kind of terror about futurity? I cannot perceive, that such a conclusion
flows from this fatal system. A God, such as my heart delineates,
encourages and moderates all my feelings; I say to myself, He is good
and indulgent, He knows our weakness, He loves to produce happiness; and
I see the advances of death without terror, and often with hope. But
every fear would become reasonable, if I lived under the dominion of an
insensible nature, whose laws and revolutions are unknown: I seek for
some means to escape from its power;—but even death cannot afford me a
retreat, or space an asylum. I reflect, if it is possible, to find
compassion and goodness; but here is no prime intelligence, no first
cause, a blind nature surrounds us, and governs imperiously. I in vain
demand, what is to be done with me? it is deaf to my voice. Devoid of
will, thought, and feeling, it is governed by an irresistible force,
whose motion is a mystery never to be unfolded. What a view for the
human mind, to anticipate the destruction of all our primitive ideas of
order, justice, and goodness! Shall I further say, when even, in every
system, the entrance of the future was unknown, I should be less unhappy
and forlorn, if it was to a father, a benefactor, that I committed the
deposit of life which I held from him; this last communication with the
Master of the World would mitigate my pains; my eyes, when closing,
would perceive His power; that I should not lose all, I might still hope
that God remained with those I loved, and find some comfort in the
thought, that my destiny was united to His will, that my existence and
the employments I devoted myself to, formed one of the indelible points
of His eternal remembrance; and that the incomprehensible darkness I was
going to plunge into, is equally a part of His empire. But when a
feeling and elevated soul, which sometimes enjoys a sentiment of its own
grandeur, should certainly know, that dragged by a blind motion, it was
going to be dissipated, to be scattered in that dreary waste, where all
that is most vile on earth is indifferently precipitated; such a thought
would blight the noblest actions, and be a continual source of sadness
and despondency. Save us from these dreadful reflections, sublime and
cherished belief of a God! afford us the courage and comfort we need,
and guard our minds, as from fatal phantoms, from all those vain
suppositions, those errors of reasoning and metaphysical subtleties,
which interpose between man and his Creator! And we, full of confidence
in the first lesson of nature, will take for a guide that interior
sentiment which is not thought, but something more, which neither
reasons nor conjectures; but perhaps forms the closest connexion and
most certain communication with those grand truths which the
understanding alone can never reach.
CHAP. XV.
_On the Respect that is due from true Philosophy to Religion._
The view of the universe, the reflections of our minds, and the
inclinations of our hearts, all concur to strengthen the thought, that
there exists a God; and without power to comprehend this Infinite Being,
to form a just idea of His essence and perfections, the confused
sentiment of his grandeur, and the continual experience of their own
weakness, are so many imperious motives, which, in all ages and
countries, have impelled men to worship a God. Those natural ideas have
acquired new force by the light of revelation; but it is not in a
metaphysical work that the authenticity of the Christian religion ought
to be discussed; nor could we add much to the doctrines contained in
books composed at different periods on this important subject. All
discussions which are allied to truths, whose authenticity depends on
facts, are necessarily confined within certain bounds; and we are
obliged to pursue a beaten track, and run over the same circle, when we
enter on such a well-known subject. I shall then confine myself to some
general reflections, and make choice of those which are best adapted to
the particular genius of the present age, and the modifications which
our sentiments receive from predominate opinions; for our judgments,
like our impressions, vary with the change which happens insensibly in
habits and manners: one age is that of intolerance and bigotry; another
of relaxation and indifference, or a contempt of all ancient customs:
every century, every generation is distinguished by a general character,
a character which we take sometimes for new ideas; whilst it is nothing
but the natural effect of exaggeration in our preceding opinions. Men
are subject to moral laws, similar in several respects to mechanical
rules; and with all their knowledge and pride, they remind us of those
children, who, placed at the extremity of a long balance, rise and fall
successively. They can only be fixed by moderate sentiments, which are
sustained by their own force; any other has a borrowed action, and this
action is never in perfect equilibrium with truth.
