_A Summary of the Code of Nature_.
Truth is the only object worthy the research of every wise man; since
that which is false cannot be useful to him: whatever constantly injures
him cannot be founded upon truth; consequently, ought to be for ever
proscribed. It is, then, to assist the human mind, truly to labour for
his happiness, to point out to him the clew by which he may extricate
himself from those frightful labyrinths in which his imagination
wanders; from those sinuosities whose devious course makes him err,
without ever finding a termination to his incertitude. Nature alone,
known through experience, can furnish him with this desirable thread;
her eternal energies can alone supply the means of attacking the
Minotaur; of exterminating the figments of hypocrisy; of destroying
those monsters, who during so many ages, have devoured the unhappy
victims, which the tyranny of the ministers of Moloch have exacted as
a cruel tribute from affrighted mortals. By steadily grasping this
inestimable clew, rendered still more precious by the beauty of the
donor, man can never be led astray--will never ramble out of his course;
but if, careless of its invaluable properties, for a single instant he
suffers it to drop from his hand; if, like another Theseus, ungrateful
for the favour, he abandons the fair bestower, he will infallibly fall
again into his ancient wanderings; most assuredly become the prey to the
cannibal offspring of the White Bull. In vain shall he carry his views
above his head, to find resources which are at his feet; so long as man,
infatuated with his superstitious notions, shall seek in an imaginary
world the rule of his earthly conduct, he will be without principles;
while he shall pertinaciously contemplate the regions of a distempered
fancy, so long he will grope in those where he actually finds himself;
his uncertain steps will never encounter the welfare he desires; never
lead him to that repose after which he so ardently sighs, nor conduct
him to that surety which is so decidedly requisite to consolidate his
happiness.
But man, blinded by his prejudices; rendered obstinate in injuring his
fellow, by his enthusiasm; ranges himself in hostility even against
those who are sincerely desirous of procuring for him the most
substantive benefits. Accustomed to be deceived, he is in a state of
continual suspicion; habituated to mistrust himself, to view his reason
with diffidence, to look upon truth as dangerous, he treats as enemies
even those who most eagerly strive to encourage him; forewarned in early
life against delusion, by the subtilty of imposture, he believes himself
imperatively called upon to guard with the most sedulous activity the
bandeau with which they have hoodwinked him; he thinks his eternal
welfare involved in keeping it for ever over his eyes; he therefore
wrestles with all those who attempt to tear it from his obscured optics.
If his visual organs, accustomed to darkness, are for a moment opened,
the light offends them; he is distressed by its effulgence; he thinks it
criminal to be enlightened; he darts with fury upon those who hold the
flambeau by which he is dazzled. In consequence, the atheist, as the
arch rogue from whom he differs ludicrously calls him, is looked upon as
a malignant pest, as a public poison, which like another Upas, destroys
every thing within the vortex of its influence; he who dares to arouse
mortals from the lethargic habit which the narcotic doses administered
by the theologians have induced passes for a perturbator; he who
attempts to calm their frantic transports, to moderate the fury of
their maniacal paroxysms, is himself viewed as a madman, who ought to
be closely chained down in the dungeons appropriated to lunatics; he
who invites his associates to rend their chains asunder, to break their
galling fetters, appears only like an irrational, inconsiderate being,
even to the wretched captives themselves: who have been taught to
believe that nature formed them for no other purpose than to tremble:
only called them into existence that they might be loaded with shackles.
In consequence of these fatal prepossessions, the _Disciple of Nature_
is generally treated as an assassin; is commonly received by his fellow
citizens in the same manner as the feathered race receive the doleful
bird of night, which as soon as it quits its retreat, all the other
birds follow with a common hatred, uttering a variety of doleful cries.
