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diff --git a/38094.txt b/38094.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e20611 --- /dev/null +++ b/38094.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7318 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Letters To Eugenia, by Paul Henri Thiry Holbach + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Letters To Eugenia + Or, A Preservative Against Religious Prejudices + +Author: Paul Henri Thiry Holbach + +Release Date: November 22, 2011 [EBook #38094] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO EUGENIA *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +LETTERS TO EUGENIA; + +or, A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES. + +By Baron D'holbach + +(Paul Henri Thiry Holbach (baron d') Nicolas Freret) + +Author Of The System Of Nature, The Social System, Good Sense, +Christianity Unveiled, Ecce Homo, Universal Morality, Religious Cruelty +&c. + +Translated From The French, By Anthony C. Middleton, M.D. + + ..."Arctis Religionum animos nodis exsolvere pergo." + Lucretii De Rerum Natura, lib. iv. v. 6,7. + +1870 + + + + +NAIGEON'S PREFACE. + +1768. + +For many years this work has been known under the title of _Letters to +Eugenia_. The secretive character of those, however, into whose hands +the manuscript at first fell; the singular and yet actual pleasure that +is caused generally enough in the minds of all men by the exclusive +possession of any object whatever; that kind of torpor, servitude, +and terror in which the tyrannical power of the priests then held +all minds--even those who by the superiority of their talents ought +naturally to be the least disposed to bend under the odious yoke of the +clergy,--all these circumstances united contributed so much to stifle in +its birth, if I may so express myself, this important manuscript, +that for a long time it was supposed to be lost; so much did those who +possessed it keep it carefully concealed, and so constantly did they +refuse to allow a copy to be taken. The manuscripts, indeed, were so +scarce, even in the libraries of the curious, that the late M. De Boze, +whose pleasure it was to collect the rarest works belonging to every +species of literature, could never succeed in acquiring a copy of the +_Letters to Eugenia_, and in his time there were only three in Paris; +it may have been from design, _propter metum Judaeorum;_* it may have +been there were actually no more known. + + * On account of fear of the Jews, or, in other words, the + intolerant clergy of the despotic government. + +It is not till within five or six years that MSS. of these letters have +become more common; and there is reason to believe that they are now +considerably multiplied, since the copy from which this edition is +printed has been revised and corrected by collation with six others, +that have been collected without any great difficulty. Unhappily, all +these copies swarm with faults, which corrupt the sense, and comprehend +many variations, but which also, to use the language of the Biblical +critics, have served sometimes to discover and to fix the true reading! +More often, however, they have rendered it more uncertain than it was +before what one ought to be followed--a new proof of the multiplicity +of copies, because the more numerous are the manuscripts of a work, the +more they differ from each other, as any one may be fully convinced by +consulting those of the _Letter of Thrasybulus to Leucippus_, and the +various readings of the New Testament collected by the learned Mill, and +which amount to more than thirty thousand. + +However this may be, we have spared no pains to reestablish the text in +all its purity; and we venture to say, that, with the exception of four +or five passages, which we found corrupted in all the manuscripts that +we had an opportunity to collate, and which we have amended to the best +of our ability, the edition of these letters that we now offer to the +reader will probably conform almost exactly with the original manuscript +of the author. + +With regard to the author's name and quality we can offer nothing but +conjectures. The only particulars of his life upon which there is a +general agreement are, that he lived upon terms of great intimacy +with the Marquis de la Fare, the Abbe de Chaulieu, the Abbe Terrasson, +Fontenelle, M. de Lassere, &c. The late MM. Du Marsais and Falconnet +have often been heard to declare that these letters were composed by +some one belonging to the school of Seaux. All that we can pronounce +with certainty is the fact, that it is only necessary to read the work +to be entirely convinced the author was a man of extensive knowledge, +and one who had meditated profoundly concerning the matters upon which +he has treated. His style is clear, simple, easy, and in which we may +remark a certain urbanity, that leads us to be sure that he was not an +obscure individual, nor one to whom good company and polished society +were unfamiliar. But what especially distinguishes this work, and which +should endear it to all good and virtuous people, is the signal honesty +which pervades and characterizes it from the very beginning to the end. +It is impossible to read it without conceiving the highest idea of the +author's probity, whoever he may have been--without desiring to have +had him for a friend, to have lived with him, and, in a word, without +rendering justice to the rectitude of his intentions, even when we +do not approve of his sentiments. The love of virtue, universal +benevolence, respect to the laws, an inviolable attachment to the duties +of morality, and, in fine, all that can contribute to render men +better, is strongly recommended in these Letters. If, on the one hand +he completely overthrows the ruinous edifice of Christianity, it is +to erect, on the other hand, the immovable foundations of a system +of morality legitimately established upon the nature of man, upon his +physical wants, and upon his social relations--a base infinitely better +and more solid than that of religion, because sooner or later the lie +is discovered, rejected, and necessarily drags with it what served +to sustain it. On the contrary, the truth subsists eternally, and +consolidates itself as it grows old: _Opinionum commenta delet dies, +naturae judicia confirmat._* + +The motto affixed to many of the manuscript copies of these Letters +proves that the worthy man to whom we owe them did not desire to be +known as their author, and that it was neither the love of reputation, +nor the thirst of glory, nor the ambition of being distinguished by bold +opinions, which the priests, and the satellites subjected to them by +ignorance, denominate _impieties_, which guided his pen. It was only the +desire of doing good to his fellow-beings by enlightening them, which +actuated him, and the wish to uproot, so to speak, religion itself, as +being the source of all the woes which have afflicted mankind for so +many ages. This is the motto of which we spoke:-- + + "Si j'ai raison, qu'importe a qui je suis?" + (If reason's mine, no matter who I am.) + + * "Time effaces the comments of opinion, but it confirms the + judgments of nature."--Cicero. + +It is a verse of Corneille, whose application is exceedingly +appropriate, and which should be upon the frontispiece of all books of +this nature. + +We are unable to say any thing more certain concerning the person to +whom our author has addressed his work. It appears, however, from +many circumstances in these Letters, that she was not a supposititious +marchioness, like her of the _Worlds_ of M. de Fontenelle, and that they +have really been written to a woman as distinguished by her rank as by +her manners. Perhaps she was a lady of the school of the Temple, or of +Seaux. But these details, in reality, as well as those which concern +the name and the life of our author, the date of his birth, that of his +death, &c., are of little importance, and could only serve to satisfy +the vain curiosity of some idle readers, who avidiously collect these +kind of anecdotes, who receive from them a kind of existence in the +world, and who feel more satisfaction from being instructed in them +than from the discovery of a truth. I know that they endeavor to justify +their curiosity by saying that when a person reads a book which creates +a public sensation, and with which he is himself much pleased, it is +natural he should desire to know to whom a grateful homage should be +addressed. In this case the desire is so much the more unreasonable +because it cannot be satisfied; first, because when death and +proscription is the penalty, there has never been and there never will +be a man of letters so imprudent, and, to speak plainly, so strangely +daring, as to publish, or during his life to allow a book to be printed, +in which he tramples under foot temples, altars, and the statues of the +gods, and where he attacks without any disguise the most consecrated +religious opinions; secondly, because it is a matter of public notoriety +that all the works of this character which have appeared for many years +are the secret testaments of numbers of great men, obliged during their +lives to conceal their light under a bushel, whose heads death +has withdrawn from the fury of persecutors, and whose cold ashes, +consequently, do not hear in the tomb either the importunate and +denunciatory cries of the superstitious, or the just eulogiums of +the friends of truth; thirdly and lastly, _because this curiosity, so +unfortunately entertained, may compromise in the most cruel manner the +repose, the fortune, and the liberty of the relatives and friends of the +authors of these bold books!_ This single consideration ought, then, +to determine those hazarders of conjectures, if they have really +good intentions, to wrap in the inmost folds of their hearts whatever +suspicions they may entertain concerning the author, however true or +false they may be, and to turn their inquiring spirits to a use more +beneficial for both themselves and others. + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + +In 1819 an anonymous translation of the Letters to Eugenia was published +in London by Richard Carlile. This translation in some of its parts +was sufficiently complete and correct, but in others it was at +absolute variance with the original work; in other parts, also, it was +interlarded with matter not written by d'Holbach; and in others, large +portions of the original Letters were entirely omitted, as were likewise +a number of notes and the whole of the preliminary observations, with +which the volume was introduced to the public by Naigeon, so long the +intimate friend of both d'Holbach and Diderot. In again presenting +the work in an English dress, the London translation has been made +the foundation of this, but the whole has been thoroughly revised and +collated with the original. The omitted portions have been translated +and inserted in their proper places, and though some passages of the +London work, not entirely faithful to the original, have been allowed to +stand, yet the book, as it now appears, is essentially a new one, and +is the most accurate and complete translation of the Letters to Eugenia +which has ever been made into the English language. + +The work at first came anonymously from the press, and the mystery +of its authorship was sedulously maintained in the introductory +observations of Naigeon, in consequence of the danger which then +attended the issue of Infidel productions, not only in France +but throughout Christendom. The book was printed in Amsterdam, at +d'Holbach's own expense, by Marc-Michael Rey, a noble printer, to whom +the world is greatly indebted for the inestimable aid he rendered the +philosophers. But bold as he was, and then living in a country the most +free of any in the world, he dared not openly send these Letters from +his own press. They were issued in 1768, in two duodecimo volumes, +without any publisher's name, and with the imprint of _London_ on the +title page, in order to set those persecutors at bay who were prowling +for victims, and who sought to burn author, printer, and book at the +same pile. The prudence of the author and printer saved _them_ from +this fate; but the book had hardly reached France before its sale was +forbidden under penalty of fines and imprisonment, and it was condemned +by an act of Parliament to be burnt by the public executioner in the +streets of Paris, all of which particulars will be narrated in the +Biographical Memoir of Baron d'Holbach, which I am now preparing for the +press. + +Of the excellence of the Letters to Eugenia, nothing need here be said. +The work speaks for itself, and abounds in that eloquence peculiar +to its author, and overflows with kindly sentiments of humanity, +benevolence and virtue. Like d'Holbach's other works, it is +distinguished by an ardent love of liberty, and an invincible hatred of +despotism; by an unanswerable logic, by deep thought, and by profound +ideas. The tyrant and the priest are both displayed in their true +colors; but while the author shows himself inexorable as fate towards +oppressive hierarchies and false ideas, he is tender as an infant to +the unfortunate, to those overburdened with unreasonable impositions, +to those who need consolation and guidance, and to those searching +after truth. Addressed, as the Letters were, to a lady suffering from +religious falsehoods and terrors, the object of the writer is set forth +in the motto from Lucretius which he placed on the title page, and which +may thus be expressed in English:-- + + "Reason's pure light I seek to give the mind, + And from Religion's fetters free mankind." + + A. C. M. + +The name of the lady was designedly kept in secrecy, and was unknown, +except to _a very few_, till some years after d'Holbach's death. We now +know from the _Feuilles Posthumes_ of Lequinio, who had it from Naigeon, +that the _Letters_ were written several years before their publication, +for the instruction of a lady formerly distinguished at the French +Court for her graces and virtues. They were addressed to the charming +Marguerite, Marchioness de Vermandois. Her husband held the lucrative +post of farmer-general to the king, and besides inherited large estates. +He possessed excellent natural abilities, and his mind was strengthened +and adorned by culture and letters. Had his modesty permitted him, to +appear as such, he would now be known as a poet of genius and merit, +for he wrote some poems and plays that were much admired by all who were +allowed to peruse them. He was married in 1763, on the day he completed +his twenty-first year, to Marguerite Justine d'Estrades, then only +nineteen years of age, and whom he saw for the first time in his life +only six weeks before they became husband and wife. Like most of the +matches then made among the higher classes in France, this was one of a +purely mercenary character. The father of the Marquis de Vermandois, +and the father of Marguerite, as a means of joining their estates, +contracted their children without deigning to consult the wishes of the +parties, and obedience or disinheritance was the only alternative. When +the compact was concluded, Marguerite was taken from the convent where +for five years she had lived as a boarder and scholar, and commenced her +married life and her course in the fashionable world at the same time. +The match was far more fortunate than such matches then generally proved +to be. Marguerite's husband was passionately attached to her, and that +attachment was returned. The Marquis was a friend of Baron d'Holbach, +and soon after his marriage introduced his wife to him. Among all +the beauties of Paris the Marchioness was one of the most lovely and +fascinating. Her features were remarkably beautiful, and the bloom and +clearness of her complexion were such as absolutely to render necessary +the old comparison of the rose and the lily to do them justice. To +these were added a voluptuous figure, agreeable manners, the graces and +vivacity of wit, and the still more enduring attractions of good humor, +purity, and benevolence! A female like her could not but be dear to all +who enjoyed her intimacy, and a strong friendship sprang up between her +and Baron d'Holbach. Greatly pleased with him at first, Marguerite was +afterwards as greatly shocked. When their intercourse had become so +familiar as to permit that frankness and freedom of conversation which +prevails among intimate friends, she discovered that the Baron was an +unbeliever in the Christian dogmas which she had learned at the convent, +where, in consequence of her mother's death, she had been educated. She +had been taught that an Infidel was a monster in all respects, and she +was astounded to find unbelievers in men so agreeable in manners and +person, and so profound in learning, as d'Holbach, Diderot, d'Alembert, +and others. She could deny neither their goodness nor their intellectual +qualities, and while she admired the individuals she shuddered at their +incredulity. Especially did she mourn over Baron d'Holbach. He had a +wife as charming as herself, formerly the lovely Mademoiselle d'Aine, +whose beautiful features and seductive figure presented "A combination, +and a form, indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal." + +Nothing was more natural than that two such women should imbibe the +deepest tenderness for each other. But alas! the Baron's wife was +tainted with her husband's heresies; and yet in their home did the +Marchioness see all the domestic virtues exemplified, and beheld that +sweet harmony and unchangeable affection for which the d'Holbachs +were eminently distinguished among their acquaintances, and which was +remarkable from its striking contrast with the courtly and Christian +habits of the day. At a loss what to do, the Marchioness consulted her +confessor, and was advised to withdraw entirely from the society of the +Baron and his wife, unless she was willing to sacrifice all her hopes of +heaven, and to plunge headlong down to hell. Her natural good sense and +love of her friends struggled with her monastic education and reverence +for the priests. The conflict rendered her miserable; and unable to +enjoy happiness, she retired to her husband's country seat, where she +brooded over her wishes and her terrors. In this state of mind she +at length wrote a touching letter to the Baron, and laid open her +situation, requesting him to comfort, console, and enlighten her. Such +was the origin of the book now presented in an English dress to the +reader. It accomplished its purpose with the Marchioness de Vermandois, +and afterwards its author concluded to publish the work, in hopes it +might be equally useful to others. The Letters were _written_ in 1764, +when d'Holbach was in the forty-second year of his age. Twelve different +works he had before written and published, and all without the affix of +his name. _Eleven_ were upon mineralogy, the arts and the sciences, and +_one_ only upon theology. That _one_ had been secretly printed in +1761, at Nancy, with the imprint of London, and was _honored_ with a +parliamentary statute condemning its publication and forbidding its sale +or circulation. Christian hatred bestowed upon it the additional +honor of causing it to be burned in the streets of Paris by the public +executioner. But the prudence of the author protected his life. He +attributed the book to a dead man, who had been known to entertain +sceptical views. It was entitled Christianity Unveiled, and bore on +its title page the name of Boulanger. This was d'Holbach's first +contribution to Infidel literature, and the second similar work written +by him was the Letters to Eugenia. These were the preludes to more than +a quarter of a hundred different productions numbering among them such +books as _Good Sense, The System of Nature, Ecce Homo, Priests Unmasked, +&c, &c._, all printed anonymously or pseudonymously at his own +expense, without a possibility of pecuniary advantage, and with such +extraordinary secrecy as to show that he was actuated by no desire of +literary fame. It was love of truth alone that impelled d'Holbach to +write. Brilliant, profound, eloquent and excellent as were his writings, +attracting notice as they did from the civil and religious powers, +commented upon as they were by such men as Voltaire and Frederick the +Great, admired as they were by that class who felt and combated +the evils of tyranny as well as of religion, of kings as well as of +priests,--that class who almost drew their life from the books of him +and his compeers,--he was never seduced from the rule he originally laid +down for his literary conduct. + +A very few persons he was obliged to trust in order to get his writings +printed, and but for that fact Baron d'Holbach would now only be known +as a gentleman of great wealth, extensive benevolence, and uncommon +liberality, as a man of profound learning and agreeable colloquial +powers, as the bountiful friend of men of letters, as the soother of the +distressed, as the protector of the miserable, and as the affectionate +husband and father. So much of him we should have known; but that he was +the author of those books which roused intolerant priests and corrupt +magistrates, consistories and parliaments, monarchs and philosophers, +the people and their oppressors,--that he was the Archimedes that thus +moved the world,--would not have been known had he not employed another +philosopher, by the name of Naigeon, to carry his manuscripts to +Amsterdam, and to direct their printing by Marc-Michel Rey. It was +Naigeon who carried the manuscript of the Letters to Eugenia to Holland, +together with a number of others by the same author, which also appeared +during the year 1768,--an eventful year in the history of Infidel +progress. The _Letters_ were carefully revised by d'Holbach before they +were sent to press. All the passages of a purely personal character were +omitted, some new matter was incorporated, and some sentences were added +purposely to keep the author and the lady he addressed in impenetrable +obscurity. To raise the veil from a man of so much worth and genius, as +well as to carry out his idea of doing good, is one of the reasons which +have led to the present preparation and publication of this book. + +A. C. M. + + + + +LETTERS TO EUGENIA + + + + +LETTER I. Of the Sources of Credulity, and of the Motives which should +lead to an examination of religion. + +I am unable, Madam, to express the grievous sentiments that the perusal +of your letter produced in my bosom. Did not a rigorous duty retain me +where I am, you would see me flying to your succor. Is it, then, true +that Eugenia is miserable? Is even she tormented with chagrin, scruples, +and inquietudes? In the midst of opulence and grandeur; assured of the +tenderness and esteem of a husband who adores you; enjoying at court the +advantage, so rare, of being sincerely beloved by every one; surrounded +by friends who render sincere homage to your talents, your knowledge, +and your tastes,--how can you suffer the pains of melancholy and sorrow? +Your pure and virtuous soul can surely know neither shame nor remorse. +Always so far removed from the weaknesses of your sex, on what account +can you blush? Agreeably occupied with your duties, refreshed with +useful reading and entertaining conversation, and having within your +reach every diversity of virtuous pleasures, how happens it that fears, +distastes, and cares come to assail a heart for which every thing +should procure contentment and peace? Alas! even if your letter had not +confirmed it but too much, from the trouble which agitates you I should +have recognized without difficulty the work of superstition. This fiend +alone possesses the power of disturbing honest souls, without calming +the passions of the corrupt; and when once she gains possession of a +heart, she has the ability to annihilate its repose forever. + +Yes, Madam, for a long time I have known the dangerous effects of +religious prejudices. I was myself formerly troubled with them. Like +you I have trembled under the yoke of religion; and if a careful and +deliberate examination had not fully undeceived me, instead of now being +in a state to console you and to reassure you against yourself, you +would see me at the present moment partaking your inquietudes, and +augmenting in your mind the lugubrious ideas with which I perceive you +to be tormented. Thanks to Reason and Philosophy, an unruffled serenity +long ago irradiated my understanding, and banished the terrors with +which I was formerly agitated. What happiness for me if the peace which +I enjoy should put it in my power to break the charm which yet binds you +with the chains of prejudice? + +Nevertheless, without your express orders, I should never have dared to +point out to you a mode of thinking widely different from your own, nor +to combat the dangerous opinions to which you have been persuaded your +happiness is attached. But for your request I should have continued +to enclose in my own breast opinions odious to the most part of +men accustomed to see nothing except by the eyes of judges visibly +interested in deceiving them. Now, however, a sacred duty obliges me to +speak. Eugenia, unquiet and alarmed, wishes me to explore her heart; +she needs assistance; she wishes to fix her ideas upon an object which +interests her repose and her felicity. I owe her the truth. It would be +a crime longer to preserve silence. Although my attachment for her did +not impose the necessity of responding to her confidence, the love of +truth would oblige me to make efforts to dissipate the chimeras which +render her unhappy. + +I shall proceed then, Madam, to address you with the most complete +frankness. Perhaps at the first glance my ideas may appear strange; but +on examining them with still further care and attention, they will cease +to shock you. Reason, good faith, and truth cannot do otherwise than +exert great influence over such an intellect as yours. I appeal, +therefore, from your alarmed imagination to your more tranquil judgment; +I appeal from custom and prejudice to reflection and reason. Nature has +given you a gentle and sensible soul, and has imparted an exquisitely +lively imagination, and a certain admixture of melancholy which disposes +to despondent revery. It is from this peculiar mental constitution +that arise the woes that now afflict you. Your goodness, candor, and +sincerity preclude your suspecting in others either fraud or malignity. +The gentleness of your character prevents your contradicting notions +that would appear revolting if you deigned to examine them. You have +chosen rather to defer to the judgment of others, and to subscribe to +their ideas, than to consult your own reason and rely upon your own +understanding. The vivacity of your imagination causes you to embrace +with avidity the dismal delineations which are presented to you; certain +men, interested in agitating your mind, abuse your sensibility in order +to produce alarm; they cause you to shudder at the terrible words, +_death, judgment, hell, punishment, and eternity_; they lead you to turn +pale at the very name of an inflexible _judge_, whose absolute decrees +nothing can change; you fancy that you see around you those demons whom +he has made the ministers of his vengeance upon his weak creatures; thus +is your heart filled with affright; you fear that at every instant +you may offend, without being aware of it, a capricious God, always +threatening and always enraged. In consequence of such a state of +mind, all those moments of your life which should only be productive of +contentment and peace, are constantly poisoned by inquietudes, scruples, +and panic terrors, from which a soul as pure as yours ought to be +forever exempt. The agitation into which you are thrown by these fatal +ideas suspends the exercise of your faculties; your reason is misled by +a bewildered imagination, and you are afflicted with perplexities, with +despondency, and with suspicion of yourself. In this manner you become +the dupe of those men who, addressing the imagination and stifling +reason, long since subjugated the universe, and have actually persuaded +reasonable beings that their reason is either useless or dangerous. + +Such is, Madam, the constant language of the apostles of superstition, +whose design has always been, and will always continue to be, to +destroy human reason in order to exercise their power with impunity over +mankind.. Throughout the globe the perfidious ministers of religion have +been either the concealed or the declared enemies of reason, because +they always see reason opposed to their views. Every where do they +decry it, because they truly fear that it will destroy their empire by +discovering their conspiracies and the futility of their fables. Every +where upon its ruins they struggle to erect the empire of fanaticism +and imagination. To attain this end with more certainty, they have +unceasingly terrified mortals with hideous paintings, have astonished +and seduced them by marvels and mysteries, embarrassed them by enigmas +and uncertainties, surcharged them with observances and ceremonies, +filled their minds with terrors and scruples, and fixed their eyes upon +a future, which, far from rendering them more virtuous and happy +here below, has only turned them from the path of true happiness, and +destroyed it completely and forever in their bosoms. + +Such are the artifices which the ministers of religion every where +employ to enslave the earth and to retain it under the yoke. The human +race, in all countries, has become the prey of the priests. The priests +have given the name of _religion_ to systems invented by them to +subjugate men, whose imagination they had seduced, whose understanding +they had confounded, and whose reason they had endeavored to extinguish. + +It is especially in infancy that the human mind is disposed to receive +whatever impression is made upon it. Thus our priests have prudently +seized upon the youth to inspire them with ideas that they could never +impose upon adults. It is during the most tender and susceptible age +of men that the priests have familiarized the understanding of our race +with monstrous fables, with extravagant and disjointed fancies, and +with ridiculous chimeras, which, by degrees, become objects that are +respected and that are feared during life. + +We need only open our eyes to see the unworthy means employed by +_sacerdotal policy_ to stifle the dawning reason of men. During their +infancy they are taught tales which are ridiculous, impertinent, +contradictory, and criminal, and to these they are enjoined to pay +respect. They are gradually impregnated with inconceivable mysteries +that are announced as sacred truths, and they are accustomed to +contemplate phantoms before which they habitually tremble. In a word, +measures are taken which are the best calculated to render those blind +who do not consult their reason, and to render those base who constantly +shudder whenever they recall the ideas with which their priests infected +their minds at an age when they were unable to guard against such +snares. + +Recall to mind, Madam, the dangerous cares which were taken in the +convent where you were educated, to sow in your mind the germs of those +inquietudes that now afflict you. It was there that they began to speak +to you of fables, prodigies, mysteries, and doctrines that you actually +revere, while, if these things were announced today for the first +time, you would regard them as ridiculous, and as entirely unworthy of +attention. I have often witnessed your laughter at the simplicity with +which you formerly credited those tales of sorcerers and ghosts, that, +during your childhood, were related by the nuns who had charge of your +education. When you entered society where for a long time such chimeras +have been disbelieved, you were insensibly undeceived, and at present +you blush at your former credulity. Why have you not the courage to +laugh, in a similar manner, at an infinity of other chimeras with no +better foundation, which torment you even yet, and which only appear +more respectable, because you have not dared to examine them with your +own eyes, or because you see them respected by a public who have never +explored them? If my Eugenia is enlightened and reasonable upon all +other topics, why does she renounce her understanding and her judgment +whenever religion is in question? In the mean time, at this redoubtable +word her soul is disturbed, her strength abandons her, her ordinary +penetration is at fault, her imagination wanders, she only sees through +a cloud, she is unquiet and afflicted. On the watch against reason, she +dares not call that to her assistance. She persuades herself that the +best course for her to take is to allow herself to follow the opinions +of a multitude who never examine, and who always suffer themselves to be +conducted by blind or deceitful guides. + +To reestablish peace in your mind, dear Madam, cease to despise +yourself; entertain a just confidence in your own powers of mind, +and feel no chagrin at finding yourself infected with a general and +involuntary epidemic from which it did not depend on you to escape. The +good Abbe de St. Pierre had reason when he said that _devotion was the +smallpox of the soul_. I will add that it is rare the disease does not +leave its pits for life. Indeed, see how often the most enlightened +persons persist forever in the prejudices of their infancy! These +notions are so early inculcated, and so many precautions are continually +taken to render them durable, that if any thing may reasonably surprise +us, it is to see any one have the ability to rise superior to such +influences. The most sublime geniuses are often the playthings of +superstition. The heat of their imagination sometimes only serves to +lead them the farther astray, and to attach them to opinions which would +cause them to blush did they but consult their reason. Pascal constantly +imagined that he saw hell yawning under his feet; Mallebranche was +extravagantly credulous; Hobbes had a great terror of phantoms and +demons;* and the immortal Newton wrote a ridiculous commentary on the +vials and visions of the Apocalypse. In a word, every thing proves that +there is nothing more difficult than to efface the notions with which we +are imbued during our infancy. The most sensible persons, and those who +reason with the most correctness upon every other matter, relapse into +their infancy whenever religion is in question. + +Thus, Madam, you need not blush for a weakness which you hold in common +with almost all the world, and from which the greatest men are not +always exempt. Let your courage then revive, and fear not to examine +with perfect composure the phantoms which alarm you. In a matter which +so greatly interests your repose, consult that enlightened reason which +places you as much above the vulgar, as it elevates the human species +above the other animals. Far from being suspicious of your own +understanding and intellectual faculties, turn your just suspicion +against those men, far less enlightened and honest than you, who, to +vanquish you, only address themselves to your lively imagination; who +have the cruelty to disturb the serenity of your soul; who, under the +pretext of attaching you only to heaven, insist that you must +sunder the most tender and endearing ties; and in fine, who oblige you +to proscribe the use of that beneficent reason whose light guides, your +conduct so judiciously and so safely. + + * On this subject see Bayle's Diet. Critt art. Hobbes, + Rem. N. + +Leave inquietude and remorse to those corrupt women who have cause to +reproach themselves, or who have crimes to expiate. Leave superstition +to those silly and ignorant females whose narrow minds are incapable of +reasoning or reflection. Abandon the futile and trivial ceremonies of +an objectionable devotion to those idle and peevish women, for whom, as +soon as the transient reign of their personal charms is finished, there +remains no rational relaxation to fill the void of their days, and who +seek by slander and treachery to console themselves for the loss of +pleasures which they can no longer enjoy. Resist that inclination which +seems to impel you to gloomy meditation, solitude, and melancholy. +Devotion is only suited to inert and listless souls, while yours is +formed for action. You should pursue the course I recommend for the sake +of your husband, whose happiness depends upon you; you owe it to the +children, who will soon, undoubtedly, need all your care and all your +instructions for the guidance of their hearts and understandings; you +owe it to the friends who honor you, and who will value your society +when the beauty, which now adorns your person and the voluptuousness +which graces your figure have yielded to the inroads of time; you owe it +to the circle in which you move, and to the world which has a right to +your example, possessing as you do virtues that are far more rare +to persons of your rank than devotion. In fine, you owe happiness to +yourself; for, notwithstanding the promises of religion, you will never +find happiness in those agitations into which I perceive you cast by +the lurid ideas: of superstition. In this path you will only encounter +doleful chimeras, frightful phantoms, embarrassments without end, +crushing uncertainties, inexplicable enigmas, and dangerous reveries, +which are only calculated to disturb your repose, to deprive you of +happiness, and to render you incapable of occupying yourself with that +of others. It is very difficult to make those around us happy when we +are ourselves miserable and deprived of peace. + +If you will even slightly make observations upon those about you, you +will find abundant proofs of what I advance. The most religious persons +are rarely the most amiable or the most social. Even the most sincere +devotion, by subjecting those who embrace it to wearisome and crippling +ceremonies, by occupying their imaginations with lugubrious and +afflicting objects, by exciting their zeal, is but little calculated to +give to devotees that equality of temper, that sweetness of an indulgent +disposition, and that amenity of character, which constitute the +greatest charms of personal intimacy. A thousand examples might be +adduced to convince you that devotees who are the most involved in +superstitious observances to please God Digitized by by those women who +succeed best in pleasing those by whom they are surrounded. If there +seems to be occasionally an exception to this rule, it is on the part +of those who have not all the zeal and fervor which is exacted by their +religion. Devotion is either a morose and melancholy passion, or it is +a violent and obstinate enthusiasm. Religion imposes an exclusive and +entire regard upon its slaves. All that an acceptable Christian gives +to a fellow-creature is a robbery from the Creator. A soul filled with +religious fervor fears to attach itself to things of the earth, lest +it should lose sight of its jealous God, who wishes to engross constant +attention, who lays it down as a duty to his creatures that they should +sacrifice to him their most agreeable and most innocent inclinations, +and who orders that they should render themselves miserable here below, +under the idea of pleasing him. In accordance with such principles, +we generally see devotees executing with much fidelity the duty of +tormenting themselves and disturbing the repose of others. They actually +believe they acquire great merit with the Sovereign of heaven by +rendering themselves perfectly useless, or even a scourge to the +inhabitants of the earth. + +I am aware, Madam, that devotion in you does not produce effects +injurious to others; but I fear that it is only more injurious to +yourself. The goodness of your heart, the sweetness of your disposition, +and the beneficence which displays itself in all your conduct, are all +so great that even religion does not impel you to any dangerous +excesses. Nevertheless, devotion often causes strange metamorphoses, +Unquiet, agitated, miserable within yourself, it is to be feared that +your temperament will change, that your disposition will become +acrimonious, and that the vexatious ideas over which you have so long +brooded will sooner or later produce a disastrous influence upon those +who approach you. Does not experience constantly show us that religion +effects changes of this kind? What are called _conversions_, what +devotees regard as special acts of divine grace, are very often only +lamentable revolutions by which real vices and odious qualities are +substituted for amiable and useful characteristics. By a deplorable +consequence of these pretended miracles of grace we frequently see +sorrow succeed to enjoyment, a gloomy and unhappy state to one of +innocent gayety, lassitude and chagrin to activity and hilarity, and +slander, intolerance, and zeal to indulgence and gentleness; nay, what +do I say? cruelty itself to humanity. In a word, superstition is a +dangerous leaven, that is fitted to corrupt even the most honest hearts. + +Do you not see, in fact, the excesses to which fanaticism and zeal drive +the wisest and best meaning men? Princes, magistrates, and judges become +inhuman and pitiless as soon as there is a question of the interests of +religion. Men of the gentlest disposition, the most indulgent, and +the most equitable, upon every other matter, religion transforms to +ferocious beasts. The most feeling and compassionate persons believe +themselves in conscience obliged to harden their hearts, to do violence +to their better instincts, and to stifle nature, in order to show +themselves cruel to those who are denounced as enemies to their own +manner of thinking. Recall to your mind, Madam, the cruelties of nations +and governments in alternate persecutions of Catholics or Protestants, +as either happened to be in the ascendant. Can you find reason, equity, +or humanity in the vexations, imprisonments, and exiles that in our days +are inflicted upon the Jansenists? And these last, if ever they should +attain in their turn the power requisite for persecution, would not +probably treat their adversaries with more moderation or justice. Do you +not daily see individuals who pique themselves upon their sensibility +un-blushingly express the joy they would feel at the extermination +of persons to whom they believe they owe neither benevolence nor +indulgence, and whose only crime is a disdain for prejudices that the +vulgar regard as sacred, or that an erroneous and false policy considers +useful to the state? Superstition has so greatly stifled all sense of +humanity in many persons otherwise truly estimable, that they have +no compunctions at sacrificing the most enlightened men of the nation +because they could not be the most credulous or the most submissive to +the authority of the priests. + +In a word, devotion is only calculated to fill the heart with a bitter +rancor, that banishes peace and harmony from society. In the matter of +religion, every one believes himself obliged to show more or less ardor +and zeal. Have I not often seen you uncertain yourself whether you +ought to sigh or smile at the self-depreciation of devotees ridiculously +inflamed by that religious vanity which grows out of sectarian +conventionalities? You also see them participating in theological +quarrels, in which, without comprehending their nature or purport, they +believe themselves conscientiously obliged to mingle. I have a hundred +times seen you astounded with their clamors, indignant at their +animosity, scandalized at their cabals, and filled with disdain at their +obstinate ignorance. Yet nothing is more natural than these outbreaks; +ignorance has always been the mother of devotion. To be a devotee has +always been synonymous to having an imbecile confidence in priests. +It is to receive all impulsions from them; it is to think and act only +according to them; it is blindly to adopt their passions and prejudices; +it is faithfully to fulfil practices which their caprice imposes. + +Eugenia is not formed to follow such guides. They would terminate +by leading her widely astray, by dazzling her vivid imagination, by +infecting her gentle and amiable disposition with a deadly poison. To +master with more certainty her understanding, they would render her +austere, intolerant, and vindictive. In a word, by the magical power of +superstition and supernatural notions, they would succeed, perhaps, in +transforming to vices those happy dispositions that nature has given +you. Believe me, Madam, you would gain nothing by such a metamorphosis. +Rather be what you really are. Extricate yourself as soon as possible +from that state of incertitude and languor, from that alternative of +despondency and trouble, in which you are immersed. If you will only +take your reason and virtue for guides, you will soon break the fetters +whose dangerous effects you have begun to feel. + +Assume the courage, then, I repeat it, to examine for yourself this +religion, which, far from procuring you the happiness it promised, will +only prove an inexhaustible source of inquietudes and alarms, and which +will deprive you, sooner or later, of those rare qualities which render +you so dear to society. Your interest exacts that you should render +peace to your mind. It is your duty carefully to preserve that sweetness +of temper, that indulgence, and that cheerfulness, by which you are +so much endeared to all those who approach you. You owe happiness +to yourself, and you owe it to those who surround you. Do not, then, +abandon yourself to superstitious reveries, but collect all the strength +of your judgment to combat the chimeras which torment your imagination. +They will disappear as soon as you have considered them with your +ordinary sagacity. + +Do not tell me, Madam, that your understanding is too weak to sound the +depths of theology. Do not tell me, in the language of our priests, +that the truths of religion are mysteries that we must adopt without +comprehending them, and that it is necessary to adore in silence. +By expressing themselves in this manner, do you not see they really +proscribe and condemn the very religion to which they are so solicitous +you should adhere? Whatever is supernatural is unsuited to man, and +whatever is beyond his comprehension ought not to occupy his attention. +To adore what we are not able to know, is to adore nothing. To believe +in what we cannot conceive, is to believe in nothing. To admit without +examination every thing we are directed to admit, is to be basely +and stupidly credulous. To say that religion is above reason, is to +recognize the fact that it was not made for reasonable beings; it is to +avow that those who teach it have no more ability to fathom its depths +than ourselves; it is to confess that our reverend doctors do not +themselves understand the marvels with which they daily entertain us. + +If the truths of religion were, as they assure us, necessary to all men, +they would be clear and intelligible to all men. If the dogmas which +this religion teaches were as important as it is asserted, they would +not only be within the comprehension of the doctors who preach them, +but of all those who hear their lessons. Is it not strange that the +very persons whose profession it is to furnish themselves with religious +knowledge, in order to impart it to others, should recognize their +own dogmas as beyond their own understanding, and that they should +obstinately inculcate to the people, what they acknowledge they do not +comprehend themselves? Should we have much confidence in a physician, +who, after confessing that he was utterly ignorant of his art, should +nevertheless boast of the excellence of his remedies? This, however, is +the constant practice of our spiritual quacks. By a strange fatality, +the most sensible people consent to be the dupes of those empirics who +are perpetually obliged to avow their own profound ignorance. + +But if the mysteries of religion are incomprehensible for even those who +inculcate it,--if among those who profess it there is no one who knows +precisely what he believes, or who can give an account of either his +conduct or belief,--this is not so in regard to the difficulties with +which we oppose this religion. These objections are simple, within +the comprehension of all persons of ordinary ability, and capable of +convincing every man who, renouncing the prejudiced of his infancy, +will deign to consult the good sense, that nature has bestowed upon all +beings of the human race. + +For a long period of time, subtle theologians.. have, without +relaxation, been occupied in warding off the attacks of the incredulous, +and in repairing the breaches made in the ruinous edifice of religion +by adversaries who combated under the flag of reason. In all times there +have been people who felt the futility of the titles upon which the +priests have arrogated the right of enslaving the understandings of +men, and of subjugating and despoiling nations. Notwithstanding all the +efforts of the interested and frequently hypocritical men who have taken +up the defence of religion, from which they and their confederates +alone are profited, these apologists have never been able to vindicate +successfully their _divine_ system against the attacks of incredulity. +Without cessation they have replied to the objections which have been +made, but never have they refuted or annihilated them. Almost in every +instance the defenders of Christianity have been sustained by oppressive +laws on the part of the government; and it has only been by injuries, by +declamations, by punishments and persecutions, that they have replied +to the allegations of reason. It is in this manner that they have +apparently remained masters of the field of battle which their +adversaries could not openly contest. Yet, in spite of the disadvantages +of a combat so unequal, and although the partisans of religion were +accoutred with every possible weapon, and could show themselves openly, +in accordance with _law_, while their adversaries had no arms but those +of reason, and could not appear personally but at the peril of fines, +imprisonment, torture, and death, and were restricted from bringing +all their arsenal into service, yet they have inflicted profound, +immedicable, and incurable wounds upon superstition. Still, if we +believe the mercenaries of religion, the excellence of their system +makes it absolutely invulnerable to every blow which can be inflicted +upon it; and they pretend they have a thousand times in a victorious +manner answered the objections which are continually renewed against +them. In spite of this great security, we see them excessively alarmed +every time a new combatant presents himself, and the latter may well and +successfully use the most common objections, and those which have most +frequently been urged, since it is evident that up to the present moment +the arguments have never been obviated or opposed with satisfactory +replies. To convince you, Madam, of what I here advance, you need only +compare the most simple and ordinary difficulties which good sense +opposes to religion, with the pretended solutions that have been given. +You will perceive that the difficulties, evident even to the capacities +of a child, have never been removed by divines the most practised in +dialectics. You will find in their replies only subtle distinctions, +metaphysical subterfuges, unintelligible verbiage, which can never be +the language of truth, and which demonstrates the embarrassment, the +impotence, and the bad faith of those who are interested by their +position in sustaining a desperate cause. In a word, the difficulties +which have been urged against religion are clear, and within the +comprehension of every one, while the answers, which have been given +are obscure, entangled, and far from satisfactory, even to persons most +versed in such jargon, and plainly indicating that the authors of these +replies do not themselves understand what they say. + +If you consult the clergy, they will not fail to set forth the antiquity +of their doctrine, which has always maintained itself, notwithstanding +the continual attacks of the Heretics, the Mecreans, and the Impious +generally, and also in spite of the persecutions of the Pagans. You +have, Madam, too much good sense not to perceive at once that the +antiquity of an opinion proves nothing in its favor. If antiquity was a +proof of truth, Christianity must yield to Judaism, and that in its turn +to the religion of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, or, in other words, to +the idolatry which was greatly anterior to Moses. For thousands of years +it was universally believed that the sun revolved round the earth, which +remained immovable; and yet it is not the less true that the sun is +fixed, and the earth moves around that. Besides, it is evident--that +the Christianity of to-day is not what it formerly was. The continual +attacks that this religion has suffered from heretics, commencing with +its earliest history, proves that there never could have existed any +harmony between the partisans of a pretended divine system, which +offended all rules of consistency and logic in its very first +principles. Some parts of this celestial system were always denied +by devotees who admitted other parts. If infidels have often attacked +religion without apparent effect, it is because the best reasons become +useless against the blindness of a superstition sustained by the public +authority, or against the torrent of opinion and custom which sways +the minds of most men. With regard to the persecutions which the church +suffered on the part of the pagans, he is but slightly acquainted with +the effects of fanaticism and religious obstinacy who does not perceive +that tyranny is calculated to excite and extend what it persecutes most +violently. + +You are not formed to be the dupe of names and authorities. The +defenders of the popular superstition will endeavor to overwhelm you by +the multiplied testimony of many illustrious and learned men, who not +only admitted the Christian religion, but who were also its most zealous +supporters. + +They will adduce holy divines, great philosophers, powerful reasoners, +fathers of the church, and learned interpreters, who have successively +advocated the system. I will not contest the understanding of the +learned men who are cited, which, however, was often faulty, but will +content myself with repeating that frequently the greatest geniuses +are not more clear sighted in matters of religion than the people +themselves. They did not examine the religious opinions they taught; it +may be because they regarded them as sacred, or it may be because +they never went back to first principles, which they would have found +altogether unsound, if they had considered them without prejudice. It +may also have happened because they, were interested in defending a +cause with which their own position was allied. Thus their testimony is +exceptionable, and their authority carries