Ill' yyit^j4«:l»M Please handle this volume with care. The University of Connecticut Libraries, Storrs 3 =^153 0n3M713 ^ ..:^ ^ 53 "03 O p* lEKSaJ < ^J o WILBUR CROSS LIBRARY The University of Connecticut The Gift Of Elisha & Elizabeth Atkins In Memory Of Chester & Ruth Greenough K p. VU^f wmm d C|ristmmt|; Sprit aub ^mi% al % Christian ^^151011. VISCOUNT DE CHATEAUBRIAND, Author 0/ "Travels in Greece and Palestine," "The Martyrs," 'Atala," 4te. tte. 5- Stcfaj mih Complete S^ranslatioii from tl^e ^tziu^,. Prdki^ Biographical Notice of the Antbr, and Critical and ExplaDatory Notes. Br CHARLES I. WHITE, D.D BALTIMORE : PUBLISHED BY JOHN MURPHY & GO PHILADELPHIA J. B. LTPPINCOTT & CO. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, By JOHN MURPHY & CO. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Maryland. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, By JOHN MURPHY & CO. in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE. In 1798, while the author of this work was residing in London, exiled from France by the horrors of the Revolution, and gaining a subsistence by the produc- tions of his pen, which were tinctured with the skep- ticism and infidelity of the times, he was informed of the death of his venerable mother, whose last days had been embittered by the recollection of his errors, and who had left him, in her dying moments, a solemn admonition to retrace his steps. The thought of having saddened the old age of that tender and religious parent who had borne him in her womb, overwhelmed him with confusion ; the tears gushed from his eyes, and the Christian sentiments in which he had been educated returned under the impulses of a generous and affectionate heart: "I loept and I believed.'' But the trouble which harassed his mind did not entirely vanish, until he had formed the plan of redeeming his first publications by the consecration of liis splendid abilities to the honor of religion. Such was the origin of the Genius of Christianity^ in the composition of which he labored with "all the ardor of a son who was erect- ing a mausoleum to his mother."* * Memoires d' Outre- Tombe, vol. i. I* 6 PREFACE. When this work made its appearance, in 1802, in- fidelity was the order of the day in France. That beautiful country, whose people had once held so pro- minent a rank among the Catholic nations of Europe, presented but a vast scene of ruins, the fatal conse- quences of that systematic war which impious sophista had waged against religion during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The Revolution had swept away in its desolating course all the landmarks of the ancient society. Churches and altars had been over- thrown ; the priests of God had been massacred, or driven into exile ; asylums of virtue and learning had been profaned and laid waste ; every thing august and sacred had disappeared. In the political and social sphere the same terrific destruction was witnessed. After a succession of convulsions, which had over- thrown the Bourbon dynasty, and during which the passions of men had rioted amid the wildest anarchy and the most savage acts of bloodshed, the chief au- thority became vested in a consul whose mission was to re-establish social order, and whose efforts in that direction were gladly welcomed by the nation, grown weary and sick, as it were, of the dreadful calamities that had come upon them. It was an auspicious mo- ment for the fearless champion of Christianity, to herald the claims of that religion whose doctrines con- stitute the only safe guide of the governing and the governed. But, among a people who to a great extent had conceived a profound antipathy to the theory and practice of religion, by the artful and persevering efibrts of an infidel philosophy to render the Christian name an object of derision and contempt, a new PREFACE. method of argument was necessary to obtain even a hearing in the case, much more to bring back the popular mind to a due veneration for the Church and her teachings. It would have been useless, when the great principles of religious belief were disregarded, when the authority of ages was set at naught, to un- dertake the vindication of Christianity by the exhi- bition of those external evidences which demonstrate its divine origin. Men had become deluded with the idea that the Christian religion had been a serious ob- stacle in the way of human progress; that, having been invented in a barbarous age, its dogmas were absurd and its ceremonies ridiculous; that it tended to enslave the mind, opposed the arts and sciences, and was in general hostile to the liberty of man and the advancement of civilization. It was necessary, therefore, in order to refute these errors, to exhibit the intrinsic excellence and beauty of the Christian religion, to show its analogy with the dictates of na- tural reason, its admirable correspondence with the in- stincts of the human heart, its ennobling influence upon literature and the arts, its beneficent eftects upon society, its wonderful achievements for the civilization and happiness of nations, its infinite superiority over all other systems, in elevating the character, improving the condition, and answering the wants of man, under all the circumstances of life ; in a word, to show, ac- cording to the design of our author, not that the Chris- tian religion is excellent because it comes from God, kit that it comes from God because it is excellent. For this purpose, he passes in review the principal PREFACE. mysteries and tenets of Christianity, draws a compa- rison between Christian and pagan literature, displays the advantages which painting, sculpture, and the other arts, have derived from religious inspiration, its accordance with the scenes of nature and the senti- ments of the heart, describes the wonders of mis- sionary enterprise, the extensive services of the mo- nastic orders, and concludes with a general survey of the immense blessings conferred upon mankind by the Christian Church. In displaying this magnificent picture to. the contemplation of the reader, the author employs all the resources of ancient and modern learning, the information derived from extensive travel and a profound study of human nature, and those ornaments of style w^hich the loftiest poetry and the most glowing fancy can place at his command. In turn the philosopher, the historian, the traveller, and the poet, he adopts every means of promoting the great end in view, — to enamor the heart of man with the ^harms of religion, and to prove that she is emi- nently the source of all that is "lovely and of good re- port," of all that is beautiful and sublime. Among all the works of Chateaubriand, none, perhaps, is so re- markable as this for that combination of impressive eloquence, descriptive power, and pathetic sentiment, which imparts such a fascination to his style, and which caused Napoleon I. to observe, that it was " not the style