No, mortals blended by terror! The friend of nature is not your enemy;
its interpreter is not the minister of falsehood; the destroyer of your
vain phantoms is not the devastator of those truths necessary to your
happiness; the disciple of reason is not an irrational being, who either
seeks to poison you, or to infect you with a dangerous delirium. If
he is desirous to wrest the thunder from those terrible theories that
affright ye, it is that ye way discontinue your march, in the midst
of storms, over roads that ye can only distinguish by the sudden, but
evanescent glimmerings of the electric fluid. If he breaks those idols,
which fear has served with myrrh and frankencense--which superstition
has surrounded by gloomy despondency--which fanaticism has imbrued with
blood; it is to substitute in their place those consoling truths that
are calculated to heal the desperate wounds ye have received; that are
suitable to inspire you with courage, sturdily to oppose yourselves
to such dangerous errors; that have power to enable you to resist such
formidable enemies. If he throws down the temples, overturns the altars,
so frequently bathed with the bitter tears of the unfortunate, blackened
by the most cruel sacrifices, smoked with servile incense, it is that he
may erect a fane sacred to peace; a hall dedicated to reason; a durable
monument to virtue, in which ye may at all times find an asylum against
your own phrenzy; a refuge from your own ungovernable passions; a
sanctuary against those powerful dogmatists, by whom ye are oppressed.
If he attacks the haughty pretensions of deified tyrants, who crush ye
with an iron sceptre, it is that ye may enjoy the rights of your nature;
it is to the end that ye may be substantively freemen, in mind as well
as in body; that ye may not be slaves, eternally chained to the oar of
misery; it is that ye may at length be governed by men who are citizens,
who may cherish their own semblances, who way protect mortals like
themselves, who may actually consult the interests of those from
whom they hold their power. If he battles with imposture, it is to
re-establish truth in those rights which have been so long usurped by
fiction. If he undermines the base of that unsteady, fanatical morality,
which has hitherto done nothing more than perplex your minds, without
correcting your hearts; it is to give to ethics an immovable basis, a
solid foundation, secured upon your own nature; upon the reciprocity of
those wants which are continually regenerating in sensible beings: dare,
then, to listen to his voice; you will find it much more intelligible
than those ambiguous oracles, which are announced to you as the
offspring of capricious theories; as imperious decrees that are
unceasingly at variance with themselves. Listen then to nature, she
never contradicts her own eternal laws.
"O thou!" cries this nature to man, "who, following the impulse I
have given you, during your whole existence, incessantly tend towards
happiness, do not strive to resist my sovereign law. Labour to your own
felicity; partake without fear of the banquet which is spread before
you, with the most hearty welcome; you will find the means legibly
written on your own heart. Vainly dost thou, O superstitious being! seek
after thine happiness beyond the limits of the universe, in which my
hand hath placed thee: vainly shalt thou search it in those inexorable
theories, which thine imagination, ever prone to wander, would establish
upon my eternal throne: vainly dost thou expect it in those fanciful
regions, to which thine own delirium hath given a locality and a shame:
vainly dost thou reckon upon capricious systems, with whose advantages
thou art in such ecstasies; whilst they only fill thine abode with
calamity--thine heart with dread--thy mind with illusions--thy bosom
with groans. Know that when thou neglectest my counsels, the gods will
refuse their aid. Dare, then, to affranchise thyself from the trammels
of superstition, my self-conceited, pragmatic rival, who mistakes
my rights; renounce those empty theories, which are usurpers of my
privileges; return under the dominion of my laws, which, however severe,
are mild in comparison with those of bigotry. It is in my empire
alone that true liberty reigns. Tyranny is unknown to its soil; equity
unceasingly watches over the rights of all my subjects, maintains
them in the possession of their just claims; benevolence, grafted upon
humanity, connects them by amicable bonds; truth enlightens them; never
can imposture blind them with his obscuring mists. Return, then,
my child, to thy fostering mother's arms! Deserter, trace back thy
wandering steps to nature! She will console thee for thine evils; she
will drive from thine heart those appalling fears which overwhelm thee;
those inquietudes that distract thee; those transports which agitate
thee; those hatreds that separate thee from thy fellow man, whom thou
shouldst love as thyself. Return to nature, to humanity, to thyself!
