been composed such as we see it2 but then ,i would ask1 why there are no vestiges of those alterations1 and why that motion has stopped8 ,it would be possible1 however1 by the assistance of a new supposition1 to resolve the difficulty ,i have just mentioned2 some may say1 that the union1 and the successive dispersion of the universal atoms1 are executed in a space of time1 so slow and insensible1 that our observations1 and all those which we have from tradition1 cannot inform us whether there will not be a separation of all the parts of the universe1 by the same causes which have occasioned their adhesion4 ,it is obvious1 that transporting us into infinity and admitting such a series of arbitrary suppositions1 they are not indeed exposed to any rational attacks2 but1 making equally free with infinity1 in order to oppose nonsense to nonsense1 why may ,i not be allowed to suppose1 that in the infinite combinations arising from perpetual motion1 men have been created1 destroyed1 and again called into being1 with the same faculties1 remembrances1 thoughts1 relations1 and circumstances2 and why each of us separated from our former existence1 only by a sleep1 whose duration is imperceptible1 should not be in our own eyes immortal beings8 ,infinity permits the supposition of this absurd hypothesis1 as it authorises every flight of the imagination in which time is reckoned for nothing4 ,we see1 however1 how we risk running into error1 when with our limited faculties we wish to subject the incomprehensible idea of infinity1 and boldly adjust it to the combinations of finite beings4 ,let us produce1 however1 another objection4 ,it may be said1 that our planet is the result of chance2 but is not this chance improbable1 if we suppose that there existed in the infinity of space1 an infinite number of other assembled atoms1 equally produced by the first throw of the dice1 which represent all the possible forms1 and imaginable proportions8 ,and ,i would also ask1 by what laws1 all these irregular bodies1 necessarily subject1 by reason of their number and masses1 to an infinity of movements1 have not disconcerted the planetary system formed1 at the same time as they were1 by chance8 ,i ought to observe1 above all1 that the order which we are acquainted with1 is a proof of universal order2 for1 in immensity1 where one part is nothing compared with the whole1 no part1 without exception1 could be preserved1 unless it was in equilibrium with every other4 ,thus1 whether an infinite succession of chances be supposed1 to which the entire mass of atoms has been uniformly subject1 or whether the first general throw is thought sufficient1 but divided into an infinity of different sections1 our reason opposes invincible difficulties to the result which some want to draw from these various systems4 ,in short1 we must observe1 that in order to understand the accidental formation of a world1 such as we are at liberty to suppose1 the eternal existence of every kind of organized and intelligent atoms1 must have preceded the formation of that world4 ,i must again observe1 that when they are obliged to such wonderful first principles1 and to admit1 in the beginning1 a nature so astonishing1 we can scarcely conceive how they can make it act suddenly a foolish part1 in order to finish the work of the universe3 a more exalted supposition1 would have prevented their drawing a conclusion1 so absurd4 ,it seems to me1 that notwithstanding the immensity which has given rise to so many ridiculous notions about the formation of the world1 they have such a resemblance to each other1 that we can scarcely discern any difference2 and considering the little circle which the imagination runs over1 when it applies its force to deep conceptions1 we think we discover something supernatural in its singular weakness3 the authors of these systems seem to have a slavish turn of thinking1 and the marks of their chains are very visible2 it is always atoms1 and atoms that they make play together1 either at different times1 or all at once1 in infinite space2 but when some want to form ideas of liberty and will1 as they do not know in what manner to analyze these properties1 they suppose them pre-existing in the elementary parts1 which they made use of to create their universe2 and they prudently take care not to grant any action to liberty and will1 in order to prevent any resistance to those notions on which they build their universe4 ,they would not render either more simple or credible1 the blind production of worlds1 by supposing not only innumerable multitude of organized atoms1 but1 even an infinite diversity of molds to hold the atoms1 and of which force chemical analogy gives us an idea4 ,such a system1 which might serve to explain a few secondary causes of our known nature1 is not applicable to the first formation of beings2 for with such an assemblage of molds and atoms1 all the great difficulties would still subsist4 ,in fact1 how should the different molds have classed themselves properly1 in order to form the most simple whole1 but which beside required a fixed measure and gradation of ranks8 ,the mold destined for the organized atoms1 of which the crystalline is to be composed1 how is it possible it should have placed itself in the centre of that mold which is to form the pupil of the eye1 and this last on that one which is to form the whole1 and so on1 by an exact gradation1 whose divisions and subdivisions are innumerable8 ,were they to suppose an infinite succession of molds1 of which the largest attracted the smallest1 in the same manner as the molds attracted the atoms2 this supposition1 less ridiculous than any other1 is not sufficient to model1 even in imagination1 the most unimportant phnomena of nature2 it is necessary1 besides1 that by the direction of a wise and powerful force1 the molds1 and the atoms which belong to them1 set themselves in motion1 without confusion2 it is necessary that those destined to compose the exterior fibres should not obstruct the passage of those molds calculated to form the interior organs2 in short1 that every one of those in its course and expansion1 should artfully observe those delicate shades which blend or separate all the parts of the simplest of nature's works4 ,we are already acquainted with a force which acts in all directions1 which disposes every thing in due order1 tends towards an end1 stops1 begins again1 and finishes1 every moment1 a complicated work2 and this is the intelligent will1 and certainly we have reason to be astonished1 that the only faculty we have an intimate consciousness of1 is the one philosopher's turn from1 when they investigate the admirable order of the universe4 ,i allow1 that they may1 at the same time they reject the idea of a ,god1 admit1 as a principle1 the eternal existence of a mechanical force1 which1 by an incomprehensible necessity1 directed1 towards a wise end1 every thing that was at first confusedly scattered in the immensity of space2 but this new supposition would form an hypothesis similar to the system of the eternal existence of the universe2 in fact1 the eternal existence of all the elements1 of all substances1 forces1 and properties which were necessary to produce a certain order of things1 would be a phnomenon as incomprehensible as the existence of that order itself4 ,we must add1 that these two phnomena would be separated in our thoughts only by an indivisible instant1 an instant that we can neither describe nor imagine in the extent of the time represented by eternity2 for any chosen period would be still too late by an infinity of ages4 ,the necessary effect of an eternal cause has not1 like that cause1 any period to which we can fix its commencement4 ,we thus perceive1 under another point of view1 how vain and ridiculous are the fantastic operations1 they imagine1 before the existence of the world1 and which are attributed sometimes to the disordered movements of chance1 and sometimes to the regular laws of blind necessity4 ,there is then but one hypothesis to be opposed to the idea of a ,god3 it is the system of the eternal existence of the universe4 ,such an atheistical system will always be more easily defended than any other1 because that being founded on a supposition without bounds1 it does not require to be embraced by reasoning1 like all the hypothetical ideas1 by which men make nature act according to an order of their own invention4 ,we will1 in the next chapter1 consider this system1 and discuss it by every means in our power4 ,,chap4 ,,xiv4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,those who maintain that the world subsists of itself1 and that there is not a ,god1 say1 in favour of their opinion1 that if the eternal existence of the universe overwhelms our understanding1 the eternal existence of a ,god is a still more inconceivable idea2 and that such a supposition is only another difficulty1 since1 according to a common mode of judging1 a work the most wonderful appears a phnomenon less astonishing than the knowledge of which it is the result4 ,let us first fix our attention on this argument4 ,it is useless to ask1 what is meant by another difficulty in infinity2 those ideas which are represented by familiar expressions1 necessarily derived from comparison1 are only admissable in the narrow circle of our knowledge2 out of it1 those ideas have not any application1 and we cannot fix any degrees in the immensity which exceeds the bounds of our views1 and in those unfathomable depths which are out of the reach of our intellectual powers4 ,undoubtedly1 our mind is equally lost1 both in trying to form a distinct idea of a ,god1 and in endeavouring to describe the eternal existence of the world1 without any cause out of itself3 however1 when we try to glance our thoughts towards the first traces of time2 when we try to rise almost to the beginning of beginnings1 we feel distinctly that1 far from considering the eternal existence of an intelligent cause as increasing the difficulty1 we only find repose in that opinion2 and instead of forcing our mind to adopt such an opinion1 and thinking we wander in an imaginary space1 we find it1 on the contrary1 more congenial with our nature2 whilst order unites itself to the idea of a design1 and a multiplicity of combinations to the idea of an intelligence4 ,thus we rise from little to great things1 and reasoning by analogy1 we shall more easily conceive the existence of a ,being endowed with various unlimitted properties1 which we in part partake2 we shall1 ,i say1 more easily conceive such an existence1 than that of a universe1 where all would be intelligent1 except the first mover4 ,the workman1 undoubtedly1 is superior to the work3 but according to our manner of feeling and judging1 an intelligent combination1 formed without intelligence1 will always be the most extraordinary1 as well as the most incomprehensible phnomenon4 ,it is not indifferent to observe1 that according to the system ,i combat1 the more the world would appear to us the admirable result of wisdom1 the less power should we have to draw any deduction favourable to the existence of a ,god1 since the author of a perfect work is not so easily traced as the feeble re-iterated labours of mediocrity4 ,thus1 all those who particularized the beauties of nature1 would stupidly injure the cause of religion1 and weaken our belief in the existence of a ,supreme ,being4 ,it seems to me1 that it is easy to perceive what an ill-founded argument that must be which leads us to a conclusion so absurd4 ,the attentive view of the universe should make us mistrust the judgment1 which we form1 of that which is the most simple in the order of things2 for all the general operations of nature arise from a movement more noble and complicated than we can easily form an idea of4 ,we should surely find1 contrary to a perfect simplicity of means1 that a circuit of two hundred millions of leagues1 which our globe makes every year1 is necessary1 in order to produce the successive changes of seasons1 and to assure the reproduction of the necessary fruits2 we should find1 that the distance of thirty-four millions of leagues1 between the sun and the earth1 was necessary to proportion the rays of light to the delicacy of our organs4 ,however1 if even in the narrow circle we traverse1 we do not discover any constant application of that simple order1 of which we form an idea1 how could such a principle serve to guide our opinions1 at the moment when we elevate our meditations to the first link of the vast chain of beings2 when we undertake to examine1 whether1 throughout the immensity of the universe1 there exists1 or not1 an intelligent cause8 ,what would become1 in that immensity1 of the insignificant phrase1 it is one difficulty more8 ,the buzzing fly would be less ridiculous1 if capable of perceiving the order and magnificence of a palace1 it asserted1 that the architect never existed4 ,every thing indicates1 that1 according to our different degrees of sense and knowledge1 what is simple1 and what is easy1 have a very different application2 we may continually observe1 that these expressions are not interpreted in the same manner1 by a man of moderate abilities and a man of genius2 however1 the distance which separates the various degrees of intelligence with which we are acquainted1 is probably very trifling in the universal scale of beings4 ,all our reflections would lead us then to presume1 that beyond the limits of the human mind1 the simple is compounded1 the easy our wonderful1 and the evident our inconceivable4 ,after having examined the principal arguments of the partisans of athiestical systems1 which we now attack2 let us change the scene1 and in the midst of the labyrinth1 in which we are placed1 try to find a clue for our meditations4 ,we are witnesses of the existence of the world1 and intimately acquainted with our own2 thus1 either ,god or matter must have been eternal2 and by a natural consequence1 an eternal existence1 which is an idea the most incomprehensible1 is1 however1 the most incontestible truth4 ,obliged now1 in order1 to fix our opinion1 to chuse between two eternal existences1 the one intelligent and free1 the other blind1 and void of all consciousness1 why not prefer the first8 ,an eternal existence is an idea so astonishing1 so much above our comprehension1 that we decorate it with every thing sublime and beautiful1 and nothing deserves more those decorations than thought4 ,would it not be strange1 that in our sysmatic divisions1 it was only to thought1 and consequently to all that was most admirable in our nature1 that we refuse eternity1 whilst we grant it to matter and its blind combinations8 ,what a subversion of all proportion6 that we should believe in the eternal existence of matter1 because it is present to our eyes1 and yet not admit the eternal existence of an intelligence2 whilst that which we are endowed with becomes the source of our judgment1 and even the guide of our senses6 ,and by what other singularity we should grant the faculty and the consciousness of intelligence1 only to that small part of the world which is represented by animated beings8 ,thus1 the whole of nature would be below a part2 and if no spirit animated the universe1 man would appear to have reached his ultimate perfection2 though we see in him but a faint sketch1 a weak shadow of something more complete and admirable2 we perceive that he is1 to speak thus1 at the commencement of thinking2 and all his cares1 all his efforts1 to extend the empire of that faculty1 only inform him1 that he tends continually towards an end1 from which he is always distant2 in short1 in his greatest exertions he feels his weakness2 he studies1 but he cannot know himself2 he makes a few petty discoveries1 sees some trifling wheels1 whilst the main spring escapes his search3 he is fallen into the world1 like a grain of sand thrown by the winds2 he has neither a consciousness of his origin1 nor a foresight of his end2 we perceive in him all the timidity and mistrust of a dependent being2 he is constrained1 by instinct1 to raise to heaven his wishes and contemplations2 and1 when he is not led astray by an intoxicating reason1 he fears1 seeks to adore a god1 and rejects with disdain the rank which audacious philosophers assign him in the order of nature4 ,i must also add1 that the sentiment of admiration1 which ,i cannot stifle1 when ,i turn my attention on the spiritual qualities we are endowed with1 would be insensibly weakened1 if ,i was reduced to consider man himself as a simple growth of blind matter2 for the most astonishing production would only inspire me with a transitory emotion1 unless ,i can refer it to an intelligent cause3 ,i must discover a design1 a combination1 before ,i admire2 as ,i have need to perceive feeling and affection1 before ,i love4 ,but as soon as ,i see in the human mind the stamp of ,omnipotence2 and it appears to me one of the results of a grand thought2 it reasumes its dignity1 and all the faculties of my soul are prostrate before such a wonderful conception4 ,it is then united with the idea of a ,god1 that the spiritual faculties of man attract my homage and captivate my imagination2 in reflecting on these sublime faculties1 studying their admirable essence1 ,i am confirmed in the opinion that there exists a sovereign intelligence1 soul of nature1 and that nature itself is subject to its laws3 yes1 we find in the mind of man the first evidence1 a faint shadow of the perfection which we must attribute to the ,creator of the ,universe4 ,what a wonder indeed is our thinking faculty1 capable of so many things yet ignorant of its own nature6 ,i am equally astonished1 by the extent and limits of thinking2 an immense space is open to its researches1 and at the same time it cannot comprehend the secrets which appear most proximate with it2 as the grand motive of action1 the principle of intellectual force1 ever remains concealed4 ,man is then informed1 every instant1 of his grandeur and dependence2 and these thoughts must naturally lead to the idea of ,omnipotence4 ,there are1 in those limits of our knowledge and ignorance1 in that confused and conditional light1 all the evidence of design2 and it seems to me1 sometimes1 that ,i hear this command given to the human soul by the ,god of the universe3 go to admire a portion of my universe1 to search for happiness and to learn to love me2 but do not try to raise the veil1 with which ,i have covered the secret of thy existence2 ,i have composed thy nature of some of the attributes which constitute my own essence1 thou wouldst be too near me1 if ,i should permit thee to penetrate the mysteries of it2 wait for the moment destined by my wisdom2 till then1 thou canst only reach me by reverence and gratitude4 ,not only the wonderful faculty of thinking connects us with the universal intelligence2 but all those inconceivable properties1 known by the name of liberty1 judgment1 will1 memory1 and foresight2 it is1 in short1 the august and sublime assemblage of all our intellectual faculties4 ,are we1 in fact1 after the contemplation