F OF T II E IMPORTANCE O F RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. * TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH M u N E C K E R, 33oflan ; FROM THE PRESS OF THOMAS HALL: Sold by THOMAS and ANDREWS, WILLIAM P. OTA:'" No. itCornb!l/i DAVID WEST, and JOHN Wisr. 1796. CONTENTS. PAGE. Introduction, - 3 Chap, I. On the connexion of Religious Prin- ciples with Public Order, - 1*7 II, The fame fubjett continued. A pa- ralld between the influence of Re~ ligious Principles, and of Laws and Opinions, - gej III, An Objection drawn from our natur- al difpojitions to Goodntfs, - 62 IV, An Objection drawn from the good conduct of many irreligious Men, 65 V. The Influence .of Religious Princi- ples on our Happinefs, - 72 VI. The fame fubj eel continued. The in- fluence of Virtue on Happinefs, 8& VII. On Religious Opinions, in their rela- tion with >Sovereigns } - " 9i VIII. An ObjfElion drawn from the Wars and from the Commotions which Religion has given rife to, - 10- iKi Another objection examined. The Sabbath, - - i o g X. An Obfcrvation on a particular cir- cumjlance of Public IVorfhip, no XI. That the fingle idea of a God is a fufficient fupport of Morality ^ nc XII. That there is a God, - 146 XIII, The fame fubjtft continued, - 154 XIV. The fame Jubjeff continued, - 163 XV, On the re/pelt that is due from true Philofophy to Religion, - - 104 XVI. The fame f*bjett continued. Reflex- ions on Intolerance, - - 202 XVII. Reflexions on the morality of the Chrijlian Rcligion t 210 XVIII, C9nclufion f 244 INTRODUCTION. MY thoughts having been detached from the ftudy and difquifnion of thofe truths which have the political good of thz ftate for their objeft ; and being no. longer obliged to fix any attention on tbofe par- ticular arrangements of the public intereft, which are neceflarily connefted with the operations of govern- ment ; I found myfelf abandoned, as it were, by ail the important concerns of life. Reliefs and wandcr- irig, in this kind of void, my foul, iliil active, felt the want of employment. I fometimes formed the defign of tracing my ideas of men and characters ; I imagin- ed that long experience in the rrudil of thofe aftive fc'enes which difcover the paffijns, hai taught me to know them well ; but elevating my views, my heart xvas filled with a different ambition, and with a defire td reconcile the fubli-neft thoughts with thofe medita- tions from whicii I was corirtramed to withdraw my- feflf. Guided by this {emi ; , I am not fo far removed from my former habit oF thinking, as may, at the firtt glance, be ima- gined ; and as, in writing on the management of fi- nance, 1 omitted no argument to prove that there is an intimate connexion between the efficacy of gov- ernments, and the wifdcm with which they are con-, dufted ; between the virtue of princes, and the confi- dence of their fubjefts ; 1 think I am Itill proceeding in the fame tri'.u of fenti:nent aod reflexion, wKcn, ilruck with that fpirit of indifference which is fo ge- neral, I endeavour to refer the duties of men to thofe principles which afford them the moil caturdl fup^ port. After having ftudied the interefls of a. great nation 9 end run over ihs circle of our political focieties, we approach approach nearer, perhaps, to thofe fublimeiclea* which bind the general ftru&ure of mankind to that infinite and Almighty Being, who is the firft grand caufe of all, and unwerfaj mover of the uuiverfe. In tbe rapid courfe of an. active admtmiiration, indeed, one " cannot indulge fimilar reflexions ; but they are form- ing and preparing them(eives in the mtdtt of the tu- mult of bufinels ; and the tranquiliry of ceurcaieoA enables us to Itrenjthen and extend them,, The calm which fuccceds hurry and confufioa, feems the feafon moft. favourable to meditanon ; and if any remembrance, or retroipettive views of what is pad (hould inJpue you with a kind of melancholy, you will be involuntarily led back to contemplationi which border on thole ideas with which you hav been long converfant. It is thus the mariner, afteff having renounced the dangers of diminifh the number of diminutions, fhades, -tud modifications, that are to be found in the actions of men } in fhort, to prevent thofe abufes, infeparahly attendant on arbitrary decifions. Such are the bounds of fovereign authority, and fuch the developement of its means and powers. Re- ligion, to attain the fame ends, employs other motives enentially different : firft, it is not in a vague and general manner, that me influences the happinefs of mankind ; it is by addreffing ail men individually- by penetrating the heart oi every human being, and pouring into it confolation and hope by presenting to the imagination every thing that can in fen fib ly lead it captive by taking pofTeflion of men's feniiraents - by occupying their thoughts and by availing her feif of this dominion over them, to fuflain their cour- age, and to afford them comfort under their affliftions and difappointments. Jn this manner, religion con- curs to maintain good order, by means abfolutely dif- tinft from thofa of government : for (he not only gov- erns our aftions, but even our fentiments : it is with the errors and inclinations of each man in particular, that me feeks to combat. Religion, in demonftrating the prefence of the Deity, on all occafions, however fecret, exercifes an habitual authority over the eon- fciences of men. She feems to affift them under the jejrturbaticns offeajr^ and yet attends tnera in their flight* Jto Introduction. flight. She equally notices their intentions, projects, and repentance ; and in the method which (he takes, feems as undulating and flexible in all her motions, as the empire of the law appears immoveable and con- drained. I fhould not, at prefent, extend thefe reflexions any further: but if 'religion, in fome meafure^ complete the imperfect work of legiflation if it ought to fupply the infufficiency of thofe means, which government is under the neceflity of adopting the fubjeft I propofe to treat of, feems not foreign to tbofe objects of medi- tation, which the fludy of adminittration ought to comprehend. I well know, that it is impoffible to explain the im* portance of religion, without at the fame time, fixing the attention to the grand truths on which it depends : and you mud alfo frequently touch on many fubjefts, that are clofely connected with the deepeft metaphy- iics. We are, at leaft, obliged to feek for a defence againft thofe arguments, which fap the foundation of the moft necefiary opinions by which the moft im- pafTioned feiuiments have been difcouraged by which fome would reduce man to a vegetable, make the uni- verfe the refult of chance, and morality a flate trick. As foon as I difcovered how far my iubjecl: wat likely to lead me, I felt myfelf intimidated : but I could not aliow this to be a fufficient reafon for re- linquifhing my undertaking : and fince the greater part of the philofophers of the prefent age are united in oppofition to thofe opinions, which the light of nature feems to have rendered facred, it is become in- difpenfably neceffary, to admit to the combat all that offer ; nay, even to feleft a champion from the main body of the army, when all ihe ilrong ones are already gong ,ver (9 the camp of -th eoemy, There InindttBiori* -** There is nothing which feems to engrofs the atten- tion of mankind more than metaphysical inquiries ; for it is by thinking alone they can be fathomed. The light gained by acquired knowledge is, in forae roeafure, loft in thofe obfcure depths, which it is nc- ceflary to found, and that immenfe fpace which it is neceflary to traverfe. Thus, it were better, perhaps, that each fliould enter by chance into thefe labyrinths, where the paths, already traced, lead to no one de- termined point, I have befides, often obferved, that, even for thofe refearches, where the heljjs of fcience are moft ufeful, \ve ought to fet a certain value on the particular excurfion of each genius, which feeks out for itfelf a way, and which, indebted to nature alone for its peculiar formation, preferves in its prog- refs a character of its own. It is then, and then only, that we are not invefted with the diftinguifhing marks of flavifhnefs of thinking ; but when, by devoting our- felves to reflexion, we coincide with the opinions of others, this conformity has nothing of fervility in it, and the marks of imitation are not even recognized. In vain would man refill the impreflion of truth 5 in vain would he defend himfelfby a ridiculous in- difference for ancient opinions ; there never could be an idea more worthy to occupy our meditations, there never could be an idea, on which we might be more fully permitted 10 expatiate, according to our knowl- edge and penetration, than that fubiime one, of a Su- preme Being, and the relation we bear to him : aa idea, which, though far removed from us byjts im noenfity, every moment ttrikes the foul with admira- lion, and infpircs the heart with hope. It appears to me, that there are interefls which may be confidered as -patriotic by intelligent and feeling beings ; and while the inhabitants of the fame coun- try, '12 Introduttion* try, and the fubjefts of the fame prince, themfelves diligently in one common plan of defence ; the citizens of the world ought to be inceflantly anx- ious to give every new and poflible fupport to thofe exalted opinions, on which the true greatnels of their exiftence is founded, which preferve the imagination from that frightful fpeclacle of an exiftence without origin, of aftion without liberty, and futurity wiihout hope, 'J hus, after having, as 1 think, proved myfelf a citizen of France, by my adminiftration, as well as my writings, 1 wifh to unite myfelf to a fraternity ftill more extended that of the whole human race : it is thus, without difperfing our fentiments, we may be able, neferthelefs, to communicate ourfelves a great way off, and enlarge in fome mealure the limits cf cur circle : glory be to cur thinking faculties for it ! to that fpiritual portion of ourfelves, which can take hi the paft, dart into futurity, and intimately affociafe itfelf with the deftiny of men of all countries, and of all ages. 'Without doubt, a veil is thrown over the greater part of thofe truths, to which our curiofitr would willingly attain : but thofe, which a beneficent God has permitted us to fee, are amply fufficient for our guide and inftruftion : and we cannot, for a con- tinuance, divert otfr at tenti on, without a fpecies of floth- ful negligence, and a total indifference to the fuperior anterefts of man. How little is every thing, indeed, when put in competition with thofe meditations, which give to our exiftence a new extent, and which, in detaching us from the daft of the earth, feem to unite our ibuls to an infinity of fpace, and our dura- tion of a day to the eternity of time ! Above all, it is for you to determime, who have fenfibility who feel the want of a' Supreme Bein^, and who feek to find in him that fupport fo neceflary to your weak- nefs, that defender and that aflurance, without whichj painful inquietude will be perpetually tormenting you, and troubling thofe foft, tender affections which con- -ftifute your happinefs. I low ever > Introduction. 13 'However, I mud fay, there never, perhaps, was a 'period, when it was more efleniially neceflary torecal to the minds of men, the importance of religious fent- iments : at prefent. they are but prejudices, if we may credit the fpirit of licentioufnefs and levity the laws diclated by fafhion ; and more particularly eflemial, i'ince we have had philofophical inductions, which excite the various deviations of vanity, and rally the wanderings of the imagination. There is not any form of religion, undoubtedly, to which ideas snore or lefs myftical have not been annex- ed ; and of which tiie evidence has not been in pro- portion to the dictatorial language, and authoritative fone, which has been made ufe of in teaching and de- fending it ; as fuch, one might, at any given period. have been tempted to difpute about particular parts of worfiiip, which different nations have adopted ; but it is principally in the prefent age, that a certain clafs of men have fprung up, diftirguifned for their wit and talents; and who, intoxicated by the facility with which they have gained a victory, have extended ti ambition, and had the daring courage to attack the re- ferved bony of that army, of which the front ranks had already given way. This Hruggle between perfons. cae of whom would imperioufly rule by faith alone, whilft the other thinks "he has a right to rsjcct with difdain every thing that has not been demonllrated. will always be a fruitlefs combat ; and only iefve to nourifh blind averfion and unjuft contempt. Some feck roAvonnd their ad\ erfa- ries, others to humble them : in the mean time, the good of mankind, and the true benefit of fociety, are abfolutely loli -fight of: yes, the reel love of ufefui rnnhs, the impartial fearch after them, and th.c de-fire of pointing them out. thefo fetitifnertts, fo amiable and fo truly laudable, fee:n to be entirely unknown. 1 fee, permit me to lay it, I fee at -the two-extremities of the area, the favage inqujfitor, and the iriconfi derate phi- hfonher. liut neiiher the isgots lighted by ihe one, nor the derifions of ihe other, -will cver'rfiffufe any ^'ry inllrudion: and in the eves of a rational man ' 1 4 Introduction* the intolerance of monks adds no more to the domin- ion of true rei ; gious femiments, than the jefts of a few licentious wits have effefted a triumph in favour of philofophy. It is between thefe oppofite opinions, and in -the midflof wanderings equally dangerous, that we muft attempt to mark out our way: but as all the opinions of men are fubjecl to change at prefent, when their minds are more averfe to the maxims of intolerance, it is religion itfelf that principally needs fupport : and fuch is the daily diminution of it, that means, fupply- ing the deficiency, Teem to be already publicly prepar- ing. For fome time paft we have heard of nothing but the neceflity of compofing a moral catechifm, in which religious principles ihould not be introduced, as refources which are now out of date, and which it is time to difcard. Without doubt, thefe principles might be more effectually attacked, could they ever be reprefented as totally ufelefs for the maintenance of public order; and if the coldleffons of a political phi- lofophy could be fubftitnted for thofe fubiime ideas, xvhich, by the fpiritual tie of religion, bind the heart and mind to the pureft morality. Let us now exam- ine, if we mould gain any thing by the exchange ; let us fee, if the means they propofe to employ, can be put in competition with thole which ought to be made ufe of; and if they be more iolid, and more efficacious: let us fee, if this new dcftrine, wh.ch is recommended, tvili produce, in the foul, the lame degree of confo- lation ; if it be calculated for thofe hearts which arc pofieflcd of fenfibility ; and above all, let us attentively corilidef, if it can be fuitabie to the meafure of intelli- gence, and the focial fmiation of the greater part of mank?nd. In mort, in confidering the various quef. lions which in any manner relate to the important fubjecl: we have undertaken to treat, let us not be afraid to reiifl,as well as we can, the fooiifti ambition of thofe, who, availing themfelves of the iupenority of tneir undedtanding, wHh to deprive man of his dignily, to place him on a level with the dull under his fees, and ' maj\e his forefight apunifbrneni 5 melancholy and de- plorable EitroduBion. 1 5 plorablc deHiny ! from which, however, we -are per- mitted to feek ant! defend ourfelves. Cruel and difai- trous opinion ! which tears up by the roots every tiling which fnrrounds it, \vhich relaxes the moft neceflary bands, and, in an inflantj dcdroys ihe moil delightful charm of life, O thou God unknown ! but whofe beneficent idea has ever filled my foul, if thou ever throw a look on thofe efforts which man makes to approach thee, fuf- tain my resolution, enlighten nw unaei railc my thouglus, and rcjecl nor :he d-^firc I Have to ur,ii iiiil more, if poffible, the order z\:<\ happincfs of foci- ety, with the intimate and' petieci. conception of thy divinity, and the lively idea of chy ADVERTISEMENT. IN rendering this work into Englifh, fome liberties have been taken by the tranjlator, which feemed neceffary to preferve the fpirit of the original. OF THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. CHAPTER I. Oh the Connexion of Religious Principles with Public Order. TTTEknow not diftinftly the origin of mod po- V V litical focieties: but as foon as hiftory exhibits ancn united in a national body, we perceive, at the fame time, the eftablifhment of public worfhip, and the application of religious fentiments,-. to the maintenance of good orc?er and fubordination. Religious fenti- ments, by the fanftton of an oath, bind the people to the magiftr3tes, and the magiftrates to their engage- ments. They infpire a reverential refpeft for the ob- ligations contracted between fovereigns ; and thcf fentiments, (till more authoritative than difcipline, at- tach the foldier to his commander. In ihort, religious- opinions, by their influence en the manners of indi- viduals, have produced an infinite number of illuitrioua inftanccs of heroical difintercftedncfs, of B a 18 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF Avhich hiftory has tranfmitted us the remembrance... But as we have feen aphilofophy fpring up among na- tions the molt enlightened, anxioufly employed in de- priving religion of all that merited refpecl, diflertations on times far removed from us, and the various fyftems that they would endeavour violently to afiociate with ? religion would become an endlefs fource of controver- fy* It is, then, by reafoning alone, by that exercife of the mind, which belongs equally to all countries and all ages, that we can iupport the caufe which we have taken in hand to defend. There is, perhaps^ fomnd together an immenfe diverfuy of interefis : but a great obiiacle to the influence of political morality is, the necedity of giving, for the-baiis or" the love of order, an abitract and complicated idea. What effect on vul- gar minds would the fcientihc harmony of the whole have, oppofed daily to the fentunent of injuftice and inequality, which arifes from the afpecl of every par-t of the ioci^al conlhtution, when we acquire the knowl- edge of it, in a iiianner folitary and circumfcribt'd ; and how limited is the number of thofe, who can con- tinually draw together ail the Scattered links of this vali chain ! It could not b^ avoided, in the bed regulated focie- fies, ihat fome fhould enjoy, without labour or dif- ficulty, all the conveniences of hfe ; and that others, 3sud far the greater number, fhould be obliged to earn, 20 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF by the fwcat of their brow, a fubfiftence the raoR fcanty, and a recompenfe the moft confined. It is not to be prevented, that fome will find, when oppref- fed by ficknefs, all the afliftance which officious ten- dernefs and fkill can afford ; while others are reduced to partake, in public hofpitals, the bare relief that hu- manity has provided for the indigent. We cannot prevent fomc.from being in a fuuation to lavifh on their families all the advantages of a complete educa- tion ; whilft others, impatient to free themfelves from a charge fo heavy, are conflrained to watch eagerly for the firft appearance of natural ftrength, to make their children apply to fome profitable labour. In fliort, we cannot avoid perpetually contrafting the fplendor of magnificence with the tatters which mife- ry difplays. Such are the effefts, infeparablefrom the Jaws refpe&ing property. Thefe are truths, the prin- ciples of which I have had occafion to difcufs in the work which I competed on adminiftration and politi- cal economy : but 1 ought to repeat them here, fince th^y are found clofely conne&ed- with other general views. The eminent power of property is one of the focial inflitutions, the influence of which has the great- eft extent. This confrderation was applicable to the- commerce of grain. It ought to be prefent to the mind, in difquificions on the duties of adminiftration ; and it is ftill more important, when the queftion is to be txamined, what kind of moral iuftru&ion may be pro- per for mankind ? IB effeft, if it appertain to the eflence of the laws of right, conftantly to introduce and maintain an im- menfe difparity in the diflnbution of property were it an eflential part of thefe laws, to reduce the moft numerous clafs of citizens, to that which is fimply the raoft neceflary the inevitable refult of fuch a confti- tution would be, to nourifti among men, a femimem of habitual envy and jealoufy. Vainly would you de- monilrate, that thefe laws are the only ones capable of' exciting labour^ animating induftry, preventing difor- der, and oppcfing obflacles to arbitrary acls of autho- rity. All thefe conliderauons^.fuSicient, we- grant, te RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 21 to fix the opinion and the will of the legiflato", would not ftnke in the fame manner the man thrown on the earth, without property, without refources, and with- out hopes : and he will never render free homage to the beauty of the whole, when there is nothing for him but deformity, abjeftnefs, and contempt. Men, in moft of their political reafomngs, are de* ceived by refemblances and analogies. I h? interefl of fociety is certainly cornpofed of the interefts of all its members : but it does not follow from this expli- ation. that there is an immediate and conftant corref- pondence between the general and private intereft. Such an approximation could only be applicable to an imaginary focial ftate, and which we might reprefent as divided into many parts, of which the rich would be the head, and the poor the feet and hands. But political fociety is not one and the fame body, except under certain relations, while, relatively to other in- terefls, it partakes in as many ramifications of them as there are individuals, Thofe confiderations, to which we annex an. idea of general intereft, would be very often fufceptiblc of numberlefs cbfervations : but the principles, we are accuftomed to receive and tranfmit, in their moft common acceptation ; and we difcover not the mist ideas which compofe them, but at the moment when we analyfe the principles, in order to draw confe- quences from them ; in like manner as we perceive not the variety of colours in a ray of light, till the mo* ment we divide them by means of a fprifm. The formation of focial laws, v/ith reafon, ought to appear one of our mofl admirable conceptions ; but this iyftem is not fo muted in all its parts, that a flrik- ing diforder would always be the neceffary effeft of fome irregular movement : thus the man, who violates the laws, does not quickly difcover the relation of his aftions with the interell of fociety ; but at the inftant enjoys, er thinks to enjoy, the fruit of his ufurpations, . Should a theatre be on fire, it is certainly the inter- eft of the aflembly, that every one go out with order* But if the people, raoftdiftant from the entrance, be- lieved 22 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF IJeved they fhould be able to efcape fooner from danger, by forcing their wav through the crowd which lurroundb them, they would afFiredlv determine on this violence, unlefs a coercive power prevented them : yet the common utility of r^ftnfcting ourfetves to order in fuch circumftances, would appear an idea more fim- ple. and more diRinft. than is the univerfal importance of maintaining civil order in f >ciety. The only natural defence of this order, is govern- ment. Its functions obliges it ever to confider the whole ; but the need which it has of power to carry its decrees into execution, proves evidently, that it is the adverfary of many, even when ailing in the name of all. We are then under a great illufion, if we hope to be able to found morality on the connexion of private intereft with tha r of the public and if we imagine, that the empire of focial laws can be feparated from the fupport of religion* The authority of thefe laws has nothing decifive for thofe who have not affifted to eftabhfh them : and were we to give to the hereditary diftinftions of property an origin the moft remote, it is no lefs true, on this account, that the poor fucceeding inhabitants of the earth, flruck with the unequal divi- fion of its rich domains, and not perceiving the limits and lines of feparation traced by nature, would have fome right to fay : " Thete compacts, thefe partitions, this adverfity of lots, which procure to fome abundance and repofe to others, poverty and labour ; all this Jegiflation, in fhort, is only advantageous to a fma-ll number of privileged men : and we will not fubfcribe to it, unlefs compelled by the fear of perfonal dan- ger. What are then," they would add. " thefe ideas of right aud wrong, with which we are entertained ? What are thefe diflertations on the neceflity of adopt- ing fome order in fociety, and of obferving rules ? Our mind bends not to thole principles, which, general in theory, become particular in practice. We find fon>e fatisfaction and compenfation, when the idea of virtue, of lub.mlfijn, and of facnhce, is united to religious fentiments ; when we believe we (hall render aa ac- of our aftions to % Supreme Being, whofe laws and TxELIGlOUS OPINIONS, a# sad will we adore, and from whom we have received every thing, and whofe approbation prefects itfelfto our eyes, as a motive of emulation, and an object of recompenfe ; but if the comrafited boundsof life limit the narrow circle in which all our intereft ought to confine itfelf, where all our (peculations and our hopes terminate, what refpecl: owe we then to thufe whom nature has formed our equals ? To thofe men, fprung from hfelefs clay, to return to it again with us, and to be loil forever in the fame duft ? They have only in- vented thefeiawsofjuftice, to be more rranouil ufurpers. Let them defcend from iheir exalted rank, that they may be put on our level, or at leaft, preient us with a partition lefs unequal, and we (hall then he aHle to con- ceive, that the observance of the law* ot right is of importance to us. Till then we fl:a;< ha\ < \>. it motives for being the enemies ofcivu order, .\r-ichwi: rind fo difadvatitageous : and we do not comprehend how, in the midft of- fo many gratifications, which excite our envy, it is, in the name of our own imertit, that we ought to renounce thein." Such is the fecret language which men, overwhelm- ed with the dittreisok" then fuuation, would not fail to ufe, or thofe, who, merely in a hate of habitual infe- riority, found themfelves continually hurt by the fpien- did fight of luxury and magnificence. It would not be an eaiy tafk to combat rhefe fent- iments, by endeavouring to paint forcibly the vanity of pleafure in general, and the iHufion of mod of thofe objects which captivate our ambition, and the apathy which follows in their train. 1'hefe retlexions, with- out tloubt, have their weight and efficacy ; but if we attentively confider the fubjeft, every thing, that de- fcrves the name of confutation in this world, cannot be addrefled with any advantage, bat to minds prepar- ed for mild fentimeiits, l;y an idea of religion and piety, wore or lefs d.'ftmcl. We cannot, in the lame man- ner, relieve the barren and ferocious defpondency of an unhappy and envious man, who has thrown far be- hind him all hope. Concentred in the bare interests of a Hie, which is for him eternity, and ti~e univerfe iifslf ; 24 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF itfelf ; it is the pafiion cf the moment which enflaves him, and nothing can difergage him from it, He has not the means to catch any vague idea, nor of being content : and as even realon has need, every inftant, of the aid of the imagination, he cannot be encourag- ed, either by the difcourfe of his friends, or his own reflexions. Besides, if we can maintain, in general, that the allotments of happinefs and mifery are more equal than we imagine if we can reafonably advance, that labour is preferable to idlenefs if we can fay, with truth, that embarraffments and inquietudes often accompany wealth, and that contentment of mind appears to be the portion of the middle ftate of life ; we ought to ac- knowledge, at the fame time, that thefe axioms are only perfectly juft in the eyes of the moralift, who -confiders man in a comprehenfive point of view, and who makes his calculations upon a whole life. But, in the recurrence of our daily defires and hopes, it is impoflible to excite to labour by the expectation of fortune, and detract, at the fame time, this fortune in decrying the p'eafures and conveniences that it pro- cures. Thefe iubtle ideas, without excepting thofe \vhich may be defended, can never be applicable to real circurnflances : and if v/e fomctimes ufe with fuc- cefs fuch kind of reflexions to aiteviate unavailing for- low and regret, it is when we have only fhadows to cope with. In fhort, when we have reduced to precept, all the well-known reflections, on the apparent, but delufive advantages of rank and fortune, we cannot prevent un- cultivated minds from being continually firuck with the extreme inequality of the different contracts which the rich make with the poor. It might be laid, in fhofe moments, that one portion of mankind was form- ed only fornhe convenience of another. The poor man facrifices his time and h;r, ftrength to multiply round the rich, gratifications of every kind : and he, when he gives in exchange the rr.oft Icanty fubfiflence, does not deprive himfelf of any thing ; fince the ex- tent of his.phyfnral wants is bounded by the laws of n ? - ' RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 25 nature. Equality, then, is only re-eftablifiied by the apathy \vhich the enjoyment even of pieafure pro- duced. But thefe difgufts compofe the background in the pifture of life ; the people perceive them not ; and as they have only been acquainted with want, they cannot form any idea of the languor attendant on fatiety. Will any one imprudently fay, that if the diftino tions of property be an obftac'e to the eftabhlhmenc of a political fyllem of morality, we ought, therefore, to labour to deflrcy them ? But if in paft ages, when the different degrees of talents and knowledge were not ib unequal, men were not able to prefervc a community of pofleffions can you imagine, that ;hefe primitive relations could be re-eflabhfhed, at a time when the fuperiority of rank and power is en- forced by the immoveable Mrength of disciplined ar- mies. Befides, when even in the corrrpofuion of an ideal world, we fliould have -introduced the moil exaft di- vjfion of the various pofTeflions eftcemed by men, it would flill be neceffary, in order to preferve a fylictti of real equality, that every one fhould execute iaith- fully the duties impofed on him by univerfal morality ; fince this is incumbent on every individual, for il:c facrifice that all the members of fociety have made ; which fociety ought to recompenfe every citi/en in particular, for the reJlriftion, to which he fubmits himfelf. It is eflential to obferve flill further, that it is not only perfonal interell, when clearly underftood, which ought to be annexed to the idea of public order ; it is ihe fame intereft when led ad ray by the pafiions : then a mere guide is no longer fufficient ; a yoke mult be impofed, a check always afting, which inuft be ufed abfolutely. Nothing can be more chimerical than to pretend toredrain a man. hurried on by an im- petuous imagination, by endeavouring to reca! to his remembrance fome principles and inflructions, which, in the terms of an academic thefts.* ought to be the * Thefts propofcd by the French academy, with a prize" for the beft catechii'm of morals, the initrudtions of which vrcre to bz founded on the principles of natural right onh - OF THE IMPORTANCE OF rcfult of analyjis. of methodizing, of the art of dividing, cf developing, and circumjcribing ideas. It would be, at prefent, a hardy enterprife, to at- fempt to conduct men by reafon alone ; fince the firft rh:ng that reafon discovers is its own weaknefs. But when we want to relt on maxims which admit of con* troverfy wh&n we wHh to oppofe to the ftrong mo- rive of perfonal intereit, a moral confideration which cannot a6i but with the concurrence of profound re- Jleftion-*-we recollect the doctrine of the firft econo- inifts, who, in eHabiifhing the extravagant principles refpefting an exc ufive right of exporting or monopo- lizing grain, put off the care of preventing popuiar commotions till they fbould happen. It appears ro me, that faife reafon in?, on the union of private \vi;h public interefl. anfes from applying to The prefent ilate of fociety, the principles which have ierved as the bafe for their formation ; this very natu- ral confufion is one grand fource of error. Let us try co render clear a proportion, which, at firft, appears difficult to comprehend ; and in this ;ight we will fup- pofe, for a moment, the future generation aifembled in idea, in an imaginary world, and ignorant, before they inhabit the earth, who thofe individuals are, that ihall Jbe born of parents loaded with the gifts of fortune, and of thofe who are befet with mifery from their cradle. They are infiru&ed in the principles of civil rights : and the convenience of the laws of order, has been re- prefented to them, and a fketch is drawn of the difor- der, which would be the inevitable confequence of a continual variation in the divifion of property : then all thofe who are to compofe the n-^w generauon, equal- ly uncertain of the lot that the chance of 'birth leferves for them, fubfcribe unanimoufly to thofe events which await them; and at the very moment, in which the relations of fociety extft only in {peculation, it might be truly faid, that the perfonal iutereft is loft in the public. But this indentiiy ceafes. when each, arrived on the earth, has taken poiTc&on of his lot. It is ihen no longer pofiible, that -.he various perfona! interefls concur to the maintenance of ihefe prodigious gradation! 1ELIG'1OU"$ OPINIONS. gradations of rank and fortune, which were dc. from the chance of birth : and thole, to whom c and wants have fallen, will not be reiigned to the infe- riority' of their condition, but by a 'grand reli^tou: principle alone, which can make them percciv,: eternal juftice, and place them in imaguiation K time, and before the laws. There is nothing to eafy as the eHabliflimenl of con- ventions, and making ruies to be obferved. till the mo- ment or the drawing of a lottery, Every one then, at the fame point of view, finds al! goo-j, al! jnll'-j' and well contrived ; and peace reigns by common agreement. But as loon as the blanks and prizes are ki.ou'n, the mind changes, the temper grows four ; and without the check of authority, it would become uiimanagea- bie, envioi's, qaclchue, and fomctitncs upjuii and violent. We fee, however. i!;c conff querce to be drawn from the preceding reflexions ; that political focietics in contemplation, and in rca'ny, preterit to our obfcr- vation two different periods : and as thefe periods are not fep.irated by any apparent limits, they are aimoft always confounded in the mind of the poiitira! moral- itf. He, who believes in the union of jft-ivate interest With that of (he public, and who celebrates this harmo- ny, has only couiideied Tocieiy in us general and prim- itive plan. He, who thinks, on the contrary, that the whole is wrong and difcordant. b^c-i'.ifc there- :s a great difference of powerand fortune, ras confidered it onlv under its a6^ua! viciffnudcs. Bo'h thcfe millakcs have received a function from celebrated writers. 'J he man^ harried away by a lively i;r agination, and Urongly im- prefied byprefent objects, has been iifuck by the ine- quality of conditions : and the philofopher, tranfport- ed by his abftraftions beyond the circle of human foe: - ety, has onir perceived thofe relations and principles which led men to fonn the hrit inllitution of civil laws. Thus, every where we fee, that mott difputes relate ta mere difference of pofitions, and the various points of view in which the fame fubjeft is confidered. '1 here,- ftfe fo ma,-iy {lotions in the moral woifld, thatj accord- ing 23 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF in:* to that which we choofc, the picture change, entirely. Hitherto we have endeavoured to underftand the effect \vhich we might expett from a fy.ftera of moral- ity, by applying this kind of inilruclion only to private ituerefi,' when mod clearly afcertained. It remains now to (how, that every fpecies of education, which demands time and reflection, cannot belong, in any manner, to the clafs of men moll numerous : and to be fenfible of tS-sis truth, it is fufiicient to turn our at- tention on the focia! flate of thofe who are deftitute of property, ant! of talents which might fupply its place. Obliged to have recourfe tn hard labour, where noth- ing i> required but to employ their bodiiy Hrength, their concurrence, and ihc power of riches, reduce the washes of (his numerous ciaft to what is abfolutely ne- ceflury. They cannot, without difficulty, fupport their children ; and they may well be impatient of qualifying them for ufeful occupations to relieve them- ielves ; and this prevents their being lent to public fchool.s, except durjng their infancy. Thus, ignorance and poverty are in the midll of our focieties, and the hereditary lot of the greater part of the citizens. There is only to be found an alleviation of this gene- ral law, in thofe countries where the conftitution of the government encourages the high price of labour, and gives the poor fome means of refilling the defpot- ifm of fortune. However, if fuch be the inevitable effeft of our civil and political legiflaiion, how fhall we be able to bind men, without diftinftjon, to the maintenance of public order, by any inflruftion, I do not fay complicated, but to which the exercife of long reafoning forms only a nccelfary introduction ? It would not be fufficient to endow inftitutions it would be ftill more neceflary to pay the fcholars for their time ; fince, for the lower clafs, time isj even very early in life, their only means of fubfiftence. Nevertheless, morality is not, like other human fciences, a knowledge, that we may be at liberty to acquire at our leifure. The quickeft inftruftion isftiil :eo ijow 3 fine* man has a. natural power of doing evil, pefors RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 29. before his mind is in a ftate to apply to reflexion, and connect the moti fimple ideas, It is nor, then, a political catcchifm which would be proper for the initruction of the people . 1 1 is noi a courfc of precepts founded on the union of public and privaic intereft, which can fuit with the meafure of their un- derRanding. Even (hould a dodrine of that kind ap- pear as juit as it feems to me liable to be difputed, they will never be able to render the principles of it diftintl enough to apply them to the purpofes of infirufting thofe whofe education continue.* for fo fbort a time, Morality, founded on religion, by its aclive influence, is precisely adapted to the particular fi mat ion of the greater number of men : and this agreement is fo per- fect, that it feems one of th^ remarkable features of univeriai Harmony. Religion alone has p i\ver to pcrfuade with celerity, becaufe it excites pafTion, while it informs the underUanding; bscaufc it alune has the; means of rendering obvious what it recommends ; be- caufe it fpeaks in the name of God, and it is eufy to infpire refpeft for him, whofe power is every whjre avidenrto the eyes of the fimple and (kiifai, to the eyes of children, and men advanced to maturity.-. In order to attack this truth, let it not be faid, that the idea of a God is of all others the moll incoaipre- henfible ; and if it be pofTib'e to derive ufeful-iniiruc- tion from fo metaphyfical a principle, we ought to ex- peel: more good from precepts which depend on the common relation* or'lifc. Such an objection ;s a mere iubnlity. The dilim& knowledge of the elfencc of a God, the Creator of the world, is, undoubtedly, above the comprehenfjon of men of every age, and aii faculties ; but it is not the fatne with the va^ :e icitTi of a heavenly power, who punifhes and who ievv.irds, Parental authority, and thi helpleffuefs of inianc/, prrpare us early for idea c , of obedience and command : and the world is fuch a iiupendous wonder, a theatre of fuel) continual prodigies, that it Is eafy to annex, at aa early period, hops and fear to the idea of a Su- preme Being. Thus, the infinity of a God, Creator afid DiretWr of the univcrfe, ii'fq r : C 2 p OF THE IMPORTANCE OF power to divert our refpeft and adoration, that evert the clouds, with which he envelopes himfelf, lend a new force to religious fentimcnts. A man often re- mains uninterefled atnidft the difcoveries of his reafon : but it is always eafy to move him, whenever we ad- drefs ourfelves to his imagination ; for this faculty of our mmd excites us continually to atYion, by prefent- ing to our eyes a great fpace, and by keeping us al- ways at a certain diiiance from the objeft we have in view. Man is fo d'.fpofed to wonder at a power, of which he is ignorant of the fprings this fentiment is fo natural to him. that what we ought to guard againft the moft in his education, is the inconfiderate inunua- lion of various terrors, of which he is fufceptible. ~ Thus, not only the true idea of the exigence of an All-powerful God. but mere credulous faith in fuper- ^itious opinions, will always have more power ovef the common ciais of men, than ab (tract precepts, or g4$ne~ ral conGclerations. I know not if it might not even fee faid, with truth, that the future of this (bort life, when we contemplate it, is further from us than the difiunt profpeftive offered to the mind by religion becaufe our imagination is lefs rcflramed, and the mi- nutell defcription of reafon can never canal in power ihe 1'vcly aud impulfive ardour of thefe aiFetlions of our fouls. I re fume the feries of my reflections, and fet dowa Ijsre an important obfcrvation : which is. that the.. more the incrcafe of taxes keeps the people in def- pondency and mifery, the more indifpenfable is it to- give them a religious education ; for it is in the irrita- Don of wretchedricfs, that we all have need of power- ful rellraint and of daily confolations. The fuccelfive abufe of firen^th and authority, in overturning ail the relations which originally exilied between men, have jaifed, in the nudil of tiicm, an edifice io artificial, aud in which there reigns Co much difproportion, that the idea of a God is become more necellarv than ever, to fervc as a ievelier of this confufed aHemblage of dif- parities. And if we can ever imagine, that a people iliould exilr, fubjeft only to the ISA'S of a political Biorality. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. gj morality, we fliou!d reprefent, without doubt, a rifing nation, which would be retrained by the vigour of patriotifm 4n its prime ; a nation which would occupy a country where riches had not had time to accumu- late where the diftance of the habitations from each other contributed to the maintenance of domeftic man- ners where agriculture, that fimpleand peaceful oc- cupation, would be the favourite employment where the work of the hands would obtain a recom- penfe proportioned to the fcarcity of the workmen, and the extenfive ufefulnefs of the labour : we fhould reprefent, in fhort, a nation where the laws and. the form of the government would favour, during a long time, equality of rank and property. But in our an- cient kingdoms in Europe, where the growth of rich- es continually augments the difference of fortunes and the diftance of conditions in our old political bo- 4j*s, where we are crowded together, and where mife- rjr *id magnificence are ever mingled it muft be a morality, fortified by religion, that ihall reftram thefe numerous fpeftators of fo many poffellions and ob jefts of envy, and who, placed (o near every thing which they call happinefs, can yet never alpire to it. It may be afked, perhaps, in confequence of thefe reflections, whether religion, which firengthens every tic. and fortifies every obligation, is not favourable to tyranny ? Such a conciufion would be unreafonable*. But religion, which affords comfort under every af- liiftion, would necefiarily footh alfo the ills which arife from defpotifrn ;' however, it is neither the ori- gin, nor the fuppoit of it. Religion, well underHood, would not lend its fnppori but to order and juftice ; and the inilrutlion or political morality, propofes to itleif the fame end. Thus, in boih plans of education, the rights of the fovereign, as well as thofe of the citi- zens, conftinite (imply one of ;he elementary parts of the general fyiieni ot our duties. i ihall only oMerve, that the infufficiency of polit- ical morality would appear Hill more obvious, in a country, where the nation, fubjetl to the authority of an abfolute prince, would have no ihare in the govern- ment \ 3S OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ment ; for perfonal intereft no longer having an habit* ual communication with the general intereR, there would be juR ground to tear, that in wiflimg to hold out the union of thefe two inte>efts as the effential mo- tive of virtue, the greater number would retain only this idea, that personality was admitted for the firlt principle ; and confequently every one ought to re fcrve to himfelf the right of judging of the times and circumflanccs when ielf-love and patriotifm are to be feparated, or united. And how many errors would not this produce ? Public good, like all abilraft ideas, has not a precife definition. It is, for the greater part of mankind, a fea without bounds ; and it requires not much addrefs or (hrewdnefs lo confound all our analo- gies. We may know how we would form, accord- ing to our tafle, the alliance of all the moral ideas, in confidering with what facility men know how to recon~ cile with forne one virtuous quality the habitual infirmi- ties of theircharafter. He. who wounds without dif-, cretion, prides himfelf in his franknefs and courage. He, who is cowardly and timid in his fcntiments and in his words, boalls of his caution and circumfpeciion ; and by a new refinement, of which I have feen lin^ gular examples, he, who afks of the fovereign pecu- niary favours, endeavours to perfuadc him. that he- is compelled to this felicitation, only by a noble love of honourable diftintion. Every one is ingenious in fixing the point of union which connects his paflions with fome virtue : would they, then, be lefs expert at finding fome conformity between their own inter- ell and that of the public ? I cannot, I avow, without difguft, and even horror s conceive the abfurd notion of a political fociety, def- titute of that governing motive afforded by religion, and retrained only by a pretended connexion of their private intereft with (he general. What circumfcrib- cd judges! What a multiplicity of opinions, ientnnents and wi-lls ! All would be in confulion, if we left to men the liberty of drawing their own conclufions. 1 hey mutt absolutely have a fimple idea to reguiaie their conduct, efpecially when tiie application of thi& principle RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. g principle may be infinitely diverfified. God in deliv- ering his laws on mount Sinai, had need but to fay, Thou Jk alt not fleal j and w.ith the awful idea of thai Gcd, whom every thing recals to our minds, whom every thing imprefles on the human heart, this fhort commandment preferves, at all times, a fufficient authority. But when political philofophy fays, Thou Jhalt not Jltal, it would be neceffary to acM to this precept, a train of reafoning, on the laws of right, on the inequality of conditions, and on the various focial relations ; in- order to perfuade us that it cornpre hends every motive, that it anfwets all objections, and refifls all attack".. It is neceflary, further, that by the leflfons of this philofophy, the moft uncultivated minds fiiouid be qualified to follow the different ramifications which unite, difunite, and reunite afrefh the perfonal to the public intereft: what an enterprife ! It is, per- Haps, like wifhing to employ a courie of anatomy, in order to direcl a child in the courfe of fuch aliamenls as are proper for it, inftead of beginning to conduct it by the counfels and the authority of its mother, Thefe fame remarks are applicable to all the virtues, of which the obfervance is eflential to public order, What method would plain reafoning take to perfuade a fingle man, that he ought not to deprive a hufband of the affections of his wife? Where would you af- fign him a diftinft recompenfe for the facrifice of his paffion ? What windings fhould we not be obliged to run over, to demonllrate to an ambitious man, that he ought not, in fecre f , to colurnniaie his rival ; to the folitary mifer, armed with indifference, that he ought not to remove himfelf from every occafion of ding good ; to a difpofition ardent and revengeful, that he ought not to obey tbufe urgent impuHes which hurry him away ; to a mau in want, that he ought not to have recotirfe to falfehood to procure attention, or to deceive in any other manner ? And how many other pofi- tions would offer the fame difficulties, and fiill greater ? Abflracl ideas, the bed arranged, can never conquer us but by long arguments ; h'nce the peculiar nature of ideas is to dilengags our reafoning from the feelings, 34 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF feelings, and confequently from linking and fudder? imprefiions : befides, political morality, like every thing- which the mind only produces, would be always for us merely an opinion an opinion from which we ihouid have a right to appeal, at any time, to th- tri- bunal of our reafon. I he leiTons of men are nothing but reprefentations of their judgment ; and the fend* ments of fome draw not the will of others. There is not any principle of morality, which, under forms ab- foluteiy human, wou'd not be fufceptible of excep- tions, or of fome modification : and there is nothing fo compounded as the idea of the connexion of virtue with happmefs. Irs fhort. while- o;ir underllandtng has s a difficulty in comprehending and clearly diftin- guifhing that union, the objects of our pa (lions are eve- ry where apparent, and ail our fenfes are pre-engaged by them. I'he mifer beholds gold and (ilver; the am' bitious man, (hofe honours which are cor.f-rred on others; the debauchee, the objecls of his luxury. Vir- tue has nothing left but reafoning ; and is tben in want ef being fullamed by religious (entiments, and by the enlivening hopes which accompany them. Thus, in a government where you wo-iid wifii to fubttitute political morality for a religious education, it would become, perhaps, indifpenfabie, to guard men from- receiving any ideas calcuiared to exalt their minds .* it would be necelLtry to divert them from the different competitions which excite ieif-love and ambition : they mult withdraw themtelves from the habitual foci- ety of women : and it would be fii^l more incumbent on them to abohfli the ufe of money, '.hat attracting and comfufed image of all kinds of gratifications. In ihort, in taking from men then 1 religious hopes, and depriv- ing them thus of the encouragements to virtue, which the imagination gives birth to, every exertion muft be tried to prevent this unruly imagination from fecond- ing vice, and all the palTioos, contrary -to public ordsr. it was becaufe Felemachus was accompanied by a Di- vinity, that he could, without danger, vifit the fump- uous court of SefoHris, and the enchanting abodes of Eucharu and Calypfo. li RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 35 It is, indeed, arvag? themof} pleafant, as well as the fafeft of our life, which we cannot pafs without a guide, We muft, then, in order to pafs with fecurity through the tempeftuous days of youth, have principles which command us, ar.d not reflexions to counfe.1 us ; thefe have not any power bui in proportion to the vigour of the mind ; and the mind is < niy formed by experience and a long conflict of opinions. Religious inflruftions have the peculiar-advantage ef feizing the imagination and of interettmg our fenfi- feiiity, thofe two brilliant faculties of our eariy years. Thus., ihen, even fuppofing that we could eilablifh a courfe of political morality, fufficier.tly propped by jeafoning, for -.defending from vice men enlightened by mammy, I ihould Hill fay, that a-fjmiiar ^-hilolophy would not be fuitabie to youth, and thai this armour is loo heavy for them. In fhort, the leflbns of human wifdoro, which 'can- Jiot govern us during the ardour of our paflions, are equally inefficient, when ourflrength being broken by difeafe, we are no h.rger in a Hate to comprehend a variety of relations ; inftead of which, iuch are the pleafing emotions, that accon'pany the language of re- ligion, that in the fncceilive decline of cur faculties, this language iliii keeps j^uce with them. Neverthelefs. if v.c \vcreever to be perfuaded, that fbcre was on earth a riiore certain encouragement to viriue than religion, its powers would be immed tartly v/eakened. It would not he lialf fo iiitereilipg, ncr could it reign when divided. If its fentimcws did not overflow, as we may fay, the human heart, all its influence would vanifh. Rclijj'ous inflruction, in afltmbling all the means peeper to excite men to virtue, neglects not, it is to nufery on earth," l he ic 36 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF thefe doftrines make not a 'ailing impreffion on thefti, but in proportion as we fur ceed, at the fame time m convincing them of the corftant influence of a Provi- dence over all the events of this werld. One important reafon flill exempts religious profef- fors, from attaching themfelves to demonftrate, that the principal advantages which excite the envy of men, are an abfolute confequence of the obfervance of the laws of order ; it is, that facrifices, fopported by an idea of duty, are changed into real fatisfaftions ; and the fentiments, which the virtuous enjoy from piety, compofe an eflential part of their happinefs. But what conlolation can a man have by way of return what fecret approbation can we grant him, when we know not any other authority than that of political morality and when virtue is nothing but an oppofition between pfrVate and public intereft ? Religion certainly propofes to man his own happi- nefs, as an objecl and ultimate end. But as this hap- pinefs is placed at a diftance, religion t:onduch us to it by wholefome reft rictions and temporary facrifices. It regards only the fubiimeft part of us, that which dif* unites us from the prelent moment, in order to connect us with futurity. It offers us hopes, wh'ch withdraw us from worldly intereft, fo far as is neceffary to pre- vent us from being immoderately devo'ed to the difor- dcrly impreiFion of our fenfes, aud the tyranny of our pafiions. Irreligion, on the contrary, whofe lefiuns teach us, that we are only mailers of the prefent mo- ment, concentres us more and more within ourfeives, and there is nothing beautiful or good in this condi- tion; for grandeur, of every kind, relates to the ex- tent of thole relations which we comprehend : and, in a like acceptation, our fentiments fubmit to the fame laws. Thofe, who reprefent the obligation? of religion- as indifferent, affure us, that we may repofe fafely the maintenance of morality on fonie general fentiments, which we have adopted : but they do not confider, that thefe feniimcnts derive their origin, and alsnofl all their force, from that fpirit of religion which they wife 'RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. S7 to weaken. Yes, even humanity, this emotion of a noble foul, is animated and fortified by the idea of a Supreme Being. The alliance between men hoick but feebly from the* conformity of their organization : nor can it be attributed to the firailitude of their paffion^ that continual fource of fo much hatred. It depends eflemially on our connexion with the fame Author, the fame Superintendant, the fame Judge. It is found- ed on the equality of our right to the fame hopes, and on that train of duties inculcated by education, and rendered refpeftable by the habitual dominion f religi- ous opinions. Alas! it is a melancholy avowal, that men have fo many infirmities, fo much injuftice, felf- iihnefs, and ingratitude, at lead, in the 'eyes of thofe who have obferved them colleftively, that we never can keep them in harmony by the mere leflons of wif- dom. It is not always becaufe they are amiable, that we love them. It is fometimes, and very often, in- deed, becaufe we ought to love them, that we find them amiable. Yes, goodnefs and forbearance, thefe qualities the mofi. fimple, ftill require to be compared, From time to time, with an idea general and predomi- nant, the band of all our virtues. The paflions of others wound us in fo many ways, and theie is often fo much depth and energy in our felf-love, that we have need of fome fuccour to be conftantly generous in our fentiments, and to be really interefled for a!! oar fellow-creatures, in the midft of whom we are placed, in fliorl, not to diffemble, if a man once came la eonfider himfelf as a being that is the child of chance, or of blind necedity. and tending only to the dull from whence he fprung 1 , and to which he mult return, he would defpife himfelf: and far from feeking to raifc to noble and virtuous reflections, he would eonfider ' this fpecies of ambition as afantaftic idea, Hfhich con- fumes, in a vain and iilufory manner, a part of thbfe fleeting minutes which he has to pafs on earth : and ail his attention being fixed on the ihortnefs of life, end on the eternal filence which mult clofe the fcene, he would only think how to devour his reign of a moment* D How 8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF How dangerous, then, would itbe, on this fuppofr- tion, to fhow to men the extremity of tlie chain which unites them together/! It is in worldly affairs this knowledge of having received the lall favour, which renders them ungrateful towards thofe from whom they no longer expecT any thing : and the fame fentiment would weaken the power of morality, if our leafe was inanifeftly only for this world. v It is then religion "which ought to Rrengthen thofe ties, and defend the entire fyftem of our duty againft the ftratagems of rea- jfoning and the artifices of our minds. It is necefTary, in order to oblige all men, to coniider with refpecl the laws of morality, to teach them early, that the focial virtues are an homage rendered to the perfeftions and to the beneficent intentions of the Sovereign Author f nature, of that infinite Being, who is pieafed with the prefervation of order, and the private facrifices which the accompliftiment of this grand deiign. re- quires. And when I fee modern philosophers trac- ing, with an able hand, the general plan of our duties when I fee them fixing with judgment the recipro- cal obligations of citizens and giving, at laft, for the fcafis to this legiflation, perfonal intereft and the love of praife I recollecl the fyftem of thofe Indian phi* Jofophers, who, after having ftudied the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, being perplexed to determine the power which fuftained the vaulted firmament, thought they had freed it from difficulty, by placing the uni- verfe on the back of an elephant, and this elephant on a tortoife. We (hall imitate thefe philofophers, and, like them, fhall never proceed but by degradation, whenever, by endeavouring to form a chain of duties and moral principles, we do not place the laft link .above worldly confiderations, and beyond the limits ,qf our focial conventions, CHAPTER RELIGIOUS QPINIONS, C H AFTER II The fame fubj eft continued. A parallel be- tween the influence of Religious Principles, and of Laws and Opinions. AFTER having examined^ as I have jiift done, in the preceding chapter, if it were poffible to- found morality on the connexion of private with pub- lic intereil, it'remains for me to confider, if the pun- iihments mfliaed by the fovereigo, if the fceptre, which public opinion fways, have fuffieient power to regain men, and bind them to the- obfervance of thoi; duty It is necefiary to proceed by common ideas, in or > der to advance one degree in the refearch of truth : thus I ought, at firft, in this place, to recolleft, that the penal laws cannot be applied but to offences known and proved. This confederation contracts their pow- er within a very narrow circle.. However, crimes fe~ creily committed, are not the only ones which are be- yond the cognizance of laws : we rcutl place in this rank every reprehenfible aftion, .which, for want of a diltinft charatler, can never be pointed out ; the num- ber of them is prodigious : the rigour of parents, in- gratitude of children, the inhumanity of abandoning their nurfes, treachery in friendfiiip, the violation of domeitic comfort, difunion fown in tjie bofoms of fami- lies, levity of principles in every focial connexion, perfidious counfels, artful and flanderous insinuations,, rigorous exercife ofauthority^ favour and partiality of judges, their inattention, their idlenefs and feverity, endeavours to obtain places of importance, with a tonfcioufnefs of incapacity, corrupt flatteries addref- fed to fovereigns or minifters, ftatefmen indifferent to public good, their vile ajid pernicious jeabufies, and th-ir 40 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF their political diflenfions, excited in order to render themfelves neceiTary. wars inftigated by ambition, intolerance under the cover of zeal ; in fhort, many other fatal evils, which the laws cannot either follow or defcribe, and which often do-much miichief, before they give any opportunity for, public cenfure. We ought not even to dehre that this cenfure pafs certain bounds ; becaufe authority, applied to ohfcure faults, or thofa fufceptible of various interpretations, eafily degenerates into tyranny, and as there is nothing. fo trunfitory as thought nothing fo fecret as our ienti- ment none but an invifible power, whofe authority ieems to participate of the divine, has a right to enter Jnto the fecrets of our hearts. It is then only, at the tribunal of his own confciencc, that a man can be interrogated about a number of ac- tions and intentions, which efcape the infpeftion of government. Let us beware of overturning the au- thority of a judge fo active and enlightened. Let us beware of weakening it voluntarily ; and let us not be fo imprudent as to repofe only on fociaJ difcipline. J fay, that even venture to fay, that the power of conference is perhaps ftill more neceflary in the age we live in, than in any of the preceding. Though fociety no longer prefents us with a view of thofe vices and crimes which fhock us by their deformity ; yet licen- tioufnefs of morals, and refinement of manners, have almoft imperceptibly blended good and evil vice and decency falfehood and truth felfifhnefs and magna- nimity. It is more important than ever, to oppofe to this fecret depravity, an interior authority, which pries into the myiterious windings of difguife, and whofe action may be as penetrating, as our diflimula- tion feems artful and well contrived, It is undoubtedly, becaufe a fimilar authority ap- pears abfolutely neceflary to the maintenance of pub- lic order, that feveral philofophic writers have endear. cured to introduce it as a principle of atheifm. In fuch a fyftem the whole is fictitious. They fpeak of our bluming at the recollection of our follies, of dread- ing our own fecret reproaches, and of being afraid 4 of 41 the condemnation^ which, in the calm of reflexion, we (hall pronounce againft ourfclves. But thefe fenti- ments, which have fo much force with the idea of a God, they know not what to unite them with, when they would give only for a guide the moft aftive pcr- ibnal intereit, and wnen ill the grand communications, eftabliflied between men by religious opinions, are ab~ folutely broken ; conicience is then an expreflion void of meaning, a ufelefs word in the language. We may (till feel remorle, that is to fay, regret at being de. ceived in the purfiiits of ambition, in promoting our intereft, in the choice of means which we employ to obtain the refpeft and praife of others ; in fhort, in the various calculations of our worldly advantage. Bur fuch remorfe is only an exaltation of our felf-love We deify, in fome meafure, our judgment and under- Sanding ; and we make at laft all our actions appear before thefe falfe idols, to reproach us with our errors and weaknefics. We thus voluntarily become our own tormentors. But when this perfecution is too importunate, we have it in our power to command our tyrants to ufe more indulgence towards us. It is not the fame with the reproaches of confcience. The fentiments which produce them have ^othir.;.'; compounded or artificial in them. We cannot cor- rupt our judge, nor enter into a compromife with him. That which feduces men never deceives him : and, amidft the giddinefs of profperity, in the intoxication of the greateit fuccefs, his looks are inevitably fixed on us : and we cannot but with terror enjoy the ap- plaufe and the triumphs which we have not merited', We read in feveral modern books, that with fliort, why certain actions, fome indifferent in them- felves, and fome hurtful to others, are condemned in a general and uniform manner : a kind of combination is neceffary to difcover, that the legiflator himfelfi& wandering from natural id^as, in order to prevent eve* ry perfon from being a judge in his own caufe : and to avoid that, thofe exceptions and diftinftions, of which every circumftance is fufceptible, might never be de- termined by the judgment of individuals. Ln the fame manner, from thofe indirect motives, the laws treat with more rigour an offence difficult to define, than a tliforder more reprehenfible initfelf; but of which the exceffes might be eafiiy perceived : and they ob- feive ftill the fame rule with refpecl: to crimes which are furrounded by greater allurements, though this fe- duclior. is evcia a motive for indulgence in the eyes cf ample RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 4$ fitnple juftice ; in fhort, the laws, in adopting a more determined method, to conftrain debtors to the dif- charge of their obligations, prove that they are not compaflionate to uriforefeen misfortunes, nor actuated by other motives of equity which merit an equal inter- eft ; all their attention is fixed on the relation of en- gagements with the political resources, which arife from commerce and its tran factions. There exifls thus a multitude of prohibitions of punifhments, or grada- tions in the penalties, which have not any connexion but with the general views of the legiflation, and agree rot with the circumfcribed good fenfe, which deter* mines the judgment of individuals. It is then often, by confiderations very extenfive and complicated, that an aclion is criminal or reprehenfibie in the eyes of th* law. Thus, we know not how to erecl, on this bafe alone, a fyftem of morality, of which every one can have a clear perception-; and (ince the legiflator care- fully avoids iubmitting any thing to private examina- tion, becaufe he facrifices often to this principle natur- al jultice, how then can he wilh, at the fame time, to give us for rule of conduct a political morality, which is all founded on reafoning ? It is of confequence ftiil to obferve, thafte the eyes ef the greater number of men, the fenfe of the lavvsj and the decrees formed by thofe who interpret them, ought neceffarily to be identified, and blended, and form only one point of view; and as the judges are frequently cxpofed to error, the true fpirit of legiflatioa remains often in obfcurity, and we with difficulty dif* cern it. It is, perhaps, becaufe laws are the work of our '.inclerltanding, that w-e are difpofed to grant them a univerfai dominion : but I will avow, I am far from thinking that they can ever be fubllituted inttead cf the falutary influence of religion,, and. that I believe them infufficient even to reguhte the things immedi- ately under their jurifdiftion ;, thus 1 will requeft you to reflecl:, if the unfortunate errors with which we re* yroach criminal tribunals, have not their fource in the; fcuiits commuted by fovercign authority j when it has referred; |4 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF referred all the duties of the judges to the injunctions of the law, and when it has refufed to confide any lon- ger in the confcience and private fentiments of the jnagiitrates. Let us render this obfervation more clear by a fin- gle example chofen from a number. We demand at prefent, that the legiflator explain himfelf afrefii on the grand queftion, what witneffes are neceflary ; but will he not always run the rifk of being deceived^ whether he absolutely rejefts a probable evidence, or whether he makes the fate of a criminal depend upon it ? How will he determine that the teftimony of an honeil man, identifying the perfon of an affaffin, in his own caufe, fhould not be reckoned any thing by the judge? and how can he pretend, alfo, that a tefti- mony of this nature is fufficient to determine a con- demnation, when he, who gives the evidence, appears fufpicious, either from the motives, which he muft iuppofe aftuate him, or from the improbability of his afifertion ? Reafon is then placed between two ex- tremes : but the intermediate ideas not being conlo- nant with the abfokue language of law, we ought, in fuch circumftances, to leave much to the wifdom ani' integrity of the magiftrates ; and fo far from ferving innocence by a&ing otherwife, we yifibly endanger it; becaufe judges habituate themfelves to render the laws rcfponfible for every thing, and reipefully fubmit to the letter, inftead of obeying the fpirit, which is the carneft defire of obtaining truth. What, then, fome will fay, would you wifh, that there fhould be no pof- itive inftruftions, neither to ferve for a guide in the examination of crimes, nor to determine the character by which thefe crimes maybe diftinguifhed ? This was never in my mind : but I could wifh, that in an affair of fuch ferious importance, they would unite to the judgment which proceeded from the prudence of the legiflature, that which may be brought'by the wif- dom of the judges, I could wifn, that the criminal iegiflation prefcribed to the magittrates, not all that they are obliged to do. but all from which they are net ; not all that is fuSicient to determine their cpinior 5 1 RELIGIOUS OPINIONS; 45 opinion, but all which ought to be the indifpenfablc condition of a capital punimment. Guided by fuch a fpirit, the commands given by the law, would be a fafeguard againft the ignorance, or poffible prevarica- tion of the judges. But as any general rule, any im- mutable principle, is not applicable to an infinite di- verfity of circumftances, 1 would give to innocence a new defender, interefting in a more immediate man- ner the morality of the judges to fearch for and exam- ine truth, and to recal continually all the extent of their obligations. 1 could wifli, that, previous to their pafling a fentence of condemnation, raifing one of their hahds towards heaven, they pronounce j with earneft- nefs thefe words : c ' I attcit, that the man accufed be- fore us, appears tome guilty, according to the law, and according to my own private judgment." It is nst fufficiem, that we command a judge to examine with probity, if the proofs of an offence be conformable to thofe required by !he ftatute.. It is neceffary to in- form a magiftrate, that he ought to enquire into the truth by all the means that {crapulous anxiet/ can fug- gcft. He (hould know, that, called to decide on the Jife and the honour of men, his undemanding and his heart ought to be enUfted in the caufe of humanity, and that there are not any limits oppofed to bound his duty. Then, without failing in any of the enquiries ordained by the laws, he would force himfclf to go ftill further, that no evidence, proper to make an in>- preffion on a reafonable man, might be rejected, at the fame time, that none might have fo decifive a force, that the examination of circumftances would ever ap- pear ufelefs. The judges. then would make ufe of that fagacity, which feems to difcern inftincYively. They would not then difdain to read even the looks of the accufer and the accufed ; and they would not believe it a matter of indifference to obferve with at- tention, all thofe emotions of nature, where fometime* truth is painted with fo much energy. Then, in (hort, innocence would be under the protection of fomething as pure as^itfelf, the fcrupulous confcience of a judge. We have cever 3 . perhaps, fufikiently coniidcred, how 46 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF how much a methodical order, when we confine OUT* felves too fervilely to it, contracts the bounds of the mind. It becomes then like a foot-path traced be- tween two banks, which prevent our discovering what is not in a itraight line. The drift obfervance of meth- od diverts us aifo from confulcing that light, fometimes fo lively, of which the foul only is the focus ; for in fubjefting us to a pofitive courfe of things always reg- ular, and in making us find pleafure in a determined path, which offers continual repofe to our thoughts, if. incapacitates for thinking that delicate perception of natural ientiments, which" has nothing fixed or circum- fcribed, but whofe free flight often makes us approach to truth, as by a kind of inftinft or infpiration. I mould ftray too far from my fubjet, if I extend- ed thefe reflexions : and I haiten to connecl them with the fubjeft of this chapter, in repeating again, that if the laws be infufhcient, even in thofe decifions fubmit- ted to their authority and if they have abfolute need of the aid of religion, whenever they impofe on their private expounders duties a little complicated they would be {till lefs able to fupply the habitual and daily influence of that motive, the molt powerful of all, and the only one, at the fame time, , of which the alion will be fufficiently penetrating, ta follow us in the maz- es of our conduct, and in the labyrinth of our thoughts, I ought now to direcl your attention towards other confiderations. Ail that is required by public order, all that is of importance to fociety, fome will fay, i$ ? that criminals may not efcape the fword of juftice, and that an attentive fuperintendance difcover them under the cloud where they feek to conceal themielves. I will not here recal the various obftacles, which are op ppfed to the plenitude of this vigilance: every one may perceive them, or form an idea of them. But I haften to obferve, that in confidering fociety in its a&ual flatc, we ought not to forget^ that religious fentiments have greatly diminifhed the tafk of government. A fcene quite new would open, if we had for our guide only political morality. It would not then be a few men without principles, who would trouble the public or- der ; RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. # tier : more able aftors would mix in the shrong i fome f conduced by mature reflexion, and others, carried ' away by feducing appearances, would be incenantlyat r/ar with all thofe, whofe fortune excited their jeal- oufy : and then only we mould know how many op- portunities there are of doing evil, and injuring others. It would alfo happen, that all thcfc enemies of public order not being difconcerted by the reproaches of their confcience, would become every day more expert in the art of avoiding the obfervation of juitice ; and the dangers, to which the imprudent expofed themfelves, would not difcourage the ingenious. It is then, if I may be permitted fo to exprefs my- felf, becaufe the laws find men in a healthy Hate, pre- pared by religious inltruftion, that they can reftrain them : tut if a fyftem of education, merely political, were ever to prevail, new precautions and new chains would become abfoiutely tieceffary ; and, after having freed us from the mild ties of religion, the projectors of fuch a fyftem would increafe our civil flavery, would bend our necks under the hardeft of all yokes, that which is impofed by our fellow-creatures. Religion, whofe influence they wifh us to reject, is better appropriated, than they think, to the mixture of pride and weaknefs, which conftitutes our nature : and for us, fuch as we are, its aclion is far preferable to that of the penal laws. It is not before his equals, armed with the rod of vengeance, that the culprit is made to appear. It is not to their ignorance, or to their inexorable jufiice, that he is abandoned. It is at the tribunal of his own confcience, that religion in- forms againft him ; before a God, Sovereign of the world, that it humbles, and, in the name of a tender and merciful Father, that it comforts him. Alas ! while you at once take from us both our confolation and our true dignity, you wifh to refer every thing to private intereft and public punifhment. But permit me to liften to thefe command? which come from on high. Leave me to divert my attention from the me- nacing fceptre which the potentates of the earth wield in their hand; leave me to account with him, be- fore 4& OF THE IMPORTANCE OF fore whom they fhrink into nothing; leave me, in mort, to addrefs myfelf to him who pardons, and who, at the moment I have offended, permits me ftill to love him, and rely on his grace ! Alas! without the con- nexion with a Supreme#Being, Author of all nature, w* fhouldonly liften to the vilecounfelsof felfifh prudence; we {hould only have to flatter and adore the rulers of nations, and all thofe, who, in an abfolute monarchy, are the numerous reprefentatives of the authority of the prince. Yes, talents, fentiments, ought to bend before thefe diftributors of fo much good and evil, if nothing exift beyond worldly interefl ; and when once every one cringes, there is no more dignity in the character ; men become incapable of any great action^ and unequal to any moral excellence. Religious opinions have the double merit of main- taining us in the obedience due to the laws and the fovereign, and of nuuri filing in our hearts a fentiment which fuftains our courage, fcminds men of their true grandeur ; teaches fubmiffion without meannefs ; and prevents, above all, cowardly humiliations before tran- litory idols, in fliowing, at a diflance, the laft period, when ail mutt return to an equality before the Mafler of the world. The idea of a God, at the fame diftance from ail men, ferves alfoto confole us for that mocking fuperi- oriry of rank and fortune, under the oppreffion of which we live. It is neceffary totranfport ourfeives to the heights religion difcovers, to confider with a kind of calmnefs and indifference the frivolous pretentions of lome, and the confident haughtinefs of others ; and fuch objefts of regret, or of envy, which appeared a Coloffus to our imagination, are changed into a gram of fand, when we contraft them with the grand prof- pefts, which fuch fublime meditations ciiiphy to our view. Thofe then are blind, or indifferent to our intereft,, \vhowifii to fubftiime, inflead of religious inflruclionr, political and worldly mcxims ; and in like manner, thofe are inflexible and unfeeling, who believe they iliall be able to conduct proycment, or the modification, which they owe to education RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 63 jducation and habit. One or two examples they pro- dace of children, arrived at maturity, found in aforefh But we are ignorant at what precife age they were abandoned by their parents, and what might have been their difpofitions, if, brought back to fociety, they had not been guided by inftruftion, or reftrained by fear Jind fubordination. It is not very probable, that man d-e rived from his original nature all the difpofitions which lead to goodnefs : fuch a thought agrees not with his pride or dignity ; fince the intellectual facul- ties, with which he is endowed, die power he has of gradually tending to perfection, announce to him, thac he ought t'o fulfil his career with the a'liltance of rea- fon, and that, veiy different from thole beings govern- ed by an invariable inilinft, he fhould elevate himfelf as much above them, by cultivating the abilities en- trufled to him, as by the grandeur of the deliiny to which he is permitted to afpire. Reafon, however, our faithful guide, would be In- fufficient to attach us to fentiments of order, juiiice ? and beneficence, were it not Seconded by a nature proper to receive the imprtffiion of every noble fenti- ment. But fuch reflexions, far from favouring any fyftem of independence or impiety, receive from relig- ious opinions their principal force. What is, in ef- feft, in tr.is refpeft the courfe of our thoughts? W attribute, at firtt, to a Supreme and Univerfal Being, all the perfections which fcem to conOuute his eflence : and from this principle we are- led to prefume, that we, his intelligent creatures, and his moft noble work, par- ticipate, in fome manner, of the Divine Spirit, of which we are an emanation. But if we could ever be perfuadfd. that our confidence in the idea of a God is a deceitful illufion, we fliould not have any reafon to believe, that the mere child of nature, blind and with- out a guide, would be difpofed to good, rather than evil. We mutt derive our opinion of innate goodnefs from a fccret fentiment, and from a perfeft conviftion of the exiftence of a power which keeps every thing in order, the model of all perfection. But, as we ob- tain equally from this power, the faculties which ren- der 6'4 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF Izr us capable of acquiring knowledge, of improving, by experience, of extending. our views into futurity, and elevating our thoughts to God; we mould no know how to diltingu'dh thefe laft expedients of abili- ty and virtue from thofe which belong to our firft in- fiinft : and we have no intereft in doing it. That, which we perceive moft clearly, is, that there is a correfpondence, a harmony between all the parts <>f our moral nature ; and therefore we cannot deny the exigence of our nature! inclination towards good- nefs, riocconfider this inclination as adifpofition which has not need of any religious lentiment to acquire ilrength, and become a rational conduBnr through the jough road of life. The production of iUutary- fruits requires, before all things, a favourable foil, But this aid vantage would be ufelefs without feed and the labour of thehuflbandman, and the fertilizing warmth of the iun. The Author of nature has thought fit, rhat a great number of caufes Ciould concur continually to renovate the productions of the earth; and the fame intention, the fame plan, fe^ms to have determined the principle and the developement of all the gifts of the mind. It is necelfary, in order to attach in- telligent beings to the love of virtue, and refpecl for morality, that not only happy natural difpofitions, but itill more, a judicious education, good laws, and above * ; ', a continual intercourfe with the Supreme Being (from which alone can arife firm refolutions, and every ardent thought) fhould concur : but men, ambitious of fubmjtting a great number of relations to their weak comprehenfion, would wifh to confine them to a few caufes. We mall difcover, every moment, the trutl* of this obfervation. Acluatcd by a limi'ar motive, many wifh to attribute every thing to education ; while others pretend,, that our natural difpofuions are the only fource of our aftion* and intentions, of our vices and virtues. Perhaps, in faft, there is, in the univerfe, but one expedient and fpring, one prolific idea, the root of every other ; yet, as it is at the origin of this, idea, and not in its innumerable developements, that its uaity can be perceived, the firft grand Difpofer of na- RELIGIO0S OPINIONS, 65 tureonly ought to be in pofTe(Tion of the fecret : and we, who fee, of the immenfe mechanifm of the world, but a few wheels, become almoli ridiculous, when we make choice fometimes of one, and fometimes of anoth- er, to refer to it exclufively, the caufe of motion, and the fimpleft properties of the different parts of the nat- Steal or moral world. CHAPTER IV. An Objection dr&wnfrom the good conduct of many irrehgous Men. YOU may think, perhaps, after having read the preceding chapter, that I have taken little room to treat aqueftion, on which fo much has bee i writ- ten : but if it be allowed, that 1 have made fome ap- proaches to truth, I (hall not need any excufe. The refearches after truth refemble thofe circles which we trace (oinetimes one round another ; thefurthelt from the center has neceflanly the greateft extent. I will then endeavour, with the fame brevity, to ex- amine the objection, which is to make the fubjeft of this chapter. Society, foms fay, is at prefent full of perfons, who, to borrow the expreifion of the times, are abfo- luteiy difengageniy Ly the principles they frame to themielves : and 1 believe, that one of thefe two (yllems of morality is- .far fupcncr to the oilier. Bui we run a rifk of de- * civn g ourfelves in car oblervauons r when we clcx not extend them beyond the narrow circle, known, among u. by the name uf-fictcty. Men, in the cir- cumfcnbed relations which ariic from the cummuni- oations of idienefs and diflipation, require of each other, on:y qualities applicable to this kind of rela- tions, i'heir code of laws is very (hort. Integrity in the commerce of life, conliancy in friendflup, or, at leaft, pohtenefs in their iritercourfe, a kind of ele* vation in their difcourle and manner in (hort a probi- ty is the grand outline : and this is ail that is requir- ed, in order to difpiay ourfcives to the bed atlvaniage, in the muiit of tne acLve fcenes which lurround us,, where w.- iometi=Jies, form a confederacy proper to jferve as a fupport of the gtcat virtues. But what ahey wifh for, before every thing, is, a grant of in- dulgence in favour of vices, which do not d-.Ourb ths *rder or the peace of their pleafures ;. and which cnlv RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 67 only render parents, hufbands, and ! creditors , yafTals, and the commonalty unhappy . F*r diftant, indeed, from a like tolerance', are thofe colle6tive obligations which morality dictates obligations of which I made a concife (ketch, when I compared them with thofe which are impofed by civil laws. It is then only, after having ourfclves retraced the entire fyflem of our duties it is on'.y after having compared thena with the conventions foftened by faflmwabie fociety, that we are in a {{ate to judge, if the conduct of per- ibns, difengaged from every religious tie, ought te be given as an example, and if their morality can fuf- fice for all the circumftances. of life; But in admitting, for a moment, this fuppofitioi^ we ftiould not have a ri^ht to dra.v any deduction- contrary to the truths which I have endeavoured to cilablifti ; for ail thofe who free thernfelves at a cer- tain age, from the yoke of religion, hare been at leaft prepared by it to refpeclive virtue. Principles, in. cii'cated early in life, have a great influence on the human heart, a long time even after our underttandmg: has rejected the reafoning which ferved as the bafts of thofe principles. i'hc foul, formed, wnen the rea-fon begins to dawa, to the love of order, and fuflamed in this d'fpofuion by the force of habit, never entirety lofes this principle. So that, whatever be the opin- ions adopted when the judgment is forrned y it is flow- ly. aad by degrees, tha-t thefa opiniona aft on the character and direft the conduct. Befides, while re- ligion maintains among the greater n.umber of men, a profound refpecl for morality thoie, who re- ject thefe fsnnrnents, kaovv, neverthelefs, that probi- ty leads to. elleem, and to the various advantages which dep-end on it. Ofcourfe, a virtuous atheift m2re y makes us recoiieB, that he lives where virtue is refpetbd : and it is not the inciEcacy, but, on ihe contrary, the indirect influence of religious opinions, which his conduct detnonllrates to me. I think I fee, in a beautiful p.ece of mechanifm, a frnall part broken If from the chain, and which maintains its p. ace, by , *he force Hill iubfiflmg of genet al cauihbnuin, What ! 