of Hacine, but of a prophet ; that nature had given him the sacred flame, and it breathed in all his works." The publication of such a work at such a time could not but enlist against it a powerful opposition among PREFACE. S tiiG advocates of infidelity ; but its superior excellence and brilliant character obtained an easy triumph over the critics who had attempted to crush its influence. In two years it had passed through seven editions ; and such was the popularity it acquired, that it was translated into the Italian, German, and Russian lan- guages. In France, the friends of religion hailed it as the olive branch of peace and hope — a messenger of heaven, sent forth to solace the general affliction, to heal the wounds of so many desolate hearts, after the frightful deluge of impiet}^ which had laid waste that unfortunate country. On the other hand, the waver- ing in faith, and even they who had been perverted by the sophistry of the times, Avere drawn to a profitable investigation of religion, by the new and irresistible charms that had been thrown around it. It cannot be denied that the Genius of Christianity exerted a most powerful and beneficial influence in Europe for the good of religion and the improvement of literature. The eloquent Balmes has well said: "The mysterious hand which governs the universe seems to hold in re- serve, for every great crisis of society, an extraordinary man Atheism was bathing France in a sea of tears and blood. An unknown man silently traverses the ocean, .... returns to his native soil." .... He finds there " the ruins and ashes of ancient temples devoured by the flames or destroyed by violence ; the remains of a multitude of innocent victims, buried in the graves which formerly afltbrded an asylum to per- secuted Christians. He observes, however, that some- thing is in agitation : he sees that religion is about to redesceud upon Fitmce, like consolation upon the un- 10 PREFACE. fortunate, or the breath of life upon a corpse. From that moment he hears on all sides a concert of celestial harmony ; the inspirations of meditation and solitude revive and ferment in his great soul ; transported out of himself, and ravished into ecstasy, he sings with a tongue of fire the glories of religion, he reveals the delicacy and beauty of the relations between religion and nature, and in surpassing language he points out to astonished men the mysterious golden chain which connects the heavens and the earth. That man was Chatea ubriand. ' ' * The eloquent work here referred to must, we may easily conceive, be productive of good in any age and in any country. Although the peculiar circumstances that prompted its execution and proved so favorable to its first success have passed away, the vast amount of aseful information which it embodies will alwa^^s be consulted with pleasure and advantage b}^ the scholar and the general reader ; while the " vesture of beauty and holiness" which it has thrown round the Church cannot fail to be extensively instrumental in awakening a respectful attention to her indisputable claims. One of the saddest evils of our age and country is the spirit of inditFerentism which infects all classes of society; and the question, among a vast number, is not what system of Christianity is true, but whether it is worth their while to make any system the subject of their serious inquiry. Such minds, wholly absorbed by the considerations of this world, would recoil from a doctrinal or theological essay with * Pv^Usiantism and Calhulicily Compared, S^c, p. 71. PREFACE. 11 almost tLe same aversion as would be excited by the most nauseous medicine. But deck religious truth in the garb of fancy, attended by the muses, and dis- pensing blessings on every side, and the most apa- thetic soul will be arrested by the beauteous spectacle, as the child is attracted and won by the maternal smile. Among unbelievers and sectarians of different complexions, who discard all mysteries, who consult only their reason and feelings as the source and rule of religious belief, who look upon Catholicism as something ejfete^ and unsuited to the enlightenment of the age, this work will be read with the most bene- ficial results. It will warm into something living, consistent, and intelligible, the cold and dreamy specu- lations of the rationalist; it will indicate the grand fountain-head whence flow in all their fervor and effi- ciency those noble sentiments which for the modern philosopher and philanthropist have but a theoretical existence. It will hold up to view the inexhaustible resources of Catholicism, in meeting all the exigencies of society, all the wants of man, and triumphantly vindicate her undoubted claims to superiority over all other systems in advancing the work of true civili- zation. It was to establish this truth that Balmes composed his splendid work on the Comparative Influence of Pro- testantism and Catholicity^ and Digby described the Ages of Faith, and the Compitum, or Meeting of the Ways, These productions are of a kindred class with the Genius of Christianity, and the former embraces to a certain extent the same range of subject, having in view to display tho internal evidences of Catholicity, 12 PREFACE. as derived from its beneficial iufluence upon European civilization. But Chateaubriand was the first to enter the field against the enemies of religion, clad in that efiective armor which is peculiarly adapted to the cir- cumstances of modern times. Without pretending in the least to question the necessity or detract from the advantages of theological discussion, we are firmly convinced that the mode of argument adopted by our author is, in general, and independently of the prac- tical character of the age in which we live, the most eflfectual means of obtaining for the Church that favor- able consideration which will result in the recognition of her divine institution. '' The foolish man hath said in his heart, there is no God."