of such a grand phnomenon1 far from conceiving a ,god8 ,no1 undoubtedly1 we have within us a feeble image of that infinite power we seek to discover2 man is himself a universe1 governed by a sovereign2 and we are much nearer the ,supreme ,intelligence1 by our nature1 than by any notion of the primitive properties of matter2 properties1 from which some wish to make the system of the world and its admirable harmony flow4 ,it seems to me1 that our thinking faculty is too slightly treated in the greater number of philosophic systems2 and some have been so afraid of honouring it1 that they will not admit it to be a simple and particular principle1 when the subject of the question is the immortality of the soul2 nor will they consider it as a universal principle1 when they discuss the opinion of the existence of a ,god4 ,it is equally singular1 that they wish to compose of matter a soul endowed with the most sublime qualities2 and they pretend1 at the same time1 that the world1 in which we see intelligent beings1 had not for a contriver and principal any being of the same nature3 this supposition1 however1 would be as reasonable as the other is weak2 but it seems to me1 that they like better to attribute order to confusion1 than to order itself4 ,we seek to penetrate the secret of the existence of the universe2 and when we reflect on the causes of that vast and magnificent disposition1 we can only attribute it to what seems the most marvellous and analogous to such a composition1 thought1 intention1 and will4 ,why then should we retrench from the formation of the world all those sublime properties8 ,are we to act sparingly in an hypothesis in which all the wonders of nature are concentred8 ,it is by the spiritual faculties with which man is endowed1 that he remains master of the earth1 that he has subdued the ferocious animals1 conquered the elements1 and found a shelter from their impetuosity3 it is by these faculties that man has constructed society1 given laws to his own passions1 and that he has improved all his means of happiness2 in short1 nothing has ever been done1 but by the aid of his mind2 and in his speculations on the formation of the world1 and on the admirable relations of all the parts of the universe1 that which he wishes not to admit1 and will dare to reject is the intelligent powers and action of thinking4 ,it seems like men disputing about the means which has been made use of to erect a pyramid1 who name all the instruments1 except those that they found at the foot of the edifice4 ,habit only turns our attention from the union of wonders which compose the soul2 and it is thus1 unfortunately1 that admiration1 lively light of the mind and feelings1 does not afford us any more instruction4 ,we should be very differently affected1 if1 for the first time1 we contemplated the meanest part of this admirable whole6 ,but even then1 in a little time1 the strong conviction of the existence of a ,god would be worn away1 and become what it is at present4 ,but1 let me be permitted1 in order to render this truth more striking1 to have recourse1 for a moment1 to fiction4 ,let us imagine men1 as immoveable as plants1 but endowed with some one of our senses1 enjoying the faculty of reflection1 and enabled to communicate their thoughts4 ,i hear these animated trees discourse about the origin of the world1 and the first cause of all things2 they advance1 like us1 different hypothesis on the fortuitous movement of atoms1 the laws of fate and blind necessity2 and among the different arguments1 employed by some1 to contest the existence of a ,god1 creator of the universe1 that which makes the greatest impression is1 that it is impossible to conceive how an idea should become a reality2 of how the design of disposing the parts should influence the execution1 since the will being a simple wish1 a thought without force has not any means to metamorphose itself into action3 but in vain would these immoveable spectators of the universe wish to change their situation1 to raise a shelter against the impetuosity of the winds1 or the scorching heat of the sun2 yet then it would be evidently absurd to imagine the existence of a faculty essentially contrary to the immutable nature of things4 ,let however1 in the midst of this conversation1 a supernatural power appear1 and say to them1 what would you think then1 if this wonder1 whose existence you regard as impossible1 should be executed before your eyes2 and if the faculty of acting1 according to your own will1 was to be suddenly given you8 ,seized with astonishment1 they would prostrate themselves with fear and respect2 and from that instant1 without the slightest doubt1 would believe they had discovered the secret of the system of the world2 and they would adore the infinite power of intelligence1 and it is to a like cause we should attribute the disposition of the universe4 ,however1 the same phnomenon which would appear above belief1 and out of the limits of possibility1 to those who have never been a witness of it1 that wonder exists in our world2 we see it1 we experience it every instant2 though the force of habit weakens the impression and eradicates our admiration4 ,the hypothesis ,i have just mentioned1 might even be applied to the sudden acquisition of all the means proper to communicate ideas2 and to the prompt discoveries of the other properties of our mind2 but several of these properties constitute1 in such an essential manner1 the essence of the soul1 that we cannot1 even in imagination1 separate them1 any more than we can detach action from will1 and will from thought4 ,there are some spiritual faculties1 and those the most wonderful1 which we cannot define1 and which we should not have even supposed to exist had we not possessed them2 and if it had been possible to have known them before we were endowed with them1 the inventors of systems would have pointed out this astonishing means1 as the only one applicable to the composition of the admirable harmony of the universe4 ,we shall be led to the same reflections1 when ceasing to expatiate on the greatest wonders of our nature1 we bound ourselves to consider the human mind at the moment when its action may be perceived4 ,to render this observation clearer1 let us follow a man of genius in the course of his labours1 and we shall see him at once embrace a multitude of ideas1 compare them1 notwithstanding their distance1 and form from such a mixture a distinct result proper to direct his public or private conduct2 let us consider him extending and multiplying these first combinations1 and connecting them1 by an invisible web1 to some scattered points which his imagination has fixed in the vast regions of futurity2 with the assistance of these magic succours we see him approaching the time which does not yet exist2 but we see him1 in his career1 aided by accumulated knowledge1 more subtle than the rays of the sun and yet separated1 with an admirable order2 more fleet and dispersed than the light vapours of the morning1 and still subject to the will of that inconceivable power1 which1 under the name of memory1 heaps up the acquisitions of the mind1 in order to assist it afterwards in its new acquirements3 but let us examine still further this man of genius1 when he deposits1 by means of writing1 his different reflections2 and let us ask1 how he knows quickly1 that an idea is new1 and that a style has an original turn8 ,let us again enquire1 how1 in order to form such a judgment1 he makes with celerity a recapitulation of the thoughts and images employed by others1 to illustrate the subjects they have treated1 whilst years and ages were rolling away2 in short1 let every one1 according to his strength1 try to penetrate into these mysterious beauties of the human understanding2 and let him enquire afterwards about the impression which he receives from a like meditation4 ,there is1 perhaps1 as great a difference1 if ,i may be allowed to say so1 between the most perfect vegetable and the human mind1 as between it and the ,deity3 to extend this idea1 we have only to suppose1 that in the immensity which surrounds us1 there exists a gradation equal to that we have perceived in the little space we are permitted to inspect4 ,the author of a celebrated work accuses men of presumption1 because1 when they endeavour to trace the first principle of things1 by comparing their own faculties with it1 they seem to think that they approach it4 ,but1 what other part should we be able to take1 when we are called to reason and to judge8 ,it is not sufficient that the idea of the ,supreme ,being may be metaphysical2 it is necessary further1 some will argue1 that we even try to render it abstract1 by removing it out of our imagination1 and that we seek for1 in our judgment and opinions1 a support which may be in a manner absent from ourselves1 and absolutely foreign to our nature4 ,all this cannot be understood3 we confess that we have not sufficient strength to know the essence and perfection of ,god1 but giving way to abstraction1 we extinguish our natural light1 and deprive ourselves of the few means we have to obtain this knowledge2 we can only be acquainted with unknown things by the help of those we know3 we shall be led astray1 if we are obliged to take another road2 and modern philosophers often seek to attack intimate sentiments by arbitrary ideas1 of which an imagination the most capricious is the only foundation4 ,it will then always be surprizing1 that in our contemplations and habits of thinking1 the wisdom of the design1 the harmony of the whole1 and the perfection of parts1 are manifest traces of intelligence2 and yet that we should renounce1 suddenly1 this manner of feeling and judging1 in order to attribute the formation of the universe to the effect of chance1 or the eternal laws of blind necessity2 and is it possible1 that we can deduce the same consequences from an admirable order1 as from wild confusion8 ,facts so different1 principles so contrary1 should not lead to the same conclusion2 the magnificent system of the universe ought to have some weight1 when we conjecture about its origin2 and it would be difficult to persuade us1 that in investigating the most exalted truths1 we ought to consider all the knowledge we acquire by the view of nature as merely indifferent4 ,men are carried very far1 when they reject the arguments drawn from final causes2 it is not only a single thought they would destroy1 it is the source of all our knowledge they would dry up4 ,men insensibly cease to perceive a connexion between the existence of a ,god1 and the different miracles with which we are surrounded2 but all would be changed1 if ,god exhibited the numerous acts of his power successively1 instead of displaying them all at once2 our imagination1 animated by such a movement1 would rise to the idea of a ,supreme ,being2 it is then1 because an accumulation of wonders aggrandizes the universe2 it is because a harmony1 not to be equalled1 seems to convert an infinity of parts into an admirable whole2 and that profound wisdom maintains it in an immutable equilibrium2 it is1 in short1 because insensible gradations and delicate shades render still more perfect the wonders of nature1 that men are less struck with astonishment1 or lost in adoration4 ,we want1 say you1 new phnomena to determine our persuasion3 do you forget1 that all which is offered to our view already surpasses our understanding8 ,if the least miracle was to be effected before you1 you would be ready to bend your proud reason2 but because the most grand and wonderful1 which the imagination itself can form an idea of1 has preceded your existence1 you receive no impression from it1 all appears simple to you1 all necessary4 ,but1 the reality of the wonders of the universe has nothing to do with the instant you are allowed to contemplate them3 your pilgrimage on earth1 is it not a period imperceptible in the midst of eternity8 admiration1 surprise1 and all the affections of which man is susceptible1 do not change the nature of the phnomena which surround him2 and his intelligence reflects but a very small part of the wonders of the universe4 ,we have no need of a revolution in the order of nature1 to discover the power of its author2 the fibres of a blade of grass confound our intelligence1 and when we have grown old in study and observation1 we continually discover new objects1 which we have not investigated1 and perceive new relations2 we are ever in the midst of unknown things and incomprehensible secrets4 ,however1 supposing1 for a moment1 the existence of extraordinary miracles which we should be impressed with2 it is easy to conceive1 that these miracles would not have on men the influence we presume2 for if they were frequent1 and if they happened only at regular periods1 their first impression1 would slowly be weakened1 and1 at last1 men would range them in the class of the successive movements of eternal matter4 ,but if1 on the contrary1 there was a long interval between these miracles1 the generations who succeeded the actual witnesses of them would accuse their ancestors of credulity1 or contest the truth of those traditions1 which transmitted the account of a revolution contrary to the common course of nature4 ,some may still say1 that1 in order to render manifest the existence of the ,supreme ,being1 it would be necessary that men were punctually answered1 when they address their prayers2 but the influence of our wishes upon events1 if this influence was habitual and general1 would it be sufficient to change the opinion of those who see1 with indifference1 that innumerable multitude of actions which are so miraculously subject to our will8 ,would they not still find some reason for considering such an increase of power1 as the necessary result of the eternal system of the universe8 ,thus1 whatever might be the measure of intelligence1 added to that we now enjoy1 in short1 though a number of new wonders were accumulated1 men could still oppose to that union of miracles the same objections1 and the same doubts they do not now fear to raise against the wonders we are daily witnesses of4 ,it is difficult1 it is impossible1 to make a constant or profound impression on men who are only susceptible of astonishment in the short transition from the known to the unknown2 they have but a moment to feel this emotion1 and it is from the slowness of their comprehension1 or the continual succession of the phnomena submitted to their inspection1 that the duration of their admiration depends4 ,and1 perhaps1 our faculties and powers would excite more surprise1 if1 in order to subject our movements to our will1 it were necessary to give our orders1 and to pronounce them with a loud voice1 as a captain does to his soldiers2 however1 such a constitution would be a degree less wonderful than that we possess4 ,i will anticipate another objection2 we advance gradually1 some will say1 in discovering the secrets of nature2 the power of attraction1 that grand physical faculty1 has only been known about a century1 and observations on the effects of electricity are still more recent2 every age1 every year1 adds to the treasure of our knowledge1 and the time will arrive1 perhaps1 when1 without having recourse to any mysterious opinions1 we shall have explained all the phnomena which still astonish us4 ,it is not at first conceivable1 how our past discoveries1 and all those which may in future enrich the human mind1 would ever free us from the necessity of placing a first cause at the termination of our reflections2 for1 the more we perceive of new links in the vast disposition of the universe1 the more we extend the magnificence of the work1 and the power of the ,creator4 ,a series of successful exertions may reveal1 perhaps1 the secret of some physical properties1 superior in force to those we have experienced3 but1 even then1 all the movements of nature would be subordinate to a few general laws2 and when we should distinguish these laws1 the result of our researches would demonstrate simply the existence of a greater unity in the system of the world2 and this character of perfection would be impressed1 if it was possible1 still more on us2 for1 in a work1 such as the universe1 it is the simple and regular relations which announce1 above all1 the wisdom and power of the ,disposer2 because our admiration could never be excited by an assemblage of incoherent ideas1 whose chain would every instant be broken4 ,but1 ,i know not by what habit or blindness it is1 that when men have discovered a principle uniform in its action1 and have given to that principle a denomination1 they believe that their astonishment ought to cease3 in fact1 attraction and electricity are not so much now subjects of surprise1 as a means to free us from the admiration due to the magnificent result of those singular properties2 in short1 we are habituated to consider1 with indifference1 every general effect1 of which we acquire a conception1 as if even this conception was not one of the most noble of the phnomena of nature4 ,some will say1 that men1 by degrees1 becoming familiarized with their own minds1 despise all they can easily understand2 their competitions are then the only origin of their vanity2 for when they examine themselves individually1 or when they judge of men in general1 they have such a mean opinion of themselves1 that they do not highly value their discoveries4 ,we ought to place1 amongst the number of ideas the most extensive and general1 that of ,buffon on the formation of the earth2 but this idea1 supposing it as just as it is beautiful1 only explains to us one of the gradations of this superb work4 ,i see the earth formed by an emanation of the sun2 ,i see it animated and become fertile1 when it has received1 by slow degree1 its temperature2 and ,i see1 beside1 issue out of its lap all the beauties of nature2 and that which surprises me still more1 all the beings endowed with instinct or intelligence2 but if the elements of these incomprehensible productions had been prepared or simply disposed in the fiery body which animates our system1 ,i transfer to it my astonishment1 and equally have to seek for the author of so many wonders4 ,i must now fix my attention1 for a few moments1 on the most metaphysical part of this work4 ,we can1 perhaps1 form an idea of a world existing without a beginning1 and by the laws of blind necessity1 provided that world was immoveable and invariable in all its parts2 but how apply the idea of eternity to a continual succession2 as such a nature is necessarily composed of a beginning and end1 we cannot otherwise define the idea of succession2 thus1 we are constrained to elevate ourselves to a first ,being existing by himself1 when we have before our eyes a constant revolution of causes and effects1 of destruction and life4 ,it is impossible to have any idea of motion without that of a beginning4 ,the difficulty would not be removed1 by saying1 that the whole of the universe is immutable1 and the parts only subject to change2 for a whole of this kind1 without any relation whatever1 either real or