nothing more than incredulity brought under subjection; for we certainly
have no other faculty than the understanding by which we can believe;
and the objects of faith are not those of the understanding. We can
believe only what appears to be true; and nothing can appear true but in
one of the three following ways--by intuition or feeling, as I exist,
I see the sun; or by an accumulation of probability amounting to
certainty, as there is a city called Constantinople; or by positive
demonstration, as triangles of the same base and height are equal.
Faith, therefore, being nothing at all of this description, can no
more be a belief, a persuasion, than it can be yellow or red. It can be
nothing but the annihilation of reason, a silence of adoration at the
contemplation of things absolutely incomprehensible. Thus, speaking
philosophically, no person believes the Trinity; no person believes that
the same body can be in a thousand places at once; and he who says, I
believe these mysteries, will see, beyond the possibility of a doubt,
if he reflects for a moment on what passes in his mind, that these words
mean no more than, I respect thee, mysteries; I submit myself to those
who announce them. For they agree with me, that my real reason, their
own reason, believe them not; but it is clear if my _reason_ is not
persuaded, I am not persuaded, and my reason cannot possibly be two
different beings. It is an absolute contradiction that I should receive
that as true which my understanding rejects as false. Faith, therefore,
is nothing but submissive or deferential incredulity. But why should
this submission be exercised when my understanding invincibly recoils?
The reason, we well know, is, that my understanding has been persuaded
that the mysteries of my faith are laid down by God himself. All, then,
that I can do, as a reasonable being, is to be silent and adore. That is
what divines call external faith; and this faith neither is, nor can be,
anything more than respect for things incomprehensible, in consequence
of the reliance I place on those who teach them; If God himself were
to say to me, "Thought is of an olive colour;" "the square of a certain
number is bitter;" I should certainly understand nothing at all from
these words. I could not adopt them either as true or false. But I will
repeat them, if he commands me to do it; and I will make others repeat
them at the risk of my life. This is faith; it is nothing more than
obedience. In order to obtain a foundation then for this obedience,
it is merely necessary to examine the books which require it. Our
understanding, therefore, should investigate the books of the Old and
New Testament, just as it would Plutarch or Livy; and if it finds in
them incontestable and decisive evidences--evidences obvious to all
minds, and such as would be admitted by men of all nations--that God
himself is their author, then it is our incumbent duty to subject our
understanding to the yoke of faith.--[Ibid, p. 474.]
Prayer.--We know of no religion without prayers; even the Jews had them,
although there was no public form of prayer among them before the time
when they sang their canticles in their synagogues, which did not take
place until a late period. The people of all nations, whether actuated
by desires or fears, have summoned the assistance of the Divinity.
Philosophers, however, more respectful to the Supreme Being, and rising
more above human weakness, have been habituated to substitute, for
prayer, resignation. This, in fact, is all that appears proper and
suitable between creature and Creator. But philosophy is not adapted
to the great mass of mankind; it soars too highly above the vulgar; it
speaks a language they are unable to comprehend. To propose philosophy
to them, would be just as weak as to propose the study of conic sections
to peasants or fish-women. Among philosophers themselves, I know of
no one besides Maximus Tyrius who has treated of this subject. The
following is the substance of his ideas upon it:--The designs of God
exist from all eternity. If the object prayed for be conformable to his
immutable will, it must be perfectly useless to request of him the very
thing which he has determined to do. If he is prayed to for the reverse
of what he has determined to do, he is prayed to be weak, fickle,
and inconstant; such a prayer implies that this is thought to be his
character, and is nothing better than ridicule or mockery of him. You
either request of him what is just and right, in which case he ought to
do it, and it will be actually done without any solicitation, which in
fact, shows distrust of his rectitude; or what you request is unjust,
and then you insult him. You are either worthy or unworthy of the favour
you implore; if worthy, he knows it better than you do yourself; if
unworthy, you commit an additional crime in requesting that which you
do not merit. In a word, we offer up prayers to God only because we have
made him after our own image. We treat him like a pacha, or a sultan,
who is capable of being exasperated and appeased. In short, all nations
pray to God; the sage is resigned, and obeys him. Let us pray with the
people, and let us be resigned to him with the sage. We have already
spoken of the public prayer of many nations, and of those of the
Jews.--That people have had one from time immemorial, which deserves
all our attention, from its resemblance to the prayer taught us by Jesus
Christ himself. This Jewish prayer is called the Kadish, and begins with
these words:--"Oh! God! let thy name be magnified and sanctified; make
thy kingdom to prevail; let redemption flourish, and the Messiah come
quickly!" As this Radish is recited in Chaldee, it has induced the
belief, that it is as ancient as the captivity, and that it was at
that period that the Jews began to hope for a Messiah, a Liberator,
or Redeemer, whom they have since prayed for in ihe seasons of their
calamities.--[Ibid, vol. ii., p. 350.]