* The disorder of the heart, arising partly from passion, partly from preju- dice, shuts out from the mind the light of truth. Hence, whoever wins the heart to an admiration of the salutary influences which that truth has exerted in every age for the happiness of man, wall have gained an essential point, and will find little difficulty in con- vincing the understanding, or securing a profitable attention to the grave expositions of the theologian and the controversialist. Such were the considerations that led to the present translation of the Genius of Ckristianity. The work was presented in an English dress for the first time in England; and the same edition, reprinted in this country in 1815, would have been republished now, if it had not been discovered that the translator had taken unwarrantable liberties with the original, omit- * Psalm xiv. 1. P il E f A C E. 13 tiug innumerable passages and sometimes whole chap- ters, excluding sentences and paragraphs of the highest importance, those particularly which gave to the au- thor's argument its peculiar force in fVivor of Catholi- cism. Such, in fact, was the number and nature of these omissions, that, with the introduction of occa- sional notes, they detracted, in a great measure, from the author's purpose, and gave to a latitudinarian Christianity an undue eminence, which he never con- templated. With these important exceptions, and various inaccuracies in rendering the text, the transla- tion of Mr. Shoberl has considerable merit. In pre- paring the present edition of the work, we have fur- nished the entire matter of the original production, with the exception of two or three notes in the Ap- pendix, which have been condensed, as being equally acceptable to the reader in that form. Nearly one hundred pages have been supplied which were never before presented to the public in English. In render- ing the text, we have examined and compared different French editions; but there is little variation between that of 1854 and its predecessors. Where the sense of the author appeared obscure or erroneous, we have introduced critical and explanatory notes. Those marked S and K have been retained from Mr. Shoberl's translation ; those marked T w^ere prepared for this edition. In offering this translation to the public, we take pleasure in stating that we have made a free use of that to which we have alluded, especially in the latter portion of the work. We have also con- sulted the translation by the Rev. E. O'Donnel, which was issued in Paris in 1854. In that edition, however, 2 14 PREFACE nearly one-half of the original produ 3tioii has been omitted, and the order of the contents has been en- tirely changed. In conclusion, we present this work to the public with the hope that it may render the name of its illus- trious author more extensively known among us, and may awaken a more general interest in the study of that religion wiiich, as Montesquieu observes, "while it seems only to have in view the felicity of the othei life, constitutes the happiness of this." The Translatok. FikuvUU, Md. AprU, 1856. CONTENTS. Notice or the Viscount db Chateaubriand ^ 23 PART I. DOGMAS AND TENETS BOOK I. MYSTERIES AND SACRAMENTS. PAei Chap. I. Introduction 43 IL Of the Nature of Mysteries 51 III. Of the Christian Mysteries— The Trinity 53 IV. Of the Redemption 59 V. Of the Incarnation 66 VI. Of the Sacraments — Baptism and Penance 67 VII. Of the Holy Communion 71 VIII. Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Matrimony 75 IX. The same subject continued — Holy Orders 82 X. Matrimony 85 XL Extreme Unction 91 BOOK II. VIRTUES AND MORAL LAWS. Chap. 1. Vices and Virtues according to Religion 93 IL Of Faith 95 III. Of Hope and Charity 97 IV. Of the Moral Laws, or the Ten Commandments 99 BOOK III. THE TRUTHS OP THE SCRIPTURES THE FALL OF MAN. Chap. I. The Superiority of the History of Moses to all other Cosmogonies 107 II The Fall of Man— The Serpent— Remarks on a Hebrew Word... 110 III Primitive Constitution of Man — New proof of Original Siu 114 15 16 CONTENTS. BOOK IV. CONTINUATION OF THE TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE SYSTEM OF MOSES. PAGE Chap. I. Chronology ,.., 118 n. Logography and Historical Facts... 122 in. Astronomy 128 IV. Continuation of the preceding subject — Natural History — The Deluge L33 V. Youth and Old Age of the Earth 136 BOOK V. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD DEMONSTRATED BY THE WONDERS OP NATURE. Chap. I. Object of this Book 138 II. A General Survey of the Universe 139 III. Organization of Animals and Plants 141 IV. Instincts of Animals 145 V. Song of Birds — Made for Man — Laws relative to the cries of Animals 147 VL Nests of Birds 150 VII, Migrations of Birds — Aquatic Birds — Their Habits — Goodness of Providence 152 VIII. Sea-Fowl — In what manner serviceable to Man — In ancient times Migrations of Birds served as a Calendar to the husbandman 156 IX. The subject of Migrations concluded — Quadrupeds 160 X. Amphibious Animals and Reptiles 163 XI. Of Plants and their Migrations 168 XII. Two Views of Nature 170 XIII. Physical Man 174 XrV. Love of our Native Country 177 BOOK VI. THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL PROVED BY THE MORAL LAW AND THE FEELINGS. Chap. I. Desire of Happ; teas in Man 1S4 11. Remorse and Conscience 187 III. There can be no Morality if there is no Future State — Presump- tion in favor of the Immortality of the Soul deduced from the Respect of Man for Tombs 190 rV. Of certain Objections 191 V. Danger and Inutility of Atheism 196 CONTENTS. 17 PAGB VL The conclusion of the Doctrines of Christianity —State of Pu- nishments and Rewards in a Future Life — Elysium of the Ancients 202 VII. The Last Judgment 205 VIIL Happiness of the Righteous 207 PART 11. THE POETIC OF CHEISTIANITY. BOOK I. GENERAL SURVEY OF CHRISTIAN EPIC POEMS. Chap. L The Poetic of Christianity is divided into Three Branches: — - Poetry, the Fine Arts, and Literature — The Six Books of this Second Part treat in an especial manner of Poetry 21C XL General Survey of the Poems in which the Marvellous of Chris- tianity supplies the place of Mythology — The Inferno of Dante — The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso 212 IIL Paradise Lost 215 rV. Of some French and Foreign Poems 222 V. The Henriad 226 BOOK II. OF POETRY CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATIONS TO MAN. Characters. Chap. I. Natural Characters 232 II. The Husband and Wife — Ulysses and Penelope 233 IIL The Husband and Wife continued — Adam and Eve 236 IV. The Father— Priam 242 V. Continuation of the Father — Lusignan 245 VI. The Mother — Andromache 24J VIL The Son— Gusman 250 VIIL The Daughter — Iphigenia and Zara 253 IX. Social Characters — The Priest 256 X. Continuation of the Priest — The Sibyl — Jehoiada — Parallel be- tween Virgil and Racine 257 XL The Warrior— Definition of the Beautiful Ideal 262 XIL The Warrior fMjntinued 266 2* B 18 CONTENTS. BOOK III. OF POETRY CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATIONS TO MAN — ^THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. TJie Passions, PAGB Chap. I. Christianity has changed the Relations of tlie Passions by chang- ing the Basis of Vice and Virtue 269 II. Impassioned Love — Dido 272 III. Continuation of the preceding subject — The Phaedra of Racine.. 275 IV. Continuation of the preceding subject — Julia d'Etange — Clemen- tina 277 V. Continuation of the preceding subject — Eloisa 280 VI. Rural Love — The Cyclop and Galatea of Theocritus 285 VII. Continuation of the preceding subject — Paul and Virginia 287 VIII. The Christian Religion itself considered as a Passion 291 IX. Of the Unsettled State of the Passions 296 BOOK IV. OF THE MARVELLOUS; OR, OF POETRY IN ITS RELATIONS TO SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. Chap. I. Mythology diminished the Grandeur of Nature — The Ancients had no Descriptive Poetry properly so called 299 IL Of Allegory 303 III. Historical part of Descriptive Poetry among the Moderns 306 rV. Have the Divinities of Paganism, in a poetical point of view, the superiority over the Christian Divinities? 