no great weight. + +With regard to the interpreters and commentators, who for so many ages +have painfully toiled to elucidate the divine laws, to explain the +sacred books, and to fix the dogmas of Christianity, their very labors +ought to inspire us with suspicion concerning a religion which is +founded upon such books and which preaches such dogmas. They prove that +works emanating from the Supreme Being, are obscure, unintelligible, +and need human assistance in order to be understood by those to whom +the Divinity wished to reveal his will. The laws of a wise God would be +simple and clear. Defective laws alone need interpreters. + +It is not, then, Madam, upon these interpreters that you should rely; it +is upon yourself; it is your own reason that you should consult. It is +_your_ happiness, it is _your_ repose, that is in question; and these +objects are too serious to allow their decision to be delegated to any +others than yourself. If religion is as important as we are assured, it +undoubtedly merits the greatest attention. If it is upon this religion +that depends the happiness of men both in this world and in another, +there is no subject which interests us so strongly, and which +consequently demands a more thorough, careful, and considerate +examination. Can there be any thing, then, more strange than the conduct +of the great majority of men? Entirely convinced of the necessity and +importance of religion, they still never give themselves the trouble to +examine it thoroughly; they follow it in a spirit of routine and from +habit; they never give any reason for its dogmas; they revere it, they +submit to it, and they groan under its weight, without ever inquiring +wherefore. In fine, they rely upon others to examine it; and they whose +judgment they so blindly receive are precisely those persons upon whose +opinions they should look with the most suspicion. The priests arrogate +the possession of judging exclusively and without appeal of a system +evidently invented for their own utility. And what is the language of +these priests? Visibly interested in maintaining the received opinions, +they exhibit them as necessary to the public good, as useful and +consoling for us all, as intimately connected with morality, as +indispensable to society, and, in a word, as of the very greatest +importance. After having thus prepossessed our minds, they next prohibit +our examining the things so important to be known. What must be thought +of such conduct? You can only conclude that they desire to deceive you, +that they fear examination only because religion cannot sustain it, and +that they dread reason because it is able to unveil the incalculably +dangerous projects of the priesthood against the human race. + +For these reasons, Madam, as I cannot too often repeat, examine for +yourself; make use of your own understanding; seek the truth in the +sincerity of your heart; reduce prejudice to silence; throw off the +base servitude of custom; be suspicious of imagination; and with +these precautions, in good faith with yourself, you can weigh with an +impartial hand the various opinions concerning religion. From whatever +source an opinion may come, acquiesce only in that which shall +be convincing to your understanding, satisfactory to your heart, +conformable to a healthy morality, and approved by virtue. Reject with +disdain whatever shocks your reason, and repulse with horror those +notions so criminal and injurious to morality which religion endeavors +to palm off for supernatural and divine virtues. + +What do I say? Amiable and wise Eugenia, examine rigorously the ideas +that, by your own desire, I shall hereafter present you. Let not your +confidence in me, or your deference to my weak understanding, blind you +in regard to my opinions. I submit them to your judgment. Discuss them, +combat them, and never give them your assent until you are convinced +that in them you recognize the truth. My sentiments are neither divine +oracles nor theological opinions which it is not permitted to canvass. +If what I say is true, adopt my ideas. If I am deceived, point out +my errors, and I am ready to recognize them and to subscribe my own +condemnation. It will be very pleasant, Madam, to learn truths of you +which, up to the present time, I have vainly sought in the writings of +our divines. If I have at this moment any advantage over you, it is due +entirely to that tranquillity which I enjoy, and of which at present you +are unhappily deprived. The agitations of your mind, the inquietudes of +your body, and the attacks of an exacting and ceremonious devotion, with +which your soul is perplexed, prevent you, for the moment, from seeing +things coolly, and hinder you from making use of your own understanding; +but I have no doubt that soon your intellect, strengthened by reason +against vain chimeras, will regain its natural vigor and the superiority +which belongs to it. In awaiting this moment that I foresee and so much +desire, I shall esteem myself extremely happy if my reflections shall +contribute to render you that tranquillity of spirit so necessary +to judge wisely of things, and without which there can be no true +happiness. + +I perceive, Madam, though rather tardily, the length of this letter; but +I hope you will pardon it, as well as my frankness. They will at least +prove the lively interest I take in your painful situation, the sincere +desire I feel to bring it to a termination, and the strong inclination +which actuates me to restore you to your accustomed serenity. Less +pressing motives would never have been sufficient to make me break +silence. Your own positive orders were necessary to lead me to speak of +objects which, once thoroughly examined, give no uneasiness to a healthy +mind. It has been a law with me never to explain myself upon the subject +of religion. Experience has often convinced me that the most useless of +enterprises is to seek to undeceive a prejudiced mind. I was very far +from believing that I ought ever to write upon these subjects. You +alone, Madam, had the power to conquer my indolence, and to impel me to +change my resolution. Eugenia afflicted, tormented with scruples, and +ready to plunge herself into gloomy austerities and superstitions, +calculated to render her unamiable to others, without contributing +happiness to herself, honored me with her confidence, and requested +counsel of her friend. She exacted that I should speak. "It is enough," +I said; "let me write for Eugenia; let me endeavor to restore the repose +she has lost; let me labor with ardor for her upon whose happiness that +of so many others is dependent." + +Such, Madam, are the motives which induce me to take my pen in hand. In +looking forward to the time when you will be undeceived, I shall dare at +least to flatter myself that you will not regard me with the same eyes +with which priests and devotees look upon every one who has the temerity +to contradict their ideas. To believe them, every man who declares +himself against religion is a bad citizen, a madman armed to justify +his passions, a perturbator of the public repose, and an enemy of his +fellow-citizens, that cannot be punished with too much rigor. My +conduct is known to you; and the confidence with which you honor me is +sufficient for my apology. It is for you alone that I write. It is to +dissipate the clouds that obscure your mental horizon that I communicate +reflections which, but for reasons so pressing, I should have always +enclosed in my own bosom. If by chance they shall hereafter fall into +other hands than yours, and be found of some utility, I shall felicitate +myself for having contributed to the establishment of happiness by +leading back to reason minds which had wandered from it, by making truth +to be felt and known, and by unmasking impostures which have caused so +many misfortune? upon the earth. + +In a word, I submit my reasoning to your judgment, I confide fully in +your discretion, and I allow myself to conclude that my ideas, after you +are disabused of the vain terrors with which you are now oppressed, will +fully convince you that this religion, which is exhibited to men as a +concern the most important, the most true, the most interesting, and the +most useful, is only a tissue of absurdities, is calculated to confound +reason, to disturb the understanding, and can be advantageous to +none save those who make use of it to govern the human race. I shall +acknowledge myself in the wrong if I do not prove, in the clearest +manner, that religion is false, useless, and dangerous, and that +morality, in its stead, should occupy the spirits and animate the souls +of all men. + +I shall enter more particularly into the subject in my next letter. +I shall go back to first principles, and in the course of this +correspondence I flatter myself I shall completely demonstrate that +these objects, which theology endeavors to render intricate, and to +envelop with clouds, in order to make them more respectable and sacred, +are not only entirely susceptible of being understood by you, but that +they are likewise within the comprehension of every one who possesses +even an ordinary share of good sense. If my frankness shall appear too +undisguised, I beg you to consider, Madam, that it is necessary I +should address you explicitly and clearly. I now consider it my duty to +administer an energetic and prompt remedy for the malady with which I +perceive you to be attacked. Besides, I venture to hope that in a short +time you will feel gratified that I have shown you the truth in all its +integrity and brilliancy. You will pardon me for having dissipated the +unreal and yet harassing phantoms which infested your mind. But let my +success be what it may, my efforts to confer tranquillity upon you will +at least be evidences of the interest I take in your happiness, of my +zeal to serve you, and of the respect with which I am your sincere and +attached friend. + + + + +LETTER II. Of the Ideas which Religion gives us of the Divinity + +Every religion is a system of opinions and conduct founded upon the +notions, true or false, that we entertain of the Divinity. To judge of +the truth of any system, it is requisite to examine its principles, to +see if they accord, and to satisfy ourselves whether all its parts lend +a mutual support to each other. A religion, to be _true_, should give us +_true_ ideas of God; and it is by our reason alone that we are able +to decide whether what theology asserts concerning this being and his +attributes is true or otherwise. Truth for men is only conformity to +reason; and thus the same reason which the clergy proscribe is, in the +last resort, our only means of judging the system that religion +proposes for our assent. That God can only be the true God who is most +conformable to our reason, and the true worship can be no other than +that which reason approves. + +Religion is only important in accordance with the advantages it +bestows upon mankind. The best religion must be that which procures +its disciples the most real, the most extensive, and the most durable +advantages. A false religion must necessarily bestow upon those who +practise it only a false, chimerical, and transient utility. Reason must +be the judge whether the benefits derived are real or imaginary. Thus, +as we constantly see, it belongs to reason to decide whether a religion, +a mode of worship, or a system of conduct is advantageous or injurious +to the human race. + +It is in accordance with these incontestable principles that I shall +examine the religion of the Christians. I shall commence by analyzing +the ideas which their system gives us of the Divinity, which it boasts +of presenting to us in a more perfect manner than all other religions in +the world. + +I shall examine whether these ideas accord with each other, whether +the dogmas taught by this religion are conformable to those fundamental +principles which are every where acknowledged, whether they are +consonant with them, and whether the conduct which Christianity +prescribes answers to the notions which itself gives us of the Divinity. +I shall conclude the inquiry by investigating the advantages that the +Christian religion procures the human race--advantages, according to its +partisans, that infinitely surpass those which result from all the other +religions of the earth. + +The Christian religion, as the basis of its belief, sets forth an only +God, which it defines as a pure spirit, as an eternal intelligence, as +independent and immutable, who has infinite power, who is the cause of +all things, who foresees all things, who fills immensity, who created +from nothing the world and all it encloses, and who preserves and +governs it according to the laws of his infinite wisdom, and the +perfections of his infinite goodness and justice, which are all so +evident in his works. + +Such are the ideas that Christianity gives us of the Divinity. Let us +now see whether they accord with the other notions presented to us +by this religious system, and which it pretends were revealed by God +himself; or, in other words, that these truths were received directly +from the Deity, who concealed them from the remainder of mankind, and +deprived them of a knowledge of his essence. Thus the Christian religion +is founded upon a special revelation. And to whom was the revelation +made? At first to Abraham, and then to his posterity. The God of the +universe, then, the Father of all men, was only willing to be known to +the descendants of a Chaldean, who for a long series of years were the +exclusive possessors of the knowledge of the true God. By an effect of +his special kindness, the Jewish people was for a long time the only +race favored with a revelation equally necessary for all men. This +was the only people which understood the relations between man and the +Supreme Being. All other nations wandered in darkness, or possessed no +ideas of the Sovereign of nature but such as were crude, ridiculous, or +criminal. + +Thus, at the very first step, do we not see that Christianity impairs +the goodness and justice of its God? A revelation to a particular people +only announces a partial God, who favors a portion of his children, to +the prejudice of all the others; who consults only his caprice, and not +real merit; who, incapable of conferring happiness upon all men, shows +his tenderness solely to some individuals, who have, however, no titles +upon his consideration not possessed by the others. What would you say +of a father who, placed at the head of a numerous family, had no eyes +but for a single one of his children, and who never allowed himself to +be seen by any of them except that favored one? What would you say if he +was displeased with the rest for not being acquainted with his features, +notwithstanding he would never allow them to approach his person? Would +you not accuse such a father of caprice, cruelty, folly, and a want of +reason, if he visited with his anger the children whom he had himself +excluded from his presence? Would you not impute to him an injustice +of which none but the most brutal of our species could be guilty if he +actually punished them for not having executed orders which he was never +pleased to give them? + +Conclude, then, with me, Madam, that the revelation of a religion to +only a single tribe or nation sets forth a God neither good, impartial, +nor equitable, but an unjust and capricious tyrant, who, though he may +show kindness and preference to some of his creatures, at any rate +acts with the greatest cruelty towards all the others. This admitted, +revelation does not prove the goodness, but the caprice and partiality +of the God that religion represents to us as full of sagacity, +benevolence, and equity, and that it describes as the common father of +all the inhabitants of the earth. If the interest and self-love of those +whom he favors makes them admire the profound views of a God because +he has loaded them with benefits to the prejudice of their brethren, +he must appear very unjust, on the other hand, to all those who are +the victims of his partiality. A hateful pride alone could induce a few +persons to believe that they were, to the exclusion of all others, the +cherished children of Providence. Blinded by their vanity, they do not +perceive that it is to give the lie to universal and infinite goodness +to suppose that God was capable of favoring with his preference some +men or nations, to the exclusion of others. All ought to be equal in his +eyes if it is true they are all equally the work of his hands. + +It is nevertheless, upon partial revelations that are founded all +the religions of the world. In the same manner that every individual +believes himself the most important being in the universe, every nation +entertains the idea that it ought to enjoy the peculiar tenderness of +the Sovereign of nature, to the exclusion of all the others. If the +inhabitants of Hindostan imagine that it was for them alone that Brama +spoke, the Jews and the Christians have persuaded themselves that it was +only for them that the world was created, and that it is solely for them +that God was revealed. + +But let us suppose for a moment that God has really made himself known. +How could a pure spirit render himself sensible? What form did he take? +Of what material organs did he make use in order to speak? How can an +infinite Being communicate with those which are finite? I may be assured +that, to accommodate himself to the weakness of his creatures, he made +use of the agency of some chosen men to announce his wishes to all the +rest, and that he filled these agents with his spirit, and spoke by +their mouths. But can we possibly conceive that an infinite Being could +unite himself with the finite nature of man? How can I be certain that +he who professes to be inspired by the Divinity does not promulgate his +own reveries or impostures as the oracles of heaven? What means have +I of recognizing whether God really speaks by his voice? The immediate +reply will be, that God, to give weight to the declarations of those +whom he has chosen to be his interpreters, endowed them with a portion +of his own omnipotence, and that they wrought miracles to prove their +divine mission. + +I therefore inquire, What is a miracle? I am told that it is an +operation contrary to the laws of nature, which God himself has fixed; +to which I reply, that, according to the ideas I have formed of the +divine wisdom, it appears to me impossible that an immutable God can +change the wise laws which he himself has established. I thence conclude +that miracles are impossible, seeing they are incompatible with our +ideas of the wisdom and immutability of the Creator of the universe. +Besides, these miracles would be useless to God. If he be omnipotent, +can he not modify the minds of his creatures according to his own will? + +To convince and to persuade them, he has only to will that they shall be +convinced and persuaded. He has only to tell them things that are clear +and sensible, things that may be demonstrated; and to evidence of such +a kind they will not fail to give their assent. To do this, he will have +no need either of miracles or interpreters; truth alone is sufficient to +win mankind. + +Supposing, nevertheless, the utility and possibility of these miracles, +how shall I ascertain whether the wonderful operation which I see +performed by the interpreter of the Deity be conformable or contrary to +the laws of nature? Am I acquainted with all these laws? May not he who +speaks to me in the name of the Lord execute by natural means, though to +me unknown, those works which appear altogether extraordinary? How shall +I assure myself that he does not deceive me? Does not my ignorance of +the secrets and shifts of his art expose me to be the dupe of an able +impostor, who might make use of the name of God to inspire me with +respect, and to screen his deception? Thus his pretended miracles ought +to make me suspect him, even though I were a witness of them; but how +would the case stand, were these miracles said to have been performed +some thousands of years before my existence? I shall be told that they +were attested by a multitude of witnesses; but if I cannot trust to +myself when a miracle is performing, how shall I have confidence in +others, who may be either more ignorant or more stupid than myself, +or who perhaps thought themselves interested in supporting by their +testimony tales entirely destitute of reality? + +If, on the contrary, I admit these miracles, what do they prove to +me? Will they furnish me with a belief that God has made use of his +omnipotence to convince me of things which are in direct opposition +to the ideas I have formed of his essence, his nature, and his divine +perfections? If I be persuaded that God is immutable, a miracle will not +force me to believe that he is subject to change. If I be convinced that +God is just and good, a miracle will never be sufficient to persuade me +that he is unjust and wicked. If I possess an idea of his wisdom, all +the miracles in the world would not persuade me that God would act like +a madman. Shall I be told that he would consent to perform miracles that +destroy his divinity, or that are proper only to erase from the minds of +men the ideas which they ought to entertain of his infinite perfections? +This, however, is what would happen were God himself to perform, or +to grant the power of performing, miracles in favor of a particular +revelation. He would, in that case, derange the course of nature, to +teach the world that he is capricious, partial, unjust, and cruel; he +would make use of his omnipotence purposely to convince us that his +goodness was insufficient for the welfare of his creatures; he would +make a vain parade of his power, to hide his inability to convince +mankind by a single act of his will. In short, he would interfere with +the eternal and immutable laws of nature, to show us that he is subject +to change, and to announce to mankind some important news, which they +had hitherto been destitute of, notwithstanding all his goodness. + +Thus, under whatever point of view we regard revelation, by whatever +miracles we may suppose it attested, it will always be in contradiction +to the ideas we have of the Deity. They will show us that he acts in +an unjust and an arbitrary manner, consulting only his own whims in the +favors he bestows, and continually changing his conduct; that he was +unable to communicate all at once to mankind the knowledge necessary +to their existence, and to give them that degree of perfection of which +their natures were susceptible. Hence, Madam, you may see that the +supposition of a revelation can never be reconciled with the infinite +goodness, justice, omnipotence, and immutability of the Sovereign of the +universe. + +They will not fail to tell you that the Creator of all things, the +independent Monarch of nature is the master of his favors; that he owes +nothing to his creatures; that he can dispose of them as he pleases, +without any injustice, and without their having any right of complaint; +that man is incapable of sounding the profundity of his decrees; and +that his justice is not the justice of men. But all these answers, which +divines have continually in their mouths, serve only to accelerate +the destruction of those sublime ideas which they have given us of the +Deity. The result appears to be, that God conducts himself according to +the maxims of a fantastic sovereign, who, satisfied in having rewarded +some of his favorites, thinks himself justified in neglecting the rest +of his subjects, and to leave them groaning in the most deplorable +misery. + +You must acknowledge, Madam, it is not on such a model that we can form +a powerful, equitable, and beneficent God, whose omnipotence ought to +enable him to procure happiness to all his subjects, without fear of +exhausting the treasures of his goodness. + +If we are told that divine justice bears no resemblance to the justice +of men, I reply, that in this case we are not authorized to say that God +is _just_; seeing that by justice it is not possible for us to conceive +any thing except a similar quality to that called justice by the beings +of our own species. If divine justice bears no resemblance to human +justice,--if, on the contrary, this justice resembles what we call +injustice,--then all our ideas confound themselves, and we know not +either what we mean or what we say when we affirm that God is just +According to human ideas, (which are, however, the only ones that men +are possessed of,) justice will always exclude caprice and partiality; +and never can we prevent ourselves from regarding as iniquitous and +vicious a sovereign who, being both able and willing to occupy himself +with the happiness of his subjects, should plunge the greatest number +of them into misfortune, and reserve his kindness for those to whom his +whims have given the preference. + +With respect to telling us that _God owes nothing to his creatures_, +such an atrocious principle is destructive of every idea of justice and +goodness, and tends visibly to sap the foundation of all religion. A God +that is just and good owes happiness to every being to whom he has given +existence; he ceases to be just and good if he produce them only to +render them miserable; and he would be destitute of both wisdom and +reason were he to give them birth only to be the victims of his caprice. +What should we think of a father bringing children into the world for +the sole purpose of putting their eyes out and tormenting them at his +ease? + +On the other hand, all religions are entirely founded upon the +reciprocal engagements which are supposed to exist between God and his +creatures. If God owes nothing to the latter, if he is not under an +obligation to fulfil his engagements to them when they have fulfilled +theirs to him, of what use is religion? What motives can men have to +offer their homage and worship to the Divinity? Why should they feel +much desire to love or serve a master who can absolve himself of all +duty towards those, who entered his service with an expectation of the +recompense promised under such circumstances? + +It is easy to see that the destructive ideas of divine justice which are +inculcated are only founded upon a fatal prejudice prevalent among the +generality of men, leading them to suppose that unlimited power must +inevitably exempt its possessor from an accordance with the laws of +equity; that force can confer the right of committing bad actions; and +that no one could properly demand an account of his conduct of a man +sufficiently powerful to carry out all his caprices. These ideas are +evidently borrowed from the conduct of tyrants, who no sooner find +themselves possessed of absolute power than they cease to recognize any +other rules than their own fantasies, and imagine that justice has no +claims upon potentates like them. + +It is upon this frightful model that theologians have formed that God +whom they, notwithstanding, assert to be a just being, while, if the +conduct they attribute to him was true, we should be constrained +to regard him as the most unjust of tyrants, as the most partial of +fathers, as the most fantastic of princes, and, in a word, as a being +the most to be feared and the least worthy of love that the imagination +could devise. We are informed that the God who created all men has been +unwilling to be known except to a very small number of them, and that +while this favored portion exclusively enjoyed the benefits of his +kindness, all the others were objects of his anger, and were only +created by him to be left in blindness for the very purpose of punishing +them in the most cruel manner. We see these pernicious characteristics +of the Divinity penetrating the entire economy of the Christian +religion; we find them in the books which are pretended to be inspired, +and we discover them in the dogmas of predestination and grace. In +a word, every thing in religion announces a despotic God, whom his +disciples vainly attempt to represent to us as just, while all that they +declare of him only proves his injustice, his tyrannical caprices, his +extravagances, so frequently cruel, and his partiality, so pernicious to +the greater portion of the human race. + +When we exclaim against conduct which, in the eyes of all reasonable +men, must appear so excessively capricious, it is expected that our +mouths will be closed by the assertion that God is omnipotent, that +it is for him to determine how he will bestow benefits, and that he +is under no obligations to any of his creatures. His apologists end +by endeavoring to intimidate us with the frightful and iniquitous +punishments that he reserves for those who are so audacious as to +murmur. + +It is easy to perceive the futility of these arguments. Power, I do +contend, can never confer the right of violating equity. Let a sovereign +be as powerful as he may, he is not on that account less blamable when +in rewards and punishments he follows only his caprice. It is true, we +may fear him, we may flatter him, we may pay him servile homage; but +never shall we love him sincerely; never shall we serve him faithfully; +never shall we look up to him as the model of justice and goodness. If +those who receive his kindness believe him to be just and good, those +who are the objects of his folly and rigor cannot prevent themselves +from detesting his monstrous iniquity in their hearts. + +If we be told that we are only as worms of earth relatively to God, or +that we are only like a vase in the hands of a potter, I reply in this +case, that there can neither be connection nor moral duty between the +creature and his Creator; and I shall hence conclude that religion +is useless, seeing that a worm of earth can owe nothing to a man who +crushes it, and that the vase can owe nothing to the potter that has +formed it. In the Supposition that man is only a worm or an earthen +vessel in the eyes of the Deity, he would be incapable either of serving +him, glorifying him, honoring him, or offending him. We are, however, +continually told that man is capable of merit and demerit in the sight +of his God, whom he is ordered to love, serve, and worship. We are +likewise assured that it was man alone whom the Deity had in view in all +his works; that it is for him alone the universe was created; for him +alone that the course of nature was so often deranged; and, in short, it +was with a view of being honored, cherished, and glorified by man that +God has revealed himself to us. According to the principles of the +Christian religion, God does not cease, for a single instant, his +occupations for man, this _worm of earth_, this _earthen vessel_, which +he has formed. Nay, more: man is sufficiently powerful to influence +the honor, the felicity, and the glory of his God; it rests with man to +please him or to irritate him, to deserve his favor or his hatred, to +appease him or to kindle his wrath. + +Do you not perceive, Madam, the striking contradictions of those +principles which, nevertheless, form the basis of all revealed +religions? Indeed, we cannot find one of them that is not erected on the +reciprocal influence between God and man, and between man and God. Our +own species, which are annihilated (if I may use the expression) +every time that it becomes necessary to whitewash the Deity from some +reproachful stain of injustice and partiality,--these miserable beings, +to whom it is pretended that God owes nothing, and who, we are assured, +are unnecessary to him for his own felicity,--the human race, which is +nothing in his eyes, becomes all at once the principal performer on the +stage of nature. We find that mankind are necessary to support the glory +of their Creator; we see them become the sole objects of his care; we +behold in them the power to gladden or afflict him; we see them meriting +his favor and provoking his wrath. According to these contradictory +notions concerning the God of the universe, the source of all felicity, +is he not really the most wretched of beings? We behold him perpetually +exposed to the insults of men, who offend him by their thoughts, their +words, their actions, and their neglect of duty. They incommode him, +they irritate him, by the capriciousnes of their minds, by their +actions, their desires, and even by their ignorance. If we admit those +Christian principles which suppose that the greater portion of the human +race excites the fury of the Eternal, and that very few of them live +in a manner conformable to his views, will it not necessarily result +therefrom, that in the immense crowd of beings whom God has created +for his glory, only a very small number of them glorify and please +him; while all the rest are occupied in vexing him, exciting his wrath, +troubling his felicity, deranging the order that he loves, frustrating +his designs, and forcing him to change his immutable intentions? + +You are, undoubtedly, surprised at the contradictions to be encountered +at the very first step we take in examining this religion; and I take +upon myself to predict that your embarrassment will increase as you +proceed therein. If you coolly examine the ideas presented to us in +the revelation common both to Jews and Christians, and contained in the +books which they tell us are _sacred_, you will find that the Deity who +speaks is always in contradiction with himself; that he becomes his own +destroyer, and is perpetually occupied in undoing what he has just done, +and in repairing his own workmanship, to which, in the first instance, +he was incapable of giving that degree of perfection he wished it to +possess. He is never satisfied with his own works, and cannot, in spite +of his omnipotence, bring the human race to the point of perfection he +intended. The books containing the revelation, on which Christianity is +founded, every where display to us a God of goodness in the commission +of wickedness; an omnipotent God, whose projects unceasingly miscarry; +an immutable God, changing his maxims and his conduct; an omniscient +God, continually deceived unawares; a resolute God, yet repenting of his +most important actions; a God of wisdom, whose arrangements never attain +success. He is a great God, who occupies himself with the most puerile +trifles; an all-sufficient God, yet subject to jealousy; a powerful God, +yet suspicious, vindictive, and cruel; and a just God, yet permitting +and prescribing the most atrocious iniquities. In a word, he is a +perfect God, yet displaying at the same time such imperfections and +vices that the most despicable of men would blush to resemble him. + +Behold, Madam, the God whom this religion orders you to adore _in spirit +and in truth_. I reserve for another letter an analysis of the holy +books which you are taught to respect as the oracles of heaven. I +now perceive for the first time that I have perhaps made too long a +dissertation; and I doubt not you have already perceived that a system +built on a basis possessing so little solidity as that of the God whom +his devotees raise with one hand and destroy with the other, can have no +stability attached to it, and can only be regarded as a long tissue of +errors and contradictions. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER III. An Examination of the Holy Scriptures, of the Nature of the +Christian Religion, and of the Proofs upon which Christianity is founded + +You have seen, Madam, in my preceding letter, the incompatible and +contradictory ideas which this religion gives us of the Deity. You will +have seen that the revelation which is announced to us, instead of being +the offspring of his goodness and tenderness for the human race, is +really only a proof of injustice and partiality, of which a God who is +equally just and good would be entirely incapable. Let us now examine +whether the ideas suggested to us by these books, containing the divine +oracles, are more rational, more consistent, or more conformable to the +divine perfections. Let us see whether the statements related in the +Bible, whether the commands prescribed to us in the name of God himself, +are really worthy of God, and display to us the characters of infinite +wisdom, goodness, power, and justice. + +These inspired books go back to the origin of the world. Moses, the +confidant, the interpreter, the historian of the Deity, makes us (if we +may use such an expression) witnesses of the formation of the universe. +He tells us that the Eternal, tired of his inaction, one fine day took +it into his head to create a world that was necessary to his glory. To +effect this, he forms matter out of nothing; a pure spirit produces a +substance which has no affinity to himself; although this God fills all +space with his immensity, yet still he found room enough in it to admit +the universe, as well as all the material bodies contained therein. + +These, at least, are the ideas which divines wish us to form respecting +the creation, if such a thing were possible as that of possessing a +clear idea of a pure spirit producing matter. But this discussion is +throwing us into metaphysical researches, which I wish to avoid. It will +be sufficient to you that you may console yourself for not being able +to comprehend it, seeing that the most profound thinkers, who talk about +the creation or the eduction of the world from nothing, have no ideas on +the subject more precise than those which you form to yourself. As soon, +Madam, as you take the trouble to reflect thereon, you will find that +divines, instead of explaining things, have done nothing but invent +words, in order to render them dubious, and to confound all our natural +conceptions. + +I will not, however, tire you by a fastidious display of the blunders +which fill the narrative of Moses, which they announce to us as being +dictated by the Deity. If we read it with a little attention, we +shall perceive in every page philosophical and astronomical errors, +unpardonable in an inspired author, and such as we should consider +ridiculous in any man, who, in the most superficial manner, should have +studied and contemplated nature. + +You will find, for example, light created before the sun, although this +star is visibly the source of light which communicates itself to our +globe. You will find the evening and the morning established before the +formation of this same sun, whose presence alone produces day, whose +absence produces night, and whose different aspects constitute morning +and evening. You will there find that the moon is spoken of as a body +possessing its own light, in a similar manner as the sun possesses it, +although this planet is a dark body, and receives its light from the +sun. These ignorant blunders are sufficient to show you that the Deity +who revealed himself to Moses was quite unacquainted with the nature of +those substances which he had created out of nothing, and that you at +present possess more information respecting them than was once possessed +by the Creator of the world. + +I am not ignorant that our divines have an answer always ready to those +difficulties which would attack their divine science, and place their +knowledge far below that of Galileo, Descartes, Newton, and even below +that of young people who have scarcely studied the first elements of +natural philosophy. They will tell us that God, in order to render +himself intelligible to the savage and ignorant Jews, spoke in +conformity to their imperfect notions, in the false and incorrect +language of the vulgar. We must not be imposed upon by this solution, +which our doctors regard as triumphant, and which they so frequently +employ when it becomes necessary to justify the Bible against the +ignorance and vulgarities contained therein. We answer them, that a God +who knows every thing, and can perform every thing, might by a single +word have rectified the false notions of the people he wished to +enlighten, and enabled them to know the nature of bodies more perfectly +than the most able men who have since appeared. If it be replied that +revelation is not intended to render men learned, but to make them +pious, I answer that revelation was not sent to establish false notions; +that it would be unworthy of God to borrow the language of falsehood and +ignorance; that the knowledge of nature, so far from being an injury to +piety, is, by the avowal of divines, the most proper study to display +the greatness of God. They tell us that religion would be unmovable, +were it conformable to true knowledge; that we should have no objections +to make to the recital of Moses, nor to the philosophy of the Holy +Scriptures, if we found nothing but what was continually confirmed by +experience, astronomy, and the demonstrations of geometry. + +To maintain a contrary opinion, and to say that God is pleased in +confounding the knowledge of men and in rendering it useless, is to +pretend that he is pleased with making us ignorant and changeable, and +that he condemns the progress of the human mind, although we ought to +suppose him the author of it. To pretend that God was obliged in the +Scriptures to conform himself to the language of men, is to pretend that +he withdrew his assistance from those he wished to enlighten, and +that he was unable of rendering them susceptible of comprehending the +language of truth. This is an observation not to be lost sight of in the +examination of revelation, where we find in each page that God expresses +himself in a manner quite unworthy of the Deity. Could not an omnipotent +God, instead of degrading himself, instead of condescending to speak the +language of ignorance, so far enlighten them as to make them understand +a language more true, more noble, and more conformable to the ideas +which are given us of the Deity? An experienced master by degrees +enables his scholars to understand what he wishes to teach them, and +a God ought to be able to communicate to them immediately all the +knowledge he intended to give them. + +However, according to Genesis, God, after creating the world, produced +man from the dust of the earth. In the mean while we are assured that he +created him _in his own image_; but what was the image of God? How could +man, who is at least partly material, represent a pure spirit, which +excludes all matter? + +How could his imperfect mind be formed on the model of a mind possessing +all perfection, like that which we suppose in the Creator of the +universe? What resemblance, what proportion, what affinity could there +be between a finite mind united to a body, and the infinite spirit of +the Creator? These, doubtless, are great difficulties; hitherto it has +been thought impossible to decide them; and they will probably for +a long time employ the minds of those who strive to understand +the incomprehensible meaning of a book which God provided for our +instruction. + +But why did God create man? Because he wished to people the universe +with intelligent beings, who would render him homage, who should witness +his wonders, who should glorify him, who should meditate and contemplate +his works, and merit his favors by their submission to his laws. + +Here we behold man becoming necessary to the dignity of his God, who +without him would live without being glorified, who would receive no +homage, and who would be the melancholy Sovereign of an empire without +subjects--a condition not suited to his vanity. I think it useless to +remark to you what little conformity we find between those ideas and +such as are given us of a self-sufficient being, who, without the +assistance of any other, is supremely happy. All the characters in which +the Bible portrays the Deity are always borrowed from man, or from a +proud monarch; and we every where find that instead of having made man +after his own image, it is man that has always made God after the image +of himself, that has conferred on him his own way of thinking, his own +virtues, and his own vices. + +But did this man whom the Deity has created for his glory faithfully +fulfil the wishes of his Creator? This subject that he has just +acquired--will he be obedient? will he render homage to his power? will +he execute his will? He has done nothing of the kind. Scarcely is he +created when he becomes rebellious to the orders of his Sovereign; he +eats a forbidden fruit which God has placed in his way in order to tempt +him, and by this act draws the divine wrath not only on himself, but on +all his posterity. Thus it is that he annihilates at one blow the great +projects of the Omnipotent, who had no sooner made man for his glory +than he becomes offended with that conduct which he ought to have +foreseen. + +Here he finds himself obliged to change his projects with regard to +mankind; he becomes their enemy, and condemns them and the whole of the +race (who had not yet the power of sinning) to innumerable penalties, +to cruel calamities, and to death! What do I say? To punishments which +death itself shall not terminate! Thus God, who wished to be glorified, +is not glorified; he seems to have created man only to offend him, that +he might afterwards punish the offender. + +In this recital, which is founded on the Bible, can you recognize, +Madam, an omnipotent God, whose orders are always accomplished, and +whose projects are all necessarily executed? In a God who tempts us, or +who permits us to be tempted, do you behold a being of beneficence and +sincerity? In a God who punishes the being he has tempted, or subjected +to temptation, do you perceive any equity? In a God who extends his +vengeance even to those who have not sinned, do you behold any shadow +of justice? In a God who is irritated at what he knew must necessarily +happen, can you imagine any foresight? In the rigorous punishments by +which this God is destined to avenge himself of his feeble creatures, +both in this world and the next, can you perceive the least appearance +of goodness? + +It is, however, this history, or rather this fable, on which is founded +the whole edifice of the Christian religion. + +If the first man had not been disobedient, the human race had not +been the object of the divine wrath, and would have had no need of a +Redeemer. If this God, who knows all things, foresees all things, and +possesses all power, had prevented or foreseen the fault of Adam, it +would not have been necessary for God to sacrifice his own innocent Son +to appease his fury. Mankind, for whom he created the universe, +would then have been always happy; they would not have incurred the +displeasure of that Deity who demanded their adoration. In a word, +if this apple had not been imprudently eaten by Adam and his spouse, +mankind would not have suffered so much misery, man would have enjoyed +without interruption the immortal happiness to which God had destined +him, and the views of Providence towards his creatures would not have +been frustrated. + +It would be useless to make reflections on notions so whimsical, so +contrary to the wisdom, the power, and the justice of the Deity. It +is doing quite enough to compare the different objects which the +Bible presents to us, to perceive their inutility, absurdities, and +contradictions. We there see, continually, a wise God conducting himself +like a madman. He defeats His own projects that he may afterwards repair +them, repents of what he has done, acts as if he had foreseen nothing, +and is forced to permit proceedings which his omnipotence could not +prevent. In the writings revealed by this God, he appears occupied only +in blackening his own character, degrading himself, vilifying himself, +even in the eyes of men whom he would excite to worship him and pay +him homage; overturning and confounding the minds of those whom he +had designed to enlighten. What has just been said might suffice to +undeceive us with respect to a book which would pass better as being +intended to destroy the idea of a Deity, than as one containing the +oracles dictated and revealed by him. Nothing but a heap of absurdities +could possibly result from principles so false and irrational; +nevertheless, let us take another glance at the principal objects which +this divine work continually offers to our consideration. Let us pass on +to the Deluge. The holy books tell us, that in spite of the will of +the Almighty, the whole human race, who had already been punished by +infirmities, accidents, and death, continued to give themselves up to +the most unaccountable depravity. God becomes irritated, and repents +having created them. Doubtless he could not have foreseen this +depravity; yet, rather than change the wicked disposition of their +hearts, which he holds in his own hands, he performs the most +surprising, the most impossible of miracles. He at once drowns all the +inhabitants, with the exception of some favorites, whom he destines to +re-people the earth with a chosen race, that will render themselves more +agreeable to their God. + +But does the Almighty succeed in this new project? The chosen race, +saved from the waters of the deluge, on the wreck of the earth's +destruction, begin again to offend the Sovereign of nature, abandon +themselves to new crimes, give themselves up to idolatry, and forgetting +the recent effects of celestial vengeance, seem intent only on provoking +heaven by their wickedness. In order to provide a remedy, God chooses +for his favorite the idolater Abraham. To him he discovers himself; he +orders him to renounce the worship of his fathers, and embrace a new +religion. To guarantee this covenant, the Sovereign of nature prescribes +a melancholy, ridiculous, and whimsical ceremony, to the observance of +which a God of wisdom attaches his favors. The posterity of this chosen +man are consequently to enjoy, for everlasting, the greatest advantages; +they will always be the most partial objects of tenderness, with the +Almighty; they will be happier than all other nations, whom the Deity +will abandon to occupy himself only for them. + +These solemn promises, however, have not prevented the race of Abraham +from becoming the slaves of a vile nation, that was detested by the +Eternal; his dear friends experienced the most cruel treatment on the +part of the Egyptians. God could not guarantee them from the misfortune +that had befallen them; but in order to free them again, he raised up to +them a liberator, a chief, who performed the most astonishing miracles. +At the voice of Moses all nature is confounded; God employs him to +declare his will; yet he who could create and annihilate the world +could not subdue Pharaoh. The obstinacy of this prince defeats, in +ten successive trials, the divine omnipotence, of which Moses is the +depositary. After having vainly attempted to overcome a monarch whose +heart God had been pleased to harden, God has recourse to the most +ordinary method of rescuing his people; he tells them to run off, after +having first counselled them to rob the Egyptians. The fugitives are +pursued; but God, who protects these robbers, orders the sea to +swallow up the miserable people who had the temerity to run after their +property. + +The Deity would, doubtless, have reason to be satisfied with the +conduct of a people that he had just delivered by such a great number +of miracles. Alas! neither Moses nor the Almighty could succeed in +persuading this obstinate people to abandon the false gods of that +country where they had been so miserable; they preferred them to the +living God who had just saved them. All the miracles which the Eternal +was daily performing in favor of Israel could not overcome their +stubbornness, which was still more inconceivable and wonderful than the +greatest miracles. These wonders, which are now extolled as convincing +proofs of the divine mission of Moses, were by the confession of this +same Moses, who has himself transmitted us the accounts, incapable of +convincing the people who were witnesses of them, and never produced the +good effects which the Deity proposed to himself in performing them. + +The credulity, the obstinacy, the continual depravity of the Jews, +Madam, are the most indubitable proofs of the falsity of the miracles +of Moses, as well as those of all his successors, to whom the Scriptures +attribute a supernatural power. If, in the face of these facts, it be +pretended that these miracles are attested, we shall be compelled, at +least, to agree that, according to the Bible account, they have been +entirely useless, that the Deity has been constantly baffled in all +his projects, and that he could never make of the Hebrews a people +submissive to his will. + +We find, however, God continues obstinately employed to render his +people worthy of him; he does not lose sight of them for a moment; he +sacrifices whole nations to them, and sanctions their rapine, violence, +treason, murder, and usurpation. In a word, he permits them to do +any thing to obtain his ends. He is continually sending them chiefs, +prophets, and wonderful men, who try in vain to bring them to their +duty. The whole history of the Old Testament displays nothing but the +vain efforts of God to vanquish the obstinacy of his people. To succeed +in this, he employs kindnesses, miracles, and severity. Sometimes +he delivers up to them whole nations, to be hated, pillaged, and +exterminated; at other times he permits these same nations to exercise +over his favorite people the greatest of cruelties. He delivers them +into the hands of their enemies, who are likewise the enemies of God +himself. Idolatrous nations become masters of the Jews, who are left to +feel the insults, the contempt, and the most unheard-of severities, and +are sometimes compelled to sacrifice to idols, and to violate the law of +their God. The race of Abraham becomes the prey of impious nations. The +Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans make them successively undergo +the most cruel treatment and suffer the most bloody outrages, and God +even permits his temple to be polluted in order to punish the Jews. + +To terminate, at length, the troubles of his cherished people, the pure +Spirit that created the universe sends his own Son. It is said that he +had already been announced by his prophets, though this was certainly +done in a manner admirably adapted to prevent his being known on his +arrival. This Son of God becomes a man through his kindness for the +Jews, whom he came to liberate, to enlighten, and to render the most +happy of mortals. Being clothed with divine omnipotence, he performs the +most astonishing miracles, which do not, however, convince the Jews. +He can do every thing but convert them. Instead of converting and +liberating the Jews, he is himself compelled, notwithstanding all his +miracles, to undergo the most infamous of punishments, and to terminate +his life like a common malefactor. God is condemned to death by the +people he came to save. The Eternal hardened and blinded those among +whom he sent his own Son; he did not foresee that this Son would be +rejected. What do I say? He managed matters in such a way as not to +be recognized, and took such steps that his favorite people derived no +benefit from the coming of the Messiah. In a word, the Deity seems to +have