Strew flowers over the road of life: cease to contemplate the future;
live to thine own happiness; exist for thy fellow creatures; retire into
thyself, examine thine own heart, then consider the sensitive beings by
whom thou art surrounded: leave to their inventors those systems which
can effect nothing towards thy felicity. Enjoy thyself, and cause others
also to enjoy, those comforts which I have placed with a liberal hand,
for all the children of the earth; who all equally emanate from my
bosom: assist them to support the sorrows to which necessity has
submitted them in common with thyself. Know, that I approve thy
pleasures, when without injuring thyself, they are not fatal to thy
brethren, whom I have rendered indispensably necessary to thine own
individual happiness. These pleasures are freely permitted thee, if thou
indulgest them with moderation; with that discretion which I myself have
fixed. Be happy, then, O man! Nature invites thee to participate in it;
but always remember, thou canst not be so alone; because I invite all
mortals to happiness as well as thyself; thou will find it is only in
securing their felicity that thou canst consolidate thine own. Such is
the decree of thy destiny: if thou shalt attempt to withdraw thyself
from its operation, recollect that hatred will pursue thee; vengeance
overtake thy steps; and remorse be ever ready at hand to punish the
infractions of its irrevocable mandates.
"Follow then, O man! in whatever station thou findest thyself, the
routine I have described for thee, to obtain that happiness to which
thou hast an indispensable right to challenge pretension. Let the
sensations of humanity interest thee for the condition of other men, who
are thy fellow creatures; let thine heart have commisseration for their
misfortunes: let thy generous hand spontaneously stretch forth to lend
succour to the unhappy mortal who is overwhelmed by his destiny; always
bearing in thy recollection, that it may fall heavy upon thyself, as
it now does upon him. Acknowledge, then, without guile, that every
unfortunate has an inalienable right to thy kindness. Above all, wipe
from the eyes of oppressed innocence the trickling crystals of agonized
feeling; let the tears of virtue in distress, fall upon thy sympathizing
bosom; let the genial glow of sincere friendship animate thine honest
heart; let the fond attachment of a mate, cherished by thy warmest
affection, make thee forget the sorrows of life: be faithful to her
love, responsible to her tenderness, that she may reward thee by
a reciprocity of feeling; that under the eyes of parents united in
virtuous esteem, thy offspring may learn to set a proper value on
practical virtue; that after having occupied thy riper years, they may
comfort thy declining age, gild with content thy setting sun, cheer the
evening of thine existence, by a dutiful return of that care which thou
shalt have bestowed on their imbecile infancy.
"Be just, because equity is the support of human society! Be good,
because goodness connects all hearts in adamantine bonds! Be indulgent,
because feeble thyself, thou livest with beings who partake of thy
weakness! Be gentle, because mildness attracts attention! Be thankful,
because gratitude feeds benevolence, nourishes generosity! Be modest,
because haughtiness is disgusting to beings at all times well with
themselves. Forgive injuries, because revenge perpetuates hatred! Do
good to him who injureth thee, in order to shew thyself more noble than
he is; to make a friend of him, who was once thine enemy! Be reserved
in thy demeanor, temperate in thine enjoyment, chaste in thy pleasures,
because voluptuousness begets weariness, intemperance engenders disease;
forward manners are revolting: excess at all times relaxes the springs
of thy machine, will ultimately destroy thy being, and render thee
hateful to thyself, contemptible to others.
"Be a faithful citizen; because the community is necessary to thine own
security; to the enjoyment of thine own existence; to the furtherance
of thine own happiness. Be loyal, but be brave; submit to legitimate
authority; because it is requisite to the maintenance of that society
which is necessary to thyself. Be obedient to the laws; because they
_are_, or _ought to be_, the expression of the public will, to which
thine own particular will ought ever to be subordinate. Defend thy
country with zeal; because it is that which renders thee happy, which
contains thy property, as well as those beings dearest to thine heart:
do not permit this common parent of thyself, as well as of thy fellow
citizens, to fall under the shackles of tyranny; because from thence
it will be no more than thy common prison. If thy country, deaf to the
equity of thy claims, refuses thee happiness--if, submitted to an unjust
power, it suffers thee to be oppressed, withdraw thyself from its bosom
in silence, but never disturb its peace.