309 V. Character of the True God 312 VL Of the Spirits of Darkness 314 VIL Of the Saints 316 VIIL Of the Angels 319 IX. Application of the Principles established in the preceding chap- ters—Character of Satan 321 X. Poetical Machinery — Venus in the woods of Carthage — Raphael in the bowers of Eden 324 XL Dream of jEneas — Dream of Athalie 326 XII. Poetical Machinery continued — Journeys of Homer's gods — Satan's expedition in quest of the New Creation 330 XIIL The Christian Hell 333 XIV. Parallel between Hell and Tartarus — Entrance of Avernus — Dante's gate of Hell — Dido — Francisca d'Arimino — Tor- ments of the damned 334 XV. Purgatory 338 XVL Paradise 34« ' CONTENTS. 19 BOOK V. THE BIBLE AND HOMER. PAG a Obap. I. Of the S Jriptures and their Excellence 34l II. Of the three principal styles of Scripture 345 III. Parallel between the Bible and Homer — Terms of Comparison... 352 IV. Continuation of the Parallel between the Bible and Homer — Examples 358 PART III. THE FINE ARTS AND LITERATURE. BOOK I. THE FINE ARTS. Chap. L Music — Of the Influence of Christianity upon Music , 370 n. The Gregorian Chant 372 III. Historical Painting among the Moderns 375 rV. Of the Subjects of Pictures 378 V. Sculpture 380 VI. Architecture — HStel des Invalides 381 VII. Versailles 383 Vm. Gothic Churches 384 BOOK n. PHILOSOPHY. CSAP. I. Astronomy and Mathematics 388 II. Chemistry and Natural History 398 III. Christian Philosophers — Metaphysicians 404 IV. Christian Philosophers continued — Political Writers 407 V. Moralists — La Bruyere 408 VI. Moralists continued — Pascal 411 CONTENTS. BOOK m. HISTORY. Ch^.p. L Of Christianity as it relates to the Manner of Writing History.. 417 11. Of the General Causes which have prevented Modern Writers from succeeding in History — First Cause, the Beauties of the Ancient Subjects 419 ill. Continuation of the preceding — Second Cause,the Ancients have exhausted all the Historical styles, except the Christian style 422 rV". Of the reasons why the French have no Historical Works, but only Memoirs 425 V. Excellence of Modern History 428 VI. Voltaire considered as an Historian 430 VII. Philip de Commines and Rollin 432 YIIL Bossuet considered as an Historian 433 BOOK IV. ELOQUENCE. CsAP. I. Of Christianity as it relates to Eloquence 437 II. Christian Orators — Fathers of the Church 439 III. Massillon 445 rV. Bossuet as an Orator 448 V. Infidelity the Principal Cause of the decline of Taste and the degeneracy of Genius 453 BOOK V. THE HARMONIES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION WITH THE SCENES OF NATURE AND THE PASSIONS OF THE HUMAN HEART. Chap. I. Division of the Harmonies 459 IL Physical Harmonies • ^^^S III. Of Ruins in General — Ruins are of two kinds 466 IV. Picturesque EflFect of Ruins— Ruins of Palmyra, Egypt, &c 469 V. Ruins of Christian Monuments 471 VI. Moral Harmonies — Popular Devotions 472 CONTENTS. 21 PART IV. WORSHIP. BOOK I. CHURCHES, ORNAMENTS, SINGING, PRAYERS, ETC. PAOl Dhap. I. Of Bells ,.. 479 II. Costume of the Clergy and Ornaments of the Church 481 III. Of Singing and Prayer 483 IV. Solemnities of the Church — Sunday 489 V. Explanation of the Mass 491 VI. Ceremonies and Prayers of the Mass 493 VII. Solemnity of Corpus Christi 496 VIII. The Rogation-Days 498 IX. Of certain Christian Festivals — Epiphany — Christmas 500 X. Funerals — Funerals of the Great 503 XL Funeral of the Soldier, the Rich, &c 505 XIL Of the Funeral-Service 607 BOOK 11. TOMBS. Chap. I. Ancient Tombs — The Egyptians 511 II. The Greeks and Romans 612 ni. Modern Tombs— China and Turkey 613 IV. Caledonia or Ancient Scotland 514 V. Otaheite 514 VL Christian Tombs 616 VII. Country Churchyards , 518 VIIL Tombs in Churches 520 IX. St. Dennis 522 BOOK in. GENERAL VIEW OP THE CLERGY. Chap. I. Of Jesus Christ and his Life 526 II. Secular Clergy — Hierarchy 531 III. Regular Clergy — Origin of the Monastic Life 540 rV. The Monastic Constitutions 544 V. Manners and Life of the Religious — Coptic Monks, Maronites, avroTs. ^vii(pvra 6ti rpta itavra, Koi eig ev i6vra, '^In the heginning was God, then the Word and the Spirit; all three produced together, and uniting in owe.'' The Magi had a sort of Trinity, in their Metris, Oromasis, and Araminis; or Mitra, Oramases, and Arimane. Plato seems to allude to this incomprehensible dogma in seve- ral of his works. "Not only is it alleged," says Dacier, "that he had a knowledge of the Word, the eternal Sou of God, but it is also asserted that he was acquainted with the Holy Ghost, and thus had some idea of the Most Holy Trinity; for he writes as follows to the younger Dionysius : — "'I must give Archedemus an explanation respecting what is infinitely more important and more divine, and what you are ex- tremely anxious to know, since you have sent him to me for the express purpose; for, from what he has told me, you are of opi CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES. nion that I have not sufficiently explained what 1 thii.k of the nature of the first principle. I am obliged to write to you in enigmas, that, if my letter should be intercepted either by land or sea, those who read may not be able to understand it. All things are around their king; they exist for him, and he alone is the cause of good things — second for such as are second, and third for those that are third. '^ "In the Epinomis, and elsewhere, he lays down as principles the first good, the word or the understanding, and the soul. The first good is God ; the word, or the understanding, is the Son of this first good, by whom he was begotten like to himself; and the soul, which is the middle term between the Father and the Son, is the Holy Ghost."^ Plato had borrowed this doctrine of the Trinity from Timaeus, the Locrian, who had received it from the Italian school. Mar- silius Ficinus, in one of his remarks on Plato, shows, after Jam- blichus. Porphyry, Plato, and Maximus of Tyre, that the Pytha- goreans were acquainted with the excellence of the number Three. Pythagoras intimates it in these words: Uporifia to (TxrjfjLa, xat jSr^/xa xai Tpi(u6oXov; ''Honor chiefly the habit, the judgment-seat, and the triobolus/' (three oboli.) The doctrine of the Trinity is known in the East Indies and in Thibet. "On this subject," says Father Calamette, "the most remarkable and surprising thing that I have met with is a pas- sage in one of their books entitled Lamaastambam. It begin? thus : * The Lord, the good, the great God, in his mouth is the Word.' The term which they employ personifies the Word. It then treats of the Holy Ghost under the appellation of the Wind, or Perfect Sjpirit, and concludes with the Creation, which it attributes to one single God."