taken the greatest care that his projects, so favorable to the +Jews, should be nullified and rendered unprofitable! + +When we expostulate against a conduct so strange and so unworthy of the +Deity, we are told it was necessary for every thing to take place in +such a manner, for the accomplishment of prophecies which had announced +that the Messiah should be disowned, rejected, and put to death. But why +did God, who knows all, and who foresaw the fate of his dear Son, form +the project of sending him among the Jews, to whom he must have known +that his mission would be useless? Would it not have been easier neither +to announce him nor send him? Would it not have been more conformable to +divine omnipotence to spare himself the trouble of so many miracles, +so many prophecies, so much useless labor, so much wrath, and' so many +sufferings to his own Son, by giving at once to the human race that +degree of perfection he intended for them? + +We are told it was necessary that the Deity should have a victim; that +to repair the fault of the first man, no expedient would be sufficient +but the death of another God; that the only God of the universe could +not be appeased but by the blood of his own Son. I reply, in the first +place, that God had only to prevent the first man from committing a +fault; that this would have spared him much chagrin and sorrow, and +saved the life of his dear Son. I reply, likewise, that man is incapable +of offending God unless God either permitted it or consented to it. I +shall not examine how it is possible for God to have a Son, who, being +as much a God as himself, can be subject to death. I reply, also, that +it is impossible to perceive such a grave fault and sin in taking an +apple, and that we can find very little proportion between the crime +committed against the Deity by eating an apple and his Son's death. + +I know well enough I shall be told that these are all mysteries; but I, +in my turn, shall reply, that mysteries are imposing words, imagined by +men who know not how to get themselves out of the labyrinth into which +their false reasonings and senseless principles have once plunged them. + +Be this as it may, we are assured that the Messiah, or the deliverer +of the Jews, had been clearly predicted and described by the prophecies +contained in the Old Testament. In this case, I demand why the Jews have +disowned this wonderful man, this God whom God sent to them. They answer +me, that the incredulity of the Jews was likewise predicted, and that +divers inspired writers had announced the death of the Son of God. To +which I reply, that a sensible God ought not to have sent him under such +circumstances, that an omnipotent God ought to have adopted measures +more efficacious and certain to bring his people into the way in which +he wished them to go. If he wished not to convert and liberate the Jews, +it was quite useless to send his Son among them, and thereby expose him +to a death that was both certain and foreseen. + +They will not fail to tell me, that in the end the divine, patience +became tired of the excesses of the Jews; that the immutable God, who +had sworn an eternal alliance with the race of Abraham, wished at length +to break the treaty, which he had, however, assured them should last +forever. It is pretended that God had determined to reject the Hebrew +nation, in order to adopt the Gentiles, whom he had hated and despised +nearly four thousand years. I reply, that this discourse is very little +conformable to the ideas we ought to have of a God who _changes not_, +whose mercy is _infinite_, and whose goodness is _inexhaustible_. I +shall tell them, that in this case the Messiah announced by the Jewish +prophets was destined for the Jews, and that he ought to have been their +liberator, instead of destroying their worship and their religion. If +it be possible to unravel any thing in these obscure, enigmatical, and +symbolical oracles of the prophets of Judea, as we find them in the +Bible,--if there be any means of guessing the meaning of the obscure +riddles, which have been decorated with the pompous name of prophecies, +we shall perceive that the inspired writers, when they are in a +good humor, always promised the Jews a man that will redress their +grievances, restore the kingdom of Judah, and not one that should +destroy the religion of Moses. If it were for the Gentiles that the +Messiah should come, he is no longer the Messiah promised to the Jews +and announced by their prophets. If Jesus be the Messiah of the Jews, he +could not be the destroyer of their nation. + +Should I be told that Jesus himself declared that he came to fulfil the +law of Moses, and not to abolish it, I ask why Christians do not observe +the law of the Jews? + +Thus, in whatever light we regard Jesus Christ, we perceive that he +could not be the man whom the prophets have predicted, since it is +evident that he came only to destroy the religion of the Jews, which, +though instituted by God himself, had nevertheless become disagreeable +to him. If this inconstant God, who was wearied with the worship of the +Jews, had at length repented of his injustice towards the Gentiles, it +was to them that he ought to have sent his Son. By acting in this way +he would at least have saved his old friends from a frightful _deicide_, +which he forced them to commit, because they were not able to recognize +the God he sent amongst them. Besides, the Jews were very pardonable in +not acknowledging their expected Messiah in an artisan of Galilee, who +was destitute of all the characteristics which the prophets had related, +and during whose lifetime his fellow-citizens were neither liberated nor +happy. + +We are told that he performed miracles. He healed the sick, caused the +lame to walk, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. At length he +accomplished his own resurrection. It might be so believed; yet he has +visibly failed in that miracle for which alone he came upon earth. He +was never able either to persuade or to convert the Jews, who witnessed +all the daily wonders that he performed. Notwithstanding those +prodigies, they placed him ignominiously on the cross. In spite of his +divine power, he was incapable of escaping punishment. He wished to die, +to render the Jews culpable, and to have the pleasure of rising again +the third day, in order to confound the ingratitude and obstinacy of his +fellow-citizens. What is the result? Did his fellow-citizens concede to +this great miracle, and have they at length acknowledged him? Far from +it; they never saw him. The Son of God, who arose from the dead in +secrecy, showed himself only to his adherents. They alone pretend +to have conversed with him; they alone have furnished us with the +particulars of his life and miracles; and yet by such suspicious +testimony they wish to convince us of the divinity of his mission +eighteen hundred years after the event, although he could not convince +his contemporaries, the Jews. + +We are then told that many Jews have been converted to Jesus Christ; +that after his death many others were converted; that the witnesses of +the life and miracles of the Son of God have sealed their testimony +with their blood; that men will not die to attest falsehood; that by a +visible effect of the divine power, the people of a great part of the +earth have adopted Christianity, and still persist in the belief of this +divine religion. + +In all this I perceive nothing like a miracle. I see nothing but what is +conformable to the ordinary progress of the human mind. An enthusiast, +a dexterous impostor, a crafty juggler; can easily find adherents in +a stupid, ignorant, and superstitious populace. These followers, +captivated by counsels, or seduced by promises, consent to quit a +painful and laborious life, to follow a man who gives them to understand +that he will make them _fishers of men_; that is to say, he will enable +them to subsist by his cunning tricks, at the expense of the multitude +who are always credulous. The juggler, with the assistance of +his remedies, can perform cures which seem miraculous to ignorant +spectators. These simple creatures immediately regard him as a +supernatural being. He adopts this opinion himself, and confirms the +high notions which his partisans have formed respecting him. He feels +himself interested in maintaining this opinion among his sectaries, and +finds out the secret of exciting their enthusiasm. To accomplish this +point, our empiric becomes a preacher; he makes use of riddles, obscure +sentences, and parables to the multitude, that always admire what they +do not understand. + +To render himself more agreeable to the people, he declaims among poor, +ignorant, foolish men, against the rich, the great, the learned; but +above all, against the _priests_, who in all ages have been _avaricious, +imperious, uncharitable, and burdensome_ to the people. If these +discourses be eagerly received among the vulgar, who are always morose, +envious, and jealous, they displease all those who see themselves the +objects of the invective and satire of the popular preacher. + +They consequently wish to check his progress, they lay snares for him, +they seek to surprise him in a fault, in order that they may unmask him +and have their revenge. By dint of imposture, he outwits them; yet, +in consequence of his miracles and illusions, he at length discovers +himself. He is then seized and punished, and none of his adherents +abide by him, except a few idiots, that nothing can undeceive; none +but partisans, accustomed to lead with him a life of idleness; none but +dexterous knaves, who wish to continue their impositions on the +public, by deceptions similar to those of their old master, by obscure, +unconnected, confused, and fanatical harangues, and by declamations +against _magistrates and priests_. These, who have the power in their +own hands, finish by persecuting them, imprisoning them, flogging them, +chastising them, and putting them to death. Poor wretches, habituated +to poverty, undergo all these sufferings with a fortitude which we +frequently meet with in malefactors. In some we find their courage +fortified by the zeal of fanaticism. This fortitude surprises, agitates, +excites pity, and irritates the spectators against those who torment +men whose constancy makes them looked upon as being innocent, who, it +is supposed, may possibly be right, and for whom compassion likewise +interests itself. It is thus that enthusiasm is propagated, and that +persecution always augments the number of the partisans of those who are +persecuted. + +I shall leave to you, Madam, the trouble of applying the history of our +juggler, and his adherents, to that of the founder, the apostles, and +the martyrs of the Christian religion. + +With whatever art they have written the life of Jesus Christ, which +we hold only from his apostles, or their disciples, it furnishes a +sufficiency of materials on which to found our conjectures. I shall only +observe to you, that the Jewish nation was remarkable for its credulity; +that the companions of Jesus were chosen from among the dregs of the +people; that Jesus always gave a preference to the populace, with whom +he wished, undoubtedly, to form a rampart against the _priests_; and +that, at last, Jesus was seized immediately after the most splendid of +his miracles. We see him put to death immediately after the resurrection +of Lazarus, which, even according to the gospel account, bears the most +evident characters of fraud, which are visible to every one who examines +it without prejudice. + +I imagine, Madam, that what I have just stated will suffice to show +you what opinion you ought to entertain respecting the founder of +Christianity and his first sectaries. These have been either dupes or +fanatics, who permitted themselves to be seduced by deceptions, and by +discourses conformable to their desires, or by dexterous impostors, who +knew how to make the best of the tricks of their old master, to whom +they have become such able successors. In this way did they establish a +religion which enabled them to live at the people's expense, and which +still maintains in abundance those we pay, at such a high rate, for +transmitting from father to son the fables, visions, and wonders which +were born and nursed in Judea. The propagation of the Christian faith, +and the constancy of their martyrs, have nothing surprising in them. The +people flock after all those that show them wonders, and receive without +reasoning on it every thing that is told them. They transmit to their +children the tales they have heard related, and by degrees these +opinions are adopted by kings, by the great, and even by the learned. + +As for the martyrs, their constancy has nothing supernatural in it. The +first Christians, as well as all new sectaries, were treated, by the +Jews and pagans, as disturbers of the public peace. They were already +sufficiently intoxicated with the fanaticism with which their religion +inspired them, and were persuaded that God held himself in readiness to +crown them, and to receive them into his eternal dwelling. In a word, +seeing the heavens opened, and being convinced that the end of the +world was approaching, it is not surprising that they had courage to +set punishment at defiance, to endure it with constancy, and to despise +death. To these motives, founded on their religious opinions, many +others were added, which are always of such a nature as to operate +strongly upon the minds of men. Those who, as Christians, were +imprisoned and ill-treated on account of their faith, were visited, +consoled, encouraged, honored, and loaded with kindnesses by their +brethren, who took care of and succored them during their detention, and +who almost adored them after their death. Those, on the other hand, who +displayed weakness, were despised and detested, and when they gave way +to repentance, they were compelled to undergo a rigorous penitence, +which lasted as long as they lived. Thus were the most powerful motives +united to inspire the martyrs with courage; and this courage has nothing +more supernatural about it than that which determines us daily to +encounter the most perilous dangers, through the fear of dishonoring +ourselves in the eyes of our fellow-citizens. Cowardice would expose us +to infamy all the rest of our days. There is nothing miraculous in the +constancy of a man to whom an offer is made, on the one hand, of eternal +happiness and the highest honors, and who, on the other hand, sees +himself menaced with hatred, contempt, and the most lasting regret. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that nothing can be easier than to overthrow +the proofs by which Christian doctors establish the revelation which +they pretend is so well authenticated. Miracles, martyrs, and prophecies +prove nothing. + +Were all the wonders true that are related in the Old and New Testament, +they would afford no proof in favor of divine omnipotence, but, on +the contrary, would prove the inability under which the Deity has +continually labored, of convincing mankind of the truths he wished to +announce to them. On the other hand, supposing these miracles to have +produced all the effects which the Deity had a right to expect from +them, we have no longer any reason to believe them, except on the +tradition and recitals of others, which are often suspicious, faulty, +and exaggerated. The miracles of Moses are attested only by Moses, or +by Jewish writers interested in making them believed by the people +they wished to govern. The miracles of Jesus are attested only by his +disciples, who sought to obtain adherents, in relating to a credulous +people prodigies to which they pretended to have been witnesses, or +which some of them, perhaps, believed they had really seen. All those +who deceive mankind are not always cheats; they are frequently +deceived by those who are knaves in reality. Besides, I believe I have +sufficiently proved, that miracles are repugnant to the essence of an +immutable God, as well as to his wisdom, which will not permit him to +alter the wise laws he has himself established. In short, miracles are +useless, since those related in Scripture have not produced the effects +which God expected from them. + +The proof of the Christian religion taken from prophecy has no better +foundation. Whoever will examine without prejudice these oracles +pretended to be divine will find only an ambiguous, unintelligible, +absurd, and unconnected jargon, entirely unworthy of a God who intended +to display his prescience, and to instruct his people with regard to +future events. There does not exist in the Holy Scriptures a single +prophecy sufficiently precise to be literally applied to Jesus Christ. +To convince yourself of this truth, ask the most learned of our doctors +which are the formal prophecies wherein they have the happiness to +discover the Messiah. You will then perceive that it is only by the aid +of forced explanations, figures, parables, and mystical interpretations, +by which they are enabled to bring forward any thing sensible and +applicable to the _god-made-man_ whom they tell us to adore. It would +seem as if the Deity had made predictions only that we might understand +nothing about them. + +In these equivocal oracles, whose meaning it is impossible to penetrate, +we find nothing but the language of intoxication, fanaticism, and +delirium. When we fancy we have found something intelligible, it is +easy to perceive that the prophets intended to speak of events that took +place in their own age, or of personages who had preceded them. It is +thus that our doctors apply gratuitously to Christ prophecies or rather +narratives of what happened respecting David, Solomon, Cyrus, &c. + +We imagine we see the chastisement of the Jewish people announced +in recitals where it is evident the only matter in question was the +Babylonish captivity. In this event, so long prior to Jesus Christ, +they have imagined finding a prediction of the dispersion of the Jews, +supposed to be a visible punishment for their _deicide_, and which +they now wish to pass off' as an indubitable proof of the truth of +Christianity. + +It is not, then, astonishing that the ancient and modern Jews do not +see in the prophets what our doctors teach us, and what they themselves +imagine they have seen. Jesus himself has not been more happy in his +predictions than his predecessors. In the gospel he announces to his +disciples in the most formal manner the destruction of the world and the +last judgment, as events that were at hand, and which must take place +before the existing generation had passed away. Yet the world still +endures, and appears in no danger of finishing. It is true, our doctors +pretend that, in the prediction of Jesus Christ, he spoke of the ruin of +Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus; but none but those who have not read +the gospel would submit to such a change, or satisfy themselves with +such an evasion. Besides, in adopting it we must confess at least that +the Son of God himself was unable to prophesy with greater precision +than his obscure predecessors. + +Indeed, at every page of these sacred books, which we are assured were +inspired by God himself, this God seems to have made a revelation +only to conceal himself. He does not speak but to be misunderstood. He +announces his oracles in such a way only that we can neither comprehend +them nor make any application of them. He performs miracles only to +make unbelievers. He manifests himself to mankind only to stupefy their +judgment and bewilder the reason he has bestowed on them. The Bible +continually represents God to us as a seducer, an enticer, a suspicious +tyrant, who knows not what kind of conduct to observe with respect to +his subjects; who amuses himself by laying snares for his creatures, and +who tries them that he may have the pleasure of inflicting a punishment +for yielding to his temptations. This God is occupied only in building +to destroy, in demolishing to rebuild. Like a child disgusted with its +playthings, he is continually undoing what he has done, and breaking +what was the object of his desires. We find no foresight, no constancy, +no consistency in his conduct; no connection, no clearness in his +discourses. When he performs any thing, he sometimes approves what +he has done, and at other times repents of it. He irritates and vexes +himself with what he has permitted to be done, and, in spite of his +infinite power, he suffers man to offend him, and consents to let Satan, +his creature, derange all his projects. In a word, the revelations +of the Christians and Jews seem to have been imagined only to render +uncertain and to annihilate the qualities attributed to the Deity, and +which are declared to constitute his essence. The whole Scripture, the +entire system of the Christian religion, appears to be founded only +on the incapability of God, who was unable to render the human race as +wise, as good, and as happy as he wished them. The death of his innocent +Son, who was immolated to his vengeance, is entirely useless for the +most numerous portion of the earth's inhabitants; almost the whole human +race, in spite of the continued efforts of the Deity, continue to offend +him, to frustrate his designs, resist his will, and to persevere in +their wickedness. + +It is on notions so fatal, so contradictory, and so unworthy of a God +who is just, wise, and good, of a God that is rational, independent, +immutable, and omnipotent, on whom the Christian religion is founded, +and which religion is said to be established forever by God, who, +nevertheless, became disgusted with the religion of the Jews, with whom +he had made and sworn an eternal covenant. + +Time must prove whether God be more constant and faithful in fulfilling +his engagements with the Christians than he has been to fulfil those +he made with Abraham and his posterity. I confess, Madam, that his +past conduct alarms me as to what he may finally perform. If he himself +acknowledged by the mouth of Ezekiel that the laws he had given to the +Jews _were not good_, he may very possibly, some day or other, find +fault with those which he has given to Christians. + +Our priests themselves seem to partake of my suspicions, and to fear +that God will be wearied of that protection which he has so long granted +to his church. The inquietudes which they evince, the efforts which they +make to hinder the civilization of the world, the persecutions which +they raise against all those who contradict them, seem to prove that +they mistrust the promises of Jesus Christ, and that they are not +certainly convinced of the eternal durability of a religion which +does not appear to them divine, but because it gives them the right to +command like gods over their fellow-citizens. They would undoubtedly +consider the destruction of their empire a very grievous thing; but yet +if the sovereigns of the earth and their people should once grow weary +of the sacerdotal yoke, we may be sure the Sovereign of heaven would not +require a longer time to become equally disgusted. + +However this may be, Madam, I venture to hope the perusal of this letter +will fully undeceive you of a blind veneration for books which are +called _divine_, although they appear as if invented to degrade and +destroy the God who is asserted to be their author. My first letter, I +feel confident, enabled you to perceive that the dogmas established by +these same books, or subsequently fabricated to justify the ideas thus +given of God, are not less contrary to all notions of a Deity infinitely +perfect. A system which in the outset is based upon false principles can +never become any thing else than a mass of falsehoods. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER IV. Of the fundamental dogmas of the Christian Religion + +You are aware, Madam, that our theological doctors pretend these +revealed books, which I summarily examined in my preceding letter, do +not include a single word that was not inspired by the Spirit of God. +What I have already said to you is sufficient to show that in setting +out with this supposition, the Divinity has formed a work the most +shapeless, imperfect, contradictory, and unintelligible which ever +existed; a work, in a word, of which any man of sense would blush with +shame to be the author. If any prophecy hath verified itself for the +Christians, it is that of Isaiah, which saith, "Hearing ye shall +hear, but shall not understand." But in this case we reply that it was +sufficiently useless to speak not to be comprehended; to reveal _that_ +which cannot be comprehended is to reveal _nothing_. + +We need not, then, be surprised if the Christians, notwithstanding the +revelation of which they assure us they have been the favorites, have +no precise ideas either of the Divinity, or of his will, or the way in +which his oracles are to be interpreted. The book from which they should +be able to do so serves only to confound the simplest notions, to throw +them into the greatest incertitude, and create eternal disputations. If +it was the project of the Divinity, it would, without doubt, be attended +with perfect success. The teachers of Christianity never agree on the +manner in which they are to understand the truths that God has given +himself the trouble to reveal; all the efforts which they have employed +to this time have not yet been capable of making any thing clear, and +the dogmas which they have successively invented have been insufficient +to justify to the understanding of one man of good sense the conduct of +ah infinitely perfect Being. + +Hence, many among them, perceiving the inconveniences which would result +from the reading of the holy books, have carefully kept them out of the +hands of the vulgar and illiterate; for they plainly foresaw that +if they were read by such they would necessarily bring on themselves +reproach, since it would never fail that every honest man of good sense +would discover in those books only a crowd of absurdities. Thus the +oracles of God are not even made for those for whom they are addressed; +it is requisite to be initiated in the mysteries of a priesthood, to +have the privilege of discerning in the holy writings the light which +the Divinity destined to all his dear children. But are the theologians +themselves able to make plain the difficulties which the sacred books +present in every page? By meditating on the mysteries which they +contain, have they given us ideas more plain of the intentions of the +Divinity? No; without doubt they explain one mystery by citing another; +they scatter In this case, why did it not prevent that fall and its +consequences? Was the reason of Adam corrupted even beforehand by +incurring the wrath of his God? Was it depraved before he had done any +thing to deprave it? + +To justify this strange conduct of Providence, to clear him from passing +as the author of sin, to save him the ridicule of being 'the cause or +the accomplice of offences which he did against himself, the theologians +have imagined a being subordinate to the divine power. It is the +secondary being they make the author of all the evil which is committed +in the universe. In the impossibility of reconciling the continual +disorders of which the world is the theatre with the purposes of a Deity +replete with goodness, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, who +delights in order, and who seeks only the happiness of his creatures, +they have trumped up a destructive genius, imbued with wickedness, who +conspires to render men miserable, and to overthrow the beneficent views +of the Eternal.. This bad and perverse being they call Satan, the Devil, +the Evil One; and we see him play a great game in all the religions of +the world, the founders of which have found in the impotence of Deity +the sources of both good and evil. By the aid of this imaginary being +they have been enabled to resolve all their difficulties; yet they could +not foresee that this invention, which went to annihilate or abridge the +power of Deity, was a system filled with palpable contradictions, +and that if the Devil were really the author of sin, it be he, in all +justice, who ought to undergo punishment. + +If God is the author of all, it is he who created the Devil; if the +Devil is wicked, if he strives to counteract the projects of the +Divinity, it is the Divinity who has allowed the overthrow of his +projects, or who has not had sufficient authority to prevent the Devil +from exercising his power. If God had wished that the Devil should not +have existed, the Devil would not have existed. God could annihilate him +at one word, or, at least, God could change his disposition if injurious +to us, and contrary to the projects of a beneficent Providence. Since, +then, the Devil does exist, and does such marvellous things as are +attributed to him, we are compelled to conclude that the Divinity has +found it good that he should exist and agitate, as he does, all his +works by a perpetual interruption and perversion of his designs. + +Thus, Madam, the invention of the Devil does not remedy the evil; on +the contrary, it but entangles the priests more and more. By placing +to Satan's account all the evil which he commits in the world, they +exculpate the Deity, of nothing; all the power with which they have +supposed the Devil invested is taken from that assigned to the Divinity; +and you know very well that according to the notions of the Christian +religion, the Devil has more adherents than God himself; they are +always stirring their fellow-creatures up to revolt against God; without +ceasing, in despite of God, Satan leads them into perdition, except one +man only, who refused to follow him, and who found grace in the eyes +of the Lord. You are not ignorant that the millions that follow the +standard of Beelzebub are to be plunged with him into eternal misery. + +But then has Satan himself incurred the disgrace of the All-powerful? By +what forfeit has he merited becoming the eternal object of the anger of +that God who created him? The Christian religion will explain all. It +informs us that the Devil was in his origin an angel; that is to say, +a pure spirit, full of perfections, created by the Divinity to occupy +a distinguishing situation in the celestial court, destined, like the +other ministers of the Eternal, to receive his orders, and to enjoy +perpetual blessedness. But he lost himself through ambition; his pride +blinded him, and he dared to revolt against his Creator; he engaged +other spirits, as pure as himself, in the same senseless enterprise; in +consequence of his rashness, he was hurled headlong out of heaven, his +miserable adherents were involved in his fall, and, having been hardened +by the divine pleasure in their foolish dispositions, they have no other +occupation assigned them in the universe than to tempt mankind, and +endeavor to augment the number of the enemies of God, and the victims of +his wrath. + +It is by the assistance of this fable that the Christian doctors +perceive the fall of Adam, prepared by the Almighty himself anterior +to the creation of the world. Was it necessary that the Divinity should +entertain a great desire that man might sin, since he would thereby have +an opportunity of providing the means of making him sinful? In effect, +it was the Devil who, in process of time, covered with the skin of a +serpent, solicited the mother of the human race to disobey God, and +involve her husband in her rebellion. But the difficulty is not removed +by these inventions. If Satan, in the time he was an angel, lived in +innocence, and merited the good will of his Maker, how came God to +suffer him to entertain ideas of pride, ambition, and rebellion? How +came this angel of light so blind as not to see the folly of such an +enterprise? Did he not know that his Creator was all-powerful? Who was +it that tempted Satan? What reason had the Divinity for selecting him to +be the object of his fury, the destroyer of his projects, the enemy of +his power? If pride be a sin, if the idea itself of rebellion is the +greatest of crimes, _sin was, then, anterior to sin_, and Lucifer +offended God, even in his state of purity; for, in fine, a being pure, +innocent, agreeable to his God, who had all the perfections of which a +creature could be susceptible, ought to be exempt from ambition, pride, +and folly. We ought, also, to say as much for our first parent, who, +notwithstanding his wisdom, his innocence, and the knowledge infused +into him by God himself, could not prevent himself from falling into the +temptation of a demon. + +Hence, in every shift, the priests invariably make God the author of +sin. It was God who tempted Lucifer before the creation of the world; +Lucifer, in his turn, became the tempter of man and the cause of all +the evil our race suffers. It appears, therefore, that God created both +angels and men to give them an opportunity of sinning. + +It is easy to perceive the absurdity of this system, to save which +the theologians have invented another still more absurd, that it might +become the foundation of all their religious revelations, and by means +of which they idly imagine they can fully justify the divine providence. +The system of truth supposes _the free will_ of man--that he is his own +master, capable of doing good or ill, and of directing his own plans. At +the words _free will_, I already perceive, Madam, that you tremble, and +doubtless anticipate a metaphysical dissertation. Rest assured of the +contrary; for I flatter myself that the question will be simplified and +rendered clear, I shall not merely say for you, but for all your sex who +are not resolved to be wilfully blind. + +To say that man is a free agent is to detract from the power of the +Supreme Being; it is to pretend that God is not the master of his own +will; it is to advance that a weak creature can, when it pleases him, +revolt against his Creator, derange his projects, disturb the order +which he loves, render his labors useless, afflict him with chagrin, +cause him sorrow, act with effect against him, and arouse his anger +and his passions. Thus, at the first glance, you perceive that this +principle gives rise to a crowd of absurdities. If God is the friend of +order, every thing performed by his creatures would necessarily conduce +to the maintenance of this order, because otherwise the divine will +would fail to have its effect If God has plans, they must of necessity +be always executed; if man can afflict his God, man is the master of +this God's happiness, and the league he has formed with the Devil is +potent enough to thwart the plans of the Divinity. In a word, if man is +free to sin, God is no longer Omnipotent. + +In reply, we are told that God, without detriment to his Omnipotence, +might make man a free agent, and that this liberty is a benefit by which +God places man in a situation where he may merit the heavenly bounty; +but, on the other hand, this liberty likewise exposes him to encounter +God's hatred, to offend him, and to be overwhelmed by infinite +sufferings. From this I conclude that this liberty is _not_ a benefit, +and that it evidently is inconsistent with divine goodness. This +goodness would be more real if men had always sufficient resolution to +do what is pleasing to God, conformably to order, and conducive to the +happiness of their fellow-creatures. If men, in virtue of their liberty, +do things contrary to the will of God, God, who is supposed to have the +prescience of foreseeing all, ought to have taken measures to prevent +men from abusing their liberty; if he foresaw they would sin, he ought +to have given them the means of avoiding it; if he could not prevent +them from doing ill, he has consented to the ill they have done; if he +has consented, he should not be offended; if he is offended, or if +he punish them for the evil they have done with his permission, he is +unjust and cruel; if he suffer them to rush on to their destruction, he +is bound afterwards to take them to himself; and he cannot with reason +find fault with them for the abuse of their liberty, in being deceived +or seduced by the objects which he himself had placed in their way to +seduce them, to tempt them, and to determine their wills to do evil.* + + * See what Bayle says, Diet. Crit., art. Origene, Rem. E.t + art. Pauliciens, Rem. E., F., M., and torn. iii. of the + Reponses aux Questions d'un Provincial. + +What would you say of a father who should give to his children, in the +infancy of age, and when they were without experience, the liberty +of satisfying their disordered appetites, till they should convince +themselves of their evil tendency? Would not such a parent be in the +right to feel uneasy at the abuse which they should make of their +liberty which he had given them? Would it not be accounted malice in +this parent, who should have foreseen what was to happen, not to have +furnished his children with the capacity of directing their own conduct +so as to avoid the evils they might be assailed with? Would it not show +in him the height of madness were he to punish them for the evil which +he had done, and the chagrin which they occasioned him? Would it not be +to himself that we should ascribe the sottishness and wickedness of his +children? + +You see, then, the points of view under which this system of men's +free will shows us the Deity. This free will becomes a present the most +dangerous, since it puts man in the condition of doing evil that is +truly frightful. We may thence conclude that this system, far from +justifying God, makes him capable of malice, imprudence, and injustice. +But this is to overturn all our ideas of a being perfectly, nay, +infinitely wise and good, consenting to punish his creatures for sins +which he gave them the power of committing, or, which is the same, +suffering the Devil to inspire them with evil. All the subtilties of +theology have really only a tendency to destroy the very notions itself +inculcates concerning the Divinity. This theology is evidently the tub +of the Danaides. + +It is a fact, however, that our theologians have imagined expedients to +support their ruinous suppositions. You have often heard mention made +of _predestination_ and _grace_--terrible words, which constantly +excite disputes among us, for which reason would be forced to blush if +Christians did not make it a duty to renounce reason, and which contests +are attended with consequences very dangerous to society. But let not +this surprise you; these false and obscure principles have even among +the theologians produced dissensions; and their quarrels would be +indifferent if they did not attach more importance to them than they +really deserve. + +But to proceed. The system of predestination supposes that God, in his +eternal secrets, has resolved that some men should be elected, and +being thus his favorites, receive special grace. By this grace they are +supposed to be made agreeable to God, and meet for eternal happiness. +But then an infinite number of others are destined to perdition, +and receive not the grace necessary to eternal salvation. These +contradictory and opposite propositions make it pretty evident that the +system is absurd. It makes God, a being infinitely perfect and good, a +partial tyrant, who has created a vast number of human beings to be the +sport of his caprice and the victims of his vengeance. It supposes that +God will punish his creatures for not having received that grace which +he did not deign to give them; it presents this God to us under traits +so revolting that the theologians are forced to avow that the whole is a +profound mystery, into which the human mind cannot penetrate. But if man +is not made to lift his inquisitive eye on this frightful mystery, that +is to say, on this astonishing absurdity, which our teachers have +idly endeavored to square to their views of Deity, or to reconcile the +atrocious injustice of their God with his infinite goodness, by what +right do they wish us to adore this mystery which they would compel us +to believe, and to subscribe to an opinion that saps the divine goodness +to its very foundation? + +How do they reason upon a dogma, and quarrel with acrimony about a +system of which even themselves can comprehend nothing? + +The more you examine religion, the more occasion you will have to be +convinced that those things which our divines call _mysteries_ are +nothing else but the difficulties with which they are themselves +embarrassed, when they are unable to avoid the absurdities into which +their own false principles necessarily involve them. Nevertheless, +this word is not enough to impose upon us; the reverend doctors do not +themselves understand the things about which they incessantly speak. +They invent words from an inability to explain things, and they give the +name of _mysteries_ to what they comprehend no better than ourselves. + +All the religions in the world are founded upon predestination, and all +the pretended revelations among men, as has been already pointed out +to you, inculcate this odious dogma, which makes Providence an unjust +mother-in-law, who shows a blind preference for some of her children to +the prejudice of all the others. They make God a tyrant, who punishes +the inevitable faults to which he has impelled them, or into which +he has allowed them to be seduced. This dogma, which served as the +foundation of Paganism, is now the grand pivot of the Christian +religion, whose God should excite no less hatred than the most +wicked divinities of idolatrous people. With such notions, is it not +astonishing that this God should appear, to those who meditate on his +attributes, an object sufficiently terrible to agitate the imagination, +and to lead some to indulge in dangerous follies? + +The dogma of another life serves also to exculpate the Deity from these +apparent injustices or aberrations, with which he might naturally be +accused. It is pretended that it has pleased him to distinguish +his friends on earth, seeing he has amply provided for their future +happiness in an abode prepared for their souls. But, as I believe I have +already hinted, these proofs that God makes some good, and leaves others +wicked, either evince injustice on his part, at least temporary, or they +contradict his omnipotence. If God can do all things, if he is privy to +all the thoughts and actions of men, what need has he of any proofs? If +he has resolved to give them grace necessary to save them, has he not +assured them they will not perish? If he is unjust and cruel, this +God is not immutable, and belies his character; at least for a time he +derogates from the perfections which we should expect to find in him. +What would you think of a king, who, during a particular time, would +discover to his favorites traits the most frightful, in order that they +might incur his disgrace, and who should afterwards insist on their +believing him a very good and amiable man, to obtain his favor again? +Would not such a prince be pronounced wicked, fanciful, and tyrannical? +Nevertheless, this supposed prince might be pardoned by some, if for his +own interest, and the better to assure himself of the attachment of his +friends, he might give them some smiles of his favor. It is not so with +God, who knows all, who can do all, who has nothing to fear from the +dispositions of his creatures. From all these reasonings, we may see +that the Deity, whom the priests have conjured up, plays a great game, +very ridiculous, very unjust, on the supposition that he tries his +servants, and that he allows them to suffer in this world, to prepare +them for another. The theologians have not failed to discover motives +in this conduct of God which they can as readily justify; but these +pretended motives are borrowed from the omnipotence of this being, by +his absolute power over his creatures, to whom he is not obliged to +render an account of his actions; but especially in this theology, which +professes to justify God, do we not see it make him a despot and tyrant +more hateful than any of his creatures? I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER V. Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of the Dogma of another +Life + +We have now, Madam, come to the examination of the dogma of a future +life, in which it is supposed that the Divinity, after causing men to +pass through the temptations, the trials, and the difficulties of this +life, for the purpose of satisfying himself whether they are worthy +of his love or his hatred, will bestow the recompenses or inflict the +chastisements which they deserved. This dogma, which is one of the +capital points of the Christian religion, is founded on a great many +hypotheses or suppositions, which we have already glanced at, and which +we have shown to be absurd and incompatible with the notions which the +same religion gives us of the Deity. In effect, it supposes us capable +of offending or pleasing the Author of Nature, of influencing his +humor, or exciting his passions; afflicting, tormenting, resisting, and +thwarting the plans of Deity. It supposes, moreover, the free-will +of man--a system which we have seen incompatible with the goodness, +justice, and omnipotence of the Deity. It supposes, further, that God +has occasion of proving his creatures, and making them, if I may so +speak, pass a novitiate to know what they are worth when he shall +square accounts with them. It supposes in God, who has created men for +happiness only, the inability to put, by one grand effort, all men in +the road, whence they may infallibly arrive at permanent felicity. It +supposes that man will survive himself, or that the same being, after +death, will continue to think, to feel, and act as he did in this life. +In a word, it supposes the immortality of the soul--an opinion unknown +to the Jewish lawgiver, who is totally silent on this topic to the +people to whom God had manifested himself; an opinion which even in the +time of Jesus Christ one sect at Jerusalem admitted, while another sect +rejected; an opinion about which the Messiah, who came to instruct them, +deigned to fix the ideas of those who might deceive themselves in this +respect; an opinion which appears to have been engendered in Egypt, or +in India, anterior to the Jewish religion, but which was unknown among +the Hebrews till they took occasion to instruct themselves in the Pagan +philosophy of the Greeks, and doctrines of Plato. + +Whatever might be the origin of this doctrine, it was eagerly adopted +by the Christians, who judged it very convenient to their system of +religion, all the parts of which are founded on the marvellous, and +which made it a crime to admit any truths agreeable to reason and common +sense. Thus, without going back to the inventors of this inconceivable +dogma, let us examine dispassionately what this opinion really is; let +us endeavor to penetrate to the principles on which it is supported; let +us adopt it, if we shall find it an idea conformable to reason; let us +reject it, if it shall appear destitute of proof, and at variance with +common sense, even though it had been received as an established truth +in all antiquity, though it may have been adopted by many millions of +mankind. + +Those who maintain the opinion of the soul's immortality, regard +it--that is, the soul--as a being distinct from the body, as a +substance, or essence, totally different from the corporeal frame, and +they designate it by the name of _spirit_. If we ask them what a +spirit is, they tell us it is not matter; and if we ask them what they +understand by that which is not matter, which is the only thing of which +we cannot form an idea, they tell us it is a spirit. In general, it +is easy to see that men the most savage, as well as the most subtle +thinkers, make use of the word _spirit_ to designate all the causes of +which they cannot form clear notions; hence the word spirit hath been +used to designate a being of which none can form any idea. + +Notwithstanding, the divines pretend that this unknown being, entirely +different from the body, of a substance which has nothing conformable +with itself, is, nevertheless, capable of setting the body in motion; +and this, doubtless, is a mystery very inconceivable. We have noticed +the alliance between this spiritual substance and the material body, +whose functions it regulates. As the divines have supposed that matter +could neither think, nor will, nor perceive, they have believed that +it might conceive much better those operations attributed to a being +of which they had ideas less clear than they can form of matter. In +consequence, they have imagined many gratuitous suppositions to explain +the union of the soul with the body. In fine, in the impossibility of +overcoming the insurmountable barriers which oppose them, the priests +have made man twofold, by supposing that he contains something distinct +from himself; they have cut through all difficulties by saying that this +union is a great mystery, which man cannot understand; and they have +everlasting recourse to the omnipotence of God, to his supreme will, +to the miracles which he has always wrought; and those last are +never-failing, final resources, which the theologians reserve for every +case wherein they can find no other mode of escaping gracefully from the +argument of their adversaries. + +You see, then, to what we reduce all the jargon of the metaphysicians, +all the profound reveries which for so many ages have been so +industriously hawked about in defence of the soul of man; an immaterial +substance, of which no living being can form an idea; a spirit, that +is to say, a being totally different from any thing we know. All the +theological verbiage ends here, by telling us, in a round of pompous +terms,--fooleries that impose on the ignorant,--that we do not know what +essence the soul is of; but we call it a spirit because of its nature, +and because we feel ourselves agitated by some unknown agent; we cannot +comprehend the mechanism of the soul; yet can we feel ourselves moved, +as it were, by an effect of the power of God, whose essence is far +removed from ours, and more concealed from us than the human soul +itself. By the aid of this language, from which you cannot possibly +learn any thing, you will be as wise, Madam, as all the theologians in +the world. + +If you would desire to form ideas the most precise of yourself, banish +from you the prejudices of a vain theology, which only consists in +repeating words without attaching any new ideas to them, and which are +insufficient to distinguish the soul from the body, which appear +only capable of multiplying beings without reason, of rendering more +incomprehensible and more obscure, notions less distinct than we already +have of ourselves. These notions should be at least the most simple and +the most exact, if we consult our nature, experience, and reason. They +prove that man knows nothing but by his material sensible organs, that +he sees only by his eyes, that he feels by his touch, that he hears by +his ears; and that when either of these organs is actually deranged, +or has been previously wanting, or imperfect, man can have none of the +ideas that organ is capable of furnishing him with,--neither thoughts, +memory, reflection, judgment, desire, nor will. Experience shows us that +corporeal and material beings are alone capable of being moved and acted +upon, and that without those organs we have enumerated the soul thinks +not, feels not, wills not, nor is moved. Every thing shows us that the +soul undergoes always the same vicissitudes as the body; it grows to +maturity, gains strength, becomes weak, and puts on old age, like the +body; in fine, every thing we can understand of it goes to prove that it +perishes with the body. It is indeed folly to pretend that man will feel +when he has no organs appropriate for that sentiment; that he will see +and hear without eyes or ears; that he will have ideas without having +senses to receive impressions from physical objects, or to give rise to +perceptions in his understanding; in fine, that he will enjoy or suffer +when he has no longer either nerves or sensibility. + +Thus every thing conspires to prove that the soul is the same thing as +the body, viewed relatively to some of its functions, which are more +obscure than others. Every thing serves to convince us that without +the body the soul is nothing, and that all the operations which are +attributed to the soul cannot be exercised any longer when the body +is destroyed. Our body is a machine, which, so long as we live, is +susceptible of producing the effects which have been designated under +different names, one from another; sentiment is one of these effects, +thought is another, reflection a third. This last passes sometimes by +other names, and our brain appears to be the seat of all our organs; +it is that which is the most susceptible. This organic machine, once +destroyed or deranged, is no longer capable of producing the same +effects, or of exercising the same functions. It is with our body as +it is with a watch which indicates the hours, and which goes not if the +spring or a pinion be broken. Cease, Eugenia, cease to torment yourself +about the fate which shall attend you when death will have separated you +from all that is dear on earth. After the dissolution of this life, the +soul shall cease to exist; those devouring flames with which you have +been threatened by the priests will have no effect upon the soul, which +can neither be susceptible then of pleasures nor pains, of agreeable or +sorrowful ideas, of lively or doleful reflections. + +It is only by means of the bodily organs that we feel, think, and are +merry or sad, happy or miserable; this body once reduced to dust, we +will have neither perceptions nor sensations, and, by consequence, +neither memory nor ideas; the dispersed particles will no longer have +the same qualities they possessed when united; nor will they any +longer conspire to produce the same effects. In a word, the body being +destroyed, the soul, which is merely a result of all the parts of the +body in action, will cease to be what it is; it will be reduced to +nothing with the life's breath. + +Our teachers pretend to understand the soul well; they profess to be +able to distinguish it from the body; in short, they can do nothing +without it; and therefore, to keep up the farce, they have been +compelled to admit the ridiculous dogma of the Persians, known by the +name of the _resurrection_. + +This system supposes that the particles of the body which have been +scattered at death will be collected at the last day, to be replaced +in their primitive condition. But that this strange phenomenon may take +place, it is necessary that the particles of our destroyed bodies, +of which some have been converted into earth, others have passed into +plants, others into animals, some of one species, others of another, +even of our own; it is requisite, I say, that these particles, of which +some have been mixed with the waters of the deep, others have been +carried on the wings of the wind, and which have successively