08 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF What ! would you have need of religion to be a' Koneft man ? Here is an interrogative, with which they hope to embarrafs thofe who wifh to preferve to morality its beft fuppsrt ; and the dread, that fome have, of not giving an honourable idea of their fenti- mems, induces them to reply with quicknefs, that cer- tain^ they fhould Rot need the check of religion, and thar the dictates of their heart would always be fuf- ficient to 3ireft them. This anfwer is undoubtedly very refpeftable. But for my part, 1 avow, I fhould merely fay, that virtue has fo many charms, when ie has been a long time praftifed, that a truly fcnfible man would continue to bejufl, even when every relig- ious fentiment was annihilated ; but that it is uncer* tain, whether, with a political education, his princi- ples might have been the fame : and I fhould add further, that no one perhaps, could be certain, that he would have fuHicient ftrength to refift a revolution of ideas fimilar to thofe that we have juft fuppofed, were he to fall at the fame time into a flate of mifery and dejeftion. which would make him revolt at the enjoy- ments and the triumphs of others; It is always in a like fituation, that it is neceffsry to place ourfelvesj to judge properly of certain queftions > for all thofe a who enjoy the favours of fortune, have, in confe- quence of this fortunate condition, fewer objefts of en- vy, and are left fubjeci to temptations : and in the midft of the different comforts, which peaceably fur- round them, it is riot the principles of others, of which they know the want. As for philofophical writers, if it were among them,, tkat we are to fearch for the principal defenders of the new opinions and if, at the fame time, their moral conducl were cited as an exampie we fhould have to obferve, that a retired life, love of ilucly. and a con- ftint habit of reflexion, ought to fpread a kind of calm over their fentiments. Befides, delivered up to abftraction, or pre-occupied by general ideas, they know not all the paffions, and they are feldom per- fonaliy engaged in thofe ardent purfuits which Itimu- &te fociety. They cannot then determine, with cer- RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 3 tscrnfy, what would have been the degree of their refitting force, if, without any other defenfive arms, th'an their principles, and no guide but convenience, they "had to combat againtt the allurements of fortune and ambition, which p re lent themfelves in every Hep of our worldly career. ' They have, alfo, like ail the inventors and the propagators of a new fyftem. vani- ty, which engages" rhsra to multiply the number of their difciples : and how, in fat, could they be able -to flatter themfelves with any fuccefs., if, in attacking tha moll refpeftable opinions, they had not endeavour- ed to prove that their dotlrines were not in eppotition to morality ? Beh'des. it is very neceiTary, after hav- ing filently fapped the foundation of our- dwelling, that they fupport for fome time the edifice, were it, only while they have witlius a common habiiation were it only during the interval when we fliould be able to judge in ther prefence, of the utility of their inftruclions. In mort. very often, perhaps, the dupes of iheir own heart, they have been induced to believe, that, becaufe they were at the fame time irreligious by fyftem, and jull by charaQcr and habit, religion and virtue have not a necefifary vision ; and if it be true, that in the grand ir.tereRs of life, the flightcft doubi has fome influence on our actions, would it be poflible, that at the time when they would feek to {hake relig- ious opinions, even when they are ridiculed in con- verfation, they would ftiil endeavour to preferve a fe- cret connexion with them, by the propriety of their condisft ? It is thus, that, in the difputes of princes, or in the quarrels of miniders, the members of the fame family have fomstimes the art ofdividing them- felves, in order, at all events, that one o( their friends fiiall be in each party. Thefe different reflexions ought neceffarily to be taken into conlideration, before we give ourfelves up to the inferences that they would wi(h to draw from the manners of irreligious men. But, to difcredit their arguments, it is fufficient to obferve, that we can- not make any application of them to the muft numer- as clafs of wen, Honctt.^thaifts Iwe never exifted, amon? iQ OF THE IMPORTANCE OF among the commonalty : religion comprehends all thei? knowledge in morality : and if once they were to lofs thjf guide, their conduct would be abfolutely depend- ent on chance and circumftances. It i&flill eflential to obferve, that, according to the motives to which we can attribute the relaxation of moral principles, there exiUs a great difference between ihe various characters which attend vicious aclions. A depraved man, though religious, does wrong by acci- dene, through weaknefs, and according to the (ucceilive tranfports of his paffions. But the wicked atheift has not a fixed time ; opportunities do not furprife him : he fearches for them, or waits fcr: them with impa- tience. He yields not through the contagion of imi- tation : but he takes pleafure in fetting an example, He is not a corrupt fruit ; he is himielf the tree of evil. Another objection is raifed, but of a very different kind. They point out the contrail, frequently per- ceived, between the conduct and iHe religions fenti- snenti of the greater part of men ; an oppofuion from which they would wifh to conclude, that thcfe fenti- ments are not a certain fafeguard ; and they add, to fupport their argument, that in examining the belief of all thofe, whofe licentious life is terminated by an ig- nominious death, we perceive that the greater number- is compofed of people blindly fubjecl to religious opin- ions. Undoubtedly^ thefe opinions form not, at all times, a complete refinance to the different {tarts of our jpaf- iions but it fuffices, that they may be the moft effica- cious. There have been, and there ever will be, vic- ious men in the bolbm of fociety, even where religion has thegreateit influence; for it a&s not on us like a mechanical force, by weights, levers, and fprings, of which we can calculate exaftiy the power. It is not an arbitrary modification of our nature; but we are enlightened, guided, and animated, according to our difpoiitions and fenfibility, and according to the degree of our own efforts in the numerous conflicts which ve to iuftain. It would be then an evident piece of* RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, of treachery, to attack religion, by drawing a pifture of the vices and crimes, from which it has not been able io guard fociety, inftead of fixing our attention on *U thediforders which it checks or prevents. They are equally wrong, who reprcfent the general !angour of religion, as a proof that it has, in our time, very little influence on morality. It would be neceflary rather to remark, how great muft have been that pow- er, which, even in the decline of its force, is {till fuffi- cient to concur to the maintenance of public order. W ihould be authorifed to fay, how valuable is the whole, when we receive fo much advantage from a part ? In fhort, the confequence that they would wi(h to draw from the opinions, and from the faith of wretches finking under the fword of juftice, is an abufe of rea- foning, Men termed religious, forming the major part of the populace, we muft among them neceflarily meet the greater number of malefaftors ; in the fame manner that we are Cure to find, in this clafs, more men of a particular age, ftature, or complexion. But, if they have a right to ufe fuch an argument to cenfure a re- ligious education, they might, with the fame reafon, conteft the falubrity of breaft-rniik, alleging, that many fick and dying perfons have received this nourishment. We (hould never confound a common circumftance with a general caufe ; th-:ie are two ideas abfclutely There are other objeftions, which equally deferre to be difcuffed ; but they will find a place, with more propriety, after the chapter, where I fhall examine, under different heads, the influence of religious opt- ions on our happinefs. You have feen, and you will perceive ftiii more, in the progrefs of this work, that I do not endeavour to elude difficulties ; for before I determined to defend, according to my abilities, a caufe which I could wifh tQ render dear to mankind, I care- fully dud ied the means: and after having fortified myfelf againft the fyflems oppofite to my fenumer.ts, I fear not to examine the motives which fcrve to fupport .them. CHAPTER OF THE IMPORTANCE 6F CHAPTER V x . influence of Religious Principles on ciw Happinefs. S we have fhown the clofe connexion of morali- ty with religious opinions, we have already pointed out the principal relation of thefe opinions with. public good ; fince the repofe and interior iran- quility of fociefy eiTemially depend on the maintenance of civil order, and the exa8 obfervance of the laws of juftice. But a great part of human happinefs does not arife from the community : thus, the benefits re- ligion imparts would be very imperfect, if they were not extended to our moft intimate fentiments if they were not ufeful in thofe fecret conflicts of different af- fetUons, which .agitate our fouls, and which preoccupy our thoughts. Religion is very far from deserving this reproach. That, which raifes it indeed above every kind of legiflaticn, i, that it influences equally public good and private happinefs. We ought to examine this truth : but to do it philosophically, we muft nec- effarily contemplate, and pry into our nature, and ex- amine, for a moment, into ihe hrft caufes of the enjoy- ments or the anxieties of our minds. Men, when they have advanced a few fleps in the world, and as fooa as their intellectual faculties begin to open, extend their views, and live in the future. Sensual pleafuresand bodily pain only detain them in the prefent. But in the long intervals, which exift be- tween the renewal of thefe fenfations, it is by antici- pation and memory that they are happy or nniferaWe : and tecoileQ'on is only interfiling, as it is perceived to Jkep up the connexion between the palt and future. Undoubtedly, the influence of the futuie, on allourmo*- often cfcapes our notice, I'o cite fome ex- amples RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 73 Smples of this truth, we believe that only the prefcnt inoment produces happinefs, when we receive eulcgi- urns, obtain fome mark of diftinftion, or are /nformed 6f an unexpected augmentation of our fortune; and * ftill more, when we arc pleafed with the fport of our imagination, or the difcoveries of our reafon incur c'iofet or in converfation. Thefe enjoyments, and many others fimilar. we call prefent happinefs ; though there is not any one of them, which does not owe us value, and even reality, to the fingle idea of futurity* In fact, refpeft, applaufe, the triumphs of ielf-lcve, the fore-runners oi" fame, and even fame itfelf, are the acquifnions which education and habit have rendered precious, ~in exhibiting always beyond them fome oth- er advantage, of which .thefe firft were only the fym- bo!s. Often, indeed, the laft object of our ambition is but an enjoyment of opinion, the confufed image of fome pofleHion more real. Every where we fee vague hopes hurry away our imagination. We fee the ex- pected good, the immediate end of our meditation, or the obfcure motive of the eitimation we annex to the various fatisfactions of which our prefent happinefs is compofed. Thus, indirectly, and alrhoft unknown to ourfelves, all is in perfpeclive in our moral exifience : and it is by this rcafoniiig that, always deluded, we are i'eldom perfectly deceived. Subje6ted by long habij, it is in vain that we would wilh to feparate the imagi- nary advantages of opinion from the delulions of hope which furround them, and by which we have been le- duced ali our life. There is but a fmall part of the moral fyftem, whicfe we cannot mike agree with this manner of explaining the principal caule of our pieafures and of our pains, 1 am very far, however, from wifcing to make the fentimcnts, which unite men by the charm of friend- fnip, depend on the fame principle ; and which have, fucli a i effential influence on their happinefs. AH is real in thefe affections ; fince they are a funple affoci- ation of ourfeive3 to others, and them to us : in (his view it may be confidcrea a<;, in feme meafure, pro- ionging our tr.vn eniftencfr : but this divifion, fo inti* C^ mate 74 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF mate of the good and ev il cf life, does not deflrcy their ciTence. Friendship doubles our pleafures ai;d our comforts : and it is by the clofe alliance of two (ymp- athizing fcu!s ; that \ve are fortified again!! ail events. But it is always with the fame paUiens lhat it is necci- iary to combat ; thus, whcthei we remain folitary. oar live in others, the future prefervcs ils influence over us. Jf fuch he, however, our moral nature, that the ob- jel of our wifhes will always be at feme diflancc if our thoughts, like the courfe of the waves, be ever aftive, and prefTing forward if our preient enjoy- ments have a fecret tic with the imaginary advantages of opinion, of which the lail term is Hill a fleeting ftadow in fhort^ if all be future in the fate of man ; with what intereir, with what love, with what refpefr, ought we not to conlider this beautiful fyflem of hope, of which religious opinions are the majeflic founda- tion ? What encouragement they prefent ! What an ' end lo all other ends ! \Vhat a grand and precious idea, by its connexion with the moil intimate and ge- neral fentiment, the defire of prolonging ourexiftence! That, which men dread moft, is the image of an eter- 3ial annihilation, The abfolute deftru&ion of all the faculties which compofe their being, is for them the downfall of the whole ur.iverfe : and they are anxious to feek for a refuge againfl this overwhelming thought. Undoubtedly, it is according to nature, according to ihe degree of itrength of their religious opinions, that men feize., with more or lefs confidence, the Lopes which they give, and the recompense they promife. But doubt and obfcurity have a powerful a&ion, while fupreme happinefs is the objcft ; fcrevcn in the affairs of this life, the grandeur of the prize, of- fered to our ambition, excites ilill more our ardour, than the probability offuccefs. But where fhould we fix where attach the flighted hope if even the idea of a God, this firft prop of religion, were ever cieflroy- cd if, from the infancy of men. we did not p;cier,t to their reflexion, that worldly confederations are as HanfienUs themfelvsr a;id if, early in life, tr.oy were OPINIONS. 75 :'. h-nbbd in their own eyes- if men applied ih cm (elves to itiile the internal fentiments, which inform them of the fpintuality of their fouls? Difcouraged in this manner by thefirft principles of their education, lUes- ?ned in all i'ne movements which carry their reflexions into futurity, they wonld often take retrofp^.clive views. The pad recalling an irreparable lofs, would foo much captivate their attention: and 1 their minds, in the midfl cf lime, would no more be in a neceflary equilibrium to enjoy the prefent moment. In fliort, this moment, which is not, in reality, but an imper- ceptible fraction, would appear ali-.ioll nothing to our eyes, if it were not united in our contemplations, to ' the unknown number of days and vcars which are be- fore us. U is then, becaufe there jj nothing lirsuedl in the idea of happi'nefs and duration, with which re- ligious fentiments imprefs us, that onr imagination ir not forced to recoil on itfelf, when it is inieuGbly icft in the imnaenfity of futurity. When, in following the c.nirfe of a noble river, a vaft horizon is p re fen ted to o:.$r vie, 1 /, we turn not our obfervation on the fandy banks we are coaihng. But if, changing our fuuation, or twilight narrowing this horizon, our attention were turned on the barren flat we are near ; then only we fhould remark all its dry- nefs and fteriluy. It is the farrsein-the career of life. When the grand ideas of infinity elevate our thoughts and our hopes, we are lefs afFecled by the wearineis and difficulties ilrewedin our path. But if, char our principles, a gloomy philofophy were to oblcut our perfpcftive, our whole attention being drawn back on the furroundiQg objets, we (hould then very dif- tinclly difcover the void'and iliuGonof the fatisfaclion:i of which our moral nature is fufceptible. Let us recollect, then, all the happinefs which we owe to religious ientiments and obvious reflection*, which, in attracting us continually towards the future, feem- willing to five from the prefent moment the pur- eft part of ourieives ; thefe are, without our perceiv- * ing it, the enchantments of the moral world. If it T-ere poiUbie that, by cold reafoning, we at length de- itroyed 76 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ftroyed them, a ftrong melancholy would ally itfeif 10- mofl of our reflexions : and it would feern as if a wind- ing-fheet had taken place of that tranfparent veil, through which the profpecls of life arc embelliflied. Undoubtedly there would be flill fome charm in the cbys of youth, when the pleafures of the fenfes prefs on us, and fill a confiderabie time: but when (he paf- fions are tempered by age when our firength has fceen broken by years, or prematurely attacked by ficknefs in fhort, when the time is arrived, in which. *ner, are conftrained to feek, in the principles of mo- rality, the chief fupporl of their happinefs what. would bco:ne of them, if ihofe hopf% and opinions were diffipated, which afford folid comfort and encour- agement : and if an imagination, thus aclive, were weakened, which enlivens ail the objeds that antici- pation can reach ? Refleft, (hen, with attention, on the different con- fequences which- would be the fatal train of the anni- hilation of religious opinions. It is not a fingle idea, a fingle view, that men would lofe : it would be, be- fides, the intereft and charm of all their defires and ambition. There is nothing indifferent, when our ac- tions and cefigns can be in any refpeCt attached to a. duty. There is nothing indifferent, when the ex- ercife and the improvement of our faculties appear xhe commencement of an exiflence, whofe termination is unknown : but, when this period offers itfelf on all (ides to our view when we approach it every mo- ment, what ftrong illufion would be fufficient to de- fend us from a fad defpondency ? Striclly circumfcrib- ed in the fpace of life, its limits would be in fuch a oianner prefent to our mind, to every fentiment and enterprise, perhaps, that we fhould be tempted to ex- amine what it is, that can merit, on our part, an afli- duous refearch what it is that deferves clofe and painful application. Indeed, fame itfelf, which is called immortal, would no more hurry us on in the fame manner, if we had a fecret conviction, that can- not grow, rife, fubfift, but in fuch portions of fpace, and fuch durations of time, as our imagination cannot Conceive. It is icceffary, that the uncertain future 7 bo RELIGIOCS OPINIONS. 77 l)& flill our country, in order that we fliould be able to feel that unquiet love of a long celebrity, and thofe ardent impulfes towards great things, which are the falutary effeft of it. We deceive ourfelves, then, I think, when we ac- cufe religion of neceffarily rendering the bufinefs and Jhe pleafures of the world uninterefling. Its chief pleafures, on the contrary, are derived from religion from thofe ideas of eternity, which it prefents to our mind, which ferve to fuftain the enchantments of hope, and the fenfe of thofe duties, of which our moral na- ture is ingenioufly compofed. Religious opinions are perfectly adapted to our na- ture, to our weakneffes and perfections. They conic to our fuccour in our real difficulties, and in thole which the abufe of our forefight creates. But in v/nat is grand and elevated in our nature, it lympuhizet molt: for, if men be animated by noble thoughts if ihey refpecVthcir intelligence, thsir chief ornament if they be interefted about the dignity of their nature, they will fly, with tranfport, to bow before religion, which ennobles their faculties, preserves their ftrengtii r>f mind, and which, through its fentivnents, unites them to him, whofe power aftoniihes their undei [land- ing. It i.s then that, confidering thernfdves as an emanation of the Infinite Being, the commencement of all things, they will not let themfelves be drawn afide by a philofophy, whofe fai lefTons tend to per- fuade us, that reafon, liberty, all this immaterial of- fence of ourfelves, is the mere refult of a fortuitous combination, and an harmony without intelligence. We have never, perhaps, obfervcci, with fufficient attention, the different kinds of happinefs which would be deftroyed, or at leaft fenQbly weakened, if this du- coura^ing doQrine were ever propagated-. What would then become of the moll fublime of all fentiments, that of admiration, if, inllead of the grand view of the univerfe, far from reviving the idea of a Supreme Being, we retraced only a vatt exigence, but v/itiioutdefign, caufe, or de(linatio:i and if the aft on - ilhment of our minds were itfelf butane of the fpon- caneous accidents of blind matter ? (I o 7 8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF What would become of the pleafure which we findf in the deveiopement, exercife, and progrefs of OUF faculties, if this intelligence, of which we love to glo- ry, were only the refult of chance and if all our ideas were but a mere obedience to the eternal law of mo- tion if our liberty were but a fiction and if we had not, if 1 may fay fo, any pofleffion of ourfelves ? What would become, then, of that aftive fpirit of curiofity, whofe charm excites us to obferve continu- ally the wonders with which we are furrounded, and which infpires, at the fame time, the clefire of pene- trating, in feme meafure, into the myftery of our ex- iftence, and the fecret of our origin ? Certainly, it would little avail us to lludy the courfe of nature, i this fcience could only teach us to comprehend the af- flicting particulars of our mechanical flavery : a prif- oner cannot be pleafed to draw the form of his fetters, qt reckon the links of his chains. But how beautiful is the world> when it is repre- fentcd to us as the refult of a {ingle and grand thought and when we find, every where, (he {lamp of an eternal intelligence ! and how pleafing to live with the fentiments of ailonifhrnent and adoraiion deeply imprefFed on ot;r hearts I But what a fubjeft of glory are the endowments o he mind, when we can confider them as a participa- tion of a fublime nature, of which God alone is the perfect model. And how delightful, then, to yield to the ambition of elevating ourielves ihll more, by cx- crcifing our thoughts and improving all our faculties. In Ihort, how many charms has the obfcrvation of nature, when, at every new difcovery, we believe we advance a ftcp towatds an acquaintance with that ex-r alted wiltiom, which has preicribed laws to the uni- verfe, and maintains it in harmony ! It is then, and only then, that the fludy is truly intercfting, and the progrefs of knowledge becomes an increafe of happi- nefs. Yes, under the influence of opinions, ariling from the notions of materialilh ali is languifhirig in our curiofny all is mere intlinft in our admiration all K httinous in (he ieotiments which we have of ourfclves : RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. ^ urfelves: but with the idea of a God, all is lively, all is reafonable and true. In ftiort, this happy and prolific idea appears as neceffary to the moral nature? of man, as heal is to plants, and to all the vegetable world. You may think, perhaps, that in examining the in- fluence of religion on happinefs, I havedwelton feve- ral confiderations, which are not of equal importance to all men : there arc indeed, fome more particularly adapted to that part of fociety, whole minds are im- proved by education ; but I am very far from wifh- ing to divert a moment my attention from the numer- ous clafs of the inhabitants of the earth, whofe happi- nefs and mifery arifes frcm a fimple idea,, proportion- ed to the extent of their intereits arid reflections, Thole, who ieem to have a more prefling and con- fhnt need of the afliftance of religion, have been left, oy the misfortunes of their parents, to the wide world, devoid of property, and deprived alfo of thofe re- fources which depend on education. This clafs o men, condemned to hard labour, are. as it were, con- fined in a nr:gh and uniformly barren path, where every day refembles the laft, where they have not any confuted expectations, or flattering illufion to divert them. They know that there is a wall of feparatio between them and fortune: and if they carrried their views in life forward, they would only diicover the- greadfui flaie any inHrmity would reduce them to- and the deplorable (ituation to which they might be expofed, by the cruel negleft which attends o'd age. With what tranfport, in this fituation, would they not catch at the comfortable hopes which religion pre- i-jnis ! With what fatisfadion wouid they not learn, that after this probationary ftate, where fo much dif- proportion overwhelms them, there would come a time of equality I What would be their complaints, if they were to renounce a fentiment which ilill con- forms itfelf for their advantage, to a general idea, the only one, in ihort, of which they car. make ufe in all events and circunallances of life. ' It is God's will," they fay to ttiemfelves, and this fir ft thought fupports the if So OF THE IMPORTANCE OF their refignatton, <{ God will recompenfe you, GoJ will return it to you," fay they to others, when they receive alms : and thefe words remind tJiem, that the God of the rich and powerful is alfo theirs; and that, far from being indifferent to their fate, he deigns himfelf to difcharge their obligations. How many other popular expreffions continually recal the fame fentiment of confidence and confola- tion ! It is this continual relation of the poor with the Deity, which raifes them in their own eyes, and which prevents their {inking under the weight of con- tempt, with which they are oppreffed, and gives them fometimes courage to refift the pride of earthly great- refs. What grander effecl could be produced by a idea fo fimple ? Thus, among the different things which charafterife religion, I remark, above all, what feems more particularly the fealofa divine hand : it is, that the moral advantages, of which religion is the fource, refembling the grand blefiings of nature, be- long equally to ali men : and, as the fun in thediftri- butionof its rays, oblerves neither rank norfortune ; fo 9 in the fame way, thofe comforting fentiments, which are connected with the conception of a Supreme Be- ing, and the hopes united to it, become the property of the poor as well as the rich of the weak as well as the powerful ; and can be as fecurely enjoyed undsr the lowly roof of a cottage, as in a fuperb palace. It is civil laws, which increafe, or give a fanftion to the in- equality of pofieffions : and it is religion which fwecu sns the bitternefs of this hard difproportion. We could not avoid feeling a cornpaflion, as painful ar well founded, if, in confidering attentively the fate of the greater number of men, we fuppofed them all at one ilroke deprived of the only thought which fupported their courage. They would no more have a God to confide their forrows with. They would no more at- tend his ordinances, to fearch for the fentiments of re- fignation and tranquility. They would have no mo- tive for raifing their looks to heaven. Their eyes would be caft down, fixed forever on this abode of grief, of death, and eternal filence, Then defpair would RELIGIOUS OPINIONS,, 8* would even Ilitle their groans : and all their reflexions preying on themfelires, would only ferve to corrode their hearts : then thole tears, which they haveafatis- faftion in (hedding, and which are attracted by the tender perfuafion, that there exifts fome where com- miferation and goodnefs thefe confoling tears would- no more moiflen their eyes. Who has not ieen, fooietirnes, thofe veteran fol- diers, who are proflrate here and there on the pave- ment of a fanftuary, erecled in the miJit of their au- giift retreat ? Their hair, which time has whitened iheir forehead marked with honourable fears that- tp tiering ftep^. which age only could imprefs on them, all inlpire at firil refpeci ; but by what fenuments are we not affected, when we fee them lift up and join with difficulty their weak haadsj to invoke the God of the univerfe, of their heart and mind when we lee them forger, in this interefting devotion, their prefent pains and paii griefs when we fee them rife with a countenance more ferene, and expref- fivc of the tranquility and hope which devotion has infufed thro' their fouls. Complain not in thofe moments, you, who judge of the happinefs of this world only from its enjoyments* Thoir looks are* humbled, their body trembles, and death awaits their ileps. But this inevitable end, whofe image only* terrifies us, they fee coming without alarm. They,- through religion, have approached him who is good- who can da every thing whom none ever loved with- out receiving comfort. Come, and contemplate this light, you whodefpjfs religion you wtu term your- felvcs fuperior to it. Com*, and fee the real value of your pretended knowledge in promoting happinefs,. Change the fate of men, and give them all, if you can, fome portion of the enjoyments of life ; or refpeci a fentiment which ferves them to repulfe the injuries of fortune : and fince even the policy of tyrants has never dared to deftroy it fiuce their power would be inefficient to enable them to fucceed in the favage at- tempt, you, to whom nature has given fuperior en- dowments, be nut more cruel, more inexorable than Or if, by a pitilefs doctrine, you wifii to de- prive Sz OF THE IMPORTANCE OF prive the old, the fick, and the indigent, of the only idea of liappinefs which they can apply to, go from prifon to pnfon, and to thole dreary ceils, where the wretched priloners ftruggle with their chains ; and fhut with your own hands, if you have the heart to do it, the only aperture through which any ray of light- can reach them. It is nor, however, a (ingle clafs of fociety, which derives an habitual a fii fiance from religion ; it is all thofe who have to complain of the abufe of authority, of public injuftice, and the different viciflitudes of their fate ; it is the innocent man who- is condemned the virtuous man who is flandered the man who has once afted incontinently, and been cenfured with too much rigour all thofe, in fhort, who, convinced of the purity of their own confcience, leek, above all, for a fecret witnefs of their intentions and an enlight- ened judge of their conducl. A man of an exalted character, endowed with fen- fibility of heart, experiences alfo the neceffity of form- ing to himfelf an image of an unknown Being, to which he can unite ali the ideas of perfeHon which fill his imagination. It is to him that he refers thofe different lentiments, which are ufelefs amidft the cor- ruptions which furround him. It is in Gcd alone, that he can find an inexhauttible fubjeft ofafionifh- inent and adoration : and with him alone can he re- new and purify his lentiments, when he is wearied with the fight of the vices of the world, and the habitual return of the fame paffions. In (hort, at every in- ilant, the happy idea of a God foftens and embellilh- es our path through life ; by it we aflociate ourfelves with delight to all the beauties of nature : by it every thing animated enters into communication with us. Yes, the noifj of the wind, the murmurs of the water, the peaceable agitation of plants, all. ferve to fupport, or melt our fouls, provided that our thoughts can rile to an Universal caufe provided we candifcover every where the works of him whom we love provided we can diftinguilh the veftiges of his footfteps and the iraces of his intentions a:id above all, if we can fup- pofej that we curfeives contribute to the difpiay of his RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, *3 power, and the fplendor of his goodnefs. But it is principally over the, enjoyments of friend- Ihip that piety fpreads a new charrn. Bounds, limits, cannot agree with a fentiment which is as infinite as thought : it would not fubfift, at lead would be troub- led with continual anxiety. We fhould not confider without terror the revolution of years, and the rapid courfe to time, if thofe benevolent opinions, which enlarge for us the future, did not come to our afhll- ance. Thus, when we hud ourfelves feparated frcnj the objects of our affetUon, lonely meditations bring them back, to aid the general idea of happinefs, which, more or lefs, diftinftly terminates our view : then the tender melancholy, in which one is loft, is changed into pleating emotions ; and you have, above all, need of thofe precious opinions, you. who, timid in a bull- ling world, or discouraged by difappointments, find yourfelf a folitary wanderer on the earth, be.caufe you partake not of the paffions which agitate the greater part of mankind ! You want a friend, and you only iee pecuniary affociations. You want a comforter ; awd you only fee the ambitious, Grangers to all thofe who have not power or a diliinguifhed reputation. A tender conhdant is at leafl neceffary ; and the aOive fcenes of lociety difperfc the affections, and diminifii every intereft. Jn ;en you have this friend, this confidant, this comforter when you have acquir- ed him by the moil tend-er union- when you jive in a fon, a hufband, or a cherifhed wife what other idea but that of a God, can come to your relief, when the frightful image of a feparation prefents itfelf to your thoughts ? J t is, indeed, in fuch moments, that we em- brace with transport all thofe opinions, which tend to fofter the idea of continuity and duration. How gladly, then, we lend an ear to thofe words of comfort which .arc fo perfectly confonant with the denies and (he wants of our foul ! What ailociation of ideas fo frightful, as that of the eternal annihilation of life and love ? How can we unite to that loft divifion of in- tcrefls and of fentitnents, to that charm of our days how can we unite to fo much of exigence and happi- nefs. the internal perfuafion aud habitual image of a dcatk 84 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF death without hope, a deftruftion without return ? How can we offer only the idea of oblivion to thofe affectionate minds, who have centred all their felf-love, all their ambition, in the objeft of their efteem and fendernefs ; and who, afier having renounced them- fclves, are. as it were, depofited entirely in the bofom of another, to fubfiil there by the fame breath of life and the lame deliiny ? In fhort, near the tomb, which, perhaps, they will one day bedew witb their tears, how can they pronounce the overwhelming w^ords, * ; forever ! forever!" Oh ! horrors of horrors, both for the mind and feelings ! and if it be neceffary, that the contemplations of a man of feeling approach for a moment to the frightful confines, let a benevolent cloud at leaft cover the dark abyfs ! Tears and for- row ilill afford feme comfort, when we give them to * beloved (hade when we can mix with our griefs the name of a God and when this name appears to you the cement of all nature. But if in the univerie all were deaf to our voice if no echoes were to re- peat our plaints if the {hades of eternal darknefs had hid from us the objeft of our love and if they were advancing to drag us into the lame night if he be the mod unhappy being, who furvives, and cannot even hope, that what death has fevered 'will again be unit- ed if, when his whole foul was filled with the recol- lection of a loved object, he could not fay : " He is in * iome place ; his heart fo affectionate, his foul fo pure 6 " and heavenly waits for me, and calls me, perhaps, to " be near that unknown Beincr. whom we have, with "common confent, adored ;" and if. inflead of a thought fo dear, it were neceflary, without any doubt, to confi- der the earth as a fepulchre for ever {hut my heart dies within me. Unable to contend with the dreadful images the univerfe itlelf fecms to dilfolvc, and over- whelm us in its downfall, O icurce of fa many hopes, fwblinie idea of a God ! abandon not the man who has feniibility. Thou art his courage ihou art his futuri- ty thoa art his life ; leave him not deloia'e ; and above all, defend him from i he afccncency of a bar- ren and fatal philoiophy, which would afflict his heart b) 1 pretending tocomfcrt it. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 8 5 Well, I make another effort ; and I adclrefs myfelf o you, who bouil of being enlightened by a frefh ray f wifdom. I am loft in the moft profound grief, A father, a mother, who guided me by their counfels, and watched over me by their tendernefs thefe pro- te&ing parents have juft been taken from me: a fon, a daughter, both my comfort and pride, have been cut off in the prime of youih : a faithful companion, whoftt words, fentiments, and atlions, were the fupport of my life, has vanifhed from my arms. A moment of ftrcngth remains with me. I come to you, ye philofophers ; what ha* r e you to fay ? f< Stek lor dijupationi Turn w your thoughts to fome other objeft. An abyfs not *' to be fathomed feparates thee forever from the ob- '* jecls of thy tenderuefs : and thefe recollections, * J which pierce thee through, with fo many forrows,. '" are only a form of vegetation, the laft play of orga- " 6i nized matter.'* A!as i have you ever loved, and 'can you pronounce, tranquilly, thefe cruel words ! Bamfh far from me fuch confolations. 1 dread them more than my anguitii. And thou, O daughter of 'heaven, lovely and mild religion, \vhat would ft thou 4ay ? " Hope, hope ; what God gave t!*se he can again reftore," What a difference betweep, ihefe two replies ! One abafes, the other exalts us ! It is left to men to chooie, among their different guides, or rather to determine, whether "tlicy prefer darkncfs to lisjht, death fo life whether they prefer blighting winds to refr-eChing dews the fro its of winter, to the charms of ipring and the infenfible flonc, 10 the moft brilliant gifts of animated nature. \ will fay it the world, without the idea of a Gcd, would be only a clefert, en-bellifhed by a few cMufions, Yet nun, d. Enchanted by the light of reaibn, would iiiul no:!iin;;, throughout, but fnbjefts of fadnefs. I have fecn them, the dreams of ambition, the allure- ments of fame, and the vain i'hows of grandeur; and even when the illufion was moil dazxlinp, my heart ai- %vays retired into itfelf. and was attracted "to an idea more grand, to a confolaiion more iubiiantial. I have experienced, that the idea of the exiftcnce of a Su- preme 36 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF preme Being threw a charm over every a re urn fiance of life. 1 have found, that this ftntiment alcne was able to infpire men with true dignity : for every thing, which is merely perforal, is of little value -all that places feme an inch high above others. It is nee- eiTary, in order to have any reafon to glory s that, a,t the iame time we exalt ourfelves, we elevate human nature. We.muft refer it to that fublime intelligence, which feerm to have dignified it with fome of its at- iributes. We then hardly perceive thofe trivial dif- linftions, which are attached to tranfitory things, on which vanity exercifes her fway. It is then that we leave to this queen of the world her rattle and toys, and that we fearch elfewhere another portion. It js then, alfo, that virtue, exalted fentiments, and grand views, appear the only glory of which man ought tp Ibe jealous. CHAPTER VI. The fame fulj eft continued. The influence of Virtue en Happinefs. IT is not fufficient.to have demonfirated, that religr ion, fo neceflary to feeling minds, agrees perfectly *vith the moral nature of men. It is iliil necelfary to obferve, that the habitual exercife of virtue, enjoined as a duty in the name of God, is not in oppofnion with happinefs : and after having confidered a truth fo important, I will prove, that it is not contrary to what has been laid in the firtt chapttr of this work, on the impoflibility of making men attentive to public order, jTierely by the motive of porfonal intereft. We cannot deny, that virtue often obliges us to &ELIGIOUS OPINIONS. g; -conquer our appetites and firuggle with our pafTions. But if thefe conflicts, and the viftory which attends them, lead to more folid and durable fatisfa6lions, than thofe of which foily and vice portray the image, they would mifconceive the reftriftions of morality, who perpetually united the idea of felf -denial with thai pf a facrifice. We cannot fix our attention on the various objecls of defire which occupy the thoughts of men, without feeing clearly, that if they abandoned themfelves, un- redrained, to all their wild propenfities, they would often ft ray far from ;ne (hue of happiriefs which forms the. objeft of their wifhes. Any of the ble flings flrewecl here and there in our path cannot fill the void of life. Are they the gratifications of the fenfes which cap?i- vate us ? Their duration' ijr determined by our weak- nefs : and we cannot break loofe from the immutable limits oppofed by nature. Arc they the advantages dependent on opinion, that we iook for, inch as hon- our and praife ; or the exterior fplendor, which for- tune gives ? You will foon perceive, that quickly af- ter they are obtained, the charm is flown. They re- femble Proteus in the fable, who only appeared a God at a diftance. Men then have more nerd than is fup- pofed. of an interefl independent of their fenfes and imagination : and this intereft we find in the duties morality inculcates and eflablifhes. In all times, in all circumftances, we have a choice between good and evil : thus, virtue may be continu- ally in a Hate of aftiori ; and we may find the applica- tion of it even in the moil apparently indifferent rela- tions of life ; becaufe virtue only has the privilege of connecting little things to a great object; and becaufe it can only be encouraged by confcience, which, in accompanying all our actions and meditations, feems to augment our exiflence, and procure thofe fatisfac- tions which are not known to the crowd, who do not al from principle. Senfual pleasures, the defires of vanity, the long- ings of ambition, would foon extinguish themfe'ves, were they not fed by the continual activity of fociety, wbifrfe SB OF THE IMPORTANCE Oi< v;h:ch produces new fcenes. ana difp'ays evc-ry mo ment forne changes of decoration. Virtue, fatisfiest ".vith its view:,, has not need of a fuccefHon of fimila* tlefircs. Its paths are varied ; but the end is ever ihs fame. We cannot fearch for the enjoyments of life in the imaginary advantages of opinion, without allowing ethers t:> conftruft the lav. s on which our happinefs is, founded and of courfe difcord mud refult. which ic;ivcs us a prev to every kind of emotion. Virtus lias not any 2iTociates in her counfcls ; fhe judges her- ielf of all fhat is good. And in this refpe6l, a virtu*. us man is the molt independent of all beings : for it .is from himfelf a'one, tha> he receives coni/nands, and expects approbation. Yes, the obfcure man, who ioes good in fecret, is more mailer of his delliny, than the being ever will be, who {eems loaded with all the favours of fortune, and has need, that fafliion and iranfient gratifications come to determine his talie, and jive laws to his vanity, io enable him to enjoy them. The little paflions of the world, trying to render tis happy, leaa us on from one illufion to another : and the tail boundary always appears at a diflance. Vir- tue, very different, has its recprnpenfes within itfelf* It is not in events nor in uncertain fuccefs, that it places contentment. It is even in our refolution, io the calmnefs which accompanies it, and the fecret fen^ timent which precedes it. Recollection ever compofe.