^ "What I have learned," observes the same missionary in an- other place, "respecting the religion of Thibet, is as follows : They call God Konciosa, and seem to have some idea of the adorable Trinity, for sometimes they term him Koncikocick, the one God, ' This passage of Plato, which the author could not verify, from its having been incorrectly quoted by Dacier, may be found in Plato Serrani, tome i. p. 812, letter the second to Dionysius. The letter is supposed to be genuine. K. * (Euvres de Platon, trad, par Dacier, tome i. p. 194 ' Lettree edi/., tome xiv. p. 9. 56 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY and at otliers Koncio^^mm, wliicli is equivalent to the Triune God. They make use of a kind of chaplet, over which tney pronounce the words, om^ ha, hum. When you ask what these mean, they reply that the first signifies intelligence, or arm, that is to say, power; that the second is the word; that the third is the heart, or love; and that these three words together signify God."* The English missionaries to Otaheite have found some notion of the Trinity among the natives of that island.** Nature herself seems to furnish a kind of physical proof of the Trinity, which is the archetype of the universe, or, if you wish, its divine frame-work. May not the external and material world i)ear some impress of that invisible and spiritual arch which sus- tains it, according to Plato's idea, who represented corporeal things as the shadows of the thoughts of God ? The number Three is the term by excellence in nature. It is not a product itself, but it produces all other fractions, which led Pythagoras to call it the motherless number.^ Some obscure tradition of the Trinity may be discovered even in the fables of polytheism. The Graces took it for their num- ber ; it existed in Tartarus both for the life and death of man and for the infliction of celestial vengeance ; finally, three bro- ther gods* possessed among them the complete dominion of the universe. 'i he philosophers divided the moral man into three parts; and iV.Q Fathers imagi ed that they discovered the image of the spiritual Trinity in the human soul. ' LetU-ea edif., torn. xii. p. 437. 2 "The three deities which they hold supreme are — 1. Tane, te Medooa, the Father. 2. Oroiuattow, God in the Son. S. Taroa, the Bi^d, the Spirit." Appendix to the MisHiomiry Voyage, p. 333. K. 3 Hier., Comw. in Pyth. The 3, a simple number itself, is the onjy one com- posed of simples, and that gives a simple number when decomposed. We can form no complex number, the 2 excepted, without the 3. The formations of the 3 are beautiful, and embrace that powerful unity which is the first link in the chain of numbers, and is everywhere exhibited in the universe. The an- cients very frequently applied numbers in a metaphysical sense, acd we should not be too hasty in condemning it as folly in Pythagoras, Plato, and thg Egyptian priests, from whom they derived this science. * That is, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. K. CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES. 57 " If we impose silence on our senses/' says tLe great Bossuet, "and retire for a short time into the recesses of our soul, that is to say, into that part where the voice of truth is heard, we shall there perceive a sort of image of the Trinity whom we adore. Thought, which we feel produced as the offspring of our mind, as the son of our understandiug, gives us some idea of the Son of God, conceived from all eternity in the intelligence of the celestial Father. For this reason this Son of God assumes the name of the Word, to intimate that he is produced in the bosom of the Father, not as bodies are generated, but as the inward voice that is heard within our souls there arises when we contem- plate truth. " But the fecundity of the mind does not stop at this inward voice, this intellectual thought, this image of the truth that is formed within us. We love both this inward voice and the intelligence which gives it birth ; and while we love them, we feel within us something which is not less precious to us than intelligence and thought, which is the fruit of both, which unites them and unites with them, and forms with them but one and the same existence. " Thus, as far as there can be any resemblance between God and man, is produced in God the eternal Love which springs from the Father who thinks, and from the Son who is his thought, to constitute with him and his thought one and the same nature, equally happy and equally perfect."^ What a beautiful commentary is this on that passage of Gene- sis : ^^Let us make manF' Tertullian, in his Apology, thus expresses himself on this great mystery of our religion : '^ God created the world by his word, his reason, and his poicer. You philosophers admit that the Logos, the word and reason, is the Creator of the universe. The Christians merely add that the proper substance of the word and reason — that substance by which God produced all things- is spirit; that this word must have been pronounced by God; that having been pronounced, it was generated by him; that con- sequently it is the Son of God, and God by reason of the anity of substance. If the sun shoots forth a ray, its substance .s not ' JBossuet, Hiat. Univ., sec. i. p. 21S. 58 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. separated, but extended. Thus the Word is sj^irit of a spirit, and God of God, like a light kindled at another light. Thus, whatever proceeds from G-od is God, and the two, with theil spirit, form but one, diifering in properties, not in number j in order, not in nature : the Son having sprung from his prin- ciple without being separated from it. Now this ray of the Divinity descended into the womb of a virgin, invested itself with flesh, and became man united with God. This flesh, sup- ported by the spirit, was nourished; it grew, spoke, taught, acted; it was Christ." This proof of the Trinity may be comprehended by persons of the simplest capacity. It must be recollected that Tertullian was addressing men who persecuted Christ, and whom nothing would have more highly gratified than the means of attacking the doctrine, and even the persons, of his defenders. We shall pursue these proofs no farther, but leave them to those who have studied the principles of the Italic sect of philosophers and the higher department of Christian theology. As to the images that bring under our feeble senses the most sublime mystery of religion, it is difficult to conceive how the awful triangular fire, resting on a cloud, is unbecoming the dig- nity of poetry. Is Christianity less impressive than the heathen mythology, when it represents to us the Father under the form of an old man, the majestic ancestor of ages, or as a brilliant effusion of light ? Is there not something wonderful in the con- templation of the Holy Spirit, the sublime Spirit of Jehovah, under the emblem of gentleness, love, and innocence? Doth God decree the propagation of his word? The Spirit, then, ceases to be that Dove which overshadowed mankind with the wings of peace ; he becomes a visible word, a tongue of fire, which speaks all the languages of the earth, and whose eloquence creates or overthrows empires. To delineate the divine Son, we need only borrow the words of the apostle who beheld him in his glorified state. He was seated on a throne, says St. John in the Apocalypse ; his face shone like the »un in his strength, and his feet like fine brass melted in a furnace. