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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fcfd8b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60602 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60602) diff --git a/old/60602-0.txt b/old/60602-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 87b2514..0000000 --- a/old/60602-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7986 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Meditations, Actual State Of Christianity, -And On The Attacks Which Are Now Being Mad, by François Guizot - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Meditations, Actual State Of Christianity, And On The Attacks Which Are Now Being Made Upon It. - -Author: François Guizot - -Release Date: October 31, 2019 [EBook #60602] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTUAL STATE OF CHRISTIANITY *** - - - - -Produced by Don Kostuch - - - - -[Transcriber's note: This production is based on -https://archive.org/details/meditationsonact00guiz/page/n6.] - -{1} - Meditations - - Actual State Of Christianity, - - And On The Attacks - - Which Are Now Being Made Upon It. - - - - By M. Guizot. - - - - - Translated Under The Superintendence - Of The Author - - - - - New York: - Charles Scribner & Co., - - 654 Broadway. - -{2} - -{3} - - Preface. - - -When I published, two years ago, the first series of these -_Meditations_, the series which had for its object the -essence of Christianity, "that is to say, the natural problems to -which Christianity is the answer, the fundamental dogmas by which -it solves those problems, and the supernatural facts upon which -those dogmas repose," I indicated the general plan of the work -which I so commenced, and the order into which its different -parts would be distributed. - -"Next to the essence of the Christian Religion," I said in my -Preface, "comes its history; and this will be the subject of a -second series of _Meditations_, in which I shall examine the -authenticity of the Scriptures; the primary causes of the -foundation of Christianity; -{4} -Christian faith, as it has always existed throughout its -different ages and in spite of all its vicissitudes; the great -religious crisis in the sixteenth century, which divided the -Church and Europe between Romanism and Protestantism; finally, -those antichristian crises which, at different epochs and in -different countries, have set in question and imperiled -Christianity itself, but which dangers it has ever surmounted. -The third series of _Meditations_ will be consecrated to the -study of the actual state of the Christian religion, its internal -and external condition. I shall retrace the regeneration of -Christianity which occurred among us at the commencement of the -nineteenth century, both in the Church of Rome and in the -Protestant Churches; the impulse imparted to it at the same epoch -by the Spiritualistic Philosophy that then began again to -flourish, and the movement in the contrary direction which showed -itself very remarkably soon afterward in the resurrection of -Materialism, of Pantheism, of Skepticism, and in works of -historical criticism. -{5} -I shall attempt to determine the idea, and consequently, in my -opinion, the fundamental error of these different systems, the -avowed and active enemies of Christianity. Finally, in the fourth -series of these _Meditations_, I shall endeavor to -discriminate and to characterize the future destiny of the -Christian religion, and to indicate by what course it is called -upon to conquer completely, and to sway morally, this little -corner of the universe, termed by us our earth, in which unfold -themselves the designs and power of God, just as, doubtless, they -do in an infinity of worlds unknown to us." - -Still adhering in its entirety to the plan which I thus proposed, -I nevertheless now invert the order. I publish the -_Meditations_ concerning the actual state of Christianity -before those which propose for their object its history. I am -struck by two circumstances in the actual state of opinions upon -religious questions. On the one side, the sentiments contrary to -or favorable to Christianity are defining themselves each day -with greater precision. -{6} -Beliefs become firmer beliefs; opinions hostile to them receive -fuller developments. On the other side, vacillating minds are -occupying themselves more and more with the struggle to which -they are witnesses: minds, earnest at once and sincere, feel the -disturbing influence of the doctrines hostile to Christianity; -many again are uneasy at these doctrines, many demand a refuge -from them, without finding it or daring to seek it in the -essential facts and principles of the Christian faith. Between -the adversaries of Christianity and its defenders the discussion -grows each day in importance and gravity; and with it also grows -the perplexity in the minds of the spectators. By setting in full -light this actual state of the Christian religion, by comparing -the forces at its disposal with those of the systems that it -combats, I proceed thither where the emergency is the greatest; I -betake myself at once to the very field of battle. I shall -afterward resume the history of Christianity from its first -establishment down to our own time, and then finally consider the -prospect open to it in the future. - -{7} - -I regard with very complicated feelings, with feelings of great -perplexity, the actual state of my country; its intellectual and -moral state as well as its social and its political state. I have -a mind full at once of confidence and of disquietude, of hope and -of alarm. Whether for good or for evil, the crisis in which the -civilized world is plunged is infinitely more serious than our -fathers predicted it would be; more so than even we, who are -already experiencing from it the most different consequences, -believe it ourselves to be. Sublime truths, excellent principles, -are intrinsically blended with ideas essentially false and -perverse. A noble work of progress, a hideous work of -destruction, are in operation simultaneously in men's opinions -and in society. Humanity never so floated between heaven and the -abyss. It is especially when I regard the generation now -advancing, when I hear what they affirm, when I gather a hint of -what they desire and hope for, it is especially then that I feel -at once sympathy and anxiety. -{8} -Sentiments of propriety and of generosity abound in those young -hearts; they reject, when once convinced of their justice, -neither the ideas which they before did not admit, nor the curb -to which by the inspiration of the divine law even human ambition -does not refuse to submit; but by a strange and deplorable -amalgam, good instincts and evil tendencies exist in them -simultaneously; ideas the least reconcilable clash together, and -persist in them at the same time. The Truth does not rid them of -the error; a light indeed shines upon them, but out of a chaotic -darkness which that light has not the power to dissipate. - -In the presence of this condition of men's minds, under the -impulse of the sentiment which it inspires, I publish this second -series of _Meditations_. -{9} -In touching upon the great questions at present under debate in -the philosophical world, in expressing my opinion concerning -Rationalism, Positivism, Pantheism, Materialism, Skepticism, I -have not for a moment pretended to discuss these different -systems completely and scientifically. Although I am convinced -that they are no more in a condition to support any profound -examination of severe reason than to stand the first regard of -common sense, the object which I propose to myself is to indicate -only their radical and incurable vice. This is no treatise of -Metaphysics; it is only an appeal addressed to upright and -independent minds; an appeal made to induce them to subject -science to the test of the human conscience, and to regard with -distrust systems, which, in the name of a pretended scientific -truth, would, between the intellectual order and the moral order, -between the thought and the life of man, destroy the harmony -established by the law of God. - - Guizot. - Val-Richer, _April_, 1866. - -{10} -{11} - Contents. - - - - Page - - Preface 3 - -I. The Awakening Of Christianity In - France In The Nineteenth Century 13 - -II. Spiritualism 218 - -III. Rationalism 245 - -IV. Positivism 267 - -V. Pantheism 310 - -VI. Materialism 330 - -VII. Skepticism 350 - -VIII. Impiety, Recklessness, And Perplexity 369 - -{12} - -{13} - - Meditations On The Actual State Of - - The Christian Religion. - - - - - First Meditation. - - - The Awakening Of Christianity In - France In The Nineteenth Century. - - -In 1797, La Réveillière-Lépeaux, one of the five Directors who -then constituted the government of France, having just read to -that class of the Institut [Footnote 1] of which he was a member -a memorial respecting Theophilanthropism, and the forms suitable -for this new worship, consulted Talleyrand upon the subject; the -latter replied, "I have but a single observation to make: Jesus -Christ, to found his religion, suffered himself to be crucified, -and he rose again. You should try to do as much." - - [Footnote 1: The class of moral and political sciences.] - -{14} - -Nor was it long before events justified the ironical counsel. In -1802, hardly four years afterward, Theophilanthropism and its -apostle, the dream and the dreamer, had disappeared from the -stage where they had been powerless in influence, barren in -consequence. The strong hand of Napoleon again solemnly set up in -France the religion of Christ crucified and Christ risen, and in -that same year the brilliant genius of Chateaubriand again placed -before the eyes of his countrymen the beauties of Christianity. -The great politician and the great writer bowed each of them -before the Cross; the Cross was the point from which each -started--the one to reconstruct the Christian Church in France, -the other to prove how capable a Christian writer is of charming -French society and of stirring its emotions. - -{15} - -In these days, and in some parts of Christendom, the Concordat -and the "Génie du Christianisme," the one as a political -institution, the other as a literary production, have lost -something of their vogue. Catholics, zealous and sincere, -criticise severely the defects of the Concordat; they regard it -as sometimes incomplete, sometimes tyrannical: they reproach it -with assailing the rights of religious society, of paralyzing its -influence, and restricting its liberty. Some go so far as to -express wishes for the separation of Church and State, and for -their entire independence of each other, the only certain -guarantee to either, they affirm, of a real moral influence. -Protestants, equally zealous and sincere, entertain the same -opinions and the same wishes. Not contented with this, the latter -have gone further, and acted; they have separated themselves from -the Protestant Church recognized by the State, and have founded -independent Churches, self-governing and self-sufficing; nor have -they demanded anything from the State but the liberty that is -every citizen's due. -{16} -In a work recently published, [Footnote 2] a pastor of one of -these Churches, a man distinguished both by the elevation of his -mind and the generosity of his sentiments, M. Edmond de -Pressensé, has gone still farther. - - [Footnote 2: L'Église et la Revolution française, - histoire des relations de l'Église et de l'État, - de 1789-1802. 8vo. 1864.] - -Not content with defending the principle of the separation of -Church and State, he has endeavored to prove that, in 1802, the -Concordat was, on the part of Napoleon, simply an act of tyranny -and ambition; that it was, as far as Christianity is concerned, -an untoward incident; and that if the Christian Church, at the -time spontaneously regenerating itself, had been left free and -uncontrolled, it would have risen by its own proper strength, and -would have grown in influence and in faith far more than the -Concordat has permitted it to do. I am far from proposing to -discuss here, as a general proposition, the system of separation -of Church and State, or its worth in a religious or social point -of view; -{17} -such a system I do not regard as the ideal of religious society: -the co-existence, I would rather say the competition, of Churches -recognized by the State and of Dissenting Churches independently -constituting themselves and self-sufficing, is, in my opinion, -the system most in conformity with the nature of things, and most -favorable to the solidity and general efficiency of religion. -That is a question rather of epoch, time, manners, and social -condition than of principle. But, however this may be, I hold it -as certain that, in 1802, the Concordat was, on the part of -Napoleon, far more an act of superior sagacity than of arbitrary -power, and that it was for the Christian religion in France an -event as salutary as necessary. After the anarchy and the orgies -of the Revolution, nothing but the solemn recognition of -Christianity by the State could have given satisfaction to the -public sentiment, and insured to the religion of Christ the -dignity and the stability, the recovery of which was so essential -to its influence. -{18} -Nothing is more liable to error than an attempt to appreciate, -with reference to present circumstances and the actual condition -of men's minds, what was possible and good sixty years ago; and I -am convinced, that in spite of his zeal for the separation of -Church and State, M. Edmond de Pressensé, had he lived in 1802, -would have been as little satisfied as France herself with a -Christian Church restored in accordance with the plan of the Abbe -Grégoire, The Concordat was a mixed and imperfect measure, -subject to grave objections, and the source of numberless -difficulties; but, taken altogether, the measure was grand and -salutary; it gave at once to the Christian movement a sanction -and an impulse that no other scheme would have been capable of -imparting. - -M. de Chateaubriand and the "Génie du Christianisme" are entitled -to the same justice. I am ready, with regard to both book and -author, to concede the truth of all the objections and of all the -defects that the severest critic may be able or may wish to -detect; their grand and salutary action will not be the less a -living fact. -{19} -It is with books as it is with men; it is by their qualities, -whatever their faults, that they command position and exercise -sway, and wherever superior qualities are discernible, their -efficacy remains in spite of any faults, in spite of any defects, -by which they may be accompanied. Notwithstanding its -imperfections in a religious and literary point of view, the -"Génie du Christianisme" was in both these respects a performance -at the same time remarkable and powerful: it strongly moved men's -minds, it gave a fresh impulse to men's imaginations, it -reanimated and placed in their proper rank the traditions and the -early impressions of Christianity. No criticism, however -legitimate, can ever deprive that work of the place that it at -once assumed in the religious and the literary history of its -time and country. -{20} -Neither the Concordat nor the "Génie du Christianisme" was, in -1802, the result of a spirit of blind and barren reaction. -Napoleon and Chateaubriand were both, of them hardy innovators. -At the side of the ancient religion which he re-established, -Napoleon firmly maintained also the liberty of conscience, -whether in matters of worship or philosophy. At the very instant -when the Concordat was proclaimed and the "Génie du -Christianisme" was published, the learned physiologist, Cabanis, -also published his treatise on the relations of man's physical -and moral nature, a work which characterized man as a mere -machine. And in recalling France to an admiration of the beauties -of Christian literature, Chateaubriand imaged them to her in -forms of language so novel and so original, that many among the -severe guardians of the French language treated him as an -outrageous and barbarous writer. A new era opened at this epoch -in France for religion and for literature. -{21} -Christianity and systems opposed to Christianity, Roman -Catholicism, Protestantism, and Philosophy, a taste for classics, -and a tendency to romanticism, unfolded themselves -simultaneously, surprised to be living together, and at the same -time encountering one another as ardent combatants. - -I have no design to retrace here their contests nor to constitute -myself their judge. Let but a great arena be thrown open, and the -crowd rushes in, carrying with it its confusion and its buzz. -Happily, the tumult is not of long duration. In this mighty -movement of men's minds in France at the commencement of the -nineteenth century I occupy myself with a single grand fact--the -Awakening of Christianity, its different characteristics, its -different results. The crisis itself had illustrious witnesses. I -will interrogate these alone. - -After Napoleon and Chateaubriand, the first whom I meet with are -two Catholic writers, who have left behind them great and -deserved reputations. M. de Bonald and M. de Maistre hoisted the -banner of Christianity valiantly, and at an early date. -{22} -But their ideas and their writings were rather political than -religious: the exigencies of public order occupied their -attention far more than those of man's soul, and their works were -rather attacks upon the French Revolution than a defense of the -faith of Christians. By a coincidence very remarkable, although -at the same time very natural, the first production of each--"The -Theory of Power," by M. de Bonald, and the "Considerations on -France," by M. de Maistre--was published at the same moment, in -1796, and each in a foreign land, where the authors were living -as emigrants. In the first ardor of the reaction, and with the -impassioned and vague feelings that it suggested, each wrote -against the Revolution that shook the world and wrecked his own -fortunes. Potent intelligences both, profound moralists, eminent -writers; but their philosophy is a philosophy of circumstance and -of party. Their theories they use as arms; their books as a -discharge. -{23} -M. de Bonald is a lofty-minded original thinker, but subtle, too, -and complex; disposed to content himself with verbal combinations -and distinctions, and sparing no labor to contrive his vast web -of arguments proper to entrap the unwary adversary. M. de -Maistre, on the contrary, blasts him with the absoluteness of his -assertion, the poignancy of his irony, the rude eloquence of his -invectives. He is a powerful, a charming extemporizer. Both of -them excel in seizing and presenting in a striking manner one -great side, but only one of the great sides, in questions or -measures. They see not these in their variety and in their -entirety. Combatants approved--the one tenacious, the other -impetuous--they both committed two grave faults: they instituted -a closer bond between statesmanship and religion than is proper -or suitable to either; they could not discover any other remedy -for anarchy than absolutism. In the natural and never-ending -conflict of the two great forces whose co-existence imparts vital -energy to human society--authority and liberty--they declared for -the former alone, thus ignoring the right of thought, the spirit -of our times, and the general course of Christian civilization. -{24} -When attacked in her essence, Religion should be defended as she -was founded, in herself and for herself, setting aside every -political consideration, and in the name alone of the problems -which lay siege to man's soul, and of the relations of man's soul -with God. "Render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's, and -unto God the things that are God's," said Jesus to the Pharisees -when they sought to embarrass and to compromise him politically. -Thus did Jesus himself define the proper and paramount -characteristic of his work. He did not come to destroy or to -found any government; he came to feed, to regulate, and to save -the human soul, leaving to time and to the natural efficacy of -events the development of the social consequence of his religious -faith and of his religious law. M. de Bonald and M. de Maistre -joined too often together God and Cesar. -{25} -They thought too much of Cesar while defending God. In doing this -they changed and compromised the character of that great -movement, the Awakening of Christianity, which their conduct -otherwise provoked and served. [Footnote 3] - - [Footnote 3: "The dead move quick," says the poet Burger in - his ballad of Leonora. The men and the books I record died at - a period already distant from us; and in spite of their fame - that abides, they are probably little known to the generation - at present in possession of the stage. I regard it, - therefore, as not improper for me to mention below the titles - of their principal works, of which I have in the text sought - to determine the true character. - - Those of M. de Bonald are: - - 1. La Théorie du pouvoir politique et religieux. 3 vols. 8vo. - Constance: 1796. - - 2. La Législation. primitive. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris: 1821. - - 3. L'Essai sur le divorce. 1 vol. 8vo. Paris. - - 4. Les Recherches philosophique. 2 vols. 8vo. 1818 and 1826. - - 5. Les Mélanges littéraires et politiques. 2 vols. 8vo. - - 6. Pensées et discours. 2 vols. 8vo. - - All these writings, with some others, have been collected in - the complete edition of the works of M. de Bonald, in seven - volumes. 8vo. Paris: 1854. - - The principal works of M. de Maistre are: - - 1. Considerations sur la France. 1 vol. 8vo. 1796. - - 2. Essai sur le principe générateur des constitutions - politiques et des autres institutions humaines. 1 vol. 8vo. - 1810. - - 3. Du Pape. 2 vols. 8vo. 1819.] - - 4. De l'Église gallicane dans son rapport avec le souverain - pontife. 8vo. 1821. - - 5. Examen de la philosophic de Bacon. 2 vols. 8vo. 1836. - - 6. Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg. 2 vols. 8vo. - - 7. Lettres et opuscules inédits. 2 vols. 8vo. 1851. - - 8. Mémoires politiques et correspondance du comte de - Maistre, publiés par M. Albert Blanc. 2 vols. 8vo. 1858. - -{26} - -After these two great writers, another great writer, (shall I -term him Catholic?) the Abbé de la Mennais, placed himself upon -the same path, but to arrive at a very different issue. He, too, -made authority alone the basis of man's faith and of human -society; but seeking to ascertain the sign which distinguishes -legitimate authority, and which entitles it to unarguing -submission, he fixed this sign in the general and traditional -assent of mankind. "The common consent or authority, -_there_," said he, "we find the natural rule of our -judgment; and what but folly can reject that rule, and listen to -its own reason in preference to the reason of all? ... The search -for certitude is the search for a reason not liable to error at -all, that is, for a reason that is infallible. -{27} -Now this infallible reason must necessarily be either the reason -of each individual or the reason of all men; in fact, of human -reason. It is not the reason of each individual, for men -contradict one another, and nothing frequently is more discordant -and more contradictory than their judgments; therefore it is the -reason of all." [Footnote 4] - - [Footnote 4: Essai sur l'indifférence en matiére de religion, - t. ii, p. 59. Défense de l'Essai sur l'indifférence, chap. x, - pp. 133-148.] - -In holding this language in his very first work, the Abbé de la -Mennais was already forgetting that he was a Christian and a -Catholic. When a man demands here below an infallible authority, -he must not seek it from any human source. The reason of all? -(That is, the reason of the majority of men in all the ages of -the world, for the reason of _all_ is a fallacy.) What is -such reason, but the sovereignty of superior numbers in the -spiritual order? Having fixed his principle, the Abbé de la -Mennais kept it in sight everywhere. After having established an -infallible authority in the name of the reason of all, he -proclaimed the absolute sovereignty in the name of universal -suffrage. -{28} -But this apostle of universal reason was at the same time the -proudest worshiper of his own reason. Under the pressure of -events without, and of an ardent controversy, a transformation -took place in him, marked at once by its logical deductions and -its moral inconsistency: he changed his camp without changing his -principles; in the attempt to lead the supreme authority of his -Church to admit his principles he had failed; and from that -instant the very spirit of revolt that he had so severely rebuked -broke loose in his soul and in his writings, finding expression -at one time in an indignation full of hatred leveled at the -powerful, the rich, and the fortunate ones of the world; at -another time in a tender sympathy for the miseries of humanity. -The "Words of a Believer" are the eloquent outburst of this -tumult in his soul. Plunged in the chaos of sentiments the most -contradictory, and yet claiming to be always consistent with -himself, the champion of authority became in the State the most -baited of democrats, and in the Church the haughtiest of rebels. - -{29} - -It is not without sorrow that I thus express my unreserved -opinion of a man of superior talent--mind lofty, soul intense; a -man in the sequel profoundly sad himself, although haughty in his -very fall. One cannot read in their stormy succession the -numerous writings of the Abbé de la Mennais without recognizing -in them traces, I will not say of his intellectual -perplexities--his pride did not feel them--but of the sufferings -of his soul, whether for good or for evil. A noble nature, but -full of exaggeration in his opinions, of fanatical arrogance, and -of angry asperity in his polemics. One title to our gratitude -remains to the Abbé de la Mennais--he thundered to purpose -against the gross and vulgar forgetfulness of the great moral -interests of humanity. His essay on indifference in religious -questions inflicted a rude blow upon that vice of the time, and -recalled men's souls to regions above. -{30} -And thus it was that he, too, rendered service to the great -movement and awakening of Christians in the nineteenth century, -and that he merits his place in that movement although he -deserted it. [Footnote 5] - - [Footnote 5: The principal works of the Abbé de la Mennais - are: - - 1. L'Essai sur l'indifférence en matière de religion, avec la - défense de l'Essai. 5 vols. 8vo. The first volume appeared in - 1817. - - 2. De la Religion considérée dans ses rapports avec l'ordre - civil et politique. 1 vol. 8vo. 1825. - - 3. Les Paroles d'un Croyant. 8vo. 1834. - - 4. Les Affaires de Rome. 8vo. 1836. - - 5. Esquisse d'une philosophic. 4 vols. 8vo. 1841-1846. All - his works, including numerous pamphlets and articles - published in religious and political journals, have been - collected in two editions: one in 12 vols. 8vo., 1836-1837; - the other in 11 vols. 8vo., 1844 and following years. Besides - the above, there are his Posthumous Works, 2 vols. 8vo., - 1856, and his Correspondence, 2 vols. 8vo., 1858.] - -At the same time that great minds were thus at work in order to -restore to the belief in Christianity and the belief in -Catholicism its honor and its authority, another influence was -operating in the same direction, with less notoriety but no less -effect. -{31} -The Jesuits were re-establishing themselves in France--were -founding houses of education and noviciates for their order--were -opening chapels, preaching, teaching, careless of the existence -in France of laws proscribing them; occupying themselves solely -with fulfilling what they regarded as a duty, and a duty, too, -springing from a right believed by them to be superior to the -laws. That duty for them was to uphold the Church of Rome; that -right was the right of preaching and teaching, according to the -faith of the Church. The Jesuits have also been considered and -represented as politicians in the garb of monks, rather than -genuine members of the monastic orders. Often, in effect, in -their acts and in their words, they have appeared as politicians, -and politicians, too, with a certain indulgence for the world and -the world's masters; but, at bottom, they have been and they are -essentially monastic--an order perhaps the most ardent of all, -for they are of all orders the order most completely devoted to -the cause of religious authority. - -{32} - -There are commonplaces that have to be continually repeated, so -apt are men to forget them. In religions society, as well as in -civil society, there are two great moral forces--Authority and -Liberty; these coexist of necessity--have dominion turn by turn, -and have alternately their heroes and their martyrs. Regarded -either with respect to its political or religious constitution, -society cannot long dispense with either Authority or with -Liberty; and each of these two forces is liable to abuse its -influence, and to lose it by the very abuse. - -When Authority has had a long dominion, and its abuse too has -been long, a reaction occurs: Liberty has her revenge; but in her -turn is prone to compromise her interests by abuses and by -excess. It is the history of all human society; facts prove it -quite as much as common sense foretells it. In the bosom of this -general fact it is the peculiar character, as it is the glory, of -Christianity that it has fully accepted these two rival forces; -and the one in the face of the other--authority and -liberty--both of divine origin. -{33} -Christianity has constantly accounted them for such as they -are--the one the revealed law of God, the other the innate right of -man, whom God created free and responsible. The history of the -Jews is only that of the intimate and continued relations between -God as sovereign and man as free agent; God uttering and giving -the law, man using his liberty at one time to fulfill, at another -to reject, the law of God. When the great day of humanity dawned -and Jesus came, it was in liberty's name, and in claiming the -right of the soul to obey the divine law according to its -convictions, that Christianity engaged in its primitive struggle -of three centuries. Under this banner, too, it conquered, and -under it religious society and civil society combined without -becoming identical. The tempestuous and painful fecundity of the -middle ages succeeded to the tyrannical unity of the Roman -empire, so sterile in result. -{34} -Hence principles the most inconsistent, issues the most -contradictory--the power of religion and the power of the -state--popes and kings now supporting, now combating each other's -ambitious purposes, and thwarting each other's measures, without -any regard to law or right; liberty sometimes suffering cruelly -by their alliance, sometimes happily profiting by their -dissensions; on some occasions popes, on others monarchs -protecting liberty against their reciprocal pretensions and -excesses. Spiritual and temporal princes still wavered in their -maxims and in their policy, and did not during the middle ages -systematically and on all occasions form coalitions, of which -liberty was to pay the cost. Liberty, on the contrary, continued -to subsist and to grow in the midst of their rivalries and of her -own sufferings. But these rivalries and these sufferings produced -a chaos which recurred incessantly, and became ever more and more -intolerable, precisely on account of the progress still made, and -which no effort could stifle. -{35} -The great body of Christians at last demanded some issue from -this chaos; then those who wielded the religious power and the -civil power, now separately, now in concert, endeavored to -satisfy the craving of the world; and by their councils, -pragmatic sanctions, encyclical letters and concordats, sought to -reform the abuses and the grievances which, as men loudly -proclaimed, existed, if not in the Church itself, at least in the -relations of the Church with the State. Whether from want of -wisdom, virtue, courage, or sagacity in their authors, or from -their measures being too superficial, or meeting with too much -opposition, those attempts failed; and the reform that was to -have proceeded from Authority herself remained without -accomplishment. Then came the reform by insurrection, in the name -of Faith and Liberty; and as happens in similar crises, whether -of the Church or the State, the supreme authority of Romanism was -attacked, not only in its abuses and its vices, but in its -principle and its very existence. -{36} -Rome then committed the fault almost always committed by Power -when seriously menaced--it defended itself by pushing its -principle and its right to the extreme, without holding account -of any other principle or of any other right. In the name of -Unity and Infallibility in matters of faith, the supreme power in -the Church of Rome allied itself with the absolute power in the -State, and supported the latter in its resistance to liberty. -Under the inspiration of their founder and hero, Loyola, whose -genius was that of a fanatic and a mystic, but who was adroit in -organizing and realizing his design, the order of the Jesuits -sprung into existence. This order was born of this war and for -this war--a chosen troop, charged in the name of the faith to be -the uncompromising defenders of authority in Church and in State. - -{37} - -Since that epoch three centuries have passed, and the fourth is -in its turn sweeping by us; neither times nor chances have been -wanting to causes to produce their effects, nor to men to -accomplish their designs; principles and events have received -their development over a vast space; and in the light of heaven -the different systems have been put to the test of successes and -of reverses. Absolutism has had its triumphs and its victories; -more than once the faults of its adversaries have played into its -hands, and it has found able and glorious champions. It has not -succeeded in arresting the course of a civilization full of -liberty and yet still greedy to have more. It has taken its place -in the midst of liberty as a temporary necessity, never as a -preponderating tendency. More than this, even in the epochs when -its influence was its height, and its splendor the greatest, -Absolutism has often served the cause hostile to its own. Louis -XIV. seconded the movement of mind and the people's progress; -Napoleon sowed in every direction the germs of social advancement -or innovation. -{38} -And now, even there, where liberty does not exist, Absolutism -does not avow itself; it furls its banner, and admits -institutions contrary to its principles, reserving to itself the -right to elude, or to render them powerless. Experience has -pronounced its judgment; whatever the problems that the future -will have to solve, or the trials which the future will have to -encounter, the cause of Absolutism is a lost cause throughout -Christendom. - -At the commencement of this century, the Jesuits, unfortunately -for them, and yet very naturally, were regarded as devoted to -that cause. After having served it in the eighteenth century, -they had been the first victims of its decline; the papal and the -monarchical sovereignty had sacrificed them to the new opinions, -just as mariners in a tempest throw overboard their heavy -ordnance. When the nineteenth century opened, all was greatly -changed; the Revolution was not only victorious, but earnestly -engaged in conciliating parties by disavowing and making amends -for its excesses. After the commission of so many follies and -crimes in the pursuit of liberty, France submitted once more with -the greatest satisfaction to the voice of authority. - -{39} - -How would they then reconstruct that French policy that had been -at once so overthrown and so regenerated? By what means would -they conciliate new and ancient ideas, new and ancient interests? -Upon what terms would Authority and Liberty consent to be -reconciled, and to live henceforth side by side--Authority -soaring triumphant after her fall, Liberty embarrassed with her -recent excesses; and yet both of them more than ever necessary to -society, if society was to be healthy and strong? This was -evidently the vital question of the new century. God placed its -solution at first in the hands of Napoleon, the crown and the -scourge of the Revolution, the most remarkable example at once of -reaction and of progress recorded in the history of the world. - -{40} - -In this condition, so new to France, the situation of the Jesuits -was embarrassing and perilous. Napoleon was again re-establishing -the Church of Rome, and at the same time enforcing the maxims of -Absolutism--a double title to their sympathy. On the other hand, -he was consolidating the Revolution, and maintaining and putting -into practice some of its essential principles, among others, -that of freedom of conscience. Napoleon arrogated also to himself -the right of dictating and acting as master in the Church as in -the State, at Rome as at Paris; he was neither a serious believer -in the faith of Christ nor a sure friend of the Papacy. In this -twofold aspect, the Jesuits could not but regard him with -distrust. The distrust was mutual: for if Napoleon was for the -Jesuits a too faithful and too ambitious heir of the Revolution, -the Jesuits were for him Catholics too independent and too -devoted to their Church and to its chief. As far back as 1804, -their establishments, scarcely disguised under different names, -had been a source of disquietude to Napoleon. -{41} -He directed them to be closed, enforced the laws which denied to -religious corporations an independent existence, and founded the -University, which at the same time he invested with the privilege -of teaching. This system was not abolished at the Restoration. -The Jesuits then entered into the simultaneous possession of two -forces novel to them--the one sprang from the support of power, -the other was derived from the progress of liberty. They had the -favor of the court, and might wield as their own arms, and in -their own interests, the liberal principles that were dear to the -people. A position excellent, had they known how to restrict -themselves to their religious mission, keep aloof from political -contests, and devote themselves exclusively to the task of -awakening the faith of Christians, and arousing them to a -Christian life! Their action upon the soul might have extended -their influence beyond their peculiar sphere to the world -without. Had they not then a striking instance of such an -influence even in their own order? -{42} -To what cause, thirty years ago, did the Père Ravignan owe the -respect and moral authority with which he was surrounded, not -only by members of his own Church, but by men not remarkable for -their faith? Far less to his talent as an orator, than to the -thorough sincerity and disinterestedness of his religious -character. He was a believer, a pious Christian, and a stranger -to every mental reservation; neither was he a partisan, but -solely occupied with the service of God, of his Church, and of -his order, at the same time that he was propagating the faith and -enforcing piety. He declared himself aloud a Jesuit, but the -declaration excited no distrust even in his adversaries. If his -order had imitated his example, it would have obtained a similar -success. Nor was the instance new. In the seventeenth century, at -the court of Louis XIV., Bourdaloue displayed the same virtues as -the Père Ravignan in our own days; and, in all certitude, did -more honor and rendered more service to his Church and order than -had ever been done or rendered by Père la Chaise. - -{43} - -I shall not attempt to examine how far the Jesuits in effect were -really engaged, or what was the degree of their direct agency in -the intrigues of the retrograde party who were seeking to -repossess themselves of the relics of the ancient institutions, -in the idle hope of reconstructing the social edifice upon those -ruined foundations. I am convinced that France felt at this epoch -far too much alarm for this party and its allies, Jesuits or no -Jesuits, just as the Monarchy itself felt too much apprehension -of the Revolutionists. No graver fault can be committed by -nations or by governments than to give way to fears out of -proportion with the dangers which they encounter. France had no -reason under the Restoration to dread either the triumph of -Theocracy or of Absolutism; and yet she was alarmed at both, and -the people persisted in believing that the Jesuits were serving -this double cause--that of the ancient régime of the Papacy, and -of the ancient régime of the Monarchy. -{44} -The Jesuits had then to struggle at once against the ideas and -the passions of modern society, and the traditions and maxims of -ancient France herself; they had for adversaries, the laity, the -bar, and the liberals, respectively represented by M. de -Montlosier, M. Benjamin Constant, and M. Dupin. The odds against -them were too great; even the Monarchy itself, however well -disposed toward them, was carried away by the movement which -attacked them, and Charles X. did not think his own position -strong enough to dispense with treating them, by his ordonnances -of the 21st June, 1828, as Napoleon had done by his decree of the -22d June, 1804. Throughout this whole period the conduct of the -Jesuits was feebler than their cause. Sworn and devoted to the -defense of Authority, they had not foresight enough to perceive -by what means and on what conditions Authority might raise and -consolidate itself. -{45} -Haunted by the traditions of past times, and having the history -of their own order continually before their minds, they no longer -regarded the future boldly or confidently; they failed to -appreciate justly the