Voltaire's contempt for the Bible led him to use the language of "holy
writ" in the coarsest jokes; though, perhaps, with such material, the
jokes could not well be otherwise than _coarse_. The following letter
he addressed to M. Bâillon, Intendant of Lyons, on account of a poor Jew
taken up for uttering contraband goods. This kind of writing obtained
for Voltaire the title of "scoffer:"--
"Blessings on the Old Testament, which gives me this opportunity of
telling you, that amongst all those who adore the New, there is not one
more devoted to your service than myself, a certain descendant of Jacob,
a pedlar, as all these gentlemen are, whilst he is waiting for the
Messiah, waits also for your protection, which at present he has the
most need of. Some honest men of the first trade of St. Matthew, who
gather together the Jews and Christians at the gates of your city,
have seized something in the breeches pocket of an Israelitish page,
belonging to the poor circumcised, who has the honour to tender you this
billet, with all proper submission and humility. I beg leave to join my
Amen to his at a venture. I but just saw you at Paris as Moses saw the
Deity, and should be very happy in seeing you face to face. If the word
face can any ways be applied to me, preserve some remembrance of your
old eternal humble servant, who loves you with that chaste and tender
affection, which the religious Solomon had for his three hundred
Shuhamites."
Voltaire's prodigious wit and sarcasm were so exuberant, that he
expended them upon all people and all subjects--even _himself_, when
occasion admitted of it, In one of his letters,-addressed to the Elector
Palatine, Sept. 9, 1761, he gives this excuse for not attending at the
court:--
"I should really make an excellent figure amidst the rejoicings of your
electoral highness. It was only, I think, in the Egypt of antiquity
that _skeletons_ were admitted to a place in their festivals. To say the
truth, my lord, it is all over with me. I laugh indeed sometimes; but am
forced to acknowledge that pain is an evil. It is a comfort to me that
your highness is well; but I am fitter for an extreme unction than a
baptism. May the peace serve for an era to mark the prince's birth; and
may his august father preserve his regard for, and accept the profound
respects of his little Swiss, Voltaire."
In politics, Voltaire was not very far advanced. He seems to have had no
idea of a nation without a _king_. A monarch who should not commit any
very flagrant acts of tyranny, was as much as he appeared to desire. He
evidently did not foresee the great revolution that was so soon to burst
forth in France, but that he mainly contributed by his writings to bring
it about, there can be no doubt. His influence upon the men of his
time, both in France and Europe, is ably depicted by such writers as
Lamartine, Quinet, and Brougham. Voltaire's was the one great mind of
his day, whose thoughts engrossed the attention of all men. He was great
by his learning, his genius, and his benevolence--and this man was the
champion of Reason, the enemy of superstition, and an "Infidel." Quinet,
in his lectures on the Romish Church, says:--"I watch, for forty years,
the reign of one man who is in himself the spiritual director, not of
his country, but of his age. From the corner of his chamber, he governs
the kingdom of spirits; intellects are every day regulated by his; one
word written by his hand traverses Europe. Princes love, and kings fear
him; they think they are not sure of their kingdom if he be not with
them. Whole nations, on their side, adopt without discussion, and
emulously repeat, every syllable that falls from his pen. Who exercises
this incredible power, which had been nowhere seen since the middle
ages? Is he another Gregory II.? Is he a Pope? No--Voltaire."