It is in the nature of revelation to appear less evident to the mind, in
proportion as the proofs of its authenticity are distant; and if, among
the dogmas united to a religious doctrine, some one contains a mystic
sense; if, among the forms of worship adopted, some one is not consonant
with the simple and majestic idea which we ought to have of the Master
of the World; it would not be extraordinary that this religious
institution, considered in its different parts, should give birth to
controversies; and we should not be exasperated against those, who,
after having faithfully examined, still have some doubts. It is in
proportion to the extent of our understanding that God has thought fit
to manifest Himself to us; thus, the exertion of those faculties of the
mind cannot be displeasing to Him. But reason left to itself, and even
when improved by philosophy, should, by no means, lead men to any kind
of contempt for religious worship in general, or any of the particular
opinions of which Christianity is the support. Any doctrine which leads
to the adoration of the God of the universe is worthy of the respect of
His creatures: thus, persons most disposed to contest the authenticity
of the sacred books, ought still to love precepts which seem to come to
the aid of the human mind, in order to assist men in the last efforts
which they make to know more of God; as the friendly bark, offered to
the forlorn wretch struggling on the surface of the immense waste of
waters, on which his feeble hands have vainly endeavoured to support
him.
We cannot but have discovered, that the sentiments of gratitude and
respect which inspire men, the most capable of reflection, with the idea
of a God, are intimately connected with the Christian doctrines, such as
we find them in the New Testament; and in those moments, when, with the
desire of happiness, and the timidity which belongs to our nature, we
seek to unite our littleness to supreme grandeur, and our extreme
weakness to Omnipotence, the divine perfections which the gospel
delineates encourage our hopes and dissipate our fears; religion shows
us all that we have need of in our miserable condition, a sovereign
goodness, an inexhaustible compassion: thus then, the last link of the
Christian faith, like the termination of the deepest meditations,
reaches the same conclusion; and religion agrees with philosophy, in the
moment when it is most elevated.
However, the Christian and the Deist unite, in some manner, in the
ultimate tendency of their thoughts; they meet when they throw their
attention on civil society, and when they seek to determine the duties
of men; for a wise man must ever pay homage to the morality of the
gospel, and the philosopher could not have imagined a more reasonable
system, or one more conformable to our situation[6]. If it is then true,
that opinions, in appearance opposite, approach, at their extremities;
and if it is true, that the adoration of a God, and respect for
morality, form by uniting, the circle of evangelical doctrines, it very
little concerns the reasonable philosopher, that the Christian faith is
placed between those two grand ideas; if he thinks he can himself
explore the space which separates man from his Creator, for what reason
would he condemn with bitterness the sentiments of those who are
attached to the comfortable system of intercession and redemption, of
which Christianity has laid the foundation?
In short, were they even not to agree in every opinion with the
interpreters of the Christian doctrine, this would not be a sufficient
reason for breaking the religious alliance which ought to subsist
amongst men; an alliance represented and rendered authentic, in every
nation, by the public worship which has been made choice of by the
government. What idea then should we have of the genius or the abilities
of a philosopher, who, at the sight of the ceremonies of the public
worship which disgust him, could not rise above them, so as to consider
them, in some measure, as the atmosphere of religious opinions, which
turning his attention from the importance of those opinions, could not
preserve, at least, some respect for all the dependencies of the most
sublime and salutary thought? It is easy, however, to perceive, that,
for the generality of men, the duties of morality, religion, and all the
exterior homage rendered to the Deity, compose a whole so closely
connected, that the basis is in danger when the outworks are attacked.
The imagination of the vulgar cannot be guided in the same manner as
that of the solitary thinker; and it would be committing a great error,
to try to influence the opinions of the generality by the same
considerations which are sufficient for the man who profoundly reflects:
there is a system proportionate to the different faculties of
intelligent beings, as there is one applicable to the varied forces of
their physical nature.