"In short, be a man; be a sensible, rational being; be a faithful
husband; a tender father; an equitable master; a zealous citizen; labour
to serve thy country by thy prowess; by thy talents; by thine industry;
above all, by thy virtues. Participate with thine associates those gifts
which nature has bestowed upon thee; diffuse happiness, among thy fellow
mortals; inspire thy fellow citizens with content; spread joy over all
those who approach thee, that the sphere of thine actions, enlivened by
thy kindness, illumined by thy benevolence, may re-act upon thyself; be
assured that the man who makes others happy cannot himself be miserable.
In thus conducting thyself, whatever may be the injustice of others,
whatever may be the blindness of those beings with whom it is thy
destiny to live, thou wilt never be totally bereft of the recompense
which is thy due; no power on earth be able to ravish from thee that
never failing source of the purest felicity, inward content; at each
moment thou wilt fall back with pleasure upon thyself; thou wilt neither
feel the rankling of shame, the terror of internal alarm, nor find
thy heart corroded by remorse. Thou wilt esteem thyself; thou wilt be
cherished by the virtuous, applauded and loved by all good men, whose
suffrages are much more valuable than those of the bewildered
multitude. Nevertheless, if externals occupy thy contemplation, smiling
countenances will greet thy presence; happy faces will express the
interest they have in thy welfare; jocund beings will make thee
participate in their placid feelings. A life so spent, will each moment
be marked by the serenity of thine own soul, by the affection of the
beings who environ thee; will be made cheerful by the friendship of thy
fellows; will enable thee to rise a contented, satisfied guest from the
general feast; conduct thee gently down the declivity of life, lead thee
peaceably to the period of thy days; for die thou must: but already
thou wilt survive thyself in thought; thou wilt always live in the
remembrance of thy friends; in the grateful recollection of those beings
whose comforts have been augmented by thy friendly attentions; thy
virtues will, beforehand have erected to thy fame an imperishable
monument: if heaven occupies itself with thee, it will feel satisfied
with thy conduct, when it shall thus have contented the earth.
"Beware, then, how thou complainest of thy condition; be just, be kind,
be virtuous, and thou canst never be wholly destitute of felicity. Take
heed how thou enviest the transient pleasure of seductive crime; the
deceitful power of victorious tyranny; the specious tranquillity of
interested imposture; the plausible manners of venal justice; the shewy,
ostentatious parade of hardened opulence. Never be tempted to increase
the number of sycophants to an ambitious despot; to swell the catalogue
of slaves to an unjust tyrant; never suffer thyself to be allured to
infamy, to the practice of extortion, to the commission of outrage, by
the fatal privilege of oppressing thy fellows; always recollect it will
be at the expence of the most bitter remorse thou wilt acquire this
baneful advantage. Never be the mercenary accomplice of the spoilers of
thy country; they are obliged to blush secretly whenever they meet the
public eye.
"For, do not deceive thyself, it is I who punish, with an unerring hand,
all the crimes of the earth; the wicked may escape the laws of man, but
they never escape mine. It is I who have formed the hearts, as well
an the bodies of mortals; it is I who have fixed the laws which govern
them. If thou deliverest thyself up to voluptuous enjoyment, the
companions of thy debaucheries may applaud thee; but I shall punish thee
with the most cruel infirmities; these will terminate a life of shame
with deserved contempt. If thou givest, thyself up to intemperate
indulgences, human laws may not correct thee, but I shall castigate thee
severely by abridging thy days. If thou art vicious, thy fatal habits
will recoil on thine own head. Princes, those terrestrial divinities,
whose power places them above the laws of mankind, are nevertheless
obliged to tremble under the silent operation of my decrees. It is I who
chastise them; it is I who fill their breasts with suspicion; it is
I who inspire them with terror; it is I who make them writhe under
inquietude; it is I who make them shudder with horror, at the very name
of august truth; it is I who, amidst the crowd of nobles who surround
them, make them feel the inward workings of shame; the keen anguish of
guilt; the poisoned arrows of regret; the cruel stings of remorse; it is
I who, when they abuse my bounty, diffuse weariness over their benumbed
souls; it is I who follow uncreated, eternal justice; it is I who,
without distinction of persons, know how to make the balance even; to
adjust the chastisement to the fault; to make the misery bear its due
proportion to the depravity; to inflict punishment commensurate with the
crime. The laws of man are just, only when they are in conformity with
mine; his judgements are rational, only when I have dictated them: my
laws alone are immutable, universal, irrefragable; formed to regulate
the condition of the human race, in all ages, in all places, under all
circumstances.