imaginary1 a like whole has only an ideal circumscription1 which1 in fact1 is not susceptible of an alteration2 but such a circumscription only presents us an assemblage of positive things contained in its circle2 and it is not in studying those1 nor in examining the different parts of the unknown whole1 which we call the universe1 that we are allowed to draw consequences1 or to form a judgment4 ,thus1 seeing only a succession1 we rationally feel the necessity of a first cause4 ,but1 some will say1 you are entangled in the same difficulty1 when you suppose the eternity of a ,god2 for a series of designs in an intelligent being should lead to the idea of a commencement1 as well as the successions of the physical world4 ,this proposition1 undoubtedly1 is not easily cleared up1 like all those whose solution appears to be united to the knowledge of infinity4 ,we cannot1 however1 hinder ourselves from perceiving1 that the physical generations lead us1 in a manner simple and manifest1 to the necessity of a first principle2 and we ought to search for this principle out of ourselves1 since our nature does not furnish any idea of it2 whereas1 the successive combinations of the mind may relate to an origin1 of which we have not any conception1 and which seems united1 in some manner1 to these same combinations4 ,in fact1 we can easily form a distinct idea of a faculty of thought1 antecedent to the action of thinking1 and which might even be separated by such intervals as the imagination could conceive4 ,it is the same with liberty1 that intellectual power of which we have the consciousness1 at the same time that it remains absolutely idle4 ,i shall add1 that1 even in the narrow circle of our thoughts1 it is true1 the operations of the mind appear to us often dependant on each other2 yet1 sometimes their chain is so broken1 that our ideas seem really to issue out of nothing2 instead of which1 in every other production1 we know1 there is always a visible tie between that which is1 and that which was4 ,we must not forget1 that at the very time our ideas appear to us connected1 that succession is to be attributed to our weakness and ignorance1 rather than to the mind1 considered in a general manner4 ,circumscribed in all our means1 we are obliged to go continually from the known to the unknown1 from probability to certainty1 from experience of the past1 to conjectures about the future2 but this gradation1 this course1 ought to be absolutely foreign to an intelligence without bounds1 which knows and which sees all at the same time2 and perhaps we are in the way of this truth1 when we perceive1 amongst us1 the claim of true genius1 and the turbulent whirlpool of folly4 ,in short1 it is not men persuaded of the existence of a ,god1 that we need require to transport themselves beyond1 if ,i may say so1 the domain of thought1 in order to search for proofs of their opinion2 atheists alone want such an effort1 since they alone resist the influence of the simplest sentiments and most natural arguments2 since they alone bid us mistrust that distinct connexion which we perceive between the ,supreme ,intelligence and the perfection of order2 that train of causes and effects1 between the idea of a ,god and all the propensities of the soul2 it is these considerations1 intelligible to all1 which give new force to our opinions4 ,directed by these reflections1 and wishing to investigate in a useful manner the subject ,i have undertaken1 ,i shall not engage in the arguments which turn on the creation of the world4 ,it is sufficient for me to have perceived1 that the idea of the creation of the universe is not more inconceivable than the idea of its eternity2 ,i am not indeed obliged1 with those who adopt the last system1 to suppose something growing out of nothing2 but substituting the idea of an eternal existence1 instead of that of nothing1 is a thought which equally terrifies my imagination2 for my mind knows not where to place that eternity and in order to comprehend it still surrounds it with a vacuum4 ,in the system of a created universe1 ,i see something coming out of nothing1 by the will of a ,being whom ,i can form an idea of2 but in the system of the eternity of matter1 my faculties are absorbed in endeavouring to embrace it2 in short1 both of these modes of existence appear to me in the midst of a vague infinity1 which no human power can conceive2 and if sometimes the eternal existence of the universe seems less incomprehensible than its creation1 it is only because such an idea eludes examination and precludes reasoning4 ,the idea of a ,creator is undoubtedly equally above our comprehension1 but we are led to it by all our feelings and thoughts2 and if we are stopped in the efforts which we make to reach the cause we seek1 it is by obstacles which we can even attribute to the will of that power we are searching to discover2 instead of that1 contemplating the uniform and insipid rotation of an eternal existence1 we are almost driven to despair1 that is to say1 we feel the impossibility of conceiving the nature of things1 and the certainty1 nevertheless1 that there exists not any veil designedly placed between that nature and our understandings4 ,i must still make some further observations2 we see a resemblance of creation in the continual reproduction of all the bounties of the earth2 and our moral system offers a still more striking one1 in the formation of ideas which did not exist antecedently4 ,our feelings appear another proof of the same truth2 for they have not any evident connexion with the cause that we assign them3 thus1 without habit we might see as great a difference between certain exterior emotions and the various affections of our souls1 as we can conceive between the existence of the world and the idea of a ,creator4 ,we perceive also1 that the universe has all the characters of a production2 characters which consist in the union of a multitude of parts1 whose relations are fixed by a single thought4 ,in short1 even the succession of time announces intelligence2 for we know not how to place that succession in the midst of an eternal existence4 ,we cannot conceive any different periods in an extent in which there is not a beginning2 for before we arrive at any of these periods1 there must have been always an infinite space2 besides1 there being no beginning1 considered abstractedly1 annihilates the idea of intervals1 since they could not have two fixed points3 thus1 the introduction of the past1 the present1 and the future1 into the midst of eternity1 seems due to an intelligent power1 who has modelled this immense uniformity1 and governs the nature of things4 ,i ought not to dwell long on these reflections2 to give a basis to religious opinions1 it is not necessary to conceive of creation in its metaphysical essence2 it is sufficient1 to believe the existence of a ,supreme ,being1 creator and preserver of nature1 the model of wisdom and goodness1 the protector of rational beings1 whose providence governs the world4 ,we lose all our strength when extending too far our meditations1 we aspire to know and explain the secrets of infinity2 we then only exhibit to the adversaries of religion the faint stretch of our opinions1 and the last struggles of a reason weakened by its own efforts2 it is much better to use those arguments which sense and feeling are able to defend4 ,we should candidly confess1 that our noblest faculties have immutable limits2 one degree more would perhaps diffuse a sudden light on the questions1 whose examination disconcerts us4 ,there is not perhaps any mind accustomed to meditation1 which has not had several times pre-sentiments of this truth2 for the first glimmering of a new perception seems to out-run thinking1 and such is its proximity that we imagine one step more would enable us to catch it2 but our hope is dissipated1 we cannot grasp the fleeting shadow1 and fall back again into the sad conviction of our impotence4 ,alas6 in that infinite space which our intellectual powers try to run over1 there are only immense deserts1 where the mind cannot find repose1 or the thoughts meet any asylum2 these are the regions whose entrance seems to have been desolated1 in order that the most unbounded imagination might not obtain any knowledge of them2 but will you dare to say1 that there stops all intelligence1 there finishes the mysteries of nature8 would you expect to possess the secrets of time in attributing an eternal existence to all we know8 ,certainly1 we are too insignificant to promulge such decrees1 we enjoy too small a portion of eternity to determine what belongs to it4 ,the most probable thought is1 that our reason is insufficient to reach the explanations we wish to unfold2 the chain of beings above us every instant reminds us of this truth2 and it appears singular1 that perceiving so distinctly the bounds of our senses1 we should not be induced to think1 that our intelligence1 apparently so extended1 may nevertheless run over a very circumscribed space4 ,our imagination goes much farther than our knowledge1 but its domain is perhaps only a point in what is yet unexplored2 and it is necessary to penetrate those unknown regions1 to discover the truths which illustrate the mysteries that surround us2 but there is a ,being who knows them1 ,omniscience is at the summit of those gradations of intelligence which we trace4 ,we know nothing1 we do not discover any result but through the assistance of experience and observation2 and we only know the world by the little front scene which meets our view3 is it rational to suppose1 that only this kind of knowledge exists in the universe8 ,men1 in the slow progress of their judgment1 resemble children2 but even this condition recals the idea of a father and a tutor4 ,every thing however shows us1 that the phnomena of nature relate to a grand whole2 we see that its dispersed productions are united to some general cause2 it is the same with human knowledge2 more admirable than the rays of light spread through immensity1 it is an emanation from the most perfect light4 ,in short1 if space1 if time itself1 those two existences without bounds1 are subject to division1 why should we not be induced to think1 that the degrees of knowledge we experience and conceive1 are also only a part of a universal intelligence8 ,of all the objections against the idea of a ,god1 the weakest1 in my opinion1 is that drawn from the mixture of troubles and pleasures to which human life is exposed4 ,a ,god1 some will say1 ought to unite every perfection1 and we cannot believe in his existence1 when we perceive limits in his power or goodness4 ,this is a flimsy argument2 for1 if men do not admit as a proof of the existence of a ,god1 all that we discover of wisdom1 harmony1 and intelligence in the universe1 what right have they to use an apparent contrast between sovereign power and goodness1 in order to attribute the formation of the world to chance4 ,would it be just1 that the defects of a work should be brought as a proof against the existence of a workman1 whilst the beauty of the same work was not allowed to support a contrary opinion8 ,we should reason in a different manner2 disorder and imperfection merely point out to us a negation of certain qualities2 we must1 in general terms1 throw an odium on the whole1 in order to banish the idea of an intelligent hand2 whereas1 to strengthen the other opinion1 it is sufficient that particular parts announce art and genius4 ,thus1 when we enter a palace1 if we find there distinct marks of talents1 we attribute its erection to an architect1 even though in a part of the edifice we should not distinguish any traces of invention4 ,i have already had occasion to show how we are led to these incomprehensible extremes1 when we endeavour exactly to proportion the wisdom and power of an ,infinite ,being1 and ,i shall not again dwell on this argument3 or repeat that from any imaginable hypothesis1 we might draw this deduction1 that ,omnipotence could have produced more happiness4 ,there are ideas which appear contrary to reason1 only because we cannot perceive them in one point of view2 and we discover this truth1 not only in considering things which are foreign to our nature1 but when we turn our attention on the events which come daily under our inspection4 ,why do we then suppose1 that we can comprehend the most grand and noble thoughts8 ,is it consistent with the idea of an ,infinite ,power that we refuse to credit the existence of infinite goodness8 ,is it consistent with the idea of ,infinite ,wisdom that we will not admit the existence of ,omnipotence8 ,nay more1 is it consistent with the idea of infinite chances that we imagine the absurd systems concerning the formation of the world8 ,we use infinity for every thing1 except to place above us an intelligence1 whose properties and essence our reason cannot determine4 ,we are lost in a boundless uncertainty1 when we try to go beyond the limits of human powers4 ,thus1 after having collected all the forces of our souls1 to enable us to penetrate the existence of a ,god1 we ought not to exhaust ourselves in subtleties1 vainly endeavouring to conceive in a just acceptation1 and under evident relations1 various attributes of an ,infinite ,being1 who has chosen to make himself known to us in a certain measure1 and under certain forms2 and it is too much to require of the worshippers of ,god1 to defend themselves against those who contest his existence1 and dispute about the nature of his perfections4 ,i am far from supposing any obstacle to the execution of his will2 but ,i should be full of the same religious sentiments1 if ,i knew that there existed order and laws in the nature of things1 which the ,divine ,power has a faculty of modifying1 and that it cannot entirely destroy4 ,i should not less adore the ,supreme ,being1 if1 at the same time1 his various attributes were in constant union1 it was nevertheless1 by degrees1 that he produced happiness2 ,i should silently respect the secrets which would escape my penetration1 and wait with respectful submission1 till the clouds were dissipated which still surrounded me4 ,what then6 always in ignorance and obscurity8 ,yes1 always3 such is the condition of men1 when they wish to go beyond the limits traced by the immutable laws of nature2 but the grand truths which we can easily perceive are sufficient to regulate our conduct1 and afford us comfort4 ,that there is a ,god1 every thing indicates and loudly announces2 but ,i cannot discover either the mysteries of his essence1 or the intimate connection of his various perfections4 ,i plainly see in a crowd the monarch encircled by his guards2 ,i know his laws1 ,i enjoy the order he has prescribed2 but ,i assist not at his councils1 and am a stranger to his deliberations4 ,i even perceive1 that an impenetrable veil separates me from the designs of the ,supreme ,being1 and ,i do not undertake to trace them2 ,i commit myself with confidence to the protection of that ,being whom ,i believe good and great1 as ,i would rely on the guidance of a friend during a dark night2 and whilst ,i have my foot in the abyss1 ,i will depend on ,him to snatch me from the danger and calm my terrors4 ,if we might be allowed the comparison1 we should say1 that ,god is like the sun1 which we cannot stedfastly gaze at2 but throwing our eyes down1 we perceive its rays and the beauties it spreads around4 ,however1 men who1 either through a mistrust of their understanding1 or the nature of it1 have only by their reverence an intercourse with ,god1 feel most forcibly the impression of his grandeur2 as it is at the extremity of the lever that we strongly experience its power4 ,we consider the general assent of nations and ages1 in the opinion of the existence of a ,god1 as a remarkable presumption in favour of that opinion2 but such a proof would lose part of its force1 if we1 in time1 regarded as a kind of moral phnomenon1 the relation which all men may have with an idea so sublime1 notwithstanding the visible disparity which exists between their different degrees of understanding and knowledge2 and this observation should lead to a thought1 that in the midst of the clouds1 which obscure the idea of a ,god1 sensibility becomes our best guide3 it seems the most innate part of ourselves1 and in this respect to communicate1 in the most intimate manner1 with the ,author of our ,nature4 ,the sight advances before our other senses1 the imagination goes beyond it2 but as it is obliged to trace its own path1 sensibility1 which bounds over all1 goes still further4 ,the reasoner1 in his efforts to attain to profound metaphysical truths1 forms a chain whose links rather follow each other1 than are joined3 the mind of man not being sufficiently subtle1 and extended1 cannot always unite exactly that infinite multitude of ideas which crowd at the determination of our meditations2 sensibility is then the best calculated to conceive the sublime truth1 which not being composed of parts1 is not susceptible of section1 and can only be comprehended in its unity4 ,thus1 whilst the mind often wanders in vain speculations1 and loses itself in metaphysical labyrinths1 the idea of a ,supreme ,being is impressed1 without effort1 in a simple heart1 which is still under the influence of nature3 thus1 the man of feeling1 as well as the intelligent man1 announces a ,supreme ,being1 whom we cannot discover without loving2 and this union of all the faculties of the soul towards the same idea1 this emotion1 which resembles a kind of instinct1 ought to be connected with a first cause2 as there is for every thing a first model4 ,it is1 perhaps1 also the confused sentiment of that first model1 which leads us to religion1 when we see a virtuous man4 ,men1 with their fatal systems1 would alter and annihilate every thing1 but the comfortable hopes and thoughts which arise from a profound and rational admiration1 will still resist that destruction4 ,they vainly wish to make us consider such a sentiment as the simple play of blind matter1 whilst all within us seems to invite us to search for a more noble origin4 ,and how can we avoid seeing1 in these great qualities of men1 nobleness of soul1 elevation of genius1 expansion of heart1 love of order1 and interesting goodness2 how avoid seeing1 in this rich picture1 the reflection of a celestial light1 and concluding from it1 that there is somewhere a first intelligence4 ,do rays exist without a centre of light8 ,i know not1 but hurried away by these reflections1 ,i sometimes think1 innate goodness1 which we admire as the first rank in the scale of intelligent beings1 in a more immediate manner1 leads to the knowledge of the ,author of nature2 and when this innate morality is found united in some persons with a presentiment of the ,divine ,nature1 there is1 in this agreement1 a charm which impresses us2 a kind of unknown character which attracts our respect3 as every tender and sublime thought is roused by the idea which we form of the souls of ,socrates and ,fenelon4 ,at the same time1 actuated by similar sentiments we experience a painful