present; they did not believe sufficiently -in the power of Christ's faith, and they believed too implicitly -in the efficiency of worldly policy. By this vulgar blunder they -compromised, in the case of many Christians, the full effect of -that great stirring movement of Christianity, at the very time -that, with respect to others, they aided it materially. - -The Revolution of 1830 inflicted a rude blow upon these -retrograde tendencies, and a new element started up in the bosom -of the Church of Rome. In the midst of the grand manifestation -and progress of liberty now realizing itself in the State, -Catholics, genuine and ardent too, conceived the hope of turning -both to the profit of the Church of Rome, and of at last setting -Catholicism at peace and in harmony with the new social -institutions of France. -{46} -Then the group, I will not say the party, formed itself of men at -once generous and hardy, who did not hesitate to declare -themselves Ultramontanists, like the Père de Ravignan, Liberals -like M. de la Fayette. It consisted of priests and laymen, of men -of mature years and men in the spring-time of life--the Abbé -Lacordaire, Abbe Gerbet, M. de Montalembert, and M. de Coux: I -confine myself to the names that at the outset gleamed on their -banners. They founded an _agency_ for the defense of the -liberties of religion, and a journal, the _Avenir_, to -develop its principles and its constitution. But the association -was born under an unlucky star; for its little army had for its -declared chief, and the object of its passionate reverence, the -Abbe de la Mennais. In the more intimate and unrestricted -relations of life this great man appears to have exercised -extraordinarily attractive power over his friends and disciples. -{47} -Cited jointly with him on the 31st January, 1831, before the Cour -d'Assises of Paris to answer for the appearance of two articles -in the _Avenir_, the Abbé Lacordaire said, "I stand here -near the man who began the reconciliation of Catholicism with the -world. Let me tell him how affected I am by the part that God has -made for me in giving me him as my master and my father. Suffer -these words of filial piety to penetrate to the heart of one so -long misunderstood; suffer me to exclaim with the poet: - - "L'amitié d'un grand homme est un bienfait des dieux." - [Footnote 6] - - [Footnote 6: "A great man's friendship, blessed gift of - Heaven."] - -The Abbé Lacordaire had soon to feel the danger and to repel with -sorrow the yoke of this seductive friendship. The errors and the -evil passions of the Abbé de la Mennais were not long in -exploding; his was a mind lofty and powerful, but without grasp, -without foresight, without moderation, and without equity; -incapable of discerning the different sides of a subject and of -embracing all the elements of the problem demanding solution, he -was a haughty slave to the truth that he served but partially, -and the somber enemy of every one who wounded his pride by -contesting his opinions. -{48} -He gave to the _Avenir_ a character at once democratic and -theocratic, imperious and revolutionary. All the ideas contrary -to his own, all the institutions, all the governments, that stood -in his way, were attacked by him with a degree of vehemence, -insult, and menace never surpassed by any political partisan, -however violent. The maxims of the Gallican Church were, to cite -his words, "an object of disgust and horror; opinions as odious -as they were base, which, while rendering even the conscience the -accomplice of tyranny, make servility a duty and brute force an -independent and just right." He demanded the separation of Church -and State as a necessity absolute and urgent; "for," said he, "we -regard as abolished and of no effect every particular law which -contradicts the Charter, and is incompatible with the liberties -that _it_ proclaims. -{49} -In the event of such law, we believe that it becomes immediately -and without delay the duty of government to come to an -understanding with the pope, and to rescind the Concordat, which -lost all the means of being executed from the instant when, thank -God, the Catholic religion ceased to be a state religion." Four -months had scarcely elapsed since the birth of the government of -July, and because the liberty of teaching promised by the Charter -of 1830 was not already in vigor, the Abbé de la Mennais said to -the Catholics: "Whence comes the oppression that weighs upon us? -Either, in what concerns us, the government cannot or it will not -keep its promises. If it cannot, what is this mockery of a -sovereignty, this miserable phantom of government, and what have -we to do with it? It is as far as we are concerned as if it were -_not_, and nothing remains to us but to forget it, and seek -our safety in ourselves. -{50} -Let us proclaim aloud who the powers are that are hostile to us; -whose servants seek only to satisfy blindly their thirst for -persecution." What attacks leveled at a government were ever more -precipitate, more violent, and showed a less just appreciation of -facts? What revolutionary party ever proclaimed with greater -audacity disobedience to the laws, and insurrection as the first -of rights and of duties? - -Side by side with these violent and insulting invectives leveled -at the government of France, the _Avenir_ placed a -declaration of respect and submission to the chief of the Church -of Rome: "We profess," it said, "the most complete obedience to -the authority of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. We will not have -other faith than his faith, other doctrine than his doctrine. All -that he approves we approve, all that he condemns we condemn, and -without the shadow of a reservation; we, each of us, submit to -the judgment of the Holy See all our past, all our future -writings, of what nature soever they may be." Here, at least, the -revolutionary spirit seemed absent, or, at all events, was in a -hurry to disavow itself. - -{51} - -I am persuaded that, in holding this language, the Abbé de la -Mennais was sincere. When an exclusive idea or passion sways a -man's mind, nothing is more unknown to him than his own future -conduct; he knows even less what he will do than what he is -doing. The Abbé de la Mennais no more suspected in 1831 what he -would say and what he would do a few years later, than the most -violent leaders of the French Revolution suspected in 1789 what -they would be and what they would do in 1793. The court at Rome -was clearer-sighted than its fanatical champion; it had been -under the influence of the charm of the first works and of the -first successes of the Abbé de la Mennais. It had not, however, -failed to perceive what pernicious and dangerous seed might -thence germinate. -{52} -The _Avenir_ occasioned it profound disquietude; the -principles and the yearnings of modern society found therein a -too ready acceptance; the régime which had governed France since -1830 was too much the object of its attacks; it demanded too much -liberty, and made too much noise in doing so; for beneath that -noise, and in the shadow of that liberty, fermented the -anarchical doctrines and tendencies which in all cases and places -it is the aim and the policy of the court of Rome to contest. -Thus the _Avenir_ and its writers placed her in a position -full of embarrassment; Rome was anxious neither in any way to -ignore the services that they had rendered and that they might -continue to render her, nor to lose sight of the perils that they -made her incur; Rome desired to preserve silence respecting these -writers--neither to avow nor disavow them--and to leave it to -time to terminate their transport and their errors. The Abbé de -la Mennais did not, however, permit this expectant policy; he -insisted absolutely that the papacy, by pronouncing upon his -doctrines and upon his attitude, should publicly either give him -her support or withdraw it from him. -{53} -All the world knows of the journey which he undertook in 1831 to -Rome to obtain this result, and of his stay there in company with -the Abbé Lacordaire and M. de Montalembert, "three obscure -Christians"--to use the words of the Abbé de la Mennais--men who -thought themselves called, according to the expression of the -Abbé Lacordaire before the Cour d'Assises at Paris, "to reconcile -Catholicism with the world." The Pope (Gregory XVI.) judged -otherwise, and by his encyclical of the 15th August, 1832, with -regret, but at the same time with as much decision as to the -substantial matters before him as tenderness to the three -pilgrims personally, condemned the _Avenir_, its doctrines, -and its tendencies. On the instant, with the concurrence of their -friends, they declared, all three, (10th September, 1832,) that, -respectfully submitting themselves to the authority of the Vicar -of Jesus Christ, they abandoned the lists in which they had -faithfully combated during the past two years; that, in -consequence, the _Avenir_, which had been provisionally -suspended ever since the 15th November previously, would no -longer appear, and that the _General Agency for the Defense of -Religious Liberty_ was dissolved. - -{54} - -As the first declaration of the writers of the _Avenir_, -after their acquittal by the Cour d'Assises at Paris, had been -sincere, so was also the declaration sincere which was published -by them immediately after their condemnation by the papacy; but -they promised more than they could perform. When a deep social -wound has been laid bare, and measures on a large scale have been -adopted to cure it, it is no longer in the power of any -individual to keep that wound secret, or to stifle the hope of a -remedy. How many times in the course of this century has not the -papacy, and have not the ardent champions of liberty, condemned -and combated the efforts made to reconcile Catholicism with -modern civilization, and to cause the Church to accept the -liberties of civil society, and the State to recognize the rights -of the Church? -{55} -How often has the Church by its censures signalized such efforts -as impious and suicidal? What wit, what eloquence, have not been -displayed by the Liberals to declare their vanity, their -worthlessness? To what reproaches, invectives, and sarcasms have -not their advocates had to submit? But no ecclesiastical censure, -no wrath of religion, no mockery of liberalism has arrested the -march of this great idea. It has made, and it continues every day -to force, its way in spite of condemnations, attacks, and -obstacles of every description. Why? For paramount reasons, -impossible to be lost sight of. For Christianity and modern -civilization confront each other; there exists in the public a -profound and irrepressible feeling of their reciprocal right and -strength--a profound and irrepressible feeling that their -disagreement is an immense evil for society and for men's souls; -that neither the new civil liberties nor the ancient forms of -belief and influences of Christianity can ever perish; that, -necessary, both of them, to nations and to individuals, they are -both of them destined to live, and consequently to live together. -{56} -When and in what manner will this feeling realize its object, and -when will the ancient Church and modern civilization have solved -the problem of their mutual pacification? No one can at this -moment pronounce; but in all certitude, the problem will not for -that cease to weigh upon the world, or the world to strive at its -solution. Even the men who, in a spirit of pious submission or in -a paroxysm of sadness and discouragement might wish, after having -attempted it, to renounce the work, could never remain inactive -before a necessity becoming more and more urgent; they doubtless -would not be long before they returned to the lists from which -they might have consented to withdraw. - -{57} - -And this is what happened to the three eminent men who had made -so precipitate a journey to Rome, and had importuned her at an -inconvenient moment, summoning her at once to solve the momentous -questions they had raised. They returned from Rome with the -intention of submitting to the decision of the Pope; but slumber -to such souls was impossible, and it was not long before men saw -them, the three, resuming, although by the most contrary paths, -all the activity of their minds and of their lives. The Abbé de -la Mennais threw himself with impetuosity into the revolt--a -revolt radical against the Church and against the State; -furiously demanding from the populace and from revolutions the -success which he could not obtain in the bosom of order, and in -concert with the authority previously so ardently defended by -him. Far from following in his new and violent course, the Abbé -Lacordaire and M. de Montalembert separated from him, and -returned each to his natural and tranquil position; the one to -that of a simple priest, almoner of the convent of the -Visitation, and preacher in the chapel of the College Stanislas; -the other to that of a young and brilliant political orator, -already a favorite in the chamber of Peers, although its members -did not always think or vote with him. -{58} -Both remained Romanists at heart; they zealously shared in the -great movement of Christianity, now roused from her slumber, but -without ceasing to be Liberals in their Catholicism, or without -arresting their efforts to reconcile the Church with the régime -of liberty. - -The position of each, and the genius of each, determined the -share that he took in the duties, and the place that he selected -for the field of his action. The Abbé Lacordaire, from the pulpit -of Notre Dame, developed, or rather let me say, painted, in all -their splendor, the truths, the beauties, the moral and social -excellences of the Christian Faith and of the Catholic Church. M. -de Montalembert, in the house of Peers and in literature, was the -ardent and indefatigable champion of the Church, of its maxims, -and of its rights. -{59} -To neither was there any lack of success any more than any lack -of talent and of zeal. A numerous auditory, young and old, from -the salons and from the schools, believers and freethinkers, -flocked round the Abbé Lacordaire, all feeling the attraction, -and almost all the charm; many among them yielding to the -persuasion of that eloquence so fresh and vivid, and abundant, -and unlooked for--impetuous without rudeness, hardy yet graceful, -natural even where there was temerity of thought or of -expression, and repairing or vailing these faults by the -enchantment of candor and of originality. Different, but not -inferior, were the merits and the successes of M. de -Montalembert. He was a combatant young too, a fearless Christian, -both in the political arena and in society; and he carried with -him in his polemics to the service of the State a sincerity of -passion, a rich and mobile eloquence, piquant strokes of wit, an -outpouring of indignant conviction, all of which deeply stirred -the emotions of his auditors, whether friends or adversaries, and -left in the mind of calm spectators an impression of approving -satisfaction, however frequently a shock might be given to their -feelings of moderation and of fairness. -{60} -In the "Conferences" of the Abbé Lacordaire it cannot be denied -that many failings and many omissions are observable; although -expressed clearly and with vivacity, his thought was often -superficial; there was in turn a singular mixture of precipitate -enthusiasm and of discretion, the former displaying itself in his -exordiums, the latter at the close of his discourses. He -announced courageously his opinions, but accompanied them by more -reservations than are usually expected from one of his Church and -party: thus at the same time, that throughout all his discourses, -and in their general character, he showed himself the friend of -religious liberty, he hesitated sometimes even when the occasion -required him to proclaim its fundamental principle and to rebuke -its violations. -{61} -On his side, M. de Montalembert gave himself up entirely to the -impression and the combat of the moment; in his legitimate ardor -for free instruction, the then chosen object of his public life, -he held obstacles, however real, of no account; he ignored the -time necessary for its final triumph, as well as the real -progress, although partial, which it had obtained, from the -co-operation or the sufferance of the government of 1830; and in -his uncompromising defense of the Church, he was more violent -against the members of the executive government than his own -sentiments and his real political views would, in moments of cool -reflection, have permitted him to be. The Abbé Lacordaire did not -sound sufficiently the sources of his opinions; M. de -Montalembert did not properly measure his attacks. But in spite -of their shortcomings and of our own, of their faults and of our -own, in all the struggles that grew out of religious questions -between us, they rendered constantly faithful and powerful -services to their cause, which, notwithstanding our dissentiments -on other points, was really the cause of Christ's Faith awaking -to new birth and life on the bosom of Liberty. - -{62} - -It is not without well reflecting that I term that _our_ -cause. When religious liberty reigns in a State, it is a great -and a too common error to believe that the statesmen charged with -its government have no religious belief whatever; that they are -careless in matters of faith because they embrace and advocate -the cause of liberty of conscience. The soul does not abdicate -the right to its proper and intimate life, because it respects in -other souls the rights of that same life; and nothing is more -logical or more legitimate than to sustain with fervor the -principle of freedom of conscience, and yet to be at the same -time a true and an earnest Christian. - -{63} - -I have not here to make a profession of faith for others; but I -affirm that, from 1830 to 1848, the Prince whom I had the honor -to serve, and the Cabinets to which I had the honor to belong, -not only always had at heart the maintenance, however difficult, -of the principle of religious liberty, but that they always -felicitated themselves upon the progress made by the Christian -Faith, even when the manner of that progress was for them a -source of serious embarrassment. In 1841 we were placed, in this -respect, in a most trying position. Great was the general -astonishment, and violent were the attacks made upon us, when, -with a devotedness to Catholicism even bolder than had been his -conferences at Notre Dame, the Abbé Lacordaire returned from Rome -a monk, and a monk of an order which has left more somber -memories behind it than any other, that of St. Dominic. This is -not the place to examine what the utility may be in our days to -the Catholic Church of the monastic orders, or to inquire whether -the services they are capable of rendering the Church outweigh -the objections and the feelings of repulsion and uneasiness which -they arouse. -{64} -No well-read man can deny their having, in seasons of chaotic -confusion, effectually served the cause, not only of the -Christian Faith, but of civilization, of science, and even of -liberty. - -The condition of society and of the human mind is now very -different, and the monastic orders cannot take the same position -or produce the same effects. But whatever we may think of the -opportuneness of their reconstruction, of the right there can be -no doubt. Under a system sanctioning freedom of conscience and -free institutions, associations for religious purposes cannot be -worse treated than those for purposes of industry, commerce, or -literature. The State is required to exercise upon combinations -of every kind a certain degree of surveillance; but doubtless the -union of souls and of lives under one rule and in one costume, -with a view to eternal interests, is not a juster cause for -disquietude than a union of purses and of labor for the purpose -of economizing both, with a view to worldly interests. -{65} -In 1829, some young Catholic Liberals, MM. de Carné, de Cazalès, -de Champagny, de Montalembert, Foisset de Meaux, Henri Gouraud, -founded a periodical, _Le Correspondant_, devoted to the -reconciliation of Catholicism with the free social institutions -of the age. The _Correspondant_ had been suspended in 1835, -but reappeared in 1843, under the editorship of M. Charles -Lenormant, one of those friends I have lost who retain in my -memory the place they occupied in my life. In conducting this -work, he kept ever in view the principles in which it had -originated, and among other positions, he defended in 1845, with -the frank intrepidity both of a Catholic and of a Liberal, the -rights of those religious associations which were at the time the -object of violent debate. [Footnote 7] - - [Footnote 7: Des associations religieuses dans le - catholicisme; de leur esprit, de leur histoire et de leur - avenir; par Charles Lenormant, de l'Institut. Paris: 1845.] - -{66} - -The cabinet abstained from all measures of repression, and left -the new monks freely to their chances of success or failure. -Twenty-five years have since elapsed; the Père Lacordaire mounted -once more, in his costume as a Dominican, his pulpit in -Notre-Dame; he resuscitated in France an order forgotten, or the -object of dread only; and to what trouble or embarrassment, I -ask, to what complaints even, has this resuscitation led? To what -pretensions of ambition have these monks laid claim? what -turbulent disposition have they manifested? They have paced -meekly along our streets; they have preached eloquently in our -churches; they have founded some houses of education; they have -made use of their rights as freemen, without offering in any way -to infringe the liberty of any other class of citizens. More than -all this: the sincerity of their sentiments and language has been -put to the proof; the Père Lacordaire resumed, as a Dominican, at -Paris, at Toulouse, at Nancy, at Bordeaux, the conferences and -the preaching that had rendered him popular as a simple priest; -they became, perhaps, more liberal even than they had been -originally. -{67} -When the tempest of 1848 had given birth, in the imaginations of -all men, to every kind of dream, and had opened to every ambition -every career, the Père Lacordaire was returned by the popular -suffrage as Deputy to the Constituent Assembly. For a moment he -thought a new era opening for his Church--perhaps for himself. In -this arena, upon which the passions of party were unchained amid -the general darkness resting upon society, he soon discovered -that the priest and monk of our day was not in his proper place; -he withdrew from it to resume, in his modest retreat at Sorèze, -his true mission as a Christian teacher. He afterward issued from -it, but for a moment only, to express in the French Academy his -faith as a Catholic, and his confidence in the democratic -principles of modern times. Such are the peaceable, such the only -results among us, of the re-establishment of the order of the -Dominicans and of the glory of its restorer. - -{68} - -Its _only_ results? Not so; if the work of the Père -Lacordaire did not exercise any important influence upon the -laity, it was attended with fruitful and salutary effects in the -Church of Rome itself. Like him, other priests had the courage to -brave the prejudices of the age respecting the religious orders; -like him, others refused to suffer themselves to be subjugated by -the alarms felt by most members of their Church at the names of -Science and of Liberty; and like him, they scrupled not to devote -themselves to a common life and a common rule, "to work -together," according to their own expressions, "to secure the -triumph of Christian truth, and its triumph by means of -Philosophy and Science." Thus was re-established, under the -direction of the pious curate of Saint-Roch, the Père Pététot, -the congregation of the Oratoire--that learned and modest society -that gave to France Malebranche and Massillon, and of which -Bossuet said, two centuries ago: "The immense love for the Church -of the Cardinal de Bérulle inspired him with the design of -forming a company, to which he desired to give no other spirit -than the very spirit of the Church, no other rule than its -canons, no other superiors than its bishops, no other goods than -its charity, no other solemn vows than those of baptism and the -priesthood. ... -{69} -There, to form true priests, they lead them to the fountain of -truth; they have always in their hands the sacred volume, to -search there unceasingly its literal sense by study, its spirit -by prayer, its depth of meaning by retreat from the world, and -its end by charity--the termination of everything and the -treasure of Christianity--'Christiani nominis thesaurus,' as -Tertullian terms it." [Footnote 8] - - [Footnote 8: Bossuet, Oraison funèbre du père Bourgoing, - delivered in 1662, vol. viii, p. 271.] - -{70} - -Dating its restoration from only thirteen years ago, the new -congregation of the Oratoire is still not numerous, and remains -little known; it is poor, and it desires to remain so; it has -need of extension and of support, but at the very outset of its -new career it proved itself faithful to its origin and worthy of -the words of Bossuet. One of its founders, the Père Gratry, took -his place at once in the first rank of the Christian apologists, -moralists, and writers of the day: he is a man at once animated -and gentle, full of his peculiar ideas and sentiments, which he -carries to an enthusiastic height, but without pride and without -jealousy, and ardently propagating them by his books, his -lectures, and his conversation. These are all distinguished by -eloquent appeals to human sympathies, touching even where they do -not convince, and leaving the mind always in emotion at the -prospects which they open. Another member of the new Oratoire, -the Père Valvoger, has given a succinct account, in a learned -work, ("Introduction historique et critique aux livres du Nouveau -Testament,") of the Researches and Evidences of Christianity, by -the principal foreign theologians. -{71} -Under the strong influence of the opinions of its first founders, -and at the same time comprehending the mind and the requirements -of France at the present day, the rising congregation of the -Oratoire does not evade examination or discussion; it respects -science, and in the religious truths which it teaches, and its -relations with the souls that it summons to believe, it does not -shrink from accepting fearlessly the terms and the forms of -liberty. - -In the midst of this great movement of men's minds in matters of -religion, what has been done since the opening of this century by -the chiefs of the Catholic Church of France, by their bishops and -by the clergy, called, by their alliance with the State and by -their own rights, to assume the education and the Christian -direction of the human soul? - -They were at first and especially occupied with the real -resuscitation of that Christian religion, now returning to French -society, to its rank there and to its mission, but returning as -exiles return--ill provided, disorganized, and to a home that -seems no home. -{72} -To render back to France, now Catholic, churches for its worship, -priests for its churches, seminaries to form its priests, pupils -to people those seminaries; to assure also to the edifice thus -rising from its ruins the time for its proper establishment and -consolidation--such, under the first empire, was the dominant -thought, almost the exclusive thought, of the Episcopacy, of the -clergy instituted by the Concordat. A work great and difficult, -for which neither materials nor workmen were at hand, and which -required for its accomplishment strong support and a long period -of repose. The clergy of this epoch have been justly reproached -with their uniform obsequiousness to the Emperor Napoleon. No -doubt it was a shameful spectacle, in 1811, which those docile -bishops afforded, when they assembled in council and were never -weary of lavishing caresses upon the despot who had not only -stripped the chief of their Church, Pius VII., of his dominions, -but was then detaining him a prisoner at Savona, denying his -natural counselors, the cardinals, all access to him, refusing -him even a secretary to write his letters, and charging an -officer of the gendarmerie to watch by day and by night all his -movements. -{73} -Only a single fact explains and somewhat excuses the -pusillanimity of the clergy when confronted with this tyranny: -these bishops had seen Christianity proscribed, its churches -closed, profaned, demolished, its priests hunted and massacred, -their flocks left without any worship, any guide, any -consolation. The chance of the recurrence of such events filled -them with horror. Who could affirm that there was no such chance, -and that the reality of the eve was not the possibility of the -morrow? With such causes of apprehension a good priest might feel -his conscience profoundly troubled; and a timid priest might -regard his weakness as justified. What sacrifices were not -permissible, nay, even imperative, to prevent such disasters? - -{74} - -Still, the violent measures of Napoleon did not fail to -encounter, sometimes rebukes, and occasionally resistance, on the -part of the clergy; it was not only that some prelates [Footnote -9] in the council, with more courage than moderation, censured -his conduct toward the Pope: the council itself--forgetting at -last, in its anxiety to vindicate the honor of the whole body, -its long habit of obsequiousness--voted an address to the -Emperor, an act of independence which occasioned its abrupt -dissolution. - - [Footnote 9: Among others M. d'Avian, Archbishop of Bordeaux, - M. de Boulogne, Bishop of Troyes, and M. de Broglie, Bishop - of Gaud.] - -And of the two ecclesiastics to whose counsels, from just motives -of esteem, Napoleon showed least disinclination to give ear, -one--the Abbé Émery, "Superior General" of the Congregation of -St. Sulpice--had just previously, not long before he died, -openly, yet with dignity, resisted the Emperor; [Footnote 10] the -other, M. Duvoisin, Bishop of Nantes, dictated upon his deathbed -these powerful and affectionate lines: "I supplicate the Emperor -to restore the holy Father to liberty. His captivity troubles the -extreme moments of my life. On several occasions I had the honor -to inform the Emperor of the affliction which this captivity is -causing to the whole of Christendom, and of the inconveniences -which would attend its prolongation. The happiness of his Majesty -himself, I believe, depends upon the return of his Holiness to -Rome." - - [Footnote 10: Vie de M. Émery, supérieur général du séminaire - et de la compagnie de Saint-Sulpice, t. ii, pp. 236-346. - Paris: 1862.] - -{75} - -Idly does Despotism excuse its arbitrary acts, as if they -resulted from the want of foresight or the servility of its -flatterers; for the blindest have their gleams of light, and even -the most timid their intrepid moments, during which they speak -the truth, although they speak it in vain. - -Under the Restoration, it was no longer fear, but hope--hope, -ill-founded, too--which misled the French clergy, betrayed them -into the commission of many faults, and checked the progress of -roused Christendom. -{76} -In the then reaction against the Revolution, ecclesiastical -ambition had its part; partisans of the Crown and of Rome--ardent -ones--some through sincere devotion, others from political -calculation, believed it to be necessary and possible to restore -to the Catholic clergy a part at least of the social position and -of the direct authority which they had possessed before 1789. -This was evincing a strange ignorance of the fundamental -character of French society, such as it has been made by its -history and by its great modern Revolution. French society is -essentially and insuperably "laic;" the separation of temporals -from spirituals, and the empire of the laity in public affairs, -are consummated and dominant facts, not to be attacked, or even -menaced, without occasioning throughout the whole framework of -society an irritation and a disquietude, perilous alike for -Church and for State. Nothing in France at the present moment is -more fatal to the influence of religion than the chance, or the -appearance even, of ecclesiastical domination. -{77} -This chance and this appearance were, under the Restoration, the -plague of the Catholic religion and of the French clergy--a -plague the grave consequences of which are the more to be -deplored as it was neither very deep-seated nor very formidable. -It is a fact too little remarked, that the clergy were not then -the principal authors of the faults which subsequently both they -and religion had such cause to rue. No doubt many inadmissible -claims, many unreasonable and offensive requirements, many rash -expectations, proceeded from the ranks of the clergy; but there -was in all this more a suggestion of their past history, or an -unmeaning vanity, than a real and ardent ambition; even the -clergy felt instinctively that political power was not now suited -to them, and that France would no longer accept at their hands as -ministers even a Cardinal Richelieu or a Cardinal Mazarin. -{78} -At first the contra-revolutionary and non-ecclesiastical party in -the Chamber of 1815, and, afterward, the blind fanatical coterie -of the Court of Charles the Tenth, hurried the clergy into their -own vortex, and compromised the cause of religion by making its -ministers instruments of their influence and auxiliaries in their -combats. The ecclesiastics had not the courage to resist; in -spite of their distaste for the new spirit which was abroad, most -of the bishops and of the priesthood, warned by their experience -in the Revolution, would have preferred to remain out of the -sphere of politics, and to confine themselves to the functions of -their religious mission, rather than to be constantly struggling -against popular opinions; so, when any opportunity presented -itself to show their sympathy, they hastened to embrace it. When, -in 1824, the bill of M. de Villèle for the conversion of the -"Rentes" created a great stir among the "Bourgeoisie" of Paris, -it was the Archbishop of Paris, M. de Quélen, who constituted -himself in the Chamber of Peers the principal organ of the -Opposition; and when, in 1828, the movement of public opinion and -of the magistracy against the religions congregations wrested -from the King (Charles the Tenth) the Ordonnances of the 21st -June, the Bishop of Beauvais, M. Feutries, at that time the -Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, did not hesitate to -countersign them. -{79} -The members of the priesthood live in close contact with the -people, and cannot long remain in ignorance of the real state of -their opinions, or long persist in holding them lightly. The -French clergy, as a whole, were more resigned to the new state of -society than King Charles the Tenth and his intimate friends; the -false ideas and the unreasonable political pretensions of the -monarch and of the coterie which formed his court, far more than -the religious bigotry of the Church, occasioned the great faults -committed under the Restoration. - -{80} - -At all epochs and in all parties some man is always met with in -whom are centered and personified whatever good sense, sound -views, and wise purposes there are in the party to which he -belongs. Such a man under the Restoration and for the lay -Legitimists was M. de Villèle. True to his friends, he -nevertheless knew, or I should rather say he promptly learned in -public life to understand, what France then actually was, and -what qualities, to be successful, her government should possess. -If he had had toward his party and his king as much independence -and firmness in action as he had correct appreciation in thought, -he might perhaps have obtained a more complete and more lasting -success. The clergy on their side also had at this epoch a -faithful representative of whatever religious or political -sagacity existed in the French Church: it is here to the Abbé -Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis, that the honor and the merit -belong. His task was far easier than that of M. de Villèle, for -he was never put to any trial: he had no struggle to sustain; he -remained naturally, or kept himself voluntarily, out of the arena -of events and of parties; but it was in this precisely that he -showed his good sense, and his correct appreciation of the -permanent interests and the real dispositions of the clergy of -his time. -{81} -Neither as theologian, nor as orator, nor as statesman was the -Abbé Frayssinous a man of eminence, or remarkable for power of -intellect; but in the different phases of his career, in his -personal conduct, and in his writings, he had an unerring -instinct of what was just and possible, and showed no common tact -in retiring with dignity from untenable positions, and escaping -from questions that he could not settle. Upon these occasions he -would confine himself to his mission of a priest and moralist of -the Christian religion. From 1803 to 1822 he held, suspended, and -resumed in the Church of St. Sulpice, his "conferences upon -religious subjects;" remarkable not only by a judicious defense -of the great truths of Christianity, but by a continuous, -although somewhat timorous, effort to place the doctrines of the -Church in harmony with the principles of natural justice and of -civil liberty. -{82} -He was not, like the Père Lacordaire or M. de Montalembert, a -Catholic Liberal; he was a priest--moderate and equitable, not -from luke-warmness in his faith, but from respect to legal rights -and human sentiments. Although his "conferences" had not the -success and popularity that distinguished later, in Notre-Dame, -those of the Père Lacordaire, they attracted a numerous auditory, -and exercised material influence in giving to the awakening of -Christianity a wider range and a firmer basis. [Footnote 11] - - [Footnote 11: The "conferences" of the Abbé Frayssinous at - St. Sulpice have been published under this title: Defense du - Christianisme, ou conférences sur la religion. 