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. In his rigbt hand he held seven stars, and in his left a book sealed with seven REDEMPTloJ^, 59 seals : his voice was as the sound of many waters. The seven spirits of God burned before him, like seven lumps; and he went forth from his throne attended by lightnings, and voices, and thunders. CHAPTER IV. OF THE REDEMPTION. As the Trinity comprehends secrets of the metaphysical kind, «o the redemption contains the wonders of man, and the inex- plicable history of his destination and his heart. Were we to pause a little in our meditations, with what profound astonish- ment would we contemplate those two great mysteries, which conceal in their shades the primary intentions of God and the system of the universe ! The Trinity, too stupendous for our feeble comprehension, confounds our thoughts, and we shrink back overpowered by its glory. But the affecting mystery of the redemption, in filling our eyes with tears, prevents them from being too much dazzled, and allows us to fix them at least for a moment upon the cross. We behold, in the first place, springing from this mystery, the doctrine of original sin, which explains the whole nature of man. Unless we admit this truth, known by tradition to all nations, we become involved in impenetrable darkness. Without original sin, how shall we account for the vicious propensity of our nature continusblly combated by a secret voice which whispers that we were farmed for virtue ? Without a primitive fall, how shall we explain the aptitude of man for affliction — that sweat which fertilizes the rugged soil ; the tears, the sorrows, the misfortunes of the righteous ; the triumphs, the unpunished success, of the wicked ? It was because they were unacquainted with this de- generacy, that the philosophers of antiquity fell into such strange errors, and invented the notion of reminiscence. To be con- vinced ot the fatal truth whence springs the mystery of redemp- tion, we need no other proof than the malediction pronounced against Eve, — a malediction which is daily accomplished before 6} GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. :)ui eyes. How significant are the pangs, and at the same time the joys, of a mother ! What mysterious intimations of man and his twofold destiny, predicted at once by the pains and pleasures of child-birth ! We cannot mistake the views of the Most High, when we behold the two great ends of man in the labor of his mother; and we are compelled to recognise a God even in a malediction. After all, we daily see the son punished for the father, and the crime of a villain recoiling upon a virtuous descendant, which proves but too clearly the doctrine of original sin. But a God of clemency and indulgence, knowing that we should all have perished in consequence of this fall, has interposed to save us. Frail and gniilty mortals as we all are, let us ask, not our under- standings, but our hearts, how a God could die for man. If this perfect model of a dutiful son, if this pattern of faithful friends, if that agony in Gethsemane, that bitter cup, that bloody sweat, that tenderness of soul, that sublimity of mind, that cross, that veil rent in twain, that rock cleft asunder, that darkness of na- ture — in a word, if that God, expiring at length for sinners, can neither enrapture our heart nor inflame our understanding, it is greatly to be feared that our works will never exhibit, like those of the poet, the '^ brilliant wonders" which attract a high and just admiration. "Images," it may perhaps be urged, "are not reasons; and we live in an enlightened age, which admits nothing without proof." That we live in an enlightened age has been doubted by some ; but we would not be surprised if we were met with the foregoing objection. When Christianity was attacked by serious argu- ments, they were answered by an Origen, a Clark, a Bossuet. Closely pressed by these formidable champions, their adversaries endeavored to extricate themselves by reproaching religion with those very metaphysical disputes in which they Would involve us. They alleged, like Arius, Celsus, and Porphyry, that Christianity is but a tissue of subtleties, ofl"ering nothing to the imagination and the heart, and adopted only by madmen and simpletons. But if any one comes forward, and in reply to these reproaches en- deavors to show that .the religion of the gospel is the religion of the soul, fr-iught with sensibility, its foes immediately exclaim, REDEMPTION. (51 " Well, and what does that prove, except that you are more oi less skilful in drawing a picture ?" Thus, when you attempt tc work upon the feelings, they require axioms and corollaries. If, on the other hand, you begin to reason, they then want nothinp: but sentiments and images. It is difficult to close with such versatile enemies, who are never to be found at the post where they challenge you to fight them. We shall hazard a few word? on the subject of the redemption, to show that the theology of the Christian religion is not so absurd as some have affected to consider it. A universal tradition teaches us that man was created in a more perfect state than that in which he at present exists, and that there has been a fall. This tradition is confirmed by the opinion of philosophers in every age and country, who have never been able to reconcile their ideas on the subject of moral man, without supposing a primitive state of perfection, from which human nature afterward fell by its own fault. If man was created, he was created for some end : now, having been created perfect, the end for which he was destined could not be otherwise than perfect. But has the final cause of man been changed by his fall ? No ; since man has not been created anew, nor the human race exterminated to make room for another. Man, therefore, though he has become mortal and imperfect through his disobedience, is still destined to an immortal and perfect end. But how shall he attain this end in his present state of imperfection ? This he can no longer accomplish by his own energy, for the same reason that a sick man is incapable of raising himself to that elevation of ideas which is attainable by a person in health. There is, therefore, a disproportion between the power, and the weight to be raised by that power; here wo already perceive the necessity of succor, or of a redemption. ''This