< the principal happincl^ of virtue: while worldly vanity is tormented by the .remembrance of what is gone forever ; and with re- gard to the palHons in general, the pad is but 3 gloomy fiiadow, out of which proceed, from lime to time, for- rowand remorfe, The intervals which occur between the flarts of violent paflions, arc almoft always filled by fadnefc and apathy. We all know, according to the laws of nature, that lively and ardent fenfations produce lan- guor the moment the tumult is over. Virtue, in the enjoyment of thofe plealures peculiar to itfelf, know? nothing of thofe irregular emotions : bcqauie alt itj principles RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. $9 principles are firm, and it afts round its own centre ; befides, it alfo invites us continually to fet a juft value on that happinefs which is mod proper for us. It dilates its nrft laws in the bofom of domeftic life, and employs all its (Irength to fuftain, by the ties of duty, our moll rational and firp.pls afFeftions. Virtue, which is the offspring of religion, is of the greatefl. ufe in delivering men from the tormenting fo- licitude of doubt, by prefenting a general fyitem ot conduft ; and abo-/e a'l, by marking fixed points to direft them, by telling them whit to love, choofe, and do. Thus, while men, carried away by their imagina- tion, continually allow that they are deceived by phantoms, and lend the mod glowing colours to thole which have juft efcaped them, virtue fets no VAJUC bti; on what it poflefTes, and knows not regret. If would fecm, at the firft glance, that the defires and caprices of the imagination cannot agree with any kind of re- ftrainL However it is not Icfs true, that thefs trif- ling forerunners of our will have need of a guide, and often of a malbr. Oir firft indications and fenti- ments are frequently uncertain, weak and wavering : it is of confequence to our happtnefs, that this tremb* ling (talk fiiould be fixed and fupported : and fucli is the fervice virtue renders to the human mind. We fee not any uniformity in ths condu& of thofc who are not influenced by motives of duty. They have too many things to regulate, too many to decide about every inflant, wluu convenience is their onir guide* To (imp! i fy the management of ourieives, we ihould fubmit to the government of a principle whicb. may be eafily applied to null of our deliberations. In fliort, virtue has this great advantage, that it find*? its happinefs in a kini of refpecl for the rights and claims of the different members of the community, and that all its fentim-nts ieem to unite thernfelves to the general harmony. The padlons, on the contrary, are almolt always hoftile. The vain man deft res that others (liould grace his - triumphs : the proui wiQics them to feel their inferiority ; the ambitious, thii th.'y keep clzar of his p-trfait , the imperious, *H 2 that >o OF THE IMPORTANCE OF diat they bend to him. It is the fame of the different competi'ions, 'which an exceflive love of praife, higl* reputation, or fortune, gives birth to. In the path they choofe, every one would wifh to go alone, or ad- vance before all the reft : and, occupied about their *own incerelr, they clafti inconsiderately with thofe of others. Virtue, very different in following its courfe, fears neither rivals nor competitors. It does not jof- tle with any one : the road is fpacious : and aii msjr \valk at their cafe. It is an orderly aliance, of vvbicji morality is the knot, drawing together by the fame motives and hopes held in common, that chain of du- vies and ientiments which unite the virtues of. men it ihe idea! model of al! perfection. Virtue, which guards us from the fnares of our fenie^a end checks our blind deiires, is, befidss, the bafis of the in oft precious wifdom. But it is not tbf intereil of a day, or the pfeafutcs of a moment, that it ptoMfclsi it is the whole of iifc, that it takes under I 1 -.- iuperimeiirlency. It is, to {peak metaphorically, :'rz. vindicator of futuruy. the rc-prefcnta::ve of duration, and becomes, to the feelings, what forefight is ID the ro'nd. We muli then, with rsfpccl to private man- ncrs, con fider virtue as E prudent fjiend. uiughi by the e.xperience of all ages, \vhodirc6ts our f.!cp<, and never less the flambeau waver, v/hofe falutary light ought to guide them. Our tumultuous paftions difpute the honour of partaking the government. It h necefTarv a mailer ihould afngn to each us proper limits one v/ho can keep in peace ail thcfe petty domeflic ty- rants ; which reminds us of the image of Ulyffes. ar- riving fuddenly in che-midO of the hundred kings wh had taken pofleflion cf his palace. Virtue, fome will fay, fcvere in i:s j':dgcnen(s, and aulterc in its forms, wcuid it not deprive us of the greatetl happinefs, the pleafure of being beloved F 1 reply, that virtue in its moil improved ilate, has nor ihis character. 1 reprefent it to inyfclf as a jufl fent- imentof order; far from ban idling all other com- forts, ic leads to them. Thus, benevolence and for- bearance, vhich agree fo well with hum a-;; vreakntfs RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 91 die foe ia! fpirir, Co confident with our nature -ur- Banity in difcourfe and manner that amiable expreff- ioti of a heart, which feeks- to unite itfelf with others all thafe qualities, very far from being ftrangers ( virtue, are us attendants, and brighteft ornaments. Virtue allies itfelf to alt the ideas which can give ex- tent to our mind, and early in life accuftoms us to dif- cern relations, and to facrifice frequently our prefent affections to diftant confederations. It is, of ail our fentiments, that which carries us farlhed out of our- iclvcs, and confeqiientiy has the nearelt refemblance wit!) ab(lra} thinking, it is then, through the a (lift - aiice of virtue, that a man. acquires all ins knowledge of his {Irength and all his grandeur. Vice-, on the Contrary, concentres us in a littie fpace. It feems to be confcious of its own deformity., anct fears all that iurrounds it. It endeavours to fix on a fin- ^Ic objsft, on a (ingle moment, and would wifh to have ptower tu dra:,v into a point our whole exift- ence. It muft ftiil add tlut virtue, by uniiirig a motive te ir atUons, antl by directing towards an end all our ibnIicoet)iS, habituates our mind to order, .and juflneis i.f conception ; and preven-ts our wandering in too jreat a fpace. Thus I have often thought, that it was not only by. his vice?, that. an immoral man is dan- gerous in the adminiitration of public affairs. We ought to fear him alfoas unabieJoconiprehend a whcla, and for his want of capacity to rally all his thoughts and direct them towards any general, principle, live* ry kind of harmony is unknown to him, .every rule is become a burden ; he is buiy but only by Harts ; and it is by accident that a man always veriatile, llurubies Ou what is right. y then fruiy be faid, that morality ferves e ba'.lait to oar fenfiments : its aid enables us to go on without being agitated continually by the caprices of o'jr imagination, without being obliged to turn back at the lirtt appsarance of an obltacie/ Vj.rfjc then c;:lar^es th^ mind,, gives dignity to the ^teftt 9*- OF THE IMPORTANCE OF charaBer and irivefts it with every thing becoming, J all the qualities of men, the moft rare, the moft apt to create refpea, is, that elevation of thouaht fem- iraent, and manners ; that majeftic cqnfiflenc? of cha- raaer which truth alone can prefer*, but which the leaft exaggeration, the moft trivial affeftation, would difconcert or banifh. This refembles not pride, and fill left vanity ; a. one of its ornaments is, that ft nev- er feeks for the homage of others. The man, endow- ed with real dignity, is placed above even his judges, ^e accounts not with them : he lives under the j&v- er ? me H t / his cor 'fcience ; and pro'jd of fuch a nobler Uer, he does not wiffi for any other dependence But as this grandeur is entirely within himfelf, it ceafes to exilt, when he diaates to others what he expefts from them, It can only be reftrained in its juft limits by virtues, which do not pretend to dazzle. It is to the fame principle, that men owe that noble 'eipea for virtue, the moft graceful ornament of a great foul. They owe to it alfo that fimplicity iu thinking and fpeaking, that happy habit of a confci- *nce not m want of being on its guard. A man truly soneft confiders difguife as a detraQor, and defires to appear as he really is. It is not bis interefts to con- EeaJ his weakneffes ; for in a generous heart they are almoft always united to fomething good : and perhaps irankncfs would have become the policy of his mind, if it had not been one of the qualities of his -charaQer- Ihere ,s,Mn every virtue, z kind of beauty which* charms us without reflexion: our moral fenfe, when it is improved by education, is pleafed with that fo- cial harmony winch the fentimentsof juftice preierve. i hefe enjoyments are unknown to men, whoie fclfifli- tcfs renders them infem'ible to every kind of concord and they appear to me to deferve our contcopt in one liential point. It is, that they profit by the refpea hers have for order, without being willing to fubiea. themfelves to the fame rules, and withou? declaring ibhcly their intention. It feems to me, that in this iew, a defecl of morality is indeed a breach of the **ws of hofpitalify.. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 93 In fliort. talents, thofc faculties of the mind which belong more immediately to nar.ure, can never be ap piiecl to great things without the aid of morality ; there is no other way of uniting the intereft of men, and of anatning their love and refpett. flonetty refembles the ancient idioms, according to -which you mutt knov; how to fpeak, when you wifh to be underflood by the Generality : an'i a language is never well known, ln:J by conftunt practice. The imderflarjdmg is lometrmej fufficient to acquire an afcendency in circumscribed relations. You there take men one by one ; and yoj often engage them by proportioning yuurfclf to their tiepih. Baton a vaft theatre, ana principally m pub- l;c adroinifltatipn) where we have need of capfivatin;* ineu in a body, it is neceGTary to fearc'a for a band which will embrace all ; and it is only by a union of talents and virtue, that this chain canbe formed. And when I fee the homage paid by a nation to virtuous eha-rafters when L remark the aihioft indtn-ftive judg- ment which affifts in difcerning them when I fee that they praife and love only what they can conneft to pure virtue, and nob:e intention, I return to my fav- ourite fentiment, aaid believ-c 1 recognize in theft emotions the ftamp of a hand divine. After having tried to give a feeble (ketch of tbo various recompenfcs and different fiitisfalions which feem to appertain to regularity of principles, and pro- priety of conduct, you will perhaps a(k> if you have not a right to conclude from thefe reflexions, that wo can attach men to morality by the mere motive of per- fonal intered? I have already mentioned, that I in- tended to anfwer iuch an objection ; and now is the: time to do it. Virtue, in,its moft improved, ftatc virtue, fuch as- v, r e have juft reprolented is not the work of a mo- ment : it is neceflary that it mould be called forth and ftrengthened by degrees. But it would, be nipped when it firft begins to unfold itfelf, if we deftroyed ihe fimple opinions which ferve to educate it if we. overturned, the only end which can be perceived by all tjiinds and if we weakened th^ fentiments which con- jescl.it wjth thofc wbo, refpecl the laws of morality^ 94 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF and who promote this cultivation by their comment ationsand effeem. Befides, it is not virtue only, bat virtue united to . Afferent motives, which contributes to our happinefs, irusobfervationis very important : and with great facility you may be made to feel the full force of it. roployment is generally reckoned the fureft fource of agreeable imprefJions, of which we are fufceptibie ; but charm would vamfli, if it did not lead to fomc re- compenfe-if it did not {how, in perfpeftive, an in- -reaie of wealth, an enjoyment for our felf-love, a e for fame, or forne other advantages, of which we iwdeOwi- Vainly, fay feme, that the exercife of r Acuities is ofitfelfa pleafure ; certainly, be- caufethat it offers to our view a train of profpefts which fucceed each other. But there mutt always be I flrong _motive to direft m to the right road, and make s fet off: our bark muft be driven by the wind: in ?' t Ve J , k ; nd f labour re< ? uires encouragement, >ough this labour, proportioned to our flrengh, may be more favourable to happinefs than floth and idle- ^eis ; ( and this truth would ftrike us Hill more, if we idabilnyto analyze a fentiment with fufficient at- tention, to diftinguifl, clearly the happinefs which nnexed to aaio n and employment, from that which necefianly relates to the end and to the motive of that action. The reflexions, which I have juft made, may bt appued to^virtue. We can ea% in ftudying its dif. nt effects, perceive, that it is an excellent %ide in the courfe of life : but we difcover, at the fame time, that ,t has need, as well as employment, of a (pur, 1 Jmpie encouragement on a par with our underHand- 'g it is in religion that virtue finds this encourage- , and we mall not be able to feparate it from e motives and hopes it prefents, without difconcert- mg every connexion it has wiLh human happinefs. . t will be eafy to perceive the great benefit which It anfe from morality : but at the fame rime it muff be remarked, that, to follow its d.aates wii'; confi- fiiencc and tirranefs,, knowledge and flrong powers of reflexion RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 35 .reflexion are neceffarily required in the fludy of fo compounded a truth. We are then in want of a mo- tive to excite our firfl effort, which fubjefts us to felf. -denial, and determines us to Itruggle with courage againft the dominion of the prefent moment. In fliortj even when, by the art of fophiflry, fome philofophers have, at length, thrown into confufion the true principles of order and happinefs when, by the force of addrefs, they have led us to doubt about the kind and degree of power which is neceffary to af- Jign to religion it (hould not, however, be the legii]a<- tors of the nation who would lend an ear to their fpb- tle diUinclions. Metaphyfical fentimenfs ard ideas are not proper for ftatefmen, but in their own defence to aflift them to guard themfelves from the afcendency of brilliant errors, and to confirm the refpecV due to ufe- ful truths : but when they have to guide minds, when they wifh to exciie activity, it is always, if they be wife, the molt firnpie idea that they will make ufe of ; and they will be very careful not to defpife thofe habitual principles, to which time, flill more than knowledge, has given a fan-clion. Thefe are fo ma- ny lefTons, which long experience feems to have gradually dilengagca iium every thing foreign to natural morality aud the feccct fentimcms of men CHAPTER VII, On Religious Opinions > in thtir relation with Sovereigns. MAN Y nations, cither by choice, or necefTify, have depofned their wills in the hands of an in- dividual ; and have thus creeled a perpetual monu- ment to the fpirit of difcord and injuilicc, which has fo frequently reigned amongft men. It is true, that time to time, they have wifiicd to recoll:61 thac thev $6 OF THE IMPORTANCE OT they were themfelves capable of knowing their true intercft : but monarehs miflrufling their inconiiancy, have taken care to fortify the fprings of authority, by furrounding themfelves with {landing armies ; and they have only left them the power of being difguil- cd with flavery. Soldiers and taxes have fuppoited each other.: and through the affiflarice of this corref- ponding aclion, they have become raafters and dnec- tors of every thing. How much good and evil de- pend on them ? We then neccflariiy \vifli them to poflefs a vigorous morality, proportioned to their rm- menfe duties. JSut \vliat force will your morality have, if they perceive at laft, that it is not lupported "by a divine ian&ion if they con-fider it as a human inflitution, which they have power tobreak,and which Vhey are in the habit of modifying ? At lean 1 , they will have the liberty, like other men, to examine, if their private intereft agree with that of the public ; .and their condur, will depend on the icfalt of thi .calculation. I will acknowledge that at the point of elevation, "where kings find themfelves placed, they ought not to be acquainted with thofe paflions which proceed from our petty competitions ; but how many oiher ienti- tnentshave they not to reprels ? And with what ce- lerity is it neceifary to do it j lince they do not expe- rience any contradiftion, they are not, like u?, obliged to refletV and coniider ! Befides, though lovereigns are fbppofcd to be {heltered by their fuuaticr;, from ihe irntatiom of fe If love, and from ilie cleiires of fortune and advancement ; they arc not, however, difer.gaged from every paffion of this kind. It is to- wards other princes, that they feel them : and envy, ambition, and revenge, become often very dangerous ; as they affociate with thefe paifions thofe of the na- tion they govern, by means of a war. It is then that, freed from religious ties, and fure of n-ct accounting with any body, they would find morality a very iuge nious invention, to render the maintenance of public order more eafy, and to preferve the !ubordiiiatiof which fecures their pcwtrj but would aot acknowl- edge 11ELIGIOUS OPINIONS. r, 7 V'.J^e fuch a mailer for tbemfelves, and would difpenfe with bowing to its dictates. You will fay, undoubtedly, that a virtuous king *would be recompenfed by the applaufe of his fubjefls : but I have already fhown, that the influence of public opinion would be very weak, if the principles of mo- rality, which ferve to guide this opinion, were not lup* ported by religion. We (hould alfo obferve, that eir- -logiums and applaufe, homage fo encouraging to pri- vate men, have not an equal power over princes, who cannot, like individuals, confi'der this fuffrage as ant earnett, or forerunner of exaltation. It is by the con- tinual view of the advantages and triumphs of others, that the defire of refpett and diftinftion is continually vkept alive : and it may, perhaps, proceed a little from the ftimulaiion of envy, or at ieatt from thofe jarring preienfions, and from thofe fl niggles of felf-love, of which fociety alone is the theatre. Princes without rivals are not fubject to the fame impreffions : and the flattery they have fo early imbibed, and the praifcs which are lavilhed on them from the fimple motive of hope, all ferve to render them lefs ftnfibSc to deferved applaufe. In fiiart, this exaggerated praife fooa be- comes a du'l monotony, which extmguilhes, by its uni- formity, that emulation which a juft homage fometimes infpires. There would be then great danger in repo- fing too much on the power of public opinion, if we were to conlider it as a check able to iupply with princes the comprefiing force of religion. I mult now make an elTential remark : thofe who furround a monarch, often miflead his judgment by the nature and ths application of the eulogiurhs which they laviih on him. The praife of men in a monar- chy, . always has a taint of -flavery. Thus, 'in fuch countries, a look, a word from the prince, which ieems to tfoce, for an inllant, the diilance that fepa- ratcs hirn frorn his fubjech, delights them : and their ^enthufialin in thofe moments ferves to perfuade the monarch, ihat it is foHidiejit fur hiiw to imil?, to ren- tier his people hjppy : daagerous iliufion, fad cffetlof &rvijity ! In ihor:, in coiif-qucnce of ;'he character 9& OF THE IMPORTANCE OF which is impreffed by an habitual yoke, men are pleafej with exalting the power of him to whom they oblig- ed to fubmit ; they love to fee their fervile compan- ions multiplied : and as the greater part of them have feldom any accefs to the prince. Vanity purfues them. that in affecling to partake of the royal grandeur, they contfaft a kind of familiarity with it. Therefore, without reflecting whether it will be more in the po\v- er of the fovereign to make them happy, when, bv enlarging his dominions, he (hall have more fubjecls, and of courfe more duties to fulfil, they celebrate, above all, the. conquering warrior, and thus invite princes to prefer the purfuit of military glory to every other. And, as the multitude can quickly compre- hend this kind of merit as the gaining of a battle is a fimple idea, eafily conceived by men of every con- dition and turn of mind, it happens, by this reafon- ing, that thefe triumphs are the moft highly extolled ; and even that men on account of them, can excufe every other failure, broken treaties, violated oaths, alliances abandoned. In (hort, fuch is the mad folly of our praife, that the tranquility of the flate, the re- pofe of the people, the rnild benefits of peace, appear no more than tne laft conlequence of the labours and the fuccef* of a monarch ; and even hiftory frequent- ly reprefents this fortunate time, as the days of ob- fcurity in which heroes of blood and carnage ate edu- cated. Kings, difcontented with their deftiny, are \varriors through ambition, and happy by the victo- ries, to which we annex our firft honours^ and the rooft noble wreaths of fame. It is thus, however, that the prevailing opinion, and the rumour of renown, can fomeumes deceive princes, though inconfiftent with the iriflructiens of morality and the legiflation of yore, which point out the true in- tereft of the people as the firft object of a fovereign's anxious folicitude ; and inltead/of a founding name, and dazzling qualities, enforce thofe requifue to form the guardian and proteftor of the felicity of the public ; duties of vail extent, and which are discharged by the Secret labours of paternal vigilance-} ilill mere thaji by the RELIGIOUS OPINIONS* :ioife of the drum, and the inftruinents of, deduc- tion-. < . Let us confiner, however, the influence the opinion of the world will have on fovereigns, in directing only our views towards the interior funftions of adminHlra- tion. An efTeatial observation prefents itfelf at firft to the mind : it is, thit the third for glory is efpecially feit when a great abufe is fo be reformed, and when we <;an hope to make regularity iucceed to confuhon. But when this tafk is fulfilled, and that it is only ne- ce'fary to pfeferve and {upport what is good* the love of renown has itot fufficient aliment, and it is then that the virtus of princes becomes the only faithful guardian, of the public intereft. A reign, fuch as we have form- ed an idea of, would carry away fro:n the following ones every fubjeti of dazzling fpier.dor : and it would be neceflary that new troubles ant! fears re-animated the femimc'nt of admiration, :o v;ivc it its ancient ai- cendency and original force. We mould be able alfo, and tin's picture wonld be very different, to figure toourfelvcs a period, when, by the fucceflive gradation of character, the opinion of the public would flo longer indicate the way to fame, nor refeund to excite ambition ; the recompenfes it offers, would not be a motive fufficiently ^powerful to influ- ence men. Thus, in a country, in a metropolis, where covetoufnefs feemed triumphant, where every body would appear to purfue that fortune which is only ac- ouircd by intrigue, and the vices of thofe who bettov/ if, refpecl for the real intereft of the people, and atten- tion to lighten their burdens, would no longer purchafe renown. In like manner, in a country where defpo- tjfm reigns, and the people are accuftotned to proftrate themlelves before power, they would acknowledge no other idol. We fhould not there be able to acquire a cotemporary fame by elevation of character, by tem- pering with wifdom the exercife of authority, and al- lowing the citizens to enjoy that degree of freedom, which does not degenerate into licemioufnefs. It i-, then morality, and morality aione, which comes at all limes, and in all circumftances, to refill the revolutions of ioo OF THE IMPORTANCE OF of habit and opinion, of which hiflory fur nifties exam* pies, and of which men art ever fufceptible. 1 ought not to riegleft another very important con~ federation. Princes, by the elevation of their rank, and influence on (he national manners, find, that they are in that finguiar fituation. where one is more callea to direct the reigning opinion, than receive inftrucliori and encouragement from it. Thus we are impelled to \vifli, that a monarch (hould have principles, which flow from his heart, and which depend on his reflex- ions, from which he may be able to derive, at all times, a force properly his own, a natural courage. Jt is necefiary fora prince to inveftigate and decide on hi: own conduct : and a fublime morality {hould nouriih in his heart an ideal model of perfection, with which- he can continually compare the opinions of the world, and the private judgment of his confcience. In fhort, and this iaft reflexion, which I have made,- will apply in a general manner, to the preceding re, marks; the opinion of the public, the juft complaints^ of the people, are fometimes a long while in reaching the prince. They ring in the kingdom before he hears^, the rumour. They wander round the 4lace, but the whsfpers do not reach him. Vanity, pride, and every: yice excludes them. The old courtiers fneer ; anJ/ the infignificant purfuers of credit or favour amufe themfelves by indulging their propenfity for ridicule,; The minifters who are followed by the clamour, are- often importuned by it ; and when it reaches their> tnafter, find fome method to weaken its impreflion, at- tributing thefe commotions to private paflions, and giv- ing the name of cabal, to a juft indignation againft vice.. Yes, fuch is the unhappy fate of princes, that the peace of a fiate isoften tottering, before the opinion of the- world reaches them, and difcovers the truth ; a new confideration, very proper to convince us, that the power of opinion can never equal in utility thofe grand principles of morality, which, by the aid of religion, are fixed in the hearts of men, to give them laws, with- QUt dirfinclion of birth, rank, or dignity. But if s from fovereigns ; we carry our views to thofe, \vfcq. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 101. wao'ihare their confidence, we (hall perceive flill more the abfolute neceflity of an active and governing morali- ty. Minifters without virtue, are moie to be feared than iovereigns indifferent to public good. Newly come out of the crowd, they know better than the monarch, the felfifh ufe that they can make of all the panton* and vices : and as they are connected with fociety, as they have a continual relation with the different orders of the ftate, their corruptions are propagated and their dangerous influence fpreads to a great diftance. Attacked, neverthelefs, by the public, they become flill more mifchievous in warding off danger ; for defpair- ing of dtfguife beforethe attentive eyes of a whole peo- ple they turn their addrefs again It the prince. They ftudy they pry into his weakness, and artfully encou- rage, thofe which may p rot eft or cover the defects of their character. They apply thernfelves, at the fama time, to adorn immorality with every grace which ca:i render it amiable ; and they endeavour to make virtue hateful, by delineating it as auftere, imperious, unfo- ciable, and almoft incomparable with our morals and manners. It is thus that mini tiers not retrained by principles, occafton not only the mifery of a country- while their influence iafts, but poifon thefource of pub- lic felicity, by weakening in the monarch his fenti- ments of duty, diverting his gooddifpoGuions, and dif- couraging, if I may fay fo, his natural virtues. In fhort, the picture which I have juft drawn wilt produce another important obfervatioa ; the prince, after having wandered out of the path of true glory, may return, when he pieafes, to the love of virtue and greatnefs. All the- avenues are open to him, all hearts ready to welcome him ; we have an inclination to love, and defire to efteem him, whom fate has plac- ed at the head of the nation ; and who, invefled with the majefty which he borrows from a long train of an- ceftors, exhibits himtelf fur rounded by all the en- chantments of a diadem. We adopt, with pleafure any interpretation which can excufe his conducL We impute to ill counfels the faults which he has committed ; and we are eager to enter with him into 102 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF a new contract of efteem and hope. It is not the with minifters ; a like indulgence is not due to them ; becaufe they cannot throw the blame on others, and all their aQions proceed from themfelves. When they have once loft the opinion of the public, their deprav. i v will increafe daily ; becaufe, to maintain their poft, they are obliged to redouble their intrigues and diffimulation. I have maturely reflected : the religion of princes, of minifters, of government in general, is the firft fourceofthe happinefs of the people. We defpife it ; becaufe it is not our invention, and we often give the preference to thofe artifices of the mind, which feduce us as being our ow.n work : and per- haps they are wanted, after having loft fight of this lure and faithful guide, this companion of true ge- nius, which, like it, prefers eafy and fimple means. Yes, this exalted virtue, refembling fuperior abilities, rejects equally thofc weak refources and inventions, which derive not their origin from an elevated fenli- ment or grand thought : and, while one obliges a ilatefman to refpet honour, juftice and,truih, the other discovers the union cf thele principles with the juft means which flrengthen authority, and with the true *!ory and durable fuccefs of politics. Jn fhort, while one renders him anxious about the happinefs of the people, the other (hows how, from the bofom ct ihis happinefs, they would fee rife infenfit>ly an agree- ment of ioterefts and of wills,.of whofe extcrifive ufs we are ftill ignorant. If we \vi(h to dwell a moment on the private hap*, winefs of princes, we {hall readily perceive, that thty nave a real want of the encouragement religion afr fords. Their diftinguiftied authority appears, indeed^ to their mind, a fjogular privilege. They believe this power fhould extend to every thing : and thtfy. indifcreetly endeavour to accelerate the moments of enjoyment. But as they cannot change the law of nature, it happens, that Jn delivering therafelves up ta every thing which feduces their imagination, they ex- perience as quickly the fad languor of indifference^ and the oppreflion of apathy. Kings* RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. tog Kings, in the exercife of their intellectual faculties, are expofed to the fame extremes. Providence hav- ing placed them on the pinnacle of fortune, they con- fequently have not been -led from one view to anoth- er, and know not thofe gradations, which aftuate their fubjecls in the name of vanity, felf-love, or fortune. Alas ! we obey fo quickly, and their defires are fo fbon gratified, that their taftes and inclinations cannot be renewed with the rapidity neceflary to enable them to fill the irkfome void which fo frequently occurs. If the magnificent end, which religion offers, were to be obfcured, and if, henceforth, we were to confider it as a fallacious illulion, unworthy of our attention, kings would foorr attain to that term when the future would appear to. their- mind a barren uniformity, a fpace witncut colour or form, The numerous duties of princes, undoubtedly, af- ford a continual fource of fatisfa&ion : but it is necef- fary that they mould be able to conneft all their ob- ligations to a grand idea, the only one which can con- ihntly animate their actions and thoughts, who have ueed of neither favour nor advancement from tlieir fel- iow creatures. And how much would it contribute to their happinefs Ibme times.,, to imagine themfelves be- tween this world, ia which they are weary of their own power, and thai magnificent future, the fublime con- templation of which would carry them, with a new- charm, to the exercife of their authority 1 W hat pleaf- ure then would flow from this authority, the fource of fa uauch good ! What pleafure would they not find ia more cloTery imitating the divine beneficence, the rnoft comfortable of all ideas, and what a moment for them, when particularly confoious of the prefenc^ of the exalted friend of the whole human race,they mould be able to refleft, in the morning,on the people'they were going to make happy, and in the evening, on thofe on whom they had actually conferred benefits. What a difference between ihel'e delicious moments, whofc influence the nation feels.and thofe infignificant levees, only known to courtiers, in which the monarch is the %etUcie, and taftes the fai pleafure of feeing fo many men i4 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF men cringing before their own image. What a differ- ence, even between thefe rapturous fenfations,aod thofe raifed by flattery cr the dazzling parade which fur- rcunds him, in the midft of which he cannot difcera himfelf, whether he is a great man, or only a king. In fhort, we ought to acknowledge, that the more extenfive the horizon, which opens before fovereigns, the greater is the number ofduties prefented to their re- flexions, the more they muft feel the wantof thatfuftain- ing power fo infinitely fuperior to their own flrength. They are confcious of the difproportion which exifts between the extent of their authority, and the means entrufled to human nature : and it is only by fupport- ing themfelves againft that rcyfterious pillar, creeled by religion, that they can be firm, and confider without affright, that Providence has called them to regulate and direct thedeftiny of a whole empire. It was when pro- foundly meditating on the exigence of a God, reflect- ing on the influence and various relations of fuch a grand thought, that Marcus Aurelius discovered all the extent of his duties, and felt, at the fame time, the cour- age and will to fulfil them. The happy and conflant agreement of his aftions and principles made his reig* an illuftrious example of wifdom and morility. We muft^confefs, that it is to virtue, fupported by every fentiment which it imprints on the human heart^ that we fliould wifli to confide the facred depofit of public happinefs. This alone is always faithful and vigilant ; furpaffes the fpur of praife ; and, by the af- cendency of a great example, leads men to the knowl- edge of every thfng they ought to admire. CHAPTER RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 105 CHAPTER VIII. An Objection drawn from the Wars, and from the Commotions which Religion has given rife to. T. SHALL prefent, at firft, this objection in all its JL force; or rather I will not fcek, to weaken it. It . be needlefs to recal to the memory of ms the evils that have happened during a long feries of years, with which we have reafon to reproach the blind and favage zeal of . religioj* fanaticifm. Every one has prefent to his mind thofe multiplied a&s of intole- rance which have fullied the annals of hi ftory. Every one knows the fcenesof difccrd, of war and fury, which theological controverfies have caufed amongft men. They have been informed of the fatal confeq'JCBces which thsfe enterprifes have brought in their train, and which the rare virtues of a great king have not been able to juftify. In fcort, to maintain, in all ages, a remembrance of the fatal abufes which have been com- mitted in the name of the God of peace, it would be fufficient to defcribe th^fc direful days, when fome different tenet produced a fentenc^ of profcription, and the frightful Ggnil of the moft crjel frenzies. It is thus, then, that in ail times, by air abfurd tjr- ranny,or by a ferocious emhuGafx, triumphs have been contrived for the eager detractors of religion. Let us examine, hovever, if the deductions which they wiQi 10 draw from thefe errors of the human mind, be found- ed on reafon and juftice. I fhali not flop to obferve, that religion has oftener -ten the pretext, than the true motive, of the unhap- py convulfions of which it appears at prefent the folc origin ; or flop to recal the various political advanta- rs, wbicli could only artfe from fuch a grand prmci i0,p OF- THE IMPORTANCE OF pie of a^ion. Thofe augufl teftimonies are com- memorated in hiflorv. 1 fhali only borrow the fup port of reafon, and fhaJl bound rny difcuflion to a few fimple reflexions. Do you think, that by relating the different abufes of authority, we could prove the advantage of anar- chy ? Could we decry eve-ry fpecies of jurifpru- dence, by recounting all the ills which have been pro- duced by chicane ? Should we be able to throw an odium on the fciences, by recalling all the fatal dif- covcries which are owing to our refearches ? Would it be proper to ftifle every kind cf felf-love and ac- tivity, by reciting the different crimes which covet-- oufnefs, pride and ambition have given rife to ? And ought we, then, to defire to annihilate religion, be- caufe fanaticifra has made a-n inftrument of it to dif- trefs the. .human fpecies ? All thefe quefiions are fimilar, and all mould be rcfolved in the fame manner, Thus we. -may fay, with refpecl to them, that in all our &ter*fts and paffions, it is by acquired knowledge and the light of reafon, that right is feparated from wrong : but we ought never to confound their prox- irnitY with area! identity, ranaticifm and religion have not any connexion * y tho%h very often thefe ideas are found united. It is not the worfhip of the common Father of men it is not the morality of the gofpel, whofe precepts lead to goodnefs and forbearance, which infpires the fpirit of perfecutioo. \Ve fhould attribute it to a blind ^madnefs, uniting all thofe wild errors and crimes /which dishonour humanity. But fince at prefent, the exceffes, lo which men abandon themfelves, do not induce us to condemn, as a misfortune, all the fenti- ments of which the criminal paffions are only the ex- treme, why do we wifli to refufe religion the gratitude which is its due, becaufe fometimes it has given birth to hatred and unhappy divifions ? It would be ne- ceffary rather to remark, that intolerant zeal is, of all the errors of the human mind, that on which the yro- gpsfsofour knowledge appears to have had molt in- Uuence. In faft, while ianaticifm gradually weaken- ed, RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 107 ed, feems to be now verging to its decline, the difor- ders, connected with the common paflions of airbi- tion, love of wealth, the third of pleafure, remain in all their force. However, what fentiment, what predominant idea^ has a greater claim to pardon for its miftakes, than de- votion ? By what an infinite number of benefits the pure fpirit of religion makes amends for the abufes which fpring from the falfe interpretation of its pre- cepts ! It is to this fpirit as we have Ihown, that men owe the liability of public order and the firm princi- ples of juRice. It procures the indigent the fuccours of charity and virtue its encouragement oppreffed innocence its only refuge and fenfibility its deareft hopes. Yes, the pure fpirit of religion furrounds us on every (ide. It makes the charm of folitude, the band of fociety, the invigorator of intimate affections: and can we calumniate and wi(h to deftroy it, on re- collecling the tyrannic opinions of fome priefls and ibvereis;ns, whofe principles and conduct we now de- left ? 1 (hall further remark, and afk, why men denounce a fentence of reprobation iigaintt religion, and give, as the motive, the ancient wars of which it has been the origin : while they never conteft the importance of commerce, though rivers of blood have been continu- ally fhed for the fmallelt advantage on this account? Can they be fo miRaken in their judgment, as to com- pare a few pecuniary advantages, which one political Hate neverenjoys, but at the expenfe of another, with thofejas precious as they are univerla!,of which relig- ion is the origin and fupport ? In Chort, among the various arguments that are em- ployed to attack thefe opinions, the moft frivolous, un- doubtedly, is that, which derives all its force from the errors and faults, of which the prefeni times do not f arnifh any example. What ihould we fay, if, at the .'Moment when a fupert edifice was firm on its founda- tion, v/e ihould be e>iho7UJ to level it with the ground, y a relation of all the accident its ereclion occafion- 4? Throwing K>8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF Throwing then a painful retrofpeft on the period-of hiftory, when religion was made the pretext of wars and cruelty ; let us oppofe to the return of thofe fan- guinary fcenes, let us oppofe tothefpirit of intolerance, all the force of wifdom, and the inltruftions of that re- ligion which they pretend to ferve by a blind zeal. But far from freeing us from the refpecl, that we owe to fuch falutary opinions, which men have abufed, let us take advantage of experience, as a new defence againft the wanderings of our imaginations, and the furprifes of our paffions*. CHAPTER IX. i Another Objtttion examined. The Sabbath. I DO not intend to place among the objections I ought to difcufs, nor in the number of arguments, that it is important to examine, the various opinions on iuch and fuch parts of religious woilhip, nor the diffi- culties raifed againft ihe adoption of fome dogmatic notion, thought eflential by fome, and conlidered with indifference by others. It is not a ireatiie of contro- verfial theology which I wifli to compofe : and it is JH1I lefs the doftrines of one particular church, which I would cppole to that of another. All of them con- necl morality to the commands of a Supreme Being. They all of them fee in the public worftiip the refpcct- ful expreifion of a fenrment of love and gratitude to- wards the Author of Naturt. Thus, thole who might think they perceived iome iroperfeftions in the fyflem, or in the fcims of worfiiip, adopted in a nation, ihouid not * 1 ftiould have enlarged ibis chapter, if I did not intend 4o make fome general j-cficxions oa intolerance in another .part of 'RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 109 hot ufe this ofcjeclion fo difpute the utility of religion ; flnce the reflexions, which have bn juft made on its importance, may be applied equally to the dcclrines of "sll countries, and the principles of every feel. I fhall dwell then on the only difficulty which inter- idfts, without diftinftion,lhedifrerent religions of Europe. The eflabliihment of public worfhip, and the ne- ceffity of ccnfecrating at leafl one day in every week, ' occafions, fay fome, a fufpecfion of latour too fre- Vjuent : and this fufpenfion injures the Hate, and di- iriinifbes the refources.6f the people. I may at firft obfci v.e, that fuch objections wouli appear very weak, if compared with the great advant- ages which men owe to religion ! An Jr.creafe c \Vealth can never outweigh order, morality, and hap- pinefs, But I muft go further to prove, that a day o fell, devoted among as to public wcrfhip, cannot in- jure the political ftrength ; 'and that, fo far from being ' contrary to the interefts of the people, it protects and favours them : and as I invariably prefer fi:ch interests to all others, I fliall begin by demonfl rating, in a few words, the juflnefs cf this proportion. We fhould be miflaken, it Ve thought, that in a given fpace cf time, men, forced, by the inequality of Conditions, to live by their labour, would, by obferving the precepts of religion, better their fituation, if they xvere not obliged to refl from labour one day in every week. It is neceflary, in order to perceive this trtr.h, to Examine, firfl, vvhat is now , if we confulted only the light of rea- Ton arc] equity, no one, I believe, wculd dare to de- cide, thatthe inoft icanty r.ccefTaries are tlie juft price of fatiguing and painful fab our, which comniences at fhe dawn, and does not finifli till the fettingof ihe fun. We Ihould nof be able to maintain, thai in the midft of their -enjoyments, and in the bofom of luxurious ivllenefs, the rich ought not to grant any oi.Ker retribu- tion to f r e w } ;0 facrifice their time and llrcngth to increafe their reve.nnc and "multiply their cnjovments. K it ioi OF THE IMPORTANCE OF It u not then by the principles of common fenfe or reflexion, that the wages of the generality have been fixed. It is a compact eilablifhed by power, a yoke to which the weak muR fubmif. The poflTtOTor of a vaft domain would fee all his riches vanifti, if numerous labourers did not cof all bands might be chofen to win ths multitude. I mult ohierve, befiJes, that part of the country people, especially in harvett time, and other feafons, vyiien the hulbandman is particularly bufy, affift only at early mafs, and then they fee but a part of the relig- ious ceremonies.* And, if the. practice and liberty /ofking on a Sunday were 'mote extended, the in- habitants of the country, fiill more confinetf to the firfi wafs, would hear neither prayers nor inftraftive dif- courfes in their own language, during the whole year, Certainly there mutl be fomething altered in thefe peligious inftitutions, in order to make them more effi- cacioulJy icrve to fupport morality, an.d comfort the iroit numerous clafs of the human race. Country people, whofe labour produces our wealth, ought to be taken care of with paternal anxiety : and fines they are not expofed to thofe diforderfy padions xvhich find nourimment in a metropolis fince mild and prudent means flill fuffice to maintain them in the habit of duty both the fuperiors in church and Hate have to anfwer, in fome meafure, fof the corruption of \heir manners and difpofitions. CHAPTER . * This mafs is coMionSy called 9 low maf?. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, CHAPTER XI That the Jingle idea of a God, is afiifficient Jupport of Morality. AFTER 'having fhown that morality has need of a fupernatural fupport, you have reafon to ex- pect, that I fliould explain the intimate and immediate relation, which unites religion to the love of virtue, and the observance of order. 