emotion1 when we are informed1 that there exist men1 enemies to all these ideas2 men1 who had rather debase themselves and humanity1 by attributing their origin to chance1 than resolve to consider the spiritual faculties which they enjoy as a faint sketch of the sovereign intelligence4 ,thus1 instead of employing their minds to lend some force to these comfortable truths1 or1 at least probabilities so dear1 they1 on the contrary1 dispute their realty1 and seek to embarrass by sophistry1 the doctrines which tend to fortify the first dispositions of our nature3 we see the materialists1 rather then elevate themselves1 drag us with them from happiness and hope2 they only grant eternity to the dust1 out of which1 they say1 we sprung4 ,what honour1 however1 can they derive from those more enlightened views which they boast of1 if they are only the result of a growth similar to that of plants2 and if our spiritual faculties1 so far from being lost1 in some measure1 in the infinite intelligence1 so far from being united to a grand destiny1 are only associated to this frail structure1 which is every day1 every hour1 exposed to various dangers4 ,what credit should we derive from these faculties1 if they only enabled us to describe1 with precision1 the almost imperceptible circle of time1 in which we live and die3 if they only served to raise us above our equals during that short moment of life1 which is hastening to lose itself in endless ages1 as a light vapour in the immensity of air8 ,how can you speak with delight of fame and promotion1 when you voluntarily renounce the grandeur arising from the most noble origin8 ,you are proud of the celebrity of your country1 the renown of your families1 and the only glory you desire not partake1 is that which ennobles the whole human race6 ,in short1 ,i would ask1 by what strange error of the imagination it is1 that in meditating on the existence of a ,god1 men do not go further than to doubt it2 since to support1 to guide our judgment1 we have only an understanding whose weakness we continually experience2 since it is capable of gradual improvement1 as knowledge is perpetually accumulating8 ,there exists not any proportion between the measure of our knowledge and the unbounded extent which is displayed before us2 there is not any between the union of all our powers and the profound mysteries of nature3 how then shall we dare to say1 that men are arrived at the pinnacle of knowledge1 and that in the endless ages to come1 there will never break forth a more penetrating faculty than our weak reason8 ,however1 were men even to lose the hope of advancing one step in metaphysical researches2 and persisted to declare insufficient and imperfect the various proofs of the existence of a ,god2 it is not to be contested1 that all other systems are surrounded with still greater obscurity1 and they would only have a doubt as the result of their reasoning4 ,but have they ever reflected on the influence a simple doubt has1 when that doubt is applied to an idea1 whose relations are without bounds8 ,let us try to represent an equal probability in a circumstance which only concerns the interests of this transitory life1 and we shall soon see what force the same degree of probability would have in the immensurable relations of the finite to the infinite4 ,thus1 not only an uncertainty1 but the slightest presumption of the existence of a ,god1 would1 in the estimation of sound reason1 be a sufficient foundation for religion and morality4 ,yes1 we might thus humbly pray1 though depressed by doubt3--,o ,thou ,god who art unknown6 sovereign goodness whose image is stamped on our hearts--if ,thou existest1 if ,thou art ,lord of this magnificent universe1 deign to accept our love and humble homage4---- ,undoubtedly1 these thoughts are sufficient to inspire with respect and fear beings ignorant of their origin1 who have so little to sacrifice and so much to desire1 who1 on account of their extreme weakness1 cannot relinquish some hopes1 and must attach themselves to a fixed and predominate idea1 which may serve as an anchor in the midst of the inconsistencies and agitations of their minds4 ,it is1 perhaps1 because the time when every thing will be explained1 is still far distant1 that many exaggerate their doubts1 and often confound them with a decided incredulity4 ,i form to my imagination1 a solemn period1 when the inhabitants of the earth will be instructed in the mysteries of their nature and the secrets of futurity2 and that some signal phnomenon will mark the awful day proper to fix our attention2 and ,i am intimately persuaded1 that1 in such a moment1 the men most indifferent about religion will appear dismayed1 and even recognize that what they took for conviction1 was but a wavering opinion1 only supported by self-love and a desire of distinction4 ,at the same time that ,i form this judgment of the pretended incredulity of several persons1 ,i will venture a reflection of a different kind3 it is1 that superficial faith in the existence of ,god1 and the opinions which depend on it1 is not equivalent in effect to doubt retained in proper bounds2 and perhaps1 if these bounds were determined1 the belief of one class of society would be less wavering4 ,i anticipate another objection2 those doubts1 some may say1 those doubts which so many men cannot smother1 are they not an argument against the existence of a ,god8 for a ,powerful ,being1 such as we suppose ,him1 could have inspired a general confidence in that noble truth2 ,he needed not to have recourse to supernatural means2 ,his will was sufficient4 ,i confess1 that we can easily add1 in imagination1 several degrees to our knowledge and happiness2 but that condition of our nature1 of which the cause is unknown1 can never be contrary to the idea of the existence of a ,god3 all is limited in our physical properties and in our moral faculties2 but within these confines we see the work of a ,supreme ,intelligence1 and we discover every instant the traces of a divine hand1 sufficiently obvious to direct our opinions4 ,unstable reasoning1 concerning what we should be1 can never weaken the distinct consequences which arise from what we are4 ,when the ,laplander1 in his cave1 hears by chance the distant echo of thunder1 he says1 that ,god still lives on the high mountain2 and1 is it in the very bosom of munificent blessings1 with the light of philosophy1 that men would wish to reject the idea of the existence of a ,supreme ,being8 ,what an abuse of reason6 ,infinity ought to overwhelm the most vigorous and enlightened understanding1 make the wise man timid in his judgment1 and inform him what he is2 can man do better than give way to the admiration the view of so many incomprehensible wonders must necessarily inspire1 and with fervour seize that chain of miracles which seem to promise to lead to the knowledge of the ,creator of them8 ,can he be more nobly employed1 than in tracing an opinion1 not only the most probable1 but the most grand and interesting8 ,alas6 if we should ever lose it--the idea is not to be endured2 clouds and thick darkness would1 overwhelm the feelings which seem to dart before our reason1 to explore the unknown country we pant after1 and a melancholy and eternal silence would appear to surround all nature3 we should call for a comforter1 implore protection--but where is it to be found8 ,we should search for hope1 but it is for ever fled--,alas6 this is not all1 a terrific thought strikes me1 ,i hesitate a moment to communicate it2 yet1 it seems to me1 that we lend new force to religious opinions1 when we demonstrate1 by various ways1 that the principles which destroy those opinions lead to a result contrary to our nature4 ,i will then conclude this chapter by a reflection of serious importance4 ,if there is not a ,god1 if this world and the whole universe was only the production of chance or nature itself1 subsisting from all eternity2 and if this nature1 void of consciousness1 had not any guide or superior2 in short1 if all its movements were the necessary effect of a property ever concealed in its essence1 a terrible thought would alarm our imagination3 we should not only renounce the hopes which enliven life1 we should not only see continually advancing towards us the image of death and annihilation1 these dreadful anticipations would not be all--an uncertain cause of fear would trouble the mind4 ,in fact1 the revolutions of a blind nature being more obscure than the designs of an ,intelligent ,being1 it would be impossible to discover on what base1 in the universe1 reposed the destiny of men2 impossible to foresee whether1 by some one of the laws of that imperious nature1 intelligent beings are devoted to perish irrevocably1 or revive under some other form2 if they are to stumble on new pleasures1 or suffer eternally3 life and death1 happiness and misery1 may belong indifferently to a nature whose movements are not directed by any intelligence1 are not connected by any moral idea1 but solely dependent on a blind property1 which is represented by that word1 terrible and inexplicable necessity4 ,a like nature would resemble the rocks to which ,prometheus was bound1 that were equally insensible to the agonizing groans of the wretch1 and to the joy of the vultures who preyed on his vitals4 ,thus1 in a like system1 nothing would be able to fix our opinion with respect to futurity1 and guard the sensible part of ourselves from yielding to some unknown force3 in short1 can we reply without trembling8 nothing1--and of course eternal torments might accidentally become our portion4 ,the momentary experience of life might1 perhaps1 inspire us with a kind of tranquillity2 but what is that in immensity1 but calculations founded on the observance of a short interval8 ,what is that hope which only a fleeting moment gives weight to8 ,it is as if the fluttering insect1 which lives but a day1 should consider it as a representation of the eternal condition of the universe4 ,the mixture of pains and pleasures1 to which men are subject on earth1 is not a certain proof of what may happen in other times and places2 for unity1 equality1 and analogy1 all those sources of probability1 and principles to judge from1 are connected with general ideas of order and harmony1 but those ideas are not applicable to a nature subject to necessity4 ,we have some difficulty to assure ourselves of the designs of a ,supreme ,being3 however1 by a kind of analogy we shall be able to form an idea of the divine will2 and our minds1 our feelings1 and virtues1 all aid us in the search2 but were we sprung from an insensible nature1 we should not have any connection with the different parts of its immense extent1 and the attentive study of our moral constitution would not throw a light on the various revolutions of which the material world is susceptible4 ,we should only discover1 that there would be much less reason to oppose1 in imagination1 limits to the varied movements of a nature without a guide1 than to circumscribe1 in some manner1 the actions of an ,omnipotent ,being1 whose other attributes are also infinite2 for the ideas of order1 justice1 and goodness1 which arise from a knowledge of ,his perfections1 seem to trace a circle in the midst of infinity1 which the mind of man may perceive4 ,yes1 these ideas subject a great space to our contemplations2 but what advantage is there in trying to be acquainted with the mysteries of an insensible nature1 or to penetrate the secret of the motion impressed by blind necessity8 ,let me repeat it then1 as a termination to these reflections2 all would be obscure1 all mere chance in the fate of man1 if we did not attribute the disposition and preservation of the world to the omnipotent will of an ,intelligent ,being1 whose perfections our feelings and thoughts faintly represent4 ,in short1 when even in the system of the eternity of nature1 men were assured that death destroys individuality1 and were they even able to drive away the idea of the continuation or renewal of it1 by any sentiment or remembrance2 would it be evident1 that we should be absolutely indifferent about the torments rational beings may endure in that space which is represented by the idea of infinity and eternity8 ,the metaphysical idea1 which determines us to place our consciousness on that imperceptible and mysterious point1 which unites our present thoughts to the past1 and our actual sentiments to our hopes and fears2 this thought is not sufficient to make us regardless of our fate1 or render us indifferent to the unknown effects which may result from the revolutions of a nature1 which we are not acquainted with3 the anxieties and troubles of the beings who are to live in the ages yet unborn1 do not interest us as belonging to any particular person2 however1 we have1 for those abstract misfortunes1 in this instance1 a sympathy which escapes reasoning4 ,i agree1 that in the system of undirected nature1 happiness or misery1 transitory or without end1 have the same degree of probability3 but what a terrifying resemblance6 ,can we undismayed consider such a chance8 ,how happens it then1 that some pretend1 that atheism frees us from every kind of terror about futurity8 ,i cannot perceive1 that such a conclusion flows from this fatal system4 ,a ,god1 such as my heart delineates1 encourages and moderates all my feelings2 ,i say to myself1 ,he is good and indulgent1 ,he knows our weakness1 ,he loves to produce happiness2 and ,i see the advances of death without terror1 and often with hope4 ,but every fear would become reasonable1 if ,i lived under the dominion of an insensible nature1 whose laws and revolutions are unknown3 ,i seek for some means to escape from its power2--but even death cannot afford me a retreat1 or space an asylum4 ,i reflect1 if it is possible1 to find compassion and goodness2 but here is no prime intelligence1 no first cause1 a blind nature surrounds us1 and governs imperiously4 ,i in vain demand1 what is to be done with me8 it is deaf to my voice4 ,devoid of will1 thought1 and feeling1 it is governed by an irresistible force1 whose motion is a mystery never to be unfolded4 ,what a view for the human mind1 to anticipate the destruction of all our primitive ideas of order1 justice1 and goodness6 ,shall ,i further say1 when even1 in every system1 the entrance of the future was unknown1 ,i should be less unhappy and forlorn1 if it was to a father1 a benefactor1 that ,i committed the deposit of life which ,i held from him2 this last communication with the ,master of the ,world would mitigate my pains2 my eyes1 when closing1 would perceive ,his power2 that ,i should not lose all1 ,i might still hope that ,god remained with those ,i loved1 and find some comfort in the thought1 that my destiny was united to ,his will1 that my existence and the employments ,i devoted myself to1 formed one of the indelible points of ,his eternal remembrance2 and that the incomprehensible darkness ,i was going to plunge into1 is equally a part of ,his empire4 ,but when a feeling and elevated soul1 which sometimes enjoys a sentiment of its own grandeur1 should certainly know1 that dragged by a blind motion1 it was going to be dissipated1 to be scattered in that dreary waste1 where all that is most vile on earth is indifferently precipitated2 such a thought would blight the noblest actions1 and be a continual source of sadness and despondency4 ,save us from these dreadful reflections1 sublime and cherished belief of a ,god6 afford us the courage and comfort we need1 and guard our minds1 as from fatal phantoms1 from all those vain suppositions1 those errors of reasoning and metaphysical subtleties1 which interpose between man and his ,creator6 ,and we1 full of confidence in the first lesson of nature1 will take for a guide that interior sentiment which is not thought1 but something more1 which neither reasons nor conjectures2 but perhaps forms the closest connexion and most certain communication with those grand truths which the understanding alone can never reach4 ,,chap4 ,,xv4 ,on the ,respect that is due from true ,philosophy to ,religion4 ,the view of the universe1 the reflections of our minds1 and the inclinations of our hearts1 all concur to strengthen the thought1 that there exists a ,god2 and without power to comprehend this ,infinite ,being1 to form a just idea of ,his essence and perfections1 the confused sentiment of his grandeur1 and the continual experience of their own weakness1 are so many imperious motives1 which1 in all ages and countries1 have impelled men to worship a ,god4 ,those natural ideas have acquired new force by the light of revelation2 but it is not in a metaphysical work that the authenticity of the ,christian religion ought to be discussed2 nor could we add much to the doctrines contained in books composed at different periods on this important subject4 ,all discussions which are allied to truths1 whose authenticity depends on facts1 are necessarily confined within certain bounds2 and we are obliged to pursue a beaten track1 and run over the same circle1 when we enter on such a well-known subject4 ,i shall then confine myself to some general reflections1 and make choice of those which are best adapted to the particular genius of the present age1 and the modifications which our sentiments receive from predominate opinions2 for our judgments1 like our impressions1 vary with the change which happens insensibly in habits and manners3 one age is that of intolerance and bigotry2 another of relaxation and indifference1 or a contempt of all ancient customs3 every century1 every generation is distinguished by a general character1 a character which we take sometimes for new ideas2 whilst it is nothing but the natural effect of exaggeration in our preceding opinions4 ,men are subject to moral laws1 similar in several respects to mechanical rules2 and with all their knowledge and pride1 they remind us of those children1 who1 placed at the extremity of a long balance1 rise and fall successively4 ,they can only be fixed by moderate sentiments1 which are sustained by their own force2 any other has a borrowed action1 and this action is never in perfect equilibrium with truth4 ,it is in the nature of revelation to appear less evident to the mind1 in proportion as the proofs of its authenticity are distant2 and if1 among the dogmas united to a religious doctrine1 some one contains a mystic sense2 if1 among the forms of worship adopted1 some one is not consonant with the simple and majestic idea which we ought to have of the ,master of the ,world2 it would not be extraordinary that this religious institution1 considered in its different parts1 should give birth to controversies2 and we should not be exasperated against those1 who1 after having faithfully examined1 still have some doubts4 ,it is in proportion to the extent of our understanding that ,god has thought fit to manifest ,himself to us2 thus1 the exertion of those faculties of the mind cannot be displeasing to ,him4 ,but reason left to itself1 and even when improved by philosophy1 should1 by no means1 lead men to any kind of