3 vols. 8vo. - Paris: 1825. The Abbé Frayssinous published also in 1818 a - work with the following title: Les vrais principes de - l'église gallicane sur la puissance ecclesiastique, la - Papauté, les Libertés gallicanes, la Promotion des évêques, - les trois Concordats, et les Appels comme d'abus.] - -{83} - -In his work upon the true principles of the Gallican Church, the -Abbé Frayssinous manifested the same moderate and conciliatory -spirit--not always tracing principles to their sources, but never -pushing facts or ideas to their extreme consequences; while -remaining the faithful servant of the Church he showed himself -also rather the friend of Christian peace than the jealous -advocate of ecclesiastical power. His mode of life was as modest -as his opinions; he never made power his aim, neither did he ever -seek for honors, whether political, ecclesiastical, or academic; -he declined them even when within his reach. He joined the -Cabinet in 1824, as Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and of -Public Instruction; he withdrew from it in 1828, when the -mounting wave of Liberalism demanded that a more vigorous policy -should be adopted against the religious congregations than the -pupil and orator of St. Sulpice was willing to sanction. He -neither had the qualities necessary for governing the French -clergy, nor did he pretend to govern them; but he represented -them, nevertheless, in all their more irreproachable and prudent -opinions. -{84} -Unfortunately, mere common sense and prudence do not suffice more -in the Church than in the State to save nations from the -consequences of their faults of omission and commission; for this -object, higher qualities are necessary as well as more rude -efforts. - -It was one of the first effects of the Revolution in 1830, to -make visible to all the injury that the faults of their friends, -rather than the blows of their adversaries, had inflicted, under -the Restoration, upon the clergy, and through the clergy upon -religion. The acts of violence which, during the revolutionary -crisis from 1830 to 1832, were directed at the Churches--the -crosses thrown down, the insulting cries, and antichristian -manifestations; a little later, the riot before the church of St. -Germain l'Auxerrois, on the occasion of the service celebrated on -the anniversary of the death of the Duke de Berri--the -archiepiscopal palace ruined and pillaged--the church broken into -and closed--the menaces directed at the priests--what were all -these deplorable acts but the explosion of a popular reaction, -provoked by the share a part of the clergy had taken in favor of -a retrograde policy--of a return to the ancient régime and to -absolutism? -{85} -Violent men profited by this reaction to satisfy their impiety -and licentiousness, but they could never have excited the -movement or made it successful had they hoisted their own banner; -there must be some little truth before a populace will suffer -itself to be so misled; and the crowd who in February, 1831, so -furiously rose in insurrection before St. Germain l'Auxerrois, -would have paused in astonishment had it perceived that what it -was so brutally attacking and destroying was--not the ancient -régime, not absolutism--but religion and liberty. - -To put an end to this confusion, full at once of deception and of -peril, but a single thing was required: to banish from the -Church, and from its relations with the State, worldly ambition -and influences, and to replace them by influences of a moral -description; instead of a political banner, they should have only -hoisted the banner of religious faith and liberty of conscience. -{86} -That was the great work, or, to use a better expression, the -great progress, which from 1830 to 1848 was aimed at and -accomplished. - -The efforts made and the debates instituted at this epoch by the -most eminent champions of the Church are remarkable, because they -no longer proposed to restore any fragment of its ancient power, -but to insure to it its place and its share in the new public -institutions of liberty. The little militant party of Catholic -Liberals quitted the arena of the ancient political regime, and -took up their position on that of the new constitution, claiming -for the Church, for its ministers, and for its faithful subjects, -the exercise of all the rights and the free development of all -the power that, under the constitution, either belonged, or ought -to belong, to all citizens. -{87} -They made no reservation of opinion, no effort more or less -covert, in furtherance of any pretensions of bygone times, -whether dynastic, aristocratic, or theocratic; the frank -acceptance of the present age and actual society, provided that -Christian faith, Christian morals, and Christian institutions, -might have free room to work; such was, in the midst of all the -factions and political plottings of this period, the constant -attitude of the Catholic Liberal party, that is, of M. de -Montalembert, the Père Lacordaire, M. Charles Lenormant, Frederic -Ozanam, and of the friends in small number grouped around them. - -Whoever feels astonished that their number was so small, shows -little acquaintance with our country or our times. The enterprise -which they undertook was singularly bold and difficult; to drag -France out of its rut of incredulity and irreligion, and at the -same time to extricate Catholicism from its rut of impolicy, its -alliance with absolutism, its timorous immobility in the presence -of liberty; to proclaim and simultaneously to defend, in -spirituals, the Christian faith, and, in temporals, the regime of -liberty. -{88} -Certainly in France, and in the 19th century, the devotion of men -to such a task supposes an enthusiasm and an energy of conviction -of which few are capable; and if the new Christian Liberals -flattered themselves that success would be easy, events must soon -have disabused them. Attacked with ardor by the opponents of all -religion, they were also assailed by Catholics devoted to the -ancient régime of the Church, and alarmed at the new system -pressed upon their acceptance. The former of these two attacks -caused the Catholic Liberals neither surprise nor embarrassment; -but the latter brought with it bitter annoyance and -disappointment, for they found directly opposed to them members -of their own faith. Soon they were to have as their adversary a -man who, by his vigorous talents--employed with equal violence -against the incredulous of all shades of opinions, and against -the Catholic Liberals--too exercised an influence upon a great -number of Catholics, whether of the laity or priesthood, and -indisposed them to any reconciliation with that modern society -which he irritated still more against them. -{89} -I knew M. Veuillot at the commencement of his literary career, -when he accompanied General Bugeaud to the seat of his government -in Algeria. At this epoch he addressed to me two memorials upon -the subject of the moral condition of the colony and of the army. -They struck me by their decided tone, and the straightforwardness -and candor with which he expressed sentiments already -distinguished by devotion. Already he regarded the religion of -his own Church, and of _it_ alone, as the sure basis of -human morality and social order; but he had not yet proclaimed as -his doctrine the deplorable error that Faith enjoins war upon -Liberty. He merited a better understanding of the cause of -Christianity; he merited to be a better advocate of the Church at -Rome than an advocate who, although one of its most devoted -defenders, has yet most injured the cause that he sought to -serve. - -{90} - -These political revolutions and these domestic dissensions left, -in the period that ensued after 1830, the Catholic Church in a -difficult situation, but in one salutary for it and fruitful of -consequences. The clergy no longer counted on the favor of -Government, but they had at the same time to fear from it neither -violence nor hostility. Left to themselves, they felt the -necessity of independent existence, and saw that they must -replace credit with the authorities by influence with the -country; and this influence they were likely to obtain. If they -did not possess all the privileges which they coveted, they had -enough to enable them every day to conquer additional powers, -supposing them willing and sagacious enough to take the trouble -and employ the right means. -{91} -In my opinion, they did not do at this epoch, in the interest of -religion and of the Church, all that their position permitted, or -all that their mission required at their hands; but temporal or -spiritual governors, layman or priests, who ever did, I do not -say what he ought, but what he could have done? The greater part -of the bishops and of the priests were vacillating and timorous; -the problem before them went beyond their opinions, and the -events beyond their strength; the impetuous Liberalism of M. de -Montalembert and of his friends disquieted them; they saw in him -rather a valiant champion than a representative they could rely -upon. Among those who joined with him in the struggle for the -freedom of instruction, there were some who showed, with -reference to the Government of 1830 and the University, little -fairness or prudence: these injured the cause rather than served -it. Whether from submission to orders from Rome, or from their -natural impulse, the clergy, taken as a whole, showed little -taste for liberty; even while they demanded it, they were rather -inclined to immobility than progress. -{92} -But whatever the fears and hesitations of individuals, when the -general current of ideas and of popular opinions once penetrates -to the classes least disposed to entertain them, it never fails, -whether they avow it, or whether they even know it, to swell and -to advance. Around and among the clergy themselves the spirit of -progress and of liberty gained ground, although by insensible -degrees. Here and there individual priests, like the Abbé -Bautain, formerly a student with M. Jouffroy at the École -Normale, and Professor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Letters at -Strasbourg, propagated in the Church the liberal movement, -forming for it in different places new centers of action. The -spirit which had awakened Christianity manifested itself, too, in -our great lay establishments for the higher course of -instruction; not always without check, but still with a success -the more conspicuous the more it was contested. -{93} -In 1846, some disturbances, occasioned by a thoughtless and -puerile intolerance, made by M. Lenormant, at that time my -substitute (suppléant) in the chair of Modern History at the -Faculty of Letters, determine to withdraw from the Sorbonne, -where he had made a courageous avowal of his faith; but M. -Ozanam, the worthy successor to the chair of M. Fauriel, -maintained in the same place the same principles with a more -successful perseverance, and with such a depth of conviction and -such a warmth of emotion that sometimes he carried the feelings -of his auditors away with him, and sometimes commanded respectful -attention even from those most confirmed in their incredulity. -And while the spirit of Christianity was thus manifesting itself -in the free Faculty of Letters, the teaching of the Faculty of -Theology attested, under that same roof, a notable progress in -knowledge and in Liberalism. The Abbé Maret, in his lectures on -the Dogmas of Religion, the Abbé Frère, in his discourses on the -Scriptures; the Abbé Dupanloup and the Abbé Gerbet, in their -lectures on Sacred Eloquence, displayed not only a firm and -active faith, but views upon philosophy, history, and literature, -necessarily implying an acquaintance with the works of human -science, and an appreciation of the rights of liberty. -{94} -Ecclesiastics and laymen, not members of the scientific -establishments of the State, published, under the name of the -"Université Catholique," a series of courses in which philosophy, -history, natural sciences, archaeology, and the arts were -explained and taught in harmony with the dogmas and sentiments of -religious men. And even far from Paris, in several great -episcopal seminaries, classical and theological studies took a -wider range, and attained a scientific value that they had not -for a long time possessed. - -"Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone," says the -Apostle St. James. Christianity has borne abundant fruits since -its awakening at the commencement of this century. I have before -me the "Manual des Œuvres et institutions de charité de Paris," -published in 1862, by order of the archbishop, M. Sibour. -{95} -Independently of the establishments under the direction of -Government, I find in it 107 charitable institutions or -associations, of every kind, originated and supported by zealous -Christians in the interval between 1820 and 1848. Of these I will -only cite some of the principal ones, to establish their -character and their progress. In the year 1822 the idea struck -two poor servants at Lyons to make the rounds of their parish and -collect weekly one sou from each person, in aid of the conversion -of infidels. This was the origin of the association called -"l'Œuvre de la propagation de la Foi," now under the direction of -two councils, composed of members of the clergy and of the laity, -having their sittings, one at Lyons, the other at Paris. The -report published by this association in June, 1824, showed for -the two years, 1823 and 1824, a receipt of 80,000 fr., -(3200_l_.) This association received in 1864 the sum of -5,090,041 fr. 48 cent., (203,601_l_. 13_s_. -3½_d_.,) in which amount France alone figures for 3,479,290 -fr. 65 cent., (139,171_l_. 12_s_. 6½_d_.,) and it -divided 4,658,672 fr. 56 cent. (186,346_l_. 18_s_. -6½_d_.) among five hundred dioceses, and appropriated those -funds to the support of the Catholic missionaries in the five -parts of the world. -{96} -It counted from the year 1852, 1,500,000 subscribers, and it -distributed 170,000 copies of its "Annals," (Annales de -propagation de la Foi,) which form a sequel to the "Lettres -édificantes," and keep the Christian world informed of their -doings. In May, 1833, eight young men, at the suggestion of -Frederic Ozanam, "wishing," said the Perè Lacordaire, "to give -one more proof of what Christianity can effect in behalf of the -poor, began to ascend to those upper stories which were the -hidden haunts of the misery of their quarter. Men saw youths in -the flower of their age and fresh from school regularly visiting, -without any feeling of repulsion, the most abject habitations, -and conveying to their unknown and suffering tenants a passing -vision of charity." -{97} -Twenty years later, in 1853, Ozanam said at Florence, when on his -death-bed: "Instead of eight only, at Paris alone we are two -thousand strong, and we visit five thousand families, that is to -say, about twenty thousand individuals, or a quarter of the poor -contained in that great city. The conferences in France alone -number five hundred, and we have them too in England, in Spain, -Belgium, America, and even in Jerusalem." Nine years afterward, -in 1862, when the Government, listening to mistaken counsels, -suppressed the General Council of the Conferences of St. Vincent -de Paul, and by doing so destroyed the central bond that kept the -society together, the latter counted more than 3000 local -conferences; it consisted of about 30,000 members, who visited in -their homes more than 100,000 indigent families, and had already -introduced into the greater part of the principal cities a system -which exercised a control over the interests of apprentices and -of prisoners. -{98} -During the course of the same epoch the Sisters of Charity, whose -number, a century after their foundation by St. Vincent de Paul, -had not exceeded 1500, already reached 18,000, of whom 16,000 -were Frenchwomen; and at this moment they are plying throughout -the world their works of piety and charity. Another society, "Les -petites sœurs des pauvres," was founded in 1845, in imitation of -Jeanne Jugan, a poor servant, a native of Brittany, who had been -just crowned by the French Academy. This society receives and -succors in their establishment nearly 20,000 aged men. Another -association, "Les Frères de la doctrine Chrétienne," which had in -the year 1844, 468 schools, maintains this year (1865) 920, and -the number of the pupils has increased from 198,188 to 335,382. -State and ecclesiastical documents attest, that by concurring -causes of encouragement on the part of the State, of local -subventions and of private donations, ten thousand churches have -been, during the last fifty years, built, rebuilt, or suitably -adapted for the performance of the services of the Church of -Rome. -{99} -I might cite many similar facts. In all the directions and under -all the forms in which piety and charity manifest themselves, -faith and liberty, and faith and science have, since the -awakening of Christianity and since the cause of religion has -been separated from politics, drawn nearer to one another, and -faith and its manifestation by charity have made a simultaneous -advance and a like progress. - -Had the Government of 1830 remained standing; had State and -Church each retained reciprocally the same situation and the same -attitude, the facts to which I have just alluded might have long -remained unobserved. Society does not, any more than individuals, -render an account to itself of the intimate relations of its -existence, or of the transformations to which these give rise; -but Providence has its moments when it suddenly lightens up the -stage of the world and reveals to all actors and spectators the -import and the effect of what is passing around them. -{100} -The Revolution of 1848 threw upon the progress of the Catholic -Church and its relations with French society since 1830 the clear -light of such a revelation. - -In this sudden subversion of all things, in the presence of a -republic extemporized upon the ruins of three monarchies--the -monarchy of glory, the monarchy of tradition, and the monarchy of -public opinion--in the midst of this nation, suddenly insurgent -and beyond either its aim or expectation sovereign, what became -of the Church? What did its ministers? If some of them -participated in the current dreams, certainly the majority were -full of anguish and alarm; they did not combat the new -institutions; they did not pretend to exercise any influence for -or against any party; they sought only to purify the Republic by -securing in it a place for Religion; they did not stand aloof -from the people; they showed themselves, in its great assemblages -and in its fêtes, planting the cross of Jesus by the side of the -tree of liberty. -{101} -Never did the Church stand so aloof from politics; never was she -more modest in her attitude; never less exacting--I will not say -more obsequious, as far as the Government or the public was -concerned; never more absorbed with her mission of piety and -morality, whatever the Government of France might be, and whoever -her masters. - -And what in their turn was the conduct of the people toward the -Church? I do not mean to say that they confided in her, or showed -her much affection. The popular movement in 1848 was no doubt far -from being religious; and the ideas, acts, and language which -proceeded from it every instant, were well calculated to disturb -and sadden the hearts of Christians; but religion and its -ministers were in no respect ill treated, insulted, or -persecuted; their forms of worship were not interrupted: when -they showed themselves out of doors, they were received with -respect; and at the sight of a virtuous archbishop mortally -wounded in the streets, in the very endeavor to appease the civil -war by the exhibition of the cross, a painful stupor seized the -people; a pang of remorse and of shame traversed those masses of -disbelievers at the sight of a martyr. -{102} -It was clear that in the interval between 1830 and 1848, although -the Christian Church had not aroused in the people either faith -or sympathy, that Church had at least won liberty and peace. When -the revolutionary fever had subsided, when the Republic had given -itself a chief, and was waiting for a master, it was no longer in -the street, by popular impressions, but in the Assemblies, and by -the constituted authorities, that the great questions of the day -were put and were solved. There, too, the progress, which the -Catholic Church had made, became immediately evident, and its -gains were ascertained. It counted at this moment among its most -zealous servants a man new to public affairs, who had entered -political life as an adherent of the Legitimist Opposition to the -Monarchy of 1830, a man who accepted the Republic, and had -acquired in a few days a just renown by his courageous resistance -to anarchy. -{103} -By a choice, fortunate but at the same time unforeseen, M. de -Falloux became the Minister of Public Instruction and of Worship -in the first cabinet formed by the Prince President of the -Republic. The new minister immediately devoted himself to the -important measure that the Catholic Church had had in view ever -since the year 1830, that is, to the complete establishment, -under the sanction of the law, of the principle of liberty of -instruction. He proceeded in his task at once with intelligence -and boldness. To prepare his project of law, he appointed a -numerous commission, and summoned to it the most eminent men, who -represented views and interests the most diverse; laymen and -ecclesiastics, Romanists, Protestants and philosophers, -Republicans, Legitimists, Orleanists and Bonapartists, M. Thiers -and the Abbé Dupanloup, M. Cousin and M. de Montalembert, M. -Saint Marc Girardin and M. Cochin, M. Cuvier and the Abbé Sibour. -[Footnote 12] - - [Footnote 12: The following is a complete list of the members - of the Commission, as given in the "Moniteur" of the 22d - June, 1849: M. Thiers, president; MM. Cousin, St. Marc - Girardin, Dubois, the Abbé Dupanloup, Peupin, Janvier, - Laurentie, Freslon, Ballaguet, de Montalembert, Fresneau, - Poulain de Bossay, Cuvier, Michel, Armand de Melun, Henri de - Riancey, Cochin, the Abbé Sibour, Roux-Lavergne, de - Montreuil-Housset, and Alexis Chevalier, secretary.] - -{104} - -M. Thiers was the president of this commission, which sat during -five months. It discussed every question respecting the -organization of public instruction with a passionate ardor, and, -at the same time, with an earnest and sincere desire to -conciliate, by their resolutions, all opinions. According to the -character of the times and the state of public sentiment, -critical and perilous situations precipitate men sometimes to the -commission of insane acts of violence, and sometimes keep them -within the line of fairness and prudence. The project of law -which issued from the commission of M. de Falloux had the merit -of prudence. -{105} -In making mutual concessions, the representatives of the -different systems took good care to protest that they did not -renounce their peculiar principles--a language which made -sometimes their resolutions have the air of a superficial and -incoherent compromise; but men could, nevertheless, observe how -conspicuous that project was for its large and practical -character, and its respect for different rights; and they could -also see how the State, the Church, and private establishments -were left free to compete in matters of public instruction. When -this project was discussed in the Legislative Assembly, M. de -Falloux was no longer minister; but the impulse had been given, -and his measure was out of danger; his successor, M. de Parien, -too, gave it the support which it deserved; and after a -discussion which occupied thirty-seven sittings, the Assembly, by -a strong majority, passed the law, without introducing any -important modification. The Liberty of Instruction was founded. - -{106} - -Fifteen years have passed, and it subsists. The State, the -Church, private institutions founded by laymen or by -ecclesiastics, have competed actively during all that period. -Religious congregations, Lazarists, Dominicans, Oratorians, -Jesuits, have in this struggle displayed all the enthusiasm of -faith, all the ardor of reciprocal rivalry. The Jesuits, since -the year 1850, have opened twenty colleges for secondary -instruction, and have founded at Paris, for courses of study -preparatory to the special schools, an establishment whose -successes have attracted the attention of the government and of -the public; for it sends every year to the Military Schools, the -Polytechnic, Naval, or Central, an extraordinary number of -successful candidates, who have passed with honor, although the -competition has been extensive and the examinations are severe. -{107} -A great school, founded by the Archbishop of Paris for the higher -branches of ecclesiastical study in the ancient house of the -Carmelites, has formed priests who, in the public examinations -and theses, have proved themselves capable of taking rank by the -side of the best pupils of the lay establishment of the "École -Normale Supérieure." Everywhere the University has encountered -numerous and ardent rivals; and it has been at the same time in -its own interior a prey to painful trials. Under the pretext of -an interest for studies of a scientific and practical nature, -classical and philosophical studies have been displaced and -depreciated. At the very moment that the University was losing -its privileges beyond, it saw its principles and its organization -shaken inside its walls. - -Faithful to her convictions and traditions, even while accepting -the experiments and the struggles that were forced upon her, the -University has surmounted perils from within and rivalries from -without; on the one side, little by little, it has returned to -its system of a large and solid teaching of the classics; on the -other, the level of the studies in its principal establishments -has been raised, and the number of its pupils has been ever on -the increase. -{108} -The Lycées counted (in 1850) 19,300; they have now (1865) more -than 30,000 pupils. The State has thrown open the career of -instruction to the Church, and has at the same time redoubled its -own solicitude and success. Liberty of instruction has calmed -both the anxieties of the religious party that made them demand -it, and those anxieties of the laity which that liberty had -inspired. It has given peace to the State and to the Church, at -the same time that it has excited their emulation and stimulated -their progress. - -An incident which made some noise at the time has, under the new -regime, shown the force of the Liberal spirit, and proved that, -when needed, it would have unforeseen defenders. -{109} -Under the influence of a blind zeal, a pious ecclesiastic, the -Abbé Graume, demanded by what right the literature of pagan -antiquity occupied the place it did in public teaching; denounced -it as "the devouring canker of modern societies;" and insisted -that the Christian classics should replace in our schools the -Greek and Latin classics. What was this but to reject one of the -great cradles of modern civilization; to condemn the renaissance -of literature in the fifteenth century, as well as the religious -reform in the sixteenth century; and to close to the minds of -rising generations of Christians the general history of the -world! This attack upon the system of public instruction which -had been in vigor during the last four centuries in all the -States of Christendom, met from a part of the Romanists with a -sympathetic reception: bishops, eminent for learning, thanked its -author; M. Veuillot constituted himself his champion. But in the -Catholic Church itself, as well as in the University, the fire of -the defense silenced that of the attack; ecclesiastics, as -eminent by their piety as by their science, the Bishop of Orleans -at their head, proclaimed aloud their sympathy for the -comprehensive scheme and the liberal studies which embrace all -the fair works of man's intelligence. -{110} -The Jesuits on this occasion set an example of broad views and -common sense; they introduced no modification into the programmes -of their colleges; the Pères Cahoux and Daniel demonstrated their -propriety, nay, their necessity; and the literature of the Greeks -and of the Romans has preserved in the education of Christians -the place which it gained in their history by the right of genius -and by the splendor of its productions. - -Scarcely had this controversy on a literary and moral subject -been settled, when questions of far more gravity were raised, and -more profoundly agitated Christian society. Christians found -themselves attacked simultaneously upon scientific and upon -political grounds. Men denied to the Christian Faith its -reasonableness and its vital sources--to the Church of Rome its -traditional and historical régime, and the temporal power of its -chief. - -{111} - -Two things strike me in this double attack--on the one hand its -timidity, yet gravity; on the other, the powerful resistance -which it encounters. Nothing is less novel than a denial of the -supernatural character of Christianity, and of its primitive -facts, of its miracles, of the divinity of its founder. The -eighteenth century carried on this war in a far more violent, -rude, and iniquitous spirit than the nineteenth century has done. -M. Renan, in the attempt to dethrone Jesus, has at least treated -him with admiration and respect; not from calculation, I feel -assured, but from the natural tone of his mind. In our time, men -have instincts and tastes, at once inconsequent and prudent; at -the very time when they engage in a deadly struggle they affect -to carry thither the cool impartiality of spectators; they -flatter themselves that they unite the acumen of the critic to -the feeling of the poet. The skeptic shows no disinclination to -play the mystic; and the erudite man strives to cover with the -vail of fancy the ruin that he makes. -{112} -Hume was a more stubborn skeptic, and Voltaire an enemy more -daring. If I pass from philosophy to politics, and from books to -events, I observe the war undergoing a similar transformation. -What a contrast between the attacks of the Directory and the -Emperor Napoleon the First upon the Papacy, and the circumspect -and hesitating treatment of which, in spite of the blows that it -receives, the Papacy is in these days the object? Are we to -conclude that the general course of events has changed, and that -the flood, which for a century whirled Europe along, is arrested -and subsiding? Certainly not: there are abundant facts to prove -the contrary. Whether regarded as a religious or a political -question, whether considered as affecting opinions or interests, -the contest between authority and liberty, between faith and -incredulity, is carried on more earnestly and more systematically -now than ever: principles on each side are pushed to their -extreme consequences, and contrasted in a manner never before the -case. -{113} -But experience imposes a restraint upon men even where it does -not change them. In the years of internal order which the Empire -insured, and in the years of liberty to which the constitutional -Monarchy gave the sanction of its laws, the different parties -learned to appreciate the obstacles with which they had to -contend, and to measure their own strength and that of their -opponents: they now know that everything is not possible to them; -and necessity has inculcated a certain amount of equity and good -sense. The experience of the past, as well as that of each day, -convinces them of their inability to insure a complete success to -their systems and their designs. Its adversaries thought -Christianity expiring; but they soon saw that it was still full -of life: while they express their surprise and persevere in their -warfare, they admit its practical influence, render homage to its -moral value, and strive, although they contest its rights, to -appropriate to themselves the inheritance of its blessings. -{114} -The wind has often blown from the right quarter for Catholic -Absolutists during this century; they have enjoyed the favor of -more than one master, and more than once they have requited him -by devoted services. More than once, also, they have obtained -from the supreme head of their Church official declarations, -which have been used by them against the Catholic Liberals. The -Absolutists, nevertheless, have not succeeded in changing the -tendency of Christian societies; they have arrested the course -neither of ideas nor events; their defeats have cost them dearer -than their victories were worth; and in spite of the obstinate -infatuation of parties, I doubt whether they themselves believe -in the progress of their cause. And how often has the Papacy -itself in our days been insulted and despoiled? Has it not even -been vanquished and expelled? -{115} -Still, in spite of what it has suffered, sometimes from -revolutions, sometimes from arbitrary power, it has outlived not -only the triumphs of its enemies, but its own impolitic measures: -and at this day, assailed by freethinkers in spirituals, by -ambitious neighbors in temporals, menaced with abandonment even -by its protectors, it is more energetically defended and -efficaciously supported than it ever was at the commencement of -this century in its reverses. Pius VII. never received such -pecuniary contributions as have been forwarded to Pius IX. in his -necessities; and if the French bishops were now summoned to a -council, their conduct would, beyond doubt, be more dignified and -more influential than was that of their predecessors in 1811. - -Why such changes in a situation itself in effect unchanged? -Whence these hesitating measures, this embarrassed attitude of -the adversaries of the Christian faith and of the Christian -Church? What cause at the same time gives such boldness and even -success to their defenders? - -{116} - -Each age has its own peculiar and characteristic mission, and one -from which it cannot escape; every human being has his share in -it, whether he knows it or not. As a consequence of the truths -and the errors, of the good and evil, of the triumphs and -reverses of the preceding centuries, the nineteenth century has -before it a special task, which will employ all its energies, and -which will also, I hope, constitute its glory. It has both in the -State and in the Church found the two supreme forces that preside -over man's life, and over that of society, Authority and Liberty, -in violent conflict, in turn intoxicated with victory, or -vanquished, ruined. It is the mission of the nineteenth century -to make them live together, and live in peace; or at least in an -antagonism entailing upon neither any mortal danger. The -recognition of, and respect for, authority; the acceptance and -guarantee of freedom; these are the imperative necessities which -our age is called upon to feel and to satisfy, both in State and -Church. -{117} -Nor does this imply, as is often pretended, any inconsistency or -any compromise of principle or any policy of expedients; it is -not by inconsistency that great questions are settled, it is not -by expedients that we content the cravings of men's souls, or -calm the anxieties of human society; for mankind yields genuine -submission and feels real confidence only where it believes in -the existence of truth and justice. The recognition, veneration, -and guarantee of the different rights which co-exist naturally -and necessarily in human societies--of the rights, both of -individuals and of the State--of the rights of religious society -and of civil society--of the rights of little local societies as -well as of the grand general society--of the rights of conscience -as well as of tradition--of the rights of the future as well as -of those of the past--these are the dominant principles of which -the nineteenth century has to insure the triumph. -{118} -Triumphs assured, if Liberals and Christians are both of them -determined to accomplish it! Notwithstanding all the violent -emotions of party, and of all our differences on intellectual and -social subjects, the consciousness of this situation is ever -before our minds; and whether we admit it or not, the alliance of -the liberal movement with the movement of awakened Christianity, -is the grand measure and the grand hope of the day. - -A Catholic priest, now a bishop, inquiring the origin of the -actual disputes of religion, and their probable issue, expresses -himself as follows:--"Free institutions, freedom of conscience, -political liberty, civil liberty, individual liberty, liberty of -families, of education, and of opinions, equality before the -laws, the equal division of imposts and of public charges, these -are all points upon which we make no difficulty; we accept them -frankly; we appeal to them on solemn occasions of public -discussion; we accept, we invoke the principles and the liberties -proclaimed in 1789; even those who combat those principles and -those liberties admit that liberty of religion and free education -have become acknowledged, self-evident truths (_des verités de -bon sens_)." [Footnote 13] - - [Footnote 13: De la Pacification religieuse. By the Abbé - Dupanloup, pp. 263, 294, 306. Paris, 1845.] - -{119} - -This Catholic, this bishop, is no timorous priest, disposed to -make every sacrifice for the purpose of conciliation. It is the -same priest, who, from the first attack made upon the -constitution of the Catholic Church, has always distinguished -himself by the warmth and ability with which he has defended it. -The Papacy, its rights, its temporal independence and spiritual -sovereignty never had a champion more resolute, more opposed to -weak concessions or fallacious compromises, more constantly -intrepid in the breach than the Bishop of Orleans. - -{120} - -When the contest was warmest, the Pope (Pius IX.) published his -"Encyclical" of the 8th of December, 1864. Exempt from every -feeling of prejudice and hostility, and having no connection or -relation with the Papacy to make me pause, I feel no hesitation -in saying what I think of this document, at once the occasion and -the pretext for such a stir. In my opinion the error was a grave -one. Regarded as doctrine, the "Encyclical" was dignified and yet -embarrassed, positive and yet evasive; it confounded in the same -sweeping condemnation salutary truths and pernicious errors, the -principles of liberty and the maxims of licentiousness; it made -an effort to maintain, in point of right, the ancient traditions -and pretensions of Rome, without avowing in point of fact that -the ideas and potent influences of modern civilization were the -objects of its declared and unceasing hostility. In a system like -that of the present day--a system of publicity and freedom of -discussion--this manner of proceeding, its inconsistencies, its -reticence, its obscurities, whether arising from instinct or -premeditation, have ceased to be good policy, and in fact serve -no purpose whatever. -{121} -As a measure to meet a particular emergency, the "Encyclical" of -the 8th of December 1864 did not resemble that of Gregory XVI. in -1832; it was not called for by such extravagances as those of the -_Avenir_, or those of the Abbé de la Mennais; no urgent -necessity, no public exigency required that Rome should pronounce -itself; the debate between the Catholic Absolutists and the -Catholic Liberals was of ancient date, and was evidently destined -to long duration; the Papacy could not flatter itself that it -could put an end to this contest by any peremptoriness of -decision; her indulgent consideration was as due to the one party -as to the other. Doubtless the Catholic Liberals had not shown -less zeal for her cause, nor had the services which they had -rendered been less important; it was not a moment of peril for -Rome, and Rome was bound in justice, without any open declaration -at least, to maintain toward them an attitude of reserve. -{122} -The party, even before the publication of the "Encyclical," had -earned, as it still merits, her gratitude and her esteem; neither -M. de Montalembert, nor the Prince Albert de Broglie, nor M. de -Falloux, nor M. Cochin, nor any of their friends had imitated the -example of the Abbé de la Mennais; nor has one of them shown -subsequently any irritation, or even uttered a word of complaint; -they have maintained a respectful silence. The Bishop of Orleans -has done even more. A man of action as well as of faith, he -thought in the midst of the storm excited by the "Encyclical" of -the 8th of December, that he was bound to consider the perils -rather than the faults, and that it became a priest who had -supported liberty to support authority also when the object of -attack. He threw himself into the arena to cover the Papacy at -all hazards with his valiant arms: after having played the part -of a sagacious counselor, he played that of a faithful champion, -and he inflicted upon her adversaries blows so sturdy, that the -latter were in their turn obliged to put themselves upon their -defense, even in the midst of the success that the "Encyclical" -had insured them. - -{123} - -The Bishop of Orleans is probably reserved for many other -struggles; he may even be hurried by a warlike temperament to -carry the war into a field where it is uncalled for; but I shall -be both surprised and grieved if he do not always remain what he -is at this moment in the Church of France, the most enlightened -representative of its mission, moral and social, as well as the -most intrepid defender of its true and legitimate interests. - -Whether the matter in debate concerns religious or social affairs -and contests, parties are liable to two errors of equal gravity: -they may misapprehend their respective perils, or their -respective strength. Wisdom consists in a just appreciation of -these perils and of these forces, and it is upon such an -appreciation precisely that success itself depends. The actual -perils to which Catholicism is exposed are evident to all. It -owes its development and its constitution to times essentially -different from the present. It adapts itself with reluctance to -the principles required and the demands made upon it in this age. -{124} -Its antagonists think and assert that it will never so adapt -itself. Most of the lookers-on, who are indifferent or -vacillating--and their number is great--incline to believe its -antagonists in the right. This is the trial through which -Catholicism is at this moment passing. To pass through it -triumphantly, it has two great forces to rely upon; the one is, -the reaction in favor of religion occasioned by the follies and -the crimes of the Revolution, the other is, the liberal movement -that took place among the Catholics after the faults of the -Restoration, and the new opening made for them by the Government -of 1830. The Concordat built up again the edifice of the Catholic -Church; Liberalism is laboring to penetrate its sanctuary, and, -without impairing its faith, to obtain for it once more the -sympathies of civil government. -{125} -Let sincere Catholics reflect well upon their course, for here is -their main stay, here their best chance for the future; let them -maintain with a firm hand the strong constitution of their -Church, but accept frankly, and at once claim, their share also -in the liberties of their age; let them take care of their -anchors and spread their sails, for this is the conduct -prescribed to them by the supreme interest, which should be their -law, the future interests, I mean, of Christianity. - -The time has been short, but the experiment has been made and is -successful. I have now enumerated the principal events connected -with religion which have taken place in the course of this -century in the bosom of the Catholic Church of France. In spite -of the obstacles, the oscillations, the deviations, and the -faults that are remarkable, the awakening of Christianity is -evident. Under the influence of the causes which I have pointed -out, Christian faith has evidently made progress; Christian -science, progress; Christian charity, as shown by works, -progress; Christian force, progress; progress incomplete and -insufficient but still progress, real, and fall of fruit, -symptomatic of vital energy and future promise. -{126} -Let not the enemies of Christianity deceive themselves; they are -waging a combat of life and of death, but their antagonist is not -in extremis! - ---------------------------------- - - II. Awakening Of Christianity In France. - - -I pass without any transitional stage from the awakening of -Christianity in the Roman Catholic Church to the awakening of -Christianity in the Protestant Church. What need of a transition? -I am not quitting the Christian Church. With respect to their -claims as Christians, Protestant nations have been put to the -test. They have had, like Catholic nations, to pass through -violent struggles, to combat evil tendencies, to undergo perilous -trials; but the peculiar characteristic of Christianity, the -simultaneous action of faith and of science, of authority and -liberty, has received a glorious development in the bosom of -Protestant nations. -{127} -England and Holland, Protestant Germany, Sweden, Denmark, -Switzerland, and the United States of America, have had their -vices, their crimes, their sufferings, and their reverses; but, -after all, these States have in the last four centuries labored -with effect at the solution, in a Christian sense, of that grand -problem of human society--the moral