We conclude our sketch with the eloquent words of Lamartine, who
describes, in a few sentences, the inestimable services rendered to
Freethought and intellectual progression by the Sage of Ferney:--
"If we judge of men by what they have _done_, then Voltaire is
incontestably the greatest writer of modern Europe. No one has caused,
through the powerful influence of his genius alone, and the perseverance
of his will, so great a commotion in the minds of men; his pen aroused
a world, and has shaken a far mightier empire than that of Charlemagne,
the European empire of a theocracy. His genius was not _force_ but
_light_. Heaven had destined him not to destroy but to illuminate, and
wherever he trod, light followed him, for Reason (which is _light_) had
destined him to be first her poet, then her apostle, and lastly her
idol."
J. W.
JOHN TOLAND.
In the Augustan age of Freethought, no British writer achieved more
renown, or performed greater services to Biblical criticism, than John
Toland. His life would fill a volume, while his works would stock a
library. True to his convictions, he spoke like a man, and died as a
hero. His books are strewn with classical illustrations, and deal so
with abstract (and to us) uninteresting arguments, that we shall simply
give a brief sketch of the life of this extraordinary man. He gave his
thoughts to the scholars at the same time that Woolston addressed the
people; conjointly they revolutionized opinion in our favor.
Toland was born on November 30, 1670, at Londonderry, in Ireland. It
is said his registered name was "James Junius," another account says
"Julius Cæsar;" but we have been unable to find any authentic date
for either supposition, and whatever his name was registered, we have
indisputable evidence that he was always called John Toland. We have
less proof as to his parentage; some writers allege that he was the
natural son of a Catholic priest; while others contend that he was born
of a family once affluent, but at the time of his birth in very reduced
circumstances. Whether this was the case or the reverse, young Toland
received a liberal education. He was early taught the classics, studied
in the Glasgow College; and on leaving Glasgow he was presented with
letters of credit from the city magistrates, highly flattering to him as
a man and a scholar. He received the diploma of A.M. at Edinburgh, the
day previous to the Battle of the Boyne. He finished his studies at the
University of Leyden.
The first work of importance which Toland published, was a "Life of
John Milton, containing besides the History of his Works, several
extraordinary Characters of Men and Books, Sects, Parties, and
Opinions." This work being violently opposed, was speedily followed
by "Amyntor," or a defence of Milton's life, containing--1. A general
apology for all writings of that kind. 2. A catalogue of books,
attributed in the primitive times to Jesus Christ, his apostles, and
other eminent persons, with several important remarks relating to the
canon of Scripture. 3. A complete history of the Book, entitled "Icon
Basilike, proving Dr. Gauden, and not King Charles I., to be the author
of it," etc. Those works established the fame of Toland, as well as
formed the groundwork for persecution, which hunted him even on his
death-bed. In the year 1699 Toland collected, edited, and published,
from the original MSS., the whole of the works of James Harrington,
prefixed by a memoir of this extraordinary theorist. In his preface he
says that he composed this work "in his beloved retirement at Cannon,
near Bansted, in Surrey." From this, along with other excerpts scattered
through his works, we cannot but infer that at the outset of his
career he possessed a moderate competence of worldly wealth and social
position. He says his idea was "to transmit to posterity the worthy
memory of James Harrington, a bright ornament to useful learning, a
hearty lover of his native country, and a generous benefactor to the
whole world; a person who obscured the false lustre of our modern
politicians, and equalled (if not exceeded) all the ancient
legislators." This to us is an interesting fact, for it shows the early
unanimity which existed between the earlier reformers in politics and
those of theology. The supervision of the "Oceana" by Toland, bears the
same inferential analogy, as if Mr. Holyoake were the biographer and
publisher of the "New Moral World" and its author. In 1700, he published
"Anglia Libera; or, the Limitation and Succession of the Crown of
England, explained and Asserted," etc. This book is concluded by the
following apothegm, assuring the people "that no king can ever be so
good as one of their own making, as there is no title equal to their
approbation, which is the only divine right of all magistracy, for the
voice of the people is the voice of God." In 1702, Toland spent some
time in Germany, publish-ing a series of Letters to a friend in
Holland, entitled "Some Remarks on the King of Prussia's Country, on
his Government, his Court, and his numerous Palaces." About this time
appeared "The Art of Governing by Parties;" this was always a favorite
subject of the old Freethinkers, and is still further elucidated by
Bolingbroke.