contempt for religious worship in general1 or any of the particular opinions of which ,christianity is the support4 ,any doctrine which leads to the adoration of the ,god of the universe is worthy of the respect of ,his creatures3 thus1 persons most disposed to contest the authenticity of the sacred books1 ought still to love precepts which seem to come to the aid of the human mind1 in order to assist men in the last efforts which they make to know more of ,god2 as the friendly bark1 offered to the forlorn wretch struggling on the surface of the immense waste of waters1 on which his feeble hands have vainly endeavoured to support him4 ,we cannot but have discovered1 that the sentiments of gratitude and respect which inspire men1 the most capable of reflection1 with the idea of a ,god1 are intimately connected with the ,christian doctrines1 such as we find them in the ,new ,testament2 and in those moments1 when1 with the desire of happiness1 and the timidity which belongs to our nature1 we seek to unite our littleness to supreme grandeur1 and our extreme weakness to ,omnipotence1 the divine perfections which the gospel delineates encourage our hopes and dissipate our fears2 religion shows us all that we have need of in our miserable condition1 a sovereign goodness1 an inexhaustible compassion3 thus then1 the last link of the ,christian faith1 like the termination of the deepest meditations1 reaches the same conclusion2 and religion agrees with philosophy1 in the moment when it is most elevated4 ,however1 the ,christian and the ,deist unite1 in some manner1 in the ultimate tendency of their thoughts2 they meet when they throw their attention on civil society1 and when they seek to determine the duties of men2 for a wise man must ever pay homage to the morality of the gospel1 and the philosopher could not have imagined a more reasonable system1 or one more conformable to our situation#f4 ,if it is then true1 that opinions1 in appearance opposite1 approach1 at their extremities2 and if it is true1 that the adoration of a ,god1 and respect for morality1 form by uniting1 the circle of evangelical doctrines1 it very little concerns the reasonable philosopher1 that the ,christian faith is placed between those two grand ideas2 if he thinks he can himself explore the space which separates man from his ,creator1 for what reason would he condemn with bitterness the sentiments of those who are attached to the comfortable system of intercession and redemption1 of which ,christianity has laid the foundation8 ,in short1 were they even not to agree in every opinion with the interpreters of the ,christian doctrine1 this would not be a sufficient reason for breaking the religious alliance which ought to subsist amongst men2 an alliance represented and rendered authentic1 in every nation1 by the public worship which has been made choice of by the government4 ,what idea then should we have of the genius or the abilities of a philosopher1 who1 at the sight of the ceremonies of the public worship which disgust him1 could not rise above them1 so as to consider them1 in some measure1 as the atmosphere of religious opinions1 which turning his attention from the importance of those opinions1 could not preserve1 at least1 some respect for all the dependencies of the most sublime and salutary thought8 ,it is easy1 however1 to perceive1 that1 for the generality of men1 the duties of morality1 religion1 and all the exterior homage rendered to the ,deity1 compose a whole so closely connected1 that the basis is in danger when the outworks are attacked4 ,the imagination of the vulgar cannot be guided in the same manner as that of the solitary thinker2 and it would be committing a great error1 to try to influence the opinions of the generality by the same considerations which are sufficient for the man who profoundly reflects3 there is a system proportionate to the different faculties of intelligent beings1 as there is one applicable to the varied forces of their physical nature4 ,i know nothing more dangerous1 than the inconsiderate censures of those religious ceremonies received and respected in the country we live in3 some do not think that they are acting wrong when they speak slightingly of the various symbols of public worship2 yet1 if they attentively observed the kind of minds1 and the first habits of the greater part of those to whom they address such discourses1 they would know how easy it is to wound them in the sentiment which is the source of all their tranquility1 and the safeguard of their moral conduct4 ,the deliverer of ,switzerland struck off with one of his arrows an apple placed on the head of his only son2 but every one cannot expect to be so fortunate4 ,some would contradict these assertions1 by saying1 that celebrated men have occasioned rapid changes in the church of ,rome without weakening religion4 ,the origin1 the circumstances1 and the result of a revolution so marked in history1 has not any connexion with the present question2 the reformers of the sixteenth century1 preaching a new doctrine1 openly professed religious zeal and a fervent piety3 thus1 at the same time that they disapproved of a part of the established worship1 they more rigidly recommended all the fundamental opinions of ,christianity1 and sought to introduce a severity of manners which even extended to the proscription of several indulgences that had not been before condemned3 and1 in fact1 if the new doctrines had not been united to the greatest respect for the essential principles of the ,christian religion1 they never would have had so many followers4 ,they cannot then establish any kind of comparison between the censures poured forth by the reformers1 and the ridicule or contempt of those who now insult our most respectable opinions2 those men1 who at present abound1 are sometimes excited by a libertinism of mind and conduct1 by self-love or the enthusiasm of false philosophy1 and some of them are seduced by an air of superiority1 attached to the principles which they themselves institute4 ,there is a great difference between the grave and serious course of the reformers1 and the various evolutions of the active opponents of religion3 the latter do not take care to stop at clearing up a point of doctrine1 or a disputed interpretation of some dogma2 it is religion itself that they wish to attack1 and if they begin with the outworks1 it is in order to undermine it2 they take skilfully their post1 and know when to have recourse to a tone of pleasantry2 which is very dangerous1 as it gives an air of confidence to those who employ it1 and they obtain a kind of ascendency in avoiding every idea of an equal combat3 one is disposed to think1 that it is by disdain that they glance slightly over the subject2 we cowardly submit to the appearance of their superiority2 and that which is in them weakness or impotence gives consequence4 ,men1 in order to express their gratitude to the sovereign ,master of the ,world1 must borrow from their imaginations every thing grand and majestic3 thus1 when they detach from those reverential signs the ideas that they represented and preserve1 they only display a vain gravity1 a chimerical pomp2 and it is easy to make a similar contrast a subject of ridicule2 but in acting thus1 far from making us applaud their talents1 they insult1 without any sense1 the habit most men have acquired of venerating1 on the whole1 every system of worship paid the ,supreme ,being4 ,nevertheless1 the bold and frivolous discourses which are permitted against religion in general1 have made such a progress1 that at present the persons who most respect these opinions1 without ostentation or severity1 find themselves obliged to conceal or moderate their sentiments1 lest they should be exposed to a kind of contemptuous pity1 or run the risk of being suspected of hypocrisy4 ,we are at liberty to speak on every subject1 except the most grand and interesting which can occupy men4 ,what strange authority gave rise to this imperious legislation1 which is termed fashionable8 ,what a miserable conspiracy1 that of weakness against ,omnipotence6 ,men are proud of knowing at what hour the king wakes1 goes to the chace1 or returns2 they are very eager to be informed of the vile intrigues which successively debase or exalt his courtiers2 they pass1 in short1 their whole lives in panting after objects of vanity and badges of slavery2 they are continually brought into conversation2 and they proscribe1 under the dreadful name of vulgarity1 the most remote expression1 which would recal the idea of the harmonious universe1 and the ,being who has bestowed on us all the gifts of the mind2 what is most excellent in our nature we overlook1 to dwell only on the inflations of vanity4 ,ungrateful that we are6 ,our intelligence1 our will1 all our senses1 are the seal of an unknown power2 and1 is it the name of our ,master and ,benefactor that we dare not pronounce8 it is from your modern philosophers that this false shame arises2 you1 who spread derision over the most respectable sentiments1 and employing in the dispute the frivolous shafts of ridicule1 have given confidence to the most insignificant of men2 you have1 for your followers1 a numerous race1 which is taken promiscuously from every rank and age4 ,we now reckon1 amongst those who oppose a contemptuous smile to religious opinions1 a multitude of young people1 often incapable of supporting the most trivial arguments1 and who1 perhaps1 could not connect two or three abstract propositions4 ,these pretended philosophers artfully1 and almost perfidiously1 take advantage of the first flight of self-love1 to persuade beginners1 that they are able to judge at a glance1 of the serious questions which have eluded the penetration of the most exercised thinkers3 in short1 such is in general the decisive tone of the irreligious men of our age1 that in hearing them so boldly murmur about the disorders of the universe1 and the mistakes of ,providence2 we are only surprised to see how much they differ in stature from those rebellious giants mentioned in the heathen mythology4 ,i believe1 however1 that if contempt for religious opinions did not produce a striking contrast1 those who profess to feel this contempt would quickly adopt other sentiments2 they only superficially attend to the pernicious tendency of their maxims1 whilst they believe themselves still in the opposition2 but if they ever obtained a majority1 not having then the spur of self-love1 they would soon discover the absurdity of their principles1 and hastily throw them aside4 ,there are1 undoubtedly1 a great number of estimable persons1 who highly value the truths and precepts of religion1 yet are a prey to doubt and uncertainty1 and who become the first victims of the inconsistencies of their minds2 but men of such a character do not aim at dominion1 on the contrary1 they rather wish to be confirmed by the example of those whose confidence is more assured2 they would consider with interest the sentiments that unfortunately have made too slight an impression on them2 and they would endeavour to strengthen their weak hopes1 till they reached the courageous persuasion which inspires the ,christian3----yes1 even the enthusiasm of piety excites their envy1 as it is more delightful to yield to the emotions of a lively imagination1 than to struggle with apathy against the opinions calculated to diffuse happiness4 ,thus1 if amongst the number of persons that ,i have just delineated1 there were some to whom nature had granted superior talents1 wit or eloquence1 they would carefully avoid exerting them to disturb the repose of those peaceable souls who calmly rely on religion1 and receive all their consolation from that source4 ,a wise man never permits himself to spread sadness and discouragement1 in order to gratify the ridiculous vanity of exalting himself a little above common opinions1 or to show his abilities by making some ingenious distinctions concerning particular parts of the established religion2 in the same manner1 as it would be the height of folly to stop an army during its march1 to discriminate systematically the perfect justness of the different tones of the warlike instruments of music4 ,the bold and frivolous opinions of several philosophers1 have appeared to me to be weak1 where they most wish to rise2 ,i mean1 in the extent and loftiness of their views4 ,i need not speak to those who deny even the existence of a ,god4 ,alas6 if they are so unhappy as to shut their eyes1 and not to admit this resplendant light2 if they have a soul so insensible1 as not to be affected with the comfortable truths which flow from such a noble thought2 if they are become deaf to the interesting voice of nature2 if they trust more to their weak reasoning1 than the warnings of conscience and sensibility2 at least1 let them not spread their disastrous doctrine1 which1 like the head of ,medusa1 would transform every thing into stone4 ,let them remove from us that frightful monster1 or let his hoarse hissing be only heard in the dreary solitude1 of which their heart presents the idea2 let them spare the human race1 and have pity on the distress into which they would be plunged1 if the mild light1 which serves to guide them1 were ever to be obscured3 in short1 if they really believe that morality can agree with atheism1 let them give the first proof of it1 by remaining silent2 but if they cannot abstain from publishing their opinions1 let a remnant of generosity induce them to inform us of their dangerous tendency1 by placing in the frontispiece of their works this terrible inscription of ,dante's3 ,lasciat' ogni speranza voi ch' entrate4 ,,chap4 ,,xvi4 ,the same ,subject continued4 ,reflections on ,intolerance4 ,the surface of the earth represents to us about the two hundred and fortieth part of the surperfice of the different opaque bodies which revolve round the sun4 ,the fixed stars are so many suns1 which1 according to all appearance1 serve equally to enlighten and fertilize planets similar to those we are acquainted with4 ,a famous astronomer#g has lately discovered fifty thousand new stars in a zone fifteen degrees in length and two in breadth1 a space which corresponds with the thirteen hundred and sixty-fourth part of the celestial sphere4 ,thus1 supposing that we perceive an equal number of stars in every other parallel section of the firmament1 the quantity we should be acquainted with would rise to near sixty-nine millions4 ,and if each of these stars were the centre of a planetary system1 resembling the one we inhabit1 we should have an idea of the existence of a number of habitable globes1 whose extent would be sixteen or seventeen millions of times more considerable than the surface of the earth#h4 ,however1 the ingenious invention which assists us to explore the vaulted firmament is susceptible of new improvement2 and even at the period when it may arrive at the greatest perfection1 the space which our astronomic knowledge may have taken possession of1 will only be a point in the vast extent which our imagination can conceive4 ,this imagination itself1 like all our intellectual faculties1 is perhaps only a simple degree of infinite powers2 and the images that it presents are but an imperfect sketch of universal existence4 ,what then becomes of our earth1 in the midst of that immensity which the human mind vainly tries to grasp8 ,what is it even now1 compared with that number of terrestrial bodies we can calculate or suppose8 ,is it then the inhabitants of this grain of sand1 is it only a few of them1 that have discovered the true mode of worshipping the ,creator of so many wonders8 ,their dwelling is a point in infinite space2 the life which they enjoy is but one of the moments which compose eternity2 they pass away like a flash of lightning in that course of ages1 in which generations after generations are lost4 ,how then dare any of them announce to the present age1 and to those to come1 that men cannot escape the vengeance of ,heaven if they alter one tittle of the ,ritual8 ,what an idea they give of the relation established between the ,god of the universe and the atoms dispersed throughout nature8 ,let them then raise one of the extremities of that veil which covers so many mysteries1 let them consider a moment the wonders on every side1 the starry firmament1 and the inconceivably dreary immensity which their imagination cannot embrace2 and let them judge1 if it is by the exterior form of their adoration1 the vain pomp of their ceremonies1 that this ,omnipotent ,god can distinguish their homage4 ,is it then1 by the pride of our opinions1 that we think to reach the ,supreme ,being8 ,it is more comfortable1 more reasonable to believe1 that all the inhabitants of the earth have access to ,his throne1 and that we are permitted to raise ourselves to it by a profound sentiment of love and gratitude1 as the most sure and intimate relation between man and his ,creator4 ,undoubtedly it is necessary that public worship should be constantly regulated1 and that distinct symbols should be respected1 whose essential character ought not to vary1 that the sentiments of the generality1 so promptly affected by exterior objects1 may not be exposed to any alteration2 it is necessary that weak minds easily find their way1 and that they are not embarrassed with doubt and uncertainty2 in short1 it is to be desired1 that the citizens1 united by the same laws and political interests1 should be so by the same worship1 in order that the sacred band of religion may take them all in2 and that principles of education should be maintained and fortified by example4 ,but as morality is the first law of princes1 and that always clear and distinct in its motives and instructions1 it ought to precede the uncertain combinations of the politician4 ,a government is never permitted to aim at any end by unjust means1 let it be ever so desirable2 and ,i believe that this rule is equally adapted to the opinions of men and their rights4 ,it would be possible to conceive a system of distribution1 with respect to the fortunes of men1 more convenient than any other for the increase of public wealth and the power of the state2 but though this knowledge should influence the general conduct of government1 it receives no right from its discernment1 to arrange according to its will1 the situation of every citizen4 ,the same principle has greater force applied to opinions3 it is reasonable to seek to direct their course by slow and mild means2 but the system of unity1 which is certainly most conducive to the happiness of a state1 would cease to be good1 if1 in order to establish that system1 violence1 or merely constraint1 was had recourse to3 liberty of thought is the first of rights1 and the most respectable dominion is that of conscience4 ,some now talk of the union of civil tolerance and religious intolerance2 the one protects ,protestants in ,catholic countries1 and ,catholics in ,protestant countries2 and the other would forbid every kind of worship which is not conformable to the institutions of the predominant religion3 but upon