Part 18

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.