In 1707 he published a large treatise in English and Latin, as "A
Philippic Oration, to incite the English against the French," a work I
have never seen. We now return to an earlier date, and shall trace the
use of his theological works. The first of note (1696) was "Christianity
not Mysterious"--showing that there is nothing in the gospel contrary
to reason, nor above it; and that no Christian doctrine can be properly
called a mystery. As soon as this book was issued from the press, it
was attacked with unmanly virulence. One man (Peter Brown) who was more
disgustingly opposed to Toland than the rest, was made a bishop; and by
far the greatest majority amongst the Anglican clergy, who attacked him,
were all rewarded by honors and preferment. The author was accused of
making himself a new Heresiarch; that there was a tradition amongst
the Irish that he was to be a second Cromwell, and that Toland himself
boasted that before he was forty years old, he would be governor over a
greater country than Cromwell; and that he would be the head over a new
religion before he was thirty. One of his opponents publicly stigmatises
him as saying that he (Toland) himself designed to be as great an
impostor as Mahomet, and more powerful than the Pope; while the Puritans
denounced him as a disguised Jesuit, and the Papists as a rancorous
Nonconformist. To complete the comedy, the Irish Parliament condemned
his book to be publicly burnt, some ecclesiastics loudly murmuring that,
the author should be burned with it; others, more moderate, were anxious
that Toland should burn it himself, while at last they came to an
unanimous resolution to burn it in front of the threshold of his door,
so that when the author appeared, he would be obliged to step oyer the
ashes of his own book, which was accordingly done amid the brutal cheers
of an ignorant and infuriated populace.
As a proof of the high esteem in which Toland was held by the _few_ able
and liberal men of the day, we extract the following account from the
correspondence of John Locke and Mr. Molyneux. * The latter gentleman,
writing to the former, says:--"I am told the author of 'Christianity not
Mysterious' is of this country, and that his name is Toland, but he is
a stranger in these parts, I believe. If he belongs to this kingdom,
he has been a good while out of it, or I have not heard of any such
_remarkable_ man amongst us." In another letter, the same writer
says:--"In my last to you, there was a passage, relating to the author
of 'Christianity not Mysterious.' I did not then think he was so near
me as within the bounds of this city; but I find since that he has
come over hither, and have had the favor of a visit from him. I now
understand that he was born in this country, but that he has been a
great while abroad, and his education was for some time under the great
Le Clerc. But that for which I can never honor him too much, is his
acquaintance and friendship to you, and the respect which upon all
occasions he expresses for you. I propose a great deal of satisfaction
in his conversation. I take him to be a candid Freethinker, and a good
scholar. But there is a violent sort of spirit which reigns here, which
begins already to show itself against him, and I believe will increase
daily, for I find the clergy alarmed to a mighty degree against him.
And last Sunday he had his welcome to this city, by hearing himself
harangued against out of the pulpit, by a prelate of this country."
* Locke's posthumous works. Edited by Die Maizeaus.
Mr. Locke, in return, says:--"For the man I wish very well, and could
give you, if it needed, proofs that I do so. And therefore I desire you
to be kind to him: but I must leave it to your prudence in what way
and how far. For it will be his fault alone, if he proves not a very
valuable man, and have not you for his friend." To this, Mr. Molyneux
writes to Mr. Locke--"I look upon Mr. Toland as a very ingenuous man,
and I should be very glad of any opportunity of doing him service, to
which I think myself indispensably bound by your recommendation." Soon
after this, Mr. Molyneux describes the treatment Toland underwent in
Ireland. In another letter to Locke--"He has had his opposers here,
as you will find by a book which I have sent to you. The author (Peter
Brown) is my acquaintance, but two things I shall never forgive in his
book: the one is the foul language and opprobrious names he gives Mr.
Toland; the other is upon several occasions, calling in the aid of the
civil magistrate, and delivering up Mr. Toland to secular punishment.
This, indeed, is a killing argument, but some will be apt to say, that
where, the strength of his reason failed him, then he flies to the
strength of his sword; and this reminds me of a business that was very
surprising to many, the presentment of some pernicious books and their
authors by the grand jury of Middlesex. This is looked upon as a matter
of dangerous consequence, to make our civil courts judges of religious
doctrines; and no one knows upon a change of affairs whose turn it
may be next to be condemned. But the example has been followed in this
country, and Mr. Toland and his book have been presented here by a grand
jury, not one of whom I am persuaded ever read one leaf in 'Christianity
not Mysterious.'