1 will endeavour, then, to difculs this importan-t queflion : and in order to ar- rive at the truth, I {hall follow, firft, the courfe of thofe firnple fentiments, and natural thoughts, which guide the mind and the heart of man, in every climate and country under heaven. It is eafy to unite all the moral legiflation, and the entire fyfteni of our duties, by means only of the idea of a God. The univerfe', notwithflanding its magnificence and its immenfity, would be a mere nothing, if its Supreme Author had rot peopled it with intelligent beings, ca- pable of contemplating fo many wonders, and of re- ceiving happinefs from them. But the faculties with which we are endowed, the confcioufnefs of poiTeffing ihem, and the liberty to aft, all announce to us, that we are united to a grand combination, that we have a pan to take on the va(l flage of the world.' The moft fimple reafon, that which refembles in- ilincl, would have been fufficient to enable us to take care of the body, and to have concentred us in our- felves : more would not have been necefla'ry for thofe who have fo little to do. Thus, when I fee that the mind is iufceptible of continual improvement when J fee that men enjoy the power of ailillirig each other, ind of communicating their ideas in a manner fo much vjperbr to other animals when 1 fix my attention on our. ti-6' OF THE IMPORTANCE OF our focial difpofitions, and on all the relative qualities- which compofe our nature I cannot avoid thinking, that we have a plan of conduft to follow towards oth- ers, and that in our pilgrimage on earth we muft be circumfpefl, having obftacles to conquer, facrifices to make, and obligations to fulfil. Man then appear to be led to religion by the mofl excellent gifts of nature, and by all that they have in them of the fublime. But we ought to remark, as a lingular refemblance, that their wants allb, and their extreme weaknefs, lead them to the fame objeft. Whatever may be my emotions v/hen I reflect OR the prefcnt imperious laws, to which I am obliged to fubrnit and when I recal to mind the grandeur and magnificence which I have been a witneis of I raife continually my foul towards the Sovereign Director of events, and am led by inftinft, as well as by a rational fentiment, to addrefs my prayers to him. It appears to the unfortunate, when they view fo many wonders which their undemanding cannot grafp, that fo little Is wanting to guard them from the dangers which threat- en them, they implore the commiferation of him, wliofe formidable power burfls from all fides. But, while they admire and adore, they muft imitate his perfec- tions, and not expecl mercy when they {how none. Purity of heart only can render an intercourfe with the Supreme Being interefting ; and prayers are mere- ly a folemn kind of mockery when they do not pro- duce virtue and forbearance, when they do not render us kindly affefted to each other. Our very flaie of dependence,-our wants and weaknefles, fhould bind us- to thofe beings, who equally fiiare the blefiings fo lib- erally beftowed^ and have the fame evils to endure. Thus difcoatent, the fear of futurity, the anxiety cauf- ed by misfortunes, all the fentiments, which engage men to diflurb focial order, take another ckara&er, or are at leaft fenfibly modified ; when, from their firft fuffering, they can elevate their wifties to God, but dare not doit, with a heart lullied by criminal inten- tions. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 117 It is not only prayer which leads us to religion j another communication with the Supreme Being, gratitude, produces the fame effeft. A man, perfuaded of the exiftcnce of a fovereign power, and who g!aU ly connects with the divine protection his fuccefs and bappinefs, feels, at the fame time, a defire to exprefs his gratitude : and not being able to do any thing for him who beftows all. he feeks fo form an idea of the perfections of that, Supreme Being, in order to com- prehend the fyitem of conduft moil conformable to bia attributes. At firlt, what reflections poflefs our mind, what emotions agitate our fouls, when we contemplate, ihe univerfe when we refpeftfuliy admire that mag- nificent harmony, \vhich is the incomprehensible re- fult of an innumerable multitude of different powers ? Struck with this vaft whole, where we difcover sa agreement fo.peifec\ how is it podible for us to avoid confideripg order as adiftincl. mark of the wifdom and of the defign of omnipotence ? And how is it pofli- ble for us not to think that we render him the moft worthy homage, at the time we make ufe of the free intelligence which he has endowed us with ? Then iu the cosnpofition of a focial ftrufture, a work which has been entrufled to us, we mall try to penetrate the ideas of wifdom and order,, of which all nature prefents fuch a grand example ; then, in eflablifhing the rela- tions which unite men, we (hall carefully fludy the laws of moral order, and we (hall find them all found- ed on the reciprocation of duties, which fubjeft to a regular movement different jarring perfonal. intereils. In fhort, the idea of a God, Creator. Regenerator, and Preferver cf the Univerie, by invariable laws, and by a train of the fame cajifes and the fame effefts, feem$ 10 call us, to the conception of an univerfal morality^ wHich, in imitation of the, unknown fprings of the na- tural world, may be as the neceflary tie of this fuc- ceffion of intelligent beings, who always, with the, fame paffions, come to pafs and repafs oi> the earth, to feek t or to flee from, to aflift, or to hurt each other, according to the ftrength or the weaknefs of the knot which unites them, and according to the wifdom or in n8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OB confiftency of the principles which direft their" opin* ions. The attentive ftudy of man and of his nature ought to eontribute to confirm in us the idea which wehavejuft pointed o-ut. We cannot, in faft, confider the prodig- ious difference which exifts between the minds and characters of men we cannot fix our attention on the length to which this difference may be carried, by the perfectibility of which they are iufceptible -we cannot, in fhort, reflect on alike conftitution without Wing induced to think, that the cotmterpoife of thee extraordinary mean* of force and ufurpation muft pro- ceed from reafon, from that (i-ngular authority which a'one can eftabliih, between men, relations of jufhce and convenience, proper to maintain an equilibrium and harmony in the midit of fo many difparities. It is thus, that' refpeft for morality feems evidently to make a part of the general view arid primitive idea of theSupremeDifpoferof th-Miniverfe. And what pleafure fliallwe not find in the perluafion, that the cultivation of virtue, the obfervance of order, offers us the means of pleafing our Divine Benefa&or! It is by that alone we can hope to concur, however feebly, in the execu- tion of his grand defigns : and in the centre of fo ma- ny bleflingSj furrounded by &> many figns of a particu- lar protection, how highly ought we to val'Je this means of communication with th* Author of our exiftence ? Thus, then, the homage of adoration and gratitude, which we render to the Deity, leads us to a fentiment of refpecl for the laws of morality : and this fentiment,. in its turn, ferves continually to maintain in us the idea of a Supreme Being. Independent of the reflexions which we have ju prefented, morality, confidered in all its extent, has need of being ftrengthened hy this difpofition of the foul, which makes us interefled in the happinefs of others : and it is, befides, one of the molt giorious perfections of the Deity, that we find the firft model of this precious fenument. Yes. we cannot deny it:. either our exiftence proceeds from no caufe, or we c..%3 it to the goodneis of the Supreme Being. Life, RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 119 ionic will fay. undoubtedly is a mixture of pains and pleafures : bur, if we be candid. \vc fliail confefs, that thofe moments, when it ceafes to appear to us a bene- fit, do not often occur in life. In youth, exigence is thought the greatett blelhng : and the other feafons of life offer pleafures lefs animated, certainly, but which agree better with the prcgrefs of cur undemanding, and theincreafe of our experience. It is true, that in order to free ourfelves from a fentiment of gratitude, we often think that we would not accept of a renewal of life, on condition <>f our running over a fecend time our career, and returning Rep by ilep in the fame track. But we mould con- fider, that we do not fix a juii value on the benefits which we have received: for when we take a retro- ipeclive view of life, we fee it firipped of its two prin- cipal ornaments, curiofity and hope: and it is not in this ftate that it was given to us, ami that we have en- jcyed it. It is perhaps, not in our power to replace ourfelves, by contemplation, in the fituation where the imagina- tion made our chief pleafure; a flight breath has eafi- ly effaced it from our memory. It is evident that we enjoy life; becaufe we look forward with affright to the moment when we (hall be forced to renounce jr. But as this happinefs is ccmpofed of prefent pleafures, and thofe which we anticipate, we teafe to be good judges of the value of life, when this future piofpccl is not presented to our eyes, but under the form of the paft ; for we know not how to appreciate, with z Ian- gui-fhing recollection, that which we have loved in the moment of hope. Phyfical evils are not either the end or the condi- tion of our nature ; they are its accidents. The hap- pinefs of infancy, which {hows in its primitive purity the works of the Deity, vihbly point out the goodneis of the Supreme Being : and how can we avoid be- lieving', that we owe cur origin to a benevolent defign, (ince it is a defire of happinefs, which has been given % *.o ferve as the motive to all our actions? Wefhculd, ' i*xlee.d., fpeak well of )ifc f if we bad not corrupted its luo OF THE IMPORTANCE OF comforts by artificial fentiments, which we have fubfti- tuted inftead of nature if we had not fubmitted fo many realities to pride and vanity if, inftead of aflilt- ang each other to be happy, we had not employed our thoughts to make others fubmit to us. Undoubtedly there are fome fufferings annexed to our exiftence ; as in the natural world there are apparent defects. Let us employ our minds on the moft exalted fubjecls ; and we (hall no longer be a prey to envy and difcon- tent. It is on the confideration of detached events it is in fome particular circumftance, that we raife doubts about the goodnefs of God : but we immediately dif- cern it, when we compare particulars that wound us ? with the great whole, of which they make a part : we difcover then, that the misfortunes which we are fb quickly offended with, area iimple appendage of a general fyftem, where all the characters of a benefi- cent intelligence are evidently traced. It is neceflary, then, to view the whole 6f life, in order to difcover the intention ef the Author of nature ; and in meditat- ing in this manner, we (hall return always to a fenti- jr.ent of refpeft and gratitude. This fimple idea is very extenfive in its application : it teems to me, above all, that it fervcs to confele us under the ills of life: the man, who is penetrated by it, can fay to himfelf ; "The tranfitory evil, to which I am fubjeft, is per- <{ haps one of the inevitable effects of this univerfal * { harmony, the moft. rsobie and the mod ex f eniive of * c all conceptions. Thus, in the moments when I be- * f moan my fate, I oaght not to think myfelf forfaken, (i I ought not to accufe him, whofe infinite wifdom is *' prefent to my view, htm whofe general laws have fo Cl ofien appeared to me a vifible exprefiion of real <* goodneis." it is in vain, fonie will fay, it is in vain that you ivould wifli to make us attend to thefe confiderations. We only remark, that our earthly happinefs is .at lealt inferior to that which our imagination io rcadilv fi-i;ng the pifture of : and we do not perceive, in fuch ad-.f- poiition, the union of perfections, which ought to be afcribed to the Supreme Beirg. "RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. i2l This objection is prefented under different forms, in the writings of all the enemies to religion: and they fcave drawn confequences, fometimes againft the good- refs of God, his power, his wildom, and juftice. It is neceffary, clearly to explain this difficulty, to be in a ftate to form to ourfelves an idea of the perfection of an infinite being : but in all our attempts, we only car- ry to the extreme every quality which we conceive : inftead of that, perfection in the works of the Cr-.>tor, probably tonfilh in a kind of gradation and harmony, the fecret of which We cannot either embrace, or pen- etrate : and we ought flill more to be on our guard, when we form any conception of the eflence of the JJeity ; as, by confining ourfelves folely to reconcile his fovereign power with his perfect goodneis, we fhould. never fix the boundary when thefe two properties will be in an equilibrium : for after having cxhaufted eve- ry fuppofition, v/e might fiill afk, why the number of National beings is not more extended ? We might afk, xvhy every grain of land was not one of thofe beings ? Why there is ncu a number equal to that infinite divif- fbility, of which we form the idea ? In fliort, from ex- treme to extreme, and always in arguing on the fove- reign power, the leaft inanimate atom, the leaf! void in nature, would appear a boundary to thegoodnefs of the Supreme Being. We fee, then, to what a point we may wander, when we abandon common fenfe for the vague excursions of a mataphyfical fpirit. I think, if no other proofs could be found, the pow- er of God would t>c firfficient to demonftrate his good- nefs; for this p6wer informs us, every inftant, that if fhe Supreme Ruler of the world had intended the mif- ery of rational beings, he would have had, to fulfil his attention, means as rapid as numerous. He needed not have created worlds, nor have thcni fo convenient and beautiful : a terrific gulph, and eternal dai'knefs, might have been ftifficiem to coiieft together thofe un- fortunate beings, and rnake them feel their mifery. JLet us not dwell on thefe gloomy fubjecls : let us fol- low a j aft emotion of gratitude. We fliall be eager tlicti to render homage to iliat indelible character of ^2 .OF TIl^ IMPORTANCE OF Jove and goodnefs which we fee (lamped on all our na- ture. An unknown power opens our eyes to the light, and permits us to view the wonders of the univerfe. It awakens in as thofe enchanting "fcnfations which iirft point out '.he charms of life. It enriches us with that intelleclui. gift which re-affembles round us palt ages, and the time to come. It confers, in an early hour, an empire, by endowing us with thofe two fub- Jime faculties, will and liberty . In fiiort, it renders us fenfible to the real pleafure of loving and being .beloved : and when, by the effeft ofa general plan 9 of which we have but an imperfet conception, it fpreads here and there fome difficulties in the road of life it feems to wifh to foften them, by fhowing us always the future through the enchanting medium of , that if, againft appearances you fhould happen to pcrluade me, that there now ex - ills an abfolute contradiction between the liberty of man, and the preference of the Deity, it is on the na- ture and extent of this prefcience that I (hall raife my doubts ; for, forced to choofe, I fhould rather miftruli the judgment of my own mind, than that of an inter- nal perfuafion.- It is by thefe fame confidera- lions, that it will always beimpoffible to prove to men that they are not free: we could only fucceed with the alfiftance of reafoning : and reafoning being alrea- dy a beginning of art, a kind of exterior combination of reflexions, this means, in fome meafu^e out of us, would not have power to eradicate a femiment which feems the firil that we are confcious of, 1^4 OF THE^IMPORTANCE OF We foondifcover the limits of our faculties, in ths efforts v/e make to acquire a juft idea of the divine pre- fcience; we can very well ftippofe, that God forefeet with certainty what we only conjecture about ; and ia extending without end the bounds which occur to our, mind, we (hail proportion, in our imagination, the knowl- edge of the Creator to the immehfity offpace a'ndtoths, infinity of time : but beyond thefe vague ideas we {hall err in all our fpeculations. How is it poffible, that men, who krlow not even the nature of their own fouls, fliould be able to determine the nature of prefcience ? How is it poffible, that they can know whet her this prefcience be, the effel of a rapid calculation of him, who embraces at. one glance the relations and effects of evety moral and, natural caufe r How can they difcern, whether this prefcience, in an Infinite Being, 1st diflinft from fim-. pie knowledge? How can they know whether that Being, by a property beyond our conception, do not exift before and after events, whether he be not, in fome manner, the intellectual time, and whether our dtvifiohs of years and ages, would not difappear before, his immoveable exiftence and eternal duration ? It rcfults, however } from thefe confiderations, that on account of our extreme ignorance, we cannot ac- curately define prefcience : but we are reduced to ex-. amine whether this prefcience, confidered in a general manner, be incompatible with the liberty of man. This opinion, 1 think, fhould nqt be adopted. Pre- . fcience does not determine future events ; for the mere knowledge of the future makes not the future. It is not prefcience which neceflitates the actions of men ; becaufe it does not change the natural order of things ; but ail future events are fixed, whether forefeen or not ; for conftraint and liberty conduct equally to a pofitive term: thus, all that will happen is as immu- table as that which is paft ; fince the prefent was the future of yefterday, and will be to-morrow the paft, It is then abftraHy certain, that an event, either fore- feen or not, will take place fome time ; but if liberty- be not contrary to this inevitable certainty, how would it be more fo, becaufe there exiHs a Being who is ac- quainted previoufly with ihe precife nature of events ? RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 125 We may then fay, with truth, that the knowledge of the future ;'$ no more an obftacle to liberty, than the remembrance of the pail ; and prophecies, iike hifto- ries, are only recitals, whofe place is not the fame in the order of time ; but not having any' influence on events, do conttrain the will, cannot enflave the fenti- inents, or fubjeft men to the law of necedify. We will confefs, however, that if prefcience were founded on the pouYoility of calculating the aftions of men, like the movements of an organized machine, liberty could not exiu 1 : but then it would not be pre- fcience which oppofed this liberty ; .it would be be- caufe we are automatons ; for with fuch a conilitution } we fliould be without liberty, were even the Supreme Being not to have any knowledge of futurity. It is in vain, in order to convince us we arc not free, that fome would reprefent us as neceflarily fub- rnitting to the impulfe of various exterior objefts ; comprehending, atnong thofe objects, every thing thac is -fubtle in moral ideas, uniting them under the gene- ral name of motives, and giving afterwards to theft: motives a phyfical force which we are bound to obey. But to be free, is it neceflary that we aft without mo- iives ? then man would be indeed evidently a piece of mecbanifm. ft is certain, that we are, in all our ac- tions, determined by re a f on, tafte, or a caufe of pref crence : but it is our mind which comprehends thefc* various confiderations, which weighs, . compares, and modifies : ir is our mind which linens to the counfeis of virtue, and which replies to the language of our paffions : it is ir. order to enlighten itfetf, that it bor- rows from the memory the fuccoars of experience. . It is then our mind which prepares, compofes, and im- proves every thing which we term motives ; and it j s after this intelleftual labour that we aft. There is too much order, unity and harmony in our thoughts, to allow us to fuppofo them the mere effeft of exterior objefts ; which, under the form ot ideas, come without order to imprefs themfclves on our brain ; and until we are made acquainted with the works of chaos, we Aall believe, with reafon, that every where there j L 3, 126 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF that unity, that order ; that there is a faculty capably of re-aflembling every thing that is fcattered, and unit- ing to one end all that is mixed without defign. As foon as we are impelled to believe, that there is a matter of a!! our perceptions, and that we feel this znafter aft. ho* if it poihble not to be certain that is is our mind which afts ? It is then, in breaking loofe from its operations, that we are ftripped of our liberty, and that we at length fuppofe, thai our will is the neceflary confcquence of all exterior objefts, as if it were the colours, and not the painter, which pro duced a picture. However, if we fecure our mind from that dependence, to which forne wifh to reduce it, our aftions will not obey thefe irrefiRible emotions ; for if they grant, that we have liberty of thought, wei fcave free will. , We ought to confider our fenfes as meffengers,. which bring to our mind new fubjefts of reflexion : "Lut they are in ftich a manner fubordinute to the fub- lime part of ourfelves, that they aft only under direc- tion. Sometimes ihe ruling principle commands them (o bring reprefentations of the. beauties of nature ; to examine afliduoufly the regifters of the human mind ; to take theru'eand the compafs, and render an exal ac- count of that which it defires to know with precifion. Sometimes they are taught to acquire more power : and when the foul wiihes to communicate with men, when? it wiflies to addrefs pofterity, it orders them to perpet- uate, in indelible characters,' all that it has maturely- combined, all that it, has difcovered, and all it hopes to add to the treafures of our knowledge. Is it not the- maiter, rather than the (lave of our (enfec 5 or the biiul play of their caprice ? There is, betides, another obfervation, which feems lo contrail with the abfoiuee empire^ that lome are milling to grant to exterior objefts over the powers of our foul ; for it is in the fiicnce of meditation, that the aftion of our mind is not interrupted. We expe- rience, th.:t we have the power of recalling paft ideas, and that ws can -:onneft thofe ideas, with ihe profpe^t f the future, and tp various iinaginary rircumfiances RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 147; 9-f which we compofe this pifture. Our reflexion is then the refult, but not the work of thofe exterior oh-? j;efts we are acquainted with* Thefe two words, work and refult, which in fame acceptations have a great re. femblance, have here very difteren. nje^nings ; and it is only in confounding them, that th- 1 jbjeclion againflr the exigence of our liberty is favoured. We cannot form any judgment, without previoufly difcuffing eve- ry argument proper to throw a light on the fubjecl : and the refult of fuch enquiries determines our will. But thefe enquiries are themfelves the work of our mind. In fliort, all the degrees which lead to the end of our intellectual refearches, are fimple antecedents, and not abiolute motives. There is in the operations of. our mind, as in every thing which is not immoveable,. a train of caufes and effefts : but this train does not. aharafterize neceflity more than liberty. * In reltoring thus to our foul its original dignity, do- you not perceive that, we approach nearer to nature, than in adopting thofe fy Items and explications which. - aflimilate our intellectual faculties to the regular vibra- tions of a pendulum ? Or would you like better Mill to compare them to thofe li'tle balls which go out of their niches to ilrike our brain, which by various ram- locations, produce that (hock which impels our will ? I fee, in all this, only childifh figures,, put in the place of thofe names which indicate, at leaft, by their ab ii'radion, the indefinite extent of the ideas which they rtrprefenr, and the refpeft they merit". Jt is eafy to call a motive a little moving ba!l It is eafy to call, uncertainty or repentance the combat of 'two of thefe balls, till the arrival of a third forms a determination, and the concurrence of many to the fame point excites, in us, an impetuous paflion. But who fees rrot, that, after having endeavoured to debafe the functions of the mind, by thefe wretched comparifons, tha-difficul- ty remains uncliminifh'ed ? In thort, if the medications and refearches of our siinds, on the exigence and the nature of our liberty, jrcfent us only impenetrable clouds and obfcunty, is " siS OF THE IMPORTANCE "* it not fingular, that, in the midft of this darknefs, we" fliould rejeft all the information of our mftinclive fent- iments, which alone can clearly explain every thing that we in vain fearch for by other means ? What Would you fay of -. man born blind, who would not be direled by ti;c voice ? We are afliiredly better in- ftrufted in the conflitution of our naiure by our feel- ings, than by metaphyfical arguments : they compofe an internal part of the eflfence of our foul ; and we ought to confider them, in fome meafure, as a fally of the incomprehenfible formation, whofe myfteries we cannot penetrate. Such a doftrine, which came to us from a divine hand, is more deferving of confidence than the interpretation* of men. There are fecrets which philosophers try in vain to explain : all their efforts are ufelefs, to reprefent by comparifon, that which is alone, and without refemblance. One would think, that nature, guefied the faife rea- foning which would miflead us, has purpofely beflowed an inward conviction of the exigence of our free wil) ? in compofing our natural- life of two movements very diftinft : one depends on a neceffity, whofe laws we are not acquainted with, and do not govern ; while the other is entirely fubjeft to the government of our reafon. Such a comparifon would be fufficient to convince us, if we lought merely for the truth. When Spinofa defired to throw contempt on our inftinftive perceptions, he faid, it is the fame as if a weather-cock, at the very moment it was the play thing of the winds, believed itfelf to be the caufe, and con- iequently that it had free will. What fignifies fuch an argument, unlefs it be to prove, that it ispoflible to fuppofe a fiftion fo perfeft, tnat li would apparently be equivalent to a realitv ? But I would afk, b/ \vhat foolifh defign of an intelligent being, or even by what fortuitous aflembiage of blind nature, is it, that man fhould have every moment a will precifely con- formable to his actions, if there be not a real corref* pomience between every part ? We could oppofe to the hypothefis of Spinofa an- tbcr argument, which would lead to a conclufion ab- folutely RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, i-Q fdlutely contrary ; that is, if the moft apparent liberty* may be only a fiction, by a particular concurrence of our will with an aftion ordained; it is alfo incontefti- ble, that were we to fuppofe the exigence, or fimple pofiibility of a free-will, we could not have a different- idea of it, than that which we hav: i'.-eady ; and the liberty of God hirafelf would not appear to our thoughts- under any other form. It is very eflential to remark, that when we refle about our faculties, we with eafe imagine a fuperior degree of intelligence, of knowledge, of memory, of forefight, and of every other property of our undemanding ; liberty is the only Dart of our- ielves to which our imagination cannot add any thing. I (hall not purfue other fubtle arguments, which have been produced, to corroborate my opinion. It is not to fotne men, bui to all, that I defire to fpeak ; becaufe I wim to be univerfally uleful. I fhall then* always dwell on the principal reflexions, whenever they appear tome fufficient to influence the opinion of found minds, and to fix them en thofe important tuuhs which are the furelt foundation of public happinefs. Self- love might induce many to follow a queiHon as far as it would go, and vainly glory in fpinning it out. But felf-love, applied to profound meditations, is itfelf a great fubtihy. Let us examine other arguments ufed to coinbat principles which we have eftablifhed. It is in vain, fome will fay, to endeavour to prove the exigence of a God, as the real (upport of the laws of morality ; all this fyflem will fall to pieces, if we be not informed, at the fame time, in what manner this God rewards and punifhes. 1 fliall obferve at firft, that fuch an obje&ion canno". make a very deep impreflion, but when it is connected in our minds with fome doubt of the exiflence of a Su- preme Being : a queftion that 1 fhail not yet treat; foe iuppofingan internal conviction of this laft truth, fuppof- iog,in all its force, the idea of a God prefent to our thoughts ; 1 afk, whether in order to pleafe him, we fhould npt have need of knowing precifely the period when we Cpuld perceive diftinft figns of bis approbation and be- *30- OF THE IMPORTANCE OF neftcence ? I afk again, whether, to avoid incurring' jiiis diipleafure. it would be equally neccfTary for us to know how, and in what manner, he would punifh us? Undoubtedly not ; for in taking a comprehensive view of the rewards arsd punifhmenfs which may proceed from a Supreme Being, ftruck with his grandeur, and allonifhcrl by his power, the vague idea of infinity would obtrude ; and this idea, fo awful, would fuffice to govern our fentimenir,. and fix our principles of con-' duel. We fhould be careful not to propofe condi- tions to him who has dra^n us out of nothing : anr! we inouM refent, and the time to ccme, we ought not to defire, that it ihould degenerate into an evident calculation, into a fentirnent bordering on felfiflinsfs. It would .then he very difucuit to give a proper definition of lib- city, if, by the effett of rapid juttice, a conilant propor- tion of good and evil accompanied every determina- ^i our micti. \Veihould then, ir.cfally,as well * 3 2 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF as phyfically, be impelled by an imperious inftinft-; and the merit of our aftions would be absolutely de- ftroyed. J mean by all tHs to afk, what would be our merit or demerit, if our -in. were only for an inftant, and if nothing were t^ ^oilow ? The perfuafion of the exitt* ence of a God, without a certainty of the immor- tality of our foul, cannot Jmpofe any obligation : but the real connexion between thcfe two ideas is too fre- quently overlooked. Undoubtedly, left to our underflanding, this word Certainty is not made for us ; or at lead is not appli, cable to our relation with the Deity, and to the judg- ment we form of his defigns and will. We are too far removed from the high and lofty One, who inha- bits eternity, to pretend to meafure his thoughts by our bounded views. They are covered with a veil ; and we always obfcurely difcern that which is hid in the depths of his wifdom: but the more this God, \vhom we adore, cfcapes by his immenfity from our con- ceptions, the lefs have we a right to limit his perfeclion$ 5 in order to refufe him the power of tranfporting eur ex- iitence beyond the narrow circle fubmitted to our view ; and I know not how it would be poflible to per- f bade us, that this aftion of the Deity would furpafs, in grandeur, the creation of the world, or the formation of animated beings. The habit of obfervinga great won- der may weaken our aitonifliment, but mould not erad* icate our admiration. We cannot reach, but by reflexion, to thufe events, of which the future is ftill the depofitory. But if eve- ry thing, which furrounds us, attcft the grandeur of the Supreme Being if the mind, in its meditations, without terror, approach the confines of infinity why pfBiOruii that he can perform in favour of men, a mag- nificent union of Omnipotence and perfect goodnefs P "Why rejeft, as an abfurd confidence, the idea of another exiftence ? We fee, without aftonifhmem, the feeble chryfalis force its way from the tomb i< wove for iifeif, and appear under a new form. We cannot be anticipated witncflcs of the perpetuity of out RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. ,-js, "our intelligence : but its vaft extent would appear to us, were we not familiarized with it, a greater phe- nomenon than duration. In fliort, why do I refift an ide.; o*" a continuation of exiftence, f;nce I am forced to : ve credit to my 'birth ? There is a greater diftanct, from nothing to life, than from life to its fequel or renewal under a new form. I am clearly acquainted with the com- mencement of exiflence. I know death only by con- jecture. We now enjoy the light and bleflings brought to us by a beneficent heavenly Teacher ; could 11 be, that he alone would be a ftranger to his own glory and virtues ? I cannot fay why this contraft makes an im- preflion on me : but it is among the number of fuper- ficial ideas which occur to rny mind, when I reflecl on this fubjeft. A comforting th'ought flill flrikes me ; the natural order of the univerfe appears to me a finiihed fyflem. 'We perceive a perfect regularity between the revolu- tion of the heavenly bodies, an invariable fecceflion in "vegetable life, an alinoft incredible precifion in thar, immenfe quantity of volatile particles fubjefted to the laws of affinity ; and think every thing in its right place, and that all fulfil exaftly their deflination in the grand and complete fyftern of nature. But if we turn afterwards cur attention to the mul- titude of beings inferior to men, we fhaii difcover alfo, that their aft ; on is as complete and conformable in cv. 'cry refpeft to the faculties they are endowed with^ lince they are governed by an imperious inttincl. Full of thefe ideas, flruck with alioniflirrent at the appear- ance of an harmony fo general, have we not juft grounds to prefume, that man, tranfported into infinite /pace by his inte'ligence that man fufceptible of improvement snd continually combating obftacles that roan, i n fhorf* this moft noble work of nature, only commences in this fublunary world his race? And, fince all, that compofcs the material order of the univerfe, appears to us in an harmony fo admirable, ought we not 'then to conduce, that the ir.ora! crdc-. in which we perceive things vague and not determinate that the moral M order *34 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF order is connected with another life mere fublirre and more afloniihing than the other parts of creation, and xvill one day he ultimately developed ? '1 his fmguiar difproportion between the harmony of the phyfical, and apparent confuficui of the moral world, items to announce a time of equilibrium and completion a *ime when we fhall all know its relation with the wif- oom of the Creator, as we already perceive the wifdom of his deigns, in the pcrfeft agreen.-fcnt of the innume- rable blefiings of nature with the prefent wants of mari, and every other animated creature. The grandeur of the human rnind is indeed a vaft -abject of reflexion. This marvellous conflitution feems to remind us pcrpeiualiy of a defign proportioned to fuch a noble conception. It feems almoft urvneceflaTf, that God fhould have endowed the foul with Inch no- ble faculties for fuch a fliort life as ours, to fulfil its limited plans ana trivial purfuits. Thus every thing authorizes us to carry our views further. Were i to fee fuch men as Columbus, Vefputius, Vafco de Ga- *na, in a fhip, I fhculd not fuppofe that they were mere coaflers. Some try to deftroy our hopes, by endeavouring to prove, that the foul is material, and that it ought to b^ aflimilatcd to every thing which penfhes before us : but the forms only change ; the vivifying force dees not perlih. Perhaps the foul relcmbies it, but >virh this difference, that as it is compofed of memory, re- flexion, and forefigbt, it exifls only by a feries of con- fequences, which form the diflincl attributes and par- ticular character of its efTence : it follows then, that it cannot be generalized like the blind force which ani- mates in a univerfa! manner vegetation ; but that every foul is, in fome meafure, a world to itfelf, and that it ought to preferve feparately an identity of intered, and confciouinefs of preceding thoughts. Thus, in this fyflem, the corporeal body, which difiingusflies us to the eyes of others, is only the tranfitcry habitation of that foul which is not to die of that foul fufceptiblc of continual improvement, and which, by degrees that we #n have no idea of. will probably approach infenfibly te ihjft RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 135 thai magnificient period, when it will be thought wor.- tby of knowing more intimately the Author of nature. How can we conceive the action of the foul on our fenfes, without a point of contaft? ^d how conceive that con ta ft, without the idea of nia^r? For it is on- ly by experience we are acquainted with the neceflity of it to occafion a motion : and without that previous knowledge, the rapidity wit'h which one body fome- limes ftrikes another, could only have been represented by the length of time necefFary for its approach to it : however, if we had not any metaphyfical knowledge of the caufe of motion and if experience only guidrrJ- our judgment in this refpecl, \vhyrefiftan idea that there is within us a faculty which acts of iifeif? The intimate feeling we have of it, is certainly an argument for its exiftence. We cannot, behdes, maintain, that a like property may'be oppofite to ih nature of things ; fince, if we aiopt the fyttem of the creation of the world, this property may proceed, like a!! others, from the Di- vine Power: and if we admir, on the contrary, the ir- religious opinion of the eternity cf the -univerfe, there muft have been, from eternity, a general movement with- out impulfion, without exterior contact, or any caufe out of itfeif ; and the action of our fouls might b fub- ject to (he fame laws. The idea of the neceflity of a contact, to effect a movement would never have occurred, if we had boun- ded our obfervations, to (he influence of our ideas on our determinations, and the influence of thole determi- nations on our phyfical being. In fhort, the laws cf attraction and repulfion are fubject to great exceptions ; which exceptions may ferve to fupport the fyflera of the fpirituaiity of the foul. We may be allowed to fay, that there exifis a vacuum in the univerfe, fince, without this vacuum, there could not hav been any motion. It is known, that this motion depends on the laws of attraction : but how can attraction aft through a vacuum, unlefs it be by a fpiritual force, \vhich afts without contact, and notwithflanding the abfolute interruption of matter ? 1 1 is then this force, or its equi- valent, that I may adopt, to define the caufe of the im~ preflTions, of which our fouls are fufceptible. Let *j6 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF Let others explain, in their turn, by what materbl comm-inication, the fight of a few immoveable charac- ters, traced on infenfible marble, difturbs my foul. It is very eafy to comprehend by what mechaniftn. the eye tfi$ingiiiflies thefe characters : but there ends tn _f phyfical aclion : for we cannot attribute to that action, the general power of producing fenfations in the mind ; fince, perhaps, many other man may con- fidcr the fame characters, without receiving any im- prefiion. It ia very poflible, that our intellectual perceptions have not any connexion with motion, fuch as we con- ceive it. Our interior nature, which we diftinguifk by the name of immaterial, is probably fubjeft to laws very different from thofe which govern nature in gen- eral ; but as we arc oblige,! to apply to the myfteriee of our fouls, thofe expreffions which ferve to deline- ate or to interpret the phenomena fubmitted to our in- ipeftipn ; thefe expreffions, and their continual ufe, have infenfibly habituated us to certain c-pinions, about *ha caufes and developement of our intellectual facul- ties. It is thus that, after having ufed the words mo- tion, red, agitation, and action, to difcriminate differ- ent affections of our fouls, of which we know very little, we have afterwards aflidiilated them, fool- imly, to our moral nature, to all the ideas which were- reprefented by thefe denominations. And even death it {'elf, of which we have not any clear knowledge, but by the diflfolution of our phyfical being death, an Image borrowed from things which are finder the in- fpettion of our fenfes, has not, perhaps, either relation conceive the union eftablifhcd between our thoughts M2 aoii *3& OF THE IMPORTANCE OF and exterior objefts, we have ftill to form an idea f the actions of thefe thoughts on themfelves, their pro- greffion and connexion. Our mind, led aftray, loft in iuch a meditation 5 leave us only a confcioufnefs of our weaknefs ; and we fee!, that there is an intellectual al- the human facilities can never reach, e dittinguifh in a fingle characler, which out can decypber, an abfolute difference be- tween foul and matter. We cannot avoid reprefent- ing the latter as infinitely divifible, while, on the con- trary, ill the efforts of our imagination could never di* vide that indivifibie unit which compofes the foui, and which is" the fovereign over our wilf, thoughts^ 3t)d all our faculties.* Butif we examine again, under another appearance, the properties of matter, we know not now to af- firm late to them the emotions of our foul: forwefeedif- lin&ly. thofc emotions, let their number be ever fo nu- merous ; whea even they aQ together and terminate IR the fane cenrre, which is that Indivifibie Being before alluded to ; whereas matter by an effential property, cannot, in the fame infiant, be prelFed or {'ruck in te - veralounners, suilefs it be in parts which have a tend- ency to different centres. There is not, then, any refernbJance between the im.r prelTions that our fouls receive, and the various effcfts which may be attributed to ihe aft ton of all the mate- rial fubftances, of which we can form any conception. They are always conne&ed with (he idea of fpace and extent : but that centre, where all our perceptions meet, that Judge, who ditlates laws in the internal em- pire * So.a^. fi/, 'n orJer to weaken tills argument, tint wt* *nay attribute to chs indiviiible unit all the qualities of mat- ter ; that a round budy is really divifible, but that rouridnef:;- and impenetrability are not. Such an objection is evident- ly not jult. Round nefs and impenetrability are only quali- ties: unA thefe q'.nlities, when merely abftradt, are neceffa- rily invariable. Thus, it is as impoffible to di vide itj 33 it istO' Tuultiply and in':rf.a(": it; but my foul, my thoughts, the con- 'cioufuefs that I have of my own exiftence, forms a particular ^ndperfaaalbeitig: and it it were of the i'4tnnatuti' as mat* RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, jflre, whofe revolutions we only know, that lad Direft- or of our will, this Indivifible Being, at the fame time our friend and mafter, is not to be found in any com- pounded idea ; and this unity fo (imple, ought neccf- farily to convince us, that nothing which is fubraittedl to the dominion of our fenfes, can ferve as * type of the idea which we are to form of the foul. We difcover the traces of this truth, whe *r*fix our attention on the comparifons with which our fpi- ritual unit, our identical felf, is continually occupied* We imagine it feated on a throne, liftening and -x- amining the various reafons which ought to determina its aftion. We fee ii;, tike Nero, yielding fometiraoe to Narciffus, and- fometimes to Burrhus ; but at the fame time that we dittin&ly perceive all the counfeU lors, all the flatterers, all the enemies which furround it ', we never remark but a fingle mafter in the midft of the tumult, and the intrigues of this court. While our foul then is thrown into motion l?y con- templation, and by the imperceptible modification of a fugitive idea, as well as by every thing which is oppofc ed to material aftion, why ihould we not fuppofe* that it is purely intelligent and fpiritual ? It mull be ron- feffedj that fometimes our. corporeal infirmities influ- ence our minds. But this relation is not a proof of identity; fince our body may bean inflrument en- truftcd to our foul, one of the organs of which it is to make a tranfitory ufe. The continuity of exigence, confidered abftraftedly, certainly is in the univerfe a iimple and natural ftate : and the temporary exiftencc is perhaps the only one which is heterogeneous and accidental. The foul feems too noWe to be affimilat- ed to -the latter ttate : it nvay exiit in a different man- ner when joined to a material fubRance : but that con- nexion does not make it lofe its original eflence, - It is to be acknowledged, that IMS through the me- dium of our fenfes we know all th-3 force of our exift- ence ; and that they are thofe parts of our mixed be- ing which llrike us moft, during a little while, and it is, perhaps, by a law of the fame kind, that we fee Bien r e i^roiled by a great pillion, entirely Grangers to f4<> OF THE IMPORTANCE OF every other moral affeaion. But why ffiould it be contrary to the nature of chings, that the foul, once ftnpped of its terredrial clothing.fhouid be acquainted with the nati>reofits exiflence, and at the fame time perceive thofe truths which now are obfcured by clouds. .An innate fire languiflies a long time un- known in a rough ftone : that flone is flruck ; and we iee iffue out a fplendid light. This is, perhaps, a faint picture of the ftate in which our foul is, when death breaks its fetters. In fhort, in a matter fo obfcure, every fuppofition ss admiffible, which affures us, that the foul is not or* earth in a ftate of enchantment, or in a kind of inter- ruption of its ordinary exiftence. AH that we fee of the aniverfe is an affemblage of incomprehenfible phe- nomena ; and when we wifli to difcover the conclu- fion, through the aid of the ideas moft on a level witK our intelligence, we wander perhaps from truth ; fince accord ing to appearances, it is in the depths of infini- ty that it repofes. I doubt, whether we can allow the authority of thofe wietaphyfical arguments, which are made ufe of to de- fend the fpirituality of the foul, to be decifive : but they are fufficient to repulfe the different attacks of matenalifts. The moft evident opinion fo me is, that we are too weak to comprehend the fecret we fearch for. We have, according to our petty knowledge, divided the univerfe into two parts, fpirit and matter : hut this divifion ferves only to diflinguifh the little we* Icnow, from that of which we have no knowledge.