and physical progress of the -masses, as well as the political guarantee of their rights and -liberties. And in these days the States to which I have alluded -resist effectually the shocks--now of anarchy, now of despotism, -which alternately trouble the peace of Christendom. As for the -Christian Faith itself, if, in Protestant countries, it does not -escape the attacks elsewhere made upon it, neither is it without -its powerful defenders and faithful followers. In those -countries, Christian Churches are full of adherents, and the -cause of Christianity finds every day valiant champions to devote -to its service the arms which science and liberty supply. -{128} -There is on the part of the Romanists a puerile infatuation upon -this subject, which makes them absolutely close their eyes to -facts; by an error fatal to themselves, they persist in imputing -the fermentation in society, and the abandonment of religion, to -the influence of the Protestant nations--nations among whom -these two scourges are combated with at least as much resolution -and effect as elsewhere. It is not my wish to institute -disparaging comparisons, or to foment a rivalry opposed to the -spirit of Christ's religion. Protestantism is not, in -Christendom, the last, neither is it the sole bulwark of -Christianity; but there exists none that is stronger, that offers -fewer weak points to assailants, or that is better provided with -faithful and able defenders. - -{129} - -At the commencement of this century, and in the years which -followed the promulgation of the Concordat, the Protestants, like -the Catholics in France, thought only of the re-establishment of -their worship and of the liberty of their faith. A liberty the -more precious in their eyes, as it followed upon two centuries of -persecutions and of sufferings of which we cannot, in these days, -read the accounts without mingled sentiments of astonishment, of -indignation, and of sorrow. Faithfully should men guard the -memory of such outrages; they would be infinitely better than -they are if they had always present to their minds the vivid -pictures of the iniquities and woes which fill the page of their -history; and evils would not so soon recur if they were not so -soon forgotten. The system of Terrorism under the Revolution had -confounded Catholic and Protestant in a common oppression; it had -abolished the forms of worship of each, denied all free -expression of opinion to Christians; and without distinction -condemned to the same scaffold the "pastors of the desert" and -the bishops of the Court of Versailles--Rabaut Saint-Etienne as -well as the nuns of Verdun. -{130} -When this terrible regime had ceased to exist, neither party had -religiously or politically any desires or pretensions that were -not extremely moderate: the one thing regarded by all as the -sovereign good was, the right to live without molestation and the -liberty to address their prayers to God in the light of day. No -other subject so seriously interested them; and they heartily -wished to show their gratitude and deference to the Government, -which, while it gave security to their bodies, permitted their -souls to breathe freely. The condition of the Protestants was in -one sense better than that of the Catholics, for the former were -now experiencing the joy, not only of a deliverance but of a -positive conquest; they had just escaped as well from the system -of Terrorism, as from the ancient régime; they had lost nothing -to regret; no revengeful feeling made them desire a reaction; -their sole aspiration was for the consolidation of their rights, -and of their new acquisitions. -{131} -"You who lived, as we did, under the yoke of intolerance," (thus -they were addressed in 1807 by M. Rabaut-Dupuy, formerly -president of the legislative body, and the last surviving son of -one of their most estimable pastors,) "you, the relics of so many -persecuted generations, behold! compare! It is no longer in the -desert and at the peril of your lives that you render to the -Creator the homage which is his due. Our temples are restored to -us, and every day beholds new ones erected. Our pastors are -recognized as public functionaries; they receive salaries from -the State; a barbarous law no longer suspends the sword over -their heads. Alas! to those whom we have survived it was -permitted, it is true, to ascend Mount Nebo, and to obtain thence -a glimpse of the promised land, but it is we alone who have taken -possession." - -What wonder if, on the morrow after the Concordat, which had -procured them the free exercise of their faith and the -impartiality of the law, the Protestants acquiesced without -difficulty in the incomplete organization with which the new -system had left their Church, and that they troubled themselves -little with the attacks made upon its independence and its -dignity! - -{132} - -But this modest enjoyment of their new privileges did not render -them indifferent to their ancient belief, and they returned to -the open practice of Christ's faith simultaneously with the -acquisition of their liberty. In 1812, in the midst of the -profound silence which reigned throughout the Empire, a professor -of the faculty of Protestant theology at Montauban, M. Grasc, -attacked, in his teaching, the dogma of the Trinity. Earnest -remonstrances were instantly made from the general body of the -Protestants in France; a great number of consistories, among -others those of Nîmes, of Montpellier, Montauban, Alais, Anduze, -Saint Hippolyte, pastors and laity, addressed their complaints, -some to the "Doyen" of the faculty of theology, others to M. Gasc -himself, demanding, all of them, the maintenance of the doctrine -of the Protestant Church. -{133} -The grand master of the University, M. de Fontanes, "earnestly -invited the professor not to depart from it," and M. Gasc himself -admitted that his teaching ought to be in conformity. The spirit -which had animated the Reformation in France in the sixteenth -century was still living in the nineteenth; and under the -new-born system of liberty, the Awakening of Christianity -announced itself by a summons to the faith. - -When, under the Restoration, France had regained her political -liberty, it was not long before that liberty bore its natural -fruits in French Protestantism; it was accompanied, both on -religious and political subjects, by the manifestation of -discordant ideas and discordant tendencies, which were soon to -struggle for victory. -{134} -As at epochs of great intellectual crises eminent men emerge who -represent dominant ideas, so now M. Samuel Vincent and M. Daniel -Encontre immediately appeared in the Protestant Church: both were -pastors, and each worthily represented one of the two principles -which naturally develop themselves in the bosom of Protestantism, -faith in traditions and the right of private judgment; principles -different without being contradictory; principles which may -subsist in peace provided they remain respectively in their -proper places, and within the limits of their rights. M. Samuel -Vincent was a man of a mind remarkably comprehensive and of great -versatility and fecundity; but his habits at the same time were -those of a student, fitting him rather for intellectual -meditation than qualifying him either for expansive sympathies or -for action; he was versed in the philosophy and erudite criticism -of Germany, at that time novel and rare to France; he made the -essence of Christianity, according to his own expression, "to -consist in the liberty of inquiry." [Footnote 14:] - - [Footnote 14: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, par M. - Samuel Vincent. 2e édition, p. 15. Paris, 1859.] - -{135} - -He rejected all written articles of faith, every limited idea of -religious unity, and claimed within the Church, for both pastors -and congregation, the greatest latitude in matters of opinion and -of teaching. But when he clung closely to this view of the -subject, and was pressed to indicate the extreme point to which, -within the Church itself, the diversity of men's individual -beliefs might be carried, his embarrassment became extreme, for -he had too much sense to admit that this diversity had no limit, -and that a Church, whether Protestant or not, could exist without -certain articles of faith common to all its members, and -recognized by them all. "Protestantism," said he himself, "must -not be merely a negation; it should also have its real and -positive side; it must be beyond all things a religion; that is -to say, it must be in the possession of the means to endure and -of the means to edify men by the propagation of a doctrine -benevolent and Christian. ... Christianity is the basis of -ecclesiastical teaching." [Footnote 15] - - [Footnote 15: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, par M. - Samuel Vincent, pp. 17, 22.] - -{136} - -When, after having laid down this principle, M. Samuel Vincent -inquired how the Protestant Church could remain a Church, and a -Christian Church, in the midst of the independence of individual -beliefs, he found no other way out of the difficulty than "to -determine," he said, "by conventions, oral and unwritten, a -certain number of opinions that each man should, in the interest -of the general peace, be entreated to keep to himself." [Footnote -16] - - [Footnote 16: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, p. 24.] - -How strange a proceeding, how difficult of realization, to -prescribe with once voice silence and liberty! M. Samuel Vincent -did not attempt to determine what those opinions were which, in -order to maintain the existence of a Christian Church in the -midst of the broadest system of free inquiry, "each man should be -entreated to keep to himself." -{137} -As for himself, he professed his faith in the supernatural, in -the revelation of the Old and of the New Testaments, in the -inspiration of the Scriptures, in the divinity of Jesus Christ; -in the grand historical facts as well as in the moral precepts of -the Gospel; he was one of the pastors, too, who signed the -remonstrance of the consistory of Nîmes, for the irregularity in -preaching of which Professor Grasc had been guilty. Did M. Samuel -Vincent regard every opinion contrary to these great evangelical -doctrines as an opinion which each man should, in the interest of -the general peace, be entreated to keep to himself? I doubt -whether he would have dared to engraft upon the liberty of -judgment such a reservation; but I doubt at the same time if he -would have persisted in regarding as true and faithful pastors of -the Protestant Church, men who should have openly deserted and -combated, in its most essential foundations, that Christian faith -which he himself professed. He dreaded almost equally "unity -defined," and "dissent declared." He would have remained in the -embarrassment into which those inevitably fall who neither accept -one basis and manifesto of a common faith, nor admit the moral -necessity of a separation into free and distinct Churches when a -common faith does not exist. [Footnote 17] - - [Footnote 17: The principal works of M. Samuel Vincent are: - 1. Vues sur le protestantisme en France, première édition. 2 - vols. 8vo. 1829. A second edition, in 1 vol. 12mo., was - published in 1859 by M. Prévost-Paradol. - - 2. Observations sur l'unité religieuse et observations sur la - voie d'autorité appliquée a la religion, (1820,) contre - l'Essai sur l'indifférance en matière de religion de l'Abbé - de la Mennais. - - 3. Meditations ou recueil de sermons, 1829. - - 4. Mélanges de religion de morale et de critique sacrée. A - periodical published from 1820 to 1825.] - -{138} - -No such embarrassment was experienced by M. Daniel Encontre when -he began his career to serve the movement of awakened -Christianity in the bosom of French Protestantism. I will not -venture here to cite the precise words, harsh and severe, -employed by him on the 13th of December, 1816, at Montauban, in -his capacity of "Doyen" of the faculty of Protestant Theology, -respecting those termed by him "the pretended ministers of the -Gospel, disbelievers in the Gospel and in the divinity of Jesus -Christ." -{139} -He regarded harmony of faith and language, harmony between -shepherd and flock, as the first law of religious society. Born -in a grotto of La Vaunage, to which his mother had fled to escape -from the flames of persecution; devoted from his birth by his -father, the Pastor Pierre Encontre, to the service of a "preacher -in the desert," M. Daniel Encontre belonged to that class of -indomitable Protestants who cling to their faith through all the -perils, sufferings, and sacrifices which it entails. His first -steps in life seemed to indicate in him other aptitudes, and to -promise for him a different career. After having studied divinity -at Lausanne and at Geneva, and been consecrated by his father -himself to the ministry of the Gospel "in an assembly in the -desert," he seemed to doubt his own vocation; for while -performing the functions of his ministry he devoted himself to -the study of mathematics, physics, philosophy, and the classical -languages, with an enthusiasm eager to become familiar with every -department of knowledge, and encountering no hinderance from, -internal obstacles or from preconceived opinions. -{140} -Having established himself at Montpellier, where his taste for -science found subjects of gratification, he led there, during the -dark days of the Revolution, a life very obscure, and at the same -time most laborious; giving lessons to the master masons upon -stone-cutting, imparting instruction, rendering the aids of -religion to Protestants, celebrating the baptismal and marriage -services, and pursuing at the same time his labors in geometry, -botany, philosophy, divinity, literature, and even poetry. When -order began to be re-established, he was led by his own natural -tastes and the counsel of his friends to select as his career -that of public instruction. He competed for and obtained, first -the appointment of professor of literature at the École Centrale -of Montpellier; then that of the higher mathematics, at the Lycée -and in the faculty of science, of which he was nominated "Doyen." -{141} -As his merits established themselves by repeated proofs, his -reputation increased; the papers of learned societies were filled -with his contributions, and the École Polytechnique with his -pupils. "I have met in our department," said Fourcroy, "two or -three heads equal to his, but not one superior." M. de Candolle -gladly selected him to aid him in his "Researches respecting the -Botany of the Ancients;" and M. de Fontanes has more than once -spoken of him to me as one of the men who most honored the -University. But in him, neither the mathematician, the botanist, -nor the philologist took precedence of the Christian. At one time -as expounder of Moses and of Genesis, [Footnote 18] at another as -a writer defending the Apostles, accused of being a copyist of -Plato. [Footnote 19] he neglected no occasion of placing his -scientific attainments at the service of Christianity; - - [Footnote 18: Dissertation sur le vrai système du monde - comparé avec le récit que Moïse fait de la création. - Montpellier, 1807.] - - [Footnote 19: Lettre à M. Combes-Dounous, auteur d'un Essai - historique sur Platon. Paris, 1811. - - A remarkable essay of M. Daniel Encontre, "sur le Péché - original," was published, after his death, in 1822, and he - left a great number of manuscripts, among others a "Traité - sur l'Église," (600 pages,) written in Latin; "Etudes - théologiques," a Hebrew Grammar, a "Cours de philosophie," a - "Cours de litérature Française," a "Flore biblique," several - "Memoires de mathématiques transcendantes," etc. As a teacher - of transcendental mathematics at Montpellier he had as pupil - M. Auguste Comte, the head of the "École positiviste," who, - in spite of the profound diversity of their opinions, - regarded it as a duty to dedicate to him in 1856 his - treatise, "Sur la Synthèse subjective," in testimony of - admiration and of gratitude.] - -{142} - -and when, in 1814, he was asked to quit Montpellier, to abandon -his habits, his tastes, and his friends, for the chair of the -professorship of divinity at Montauban, where he was to fulfill -the functions of "Doyen," he sacrificed without hesitation the -enjoyment of his life to his religious vocation, and applied -himself with unceasing energy to the warlike activity of a -Christian professor, until the day when, overcome by fatigue and -sickness, he accorded to himself the melancholy satisfaction of -returning to Montpellier, in order to die near the tomb of a -beloved daughter, who had long aided him in his labors. - -{143} - -The destinies of Protestantism in France have, to a singular -degree, been at once varied and uniform, confused and simple. -After having in the sixteenth century valiantly disputed the -victory, it was vanquished, decimated, expelled. But it resisted, -and survived not only its defeat, but the gradual process of its -enfeeblement and its expulsion. In the course of the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries the French Protestants lost the -protection of the laws, their secure sanctuaries, their great -chiefs, their great divines, their great writers; but they -preserved nevertheless their faith and their religious honor. In -the times that ensued their successors remained faithful to the -belief and the customs of their fathers; even persecuted and -condemned to death, having their property confiscated, or become -tenants of prisons and laborers in the galleys, they found in -their very sufferings a resource to confirm them in the -principles of Protestant piety. -{144} -Theological controversies died away from among them, leaving -behind them the fundamentals of Christianity--living and guiding -principles. - -Among the higher and wealthier classes, the philosophical ideas -of the eighteenth century made also their way; the great liberal -movement filled the Protestant section of the nation with joy, -and commanded its sympathy without detaching it from its -religious habits and traditions. In its members faith had ceased -to be erudite; the popular Protestant sentiment had been always -profoundly biblical and evangelical. Freer and more fortunately -situated than their fathers, the French Protestants now anxiously -desired to remain, as they had been, Christians; and when, in -1790, Rabaut Saint-Etienne, who succeeded the Abbé de Montesquieu -as President of the Constituent Assembly, wrote to his aged -father, the Pastor Paul Rabaut, "The President of the National -Assembly is at your feet," he manifested to the humble and -zealous preacher in the assemblies of the desert, the pride at -once of a politician, the piety of a son, and the fidelity of a -Protestant. - -{145} - -M. Daniel Encontre was, at the commencement of the nineteenth -century, the faithful representative of this traditionally -religious character of French Protestantism; just as M. Samuel -Vincent was the well-meaning and sincere introducer to it of the -science and criticism of the Germans. The former corresponded -more closely to the pious and national spirit of Protestant -France of the olden times; the latter to the tendencies, at once -novel and indefinitely latitudinarian, of a foreign philosophy -and a foreign erudition. Doubtless, neither measured the range of -the religious crisis of which they were themselves the symptoms; -neither foresaw that within the bosom of Protestantism that -crisis was to be marked by an avowed struggle between Rationalism -in its progress and Christianity in its reaction. - -{146} - -This crisis began to manifest itself at Geneva. The mocking -skepticism of Voltaire, the rhetorical deism of Rousseau, -proclaimed at its gates, had deeply undermined the faith of -Christ in the very city of Calvin. It was not merely some of the -Calvinistic doctrines of the sixteenth century that the pastors -of Geneva doubted or denied, but it was also the fundamental -articles of Christianity; they abandoned not only the Dogmas of -predestination and salvation by faith alone, but the dogmas of -original sin, and of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In 1810 -according to some, as far back as 1802 according to others, -symptoms of an evangelical reaction showed themselves at Geneva -among the students in theology, some of whom afterward became -distinguished pastors or writers. It was not long before MM. -Gaussen, Malan, Gonthier, Bost, Merle d'Aubigné, displayed their -orthodox fervor and their ability. In 1816 a pious Scot, Mr. -Robert Haldane, previously an intrepid sailor, who had only -quitted his calling to devote himself entirely to the service of -his faith, went to Geneva, and contracted with the young -Methodists of that city relations of the greatest intimacy and -activity. -{147} -They had meetings; they discussed, they preached, they prayed, -they wrote. Mr. Haldane could hardly express himself in French; -having his English Bible continually at hand, he turned over its -pages incessantly, pointed out to his friends the passages that -he regarded as decisive, invited them to read them aloud from -their French Bible, and then commented upon them in a manner that -always commanded their favorable attention, the conviction of the -commentator had such moving and persuasive power. [Footnote 20] - - [Footnote 20: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; traduit de l'allemand par C. Malan: 8vo., pp. - 137-149. Genève et Paris. 1862.] - -{148} - -In 1816 and 1817 the evangelical reaction made rapid progress, -and the body of Genevese pastors resolved to combat it by the -voice of authority. They found, however, no better method of -doing so than by insisting upon what, twelve years later, even M. -Samuel Vincent did not scruple to recommend; they prescribed -silence even whilst they proclaimed liberty. "Without"--these are -their words--"giving any judgment upon the questions really -involved, and without controlling in any respect the liberty of -opinions," they imposed a solemn engagement both upon students -demanding to be consecrated to the sacred ministry, and upon -ministers candidates for pastoral functions in the Church of -Geneva. It was conceived as follows: "As long as we reside and -preach in the churches of the Canton of Geneva, we promise to -abstain from establishing, either in entire discourses or in -parts of discourses directed to this object, our opinion--first, -of the manner in which the divine nature was incarnate in the -person of Jesus Christ; secondly, of original sin; thirdly, of -the mode in which grace operates, or grace is efficient; -fourthly, of predestination. We promise also not to combat, in -any public discourse, the opinion of any pastors or ministers -touching these subjects." [Footnote 21] - - [Footnote 21: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; p. 153.] - -{149} - -It is difficult to understand how men ever could have flattered -themselves with the hope of re-establishing peace in the Church -by the employment of so sorry an expedient. Liberty, that has -rent asunder such heavy chains, does not permit itself to be -confined by so flimsy a net. The immediate effect of the -regulation of the Genevese pastors was an outburst of discontent. -The more violent Methodists, MM. Malan and Bost at their head, -proclaimed aloud their separation from the established Church; -the more moderate, among others, MM. Gaussen and Merle d'Aubigné, -persisted in remaining, by right of their ministry, in its bosom, -holding themselves responsible representatives _there_ of -the doctrines of the Reformation, which, in fact, they did -continue to preach and to teach. -{150} -The body of pastors at first used great forbearance toward them, -and respected their liberty; and when the populace, irritated at -the agitation caused in families by the Dissenters, and offended -by the austerity of their precepts, made hostile demonstrations -toward them, the Council of Geneva had the wisdom and fairness to -use measures of repression; but, soon becoming weary of this -painful duty, the Council formally forbade, without its express -permission, any book of religious controversy to be printed at -Geneva. -{151} -The body of pastors soon pronounced as vehement a condemnation of -the moderate Methodists as of the ultra Dissenters. The moderate -Methodists then in their turn resorted to energetic measures in -support of their cause: they founded an evangelical society and a -school of theology; devoted the one to propagate the zeal and the -other to teach the principles of the Christian reaction; and -fifteen years after the commencement of the struggle, the chiefs -of the party which had proclaimed that the free divergence of -individual belief in the bosom of the Church was "the great fact -of our epoch, and the great step that the Reformation had in our -days to make"--these chiefs, being the body of pastors, the -Consistory, and the Council of State at Geneva, suspended M. -Gaussen from his functions of pastor in the parish of Satigny for -having taken part in the organization of an independent form of -worship, and of a school of independent theology; "a proceeding," -they said, "incompatible with the peace of the Church, and to be -regarded as an act of insubordination, tending to bring -ecclesiastical authority into discredit." [Footnote 22] - - [Footnote 22: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; pp. 379-384.] - -Such religious ferment in the primitive home of the French -Reformation, and at the very gates of France, could not fail to -exercise a powerful influence upon the French Protestant Church. -{152} -On quitting Geneva in 1817, Mr. Robert Haldane proceeded to -Montauban, where he formed friendships with some of the -Professors of the Faculty, and among others with M. Daniel -Encontre. He published there also a work in French, which his -friends hastened to circulate. It was styled "Emmanuel: vues -Scripturaires sur Jésus-Christ." In 1818, a society formed in -England, named the "Continental Society," specially devoted -itself to the purpose of seconding on the Continent the progress -of this Christian reaction. An English dissenter, Mr. Mark Wilks, -pastor of the American community formed at Paris, was the most -efficient agent of the societies which had this object in view. -"It might be said of Mr. Wilks," wrote lately the Pastor -Juillerat, "that he might have governed an empire, his character -was so energetic, his mind so active and enterprising. He brought -me aid of every description: money was required, he had money; -pamphlets and books were wanted, no one was better provided; no -one understood better the details pertaining to the printing and -publication of papers." -{153} -Several Protestant journals and magazines, "La Voix de la -Religion Chrétienne au XIX siècle," "Les Archives du -Christianisme au XIX siècle," "Les Mélanges de Religion, de -Morale, et de Critique Sacrée," "L'Evangeliste," "La Revue -Protestante," "Le Semeur," etc., etc., were at this epoch -successively founded and carried in different directions -throughout the scattered Protestant Church, from its central -organization, the fervor which had there been kindled. Genuine -zeal for religion is not satisfied by action from a distance, or -by action upon unknown persons, or by indirect means, as by books -and by journals: it demands direct oral communication from man to -man--the union of men's souls in common prayer. Certain young -pastors who had at first shared in the evangelical movement at -Geneva, MM. Neff, Pyt, Bost, Gonthier, scattered themselves over -France, some assuming functions as local pastors, others as -traveling missionaries, attracting to their proximity groups of -zealous Protestants, animating the lukewarm, and erecting in -every place where they made any stay little centers of -Christianity, which radiated to the neighboring country around. -{154} -Distinct associations, some officially recognized by the State, -others having no public character, [Footnote 23] gave to the -labors of isolated individuals the publicity, the unity, the -permanence which they required; and a special organization -(colportage biblique) which at its commencement numbered only -seven, but a few years afterward had sixty agents, all of them, -although obscure individuals, as zealous as their patrons were -zealous, caused the Holy Scriptures and religious tracts to -penetrate into parts of France hopelessly inaccessible to any -other method of communication and of instruction. - - [Footnote 23: La Société biblique, la Société pour - l'encouragement de l'instruction primaire parmi les - protestants, la Société évangélique de France, la Société des - traités religieuse, la Société des missions protestantes, la - Société centrale pour les intérêts protestants, la Société - d'évangelisation, etc.] - -{155} - -To a movement so earnest and so general, although propagated by a -small number of persons in the heart of a population itself -forming but a small minority in the nation at large, obstacles -would inevitably occur. They were encountered on all hands and of -all kinds, religious and political--from the administration, from -popular prejudices, from the distrust of the Government, from the -hostility of the Roman Catholic clergy, from differences of -opinion on theological points among Protestants themselves, from -the _amour propre_ of individuals, and the perplexed or -timorous ideas of subalterns in authority. The activity of the -Protestant societies created uneasiness in bishops and priests, -who strove not merely to counteract their influence, but to -interfere with their liberty of action. Mayors of towns, judges -of the peace, sometimes too, magistrates and administrators of -more elevated rank, lent their aid to these exceptionable -proceedings. Hence arose suspicions, complaints, and struggles -which retarded the new-born impulse of awakening Christianity. -{156} -But the earnest perseverance of its patrons, the general wisdom -of the supreme Government, and the authority, growing more and -more each day, of the principles of justice and of liberty, -gradually surmounted all these obstacles. It was the Restoration -that recognized the chief Protestant societies and gave them the -sanction of the law. Under the Government of 1830 they used their -rights with more confidence and fewer hinderances. The equitable -intentions of King Louis Philippe and of his counselors upon -religious matters could not be doubtful, whatever their caution -not to cause uneasiness or wound the susceptibilities of the -Roman Catholics. The Protestants now believed it to be no longer -necessary to look to foreign support. Formed at Paris in 1833, -the Evangelical Society of France experienced a momentary impulse -of national jealousy, the result of which was some coldness in -its relations with the Continental Society of London; but as soon -as the latter perceived that its direct interference was rather -an embarrassment than a necessity to the Christian reaction in -France, it withdrew its agency without withholding its sympathy, -and handed over to the Evangelical Society of France all the -"stations" and religious charities which had up to that time been -founded by its exertions. - -{157} - -The awakening of Christianity among the Protestants of France had -now produced such results that it mattered little who the patrons -of the movement might be; it had assumed its true character, and -was drawing its strength from the fountain of truth. In times of -religious incredulity and of religious indifference, and even in -the transitional times which immediately ensue, it is the error -of many, and even of men who respect and support religion, to -consider it in the light of a great political institution--a -salutary system of moral police, however necessary to society, -indebted for its merits and its prerogatives rather to its -practical utility than to its intrinsic truth. -{158} -Grave error, misconceiving both the nature and the origin of -religion, and calculated to deprive it both of its empire and its -dignity! Utility men hold as of great account, but it is only -truth that commands unconditional surrender. Utility enjoins -prudence and forbearance; truth alone inspires feelings of -confidingness and devotion. A religion having no other guarantee -for its influence and its endurance than its social utility would -be very near its ruin. Men have need of, nay, they thirst for -truth in their relations with God, even more than in their -relations with one another; the spontaneous prayer, adoration, -obedience, suppose faith. It was in the very name of the verity -of the Christian religion, of that verity manifested in its -history by the word and even by the presence of God, that the -awakening of Christians was accomplished among us. The laborers -in this great work felt the faith of Christianity, and they -diffused it; had they spoken only of the social utility of -Christianity, they would never have made the conquest of a single -human soul. - -{159} - -At first sight one is tempted to attribute this success to energy -of faith on the part of these laborers in the cause, to the -active and devoted perseverance of their zeal. Again a mistake! -Not that human merit was without its share in the results; but -even where the faith was thus propagated, the share that that -faith itself had in the result was infinitely greater, from its -own proper and inherent virtue, than any share of men. -Incredulity and indifferentism may diffuse themselves and pretend -to dominate; they leave unsolved the problems that lie in the -depth of man's soul: they do not rid him of his perplexities, of -instinct or of reflection, as to the world's creation and man's -creation, the origin of good and evil, providence and fate, human -liberty and human responsibility, man's immortality and his -future state. -{160} -Instead of the denials and the doubts that had been thrown over -these unescapable questions, those who applied themselves fully -to rouse awakened Christianity, recalled the human soul to the -memory of positive solutions of these questions; solutions in -accordance with the traditions of their native land, in -accordance with their habits as members of families, and in -harmony with the recollections of early childhood; solutions -often contested, never refuted; always recurring in the lapse of -ages, and century after century! It was from the intrinsic and -permanent value of the doctrines which they were preaching, and -not from themselves, that the laborers in the work derived their -force and their credit. - -They had another principle of force as well; a force born and -developed in the bosom of the Christian religion, and in that -alone; they had the passionate desire to save human souls. Men -are not, they never have been, struck as they ought to have been -struck with the beauty of this passion, or with its novelty in -the moral history of the world, or with the part that it has -played among Christian nations. -{161} -Before the era of Christianity, in times of Asiatic and European -antiquity, pagans and philosophers busied themselves about the -destiny of men after the close of their earthly life, and with -curiosity, too, did they sound the obscurity; but the ardent -solicitude for the eternal welfare of human souls, the -never-wearying labor to prepare human souls for eternity--to set -them even during this existence in intimate relations with God, -and to prepare them to undergo God's judgments;--we have in all -this a fact essentially Christian, one of the sublimest -characteristics of Christianity, and one of the most striking -marks of its divine origin. God constantly in relation with -mankind and with every man, God present during the actual life of -every man, and God the arbiter of his future destiny; the -immortality of each human soul, and the connection between his -actual life and his future destiny; the immense value of each -human soul in the eyes of God, and the immense import to the soul -of the future that awaits it: these are the convictions and the -affirmations all implied in the one passion alluded to, the -passion for the salvation of men's souls, which was the whole -life of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which passed by his example and -by his precepts into the life of his primitive disciples, and -which, amid the diversities of age, people, manners, opinions, -has remained the characteristic feature and the inspiring breath -of the genius of Christianity; breath which animated the men who -in our days labored, and with success, to revive Christian faith -among the Protestants of France! -{162} -Their zeal was employed in a very circumscribed sphere; beyond it -their names were unknown, and unknown they have remained. What -spectators, what readers, what public knew at that time, or know -even at this moment, what manner of men they were or what their -deeds--those men who called themselves Neff, Bost, Pyt, Gonthier, -Audebez, Cook, Wilks, Haldane? -{163} -But who, I would ask, in the time of Tacitus and of Pliny, knew -what manner of men they were, and what the deeds of Peter, Paul, -John, Matthew, Philip--the unknown disciples of the Master, -unknown himself, who had overcome the world? Notoriety is not -essential to influence; and in the sphere of the soul, as in the -order of nature, fountains are not the less abundant because -their springs are hidden in obscurity. The Christian missionaries -of our time did not trouble themselves to lessen that obscurity. -To literary celebrity they had no pretension, nor did they seek -the triumph of any political idea, of any specific system of -ecclesiastical organization, of any favorite plan in which their -personal vanity was interested: the salvation of human souls was -their only passion, and their only object. They looked upon -themselves as humble servants commissioned to remind men of -promises which they had forgotten--of promises of salvation by -faith in Jesus. "The stir of the reaction," one of themselves has -said, "bore impressed upon it the character of youth, or even of -childhood. -{164} -The humblest pastor on his circuit became a missionary; his -transit was regarded almost like that of a meteor. On the instant -an assembly was convoked, it numbered twenty, thirty, fifty, a -hundred, two hundred persons, collected to listen joyfully, as if -it were a great novelty or miracle, to that Gospel which we know -by heart;--alas! which we know by heart far more than we have it -in the heart!" [Footnote 24] - - [Footnote 24: Mémoires pouvant servir à l'histoire du réveil - religieux des églises protestantes de la Suisse et de la - France, par A. Bost, (1854,) t. 1, p. 240.] - -Who could mistake, on hearing such sentiments and such language, -the really Christian character of the reaction? - -Never-ending weakness of man's nature, and inevitable -imperfection of man's work, even when man is walking in the ways -of God! In the midst of awakening Christianity, and of this -fervent return to the faith of the Gospel, reappeared some of the -ancient pretensions of theology, and among others the pretension -to penetrate the decrees of God and to define the terms of man's -salvation. - -{165} - -In February, 1818, the pious and orthodox "Doyen" of the -Protestant Faculty of Montauban, M. Daniel Encontre, rendering an -account of the work of Mr. Robert Haldane, (Emmanuel, ou vues -Scripturaires sur Jésus-Christ,) which had just appeared, -hastened, after having justly commended it, to add: "The -concluding pages of the 'Emmanuel' express sentiments which -Evangelical Christians are far from sharing. The author lays down -the principle, that all men who do not believe in the perfect -equality of the _Son_ and of the _Father_, are enemies -alike of both _Father_ and _Son_; that they deny, and -blaspheme against both, and cannot avoid eternal death. He -regards the forbearance we show to them as infinitely criminal, -and seems even inclined to condemn all who have not the courage -to condemn them. As for me, I venture to believe that it is the -duty of a Christian to work out his own salvation without -allowing himself to pronounce upon the salvation of others. -{166} -_Judge not, that ye be not judged_, says He whom we all -acknowledge as our Master; and St. Paul adds, '_Who art -thou_ that condemnest another man's servant?' I seize this -opportunity to declare to all men desirous to hear it, that I -believe firmly in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that -I adopt in every respect the Nicæan Creed. I dare to affirm -besides, that these sentiments are actually those of all the -members of our Faculty, as they have always been those of our -Churches. It seems to me that persons who know not Jesus Christ -as 'God above all things, blessed eternally,' are much to be -pitied, and want the greatest of all consolations. This error -appears the more dangerous, because it is generally followed by -other errors; for the truths which are the objects of faith are -so connected and riveted together, that it is impossible to -discard one without shaking or overturning all the others. -{167} -These truths form together a majestic edifice, to which all its -parts are absolutely necessary, and which falls in ruins if a -breach be made anywhere; and particularly, if the first stone -removed be the keystone of the corner. But what would become of -us all, if the erring, even when they err in good faith, had no -hope of access to the throne of grace? Men who, as I do, feel how -much they need God's mercy, and man's indulgence, feel little -disposition to be severe toward others." [Footnote 25] - - [Footnote 25: Archives du Christianisme aux XIX e siècle, t. - 1, pp. 63-66.] - -In holding this language, M. Encontre was not merely performing, -on his own account, an act of humility and of Christian charity; -he was touching upon one of the supreme questions which, in our -days, are