this plan1 if the number of ,dissenters was to become considerable1 an important part of the nation would be without worship2 and the government should not appear indifferent to this1 since it is of great importance to mankind to maintain carefully every support of morality4 ,there is nothing more to be said on intolerance when we consider it in its excess4 ,we all now know what we ought to think of the severities and persecutions which history has transmitted an account of1 and we know the opinion we should form of many acts of intolerance and inhumanity which some have for a long time gloried in2 and we cannot stifle our indignation at the sight of the faggots that are still lighted round those unhappy wretches scattered over the face of the earth1 of whom ,jesus ,christ himself said1 with so much goodness1 in the midst of his agonies2 ,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,it is time to abolish for ever those dreadful customs1 ignominious remembrance of our ancient phrensies6 ,o ,god1 are these ,thy creatures that they dare to torment in ,thy name6 ,is it the work of ,thy hand that they sacrifice to ,thy glory8--,petty tyrants6 ferocious inquisitors6 do you expect to obtain the favour of ,heaven1 with a heart hardened1 after mutilating the members and tearing the bosoms of those whom you can only draw to you by a sentiment of pity8 whose emotions you are not acquainted with8 ,the ,god of goodness rejects such offerings--,he cannot away with them4 ,who then will pardon errors1 if not men who are continually deceived6 ,alas6 if exactness of judgment1 or the perfection of reason1 were the only title to divine benevolence1 there is not any one who might not cast down his eyes devoid of all hope4 ,those who proudly flatter themselves1 that they alone know the worship agreeable to the ,supreme ,being1 lose all their claim to our confidence1 when1 guided by a spirit of intolerance1 they depart so visibly from the character which ought to inspire the idea of a ,god1 protector of human weakness4 ,but the absurd attempt to inspire faith by acts of rigour and severity1 has been so often and so ably combated1 that ,i shall not dwell on a principle1 the truth of which common sense will discover4 ,i shall only make one observation sufficient to intimidate the conscience of inquisitors1 and all those who adopt their maxims4 ,the operations of the mind can only be influenced by reasoning1 all the designs formed to attain this end by violence are attempts to subvert the belief of the spirituality of the soul1 and indirect associations with materialists2 for we must believe in the identity of matter and thought to have a right of presuming1 that the empire exercised on us by rigorous treatment can have an influence on our opinions2 and then we must consider man as a being governed by mechanical laws1 to be able to imagine1 that with instruments of torture we can excite a sensation1 which1 by an unknown conduit1 might act instead of judgment and the sentiment of persuasion4 ,it is because1 the indignant emotions of a worthy heart are more powerful than the cool arguments of offended reason1 that we rise with warmth against intolerance2 for without this motive it would only deserve our contempt1 as indicating a singular littleness of soul4 ,who can remember without pity1 those dissensions so long maintained1 in which men1 both weak and blind1 united in the name of devotion1 actuated by self-love1 unintelligible decrees1 to some important controversy8 ,all these disputes appear foolish when we coolly examine them2 and we have only to consider1 abstractedly1 those quarrels1 to discover all their absurdity4 ,but as it is only by spreading knowledge and diffusing wholesome precepts that we can hope to cure enthusiasm and intolerance2 we ought to be on our guard against the dangerous spirit of indifference1 otherwise one evil will be removed only to introduce another equally fatal2 when trying to divert men from fanaticism1 we destroy the ideas which served as a foundation for religion4 ,there could not subsist any sound opinion or estimable principle1 if the different errors which creep round them were torn away by an awkward or violent hand2 and is the evil1 which continually mixes with the good1 became the subject of blind proscription4 ,let us loudly acknowledge the benefits which we have received from distinguished writers1 who have defended with zeal and energy the cause of toleration2 it is an obligation1 added to many others1 which it is just to acknowledge1 that we have received from genius and talents united3 but permit us also to observe1 that several of those writers have lost a part of the applause due to them1 by seeking to depress religion1 in order to succeed in their attempt2 such a proceeding was unworthy of enlightened philosophers1 who more than others ought to assign limits to reason1 and never despair of its influence4 ,what should we think1 if1 amongst those who justly attack the tyranny exercised over conscience1 there were some intolerant in the defence of toleration2 and if we had reason to reproach them with despising1 and sometimes hating those who do not concur with them2 and by an inconsiderate imputation of pusillanimity or hypocrisy1 make the characters and intentions of those who do not adopt their sentiments appear suspicious8 ,what a strange inconsistency1 in a different way1 do they not exhibit2 forgetting1 sometimes1 their own opinions1 and contradicting1 without thinking1 their acknowledged incredulity1 they raise a clamour about the miseries to which mankind are subject1 and display the pretended disorders of the universe1 in order1 afterwards1 to throw an odium on the ,god whose existence they contest1 to ridicule a ,providence they do not rely on6 ,one would think1 that after having overturned the empire of the ,deity1 that they might remain the only legislators of the world2 they regretted not having any longer a rival1 and wished to rebuild the temple they have destroyed1 to have again a vain idol to insult4 ,another inconsistency appears in their asperity against those who resist their dogmas1 whilst1 in the system of fate1 reason does not preserve its empire1 and the master1 as well as the disciple1 are equally subject to the laws of necessity4 ,to exercise an authority over the mind by the power of eloquence is a great advantage2 for such an authority is not confined to any place or time2 but to have a right to such an extensive reign1 we must renounce fashionable opinions1 the counsels of vanity and the instigations of self-love2 and be only actuated by that universal and durable interest1 the happiness of mankind4 ,i would not wish to prohibit the wise man or philosopher from treating any subject proper to direct our judgment2 for there are abuses and prejudices every where1 which we cannot destroy without making a step towards reason and truth2 but as there is a philosophy for the thoughts1 there is one also for the actions4 ,i indeed wish that men of an enlarged turn of mind1 who perceive at a glance the moral order of things1 would attack with more caution and moderation1 and at a proper season1 that which directly relates to the opinions most essential to our happiness2 and that a respect for these opinions should be manifest1 even when they censure fanaticism and superstition4 ,such a wish is far from being realized2 and ,i cannot help lamenting1 when ,i consider the design of the greater part1 who have written for some time past on religious subjects3 some seek artfully to destroy1 or1 at least1 relax the band which unites men to the idea of a ,supreme ,being2 and others shut up in some mystic idea1 as in a dark den1 blindly level their anathemas against every kind of doubt and uncertainty2 and confound1 in their rigorous censures1 the accessary ideas with the principal opinions4 ,however1 in taking a course so opposite1 they unfortunately have an equal interest in ranking the essential principles of religion with the most insignificant symbols3 but influenced by very different motives2 the former act with a view of making religious zeal serve to defend every part of the worship of which they are the ministers2 the latter1 guided by a motive of self-love1 readily admit confusion1 that they may have an opportunity of undermining religion when they attack its outworks4 ,we have need1 more than ever1 to be directed to religion by wise and moderate discourses1 by a happy mixture of reason and sensibility1 the true characteristic of evangelical morality4 ,it is only by these means that the authority of salutary truths can be strengthened3 we are easily hurried beyond the just line1 when the human mind is not in a state to mark any limits2 but the daily progress of knowledge obliges us to use more exactness3 it is necessary then to rein in the imagination1 and to allow reason to take place of it3 yet it is still allowed us to animate reason1 and even useful to do so1 but we must absolutely avoid disguising it4 ,false notions only have need of the assistance of exaggeration2 it seems that some are very fond of extremes1 that common sense may not investigate them4 ,i will make another observation4 ,those who1 to free us from superstition1 endeavour to relax religious restrictions2 and those who1 to strengthen them1 have recourse to intolerance1 equally miss their aim4 ,the hatred so naturally excited by every kind of violence and constraint1 in matters of opinion1 creates a repugnance in those persons to religion who are insensibly led to consider this excellent system as the motive or excuse for a blind spirit of persecution4 ,and the direct attacks against religious opinions engage well-disposed minds to adhere more strenuously to every custom which appears a form of respect or adoration2 as we redouble our zeal for a friend in the midst of those who neglect or slight him4 ,let us unite1 and it is certainly time1 to render to the ,supreme ,being sincere worship2 and let that worship always be worthy of the dignity of our ,creator3 let us banish severity and superstition2 but let us equally dread that culpable indifference1 the cause of so many misfortunes2 and when we shall have strengthened the influence of sound reason1 let us adhere more closely to the useful opinions which have been refined from errors1 and with all our force repulse those who wish us to bury our hopes to free ourselves from the wanderings of the imagination4 ,yes1 a religion1 disengaged from the passions of men1 in its native beauty1 ought to dwell with us2 public order and private happiness equally claim it1 and all our reflections lead us to elevate our hearts towards an ,omnipotent ,being1 of whose existence all nature reminds us3 religion well understood1 far from being the necessary principle of rigour or violence1 should be the foundation of every social virtue1 and of every mild and indulgent sentiment4 ,we are not called to tyrannize over the opinions of others1 or to give despotic laws to the mind2 we must observe1 that a moderate and rational religion only will guide us to the path of happiness and virtue1 by addressing equally our hearts and minds4 ,,chap4 ,,xvii4 ,reflections on the ,morality of the ,christian ,religion4 ,i will venture a few reflections on a subject which has often been treated2 the course of my subject naturally leads to it3 but in order to avoid1 as much as possible1 what is generally known1 ,i shall confine myself to consider the morality of the gospel1 under a point of view which seems to me to distinguish its sublime instructions4 ,the most distinct characteristic of christianity is the spirit of charity and forbearance which pervades all its precepts4 ,the ancients1 undoubtedly1 respected the beneficent virtues2 but the precept which commends the poor and the weak1 to the protection of the opulent1 belongs essentially to our religion4 ,with what care1 with what love1 the ,christian legislator returns continually to the same sentiment and interest6 the tenderest pity lent to his words a persuasive unction2 but ,i admire1 above all1 the awful lesson he has given1 in explaining the close union established between our sentiments towards the ,supreme ,being and our duties towards men4 ,thus1 after having termed the love of ,god1 the first commandment of the law1 the ,evangelist adds2 and the second1 which is like unto it1 is to love thy neighbour as thyself4 ,the second1 which is like unto it6 what simplicity1 what extent in that expression6 ,can any thing be more interesting and sublime1 than to offer continually to our mind the idea of a ,god taking on himself the gratitude of the unfortunate8 ,where find any principle of morality1 of which the influence can ever equal such a grand thought8 ,the poor1 the miserable1 however abject their state1 appear surrounded with the symbol of glory1 when the love of humanity becomes an expression of the sentiments which elevate us to ,god2 and the mind ceases to be lost in the immensity of ,his perfections1 when we hope to maintain an habitual intercourse with the ,supreme ,being1 by the services which we render to men2 it is thus that a single thought spreads a new light on our duty1 and gives to metaphysical ideas a substance conformable to our organs4 ,justice1 respect for the laws1 and duty to ourselves1 may be united1 in some manner1 to human wisdom2 goodness alone1 among all the virtues1 presents another character2 there is in its essence something vague and undeterminate which claims our respect2 it seems to have a relation with that intention1 that first idea which we must attribute to the ,creator of the world1 when we wish to discover the cause of its existence4 ,goodness then is the virtue1 or to express myself with more propriety1 the primitive beauty1 that which has preceded time4 ,thus the pressing exhortations to benevolence and charity1 which we find running through the gospel1 should elevate our thoughts1 and penetrate us with profound respect2 it recals us1 it unites us1 to a sentiment more ancient than the world1 to a sentiment1 by which we have received existence1 and the hopes which compose our present happiness#i4 ,but if1 from these elevated contemplations1 we1 for a moment1 descend to the political principles which have the greatest extent1 we shall find there the influence of a truth on which ,i have already had occasion to dwell2 but ,i shall now treat it in a different manner4 ,the unequal division of property has introduced amongst men an authority very like that of a master over his slaves2 we may even justly say1 that in many respects the empire of the rich is still more independent2 for they are not bound constantly to protect those from whom they require services3 the taste and caprice of these favourites of fortune fix the terms of their convention with men1 whose only patrimony is their time and strength2 and as soon as this convention is interrupted1 the poor man1 absolutely separated from the rich1 remains again abandoned to accidents2 he is obliged then to offer his labours with precipitation to other dispensers of subsistence2 and thus he may experience1 several times in the year1 all the inquietudes that must necessarily arise from uncertain recourses4 ,undoubtedly1 in giving the support of the laws to a similar constitution1 it has been reasonably supposed1 that in the midst of the multiplied relations of social life1 there would be a kind of balance and equality between the wants which oblige the poor to solicit wages1 and the desires of the rich which engage them to accept their services2 but this equilibrium1 so essentially necessary1 can never be established in an exact and constant manner1 since it is the result of a blind concourse of combinations1 and the uncertain effect of an infinite multitude of movements1 not one of which is subject to a positive direction4 ,however1 since to maintain the distinction of property they were obliged to leave to chance the fate of the greater number of men1 it was indispensably necessary to find some salutary opinion1 proper to temper the abuses inseparable from the free exercise of the rights of property2 and that happy and restoring idea could only have been discerned in an obligation of benevolence imposed on the will1 and a spirit of general charity recommended to all men3 these sentiments and duties1 the last resource offered to the unfortunate1 can alone mitigate a system1 in which the fate of the most numerous part of a nation rests1 on the doubtful agreement of the conveniences of rich with the wants of the poor4 ,yes1 without the aid1 without the intervention of the most estimable of virtues1 the generality would have just reason to regret the social institutions1 which1 at the price of their independance1 left to the master the care of their subsistence2 and it is thus that charity1 respectable under so many different views1 becomes still an intelligent and political idea1 which serves to blend personal liberty and the imperious laws of property4 ,i know not if ever the christian precepts have been considered under this point of view2 but reflecting a little on this subject1 we perceive more than ever of what importance the salutary institutions are1 which place in the first rank of our duties the beneficent spirit of charity1 and which lends to the most essential virtue all the force and constancy which religion gives birth to4 ,thus1 at the same time that the doctrines of the gospel elevate our thoughts1 its sublime morality accompanies1 in some measure1 our laws and institutions1 to sustain those which are really conformable to reason1 and to remedy the inconveniences inseparable from the imperfections of human wisdom4 ,it is not1 however1 only to pecuniary sacrifices1 that the gospel applies its precepts respecting charity2 it extends to those generous acts of self-denial1 that religion alone can render supportable2 and which makes some descend with a firm step into the dreary abodes1 in which the culprit is a prey to the remorse that tears his heart2 and when his very relations have abandoned him1 he still beholds a comforter1 whom religion conducts to pour consolation into his afflicted soul4 ,the same motives and thoughts induce some to renounce the world and its hopes1 to consecrate themselves entirely to the service of the sick1 and to fulfil those sad functions with an assiduity and a constancy1 that the most splendid reward could never excite4 ,o rare and disinterested virtue1 perfection of piety6 what a tribute of admiration is due to the sublime sentiment which inspires such painful self-denial6 ,men are only stimulated by notions of right and justice2 it belongs to christianity to impose duties1 whose base is placed beyond the narrow circle of our terrestrial interests4 ,i know not1 but it seems to me1 that1 notwithstanding a diversity of opinions1 we cannot help being affected1 when we contemplate the sketch of the last day which the gospel delineates3 it exhibits a terrific and sublime picture of that day1 in which all actions are to be revealed1 and the most secret thoughts have the universe for a witness1 and ,god as a judge2 and at the