I know nothing more dangerous, than the inconsiderate censures of those
religious ceremonies received and respected in the country we live in:
some do not think that they are acting wrong when they speak slightingly
of the various symbols of public worship; yet, if they attentively
observed the kind of minds, and the first habits of the greater part of
those to whom they address such discourses, they would know how easy it
is to wound them in the sentiment which is the source of all their
tranquility, and the safeguard of their moral conduct. The deliverer of
Switzerland struck off with one of his arrows an apple placed on the
head of his only son; but every one cannot expect to be so fortunate.
Some would contradict these assertions, by saying, that celebrated men
have occasioned rapid changes in the church of Rome without weakening
religion. The origin, the circumstances, and the result of a revolution
so marked in history, has not any connexion with the present question;
the reformers of the sixteenth century, preaching a new doctrine, openly
professed religious zeal and a fervent piety: thus, at the same time
that they disapproved of a part of the established worship, they more
rigidly recommended all the fundamental opinions of Christianity, and
sought to introduce a severity of manners which even extended to the
proscription of several indulgences that had not been before condemned:
and, in fact, if the new doctrines had not been united to the greatest
respect for the essential principles of the Christian religion, they
never would have had so many followers.
They cannot then establish any kind of comparison between the censures
poured forth by the reformers, and the ridicule or contempt of those who
now insult our most respectable opinions; those men, who at present
abound, are sometimes excited by a libertinism of mind and conduct, by
self-love or the enthusiasm of false philosophy, and some of them are
seduced by an air of superiority, attached to the principles which they
themselves institute. There is a great difference between the grave and
serious course of the reformers, and the various evolutions of the
active opponents of religion: the latter do not take care to stop at
clearing up a point of doctrine, or a disputed interpretation of some
dogma; it is religion itself that they wish to attack, and if they begin
with the outworks, it is in order to undermine it; they take skilfully
their post, and know when to have recourse to a tone of pleasantry;
which is very dangerous, as it gives an air of confidence to those who
employ it, and they obtain a kind of ascendency in avoiding every idea
of an equal combat: one is disposed to think, that it is by disdain that
they glance slightly over the subject; we cowardly submit to the
appearance of their superiority; and that which is in them weakness or
impotence gives consequence.
Men, in order to express their gratitude to the sovereign Master of the
World, must borrow from their imaginations every thing grand and
majestic: thus, when they detach from those reverential signs the ideas
that they represented and preserve, they only display a vain gravity, a
chimerical pomp; and it is easy to make a similar contrast a subject of
ridicule; but in acting thus, far from making us applaud their talents,
they insult, without any sense, the habit most men have acquired of
venerating, on the whole, every system of worship paid the Supreme
Being.
Nevertheless, the bold and frivolous discourses which are permitted
against religion in general, have made such a progress, that at present
the persons who most respect these opinions, without ostentation or
severity, find themselves obliged to conceal or moderate their
sentiments, lest they should be exposed to a kind of contemptuous pity,
or run the risk of being suspected of hypocrisy. We are at liberty to
speak on every subject, except the most grand and interesting which can
occupy men. What strange authority gave rise to this imperious
legislation, which is termed fashionable? What a miserable conspiracy,
that of weakness against Omnipotence! Men are proud of knowing at what
hour the king wakes, goes to the chace, or returns; they are very eager
to be informed of the vile intrigues which successively debase or exalt
his courtiers; they pass, in short, their whole lives in panting after
objects of vanity and badges of slavery; they are continually brought
into conversation; and they proscribe, under the dreadful name of
vulgarity, the most remote expression, which would recal the idea of the
harmonious universe, and the Being who has bestowed on us all the gifts
of the mind; what is most excellent in our nature we overlook, to dwell
only on the inflations of vanity. Ungrateful that we are! Our
intelligence, our will, all our senses, are the seal of an unknown
power; and, is it the name of our Master and Benefactor that we dare not
pronounce? it is from your modern philosophers that this false shame
arises; you, who spread derision over the most respectable sentiments,
and employing in the dispute the frivolous shafts of ridicule, have
given confidence to the most insignificant of men; you have, for your
followers, a numerous race, which is taken promiscuously from every rank
and age.