kind of reasoning," it may be said, "will apply to the first man ; but as for us, we are capable of attaining the ends of our existence. What injustice and absurdity, to imagine that we should all be punished for the fault of our first parent !" With- out undertaking to decide in this place whether God is right or wrong in making us sureties for one another, all that we know, and all that it is necessary for us to know at present, is, that such GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. a law exists We know that tbe innocent son universally suffers the punishment due to the guilty father ; that this law is so in- terwo\en in the principles of things as to hold good even in the physical order of the universe. When an infant comes into the world diseased from head to foot from its father's excesses, why do you not complain of the injustice of nature ? What has this little innocent done, that it should endure the punishment of another's vices ? Well, the diseases of the soul are perpetuated ^ke those of the body, and man is punished in his remotest posterity for the fault which introduced into his nature the first leaven of sin. The fall, then, being attested by general tradition, and by the transmission or generation of evil, both moral and physical, and, on the other hand, the ends for which man was designed being now as perfect as before his disobedience, notwithstanding his own degeneracy, it follows that a redemption, or any expedient whatever to enable man to fulfil those ends, is a natural conse- quence of the state into which human nature has fallen. The necessity of redemption being once admitted, let us seek the order in which it may be found. This order may be con- sidered either in man, or above man. 1. In man. The supposition of a redemption implies that the price must be at least equivalent to the thing to be redeemed. Now, how is it to be imagined that imperfect and mortal man could have off"ered himself, in order to regain a perfect and im- mortal end ? How could man, partaking himself of the primeval sin, have made satisfaction as well for the portion of guilt which belonged to himself, as for that which attached to the rest of the human family? Would not such self-devotion have re- quired a love and virtue superior to his nature ? Heaven seems purposely to have sufi'ered four thousand years to elapse from the fall to the redemption, to allow men time to judge, of them- selves, how very inadequate their degraded virtues were for such a sacrifice. We have no alternative, then, but the second supposition, namely, that the redemption could have proceeded only from a being superior to man. Let us examine if it could have been accomplished by any of the intermediate beings between him and God. REDEMPTION. It was a beautiful idea of Milton* to represent the Almighty announcing the fall to the astonished heavens, and asking if any of the celestial powers was willing to devote himself for the sal- vation of mankind. All the divine hierarchy was mute; and among so many seraphim, thrones, dominations, angels, and arch- angels, none had the courage to make so great a sacrifice. No- thing can be more strictly true in theology than this idea of the poet's. What, indeed, could have inspired the angels with that unbounded love for man which the mystery of the cross supposes? Moreover, how could the most exalted of created spirits have possessed strength sufficient for the stupendous task ? No angelic substance could, from the weakness of its nature, have taken up- on itself those sufferings which, in the language of Massillon, accumulated upon the head of Christ all the physical torments that might be supposed to attend the punishment of all the sins committed since the beginning of time, and all the moral anguish, all the remorse, which sinners must have experienced for crimes committed. If the Son of Man himself found the cup bitter, how could an angel have raised it to his lips? Oh, no; he never sould have drunk it to the dregs, and the sacrifice could not have been consummated. We could not, then, have any other redeemer than one of the three persons existing from all eternity; and among these three persons of the Godhead, it is obvious that the Son alone, from his very nature, was to accomplish the great work of salvation. Love which binds together all the parts of the universe, the I Say, heavenly powers, where shall we find such love Which of you will be mortal to redeem Man's mortal crime? and just, th' unjust to save? Dwells in all heaven charity so dear? He ask'd, but all the heavenly choir stood mute, And silence was in heaven : on man's behalf Patron or intercessor none appear'd; Much less that durst upon his own head draw The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set. And now without redemption all mankind Must have been lost, adjudged to death and hell, By doom severe, had not the Son of God, In whom the fulness dwells of love divine, His dearest mediation thus renew'd. Pakauisk Lost, b. iii., 1. 213. Jt- 64 GENIUS OF CHUTSTIANITY. Mean which unites the extremes, Vivifying Ihinciplc of nature, he alone was capable of reconciling God with man. This second Adam came; — man according to the flesh, by his birth of Mary; a mun of sanctity by his gospel; a man divine by his nnion with the Godhead. He was born of a virgin, that he might be free from original sin and a victim without spot and without blemish. He received life in a stable, in the lowest of human conditions, because we had fallen through pride. Here commences the depth of the mystery; man feels an awful emotion, and the scene closes. Thus, the end for which we were destined before the disobedi- ence of our first parents is still pointed out to us, but the way to secure it is no longer the same. Adam, in a state of innocence, would have reached it by flowery paths : Adam, in his fallen condition, must cross precipices to attain it. Nature has under- gone a change since the fall of our first parents, and redemption was designed, not to produce a new creation, but to purchase final salvation for the old. Every thing, therefore, has remained de- generate with man; and this sovereign of the universe, who, created immortal, was destined to be exalted, without any change of existence, to the felicity of the celestial powers, cannot now enjoy the presence of God till, in the language of St. Chrysostom, he has passed through the deserts of the tomh. His soul has been rescued from final destruction by the redemption; btit his body, combining with the frailty natural to matter the weakness consequent on sin, undergoes the primitive sentence in its utmost extent: he falls, he sinks, he passes into dissolution. Thus God. after the fall of our first parents, yielding to the entreaties of his Son, and unwilling to destroy the whole of his work, invented death, as a demi-annihilation, to fill the sinner with horror of that complete dissolution to