moment when we wait to see the retinue of virtues and vices which have rendered men celebrated1 it is a single quality1 a virtue without splendour1 which is chosen by the ,divine ,arbiter of our fate1 to derive an immortality of happiness from1 and ,he pronounces these memorable words1 which contain in a small compass our whole duty3--,i was hungry1 and ye gave me meat2 thirsty1 and ye gave me drink2 ,i was a prisoner and ye visited me4 ,come ye blessed of my father1 inherit the kingdom prepared for you1 c4 ,men love to contemplate the triumphs of goodness--love to exalt it under different forms4 ,we have so many wants1 are so weak1 and we are able to do so little for ourselves1 that this interesting virtue appears our safeguard and the mysterious tie of all nature4 ,the spirit of charity1 so essential in its exact interpretation1 may be applied to the regard and delicate attention that different degrees of talents1 render necessary3 society1 under this relation1 has also its rich and poor2 and we know the extent of charity and the secrets of our moral nature1 when we practice that general benevolence1 which preserves others from feeling a painful sentiment of inferiority1 and which makes it a duty to respect the veil1 that a beneficent hand has designedly placed between the light of truth and those imperfections which we cannot entirely correct4 ,it is always about the generality of men that the author of christianity seems to be interested2 the gospel takes cognizance of their private sentiments1 condemning pride1 and recommending modesty2 and it applies itself to level those distances which appear to us so important1 when we only view the little points of gradation which compose our scale of vanity4 ,religion enables us to discern that haughtiness and contempt1 only display our ignorance and folly3 what hast thou1 that thou didst not receive8 now if thou didst receive it1 why dost thou glory8--,what is the pride that does not melt away before these awful words8 ,religion seems ever to tend towards the same end1 and by continually reminding us of the brevity of life1 to prevent strong illusions from engrossing our thoughts4 ,the greater part of ancient moral instructions were in general addressed1 either to man considered as an individual occupied with the care of his destiny1 or to the citizen connected by his duties to his country1 and none of them had sufficient extent3 it is necessary1 when giving counsel to a solitary individual1 only to try to free him from those passions which would destroy his repose and happiness2 and the obligations that are imposed on the different members of a political state1 necessarily participate of a jealous spirit1 which the will of the government may turn into hatred4 ,the ,christian religion1 more universal in its views1 turns its attention from the contrariety of interests which divide men when they belong to different governments2 it considers us indistinctly as citizens of a great society1 united by the same origin1 nature1 and dependencies1 and by the same sentiment of happiness4 ,recommending the reciprocal duties of benevolence1 the gospel does not make any difference between the inhabitant of ,jerusalem and ,samaria2 it takes man in the most simple of his relations1 and the most honourable1 those which arise from his intercourse with the ,supreme ,being2 and under this point of view1 all the hostile divisions of kingdom against kingdom1 absolutely disappear2 it is the whole human race which has a right to the protection and the beneficence of the ,author of ,nature1 and it is in the name of every intelligent being that we credit the alliance which unites heaven to earth4 ,the rich and powerful made the first laws1 or1 at least1 directed the spirit of them2 it was especially to defend their possessions and privileges that they extolled justice3 the legislator of our religion1 speaking of this virtue1 has shown1 that the interests of all men were equally present to his thoughts2 we might even say1 that he made an old obligation a new duty1 by the manner in which he prescribed it3 ,whatsoever ye would that men should do to you1 do ye even so to them1 is a maxim ever remarkable1 if we consider the extent of the precept which it contains3 there are so many acts of severity and oppression1 so much tyranny1 which escapes the reach of the law1 and the superintendency of opinion1 that we cannot too highly value its importance2 ,christianity indeed affords a simple guide and measure for all our actions4 ,religion1 beside1 in order to fix our determinations1 strengthens the authority of conscience3 she saw1 that every one of us has within himself a judge1 the most severe and clear-sighted1 and that it is sufficient to submit to its laws to be instructed in our duty2 for it is our hidden thoughts that this judge examines1 and nothing is excused1 no subterfuge admitted4 ,it is not the same with those censures which we exercise towards others1 the simple actions only strike us2 and the different motives they result from1 the emotions1 the conflicts which accompany them1 and the regret1 the repentance1 which follow them1 all these essential characteristics escape our penetration3 thus religion1 always wise1 always benevolent in its counsels1 forbids our forming hasty and precipitate judgments2 and we cannot read1 without emotion1 that lesson of indulgence so mildly addressed to the crowd which surrounded the woman taken in adultery1 he that is without sin among you1 let him first cast a stone at her4 ,but how resist being affected by admiration1 when we see religion so warmly employed about the fate of those whom the suspicions or false accusations of men have dragged before their tribunals8 by declaring that it is better to let a hundred culprits escape punishment1 than run the risk of condemning a single person unjustly4 ,this tender anxiety corresponds with every sentiment of our hearts4 ,innocence delivered to infamy1 innocence encompassed with all the horrors of an execution1 is the most dreadful sight that the imagination can present2 and we are so struck by it1 that we should be almost disposed to think1 that before the ,supreme ,being the whole human race is responsible for such a crime3 yes1 it is under ,thy protection1 ,o my ,god1 that unknown virtue and injured innocence take shelter2 men turn towards ,thee for comfort when pursued by men1 and it is not in vain that they trust in that awful day when all shall be judged before ,thee4 ,i wish only to dwell on the particular character of the ,christian religion1 as it proportions the merit of our actions1 not to the grandeur or importance of them2 but to the relation that they have with our abilities1 it is an idea absolutely new3 this system1 which presents the same motives and rewards to the weak and strong1 remarked the widow's mite1 as well as the generous sacrifices of opulence2 this system1 as just as rational1 animates1 in some measure1 our whole moral nature1 and seems to inform us1 that a vast circle of good actions and social virtues are submitted to the same rules1 as the immense domain of physical nature1 in which the simplest flower1 or the most insignificant plant1 concurs to perfect the designs of the ,supreme ,being1 and composes one part of the harmonious universe4 ,the superintendance of the ,christian religion extends still further than ,i can point out2 and guided by a spirit not to be equalled1 it estimates our intentions1 obscure dispositions1 and internal determinations1 often separated from action by different obstacles3 it directs men1 in some measure1 from their first sentiments and designs2 it continually reminds them of the presence of ,god2 warns them to watch over themselves1 when their inclinations are but dawning1 before they have gained strength2 in short1 at an early hour it forms the mind to the exercise of virtue1 by discriminating virtue and vice1 and reminding us to cultivate a love of order and propriety before the active scenes of life force those sentiments to appear conspicuously displayed in actions4 ,but the more the methods of meriting the divine approbation are multiplied1 the more essential is it that our confidence should not be depressed1 every instant1 by the sentiment which arises from the experience of our errors2 it is necessary1 that at the moments1 too frequent1 when the chain which unites us to the ,supreme ,being would escape from our grasp1 the hope of again seizing it should remain with us3 it is then to succour our weak faith1 that we see in the gospel that idea at once so excellent and new1 that of repentance and the promises which are annexed to it4 ,this noble idea1 absolutely belonging to ,christianity1 prevents our relation with the ,deity from being destroyed as soon as it is perceived2 the culprit may still hope for the favour of ,god1 and after contrition confide in ,him4 ,human nature1 that singular connexion of the spirit with matter1 of strength with weakness1 of reason with the imagination1 persuasion with doubt1 and will with uncertainty1 necessarily requires a legislation appropriated to a constitution so extraordinary3 man1 in his most improved state1 resembles an infant1 who attempts to walk1 and falls1 rises and falls again2 and he would soon be lost to morality1 if1 after his first fault1 he had not any hope of repairing it2 under a similar point of view1 the idea of repentance is one of the most philosophical which the gospel contains4 ,that pressing recommendation to do good in secret1 without ostentation1 is the result of a salutary and profound thought3 the legislator of our religion undoubtedly had perceived that the praises of men was not a basis sufficiently steady to serve for the support of morality2 and he discerned1 that vanity1 allowed to enjoy these kind of triumphs1 was too dissipated to be a faithful guide2 but the most important part of that precept is1 that morality would be very circumscribed1 if men only adhered to those just actions which all the world might see2 there are not many opportunities to do good in public1 and the whole of life may be filled by unseen virtues3 in short1 from that continual relation with our conscience1 a relation instituted by religion1 there results an inestimable benefit2 for it is easy to perceive1 that if we have within us a clear-sighted and severe judge1 this same judge turns consoler and friend every time that we are unjustly condemned1 or when events do not answer according to the purity of our intentions2 and we believe then that we have almost two souls1 one aiding and sustaining the other on every occasion in which virtue unites them4 ,the severe censure of superstition1 which we find throughout the gospel1 is derived from an idea as reasonable as enlightened2 men are too much disposed to make their religion consist of little exterior practices1 always easier than the conflicts with and triumphs over the passions3 our minds seize with avidity every extraordinary idea2 when they are in part of our own creating1 they aid our self-love to subjugate our imagination2 man is not at the age of maturity terrified by those phantoms which annoy his infancy2 but mysteries1 occult causes1 extraordinary appearances1 continue to make an impression on his mind2 and like the wonders of nature1 form too large a circle round his thoughts2 it is by ideas more proportioned to his strength1 by mere superstition1 that he permits himself often to be led captive3 we love trivial commands1 observances1 and scruples1 because we are little ourselves1 and that in our weakness we would wish to know every instant the limits of our obligations4 ,sometimes1 persons terrified by their imaginations1 or by the confused picture which they form of the duties of religion1 attach themselves to superstitious practices as a safeguard near at hand which may quickly guard them from the different anxieties of their minds4 ,the precepts of the gospel are designed to destroy these dispositions2 for on one side1 they facilitate the study of morality1 by reducing to simple principles the entire system of our duties2 and on the other1 they seek to render our intercourse with the ,supreme ,being more easy1 by teaching us that we may unite ourselves to ,him by the expansion of a pure mind2 by informing us1 that it is not either on ,mount ,sion or ,gerizim that we are to raise an altar2 but that every honest heart is a temple1 where the eternal is adored in spirit and in truth4 ,the ,christian religion is the only one which1 discarding ceremonies and superstitious opinions1 leads us to the worship more consonant to our nature3 ,christianity indeed1 in that grand thought1 has pointed out the dictates of our conscience as most worthy of respect2 benevolence1 as the worship most agreeable to the ,supreme ,being1 and all our moral conduct as the most certain prognostic of our future state4 ,there reigns a profound philosophy in the doctrines of the gospel1 men have only added a vain pageantry1 a more sounding tone4 ,let us render homage to ,christianity1 for that sacred tie which it has formed1 in uniting not for a moment1 but for the whole of life1 the fate of two beings1 one having need of support1 and the other of comfort3 it is religion which refines this alliance by rendering it immutable1 and obliges men not to sacrifice to the caprices of their imaginations the unity and confidence which secures the repose of families1 order in the disposition of fortunes1 the peaceable education of the succeeding generation1 and which1 in giving to children1 for an example1 a union formed by fidelity and duty1 implants in their hearts the seeds of the most important virtues2 religion has taught us1 that the friendships of a world1 in which selfishness reigns1 have need of being cemented by that community of interests and honours which marriage only gives us an idea of2 holy union1 alliance without equal1 which renders still more valuable all the blessings of life1 which seems to augment our hopes1 and fortify in us the comfortable thoughts and mild confidence which piety gives birth to3 the engagements entered into between men1 which being1 for the most part1 sounded on reciprocal services1 a time might come1 when our weakness would be so great1 others having no more interest to associate with us1 it might be necessary to find a support in that friendship which time has matured1 and of which a sentiment of duty repairs the breaches1 and which acquires a kind of sanctity from the habit and the remembrance of a long and happy union3 it is religion in1 short1 which has ordained1 that the delicate virtue1 the most excellent ornament of a weak and timid sex1 should only be subject to the ascendency of the most generous and faithful sentiment4 ,these principles1 indeed1 are not formed for corrupt hearts2 but the service which religion renders1 the end which it proposes1 is to assist us to combat our depraved dispositions2 it is to point out the errors and the snares of vice2 it is to preserve1 amongst us1 the sacred deposit of principles1 which are the foundation of public order1 and still maintain some light to illuminate the path of wisdom and true happiness4 ,religion recals us continually to those universal duties which we describe under the name of good morals2 duties that men would often inconsiderately wish to separate from public interest1 but which1 however1 are bound to it by so many almost imperceptible and secret ties4 ,every act of wisdom and virtue is not of immediate importance to society2 but morality must be cultivated by degrees1 and fortified by habit1 as it is like those delicate plants which we rear with a kind of fondness to preserve their beauty2 if we make a distinction between personal1 domestic1 and public manners1 in order to neglect1 as we find convenient1 one part of our duty1 we shall lose the charm of it1 and every day virtue will appear more difficult4 ,there is1 ,i think1 a connexion1 more or less apparent1 between every thing good and worthy of esteem2 and it seems to me1 that this idea has something amiable1 which confusedly satisfies our most generous dispositions and most comfortable hopes3 and if1 to sustain a truth so important1 ,i was permitted to interrogate the young man1 whose virtues and talents are the most remarkable in ,europe1 ,i should ask him1 if he did not experience that his filial tenderness1 the regularity of his domestic life1 the purity of his thoughts1 and all his rare private qualities1 are not united to the noble sentiments which make him appear with so much splendour as a statesman8 ,but without dwelling on such instances1 who has not been sometimes struck with the beauty attached to that simplicity and modesty of manners which we often find in an obscure situation8 ,we then manifestly discover1 that there exists a kind of agreement and dignity1 ,i could almost say1 a kind of grandeur1 independent of refined language1 polished manners1 and all those advantages due to birth1 to rank1 and fortune4 ,i have only glanced over the benefits arising from the ,christian religion2 but ,i cannot avoid observing1 that we owe to it a consoling idea1 that of the felicity reserved for innocent babes2 interesting and precious hope for those tender mothers1 who see slip from their embraces the objects of their love1 at an age when they have not acquired any merit before the ,supreme ,being1 whom they cannot have any relation with1 but through ,his infinite goodness4 ,i feel that ,i involuntarily mix with the elogiums of ,christianity a sentiment of gratitude for the mild and paternal ideas which are disseminated with its instructions2 and there is something remarkable in those instructions1 that they are continually animated by every thing which can captivate our imagination1 and associate with our natural inclinations4 ,sensibility1 happiness1 and hope1 are the strongest ties of a heart still pure2 and all the emotions which elevate towards the idea of a ,god exalt in our minds the doctrine of morality1 which recals us continually to the sublime perfections of ,him who was its author4 ,in short1 we cannot avoid admiring the spirit of moderation1 which forms one of the distinct characteristics of the gospel2 we do not always find1 it is true1 the same spirit in the interpreters of the ,christian doctrines2 several constrained by a false zeal1 and more disposed to speak in the name of a threatening master1 than in that of a ,god1 full of wisdom and goodness1 have frequently exaggerated and multiplied the duties of men2 and to support their system1 they have often obscured the natural sense1 or the general import of the precepts contained in the scriptures2 and sometimes also1 collecting a few scattered words1 they have formed a body of divinity1 foreign in several respects to the intention of the apostles and first ,christians4 ,servants always go further than their masters2 and as the first thought does not belong to them1 they only act by adding something heterogeneous3 the spirit of moderation consists1 beside1 in a kind of proportion1 which mere imitators have only an imperfect knowledge of2 fortitude is even necessary to impose