"Let the Sorbonne forever now be silent; a learned grand jury, directed
by as learned a judge, does the business much better. The Dissenters
here were the chief promoters of this matter, but, when I asked one
of them 'What if a violent Church of England jury should present Mr.
Baxter's books as pernicious, and condemn them to the flames by the
common executioner,' he was sensible of the error, and said he wished
it had never been done." Mr. Locke, in his reply, coincides with his
friend, and says, "The Dissenters had best _consider_; but they are a
sort of men which will always be the same." A remark which 150 years has
not failed in its truthfulness. Mr. Molyneux concludes his remarks in
reference to Toland, as follows:--"Mr. Toland is at length driven out
of our kingdom; the poor gentleman at last wanted a meal's meat, and
the universal outcry of the clergy ran so strong against him, that none
durst admit him to their tables. The little stock of money which he had
was soon exhausted, he fell to borrowing, and to complete his hardships,
the Parliament fell on his book, voted it to be burnt by the common
hangman, and ordered the author to be taken into custody by the
Serjeant-at-Arms, and to be prosecuted by the Attorney General. Hereupon
he is fled out of this kingdom, and none here knows where he has
directed his course." From this correspondence we glean the following
facts:--
1. That John Locke and Mr. Molyneux were favorable to Freethought.
2. That (on Locke's authority) Toland possessed abilities of no common
order.
3. That Toland was unjustly persecuted, and he met with the sympathy of
the Liberals.
Toland, having received a foretaste of his country's vengeance, retired
for two years to Germany, where he was welcomed by the first scholars of
the age. Hearing that the House of Convocation, in London, was about to
denounce two of his works as heretical ("Christianity not Mysterious,"
and "Amyntor,") he hastened to England, and published two letters to the
Prolucutor, which were never laid before Convocation. He insisted that
he should be heard in his own defence before sentence was passed on
his works; but as usual this wish was denied him. A legal difficulty
prevented the bishops from prosecuting the works, and Toland gave the
world a full account in his "Vindicius Liberius."
The "Letters to Serena," written in a bold, honest, unflinching manner,
were the next performances of Toland. The first letter is on "The Origin
and Force of Prejudices." It is founded on a reflection of Cicero, that
all prejudices spring from moral, and not physical sources, and while
all admit the power of the senses to be infallible, all strive to
corrupt the judgment, by false metaphor and unjust premises. Toland
traces the progress of superstition from the hands of a midwife to those
of a priest, and shows how the nurse, parent, schoolmaster, professor,
philosopher, and politician, all combine to warp the mind of man by
fallacies from his progress in childhood, at school, at college, and
in the world. How the child is blinded with an idea, and the man with
a word. The second letter is "A History of the Soul's Immortality Among
the Heathens." A lady had been reading Platers "Phædo," and remarked
as to how Cato could derive any consolation from the slippery and vague
suppositions of that verbiant dialogue. Toland, therefore, for her
edification, drew up a list of the specifications of the ancients on the
subject, analysing (in its progress) the varying phases of the fables of
the Elysian fields, the Charons, the Styx, etc., deriving them all from
the ancient Egyptians. Toland thought the idea had arisen among the
people, like our witches, ghosts, and fairy stories, and subsequently
defended by the philosophers, who sought to rule their passions by
finding arguments for their superstitions, and thus the rise of their
exoteric and esoteric doctrines were the first foundations of the belief
in the immortality of the soul. The third letter is on "The Origin of
Idolatry," or, as it might rather be called, a history of the follies
of mankind. He traces the causes, the origin, and the science of
superstition--its phenomena and its devotees, proving that all the
sacrifices, prayers, and customs of idolatry are the same in all ages,
they only differ in language and adaptability of climate, and that with
the fall of judicial astrology, idolatry received its greatest blow,
for while men thought that priests could control destiny, they feared
them--but this idea destroyed, it removed the terror which so long
had existed as an immediate object betwixt the man and this sacerdotal
tyrant.