"If thou doubtest mine authority, if thou questionest the irresistible
power I possess over mortals, contemplate the vengeance I wreak on all
those who resist my decrees. Dive into the recesses of the hearts of
those various criminals, whose countenances, assuming a forced smile,
cover souls torn with anguish. Dost thou not behold ambition tormented
day and night, with an ardour which nothing can extinguish? Dost not
thou see the mighty conquerer become the lord of devastated solitudes;
his victorious career, marked by a blasted cultivation, reign
sorrowfully over smoking ruins; govern unhappy wretches who curse him in
their hearts; while his soul, gnawed by remorse, sickens at the gloomy
aspect of his own triumphs? Dost thou believe that the tyrant, encircled
with his flatterers, who stun him with their praise, is unconscious of
the hatred which his oppression excites; of the contempt which his vices
draw upon him; of the sneers which his inutility call forth; of the
scorn which his debaucheries entail upon his name? Dost thou think that
the haughty courtier does not inwardly blush at the galling insults he
brooks; despise, from the bottom of his soul, those meannesses by
which he is compelled to purchase favours; feel at his heart's core the
wretched dependence in which his cupidity places him.
"Contemplate the indolent child of wealth, behold him a prey to the
lassitude of unmeasured enjoyment, corroded by the satiety which always
follows his exhausted pleasures. View the miser with an emaciated
countenance, the consequence of his own penurious disposition, whose
callous heart is inaccessible to the calls of misery, groaning over the
accumulating load of useless treasure, which at the expense of himself,
he has laboured to amass. Behold the gay voluptuary, the smiling
debaucheé, secretly lament the health they have so inconsiderately
damaged so prodigally thrown away: see disdain, joined to hatred, reign
between those adulterous married couples, who have reciprocally violated
the sacred vows they mutually pledged at the altar of Hymen; whose
appetencies have rendered them the scorn of the world; the jest of their
acquaintance; polluted tributaries to the surgeon. See the liar
deprived of all confidence; the knave stript of all trust; the hypocrite
fearfully avoiding the penetrating looks of his inquisitive neighbour;
the impostor trembling at the very name of formidable truth. Bring under
your review the heart of the envious, uselessly dishonored; that withers
at the sight of his neighbour's prosperity. Cast your eyes on the frozen
soul of the ungrateful wretch, whom no kindness can warm, no benevolence
thaw, no beneficence convert into a genial fluid. Survey the iron
feelings of that monster whom the sighs of the unfortunate cannot
mollify. Behold the revengeful being nourished with venemous gall, whose
very thoughts are serpents; who in his rage consumes himself. Envy, if
thou canst, the waking slumbers of the homicide; the startings of the
iniquitous judge; the restlessness of the oppressor of innocence; the
fearful visions of the extortioner; whose couches are infested with the
torches of the furies. Thou tremblest without doubt at the sight of
that distraction which, amidst their splendid luxuries, agitates those
farmers of the revenue, who fatten upon public calamnity--who devour the
substance of the orphan--who consume the means of the widow--who grind
the hard earnings of the poor: thou shudderest at witnessing the remorse
which rends the souls of those reverend criminals, whom the uninformed
believe to be happy, whilst the contempt which they have for themselves,
the unerring shafts of secret upbraidings, are incessantly revenging
an outraged nation. Thou seest, that content is for ever banished the
heart; quiet for ever driven from the habitations of those miserable
wretches on whose minds I have indelibly engraved the scorn, the infamy,
the chastisement which they deserve. But, no! thine eyes cannot sustain
the tragic spectacle of my vengeance. Humanity obliges thee to partake
of their merited sufferings; thou art moved to pity for these unhappy
people, to whom consecrated errors renders vice necessary; whose fatal
habits make them familiar with crime. Yes; thou shunnest them without
hating them; thou wouldst succour them, if their contumacious perversity
had left thee the means. When thou comparest thine own condition, when
thou examinest thine own soul, thou wilt have just cause to felicitate
thyself, if thou shalt find that peace has taken up her abode with thee;
that contentment dwells at the bottom of thine own heart. In short, thou
seest accomplished upon them, as well as, upon thyself, the unalterable
decrees of destiny, which imperiously demand, that crime shall punish
itself, that virtue never shall be destitute Of remuneration."