We now reckon, amongst those who oppose a contemptuous smile to
religious opinions, a multitude of young people, often incapable of
supporting the most trivial arguments, and who, perhaps, could not
connect two or three abstract propositions. These pretended philosophers
artfully, and almost perfidiously, take advantage of the first flight of
self-love, to persuade beginners, that they are able to judge at a
glance, of the serious questions which have eluded the penetration of
the most exercised thinkers: in short, such is in general the decisive
tone of the irreligious men of our age, that in hearing them so boldly
murmur about the disorders of the universe, and the mistakes of
Providence; we are only surprised to see how much they differ in stature
from those rebellious giants mentioned in the heathen mythology.
I believe, however, that if contempt for religious opinions did not
produce a striking contrast, those who profess to feel this contempt
would quickly adopt other sentiments; they only superficially attend to
the pernicious tendency of their maxims, whilst they believe themselves
still in the opposition; but if they ever obtained a majority, not
having then the spur of self-love, they would soon discover the
absurdity of their principles, and hastily throw them aside.
There are, undoubtedly, a great number of estimable persons, who highly
value the truths and precepts of religion, yet are a prey to doubt and
uncertainty, and who become the first victims of the inconsistencies of
their minds; but men of such a character do not aim at dominion, on the
contrary, they rather wish to be confirmed by the example of those whose
confidence is more assured; they would consider with interest the
sentiments that unfortunately have made too slight an impression on
them; and they would endeavour to strengthen their weak hopes, till they
reached the courageous persuasion which inspires the Christian:——yes,
even the enthusiasm of piety excites their envy, as it is more
delightful to yield to the emotions of a lively imagination, than to
struggle with apathy against the opinions calculated to diffuse
happiness. Thus, if amongst the number of persons that I have just
delineated, there were some to whom nature had granted superior talents,
wit or eloquence, they would carefully avoid exerting them to disturb
the repose of those peaceable souls who calmly rely on religion, and
receive all their consolation from that source. A wise man never permits
himself to spread sadness and discouragement, in order to gratify the
ridiculous vanity of exalting himself a little above common opinions, or
to show his abilities by making some ingenious distinctions concerning
particular parts of the established religion; in the same manner, as it
would be the height of folly to stop an army during its march, to
discriminate systematically the perfect justness of the different tones
of the warlike instruments of music. The bold and frivolous opinions of
several philosophers, have appeared to me to be weak, where they most
wish to rise; I mean, in the extent and loftiness of their views.
I need not speak to those who deny even the existence of a God. Alas! if
they are so unhappy as to shut their eyes, and not to admit this
resplendant light; if they have a soul so insensible, as not to be
affected with the comfortable truths which flow from such a noble
thought; if they are become deaf to the interesting voice of nature; if
they trust more to their weak reasoning, than the warnings of conscience
and sensibility; at least, let them not spread their disastrous
doctrine, which, like the head of Medusa, would transform every thing
into stone. Let them remove from us that frightful monster, or let his
hoarse hissing be only heard in the dreary solitude, of which their
heart presents the idea; let them spare the human race, and have pity on
the distress into which they would be plunged, if the mild light, which
serves to guide them, were ever to be obscured: in short, if they really
believe that morality can agree with atheism, let them give the first
proof of it, by remaining silent; but if they cannot abstain from
publishing their opinions, let a remnant of generosity induce them to
inform us of their dangerous tendency, by placing in the frontispiece of
their works this terrible inscription of Dante’s: _Lasciat’ ogni
speranza voi ch’ entrate_.
CHAP. XVI.
_The same Subject continued. Reflections on Intolerance._
The surface of the earth represents to us about the two hundred and
fortieth part of the surperfice of the different opaque bodies which
revolve round the sun.
The fixed stars are so many suns, which, according to all appearance,
serve equally to enlighten and fertilize planets similar to those we are
acquainted with.
A famous astronomer[7] has lately discovered fifty thousand new stars in
a zone fifteen degrees in length and two in breadth, a space which
corresponds with the thirteen hundred and sixty-fourth part of the
celestial sphere.