which, but for the wonders of celestial love, he would have been inevitably doomed. We venture to presume, that, if there be any thing clear in metaphysics, it is this chain of reasoning. There is here no wresting of words; there are no divisions and subdivisions, no obscure or barbarous terms. Christianity is not made up of such things as the sarcasms of infidelity would fain have us imagine. To the poor in spirit the gospel has been preached, and by the poor in spirit it has been heard: it is the plainest book that exipts. Its doctrine has uot its seat in the head, but in tlio REDEMPTION. (j5 heart ; it teaches not the art of disputation, but ihe way to lead a virtuous life. Nevertheless, it is not without its secrets. What is truly ineffable in the Scripture is the continual mixture of the profoundest mysteries and the utmost simplicity — characters whence spring the pathetic and the sublime. We should no longer be surprised, then, that the work of Jesus Christ speaks so eloquently. Such, moreover, are the truths of our re- ligion, notwithstanding their freedom from scientific parade, that the admission of one single point immediately compels you to admit all the rest. Nay, more : if you hope to escape by deny- ing the principle, — as, for instance, original sin, — you will soon, driven from consequence to consequence, be obliged to precipi- tate yourself into the abyss of atheism. The moment you acknow- ledge a Grod, the Christian religion presents itself, in spite of you, with all its doctrines, as Clarke and Pascal have observed. This, in our opinion, is one of the strongest evidences in favor of Christianity. In short, we must not be astonished if he who causes millions of worlds to roll without confusion over our headsj has infused Buch harmony into the principles of a religion instituted by him- self; we need not be astonished at his making the charms and the glories of its mysteries revolve in the circle of the most con- vincing logic, as he commands those planets to revolve in their orbits to bring us flowers and storms in their respective seasons. We can scarcely conceive the reason of the aversion shown by the present age for Christianity. If it be tnie, as some philoso- phers have thought, that some religion or other is necessary for mankind, what system would you adopt instead of the faith of our forefathers '/ Long shall we remember the days when men of blood pretended to erect altars to the Virtues, on the ruins of Christianity.^ With one hand they reared scaffolds; with the other, on the fronts of our temples they inscribed Eternity to God and Death to man; and those temples, where once was found that God who is acknowledged by the whole universe, and where devotion to Mary consoled so many afflicted hearts, — those temples were dedicated to Truth, which no man knows, and to Reason, which never dried a tear. ' The author alludes to the disastrous tyranny exercised by Robespierre ovei the deluded French people. K. 6* E 66 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY CHAPTER V OF THE INCARNATION. The Incarnation exhibits to us the Sovereign of Heaven among shepherds; him who hurls the thunderbolt, wrapped in swaddling-clothes; him whom the heavens cannot contain, con- fined in the womb of a virgin. Oh, how antiquity would have expatiated in praise of this wonder! What pictures would a Homer or a Virgil have left us of the Son of God in a manger, of the songs of the shepherds, of the Magi conducted by a star, of the angels descending in the desert, of a virgin mother ador- ing her new-born infant, and of all this mixture of innocence, enchantment, and grandeur! Setting aside what is direct and sacred in our mysteries, we would still discover under their veils the most beautiful truths in nature. These secrets of heaven, apart from their mystical character, are perhaps the prototype of the moral and physical laws of the world. The hypothesis is well worthy the glory of God, and would enable us to discern why he has been pleased to manifest himself in these mysteries rather than in any other mode. Jesus Christ, for instance, (or the moral world,) in taking our nature upon him, teaches us the prodigy of the phy- sical creation, and represents the universe framed in the bosom of celestial love. The parables and the figures of this mystery then become engraved upon every object around us. Strength, in fact, universally proceeds from grace; the river issues from the spring; the lion is first nourished with milk like that which is sucked by the lamb ; and lastly, among mankind, the Almighty has promised ineffable glory to those who practise the humblest virtues. They who see nothing in the chaste Queen of angels but an obscure mystery are much to be pitied. What touching thoughts are suggested by that mortal woman, become the immortal mother of a Saviour-God ! What might not be said of Mary, who is at once a virgin and a mother, the two most glorious cha racters of woman ! — of that youthful daughter of ancient Israel BAPTISM. tJ7 who presents herself for the relief of huuiLLQ suffering, and sacri- fices a son for the salvation of her paternal race ! This tender mediatrix between us and the Eternal, with a heart full of com- passion for our miseries, forces us to confide in her maternal aid, and disarms the vengeance of Heaven. What an enchant- ing dogma, that allays the terror of a Grod by causing beauty to intervene between our nothingness and his Infinite Majesty! The anthems of the Church represent the Blessed Mary seated upon a pure-white throne, more dazzling than the snow. We there behold her arrayed in splendor, as a mystical rose, or as the morning-star, harbinger of the Sun of grace : the brightest an- gels wait upon her, while celestial harps and voices form a ravishing concert around her. In that daughter of humanity wo behold the refuge of sinners, the comforter of the afflicted, who, all good, all compassionate, all indulgent, averts from us the anger of the Lord. Mary is the refuge of innocence, of weakness, and of misfor- tune. The faithful clients that crowd our churches to lay their homage at her feet are poor mariners who have escaped ship- wreck under her protection, aged soldiers whom she has saved from death in the fierce hour of battle, young women whose bitter griefs she has assuaged. The mother carries her babe be- fore her image, and this little one, though it knows not as yet the God of Heaven, already knows that divine mother who holds an infant in her arms. CHAPTER VL OP THE SACRAMENTS. Baptism, It the mysteries overwhelm the mind by their greatness, we experience a different kind of astonishment, but perhaps not less profound, when we contemplate the sacraments of the Church. The whole knowledge of man, in his civil and moral relations^ Is implied in these institutions. 68 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. Baptism is the first of the sacraments which religion c