- r There is, perhaps, an infinite gradation between Jhe different properties which compofe motion and life inflina and intelligence. We can only exprefs the' ideas conceived by our underftandings : and the gene- ral words which we make ufe of, ferve only to detecl the vain ambition of our mind : but with refpecl: to- the univerfe, in confidering its immenfity, we fnall find ? that there is fufficient fpace for all the {hades and modi- fications we have no idea of. We confefs, that it is the connexion between our phyfical powers and intel- Jc6iual faculties, and ihe aclion that they feem to havr RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 141 n each other, which nourifhes our doubts and anxie- ties ; but without this relation, without the appear- ance of our fall, all would be diflinct in the fate of man, all would be manifeft. It is then, becaufe there is a {hade in the midft of the picture, which continually catches our attention, that we have need to collect the light of the mind and the feelings, in order fc> fee in perfpeflive our defliny ; and it is from this motive, that we find it neceffary, above all, to be penetrated with the idea of a God. and to fearch, in his power and goodnefs, for the laft explication which we want. There is, in the judgments of men, a contrail which I have often been ftruck with. Thofe people, who, at the fight of the immenfity of the univerfe, at the view of ihe wonders, in the midll of which they are placed, fear not to attribute-to our intellectual facul- ties the power of interpreting and underftanding every thing, and even the capacity of attaining almoft to the hidden fecrets of our nature : thefe fame people are, neverthelefs, mofl eager to ftrip the foul of its true dignity, and the moil obftinate in refufing its fpiritual- ity and duration, and every thing elfe which can ex- ait it. But happily, thefe re fu fa Is orconceflions fix not our fate. The nature of the foul will always be as un- known as the effence of the Supreme Being : and it is one of the proofs of its grandeur, to be wrapped up in the fame myfteries which hide from us the univer- fal fpirit. But there are fimple ideas and fentiments, which feem to bring along with them more comfort and hope than metaphyfical arguments, We cannot profoundly meditate on the marvellous attributes of thought we cannot attentively contem- plate the vaft empire which has been fubmitted to if, or reflect on the faculty with which it is endowed, of fixing the paft, approaching the future, and bringing into a froall compafs the expanded views of nature, and of containing, if I may ufe the phrafe, in one point, the infinity of fpace, and the immenfity of time we cannot coniider fuch a wonder, without con~ Jinually uniting a femiment of admiration to the idea > H2 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF of an end worthy of fuch a grand conception, worthy of him whofe wifdom we adore. Shall \ve, however, be able to difcover this end, in the paffing breath, ir: the fleeting moments which compofe life ? Shall wo be able to difcover it in a fucceflion of phantoms, vibfeh feem-deflined only to trace (he progress of time ? ^4M)l0ftc, above all, perceive it in this general (yfiem of tfeftrutlion ? And ought we to annihilate in the fame manner the iufenfible plant, which pcriihes with- out having known life and the intelligent man, who every day explores the charms of exigence ? Let us r?ot thus degrade our fate anu nature ; and let us judge and hope better of that which is unknown. Life, which is a means of improvement, fhould not lead to an eternal deaih : the mind, that prolific iburce of knowledge, fhould not be lofl in the dark fliades of forge tfulnefs. Senfibiiity and all its mild snd pure emotions, which fo tenderly unite us to others, and en- liven our days, ought not to be diffipated as if it wer the vapour of a dream : conference, that fevere judge, was not intended to deceive us : and piety and virtue ar. not vainly to elevate our views towards that mo- dle ofaffeciion, the objeft of our love and adoration.- The Supreme Being, to whom all times belong, Teems already to have fealed our union with futurity, by en- dowing us with forefight, and placing in the recefTes of our heart the paflionatc defire of a longer duration and the confufed fentiment which it gives of obtaining it. There are fome relations dill obfcure, fome con- nexions between our moral nature and futurity ; and perhaps our wiflies, our hopes, are afixthfenfe, a faint fenfe, if I may be allowed to exprefs myfeif fo, of vrhich we (hall one day experience the fatisfacliori. Sometimes alfo. 1 imagine, that love, the moil noble ornament of our nature, love, fublimc enchantment, is a mytterious pledge of the truth of thefe hopes j for in difengaging us from ourfelves, tranfporting us beyond the limits of our being, it feenis the firH ftep towards an immortal nature : and in rrefenting to us tire idea, in offering to us the example of an exigence out of our- ielves, it feems to interpret by our feelings that which cur minds cannot comprehend, ID RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 143 ' t In ftort, and this reflexion is the rooft awful of all, when I fee the mind of man grafp at the knowledge of a God when I fee him, at Icatt, draw near to fuch a grand idea fuch a fuhlime degree of elevation pre- pares me. in fouie manner, for the high dtfliny of the &>ui. 1 fearch fora proportion between this immenfe (bought and all the interefls of the world ; and l^d^T- cover none. 1 fearch for a proportion bet we^4|j^i, boundlefs meditations and the narrow. piflure of ife ; and I perceive none. There is then, 1 doubt nof, fome magnificent fecret beyond all that wecan difcern ; fome afloniftmg wonder behind this curtain, fill! un- furled ; on all fides we difcover the commencement of it. How imagine, how refoWe the thought, that all which aife&s and animates us, ail which guides and captivates us, is a feries of enchantments, an aflemblage ofillufions-? The univerfe and its majefticpomp would then have been only dcflintd to ferve as the theatre of a vain reprcfentation : and fuch a grand idea, fo mag- nificent a conception would have had for an object a mere dazzling chimera. What would then have figni- fied that mixture of real beauties and fa lie appearances ? What had (ignifiecl that concourfe cf phantoms, wl. without defign or end, would be lefs admirable ihan a ray of light deftmed to enlighten our abode ? In fhorf, what had iignified in men that union of iubiime thoughts and deceitful h<.pes ? Guard us front giving credit to fuch a fuppofition ! Is it to Hiru, then, whole power has not any limits, that we dare to attribute the artifices of weaknefs ? Should we have feen every where order, defign, and exaftnefs, as far as our under- iiandng can reach and as foon as we are arrived at the utmofl boundary of our faculties, mould we flop the views of the Supreme Intelligence, and imagine, that all is finifhecl, becaufe futurity is unknown ? Alas! we endure but a moment; and we prefume tu know the paft andjfuiure! But grant us only the idea of a God ; do not deprive us of OHT confidence in him ; it is in re- jying on that grand truth, that we fhali be ab'e to guard our hopes againft a!l the metaphyficol arguments, vvhi,h we are not immediately prepared to anlwer. Would 544 o? THE IMPORTANCE OF \Vould you objeft, that hope is not fufficient to de- termine men to the observance of morality, and to iub- jecl them to the facrifices which the pra6tife of virtue feems to impofe? What then attracts them, in ail the .buftle of lifej unJefs it be hope ? What is it that ren- ders them greedy of honour and of fortune, unit- f* it be expectation ? And when they obtain the objeft of their wiflies, they have frequently only the advantages hope created. Why then would yon 1 ;ro vilue than the b:dr- i*6 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF bleffingsfcattered around us. Thus, wefhould be mifer- ably impoverifhed, if they could cut off the various com- forts which we fliall never pofFefs. but through the aid $f imagination. However, if we take this imagina- tion as a guide and encouragement, when we are engaged in the purfuits of fortune and ambition and if the wife themfelves find that to be good which ferves to nourifh ourpaffions why would you arejeft it, when, fimply more grand and more fublime an its objeft, it becomes the fupport of ourweaknefTes, the fafeguard of our principles, .and the fource of our uiofi interefting confolations ? It is the part of legislators to ftudy thefe truths, and todirecl towards them the fpirit of laws, and the un- certain courfe of opinions. How honourable is it for them to be called to form the augufl alliance which is to unite happinefs with morality, and morality with the exigence of a God ! CHAPTER XII. That there is a God. THAT there is a God! How is it pofiible to avoid being penetrated with an awful refpecl in utter- ing thefe words ? How refitft on them without the deeped humility, and even an emotion of furprife, that man, this weak creature, this atom difperfed in the immenfity of fpace, undertakes to add fome weight to a truth, of which all nature is the fplendid witneis ? However, if this truth be our fupreme good, if we be nothing without it, how can we banifh it from our minds? Does it not conftrain us to dwell continually on the fubjetl? Compared with it ail other thoughts are infigniricant and uninterefting. It gives birth to, and fuftains all ihe fentiments on which the happinefs of an intelligent creature depends, I confefs 1 tremb- lingly "RE'LIGIOUS OPINIONS, 147 ifigly difcuffed (he different objections which are em- ployed to deftroy our confidence in the exiltence of a Supreme Being. I dreaded the melancholy which ihole arguments produced. I was afraid to feel the impreflion of it myfelf, and thus to hazard the opinion moft dear to my heart, and mod efTential to my happi- nefs. It appeared to me, that a few general ideas, fup- ported by lively feelings, would have been fufficieni for my tranquility : and without an intereft more ex- tended, without the defire of oppofing, according to my powers, a fpirit of indifference and falfe philofo- phy, which is every day gaining ground, I fhouid never have itepped beyond my circle. But I am far from regretting the part I have taken. I have ran over, without much trouble, thofe books where the moft pernicious doQrines are ingenioufly diffemtnated ; and- have thought, that a perfon. endowed with common fenie, on whom metaphyfical fubtleties were obtruded, would refemble thofe favages. who are brought fome- times among us, and who, from the depraved refine- ment of our morals and manners, have often recalled us, by fume natural reflexions, to thofe firnple princi- ples which we have abandoned, to thofe ancient truths' \vhofe veftiges are lofh The whole ftrutlnre of religion would be overturn- ed, if, by the ftrength or artifices of rcafoning, meiy could deitroy our confidence in the exiflence of a Su- preme Being. Morality, being detached from th opinions which fuOain it, would remain a wavering, unfupported notion, only defended by a policy, whole power time would infendbly weaken. A fatal languor invading every mind, where would be that univerfal intereft, that ientiment felt by all men, and proper to form a general alliance between them ? Then thofe, who with pure intentions, can only be guided and fuf- tain^d by an intimate pcrfuafion, would retire fad, and leave to others the care of fupporting moral order by fiftions and falfhoods. They would pity that difmayed race, called to appear and pafs away like flowers, which bloom but for a day. They would defpife thofe ani- aiated phantoms, which only come to make a bu/ with their i*8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF their vanify and trivial pafHons, and fall, in a ,. while, into eternal oblivion. All thar appears.be 3ul in (he univerfe, and excites our enthufiafrn, v,'. 'con lofe its iplendor and enchantment, if we perceiv- ed nothing in this brilliant fcene, but the play of iome atoms, and the uniform walk of blind neceflity : fo: it is always becaufe a thing may be othervvife, that it acquires a c'aim to our admiration. In fhort, thar foul, that fpiri:. which vivifies man that facuiiy of thought v, r ;f~ s and confounds thofe who re- -- ; " ; - would on:y appear a vain movement, if nothing or were to follow if fonie unknown breath, or general intelligence, did not animate nature. But we have dwelt too long on thofe gloomy thoughts, -Re-afTume your light a-aci life^ admirable works cf Ood. Come, and confound the pride of fomc, and <:ornfort others. Come, and take poffeffion of our ib'tls, and d:rtcl our affections towards him whom we ought to love -towards him who is the eternal model of perfrft wifdom, and unlimited goodnefs I 1 fiia!l not endeavour to prove, that there is a God, Vy reciting all the wonders the works of nature difplav to our eyes. Several celebrated writers have already clone n } and have miifed their aim. Infinity can only t represented by aftoniftiment and refpeft, which over* vbcims ail our thonghts: and when we labour to ex.- plain the fucceflive and varied piclure of the wonders of nature, this change of objects is more calculated to relax our admiration than to increafe it ; for any change cafes our mind, by affording thofa relaxations which our weakuefs has need of ; and if we were to inveOi- gate only one phenomenon, \ve flioirtd fjon difcover the utmoft extent of our faculties. We find the lim- its of our underilanding in the examination of the or- ganization of the fmalleR infecl, as well as in obferving the faculties of the foul : and the myfterjes of the fimpleft vegetation are as far above the reach of our intelligence, as the principal agent of the univerfe. It is then as a hymn of praife to the Supreme Be- ing, and not as neceffary inftruQion, that I freely fol- iw the courfe of my thoughts. I (hall begin- by throwing RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 149 throwing a rapid glance on the principal charafters of wifdom and grandeur, which we are all equally ftruck with, when we contemplate the wonder of the unt- What a fight is that of the world ! What a mag- nificent pifture for thofe who can be roufed out of the date of indifference, in which habit has thrown them I We know not where to begin, or ftop, when we ex* patiate on fo many wonders : and the moft noble of" all is, the faculty which has been beftowed on us of admiring and conceiving them. What an aftonifh- ing and fublime relation is that of th innumerable beauties of nature, with the intelligence which per- mits us to enjoy, and to be made happy by them ! What relation fo furprifing, as that of the order and harmony of the univerfe, with the moral intelligence which enables us to anticipate the enjoyments of wif- dom and unclouded knowledge! Nature is immcnfe, and all that it contains, all that it fpreads with (b much fplendor, feems- within the reach of our fenfibility, or the powers of our rnind : and thefe faculties, invifi- ble and incomprehenfible, unite to form that wonder of wonders, "which we call felicity. Let not thefe plain words turn our attentioo from the magical ideas which they reprefent. It is becaufe the grand phe- nomena of our exiftence cannot either be defined or expreffed many ways, that they are fo much mors wonderful; and thofe words, ufed by common con- fent, foul, mind, fenfation, life, happinefs, and many others befides, which we pronounce fo fligfnly, con- found not left our urvJerllanding, when we wifh ti> difcufs the eflence of the properties of which they are the fign. It is for this reafon, among fevera! others, that the admiration of particulars, in the works of nature, is always inefficient for thofe who have fenfibility ; as fuch admiration is neceffarily placed b^t^yeen two ideas fufceptible of being known ideas which we conne& through the aid of our own knowl- edge. But the charm of our relation with the won- ders which furround us, arifes from experiencing eve- *y,iii[Unt the imprctfion of an infinite grandeur and N sr feeling j 5 OF TH IMPORTANCE OF feeling the neceffity of flying to lhat mild refuge of ignorance and weaknefs. the fublime idea of a God 'We are continually carried towards this idea by the vain efforts which we make, in order to penetrate th<2 fecrets of our own nature : and when I fix my at- tention on thofe aftomming myfteries, which feeru to terminate, in forae manner, the power of our thoughts, I reprefent them with, emotion, as the only fcarrier which feparates us from the infinite Spirit, the iburce of all knowledge. Men endowed with the greateft genius, perceive quickly the hounds of their facilities, when they wifli to go very far in the ftudy of abQratl metaphyficai truths. But the funpleft and leaft exerciCed mind can diftinguiih the proofs of that order, which with fo much fplendor announces the end and defign of fovereiga \vifdom. It feenis, that ail the knowledge proper to interefl men has been placed within their reach. The learned aflror.omer, obferving the courfe of the globe round the fun, perceiv-es the caufe of that regular fuc- ceflion of repofe and vegetation, which fecures the eartli sis fecundity, and adornsevery feafon with renewed beau.- lies: but the iimple cultivator, who fees the f the earth renovated every year, and anf^er, with 'Singular precifion, to tfe wants of animated beings, >.s not lefs a Vvitnefs of a. phenomenon which is fufficieal to excite his admiration and gratitude! Newton ana- lyzed light, and calculated the fwifmefs. with which it -3uns ever the imraenflty of fpace : but the ignorant berdfman, who fees when be wakes, his hut enlighten.- ed by the fame rays which animate ail nature, is equal- ly berieBted by them. The indefatigable anatotnilt at- tains a juft idea of our iniraitahle ftrufture, and the in.- !on? texture of oar different crgaiis : but the rr.an moil ;;i, v;ho reflects an inuant c;i the plcafures, ar:d the variety of ftr.iations, which we find ourfelves fufceptibls of, partakes the bleffing equally. The trarfcendenl knowledge of fome people, is a degree of fuperiority which diiappears when contrafled with theincomprehenfibb grandeur of narure. When RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. - gt *Wq contemplate infinity, thofe talents which exalt on man above 'another are no more feen : and probably ft is beyond the limits of our intelligence that tfye great- eft .wonders of nature begin. The knowledge of all ages has not explained what is the imperious authority of our will over our aftions, nor how our thoughts could reach the mo(t remote ages, how our fouis could inveftigate that innumerable multitude of prefent ob- jects, of recollections and anticipations: neither has it informed us how all thofe excellencies of the mind, femeumes remain unknown to itfelf, nor how they are fometimesat its command, ifiumgout of their long obfcurity, and fucceeding each other with method, or are pfofufely poured forth. At the fight of thefe afton- iihing phenomena, we think mm prefurnptuous, when, puffed up with pride, he miftakes the meafurc of his llrength, and wifhes to penetrate into the fecrets, whofe confines are ft ut up by an invifible hand. He fhould be content to know, that his exilience is united to fo many wonders; he fhould be fatisfied with being the* principal object of the liberality of jiature, and he mould adore with referential refpect, that powerful Sovereign,- who bettors fo many bleiUngs on him, and who has made him to lympathize with all the poweri of heaven and earth. The globe on which we live, runs over every yc:r a. fpacc of two hundred millions of leagues ; and in this irncnsnfe courfe, its dtftance from the iun, deter- mined by immutable laws, is exaclly proportioned ! the degree of the* temperature neceflary to our feeble na- ture, and to the fucceffive return of that precious vege- tation, without which no animated being could iuj>- fill. That celeftial body, which fertilize?- the feeds of life (hut up in the bofom of the earth, is, at the fame time, the i'ource of that light which opens to our yievr the glorious fight of the univerfe. The rays of the iun run over, in eight minutes, about thirty millions of leagues : fuch an impetuous motion would be fuf- ficient to pulverifc the large ft maffes of matter : but, by an admirable combination, fuch is the incompre.- henfiole OF THE IMPORTANCE OF fcenfible tenuity of theferays, that they ftrike the mofz tender of our organs, not only without wounding it- but with a meafure io delicate and precife, that they excite in us thofe extatic fenfations, which are the origin and the indifpenfable condition of our greateil enjoyments. Man, in immenfity, is only an imperceptible point: and yet, by his fenles and intelligence, he feems in communication with the whole univerfe. But how pleafant and peaceable is this communication ! It i* ^Imoft that of a prince with his fubjefts. All is animat- ed round man ; all relates to his defires and wants. The aclion of the elements, every thing on the earth, like the rays of light, feems to be proportioned to his faculties and ftrength : and while the celeftial bodies move with a rapidity which terrifies our imagination, and while, in their courie, they hurry along our dwel- ling, we are tranquil in the bofom of an afylum,and un- der the protefting ihelter atiotted us ; we enjoy there i peace a multitude of bleffings, which by another won- derful affinity, ally themfelves to our tafte, and all the femiments we are endowed with. In fhort, and it is another favour, man is permitted to be, in fome things, the contriver of his own happi- nefs, by his will and ingenuity. He has embeliifhed his habitation, and united feveral ornaments to the fim- pie beauties of nature. He has improved, by his care, the falutary plants, and even in thofe, which feemed the moft dangerous, he has difcovered fome whole- fome property, and carefully feparated it from the en- venomed parts which furrounded it. He can foften metais, and make them ferve to augment his flrength, He obliges the marble to obey him, and affume what form he defires. He gives laws to the elements, or cir- umfcribes their empire* He flops theinvafion of the fea. He reflrains the rivers in their natural bed, and fometimes obliges them to fake a different courfe, in order to fpread their benign influence. He ere&s a fheher againft the fury of the winds, and, by an inge- nious contrivance, makes ufe of that impetuous force, which he could not at- firii dream of defending himfelf from. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. i S $ from, Even the fire, whofe terrible aftion feer: prefage dellruftion, he fabjugaies ; and renders it, if I may fo exprefs myfe'f. the confidant of his induftrys, ' and the companion of his labours. What a fource of reflexions is this dominion of the mind over the moft dreadful offers of the movement of Mind matter! It fecms as if the Supreme Being, in fubmitting thus to. the Intelligence of men the moft powerful elements, chofe to give us an anticipation of fhe empire which his (bvcrcigrj wifdom has over tlio vmiverfe. However, it is in the influence of our fpirUualfecut- 'tics on themfelves, that we obferve, above a!!, their ad- mirable nature: we fee, with aftonifhment, the pert feftion which they acquire by their own action. In- telligence confidered in a general manner, undoubted- ly is a great phenomenon : but it is a Hill greater won- der, to fee the thoughts of a tnan reach by the molt in- genious means, the knowledge of others, and form an alliance between the pail and prelcni productions of the mind. It is by fuch analjiance, that the fciences have been improved, and that the mind cf man has been ac- quainted with ail its firength. The mighty of the earth cannot break this aifociatioiir, nor fubject to their tyrannic divifions the noble heritage of knowledge. This gift, fo precious, preserves the {lamp of a divine hand ; and no one has yet been able to fay " it is mine." The moft noble ufe that has ever been made of the admirable union of fo many taleats, and fo much know!- edge, was to demonftrate how every thing in nature relates to the idea of a firft caufe ; which forcibly an~ nounces a defign full of wifdom, and a beneficent in- tention. But now, unhappily, thefe proofs of the ex- iftence of a God are not hnficient. Imperious philo- fophers have labored to fubvert every thingfoundedon . the connexion and wonderful harmony of the fyftem of nature. It is not fufficient to oppofe to thefe new- opinions the mere authority of final caufes. They do not conteft that there is a perfect conformity between our defires and wants ? between our fenfes and the bounties 4-54 OF THE IMPORTANCE O? bounties of nature : they do not conteft, from the cedar to the hyfTop, from the infeft to man, that there is a beauty of proportion in the whole, which is to be found equally in the relation that objefts have with each other, as well as in their different parts. But this admirable harmony, in which the pious man, the man of feeling, perceives with delight the ilamp of an eternal intelligence others, lefs fortunate, undoubted- ly, obftinately prefent to us as a fortuitous collifionj as a play of atoms agitated by a blind movement, or as nature itfelf, exifting thus from all eternity. Wha trouble they take to invent and defend thefe fyflem.v deftru&ive of our happinefs and hopes 1 I prefer my feelings to ail this philofophy : but to avoid an en- counter would be to favour their prefuinption, and give additional flrength to their opinions. I ihall treat the moll important queftion that man- can confider, in this manner : I fhall endeavour firfi to fhow that the different conjectures on the origin of the world all centre in the Tingle opinion of the eternal and neceflary exiftence of every thing which is : and I fiiall aiterwards compare the bafis of that fyflem, with the reafon of that happy and fimple be- lief which unites the idea of a Supreme Being with all we fee and know ; in Ihort, to the univerfe, tfet aioft unlimited of our conceptions. CHAPTER XIII. The fame Jubjtft continued. WHEN we fee the authors of the different fyf* terns, concerning the formation of the world, Tcjeti the idea of a God, under the pretext, that this idea is foreign to the nature of our perceptions, fhould we not have a right to expcft Tome better fubflitute foe. RfiUGIOUS OPINIONS. 155 for it ? But far from anfwering our expectations, they abandon themfelves to all the wanderings of the moft fantaftic imagination. In faft, whether we rc fer the origin of the univerfe to the effect of hazard, the fortuitous concourfe of atoms, or eHablifh another faypothefis, derived from the fame principle, it is nec- efiary at leaft, to fuppofe the eternal exiftence of an innumerable multitude of little particles of matter, placed without order in the immenfity of fpace ; and to fuppofe, afterwards, that the{e atoms, difieminated to infinity, attracted ea^h other, and correfponded by the inherent properties of their nature ; and that there refulted, from their adhefion, not only organized, but intelligent faculties ; it is neceflary, in fhort, to fuppofe, that all thofe incomprehenfible atoms have been iettled with admirable order through the effeft of a blind motion, and by the refult of iome of the pof- fible chances in. the infinity of accidental combina- tions. Indeed, after fo many fuppofitions, without example or foundation, that of an Intelligent Being, foul and direftor of the univerfe, had been more analo- gous and more confonant with our knowledge. Let us return to the hypothefis we have juft men-' tioned. We {hall then recognize the trifling habit of the mind. It is accuilomed to proceed from fianple to compound ideas, every time it meditates, invents, or executes : thus, by an inverfe method, the compo- fers of fyftems have thought, that, in order to conneft the univerfe to its origin, it was fufficient to detach, by the exercife of thinking, all its parts, and to break and fubdivide them afterwards to infinity. But what- ever may be the tenuity of thefe atoms, their exiftence, having organized and intelleclual properties which *we fliould be obliged to grant them, would be a won- .der almoft equal to thole phenomena, which furround -OS. % When we fee a plant grow, embeiiiflied with dif- ferent-colours, -we only think of the period when itt vegetation may be perceived by our fenfes. But the f<:ed of this plant, or if you like better, the organized the fijft principle of this feed, would have of- fered 1<5 6 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ftred alfo a grand fubjeft of admiration, if we had been endowed with the faculties neceflary to .penetrate into the occult fecrets of nature. But perhaps, in tranf- forming into an imperceptible powder ail the parts of Kiatter, which have been collected to compofe the world, we have only before our eyes a fugitive vapour, to which even our imagination cannot reach : and tbofe who unfortunately love and defend this admiration, find beiides, in the fyftem of divifibie atoms, means to defer according to their fancy, the moment of their altonilhment. All thefe famaftic combinations ferve only to leacf us aftray in our refearches : and I do not think it a mat- ter of indifference to make a general obferyation ; The ftudy of the firft elements of all the fciences which we acquire, fuch as geometry, languages, civil legifla- ti-on, and feveral others, appear to us the fubJimeft pare of our inftruclion. It is net the fame, when we feek to know the laws of the phyfical world ; for the works of nature never appear more fimple than in their com- pounded ftate. They are then, to our mind, that which harmony is to the ear. It is the agreement of all parts which forms a union perfectly proportioned to our intelligence. Thus man, for example, that won- derful alliance of fo many different faculties, does not aftonifh our underllandmg, but appears to us in one point of view, a fimple idea; but we are troubled, and, as it were difmayed, when we try to analyze him, or mount to the elements of his liberty, will, thought, and all the other properties of his ature. '.' We only advance towards infinity, and confequent- ly towards the moil profound darknefs. when we def- troy the world, in order to divide it into atoms, out of the midft of which we make it iffue afrefh, after hav- ing rallied all we have difperfed. Let us admit, for a moment, that there exift organiz- ed and intelligent atoms, and that they are fuch, eith- er by their nature, or by their adhefion to other atoms. We are now, of all thefe fcattered atoms, to con;pofe the univerfe, that matter-piece of harmony, and per- feft aifemblage of every beauty anil variety, that inex- hauflible RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. i 67 : haifftible fource of every fentiment of admiration ; and in rejecting the idea of a God, Creator and prefervcr, we muft have recourfe ^o the power of chance, that is to fay, to the effefts of n unknown continual motion, which, without any rule, produces, in a limited time, all the combinations imaginable. But, in order to ef- feft an infinite variety of combinations, it is not on- ly neceflary to admit a continual motion, but, befides, to fuppofe this continual motion changes its direction in all the parts of fpace fubjeft to its influence. Tire exiflence of fuch a change, and a fimiiardiverfny in the laws of motion, is a new fuppofition wkich may be ranked with the other wild ones. However, after thefe chimerical fyflems have beeifc* granted, we are not freed from the difficulties whicir xhe notion of the formation of the world by a fortuit- ous concourfe of atoms produces. It is difficult to comprehend how particles of mat- ter, agitated in every manner, and fufceptible, as has been fuppofe^, of an infinity of different adhcfions, ihould not have formed fuch a mixture, fuch a con- texture, as would have rendered the harmonious com- -pofition of the univerfe in all its parts impoflible. When we reprefent to ourfelves, abftrattcdly, the unlimited number of chances that may be attributed to a blind movement, the imagination, unable to conceive, is left to guefs, how an infinite number of atoms, fn- dowed with a property of uniting thcmfelves, under an infinite diverfity of movements, could cornpofe the heavenly bodies. But -as, long before that period, when fuch an accidental throw would become prob- able, thefe fame atoms might have formed an innume- rable ranltituds of partial combinations; if one of thefe combinations had been incompatible with the harmony and compofition of a world, that world could not have been formed. The fame confiderations may be applied t animated beings. Chance mvght have produced men fufceptible of life, and the tranlmiffion of it, lonj before chance gave them ail the faculties which they enjoy : and if they had been formed with only four isnfes, they could Q HO* s 5 S OF THE IMPORTANCE OF not have acquired a fifth for ihe fame reafon that \vc do not fee a new one fpring up Befides, the chance, which might have produced living beings, muft have always preceded the chance which afforded thofe be- ings every thing neceflary for their fubfiftence and pre- fcrvation. It may, indeed, be fuppofed, (hat atoms aflerebled in a manner incompatible with the difpofition of the univerfe, have been feparated by the continuation of the motion introduced into the irnmenfity of fpace. But this continual motion, fwfficient to fever that which it has joined, would it not have deflroyed that harmony which has been the refult of one of the for- juitous chances to which the formation of the world has been attributed ? Will fome objet, that all the parts of matter, once united in the mafies and proportions v.hich conflitutc the heavenly bodies, have been maintained by the im- preffion of a predominant force at the fame time inva- riable ? But how is it poflibie to reconcile the exig- ence and dominion of fuch a force with that continual motion, which was requifite for the competition of the univerfe ? It may be alfo demonftrated, that the formation of worlds, by the chances of a blind motion, and their regular continuity of exiflence, are two propofitions which difagree. Let us explain this idea. The play of atoms, neceflary in order to produce the unforced maffes of the heavenly bodies, being infinitely lefs complicated than that which is neceffary to produce them, inhabited as they are with intelligent beings, muft have happened long before the other. Thus, in the fyftem of the composition of the univerfe, by the fortuitous concourfe or atoms, it is neceflary to fup- pofe, that thefe atoms, after having been united vo form the heavenly bodies, have been levered, and unit- ed again, as many times as was neceflary to produce a planet inhabited by intelligent beings. Since beings thus endowed add nothing to the {lability of the world fmce they do not contribute to the grand coalition of ail its parts why the iatne blind motion which has unitcdj RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, united, diffolved, and afTemblcd fo often every part of the earth, before it was compofed, fuch as it is : why- does it not produce fome alteration now ? It ftould again reduce to powder oar wonld, or, at leaft, let us perceive the commencement of fome new form. It is not only to a world inhabited by intelligent be- ings, that the arguments, juft mentioned, may be ap- plicable ; for we perceive around us an innumerable multitude of beauties and features of harmony, which were not neceflfcry to the prefervation of our world, and wh^^, according to every rule of probability, woul4a^^Ry? ave exiited. uniefe we fuppofed that the earth hJHP^ formed, difiolved, and reproduced, an infinity of times, before having been compofed iuch as we fee it : but then, I wouid-afk, why there were no veftiges of thofe alterations, and why lhat motion has flopped ? it would be poflible, however, by the aftftance of a new fuppofmon, to refol.ve the difficuliy I have juft mentioned. Some may fay, that the union, and the ucceflive difpertion of the univerfal atoms, are execut- ed in a fpace of time, fo flow and infenfible, that our obfervations, and all thofe which we have from tradi- tion, cannot inform us whether there will not be a fe- paration of all the parts of the univerfe, by the fame caufes which have occafioned their adhefion. It is obvious, that tranfporting us into infinity, and admitting fuch a feries of arbitrary fu-ppolitions, they are not indeed expofed to any rational attacks : but making equally free with infinity, in order to oppol'e nonfenfe to nonfenle, why may I not be allowed to fuppofe, that in the infinite combinations anting from perpetual motion, men have been created, deltroyed, and again called into being, with the fame faculties, remembrances, thoughts, relations and circumftances ; and why each of us, feparated from our former exift- cnce, only by a fleepjwhofe duration is imperceptible, fliould not be in our own eyes immortal beings? In- finity permits the fuppolition of thisabfurd hypothefis ; 35 it authorifes every flight of the imagination in whicii ?iine is reckoned for nothing. We fee^ however, how iSo OF THE IMPORTANCE OF v/e rifk running into error, when, with our limited fa- culties, we wim to fubjeft the incomprehenfibleidea of infinity, and boldly adjuft it to the combinations of finite Beings. I.ct us produce, however, another objection. It may *>2 faidj that our planet is the refult of chance : but is not this chance improbable, if we fuppofed that there oxifted in the infinity of fpace, an infinite number of other afTembled atoms, equally produced by the firit throw of the dice, which reprcient all the poiible forms, and imaginable proportions ? And I wouh^ytp aik, by what laws all thefe irregular bodies, r ' e r Sfl^^K^ ;; ^' jeft, by reafon of their number and ma!' : . :o an ir.