occasioning a crisis in Christendom; and he was -indicating its true and its sole solution. Like all passions, -(the best are not exempt,) the passion for the salvation of man's -soul is full of enthusiasm and fall of blindness; it believes too -readily in the possibility of attaining the object; it is too -unscrupulous and undiscriminating in the means. -{168} -Hence sprung religious tyranny and theological intolerance: the -powerful thought they could compel the human soul to work out its -own salvation; the learned believed they could define the -conditions of that salvation. Mistakes, both of them, profoundly -antichristian! Just as no power of man has the right to strip any -single soul, created by God free and responsible, of its liberty -of conscience; so, equally, no science of man can define the laws -and the facts that shall regulate the future state of the soul. -Liberty is, on this earth, the principle of the moral life of -man; man's state beyond this earth is a question between him and -his Maker, and to be determined by the use which man may have -here made of his liberty. To respect God's gift of liberty to -man, and the mystery of God's decrees respecting man's salvation, -is in reality the law of Christians; and it is only on this -double condition that there really is either any awakening or any -progress of Christians. - -{169} - -Nothing does more honor to the memory of M. Daniel Encontre than -to have been one of the first to understand and to fulfill this -double duty. Firmly attached to those fundamental articles of -belief which are Christianity itself, he was strange to every -narrowness or exaggeration of doctrine, to every presumptuousness -of opinion, and to every theological intolerance; his piety was -comprehensive, without there being any vagueness in his faith; -his Christianity was that of a Liberal; nor did his attainments -as a mathematician indispose him to remain a Christian. - -Scarcely was M. Encontre dead, when two new men, both, like him, -eminent as pastors and professors--M. Alexandre Vinet and M. -Adolphe Monod--appeared on the religious arena, and gave more -éclat to the Christian reaction by using similar means, and by -impelling the Protestant Church of France in the same direction. - -{170} - -Although he was born and continually lived and wrote in -Switzerland, M. Alexandre Vinet was of French extraction; he -belongs to France as much as to Switzerland, for he knew, and -understood, and loved France as much as he did Switzerland. He -served, too, the cause of religious liberty, and the Christian -reaction, in France not less than in Switzerland. A delicate -child, son of a poor and an austere school-master, who destined -him to the obscure life of a village clergyman, he manifested -from the commencement of his laborious career an ardent taste for -literature and for study, which promised him a rich reward in the -intellectual enjoyment of the chef-d'oeuvres of ancient and -modern literature. He was found upon one occasion in his little -chamber in a fit of enthusiasm and affected to tears by a perusal -of the "Cid." At the age of twenty he became Professor of French -Literature at Bâle; and there he devoted himself to the service -of every candidate upon the Rhine or upon the Swiss Alps who -required to be taught to comprehend and admire the great writers -of France of whatever age, and in whatever department of -literature. -{171} -Philosophers and orators, prose-writers and poets, Christians or -Freethinkers, Catholics or Protestants, Conservatives or -Reformers, Classicists or Romanticists--all the men who have -constituted the intellectual and literary glory of France, -obtained in this fervent Methodist of the Valdenses an admirer as -warm as he was intelligent and impartial. The prevailing -characteristic of M. Vinet's literary essays and criticisms is -their geniality; and wherever he encounters any spark or trace of -the true or the beautiful, under whatever banner they appear, and -however they may be mingled with opinions otherwise shocking to -his feelings, he is at once attracted and moved, and he admires -and praises with enthusiasm. His was a mind of comprehensive -sympathies, open to every impression, keen to appreciate, always -ready to enjoy everything that deserved to give pleasure, even -although it might be only momentarily and in passing. - -{172} - -This passionate admirer of the beautiful, this critic, so -liberal-minded and so impartial, was a sound and uncompromising -moralist, as well as a pious and firm Christian. The predominant -idea of all his literary judgments is moral; and this determines -the tone of his criticism, and the impression which it leaves -behind it, without ever rendering it either harsh, or illiberal, -or narrow-minded. In the sphere of positive belief, without -importing into controversies between believer and believer any -microscopic criticism of detail, M. Vinet has never, upon the -divine origin and the fundamental dogmas of Christianity, had the -least hesitation, never made the smallest concession; he grapples -directly with the most specious and the most popular objections -of his adversaries, and combats them with a conviction the -expression of which becomes more and more eloquent the clearer -and the more complete its manifestation. "To attempt to -distinguish morality from dogma," he says, "is to attempt to -distinguish a river from its source. -{173} -The Christian dogma is at its outset a morality, although a -Christian one. Just as God, in the creed of Christianity, reveals -himself under a form that nature did not announce, Christian -morality, in its turn, invests itself with a character that -nature would never have impressed upon it. Man finding his own -inability to make himself a religion, God came to aid him in his -weakness. It is now rather more than eighteen centuries since, in -an obscure corner of the world, there appeared a man. I do not -say that a long series of prophets had announced the coming of -that man; that a long series of miracles had marked with the seal -of God the nation where he was to be born, and even the prophecy -which foretold him; that, in a word, an imposing mass of evidence -surrounds and authenticates him. I say merely that that man -preached a religion. That religion is not natural religion; the -dogmas of the existence of God and of the soul's immortality are -everywhere taken for granted in his discourses--never taught, -never proved. -{174} -Neither are the ideas which he teaches deduced logically from the -primitive axioms of reason; that which he teaches, that which -forms the substance of his doctrine, embraces subjects which -confound the reason, and to which the reason has neither way nor -access; he preaches a God on earth, a God man, a God poor, a God -crucified; he preaches wrath involving the innocent, mercy -exempting the guilty from all condemnation, God the victim of -man, and man forming one person with God; he preaches a new -birth, without which man can never be saved; he preaches the -sovereignty of God's grace, and the plenitude of the liberty of -man. I do not in any way qualify his teaching; I give them to you -as they are, and without disguise; I seek not to justify them. -You may, if you please, feel surprise, you may take offense; -scruple not to do so. But when you have to your heart's content -wondered at their strangeness, I on my side will propose to you -another subject for your wonder. -{175} -These strange dogmas conquered the world. In their very infancy -they invaded learned Athens, rich Corinth, haughty Rome. They -gathered together 'Confessors' from workshops, from prisons, from -schools, from the courts of justice, and from thrones. Conquerors -of civilization, they triumphed over barbarism; they made to pass -under the same yoke the degraded Roman, the savage Sicambrian. -The forms of society have changed; society has been dissolved and -moulded afresh. They alone have endured in their integrity. No -other doctrine, whether of philosophy or of religion, lasted: -each had its time; each time its idea; and, as a celebrated -writer has said, the religious sentiment, abandoned to itself, -chose for itself moulds in accordance with the time, which it -broke when the time was no longer there. But the dogma of the -Cross persisted in recurring. -{176} -Had it only taken possession of a certain class of persons it -would have been much, it would perhaps have been even -inexplicable; but you find followers of the Cross in the camp and -in civil life, among the rich and among the poor, among the bold -and among the timid, among the learned and among the ignorant. -This dogma is good for all, everywhere, always; it never grows -old. The religion of the Cross appears nowhere in arrear of -civilization; on the contrary, far as civilization may progress, -it ever finds Christianity in advance. Suppose not that a -complaisant Christianity will ever cancel any article or expunge -any idea to accommodate itself to the age: no, it derives its -strength from its inflexibility, and needs not make any surrender -to be in harmony with what is beautiful, legitimate, true; for it -is in itself the type of them all. Still it is not a religion -which flatters man; and the worldly, by keeping aloof, show -plainly enough that Christianity is a strange doctrine. Those who -dare not reject it strive to render it palatable. They strip it -of what offends them--of its myths, as they are pleased to style -them; they almost make out of Christ's doctrine a -_rationalism_. -{177} -But, singular to say, once a rationalism it has no longer any -force; in this respect resembling one of the most marvelous -creatures in the animate world, to which it is death to lose its -sting. The _strange_ dogmas disappear, but with them all -zeal, fervor, sanctity, charity, disappear also; the salt of the -earth has lost its savor, and we know not by what means to -restore it. But, on the other hand, do you learn that somewhere -or other there is an awakening of Christians, that Christianity -is resuscitating, that faith shows signs of life, that zeal -abounds? Ask not in what soil these precious plants are -springing; you may pronounce yourself: it is in the rude and -rugged soil of orthodoxy, in the shade of the mysteries which -confound human reason, and of which human reason would like so -much to get rid, ... Some passages in the fair work of M. -Saint-Marc Girardin upon dramatic literature might, at least I -fear so, lead to the conclusion that Christianity is, in its -essence, only the result of a natural progress of man's mind, a -gradual development of ancient wisdom. -{178} -Such, for instance, is the passage where the author tells us that -the Greeks were advancing step by step toward Christian -spiritualism. We regret that M. Saint-Marc Girardin did not say -in what sense he understood this, and within what limits. We hope -that he will not see in us the champion of a captious orthodoxy, -if we say that nothing so much weakens the authority of -Christianity, that nothing prejudices in men's minds its cause -more, than to treat it as a link in the chain, which chain in -reality it severed. That events, that is, Providence, did -aforehand hollow a bed in the regions of the west for this divine -river, what believer, however rigid, would ever entertain any -scruple in admitting? But still it is essential that we should -not misapprehend the source whence that river welled forth. -{179} -No natural development of events, either among the Jews or among -the Greeks, can account for the existence of Christianity. -Whatever the progress made by the ancients, there never was a -time when there existed not an infinity between their ideas, and -the ideas of Christianity; and infinity alone can fill up the -gulf between. There is an end of Christianity if men agree in -thinking the contrary--if they succeed in causing the -Supernatural to assume a place in one of the compartments of the -Philosophy of History. As far as we are concerned, we would -prefer for the Christian religion the most outrageous denial, to -an admiration circumscribed within such limits. Christ's faith is -nothing if not, like Melchisedek without earthly parent here -below, and without genealogy." [Footnote 26] - - [Footnote 26: Essai sur la manifestation des convictions - religieuses, p. 85. Premiers discours, pp. 14, 50, 53. - Littérature Française, vol. iii, p. 623.] - -{180} - -Whoever indicated with greater distinctness the keystone in the -edifice of Christianity, or ever clung to it more closely? M. -Vinet occupied himself in turn with freedom of conscience and of -man's thought, with the faith of Christ, and with the literature -of France. These three subjects became the passions of his life, -stirring his soul, though at unequal depths. But of these three -only one, the passion for literature, was a source to him of -tranquil and unmitigated enjoyment. In his advocacy of man's -liberty and of Christianity, M. Vinet had to pass not only -through the ordeal of intellectual labors and combats, but -through the solicitudes and sorrows of life. The defender of the -liberty of forms of worship, crowned as such by the "Societé -Français de la Morale Chrétienne," lived to see this liberty -attacked in his native Switzerland, at once by popular fury and -by civil authority. The fervent promoter of the Christian -reaction, beheld one hundred and sixty evangelical pastors of the -Canton of the Vaud, his companions in this pious work, forced to -quit their "Chairs" in order to preserve their faith. -{181} -And it was in sickness, and at the approach of death, that M. -Vinet had to undergo all this. Neither his faith nor the -tranquillity of his soul was disturbed. He continued, to his last -hour, to be the active champion of liberty, the faithful servant -of Christ, the eloquent admirer and commentator upon French -literature, which he followed in all its phases, whether calm or -stormy, whether pure or defiled. "After all," so he wrote in -1845, "I am not one of those who despair; God, without any -violence to our freedom of action, rather by that freedom itself, -conducts us to the unknown shores. The ports at which we land do -not all of them afford secure mooring; we know something of that -even in this little country. Our progress will be slow, and amid -storms; but the circle of universal truth will be completed, and -man's sense of moral right and wrong will be improved, at the -same time that man's science will be enriched. -{182} -I should feel horror if I thought that _Some One_ is not at -the center of all this movement, holding all its elements in his -hand; _Some One_ to whom, whether they know him or do not -know him, the aspirations of all creatures ascend in their -sorrow, and whom they instinctively salute with the sweet -reassuring name of 'Father.'" [Footnote 27] - - [Footnote 27: Notice sur M. Alexandra Vinet, par M. E. - Souvestre, published in the Magazin Pittoresque de 1848, p. - 81. - - The principal works of M. Alexandre Vinet are: - - 1. Traité et Polémique sur la liberté des cultes. 1826, 1852. - - 2. Discours sur quelques sujets religieux. 1831, 1853. - - 3. Essais de philosophic et de morale religieuse. 1837. - - 4. Essai sur la manifestation des convictions religieuses, et - sur la séparation de l'Église et de État. 1842, 1858. - - 5. Études et méditations évangéliques. 1847, 1849, 1851. - - 6. Études sur Pascal. 1848, 1856. - - 7. Chrestomathie Française, Histoire de la littérature - Française au XVIII siècle, et Études sur la littérature - Française au XIX siècle. 1829, 1849, 1853, etc. - - He wrote, besides, numerous short pieces, and articles in - reviews and journals, suggested by topics of the day.] - -Upon a single point, the relations of Church and State, his usual -comprehensiveness of view and independence of thought appeared to -abandon M. Vinet. -{183} -Justly struck and afflicted by his own experience of the -inconveniences of a strict bond between Church and State, -disgusted at the servility and falsity which frequently are, -sometimes on the part of the State, sometimes on the part of the -Church, its results, he concluded that in all cases all alliance -between the two conditions of society is radically vicious; and -he declared their entire separation a general and absolute -principle, the sole reasonable and just system, the sole -efficacious guarantee of truth and of liberty in spirituals or -temporals. He thus ignored, it appears to me, the natural causes -which produce, and the human motives which sanction, a certain -alliance between societies civil and ecclesiastical; he ignored -also the inestimable advantages which, at certain times and in -certain circumstances, each may derive, and has actually derived, -from that alliance. In the United States of America, the entire -separation of the State and of the different Churches was -necessary and salutary, for it was the spontaneous consequence of -the condition of men's minds, and of the position of society. -{184} -In England, in spite of the acts of injustice, and the ills -engendered by the intimate union of the state with a Church -legally constituted and having exclusive privileges, the -coexistence of the Church of England with the freedom, more and -more every day complete and recognized, of the Churches of the -Dissenters, was for the Christian religion a potent principle of -life, of force, and of durability. - -And if we go back to the ancient history of Europe, who can doubt -that at the fall of the Roman Empire, if the State and the Church -had not, although distinct institutions, been allied, the -development of Christianity would have been far less energetic, -and its conquest of its barbarous conquerors far more -problematical? This is, I repeat, a question not of principle, -but of time, of place, of circumstance, and of condition of -society. A complete separation of Church and State may be good -and practicable; it is neither the only good system, nor is it -always a practicable system. - -{185} - -An alliance of the two upon certain fixed terms has its -inconveniences and its perils, but its effects may be also very -salutary; it may be essential, and does not of necessity exclude -religious sincerity or religious liberty. M. Vinet, in discussing -the subject, lost sight of the general history of human -societies, and attached too much importance to the specious and -transient facts which he had before his eyes. - -If M. Vinet were now living, he might in his own country behold -two fair examples of the good results of the mixed systems which -he so absolutely condemned. In the Cantons of the Vaud and of -Geneva, after the violent and painful contests to which I have -above referred, a dissenting Independent Church was established -by the side of a Church recognized and supported by the State. In -neither canton was this establishment a temporary expedient, the -fruit of a momentary ardor; the Independent Church has -consolidated and developed itself; it endures and prospers. Like -the Establishment, it has its pastors, its churches, its -solemnities, its schools for general and for superior -instruction. -{186} -I have before me facts and figures which prove its vitality and -its progress. And not only did the Established Church finally -acquiesce in the peaceable existence of the independent Church, -it also profited by it, and its salutary influence has been -frankly acknowledged by its worthiest pastors. In Switzerland, as -in England, Scotland, and Holland, and in our days more easily -and more promptly than in ancient times, the existence on the one -side of a national Church recognized by the State, has given to -the different forms of Christian belief a stability and a dignity -which have secured its permanent effects upon succeeding -generations; the existence, on the other side, of independent -Churches, and the religious emulation between the two -establishments, have turned in both to the profit of faith and of -piety. - -{187} - -M. Adolphe Monod seemed, even more than M. Vinet, to promise by -natural bent of his character, and by the incidents of his life, -to become the champion of an entire separation of Church and -State. At the very commencement of his career, he suffered from a -Government based upon their connection. Pastor at Lyons, in 1831, -of the established Protestant Church, he was dismissed from these -functions by the Consistory of that city, as too exacting in his -orthodoxy, and as troubling by his exigencies the peace of his -Church. He then became the founder and pastor of a small -dissenting and independent Church at Lyons. The energy with which -he expressed his convictions, and the excellence of his -preaching, rapidly spread, and increased his renown for piety. -Numerous Protestants manifested the desire to see him once more -within the pale of the national Church. He made no objection; a -Chair becoming vacant in the Faculty of Montauban, M. Adolphe -Monod was nominated, and from 1836 to 1847 he both lectured and -preached at Montauban with a commanding ability that made itself -felt, not only among the majority of the students, but propagated -its influences to a distance among the principal centers of -French Protestantism. -{188} -In 1847 he was summoned to Paris as the suffragan of another -pastor, M. Juillerat. Nor did he scruple to accept this secondary -and precarious situation. He had full confidence in the divine -vocation, and was firmly resolved to proceed to any place where -the faith of Christ might demand his services. He had, in the -evangelical chair, even more success at Paris than at Lyons and -Montauban. When, after the Revolution of 1848, a general assembly -of the Reformed Churches of France assembled for the purposes of -considering their institutions and discussing points of common -interest, a grave question was raised, and became the subject of -warm and lengthened debate: Should French Protestants proclaim -their ancient Confession of Faith, that of Rochelle, or should -they proclaim a confession of new articles; or lastly, should -they remain passive and do nothing? some, and particularly their -pastor, M. Frederic Monod, elder brother of M. Adolphe Monod, -announced their determination to retire from the assembly and -from the established Church, unless they adopted a Confession of -Faith in accordance with the traditional principles of the -Reformation. -{189} -The inertness of the hesitating and timid assembly was equivalent -to a refusal, and they did in effect retire. To the great -surprise and great regret of his adversaries, M. Adolphe Monod, -although favorable to the principles of the Confession of Faith, -did not follow the example by retiring; he even succeeded his -brother as titular pastor in the Church of Paris, and published -to the world the motives of his conduct. [Footnote 28] - - [Footnote 28: In his work entitled, Pourquoi je demeure dans - l'Église établie.] - -{190} - -His motives were good, such as a man of elevated character and -energetic purpose might conceive and might avow. In spite of -their importance, the questions which concern the organization of -the Church and its eternal relations were, in the eyes of M. -Adolphe Monod, only secondary considerations, subject in a -certain measure to time and to circumstance. For him the question -of faith was supreme; and he occupied himself infinitely more -with the spiritual state of souls than with ecclesiastical -government. To the serious thinker the Christian faith is quite -different from any conception or conviction of the understanding; -it is a general condition of the whole man; it is the very life -of the soul; not merely its actual life, but the source and the -guarantee of its future life. The faith in Christ Jesus, the -Redeemer, the Saviour, makes the life of a Christian; and the -life of a Christian is a preparation for an eternal salvation. -With this faith penetrating to his very marrow, and with the -intimate persuasion of its consequences, the duty of giving a -voice to that faith, and of diffusing it, was the dominant idea, -the permanent passion, of M. Adolphe Monod. -{191} -He had not himself been always firmly settled in his religious -convictions; he had been a prey to great moral perplexities, and -to attacks of profound melancholy. When he had escaped from -these--or rather, to use his own words, "when God had become -really the master of his heart"--he had no other thought but that -of bringing other souls to the same state, and of rousing them to -a faith in Christ, with a view to their eternal salvation. The -position which he regarded as of all the most appropriate for -himself, was one in which he could most profitably forward this -work. When in 1848 the question was thus put to him, and when he -had been convinced both by his past observation of the Protestant -Church of France during the last twenty years, and by his own -experience of it, that the established Church offered to him in -his Christian purpose the vastest field of exertion, and the best -chance of success, he did not hesitate to remain in it. "I find -in the situation," he said, "grave disorders, of which it is my -duty to seek unceasingly the reform; but that situation has also -its hopeful side. -{192} -A long development of my ideas would be superfluous; let us -confine ourselves to some striking facts. Try and reckon how many -orthodox pastors our Church possessed when the reaction began in -1819, and then make a similar calculation for 1849. I do not mean -to fix the precise numbers; but is it too much to say, that in -the course of a single generation the number of orthodox pastors -is ten, fifteen, twenty times perhaps as great? This applies to -the clergy, of whom everywhere the immense influence is felt. -Among their congregations it is less easy to follows things; but -the attentive observer does not fail to mark similar indications. -Behold our religious societies: are not the most popular among -them those which hoisted most manfully the colors of orthodoxy? -And if some are in a languishing condition, is it not because -they offered in this respect fewest guarantees? Evidently the -first condition of existence for our religious institutions of -charity is sound doctrine. -{193} -My readers, permit me to question you still more closely. Throw -your eyes upon the eight or ten families best known to you, -beginning with your own, and compare what they are now with what -they were in 1819; contrast their occupations, tastes, -sacrifices, and intercourse, the modes of education, the books -read, friendships formed, and so on; and then declare, thankless -ones, if God has allowed you to be without encouragement." -[Footnote 29] - - [Footnote 29: Pourquoi je demeure dans l'Église établie, par - M. Adolphe Monod, pp. 25-32. Paris, 1849.] - -M. Adolphe Monod had good reason to draw attention to this -general progress of Christianity; but there was another progress -also deserving notice, that which he had himself made, and which -he was making more and more every day, in the attainment of the -true and distinguishing character of a Christian. - -{194} - -At the commencement of his career as a minister of the Gospel, in -his different controversies, and especially in his controversy -with the Consistory of Lyons, he had shown rudeness, impatience, -and want of foresight; he had been too precipitate in enforcing -his faith by arguments, and too much disposed to undervalue the -obstacles in its way. Thanks to his genuine sincerity and the -natural elevation of his character, time, experience, and success -had given at once breadth and suppleness to his thought. Faith -had generated modesty, and hope patience. Contrary to the -ordinary bias of men, his liberalism had increased in the same -measure as his strength. As an act of duty he made in 1848 an -avowal of the state of his mind in this respect. "The age," he -said, "reproaches us with '_exclusisme_,' (exclusiveness,) a -new word expressly invented to denote its favorite charge; for -false ideas the age has only the resource of a barbarous -phraseology. This '_exclusisme_' is the sole thing which the -age cannot tolerate in matters of doctrine: it is prepared, it -says to itself, to take everything within its pale except the -'exclusives.' -{195} -Thus they demand from us only one change in the profession of our -faith; they call upon us to substitute for our usual prefatory -formula, 'This is the truth,' the words, 'This is my opinion.' -And if they, in claiming such qualification of language, limited -their demand to things which, in spite of any relative -importance, do not constitute the substance of the faith and of -the life of a Christian, we should do what they require; perhaps -I should rather say, we do it already, as brother should do to -brother, and in the interest of truth itself. It is one of the -distinctive features of the awakening of Christians in our epoch, -that charitably sparing in the absolute dogmatism of which the -sixteenth century was prodigal, they make dogmas of only a small -number of fundamental doctrines. And even of these they strive to -contract the circle, until having reached the vital forces, the -very heart, so to say, of truth, they sum it up in one single -name, Jesus Christ, and in one single word, grace. -{196} -Whoever is of that faith, whatever name he bears elsewhere, and -whatever place he occupies in the Universal Church--Lutheran, -Anglican, Methodist, Moravian, Baptist, nay, Roman Catholic, or -Greek Catholic, we receive that man as a brother in Christ Jesus; -and not we only, but the whole contemporary Evangelical Church, -with certain exceptions becoming every day rarer, and arising -from a narrow or sectarian pietism. Hence the 'Evangelical -Alliance,' formed in our own time of more than twenty Protestant -denominations, the prelude only to another evangelical alliance -which will exclude none who rely upon the sole merits of Jesus -Christ, the Saviour and Lord of all. - -"Our '_exclusisme_,' besides, has not for its objects -individuals but doctrines. Absolute affirmation is legitimate -when the object is to define the faith, which is the promise of -salvation, for God has clearly revealed it in his word; but when -the object is to mark the individuals who possess that saving -faith, similar affirmation could not be used without temerity; -for God has nowhere revealed to us either the internal state of -any man, or the final lot reserved for him. -{197} -_We_ exclude no man, _we_ judge no man, alive or dead; -the judgment of the quick and of the dead belongs to God alone. -Doubtless we estimate, according to our ability, the spiritual -condition of a man by his works, as we do a tree by its fruits; -Jesus himself invites us to do so. Doubtless, when we see a man -living and dying in the works of the faith, we hope for him, and -our hope may grow even to a firm assurance; and when, on the -contrary, we see a man living and dying in the works of -incredulity, we have a feeling of anxiety for him--a feeling as -painful as it is mysterious. But, after all, neither in the first -case nor in the second, and still less in the second than the -first, are we authorized to pronounce any personal judgment; and -but for the paradoxical turn of the expression, I would willingly -adopt the language of the devout Bunyan: Three things would -astonish me in heaven; first, not to see there certain persons -whom I expect to see there; secondly, to see there those I do not -expect to see there; and thirdly, which would surprise me most, -to see myself there.'" [Footnote 30] - - [Footnote 30: Sermon sur l'Exclusisme, ou l'unité de la foi, - in the Recueil des Sermons de M. Adolphe Monod. 3me série, t. - ii, pp. 386-390. Paris, 1860. The sermons of M. Adolphe Monod - have been collected and published in four vols. 8vo. Paris, - 1856-1860. He also wrote several small works, among others: - - 1. Lucile, ou la lecture de la Bible. 1841. - - 2. La Destitution d'Adolphe Monod, récit inédit, rédigé par - luimême. 1864. - - 3. Récit des conférences qui ont eu lieu en 1834, entre - quelques Catholiques Remains et M. Adolphe Monod. Paris, - 1860. - - 4. Les adieux d'Adolphe Monod à ses amis et à l'église. - Paris, 1856.] - -{198} - -A piety so profound, and at the same time so modest and so large, -expressed with an eloquence which combined an impassioned -earnestness of language with an impassioned earnestness of -conviction, could not fail to exercise great influence. As a -preacher, M. Adolphe Monod was powerful. -{199} -He had acquired, not by careful and cold observation, but by an -assiduous and conscientious study of the Gospels and of himself, -a remarkable knowledge of human nature, of its strength and of -its weakness, of its deficiencies and of its aspirations. He laid -siege, so to speak, to the souls of men, and he pressed the siege -ardently and with skill; he assailed all their gates, and pursued -them to their innermost defenses, keeping constantly displayed -the banner of Christ, and inspiring them with the perfect -confidence that he was urging them to take _their_ stand, -too, beneath it, not from any human motive, or any desire of -glory to himself, but from a serious desire for their souls' -welfare, and from it alone. Thus did he gain over to his Divine -Master the hearts disposed to receive him, strongly shake the -purpose of those not confirmed in their rebellion, and leave -astonished and intimidated those whom he did not bring over. As -pastor also his influence was extraordinary; his life was the -reflection and the commentary upon his preaching. -{200} -He applied first to his own case the precepts of his faith, and -the conclusions therefrom logically deducible. As he said nothing -that he did not think, so he thought nothing that he did not -practice; and without being readily impressionable, like that of -M. Vinet, his zeal was expansive, and his piety gave him no rest -from the task of diffusing by example and precept the faith and -the practice of Christianity. Attacked by a painful and incurable -illness, which at last condemned him to immobility, he did not -suffer it to render him inactive and useless. Every Sunday during -the last six months of his life, his family, some pastors his -colleagues, and as many attached friends as his chamber could -receive, gathered around his bed, and his zeal surmounted his -pain. He addressed to them, to use his very words, "sometimes the -regret of a dying man, sometimes the results of his own -experiences of faith and of life." The devout assemblage was -again convoked, at his expressed wish, for the 6th April, 1856. -{201} -But that day, before the hour fixed for the assembly had arrived, -God took to him his servant, granting the wish expressed in his -own often repeated prayer, "Let my life only terminate with my -ministry, and my ministry only with my life." [Footnote 31] - - [Footnote 31: These are the words inserted in a publication - bearing the title "Les adieux d'Adolphe Monod à sa famille et - a l'église," in which the last exhortations and conversations - of this dying Christian have been piously collected. P. viii. - Paris, 1856.] - -Eighteen months before the decease of M. Adolphe Monod, an -eminent pastor of the Lutheran Church of Paris, his friend and -fellow-laborer in the work of Christianity, M. Edouard Verny, -died suddenly in the Evangelical Chair at Strasbourg, while -preaching upon the words addressed by the Apostles to the -Christians of Antioch, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to -us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these _necessary_ -things," words not less liberal than pious, and faithfully -expressing the sentiments of the Christian orator, who died while -commenting upon them. -{202} -The mind of M. Verny was naturally liberal and independent; his -intellectual career had commenced with philosophical studies, and -he had retained a strong bias in favor of the progress of -thought. This did not, however, prevent him from promptly and -calmly appreciating the opinions which he did not share. Without -possessing either the impassioned style or the power of M. -Adolphe Monod, he was not less devoted to the cause of -Christianity; and he convinced those by the charms of his manner, -into whose minds M. Monod entered by force and as a conqueror. -[Footnote 32] - - [Footnote 32: Although M. Verny had long preached, and had - often written in religious reviews and journals, and - particularly in the "Semeur," very few monuments remain of - his ideas and of his talents. The principal are: - - 1. A sermon "Upon the Unity of the Church," preached in the - church of Bolbec in 1854. - - 2. Two sermons, one "Upon the Prayer of the Canaanite Woman;" - the other "Upon Repentance;" preached at Paris in 1843 and - 1846. - - 3. The sermon "Sur l'Ouverture solennelle de la session du - Consistoire supérieur de l'Église de la Confession - d'Augsbourg," preached at Strasbourg on the 19th of October, - 1854: while preaching which M. Verny died in the pulpit. - - 4. An "Essai sur les droits de la science," inserted in the - "Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie Chrétienne," published - at Strasbourg by M. Colani. Vol. ix, pp. 208-248. 1854. This - essay was to have been followed by an "Essai sur les devoirs - de la foi," of which the sudden death of M. Verny prevented - the completion.] - -{203} - -Although the Protestant Church of France thereby sustained an -immense loss, it had a striking and salutary spectacle also -presented to it by the end of these two servants of Christ, the -one dying suddenly, in the plenitude of his strength, at the very -moment when from his pulpit he was maintaining with distinguished -ability the doctrines of his Master; the other, from his bed, -gathering with pain what of breath remained to him in this world, -to pour once more a flood of faith into the souls of his -auditors. - -Such lives, such deaths, could not remain sterile of result; -under their influence the Christian faith was relumed; it again -spread itself among the Protestants of France. Nor was this that -arid cold faith which men accept to acquit their consciences, and -to rid themselves of a trouble and a scruple; nor that vague and -dreamy faith which feasts rather upon its own emotions, than -nourishes itself with the truths which are the voice of God. -{204} -A Christian's faith is neither an act of prudent submission nor a -paroxysm of mystic fervor. Conviction and sentiment, the firm -adhesion of the mind, and the filial love of the heart, meet in -that faith in essential and intimate union. It is the light -coming from on high, and bringing down with it the genial -principles of vital warmth and fecundity; out of which, like -salubrious waters from a pure source, flow freely and in -abundance the works of human charity. I have lying before me a -list of the different charities to which Christianity has in our -own days since the reaction given birth in the Protestant Church -of France. [Footnote 33] - - [Footnote 33: Exposé des oeuvres de la charité protestante en - France, par H. de Triqueti, membre du conseil presbytéral et - du diaconat de l'Église réformée de Paris. 