limits on virtue itself2 and to determine the precise and exact measure of the multiplied duties of men requires a profound and sublime intelligence4 ,it was by his sublime precepts that the institutor of a universal morality shewed himself superior to that age of ignorance in which extremes reigned2 when piety was changed into superstition1 justice into rigour1 indulgence into weakness2 and when1 in the exaggeration of every sentiment1 a kind of merit was sought for incompatible with the immutable laws of wisdom3 it was by those sublime precepts1 in short1 that a legislator rose above transitory opinions to command all times and ages1 and that he appears to have been desirous to adapt his instructions1 not to the instantaneous humour of a people1 but to the nature of man4 ,we shall1 beside1 find easily in the gospel several characteristics proper1 essentially to distinguish it from philosophic doctrines2 but in an examination so serious and important ,i avoid every observation which might appear to the greater number a simple research of the understanding2 it is the grand features only which belong to grand things1 and any other manner would not agree with a subject so worthy of our respect4 ,i must say1 however1 that when ,i am left alone to reflect with attention on the different parts of the gospel1 ,i have experienced1 that1 independent of general ideas and particular precepts which lead us every instant to profound admiration1 there reigns1 beside1 in the whole of that sublime morality1 a spirit of goodness1 of truth1 and wisdom1 of which all the characters can only be perceived by our sensibility1 by that faculty of our nature which does not separate objects1 which does not wait to define2 but which penetrates1 as by a kind of instinct1 almost to that love1 the origin of every thing1 and that indefinite model from which every generous intention and grand thought has taken its first form4 ,,chap4 ,,xviii4 ,conclusion4 ,what a time have ,i chosen to entertain the world with morality and religion6 and what a theatre is this for such an undertaking6 ,only to conceive it is a great proof of courage2 every one is employed about his harvest2 lives in his affairs2 is lost in the present instant1 all the rest appears chimerical4 ,when ,i was formerly engrossed by cares for the public welfare1 and writing on my favourite subject1 ,i could draw the attention of men by a series of reflections on their own fortunes and on the power of their country2 it was in the name of their most ardent passions that ,i engaged them to listen to me2 but in treating the subject ,i have now made choice of1 it is their natural dispositions1 now almost effaced1 that ,i must address3 thus ,i feel the necessity of re-animating the sentiments which ,i wish to direct1 and giving birth to the interest ,i desire to enlighten4 ,and when ,i fix my attention on the actual course of opinions1 ,i fear to have for judges1 either men who are indifferent to the subject1 or who are too severe in their censurers2 but the reflections of vanity are trivial to the motives which have guided me2 and provided any of my thoughts have agreed with the inclinations of feeling minds1 and added something to their happiness1 ,i shall enjoy the sweetest reward4 ,such a wish ,i formed1 when1 with a weak hand1 ,i ventured to trace some reflections on the importance of religious opinions4 ,the more we know of the world1 its phantoms1 and vain enchantments1 the more do we feel the want of a grand idea to elevate the soul above discouraging events which continually occur4 ,when we run after honours1 fame1 and gratitude1 we find every where illusions and mistakes2 and it is our lot to experience those disappointments which proceed from the infirmities or the passions of men4 ,if we leave our vessel in the harbour1 the success of others dazzles and disturbs us2 if we spread our sails1 we are the plaything of the winds3 activity in action1 ardour1 and indifference1 all have their cares and difficulties2 no person is sheltered from the caprices of fortune1 and when we have reached the summit of our wishes1 when we have by chance attained the object of our ambition1 sadness and languor are preparing to frustrate our hopes1 and dissipate the enchantment3 nothing is perfect except for a moment2 nothing is durable but change2 it is necessary then to have interest in with those immutable ideas which are not the work of man1 which do not depend on a transient opinion3 they are offered to all1 and are equally useful in the moment of triumph and the day of defeat2 they are1 as we need them1 our consolation1 our encouragement1 and our guide4 ,what strength1 what splendour1 those ideas would soon have1 if1 considered as the best support of order and morality1 men would try to render them more efficacious1 in the same manner as we see the citizens of a political society concur1 in proportion to their faculties1 to promote the welfare of the state4 ,a new scene would open before us2 men of learning1 far from following the counsels of vanity1 far from searching to destroy the most salutary belief of men1 would1 on the contrary1 allot for their defence a portion of their noblest powers2 we should see the penetrating metaphysician eager to refer to the common treasure of our hopes1 the light which he perceives through the continuity of his meditations1 and the perspicacity of his mind3 we should see the attentive observer of nature occupied with the same idea1 animated by the same interest2 we should see him1 in the midst of his labours1 seize with avidity every thing which could add any support to the first principle of all religions2 we should see him detach from his discoveries1 appropriate1 with a kind of love1 all that tended to strengthen the happiest persuasion and most sublime of thoughts4 ,the profound moralist1 the philosophic legislator1 would concur in the same design2 and in such a grand enterprize1 men1 merely endowed with an ardent imagination1 would be like those wanderers1 who1 when they return home1 talk of some unknown riches4 ,there are ways in the moral1 as well as in the physical world1 which lead to unknown secrets2 and the harvest which may be gathered in the vast empire of nature is as extensive as diversified4 ,how excellent would be the union of every mind towards this magnificent end6 ,in this view1 ,i represent sometimes to myself1 with respect1 a society of men distinguished by their character and genius1 only employed to receive and place in order the ideas proper to augment our confidence in the most precious opinion4 ,there are thoughts conceived by solitary men which are lost to mankind1 because they have not had the talent to connect a system2 and if those thoughts were to be united to some other knowledge1 if they were to come like a grain of sand1 to strengthen the banks raised on our shore1 the following generations would transmit a richer heritage4 ,we sometimes register with pomp a new word1 introduced into the language1 and men of the most exalted genius of the age are called to be present at that ceremony3 would it not be a more noble enterprize to examine1 to choose1 and consecrate the ideas or observations proper to enlighten us in our most essential researches8 ,one of those researches would better deserve a wreath1 than any work of eloquence or literature4 ,let us suppose1 for a moment1 that in the most ancient empire of the world there might have been priests1 from time immemorial1 who guarded the deposit of all the original ideas which served to support the opinion of the existence of a ,god1 and the sentiment of the immortality of the soul2 and that1 from time to time1 every new discovery1 calculated to increase the confidence due to these most necessary truths1 was inscribed in a religious testament1 called the book of happiness and hope2 how highly should we value it1 and how eagerly desire to be acquainted with it2 and with what respect should we approach the ancient temple1 in which those superb archives were deposited4 ,but1 on the contrary1 could we imagine another retreat1 where subtle arguments and artificial discourses were collected1 by which some endeavour to destroy or shake those holy opinions which unite the universe to an intelligent thought1 to a sublime wisdom2 and the fate of men to infinite goodness1 who amongst us would wish to enter into that dark abode8 who would wish to explore that fatal register8 ,let us learn to know our nature better1 and through the delirium of our blind passions discover its wants3 it is a ,god we feel the want of1 a ,god1 such as religion presents2 a ,god1 powerful and good1 the first source of happiness1 and who only can secure it to the human race3 let us open all our faculties to that splendid light1 that our hearts and minds may welcome it1 and find pleasure in widely diffusing it4 ,let us be penetrated in our youth1 by the only idea ever necessary to our peace3 let us strengthen it when in our full vigour1 that it may support us in the decline of life4 ,ravishing beauties of the universe1 what would ye be to us without this thought8 ,majestic power of the human mind1 astonishing wonders of the thinking faculty1 what could it represent if we separated it from its noble origin8 ,souls affectionate and impassioned1 what would become of you without hope8 ,pardon1 ,o ,master of the world1 if not sufficiently sensible of my own weakness1 and abandoning myself only to the emotions of my heart1 ,i have undertaken to speak to men of ,thy existence1 ,thy grandeur1 and ,thy goodness6 ,pardon me if1 lately agitated by the tumultuous waves of passion1 ,i dare to raise my thoughts to the realms of eternal peace1 where ,thou more particularly exhibits ,thy glory and sovereign power4 ,ah6 ,i know more than ever that we must love ,thee1 we must serve ,thee4 ,the powerful of the earth exalt and depress their favourites capriciously2 there is no relying on them2 after profiting by the talents devoted to them1 they forsake the victim1 or crush him like a reed4 ,there is in the universe but one immutable justice1 but one perfect goodness and consolatory thought3 yet we go continually towards other coasts1 where we call for happiness1 but it is not to be found3 there are phantoms accustomed to deceive men1 who answer when they call3 we run towards them1 and pursue them1 and we leave far behind religious opinions1 which only can lead us back to nature1 and elevate us to its author4 ,the blind passions of the world1 and the devouring desires of fame and fortune1 only serve to harden us2 every thing is selfish and hostile in them4 ,ambitious men1 who only wish for a vain name1 a childish triumph1 acknowledge your features in this sketch2 a single object engrosses you1 a single end fixes your views3 the heavens may be obscured2 the earth covered with darkness2 and the future annihilated before you2 and you are satisfied if a weak taper still permits you to discern the homage of those who surround you2 but how is it possible to expect thus to pass a whole life8 how be able to retain that homage which appears so necessary to your dream of happiness8 how can you make stationary what so many concur to demand8 ,we have a more rational certainty of happiness1 when a sentiment of piety1 enlightened in its principle and action1 softens all our passions1 and bends them1 in some measure1 to the laws of our destiny4 ,piety1 such as ,i form an idea of1 may be properly represented as a vigilant friend1 tender and rational4 ,it lets us see the various blessings of life2 but it recals us to the idea of gratitude1 in order to augment our happiness1 by referring it to the most generous of all benefactors3 it allows us to exercise our faculties and talents2 but recals us to the idea of morality and virtue1 in order to assure our steps1 and shield us from regret3 it allows us to run the race of glory or ambition2 but recals us to the idea of inconstancy and instability1 to preserve us from a fatal intoxication3 it is always with us1 not to disturb our felicity1 not to impose useless privations1 but to blend itself with our thoughts1 and to unite to all our projects those mild and peaceable ideas which attend wisdom and moderation3 in short1 in the day of adversity1 when our strength is broken1 in which we have placed our confidence1 piety comes to succour and console us2 it shows us the nothingness of vanity and worldly illusions2 it calms the remorse of our souls1 by reminding us of a particular providence2 it softens our regrets1 by presenting more worthy hopes than any earthly object can afford1 in order to engage our interest and fix our attention4 ,i am not led to these reflections by a temporary melancholy2 ,i should be afraid of it1 if ,i had not always had the same thoughts1 and if the various circumstances of a life1 often perturbed1 had not led me to think of the necessity of attaching myself to some principle independent of men and events4 ,almost entirely alone at this instant1 and thrown into solitude by an unforeseen accident1 ,i experience1 it is true#aj1 more than ever1 the want of those rational ideas1 the representations of all that is great1 and ,i approach with renewed interest the truths which ,i always loved2 grand and sublime truths1 which ,i have recommended to men at the moment when ,i see them more than ever inclined to neglect them4 ,how mistaken are they in their calculations1 they trust to-day in the strength of their minds1 to-morrow they will find their weakness2 they imagine1 that in turning their views from the termination of life they remove the fatal boundary2 but already the hand trembles on the dial to give the signal of their last moment4 ,what a dire sacrifice we should make1 if we gave up those consoling truths which still present to us a future1 when all the bustle of life is over6 ,we should again demand them1 search for them with the most diligent anxiety1 if ever the traces of them were unfortunately effaced4 ,all these ideas1 some may say1 are vague1 and do not agree with the humour of the age2 but at a certain distance from the field of ambition and vanity1 is there any thing to every one of us more vague than the passions of others8 ,are men employed about our interest8 do they dream of our happiness8 ,no1 they are like ourselves2 they seek for precedency2 now and then indeed they pronounce the name of public good2 but it is only a watch word which they have stolen1 to be able to run over our ranks without danger4 ,where shall we find then a real tie8 ,where shall we find a universal rendezvous1 if not in those unalterable ideas which are so consonant to our nature1 which should equally interest us all1 being suited to all without distinction2 and which are ready to welcome us when we see the folly of earthly pursuits8 ,they may not1 indeed1 gratify the childish wishes of the moment2 but they relieve our anxiety about to-morrow1 they are allied to objects of meditation which belong to our whole life1 and above all1 they unite us to that spirit which constitutes our true grandeur1 to that sublime spirit1 a few of whose relations only are yet discovered by us1 and the full extent of whose power and goodness can be but faintly guessed at by finite beings4 ,,finis4 ,i was engrossed by the last ,cares which the ,publication of this ,book occasioned1 when ,m4 de ,,calonne',s ,second ,memorial made its ,appearance4 ,i have read it2 and ,i here publicly engage to answer this new ,attack1 and fully to support the ,credit which is justly due to the ,account ,i presented to the ,king in #agha4 ,,necker4 ----- ,footnote #a3 ,thesis proposed by the ,french ,academy1 with a prize1 for the best ,catechism of ,morals1 the instructions of which were to be founded on the principles of natural right only4 ,footnote #b3 ,i should have enlarged this chapter1 if ,i did not intend to make some general reflections on intolerance in another part of this work4 ,footnote #c3 ,these various reflections are very necessary in the place where ,i live2 since1 for a short time1 labourers have been permitted to work1 at ,paris1 of a ,sunday4 ,we see this publicly done at the new bridge1 which is building over the ,seine1 as if a work of mere convenience was in such haste1 that the laws should be dispensed with to accelerate its execution4 ,the labourers1 some will say1 are glad to gain a day every week4 ,undoubtedly1 because they see only the present instant1 they have reason to think so2 but it is the duty of government to consider1 in a more comprehensive point of view1 the interest of the people1 of that part of society1 which is so blind1 or so limited in its calculation2 and the church should examine also1 if the sudden alteration of a practice so ancient1 may not give rise to an idea1 that the spirit of religion is grown feeble4 ,for the nations where this spirit is best preserved1 have the greatest respect for the ,sabbath4 ,footnote #d3 ,this mass is commonly called a low mass4 ,footnote #e3 ,some say1 in order to weaken this argument1 that we may attribute to the indivisible unit all the qualities of matter1 that a round body is really divisible1 but that roundness and impenetrability are not4 ,such an objection is evidently not just4 ,roundness and impenetrability are only qualities1 and these qualities1 when merely abstract1 are necessarily invariable3 thus1 it is as impossible to divide it1 as it is to multiply and increase it2 but my soul1 my thoughts1 the consciousness that ,i have of my own existence1 forms a particular and personal being2 and if it were of the same nature as matter1 ought to be equally divisible4 ,footnote #f3 ,i shall present some reflections on this truth in another ,chapter4 ,footnote #g3 ,dr4 ,herschel4 ,footnote #h3 ,it may be said1 that the fifty thousand new stars perceived by ,dr4 ,herschel1 being the result of observation directed to the milky-way1 we are not to expect to discover as great a number in other parts of the heavens of a like extent2 but independent of these stars which ,dr4 ,h4 clearly distinguished1 he imagined that there were twice as many more of which he had only an instantaneous glance4 ,see the ,philosophical ,transactions of the ,royal ,society1 #aggd4 ,dr4 ,h4 has probably1 since that time1 made new discoveries2 but they have not reached me3 ,i find1 in the ,transactions of the ,royal ,society1 of which he is a member1 that he considers the new telescope as being still in its infancy2 these are his own words4 ,footnote #i3 ,i think ,i perceive the traces of these philosophical ideas in the censure ,jesus passed upon one of his disciples1 who called him good master4 ,why callest thou me good8 there is none good but one4 ,footnote #aj3 ,for ,i had begun this chapter during my exile4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,page ,changed from ,changed to #bjj that a moral revolution that a moral revolution permitted laboures permitted labourers ,standardized spelling4 ,retained dialect4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 ,the caret 77 serves as a superscript indicator1 applicable to individual characters 7like #b;d7 and even entire phrases 7like #ast74