belonged +to many different men, should be reunited to reproduce the individual to +whom they formerly belonged. If you cannot get over this impossibility, +the theologians will explain it to you by saying, very briefly, "Ah! it +is a profound mystery, which we cannot comprehend." They will inform you +that the resurrection is a miracle, a supernatural effect, which is +to result from the divine power. It is thus they overcome all the +difficulties which the good sense of a few opposes to their rhapsodies. + +If, perchance, Madam, you do not wish to remain content with these +sublime reasons, against which your good sense will naturally revolt, +the clergy will endeavor to seduce your imagination by vague pictures +of the ineffable delights which will be enjoyed in Paradise by the souls +and bodies of those who have adopted their reveries; they will aver +that you cannot refuse to believe them upon their mere word without +encountering the eternal indignation of a God of pity; and they will +attempt to alarm your fancy by frightful delineations of the cruel +torments which a God of goodness has prepared for the greater number of +his creatures. + +But if you consider the thing coolly, you will perceive the futility +of their flattering promises and of their puny threatenings, which are +uttered merely to catch the unwary. You may easily discover that if it +could be true that man shall survive himself, God, in recompensing him, +would only recompense himself for the grace which he had granted; and +when he punished him, he punished him for not receiving the grace which +he had hardened him against receiving. This line of conduct, so cruel +and barbarous, appears equally unworthy of a wise God as it is of a +being perfectly good. + +If your mind, proof against the terrors with which the Christian +religion penetrates its sectaries, is capable of contemplating these +frightful circumstances, which it is imagined will accompany the +carefully-invented punishments which God has destined for the victims +of his vengeance, you will find that they are impossible, and totally +incompatible with the ideas which they themselves have put forth of the +Divinity. In a word, you will perceive that the chastisements of another +life are but a crowd of chimeras, invented to disturb human reason, to +subjugate it beneath the feet of imposture, to annihilate forever the +repose of slaves whom the priesthood would inthrall and retain under its +yoke. + +In short, Eugenia, the priests would make you believe that these +torments will be horrible,--a thing which accords not with our ideas +of God's goodness; they tell you they will be eternal,--a thing which +accords not with our ideas of the justice of God, who, one would very +naturally suppose, will proportion chastisements to faults, and who, by +consequence, will not punish without end the beings whose actions +are bounded by time. They tell us that the offences against God are +infinite, and, by consequence, that the Divinity, without doing violence +to his justice, may avenge himself as God, that is to say, avenge +himself to infinity. In this case I shall say that this God is not +good; that he is vindictive, a character which always announces fear +and weakness. In fine, I shall say that among the imperfect beings who +compose the human species, there is not, perhaps, a single one who, +without some advantage to himself, without personal fear, in a word, +without folly, would consent to punish everlastingly the wretch who +might have the misfortune to offend him, but who no longer had either +the ability or the inclination to commit another offence. Caligula +found, at least, some little amusement to forsake for a time the cares +of government, and enjoy the spectacle of punishment which he inflicted +on those unfortunate men whom he had an interest in destroying. But what +advantage can it be to God to heap on the damned everlasting torments? +Will this amuse him? Will their frightful punishments correct their +faults? Can these examples of the divine severity be of any service to +those on earth, who witness not their friends in hell? Will it not be +the most astonishing of all the miracles of Deity to make the bodies +of the damned invulnerable, to resist, through the ceaseless ages of +eternity, the frightful torments destined for them? + +You see, then, Madam, that the ideas which the priests give us of hell +make of God a being infinitely more insensible, more wicked and cruel +than the most barbarous of men. They add to all this that it will be the +Devil and the apostate angels, that is to say, the enemies of God, +whom he will employ as the ministers of his implacable vengeance. These +wicked spirits, then, will execute the commands which this severe judge +will pronounce against men at the last judgment. For you must know, +Madam, that a God who knows all will at some future time take an account +of what he already knows. So, then, not content with judging men at +death, he will assemble the whole human race with great pomp at the last +or general judgment, in which he will confirm his sentence in the view +of the whole human race, assembled to receive their doom. Thus on the +wreck of the world will he pronounce a definitive judgment, from which +there will be no appeal. + +But, in attending this memorable judgment, what will become of the +souls of men, separated from their bodies, which have not yet been +resuscitated? The souls of the just will go directly to enjoy the +blessings of Paradise; but what is to become of the immense crowd of +souls imbued with faults or crimes, and on whom the infallible parsons, +who are so well instructed in what is passing in another world, cannot +speak with certainty as to their fate? According to some of these +wiseacres, God will place the souls of such as are not wholly +displeasing to him in a place of punishment, where, by rigorous +torments, they shall have the merit of expiating the faults with which +they may stand chargeable at death. According to this fine system, so +profitable to our spiritual guides, God has found it the most simple +method to build a fiery furnace for the special purpose of tormenting a +certain proportion of souls who have not been sufficiently purified at +death to enter Paradise, but who, after leaving them some years +united with the body, and giving them time necessary to arrive at that +amendment of life by which they may become partakers of the supreme +felicity of heaven, ordains that they shall expiate their offences in +torment. It is on this ridiculous notion that our priests have bottomed +the doctrine of _purgatory_, which every good Catholic is obliged to +believe for the benefit of the priests, who reserve to themselves, as +is very reasonable, the power of compelling by their prayers a just and +immutable God to relax in his sternness, and liberate the captive souls, +which he had only condemned to undergo this purgation in order that they +might be made meet for the joys of Paradise. + +With respect to the Protestants, who are, as every one knows, heretics +and impious, you will observe that they pretend not to those lucrative +views of the Roman doctors. On the contrary, they think that, at the +instant of death, every man is irrevocably judged; that he goes directly +to glory or into a place of punishment, to suffer the award of evil by +the enduring of punishments for which God had eternally prepared both +the sufferer and his torments! Even before the reunion of soul and body +at the final judgment, they fancy that the soul of the wicked (which, on +the principle of all souls being spirits, must be the same in essence as +the soul of the elect,) will, though deprived of those organs by which +it felt, and thought, and acted, be capable of undergoing the agency or +action of a fire! It is true that some Protestant theologians tell us +that the fire of hell is a spiritual fire, and, by consequence, very +different from the material fire vomited out of Vesuvius, and AEtna, +and Hecla. Nor ought we to doubt that these informed doctors of the +Protestant faith know very well what they say, and that they have +as precise and clear ideas of a spiritual fire as they have of the +ineffable joys of Paradise, which may be as spiritual as the punishment +of the damned in hell. Such are, Madam, in a few words, the absurdities, +not less revolting than ridiculous, which the dogmas of a future life +and of the immortality of the soul have engendered in the minds of men. +Such are the phantoms which have been invented and propagated, to seduce +and alarm mortals, to excite their hopes and their fears; such the +illusions that so powerfully operate on weak and feeling beings. But as +melancholy ideas have more effect upon the imagination than those which +are agreeable, the priests have always insisted more forcibly on what +men have to fear on the part of a terrible God than on what they have to +hope from the mercy of a forgiving Deity, full of goodness. Princes the +most wicked are infinitely more respected than those who are famed for +indulgence and humanity. The priests have had the art to throw us into +uncertainty and mistrust by the twofold character which they have given +the Divinity. If they promise us salvation, they tell us that we must +work it out for ourselves, "with fear and trembling." It is thus that +they have contrived to inspire the minds of the most honest men with +dismay and doubt, repeating without ceasing that time only must disclose +who are worthy of the divine love, or who are to be the objects of the +divine wrath. Terror has been and always will be the most certain means +of corrupting and enslaving the mind of man. + +They will tell us, doubtless, that the terrors which religion inspires +are salutary terrors; that the dogma of another life is a bridle +sufficiently powerful to prevent the commission of crimes and restrain +men within the path of duty. To undeceive one's self of this maxim, so +often thundered in our ears, and so generally adopted on the authority +of the priests, we have only to open our eyes. Nevertheless, we see some +Christians thoroughly persuaded of another life, who, notwithstanding, +conduct themselves as if they had nothing to fear on the part of a God +of vengeance, nor any thing to hope from a God of mercy. When any of +these are engaged in some great project, at all times they are tempted +by some strong passion or by some bad habit, they shut their eyes on +another life, they see not the enraged judge, they suffer themselves to +sin, and when it is committed, they comfort themselves by saying, that +God is good. + +Besides, they console themselves by the same contradictory religion +which shows them also this same God, whom it represents so susceptible +of wrath, as full of mercy, bestowing his grace on all those who are +sensible of their evils and repent In a word, I see none whom the fears +of hell will restrain when passion or interest solicit obedience. The +very priests who make so many efforts to convince us of their dogmas too +often evince more wickedness of conduct than we find in those who have +never heard one word about another life. Those who from infancy have +been taught these terrifying lessons are neither less debauched, nor +less proud, nor less passionate, nor less unjust, nor less avaricious +than others who have lived and died ignorant of Christian purgatory and +Paradise. In fine, the dogma of another life has little or no influence +on them; it annihilates none of their passions; it is a bridle merely +with some few timid souls, who, without its knowledge, would never have +the hardihood to be guilty of any great excesses. This dogma is very +fit to disturb the quiet of some honest, timorous persons, and the +credulous, whose imagination it inflames, without ever staying the +hand of great rogues, without imposing on them more than the decency of +civilization and a specious morality of life, restrained chiefly by the +coercion of public laws. + +In short, to sum all up in one thought, I behold a religion gloomy +and formidable to make impressions very lively, very deep, and very +dangerous on a mind such as yours, although it makes but very momentary +impressions on the minds of such as are hardened in crime, or whose +dissipation destroys constantly the effects of its threats. More lively +affected than others by your principles, you have been but too often +and too seriously occupied for your happiness by gloomy and harassing +objects, which have powerfully affected your sensible imagination, +though the same phantoms that have pursued you have been altogether +banished from the mind of those who have had neither your virtues, your +understanding, nor your sensibility. + +According to his principles, a Christian must always live in fear; he +can never know with certainty whether he pleases or displeases God; +the least movement of pride or of covetousness, the least desire, will +suffice to merit the divine anger, and lose in one moment the fruits +of years of devotion. It is not surprising that, with these frightful +principles before them, many Christians should endeavor to find in +solitude employment for their lugubrious reflections, where they may +avoid the occasions that solicit them to do wrong, and embrace such +means as are most likely, according to their notions of the likelihood +of the thing, to expiate the faults which they fancy might incur the +eternal vengeance of God. + +Thus the dark notions of a future life leave those only in peace who +think slightly upon it; and they are very disconsolate to all those +whose temperament determines them to contemplate it. They are but the +atrocious ideas, however, which the priests study to give us of the +Deity, and by which they have compelled so many worthy people to throw +themselves into the arms of incredulity. If some libertines, incapable +of reasoning, abjure a religion troublesome to their passions, or which +abridges their pleasures, there are very many who have maturely examined +it, that have been disgusted with it, because they could not consent to +live in the fears it engendered, nor to nourish the despair it created. +They have then abjured this religion, fit only to fill the soul with +inquietudes, that they might find in the bosom of reason the repose +which it insures to good sense. + +Times of the greatest crimes are always times of the greatest ignorance. +It is in these times, or usually so, that the greatest noise is made +about religion. Men then follow mechanically, and without examination, +the tenets which their priests impose on them, without ever diving +to the bottom of their doctrines. In proportion as mankind become +enlightened, great crimes become more rare, the manners of men are more +polished, the sciences are cultivated, and the religion which they have +coolly and carefully examined loses sensibly its credit. It is thus that +we see so many incredulous people in the bosom of society become more +agreeable and complacent now than formerly, when it depended on the +caprice of a priest to involve them in troubles, and to invite the +people to crimes in the hope of thereby meriting heaven. + +Religion is consoling only to those who have no embarrassment about it; +the indefinite and vague recompense which it promises, without giving +ideas of it, is made to deceive those who make no reflections on the +impatient, variable, false, and cruel character which this religion +gives of its God. But how can it make any promises on the part of a God +whom it represents as a tempter, a seducer--who appears, moreover, +to take pleasure in laying the most dangerous snares for his weak +creatures? How can it reckon on the favors of a God full of caprice, who +it alternately informs us is replete with tenderness or with hatred? +By what right does it hold out to us the rewards of a despotic and +tyrannical God, who does or does not choose men for happiness, and who +consults only his own fantasy to destine some of his creatures to bliss +and others to perdition? Nothing, doubtless, but the blindest enthusiasm +could induce mortals to place confidence in such a God as the priests +have feigned; it is to folly alone we must attribute the love some +well-meaning people profess to the God of the parsons; it is matchless +extravagance alone that could prevail on men to reckon on the unknown +rewards which are promised them by this religion, at the same time that +it assures us that God is the author of grace, but that we have no right +to expect any thing from him. + +In a word, Madam, the notions of another life, far from consoling, are +fit only to imbitter all the sweets of the present life. After the sad +and gloomy ideas which Christianity, always at variance with itself, +presents us with of its God, it then affirms, that we are much more +likely to incur his terrible chastisements, than possessed of power by +which we may merit ineffable rewards; and it proceeds to inform us, that +God will give grace to whomsoever he pleases, yet it remains with them* +selves whether they escape damnation; and a life the most spotless +cannot warrant them to presume that they are worthy of his favor. In +good truth, would not total annihilation be preferable to such beings, +rather than falling into the hands of a Deity so hard-hearted? Would not +every man of sense prefer the idea of complete annihilation to that of +a future existence, in order to be the sport of the eternal caprice of +a Deity, so cruel as to damn and torment, without end, the unfortunate +beings whom he created so weak, that he might punish them for faults +inseparable from their nature? If God is good, as we are assured, +notwithstanding the cruelties of which the priests suppose him capable, +is it not more consonant to all our ideas of a being perfectly good, +to believe that he did not create them to sport with them in a state +of eternal damnation, which they had not the power of choosing, or of +rejecting and shunning? Has not God treated the beasts of the field more +favorably than he has treated man, since he has exempted them from +sin, and by consequence has not exposed them to suffer an eternal +unhappiness? + +The dogma of the immortality of the soul, or of a future life, presents +nothing consoling in the Christian religion. On the contrary, it is +calculated expressly to fill the heart of the Christian, following +out his principles, with bitterness and continual alarm. I appeal to +yourself, Madam, whether these sublime notions have-any thing consoling +in them? Whenever this uncertain idea has presented itself to your +mind, has it not filled you with a cold and secret horror? Has the +consciousness of a life so virtuous and so spotless as yours, secured +you against those fears which are inspired by the idea of a being +jealous, severe, capricious, whose eternal disgrace the least fault is +sure of incurring, and in whose eyes the smallest weakness, or freedom +the most involuntary, is sufficient to cancel years of strict observance +of all the rules of religion? + +I know very well what you will advance to support yourself in your +prejudices. The ministers of religion possess the secret of tempering +the alarms which they have the art to excite. They strive to inspire +confidence in those minds which they discover accessible to fear. They +balance, thus, one passion against another. They hold in suspense the +minds of their slaves, in the apprehension that too much confidence +would only render them less pliable, or that despair would force them +to throw off the yoke. To persons terribly frightened about their state +after death, they speak only of the hopes which we may entertain of the +goodness of God. To those who have too much confidence, they preach +up the terrors of the Lord, and the judgments of a severe God. By this +chicanery they contrive to subject or retain under their yoke all those +who are weak enough to be led by the contradictory doctrines of these +blind guides. + +They tell you, besides, that the sentiment of the immortality of the +soul is inherent in man; that the soul is consumed by boundless desires, +and that since there is nothing on this earth capable of satisfying it, +these are indubitable proofs that it is destined to subsist eternally. +In a word, that as we naturally desire to exist always, we may naturally +conclude that we shall always exist. But what think you, Madam, of such +reasonings? To what do they lead? Do we desire the continuation of this +existence, because it may be blessed and happy, or because we know not +what may become of us? But we cannot desire a miserable existence, or, +at least, one in which it is more than probable we may be miserable +rather than happy. If, as the Christian religion so often repeats, the +number of the elect is very small, and salvation very difficult, the +number of the reprobate very great, and damnation very easily obtained, +who is he who would desire to exist always with so evident a risk of +being eternally damned? Would it not have been better for us not to have +been born, than to have been compelled against our nature to play a game +so fraught with peril? Does not annihilation itself present to us an +idea preferable to that of an existence which may very easily lead us +to eternal tortures? Suffer me, Madam, to appeal to yourself. If, before +you had come into this world, you had had your choice of being born, or +of not seeing the light of this fair sun, and you could have been made +to comprehend, but for one moment, the hundred thousandth part of the +risks you run to be eternally unhappy, would you not have determined +never to enjoy life? + +It is an easy matter, then, to perceive the proofs on which the priests +pretend to found this dogma of the immortality of the soul and 'a future +life. The desire which we might have of it could only be founded on +the hope of enjoying eternal happiness. But does religion give us this +assurance? Yes, say the clergy, if you submit faithfully to the rules +it prescribes. But to conform one's self to these rules, is it not +necessary to have grace from Heaven? And, are we then sure we shall +obtain that grace, or if we do, merit Heaven? Do the priests not repeat +to us, without ceasing, that God is the author of grace, and that he +only gives it to a small number of the elect? Do they not daily tell +us that, except one man, who rendered himself worthy of this eternal +happiness, there are millions going the high road to damnation? This +being admitted, every Christian, who reasons, would be a fool to desire +a future existence which he has so many motives to fear, or to reckon on +a happiness which every thing conspires to show him is as uncertain, +as difficult to be obtained, as it is unequivocally dependent on the +fantasies of a capricious Deity, who sports with the misfortunes of his +creatures. + +Under every point of view in which we regard the dogma of the soul's +immortality, we are compelled to consider it as a chimera invented by +men who have realized their wishes, or who have not been able to justify +Providence from the transitory injustices of this world. This dogma was +received with avidity, because it flattered the desires, and especially +the vanity of man, who arrogated to himself a superiority above all the +beings that enjoy existence, and which he would pass by and reduce to +mere clay; who believed himself the favorite of God, without ever taxing +his attention with this other fact--that God makes him every instant +experience vicissitudes, calamities, and trials, as all sentient +natures experience; that God made him, in fine, to undergo death, or +dissolution, which is an invariable law that all that exists must find +verified. This haughty creature, who fancies himself a privileged being, +alone agreeable to his Maker, does not perceive that there are stages +in his life when his existence is more uncertain and much more weak +than that of the other animals, or even of some inanimate things. Man is +unwilling to admit that he possesses not the strength of the lion, +nor the swiftness of the stag, nor the durability of an oak, nor the +solidity of marble or metal. He believes himself the greatest favorite, +the most sublime, the most noble; he believes himself superior to all +other animals because he possesses the faculties of thinking, judging, +and reasoning. But his thoughts only render him more wretched than all +the animals whom he supposes deprived of this faculty, or who, at least, +he believes, do not enjoy it in the same degree with himself. Do not the +faculties of thinking, of remembering, of foresight, too often render +him unhappy by the very idea of the past, the present, and the future? +Do not his passions drive him to excesses unknown to the other animals? +Are his judgments always reasonable and wise? Is reason so largely +developed in the great mass of men that the priests should interdict its +use as dangerous? Are mankind sufficiently advanced in knowledge to be +able to overcome the prejudices and chimeras which render them unhappy +during the greatest part of their lives? In fine, have the beasts some +species of religious impressions, which inspire continual terrors in +their breast, making them look upon some awful event, which imbitters +their softest pleasures, which enjoins them to torment themselves, and +which threatens them with eternal damnation? No! + +In truth, Madam, if you weigh in an equitable balance the pretended +advantages of man above the other animals, you will soon see how +evanescent is this fictitious superiority which he has arrogated to +himself. We find that all the productions of nature are submitted to the +same laws; that all beings are only born to die; they produce their like +to destroy themselves; that all sentient beings are compelled to undergo +pleasures and pains; they appear and they disappear; they are and +they cease to be; they evince under one form that they will quit it +to produce another. Such are the continual vicissitudes to which every +thing that exists is evidently subjected, and from which man is +not exempt, any more than the other beings and productions that he +appropriates to his use as _lord of the creation_. Even our globe +itself undergoes change; the seas change their place; the mountains are +gathered in heaps or levelled into plains; every thing that breathes is +destroyed at last, and man alone pretends to an eternal duration. + +It is unnecessary to tell me that we degrade man when we compare +him with the beasts, deprived of souls and intelligence; this is no +levelling doctrine, but one which places him exactly where nature places +him, but from which his puerile vanity has unfortunately driven him. +All beings are equals; under various and different forms they act +differently; they are governed in their appetites and passions by laws +which are invariably the same for all of the same species; every thing +which is composed of parts will be dissolved; every thing which has life +must part with it at death; all men are equally compelled to submit to +this fate; they are equal at death, although during life their power, +their talents, and especially their virtues, establish a marked +difference, which, though real, is only momentary. What will they be +after death? They will be exactly what they were ten years before they +were born. + +Banish, then, Eugenia, from your mind forever the terrors which death +has hitherto filled you with. It is for the wretched a safe haven +against the misfortunes of this life. If it appears a cruel alternative +to those who enjoy the good things of this world, why do they not +console themselves with the idea of what they do actually enjoy? Let +them call reason to their aid; it will calm the inquietudes of their +imagination, but too greatly alarmed; it will disperse the clouds which +religion spreads over their minds; it will teach them that this death, +so terrible in apprehension, is really nothing, and that it will neither +be accompanied with remembrance of past pleasures nor of sorrow now no +more. + +Live, then, happy and tranquil, amiable Eugenia! Preserve carefully an +existence so interesting and so necessary to all those with whom you +live. Allow not your health to be injured, nor trouble your quiet with +melancholy ideas. Without being teased by the prospect of an event which +has no right to disturb your repose, cultivate virtue, which has always +been your favorite, so necessary to your internal peace, and which has +rendered you so dear to all those who have the happiness of being +your friends. Let your rank, your credit, your riches, your talents be +employed to make others happy, to support the oppressed, to succor +the unfortunate, to dry up the tears of those whom you may have +an opportunity of comforting! Let your mind be occupied about such +agreeable and profitable employments as are likely to please you! Call +in the aid of your reason to dissipate the phantoms which alarm you, to +efface the prejudices which you have imbibed in early life! In a word, +comfort yourself, and remember that in practising virtue, as you do, +you cannot become an object of hatred to God, who, if he has reserved +in eternity rigorous punishments for the social virtues, will be the +strangest, the most cruel, and the most insensible of beings! + +You demand of me, perhaps, "In destroying the idea of another world, +what is to become of the remorse, those chastisements so useful to +mankind, and so well calculated to restrain them within the bounds of +propriety?" I reply, that remorse will always subsist as long as we +shall be capable of feeling its pangs, even when we cease to fear the +distant and uncertain vengeance of the Divinity. In the commission of +crimes, in allowing one's self to be the sport of passion, in injuring +our species, in refusing to do them good, in stifling pity, every man +whose reason is not totally deranged perceives clearly that he will +render himself odious to others, that he ought to fear their enmity. +He will blush, then, if he thinks he has rendered himself hateful and +detestable in their eyes. He knows the continual need he has of their +esteem and assistance. Experience proves to him that vices the moat +concealed are injurious to himself. He lives in perpetual fear lest some +mishap should unfold his weaknesses and secret faults. It is from all +these ideas that we are to look for regret and remorse, even in those +who do not believe in the chimeras of another world. With regard +to those whose reason is deranged, those who are enervated by their +passions, or perhaps linked to vice by the chains of habit, even with +the prospect of hell open before them, they will neither live less +vicious nor less wicked. An avenging God will never inflict on any +man such a total want of reason as may make him regardless of public +opinion, trample decency under foot, brave the laws, and expose +himself to derision and human chastisements. Every man of sense easily +understands that in this world the esteem and affection of others are +necessary for his happiness, and that life is but a burden to those who +by their vices injure themselves, and render themselves reprehensible in +the eyes of society. + +The true means, Madam, of living happy in this world is to do good to +your fellow-creatures; to labor for the happiness of your species is +to have virtue, and with virtue we can peaceably and without remorse +approach the term which nature has fixed equally for all beings--a term +that your youth causes you now to see only at a distance--a term that +you ought not to accelerate by your fears--a term, in fine, that the +cares and desires of all those who know you will seek to put off till? +full of days and contented with the part you have played in the scene +of the world, you shall yourself desire to gently reenter the bosom of +nature. + +I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VI. Of the Mysteries, Sacraments, and Religious Ceremonies of +Christianity + +The reflections, Madam, which I have already offered you in these +letters ought, I conceive, to have sufficed to undeceive you, in a great +measure, of the lugubrious and afflicting notions with which you have +been inspired by religious prejudices. However, to fulfil the task which +you have imposed on me, and to assist you in freeing yourself from +the unfavorable ideas you may have imbibed from a system replete with +irrelevancies and contradictions, I shall continue to examine the +strange mysteries with which Christianity is garnished. They are founded +on ideas so odd and so contrary to reason, that if from infancy we +had not been familiarized with them, we should blush at our species in +having for one instant believed and adopted them. + +The Christians, scarcely content with the crowd of enigmas with which +the books of the Jews are filled, have besides fancied they must add to +them a great many incomprehensible mysteries, for which they have the +most profound veneration. Their impenetrable obscurity appears to be a +sufficient motive among them for adding these. Their priests, encouraged +by their credulity, which nothing can outdo, seem to be studious to +multiply the articles of their faith, and the number of inconceivable +objects which they have said must be received with submission, and +adored even if not understood. + +The first of these mysteries is the _Trinity_, which supposes that one +God, self-existent, who is a pure spirit, is, nevertheless, composed +of three Divinities, which have obtained the names of _persons_. +These three Gods, who are designated under the respective names of the +_Father_, the _Son_, and the _Holy Ghost_, are, nevertheless, but +one God only, These three persons are equal in power, in wisdom, in +perfections; yet the second is subordinate to the first, in consequence +of which he was compelled to become a man, and be the victim of the +wrath of his Father. This is what the priests call the mystery of +the _incarnation_. Notwithstanding his innocence, his perfection, his +purity, the Son of God became the object of the vengeance of a just God, +who is the same as the Son in question, but who would not consent to +appease himself but by the death of his own Son, who is a portion of +himself. The Son of God, not content with becoming man, died without +having sinned, for the salvation of men who had sinned. God preferred to +the punishment of imperfect beings, whom he did not choose to amend, the +punishment of his only Son, full of divine perfections. The death of God +became necessary to reclaim the human kind from the slavery of Satan, +who without that would not have quitted his prey, and who has been found +sufficiently powerful against the Omnipotent to oblige him to sacrifice +his Son. This is what the priests designate by the name of the mystery +of _redemption_. + +It is assuredly sufficient to expose such opinions to demonstrate their +absurdity. It is evident, if there exists only a single God, there +cannot be three. We may, it is true, contemplate the Deity after the +manner of Plato, who, before the birth of Christianity, exhibited him +under three different points of view, that is to say, as all-wise, as +all-powerful, as full of reason, and as infinite in goodness; but it was +verily the excess of delirium to personify these three divine qualities, +or transform them into real beings. We can readily imagine these moral +attributes to be united in the same God, but it is egregious folly +to fashion them into three different Gods; nor will it remedy this +metaphysical polytheism to assert that these three are one. Besides, +this revery never entered the head of the Hebrew legislator. The +Eternal, in revealing himself to Moses, did not announce himself as +triple. There is not one syllable in the Old Testament about this +Trinity, although a notion so _bizarre_, so marvellous, and so little +consonant with our ideas of a divine being, deserved to have been +formally announced, especially as it is the foundation and corner stone +of the Christian religion, which was from all eternity an object of the +divine solicitude, and on the establishment of which, if we may credit +our sapient priests, God seems to have entertained serious thoughts long +before, the creation of the world. + +Nevertheless, the second person, or the second God of the Trinity, is +revealed in flesh; the Son of God is made man. But how could the pure +Spirit who presides over the universe beget a son? How could this son, +who before his incarnation was only a pure spirit, combine that ethereal +essence with a material body, and envelop himself with it? How could the +divine nature amalgamate itself with the imperfect nature of man, and +how could an immense and infinite being, as the Deity is represented, +be formed in the womb of a virgin? After what manner could a pure spirit +fecundate this favorite virgin? Did the Son of God enjoy in the womb of +his mother the faculties of omnipotence, or was he like other children +during his infancy,--weak, liable to infirmities, sickness, and +intellectual imbecility, so conspicuous in the years of childhood; and +if so, what, during this period, became of the divine wisdom and power? +In fine, how could God suffer and die? How could a just God consent that +a God exempt from all sin should endure the chastisements which are due +to sinners? Why did he not appease himself without immolating a victim +so precious and so innocent? What would you think of that sovereign who, +in the event of his subjects rebelling against him, should forgive +them all, or a select number of them, by putting to death his only and +beloved son, who had not rebelled? + +The priests tell us that it was out of tenderness for the human kind +that God wished to accomplish this sacrifice. But I still ask if it +would not have been more simple, more conformable to all our ideas of +Deity, for God to pardon the iniquities of the human race, or to have +prevented them committing transgressions, by placing them in a condition +in which, by their own will, they should never have sinned? According to +the entire system of the Christian religion, it is evident that God did +only create the world to have an opportunity of immolating his Son for +the rebellious beings he might have formed and preserved immaculate. The +fall of the rebellious angels had no visible end to serve but to effect +and hasten the fall of Adam. It appears from this system that God +permitted the first man to sin that he might have the pleasure of +showing his goodness in sacrificing his "only begotten Son" to reclaim +men from the thraldom of Satan. He intrusted to Satan as much power +as might enable him to work the ruin of our race, with the view of +afterwards changing the projects of the great mass of mankind, by making +one God to die, and thereby destroy the power of the Devil on the earth. + +But has God succeeded in these projects to the end he proposed? Are +men entirely rescued from the dominion of Satan? Are they not still the +slaves of sin? Do they find themselves in the happy impossibility of +kindling the divine wrath? Has the blood of the Son of God washed away +the sins of the whole world? Do those who are reclaimed, those to whom +he has made himself known, those who believe, offend not against heaven? +Has the Deity, who ought, without doubt, to be perfectly satisfied with +so memorable a sacrifice, remitted to them the punishment of sin? Is it +not necessary to do something more for them? And since the death of +his Son, do we find the Christians exempt from disease and from death? +Nothing of all this has happened. The measures taken from all eternity +by the wisdom and prescience of a God who should find against his plans +no obstacles have been overthrown. The death of God himself has been of +no utility to the world. All the divine projects have militated against +the free-will of man, but they have not destroyed the power of Satan. +Man continues to sin and to die; the Devil keeps possession of the field +of battle; and it is for a very small number of the elect that the Deity +consented to die. + +You do indeed smile, Madam, at my being obliged seriously to combat +such chimeras. If they have something of the marvellous in them, it is +quite adapted to the heads of children, not of men, and ought not to +be admitted by reasonable beings. All the notions we can form of those +things must be mysterious; yet there is no subject more demonstrable, +according to those whose interest it is to have it believed, though they +are as incapable as ourselves to comprehend the matter. For the priests +to say that they believe such absurdities, is to be guilty of manifest +falsehood; because a proposition to be believed must necessarily +be understood. To believe what they do not comprehend is to adhere +sottishly to the absurdities of others; to believe things which are not +comprehended by those who gossip about them is the height of folly; +to believe blindly the mysteries of the Christian religion is to admit +contradictions of which they who declare them are not convinced. In +fine, is it necessary to abandon one's reason among absurdities that +have been received without examination from ancient priests, who were +either the dupes of more knowing men, or themselves the impostors who +fabricated the tales in question? + +If you ask of me how men have not long ago been shocked by such absurd +and unintelligible reveries, I shall proceed, in my turn, to explain to +you this secret of the church, this mystery of our priests. It is +not necessary, in doing this, to pay any attention to those general +dispositions of man, especially when he is ignorant and incapable of +reasoning. All men are curious, inquisitive; their curiosity spurs +them on to inquiry,'and their imagination busies itself to clothe with +mystery every thing the fancy conjures up as important to happiness. The +vulgar mistake even what they have the means of knowing, or, which is +the same thing, what they are least practised in they are dazzled with; +they proclaim it, accordingly, marvellous, prodigious, extraordinary; +it is a phenomenon. They neither admire nor respect much what is always +visible to their eyes; but whatever strikes their imagination, whatever +gives scope to the mind, becomes itself the fruitful source of other +ideas far more extravagant. The priests have had the art to prevail on +the people to believe in their secret correspondence with the Deity; +they have been thence much respected, and in all countries their +professed intercourse with an unseen Divinity has given room for their +announcement of things the most marvellous and mysterious. + +Besides, the Divinity being a being whose impenetrable essence is veiled +from mortal sight, it has been commonly admitted by the ignorant, that +what could not be seen by mortal eye must necessarily be divine. Hence +_sacred, mysterious, and divine_, are synonymous terms; and these +imposing words have sufficed to place the human race on their knees to +adore what seeks not their inflated devotion. + +The three mysteries which I have examined are received unanimously by +all sects of Christians; but there are others on which the theologians +are not agreed. In fine, we see men, who, after they have admitted, +without repugnance, a certain number of absurdities, stop all of a +sudden in the way, and refuse to admit more. The Christian Protestants +are in this case. They reject, with disdain, the mysteries for which +the Church of Rome shows the greatest respect; and yet, in the matter of +mysteries, it is indeed difficult to designate the point where the mind +ought to stop. + +Seeing, then, that our doctors, better advised, undoubtedly, than those +of the Protestants, have adroitly multiplied mysteries, one is naturally +led to conclude, they despaired of governing the mind of man, if there +was any thing in their religion that was clear, intelligible, and +natural. More mysterious than the priests of Egypt itself, they have +found means to change every thing into mystery; the very movements of +the body, usages the most indifferent, ceremonies the most frivolous, +have become, in the powerful hands of the priests, sublime and divine +mysteries. In the Roman religion all is magic, all is prodigy, all is +supernatural. In the decisions of our theologians, the side which they +espouse is almost always that which is the most abhorrent to reason, the +most calculated to confound and overthrow common sense. In consequence, +our priests are by far the most rich, powerful, and considerable. The +continual want which we have of their aid to obtain from Heaven that +grace which it is their province to bring down for us, places us in +continual dependence on those marvellous men who have received their +commission to treat with the Deity, and become the ambassadors between +Heaven and us. + +Each of our sacraments envelops a great mystery. They are ceremonies +to which the Divinity, they say, attaches some secret virtue, by unseen +views, of which we can form no ideas. In _baptism_, without which no man +can be saved, the water sprinkled on the head of the child washes his +spiritual soul, and carries away the defilement which is a consequence +of the sin committed in the person of Adam, who sinned for all men. +By the mysterious virtue of this water, and of some words equally +unintelligible, the infant finds itself reconciled to God, as his first +father had made him guilty without his knowledge and consent. In all +this, Madam, you cannot, by possibility, comprehend the complication +of these mysteries, with which no Christian can dispense, though, +assuredly, there is not one believer who knows what the virtue of the +marvellous water consists in, which is necessary for his regeneration. +Nor can you conceive how the supreme and equitable Governor of the +universe could impute faults to those who have never been guilty of +transgressions. Nor can you comprehend how a wise Deity can attach his +favor to a futile ceremony, which, without changing the nature of +the being who has derived an existence it neither commenced nor was +consulted in, must, if administered in winter, be attended with serious +consequences to the health of the child. + +In _Confirmation_, a sacrament or ceremony, which, to have any value, +ought to be administered by a bishop, the laying of the hands on the +head of the young confirmant makes the Holy Spirit descend upon him, and +procures the grace of God to uphold him in the faith. You see, Madam, +that the efficacy of this sacrament is unfortunately lost in my person; +for, although in my youth I had been duly confirmed, I have not +been preserved against smiling at this faith, nor have I been kept +invulnerable in the credence of my priests and forefathers. In the +sacrament of _Penitence_, or confession, a ceremony which consists in +putting a priest in possession of all one's faults, public or private, +you will discover mysteries equally marvellous. In favor of this +submission, to which every good Catholic is necessarily obliged to +submit, a priest, _himself a sinner_, charged with full powers by the +Deity, pardons and remits, in His name, the sins against which God +is enraged. God reconciles himself with every man who humbles himself +before the priest, and in accordance with the orders of the latter, he +opens heaven to the wretch whom he had before determined to exclude. +If this sacrament doth not always procure grace, very distinguishing to +those who use it, it has, at all events, the advantage of rendering them +pliable to the clergy, who, by its means, find an easy sway in their +spiritual empire over the human mind, an empire that enables them, not +unfrequently, to disturb society, and more often the repose of families, +and the very conscience of the person confessing. + +There is among the Catholics another sacrament, which contains the most +strange mysteries. It is that of the _Eucharist_. Our teachers, under +pain of being damned, enjoin us to believe that the Son of God is +compelled by a priest to quit the abodes of glory, and to come and mask +himself under the appearance of bread! This bread becomes forthwith +the body of God--this God multiplies himself in all places, and at all +times, when and where the priests, scattered over the face of the earth, +find it necessary to command his presence in the shape of bread--yet we +see only one and the same God, who receives the homage and adoration of +all those good people who find it very ridiculous in the Egyptians to +adore lupines and onions. But the Catholics are not simply content with +worshipping a bit of bread, which they consider by the conjurations of a +priest as divine; they eat this bread, and then persuade themselves +that they are nourished by the body or substance of God himself. The +Protestants, it is true, do not admit a mystery so very odd, and regard +those who do as real idolaters. What then? This marvellous dogma is, +without doubt, of the greatest utility to the priests. In the eyes of +those who admit it, they become very important gentlemen, who have the +power of disposing of the Deity, whom they make to descend between their +hands; and thus a Catholic priest is, in fact, the creator of his God! + +There is, also, _Extreme Unction_, a sacrament which consists in +anointing with oil those sick persons who are about to depart into the +other world, and which not only soothes their bodily pains, but also +takes away the sins of their souls. If it produces these good effects, +it is an invisible and mysterious method of manifesting obvious results; +for we frequently behold sick persons have their fears of death allayed, +though the operation may but too often accelerate their dissolution. +But our priests are so full of charity, and they interest themselves so +greatly in the salvation of souls, that they like rather to risk their +own health beside the sick bed of persons afflicted with the most +contagious diseases, than lose the opportunity of administering their +salutary ointment. + +_Ordination_ is another very mysterious ceremony, by which the Deity +secretly bestows his invisible grace on those whom he has selected +to fill the office of the holy priesthood. According to the Catholic +religion, God gives to the priests the power of making God himself, +as we have shown above; a privilege which without doubt cannot be +sufficiently admired. With respect to the sensible effects of this +sacrament, and of the visible grace which it confers, they are enabled, +by the help of some words and certain ceremonies, to change a profane +man into one that is sacred; that is to say, who is not profane any +longer. By this spiritual metamorphosis, this man becomes capable of +enjoying considerable revenues without being obliged to do any thing +useful for society. On the contrary, heaven itself confers on him the +right of deceiving, of annoying, and of pillaging the profane citizens, +who labor for his ease and luxury. + +Finally, _Marriage_ is a sacrament that confers mysterious and invisible +graces, of which we in truth have no very precise ideas. Protestants +and Infidels, who look upon marriage as a civil contract, and not as a +sacrament, receive neither more nor less of its visible grace than the +good Catholics. The former see not that those who are married enjoy by +this sacrament any secret virtue, whence they may become more constant +and faithful to the engagements they have contracted. And I believe both +you and I, Madam, have known many people on whom it has only conferred +the grace of cordially detesting each other. + +I will not now enter upon the consideration of a multitude of other +magic ceremonies, admitted by some Christian sectaries and rejected +by others, but to which the devotees who embrace them, attach the most +lofty ideas, in the firm persuasion, that God will, on that account, +visit them with his invisible grace. All these ceremonies, doubtless, +contain great mysteries, and the method of handling or speaking of them +is exceedingly mysterious. It is thus that the water on which a priest +has pronounced a few words, contained in his conjuring book, acquires +the invisible virtue of chasing away wicked spirits, who are invisible +by their nature. It is thus that the oil, on which a bishop has muttered +some certain formula, becomes capable of communicating to men, and even +to some inanimate substances, such as wood, stone, metals, and walls, +those invisible virtues which they did not previously possess. In fine, +in all the ceremonies of the church, we discover mysteries, and the +vulgar, who comprehend nothing of them, are not the less disposed to +admire, to be fascinated with, and to respect with a blind devotion. But +soon would they cease to have this veneration for these fooleries, +if they comprehended the design and end the priests have in view by +enforcing their observance. + +The priests of all nations have begun by being charlatans, castle +builders, divines, and sorcerers. + +We find men of these characters in nations the most ignorant and savage, +where they live by the ignorance and credulity of others. They are +regarded by their ignorant countrymen as superior beings, endowed with +supernatural gifts, favorites of the very Gods, because the uninquiring +multitude see them perform things which they take to be mighty +marvellous, or which the ignorant have always considered marvellous. In +nations the most polished, the people are always the same; persons the +most sensible are not often of the same ideas, especially on the subject +of religion; and the priests, authorized by the ancient folly of the +multitude, continue their old tricks, and receive universal applause. + +You are not, then, to be surprised, Madam, if you still behold our +pontiffs and our priests exercise their magical rites, or rear +castles before the eyes of people prejudiced in favor of their ancient +illusions, and who attach to these mysteries a degree of consequence, +seeing they are not in a condition to comprehend the motives of the +fabricators. Every thing that is mysterious has charms for the ignorant; +the marvellous captivates all men; persons the most enlightened find it +difficult to defend themselves against these illusions. Hence you may +discover that the priests are always opinionatively attached to these +rites and ceremonies of their worship; and it has never been without +some violent revolution that they have been diminished or abrogated. The +annihilation of a trifling ceremony has often caused rivers of blood +to flow. The people have believed themselves lost and undone when one +bolder than the rest wished to innovate in matters of religion; they +have fancied that they were to be deprived of inestimable advantages and +invisible but saving grace, which they have supposed to be attached by +the Divinity himself to some movements of the body. Priests the most +adroit have overcharged religion with ceremonies, and practices, and +mysteries. They fancied that all these were so many cords to bind the +people to their interest, to allure them by enthusiasm, and render them +necessary to their idle and luxurious existence, which is not spent +without much money extracted from the hard earnings of the people, and +much of that respect which is but the homage of slaves to spiritual +tyrants. + +You cannot any longer, I persuade myself, Madam, be made the dupe of +these holy jugglers, who impose on the vulgar by their marvellous tales. +You must now be convinced that the things which I have touched upon as +mysteries are profound absurdities, of which their inventors can render +no reasonable account either to themselves or to others. You must now be +certified that the movements of the body and other religious ceremonies +must be matters perfectly indifferent to the wise Being whom they +describe to us as the great mover of all things. You conclude, then, +that all these marvellous rites, in which our priests announce so much +mystery, and in which the people are taught to consider the whole of +religion as consisting, are nothing more than puerilities, to which +people of understanding ought never to submit. That they are usages +calculated principally to alarm the minds of the weak, and keep in +bondage those who have not the courage to throw off the yoke of priests. +I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VII. Of the pious Rites, Prayers, and Austerities of Christianity + +You now know, Madam, what you ought to attach to the mysteries and +ceremonies of that religion you propose to meditate on, and adore in +silence. I proceed how to examine some of those practices to which the +priests tell us the Deity attaches his complaisance and his favors. +In consequence of the false, sinister, contradictory, and incompatible +ideas, which all revealed religions give us of the Deity, the priests +have invented a crowd of unreasonable usages, but which are conformable +to these erroneous notions that they have framed of this Being. God +is always regarded as a man full of passion, sensible to presents, +to flatteries, and marks of submission; or rather as a fantastic and +punctilious sovereign, who is very seriously angry when we neglect +to show him that respect and obeisance which the vanity of earthly +potentates exacts from their vassals. + +It is after these notions so little agreeable to the Deity, that the +priests have conjured up a crowd of practices and strange inventions, +ridiculous, inconvenient, and often cruel; but by which they inform +us we shall merit the good favor of God, or disarm the wrath of the +Universal Lord. With some, all consists in prayers, offerings, and +sacrifices, with which they fancy God is well pleased. They forget that +a God who is good, who knows all things, has no need to be solicited; +that a God who is the author of all things has no need to be presented +with any part of his workmanship; that a God who knows his power has no +need of either flatteries or submissions, to remind him of his grandeur, +his power, or his rights; that a God who is Lord of all has no need of +offerings which belong to himself; that a God who has no need of any +thing cannot be won by presents, nor grudge to his creatures the goods +which they have received from his divine bounty. + +For the want of making these reflections, simple as they are, all the +religions in the world are filled with an infinite number of frivolous +practices, by which men have long strove to render themselves acceptable +to the Deity. The priests who are always declared to be the ministers, +the favorites, the interpreters of God's will, have discovered how they +might most easily profit by the errors of mankind, and the presents +which they offer to the Deity. They are thence interested to enter into +the false ideas of the people, and even to redouble the darkness of +their minds. They have invented means to please unknown powers who +dispose of their fate--to excite their devotion and their zeal for +those invisible beings of whom they were themselves the visible +representatives. These priests soon perceived that in laboring for the +Gods they labored for themselves, and that they could appropriate the +major part of the presents, sacrifices, and offerings, which were made +to beings who never showed themselves in order to claim what their +devotees intended for them. + +You thus perceive, Madam, how the priests have made common cause with +the Divinity. Their policy thence obliged them to favor and increase +the errors of the human kind. They talk of this ineffable Being as of +an interested monarch, jealous, full of vanity, who gives that it may +be restored to him again; who exacts continual signs of submission and +respect; who desires, without ceasing, that men may reiterate their +marks of respect for him; who wishes to be solicited; who bestows no +grace unless it be accorded to importunity for the purpose of making +it more valuable; and, above all, who allows himself to be appeased +and propitiated by gifts from which his ministers derive the greatest +advantage. + +It is evident that it is upon these ideas borrowed from monarchical +courts here below that are founded all the practices, ceremonies, and +rites that we see established in all the religions of the earth. Each +sect has endeavored to make its God a monarch the most redoubtable, the +greatest, the most despotic, and the most selfish. The people acquainted +simply with human opinions, and lull of debasement, have adopted without +examination the inventions which the Deity has shown them as the fittest +to obtain his favor and soften his wrath. The priests fail not to +adapt these practices, which they have invented, to their own system of +religion and personal interest; and the ignorant and vulgar have allowed +themselves to be blindly led by these guides. Habit has familiarized +them with things upon which they never reason, and they make a duty of +the routine which has been transmitted to them from age to age, and from +father to child. + +The infant, as soon as it can be made to understand any thing, is taught +mechanically to join its little hands in prayer. His tongue is forced +to lisp a formula which it does not comprehend, addressed to a God which +its understanding can never conceive. + +In the arms of its nurse it is carried into the temple or church, where +its eyes are habituated to contemplate spectacles, ceremonies, and +pretended mysteries, of which, even when it shall have arrived at mature +age, it will still understand nothing. If at this latter period any one +should ask the reason of his conduct, or desire to know why he made +this conduct a sacred and important duty, he could give no explanation, +except that he was instructed in his tender years to respectfully +observe certain usages, which he must regard as sacred, as they were +unintelligible to him. If an attempt was made to undeceive him in regard +to these habitual futilities, either he would not listen, or he would +be irritated against whoever denied the notions rooted in his brain. Any +man who wished to lead him to good sense, and who reasoned against the +habits he had contracted, would be regarded by him as ridiculous and +extravagant, or he would repulse him as an infidel and blasphemer, +because his instructions lead him thus to designate every man who fails +to pursue the same routine as himself, or who does not attach the same +ideas as the devotee to things which the latter has never examined. + +What horror does it not fill the Christian devotee with if you tell him +that his priest is unnecessary! What would be his surprise if you +were to prove to him, even on the principles of his religion, that the +prayers which in his infancy he had been taught to consider as the most +agreeable to his God, are unworthy and unnecessary to this Deity! For +if God knows all, what need is there to remind him of the wants of +his creatures whom he loves? If God is a father full of tenderness and +goodness, is it necessary to ask him to "give us day by day our daily +bread"? If this God, so good, foresaw the wants of his children, and +knew much better than they what they could not know of themselves, +whence is it he bids them importune him to grant them their requests? If +this God is immutable and wise, how can his creatures change the fixed +resolution of the Deity? If this God is just and good, how can he injure +us, or place us in a situation to require the use of that prayer which +entreats the Deity _not to lead us into temptation?