18mo. 1863.] - -{205} - -I see there manifold associations, enterprises supposing a long -duration of existence, unremitting efforts for the moral -development of men; for the bodily solace of their earthly -condition; for the propagation and the defense of freedom of -opinion in religious matters; for the support and diffusion of -the faith itself: all these objects, at once so various and so -analogous, are being laboriously worked out both by the -independent Protestant Churches, and by the Protestant Church -established from the State. M. Edmond de Pressensé and M. Eugène -Bersier devote their talents and their zeal to the same forms of -Christian belief as were advocated by M. Alexandre Vinet and M. -Adolphe Monod. In spite of the free divergence of sentiment and -the diversity of ecclesiastical government in French -Protestantism, we may observe in its bosom a progress of -Christian Faith, a progress in works of Christian Charity, a -progress in Christian Science, and a progress in Christian -Influence. -{206} -I use the same terms employed by me in speaking of the -contemporary Catholic Church of Rome, because I find before me -similar facts. These facts do not announce the reconciliation of -the two Churches--profound differences of opinion continue to -separate them; but these facts are, in both Churches, signs of -the Awakening of Christianity. - ---------------------------------------- - - III. Awakening Of Christianity In France. - - -But the world has not changed since God at its creation delivered -it up to the disputes of mankind; nor have the diversity and -conflict of ideas and of passions ever ceased to be the condition -of humanity. By the side of the movement of Christianity to which -I refer, a movement in the contrary direction is manifesting -itself, and is pursuing its course. Christianity at its Awakening -is challenged to ruder combats. Philosophy refuses to its -fundamental dogmas the marks and the rights of rational truth. -{207} -An erudite criticism contests its historical evidence. The -natural sciences proclaim that they do not require its aid to -account for man and for the world. It is affirmed as a principle, -and maintained in learned societies, that morality is entirely -independent of religion. Man in his aspirations for liberty, that -generous passion of the age, retains a profound resentment for -the chains and the sufferings which, under pretext of -Christianity, human conscience and human thought have so long -been made to endure. The influence of these bitter reminiscences -is manifesting itself in the different Christian Churches under -various forms, and with different effects. Many liberals so dread -the prospect of the Church of Rome obtaining power over civil -society that they hardly accord to this Church the rights of -common liberty; or, if they do so at all, they do it reluctantly -and little by little. - -{208} - -Among the Protestants, some push the pretensions of liberty so -far as to insist that in religious society a community of faith -should count for nothing; that a man should be entitled to remain -a member of a Church, and even to remain its minister, although -he profess respecting the essential facts and dogmas of the -Church the most contradictory opinions, and opinions the -strangest to its traditions and its texts. With respect to Roman -Catholics, the dominant question is that of liberty. Are the -liberties of civil society to be accorded to the Church? Are -those of the Church to be allowed to remain intact in the bosom -of the State? In Protestantism, on the other hand, the complete -liberty of religion in the midst of civil society, the right of -every individual to avow his belief, and to solemnize his own -forms of worship--these are all privileges already acquired, and -contested as little by any orthodox believer as by any -freethinker. The questions really here agitated are questions of -faith and of discipline. Are a common faith and a uniform -internal discipline essential to the Church? Here is the debate. -{209} -But above all these special questions and these different -situations of the various Christian Churches rise, for Romanist -and Protestant alike, the general question and the common -situation; it is Christianity itself which is engaged in the -contest, and its awakening spirit confronts the antichristian -movement. - -Let us not delude ourselves as to the character, the force, or -the danger of this antichristian movement. It is not merely a -feverish excitability in men's minds, a simple revolutionary -crisis in the religious order. No; we have here earnest -convictions at work, and the prospect of a long war. Impatience -of an ancient yoke, a spirit of reaction, a love of innovation, -frivolous instincts not a few, as well as evil impulses, may -claim a share--and a large share--in the attacks of which -Christianity is in these days the object; but what gives to these -attacks their most formidable character is a sentiment far more -serious, one that has made heroes and martyrs, the love of truth -at all risk and in despite of consequence, for the sake of truth -and for its sake alone. -{210} -The feeling that makes man thirst for truth is an honor to human -nature. If he fancies that he has found that truth, man abandons -himself with transport to the satisfaction of his cravings, and -does not scruple to drink even to intoxication at this pure -source. But here he is incurring a great danger: man is not -merely an intelligence whose vocation during his brief transit -through this world confines him only to study and science: he is -an active, responsible being; a being engaged in a life full of -labors, with a future life before him full of mystery; a laborer -in a career having a particular interest for himself, and yet -forming part of a general scheme, of the design of which he has -but imperfect glimpses. Very incomplete and very imperfect is -that man's state of intellectual action, who restricts himself to -that which appears to him to be scientific truth, who does not, -at the same time, submit his thought to all the tests to which he -is himself subject, and who does not examine whether that thought -be in harmony with the laws of his nature--whether it respect or -transgress the limits imposed upon his means of knowledge. -{211} -The danger of falling into error becomes greater in proportion as -this incomplete and imperfect state of his mind is in itself a -noble state, a state that satisfies noble impulses, and procures -noble means of enjoyment. The most eminent among the actual -adversaries of Christianity believe themselves the interpreters -and the defenders of truth; some of philosophical truth; others -of historical truth, others again of the truth of the facts and -laws of the physical world. They are all proud of belonging to -the department of pure science, and of making of scientific truth -the sole object, the sole rule of their labors; but they are also -all forgetful of some conditions--nay, the most indispensable -ones--to which science is bound to conform; some tests--and the -most legitimate ones--to which science is obliged to submit. - -{212} - -They claim, too, the honor of bearing the banner of a grand and -noble cause, the cause of Liberty. That Christianity alone -restored to man, as man, and for no other reason, his rights to -liberty, is a fact that the comparative histories of the world, -whether Christian or Pagan, place beyond all doubt; for confront -these two histories, and name the nations among whom the idea of -the dignity of man's liberty became a general idea, powerful in -influence and fruitful in consequence! Another fact equally -historic and certain is, that Christianity knew how to adapt -itself, and did readily adapt itself, to the different states of -society, and the different forms of government; that it set -itself up and maintained its rank in republics as well as -monarchies, under constitutional regimes as well as in -despotisms, in the midst of democratical as well as -aristocratical institutions; and, beyond doubt, it was not in -free states that it displayed least vigor, or met with the -smallest success. -{213} -These two great facts are nowadays lost sight of. Christianity is -accused of being hostile to Liberty and incompatible with the -spirit of modern societies; and this is, indeed, the chief charge -laid to its score. True it is, that the charge is not without -deriving countenance from the history of Europe in modern times; -worldly interests, selfish passions, events complex and obscure, -in which moral order and social order have been compromised, have -as it were suspended in certain countries the liberal action of -Christianity, and enlisted momentarily the cause of Liberty under -a banner not Christian. The error is profound, but transient; the -traditional influences of ages will resume their empire, the -grand events their course; Christ's religion and man's liberty -will once more remember that each stands in need of the other, -and that their alliance in the bosom of order is their natural -and necessary condition. That they do misunderstand each other -occasions the most serious crisis at this moment in modern -society. - -{214} - -Here, too, is the gravest peril which the Christian religion has -in our days to surmount. Appreciate the force of the two -sentiments to which I just now referred, the love of science and -the love of liberty; understand through what phases of -degeneration and of deceptive transformation those sentiments -may, in the ardor of pursuit and of combat, have to pass; reckon -up, if reckon you can, all the false ideas, the chimerical hopes, -which they may suggest; and then add to the amount, and as their -consequences, the immoral and anarchical passions which may make -those sentiments their pretext and their tools; and in doing -this, you will find that you have passed in review the forces of -that enemy now waging an implacable war against Christianity, -although a war to which Christianity is called upon to put an -end. - -{215} - -I do not in any respect underrate the forces of that army. I -disparage no more their quality than their numbers. To maintain -the combat worthily and efficaciously we should, at the onset, -accord to our adversaries the whole amount of their merits as -well as of their strength, and then attack them in their -strongest entrenchments. I have charged the enemies of -Christianity with puerile presumptuousness when they refuse to -see the energy and the progress of the awakening of Christianity. -It is of infinite importance to Christians, on their side, not to -be blind to the ardor and the effects which that Antichristian -demonstration is producing, of which their Faith and their Church -are the aim. I am firmly convinced that in this war Christianity -will conquer; but it will leave its enemies with arms still in -their hands. It will no more gain over them any complete or -definitive victory than it will be able to conclude with them any -serious or durable peace. In the actual state of men's minds and -of society, the struggle will go on between the followers and the -opponents of Christianity; the two armies will continue to deploy -their forces in the face each of the other; and that of the -Christians, in order to defend and to extend its domain, will be -incessantly called upon to watch and to combat the movements of -its enemy. -{216} -While combating them it will be also obliged to comply with the -terms that truth exacts, and the conditions that liberty imposes. -From these exigencies and these conditions Christianity has -nothing to dread--that is, if it accepts them boldly, and in its -turn imposes them upon its enemies. Let man's science, labors, -and systems be submitted to the same tests, and handled with the -same freedom of examination, as are being applied to the -foundations and the doctrines of Christian faith; this is all -that Christians are entitled to, all that they need to demand. - -Thus far I have explained the actual state of the Christian -religion in France, the sources of its strength and of its -weakness, its awakening and its perils. It is my intention now to -examine the actual state of those doctrines and systems which -repudiate, or which more or less deny and combat Christianity. -{217} -When I have passed the hostile army in review, I will once more -confront Christianity with its adversaries, and endeavor to -distinguish, by contrasting them, on which side the truth is, on -which side the right, and on which side the hope of future -success. - ---------------------------------------- - -{218} - - Second Meditation. - - Spiritualism. - - -I witnessed the birth--not, certainly, the birth of Spiritualism, -for this was, like its twin brother Materialism, born in the -cradle of Philosophy, and while the steps of Philosophy were -still those of an infant--but the birth of the spiritualistic -school of the nineteenth century. This birth was a national -reaction against the Sensualism of the eighteenth century--just -as the Christian Awakening was a reaction against the impiety of -the same epoch. Theories do not escape the influence of events: -after the ideas come the facts, to pour upon those ideas floods -of light, and to reveal the vices, whether of philosophy or of -policy, in all their practical consequences. -{219} -The Sensualism--that is to say, to style it by its true name, the -Materialism--of the eighteenth century, did not pass triumphantly -through this test: it still reigned in France at the commencement -of the nineteenth century, but it was the reign of an antiquated -sovereign in decline--a sovereign of whom the public know the -defects, and whose successor is at hand. - -M. Royer-Collard was the first who had the merit and the honor of -bringing back Spiritualism into the teaching of philosophy and -into the minds of the people; his was a return simply to the -spiritualistic doctrines of the seventeenth century; but still a -real progress, effected by a novel route, and a really scientific -method. M. Royer-Collard was neither a philosopher by profession -nor the disciple of any master, nor was his mind a mind disposed -to take up with systems--he observed, he read, he studied and -reflected, as a looker on, and an earnest judge of the world and -of men. In philosophy and his professional chair, as later in -politics and in the chamber, he was an original and profound -thinker. -{220} -His mind united good sense with loftiness of sentiment, -circumspection with self-respect; he was thoroughly imbued with -the spirit of his times, at the same time that he refused to -accept its yoke. In his grave and independent course of -instruction, he treated philosophical questions as they presented -themselves step by step, each on its own account, without -troubling himself about anything but the discovery of the truth; -and still less with any zealous endeavor to set together or -resolve all the questions upon a general system, the result of -any learned premeditation. Those who had opportunities of -listening to him, and even those whose only means of judgment are -the fragments published by M. Jouffroy, [Footnote 34] -characterize his lessons as directed, each of them, toward some -special questions well determined beforehand, and they regard -them as models of analysis and of philosophical criticism, -scrupulously confined by the lecturer to the facts and the -results that the inductive process discovers in the facts -themselves. - - [Footnote 34: In his "Traduction des oeuvres complètes de - Reid," vol. iii, pp. 299-449, vol. iv, pp. 273-451.] - -{221} - -He had been a great reader of the writings of the Scotch -philosophers, held them in high esteem, and walked in their -steps; his views were, however, loftier, and his footing firmer, -although not less prudent. He had in his short philosophical -career two rare pieces of good fortune: one was, that he had a -friend in M. Maine de Biran, a profound and enthusiastic observer -of the human soul in his own soul--a subtle metaphysician, almost -a mystic, whom I would, if I dared, name the Saint Theresa of -philosophy; his other advantage was, that he had for his disciple -M. Cousin, the congenial rival and eloquent interpreter of the -great philosophers of all ages. M. Cousin, in his turn, has been -fortunate in having for his disciple M. Jouffroy--a disciple, of -mind original and independent, following a master accomplished in -the art of observing intellectual and moral facts, and of -describing them and ordering them, without altering their -essential character. -{222} -Sometimes, it is true, M. Cousin yields to the ambition of his -thought, or is swayed by the intellectual current of opinions in -vogue; but very soon his common sense checks, or at least sets -him on his guard--a common sense that finds lucid expression, and -is distinguished by probity of intent. Such are the founders and -the glorious chiefs of the spiritualistic school of the -nineteenth century. - -Nor have they failed to find disciples and heirs worthy of such -predecessors. For some years past it has been the custom, in -certain regions of the learned world, to demand, frivolously -enough, and in a tone not free from irony, "What has become of -the spiritualistic school--what can it be about?" I will not -answer for it as Tertullian did to the Pagans, "We are only of -yesterday, and we are everywhere--in your domains, your cities, -your isles, your fortresses, your communes, your councils, your -camps, your tribes, your 'decuries,' in the palace, the senate, -the forum; we only leave you your temples." [Footnote 35] - - [Footnote 35: Tertullian Apologet., ch. xxxvii.] - -{223} - -The modern Spiritualists had no such conquests to make, and it is -fitting for philosophers to be more modest; but however short my -experience may have taught me that the human memory may in -similar cases sometimes be, I am astonished that men should so -forget facts, and facts, too, that are recent and patent. What -school of philosophy ever furnished in half a century so many men -and so many works, some of eminence, all of them of distinguished -merit? I will cite only a few names: MM. de Rémusat, Damiron, -Adolphe Garnier, Franck, Jules Simon, Barthélemy, Saint-Hilaire, -Saisset, Caro, Bersot, Lévêque, Bouillier, Janet, some of whom -have scarcely disappeared from the stage of the world, and others -are only just arrived there--they belong all to the -spiritualistic school, to which they have all done honor by -important works on philosophy, whether speculative, historical, -political, economic, or practical. -{224} -Their doctrines, it is true, have now been for some time hotly -attacked, and the wind of the day does not blow into their sails. -They have, besides, in my opinion, been wrong in this respect, -that they have not directed sufficient attention to these -polemics; that they have combated in a manner too indirect, or -with too little energy; the ideas in whose name their own have -been assailed; a certain share of languor and of embarrassment is -at this moment the malady of the best minds and of the sincerest -convictions. But in spite of the blows which it receives and -returns, although with insufficient sturdiness, the -spiritualistic school, if we judge it by the names and the works -which belong to it, by their talent, and their fame, remains in -our century in possession of the domain and of the banner of -philosophy. - -Its merits will present themselves still more clearly if we -examine closely the results of its labors. - -{225} - -The first and the most important result, in a point of view -purely philosophical, is, that the Spiritualists of our days have -given to their researches and to their ideas a character really -scientific: they have introduced into the study of man and of the -intellectual world, the method practiced with so much success in -the study of man and of the material world--that is to say, they -have taken the observation of facts as the point of departure and -the constant guide of their investigations. Are there in man and -in the intellectual world, as there are in man and in the -material world, facts capable of being observed, seized, -described, classified, generalized? This is the question which -the spiritualistic school proposed and discussed at the outset. I -have no hesitation in saying, that it resolved it in the -affirmative, and that, thanks to this school, psychology has -assumed its rank among the positive sciences, just as physiology -did. Like physiology, geology, or botany, psychology has its -special object, its determined domain, in which it proceeds -absolutely according to the same method observed by the physical -sciences in their domain. -{226} -That this method, the observation of facts, of their value and -their laws, is in psychology more difficult to be followed than -in the physical sciences, is certain; but this certainly does not -deprive psychology either of its domain or of its scientific -character. It is a science by the same right and upon the same -conditions as all the others are so. The labors of the -spiritualistic school, and particularly those of M. Jouffroy, -have given it a solid foundation: and this has been formally -recognized by several even among the adversaries of this school, -among others by M. Taine and M. Berthelot. [Footnote 36] - - [Footnote 36: I read in the Métaphysique et la Science of M. - Vacherot: - - "_The Metaphysician:_ - - "In his denial of psychology, I stop at once the author of - the 'positive philosophy,' and I demand of him by what right - he thus banishes from the domain of the experimental sciences - a science of observation. - - "_The man of learning:_ - - "It constitutes in effect 'hiatus' in this philosophy, and a - hiatus which all the sound minds of the positive school are - beginning to admit. M. Littré, for example, may make his - reservations of opinion as to the manner in which our - psychologists understand psychology, and as to the method - which they apply to it; but he has too much sense not to - admit that the intelligence--all that constitutes man's - identity, the moral man--is the object of a peculiar study, - of which many previous works have shown the possibility, and - many practical results prove the high and vital interest."-- - Vacherot, la Métaphysique et la Science, vol. iii, p. 181.] - -{227} - -It is in the name of science and by the processes of science that -the Spiritualists of the nineteenth have combated the Sensualists -of the eighteenth century. They have not, it is true, absolutely -crushed Materialism, that child and legitimate heir of -Sensualism; but while dethroning the parent, they have compelled -the child sometimes to avow himself boldly, sometimes to -transform himself, and to assume other features and other arms -than those of his cradle. I will only cite the lecture of M. -Cousin on the "Sensualistic Philosophy in the Eighteenth -Century," and the essay of the Duke de Broglie on the "Existence -of the Soul," [Footnote 37] written on the occasion of the work -of M. Broussais: "De l'Irrritation et de la Folie." - - [Footnote 37: This essay, first inserted in 1828 in the Revue - Française, has been reprinted in the "Ecrits et discours - divers" of the Duke de Broglie, collected and published in - 1863.] - -{228} - -Whoever, after having read them, would still persist in -maintaining the Sensualism of Locke and of Condillac, or in -refusing to see the consequences to which Sensualism leads, would -prove, in my opinion, that he has not understood either the -question put, or the doctrine combated and refuted. We have here -a result acquired for the science of the intellectual world, and -we owe the result to the polemics of the spiritualistic school. - -That school has obtained another result more important still, and -which belongs no longer to the polemics of simple negation, but -to positive doctrine; it has set in the broad light of day the -real and fundamental principle of morals, the distinction as to -the essentials of moral good and evil, as well as the law of -obligation, that "categorical imperative," the sole refuge which -Kant found against Skepticism. -229 -Neither the interest well defined of each individual, nor the -interest of the greater numbers, nor any sentimental sympathy, -nor any system of positive written law, can, for the future, be -considered as the basis of morals. An attempt is made in the -present day to establish another thesis, and to represent -morality as absolutely independent of religion. Grave error, -which discards from morality, if not its principle, at least its -source and its object, its author and its future; an error, -however, very different from those errors which dispense even -with the principle of morals, and assign as the rule for the -conduct of men, motives having in themselves nothing moral, -nothing absolute. The fact that man's conscience and man's reason -recognize the distinction of moral good and evil, and at the same -time the duty of practicing that good as the law of human -actions, is a fact which we may now regard as acquired to -philosophy. -{230} -The treatise "Du Bien," in the work of M. Cousin upon "Le Vrai, -le Beau, et le Bien," the preface of M. Jouffroy to the "Outlines -of Moral Philosophy," by Dugald Stewart, and the "Essia sur la -Morale," in the "Mélanges Philosophiques," which M. Jouffroy -published in 1833, the book of M. Jules Simon upon "Le Devoir," -these are all solid and brilliant works, by which the -spiritualistic school has victoriously established the truth to -which I have referred. - -And in establishing it, it has paid a remarkable act of homage to -another fact, and rendered an immense service by enforcing a -truth, with which are intimately connected man's rights in this -world, as well as his prospects beyond this world: I mean the -fact of man's liberty. This is no question of pure theory and -scientific curiosity; but a vital question, whose solution has -for man, in time present and time future, the most important -practical consequences. Upon what grounds would the claim of man -to liberty in the social state rest, what would become of his -hopes and fears of a future eternity, if man were not a being -morally free and responsible for the decisions which determine -his acts? -{231} -The civil liberty of man during his life on earth, and his -future destiny after his life on earth, closely depend upon the -fact of his free volition and upon the responsibility which -accompanies it. Without free volition man falls in this world, -without rights, under the yoke of whatever force may take -possession of him, or use him as its instrument; what remains for -man, then, but to tremble at the destiny which awaits him beyond -this world by virtue of the unknown decree of his Sovereign -Master? To the spiritualistic school belongs the honor of having -firmly established and rendered plain the psychological fact of -the freedom of the human will; nor in doing so has it allowed -itself to be troubled and blinded by the ontological questions -which that fact suggests, or by the difficulty attending the -solution of these questions. Consequently, it has accepted upon -this point the limits of man's science, and at the same time -maintained the rights of man's nature. It has laid in man's -liberty and man's responsibility the legitimate foundation of -political liberty, as well as that of the personal morality of -man and of man's future. - -{232} - -Thus, then, the spiritualistic school of the nineteenth century -is at once scientific, moral, liberal. Eminent merits, rare -combination in any time, and still more so in our time! - -With these great merits, and in spite of them, two omissions are -still remarkably striking. - -The spiritualistic school, our contemporary, has halted abruptly -before the sovereign problems which weigh upon the human soul, -and which, in the first series of these "Meditations," I styled -natural problems; [Footnote 38] it has in no respect furthered -their solution according to reason, or accepted their solution -according to Christianity; its "Theodicy" has remained far in -arrear of its Psychology. - - [Footnote 38: Meditations on the Essence of the Christian - Religion.] - -Halted it has, also, before any practical solution of these same -problems; nor has it eliminated either any faith or any law which -suffices for man's soul or man's conduct in life--in short, any -religion. -{233} -M. Jules Simon, in his work entitled "La Religion Naturelle," MM. -Saisset and De Rémusat, in their "Essais de Philosophie -Religieuse," have striven, irrespectively of all positive -revelation, to give to man's soul and to man's conduct that -satisfaction and that religious rule which both require. I doubt -their counting much upon the success of their attempts; I doubt -their believing that their natural religion, or their religious -philosophy, are sufficient substitutes for Christianity. Far -other things than such drops of science are required to appease -the thirst of humanity for religion. - -Whence, in the spiritualistic school, this double hiatus--this -twofold weakness, whence? - -In my opinion, the causes are themselves twofold. The -spiritualistic school has been at once too timid and too proud. -It has not seen in the psychological facts which it was observing -and describing, all that they contain and reveal upon the subject -of the great natural problems of man and of the world; it has -neglected the cosmological facts and the historical facts which -concur to throw light upon those problems; its psychology has -remained isolated and incomplete. -{234} -It has, at the same time, failed to see the limits of psychology -and of human science in general; not having succeeded in -advancing the torch of science into the regions where access to -it is denied, it has refused to accept the light descending upon -man by another way than that of science. - -Like Plato, Descartes, Leibnitz, Reid, and Kant, M. Cousin, now -the most eminent representative of the spiritualistic school, -establishes, by virtue of psychological observation, these two -great facts: first, that there exist universal and necessary -principles manifesting themselves in the human mind, and reigning -there without being capable of being subverted, which are called -into action by sensations coming from the external world; -secondly, that these sensations, so coming from the external -world, do not in any way supply the human mind with these -universal and necessary principles, and that they can explain -neither their presence nor their origin. -{235} -Such, for instance, are the principles, that everything which -begins to appear has a cause--that every quality belongs to a -substance! [Footnote 39] Sensualism is not in a position to -account in any way for these two principles, or to find them -among those facts that form all its psychology. - - [Footnote 39: Du Vrai, du Beau, et du Bien, pp. 19-66. 1857.] - -I am not called upon to develop or to discuss this idea, which, -for my part, I fully admit; enough that I mention it as a -fundamental doctrine of the spiritualistic school. - -The philosophers, who have admitted the existence of these -universal and necessary principles, have assigned them different -names, and have enumerated and classified them differently; but -whether they style them "ideas," or "innate ideas," or "laws," or -"forms," or "categories of the understanding"--whether they -enlarge or limit their number--they agree as to their nature, and -declare them inherent in the human mind itself, which applies -them, so to say, as its own peculiar property in its appreciation -of the external world; so far is the mind from borrowing them -from that world! - -{236} - -These universal and necessary principles once admitted and -characterized, some of the philosophers who so admit and -characterize them, the Scotch philosophers for instance, go no -further, and adhere to the psychological fact without examining -its value or its consequences in an ontological sense. Others, -like Kant, refuse to that psychological fact all ontological -value, and are of opinion that nothing authorizes us in affirming -that those principles, inherent in the internal existence of the -human mind, are true in the domain beyond the human mind, or that -they regulate the realities of the external world, as they -regulate our intellectual activity. -{237} -Others, finally, M. Cousin, with Plato, Descartes, Leibnitz, -Fénélon, and Bossuet, see the work of God, and consequently God -himself, in the universal and necessary principles which preside -over the intellectual existence of man; and they recognize God as -the infinite and sovereign being in whom the necessary principles -reside; and they regard these as the manifestations of him, and -think that he placed them in the intelligence of man when he -placed man himself in the middle of the world. - -To this doctrine I firmly adhere; but why does the spiritualistic -school so stop short, why does it not advance to the very end of -the path upon which it has entered? It admits God as the being in -whom these necessary principles reside, and from whom man has -received them; what does this mean but that it recognizes in God -the author and instructor of man? And to recognize in God the -author and the instructor of man, what is this but to recognize -the fact of the creation, and the fact of the primitive -revelation inherent in the fact of the creation? -{238} -These two truths are involved in the fact that the necessary -principles exist in the mind of man, and that man derives them, -not from his relations with the external world, but from himself, -and from the source whence he himself emanates--from God, his -Creator. God has created man armed at all points, as well in the -order of the intellect as of matter, complete in his soul as in -his body: that is to say, God has given to him at his creation -the necessary principles of his intellectual life, just as he has -given him the necessary mechanism of his physical organization. -Scientific psychology thus mounts up to that supreme point where -it meets Christian revelation. There is, on its part, -inconsistency or timidity in not recognizing and proclaiming the -existence of that light to which it so attains. - -What was the import, what the form, of that primitive revelation? -Has the revelation itself been renewed at any epoch subsequent to -the creation? If so, by what instruments and with what incidents -has it been renewed? These are questions to which I shall recur, -but which for the moment I do not approach; I wish here only to -establish the fact of the divine revelation in the sphere and in -the terms of scientific psychology. - -{239} - -Facts in cosmogony lead to the same conclusion. I repeat here -what I said in the first series of these Meditations, when -speaking of the dogma of the creation: - - "The only serious opponents of the dogma of the creation are - those who maintain that the universe, the earth, and man upon - the earth, have existed from all eternity, and, collectively, - in the state in which they now are. No one, however, can hold - this language, to which facts are invincibly opposed. How many - ages man has existed on the earth is a question that has been - largely discussed, and is still under discussion. The inquiry - in no way affects the dogma of the creation itself; it is a - certain and recognized fact that man has not always existed on - the earth, and that the earth has for long periods undergone - different changes incompatible with man's existence. Man, - therefore, had a beginning: man has come upon the earth." - [Footnote 40] - - [Footnote 40: Meditations on the Essence of the Christian - Religion, page 18.] - -{240} - -He did not come there by spontaneous generation--that is to say, -by any creative force or organizing power inherent in matter. -Scientific observation overturns more and more, every day, this -hypothesis, which, in other respects also, it is impossible to -admit as any explanation of the first appearance upon the earth -of the complete man, the man in a condition to survive. "Another -delusion of which we must rid ourselves," said, lately, a member -of the Academy of Sciences, as he quitted the lecture-room where -M. Pasteur had been throwing upon this subject the light of his -luminous and scrupulous criticism. The hypothesis of the -progressive transformation of species does not explain better the -existence of man, such as we now see him upon the earth. -{241} -This hypothesis is also rejected by the exact student of facts; -even if admitted, it would still leave existing the same -problems; for, whence came these primitive types, whose -successive transformations have, as supposed, produced the -existing species? God is as necessary to create the ape or the -primitive type of the ape as he is necessary to create man -himself. Scientific cosmology accords with scientific psychology. -God, the creator and instructor of man, is the grand fact which -each of these sciences encounters at the summit of its labors. - -The whole current of history contains the same teaching. I admit -that error abounds in history, that it is full of false -assertions, of recitals tortured from the truth, facts mutilated, -legends invented by men as imaginations. It is not, for all that, -the less certain that in a great part the truth still remains -there, that certain historical events are authenticated and -attested by undeniable testimony. I mention here only two, -because connected with the subject which engages me. -{242} -It is a general belief, a universal tradition in the history of -nations, that, either at the moment of the creation, or at some -epoch subsequent to creation, the God, or the gods, whom those -nations respectively adored, had had direct relations with man; -had become manifest to him by different acts or under different -forms, and had assumed a place and exercised an active influence -upon man's destinies. The idea of a single revelation, or of a -succession of revelations--revelations characterized at one time -by a strange grossness, at another by a subtle mysticism, is a -thing ever recurring in the history of humanity. The tradition of -the special revelation, proclaimed first by the Hebrews, and -after them by the Christians, is equally undeniable; criticism -may apply itself to the volumes that contain the accounts; may -contest the authenticity or exactitude or date of particular -books; but so far from ever negativing, it will not even weaken -the evidence of the existence and the powerful influence of the -religious tradition which gave birth to Judaism and to -Christianity. -{243} -We have here a remarkable historical fact, manifesting at once -the natural faith of mankind in the divine revelation, and in the -relations of the Creator with his creatures. - -If the spiritualistic school refused from its very origin to -admit these facts, drawn from cosmogony and from man's history, -into the sphere of its labors; if it limited psychology to its -peculiar scientific object--the study of the human soul--I am far -from making such refusal matter of reproach: for the -Spiritualists did thereby nothing but what they were entitled and -called upon to do. But they have fallen into a twofold error. -While observing and describing psychological facts, they did not -perceive nor accept all that they imported: they saw in the -intelligent man the work and the trace of God; but they did not -see what was implied in that man besides--that is, revelation as -well as creation. They did not leave pure psychology to demand of -kindred sciences, such as cosmology and history, whether their -results accorded or did not accord with the results that they had -deduced from psychology. -{244} -In short, on the one side they stopped short of the limits of the -domain of psychology; and on the other, they confined themselves -to it too exclusively. - -From this twofold error sprang another still more serious. -Spiritualism gave birth to Rationalism--a transformation as -unnatural as unfortunate, which has rendered the science of man -and of the intellectual world still more inexact and incomplete! - ---------------------------------------- - -{245} - - Third Meditation. - - Rationalism. - - -A man of a mind as unprejudiced as rare, one who will never be -suspected of any undue bias for Christianity, M. Sainte-Beuve, -avowing to me recently the high esteem with which M. Alexandre -Vinet inspired him, borrowed an expression of Pascal's: "The -heart has its reasons, which the reason does not comprehend." -[Footnote 41] - - [Footnote 41: Between this phrase and that of Pascal there is - a slight difference. Pascal said, "Le cœur a des raisons que - la raison ne connaît point:" "The heart has reasons that the - reason knows not at all." Pensées de Pascal, edition of M. - Faugère, 1844, vol. ii, p. 172.] - -I only admit half of what is implied in this conciliatory phrase; -and these are my reasons. - -{246} - -True religious faith, or, to call things by their real names, -Christian faith, is founded upon instincts and upon sentiment at -the same time that it is founded upon reasons. If reason do not -accept the sentiments of the heart, on which side is the fault? -Is the fault with the heart, that it feels them, or is it with -the reason, that it does not comprehend them? - -My reply to this question is easy. I reject the distinction made. -I admit no such persons as are respectively styled the heart, the -reason. Here is only an attempt at a psychological anatomy; no -true enunciation of a real fact. Man, the human being, is -essentially one, and single: he has the faculty of -self-observation and self-study, but in exercising it he does not -destroy the unity of his nature; it is not his mere reason, it is -himself, and his whole self, that makes himself the object of his -observation and of his study, and that cannot but recognize -himself and accept himself in his entirety. He has no right to -say, with an air of scientific disdain, "My reason comprehends -not the reasons of my heart." -{247} -He must perforce say: "I comprehend not myself;" he must perforce -proclaim, not the incoherency of his being, but the insufficiency -or the incompetency of what he styles his reason. - -Philosophy, like poetry, is full of personifications that -mislead; the one personifies by images, the other by -abstractions. Both have need of them--the one for its creations, -the other for its studies; I am far from seeking to deny their -respective use. All that I contend for is, that we must not -misconceive the real import of these expedients of human -language; we must not, by taking them for realities, lose sight -of or destroy what are really and genuinely realities, the -entities of divine creation. - -I insist the more on this error, because in the philosophy of our -time it is a common and a potent error, and the source too of -other errors, deplorable as well in a scientific as in a moral -and practical point of view. Condillac and his disciples had set -apart and specially studied in man the faculty of sensation, and -they were thereby led to make out of this faculty, and out of it -alone, man himself and the whole man. -{248} -Kant and his school considered particularly in man the faculty of -the reason and judgment, and very soon reason came with them to -constitute the whole man. I am far from intending to examine in -its fundamental principles and its entirety the system of Kant, -the greatest philosophical work upon the human understanding that -any man has produced since the time of Plato. I single out this -fact, that it treats the reason as the proper, special, and -paramount object of philosophy. Warned by his profound, -scrupulous genius, Kant did not limit himself to a point of view -so narrow, although so lofty; he studied man's reason under its -different aspects, he constituted himself the critic of pure -reason, the critic of practical reason, the critic of æsthetic -reason--that is, of reason applied to the discrimination of the -beautiful; he decomposed, so to say, the reason itself into as -many different faculties as he found different phases in the -intellectual and moral life of man; but the faculty that he -styled the reason remained the basis of his study and of his -system. -{249} -It became in his school, and in the schools akin to it, -pre-eminently the intellectual substance, the basis of man and of -philosophy; and the human being himself, in his personal unity, -with all his life and his free will, entirely disappeared from -their teaching. - -As results of this system I will cite only two facts, very -different in their nature, both very foreign to the founder of -the system and his disciples, but which serve the better to -reveal that system's faultiness, as these facts are, although its -indirect, remote, and involuntary, nevertheless, its undeniable -consequences. - -When, in 