- finity of movements, have not difconcertcri the plane- tary fy item formed, at the fame time as they were, by ehance ? I ought toobfewe, above all, tfrat the order which we are acquainted with, is a proof of univerfal order; for, in immenfity, where one part is nothing compared with the whole, no part without exception, could be pre- feryed, unlefs it were in equilibrium with every other. Thus, whether infinite JucceJ/ion of chances be fuppofed, to which the entire mals of atoms has been uniformly fubjeft - or whether the firft general throw be thought fufficient, but divided into an infin~ ity of different Jtttions our reafon oppofes invinci- ble difficulties to the refult which fome want to draw from thefe various fyftems. In fliort, we mull obferve, that in order to under- ftand the accidental formation of a world, fuch as we are at liberty to fwppofe, the eternal exifience of every kind of organized and intelligent atoms, mufthave pre- ceded the formation of that world. I muft again ob- ferve, that when they are obliged to fuch wonderful firtt principles, and to admit, in the beginning, a na- ture fo aftoniQiing, we can fcarcely conceive how they can make it aft fuddenly a foolifh part, iu order -to finifl* the work of the univerfe : a more exalted fuppofitioa wpuld have prevented their drawing a conclufion fo ab- furd. It feems to me, that, notwithflanding the immenfity-- %vliicb has given rife t'o fo many ridiculous notions a- tioui RELIGIOUS OPINIO: uu bout the formation of the world, they have fuch re- femblance to each other, that we can fcarcely dif- cern any difference : and confidering the little circle 1 which the imagination runs over, when it applies its force to deep conceptions, we think we difcovcr fome- thing fupernatural in its fingular weaknefs: the au- thors of thefe fyftems feem to have a flavifh turn of thinking, and the marks of their chains are very vi- fible. It is always atoms and atoms, that they make play together, either at different times, or all at once, in infinite fpace : but when fome want to form ideas of liberty and will, as they do not know in what man- ner to analyze thefe properties, they fuppofethem pre- exifting in the elementary parts, which they made ufe of to create their univerfe : and they prudently lake care not to grant any aclion to liberty and will, in or- der to prevent any refiftance to thofe notions on which they build their univerfe. They would not render either more (imple or cred- ible, the blind production of woilds, by fuppofing not only an innumerable multitude of organized atoms, but even an infinite diversity of molds to hold the atoms, and of which force chemical analogy gives us an idea. Such a fyitem which might ferve to explain a few fec- ondary caufes of our known nature, is not applic;; to the firft formation of beings ; for with fuch an af- femblage of moulds and atoms, all the great difficul- ties would {till fubfift. In fad, how fhould the differ- ent moulds have clafled themfelves properly, in order to form the moft fimple whole, but which befide re- quired a fixed meafure and gradation of ranks ? The mould deftined for the organized atoms, of which the cryftalline is to be compofeJ, how is it poifible it fhould have placed itfelf in the centre of that mould which is to form the pupil of the eye, and this laR on that one which is to form the whole, and fo on, by an exad gradation, whole divifions and fubdivifions are enumerable ? Were they to fuppofe an infinite fucceuion oF moulds, of which the large ft a' traded th,- -. -.me manner as the moulds attracted the j*aJ! "*" O * i OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ihis fuppoiition, lefs rediculous than any other, is no'i fumcient to model, even in imagination, the moft un- important phenomena of nature. It is neceifary be- Jides, that by the direction of a wife and powerful 4brce, the moulds, and the atoms which belong to them, fet themfelves in motion, without confufion ; it is neceflary, tliat thofe deftined to compofc the exteriop .fibres ftiou'd not obftruft the paffage of thofe moulds calculated to form the interior organs ; in {hort, thai every one of thole in its courfe and expanfion, fiiould artfully obferve thofe delicate (hades, which blend or- ieparate all the parts of the fimpleft of nature's works; We are already acquainted with a force which als in all directions, which difpofes every thing in due or- der, tends towards an end, flops, begins again, and fin- 4 flies, every moment, a complicated work : and this is- the intelligent will. And certainly we have reafon .to be aitoniflied, that the only faculty we have an in- timate confcioufnefs of, i> the one phitofophers turn* from, whan they iuvetligate the admirable order of the univerie. I allow that they may, at the fame time they reject- she idea of a God, admit as a principle, the eternal exigence of a meshanical force, .which, by an incom- prehenfible neceffity, directed, towards a wife end, every thing that was at firlt confufediy fcattered in the- immenfity of fpace. But this new fuppofition would- form'tin hypothecs fiinilar to the fyftem of the eter- nal'exiftence of the univerfe : in faft, the eternal ex- iltenceofall the elements, of all fubflances, forces, and properties which were neceflfary to produce a certain order of things, would be a phenomenon as in^ comprehenfibie as the exiftence of that order itfelf. We mtift add, that thefe two phenomena would be feparated in our thoughts only by an indivifible initanfc an initant that we can neither defcribe nor imagine, in the extent of the time reprefented by eternity ; for any chofen period would be fliil too late, by an infini- ty of ages. The necellary eifettofan eternal caufo has aqt, lih.? that caufe, any period to which \ye can iix its t*0mmencernchr. We RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, We thus perceive, under another point how vain and ridiculous are the fantaftic operations, they imagine, before the exiftence of the world, and which are attributed fometiraes to the di ford e red move- ments of chance, and foinetimes to the reguhr laws of blind neceffity. There is then but one hypothefis to be oppofed to the idea of a God : It is the fyftem of the eternal ex- iftence of the univerle. Such an atheiftical fyflem will always be more eafily defended than any other ;.. becaufe, being founded on a fuppofition without bound$i it does not require to be embraced by reafoniug, like all the hypothetical ideas, by which men make na- ture atl according to an order of their own invention* We wil!, in the next chapter, confider this fyitamj and 4jfcufs it by every means in our power. CHAPTER XIV. The fame fuhjett continued. THOSE who maintain that the world fubfifis of itfelf, and that there is not a God, fay, in favour of their opinion, that if the eternal exiftence of the univerfe overwhelm oar undemanding, the eternal exigence of a Go plication I and we cannot fix any degrees in the im- menfity which exceeds the bounds of our views, and in thofe unfathomable depths which are out of the reach of our intellectual powers. Undoubtedly, oar mind is equally loft, both in try- ing to form a diftinftidea of aGrod, and in endeavour- ing to defcribe the eternal exigence of the world, without any caufe out of itfelf. However, when we try to glance our thoughts towards the firil traces of time when we try to rife almoil to the beginning of beginnings, we feel diftinclly, that, far from confider- ing the eternal exigence of an intelligent caufe as in- creafing the difficulty, we only find repofe in that opinion; and inltead of forcing our mind to adopt fuch an opinion, and thinking we wander in an imagi- nary fpace, we find it, on the contrary, more conge- nial with our nature ; while order unites itfelf to the idea of a defign, and a multiplicity of combinations to the idea of an intelligence. Thus we rife from iit- tle to great things ; and, reafoning by analogy, we fhall more eafily conceive the exigence of a Being en- dowed with various unlimited properties, which we an part partake we fhall, I fay, more tafiiy conceive fuch an exigence, than that of a univerfe, where a!l would be intelligent, except the firft mover. The workman, undoubtedly, is fuperior to the work : but according to our manner of feeling and judging, an in- telligent combination, formed without intelligence, will always be the moft extraordinay, as well as the moft in- comprehenfible phenomenon* It is not inditte ferent to obferve, that, according to the fyftem I combat, the more the world would ap- pear to us the admirable refult of wifd&m, the lefs power fhould we have to draw any deduction favour- able to the exiftence of a God ; fince the author of a perfeft work is not eafily traced as the feeble reiterat- ed labours of mediocrity. Thus, all thofe who par- ticularized the beauties of nature, would ftupidly injure the caufe of religion, and weaken our belief in the ex- igence of a Supreme Being,. . It leems tome, that it is eafy RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 163-' eafy to perceive what an ill-founded argument that ttiuft fce, which leads us to a conclufion fo abfurd. The attentive view of the univerfe fhould make us rmflruft the judgment, v/Sich we form, of that which is the moft fimple in the order of things ; for all the general operations of nature arife from a movement more noble and complicated than we can eafily form an ideaof We fhould furely find, contrary to a per- fel fiinpiicity of means, that a circuit of two hundred millions of leagues, which our globe makes every year, . is necelfary, in order to produce the fucceflive changes of feafons, and to affure the re-prod-uclien of the npc- effary fruits ; we fliould find, that the diftance of thirty- four millions of leagues, between the fun snd ih^ earth, was neceflary to proportion the rays of light to thu delicacy of our organs. However, if even in the narrow circle we traverfe, we do not difcover any cou- ftant applicatien of that fimple order, of which we form an idea, how could fucn a principle ferve to guide, dur opinions, at the moment when we elevate our me- ditations to the firil link of the -va-ft chain of beings w-hen we undertake to examinCj whether, throughout the immenfity of the univerfe, there exift, or not, an intelligent caufe ? What would become, in that im- aienfuy, of the infignificant phrafe, it is one difficulty Wore? The buzzing fly would be lefs ridiculous, if, capable of perceiving the order and magnificence of a- palace, it afferted, that the architect never exilted. .Every thing indicates, that, according to our differ-* cnt degrees of fenfe and knowledge, what is fimple, and what is eafy, have a very different application. We may continually obferve, that thefe expreflions are not interpreted in the fame manner, by a man of moderate abilities and a man of genius. However, the diftance, which feparates the various degrees of in- telligence, with which we are acquainted, is probably- very trifling in the univerfal fcale of beings. All ou?- reflexions would lead us then to prefume, that beyond the limits of the human mind, the fimple is our com- pounded, the eafy our wonderful, and the evident our 'Conceivable. Aftftr s66 OF TOE IMPORTANCE OF After having examined the principal arguments of the partifans of atheiftical fyderr.s, which we now at- tack ; let us change the fcene. and, in the anidft of the labyrinth, in which we are placed, try to find a clue for our meditations. We are witnefies cf the exigence of the world, and intimateiy acquainted with our own : "thus, either God or matter muft have been eternal ; and by a natural eonfequence, an eternal exigence, which is an idea the nip ft incompreheafible, is, however, the mofl incontef- tible truth. Obliged now, in order to fix our opinion, to choofe between two eternal exigences, the one in- telligent and free, the other blind and void of all con- fdoufnefs, why not prefer the firft ? An eterna! exift- ence is an idea fo allonifliing, fo much above our com- prehenfion, that we decorate it with every thing fub- iime and beautiful ; and nothing deferves more theic decorations than thought. Would it wot be ftrange, that, in our fyftematic di- vifions, it was only to thought, and confequently to all that was moft admirable in our nature, that we refufe eternity, while we grant it to matter and its blind com- binations ? What a fubverfion of all proportion ! that we fliould believe in the eternal exiftcnce of matter, be- caufe it is prefent to our eyes, and yet not admit th* eternal exiftence of an intelligence ; while that, which we are endowed with, becomes the fource of our judg- ment, and even the guide of our fenfes ! And by what other Angularity we fhould grant th faculty and the conicioufnefs of intelligence, only to that fmall part of the world which is reprefenfed by ani- mated beings ? Thus the whole of nature would be be- low a part; and if no fpirit animated the univerfe r man would appear to have reached his ultimate perfec- tion ; though we fee in him but a faint {ketch, a weak - lhadow of fomething more complete and admirable. We perceive that he is, to Ipeak thus, at the com- mencement of thinking; and all his cares, ail his ef- forts, to extend the empire of that faculty, only inform him, that he tends continually towards an end, from which he is always diltant. In fliort, in his greateft xertions.y RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 167 >;erticm, he feels his weaknefs. He ftudies, but he cannot know himfelf. He makes a few petty difcov- eries, fees forae trifling wheels, while the main fpring cfcapes his fearch. He has fallen into the world, like a grain of fand thrown by the winds. He has nei- ther a confcioufnefs of his origin, nor a forefight of his end. We perceive in him all the timidity and mif- trnft of a dependent being. He is conftrained by in- ftinft to raifeto heaven his wiflies and contemplations : and, when he is not led aftray by intoxicating reafon, he fears, feeks to adore a God, and rejects with dif- dain the rank which audacious philofophers affign him in the order of nature. 1 muft alfo add, that the fentiment of admiration, which I cannot ftifle, when I turn my attention on the fpiritual qualities we are endowed with, would be in- ienfibly weakened, if I were reduced to confider man himfelf as a fimple growth of blind matter; for the moft aftonifhing production would only infpire me with a tranfitory emotion, unlefs I can refer it to an intelli- gent caufe. I muft difcover a defign, a combination be- fore I admire ; as I have need to perceive feeling and affection, before 1 love. But as foon as I fee in the human mind the (lamp of Omnipotence and it appears to me one of the re- fuits of a grand thought it reaffurnes its dignity ; and all the faculties of my foul are proflrate before fuch A Wonderful conception. It is then united with the idea of,a God, that the fpi- ritual faculties of man attract my homage and captivate my imagination. In reflecting on thefe fublime fa- culties, fludytng their admirable offence, I am confirm- ed in the opinion, that there exifts a (overeign intelli- gence, foul of nature, and that nature itfelf is fubjcft to its laws. Yes, we find in the mind of man the firll evidence, a faint fhadow of the perfection which wo mult attribute to the Creator of the univerfe. What a wonder, indeed, is our thinking faculty, capable of ib many things, yet ignorant of its own nature! 1 am equally aftonimed, by the extent and limits of think- ing. An immeiiie fpace is open to its'refcarches } and at OF THE IMPORTANCE OF at ^the fame time it cannot comprehend the feercts %vhich appear moft proximate with it ; as the grand motive of aHon, the principle of intelleBual force, ever remains concealed. Man is then informed, every in- flant, of his grandeur and dependence : and thefo thoughts muft naturally lead to the idea of Omnipo- tence. There are, in thofe limits of our knowl- edge and ignorance, in that confufed and conditional light, all the evidence of defign ; and it feems to me, iometimes, that I hear this command given to the hu- man foul by the God of the univevfe : "Go admire a portion of my univerfe, fearch for happinefs, and learn, to love me. But do not try to raife the veil, with which I have covered the fecret of thy exiflence. I liave compofed thy nature of feme of the attributes which conilitute my own etfence. Thou wouldft b too near me, if 1 fhoald permit thee to penetrate the myfteries of it. Wait for the moment deltined by my "wifdom; till then, thou canft only reach me by reve- rence and gratitude." Not only v the wonderful faculty of thinking con- nects us with the univerfai intelligence ; but all thofe inconceivable properties, known by the name of liber- Iv judgment, will, memory, and forefight ; it is, I'M fhort, the auguft and fublime aflereblage of all our in- tellectual faculties. Are we, in faQ, after the con- templation of fuch a grand phenomenon, far from con- ceiving a God ? Wo, undoubtedly ; we have with- in us a feeble image of that infinite power we feek to difcover. Man is htmfeif a uriverfe. governed by a fovereign : and we are much nearer the Supreme In- telligence, by our nature, t/ian by any notion of the primitive properties of matter : propertiei, from which tome wifli to make the fyilem oi the world and its ad- aiirajbie harmony flow. It feems to me, that cur thinking faculty is too flightly treated in the greater number of philofophic fyftems : and feme have beer- io much afraid of hon- ouring it, that they will not admit it to be a Hippie and particular principle, when the fubjecl of (he quef- rton is the immortality of the foul ; nor will they cor- RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 1^9 {ider it as a univerfal principle, when they difcufs the opinion of the exigence of a God. It is equally fingular, that they wifh to corn- pole of matter a foul endowed with the moft fublim qualities ; and they pretend, at the fame time, that the world, in which we fee intelligent beings, had not for a contriver and principal, any beings of the fame na- t'.iret This fuppofuion, however, would be as reafon- able as the other is weak : but it teems to me, that they like better to attribute order to confuiion, than to or- der itfelf. We feek to penetrate the fecret of the exiftersce of the univerfe ; and when we reflect on the caufes of that vaft and magnificent difpofttion, we can only at- tribute it to what feems the moft marvellous and anal- ogous to fuch a compofition, thought, intention, and will. Why then (hould we retrench from the forma- tion of the world all thofe fubllme properties ? Are we tot-aft fparingly in an hypothefis, in which all the wonders of nature are concentered? It is by the fpi- ritual faculties with which man is endowed, that he re- mains matter of the earth, that he lias fubdued the fero- cious animals, conquered the elements, and found a Shelter from their impetuofity . It is by thefe faculties that man has conftrufted fociety, given laws to his own paflions, and improved all his means of happinefs. In iliort, nothing has ever been done, but by the aid of his mind : and in his fpecu\ations on the formation of the world, and on the admirable relations of all the parts of the univerfe, that -which he wi'fiies not to admit, and will dare to rejeft, is the intelligent powers and aftion ot thinking. It feems Ivke men difputing about the means which have been made ufe of to ereft a py- ramid, who name all the inftrurnents, except thofe that they found at the foot of the edifice. Habit alone turns our attention from the union o wonders which compoie the foul ; and it is thus un- fortunately, that admiration, lively light of the mind and feelings, does not afford us any more inftrucliori. We mould be very differently affc-aed, if, for the firft time. \ve contemplated the meancfl part of this admira- i 7 o OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ble whole ! But even then, in a little time, the ftrong conviftion of the exigence of a God, would be worn away, and become what it is at prefent. But, let me be permitted, in order to render this truth more fink- ing, to have recourfe, for a moment, to fiftion. Let us imagine men, us immoveable as plants, but endow- ed with fome one of our fenfes, enjoying the faculty of reflexion, and enabled to communicate their thoughts. 1 hear thefe animated trees difcourle about the origin of the world, and the firft caufe of ?ll things. They advance, like us, different hypothefes on the fortuitous movement of atoms, the laws of fate and blind necefli- t/ : and among the different arguments, employed by iome, to contell the exigence of a God, Creator of the univerfe, that, which makes the greateft impreffion, is, that it is impoffible to conceive how an idea (hould become a reality; or how the deiign of difpofing the parts fhould influence the execution, fince the will be- ing a fimple wi(h, a thought without force, has not any m sans to metamorpofe itfelf into action: -but in vain Would thefe immoveable .fpeclators of the univerfe wifli to change their fituation, to raife a fhelter againil the ampetuofity of the winds, or the fcorching heat of the fun : yet then it would be evidently ahfurd, to imagine the exiftence of a faculty effentially contrary to the immutable nature of thing. Let, however, in the rnidft of this converfation, a fapeFnatural power ap- pear, and fay to them, what would you think, then, if this wonder, whofe exillence you regard as impoffible, fhould be executed before your eyes ; and if the facul- ty of acting, according to your own will, were to be Suddenly given you ? Seized with aftonifhment, they would proftrate themfetves with fear and refpeft ; and from that inflant, without the flighted doubt, would believe they had difcovered the fecret of the fyftem of the world : and they would adore the infinite power of intelligence : and it is to a like caufe woftiould attrib- ute the difpofition of the uniyerfe. However, the fame phenomenon which would appear above belief, and out of the limits of pofiibility, to thole who have never been a witaefs of it, that wonder exuls in our world. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 171 t^orld, We fee if, we experience it every inftant ; ihough the force of habit weakens the imprefficn, and eradicates our admiration* The hypothecs I have juft mentioned, might even be applied to the fudden acquifition of all the means proper to communicate ideas ; and to the prompt dif- coveries of the other properties of our mind ; but fev- eral of theie properties conftitute, in fuch an edential manner, the eflence of the foul, that we cannot, even in imagination, feparate them any more than we can detach aclion from will, and will from thought. There are fome fpiritual faculties, and thofe the moil won- derful which we cannot define, and which we mould, not have even ftippofed to exifl, had we not poueiTed them : and if it had been po'Iible to have known them before we were endowed with them, the inventers of fydems would have pointed out this allonifhing means, as the only one applicable to the competition of the admirable harmony of the univerfc, We fhall be led to the fame reflexions, when, ceaf- ing to expatiate on the greateft wcr.ders of our nature, we bound ourfeives to confider the human mind at the moment when its action may be perceived'. 1 To render this obfcrvation more clear, let -us follow a man of genius in the courfe of his labours ; and we mail fee Rim at once embrace a multitude of ideas, compare them, notwithstanding their difiance, and form, from fuch a mixture, a-diltinft refuit, proper to direft his public or private conduct. Let us confider h:m ex- tending and multiplying thefe firfl combinations, and connecting them, by an invifible web, to fome fcattered points, which his imagination has fixed in the vaft re- gions of futurity; With the afiiHance of thefe magic fuccours, we fee him approaching the time which does not yet exifh But we fee him in his career, aided by- accumulated knowledge, more fubtle than the rays f the fun, and yet feparated with an admirable order ; more fleet and difperfed than the iight vapours of tha morning, and fliil fubjeft to the will of that inconceiv- able power, which, under the name of memory, heaps wp ; the acquifuious of the mind, in order to affift it afterwaids *72 OF THE IMPORTANCE O? afterwards in its new acquirements. Bat let us exam* ine, {till further, this man of genius, when he depofits, by means of writing, his different refiexions : and let us afk, how he knows quickly, that an idea is new, and that a ft) le has an original turn ? Let us again in- quire, how, in order to form fuch a judgment, he makes with celerity a recapitulation of the thoughts and images employed by others, to illuftrate the fubje6h they have treated, while years and ages were rolling away. In ftion, let every one, according to his fbength, *ry to penetrate into thefe myfterious beauties of the human understanding : and let him inquire afterward? about the impreffion which he receives from a like me- ditation. There is, perhaps, as great a difference, if I may be allowed to fay fo, between the moil perfect vegetable and the human mind, as between it and the Deity. To extend this idea, we have only to fup- pofe, that, in the immeufity which furrounds us, there exHls a gradation equal to that we have perceived in the little fpace we are permitted to infpett.. The author of a celebrated work accufes men of preemption, becaufe, when they endeavour to trace toe nru principle oi things, u/ C^:"psr:n lhS59HH? faculties with it, they feem to think that they ap- proach it. But, what other part mould we be able to lake, when we are called to reafon and to judge ? It as not fufficient, that the idea of a Supreme Being may be metaphyficai : it is neceffary further, fome will -argue, that we even try to render it abilraft, by re- moving it out of our imagination, and that we feek for, in our judgment and opinions, a fupport which may- be in a manner abfent from ourfelves, and abfoiutelv foreign to our nature. All this cannot be underftood. 'We confefs that we have not fufficient itrength to know the efifence and perfection of God : but, giving way to abftra&ion, we extinguifh our natural light, and deprive ourfelves of the few means we have to ob- tain this knowledge. We can only be acquainted with unknown things by the help of thofe we know : Vf.e (hall be led aftray, if we be obliged to take another ; and modern phiiofophers often leek to attack intimate RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. ; 73 rntimate fentiments by arbitrary ideas, of which an imagination the molt capricious is the only founda- tion. It will then always be furprizing, that, in our con- templations and habits of thinking, the wifdom of the defign, the harmony of the whole, and the perfection of parts, are manifeft traces of intelligence: and yet that we ihould renounce, fuddenly, this manner of feeling and judging, in order to attribute the forma- tion of the univerfe to tke effeft of chance, or the eter- nal laws of blind neceflity : and it is poflible, that w? can deduce the fame conferences from an admirable order, as from wild confuhon ? Fafts fo diiferent, principles fo contrary } fhould not lead to the fame con* clufion. The magnificent fyftem of the univerfe ought to have fome weight, when we cenjefture about its origin : and it would be difficult to perfuade us, that in inveftigating the moll exalted truths, we ought to cenfider all the knowledge we acquire by the view of nature, as merely indifferent. Men are carried ve- ry far, when they reject the arguments drawn from final caufes. It is not only a firigle thought they would deftroy ; it is the fource of all our knowledge ihey would dry up. Men infenlibly ceafe to perceive a connexion be^ tween the exigence of a God, and the diiferent mira- cles with which we are furrounded. But all would be changed, if God exhibited the numerous atls of his power fucceffiveiy, inftead of difplaying ihern all at once. Our imagination, animated by filch a move ment, would rife to the idea of a Supreme Being". It is then, becaule an accumulation of wonders agran- dizesthe univerfe it is becaufe a harmony, not to be equalled, feems to convert an infinity of parts into an admirable whole and that profound wifdom maintains it in an immutable equilibrium- it is, in fhort, becauia infen'ible gradations and delicaie iharles render more perfed the wonders of nature, that men arc ilruck with aftonu'liment, or loft in a-ioration. We want, fay you, new phenomena to determine cur pecfuafion t i)o you forget, that ai!, which is o^- F 2 fcred i 7 4 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF fered to our view, already furpafles our underftandingf If the lead miracle was to be effected before you, you would be ready to bend your proud reafon. But be- eaufe the inoft grand and wonderful, which the im- agination itfelf can form an idea of, has preceded your ex'.ftence, you receive no impreffion from it! all appears (imple to you, all neceflary. But the reality of the wonders qf the unjverfe has nothing to do with the inftant you are allowed to contemplate thtm ; your pil- grimage on earth, is it not a period imperceptible, in the midll of eternity ? Admiration, furprize, and all the a8eHons of which man is fufceptible, do not change the nature of the phenomena which fiirround him : and his intelligence reflects but a very fmall part of the won ders of the univerfe. We have no need of a revolution in the order of na- ture, to difcover the power of it-s Author, The fibres of a blade of grafs confound our intelligence: and when we have grown old in ftudy and observation, we continually difcover new objects, which we have not jm'eftigated, and perceive new relations : we are ever in the midil of unknown things and incomprehenfible fee rets. How er, fuppofing, for a moment, the exiftence ol extraordinary miracles which we fhould be irnpreiFecl with ; it is eafy to conceive, that thefe miracles wouid not have on men the influence we prefume ; for if they were frequent, and if they happened only at regular pe- riods, their Hrft imprefHon would (lowly be weakened; and at laft, men would range them in the clafs of the fucceffive movements of eternal matter. But if, on the contrary, there was a long interval between thefe mi- racles, the generations which fucceed the actual wit- rsefTes of them, wouid acciiTe their anceltors of credu!- ity, or conteft the truth of thofe traditions, which trani"- milled the accout of a revolution contrary to the corn- soon courfe of nature. Some may Oil! fay, that in order to render manifefl the exiftence of the Supreme Being, it would be ne- ceffary, that men were punctually anfwercd, when they addrefs their prayers. Bur the inrrKtice of our wiihes up op- RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 17$ tt'pon events, if this influence were habitual and gene- ral, would it be fufficient to change the opinion of thofe who fee, with indifference, that innumerable multitude of aftions which are fo miraculoufly fubjeft to our will? Would they not ftiil find fome reafon for confidering fuch an increafe of power, as the neceflary refult of the eternal fyftem of the univerfe ? Thus, whatever might be the meafure of intelligence, added to that we now en- joy in fliort, though a number of new wonders were accumulated men could ftill oppofe to that union of mi- racles the fame objections, and the fame doubts they do not now fear to raife againft the wonders we are daily witnefles of. It is difficult, it is impoffible, to make a c-onflant or profound impreiTion on men who are only iufceptible of aftomihment in the fliort tranfiticn from the known to the unknown* They have but a mo- ment to feel ihis emotion, and it is from the flownefs of of their comprehenfion, or the continual fuccefiion of the phenomena fubmitted to their infpecVion, that the duration of their admiration depends. And perhaps, o.ur faculties and powers would excite more furprifc, if, in order to fubject our movements to our will, it were rseceffary to give our orders, and to pronounce them with a loud voice, as a captain does to his folditrs. However, fuch a conftitution would be a degree lefs wonderful than that we poffefs. 1 will anticipate another objection. We advance gradually, feme will fay, in difcovering the fecrets of na- ture. The power of attraction, that grand phyiical fac- ulty, has only been known about a century : and ob- fervations on the effefls of electricity are flili more re- cent. Every age, every year, adds to- the treasure of our knowledge; and the time wiilairive, perhaps, when, without having recourfe to any myfterious opin- ions, we (hall have explained all the phenomena which ilill aftonifti us. It ;s not at firft conceivable, how our paft difcove- nes, aiid aU thcfe which may in future enrich the hu- :na, and have given to that principle a denomination, they believe that their allonimment ought to ceafe. In fact, attraction and eleclncity are not fo much now fubjefts of furprife, as a means to free us from the ad* miration due to the magnificent refult of thofe fingular properties. In fliort, we are habituated to confider, with indifference, every general effeft, of which we acquire a conception ; as if even this conception wese not one of the rcoft noble of the phenomena of nature. Some will fay, that men, by degrees, becoming famili- arized with their own minds, defpife all they can eaft- Jy underfland. Their competitions are then the only origin of their vanity : for when they examine them- felvcs individually, or when they judge of men in gea- eralj they have fuch a mean opinion of themielves, that they do not highly value their diicoveries. We ought to place, among the number of ideas the mod extenfive and general, that of fiufFon on the formation of the earth, But this idea, fuppofing it as iufl as it is beautiful, only explains to us one of the gradations of this fupeib work. I fee the earth form- ed by an emanation of the fun ; I fee it animated and become fertile, when it has received, by flow decree, its RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 177 m temperature : and I fee, befide, iflue out of its lap all the beauties of nature and that which furprifes me iiiil more, all the beings endowed with inftinft or in- telligence. But if the elements of thefe incomprehen- fible productions had been prepared or fimply difpofed in the fiery body which animates our fyttem, I tranf- fer to it my aflonifhment, and equally have to fee k for the Author of fo many wonders. I muft now fix my attention, for a few moments^ on the moft metaphyfical part of this work. We can, perhaps, form an idea of a world exifting without a be- ginning, and by the laws of blind necelTity, provided that world was immoveable and invariable in* all its parts ; but how apply the idea, of eternity to a con- tinual fucceflion ? As fuch a nature is necelTanly compofed of a beginning and end, we cannot other- wife define the idea of fucceffion. Thus we are con- ftrained to elevate ourfelves to a firft Being exifting by hinifelf, when we have before our eyes a conilant re- volution of caufes and effects, of dettruclioa and life, It is impolTible lp have any idea of motion without that of a beginning. Tbs difficulty, would not be removed, by fay in g ? that the whole of the univerfe is immutable, and tne parts only fubjecl to change ; for a whole of this kind, without any relation whatever, either real or imaginary, a like whole has only an ideal circumfcription, which 3 in faft, is not fufceptible of an alteration. But fuch a circumfcription only prefems us an afiemblage of pofi- tivc things contained in its circle : and it is not in iludying thofe, nor in examining the different parts of the unknown whole, which we call the univerfe, that we are allowed to draw confecjuences, or to form a judgment. Thus, feeing only a fuccclilon., we ration- ally feel the necelTity of a firfi caufe. But, fome will fay, you are emangled in. the fame difficulty, when you fuppofe the eternity of a God ; fora feries of defigns in an intelligent being ihould lead to the idea of a commencement, as well as the iuccelTions of the phyfical world. This propofition, undoubtedly, is not eafily cleared s 7 3 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF up, like all thofe whofe folution appears to be united to the knowledge of infinity. We cannot, however, hinder ourfelves from perceiving, that the phyfical generations lead us, in a marrner ffmple and manifeft,' to the neceflity of a firft principle : and we ought to fearch for this principle out of ourfelves, fince our na- ture does not furnifh any idea of it ; whereas the fuc- ceffive combinations of the mind may relate to an origin, of which we have not any j conception, and which {ecms united, in fome manner, to thefe fame combinations. In fa6t, we can eafily form a dillincl idea of a faculty of thought, antecedent to the action of thinking, and which might even be feparated by fuch intervals as the imagination cou-ld conceive. It is the fame with liberty, that intelleclual power of which we have the confcioufnefs, at the fame time that it remains abfolutely idle. I fhali add, that, even in the narrow circle of our thoughts, it is true, the operations of the mind appear to us often dependent on each other. Yet, fometimcs their chain is fo broken, that our ideas feem really to iflue out of nothing : inUead of which, in every other production, we know, there is always a vifible tie be tWeen that which is, and that which was. We muft not forget, that at the very time our ideas appear to us connected, that fucceffion is to be attributed to our weaknefs and ignorance, rather than to the mind con- fidered in a general manner. Circumfcribed in all ouc means, we are obliged to go continually from the known to the unknown, from probability to certainty, from experience of the paft, to conjectures about the future. But this gradation, this courie, ought to be abfolutely foreign to an intelligence without bounds, which knows and. which fees all at the lame time : and per* haps we are in the way of this truth, when we per- ceive among us, the claim of true genius, and the tur- bulent whirlpool of folly; In fhorr, it is not men perfuaded of the exiflence of a God, that we need require to tranfport themfelves be- yond, if I may fay fo, the domainof thought, in order to fejtich for proofs of their opinion ; atheifts alone RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, "want fuch an effort; fince they alone refill the influ- ence of the (imp. eft fentimcnts and moft natural argu- ments; fince they aione bid u&miflrufl that diflincl: con- nexion which we perceive between the Supreme In- celligence and the perfection of order ; that train of caufes and eflefts, between the idea of a God and all the propenhUes of the foul. It is tbefe confiderauons s intelligible to all, which give new force to our opin- ions. Direcled by thefe reflexions, and wifliing to invefli- gate in a ufeiul manner the fubjeft I have undertaken, 1 fhall not engage in the arguments which turn on th creation of the world. It is fufficient for me to have perceived, that the id^a of the creation of the univerfe, is not more inconceivable than the idea of its eternity* I am not, indeed, obliged, with thofe who adopt the laft fyftem, to fuppofe fomething growing out of noth- ing. But fubflituting the idea of an eternal exiflence, anfiead of that of nothing, is a thought which equally terrifies my imagination ; for my mind knows not where to place thai eternity, and, in order to compre- hend :t v {lill furrounds it with a vacuum. In thefyf- tem of a created univerfe, I fee fomething ccm'ing out of nothing, by the will of a Being whom 1 can form an idea of. But in the fyflem of the eternity of matter, my faculties are abforbed in endeavoring to em- brace it. In fhort, both of thefe modes of exiftence appear to me in the midfl of a vague infinity, which no human power can conceive: and if fometimes the e- ternal exiflence of the univerfe feem lefs incomprehen- fibie than its creation, it is only becaufe fuch an idea eludes examination, and precludes reafoning, The idea of a Creator is undoubtedly equally above cur comprehenfion ; but we are led to it by all our feelings and thoughts : and if we be flopped in the ef- forts which we make to reach the cauie we feck, it is by obilacics which we can even attubute to the will of that power we are fearching to dilcover. Inflead o ihat, contemplating the uniform and infipid rotation of an eternal exiftence, we are almofl driven to defpair; i,hat is to fay, we feel the impoffibUiiy of conceiving i8o OF THE IMPORTANCE OF the nature of things, and the certainty neverthelefs, that there exifts not any veil defigriedly placed between that nature and our underftandings. I muft frill make fome further obfervations. We lee a refembiance of creation in the continual repro* duftion of all the bounties of the earth: and our mor- al fyftem offers a ftill more ftriking one, in the forma- tion of ideas which did not exift antecedently. Our feelings appear another proof of-the fame truth ; for they have not any evident connexion with the caufe we af- fign them : thus, without habit, we might fee as great a difference between certain exterior emotions and i he various affeclions of our louls, as we can conceive be- tween the exigence of the world and the idea of a Cre- ator. We perceive, alfo, that the univerfe has all the cha- racters of a production ; characters which confift in the union of a multitude of parts, whofe relations are fixed by a fingle thought. In ihort, even the fuccef- iion of time announces intelligence ; for we know not how to place that fucceflion in the midft of an eternal cxiflence. We cannot conceive any different periods in an extent in which trfere is not a beginning ; for before we arrive at any of thefe periods, there muft haye been always an infinite fpace ; befides, there be- ing no beginning, confidered abftracledly, annihilates the idea of intervals, fince they could not have two fix- ed points. Thus, the introduction of the paft, the prefent, and the future, into the midfl of eternity, leems due to an intelligent power, \vho has modelled this imrnenfe uniformity, and governs the nature of things. 1 ought not to dwell long on thefe reflexions. To give a bafis to religious opinions, it is not neceiTary to conceive of creation in its metaphyhcal effence; it is fuflicient, to believe the exigence of a Supreme Being, Creator and Preserver of nature, the model of wifdom and goodnefs," the Proteclor of rational beings, whofe providence governs the world. We lofeallour {Irerigth, when, extending too far our meditations, we afpire to know and explain the iecrets of infinity, We then RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. i&t only txhibit to the adversaries of religion the faint frretch of our opinions, and the laft flruggles of a rea, fon weakened by its own efforts. It is much better to nfe thofe arguments which fenfe and feeling are able to defend. We fliould candidly confefs, that our noblelt faculties have immutable limits ; one degree more would perhaps diffufe a hidden light on the queftions, whofe examination difconcerts us. There is not, per- haps, any mind accuftomed to meditation, winch has; not had feveral times pre-fenuments of this truth ; for the firft glimmering of a new perception feems to out- run thinking ; and fuch is its proximity, that we im- agine one Hep more would enable us to catch it. But our hope is diffipated, we cannot grafp the fleeting fhadow, and fall back again into the fad conviction of our impotence. Alas! in that infinite fpace, which- our intellectual powers try to run over, there are only immenfe deferts, where the mind cannot find repofej or the thoughts meet any afylum. TheTe are the re- gions whofe entrance feems to have been defolated, in order that the moll unbounded imagination might not obtain any knowledge of them. But will you dare to fay, that there flops all intelligence, there finifh the myfleries of nature ? Would you e.xpeft to pcfTefs the fecrets of time in attributing an eternal exiflence to all we know? Certainly, we are too infignificant to promulge fuch decrees : we enjoy too fmall a portion of eternity to determine what belongs tort. The molt probable thought is, chat our reafon is in- fafficicnt to reach the explanations we wilh to unfold. The chain of beings above us every inflant reminds us of this truth : and it appears fmgular, that, perceiving fo diftinftly the bounds of our fenfes, we (hould not be induced to think, that our intelligence, apparently fo extended, may neverthelels run over a very circum- fcribed fpace. Our imagination goes much farther than our knowledge ; but its domain is perhaps only a point in what is yet unexplored : and it is neceffar^ to penetrate thofe unknown regions, to difcover the truths which illullrate the myfteiifrs that furround us : 'but there is a Being who knows them : Omnifcience is Q i8 2 OF THE IMPORTANCE O-F at the fummit of thofe gradations of intelligence which \VQ trace. We know nothing, we do not difcover any refult, but through the aifiilance, of experience and obfervation : and we only krow the world by the lit- tle front fcene which meets our view. Is it rational to fuppofe, that only this kind of knowledge exifts in the univcrfe ? Men, in the, flow prcgrefs.of their judg- ment, referable children : but even this condition recals the idea of a father and tutor. Every thing howev- er, fhows us, that the phenomena of nature reiate to a grand whole. We fee that its difperfed productions are united to feme general caufe. It is the fame with human knowledge : more admirable than the rays of light fpread through immenfity, it is an emanation froin the moil peifeft light. In fhort, if fpace. if time it- felf, thofe two exigences without bounds, be iubjecl to divifion, why fhonld we not be induced to think, that the degrees of knowledge we experience and conceive, are alfo only a part of. an univerfal intelligence ? Of all the objection? again/ft the idea of a God, the \veakeft, in tny opinion, is that drawn from the mix- ture of troubles and pleafures to which human life is expofed. A God. fome will fay, ought to unite eve- ry perfeclion : ,and we cannot believe in his exiHence, when we perceive limits in his power or good nefs. This is ailimfy argument; for if men do not ad- jnit as a proof of the exigence of a^God, all that we difcover of wifdom. harmony, and intelligence in the univerfe, what right have they to ufe an apparent con- trail between Iqvereign power and goodnefs, in order to attribute the formation of the worid to chance? Would it be juft, that the defeHs of a work mould be brought as a proof againft the exiftence of a workman^ while the beauty of the fame work was not allowed .lo fupport a contrary opinion ? We fhould reafon in a different manner. Diforder and imperfection merely po:n> < t >o us a negation of -certain qualities. We mi: If 'v general terms, throw an odium on the whole, in or -;er to banifh the idea of au intelligent hand; whereas, to firengthen the other opinion, it is fufficient th^t particular parts announce art and genius. Thus, wh-t* REHIGIOUS OPINIONS. 183 -when we enter a palace, if we there find diftinl marks of talents, we attribute its ereftion to an architect, even though in a part of the edifice we fhould notdiftinguifh any traces of invention. I have already had occafion to (how how we are led tothefe incomprehenfible extremes, when we endeavour exactly to proportion the wifdom and power of an In- fiftite Being : and I (hail not againdweilon this argument nor repeat, that from any imaginable hypothecs, we ftiight draw this deduction, that Omnipotence could have produced more happineis There are ideas which appear contrary to reafon, only, becaufe we cannot perceive them in one point of view ; and we difcover ihis truth,' not only in confid- ering things which arc foreign to our nature, but when we turn our attention on the evenfs which com^ daily under our infpe&ion.