_ + +You see by this, Madam, that there is but a very small portion of what +the Christians pretend they understand and consider absolutely necessary +that accords at all with what they tell us has been dictated by God +himself. You see that the Lord's prayer itself contains many absurdities +and ideas totally contrary to those which every Christian ought to have +of his God. If you ask a Christian why he repeats without ceasing this +vain formula, on which he never reflects, he can assign little other +reason than that he was taught in his infancy to clasp his hands, repeat +words the meaning of which his priest, not himself, is alone bound to +understand. He may probably add that he has ever been taught to consider +this formula requisite, as it was the most sacred and the most proper to +merit the favor of Heaven. + +We should, without doubt, form the same judgment of that multitude of +prayers which our teachers recommend to us daily. And if we believe +them, man, to please God, ought to pass a large portion of his existence +in supplicating Heaven to pour down its blessings on him. But if God is +good, if he cherishes his creatures, if he knows their wants, it seems +superfluous to pray to him. If God changes not, he has never promised to +alter his secret decrees, or, if he has, he is variable in his fancies, +like man; to what purpose are all our petitions to him? If God is +offended with us, will he not reject prayers which insult his goodness, +his justice, and infinite wisdom? + +What motives, then, have our priests to inculcate constantly the +necessity of prayer? It is that they may thereby hold the minds of +mankind in opinions more advantageous to themselves. They represent God +to us under the traits of a monarch difficult of access, who cannot be +easily pacified, but of whom they are the ministers, the favorites, and +servants. They become intercessors between this invisible Sovereign +and his subjects of this nether world. They sell to the ignorant their +intercession with the All-powerful; they pray for the people, and by +society they are recompensed with real advantages, with riches, honors, +and ease. It is on the necessity of prayer that our priests, our monks, +and all religious men establish their lazy existence; that they profess +to win a place in heaven for their followers and paymasters, who, +without this intercession, could neither obtain the favor of God, nor +avert his chastisements and the calamities the world is so often visited +with. The prayers of the priests are regarded as a universal remedy +for all evils. All the misfortunes of nations are laid before these +spiritual guides, who generally find public calamities a source of +profit to themselves, as it is then they are amply paid for their +supposed mediation between the Deity and his suffering creatures. They +never teach the people that these things spring from the course of +nature and of laws they cannot control. O, no. They make the world +believe they are the judgments of an angry God. The evils for which they +can find no remedy are pronounced marks of the divine wrath; they are +supernatural, and the priests must be applied to. God, whom they call +so good, appears sometimes obstinately deaf to their entreaties. Their +common Parent, so tender, appears to derange the order of nature to +manifest his anger. The God who is so just, sometimes punishes men who +cannot divine the cause of his vengeance. Then, in their distress, +they flee to the priests, who never fail to find motives for the divine +wrath. They tell them that God has been offended; that he has been +neglected; that he exacts prayers, offerings, and sacrifices; that he +requires, in order to be appeased, that his ministers should receive +more consideration, should be heard more attentively, and should be more +enriched. Without this, they announce to the vulgar that their harvests +will fail, that their fields will be inundated, that pestilence, famine, +war, and contagion will visit the earth; and when these misfortunes have +arrived, they declare they may be removed by means of prayers. + +If fear and terror permitted men to reason, they would discover that +all the evils, as well as the good things of this life, are necessary +consequences of the order of nature. They would perceive that a wise +God, immutable in his conduct, cannot allow any thing to transpire but +according to those laws of which he is regarded as the author. They +would discover that the calamities, sterility, maladies, contagions, +and even death itself are effects as necessary as happiness, abundance, +health, and life itself. They would find that wars, wants, and famine +are often the effects of human imprudence; that they would submit to +accidents which they could not prevent, and guard against those they +could foresee; they would remedy by simple and natural means those +against which they possessed resources; and they would undeceive +themselves in regard to those supernatural means and those useless +prayers of which the experience of so many ages ought to have disabused +men, if they were capable of correcting their religious prejudices. + +This would not, indeed, redound to the advantage of the priests, since +they would become useless if men perceived the inefficacy of their +prayers, the futility of their practices, and the absence of all +rational foundation for those exercises of piety which place the human +race upon their knees. They compel their votaries always to run down +those who discredit their pretensions. They terrify the weak minded by +frightful ideas which they hold out to them of the Deity. They forbid +them to reason; they make them deaf to reason, by conforming them to +ordinances the most out of the way, the most unreasonable, and the most +contradictory to the very principles on which they pretend to establish +them. They change practices, arbitrary in themselves, or, at most, +indifferent and useless, into important duties, which they proclaim the +most essential of all duties, and the most sacred and moral. They know +that man ceases to reason in proportion as he suffers or is wretched. +Hence, if he experiences real misfortunes, the priests make sure of him; +if he is not unfortunate they menace him; they create imaginary fears +and troubles. + +In fine, Madam, when you wish to examine with your own eyes, and not by +the help of the pretensions set up and imposed on you by the ministers +of religion, you will be compelled to acknowledge the things we have +been considering as useful to the priests alone; they are useless to the +Deity, and to society they are often very obviously pernicious. Of what +utility can it be in any family to behold an excess of devotion in the +mother of that family? One would suppose it is not necessary for a lady +to pass all her time in prayers and in meditations, to the neglect +of other duties. Much less is it the part of a Catholic mother to be +closeted in mystic conversation with her priest. Will her husband, her +children, and her friends applaud her who loses most of her time in +prayers, and meditations, and practices, which can tend only to render +her sour, unhappy, and discontented? Would it not be much better that a +father or a mother of a family should be occupied with what belonged to +their domestic affairs than to spend their time in masses, in hearing +sermons, in meditating on mysterious and unintelligible dogmas, or +boasting about exercises of piety that tend to nothing? + +Madam, do you not find in the country you inhabit a great many devotees +who are sunk in debt, whose fortune is squandered away on priests, and +who are incapable of retrieving it? Content to put their conscience to +rights on religious matters, they neither trouble themselves about the +education of their children, nor the arrangement of their fortune, nor +the discharge of their debts. Such men as would be thrown into despair +did they omit one mass, will consent to leave their creditors without +their money, ruined by their negligence as much as by their principles. +In truth, Madam, on what side soever you survey this religion, you will +find it good for nothing. + +What shall we say of those fetes which are so multiplied amongst us? Are +they not evidently pernicious to society? Are not all days the same to +the Eternal? Are there _gala_ days in heaven? Can God be honored by the +business of an artisan or a merchant, who, in place of earning bread on +which his family may subsist, squanders away his time in the church, and +afterwards goes to spend his money in the public house? It is necessary, +the priests will tell you, for man to have repose. But will he not seek +repose when he is fatigued by the labor of his hands? Is it not more +necessary that every man should labor in his vocation than go to a +temple to chant over a service which benefits only the priests, or hear +a sermon of which he can understand nothing? And do not such as find +great scruple in doing a necessary labor on Sunday frequently sit down +and get drunk on that day, consuming in a few hours the receipts of +their week's labor? But it is for the interest of the clergy that all +other shops should be shut when theirs are open. We may thence easily +discover why fetes are necessary. + +Is it not contrary to all the notions which we can form of the goodness +and wisdom of the Divinity, that religion should form into duties both +abstinence and privations, or that penitences and austerities should be +the sole proofs of virtue? What should be said of a father who should +place his children at a table loaded with the fruits of the earth, but +who, nevertheless, should debar them from touching certain of them, +though both nature and reason dictated their use and nutriment? Can we, +then, suppose that a Deity wise and good interdicts to his creatures +the enjoyment of innocent pleasures, which may contribute to render life +agreeable, or that a God who has created all things, every object the +most desirable to the nourishment and health of man, should nevertheless +forbid him their use? The Christian religion appears to doom +its votaries to the punishment of Tantalus. The most part of the +superstitions in the world have made of God a capricious and jealous +sovereign, who amuses himself by tempting the passions and exciting the +desires of his slaves, without permitting them the gratification of +the one or the enjoyment of the other. We see among all sects the +portraiture of a chagrined Deity, the enemy of innocent amusements, and +offended at the well being of his creatures. We see in all countries +many men so foolish as to imagine they will merit heaven by fighting +against their nature, refusing the goods of fortune, and tormenting +themselves under an idea that they will thereby render themselves +agreeable to God. Especially do they believe that they will by these +means disarm the fury of God, and prevent the inflictions of his +chastisements, if they immolate themselves to a being who always +requires victims. + +We find these atrocious, fanatical, and senseless ideas in the Christian +religion, which supposes its God as cruel to exact sufferings from men +as death from his only Son. If a God exempt from all sin is himself also +the sufferer for the sins of all, which is the doctrine of those who +maintain universal redemption, it is not surprising to see men that are +sinners making it a duty to assemble in large meetings, and invent +the means of rendering themselves miserable. These gloomy notions have +banished men to the desert They have fanatically renounced society and +the pleasures of life, to be buried alive, believing they would merit +heaven if they afflicted themselves with stripes and passed their +existence in mummical ceremonies, as injurious to their health as +useless to then-country. And these are the false ideas by which the +Divinity is transformed into a tyrant as barbarous as insensible, who, +agreeably to _priestcraft_, has prescribed how both men and women might +live in ennui, penitence, sorrow, and tears; for the perfection of +monastic institutions consists in the ingenious art of self-torture. +But sacerdotal pride finds its account in these austerities. Rigid monks +glory in barbarous rules, the observance of which attracts the respect +of the credulous, who imagine that men who torment themselves are indeed +the favorites of heaven. But these monks, who follow these austere +rules, are fanatics, who sacrifice themselves to the pride of the +clergy who live in luxury and in wealth, although their duped, imbecile +brethren have been known to make it a point of honor to die of famine. + +How often, Madam, has your attention not been aroused when you recalled +to mind the fate of the poor religious men of the desert, whom an +unnecessary vow has condemned, as it were voluntarily, to a life as +rigorous as if spent in a prison! Seduced by the enthusiasm of youth, or +forced by the orders of inhuman parents, they have been obliged to carry +to the tomb the chains of their captivity. They have been obliged to +submit without appeal to a stern superior, who finds no consolation in +the discharge of his slavish task but in making his empire more hard +to those beneath him. You have seen unfortunate young ladies obliged +to renounce their rank in society, the innocent pleasures of youth, the +joys of their sex, to groan forever under a rigorous despotism, to which +indiscreet vows had bound them. All monasteries present to us an odious +group of fanatics, who have separated themselves from society to pass +the remainder of their lives in unhappiness. The society of these +devotees is calculated solely to render their lives mutually more +unsupportable. But it seems strange that men should expect to merit +heaven by suffering the torments of hell on earth; yet so it is, +and reason has too often proved insufficient to convince them of the +contrary. + +If this religion does not call all Christians to these sublime +perfections, it nevertheless enjoins on all its votaries suffering and +mortifying of the body. The church prescribes privations to all her +children, and abstinences and fasts; these things they practise among +us as duties; and the devotees imagine they render themselves very +agreeable to the Divinity when they have scrupulously fulfilled those +minute and puerile practices, by which they tell us that the priests +have proof whether their patience and obedience be such as are dictated +by and acceptable to Heaven. What a ridiculous idea is it, for example, +to make of the Deity a trio of persons; to teach the faithful that this +Deity takes notice of what kinds of food his people eat; that he is +displeased if they eat beef or mutton, but that he is delighted if they +eat beans and fish! In good sooth, Madam, our priests, who sometimes +give us very lofty ideas of God, please themselves but too often with +making him strangely contemptible! + +The life of a good Christian or of a devotee is crowded with a host of +useless practices, which would be at least pardonable if they procured +any good for society. But it is not for that purpose that our priests +make so much ado about them; they only wish to have submissive slaves, +sufficiently blind to respect their caprices as the orders of a wise +God; sufficiently stupid to regard all their practices as divine duties, +and they who scrupulously observe them as the real favorites of the +Omnipotent. What good can there result to the world from the abstinence +of meats, so much enjoined on some Christians, especially when other +Christians judge this injunction a very ridiculous law, and contrary +to reason and the order of things established in nature? It is not +difficult to perceive amongst us that this injunction, openly violated +by the rich, is an oppression on the poor, who are compelled to pay +dearly for an indifferent, often an unwholesome diet, that injures +rather than repairs the natural strength of their constitution. Besides, +do not the priests sell this permission to the rich, to transgress an +injunction the poor must not violate with impunity? In fine, they seem +to have multiplied our practices, our duties, and our tortures, to have +the advantage of multiplying our faults, and making a good bargain out +of our pretended crimes. + +The more we examine religion the more reason shall we have to be +convinced that it is beneficial to the _priests alone_. Every part of +this religion conspires to render us submissive to the fantasies of our +spiritual guides, to labor for their grandeur, to contribute to +their riches. They appoint us to perform disadvantageous duties; they +prescribe impossible perfections, purposely that we may transgress; they +have thereby engendered in pious minds scruples and difficulties which +they condescendingly appease for money. A devotee is obliged to observe, +without ceasing, the useless and frivolous rules of his priest, and even +then he is subject to continual reproaches; he is perpetually in want +of his priest to expiate his pretended faults with which he charges +himself, and the omission of duties that he regards as the most +important acts of his life, but which are rarely such as interest +society or benefit it by their performance. By a train of religious +prejudices with which the priests infect the mind of their weak +devotees, these believe themselves infinitely more culpable when they +have omitted some useless practice, than if they had committed some +great injustice or atrocious sin against humanity. It is commonly +sufficient for the devotees to be on good terms with God, whether they +be consistent in their actions with man, or in the practice of those +duties they owe to their fellow beings. + +Besides, Madam, what real advantage does society derive from repeated +prayers, abstinences, privations, seclusions, meditations, and +austerities, to which religion attaches so much value? Do all the +mysterious practices of the priests produce any real good? Are they +capable of calming the passions, of correcting vices, and of giving +virtue to those who most scrupulously observe them? Do we not daily see +persons who believe themselves damned if they forget a mass, if they eat +a fowl on Friday, if they neglect a confession, though they are guilty +at the same time of great dereliction to society? Do they not hold the +conduct of those very unjust, and very cruel, who happen to have the +misfortune of not thinking and doing as they think and act? These +practices, out of which a great number of men have created essential +duties, but too commonly absorb all moral duties; for if the devotees +are over-religious, it is rare to find them virtuous. Content with doing +what religion requires, they trouble themselves very little about other +matters. They believe themselves the favored of God, and that it is a +proof of this if they are detested by men, whose good opinion they +are seldom anxious to deserve. The whole life of a devotee is spent +in fulfilling, with scrupulous exactitude, duties indifferent to God, +unnecessary to himself, and useless to others. He fancies he is virtuous +when he has performed the rites which his religion prescribes; when he +has meditated on mysteries of which he understands nothing; when he has +struggled with sadness to do things in which a man of sense can perceive +no advantage; in fine, when he has endeavored to practise, as much as in +him lies, the Evangelical or Christian virtues, in which he thinks all +morality essentially consists. + +I shall proceed in my next letter to examine these virtues, and to prove +to you that they are contrary to the ideas we ought to form of God, +useless to ourselves, and often dangerous to others. In the mean time, I +am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VIII. Of Evangelical Virtues and Christian Perfection + +If we believe the priests, we shall be persuaded, that the Christian +religion, by the beauty of its morals, excels philosophy and all the +other religious systems in the world. According to them, the unassisted +reason of the human mind could never have conceived sounder doctrines of +morality, more heroical virtues, or precepts more beneficial to society. +But this is not all; the virtues known or practised among the heathens +are considered as _false virtues_; far from deserving our esteem, and +the favor of the Almighty, they are entitled to nothing but contempt; +and, indeed, are _flagrant sins_ in the sight of God. In short, the +priests labor to convince us, that the Christian ethics are purely +divine, and the lessons inculcated so sublime, that they could proceed +from nothing less than the Deity. + +If, indeed, we call that divine which men can neither conceive nor +perform; if by divine virtues we are to understand virtues to which +the mind of man cannot possibly attach the least idea of utility; if by +divine perfections are meant those qualities which are not only +foreign to the nature of man, but which are irreconcilably repugnant to +it,--then, indeed, we shall be compelled to acknowledge that the morals +of Christianity are divine; at least we shall be assured that they have +nothing in common with that system of morality which arises out of the +nature and relations of men, but on the contrary, that they, in many +instances, confound the best conceptions we are able to form of virtue. + +Guided by the light of reason, we comprehend under the name of virtue +those habitual dispositions of the heart which tend to the happiness and +the real advantage of those with whom we associate, and by the exercise +of which our fellow-creatures are induced to feel a reciprocal interest +in our welfare. Under the Christian system the name of virtues is +bestowed upon dispositions which it is impossible to possess without +supernatural grace; and which, when possessed, are useless, if not +injurious, both to ourselves and others. The morality of Christians is, +in good truth, the morality of another world. Like the philosopher of +antiquity, they keep their eyes fixed upon the stars till they fall into +a well, unperceived, at their feet. The only object which their scheme +of morals proposes to itself is, to disgust their minds with the things +of this world, in order that they may place their entire affections upon +things above, of which they have no knowledge whatever; their happiness +here below forms no part of their consideration; this life, in the +view of a Christian, is nothing but a pilgrimage, leading to another +existence, infinitely more interesting to his hopes, because infinitely +beyond the reach of his understanding. Besides, before we can deserve +to be happy in the world which we do not know, we are informed that we +must be miserable in the world which we do know; and, above all things, +in order to secure to ourselves happiness hereafter, it is especially +necessary that we altogether resign the use of our own reason; that +is to say, we must seal up our eyes in utter darkness, and surrender +ourselves to the guidance of our priests. These are the principles upon +which the fabric of Christian morals is evidently constructed. + +Let us now proceed, Madam, to a more detailed examination of the +virtues upon which the Christian religion is built. These virtues are +Evangelical, &c. If destitute of them, we are assured that it is in vain +for us to seek the favor of the Deity. Of these virtues the first is +Faith. According to the doctrine of the church, faith is the gift of +God, a supernatural virtue, by means of which we are inspired with a +firm belief in God, and in all that he has vouchsafed to reveal to man, +although our reason is utterly unable to comprehend it. Faith is, says +the church, founded upon the word of God, who can neither deceive nor +be deceived. Thus faith supposes, that God has spoken to man--but what +evidence have we that God has spoken to man? The Holy Scriptures. Who +is it that assures us the Holy Scriptures contain the word of God? It is +the church. But who is it that assures us the church cannot and will not +deceive us? The Holy Scriptures. Thus the Scriptures bear witness to the +infallibility of the church--and the church, in return, testifies the +truth of the Scriptures. From this statement of the case, you must +perceive, that faith is nothing more than an implicit belief in the +priests, whose assurances we adopt as the foundation of opinions in +themselves incomprehensible. It is true, that as a confirmation of +the truth of Scripture, we are referred to miracles--but it is these +identical Scriptures which report to us and testify of those very +miracles. Of the absolute impossibility of any miracles, I flatter +myself that I have already convinced you. + +Besides, I cannot but think, Madam, that you must be, by this time, +thoroughly satisfied how absurd it is to say that the understanding is +convinced of any thing which it does not comprehend; the insight I have +given you into the books which the Christians call sacred, must have +left upon your mind a firm persuasion, that they never could have +proceeded from a wise, a good, an omniscient, a just, and all-powerful +God. If, then, we cannot yield them a real belief, what we call faith +can be nothing more than a blind and irrational adherence to a system +devised by priests, whose crafty selfishness has made them careful from +the earliest infancy to fill our tender minds with prepossessions in +favor of doctrines which they judged favorable to their own interests. +Interested, however, as they are in the opinions which they endeavor to +force upon us as truth, is it possible for these priests to believe them +themselves? Unquestionably not--the thing is out of nature. They are men +like ourselves, furnished with the same faculties, and neither they nor +we can be convinced of any thing which lies equally beyond the scope of +us all. If they possessed an additional sense, we should perhaps allow +that they might comprehend what is unintelligible to us; but as we +clearly see that they have no intellectual privileges above the rest of +the species, we are compelled to conclude, that their faith, like the +faith of other Christians, is a blind acquiescence in opinions derived, +without examination, from their predecessors; and that they must be +hypocrites when they pretend to _believe_ in doctrines of the truth of +which they cannot be _convinced_, since these doctrines have been shown +to be destitute of that degree of evidence which is necessary to +impress the mind with a feeling of their probability, much less of their +certainty. + +It will be said that faith, or the faculty of believing things +incredible, is the gift of God, and can only be known to those upon whom +God has bestowed the favor. My answer is, that, if that be the case, we +have no alternative but to wait till the grace of God shall be shed +upon us--and that in the mean time we may be allowed to doubt whether +credulity, stupidity, and the perversion of reason can proceed, as +favors, from a rational Deity who has endowed us with the power of +thinking. If God be infinitely wise, how can folly and imbecility be +pleasing to him? If there were such a thing as faith, proceeding from +grace, it would be the privilege of seeing things otherwise than as God +has made them; and if that were so, it follows, that the whole creation +would be a mere cheat. No man can believe the Bible to be the production +of God without doing violence to every consistent notion that he is able +to form of Deity! No man can believe that one God is three Gods, and +that those three Gods are one God, without renouncing all pretension +to common sense, and persuading himself that there is no such thing as +certainty in the world. + +Thus, Madam, we are bound to suspect that what the church calls a gift +from above, a supernatural grace, is, in fact, a perfect blindness, +an irrational credulity, a brutish submission, a vague uncertainty, +a stupid ignorance, by which we are led to acquiesce, without +investigation, in every dogma that our priests think fit to impose upon +us--by which we are led to adopt, without knowing why, the pretended +opinions of men who can have no better means of arriving at the truth +than we have. In short, we are authorized in suspecting that no motive +but that of blinding us, in order more effectually to deceive us, can +actuate those men who are eternally preaching to us about a virtue +which, if it could exist, would throw into utter confusion the simplest +and clearest perceptions of the human mind. + +This supposition is amply confirmed by the conduct of our +ecclesiastics--forgetting what they have told us, that grace is the +gratuitous present of God, bestowed or withheld at his sovereign +pleasure, they nevertheless indulge their wrath against all those who +have not received the gift of faith; they keep up one incessant anathema +against all unbelievers, and nothing less than absolute extermination +of heresy can appease their anger wherever they have the strength to +accomplish it. So that heretics and unbelievers are made accountable for +the grace of God, although they never received it; they are punished in +this world for those advantages which God has not been pleased to extend +to them in their journey to the next. In the estimation of priests and +devotees, the want of faith is the most unpardonable of all offences--it +is precisely that offence which, in the cruelty of their absurd +injustice, they visit with the last rigors of punishment, for you cannot +be ignorant, Madam, that in all countries where the clergy possess +sufficient influence, the flames of priestly charity are lighted up +to consume all those who are deficient in the prescribed allowance of +faith. + +When we inquire the motive for their unjust and senseless proceedings, +we are told that faith is the most necessary of all things, that faith +is of the most essential service to morals, that without faith a man is +a dangerous and wicked wretch, a pest to--society. And, after all, is it +our own choice to have faith? Can we believe just what we please? Does +it depend upon ourselves not to think a proposition absurd which our +understanding shows us to be absurd? How could we avoid receiving, +in our infancy, whatever impressions and opinions our teachers and +relations chose to implant in us? And where is the man who can boast +that he has faith--that he is fully convinced of mysteries which he +cannot conceive, and wonders which he cannot comprehend? + +Under these circumstances how can faith be serviceable to morals? If no +one can have faith but upon the assurance of another, and consequently +cannot entertain a real conviction, what becomes of the social virtues? +Admitting that faith were possible, what connection can exist between +such occult speculations and the manifest duties of mankind, duties +which are palpable to every one who, in the least, consults his reason, +his interest, or the welfare of the society to which he belongs? +Before I can be satisfied of the advantages of justice, temperance, and +benevolence, must I first believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, the +Eucharist, and all the fables of the Old Testament? If I believe in +all the atrocious murders attributed by the Bible to that God whom I am +bound to consider as the fountain of justice, wisdom, and goodness, is +it not likely that I shall feel encouraged to the commission of crimes +when I find them sanctioned by such an example? Although unable to +discover the value of so many mysteries which I cannot understand, or of +so many fanciful and cumbersome ceremonies prescribed by the church, +am I, on that account, to be denounced as a more dangerous citizen +than those who persecute, torment, and destroy every one of their +fellow-creatures who does not think and act at their dictation? The +evident result of all these considerations must be, that he who has +a lively faith and a blind zeal for opinions contradictory to common +sense, is more irrational, and consequently more wicked than the man +whose mind is untainted by such detestable doctrines; for when once +the priests have gained their fatal ascendency over his mind, and have +persuaded him that, by committing all sorts of enormities, he is doing +the work of the Lord, there can be no doubt that he will make greater +havoc in the happiness of the world, than the man whose reason tells him +that such excesses cannot be acceptable in the sight of God. + +The advocates of the church will here interrupt me, by alleging that +if divested of those sentiments which religion inspires, men would no +longer live under the influence of motives strong enough to induce an +abstinence from vice, or to urge them on in the career of virtue when +obstructed by painful sacrifices. In a word, it will be affirmed +that unless men are convinced of the existence of an avenging and +remunerating God, they are released from every motive to fulfil their +duties to each other in the present life. + +You are, doubtless, Madam, quite sensible of the futility of such +pretences, put forth by priests who, in order to render themselves more +necessary, are indefatigable in endeavoring to persuade us that +their system is indispensable to the maintenance of social order. To +annihilate their sophistries it is sufficient to reflect upon the nature +of man, his true interests, and the end for which society is formed +Man is a feeble being, whose necessities render him constantly dependent +upon the support of others, whether it be for the preservation or the +pleasure of his existence; he has no means of interesting others in his +welfare except by his manner of conducting himself towards them; that +conduct which renders him an object of affection to others is called +virtue--whatever is pernicious to society is called crime--and where the +consequences are injurious only to the individual himself, it is called +vice. Thus every man must immediately perceive that he consults his own +happiness by advancing that of others that vices, however cautiously +disguised from public observation, are, nevertheless, fraught with +ruin to him who practises them--and that crimes are sure to render the +perpetrator odious or contemptible in the eyes of his associates, who +are necessary to his own happiness. In short, education, public opinion, +and the laws point out to us our mutual duties much more clearly than +the chimeras of an incomprehensible religion. + +Every man on consulting with himself will feel indubitably that he +desires his own conservation; experience will teach him both what he +ought to do and what to avoid to arrive at this end; in consequence he +will shrink from those excesses which endanger his being; he will debar +himself from those gratifications which in their course would render his +existence miserable; and he would make sacrifices, if it was necessary, +in the view of procuring himself advantages more real than those of +which he momentarily deprived himself. Thus he would know what he owes +to himself and what he owes to others. + +Here, Madam, you have a short but perfect summary of all morals, +derived, as they must be, from the nature of man, the uniform experience +and the universal reason of mankind. These precepts are compulsory upon +our minds, for they show us that the consequences of our conduct flow +from our actions with as natural and inevitable a certainty as the +return of a stone to the earth after the impetus is exhausted which +detained it in the air. It is natural and inevitable that the man who +employs himself in doing good must be preferred to the man who does +mischief. Every thinking being must be penetrated with the truth of this +incontrovertible maxim, and all the ponderous volumes of theology that +ever were composed can add nothing to the force of his conviction; every +thinking being will, therefore, avoid a conduct calculated to injure +either himself or others; he will feel himself under the necessity of +doing good to others, as the only method of obtaining solid happiness +for himself, and of conciliating to himself those sentiments on the part +of others, without which he could derive no charms from society. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that _faith_ cannot in any manner contribute +to the correction of social conduct, and you will feel that the popular +super-natural notions cannot add any thing to the obligations that +our nature imposes upon us. In fact, the more mysterious and +incomprehensible are the dogmas of the church, the more likely are +they to draw us aside from the plain dictates of Nature and the +straight-forward directions of Reason, whose voice is incapable of +misleading us. A candid survey of the causes which produce an infinity +of evils that afflict society will quickly point out the speculative +tenets of theology as their most fruitful source. The intoxication of +enthusiasm and the frenzy of fanaticism concur in overpowering reason, +and by rendering men blind and unreflecting, convert them into enemies +both of themselves and the rest of the world. It is impossible for the +worshippers of a tyrannical, partial, and cruel God to practise +the duties of justice and philanthropy. As soon as the priests have +succeeded in stifling within us the commands of Reason, they have +already converted us into slaves, in whom they can kindle whatever +passions it may please them to inspire us with. + +Their interest, indeed, requires that we should be slaves. They exact +from us the surrender of our reason, because our reason contradicts +their impostures, and would ruin their plans of aggrandizement. Faith is +the instrument by which they enslave us and make us subservient to their +own ambition. Hence arises their zeal for the propagation of the faith; +hence arises their implacable hostility to science, and to all those who +refuse submission to their yoke; hence arises their incessant endeavor +to establish the dominion of Faith, (that is to say, their own +dominion,) even by fire and sword, the only arguments they condescend to +employ. + +It must be confessed that society derives but little advantage from +this supernatural faith which the church has exalted into the first of +virtues. As it regards God, it is perfectly useless to him, since if he +wishes mankind to be convinced, it is sufficient that he wills them to +be so. It is utterly unworthy of the supreme wisdom of God, who cannot +exhibit himself to mortals in a manner contradictory to the reason with +which he has endowed them. It is unworthy of the divine justice, which +cannot require from mankind to be convinced of that which they cannot +understand. It denies the very existence of God himself, by inculcating +a belief totally subversive of the only rational idea we are able to +form of the Divinity. + +As it regards morality, faith is also useless. Faith cannot render +it either more sacred or more necessary than it already is by its own +inherent essence, and by the nature of man. Faith is not only useless, +but injurious to society, since, under the plea of its pretended +necessity, it frequently fills the world with deplorable troubles and +horrid crimes. In short, faith is self-contradictory, since by it we +are required to believe in things inconsistent with each other, and even +incompatible with the principles laid down in the books which we +have already investigated, and which contain what we are commanded to +believe. + +To whom, then, is faith fonnd to be advantageous? To a few men, only, +who, availing themselves of its influence to degrade the human mind, +contrive to render the labor of the whole world tributary to their own +luxury, splendor, and power. Are the nations of the earth any happier +for their faith, or their blind reliance on priests? Certainly not. We +do not there find more morality, more virtue, more industry, or more +happiness; but, on the contrary, wherever the priests are powerful, +there the people are sure to be found abject in their minds and squalid +in their condition. But _Hope_--Hope, the second in order of the +Christian perfections, is ever at hand to console us for the evils +inflicted by Faith. We are commanded to be firmly convinced that those +who have faith, that is to say, those who believe in priests, shall be +amply rewarded in the other world for their meritorious submission in +this. Thus hope is founded on faith, in the same manner as faith is +established upon hope; faith enjoins us to entertain a devout hope that +our faith will be rewarded. And what is it we are told to hope for? For +unspeakable benefits; that is, benefits for which language contains no +expression. So that, after all, we know not what it is we are to hope +for. And how can we feel a hope or even a wish for any object that is +undefinable? How can priests incessantly speak to us of things of which +they, at the same time, acknowledge it is impossible for us to form any +ideas? + +It thus appears that hope and faith have one common foundation; the +same blow which overturns the one necessarily levels the other with +the ground. But let us pause a moment, and endeavor to discover the +advantages of Christian hope amongst men. It encourages to the practice +of virtue; it supports the unfortunate under the stroke of affliction; +and consoles the believer in the hour of adversity. But what +encouragement, what support, what consolation can be imparted to the +mind from these undefined and undefinable shadows? No one, indeed, will +deny that hope is sufficiently useful to the priests, who never fail to +call in its assistance for the vindication of Providence, whenever any +of the elect have occasion to complain of the unmerited hardship or +the transient injustice of his dispensations. Besides, these priests, +notwithstanding their beautiful systems, find themselves unable to +fulfil the high-sounding promises they so liberally make to all the +faithful, and are frequently at a loss to explain the evils which they +bring upon their flocks by means of the quarrels they engage in, and the +false notions of religion they entertain; on these occasions the priests +have a standing appeal to hope, telling their dupes that man was not +created for this world, that heaven is his home, and that his sufferings +here will be counterbalanced by indescribable bliss hereafter. Thus, +like quacks, whose nostrums have ruined the health of their patients, +they have still left to themselves the advantage of selling hopes to +those whom they know themselves unable to cure. Our priests resemble +some of our physicians, who begin by frightening us into our complaints, +in order that they may make us customers for the hopes which +they afterwards sell to us for their weight in gold. This traffic +constitutes, in reality, all that is called religion. The third of the +Christian virtues is _Charity_; that is, to love God above all things, +and our neighbors as ourselves. But before we are required to love God +above all things, it seems reasonable that religion should condescend +to represent him as worthy of our love. In good faith, Madam, is it +possible to feel that the God of the Christians is entitled to our +love? Is it possible to feel any other sentiments than those of +aversion towards a partial, capricious, cruel, revengeful, jealous, +and sanguinary tyrant? How can we sincerely love the most terrible of +beings,--the living God, into whose hands it is dreadful to think +of falling,--the God who can consign to eternal damnation those very +creatures who, without his own consent, would never have existed? Are +our theologians aware of what they say, when they tell us that the fear +of God is the fear of a child for its parent, which is mingled with +love? Are we not bound to hate, can we by any means avoid detesting, a +barbarous father, whose injustice is so boundless as to punish the +whole human race, though innocent, in order to revenge himself upon two +individuals for the sin of the apple, which sin he himself might have +prevented if he had thought proper? In short, Madam, it is a physical +impossibility to love above all things a God whose whole conduct, as +described in the Bible, fills us with a freezing horror. If, therefore, +the love of God, as the Jansenists assert, is indispensable to +salvation, we cannot wonder to find that the elect are so few. Indeed, +there are not many persons who can restrain themselves from hating this +God; and the doctrine of the Jesuits is, that to abstain from hating +him is sufficient for salvation. The power of loving a God whom religion +paints as the most detestable of beings would, doubtless, be a proof +of the most supernatural grace, that is, a grace the most contrary to +nature; to love that which we do not know, is, assuredly, sufficiently +difficult; to love that which we fear, is still more difficult; but +to love that which is exhibited to us in the most repulsive colors, is +manifestly impossible. + +We must, after all this, be thoroughly convinced that, except by means +of an invisible grace never communicated to the profane, no Christian +in his sober senses can love his God; even those devotees who pretend +to that happiness are apt to deceive themselves; their conduct resembles +that of hypocritical flatterers, who, in order to ingratiate themselves +with an odious tyrant, or to escape his resentment, make every +profession of attachment, whilst, at the bottom of their hearts, +they execrate him; or, on the other hand, they must be condemned as +enthusiasts, who, by means of a heated imagination, become the dupes of +their own illusions, and only view the favorable side of a God declared +to be the fountain of all good, yet, nevertheless, constantly delineated +to us with every feature of wickedness. Devotees, when sincere, are like +women given up to the infatuation of a blind passion by which they are +enamoured with lovers rejected by the rest of the sex as unworthy of +their affection. It was said by Madame de Sevigne that she loved God +as a perfectly well-bred gentleman, with whom she had never been +acquainted. But can the God of the Christians be esteemed a well-bred +gentleman? Unless her head was turned, one would think that she must +have been cured of her passion by the slightest reference to her +imaginary lover's portrait as drawn in the Bible, or as it is spread +upon the canvas of our theological artists. With regard to the love of +our neighbor, where was the necessity of religion to teach us our duty, +which as men we cannot but feel, of cherishing sentiments of good will +towards each other? It is only by showing in our conduct an affectionate +disposition to others that we can produce in them correspondent feelings +towards ourselves. The simple circumstance of being men is quite +sufficient to give us a claim upon the heart of every man who is +susceptible of the sweet sensibilities of our nature. Who is better +acquainted than yourself, Madam, with this truth? Does not your +compassionate soul experience at every moment the delightful +satisfaction of solacing the unhappy? Setting aside the superfluous +precepts of religion, think you that you could by any efforts steel your +heart against the tears of the unfortunate? Is it not by rendering our +fellow-creatures happy that we establish an empire in their hearts? +Enjoy, then, Madam, this delightful sovereignty; continue to bless with +your beneficence all that surround you; the consciousness of being the +dispenser of so much good will always sustain your mind with the most +gratifying self-applause; those who have received your kindness will +reward you with their blessings, and afford you the tribute of affection +which mankind are ever eager to lay at the feet of their benefactors. + +Christianity, not satisfied with recommending the love of our neighbor, +superadds the injunction of loving our enemies. This precept, attributed +to the Son of God himself, forms the ground on which our divines claim +for their religion a superiority of moral doctrine over all that the +philosophers of antiquity were known to teach. Let us, therefore, +examine how far this precept admits of being reduced to practice. True, +an elevated mind may easily place itself above a sense of injuries; a +noble spirit retains no resentful recollections; a great soul revenges +itself by a generous clemency; but it is an absurd contradiction to +require that a man shall entertain feelings of tenderness and regard +for those whom he knows to be bent on his destruction; this love of our +enemies, which Christianity is so vain of having promulgated, turns out, +then, to be an impracticable commandment, belied and denied by every +Christian at every moment of his life. How preposterous to talk of +loving that which annoys us!