Such is the sum of those truths which are contained in the _Code of
Nature_; such are the doctrines, which its disciples can announce. They
are unquestionably preferable to that supernatural superstition which
never does any thing but mischief to the human species. Such is the
worship that is taught by that sacred reason, which is the object of
contempt with the theologian; which meets the insult of the fanatic;
who only estimates that which man can neither conceive nor practise; who
make his morality consist in fictitious duties; his virtue in actions
generally useless, frequently pernicious to the welfare of society; who
for want of being acquainted with nature, which is before their eyes,
believe themselves obliged to seek in ideal worlds imaginary motives, of
which every thing proves the inefficacy. The motive which the morality
of nature employs, is the self-evident interest of each individual,
of each community, of the whole human species, in all times, in every
country, under all circumstances. Its worship is the sacrifice of vice,
the practise of real virtues; its object is the conservation of the
human race, the happiness of the individual, the peace of mankind;
its recompences are affection, esteem, and glory; or in their default,
contentment of mind, with merited self-esteem, of which no power will
ever be able to deprive virtuous mortals; its punishments, are hatred,
contempt, and indignation; which society always reserves for those
who outrage its interests; from which even the most powerful can never
effectually shield themselves.
Those nations who shall be disposed to practise a morality so wise, who
shall inculcate it in infancy, whose laws shall unceasingly confirm it,
will neither have occasion for superstition, nor for chimeras. Those
who shall obstinately prefer figments to their dearest interests, will
certainly march forward to ruin. If they maintain themselves for a
season, it is because the power of nature sometimes drives them back to
reason, in despite of those prejudices which appear to lead them on to
certain destruction. Superstition, leagued with tyranny, for the waste
of the human species, are themselves frequently obliged to implore
the assistance of a reason which they contemn; of a nature which they
disdain; which they debase; which they endeavour to crush under the
ponderous bulk of artificial theories. Superstition, in all times so
fatal to mortals, when attacked by reason, assumes the sacred mantle of
public utility; rests its importance on false grounds, founds its
rights upon the indissoluble alliance which it pretends subsists between
morality and itself; notwithstanding it never ceases for a single
instant to wage against it the most cruel hostility. It is,
unquestionably, by this artifice, that it has seduced so many sages.
In the honesty of their hearts, they believe it useful to politics;
necessary to restrain the ungovernable fury of the passions; thus
hypocritical superstition, in order to mask to superficial observers,
its own hideous character, like the ass with the lion's skin, always
knows how to cover itself with the sacred armour of utility; to buckle
on the invulnerable shield of virtue; it has therefore, been believed
imperative to respect it, notwithstanding it felt awkward under these
incumbrances; it consequently has become a duty to favor imposture,
because it has artfully entrenched itself behind the altars of truth;
its ears, however, discover its worthlessness; its natural cowardice
betrays itself; it is from this intrenchment we ought to drive it; it
should be dragged forth to public view; stripped of its surreptitious
panoply; exposed in its native deformity; in order that the human race
may become acquainted with its dissimulation; that mankind may have a
knowledge of its crimes; that the universe may behold its sacrilegious
hands, armed with homicidal poniards, stained with the blood of nations,
whom it either intoxicates with its fury, or immolates without pity to
the violence of its passions.
The MORALITY OF NATURE is the only creed which her interpreter offers to
his fellow citizens; to nations; to the human species; to future races,
weaned from those prejudices which have so frequently disturbed the
felicity of their ancestors. The friend of mankind cannot be the friend
of delusion, which at all times has been a real scourge to the earth.