- Why do we then fuppofe, that \ve can comprehend the moft grand and noble thoughts? Is it confident with the idea of an Infinite Power, that we refufe to credit the exiftence of infinite good- nefs ? Is it confident with the idea of Infinite Wif- dom, that we wiH not ad nit the exiilence of Omnip- otence ? Nay more ; is it confident with the idea of infinite chances, that we imagine the abfurd fyflems concerning the formation of the world ? We ufe in- finity for every thing, except to place above us an in- telligence, whofe properties and eilence our reafon can- not determine. We are loft in a boundlefs uncertainty, when wo try to go beyoni the limits of human powers. Thus, after having collected all the forces ot our fouls, to enable us to penetrate the exiftence of a God, we ought not to exhauft ourfelves in- fubtleties, vainly endeav- ouring to conceive, in a juft accepiation, ana under evident relations, various attributes of an Infinite Be- ing, who has chofen to make himfelf known to us in a certain meafure, and under certain forms ; and it is too much to require of the worfhippers of God, to de- fend themfelves againft thofe who conteft hisexiftence 9 and difpute abo-it the nature of his perfections. I am fu from fuppoGng any obftaelt to the execution of i3 4 OF THE IMPORT A-NCE" OF Ills will: but I mould be full of the fame religious fent- iments, if I knew that there exiiled order and !a\vs in the nature of things, which the Divine Power has a faculty of modifying, and that it cannot entirely de- itroy. I fliouid not lels adore the Supreme Being, if, at the fame time, that his various attributes were in eonftant union, it were } nevertheless, by degrees, that he produced happinel's. I fhould filemly refpeft the feerets which would efcape my penetration, and wait with refpeftfnl fubmifnon, filllhe clouds were diffipat- ed which (till ftirround me. What then! always in ignorance and obfcurity ? Yes, always : fuch is the condition of men, \vhen they wife 10 go beyond the limits traced by the immutab'e laws of nature. But the grand truths, which we can eafily perceive, are fuf- ficient to regulate our conduct, and afford us comfort. That there is a God, every thing indicates and loudly announces: but I cannot difcover either the myfteries f his effence, or the intimate connexion of his various perfe6Lons. I plainly fee in a crowd the monarch en- circled by his guards; I know his laws. I enjoy the crder he has prefcribed : but 1 aflHt not at his coun- cils, and am a ftranger to his deliberations. J even perceive, that an impenetrable veil fepaiates me frorr. the defigns of the Supreme Being ; and 1 do not un- dertake to trace them. I commit myfelf with confi- dence to the protection of that Being, whom I believe good and great ; as I would rely on the guidance of a friend during a dark night : and while I have my foot in the abyfs, I will depend on him to fnatch me front the danger, aaid cairn my terrors. If we might be allowed the comparifon, we fliouFd fay, that God is like the fun, .which we cannot fled- fallly gaze at : but throwing our eyes down x we per- ceive its rays, and the beauties it fpreads around. How- ever, men, who, either through a miuruil of their un- cierftanding, or the nature of it, have only by their rev- e.rence an intercourfe with God, feel moft forcibly the impreffion of his grandeur; as it is at the extremity of the lever, that we ftrongly experience its power* We RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 185 confider the general aflent of nations and ages, in the opinion of the exiftence of a God, as a remark- able prefumption in favour of that opinion. But fuch> a proof would loofe part of its force, if we, in time, re- garded as a kind of moral phenomenon the relation which all men may have with an idea to fublime, notwith- llanding the vifibledifparity which exifts between their different degrees of underftanding and knowledge : and this obfervation mould lead to a thought, that, in the midft of the clouds, which obfcure the idea of a God, fen iibility becomes our beft guide. It feesrs the moil in- nate part of ourfelves, and in this refpeft to communi- cate, in the moil intimate manner, with the author of our nature. The fight advances before our other fenfes ; the im- agination goes beyond it: but as it is obliged to tracs its own path, fenfibility, which bounds over all, goes ftill further. The reafoner, in his efforts to attain to profound metaphyfical truths, forms a chain whofe links rather follow each other, than are joined. The mind of rnan not being fufficiently fubtle and extended, cannot al- ways unite exactly that infinite multitude of ideas which crowd at the determmatisn of our meditations. Senfi- bility is then the beft calculated to conceive the fub- Iwiie truth, which, not being compofed of parts, is nor fufceptible of feftion, and can only be comprehended in its unity.- Thus, while the mind often wanders in vain fpeculations, and loies itlelf in metaphyficai labyrinths^ the idea of a Supreme Being is irnpreffed, without ef- fort, in alimpie heart, which is flrll under the influence of nature. Thus, the man of feeling, as well as the intelligent man, announces a Supreme Being, whom we cannot difcover, without loving : and this union of all the faculties of the foul towards the fame idea- . this emotion, which refembies a kind of inftinft, (vight to be connected with a firft caufe as there is for eve- ry thing a firft model. It is, perhaps, alfo, the confufed fentiment of that SYft model, which leads us to religion, when we fee a virtuous man, Men, with their fatal fyilems, would 2 alter i86 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF alter and annihilate every thing : bat the comfortable- hopes and thoughts which arife from a profound and' rational admiration, will ftill refift that deftruftiono They vainly wifh to raake us confidcr fuchafentiment as the umple piay of blind matter; while all within us feerm to invite us to fearch for a more noble origin. And how can we avoid feeing, in thefe great qualities of men, noblenefs of foul, elevation of genius-, expanfion of heart, love of order, and interefting goodnefs -how- avoid feeing, in this rich piclure, the reflexion of a ce- ieftial light, and concluding from it, that there is fome- wfaere a hril intelligence ? Do rays exiit without a. cen- tre of light ?' I know not, but hurried away by thefe reflexions, I fometimes think, innate goodncfs, which" we admire as the firft rank in the fcale of intelligent beings, in a more immediate manner, leads.to the knowl-' edge of the Author of nature : and when this innate, morality 75 found united in feme perfons with a pre- , fhould confider itfelf as a reprefen ration of (he eternal condition of the univerfe. The mixture of pains and pleafures, 10 v. hich men are fubject on earth, i* rot a certain proof of what may happen in other tune^ and places : for uni- ty, equality, and ana'rgy, all th8 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF origin, the circumftances, arid the rcfulf of a revolution fo marked in hiflory, has not any connexion with th-j prefent tjueftion. The reformers of the (ixteenth cen- tury, preaching a ntw doclrine, openly profefled relig* ious zeal and a fervent piety : thus, at the fame time that they difapproved of a part of the eftablifhed wor- fhip, they more rigidly recommended all the funda- mental opinions of chriUianity, and fought to introduce a feverity of manners, which even extended to ths profcription of feveral indulgences that had not been oefore condemned : and, in facl, if the new dotlrines had BO! been united to the greateft refpeft for the eft fentia! principles of the Chriflian religion, they never would have hjd fo many followers, They cannot, then, eftabiifh any kind of compan- ion between the cenfures poured forth by the reform- ers, and the ridicule or contempt of thofe who now infult our moil refpcctable opinions, Thofe men, v/ho at prefent abound, are fomctimes excited by a. libertiniim of mind and conducl, by {eif-love, or the enthufiafm of f,il(e philofophy ; and iome of them are Jed'iciJ by an air of fuperionty, attached to the prin- ciples which they themfelves inilitute. 1'here is . great difference between the grave and ferious courie of the reformers, and the various evolutions of the ac- live opponents of religion. The latter do not take care to {top at clearing up a point of doctrine, or a dif- puted interpretation of force dogma. It is religion iifelf that they wifh to attack : and if thsy bs-gin with the outworks, it is in order to undermine it. They- fake fkilfully their pot% and know when to have re- courfe to a tone of p!eafantry ; which is very danger- ous, as it gives an air of confidence to thofe who cm~ pby it, and they obtain a kind of afcendency in avoids nig every idea of an equal combat. One is cufpofed ?o think, that it is by difdain that thay glance ilightiy. over the fubjetl. We fubmit in a cowardly mar>ner ? . ,o the appearance of their fuperiority : and that, wbick, is in them weaknefs or impotence, gives confequence.. Mea, in order to exprefs their gratitude to the fov- creign Mafter of the world, mud borrow from their ifna^i nations every thing grand and majdlic : thus, RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 19$ when they detacft from thofe reverential figns the ideas that they repreferued and preferve, they only difpla/ a vain gravity, a chimerical pomp : and it is eafy to make a fimilar contrail a fubjecl of ridicule ; but in aling thus, far from making us applaud their talents, they'infult, without any fenfe, the habit mofl men have acquired, of venerating, on the whole, every iyflern of worfhip paid the Supreme Being. Nevertheless, the bold and frivolous difcourfes which are permitted againll religion in general, have made fuch progrefs, that i.t p relent the perfons who molt ref- peft thefe opinions, without ofientation or feverity, find themfelves obliged to conceal or moderate their fentiments, left they iliould be expofed: to- a kind of contemptuous pity, or run the rifk of being fufpefted of hypocrify. We are at liberty to fpeak on every iubjecr, except the mod grand and intsrefting which can occupy men. What llrangc authority, gave rife to this imperious legiflation, which is termed falhionable ? What a miferable confpiracy, that of weaknefs againii Omnipotence ! Men are proud cf knowing at what hour the king wakes, goes to the chace, or returns ; they are very eager to be informed of the vile intrigues, which fuccellively debafe or exalt his courtiers : they pafs, in fliort, their whole lives, in panting after ob- jecis of vanity and badges of flavcry : they are contin- ualiy brought into converfaticri : and they profcrib?, under the dreadful name of vulgarity, the moft remote cxprefliorr, which would reca! the idea of the harmo- nious univcrfe, and the Being who has beOowed on us all the gifts of the mind. VV hat is the moft excellent in our nature we overlook, to -dwell only on the in- flations of vanity. Ungrateful that we are ! Our in- telligence, our will, all our fenfes, are the feal of an unknown power : and is it thanarre of our Mafterand Benefacicr that we dare not pronounce? It is from your modern philofophers, that this falfe ihame arifes ;. you, who fpread derilion over the moil refpettable {bnttments, and employing in the difpute the irivolous fljafts of ridicule, have given corfidencc to the moll iiiHgnificarit of men you have, for your followers, a numerous race, ; which.is taJien promifcuoufly from ev- ery rauk and age. OF THE IMPORTANCE OF We now reckon, among thofe who oppofe a cor temptuous fmile to religious opinions, a multitude of young people, often incapable of fupporting the mofl trivial arguments, and who, perhaps, could not conneft two or three abflraft propofitions. Thefe pretended philosophers artfully, and almoft perfidioufly, take ad- vantage of the firft flight of felf-love, to perfuade be- ginners, that they are able to judge at a glance, of the ferious queftions which have eluded the penetration of the moft exercifed thinkers. In fhort, fuch is, in ge- neral, the decifive tone of the irreligious men of our age, that, in hearing them fo boldly murmur about the diforders of the univerfe, and the mittakes of Provi- dence, we are only furprifed to fee how much they differ in ftature from thofe rebeliious'giants mentioned in the heathen mythology. I believe, however, that if contempt for religious opinions did not produce a linking contraft, thofe, whc profefs to feel this contempt, would quickly adopt oth- er fentiments. They only fuperficially attend to the pernicious tendency of their maxims, while they be- lieve themfeives ftill in the oppofition : but if they ev- er obtained a majority, not having then (he fpur of felf- Jove, they would foon difcever the abfurdity of theh principles, and haftily throw them afide. There are, undoubtedly, a great number of eflimable perfons, who highly value the truths and precepts of religion, yet are a prey to doubt and uncertainty, and who become the firft victims of the inconfiflencies of their minds. But men of fuch : a character do not aim at dominion ; on the contrary, they rather wifh to be confirmed by the example of thofe whofe conBdence is more afTured. They would- confider with interefl the fentimenis that unfortunately have made too flight an impreilion on them : and they would- endeavour to flrengthen their weak hopes, till they reached the cour- ageous perfuafion which infpires the Chfifiian : yes, even the enthufiafm of piety excites their envy ; as it is more delightful to yield to the emotions of a lively imagination, than to iiruggle with apathy againft the opinions calculated to diiiufe happmefs, V I'hus, if nsnong the number of perform -that i have juft deline- ated; RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, 20* srted, there were fome, to whom nature had granted fuperior talents, wit, or eloauence, they would care-- fully avoid exening them todifturb the repofe of thofe peaceable fouls, who calmly rely on religion, and re- ceive all their confolation from that fource. A wife man never permits himfeif to fpread- fadnefs and dif- couragement, in order to gratify the ridiculous vanity of exalting himfeif a little above common opinion?:, or to fliow his abilities, by making fome ingenious diftinftions concerning particular parts of the eflab- li.'hed religion ; in the fame manner, as it would be the height of folly to flop an army during its march, to dtfcrirninate fyfrematically the perfect juflnefs of the different tones of the warlike inllruments of mu- fic. The bold and frivolous opinions of feveral phi- lofophers, have appeared to me to be weak, where they rrjofi wifh to rile ; I mean in the extent and loft* incfs of their views. I need not fpeak to thofe who deny even the exift- er.ce ofa God. Alas ! if they be fo unhappy as to {hut their eyes, and not to admit this refplendent light -~-if they have a foul fo infenfible, as not to be affecU td with the comfortable truths which flow from fuch a noble thought if they are become deaf to the inter- tiling voice of nature if they truft more to their weak reafoning, than the warnings of confcience and fenfu- bi'ity at leaft, let them not fpread their difaftrous doclrine, which,, like the head ot Medufa. wouldtranf- form every thing into ftonc. Let them remove from Us that frightful monfter, or let his hoarfe hiffing be only heard in the dreary iblitude, of which their heart prefents the idea. Let them fpare the human race, and have pity on the ditlrefs, into which they would be plunged, if the mild light, which ferv-es to guide them, were ever to be obfcured. In fhort, if they really believe that morality can agree with atheifm, let them g.ive the Hrft proof of it, by remaining filent, But if they, cannot abdain from publifiiing their opin- ions, let a remnant of gerierofity induce them to inform us of their dangerous tendency, by placing in the fron- tifpiece of their works, this terrible infcription of Dante's iLafciat* o^nifpcranza^voich' (titrate* CHAPTER ao2 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CHAPTER XVI. The Jams fubjeft continued. Rtfi?xions on Intolerance. THE furface of the earth reprefents to us about the two hundred and fortieth part of ihe fuper- ficies of the different opaque bodies which revolve round the fan. The fixed flan are fo many fji3, which, according to all appearance, ferve equally to enlighten a-aj ferti- lize plants (imilar to thofe w are acquainted with. A famous aftronomer* has 'lately difcoverecl fifty thoufand new ftars in a zone fifteen degrees in length and two in breadth, a fpace which correfponds with the thirteen hundred ana : fixty- fourth part of the ce leftial fphere, Suppofing, then, that we perceive an equal number of flars in every other parallel "feftion of the firmament, the quantity we fhould be acquainted with) would rife to near fixty-nine millions. And if each of thefe ftars were the centre of a plan- etary fyllem, refemblmg the one we inhabit, we fhould have an idea of the exiftence of a number of habitable globes, whofe extent would be fixteen or feventeen millions of times mere confiderable than the furface of the earth, i How * Dr. Herfchell. f It may be faid, that the fifty thouftnd new ftars perceiv- d by Dr. Herfchell, being the rcfult of obfervations dire&ed to the milky-way, we are not to expeft to difcover as great a. number in oth.r parts of the heavens of a like extent. But, independent of thele ftars, which Dr. Herfchell clearly dif- tinguifhed, he imagine*] that there were twice as many more of which he imagined he had only an inftantaneous glance. See the philofophical tranfadtions of the royal fociety, 1774. Dr. H, has probably, (tnce that time, made new difcoveries j but they have not reached ms. I find, in the tranfadions of the royal fociety, of which he is a me.nber, that he confide?* the new telcfcope as being ftill " in its infancy." RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. fufceptible fioever, the ingenious invention^ which aflifls us to explore the vaulted firmament, is of new improvement and even at the period, when it may arme at the greateft perfe&ior, the fpace # which our ailronomic knowledge may hare taken pof- fcffion of, will only be a point in the vaft extent which cur imagination can conceive. This imagination itfelf. like all our intellectual fao uhies, is perhaps only a fimple degree of infinite pow- ers ; aridahe images that it prefents, are but an imper- fcft fketch of univerfal exiilence. What then becomes of our earth in thewidil of that immenfity which the human mind vainly tries tografp? What is it, even now, compared with that number of terreftrial bodies we can calculate or fuppofe ? Is it then the inhabitants of this grain of fand, is it only a few of them, tha* have diicovered the true mode of worihipping o 9 lengthened. We are eahly hurried beyond the juft line, when the human mind is not in a {fate to mark any limits : but the daily progrefs of knowledge obliges us to ufe more exaftnefs : it is ncceffary then to reign in the imagination, and to al'ow reafon to take place of it : yet it is {till allowed us to animate reafon, and even ufeful to do fo : but we muft abfo- iutely' avoid difguifing it. Falfe notions only have need of the affiftance of exaggeration. It feerns that fome are very fond of extremes, that common fenfe may not inveftigate them. I will make another obfervatiom Thofe who, to free us from fuperftition, endeavour to relax religious reftriclions and thofe who, to ftrengthen them, have recourfe to intolerance equally mi fs -their aim. The hatred, fo naturally excited by every kind of violence and conftraint, in matters of opinion, creates a repug- nance of thofe perfons to re\igion, who are infenfibly led to confider this excellent fyllem as the motive or excufe for a blind fpirit of perfecution. And the di- reft attacks againft religious opinions engage well dif- pofed minds to adhere more Itrenuoufly to every cuf- tom which appears a form of refpeQ or adoration : as we redouble our zeal for a friend in the midit of thofe who neglect or flrght him. Let us unite, and it is certainly time, to render to the Supreme Being fincere worfhip : and let that worfhip always be worthy of the dignity of our Cre- ator, Let us banifh feverity and fuperttition ; but let us equally dread that culpable indifference, the caufe of fo many misfortunes ; and when we ihali have ftrengthened the influence of found reafon, lee us adhere more ciofely to ;he ufeful opinions which have been reftried from errors, and with all our force repulie thofe who wifli to hurry our hopes to free our- felves from the wanderings of the imagination. Yes, a religion, difengaged from the paffions of men, in its native beamy, ought to dwell with us. Public order and private huppinefs equally claim it : and aii our- reflexions lead us to elevate our hearts towards an Om- nipotent Being, of whofe exigence a!! nature reminds- as. Religion, well underibod, far from being the S & neceffarj 2io OF THE IMPORTANCE OF neceflary principle of rigofcror violence, Aould be t!i* foundation of every focial virtue, and of every rmid and indulgent fentimenr. We are not called to ty* rannizc over the opinions of others, or to give defpotic Jaws to the mind. We mud obferve, that a moderate and rational religion only will guide us to the path of happinefs and virtue, by addreifing equally our hearts and minds. C H.AP-T.E R XVII. Reflexions on the Morality of the Chrijlian Religion. I WILL venture a few reflexions on a fubjecl: has often been treated ; the courfe of my. fubjetfc naturally leads to it. Bat in order to avoid, as much as poffible, what is generally known, I (hall confine myfelf to confider the rnora ity of the gofpel, under a point of view which feetns to me to dUUngui& its.fub* lime inilruttions. Th-- mo(l diftinft charafterifticof chriftianity, is tha fpirit of charity and forbearance which pervades all its precepts. The ancients undoubtedly refpecled the beneficent virtues : but the precept which commends the poor and the weak, to the protection of the opu- lent, belongs eflentially to our religion. With what care, with what love, the -Chriftian legiflator returns continually to the fame fentiment and intereft 1 Ths tendered pity lent to his words a perfuafive untlion ; but I admire, above all, the awful le(Ton he has given, in explaining the clofe union eftablifhed between our fentiments towards the Suprenrie Being and our da* ties towards men. Thus, after having termed the love of God, t: thtjirfi commandment of the, law," the evangeliit udds : " and thtjtcond, which is Like unto it> is to love thy neighbour as thyfdf" The fccondj . RELIGIOUS OPINIONS* second, which is like unto ft ! What fimpHcity, whaC 'ctent in that expreftion ! Can any thing be more in- tereiting and fublime, than to oiFer conunually to ouy mind the idea of a God taking on himlelf the grati- tude of the unfortunate ? Where find any principle of morality, of which the influence can ever equal fuch a grand thought ? The poor, the miferable, however abjeft their ftate, appear furrounded with the fymbol of glory, when the love of humanity becomes an expredion of the (entiments which elevate us to God ; and the mind ceafes to be loft in the immen- fity of his perfections, when we hope to maintain an habitual intercourse with the Supreme Being, by the fervices which we render to men. It is thus that a (ingle thought fpreads a new light on our duty, and gives to raetaphyiical ideas a fubiiance conformable t our organs. Juftice, refpeft for the laws, and duty to ourfelves^ may be united, in fome manner, to human wifdom ; - goodnefs alone, among all the virtues, prefents anoth- er character ; there is in its offence, fomething vague and indeterminate, which claims our rcfpecl. it feems lo have a relation with that intention, that fird idea which we miift attribute to the Creator of the world, , when we wifh o- difcover the caufe of its exiilence. ~ Goodnefs, then, is the virfue, or, to exprefs myfelf with more propriety, the primitive beauty, shat which has preceded time. Thus, the prefling exhortations io benevolence and charity, which we rind running through the gofpei, mould elevate our thoughts, and penetrate us with profound refpeft. It recals us, it unites us, to a fenti;nent more ancient than the world to a fentiment, by wh ; ch we have received exift- ence, and .the hopes which comppfe.our prefent happi- - nefs.* But if, from thefe elevated confemplaiions, we, for a, momeni, deicend to the political principles which have * I think I perceive the traces of thefc philofophical ideaa in the cenfure |ifus palled uooa one of his difciplcs who cville.d him, ' good mafter. Why calltil tiiou ine good ? - Ibere is none good but one," OF THE IMPORTANCE OF have the greatetf extent, we fhall find there the infill* ence of a truth on which I have already had occalion to dwell; but I {hall now treat it in a different man- ner. The unequal diviGon of property has introduced among men an authority very like that of a matter over his flaves. We may even juftly fay, that in many refpeftt the empire of the rich is ft'll more independ- ent ; for they are not bound conftantly toproteft thofe from whom they require fervices. The tafte and caprice of thefe favourites of fortune fix the terms of their convention with men, whofe only patrimony is their time and ftrength : and as (oon as this conven- tion is interrupted, the poor man, absolutely feparated from the rich, remains again abandoned to accidents 5 he is obliged then to offer his labours wiih precipita- tion to other difpenfers of fubfiftence ; and thus he may experience, feveral times in the year, all the in- quietudes that mud necefiarily arife from uncertain refources. Undoubtedly in giving the fupport of the Jaws to a fimilar conftitution, it has been reafonably fuppofed, that in the midfr. of the multiplied relation* offocial life, there would be a kind of balance and equality between the wants, which oblige the poor to folicit wages, and the defires of the rich, which en- gage them to accept their fervices. But this emulibri- um, fo eflentially neceffary, can never be eilablim* cd in an exa and conftant manner ; fince it is the refult of a blind concourfe of combinations, and the uncertain effect of an infinite multitude of move- ments, not one of which is fubjecl to a pofitive di- reftion. However, fince to maintain the di(tin6iion of property, they were obliged to leave to chance the fate of the greater number of men, it was indifpenfa- bly neceiTary to find feme falutary opinion, proper to temper the abufes infeparable from the free exercife of the rights of property : and that happy and rettoring idea could only have been difcerncd in an obligation f benevolence impofed on the will, and a fpirit of general chanty recommended to all men. Thefe lent- iments and duties, the lall refource offered to t ! ie un- fortunate, can alone mitigate a fyftem, in which the fate of the moil numerous part of a nation refts on the doubiful RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. ii$* doubtful agreement of the conveniences of the rich with the wants of the poor. Yes, without the aic^ without the intervention of the moft ettimable of vir- tues, the generality would have juft reafon to regret the focial inftitutions, which, at the price of their in- dependence, left to the matter the care of their fubfift- cnce : and it is thus, that chanty, refpeftable under fo many tfifferertf views, becomes ftiil an intelligent and political idea, which ferves to blend perkmal liberty and the imperious laws of property. I know not- if ever the chrHHan precepts have been confidered under this point of view. But reflecting a little on this fubjetl, we perceive more than ever of what importance the falutary inftitutions are, which place in the firft rank of our duties the beneficent fpir* it of charity, and which lend to the moft eflVntial vir- tue all the force and constancy which religion gives birth to. Thus, at the fame time that the doclrinesof the gofpel -elevate UUP thoughts, it? (ubiime morality accompanies, in fome meafure, our laws and inftitutions-, to fuftain thofe which are really conformable to reafon, and to remedy the inconveniences infeparable from the im perfections of human wifdom. It is not, however, only to pecuniary facrifices, that' the gofpel applies its precepts refpechng charity. It exteads to thole generous afts of iclf-denial, that relig- ion alone can render fupportable ; and makes fome de- fcend, with a firm (tep, into the dreary abodes, in which the culprit is a prey to the remcrfe that tears his heart ; and wherv his very relations have abandoned him, he ftill beholds a comforter, whom religion con- du&s to pour.conlolation into his affl cted foul. The fame motives and thoughts induce: fome to renounce the world and its hopes, o conCecraie themfelves en- tirely to the fervice of the lick, and to fuifii thofe fad functions v/ith an affiduity and a conftancy. that the mod fplendid reward could never excite. O rare and difinterefted virtue, perfection of piety ! what a tri- bute of ad-mration is due to the fublime fentiment which inipires fuch painful felf-denia) ! Men are on- ly ftimulated by notions of right and jullice ; it bs Sipngs^o CJbrifiianity to impofe duties, whofe bafe ^ placed , $14 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF placed beyond the narrow circle of our terrefhfal in- terefts. I know not, but it feems to me, that not- withftanding a diverfuy of opinions, we cannot help being affected, when v/e contemplate the (ketch of the laft day which the gofpel delineates. It exhibits a terrific and fublime pifture of that day, in which all actions are to be revealed, and the moft fecret thoughts have the univerfe for a witnefs, and God as a judge : and at the moment when we wait to fee the retinue of virtues and vices which have rendered men cele- brated, it is a fingle quality, a virtue without fplen- dor, which is choien bj> the Divine Arbiter of our fate, to derive an immortality of happinefs from : and he pronounces ihefe memorable words, which con- tain in a {mail compafs our whole duty : "Iwas hun<* gry, and ye gave me meat \ thrifty, and ye gave me drink. I was a prifcner, and ye vijited me. Come, ye bleffcd of rny father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," 3c, Men love to contemplate the triumphs of goodnefs love to exalt it under dif- ferent forms. We have fo many wants, are fo weak, and are able to do fo little for ourfelves, that this in- terefting virtue appears our fafe-guard, and the myfte- rious tie ofall nature. The fpirit of chanty, fo effantial in its exaft inter- pretation, may be applied to the regard and delicats attention that different degrees of talents render necef- fary. Society, under this relation, has alfo its rich and poor : and we know the extent of charity and the fe- crets of our moral nature, when we praftife that gene- ral benevolence, which preferves others from feeling a painful fentiment of inferiority, and which makes it a duty to refpe& the veil, that a beneficent hand has defignedly placed between the light of truth and thofe imperfections which we cannot entirely correct. Jt is always about the generality of men that the author of Chriftianity feems to be interefled. The gofpel takes cognizance of their private fentiments, condemning pride, and recommending modefty : and at applies ufelf to level thofe diftances which appear to as io important, when we only view the little points of gradation which compofe our fcals of vanity. Relig- 101 RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 115 ion enables us to difcern,that haughtinefs and contempt only difplay our ignorance and folly : ** What hafc thou, that thou didji not receive? nozu, if thou didft receive it, why dojt thou glory ? What is the pruJe, that does not melt away before thefe awful words ? Religion feems ever to tend towards the fame end, and by continually reminding us of the brevity of life, to prevent ftrong illufions from engroffing our thoughts* The greater part of ancient moral iriftrulions were in general addrefled, either to man, confidered as an individual occupied with the care of his deftiny, or to the citizen, connected by his duties to his country,; and none of them had fufficient extent. Itisnecefla- ry, when giving co.unfel to a folitary individual, only to try to free him from thofe paflions which would deftroy his repofe and happinefs : and the obligations that are impofed on the different members of a politi- cal ftate, neceffanly participate of a jealous ipirit, which the will of the government may turn into ha- tred. The Chriftian religion, more univerfal in its views, turns its attention from the contrariety of in- tereils, which divide irvjn when they belong to differ- ent governments. It confiders us indiflinclly as citi- zens of a great fociety, -united by the fame or/gin, na- ture, and dependencies, and by the fame feritiment of happinefs. Recommending the reciprocal duties of benevolence, the gofpel does not make any difference between the inhabitant of Jerufalem and bamaria. It takes man in the moft fimple and the mcfl honourable of his relations, thofe which arife from his intercourfe with the Supreme Being : and under this point of view, all the hoftile divifions of kingdom againft king- dorn, abfolutely d;iappear. It is the whole human .race, which has a right to the protection and the bene- ficence of the Author of nature, and it is in the name of every intelligent being, that we credit the alliance which unites heaven to earth. The rich and powerfuJ made the firit laws, or, at leaft, directed the ipirit of them. It was efpecially to defend their poUV-ilions and privileges, that they ex- tolled juftice. The legiflator of our religion, fpeaking of this virtue, has fhown, that the intereils of all were *i6 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF equally prefent to his thoughts. We might eve fay, that he made an old obligation anew duty. by the manner in which he prefcribed it. " Whatjotvtr ye would, that men Jliould do to you^ do you even fo to them," is a maxim ever remarkable, if we confidcr the extent of the precept which it contains : there arc fo many atls of feventy and oppreflion, fomuch tyran- ny, which efcapes the reach of the law, and the fuper intendency of opinion, that we car. not too highly vai'ie its importance. Chriftianiiy indeed affords a fimple guide and meafure for ail their aftior.s. Religion, befide, in order to fix our determinations, flrengthens the authority of conference. She faw that every one of us has within himftlf a judge, the mod fevere and clear-fightcd. and that it is fufficient to fub- mit to its laws, to be inttrucled in our duty ; fot it is our hidden thoughts, that this judge examines: and nothing is exc-ufed, no fubterfuge admitted. It is not the fame with thofe cerifures which we ex- trcife towards others : the fimple aBions only firike us : and the different motives they rejuit from, the emo- tions, the conflicts which accompany them, and the re- gret. the repentance which follow tbem 3 all thefe elfen- tial chara&eriftics efcape our penetration. Thus, re- ligion, always wife, always benevolent in its ccunfels, forbids our forming hafty and precipitate judgments: and we cannot read, without emotion, that lefTon of indulgence, fo mildly addreCed to the crowd, which furrou nded the woman taken in adultery. " ht that is without Jin, among you, let him c aft thefirjtjlonc at her." But how refift being affected by admiration, when we fee religion fo warmly employed about the fate of thofe whom the iufpicions of falfe accnfations of men have dragged before their tribunals by declar- ir.g that it is better to let a hundred culprits efcape pun- ilhment, than run the ri'fk of condemning a (ingle per- fon unj-uftly ? This tender anxiety correfponds with every ientiment of our hearts. Innocence, delivered to infamy innocence, encompafled with all the horrors of an execution is the moil dreadful fight that the imagination can prefent : and we are fo Oruck by it, xi not. experience, that his filial, tenderuefs, the regularity of his dontieitic life, the purity of his mourns, and ai-' h-r- rare private qualities, are not um;ed to tiie uonic lent- iments whicn make hi n Appear A-irii (o ;nuc i f.^c-.,tur, as a ftateiman ? But without, dvyellinj on f.jca iaji.ui- T a ces, 1*2 OP THE IMPORTANCE O* ces, who has not been fometimes flruck with the beauty attached to that fimplicity and modefty of manners which we often find in an.obfcure fituation ? We then mani- fcftly difcover, lhat there exifls a kind of" agreement and dignity, I could almoft fay, a kind .of grandeur, iiv dependent of refined language polifiied manners, and all thofe advantages due to birth, to rank and fortune. I have only glanced over the benefits arifing from the Chriftian religion. But I cannot avoid obferving, lhat we owe to it a confoling idea, that of the felicity referved for innocent babes ; interefting and precious hope for thofe tender mothers, who fee flip from their embraces the objecls of their love, at aaagc when they have not acquired any merit before the Supreme Be- ing, whom they cannot have any relation with, but through his infinite goodnefs. I feel, that I involumta* rily mix with the eulogiums of Chnftiamty a fentiment of gratitude for the mild and paternal ideas which are diifeminated v/iih its inlirutiions ; and there is .fome- thing remarkable in thofe in(lru6Hons that rhey are con- tinually animated by every thing which can captivata cur imagination, and aflociate with our natural inclina-, dons. Senfibility, happinefs, and hope, are the fi.rou would, on the contrary, allot for their .defence a por- tion of their nobleft powers. We fhould fee the pene- trating metaphyfician eager to refer to the common, treafure of our hopes, the light which he perceives through the continuity of his meditations, and the. perfptcacity of his mind. We fhould fee the atten- tive obferyer of nature occupied with the fame idea,, animate^. S- OF THE IMPORTANCE OF animated by the fame intereft : we ihould fee him, in the midft of his labours, feize with avidity every thing which could add any fupport to the firft principle f all religions : we fhould fee him. detached from his difcovenes. appropriate, wiih a kind of love, all that tended to ilrengthen the happieft perfuafion and mod fublime thoughts. The profound moralift, the phiio- fophic legiflator, would concur in the fame defign ; and in fuch a grand enterprife, men, merely endowed with an ardent imagination, would be like thofe wander- ers, who, when they return home, taik of fome unknown riches. 'There are ways in the moral, as well as the phyfical world, which lead ro unknown ferrets : and the harveft, which may be gathered in eke vafl empire of nature, is as-exteniive as diverfified. How excellent would be the union.of ev-ery mind towards this mag- nificent end I In this view, 1 reprefent fometimes to myfelF, with refpecl, a (ociety of men diftinguiflied by thesr character and genius, only employed to receive and place in order the ideas proper to augment our confidence in the moft precious opinion. There are thoughts conceived by folitary men, which are loft fo mankind ; becaufe they have not had the talent to connect a fy item. And if thofe thoughts were to be united to fome other knowledge if they were to come like a grain of fand, to ftrengthen the banks raifed on our fhore, the following generations would tranfmit a richer hermitage. We fometimes regifter with pomp a new word, introduced into the language ; and men of the molt exalted genius of the age are called to be prefentUt that ceremony : would it not be a more no- ble enterprife to examine, to choofe, andconfecrate the ideas and obfervations proper to enlighten us in our moil eiTential refearches ? One of thofe refearches - would better deferve a wreath, than any work of elo- quence or literature. Let us fuppofe, for a moment, that in the moft an- cient empire of the world, there might have been priefls, from lime immemorial, who guarded the de- ypfit of all the original idtas wti^h ferved to fupport tke- RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. atf t^e opinion of the exiflence of a God, and the fenti- ment of the immortality of the foul ; and that, from time to time, every new difcovery, calculated to in- creafe the confidence due to thefe mod neceflary truths, was infcribed in a religious teflamenr, called the book of happinefs and hope : how highly fhould we value it, and how eagerly defire to be acquainted with it ; and with what refpeft fhould we approach the ancient temple, in which thofe fuperb archieves were depofit- ed. But, on the contrary, could we imagine another retreat, where the fubtle arguments and artificial dif- courfes were collected, by which fome endeavour to deftroy or (bake thofe holy opinions, which unite the univerfe to an intelligent thought, to a fublime wifdom and the fate of men to infinite goodnefs who among us would \vifli to enter into that dark abode ? who would ivifh to explore that fatal regiflry ? Let us learn to know our nature better, and, through the . delirium of our blind paffions, di (cover its wants. It is a God we feel the want of, a God, fuch as religion prefents ; .a God, powerful and good, the firft fource of happinefs, and v.' ho only can fecure it to the human .race. Let us open all our faculties to that fplendid Jight, thac our hearts and minds may welcome it, and find pleafure in widely diffufing it. Let us be penetrat- ed in cur youth, by the only idea ever neceflary to our peace. Let us ilrengchen it when in our full vigour, that it mav fupport us in the decline of life. Ravifh- ing beauties of the univerfe, what would ye be to us, without this thought ? Majeftic power of the humaw mind, aftonifhing wonders of the thinking faculty, what could it reprefent, if we feparaled it from its no- ble origin ? Souls, affectionate and impaflioned, what would become of you withou f hope ? Pardon, O Matter of the world, if, not fufhciently fenfible of my own \veaknefs, and abandoning myfeif only to the emotions of my heart, I have undertaken 10 fpeak to men of thy exiftence, thy grandeur,- and thy goodnefs-! Pardon me, if, lately agitated by the tumultu- ous waves of pailion, JL dare to raife my thoughts to the * 2 & OF THE IMPORTANCE OF the realms of eternal peace, where thou more partlcti*- larly exhibited thy glory and fovereign power. Ah I J know more than ever, that we rnuft love thee, we muft ferve thee. The powerful of the earth exalt and deprefs their favourites capricionfly ; there is no relying on them : after profiting by the talents devoted to them, they forfake oft generous of all benefaclors. It allows us to ex- ercifc RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. "^29 our faculties and talents; but recals. m tr idea of morality and virtue, in order to a flu re our fiep? f and fhield us from regret. It allows us to m :ace of glory or ambition ; but recais us t,o the idea of inconstancy and inflability, to preferve us from a fatal intoxication. It is always with us not -to diflurb cur felicity, not to irapofe ufclefs privations, but to blerd itfelf with our thoughts, and to unite to all our pro- jefts thofe mild and peaceable ideas which attend wii- dorn and moderation. In mort, in the day of adverfi- ty, when our ftrength is broken, in which we have placed our confidence, piety comes to fticcour and con- fofe us : it mows us the nothingnefs of vanity at.d worldly illufions. It calms the remorfe of our fouls, by reminding us of a particular providence. It foftenv our regrets, by prefentingmorc worthy hopes than any earthly objecl can afford, in order to engage our intercll and fix our attention. I am not led to thefe reflexions by a temporary me- lancholy. I mould be afraid of it, if i had not always had the fame thoughts, and if the various circumftan- ces of a life, often perturbed, had not led me to of the neceflity of attaching myfelf to fome principle, independent of men and events. Almoft entirely . K this jnftant, and thrown into folitude by an unfcrc feen accident, I experience, it is true,* more than evf the want of thofe rational ideas, the reprcfentatio;; ; of all that is great; and I approach with renewed in- tereft the truths which I always loved grand and fublime truths, which I have recommended to men a^ the moment when I fee them more than everinc!' to neglea them. How miftaken are they in their cal- culations I They tru ft to-day in the ftrength of their minds ; to-raorrow they will find their weaknefs* They imagine, that in turning their views from the termination of life, they remove the fatal boundary ; but already the hand trembles on the dial, to giv. fignal of their laft moment. What a dire facrifk Should make, if we gave up ihofe confoling truth , which ftill prefent to us a future, when ail the I ef * For I had begun this chapter during my exile/ *3 OF THE IMPORTANCE, Ac. of life is over ! We fhould again demand them, fearslr for them with the moil diligent anxiety, if ever the traces of them were unfortunately effaced. All thefe ideas, fome may fay, are vague, and do not agree with the humour of the age ; but at a certain diftance from the field of ambition and vanity, is there any thing to every one of us, more vague than the pafiiors of others? Are men employed about our in- tereii ? Do they dream of our happinefs ? No ; they ire like ourfelves ; thy feek for precedency ; now and then indeed they pronounce the name of public good ; but it is only a watch-word, which they have :o!en, to be abie to run over our ranks without dan- ger. Where fhall we find then a real tie ? Where ihall we find an univerfal rendezvous, if not in thefe unalterable ideas, which are fo confonant to our na- ture which fhould equally intereft us all, being fuited fcoall without diilinftion -and which are ready to wel- come us, when we fee the folly of earthly purfuits ? They may not, indeed, gratify the childiih wifhes of che moment : but they relieve our anxiety about to- morrow ; they are allied to objecls of meditation, whioh belong to our whole life ; and, above all, they unite us fo that fpirit which conftitutes our true grandeur, to that fu >nine fpirit, a few of whofe relations only a?e yet difcovered by us, and the full extent of whofe power and goodnefs can be but faintly guefled at by finite beings. Sxiraftsfrdm the Mont My -Review, vol. 78, p. De 1'importancc dcs opinions religieufes. By M. NECKER. offering here made at themrine of religion, by a man of bufinefs, a man of true political wifdom, and a man of the world, in the city of Paris, is a curious phenomenon. It isalfoa noble one and gives M, Necker, who has been long efteemed for his great capacity, literary merit, and eminent virtues,/! new and dijiinguified title to the veneration of the public* It has been this virtuous man's dettiny to ar- rive at eminence in every line that he has purfued, from the counting- houfc to the threfhold of the cabi- net. And it is impofliblc, if we read the work before us with candour and attention, not to fee that both hit head and his heart make