--of cherishing an attachment for that which +gives us pain!--of receiving an outrage with joy!--of loving those who +subject us to misery and suffering! No; in the midst of these trials our +firmness may perhaps be strengthened by the hope of a reward hereafter; +but it is a mere fallacy to talk of our entertaining a sincere love for +those whom we deem the authors of our afflictions; the least that we +can do is to avoid them, which will not be looked upon as a very strong +indication of our love. + +Notwithstanding the solemn formality with which the Christian religion +obtrudes upon us these vaunted precepts of love of our neighbor, love +of our enemies, and forgiveness of injuries, it cannot escape the +observation of the weakest among us, that those very men who are the +loudest in praising are also the first and most constant in violating +them. Our priests especially seem to consider themselves exempt from the +troublesome necessity of adopting for their own conduct a too literal +interpretation of this divine law. They have invented a most convenient +salvo, since they affect to exclude all those who do not profess to +think as they dictate, not only from the kindness of neighbors, but +even from the rights of fellow-creatures. On this principle they defame, +persecute, and destroy every one who displeases them. When do you see a +priest forgive? When revenge is out of his reach! But it is never their +own injuries they punish; it is never their own enemies they seek to +exterminate. Their disinterested indignation burns with resentment +against the enemies of the Most High, who, without their assistance, +would be incapable of adjusting his own quarrels! By an unaccountable +coincidence, however, it is sure to happen that the enemies of the +church are the enemies of the Most High, who never fails to make common +cause with the ministers of the faith, and who would take it extremely +ill if his ministers should relax in the measure of punishment due to +their common enemy. Thus our priests are cruel and revengeful from pure +zeal; they would ardently wish to forgive their own enemies, but how +could they justify themselves to the God of Mercies if they extended the +least indulgence to his enemies? + +A true Christian loves the Creator above all things, and consequently he +must love him in preference to the creature. We feel a lively interest +in every thing that concerns the object of our love; from all which, it +follows that we must evince our zeal, and even, when necessary, we must +not hesitate to exterminate our neighbor, if he says or does what is +displeasing or injurious to God. In such case, indifference would be +criminal; a sincere love of God breaks out into a holy ardor in his +cause, and our merit rises in proportion to our violence. + +These notions, absurd as they are, have been sufficient in every age to +produce in the world a multitude of crimes, extravagances, and follies, +the legitimate offspring of a religious zeal. Infatuated fanatics, +exasperated by priests against each other, have been driven into mutual +hatred, persecution, and destruction; they have thought themselves +called upon to avenge the Almighty; they have carried their insane +delusions so far as to persuade themselves that the God of clemency and +goodness could look on with pleasure while they murdered their brethren; +in the astonishing blindness of their stupidity, they have imagined that +in defending the temporalities of the church, they were defending +God himself. In pursuance of these errors, contradicted even by the +description which they themselves give us of the Divinity, the priests +of every age have found means to introduce confusion into the peaceful +habitations of men, and to destroy all who dared to resist their +tyranny. Under the laughable idea of revenging the all-powerful Creator, +these priests have discovered the secret of revenging themselves, +and that, too, without drawing down upon themselves the hatred and +execration so justly due to their vindictive fury and unfeeling +selfishness. In the name of the God of nature, they stifled the voice of +nature in the breasts of men; in the name of the God of goodness, +they incited men to the fury of wild beasts; in the name of the God of +mercies, they prohibited all forgiveness! It is thus, Madam, that the +earth has never ceased to groan with the ravages committed by maniacs +under the influence of that zeal which springs from the Christian +doctrine of the love of God. The God of the Christians, like the Janus +of Roman mythology, has two faces; sometimes he is represented with the +benign features of mercy and goodness; sometimes murder, revenge, and +fury issue from his nostrils. And what is the consequence of this double +aspect but that the Christians are much more easily terrified at his +frightful lineaments than they are recovered from their fears by his +aspect of mercy! Having been taught to view him as a capricious being, +they are naturally mistrustful of him, and imagine that the safest part +they can act for themselves is to set about the work of vengeance with +great zeal; they conclude that a cruel master cannot find fault with +cruel imitators, and that his servants cannot render themselves more +acceptable than by extirpating all his enemies. + +The preceding remarks show very clearly, Madam, the highly pernicious +consequences which result from the zeal engendered by the love of God. +If this love is a virtue, its benefits are confined to the priests, who +arrogate to themselves the exclusive privilege of declaring when God is +offended; who absorb all the offerings and monopolize all the homage of +the devout; who decide upon the opinions that please or displease him; +who undertake to inform mankind of the duties this virtue requires from +them, and of the proper time and manner of performing them; who are +interested in rendering those duties cruel and intimidating in order to +frighten mankind into a profitable subjection; who convert it into the +instrument of gratifying their own malignant passions, by inspiring men +with a spirit of headlong and raging intolerance, which, in its furious +course of indiscriminate destruction, holds nothing sacred, and which +has inflicted incredible ravages upon all Christian countries. + +In conformity with such abominable principles, a Christian is bound to +detest and destroy all whom the church may point out as the enemies +of God. Having admitted the paramount duty of yielding their entire +affections to a rigorous master, quick to resent, and offended even with +the involuntary thoughts and opinions of his creatures, they of course +feel themselves bound, by entering with zeal into his quarrels, to +obtain for him a vengeance worthy of a God--that is to say, a vengeance +that knows no bounds. A conduct like this is the natural offspring of +those revolting ideas which our priests give us of the Deity. A +good Christian is therefore necessarily intolerant. It is true that +Christianity in the pulpit preaches nothing but mildness, meekness, +toleration, peace, and concord; but Christianity in the world is a +stranger to all these virtues; nor does she ever exercise them except +when she is deficient in the necessary power to give effect to her +destructive zeal. The real truth of the matter is, that Christians think +them selves absolved from every tie of humanity except with those who +think as they do, who profess to believe the same creed; they have a +repugnance, more or less decided, against all those who disagree with +their priests in theological speculation. How common it is to see +persons of the mildest character and most benevolent disposition regard +with aversion the adherents of a different sect from their own! The +reigning religion--that is, the religion of the sovereign, or of the +priests in whose favor the sovereign declares himself--crushes all rival +sects, or, at least, makes them fully sensible of its superiority and +its hatred, in a manner extremely insulting, and calculated to raise +their indignation. By these means it frequently happens that the +deference of the prince to the wishes of the priests has the effect of +alienating the hearts of his most faithful subjects, and brings him +that execration which ought in justice to be heaped exclusively upon his +sanctimonious instigators. + +In short, Madam, the private rights of conscience are nowhere sincerely +respected; the leaders of the various religious sects begin, in the very +cradle, to teach all Christians to hate and despise each other about +some theological point which nobody can understand. The clergy, when +vested with power, never preach toleration; on the contrary, they +consider every man as an enemy who is a friend to religious freedom, +accusing him of lukewarm-ness, infidelity, and secret hostility; in +short, he is denominated a false brother. The Sorbonne declared, in the +sixteenth century, that it was heretical to say that heretics ought +not to be burned. The ferocious St. Austin preached toleration at one +period, but it was before he was duly initiated in the mysteries of the +sacerdotal policy, which is ever repugnant to toleration. Persecution is +necessary to our priests, to deter mankind from opposing themselves to +their avarice, their ambition, their vanity, and their obstinacy. The +sole principle which holds the church together is that of a sleepless +watchfulness on the part of all its members to extend its power, to +increase the multitude of its slaves, to fix odium on all who hesitate +to bend their necks to its yoke, or who refuse their assent to its +arbitrary decisions. + +Our divines have, therefore, you see, very good reasons for raising +humility into the rank of virtue. An amiable modesty, a diffident +mildness of demeanor, are unquestionably calculated to promote the +pleasures and the advantages of society; it is equally certain that +insolence and arrogance are disgusting, that they wound our self-love +and excite our aversion by their repulsive conduct; but that amiable +modesty which charms all who come within its influence is a far +different quality from that which is designated humility in the +vocabulary of Christians. A truly humble Christian despises his +own unworthiness, avoids the esteem of others, mistrusts his own +understanding, submits with docility to the unerring guidance of his +spiritual masters, and piously resigns to his priest the clearest and +most irrefutable conclusions of reason. + +But to what advantage can this pretended virtue lead its followers? How +can a man of sense and integrity despise himself? Is not public opinion +the guardian of private virtue? If you deprive men of the love of glory, +and the desire of deserving the approbation of their fellow-citizens, +are you not divesting them of the noblest and most powerful incitements +by which they can be impelled to benefit their country? What recompense +will remain to the benefactors of mankind, if, first of all, we are +unjust enough to refuse them the praise they merit, and afterwards debar +them from the satisfaction of self-applause, and the happiness they +would feel in the consciousness of having done good to an ungrateful +world? What infatuation, what amazing infatuation, to require a man +of upright character, of talents, intelligence, and learning, to think +himself on a level with a selfish priest, or a stupid fanatic, who deal +out their absurd fables and incoherent, dreams! + +Our priests are never weary of telling their flocks that pride leads on +to infidelity, and that a humble and submissive spirit is alone fitted +to receive the truths of the gospel. In good earnest, should we not +be utterly bereft of every claim to the name of rational beings, if we +consent to surrender our judgment and our knowledge at the command of a +hierarchy, who have nothing to give us in exchange but the most palpable +absurdities? With what face can a reverend Doctor of Nonsense dare +to exact from my understanding a humble acquiescence in a bundle of +mysterious opinions, for which he is unable to offer me a single solid +reason? Is it, then, presumptuous to think one's self superior to a +class of pretenders, whose systems are a mass of falsities, absurdities, +and inconsistencies, of which they contrive to make mankind at once the +dupes and the victims? Can pride or vanity be, with justice, imputed +to you, Madam, if you see reason to prefer the dictates of your own +understanding to the authoritative decrees of Mrs. D------, whose +senseless malignity is obvious to all her acquaintance? + +If Christian humility is a virtue at all, it can be one only in the +cloister; society can derive no sort of benefit from it; it enervates +the mind; it benefits nobody but priests, who, under the pretext of +rendering men humble, seek, in reality, only to degrade them, to stifle +in their souls every spark of science and of courage, that they may the +more easily impose the yoke of faith, that is to say, their own yoke. +Conclude, then, with me, that the Christian virtues are chimerical, +always useless, and sometimes pernicious to men, and attended with +advantage to none but priests. Conclude that this religion, with all the +boasted beauty of its morality, recommends to us a set of virtues, and +enjoins a line of conduct, at variance with good sense. Conclude that, +in order to be moral and virtuous, it is far from necessary to adopt +the unintelligible creed of the priests, or to pride ourselves upon the +empty virtues they preach, and still less to annihilate all sense of +dignity in ourselves, by a degrading subjection to the duties they +require. Conclude, in short, that the friend of virtue is not, of +necessity, the friend of priestcraft, and that a man may be adorned with +every human perfection, without possessing one of the Christian virtues. + +All who examine this matter with a candid and intelligent eye, cannot +fail to see that true morality--that is to say, a morality really +serviceable to mankind--is absolutely incompatible with the Christian +religion, or any other professed revelation. Whoever imagines himself +the favored object of the Creator's love, must look down with disdain +upon his less fortunate fellow-creatures, especially if he regards that +Creator as partial, choleric, revengeful, and fickle, easily incensed +against us, even by our involuntary thoughts, or our most innocent words +and actions; such a man naturally conducts himself with contempt and +pride, with harshness and barbarity towards all others whom he may deem +obnoxious to the resentment of his Heavenly King. Those men, whose folly +leads them to view the Deity in the light of a capricious, irritable, +and unappeasable despot, can be nothing but gloomy and trembling slaves, +ever eager to anticipate the vengeance of God upon all whose conduct +or opinions they may conceive likely to provoke the celestial wrath. +As soon as the priests have succeeded in reducing men to a state of +stupidity gross enough to make them believe that their ghostly fathers +are the faithful organs of the divine will, they naturally commit every +species of crime, which their spiritual teachers may please to tell +them is calculated to pacify the anger of their offended God. Men, +silly enough to accept a system of morals from guides thus hollow in +reasoning, and thus discordant in opinion, must necessarily be unstable +in their principles, and subject to every variation that the interest +of their guides may suggest. In short, it is impossible to construct a +solid morality, if we take for our foundation the attributes of a deity +so unjust, so capricious, and so changeable as the God of the Bible, +whom we are commanded to imitate and adore. + +Persevere, then, my dear Madam, in the practice of those virtues which +your own unsophisticated heart approves; they will insure you a rich +harvest of happiness in the present existence; they will insure you a +rich return of gratitude, respect, and love from all who enjoy their +benign influence; they will insure you the solid satisfaction of a +well-founded self-esteem, and thus provide you with that unfailing +source of inward gratification which arises from the consciousness of +having contributed to the welfare of the human race. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER IX. Of the advantages contributed to Government by Religion + +Having already shown you, Madam, the feebleness of those succors which +religion furnishes to morals, I shall now proceed to examine whether it +procure advantages in themselves really politic, and whether it be +true, as has so often been urged by the priests, that it is absolutely +necessary to the existence of every government. Were we disposed to shut +our eyes, and deliver ourselves up to the language of our priests, +we should believe that their opinions are necessary to the public +tranquillity, and the repose and security of the State; that princes +could not, without their aid, govern the people, and exert themselves +for the prosperity of their empire. Nor is this all; our spiritual +pilots approach the throne, and gaining the ear of the sovereign, make +him also believe that he has the greatest interest in conforming to +their caprices, in order to subject men to the divine yoke of royalty. +These priests mingle in all important political quarrels, and they too +often persuade the rulers of the earth that the enemies of the church +are the enemies of all power, and that in sapping the foundations of +the altar, the foundations of the throne are likewise necessarily +overthrown. + +We have, then, only to open our eyes and consult history, to be +convinced of the falsity of these pretensions, and to appreciate the +important services which the Christian priests have rendered to their +sovereigns. Ever since the establishment of Christianity, we have seen, +in all the countries in which this religion has gained ground, that +two rival powers are perpetually at war one with the other. We find _a_ +government within _the_ government; that is to say, we find the Church, +a body of priests, continually opposed to the sovereign power, and +in virtue of their pretended _divine_ mission and _sacred_ office, +pretending to give laws to all the sovereigns of the earth. We find +the clergy, puffed up and besotted with the titles they have given +themselves, laboring to exact the obedience due to the sovereign, +pretending to chimerical and dangerous prerogatives, which none are +suffered to question, without risking the displeasure of the Almighty. +And so well have the priesthood managed this matter, that in many +countries we actually see the people more inclined to lean to the +authority of the Vicars of Jesus Christ than to that of the civil +government. The priesthood claim the right of commanding monarchs +themselves, and sustained by their emissaries and the credulity of the +people, their ridiculous pretensions have engaged princes in the most +serious affairs, sown trouble and discord in kingdoms, and so shook +thrones as to compel their occupants to make submission to an intolerant +hierarchy. + +Such are the important services which religion has a thousand times +rendered to kings. The people, blinded by superstition, could hesitate +but little between God and the princes of the earth. The priests, being +the visible organs of an invisible monarch, have acquired an immense +credit with prejudiced minds. The ignorance of the people places them, +as well as their sovereigns, at the mercy of the priests. Nations have +continually been dragged into their futile though bloody quarrels; +princes, for a long series of years, have either had to dispute their +authority with the clergy, or become their tools or dupes. + +The continual attention which the princes of Europe have been forced to +pay to the clergy has prevented them from occupying their thoughts about +the welfare of their subjects, who, in many instances the dupes of the +priesthood, have opposed even the good their rulers desired to +procure them. In like manner, the heads of the people, their kings and +governors, too weak to resist the torrent of opinions propagated by +the clergy, have been forced to yield, to bow, nay, even to caress the +priesthood, and to consent to grant it all its demands. Whenever +they have wished to resist the encroachments of the clergy, they have +encountered concealed snares or open opposition, as the _holy_ power was +either too weak to act in the face of day, or strong enough to contend +in the sunshine. When princes have wished to be listened to by the +clergy, these last have invariably contrived to make them cowardly, and +to sacrifice the happiness and respect of their people. Often have the +hands of parricides and rebels been armed, by a proud and vindictive +priesthood, against sovereigns the most worthy of reigning. The priests, +under pretext of avenging God, inflict their anger upon monarchs +themselves, whenever the latter are found indisposed to bend under their +yoke. In a word, in _all_ countries we perceive that the ministers of +religion have exercised in all ages the most unbridled license. We every +where see empires torn by their dissensions; thrones overturned by their +machinations; princes immolated to their power and revenge; subjects +animated to revolt against the prince that ought to give them more +happiness than they actually enjoyed; and when we take the retrospect of +these, we find that the ambition, the cupidity, and vanity of the clergy +have been the true causes and motives of all these outrages on the +peace of the universe. And it is thus that their religion has so often +produced anarchy, and overturned the very empires they pretended to +support by its influence. + +Sovereigns have never enjoyed peace but when, shamefully devoted to +priests, they submitted to their caprices, became enslaved to their +opinions, and allowed them to govern in place of themselves. Then was +the sovereign power subordinate to the sacerdotal, and the prince was +only the first servant of the church; she degraded him to such a degree +as to make him her hangman; she obliged him to execute her sanguinary +decrees; she forced him to dip his hands in the blood of his own +subjects whom the clergy had proscribed; she made him the visible +instrument of her vengeance, her fury, and her concealed passions. +Instead of occupying himself with the happiness of his people, the +sovereign has had the complaisance to torment, to persecute, and to +immolate honest citizens, thus exciting the just hatred of a portion +of his people, to whom he should have been a father, to gratify the +ambition and the selfish malevolence of some priests, always aliens in +the state which nourishes them, and who only style themselves members of +the realm in order to domineer, to distract, to plunder, and to devour +with impunity. + +How little soever you are disposed to reflect, you will be convinced, +Madam, that I do not exaggerate these things. Recent examples prove to +you that even in this age, so ambitious of being considered enlightened, +nations are not secure from the shocks that the priests have ever caused +nations to suffer. You have a hundred times sighed at the sight of the +sad follies which puerile questions have produced among us. You have +shuddered at the frightful consequences which have resulted from the +unreasonable squabbles of the clergy. You have trembled with all good +citizens at the sight of the tragical effects which have been brought +about by the furious wickedness of a fanaticism for which nothing is +sacred. In fine, you have seen the sovereign authority compelled to +struggle incessantly against rebellious subjects, who pretend that their +conscience or the interests of religion have obliged them to resist +opinions the most agreeable to common sense, and the most equitable. + +Our fathers, more religious and less enlightened than ourselves, were +witnesses of scenes yet more terrible. They saw civil wars, leagues +openly formed against their sovereign, and the capital submerged in the +blood of murdered citizens; two monarchs successively immolated to the +fury of the clergy, who kindled in all parts the fire of sedition. They +afterwards saw kings at war with their own subjects; a famous sovereign, +Louis XIV., tarnishing all his glory by persecuting, contrary to the +faith of treaties, subjects who would have lived tranquil, if they had +only been allowed to enjoy in peace the liberty of conscience; and they +saw, in fine, this same prince, the dupe of a false policy, dictated by +intolerance, banish, along with the exiled Protestants, the industry of +his states, and forcing the arts and manufactures of our nation to take +refuge in the dominions of our most implacable enemies. + +We see religion throughout Europe, without cessation, exerting a baleful +influence upon temporal affairs; we see it direct the interests of +princes; we see it divide and make Christian nations enemies of each +other, because their spiritual guides do not all entertain the same +opinions. Germany is divided into two religious parties whose interests +are perpetually at variance. We every where perceive that Protestants +are born the enemies of the Catholics, and are always in antagonism to +them; while, on the other hand, the Catholics are leagued with their +priests against all those whose mode of thinking is less abject and less +servile than their own. + +Behold, Madam, the signal advantages that nations derive from religion! +But we are certain to be told that these terrible effects are due to the +passions of men, and not to the Christian religion, which incessantly +inculcates charity, concord, indulgence, and peace. If, however, we +reflect even a moment on the principles of this religion, we should +immediately perceive that they are incompatible with the fine maxims +that have never been practised by the Christian priests, except when +they lacked the power to persecute their enemies and inflict upon them +the weight of their rage. The adorers of a jealous God, vindictive and +sanguinary, as is obviously the character of the God of the Jews and +Christians, could not evince in their conduct moderation, tranquillity, +and humanity. The adorers of a God who takes offence at the opinions of +his weak creatures, who reprobates and glories in the extermination of +all who do not worship him in a particular way, for the which, by +the by, he gives them neither the means nor the inclination, must +necessarily be intolerant persecutors. The adorers of a God who has not +thought fit to illuminate with an equal portion of light the minds of +all his creatures, who reveals his favor and bestows his kindness on a +few only of those creatures, who leaves the remainder in blindness and +uncertainty to follow their passions, or adopt opinions against which +the favored wage war, must of necessity be eternally at odds with +the rest of the world, canting about their oracles and mysteries, +supernatural precepts, invented purely to torment the human mind, to +enthral it, and leave man answerable for what he could not obey, and +punishable for what he was restrained from performing. We need not then +be astonished if, since the origin of Christianity, our priests have +never been a single moment without disputes. It appears that God only +sent his Son upon earth that his marvellous doctrines might prove an +apple of discord both for his priests and his adorers. The ministers of +a church founded by Christ himself, who promised to send them his Holy +Spirit to lead them into all the truth, have never been in unison +with their dogmas. We have seen this infallible church for whole ages +enveloped in error. You know, Madam, that in the fourth century, by the +acknowledgment of the priests themselves, the great body of the church +followed the opinions of the Arians, who disavowed even the divinity +of Jesus Christ. The spirit of God must then have abandoned his church; +else why did its ministers fall into this error, and dispute afterwards +about so fundamental a dogma of the Christian religion? + +Notwithstanding these continual quarrels, the church arrogates to itself +the right of fixing the faith of the _true believers_, and in this it +pretends to infallibility; and if the Protestant parsons have renounced +the lofty and ridiculous pretensions of their Catholic brethren, they +are not less certain in the infallibility of their decisions; for they +talk with the authority of oracles, and send to hell and damnation all +who do not yield submission to their dogmas. Thus on both sides of the +cross they wish their assertions to be received by their adherents as +if they came direct from heaven. The priests have always been at discord +among themselves, and have perpetually cursed, anathematized, and doomed +each other to hell. The vanity of each holy clique has caused it to +adhere obstinately to its own peculiar opinions, and to treat its +adversaries as heretics. Violence alone has generally decided the +discussions, terminated the disputes, and fixed the standard of belief. +Those pugnacious, brawling priests who were artful enough to enlist +sovereigns on their side were _orthodox_, or, in other words, boasted +that they were the exclusive possessors of the true doctrine. They made +use of their credit to crush their adversaries, whom they always treated +with the greatest barbarity. + +But, after all, whatever the clergy may say, we shall find, even with a +small share of attention, that it has ever been kings and emperors who, +in the last resort, fixed the faith of the disputatious Christians. It +has been by downright blows of the sword that those theological notions +most pleasing to the Deity have been sustained in all countries. +The true belief has invariably been that which had princes for its +adherents. The faithful were those who had strength sufficient to +exterminate their enemies, whom they never failed to treat as the +enemies of God. In a word, princes have been truly infallible; we should +regard them as the true founders of religious faith; they are the judges +who have decided, in all ages, what doctrines should be admitted or +rejected; and they are, in fine, the authorities which have always fixed +the religion of their subjects. + +Ever since Christianity has been adopted by some nations, have we +not seen that religion has almost entirely occupied the attention of +sovereigns? Either the princes, blinded by superstition, were devoted to +the priests, or the rulers of nations believed that prudence exacted +a concession on their part to the clergy, the true masters of their +people, who considered nothing more sacred or more great than the +ministers of their God. In neither case was the body politic ever +consulted; it was cowardly sacrificed to the interests of the court, +or the vanity and luxury of the priests. It is by a continuation of +superstition on the part of the princes that we behold the church so +richly endowed in times of ignorance; when men believed they would +enrich Deity by putting all their wealth into the hands of the priests +of a good God the declared enemy of riches. Savage warriors, destitute +of the manners of men, flattered themselves that they could expiate all +their sins by founding monasteries and giving immense wealth to a set of +men who had made vows of poverty. It was believed that they would merit +from the All-powerful a great advantage by recompensing laziness, which, +in the priests, was regarded as a great good, and that the blessings +procured by their prayers would be in proportion to the continual and +pressing demands their poverty made on the wealthy. It is thus that by +the superstition of princes, by that of the powerful classes, and of +the people themselves, the clergy have become opulent and powerful; +that monachism was honored, and citizens the most useless, the least +submissive, and the most dangerous, were the best recompensed, the +most considered, and the best paid. They were loaded with benefits, +privileges, and immunities; they enjoyed independence, and they had that +great power which flowed from so great license. Thus were priests placed +above sovereigns themselves by the imprudent devotion of the latter, +and the former were, enabled to give the law and trouble the state with +impunity. + +The clergy, arrived at this elevation of power and grandeur, became +redoubtable even to monarchs. They were obliged to bend under the yoke +or be at war with clerical power. When the sovereigns yielded, they +became mere slaves to the priests, the instruments of their passions, +and the vile adorers of their power. When they refused to yield, the +priests involved them in the most cruel embarrassments; they launched +against them the anathemas of the church; the people were incited +against them in the name of heaven; the nations divided themselves +between the celestial and the terrestrial monarch, and the latter was +reduced to great extremities to sustain a throne which the priests could +shake or even destroy at pleasure. There was a time in Europe when both +the welfare of the prince and the repose of his kingdom depended solely +upon the caprice of a priest. In these times of ignorance, of devotion, +and of commotions so favorable to the clergy, a weak and poor monarch, +surrounded by a miserable nation, was at the mercy of a Roman pontiff, +who could at any instant destroy his felicity, excite his subjects +against him, and precipitate him into the abyss of misery. + +In general, Madam, we find that in countries where religion holds +dominion, the sovereign is necessarily dependent upon the priests; he +has no power except by the consent of the clergy; that power disappears +as soon as he displeases the self-styled vicegerents of God, who +are very soon able to array his subjects against him. The people, +in accordance with the principles of their religion, cannot hesitate +between God and their sovereign. God never says any thing except what +his priests say for him; and the ignorance and folly in which they are +kept by their spiritual guides prevent them from inquiring whether God's +ambassadors faithfully render his decrees. + +Conclude, then, with me, that the interests of a sovereign who would +rule equitably are unable to accord with those of the ministers of +the Christian religion, who in all ages have been the most turbulent +citizens, the most rebellious, the most difficult to render subservient +to law and order, and whose resistance has extended to the very +assassination of obnoxious rulers. We shall be told that Christianity is +a firm support of government; that it regards magistrates as the images +of the Deity; and that it teaches that _all power comes from on high_. +These maxims of the clergy are, however, best calculated to lull kings +on the couch of slumber; they are calculated to flatter those on whom +the clergy can rely, and who will serve their ambition; and their +flatterers can soon change their tone when the princes have the temerity +to question the pernicious tendency of priestly influence, or when they +do not blindly lend themselves to all their views. Then the sovereign +is an impious wretch, a heretic; his destruction is laudable; heaven +rejoices in his overthrow. And all this is the religion of the Bible! + +You know, Madam, that these odious maxims have been a thousand times +enforced by the priests, who say the prince has _encroached upon the +authority of the church_; and the people respond that _it is better to +obey God than man_. The priests are only devoted to the princes when +the princes are blindly led by the priests. These last preach arrogantly +that the former ought to be exterminated, when they refuse to obey the +church, that is to say, the priests; yet, how terrible soever may be +these maxims, how dangerous soever their practice to the security of +the sovereign and the tranquillity of the state, they are the immediate +consequences drawn from Judaism and Christianity. We find in the Old +Testament that the regicide is applauded; that treason and rebellion +are approved. As soon as it is supposed that God is offended with +the thoughts of men,--as soon as it is supposed that heretics are +displeasing to him,--it is very natural to conclude that an impious and +heretical sovereign, that is to say, one who does not obey a clerical +body that set themselves up as the directors of his belief, who opposes +the sacred views of an infallible church, and who might occasion the +loss and apostasy of a large part of the nation,--it is natural that the +priests should conclude it to be legitimate for subjects to attack such +a prince, alleging their religion to be the most important thing in the +world, and dearer than life itself. Actuated by such principles, it +is impossible that a Christian zealot should not think he rendered a +service to heaven by punishing its enemy, and a service to his country +by disembarrassing it of a chief who might interpose an obstacle to his +eternal happiness. + +The obedience of the clergy is never otherwise than conditional. The +priests submit to a prince, they flatter his power, and they sustain his +authority, provided he submits to their orders, makes no obstacles to +their projects, touches none of their interests, and changes none of +the dogmas upon which the ministers of the church have founded their own +grandeur. In fine, provided a government recognizes, as divine, clerical +privileges that are plainly opposed to popular rights, and tend to +subvert them, the hierarchy will submit to it These considerations prove +how dangerous are the priesthood, since the end they purpose by all +their projects is dominion over the mind of mankind, and by subjugating +it to enslave their persons, and render them the creatures of despotism +and tyranny. And we shall find, upon examination, that, with one or two +exceptions, the pious have been the enemies of the progress of science +and the development of the human understanding; for by brutalizing +mankind they have invariably striven to bind them to their yoke. Their +avarice, their thirst of power and wealth, have led them to plunge +their fellow-citizens in ignorance, in misery, and unhappiness. They +discourage the cultivation of the earth by their system of tithes, +their extortions, and their secret projects; they annihilate activity, +talents, and industry; their pride is to reign on the ruin of the rest +of their species. The finest countries in Europe have, when blindly +submissive to the priests, been the worst cultivated, the thinnest +peopled, and the most wretched. The _Inquisition_ in Spain, Italy, and +Portugal has only tended to impoverish those countries, to debase the +mind, and render their subjects the veriest slaves of superstition. And +in countries where we see heaven showering down abundance, the people +are poor and famished, while the priests and monks are opulent and +bloated. Their kings are without power and without glory; their subjects +languish in indigence and wretchedness. + +The priests boast of the utility of their office. Independently of +their prayers, from which the world has for so many ages derived neither +instruction nor peace, prosperity nor happiness, their pretensions +to teach the rising generations are often frivolous, and sometimes +arrogant, since we have found others equally well calculated to the +discharge of those functions, who have been good citizens, that have not +drawn from the pockets of their neighbors the tenth of their earnings. +Thus, in what light soever we view them, the pretensions of the priests +are reduced to a nonentity, compared to the disservice they render the +community by their exactions and dissolute lives. + +In what consists, in effect, the education that our spiritual guides +have, unhappily for society, assumed the vocation of imparting to youth? +Does it tend to make reasonable, courageous, and virtuous citizens? No; +it is incontestable that it creates ignoble men, whose entire lives are +tormented with imaginary terrors; it creates superstitious slaves, who +only possess monastic virtues, and who, if they follow faithfully the +instructions of their masters, must be perfectly useless to society; it +forms intolerant devotees, ready to detest all those who do not think +like themselves; and it makes fanatics, who are ready to rebel against +any government as soon as they are persuaded it is rebellious to the +church. What do the priests teach their pupils? They cause them to +lose much precious time in reciting prayers, in mechanically repeating +theological dogmas, of which, even in mature life, they comprehend +nothing. They teach them the dead languages, which, at the best, only +serve for entertainment, being by no means necessary in the present form +of society. They terminate these fine studies by a philosophy which, in +clerical hands, has become a mere play of words, a jargon void of sense, +and which is exactly calculated to fit them for the unintelligible +science called _theology_. But is this theology itself useful to +nations? Are the interminable disputes which arise between profound +metaphysicians of such a character as to be interesting to the people +who do not comprehend them? Are the people of Paris and the provinces +much advanced in heavenly knowledge when the priests dispute among +themselves about what should really be thought of grace? + +In regard to the instruction imparted by the clergy, it is indeed +necessary to have faith in order to discover its utility. Their boasted +instruction consists in teaching ineffable mysteries, marvellous dogmas, +narrations and fables perfectly ridiculous, panic terrors, fanatical +and lugubrious predictions, frightful menaces, and above all, systems +so profound that they who announce are not able to comprehend them. In +truth, Madam, in all this I can see nothing useful. Should nations feel +any extraordinary obligations to teachers who concoct doctrines that +must always remain impenetrable for the whole human race? It must +be confessed that our priests, who so painfully occupy themselves in +arranging a pure creed for us, must signally lose all their labor. At +any rate, the people are not much in the situation to profit by such +sublime toils. Very frequently the pulpit becomes the theatre of +discord; the sacred disclaimers launch injuries at each other, infusing +their own passions into the bosoms of their _Christian_ auditors, +kindling their zeal against the enemies of the church, and becoming +themselves the trumpets of party spirit, fury, and sedition. If these +preachers teach morality, it is a kind of supernatural morality, little +adapted to the nature of man. If they inculcate virtue, it is that +theological virtue whose inutility we have sufficiently shown. If by +chance some one among them allows himself to preach that morality and +virtue which is practical, human, and social, you know, Madam, that +he is proscribed by his confederates, and becomes an object of their +acrimonious criticisms and their deadly hatred. He is also disdained +by devotees who are attached to evangelical virtues that they cannot +comprehend, and who consider nothing as more important than mysterious +forms and ceremonies, in which zealots make morality to consist. + +See, then, in what limits are entertained the important services +that the ministers of the Lord have for so many centuries rendered to +nations! They are not worth, in all conscience, the excessive price +which is paid for them. On the contrary, if priests were treated +according to their real merit, if their functions were appreciated at +their just value, it would, perhaps, be found that they did not merit +a larger salary than those empirics who, at the corners of the streets, +vend remedies more dangerous than the evils they promise to cure. + +It is by subjecting the immense revenues, lands, abbeys, and estates, +which clerical bodies have levied upon the credulity of men, to just and +equal taxation, as with other property; it is by rendering the church +and state entirely distinct; it is by stripping the hierarchy of +immunities not possessed by other citizens, and of privileges both +chimerical and injurious; it is by rigorously exacting the same civil +obedience alike from priests and people,--that government can be rightly +administered, that justice can be impartially rendered, and that the +nation, as a whole, can be trained to courage, activity, industry, +intelligence, tranquillity, and patriotism. So long as there are two +powers in a state, they will necessarily be at variance, and the one +which arrogates the favor of the Almighty will have immense advantages +over that which claims no authority above the earth. If both pretend +to emanate from the same source, the people would not know which to +believe; they would range themselves on each side; the combat would be +furious, and the power of the government would be unable to maintain +itself against the many heads of the ecclesiastical hydra. The magicians +of Pharaoh yielded to the Jewish priests, and in conflicts between the +church and state, the immunities of the priests, + + "Like Aaron's serpent, swallowed all the rest." + +If such is the case, you will inquire, Madam, how can an enlightened +civil power ever make obedient citizens of rebellious priests, who +have so long possessed the confidence of the people, and who can with +impunity render themselves formidable to any government? I reply, +that in spite of the vigilant cares and the redoubled efforts of the +priesthood, the people have begun to be more enlightened; they are +becoming weary of the heavy yoke, which they would not have borne so +long had they not believed it was imposed upon them by the Most High, +and that it was necessary to their happiness. It is impossible for error +to be eternal; it must give way to the power of truth. The priests, who +think, know this well, and the whole ecclesiastical body continually +declaim against all those who wish to enlighten the human race and +unveil the conspiracies of their spiritual guides. They fear the +piercing eyes of philosophy; they fear the reign of reason, which will +never be that of tyranny or anarchy. Governments, then, ought not to +share the fears of the clergy, nor render themselves the executors of +their vengeance; they injure themselves when they sustain the cause of +their turbulent rivals, who have ever been the enemies of civil polity +and perturbera of the public repose. The magistrates of a state league +themselves with their enemies when they form an alliance with the +priesthood, or prevent the people from recognizing their errors. +Governments are more interested than individuals in the destruction of +errors that often lead to confusion, anarchy, and rebellion. If men had +not become gradually enlightened, nations would now, as formerly, be +under the yoke of the Roman pontiff, who could occasion revolution in +their midst, overturn the laws, and subvert the government. But for +the insensible progress of reason, states would now be filled with +a tumultuous crowd of devotees, ready to revolt at the signal of an +unquiet priest or a seditious monk. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that men who think, and who teach others +to think, are more useful to governments than those who wish to stifle +reason and to proscribe forever the liberty of thought. You see that the +true friends of a stable government are those who seek most sedulously +to enlighten, educate, and elevate the people. You feel that by +banishing knowledge and persecuting philosophy, government sacrifices +its dearest interests to a seditious clergy, whose ambition and avarice +push them to usurp boundless authority, and whose pride always makes +them indignant at being in subjection to a power which they contend +should be subordinate to themselves. + +There is no priest who does not consider himself superior to the highest +ruler of any country. We have often seen the priesthood avow pretensions +of this character. The clergy are always enraged when an attempt is made +to subject them to the secular power. Such an attempt they regard as +profane, and they denounce it as tyranny whenever it is sought to be +enforced. They pretend that in all times the priesthood has been sacred, +that its rights come from God himself, and that no government can, +without sacrilege, or without outraging the Divinity, touch the +property, the privileges, or the immunities which have been snatched +from ignorance and credulity. Whenever the civil authority would +touch the objects considered inviolable and sacred in the hands of the +priests, their clamors cannot be appeased; they make efforts to excite +the people against the government; they denounce all authority as +tyrannical when it has the temerity to think of subjecting them to the +laws, of reforming their abuses, and neutralizing their power to injure. +But they consider authority legitimate when it crushes _their_ enemies, +though it appears insupportable as soon as it is reasonable and +favorable to the people. The priests are essentially the most wicked of +men, and the worst citizens of a state. A miracle would be necessary to +render them otherwise. In all countries they are the _spoiled children_ +of nations. They are proud and haughty, since they pretend it is from +God himself they received their mission and their power. They are +ingrates, since they assume to owe only to God benefits which they +visibly hold from the generosity of governments and the people. They +are audacious, because for many ages they have enjoyed supremacy with +impunity. They are unquiet and turbulent, because they are never without +the desire of playing a great part. They are quarrelsome and factious, +because they are never able to find out a method of enabling men +to understand the pretended truths they teach. They are suspicious, +defiant, and cruel, because they sensibly feel that they may well dread +the discovery of their impostures. They are the spontaneous enemies +of truth because they justly apprehend it will annihilate their +pretensions. They are implacable in their vengeance, because it would +be dangerous to pardon those who wish to crush their doctrines, whose +weakness they know. They are hypocrites, because most of them possess +too much sense to believe the reveries they retail to others. They are +obstinate in their ideas, because they are inflated with vanity, and +because they could not consistently deviate from a method of thinking +of which they pretend God is the author. We often see them unbridled +and licentious in their manners, because it is impossible that idleness, +effeminacy, and luxury should not corrupt the heart We sometimes see +them austere and rigid in their conduct in order to impose on the people +and accomplish their ambitious views. If they are hypocrites and rogues, +they are extremely dangerous; and if they are fanatical in good faith, +or imbecile, they are not less to be feared. In fine, we almost always +see them rebellious and seditious, because an authority derived from God +is not disposed to bend to authority derived from men. + +You have here, Madam, a faithful portrait of the members of a powerful +body, in whose favor governments, for a long time, have believed it +their duty to sacrifice the other interests of the state. You here see +the citizens whom prejudice most richly recompenses, whom princes honor +in the eyes of the people, to whom they give their confidence, whom +they regard as the support of their power, and whom they consider as +necessary to the happiness and security of their kingdoms. You can +judge yourself whether the likeness delineated is correct You are in a +position to discover their intrigues, their underplots, their conduct, +and their discourse, and you will always find that their constant object +is to flatter princes for the purpose of governing them and keeping +nations in slavery. + +It is to please citizens so dangerous that sovereigns mingle in +theological questions, take the part of those who succeed in seducing +them, persecute all those who do not submit, proscribe with fury the +friends of reason, and by repressing knowledge injure their own power. +Because the priests, who urge princes to sacrilege when they combat for +them, are indignant against the same princes when they refuse to +destroy the enemies of their own particular clerical body. They likewise +denounce sovereigns as impious if the latter treat theological disputes +with the indifference they merit. + +When hereafter, reclaimed from their prejudices, princes wish to govern +for the good of all, let them cease to hear the interested and often +sanguinary councils of these pretended divine men, who, regarding +themselves as the centre of all things, wish to have sacrificed for +this object the happiness, the repose, the riches, and the honors of +the state. Let the sovereign never enter into their dissensions, let +him never persecute for religious opinions, which, among sectaries, are +commonly on both sides equally ridiculous and destitute of foundation. +They would never involve the government if the sovereign had not the +weakness to mingle in them. Let him give unlimited freedom to the course +of thinking, while he directs by just laws the course of acting on the +part of his subjects. Let him permit every one to dream or speculate as +he pleases, provided he conducts himself otherwise as an honest man +and a good citizen. At least let the prince not oppose the progress +of knowledge, which alone is capable of extricating his people from +ignorance, barbarity, and superstition, which have made victims of +so many Christian rulers. Let him be assured that enlightened and +instructed citizens are more law-abiding, industrious, and peaceable +than stupid slaves without knowledge and without reason, who will always +be ready to take all the passions with which a fanatic wishes to inspire +them. + +Let the sovereign especially occupy himself with the education of his +subjects, nor leave the clergy unobstructedly to impregnate his people +with mystic notions, foolish reveries, and superstitious practices, +which are only proper for fanatics. Let him at least counterbalance the +inculcation of these follies by teaching a morality conformable to the +good of the state, useful to the happiness of its members, and social +and reasonable. This morality would inform a man what he owed to +himself, to society, to his fellow-citizens, and to the magistrates who +administered the laws. This morality would not form men who would hate +each other for speculative opinions, nor dangerous enthusiasts, nor +devotees blindly submissive to the priests. It would create a tranquil, +intelligent, and industrious community; a body of inhabitants submissive +to reason and obedient to just and legitimate authority. In a word, from +such morality would spring virtuous men and good citizens, and it would +be the surest antidote against superstition and fanaticism. In this +manner the empire of the clergy would be diminished, and the sovereign +would have a less portentous rival; he would, without opposition, be +assured of all rational and enlightened citizens; the riches of the +clergy would in part reenter society, and be of use in benefiting the +people; institutions now useless would be put to advantageous uses; a +portion of the possessions of the church, originally destined for the +poor, and so long appropriated by avaricious priests, would come +into the hands of the suffering and the indigent, their legitimate +proprietors. Supported by a nation who were sensible of the advantages +he had procured them, the prince would no longer fear the cries of +fanaticism, and they would soon be no longer heard. The priests, the +lazy monks, and turbulent persons living in forced celibacy, could no +longer calculate on the future, and, aliens in the state which nourished +them, they would visibly diminish. The government, more rich and +powerful, would be in a better situation to diffuse its benefits; and +enlightened, virtuous, and beneficent men would constitute the support, +the glory, and the grandeur of the state. + +Such, Madam, are the ends which all governments would propose who opened +their eyes to their own true interests. I flatter myself that these +designs will not appear to you either impossible or chimerical. +Knowledge and science, which begin to be generally diffused, are already +advancing these results; they are giving an impulse to the march of +the human mind, and in time, governments and people, without tumult +or revolution, will be freed from the yoke which has oppressed them so +long. + +Do we see any thing useful in the pious endowments of our ancestors? +We find them to consist of institutions invented to continue a lazy, +monastic life; costly temples elevated and enriched by indigent people +to augment the pride of the priests, and to erect altars and palaces. +From the foundation of Christianity the whole object of religion +has been to aggrandize the priesthood on the ruins of nations and +governments. A jealous religion has exclusively seized on the minds +of men, and persuaded them that they live upon earth merely to occupy +themselves with their future happiness in the unknown regions of the +empyrean. It is time that this prestige should cease; it is time that +the human race should occupy itself with its own true interests. The +interests of the people will always be incompatible with those of the +guides who believe they have acquired an imprescriptible right to lead +men astray. The more you examine the Christian religion, the more will +you be convinced that it can be advantageous only to those whose object +it is easily to guide mankind after having plunged them into darkness. I +am, &c. + + + + +LETTER X. On the Advantages Religion confers on those who profess it + +I dare flatter myself, Madam, that I have clearly demonstrated to you, +that the Christian religion, far from being the support of sovereign +authority, is its greatest enemy; and of having plainly convinced you, +that its ministers are, by the very nature of their functions, the +rivals of kings, and adversaries the most to be feared by all who value +or exercise temporal power. In a word, I think I have persuaded you, +that society might, without damage, dispense with the services they +render, or at least dispense with paying for them so extravagantly. + +Let us now examine the advantages which this religion procures to +individuals, who are most strongly convinced of its pretended truths, +and who conform the most rigidly to its precepts. Let us see if it is +calculated to render its disciples more contented, more happy, and more +virtuous than they would be without the burden of its ministers. + +To decide the question, it is sufficient to look around us, and to +consider the effects that religion produces on minds really penetrated +with its pre* tended truths. We shall generally find in those who the +most sincerely profess and the most exactly practise them, a joyless +and melancholy disposition, which announces no contentment, nor +that interior peace of which they speak so incessantly, without ever +exhibiting any undoubted manifestations of it. + +Whoever is in the enjoyment of peace within, shows some exterior +marks of it; but the internal satisfaction of devotees is commonly +so concealed, that we may well suspect it of being nothing but a mere +chimera. Their interior peace, which they allege gives them a good +conscience, is visible to others only by a bilious and petulant +humor, that is not usually much applauded by those who come under +its influence. If, however, there are occasionally some devotees who +actually display the serene countenance of satisfaction and enjoyment, +it is because the dismal ideas of religion are rendered inoperative by +a happy temperament; or that such persons have not fully become +impregnated with their system of faith, whose legitimate effect is to +plunge its devotees into terrible inquietudes and sombre chagrins. + +Thus, Madam, we are brought back to the contradictory discourses of +those priests who, after having caused terror by their desolating +dogmas, attempt to reassure us by vague hopes, and exhort us to place +confidence in a God whom they have themselves so repulsively delineated. +It is idle for them to tell us the yoke of Jesus Christ is light. It is +insupportable to those who consider it properly. It is only light for +those who bear it without reflection, or for those who assume it +in order to impose it upon others, without intending to suffer its +annoyances themselves. + +Suffer me, Madam, to refer you to yourself. Were you happy, contented, +or gay, when you made me the depository of the secret inquietudes +inflicted upon you by prejudices, and which had commenced taking that +fatal empire over your mind which I have endeavored to destroy? Was not +your soul involved in woe in spite of your judgment? Were you not taking +measures to wither all your happiness? In favor of religion, were you +not ready to renounce the world, and disregard all you owe to society? +If I was afflicted, I was not surprised. The Christian religion +inevitably destroys the happiness and repose of those who are subjected +by it; alarms and terrors are the objects of its pleasures; it cannot +make those happy who fully receive it It would certainly have plunged +you into distress. All your faculties would have been injured, and your +too susceptible imagination would have been carried to such dangerous +extremes, that many others would have grieved at the result A gentle +and beneficent spirit, like yours, could never receive peace from +Christianity. The evils of religion are sure, while its consolations are +contradictory and vague. They cannot give that temper and tranquillity +to the mind which is necessary to enable men to labor for their own +happiness and that of others. + +In effect, as I have already observed, it is very difficult for an +individual to occupy himself with the happiness of another when he is +himself miserable. The devotee, who imposes penances on his own head, +who is suspicious of every thing, who is full of self-reproaches, and +who is heated by visionary meditation, by fasting and seclusion, must +naturally be irritated against all those who do not believe it their +duty to make such absurd sacrifices. He can scarcely avoid being enraged +at those audacious persons who neglect practices or duties that are +claimed as the exactions of God. He will desire to be with those only +who view things as he does himself; he will keep himself apart from all +others, and will end by hating them. He believes himself obliged to make +a loud and public parade of his mode of thinking, and he signalizes his +zeal even at the risk of appearing ridiculous. If he showed indulgence, +he would doubtless fear he should render himself an accomplice in a +neglect of his God. He would reprehend such sinners, and it would be +with acrimony, because his own soul was filled with it. In fine, if +zealous, he would always be under the dominion of anger, and would only +be indulgent in proportion as he was not bigoted. + +Religious devotion tends to arouse fierce sentiments, that sooner or +later manifest themselves in a manner disagreeable for others. The +mystical devotees clearly illustrate this. They are vexed with the +world, and it could not exist if the extravagances required by religion +were altogether carried out. The world cannot be united to Jesus Christ. +God demands our entire heart, and nothing is allowed to remain for his +weak creatures. To produce the little zeal for heaven which Christians +have, it is requisite to torment them, and thus lead them to the +practice of those marvellous virtues in which they imagine is placed +all their safety. A strange religion, which, practised in all its rigor, +would drag society to ruin! The sincere devotee proposes impossible +attainments, of which human nature is not capable; and as, in spite of +all his endeavors, he is unable to succeed in their acquisition, he is +always discontented with himself. He regards himself as the object of +God's anger; he reproaches himself with all that he does; he suffers +remorse for all the pleasures he experiences, and fears that they may +occasion a fall from grace. + +For his greater security, he often avoids society which may at any +moment turn him from his pretended duties, excite him to sin, and render +him the witness or accomplice of what is offensive to zealots. In fine, +if the devotee is very zealous, he cannot prevent himself from avoiding +or detesting beings, who, according to his gloomy notions of religion, +are perpetually occupied in irritating God. On the other hand, you know, +Madam, that it is chagrin and melancholy that lead to devotion. It is +usually not till the world abandons and displeases men that they have +recourse to heaven; it is in the arms of religion that the ambitious +seek to console themselves for their disgraces and disappointed +projects; dissolute and loose women turn devotees when the world +discards them, and they offer to God hearts wasted, and charms that are +no longer in repute. The ruin of their attractions admonishes them that +their empire is no longer of this world; filled with vexation, consumed +with chagrin, and irritated against a society where they were deprived +of enacting an agreeable part, they yield themselves up to devotion, and +distinguish themselves by religious follies, after having run the race +of fashionable vices, and been engaged in worldly scandals. With rancor +in their hearts, they offer a gloomy adoration to a God who indemnifies +them most miserably for their ascetic worship. In a word, it is passion, +affliction, and despair to which most conversions must be attributed; +and they are persons of such character who deliver themselves to the +priests, and these mental aberrations and physical afflictions are +the marvellous strokes of grace of which God makes use to lead men to +himself. + +It is not, then, surprising if we see persons subject to this devotion +most commonly ruled by sorrow and passion. These mental moods are +perpetually aggravated by religion, which is exactly calculated to +imbitter more and more the souls thus filled with vexations. The +conversation of a spiritual director is a weak consolation for the loss +of a lover; the remote and flattering hopes of another world rarely +make up for the realities of this; nor do the fictitious occupations of +religion suffice to satisfy souls accustomed to intrigues, dissipation, +and scandalous pleasures. + +Thus, Madam, we see that the effects of these brilliant conversions, +so well adapted to give pleasure to the Omnipotent and to his court, +present nothing advantageous for the inhabitants of this lower world. If +the changes produced by grace do not render those more happy upon whom +they are operated, they cannot cause much admiration on the part of +those who witness them. Indeed, what advantages does society reap from +the greater part of conversions? Do the persons so touched by grace +become better? Do they make amends for the evil they have done, or are +they heartily and generously engaged in doing good to those by whom +they are surrounded? A mistress, for example, who has been arrogant and +proud,--does conversion render her humble and gentle? Does the unjust +and cruel man recompense those to whom he has done evil? Does the robber +return to society the property of which he has plundered it? Does the +dissipated and licentious woman repair by her vigilant cares the wrongs +that her disorders and dissipations have occasioned? No, far from +it These persons so touched and converted by God ordinarily content +themselves with praying, fasting, religious offerings, frequenting +churches, clamoring in favor of their priests, intriguing to sustain +a sect, decrying all who disagree with their particular spiritual +director, and exhibiting an ardent and ridiculous zeal for questions +that they do not understand. In this manner they imagine they get +absolution from God, and give indemnification to men; but society gains +nothing from their miraculous conversion. On the other hand, devotion +often exalts, infuriates, and strengthens the passions which formerly +animated the converts. It turns these passions to new objects, and +religion justifies the intolerant and cruel excesses into which they +rush for the interest of their sect. It is thus that an ambitious +personage becomes a proud and turbulent fanatic, and believes himself +justified by his zeal; it is thus that a disgraced courtier cabals +in the name of heaven against his own enemies; and it is thus that a +malignant and vindictive man, under the pretext of avenging God, seeks +the means of avenging himself. Thus, also, it happens that a woman, to +indemnify herself for having quitted rouge, considers she has the right +to outrage with her acrid humor a husband whom she had previously, in a +different manner, outraged many times. She piously denounces those who +allow themselves the indulgence of the most innocent pleasures; in +the belief of manifesting religions earnestness, she exhales downright +passion, envy, jealousy, and spite; and in lending herself warmly to +the interests of heaven she shows an excess of ignorance, insanity, and +credulity. + +But is it necessary, Madam, to insist upon this? You live in a country +where you see many devotees, and few virtuous people among them. If you +will but slightly examine the matter, you will find that among these +persons so persuaded of their religion, so convinced of its importance +and utility, who speak incessantly of its consolations, its sweets, and +its virtues,--you will find that among these persons there are very few +who are tendered happier, and yet fewer who are rendered better. Are +they vividly penetrated with the sentiments of their afflicting and +terrible religion? You will find them atrabilious, disobliging, and +fierce. Are they more lightly affected by their creed? You will then +find them less bigoted, more beneficent, social, and kind. The religion +of the court, as you know, is a continual mixture of devotion and +pleas-ore, a circle of the exercises of piety and dissipation, of +momentary fervor and continuous irregularities. This religion connects +Jesus Christ with the pomps of Satan. We there see sumptuous display, +pride, ambition, intrigue, vengeance, envy, and libertinism all +amalgamated with a religion whose _maxims_ are austere. Pious casuists, +interested for the great, approve this alliance, and give the lie to +their own religion in order to derive advantage from circumstances and +from the passions and vices of men. If these court divines were too +rigid, they would affright their fashionable disciples seeking to reach +heaven on "flowery beds of ease," and who embrace religion with the +understanding that they are to be allowed no inconsiderable latitude. +This is doubtless the reason why Jansenism, which wished to renew +the austere principles of primitive Christianity, obtained no general +influence at the Parisian court. The monkish precepts of early +Christianity could only suit men of the temper of those who first +embraced it They were adapted for persons who were abject, bilious, and +discontented, who, deprived of luxury, power, and honors, became the +enemies of grandeurs from which they were excluded. The devotees had the +art of making a merit of their aversion and disdain for what they could +not obtain. + +Nevertheless, a Christian, in consonance with his principles, should +"take no thought for the morrow;" should have no individual possessions; +should flee from the world and its pomps; should give his coat to the +thief who stole his cloak; and, if smitten on one cheek, should turn +the other, to the aggressor. It is upon Stoicism that religious +fanatics built their gloomy philosophy. The so-called perfections which +Christianity proposes place man in a perpetual war with himself, and +must render him miserable. The true Christian is an enemy both of +himself and the human race, and for his own consistency should live +secluded in darkness, like an owl. His religion renders him essentially +unsocial, and as useless to himself as he is disagreeable to others. +What advantage can society receive from a man who trembles without +cessation, who is in a state of superstitious penance, who prays, and +who indulges in solitude? Or what better is the devotee who flies from +the world and deprives himself even of innocent pleasures, in the fear +that God might damn him for participation in them? + +What results, from these maxims of a moral fanaticism? It happens that +laws so atrocious and cruel are enacted, that bigots alone are willing +to execute them. Yes, Madam, blameless as you know my whole life to have +been, consonant to integrity and honesty as you know my conduct to be, +and free as I have ever been from intolerance, my existence would be +endangered were these letters I am now writing to you to appear in +print, or even be circulated in manuscript with my name attached to them +as author. Yes, Christians have made laws, now dominant here in France, +which would tie me to the stake, consume my body with fire, bore my +tongue with a red hot iron, deprive me of sepulture, strip my family +of my property, and for no other cause than for my opinions concerning +Christianity and the Bible. Such is the horrid cruelty engendered by +Christianity. It has sometimes been called in question whether a society +of atheists could exist; but we might with more propriety ask if a +society of fierce, impracticable, visionary, and fanatical Christians, +in all the plenitude of their ridiculous system, could long subsist.* +What would become of a nation all of whose inhabitants wished to attain +perfection by delivering themselves over to fanatical contemplation, to +ascetical penance, to monkish prayers, and to that state of things set +forth in the Acts of the Apostles? What would be the condition of a +nation where no one took any "thought for the morrow"?--where all were +occupied solely with heaven, and all totally neglected whatever +related to this transitory and passing life?--where all made a merit +of celibacy, according to the precepts of St. Paul?--and where, in +consequence of constant occupation in the ceremonials of piety, no one +had leisure to devote to the well-being of men in their worldly and +temporal concerns? It is evident that such a society could only exist in +the Thebaid, and even there only for a limited time, as it must soon be +annihilated. If some enthusiasts exhibit examples of this sort, we know +that convents and nunneries are supported by that portion of society +which they do not enclose. But who would provide for a country that +abandoned every thing else, for the purpose of heavenly contemplations? + + * Upon this topic consult what Bayle says, Continuation des + Pensees diverses sur la Comete, Sections 124,125, tome iv., + Rousseau de Geneve, in his Contrai Social, 1. 4, ch 8. See + also the Lettres ecrites de la Montague, letter first, pp. + 45 to 54, edit. 8vo. The author discusses the same matter, + and confirms his opinions hy new reasonings, which + particularly deserve perusal.--Note of the Editor, (Naigeon) + +We may therefore legitimately conclude that the Christian religion +is not fitted for this world; that it is not calculated to insure the +happiness either of societies or individuals; that the precepts and +counsels of its God are impracticable, and more adapted to discourage +the human race, and to plunge men into despair and apathy, than to +render them happy, active, and virtuous. A Christian is compelled to +make an abstraction of the maxims of his religion if he wishes to live +in the world; he is no longer a Christian when he devotes his cares to +his earthly good; and, in a word, a real Christian is a man of another +world, and is not adapted for this. + +Thus we see that Christians, to humanize themselves, are constantly +obliged to depart from their supernatural and divine speculations. Their +passions are not repressed, but on the contrary are often thus rendered +more fierce and more calculated to disturb society. Masked under the +veil of religion, they generally produce more terrible effects. It +is then that ambition, vengeance, cruelty, anger, calumny, envy, and +persecution, covered by the deceptive name of zeal, cause the greatest +ravages, range without bounds, and even delude those who are transported +by these dangerous passions. Religion does not annihilate these violent +agitations of the mind in the hearts of its devotees, but often excites +and justifies them; and experience proves that the most rigid Christians +are very far from being the best of men, and that they have no right to +reproach the incredulous either concerning the pretended consequences +of their principles, or for the passions which are falsely alleged to +spring from unbelief. + +Indeed, the charity of the peaceful ministers of religion and of their +pious adherents does not prevent their blackening their adversaries with +a view of rendering them odious, and of drawing down upon their heads +the malevolence of a superstitious community, and the persecution of +tyrannical and oppressive laws; their zeal for God's glory permits them +to employ indifferently all kinds of weapons; and calumny, especially, +furnishes them always a most powerful aid. According to them, there are +no irregularities of the heart which are not produced by incredulity; +to renounce religion, say they, is to give a free course to unbridled +passions, and he who does not believe surely indicates a corrupt heart, +depraved manners, and frightful libertinism. In a word, they declare +that every man who refuses to admit their reveries or their marvellous +morality, has no motives to do good, and very powerful ones to commit +evil. + +It is thus that our charitable divines caricature and misrepresent the +opponents of their supremacy, and describe them as dangerous brigands, +whom society, for its own interest, ought to proscribe and destroy. It +results from these imputations that those who renounce prejudices and +consult reason are considered the most unreasonable of men; that they +who condemn religion on account of the crimes it has produced upon the +earth, and for which it has served as an eternal pretext, are regarded +as bad citizens; that they who complain of the troubles that turbulent +priests have so often excited, are set down as perturbators of the +repose of nations; and that they who are shocked at the contemplation of +the inhuman and unjust persecutions which have been excited by priestly +ambition and rascality, are men who have no idea of justice, and in +whose bosoms the sentiments of humanity are necessarily stifled. They +who despise the false and deceitful motives by which, to the present +time, it has been vainly attempted through the other world to make men +virtuous, equitable, and beneficent, are denounced as having no real +motives to practise the virtues necessary for their well-being _here_. +In fine, the priests scandalize those who wish to destroy sacerdotal +tyranny, and impostures dangerous alike to nations and people, as +enemies of the state so dangerous that the laws ought to punish them. + +But I believe, Madam, that you are now thoroughly convinced that the +true friends of the human race and of governments cannot also be the +friends of religion and of priests. Whatever may be the motives or +the passions which determine men to incredulity, whatever may be the +principles which flow from it, they cannot be so pernicious as those +which emanate directly and necessarily from a religion so absurd and +so atrocious as Christianity. Incredulity does not claim extraordinary +privileges as flowing from a partial God; it pretends to no right of +despotism over men's consciences; it has no pretexts for doing violence +to the minds of mankind; and it does not hate and persecute for a +difference of opinion. In a word, the incredulous, have not an infinity +of motives, interests, and pretexts to injure, with which the zealous +partisans of religion are abundantly provided. + +The unbeliever in Christianity, who reflects, perceives that without +going out of this world there are pressing and real motives which +invite to virtuous conduct; he feels the interest that he has in +self-preservation, and of avoiding whatever is calculated to injure +another; he sees himself united by physical and reciprocal wants with +men who would despise him if he had vices, who would detest him if he +was guilty of any action contrary to justice and virtue, and who would +punish him if he committed any crimes, or if he outraged the laws. The +idea of decency and order, the desire of meriting the approbation of +his fellow-citizens, and the fear of being subjected to blame and +punishment, are sufficient to govern the actions of every rational man. +If, however, a citizen is in a sort of delirium, all the credulity in +the world will not be able to restrain him. If he is powerful enough +to have no fear of men on this earth, he will not regard the divine law +more than the hatred and the disdain of the judges he has constantly +before his eyes. + +But the priests may perhaps tell us that the fear of an avenging God +at least serves to repress a great number of latent crimes that would +appear but for the influence of religion. Is it true, however, that +religion itself prevents these latent crimes? Are not Christian nations +full of knaves of all kinds, who secretly plot the ruin of their +fellow-beings? Do not the most ostensibly credulous persons indulge in +an infinity of vices for which they would blush if they were by chance +brought to light? A man who is the most persuaded that God sees all his +actions frequently does not blush to commit deeds in secret from which +he would refrain if beheld by the meanest of human beings. + +What, then, avails the powerful check on the passions which religion is +said to interpose? If we could place any reliance on what is said by our +priests, it would appear that neither public nor secret crimes could +be committed in countries where their instructions are received; the +priests would appear like a brotherhood of angels, and every religious +man to be without faults. But men forget their religious speculations +when they are under the dominion of violent passions, when they are +bound by the ties of habit, or when they are blinded by great interests. +Under such circumstances they do not reason. Whether a man is virtuous +or vicious depends on temperament, habit, and education. An unbeliever +may have strong passions, and may reason very justly on the subject of +religion, and very erroneously in regard to his conduct. The religious +dupe is u poor metaphysician, and if he also acts badly he is both +imbecile and wicked. + +It is true the priests deny that unbelievers ever reason correctly, +and pretend they must always be in the wrong to prefer natural sense +to their authority. But in this decision they occupy the place of both +judges and parties, and the verdict should be rendered by disinterested +persons. In the mean time the priests themselves seem to doubt the +soundness of their own allegations; they call the secular arm to the +aid of their arguments; they marshal on their side fines, imprisonment, +confiscation of goods, boring and branding with hot irons, and death at +the stake, at this time in France, and in other and in most countries +of Christendom; they use the scourge to drive men into paradise; they +enlighten men by the blaze of the fagot; they inculcate faith by furious +and bloody strokes of the sword; and they have the baseness to stand in +dread of men who cannot announce themselves or openly promulgate their +opinions without running the risk of punishment, and even death. This +conduct does not manifest that the priests are strongly persuaded of +the power of their arguments. If our clerical theologians acted in +good faith, would they not rejoice to open a free course to thorough +discussion? Would they not be gratified to allow doubters to propose +difficulties, the solution of which, if Christianity is so plain and +clear, would serve to render it more firm and solid? They find it +answers their ends better to use their adversaries as the Mexicans do +their slaves, whom they shackle before attacking, and then kill for +daring to defend themselves. + +It is very probable unbelievers may be found whose conduct is blamable, +and this is because they in this respect follow the same line of +reasoning as the devotee. The most fanatical partisans of religion are +forced to confess that among their adherents a small number of the elect +only are rendered virtuous. By what right, then, do they exact that +incredulity, which pretends to nothing supernatural, should produce +effects which, according to their own admissions, their pretended divine +religion fails to accomplish? If all believers were invariably good men, +the cause of religion would be provided with an adamantine bulwark, and +especially if unbelievers were persons without morality or virtue. But +whatever the priests may aver, the unbelievers are more virtuous than +the devotees. A happy temperament, a judicious education, the desire of +living a peaceable life, the dislike to attract hatred or blame, and the +habit of fulfilling the moral duties, always furnish motives to abstain +from vice and to practise virtue more powerful and more true than +those presented by religion. Besides, the incredulous person has not an +infinity of resources which Christianity bestows upon its superstitious +followers. The Christian can at any time expiate his crimes by +confession and penance, and can thus reconcile himself with God, and +give repose to his conscience; the unbeliever, on the other hand, who +has perpetrated a wrong, can reconcile himself neither with society, +which he has outraged, nor with himself, whom he is compelled to hate. +If he expects no reward in another life, he has no interest but to merit +the homage that in all enlightened countries is rendered to virtue, to +probity, and to a conduct constantly honest; he has no inducement but to +avoid the penalties and the disdain that society decrees against those +who trouble its well-being, and who refuse to contribute to its welfare. + +It appears evident that every man who consults his understanding should +be more reasonable than one who only consults his imagination. It is +evident that he who consults his own nature and that of the beings who +surround him, ought to have truer ideas of good and evil, of justice and +injustice, and of honesty and dishonesty, that he who, to regulate his +conduct, consults only the records of a concealed God, whom his priests +picture as wicked, unjust, changeable, contradicting himself, and who +has sometimes ordered actions the most contrary to morality and to all +the ideas that we have of virtue. It is evident that he who regulates +his conduct upon sacerdotal molality will only follow the caprice +and passions of the priests, and will be a very dangerous man, while +believing himself very virtuous. In fine, it is evident that while +conforming himself to the precepts and counsels of religion, a man may +be extremely pious without possessing the shadow of a virtue. Experience +has proved that it is quite possible to adhere to all the unintelligible +dogmas of the priests, to observe most scrupulously all the forms, and +ceremonies, and services they recommend, and orally to profess all the +Christian virtues, without having any of the qualities necessary to his +own happiness, and to that of the beings with whom he lives. The saints, +indeed, who are proposed to us as models, were useless members of +society. We see them to have been either gloomy fanatics, who sacrificed +themselves to the desolating ideas of their religion, or excited +fanatics, who, under pretext of serving religion, have perpetually +disturbed the repose of nations, or enthusiastic theologians, who from +their own dreams have deduced systems exactly calculated to infuriate +the brains of their adherents. A saint, when he is tranquil, proposes +nothing whose accomplishment will benefit mankind, and only aims to keep +himself safe and secluded in his retreat. A saint, when he is active, +only appears to promulgate reveries dangerous to the world, and to +uphold the interests of the church, that he confounds with the interest +of God. + +In a word, Madam, I cannot too often repeat it, every system of religion +appears to be designed for the utility of the priests; the morality of +Christianity has in view only the interests of the priesthood; all the +virtues that it teaches have solely for an object the church, and its +ministers; and these ends are always to subject the people, to draw a +profit from their toil, and to inspire them with a blind Credulity. We +ought, therefore, to practise morality and virtue without entering into +these conspiracies. If the priests disapprove of those who do not agree +with them, and refuse to award any probity to the thinkers who reject +their injurious and useless notions, society, which needs for its own +sustenance real and human virtues, will not adopt the sentiments nor +espouse the quarrels of these men, visibly leagued together against it. +If the ministers of religion require their dogmas, their mysteries, +and their fanatical virtues to support their usurped empire, the civil +government has a need of reasonable virtues, of an evident, and above +all, of a pacific morality, in order, to exercise its legitimate rights. +In fine, the individuals, who compose every society, demand a morality +which will render them happy in _this_ world, without embarrassing +themselves with what only pretends to secure their felicity in an +imaginary sphere, of which they have no ideas except those received from +the priests themselves. + +The priests have had the art to unite their religious system with some +moral tenets which are really good. This renders their mysteries more +sacred, and lends authority to their ambiguous dogmas. By the aid of +this artifice, they have given currency to the opinion that without +religion there can be neither morality nor virtue. I hope, Madam, in +my next letter, to complete the exposure of this prejudice, and to +demonstrate, to whoever will reflect, how uncertain, abstract, and +deceitful are the notions which religion has inspired. I shall clearly +show, that they have often infected philosophers themselves; that up to +the present time, they have retarded the progress of morality; and that +they have transformed a science the most certain, plain, and sensible to +every thinking man, into a system at once doubtful and enigmatical, and +full of difficulties. I am, Madam, &c. + + + + +LETTER XI. Of Human or Natural Morality + +By this time, Madam, you will have reflected on what I had the honor to +address to you, and perceived how impossible it is to found a certain +and invariable morality on a religion enthusiastic, ambiguous, +mysterious, and contradictory, and which never agreed with itself. +You know that the God who appears to have taken pleasure in rendering +himself unintelligible, that the God who is partial and changeable, that +the God whose precepts are at variance one with another, can never serve +as the base on which to rear a morality that shall become practicable +among the inhabitants of the earth. In short, how can we fonnd justice +and goodness on attributes that are unjust and evil; yet attributes of a +Being who tempts man, whom he created, for the purpose of punishing him +when tempted? How can we know when we do the will of a God who has said, +_Thou shalt not kill_, and who yet allows his people to exterminate +whole nations? What idea can we form of the morality of that God who +declares himself pleased with the sanguinary conduct of Moses, of the +rebel, the assassin, the adulterer, David? Is it possible to found +the holy duties of humanity on a God whose favorites have been inhuman +persecutors and cruel monsters? How can we deduce our duties from the +lessons of the priests of a God of peace, who, nevertheless, breathes +only sedition, vengeance, and carnage? How can we take as models for our +conduct _saints_, who were useless enthusiasts, or turbulent fanatics, +or seditious apostates; who, under the pretext of defending the cause of +God, have stirred up the greatest ravages on the earth? What wholesome +morality can we reap from the adoption of impracticable virtues, from +their being supernatural, which are visibly useless to ourselves, to +those among whom we live, and in their consequences often dangerous? How +can we take as guides in our conduct priests, whose lessons are a tissue +of unintelligible opinions, (_for all religion is but opinion_,) puerile +and frivolous practices, which these gentlemen prefer to real virtues? +In fine, how can we be taught _the truth_, conducted in an unerring +path, by men of a changeable morality, calculated upon and actuated +by their present interests, and who, although they pretend to preach +good-will to men, humanity, and peace, have, as their text-book, a +volume stained with the records of injustice, inhumanity, sedition, and +perfidy? J You know, Madam, that it is impossible to found morality on +notions that are so unfixed and so contrary to all our natural ideas of +virtue. By virtue, we ought to understand the habitual dispositions to +do whatever will procure us the happiness of ourselves and our species. +By virtue, religion understands only that which may contribute to render +us favorable to a hidden God, who attaches his favor to practices and +opinions that are too often hurtful to ourselves, and little beneficial +to others. The morality of the Christians is a mystic morality, which +resembles the dogmas of their religion; it is obscure, unintelligible, +uncertain, and subject to the interpretation of frail creatures. This +morality is never fixed, because it is subordinate to a religion which +varies incessantly its principles, and which is regulated according to +the pleasure of a despotic divinity, and, more especially, according +to the pleasure of priests, whose interests are changing daily, whose +caprices are as variable as the hours of their existence, and who are, +consequently, not always in agreement with one another. + +The writings which are the sources whence the Christians have drawn +their morality, are not only an abyss of obscurity, but demand continual +explications from their masters, the priests, who, in explaining, make +them still more obscure, still more contradictory. If these oracles of +heaven prescribe to us in one place the virtues truly useful, in another +part they approve, or prescribe, actions entirely opposed to all the +ideas that we have of virtue. The same God who orders us to be good, +equitable, and beneficent, who forbids the revenging of injuries, +who declares himself to be the God of clemency and of goodness, shows +himself to be implacable in his rage; announces himself as bringing +_the swords and not peace_; tells us that he is come to set mankind at +variance; and, finally, in order to revenge his wrongs, orders rapine, +treason, usurpation, and carnage. In a word, it is impossible to find +in the Scriptures any certain principles or sure rules of morality. +You there see, in one part, a small number of precepts, useful and +intelligible, and in another part maxims the most extravagant, and the +most destructive to the good and happiness of all society. + +It is in punctuality to fulfil the superstitious and frivolous duties, +that the morality of the Jews in the Old Testament writings is chiefly +conspicuous; legal observances, rites, ceremonies, are all that occupied +the people of Israel. In recompense for their scrupulous exactness to +fulfil these duties, they were permitted to commit the most frightful of +crimes. The virtues recommended by the Son of God, in the New Testament, +are not in reality the same as those which God the Father had made +observable in the former case. The New Testament contradicts the Old. It +announces that God is not pacified by sacrifices, nor by offerings, +nor by frivolous rites. It substitutes in place of these, supernatural +virtues, of which I believe I have sufficiently proved the inutility, +the impossibility, and the incompatibility with the well-being of man +living in society. The Son of God, by the writers of the New Testament, +is set at variance with himself; for he destroys in one place what he +establishes in another; and, moreover, the priests have appropriated to +themselves all the principles of his mission. They are in unison only +with God when the precepts of the Deity accord with their present +interest. Is it their interest to persecute? They find that God ordains +persecution. Are they themselves persecuted? They find that this pacific +God forbids persecution, and views with abhorrence the persecution of +his servants. Do they find that superstitious practices are lucrative to +themselves? Notwithstanding the aversion of Jesus Christ from offerings, +rites, and ceremonies, they impose them on the people, they surcharge +them with mysterious rites: they respect these more than those duties +Which are of essential benefit to society. If Jesus has not wished that +they should avenge themselves, they find that his Father has delighted +in vengeance. If Jesus has declared that his kingdom is not of this +world, and if he has shown, contempt of riches, they nevertheless find +in the Old Testament sufficient reasons for establishing a hierarchy +for the governing of the world in a spiritual sense, as kings do in a +political one,--for the disputing with kings about their power,--for +exercising in this world an authority the most unlimited, a license the +most terrific. In a word, if they have found in the Bible some precepts +of a moral tendency and practical utility, they have also found others +to justify crimes the most atrocious. + +Thus, in the Christian religion, morality uniformly depends on the +fanaticism of priests, their passions, their interests: its principles +are never fixed; they vary according to circumstances: the God of whom +they are the organs, and the interpreters, has not said any thing but +what agrees best with their views, and what never contravenes their +interest Following their caprices, he changes his advice continually; +he approves, and disapproves, of the same actions: he loves, or detests, +the same conduct; he changes crime into virtue, and virtue into crime. + +What is the result from all this? It is that the Christians have not +sure principles in morality: it varies with the policy of the priests, +who are in a situation to command the credulity of mankind, and who, +by force of menaces and terrors, oblige men to shut their eyes on their +contradictions, and minds the most honest to commit faults the greatest +which can be committed against religion. It is thus that under a God who +recommends the love of our neighbor, the Christians accustom themselves +from infancy to detest an heretical neighbor, and are almost always in a +disposition to overwhelm him by a crowd of arguments received from their +priests. It is thus that, under a God who ordains we should love our +enemies and forgive their offences, the Christians hate and destroy +the enemies of their priests, and take vengeance, without measure, for +injuries which they pretend to have received. It is thus, that under +a just God, a God who never ceases to boast of his goodness, the +Christians, at the signal of their spiritual guides, become unjust and +cruel, and make a merit of having stifled the cries of nature, the voice +of humanity, the counsels of wisdom, and of public interest. + +In a word, all the ideas of justice and of injustice, of good and evil, +of happiness and of misfortune, are necessarily confounded in the head +of a Christian. His despotic priest commands him, in the name of God, to +put no reliance on his reason, and the man who is compelled to abandon +it for the guidance of a troubled imagination will be far more likely to +consult and admit the most stupid fanaticism as the inspiration of +the Most High. In his blindness, he casts at his feet duties the most +sacred, and he believes himself virtuous in outraging every virtue. Has +he remorse? his priest appeases it speedily, and points out some +easy practices by which he may soon recommend himself to God. Has he +committed injustice, violence, and rapine? he may repair all by giving +to the church the goods of which he has despoiled worthy citizens; or by +repaying by largesses, which will procure him the prayers of the priests +and the favor of heaven. For the priests never reproach men, who give +them of this world's goods, with the injustice, the cruelties, and the +crimes they have been guilty, to support the church and befriend her +ministers; the faults which have almost always been found the most +unpardonable, have always been those of most disservice to the clergy. +To question the faith and reject the authority of the priesthood, have +always been the most frightful crimes; they are truly the sin against +the Holy Ghost, which can never be forgiven either in this world or in +that which is to come. To despise these objects which the priests have +an interest in making to be respected, is sufficient to qualify one for +the appellation of a blasphemer and an impious man. These vague words, +void of sense, suffice to excite horror in the mind of the weak vulgar. +The terrible word sacrilege designates an attempt on the person, the +goods, and the rights of the clergy. The omission of some useless +practice is exaggerated and represented as a crime more detestable than +actions which injure society. In favor of fidelity to fulfil the duties +of religion, the priest easily pardons his slave submitting to vices, +criminal debaucheries, and excesses the most horrible. You perceive, +then, Madam, that the Christian morality has really in view but the +utility of the priests. Why, then, should you be surprised that they +endeavor to make themselves arbitrary and sovereign; that they deem +as faults, and as criminal, all the virtues which agree not with their +marvellous systems? The Christian morality appears only to have been +proposed to blind men, to disturb their reason, to render them abject +and timid, to plunge them into vassalage, to make them lose sight of the +earth which they inhabit, for visions of bliss in heaven. By the aid of +this morality, the priests have become the true masters here below; they +have imagined virtues and practices useful only to themselves; they have +proscribed and interdicted those which were truly useful to society; +they have made slaves of their disciples, who make virtue to consist in +blind submission to their caprices. + +To lay the foundations of a good morality, it is absolutely necessary +to destroy the prejudices which the priests have inspired in us; it is +necessary to begin by rendering the mind of man energetic, and freeing +it from those vain terrors which have enthralled it; it is necessary to +renounce those supernatural notions which have, till now, hindered men +from consulting the volume of nature, which have subjected reason to the +yoke of authority; it is necessary to encourage man, to undeceive him as +to those prejudices which have enslaved him; to annihilate in his bosom +those false theories which corrupt his nature, and which are, in fact, +infidel guides, destructive of the real happiness of the species. It is +necessary to undeceive him as to the idea of his loathing himself, and +especially that other idea, that some of his fellow-creatures are not to +labor with their hands for their support, but in spiritual matters for +his happiness. In fine, it is necessary to influence him with self-love, +that he may merit the esteem of the world, the benevolence and +consideration of those with whom he is associated by the ties of nature +or public economy. + +The morality of religion appears calculated to confound society and +replunge its members into the savage state. The Christian virtues tend +evidently to isolate man, to detach him from those to whom nature has +united him, and to unite him to the priests--to make him lose sight of +a happiness the most solid, to occupy himself only with dangerous +chimeras. We only live in society to procure the more easily those +kindnesses, succors, and pleasures, which we could not obtain living by +ourselves. If it had been destined that we should live miserably in +this world, that we should detest ourselves, fly the esteem of others, +voluntarily afflict ourselves, have no attachment for any one, society +would have been one heap of confusion, the human kind savages and +strangers to one another. However, if it is true that God is the author +of man, it is God who renders man sociable; it is God who wishes man to +live in society where he can obtain the greatest good. If God is good, +he cannot approve that men should leave society to become miserable; if +God is the author of reason, we can only wish that men who are possessed +of reason should employ this distinguishing gift to procure for +themselves all the happiness its exercise can bring them. If God has +revealed himself, it is not in some obscure way, but in in revelation +the most evident and clear of all those supposed revelations, which are +visibly contrary to all the notions we can form of the Divinity. We +are not, however, obliged to dive into the marvellous to establish the +duties man owes to man, since God has very plainly shown them in the +wants of one and the good offices of another person. But it is only by +consulting our reason that we can arrive at the means of contributing to +the felicity of our species. It is then evident that in regarding man as +the creature of God, God must have designed that man should consult his +reason, that it might procure him the most solid happiness, and those +principles of virtue which nature approves. + +What, then, might not our opinions be were we to substitute the morality +of reason for the morality of religion? In place of a partial and +reserved morality for a small number of men, let us substitute a +universal morality, intelligible to all the inhabitants of the earth, +and of which all can find the principles in nature. Let us study +this nature, its wants, and its desires; let us examine the means of +satisfying it; let us consider what is the end of our existence in +society; we shall see that all those who are thus associated are +compelled by their natures to practise affection one to another, +benevolence, esteem, and relief, if desired; we shall see what is that +line of conduct which necessarily excites hatred, ill-will, and all +those misfortunes which experience makes familiar to mankind; our +reason will tell us what actions are the most calculated to excite real +happiness and good will the most solid and extensive; let us weigh these +with those that are founded on visionary theories; their difference will +at once be perceptible; the advantages which are permanent we will not +sacrifice for those that are momentary; we will employ all our faculties +to augment the happiness of our species; we will labor with perseverance +and courage to extirpate evil from the earth; we will assist as much as +we can those who are without friends; we will seek to alleviate their +distresses and their pains; we will merit their regard, and thus fulfil +the end of our being on earth. + +In conducting ourselves in this manner, our reason prescribes a morality +agreeable to nature, reasonable to all, constant in its operation, +effective in its exercise in benefiting all, in contributing to the +happiness of society, collectively and individually, in distinction to +the mysticism preached up by priests. We shall find in our reason and in +our nature the surest guides, superior to the clergy, who only teach us +to benefit themselves. We shall thus enjoy a morality as durable as the +race of man. We shall have precepts founded on the necessity of things, +that will punish those transgressing them, and rewarding those who obey +them. Every man who shall prove himself to be just, useful, beneficent, +will be an object of love to his fellow-citizens; every man who shall +prove himself unjust, useless, and wicked will become an object of +hatred to himself as well as to others; he will be forced to tremble at +the violation of the laws; he will be compelled to do that which is good +to gain the good will of mankind and preserve the regard of those who +have the power of obliging him to be a useful member of the state. + +Thus, Madam, if it should be demanded of you what you would substitute +for the benefit of society, in place of visionary reveries, I