The APOSTLE OF NATURE will not be the instrument of deceitful chimeras,
by which this world is made only an abode of illusions; the adorer of
truth will not compromise with falsehood; he will make no covenant with
error; conscious it must always be fatal to mortals. He knows that the
happiness of the human race imperiously exacts that the dark unsteady
edifice of superstition should be razed to its foundations; in order
to elevate on its ruins a temple suitable to peace--a fane sacred to
virtue. He feels it is only by extirpating, even to the most slender
fibres, the poisonous tree, that during so many ages has overshadowed
the universe, that the inhabitants of this world will be able to use
their own optics--to bear with steadiness that light which is competent
to illumine their understanding--to guide their wayward steps--to give
the necessary ardency to their souls. If his efforts should be vain; if
he cannot inspire with courage, beings too much accustomed to tremble;
he will, at least, applaud himself for having dared the attempt.
Nevertheless, he will not judge his exertions fruitless, if he has
only been enabled to make a single mortal happy: if his principles have
calmed the conflicting transports of one honest soul; if his reasonings
have cheered up some few virtuous hearts. At least he will have the
advantage of having banished from his own mind the importunate terror
of superstition; of having expelled from his own heart the gall which
exasperates zeal; of having trodden under foot those chimeras with which
the uninformed are tormented. Thus, escaped from the peril of the storm,
he will calmly contemplate from the summit of his rock, those tremendous
hurricanes which superstition excites; he will hold forth a succouring
hand to those who shall be willing to accept it; he will encourage them
with his voice; he will second them with his best exertions, and in the
warmth of his own compassionate heart, he will exclaim:
O NATURE; sovereign of all beings! and ye, her adorable daughters,
VIRTUE, REASON, and TRUTH! remain for ever our revered protectors: it is
to you that belong the praises of the human race; to you appertains the
homage of the earth. Shew, us then, O NATURE! that which man ought
to do, in order to obtain the happiness which thou makest him desire.
VIRTUE! Animate him with thy beneficent fire. REASON! Conduct his
uncertain steps through the paths of life. TRUTH! Let thy torch illumine
his intellect, dissipate the darkness of his road. Unite, O assisting
deities! your powers, in order to submit the hearts of mankind to
your dominion. Banish error from our mind; wickedness from our hearts;
confusion from our footsteps; cause knowledge to extend its salubrious
reign; goodness to occupy our souls; serenity to dwell in our bosoms.
Let imposture, confounded, never again dare to shew its head. Let our
eyes, so long, either dazzled or blindfolded, be at length fixed
upon those objects we ought to seek. Dispel for ever those mists
of ignorance, those hideous phantoms, together with those seducing
chimeras, which only serve to lead us astray. Extricate us from that
dark abyss into which we are plunged by superstition; overthrow the
fatal empire of delusion; crumble the throne of falsehood; wrest from
their polluted hands the power they have usurped. Command men, without
sharing your authority with mortals: break the chains that bind them
down in slavery: tear away the bandeau by which they are hoodwinked;
allay the fury that intoxicates them; break in the hands of sanguinary,
lawless tyrants, that iron sceptre with which they are crushed to
exile; the imaginary regions, from whence fear has imported them, those
theories by which they are afflicted. Inspire the intelligent being with
courage; infuse energy into his system, that, at length, he may feel his
own dignity; that he may dare to love himself; to esteem his own actions
when they are worthy; that a slave only to your eternal laws, he may no
longer fear to enfranchise himself from all other trammels; that blest
with freedom, he may have the wisdom to cherish his fellow creature; and
become happy by learning to perfection his own condition; instruct him
in the great lesson, that the high road to felicity, is prudently to
partake himself, and also to cause others to enjoy, the rich banquet
which thou, O Nature! hast so bountifully set before him. Console thy
children for those sorrows to which their destiny submits them, by
those pleasures which wisdom allows them to partake; teach them to be
contented with their condition; to banish envy from their mind; to yield
silently to necessity. Conduct them without alarm to that period which
all beings must find; _let them learn that time changes all things, that
consequently they are made neither to avoid its scythe nor to fear its
arrival._
[TRANSLATOR'S APPENDIX]