1793, the frenzied men who disposed, as masters, of the -destinies of France, abolished the Christian religion and -Christian worship, they resolved, nevertheless, to give to men an -object to adore. They instituted the worship of reason. -{250} -The church of Notre-Dame at Paris was metamorphosed into a temple -of reason; a young woman was made to figure there as the goddess -of reason; and the orator of the National Convention, Chaumette, -cried aloud as he pointed her out to the people, "Behold living -Reason; we celebrate here to-day the sole true worship, the -worship of Liberty and of Reason." - -At the distance of three quarters of a century from the date of -these revolutionary orgies, in 1865, not in France but in -England, a man of earnest intentions, superior mind, and -extensive learning, whose sincerity is evident, and his -sentiments moral at once and moderate, writes a book entitled, -"Rationalism in Europe;" and the object of this book is to -establish, that all the good effected in Europe since the fall of -the Roman empire, all the progress made by states in justice, in -humanity, in liberty, and general happiness--whether in the -sphere of science or of practical industry--is due to the -influence of Rationalism, to its developments and its conquests. -{251} -Mr. Lecky is not a metaphysician; he attaches no precise and -philosophical meaning to the word "Rationalism;" he does not -trouble himself about the system of Kant, nor the place occupied -in it by the pure, the practical, or the aesthetic reason; he -only retraces the intellectual and social history of Europe, and -all the happy results that this history commemorates, all the -salutary consequences of the activity of the human mind, of the -liberty of man's thought, of the amelioration of human -institutions and manners, he sums up all in a single name, -attributes them to a single cause, and assigns all the honor to -the progress of Rationalism! - -{252} - -Arrived, nevertheless, at the conclusion of his work, a single -reflection disquiets Mr. Lecky: he asks himself whether, in -extolling the happy effects of what he styles Rationalism, he has -not gone too far, said too much, and hoped too much: - - "Utility is perhaps the highest motive to which reason can - attain. ... It is from the moral or religious faculty alone - that we obtain the conception of the purely disinterested. ... - The substitution of the philosophical conception of truth for - its own sake, for the theological conception of the guilt of - error, has been in this respect a clear gain; and the political - movement which has resulted chiefly from the introduction of - the spirit of Rationalism into politics, has produced, and is - producing, some of the most splendid instances of - self-sacrifice. On the whole, however, the general tendency of - these influences is unfavorable to enthusiasm, and both in - actions and in speculations this tendency is painfully visible. - With a far higher level of average excellence than in former - times, our age exhibits a marked decline in the spirit of - self-sacrifice, in the appreciation of the more poetical or - religious aspect of our nature. The history of self-sacrifice - during the last eighteen hundred years has been mainly the - history of the action of Christianity upon the world. -{253} - Ignorance and error have, no doubt, often directed the heroic - spirit into wrong channels, and have sometimes even made it a - cause of great evil to mankind; but it is the moral type and - beauty, the enlarged conception and persuasive power of the - Christian faith, that have chiefly called it into being, and it - is by their influence alone that it can be permanently - sustained. ... - - "This is the shadow resting upon the otherwise brilliant - picture the history of Rationalism presents. The destruction of - the belief in witchcraft and of religious persecutions; the - decay of those ghastly notions concerning future punishments, - which for centuries diseased the imaginations and embittered - the character of mankind; the emancipation of suffering - nationalities; the abolition of the belief in the guilt of - error, which paralyzed the intellectual, and of the asceticism - which paralyzed the material progress of mankind, may be justly - regarded as among the greatest triumphs of civilization; but - when we look back to the cheerful alacrity with which, in some - former ages, men sacrificed all their material and intellectual - interests to what they believed to be right, and when we - realize the unclouded assurance that was their reward, it is - impossible to deny that we have lost something in our - progress." [Footnote 42] - - [Footnote 42: History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit - of Rationalism in Europe, by W. E. H. Lecky, vol. ii, 1866, - third edition, pp. 403-409.] - -{254} - -But to leave England and Mr. Lecky, and to return once more to -France. I turn to the pages of a rationalistic philosopher more -profound, and more profoundly troubled, too, in his sentiments -than Mr. Lecky. I find there, in an essay of M. Edmond Scherer, -entitled "The Crisis of Protestantism," [Footnote 43] the -following passage: - - [Footnote 43: Mélanges d'histoire religieuse. Pp. 250-254. - 1864.] - -{255} - - "That which is really imperiled is not so much Protestantism; - it is Christianity, it is very religion. As for natural - religion, that exists only in books. Religions which have vital - force and influence are positive religions; that is, religions - which have a Church, and particular rites, and dogmas. What are - these dogmas? Taken in their intimate meaning, they are the - solutions of the great problems which have ever disquieted the - mind of man--the origin of the world, and of evil; the - expiation; the future of humanity. The doctrines of religion - are a sort of revealed metaphysics. - - "Considered in its form, dogma is the supernatural--not merely - because religions were born at an epoch when the imagination - was greedy of miracles, and when the imagination, in her - _näiveté_, associated herself with everything; but also - because, as may be readily understood, it is impossible for a - positive religion to have any other origin than a revelation; - it is necessarily a history of the intervention of God in the - destinies of man, the account of acts by which God created and - saved the world--it is that or it is nothing. We see then at - once that in religion everything is not religious. There is in - every religion a multitude of elements, historical, physical, - and metaphysical, as to which its dogmas may come into conflict - with science. Nevertheless, it is not of this antagonism that I - would here speak. The religious sentiment has also its critical - action; _it_ also may enter into a struggle with religion. - -{256} - - "As long as the authority of the priest or of the book - preserves its prestige, the believer receives his religion - ready made for him, without himself making distinctions; but as - soon as that authority is shaken, a man, if he do not entirely - reject his first belief, will at least no longer accept it - without reservations. He only retains so much of it as - enlightens or touches him, so much as commends itself to his - understanding or to his heart; so much, in a word, as gives a - satisfaction to his religious requirements. - - "Thus it is that religious sentiment becomes the measure of - religious truth. It receives all in religion that addresses - itself to the soul, all that nourishes and fortifies the soul, - all that raises the soul to the infinite and the ideal, all - that unites the soul to God. -{257} - Religious sentiment appropriates it all, but it appropriates - nothing more. Let but a thing become indifferent, and it feels - it as an importunity, and looks upon it in the light of an - element strange, useless, arbitrary. It rejects, for this - reason, doctrines purely speculative as well as facts purely - marvelous. Man requires his religion to be entirely religious; - that is to say, to be in all respects in direct relation with - piety, and, so to speak, to be vertical to his conscience. The - more his faith purifies itself, the more a man eliminates from - his religion dogmas which, having no root either in the divine - nature or man's nature, appear on that very account to have no - ground to exist at all. - - "At first sight this gradual emancipation of faith and this - corresponding progress of religion in the ways of Spiritualism, - seem a natural process by means of which religious opinion and - the human mind contrive to maintain themselves in a state of - constant equilibrium. -{258} - We imagine all difficulties removed, and fancy that we catch a - glimpse of the religious future of humanity in a sort of - Christian Rationalism, a rational Christianity not excluding - fervor of devotion, but leaving all its liberty to man's - thought. - - "I demand nothing better as far as I am concerned; but I cannot - refrain from asking, not without anxiety, whether Christian - Rationalism is really a religion. What remains in the crucible - after the operation just detailed? Is the residue really the - essence of the positive dogmas, or is it but a _caput - mortuum?_ When Christianity is rendered translucent to man's - mind, conformable to man's reason and man's moral appreciation - of things, does it still possess any great virtue? Does it not - very much resemble Deism, and is it not equally lean and - sterile? Does not the potent influence of religious belief - reside in its dogmatic formulas and marvelous legends just as - much as in anything more essentially religious that it - possesses? -{259} - Is there not even somewhat of superstition in genuine piety, - and is it possible for piety to dispense with that popular - system of metaphysics, that attractive mythology, which men - strive to eliminate from it? Do not the elements which you - pretend to abstract from religion constitute the alloy, without - which the precious metal becomes unsuitable for the rough - usages of life? In short, when criticism shall have succeeded - in overthrowing the supernatural as useless, and dogmas as - irrational; when the religious sentiment on the one side, and a - scrupulous reason on the other, shall have penetrated man's - belief, assimilated and transformed it; when no other authority - shall remain standing, save that of the personal conscience of - each individual; when, in a word, man having torn every vail - and penetrated every mystery, shall behold that God face to - face to whom he aspires, will it not be discovered that that - God is, after all, nothing else than man himself, the - conscience and the reason of humanity personified? Will not - religion, in the very attempt to become more religious, have - ceased to exist?" - -{260} - -Such, according to the views of its most eminent representatives, -are the potent influences and the final results of Rationalism. -After having confusedly attributed to it all the progress of -man's thought and of man's civilization, Mr. Lecky expresses the -apprehension that he has lowered the nature of man, by depriving -him (these are his very words) "of our noblest quality, of the -divine spark, the principle in us of everything that is heroic," -the complete and pure devotedness of Christian faith. M. Scherer -asks himself sadly if in rejecting all dogma and all positive -revelation, in obliging religious sentiment to be self-sufficing, -and to feed itself with its own and single virtue, rational -criticism does not inflict a deadly blow upon religion itself; -and M. Sainte-Beuve, in the same perplexity, contents himself -with saying, as resignedly, though more coldly, "The heart has -its reasons, which the reason comprehends not." - -{261} - -Nothing is so affecting to me, but nothing, at the same time, -throws such light upon the subject of my meditations as this -involuntary, this invincible anxiety observable in men of lofty -sentiments and profound convictions, when confronting the chasms -in their system, and dealing with the incoherences of their own -convictions. However profound, however different my own -conviction may be, I have no desire to engage, either with them -or against them, in any direct or prolonged controversy. I have -been engaged all my life in frequent and ardent polemics. Those -could not be well avoided by a man like myself, forced not merely -to combat human opinions, but to grapple with human affairs; and -called upon to resolve, upon the instant, practical and urgent -questions. But while I voluntarily submitted to the necessity of -precipitate and unforeseen struggles, experience has taught me -their inconveniences and their perils. -{262} -The combatants on each side are prone to make use of weapons of -too offensive a nature; men involve themselves for party -interests and party honor, and push their conclusions with -obstinate pertinacity beyond the strictness of truth, sometimes -even beyond their own intentions. I do not wish in the arena of -philosophy to run the risk of striking upon any similar rock; but -avoiding all personal polemics, all controversy of detail, I will -express upon the essence of Rationalism, although only in a -general manner, my sincere and intimate convictions. - -There are in Rationalism two fundamental errors. First, it -mutilates man while it studies him; it holds as of no account -several of the constituent elements and essential facts of human -nature, of which it ignores the meaning and the import. Secondly, -Rationalism extends the pretensions of human science beyond its -rights, and beyond its legitimate limits. - -{263} - -The instincts, the sentiments, of humanity are certainly not -sufficient reasons for scientific conviction, nor conclusive -proofs in support of any particular system whatever. The -instinctive belief of the human race in one or more supernatural -forces is no demonstration of the reality of the supernatural; -and the aspirings of man's soul for a life beyond this -terrestrial one does not rationally prove the soul's immortality. -Error may occur in human instincts or sentiments just as much as -in human ideas. But when these instincts and these sentiments are -universal, permanent, indestructible, encountered in all ages and -in all countries--when they resist and survive all attacks, all -doubts of reason or science--they are, beyond all question, -considerable facts, and facts which the human understanding -cannot but recognize and respect. If these instincts and -sentiments do not solve the problems which trouble man's -understanding, at least they demand imperiously some solution; if -they throw no light upon his road to science, they oblige him to -see that that road has its mysteries. -{264} -Rationalism mutilates humanity when it ignores such facts, -regarding them as vain illusions because it cannot explain them; -and when, after this mutilation, it assigns the entire empire to -a single portion of the human nature, to a single faculty, called -by it reason, as if reason constituted the entire man, -Rationalism does in the intellectual world what it would be doing -in the physical world did it deny the reality of night because it -only sees the day clearly. - -Rationalism is the more wrong in thus discarding facts which it -does not explain, that in its proper domain similar facts occur, -and that its science of reason arrives also finally at mysteries. -I mentioned it before, as a truth acquired to philosophy, that -there exist in the human mind certain universal and necessary -principles, neither furnished to the mind by impressions derived -from the external world, nor created by the mind itself; and that -those principles are inherent in the nature of the mind, and come -to it from another source than that of sensation, or any -discovery of man's own thought. -{265} -We have here a psychological fact which, after the profound -studies of the spiritualistic school from the time of Plato down -to M. Cousin, Rationalism is obliged to admit. To what does this -fact tend, and what is its logical consequence? What but God, -creation, revelation, and the relations of God with man? Will -Rationalism give any better explanation of these divine laws of -the human mind than it has given of the instincts and of the -sentiments of the human heart? or will it ignore the one result -as it has ignored the other? - -But now to touch upon the radical and permanent error of -Rationalism. It regards all things as accessible to the -researches and to the methods of human science. When Spiritualism -has recognized and proclaimed the essential and necessary facts -which constitute the intellectual and moral being by it styled -man, it halts abruptly; it hesitates also to recognize and -proclaim the mysterious facts in that sanctuary the very door of -which it has reached; it does not resign itself to adore what -lies behind the vail; it is inconsequent and timid, although -respectful and modest. -{266} -Rationalism, on the contrary, is presumptuous and audacious; its -ambition is to see clearly, to touch what is in the center of the -sanctuary, as it sees and touches what is on its outside. Its -pretension is that it may study and know, by its ordinary -processes, as well the invisible world, its Sovereign and its -laws, as the visible world in which man is now placed; and it -wars upon Christianity because Christianity admits no such -pretension. But Christianity here encounters another adversary, -Positivism. Positivism arrests its progress, saying: "I do not -know, nobody knows, if an invisible world be or be not a really -existing thing. It is a mere loss of time to think of it, for -nothing can be known about it with certainty. All religion, all -metaphysics, are chimerical and vain sciences; there is no -science but the science of the physical world, of its facts and -of its laws!" - ---------------------------------------- - -{267} - - Fourth Meditation. - - Positivism. - - -I seek no quarrel with words, even when they provoke it. -Positivism is a word, in language a barbarism, in philosophy a -presumption. Unlike Geology, Ideology, Theology, Physics, it -qualifies a doctrine, not by its object, but by its supposed -merit. All science pretends to positiveness--that is, to be -founded upon fact and truth. But "Positivism" alone arrogates to -itself this quality. It is an arrogance, in my opinion, radically -unjustifiable. - -I knew its founder, M. Auguste Comte, personally. I had some -communication with him in the period from 1824 to 1830. I then -was struck by the elevation of his sentiments and by the vigor of -his mind. -{268} -In October, 1832, at the moment when I was entering upon my -functions as Minister of Public Instruction, he came to me and -formally demanded that I should create for him in the "College of -France" a professorship of general history for the physical and -mathematical sciences. I see no cause to express myself here -otherwise than I have already done in my "Memoirs" as to the -impression produced upon me by his conversation and his personal -bearing. "He explained to me drearily and confusedly his views -upon man, society, civilization, religion, philosophy, history. -He was a man single-minded, honest, of profound convictions, -devoted to his own ideas, in appearance modest, although at heart -prodigiously vain; he sincerely believed that it was his calling -to open a new era for the mind of man and for human society. -While listening to him, I could hardly refrain from expressing my -astonishment that a mind so vigorous should at the same time be -so narrow as not even to perceive the nature and bearing of the -facts with which he was dealing, and the questions which he was -authoritatively deciding; that a character so disinterested -should not be warned by his own proper sentiments--which were -moral in spite of his system--of its falsity and its negation of -morality. -{269} -I did not even make any attempt at discussion with M. Comte: his -sincerity, his enthusiasm, and the delusion that blinded him, -inspired me with that sad esteem that takes refuge in silence. -Had I even judged it fitting to create the chair which he -demanded, I should not for a moment have dreamed of assigning it -to him." [Footnote 44] - - [Footnote 44: "Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire de mon - temps," t. iii, pp. 125-7. In the sixth volume of these - Mémoires I have rectified an error inadvertently committed by - me as to the epoch of my first relations with M. Auguste - Comte.] - -{270} - -I should have been as silent and still more sad if I had then -known the trials through which M. Auguste Comte had already -passed. He had been, in 1823, a prey to a violent attack of -mental alienation, and in 1827, during a paroxysm of gloomy -melancholy, he had thrown himself from the Pont des Arts into the -Seine, but had been rescued by one of the king's guard. More than -once, in the course of his subsequent life, this mental trouble -seemed upon the point of recurring. - -Many will be tempted to demand how a man so little master of -himself, and whose mind was under so little government, could -ever have succeeded in producing a doctrine so considerable, and -in exercising such real influence upon the philosophical world. -The fact is nevertheless beyond question. Whether the cause is to -be referred to the merit of M. Comte and of his doctrine, or to -the state of men's minds at the time, it is certain that not only -in France but in Europe, and particularly in England, numerous -and honorable disciples came over to his ideas, and that -Positivism became a school wanting neither in sincerity nor -credit. When such men as M. Littré, at Paris, and Mr. J. Stuart -Mill, in London, declare themselves his adherents, the doctrine -has claims to a serious examination. - -{271} - -M. Auguste Comte lived constantly, as far as he was individually -concerned, under the empire of a fixed idea, which occasioned him -many a painful disappointment; and he lived, as far as his system -was concerned, under the empire of a false idea, which associated -with views just in themselves and sometimes grand, one pervading -and permanent error. - -His fixed personal idea consisted in his thinking himself called -to regenerate human science and human society by the single -virtue of his doctrine. Besides their share in the -presumptuousness which is the common character of mankind, minds -that are inventive and fond of systematizing are particularly -prone to extend beyond their legitimate bearings--nay, beyond all -bounds--the pretensions and the hopes which their ideas suggest. -M. Auguste Comte was one of the most striking instances, as well -as one of the most honest victims, of this intellectual -intoxication--the noblest although not the least fantastic form -of human pride. -{272} -The Christian religion has its apostles and it has its -missionaries, speaking in the name of a Master other than -themselves, and preaching a faith they did not themselves -originate. M. Auguste Comte was his own proper apostle--the -inventor and missionary of his own proper faith. Of profound -convictions, with no selfish, worldly views, he aspired to the -entire empire of the intellect, believing both the interests of -social order and the honor of the human mind involved in the -triumph of his doctrine; he ardently desired not only its -propagation, but its organization as a permanent and potent -institution, to insure and perpetuate his triumph. The real and -practical government of nations, according to him, was only, as -it ought to be only, a sort of stewardship, charged with the duty -of realizing and carrying into effect the ideas of thinking men. -"The systematic separation of the two elementary forces, the -Spiritual and the Temporal," so he wrote to Mr. J. Stuart Mill, -"constitutes certainly the principal condition for a -_denouement_ of the actual situation. -{273} -I admit that the special requirements of a situation where those -two forces are confounded may authorize, and sometimes oblige, -philosophers, in the interest of a final regeneration, to -participate, by way of exception, in actual political life, -although an inclination for such a life exposes them to the -danger of many a quicksand, and demands that their principles -should be firmly settled, to avoid the risk of a real deviation. -To embody my thought upon this subject in a palpable example -relative to a great occurrence, I blame the philosopher Condorcet -for having suffered himself to be returned as member to our -glorious Convention, in which men of action were leaders, and -properly so, whereas Condorcet could never be so placed as to -regard things from the same point of view; hence that false -position for which in the sequel he had so cruelly to suffer. -{274} -But on the contrary, I should have regarded it as very natural -for him to develop a great activity in the club of the Jacobins; -for, placed beyond the sphere of the government, properly so -called, that club constituted at that time a sort of spiritual -power, in that remarkable and so little comprehended combination -of things which characterized the revolutionary régime. ... I -have learned with much satisfaction," he added, still addressing -Mr. Mill, "that the wise energy of your resistance has succeeded -in triumphing over the blind persistence of your friends who urge -you toward a parliamentary career. I shall propose in my last -volume, and in direct terms, the institution, by individual -efforts, of an European committee, charged permanently with the -direction of a common movement of philosophical regeneration, -when once Positivism shall have planted its standard--that is, -its lighthouse, I should term it--in the midst of the disorder -and confusion that reigns; and I hope that this will be the -result of the publication of my work in its complete state." -[Footnote 45] - - [Footnote 45: Letters of the 20th November, 1841, and 4th - March, 1842, published in the work of M. Littré, entitled, - "Auguste Comte and the Positive Philosophy," pp. 424, 425, - 427, 429.] - -{275} - -One can scarcely refrain from a smile when he contemplates these -dreams reduced to the form of system, ignoring every sentiment of -reality, and expounded with the confidence of fanaticism in the -name of a science called Positive. Here it is that we find the -fixed and dominant idea that pervaded and compromised the whole -life of M. Auguste Comte. Whoever did not accept his doctrine and -his system, was for him either a retrogradist full of prejudice, -or an ignoramus without scientific education, or an interested -and jealous enemy. Whoever, on the other hand, lent himself to -his views on any point, or for any time, however short, became in -the eyes of M. Comte his conquest and his property, his -philosophical serf, as it were, bound to his master by the tenure -of duty, and the render of services from which he could never -hope to enfranchise himself, without the risk of being treated -upon the instant as a deserter or a rebel, and of seeing at once -broken the closest and most approved bonds of intimacy and -friendship. -{276} -He had so entire a confidence in his own intellectual -superiority, and in the rights which it conferred, that he -expressed it sometimes with a _näiveté_ amounting almost to -idolatry. One day, believing that he had won over to his ideas M. -Armand Marrast, then the editor of the _National_, he wrote -thus to his wife: "Marrast no longer feels any repugnance in -admitting the indispensable fact of my intellectual superiority; -he is in this respect, in my opinion, especially influenced by -Mill, whom he holds, and with reason, in high account. To speak -plainly and in general terms, I believe that, at the point at -which I have now arrived, I have no occasion to do more than to -continue to exist; the kind of preponderance which I covet -cannot, henceforth, fail to devolve upon me." [Footnote 46] - - [Footnote 46: Letter of the 3d December, 1842: "Auguste Comte - et la philosophic positive;" p. 324.] - -{277} - -Shortly after the date of this letter, M. Comte was separated -from his wife and embroiled with Mr. Mill himself, who had not, -as the former fancied, fulfilled toward him all the duties of an -accepted and loyal disciple. - -I pass from the fixed idea of the man to the false idea of his -system; it appears over and over again at each step in the "Cours -de philosophie positive" of M. Auguste Comte, [Footnote 47] and -in the imposing biography consecrated to his memory by his most -accomplished disciple, M. Littré. [Footnote 48] - - [Footnote 47: Six volumes 8vo., published in the interval - from 1830 to 1842 inclusive.] - - [Footnote 48: Auguste Comte et la philosophic positive. 8vo. - 1863.] - -I extract from different parts of these volumes the passages in -which the fundamental doctrine is most clearly expressed: - - "Positive philosophy is the whole body of human knowledge. - Human knowledge is the result of the study of the forces - belonging to matter, and of the conditions or laws governing - those forces." [Footnote 49] - - [Footnote 49: Ibid., p. 42.] - - "The fundamental character of positive philosophy is, that it - regards all phenomena as subjected to invariable natural laws, - and considers as absolutely inaccessible to us, and as having - no sense for us, every inquiry into what is termed either - primary or final causes." [Footnote 50] - - [Footnote 50: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, p. 14.] - -{278} - - "The scientific path, in which I have, ever since I began to - think, continued to walk, the labors that I obstinately pursue - to elevate social theories to the rank of physical science are - evidently, radically, and absolutely opposed to everything that - has a religious or metaphysical tendency." [Footnote 51] - - [Footnote 51: Auguste Comte et la philosophic positive, by M. - Littré, p. 194.] - - "My positive philosophy is incompatible with every theological - or metaphysical philosophy, and consequently equally so with - every corresponding system of policy." [Footnote 52] - - [Footnote 52: Ibid., p. 210.] - - "M. Comte," says M. Littré, "made it a duty to speak in public - without any reticence, to deduce his positive truths, and to - confront them with the conceptions of Theology and of - Metaphysics. . . . 'Religiosity' is in his eyes not only a - weakness, but an avowal of want of power." [Footnote 53] - - [Footnote 53: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - pp. 198-255.] - -{279} - - "The 'positive state' is that state of the mind in which it - conceives that phenomena are governed by constant laws, from - which prayer and adoration can demand nothing, but to which - intelligence and science may address their demands; so that, by - familiarizing himself with those laws more and more, and by - conforming to them more and more, man acquires an ever-growing - empire over nature and over himself, which empire is the sum of - all civilization. The 'theological state,' on the contrary, is - that state of the mind which conceives that phenomena are the - results of volition, or, if the social development has arrived - at Monotheism, that they are the results of a single, all-wise, - and all-powerful will. This providence, essentially collective - where Polytheism is supposed, essentially single in the case of - Monotheism, governs the world, dispenses its good and its evil, - lays its finger upon human events, and regards the destiny of - each individual man. -{280} - Such is the contrast between the two doctrines. ... Profiting - by the instruction of the illustrious De Maistre, our French - priests at last comprehended that ultramontanism was the only - logical consequence deducible from their essential principles. - The more the positive school defines the real character of its - progress, the more must we see this retrograde concentration - also develop itself; which will involve at some later epoch - Deists themselves, as Positivism proceeds to gain complete - ascendancy; an ascendancy, in other respects, far more likely - to be furthered than retarded by such coordination of its - adversaries, for this will tend to give at last to the - struggles of philosophy a decisive character; but the - Positivists will alone succeed in prevailing (at least as far - as speculative doctrines are concerned) over the coalition of - all the philosophical forces of the ancient school, whether - metaphysical or theological." [Footnote 54] - - [Footnote 54: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - pp. 370, 434. ] - -{281} - -M. Comte had even more aversion for Metaphysics than for -Theology. He took particular offense at the contemporary -spiritualistic school, and the scientific psychology of MM. -Royer, Collard, Maine de Biran, Cousin, and Jouffroy. - - "In no view," said he, "is there any room for this illusory - psychology; this final transformation of a theology, which men - strive, nowadays, so idly to reanimate; for--without troubling - itself either with the physiological study of our intellectual - organs, or with the observation of those rational processes, - which in effect direct our different scientific - researches--Psychology pretends to arrive at the discovery of - the fundamental laws of the human mind by contemplating that - very mind--that is to say, by making complete abstraction both - of causes and of effects." [Footnote 55] - - [Footnote 55: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, p. 34.] - -{282} - -Even while absolutely rejecting Theology, M. Comte treated it -with more esteem than Metaphysics. - - "We are," he said, "too disposed, nowadays, to ignore the - immense benefits due to religious influence. The positive - philosophy, however paradoxical it may be to claim for it such - a peculiarity, is virtually the only philosophy capable of - worthily appreciating all the participation of the spirit of - religion in the whole grand development of humanity. Is it not - directly evident that, as by an invincible organic necessity, - moral efforts have almost always to combat to some degree or - other the most energetic impulses of our nature; the - theological spirit was imperatively called upon to furnish to - social discipline that general basis which was quite - indispensable at a time when human foresight, whether of men in - masses or of men as individuals, was certainly far too limited - to offer any sufficient _point d'appui_ to influences - purely rational?" - -{283} - - ... "When the positive philosophy shall have acquired that - character of universality which it is still without, it will be - capable of replacing entirely, with all its native superiority, - that theological philosophy and that metaphysical philosophy of - which this universality is in these days the sole real - peculiarity, and which, deprived of this motive for preference, - will have for our successors nothing but an historical - existence." [Footnote 56] - - [Footnote 56: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Comte, - vol. v, p. 73; vol. i, p. 23.] - -I do not pause to notice in how many respects this language is -superficial, confused, and incoherent. I only draw attention to -the fundamental idea which it manifests--matter, the forces of -matter, and its laws; these are the sole objects of human -knowledge, the sole domain of the human mind. Aware of, and -embarrassed by the objections which the idea has from the -beginning of time excited, M. Littré has striven to rid himself -of them by an admission, sincere no doubt, like everything that -he thinks, and everything that he says, but full in its turn of -confusion and incoherence. - -{284} - - "The positive philosophy," says he, "is at once a system which - comprehends all that is known of the world of man and of - society, and also a general method, containing in itself all - the ways by which men have come to learn all these things. What - is beyond, whether, materially speaking, that space without - limit, or intellectually that concatenation of never-ending - causes, all this is absolutely inaccessible to the human mind. - By inaccessible is not meant null or non-existent. Immensity in - matter, as in intellect, is connected by a close band with what - we know, and it is only by such an alliance that it becomes an - idea positive in itself, and of the same order; what I mean is, - that by so touching and bordering what we know, immensity - appears under the double character of reality and of - inaccessibility. It is an ocean which dashes upon our shores, - and for which we have nor bark nor sail, but the clear vision - of which is as salutary as it is formidable." [Footnote 57] - - [Footnote 57: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - p. 519.] - -{285} - -The vision so admitted by M. Littré is not clear, and neither is -it salutary; but vague, and without result. The imagery does not -destroy the system which it seeks to vail from us. Every -religious belief, every spiritual doctrine, God and the human -soul, are discarded by Positivism, and treated as arbitrary and -transitory hypotheses, which, however they may have conduced to -the development of humanity, ought now to be rejected by human -reason, just as the foot may throw down the ladder which has -enabled it to mount to the summit. To call things by their proper -names, Positivism is Materialism and Atheism, with more or less -explicitness, confidently or hesitatingly, accepted as the last -term of human science, and when hard pressed, taking refuge in -the darkness of skepticism. - -What are the foundations upon which Positivism rests? What facts, -what proofs, does M. Auguste Comte adduce in support of his -principles, that matter, its forces, and its laws, constitute the -sole object of human knowledge, the sole domain of the human -mind? - -{286} - -He appeals to two arguments--the one metaphysical, the other -historical; the one derived from the mind of man itself, the -other from the history of humanity. - -I cannot here follow M. Comte in his long and complex explanation -of the two orders of proofs to which he appeals in support of his -system; what I shall say will, I think, suffice to demonstrate -that neither can stand any serious examination. - -As a metaphysician--for metaphysician he must permit himself to -be called, since he makes use of metaphysics, whatever his -antipathy for philosophers who bear that name;--as -metaphysician, I repeat, M. Auguste Comte belongs to the -sensualistic school, He thinks with Locke and Condillac, that man -deduces all his ideas and all his knowledge from impressions -received by him from the outer world, and from the reflections -which he makes upon those impressions. -{287} -He takes, therefore, as his starting point, the maxim of that -school which proclaims that "there is nothing in the intelligence -which has not first been in the sense." Nevertheless, whether by -an act of proper and remarkable sagacity, or struck by the reply -of Leibnitz, "unless the intelligence itself," he admits that -sensation does not account for all that passes and develops -itself in the mind of the observer of the external world. "If," -he says, "on the one side every positive theory must necessarily -be founded upon observation, it is, on the other side, equally -plain that to apply itself to the task of observation, our mind -has need of some 'theory.' If, in contemplating the phenomena, we -do not immediately attach them to certain principles, not only -would it be impossible for us to combine these isolated -observations, so as to draw any fruit therefrom; but we should be -entirely incapable of retaining them, and in most cases the facts -would remain before our eyes unnoticed. -{288} -The need at all times of some 'theory' whereby to associate -facts, combined with the evident impossibility of the human mind -at its origin forming 'theories' out of observations, is a fact -which it is impossible to ignore." [Footnote 58] - - [Footnote 58: Cours de philosophic positive, par M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i. p. 8.] - -This fact, thus proved by M. Comte himself; this necessary part -of the human mind, indispensable to enable it to acquire -knowledge of the external world; this "theory," anterior to all -observation, which man requires for the purpose himself of -observing, what are they else than those universal and necessary -principles proclaimed by the spiritualistic school, and to which -I recently referred?