reply, +a sensible morality, a good education, profitable habits, self-evident +principles of duty, wise laws, which even the wicked cannot +misunderstand, but which may correct their evil purposes, and +recompenses that may tend to the promotion of virtue. The education of +the present day tends only to make youth the slaves of superstition; +the virtues which it inculcates on them are only those of fanaticism, +to render the mind subject to the priests for the remainder of life; +the motives to duty are only fictitious and imaginary; the rewards and +punishments which it exhibits in an obscure glimmering, produce no other +effect than to make useless enthusiasts and dangerous fanatics. The +principles on which enthusiasm establishes morality are changing and +ruinous; those on which the morality of reason is established are fixed, +and cannot be overturned. Seeing, then, that man, a reasonable being, +should be chiefly occupied about his preservation and happiness--that he +should love virtue--that he should be sensible of its advantages--that +he should fear the consequences of crime--is it to be wondered I should +insist so much on the practice of virtue as his chief good? Men ought to +hate crime because it leads to misery. Society, to exist, must receive +the united virtue of its members, obedience to good laws, the activity +and intelligence of citizens to defend its privileges and its rights. +Laws are good when they invite the members of society to labor for +reciprocal good offices. Laws are just when they recompense or punish in +proportion to the good or evil which is done to society. Laws supported +by a visible authority should be founded on present motives; and thus +they would have more force than those of religion, which are founded +on uncertain motives, imaginary and removed from this world, and which +experience proves cannot suffice to curb the passions of bad men, nor +show them their duty by the fear of punishments after death. + +If in place of stifling human reason, as, is too much done, its +perfectibility were studied; if in place of deluging the world with +visionary notions, truth were inculcated; if in place of pleading a +supernatural morality, a morality agreeable to humanity and resulting +from experience were preached, we should no longer be the dupes of +imaginary theories, nor of terrifying fables as the bases of virtue. +Every one would then perceive that it is to the practice of virtue, to +the faithful observation of the duties of morality, that the happiness +of individuals and of society is to be traced. Is he a husband? He will +perceive that his essential happiness is to show kindness, attachment, +and tenderness to the companion of his life, destined by his own choice +to share his pleasures and endure his misfortunes. And, on the other +hand, she, by consulting her true interests, will perceive that they +consist in rendering homage to her husband, in interdicting every +thought that could alienate her affections, diminish her esteem and +confidence in him. Fathers and mothers will perceive that their children +are destined to be one day their consolation and support in old age, and +that by consequence they have the greatest interest in inspiring them in +early life with sentiments of which they may themselves reap the benefit +when age or misfortune may require the fruits of those advantages that +result from a good education. Their children, early taught to reflect on +these things, will find their interest to lie in meriting the kindness +of their parents, and in giving them proofs that the virtues they are +taught will be communicated to their posterity. The master will perceive +that, to be served with affection, he owes good will, kindness, and +indulgence to those at whose hands he would reap advantages, and by +whose labor he would increase his prosperity; and servants will discover +how much their happiness depends on fidelity, industry, and good temper +in their situations. Friends will find the advantages of a kindred heart +for friendship, and the reciprocity of good offices. The members of the +same family will perceive the necessity of preserving that union +which nature has established among them, to render mutual benefits in +prosperity or in adversity. Societies, if they reflect on the end of +their association, will perceive that to secure it they must observe +good faith and punctuality in their engagements. The citizen, when he +consults his reason, will perceive how much it is necessary, for the +good of the nation to which he belongs, that he should exert himself to +advance its prosperity, or, in its misfortunes, to retrieve its glory. +By consequence every one in his sphere, and using his faculties for +this great end, will find his own advantage in restraining the bad as +dangerous, and opposing enemies to the state as enemies to himself. + +In a word, every man who will reflect for himself will be compelled to +acknowledge the necessity of virtue for the happiness of the world. It +is so obvious that justice is the basis of all society; that good will +and good offices necessarily procure for men affection and respect; that +every man who respects himself ought to seek the esteem of others; that +it is necessary to merit the good opinion of society; that he ought to +be jealous of his reputation; that a weak being, who is every instant +exposed to misfortunes, ought to know what are his duties, and how he +should practise them for the benefit of himself and the assembly of +which he is a member. + +If we reflect for one moment on the effects of the passions, we shall +perceive the necessity of repressing them, if we would spare ourselves +vain regrets and useless sorrows, which certainly always afflict those +who obey not the laws. Thus, a single reflection will suffice to show +the impropriety of anger, the dreadful consequences of revenge, calumny, +and backbiting. Every one must perceive that in giving a free course to +unbridled desires, he becomes the enemy of society, and then it is the +part of the laws to restrain him who renounces his reason and despises +the motives that ought to guide him. + +If it is objected that man is not a free agent, and therefore is unable +to restrain his passions, and that consequently the law ought not +to punish him, I reply that the community are impelled by the same +necessity to hate what is injurious, and for their own conservation and +happiness have the right to restrain an unhappily organized individual +who is impelled to injure himself and others. The inevitable faults of +men necessarily excite the hatred of those who suffer from them. + +If the man who consults his reason has real and powerful motives for +doing good to others and abstaining from injuring them, he has present +motives equally urgent to restrain him from the commission of vice. +Experience may suffice to show him that if he becomes sooner or later +the victim of his excesses, he ceases to be the friend of virtue, and +exists only to serve vice, which will infallibly punish him. This being +allowed, prudence, or the desire of preserving one's self free from the +contamination of evil, ought to inculcate to every man his path of +duty; and, unless blinded by his passions, he must perceive how much +moderation in his pleasures, temperance, chastity, contribute to +happiness; that those who transgress in these respects are necessarily +the victims of ill health, and too often pass a life both infirm and +unfortunate, which terminates soon in death. + +How is it possible, then, Madam, from visionary theories to arrive +at these conclusions, and establish from supernatural phantasms the +principles of private and public virtue? Shall we launch into unknown +regions to ascertain our duty and to keep our station in society? Is +it not sufficient if we wish to be happy that we should endeavor to +preserve ourselves in those maxims which reason approves, and on which +virtue is founded? Every man who would perish, who would render his +existence miserable, whoever would sacrifice permanent happiness for +present pleasure, is a fool, who reflects not on the interests that are +dearest to him. + +If there are any principles so clear as the morality of humanity has +been and is still proved to be, they are such as men ought to observe. +They are not obscure notions, mysticism, contradictions, which have made +of a science the most obvious and best demonstrated, an unintelligible +science, mysterious and uncertain to those for whom it is designed. +In the hands of the priests, morality has become an enigma; they have +founded our duties on the attributes of a Deity whom the mind of man +cannot comprehend, in place of founding them on the character of man +himself. They have thrown in among them the foundations of an edifice +which is made for this earth. They have desired to regulate our +manners agreeably to equivocal oracles which every instant contradict +themselves, and which too often render their devotees useless to society +and to themselves. They have pretended to render their morality more +sacred by inviting us to look for recompenses and punishments removed +beyond this life, but which they announce in the name of the Divinity. +In fine, they have made man a being who may not even strive at +perfection, by a preordination of some to bliss, and consequent +damnation of others, whose insensibility is the result of this +selection. + +Need we not, then, wonder that this supernatural morality should be so +contrary to the nature and the mind of man? It is in vain that it aims +at the annihilation of human nature, which is so much stronger, so +much more powerful, than imagination. In despite of all the subtile and +marvellous speculations of the priests, man continues always to love +himself, to desire his well being, and to flee misfortune and sorrow. He +has then always been actuated by the same passions. When these passions +have been moderate, and have tended to the public good, they are +legitimate, and we approve those actions which are their effects. When +these passions have been disordered, hurtful to society, or to the +individual, he condemns them; they punish him; he is dissatisfied with +his conduct which others cannot approve. Man always loves his pleasures, +because in their enjoyment he fulfils the end of his existence; if he +exceeds their just bounds he renders himself miserable. + +The morality of the clergy, on the other hand, appears calculated to +keep nature always at variance with herself, for it is almost always +without effect even on the priesthood. Their chimeras serve but to +torture weak minds, and to set the passions at war with nature and their +dogmas. When this morality professes to restrain the wicked, to curb the +passions of men, it operates in opposition to the established laws +of natural religion; for by preserving all its rigor, it becomes +impracticable; and it meets with real devotees only in some few fanatics +who have renounced nature, and who would be singular, even if their +oddities were injurious to society. This morality, adopted for the most +part by devotees, without eradicating their habits or their natural +defects, keeps them always in a state of opposition even with +themselves. Their life is a round of faults and of scruples, of sins and +remorse, of crimes and expiations, of pleasures which they enjoy, but +for which they again reproach themselves for having tasted. In a word, +the morality of superstition necessarily carries with it into the heart +and the family of its devotees inward distress and affliction; it makes +of enthusiasts and fanatics scrupulous devotees; it makes a great many +insensible and miserable; it renders none perfect, few good; and +those only tolerable whom nature, education, and habit had moulded for +happiness. + +It is our temperament which decides our condition; the acquisition +of moderate passions, of honest habits, sensible opinions, laudable +examples, and practical virtues, is a difficult task, but not impossible +when undertaken with reason for one's guide, It is difficult to be +virtuous and happy with a temperament so ardent as to sway the passions +to its will. One must in calmness consult reason as to nis duty. Nature, +in giving us lively passions and a susceptible imagination, has made +us capable of suffering the instant we transgress her bounds. She then +renders us necessary to ourselves, and we cannot proceed to consult +our real interest if we continue in indulgence that she forbids. The +passions which reason cannot restrain are not to be bridled by religion. +It is in vain that we hope to derive succors from religion if we despise +and refuse what nature offers us. Religion leaves men just such as +nature and habit have made them; and if it produce any changes on some +few, I believe I have proved that those changes are not always for the +better. + +Congratulate yourself, then, Madam, on being born with good +dispositions, of having received such honest principles, which shall +carry you through life in the practice of virtue, and in the love of +a fine and exalted taste for the rational pleasures of our nature. +Continue to be the happiness of your family, which esteems and honors +you. Continue to diffuse around you the blessings you enjoy; continue to +perform only those actions which are esteemed by all the world, and all +men will respect you. Respect yourself, and others will respect you. +These are the legitimate sentiments of virtue and of happiness. Labor +for your own happiness, and you will promote that of your family, +who will love you in proportion to the good you do it. Allow me to +congratulate myself if, in all I have said, I have in any measure swept +from your mind those clouds of fanaticism which obscure the reason; +and to felicitate you on your having escaped from vague theories of +imagination. Abjure superstition, which is calculated only to make you +miserable; let the morality of humanity be your uniform religion; that +your happiness may be constant, let reason be your guide; that virtue +may be the idol of your soul, cultivate and love only what is virtuous +and good in the world; and if there be a God who is interested in +the happiness of his creatures, if there be a God full of justice +and goodness, he will not be angry with you for having consulted +your reason; if there be another life, your happiness in it cannot be +doubtful, if God rewards every one according to the good done here. + +I am, with respect, &c. + + + + +LETTER XII. Of the small Consequence to be attached to Men's +Speculations, and the Indulgence which should be extended to them + +Permit me, Madam, to felicitate you on the happy change which you say +has taken place in your opinions. Convinced by reasons as simple as +obvious, your mind has become sensible of the futility of those notions +which have for a long time agitated it; and the inefficacy of those +pretended succors which religious men boasted they could furnish, is now +apparent to you. You perceive the evident dangers which result from a +system that serves only to render men enemies to individual and general +happiness. I see with pleasure that reason has not lost its authority +over your mind, and that it is sufficient to show you the truth that you +may embrace it. You may congratulate yourself on this, which proves the +solidity of your judgment. For it is glorious to give one's self up to +reason, and to be the votary of common sense. Prejudice so arms mankind +that the world is full of people who slight their judgment; nay, who +resist the most obvious pleas of their understanding. Their eyes, long +shut to the light of truth, are unable to bear its rays; but they can +endure the glimmerings of superstition, which plunges them in still +darker obscurity. + +I am not, however, astonished at the embarrassment you have hitherto +felt, nor at your cautious examination of my opinions, which are better +understood the more thoroughly they are examined and compared with +those they oppose. It is impossible to annihilate at once deep-rooted +prejudices. The mind of man appears to waver in a void when those ideas +are attacked on which it has long rested. It finds itself in a new +world, wherein all is unknown. Every system of opinion is but the effect +of habit The mind has as great difficulty to disengage itself from its +custom of thinking, and reflect on new ideas, as the body has to remain +quiescent after it has long been accustomed to exercise. Should you, +for instance, propose to your friend to leave off snuff, as a practice +neither healthful nor agreeable in company, he will not probably listen +to you, or if he should, it will be with extreme pain that he can bring +himself to renounce a habit long familiarized to him. + +It is precisely the same with all our prejudices; those of religion have +the most powerful hold of us. From infancy we have been familiarized +with them; habit has made them a sort of want we cannot dispense +with: our mode of thinking is formed, and familiar to us; our mind is +accustomed to engage itself with certain classes of objects; and our +imagination fancies that it wanders in chaos when it is not fed with +those chimeras to which it had been long accustomed. Phantoms the most +horrible are even clear to it; objects the most familiar to it, if +viewed with the calm eye of reason, are disagreeable and revolting. + +Religion, or rather its superstitions, in consequence of the marvellous +and bizarre notions it engenders, gives the mind continual exercise; and +its votaries fancy they are doomed to a dangerous inaction when they are +suddenly deprived of the objects on which their imagination exerted +its powers. Yet is this exercise so much the more necessary as the +imagination is by far the most lively faculty of the mind; Hence, +without doubt, it becomes necessary men should replace stale fooleries +by those which are novel. This is, moreover, the true reason why +devotion so often affords consolation in great disgraces, gives +diversion for chagrin, and replaces the strongest passions, when they +have been quenched by excess of pleasure and dissipation. The marvellous +arguments, chimeras multiply as religion furnishes activity and +occupation to the fancy; habit renders them familiar, and even +necessary; terrors themselves even minister food to the imagination; and +religion, the religion of priestcraft, is full of terrors. Active and +unquiet spirits continually require this nourishment; the imagination +requires to be alternately alarmed and consoled; and there are thousands +who cannot accustom themselves to tranquillity and the sobriety of +reason. Many persons also require phantoms to make them religious, and +they find these succors in the dogmas of priestcraft. + +These reflections will serve to explain to you the continual variations +to which many persons are subject, especially on the subject of +religion. Sensible, like barometers, you behold them wavering without +ceasing; their imagination floats, and is never fixed; so often as you +find them freely given up to the blackness of superstition, so often +may you behold them the slaves of pernicious prejudices. Whenever they +tremble at the feet of their priests, then are their necks under the +yoke. Even people of spirit and understanding in other affairs are not +altogether exempt from these variations of mental religious temperament; +but their judgment is too frequently the dupe of the imagination. And +others, again, timid and doubting, without spirit, are in perpetual +torment. + +What do I say? Man is not, and cannot always be, the same. His frame is +exposed to revolutions and perpetual vicissitudes; the thoughts of his +mind necessarily vary with the different degrees of changes to which his +body is exposed. When the body is languid and fatigued, the mind has not +usually much inclination to vigor and gayety. The debility of the +nerves commonly annihilates the energies of the soul, although it be +so remarkably distinguished from the body; persons of a bilious and +melancholy temperament are rarely the subjects of joy; dissipation +importunes some, gayety fatigues others. Exactly after the same fashion, +there are some who love to nourish sombre ideas, and these religion +supplies them. Devotion affects them like the vapors; superstition is +an inveterate malady, for which there is no cure in medicine. And it is +impossible to keep him free from superstition, whose breast, the slave +of fear, was never sensible of courage; nay, soldiers and sailors, the +bravest of men, have too often been the victims of superstition. It is +education alone that operates in radically curing the human mind of its +errors. + +Those who think it sufficient, Madam, to render a reason for the +variations which we so frequently remark in the ideas of men, +acknowledge that there is a secret bent of the minds of religious +persons to prejudices, from which we shall almost in vain endeavor to +rescue their understandings. You perceive, at present, what you ought to +think of those secret transitions which our priests would force on you, +as the inspirations of heaven, as divine solicitations, the effects +of grace; though they are, nevertheless, only the effects of those +vicissitudes to which our constitution is liable, and which affect +the robust, as well as the feeble; the man of health, as well as the +valetudinarian. + +If we might form a judgment of the correctness of those notions which +our teachers boast of, in respect to our dissolution at death, we shall +find reason to be satisfied, that there is little or no occasion that +we should have our minds disturbed during our last moments. It is then, +say they, that it is necessary to attend to the condition of man; it is +then that man, undeceived as to the things of this life, acknowledges +his errors. But there is, perhaps, no idea in the whole circle of +theology more unreasonable than this, of which the credulous, in all +ages, have been the dupes. Is it not at the time of a man's dissolution +that he is the least capable of judging of his true interest? His bodily +frame racked, it may be, with pain, his mind is necessarily weakened or +chafed; or if he should be free from excruciating pain, the lassitude +and yielding of nature to the irrevocable decrees of fate at death, +unfit a man for reasoning and judging of the sophisms that are proposed +as panaceas for all his errors. There are, without doubt, as strange +notions as those of religion; but who knows that body and soul sink +alike at death? + +It is in the case of health that we can promise ourselves to reason +with justness; it is then that the soul, neither troubled by fear, nor +altered by disease, nor led astray by passion, can judge soundly of what +is beneficial to man. The judgments of the dying can have no weight with +men in good health; and they are the veriest impostors who lend them +belief. The truth can alone be known, when both body and mind are in +good health. No man, without evincing an insensible and ridiculous +presumption, can answer for the ideas he is occupied with, when worn out +with sickness and disease; yet have the inhuman priests the effrontery +to persuade the credulous to take as their examples the words and +actions of men necessarily deranged in intellect by the derangement of +their corporeal frame. In short, since the ideas of men necessarily vary +with the different variations of their bodies, the man who presumes to +reason on his death bed with the man in health, arrogates what ought not +to be conceded. + +Do not, then, Madam, be discouraged nor surprised, if you should +sometimes think of ancient prejudices reclaiming the rights they have +for a long time exercised over your reason; attribute, then, these +vacillations to some derangement in your frame--to some disordered +movements of mind, which, for a time, suspend your reason. Think that +there are few people who are constantly the same, and who see with +the same eyes. Our frame being subject to continual variations, it +necessarily follows that our modes of thinking will vary. We think one +custom the result of pusillanimity, when the nerves are relaxed and our +bodies fatigued. We think justly when our body is in health; that is to +say, when all its parts are fulfilling their various functions. There +is one mode of thinking, or one state of mind, which in health we call +uncertainty, and which we rarely experience when our frame is in its +ordinary condition. We do not then reason justly, when our frame is not +in a condition to leave our mind subject to incredulity. + +What, then, is to be done, when we would calm our mind, when we wish to +reflect, even for an instant? Let reason be our guide, and we shall +soon arrive at that mode of thinking which shall be advantageous to +ourselves. In effect, Madam, how can a God who is just, good, and +reasonable, be irritated by the manner in which we shall think, seeing +that our thoughts are always involuntary, and that we cannot believe as +we would, but as our convictions increase, or become weakened? Man is +not, then, for one instant, the master of his ideas, which are every +moment excited by objects over which he has no control, and causes +which depend not on his will or exertions. St. Augustine himself bears +testimony to this truth: "There is not," says he, "one man who is at all +times master of that which presents itself to his spirit." Have we +not, then, good reason to conclude, that our thoughts are entirely +indifferent to God, seeing they are excited by objects over which we +have no control, and, by consequence, that they cannot be offensive to +the Deity? + +If our teachers pique themselves on their principles, they ought to +carry along with them this truth, that a just God cannot be offended by +the changes which take place in the minds of his creatures. They ought +to know that this God, if he is wise, has no occasion to be troubled +with the ideas that enter the mind of man; that if they do not +comprehend all his perfections, it is because their comprehension is +limited. They ought to recollect, that if God is all-powerful, his +glory and his power cannot be affected by the opinions and ideas of +weak mortals, any more than the notions they form of him can alter his +essential attributes. In fine, if our teachers had not made it a duty +to renounce common sense, and to close with notions that carry in their +consequences the contradictory evidence of their premises, they +would not refuse to avow that God would be the most unjust, the most +unreasonable, the most cruel of tyrants, if he should punish beings whom +he himself created imperfect, and possessed of a deficiency of reason +and common sense. + +Let us reflect a little longer, and we shall find that the theologians +have studied to make of the Divinity a ferocious master, unreasonable +and changing, who exacts from his creatures qualities they have not, and +services they cannot perform. The ideas they have formed of this unknown +being are almost always borrowed from those of men of power, who, +jealous of their power and respect from their subjects, pretend that it +is the duty of these last to have for them sentiments of submission, +and punish with rigor those who, by their conduct or their discourse, +announce sentiments not sufficiently respectful to their superiors. Thus +you see, Madam, that God has been fashioned by the clergy on the model +of an uneasy despot, suspicious of his subjects, jealous of the opinions +they may entertain of him, and who, to secure his power, cruelly +chastises those who have not littleness of mind sufficient to flatter +his vanity, nor courage enough to resist his power. + +It is evident, that it is on ideas so ridiculous, and so contrary to +those which nature offers us of the Divinity, that the absurd system of +the priests is founded, which they persuade themselves is very sensible +and agreeable to the opinions of mankind; and which is very seriously +insulted, they say, if men think differently; and which will punish with +severity those who abandon themselves to the guidance of reason, the +glory of man. Nothing can be more pernicious to the human kind than this +fatal madness, which deranges all our ideas of a just God--of a God, +good, wise, all-powerful, and whose glory and power neither the devotion +nor rebellion of his creatures can affect. In consequence of these +impertinent suppositions of the priesthood, men have ever been afraid to +form notions agreeable to the mysterious Sovereign of the universe, on +whom they are dependent; their mind is put to the torture to divine his +incomprehensible nature, and, in their fear of displeasing him, they +have assigned to him human attributes, without perceiving that when they +pretend to honor him, they dishonor Deity, and that being compelled to +bestow on him qualities that are incompatible with Deity, they actually +annihilate from their mind the pure representation of Deity, as +witnessed in all nature. It is thus, that in almost all the religions on +the face of the earth, under the pretext of making known the Divinity, +and explaining his views towards mortals, the priests have rendered +him incomprehensible, and have actually promulgated, under the garb of +religion, nothing save absurdities, by which, if we admit them, we shall +destroy those notions which nature gives us of Deity. + +When we reflect on the Divinity, do we not see that mankind have +plunged farther and farther into darkness, as they assimilated him to +themselves; that their judgment is always disturbed when they would make +their Deity the object of their meditations; that they cannot reason +justly, because never have any but obscure and absurd ideas; they are +almost always in uncertainty, and never agree with themselves, because +their principles are replete with doubt; that they always tremble, +because they imagine that it is very dangerous to be deceived; that they +dispute without ceasing, because that it is impossible to be convinced +of any thing, when they reason on objects of which they know nothing, +and which the imaginations of men are forced to paint differently; +in fine, that they cruelly torment one another about opinions equally +uninteresting, though they attach to them the greatest importance, and +because the vanity of the one party never allows it to subscribe to the +reveries of the other? + +It is thus that the Divinity has become to us a source of evil, +division, and quarrels; it is thus that his name alone inspires terror; +it is thus that religion has become the signal of so many combats, and +has always been the true apple of discord among unquiet mortals, who +always dispute with the greatest heat, on subjects of which they can +never have any true ideas. They make it a duty to think and reason +on his attributes; and they can never arrive at any just conclusions, +because their mind is never in a condition to form true notions of +what strikes their senses. In the impossibility of knowing the Deity +by themselves, they have recourse to the opinion of others, whom they +consider more adroit in theology, and who pretend to an they that +intimate acquaintance with God, being inspired by him, and having +secret intelligence of his purposes with regard to the human kind. Those +privileged men teach nothing to the nations of the earth, except what +their reveries have reduced to a system, without giving them ideas +that are clear and definite. They paint God under characters the most +agreeable to their own interests; they make of him a good monarch for +those who blindly submit to their tenets, but terrible to those who +refuse to blindly follow them. + +Thus you perceive, Madam, what those men are who have obviously made of +the Deity an object so bizarre as they announce him, and who, to render +their opinions the more sacred, have pretended that he is grievously +offended when we do not admit implicitly the ideas they promulgate of +God. In the books of Moses God defines himself, _I am that I am_; yet +does this inspired writer detail the history of this God as a tyrant who +tempts men, and who punishes them for being tempted; who exterminated +all the human kind by a deluge, except a few of one family, because one +man had fallen; in a word, who, in all his conduct, behaves as a +despot, whose power dispenses with all the rules of justice, reason, and +goodness. + +Have the successors of Moses transmitted to us ideas more clear, more +sensible, more comprehensible of the Divinity? Has the Son of God made +his Father perfectly known to us? Has the church, perpetually boasting +of the light she diffuses among men, become more fixed and certain, +to do away our uncertainty? Alas! in spite of all these supernatural +succors, we know nothing in nature beyond the grave; the ideas which +are communicated to us, the recitals of our infallible teachers, are +calculated only to confound our judgment, and reduce our reason to +silence. They make of God a pure spirit; that is to say, a being who +has nothing in common with matter, and who, nevertheless, has created +matter, which he has produced from his own fiat--his essence or +substance. They have made him the mirror of the universe, and the soul +of the universe. They have made him an infinite being, who fills all +space by his immensity, although the material world occupies some part +in space. They have made him a being all powerful, but whose projects +are incessantly varying, who neither can nor will maintain man in good +order, nor permit the freedom of action necessary for rational beings, +and who is alternately pleased and displeased with the same beings and +their actions. They make him an infinite good Father, but who avenges +himself without measure. They make of him a monarch infinitely just, but +who confounds the innocent with the guilty, who has mingled injustice +and cruelty, in causing his own Son to be put to death to expiate +the crimes of the human kind; though they are incessantly sinning +and repenting for pardon. They make of him a being full of wisdom and +foresight, yet insensible to the folly and shortsightedness of mortals. +They make him a reasonable being who becomes angry at the thoughts of +his creatures, though involuntary, and consequently necessary; thoughts +which he himself puts into their heads; and who condemns them to eternal +punishments if they believe not in reveries that are incompatible with +the divine attributes, or who dare to doubt whether God can possess +qualities that are not capable of being reconciled among themselves. + +Is it, then, surprising that so many good people are shocked at the +revolting ideas, so contradictory and so appalling, which hurl mortals +into a state of uncertainty and doubt as to the existence of the Deity, +or even to force them into absolute denial of the same? It is impossible +to admit, in effect, the doctrine of the Deity of priestcraft, in which +we constantly see infinite perfections, allied with imperfections the +most striking; in which, when we reflect but momentarily, we shall find +that it cannot produce but disorder in the imagination, and leaves it +wandering among errors that reduce it to despair, or some impostors, +who, to subjugate mankind, have wished to throw them into embarrassment, +confound their reason, and fill them with terror. Such appear, in +effect, to be the motives of those who have the arrogance to pretend +to a secret knowledge, which they distribute among mankind, though they +have no knowledge even of themselves. They always paint God under the +traits of an inaccessible tyrant, who never shows himself but to his +ministers and favorites, who please to veil him from the eyes of the +vulgar; and who are violently irritated when they find any who oppose +their pretensions, or when they refuse to believe the priests and their +unintelligible farragoes. + +If, as I have often said, it be impossible to believe what we cannot +comprehend, or to be intimately convinced of that of which we can form +no distinct and clear ideas, we may thence conclude that, when the +Christians assure us they believe that God has announced himself in +some secret and peculiar way to them that he has not done to other men, +either they are themselves deceived, or they wish to deceive us. Their +faith, or their belief in God, is merely an acceptance of what their +priests have taught them of a Being whose existence they have rendered +more than doubtful to those who would reason and meditate. The Deity +cannot, assuredly, be the being whom the Christians admit on the word of +their theologians. Is there, in good truth, a man in the world who can +form any idea of a spirit? If we ask the priests what a spirit is, they +will tell us that a spirit is an immaterial being who has none of +the passions of which men are the subjects. But what is an immaterial +spirit? + +It is a being that has none of the qualities which we can fathom; that +has neither form, nor extension, nor color. + +But how can we be assured of the existence of a being who has none of +these qualities? It is by _faith_, say the priests, that we must be +assured of his existence. But what is this _faith?_ It is to adhere, +without examination, to what the priests tell us. But what is it the +priests tell us of God? They tell us of things which we can neither +comprehend nor they reconcile among themselves. The existence, even +of God, has, in their hands, become the most impenetrable mystery in +religion. But do the priests themselves comprehend this ineffable God, +whom they announce to other men? Have they just ideas of him? Are they +themselves sincerely convinced of the existence of a being who unites +incompatible qualities which reciprocally exclude the one or the other? +We cannot admit it; and we are authorized to conclude, that when the +priests profess to believe in God, either they know not what they say, +or they wish to deceive us. + +Do not then be surprised, Madam, if you should find that there are, in +fact, people who have ventured to doubt of the existence of the Deity +of the theologians, because, on meditating on the descriptions given of +him, they have discovered them to be incomprehensible, or replete with +contradiction. Do not be astonished if they never listen, in reasoning, +to any arguments that oppose themselves to common sense, and seek, for +the existence of the priests' Deity, other proofs than have yet been +offered mankind. His existence cannot be demonstrated in revelations, +which we discover, on examination, to be the work of imposture; +revelations sap the foundations laid down for belief in a Divinity, +which they would wish to establish. + +This existence cannot be founded on the qualities which our priests +have assigned to the Divinity, seeing that, in the association of these +qualities, there only results a God whom we cannot comprehend, and by +consequence of whom we can form no certain ideas. This existence cannot +be founded on the moral qualities which our priests attribute to the +Divinity, seeing these are irreconcilable in the same subject, +who cannot be at once good and evil, just and unjust, merciful and +implacable, wise and the enemy of human reason. + +On what, then, ought we to found the existence of God? The priests +themselves tell us that it is on reason, the spectacle of nature, and on +the marvellous order which appears in the universe. Those to whom these +motives for believing in the existence of the Divinity do not appear +convincing, find not, in any of the religions in the world, motives more +persuasive; for all systems of theology, framed for the exercise of the +imagination, plunge us into more uncertainty respecting their evidence, +when they appeal to nature for proofs of what they advance. + +What, then, are we to think of the God of the clergy? Can we think that +he exists, without reasoning on that existence? And what shall we +think of those who are ignorant of this God, or have no belief in his +existence; who cannot discover him in the works of nature, either as +good or evil; who behold only order and disorder succeeding alternately? +What idea shall we form of those men who regard matter as eternal, as +actuated on by laws peculiar to itself; as sufficiently powerful to +produce itself under all the forms we behold; as perpetually exerting +itself in nourishing and destroying itself, in combining and dissolving +itself; as incapable of love or of hatred; as deprived of the faculties +of _intelligence_ and _sentiment_ known to belong to beings of our +species, but capable of supporting those beings whose organization has +made them intelligent, sensible, and reasonable? + +What shall we say of those Freethinkers who find neither good nor evil, +neither order nor disorder, in the universe; that all things are but +relative to different conditions of beings, of which they have evidence; +and that all that happens in the universe is necessary, and subjected to +destiny? In a word, what shall we think of these men? + +Shall we say that they have only a different manner of viewing things, +or that they use different words in expressing themselves? They +call that _Nature_ which others call the _Divinity_; they call that +_Necessity_ which all others call the _Divine decrees_; they call that +the _Energy of Nature_ which others call the _Author of Nature_; they +call that _Destiny_, or _Fate_, which others call _God_, whose laws are +always going forward. + +Have, we, then, any right to hate and to exterminate them? No, without +doubt; at least, we cannot admit that we have any reason that those +should perish, who speak only the same language with ourselves, and who +are reciprocally beneficial to us. Nevertheless, it is to this degree of +extravagance that the baneful ideas of religion have carried the +human mind. Harassed, and set on by their priests, men have hated and +assassinated each other, because that in religious matters they agree +not to one creed. Vanity has made some imagine that they are better than +others, more intelligible, although they see that theology is a language +which they neither understand, nor which they themselves could invent. +The very name of Freethinker suffices to irritate them, and to arm the +fury of others, who repeat, without ceasing, the name of God, without +having any precise idea of the Deity. If, by chance, they imagine that +they have any notions of him, they are only confused, contradictory, +incompatible, and senseless notions, which have been inspired in their +infancy by their priests, and those who, as we have seen, have painted +God in all those traits which their imagination furnished, or those +who appear more conformed to their passions and interests than to the +well-being of their fellow-creatures. + +The least reflection will, nevertheless, suffice to make any one +perceive, that God, if he is just and good, cannot exist as a being +known to some, but unknown to others. If Freethinkers are men void +of reason, God would be unjust to punish them for being blind and +insensible, or for having too little penetration and understanding to +perceive the force of those natural proofs on which the existence of +the Deity has been founded. A God full of equity cannot punish men for +having been blind or devoid of reason. The Freethinkers, as foolish +as they are supposed, are beings less insensible than those who make +professions of believing in a God full of qualities that destroy one +another; they are less dangerous than the adorers of a changeable Deity, +who, they imagine, is pleased with the extermination of a large +portion of mankind, on account of their opinions. Our speculations are +indifferent to God, whose glory man cannot tarnish--whose power mortals +cannot abridge. They may, however, be advantageous to ourselves; they +may be perfectly indifferent to society, whose happiness they may not +affect; or they may be the reverse of all this. For it is evident that +the opinions of men do not influence the happiness of society. + +Hence, Madam, let us leave men to think as they please, provided that +they act in such a manner as promotes the general good of society. The +thoughts of men injure not others; their actions may--their reveries +never. Our ideas, our thoughts, our systems, depend not on us. He who is +fully convinced on one point, is not satisfied on another. All men have +not the same eyes, nor the same brains; all have not the same ideas, the +same education, or the same opinions; they never agree wholly, when +they have the temerity to reason on matters that are enveloped in the +obscurity of imaginative fiction, and which cannot be' subject to the +usual evidence accompanying matters of report, or historic relation. + +Men do not long dispute on objects that are cognizable to their senses, +and which they can submit to the test of experience. The number +of self-evident truths on which men agree is very small; and the +fundamentals of morality are among this number. It is obvious to all +men of sense, that beings, united in society, require to be regulated +by justice, that they ought to respect the happiness of each other, +that mutual succor is indispensable; in a word, that they are obliged to +practise virtue, and to be useful to society, for personal happiness. +It is evident to demonstration, that the interest of our preservation +excites us to moderate our desires, and put a bridle on our passions; +to renounce dangerous habits, and to abstain from vices which can only +injure our fortune, and undermine our health. These truths are evident +to every being whose passions have not dominion over his reason; they +are totally independent of theological speculations, which have neither +evidence nor demonstration, and which our mind can never verify; +they have nothing in common with the religious opinions on which +the imagination soars from earth to sky, nor with the fanaticism and +credulity which are so frequently producing among mankind the most +opposite principles to morality and the well-being of society. + +They who are of the Freethinkers' opinions are not more dangerous +than they who are of the priests' opinions. In short, Christianity +has produced effects more appalling than heathenism. The speculative +principles of the Freethinkers have done no injury to Society; the +contagious principles of fanaticism and enthusiasm have only served to +spread disorder on the earth. If there are dangerous notions and fatal +speculations in the world, they are those of the devotees, who obey a +religion that divides men, and excites their passions, and who sacrifice +the interests of society, of sovereigns, and their subjects, to their +own ambition, their avarice, their vengeance and fury. + +There is no question that the Freethinker has motives to be good, even +though he admit not notions that bridle his passions. It is true that +the Freethinker has no invisible motives, but he has motives, and a +visible restraint, which, if he reflects, cannot fail to regulate his +actions. If he doubts about religion, he does not question the laws of +moral obligation; nor that it is his duty to moderate his passions, to +labor for his happiness and that of others, to avoid hatred, disdain, +and discord as crimes; and that he should shun vices which may injure +his constitution, reputation, and fortune. Thus, relatively to his +morality, the Freethinker has principles more sure than those of +superstition and fanaticism. In fine, if nothing can restrain the +Freethinker, a thousand forces united would not prevent the fanatic from +the commission of crimes, and the violation of duties the most sacred. + +Besides, I believe that I have already proved that the morality +of superstition has no certain principles; that it varies with the +interests of the priests, who explain the intentions of the Divinity, +as they find these accordant or discordant to their views and interests; +which, alas! are too often the result of cruel and wicked purposes. On +the contrary, the Freethinker, who has no morality but what he draws +from the nature and character of man, and the constant events which +transpire in society, has a certain morality that is not founded either +on the caprice of circumstances or the prejudices of mankind; a morality +that tells him when he does evil, and blames him for the evil so done, +and that is superior to the morality of the intolerant fanatic and +persecutor. + +You thus perceive, Madam, on which side the morality of the Freethinkers +leans, what advantages it possesses over that inculcated on the +superstitious devotee, who knows no other rule than the caprice of +his priest, nor any other morality than what suits the interest of the +clergy, nor any other virtues than such as make him the slave of their +will, and which are too often in opposition to the great interests +of mankind. Thus you perceive, that what is understood by the natural +morality of the Freethinker, is much more constant and more sure than +that of the superstitious, who believe they can render themselves +agreeable to God by the intercession of priests. If the Freethinker is +blind or corrupted, by not knowing his duties which nature prescribes +to him, it is precisely in the same way as the superstitious, whose +invisible motives and sacred guides prevent him not from going +occasionally astray. + +These reflections will serve to confirm what I have already said, +to prove that morality has nothing in common with religion; and that +religion is its own enemy, though it pretends to dispense with support +from other sources. True morality is founded on the nature of man; the +morality of religion is founded only on the chimeras of imagination, and +on the caprice of those who speak of the Deity in a language too often +contrary to nature and right reason. + +Allow me, then, Madam, to repeat to you, that morality is the only +natural religion for man; the only object worthy his notice on earth; +the only worship which he is required to render to the Deity. It +is uniform, and replete with obvious duties, which rest not on the +dictation of priests, blabbing chitchat they do not understand. If it be +this morality which I have defined, that makes us what we are, ought we +not to labor strenuously for the happiness of our race? If it be this +morality that makes us reasonable; that enables us to distinguish good +from evil, the useful from the hurtful; that makes us sociable, and +enables us to live in society to receive and repay mutual benefits; we +ought at least to respect all those who are its friends. If it be this +morality which sets bounds to our temper, it is that which interdicts +the commission in thought, word, or action, of what would injure +another, or disturb the happiness of society. If it attach us to the +preservation of all that is dear to us, it points out how by a certain +line of conduct we may preserve ourselves; for its laws, clear and of +easy practice, inflict on those who disobey them instant punishment, +fear, and remorse; on the other hand, the observance of its duties is +accompanied with immediate and real advantages, and notwithstanding the +depravity which prevails on earth, vice always finds itself punished, +and virtue is not always deprived of the satisfaction it yields, of the +esteem of men, and the recompense of society; even if men are in other +respects unjust, they will concede to the virtuous the due meed of +praise. + +Behold, Madam, to what the dogmas of natural religion reduce us: in +meditating on it, and in practising its duties, we shall be truly +religious, and filled with the spirit of the Divinity; we shall be +admired and respected by men; we shall be in the right way to be loved +by those who rule over us, and respected by those who serve us; we shall +be truly happy in this world, and we shall have nothing to fear in the +next. + +These are laws so clear, so demonstrable, and whose infraction is so +evidently punished, whose observance is so surely recompensed, that +they constitute the code of nature of all living beings, sentient +and reasoning; all acknowledge their authority; all find in them the +evidence of Deity, and consider those as sceptics who doubt their +efficacy. The Freethinker does not refuse to acknowledge as fundamental +laws, those which are obviously founded on the God of Nature, and on +the immutable and necessary circumstances of things cognizable to the +faculties of sentient natures. The Indian, the Chinese, the savage, +perceives these self-evident laws, whenever he is not carried headlong +by his passions into crime and error. In fine, these laws, so true, and +so evident, never can appear uncertain, obscure, or false, as are those +superstitious chimeras of the imagination, which knaves have substituted +for the truths of nature and the dicta of common sense; and those +devotees who know no other laws than those of the caprices of their +priests, necessarily obey a morality little calculated to produce +personal or general happiness, but much calculated to lead to +extravagance and inconvenient practices. + +Hence, charming Eugenia, you will allow mankind to think as they please, +and judge of them after their actions. Oppose reason to their systems, +when they are pernicious to themselves or others; remove their +prejudices if you can, that they may not become the victims of their +caprices; show them the truth, which may always remove error; banish +from their minds the phantoms which disturb them; advise them not to +meditate on the mysteries of their priests; bid them renounce all those +illusions they have substituted for morality; and advise them to turn +their thoughts on that which conduces to their happiness. Meditate +yourself on your own nature, and the duties which it imposes on you. +Fear those chastisements which follow inattention to this law. Be +ambitious to be approved by your own understanding, and you will rarely +fail to receive the applauses of the human kind, as a good member of +society. + +If you wish to meditate, think with the greatest strength of your +mind on your nature. Never abandon the torch of reason; cherish truth +sincerely. When you are in uncertainty, pause, or follow what appears +the most probable, always abandoning opinions that are destitute of +foundation, or evidence of their truth and benefit to society. Then will +you, in good truth, yield to the impulse of your heart when reason +is your guide; then will you consult in the calmness of passion, and +counsel yourself on the advantages of virtue, and the consequences of +its want; and you may flatter yourself that you cannot be displeasing to +a wise God, though you disbelieve absurdities, nor agreeable to a good +God in doing things hurtful to yourself or to others. + +Leaving you now to your own reflections, I shall terminate the series of +Letters you have allowed me to address you. Bidding you an affectionate +farewell, I am truly yours. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Letters To Eugenia, by Paul Henri Thiry Holbach + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO EUGENIA *** + +***** This file should be named 38094.txt or 38094.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/0/9/38094/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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