Thus, supposing that we perceive an equal number of stars in every other
parallel section of the firmament, the quantity we should be acquainted
with would rise to near sixty-nine millions.
And if each of these stars were the centre of a planetary system,
resembling the one we inhabit, we should have an idea of the existence
of a number of habitable globes, whose extent would be sixteen or
seventeen millions of times more considerable than the surface of the
earth[8].
However, the ingenious invention which assists us to explore the vaulted
firmament is susceptible of new improvement; and even at the period when
it may arrive at the greatest perfection, the space which our astronomic
knowledge may have taken possession of, will only be a point in the vast
extent which our imagination can conceive.
This imagination itself, like all our intellectual faculties, is perhaps
only a simple degree of infinite powers; and the images that it presents
are but an imperfect sketch of universal existence.
What then becomes of our earth, in the midst of that immensity which the
human mind vainly tries to grasp? What is it even now, compared with
that number of terrestrial bodies we can calculate or suppose?
Is it then the inhabitants of this grain of sand, is it only a few of
them, that have discovered the true mode of worshipping the Creator of
so many wonders? Their dwelling is a point in infinite space; the life
which they enjoy is but one of the moments which compose eternity; they
pass away like a flash of lightning in that course of ages, in which
generations after generations are lost. How then dare any of them
announce to the present age, and to those to come, that men cannot
escape the vengeance of Heaven if they alter one tittle of the Ritual?
What an idea they give of the relation established between the God of
the universe and the atoms dispersed throughout nature? Let them then
raise one of the extremities of that veil which covers so many
mysteries, let them consider a moment the wonders on every side, the
starry firmament, and the inconceivably dreary immensity which their
imagination cannot embrace; and let them judge, if it is by the exterior
form of their adoration, the vain pomp of their ceremonies, that this
Omnipotent God can distinguish their homage. Is it then, by the pride of
our opinions, that we think to reach the Supreme Being? It is more
comfortable, more reasonable to believe, that all the inhabitants of the
earth have access to His throne, and that we are permitted to raise
ourselves to it by a profound sentiment of love and gratitude, as the
most sure and intimate relation between man and his Creator.
Undoubtedly it is necessary that public worship should be constantly
regulated, and that distinct symbols should be respected, whose
essential character ought not to vary, that the sentiments of the
generality, so promptly affected by exterior objects, may not be exposed
to any alteration; it is necessary that weak minds easily find their
way, and that they are not embarrassed with doubt and uncertainty; in
short, it is to be desired, that the citizens, united by the same laws
and political interests, should be so by the same worship, in order that
the sacred band of religion may take them all in; and that principles of
education should be maintained and fortified by example. But as morality
is the first law of princes, and that always clear and distinct in its
motives and instructions, it ought to precede the uncertain combinations
of the politician. A government is never permitted to aim at any end by
unjust means, let it be ever so desirable; and I believe that this rule
is equally adapted to the opinions of men and their rights. It would be
possible to conceive a system of distribution, with respect to the
fortunes of men, more convenient than any other for the increase of
public wealth and the power of the state; but though this knowledge
should influence the general conduct of government, it receives no right
from its discernment, to arrange according to its will, the situation of
every citizen. The same principle has greater force applied to opinions:
it is reasonable to seek to direct their course by slow and mild means;
but the system of unity, which is certainly most conducive to the
happiness of a state, would cease to be good, if, in order to establish
that system, violence, or merely constraint, was had recourse to:
liberty of thought is the first of rights, and the most respectable
dominion is that of conscience.
Some now talk of the union of civil tolerance and religious intolerance;
the one protects Protestants in Catholic countries, and Catholics in
Protestant countries; and the other would forbid every kind of worship
which is not conformable to the institutions of the predominant
religion: but upon this plan, if the number of Dissenters was to become
considerable, an important part of the nation would be without worship;
and the government should not appear indifferent to this, since it is of
great importance to mankind to maintain carefully every support of
morality.