--principles inherent in the human mind, -which it applies as from its own stores in taking cognizance of -the external world, and by virtue of which, just as one mounts a -river up to its source, man mounts and mounts up to God, and up -to the relations of man with God. - -{289} - -But, admitting the same fact, M. Comte does not explain it in -this way. This "theory;" these principles anterior to external -observation, and which the mind absolutely requires in order to -be able to observe, are, according to him, pure inventions of the -human mind itself, temporary instruments which the mind creates -and employs in its labors until it can obtain better. "Between," -says he, "two difficulties, pressed on the one hand by the -necessity of observing in order to form 'theories,' and on the -other by the no less imperious necessity of creating 'theories' -in order to be able to deliver itself up to a series of coherent -observations, the human mind at its birth would find itself shut -in by a vicious circle from which it would never have had any -means of escaping, had it not succeeded in opening a natural -issue by the spontaneous development of theological conceptions, -which presented a point to which his efforts might be -concentrated, and which might furnish aliment for his activity. -{290} -It is, in effect, very remarkable, that questions the most -radically inaccessible to our capacities, the intimate nature of -being, the origin and the end of all phenomena, should be -precisely those which the intelligence propounds to itself, as of -paramount importance in that primitive condition, all the other -problems really admitting of solution being almost regarded as -unworthy of serious meditation. The reason of this it is not -difficult to discover, for experience alone could have given us -the measure of our strength; and if man had not begun by -entertaining an exaggerated opinion of that strength, it would -never have been capable of acquiring all the development of which -it is susceptible. So much does our organization exact." -[Footnote 59] - - [Footnote 59: Cours de philosophie positive, par M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, pp. 9, 10.] - -{291} - -Strange error of a man, whose supreme pretension it is to found -all human knowledge upon the observation of facts! At his very -first step, at the first difficulty which he encounters, M. Comte -observes inexactly and incompletely, does not see in the facts -all that the facts contain, and only explains them by assigning -to the human mind, in its primitive and spontaneous operations, a -hypothesis, the hypothesis of "theological conceptions." God, and -man's relations with God, is a human invention, destined to -support man at the commencement of his career as an intelligent -being, and to occupy provisionally the place of science! - -The source of this misapprehension, the capital error of -Positivism in its metaphysical argument, is, that it ignores the -nature and the limits of science. - -The famous "enthymême" of Descartes, "I think, therefore I am," -is a pleonasm. As soon as the human being says to itself "I," the -human being affirms its own existence, and distinguishes itself -from that external world whence it derives impressions of which -it is not the author. -{292} -In this primary fact are revealed the two primary objects of -human knowledge: on the one side the human being himself, the -individual person that feels and perceives, that feels himself -and perceives himself; on the other side, the external world that -is felt and perceived: the subject and the object, (the -_moi_ and the _non-moi_.) Such is the twofold field, at -the beginning of his intellectual existence, opened to the -knowing faculty of man. - -In each of these fields, whether the human being makes himself or -whether he makes the external world the object of his -contemplation, he proceeds by the same method; he considers -particular facts, classes these under more general facts which -serve as their summary, and recognizes laws that govern them, -these laws being themselves facts. When this method of -observation and of generalization is applied to the outer world, -understanding by that world the human body also, it gives birth -to the sciences of physics and of physiology. -{293} -When such method is applied to the human being, regarded as -distinct from the body in which he lives and by which he acts, it -gives birth to the science of psychology, logic, and morals. It -is not here my intention to propose a classification of the -sciences, but only to determine the domain of science properly so -called--that is to say, the field in which the human mind by -observation gets directly at facts and at the laws of facts. - -Philosophers, in their study of man and of the world, do not -sufficiently consult language, the general language, the common -language, that instinctive expression of the activity of the -human mind. I interrogate our native language upon the question -which now occupies me, and I find it reflecting the greatest -light. It has, to express the results of the intellectual process -which takes place in man, when regarded as the spectator of the -universe and of himself, many different words: "connaître," -"savoir," "croire," "connaissance," "science," "croyance," "foi." -{294} -These are not mere different names to express the same idea and -the same fact, they are signs of different facts and of diverse -states of the human soul. If we interrogate the languages of -civilized nations, ancient or modern, we find in all of them, -with more or less abundance, precision or subtlety, a similar -variety of terms corresponding to a similar diversity of facts. - -Talleyrand said once in the chamber of Peers, "There is somebody -who has more intellect than Napoleon, more intellect than -Voltaire; that somebody is the Public." I also say, there is a -more profound observer than Bacon, a greater philosopher than -Kant; it is mankind. Mankind is right when it distinguishes in -its languages knowledge from science and from belief, science -from belief and from faith. Bossuet wrote a book entitled "De la -Connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même;" the idea would never have -occurred to him of entitling it "De la science de Dieu et de -soi-même;" it would have shocked his good sense as much as his -piety. -{295} -The child believes the smile and the speech of its mother; in its -belief there is certainly no scientific appreciation (no science) -of the relations which unite it to its mother, and of the reasons -which make it believe in her. Knowledge, science, belief, and -faith, are facts essentially distinct, although all equally -natural to the human soul; and it is impossible to confound them, -to take one for the other, to annul one in favor of the other, or -to attempt to reduce them to one term, without ignoring -realities, and falling into enormous errors. - -Such has been the constant error of M. Auguste Comte, and such is -the radical vice of Positivism. M. Comte ignores the natural and -permanent diversity in the intellectual states through which a -man may pass in his ardent pursuit of truth. He refuses here to -recognize any state as legitimate and definitive except the -scientific state. He regards intuitive knowledge and instinctive -belief as preparatory and transitory states, states without any -rational authority; as, in short, simple steps on the way to that -scientific state which alone sets man in possession of the truth. -{296} -Positivism is thus led to extend the pretensions of science -beyond its proper domain, that is, beyond the finite world, its -facts and its laws; and as science finds itself incapable of -observing and of defining infinity, Positivism is, perforce, -reduced either to deny infinity, or to declare infinity -absolutely inaccessible to the human mind, and so to pass it over -in silence. - -This negation discovers another immense error of the school and -of its chief. Convinced, and with reason, that the observation of -facts is the natural and constant process of the human -understanding in its labor after knowledge, M. Auguste Comte has -ill understood, and incompletely understood, the results of this -labor. He failed to perceive that it was observation itself, -carried on and accomplished by the process, no less natural and -no less legitimate, of induction, which was revealing to the mind -its peculiar facts and its peculiar laws, as well as the facts -and the laws of the external world, within which that mind is -placed. -{297} -M. Comte ended by ignoring or denying the elements _à -priori_ of human knowledge; that is to say, the universal and -necessary principles by which man raises himself to God, and has -relations with God. Thus M. Comte mutilates the human mind, -because he fails to observe it and to recognize it in its -entirety. - -He is impelled by his system to another and still more serious -mutilation of human nature. After having declared matter, its -forces and its laws, to be the single object of human knowledge, -and these laws to be inherent in matter, eternal and invariable, -what is to be said of human liberty? What place is to be assigned -to human liberty in this world, in which it is powerless to -create anything or to change anything, and in which there exists -no power from which it can demand anything or obtain anything? -{298} -Evidently, in such a system human liberty is a chimera, an idle -luxury of human nature; man, with all his faculties, has nothing -to do but to study matter carefully, its forces and its laws, to -adapt himself to them, and to make the best use he can of them, -with a view to his welfare and to the satisfaction of his -desires. Fatalism is the law of man as of the world within which -he lives! - -The moral instincts, and the naturally lofty mind of M. Comte -revolted at this consequence, although it flowed imperiously from -his system. The respect which he felt for the method of -observation, and for the facts which it attains to, did not -permit him absolutely to ignore or expressly to deny the -psychological fact of man's liberty. Sometimes he attempts to -find it a place in that sum of external facts and fixed laws -which is, in his opinion, the sole field for man's activity and -for man's science. -{299} -But such is the want of coherence of idea, that M. Comte is -visibly embarrassed; consequently, in his works--more especially -in his "Cours de philosophie positive,"--the most solid and -consistent of all his writings in its fundamental principles--he -sets almost completely aside the essential fact of human liberty, -and of free will in the individual man; and in those books in -which he treats of social organization, when he finds himself -face to face with the wants and the rights of political liberty, -that natural consequence of individual free will and of the -responsibility attaching to it, he struggles to elude questions -of this kind, feeling the impossibility of reconciling the -principle of moral order with the despotism and the fatalism of -the material world; and when he explains his views as to the -government of human societies, it is easy to see that, although -writing "I am, head and heart Republican," [Footnote 60] he is, -in his dreams, rather substituting a scientific domination for a -theocratic domination than instituting any liberal _régime_. - - [Footnote 60: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - p. 251.] - -{300} - -After metaphysics comes history. M. Comte appeals to the annals -of all nations and all ages in confirmation of his system of the -world and of humanity. This history is to be divided, according -to him, into three successive states, the theological state, the -metaphysical state, and the scientific state. In the theological -state and epoch, the human mind and social institutions are under -the empire of pretended supernatural powers, of several such or -of only one such, invented by man for the solution of the natural -problems which lay siege to man, and for the determination of the -laws, with which the social order cannot dispense. In the -metaphysical epoch and state, vain abstractions essay to replace -the supernatural powers of the theological state, and only end in -an anarchy, both of opinions and society. The third epoch is -destined to be the reign of positive science, founded solely upon -observation and respect for the facts, the forces, and the laws -of that external world which is the theater of man's existence. -The first two states are, according to him, essentially -irrational and transitory. They are the first steps of that which -M. Comte styles the grand evolution of humanity, of which the -_régime_ of science is the end and the summit. - -{301} - -It would be difficult more entirely to deform, difficult to show -greater ignorance of man's general history. That which M. Comte -regards as three successive states in the history of the human -race is only the complex and permanent condition of humanity, -agitated by movements swaying in different directions, according -as it meets with the successes or encounters the reverses, the -hopes, or the fears to which different nations and generations -are subject. That theological conceptions and metaphysical -meditations are only transitory facts, "which," according to the -expression of M. Comte, "will have henceforth only an historical -existence," is an assertion no more true of such facts than of -those that the study of physics supplies. These different -yearnings of the mind, and their different labors, are the very -essence--the indestructible and indivisible essence--of human -nature. -{302} -At no time and in no country have men more ceased, or will they -more cease, to pray to God, and to strive to comprehend him, than -they will cease to study the physical world, and to make it -subserve their interests. Nations and generations of individuals, -in different ages, have advanced more or less in one or other of -these careers of intellectual activity; and so they will continue -to advance. Religious faith, metaphysical meditation, and -scientific inquiry have their alternations of enthusiasm and of -languor, of glory and of sterility; they appear and they prosper, -sometimes separately, sometimes simultaneously. If India plunged -herself deep among the symbols of mythology and amid the void of -Pantheism, Greece cultivated with like success the metaphysical -and the natural sciences--Aristotle was the contemporary of -Plato. Where other nations fluctuated variously between -theological conceptions, metaphysical abstractions, and -scientific studies, the Hebrew people continued, in the -theological state, Monotheists. -{303} -In the sixteenth century, when the spirit of free inquiry and of -independence was awakened, and made its influence felt far and -wide, Christian faith, at the same time, was resuscitated and -confirmed; and the eighteenth century founded at once the -political liberty of Protestant England and the philosophical and -literary glory of Catholic France. The human mind has, according -to time and place, its favorite labors and its favorite impulses; -but it subsists always one and entire; it never renounces any one -of its grand hopes or of its grand operations; and those men -strangely mutilate and debase it who represent the mind as -having, during ages, lost itself in the vain effort to attain a -knowledge of God and of its own nature, and who condemn it -henceforth to take up its quarters in the science of matter--of -its forces--of its laws. - -{304} - -Why need I appeal to history for a proof of the simultaneous and -indestructible co-existence of these different conditions of -humanity, among which M. Auguste Comte refuses to admit more than -one as rational and definitive? M. Comte has himself -undertaken--he alone--to furnish me with this proof. This -intractable adversary of all religious belief and tendency could -not, even for the short space of this life, himself remain -indifferent to such belief and tendency; during this brief period -he traversed, and in the inverse order of his own theories, each -of the different intellectual states which he had assigned as the -successive stages of the human race. He had placed the -theological state at the beginning and the scientific state at -the close of the career of humanity; after having made his own -_début_ by the scientific state, it was as impossible for -him, as it is for the human race, to content himself with that, -and he himself ended there, where, according to him, mankind had -commenced, namely, with the theological state. He had declared -his positive philosophy to be "in radical and absolute -contradiction to every kind of religious or metaphysical -tendency." -{305} -He had separated with _éclat_ from the Saint-Simonians, "for -they will soon," he said, "sink themselves in ridicule and -contempt. Only imagine, their heads are turned to such a degree, -that they propose nothing less than the establishment of a real, -new religion, a sort of incarnation of the divinity in the person -of Saint-Simon." [Footnote 61] - - [Footnote 61: Letter of the 9th December, 1828, to M. Gustave - d'Eichthal. Auguste Comte et la philosophie positive, by M. - Littré, p. 173.] - -And some years after holding this language, and while still in -the plenitude of bodily vigor and thought, M. Comte in his turn -launched into a theological career; he took it upon him to -transform Positivism into a religion. By the most violent of all -personified abstractions, he made out of humanity the great -being, the real being, sovereign and adorable, and he placed that -being in the place of God, declaring himself at the same time to -be his chief priest. -{306} -He had more than once proclaimed that all religion was -essentially founded upon the supernatural; and yet a religion all -natural--the religion of humanity, the worship of humanity, the -church of humanity, were summoned by him to succeed to the -Christian religion and to the Church of Christ. On the 19th of -October, 1851, when terminating his third philosophical course on -the general histories of humanity, M. Comte summed it up in these -words: "In the name of the past and of the future, the -theoretical servitors and the practical servitors of humanity are -about to assume worthily the direction of the general affairs of -this world, in order to construct, at last, the true providence, -moral, intellectual, and material, at the same time excluding -irrevocably from political supremacy all the different slaves of -God--Catholics, Protestants, or Deists--as being at once in -arrear of the age and its perturbators." The positivist religion -thus proclaimed, a positivist catechism and a positivist -calendar--these last both composed by M. Comte--reduced his -principles to practice. -{307} -In a series of conversations between "The Priest and the Woman," -the catechism first establishes and explains the dogma, then the -worship, of the new religion, its internal order and its external -order, its private worship and its public worship. And the -calendar, by a retrospective chronology, determines for any given -year of thirteen months, and for the seven days of the week, the -names of the grand servitors in every department of humanity, who -are to replace the Christian saints: three hundred and sixty-four -names, men and women, with one hundred and sixty-five additional -names, are inscribed upon this list, which begins with Moses and -ends with Bichat, passing through Homer, Aristotle, Archimedes, -Cæsar, Saint Paul, Charlemagne, Dante, Gutenburg, Shakspeare, -Descartes, and Frederic the Second! - -A chaos is a sorry sight; a chaos of the soul a still sorrier -spectacle than a chaos of worlds! Epochs of moral and social -crises, even while they bring on and prepare for mankind eras of -mighty progress, throw also great and potent intellects into -chaos. -{308} -Under the seduction of a noble ambition, and the delusion of a -partial success, they enthusiastically attach themselves to some -special subject, some incomplete idea; vain of their shallow and -confused systems, or rather of the brilliant coloring in which -they invest them, they pretend to explain and regulate man and -the world, and yet are nothing more than their superficial and -presumptuous observers. Among these "great lost ones of -humanity," (I borrow a phrase of their own,) M. Comte was one of -the most disinterested and the most sincere. The sincerity and -the courage evinced by him in expressing his convictions led him -on from inconsequence to inconsequence; in his benighted course -he caught glimpses occasionally of grand ideas, and of these he -apprehended neither the scope nor the connection: first it was an -idea of a science excluding all idea of religion; and then a -certain idea of a religion reconciled with and intimately united -with the idea of science; turn by turn he gave himself up to the -one and to the other with a blind and a daring devotedness. -{309} -Had he appeared in Greece at the great era of philosophy, or in -France in the seventeenth century, in the midst of the great -Christian controversy, he would have been taxed with insanity--at -the one epoch, not only by Plato but by Aristotle; at the other, -not only by Bossuet but by Spinoza. In our days he has been more -fortunate: he attached himself passionately to the method of -observation of facts, which is the very character of science, and -although his observations were superficial, inexact, and -incomplete--although he fell into the strangest -inconsistencies--the fundamental principle of his system, and the -coincidence of his primary ideas with the method and the tendency -of the physical sciences, the darling study of our age, have -given him more importance and more influence than were really his -due. - -------------------------------- - -{310} - - Fifth Meditation. - - Pantheism. - - -No two essays at philosophy are more dissimilar--I should indeed -say more contradictory--than Pantheism and Positivism. What -Positivism declares to be impossible, Pantheism seeks to -accomplish; what Positivism forbids man to seek, Pantheism -promises to give him. It is the fundamental principle of -Positivism to confine the human mind to the finite world, its -facts and its laws; Pantheism aspires at a knowledge and a -comprehension of Infinity, and of the relations of the finite -with Infinity. "I have explained God, God's nature and his -attributes," says Spinoza. [Footnote 62] - - [Footnote 62: Ethics, 1st part; of God: Appendix, vol. i, p. - 39. French translation by M. Saisset.] - -{311} - -I hasten to explain, in order to prevent misconstruction; it is -to Pantheism, properly so called--to the sole system that merits -the name--that my remarks are here applicable. "We must," says -M. Cousin, "it seems, distinguish two kinds of Pantheism. The -assertion that this visible universe, indefinite or infinite, -suffices to itself, and that there is nothing to be sought for -beyond, is the Pantheism of Diderot, Helvetius, de la Mettrie, -d'Holbach. This Pantheism is clearly Atheism, and it would not be -very easy to comprehend the complacent indulgence that should -spare it that name of Atheism--a name, unfortunately, of ancient -date, which would then have no longer any object to fit it, and -would need to be erased from our dictionary. But is it possible -for a similar Pantheism to be imputed to Spinoza? With the French -Encyclopedists, things exist in particularity and individuals -singly: the universe is an assemblage of individuals--an -assemblage without unity, or of which the sole unity is a -presumed primary matter, which the philosopher admits or which he -does not admit, but with which his thought has no business, to -occupy itself. -{312} -With Spinoza, on the contrary, the single substance is all, and -the individuals are nothing. This substance is not the nominal -unity of the assemblage of individuals, each of which exists -singly, but is the single really existing substance, and in the -presence of that substance the world and man are but shadows; so -that from the 'Ethics' may be gathered an exaggerated Theism -which leaves no individual existing as such. Rigorously, and at -bottom, there is here perhaps only one and the same system, but a -system, nevertheless, with two very different forms--the one, -where God is nothing but the Universe; the other, where the -Universe exists only in God." [Footnote 63] - - [Footnote 63: Histoire générale de la philosophie, p. 433, - ed. 1863.] - -{313} - -I think, with M. Cousin, that, rigorously and at bottom, there is -here but one and the same system, but in appearance, and I say -besides, in the opinion of its authors, the difference is great, -and requires to be noticed. I postpone for the subject -"Materialism," all that I have to say upon the subject of the -so-called Pantheism, which admits no other existence than either -that of the individualities that people the visible universe, or -that of the primary matter whence they have issued. I occupy -myself, at this moment, solely with the idealistic Pantheism. - -Do we wish to behold a spectacle of how weak the human mind -really is in the midst of all its grandeur, and of the limits -which must finally and abruptly check its progress, however high -its flight, we will read Plotinus, Spinoza, and Hegel, three -martyrs to intellectual ambition, differing very much according -to the difference of the eras and the nations to which they -respectively belong, but similar in this point at least, that -they ignore the visible world, and leave it behind them, to enter -that world which dazzles their sight, where they plunge into a -void in quest of what they call "Being!" - -{314} - -Two passions have impelled, are impelling, and will, probably, -still occasionally impel men of eminent powers of mind to -Pantheism: the passionate craving for an universal science, and -the passionate longing for universal unity--feelings noble both, -but illegitimate and incapable of satisfaction. - -"I have resolved," said Spinoza, "to search if there exist a real -Good, a Good capable, singly, of filling the entire soul after it -shall have rejected all the rest--in a word, a Good that gives -the soul, when the soul finds it and possesses it, the eternal -and supreme happiness. ... Man is essentially a being that -thinks, and the highest degree of human knowledge ought to be the -highest degree of human felicity. ... My sources of enjoyment -consist in the exercise of the reason." [Footnote 64] - - [Footnote 64: Œuvres de Spinoza, French translation of M. - Emile Saisset, vol. i, pp. 15, 16.] - -{315} - -What obliviousness of man's nature and of man's life! Man is not -merely a being that thinks, but a being that feels, wills, and -acts, a being moral and responsible for his acts, at the same -time that he is a being of intelligence, and a being insatiate of -knowledge. It is by his thought that he accounts to himself for -his sentiments, and for the motives of his acts, but it is not -from his thought that he derives either his sentiments or his -liberty, neither does knowledge constitute his sole enjoyment. -Spinoza mutilates man strangely when he places "the highest -degree of human felicity in the highest degree of human -knowledge." Man is more exacting than the philosopher, and it -requires infinitely more to satisfy the most modest human soul -than to satisfy the proudest mind. Infinitely more in respect of -happiness, infinitely less in respect of science! Not that I -would make their intellectual ambition a reproach to -philosophers, even when it leads them astray. -{316} -It is an honor to the human mind that it aspires higher than it -can attain, that it torments itself in the struggle to carry its -science into that invisible world, which it instinctively feels -by anticipation, just as it does into that visible world that it -sees. God granted to man this privilege; he implanted in his soul -the ardent desire to know him and to possess him fully. But at -the same time, God granted to men in general certain instincts -and spontaneous beliefs which adequately satisfy this desire -without the necessity of any profound study. What would have -become of the human race if, in order to believe in God, to hope -in him, and to pray to him, man had been obliged to wait until -philosophers had resolved the problems which still weigh upon -_their_ genius? As God, in creating man free, took care that -the maintenance of the general order in this world should not be -completely abandoned to the disputes of men, so did he provide -for the spiritual nourishment of mankind, without denying to the -great ambitious ones of the earth either the prospect of a -satisfaction more complete, or the right to search for it. - -{317} - -Let us never tire of repeating, this is the mystery of man's -mixed nature--an indication of a destiny in store for him -superior to his actual condition. He carries within him the ideas -of infinity, of perfection, and yet here below he is nothing but -a finite being, imperfect, equally incapable of sufficing to -himself and of satisfying himself, either in the domain of -thought or of actual life. "There are more things in heaven and -upon earth than philosophy--than even the philosophy 'of the -absolute'--can explain. ... To comprehend God, it needs to be -God. A child might have said as much to Hegel." These words I -borrow from M. Edmond Scherer's exposition of the doctrine of -Hegel. [Footnote 65] - - [Footnote 65: Melanges d'histoire religieuse, pp. 366, 341. - 1864.] - -Jesus in effect said, eighteen centuries ago: "I praise thee, -Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, that thou hast hidden these -things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto -babes." - -{318} - -Pantheists are entirely of the opinion of M. Scherer, for to -enable man to comprehend God, they have found no other expedient -than to make of man himself the God that man is desirous of -comprehending. The passion for an universal science has ended by -receiving no being as God but man. - -The passion for universal unity has led to the same result. That -truth is one--that is to say, that all truths, whatever their -object, are in harmony with one another--the very word truth -implies and proclaims. From the unity of truth the Pantheists -passed, with a single bound, to the unity of being. They -identified idea and reality, science and existence, confounding -all things in order to reduce them to one single thing, and -abolishing all beings in order to concentrate them all in one and -the same being, which, after all, is nothing more than an -impersonal notion and a barren name, falling in its turn into the -void. - -{319} - -By what path did the Pantheists arrive at this abyss? What was -the process employed by men of eminent powers of mind to -construct a system so singularly factitious and hypothetical, and -yet pretending, at the same time, to be so necessary and so -rigorously philosophical? - -Like some great men of antiquity, (and their number is -considerable,) who sought to explain nature and the physical -world by incomplete and precipitate hypotheses and systems, -invented irrespectively of either facts or their laws, the -Pantheists by similar means proceeded--nay, are proceeding--to -explain man, the universe, and God; the Infinite and the finite. -The method which for three centuries has constituted the glory of -the natural sciences, and made their progress lasting, the exact -study of facts and their relations; that method so long strange -not only to general philosophy but to the special sciences -themselves--I may at once call it by its proper name, the -scientific method--was formerly, and remains still, strange to -the Pantheists; to Spinoza as to Plotinus, to Hegel as to -Spinoza. -{320} -Whether Plotinus plunges into an _ecstacy_ to arrive at and -comprehend God in uniting man to God by the virtue of -contemplation; or Spinoza, defining _substance_, makes it -the principle from which to deduce his theory of the universe and -of its unity; or Hegel, speaking of _idea_ in order to -arrive at the same result as Spinoza, seeks to obtain from his -term _substance_--it is the same defect that appears in the -labors of all these potent intelligences, not only in their -development, but in the very point from which they start; for -observation of facts and of their laws they substitute the -affirmation and the definition of an axiom, and the deduction, -logical, it is true, of its consequences. They disdain and set -aside all study of the realities of the universe, believing -themselves to be in possession of a key to open its secrets. - -{321} - -They see not that their key is a deception, that at each step -facts evident, indestructible, give the flattest denial to their -inferences, and that to maintain their arbitrary and insufficient -principle they are forced to ignore and to deny other facts, -themselves evident, indestructible. - -Psychological observation proves and irresistibly establishes -three facts, however the consequences of these facts themselves -may lead to questions and controversies. - -1. Man believes in his own existence, and in his own personality. -He feels himself and perceives himself to be a being, real and -distinct from every other being. - -2. Man feels himself and knows himself to be a free agent. Of the -freedom of his resolves, whatever the motives and deliberations -which precede them, man has an intimate and assured -consciousness. - -3. Good and evil exist in man, and exist in the world; moral good -and evil as well as physical good and evil. Whatever may be -thought of their origin, the mixture and the struggle of good and -of evil, in the moral order and in the physical order, are facts -evident in themselves, and attested by the conscience and by the -experience of the human race. - -{322} - -Pantheism sometimes ignores and omits, sometimes formally denies, -these facts, which psychology attests and proves. There is, -however, a notable difference in this point in the three great -representatives of Pantheism. Thanks to the Platonic school, from -which he sprang, Plotinus, in treating the different questions of -man's liberty and of the reality of good and of evil, soars in an -elevated region where the truth now shines in splendor, now -obscures itself and disappears in the labyrinth in which the -philosopher himself is entangled as soon as he attempts to -explain the one and infinite Being and that Being's relations -with nature and with man. Spinoza is more consequent and plainer. -He formally denies all individuality, all human liberty. -Substance, "_the being_" is single and universal. -{323} -All act of man, as every fact of nature, is produced by fated -laws and causes: "Free will is a chimera, flattering to our pride -and in reality founded upon our ignorance. All that I can say to -those who believe that they can, by virtue of any free decision -of the soul, speak or be silent--or, to use a single word, -act--is that they dream with their eyes open." [Footnote 66] - - [Footnote 66: Œuvres de Spinoza, French translation of M. E. - Saisset, vol. i, Introduction, p. clii.] - -... "Nothing," adds he, "is bad in itself. Good and evil indicate -nothing positive in things considered in themselves, and are -nothing but manners of thinking. Not only has every man the right -to seek his good, his pleasure, but he cannot do otherwise. ... -The measure of each man's right is his power. ... He who does not -yet know reason, or who, having not as yet contracted the habit -of virtue, lives according to the laws only of his appetites, is -as much in his right as he who regulates his life according to -the laws of reason. -{324} -In other words, just as the sage has an absolute right to do all -that his reason dictates to him, or to live according to the laws -of his reason, in the same manner has the ignorant man and the -madman a right to everything that his appetite impels him to -take; in other words, the right to live according to the laws of -appetite. ... And he is no more obliged to live according to the -laws of good sense than a cat is obliged to live under the laws -that govern the nature of a lion. ... Hence we conclude that a -compact has only a value proportioned to its utility; where the -utility disappears the compact disappears too with it, and loses -all its authority. There is, then, folly in pretending to bind a -man forever to his word; unless, at least, man so contrive that -the breach of the compact shall entail for him that violates it -more danger than profit." [Footnote 67] - - [Footnote 67: Œuvres de Spinoza, vol. i, pp. clix, clx.] - -{325} - -Hegel is less absolute and less blind. Of a mind large, and from -its greatness naturally just, he escaped at moments the yoke of -his system. Struck by the particular truths, moral, historical, -æsthetic, that offered themselves to his view in the theater of -the universe, he admitted them without very well knowing what -place he should assign to them. "He was," said one of his most -intelligent disciples, "a conciliator in his philosophy. His -philosophy stands midway between Theism and Pantheism; between -historical right, as the expression of actual reason, and the -absolute right to liberty and equality, as the end of universal -history. His system seems to sanction the most profound piety, -and to regard Christianity as the true and absolute religion, at -the very time when it appears also as its negation; just as in -politics it presents itself as at one and the same moment -conservative and progressive, favorable to existing rights and -yet revolutionary." [Footnote 68] - - [Footnote 68: Histoires de la philosophie allemande depuis - Kant jusqu'a Hegel, by S. Willm: a work crowned by the - Institute: vol. iv, p. 337.] - -{326} - -"It is impossible," says M. Edmond Scherer, "to read Hegel -without asking ourselves if he, be serious. He falls incessantly -into a style of images and personifications; and one would -suppose one's self, in perusing his writings, to be present at -the formation of a mythology, at the development of a world like -that of the ancient Gnostics, in which notions assumed forms and -marched on, passing through all kinds of adventures." [Footnote -69] - - [Footnote 69: Melanges d'histoire religieuse, pp. 298, 838.] - -M. Edmond Scherer's is a mind hard to please, which is ever -struck and offended by incoherence of objects, futility of -artificial combinations, and vain play upon words, even where he -recognizes or admires the genius. The philosophical "rout" is not -embarrassed for so slight a cause; it marches straight to the -object toward which the dominant idea, once adopted, gives the -impulse. In spite of its complexities and of its craving for the -reconciliation of religion and of politics, the Pantheism of -Hegel has borne its natural fruits. -{327} -A school has resulted from it, which, in accordance with its -proper and independent manifestations, a learned and moderate -judge, M. Willm, characterizes in these words: "The new German -philosophy, of which Feuerbach, Bruno Bauer, and Arnold Rüge are -the principal chiefs, comes, in its ultimate results, in contact -with the _Humanism_ of M. Pierre Leroux, the -_Positivism_ of M. Auguste Comte, and the _Atheism_ of -M. Proudhon. It tends to substitute for the ancient worship the -worship of humanity, and to found a new worship dispensing with -God, and with morality properly so called. ... There is no such -thing as _theology_ but only _anthropology_; for the -mind of humanity is the divine mind realized. There is no longer -any other piety than devotedness to the objects of humanity; no -longer any other prayer than the contemplation of the human mind. -... Man accomplishes every reasonable object if he accomplishes -his own peculiar object, and he cannot do better than employ all -his faculties to realize his own objects. _Man's will be -done:_ such is the principle of the new law." [Footnote 70] - - [Footnote 70: Histoire de la philosophie allemande, depuis - Kant jusqu'a Hegel: by S. Willm: vol. iv, pp. 624, 626.] - -{328} - -Such is the inevitable result at which Pantheism, even that kind -termed idealistic Pantheism, ultimately arrives, whatever the -elevation of mind and the morality of intent in its first -authors. This is no scientific doctrine, founded upon the -observation of facts and their laws; it is an hypothesis framed -by dint of violent abstractions, verbal commutations and -reasoning, in the blindness of a thought drunk with itself. Under -the breath of Pantheism all beings--real and personal -beings--vanish, and are replaced by an abstraction becoming in -its turn the Being _par excellence;_ the sole being, -although without personality and without volition, swallowing up -all things in a bottomless abyss, which absorbs that being, too, -after it has already absorbed everything that it has sought so to -explain. - -{329} - -Was there ever, in the conceptions of mythology, or in the -mystical dreams of the human imagination, anything so artificial, -anything so vain, as this hypothesis, which at its very -beginning, as well as throughout its entire course, loses sight -of the best attested facts respecting man and the world; and, -shocking equally science and common sense, departs as much from -the method of philosophy as from the spontaneous instincts of -mankind? - ---------------------------------------- - -{330} - - Sixth Meditation. - - Materialism. - - -Materialistic Pantheism is more consistent and more intelligible. -I must at once restore to it its genuine name; it has no right to -that of Pantheism: it sees God neither in the universe nor in -man; the eternal world and ephemeral individuals are, in its -eyes, only combinations and different forms of matter. It is -Materialism in its principle, and Atheism in its consequences. - -Two things strike me in the actual state of men's minds; the -progress that Materialism is making, and its constant timidity in -that very progress. - -{331} - -The progress of Materialism is evident; progress in the learned -world and in the unlearned world, in the name of the scientific -studies and of popular tendencies. A contemporary spiritualistic -philosopher, as distinguished by intellectual probity as by the -independence and the moderation of his opinions, of whom the Duke -de Broglie, on learning his death, exclaimed, "We have lost a -sage"--M. Damiron I mean--published eight years ago his -"Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la philosophie au 18 -siècle;" he had read it in successive parts to the _Académie -des Sciences Morales et Politiques_. He said in his preface, -"Men are disposed a second time to have Sensualism; they insist -upon something that they may oppose to and substitute for pure -and simple Spiritualism: be it so; but then let them at least -well understand what it is that they are asking for. -{332} -It is not merely Locke, the moderate chief of the school, nor is -it d'Alembert, nor Saint-Lambert, nor even Helvetius; these keep -themselves relatively within bounds: it is Diderot who has so -little moderation, it is d'Holbach, it is Naigeon, it is Lalande, -and de la Mettrie; it is a whole order of minds, not very -eminent, but very decided and very consistent and logical in -their materialism; materialists in all and for all, from the soul -up to God--not forgetting, be it remembered, liberty, duty, a -future life, etc. ... These men, with their heads in the air and -their masks in their hand, with a confidence in themselves and a -faith almost confounding itself with religion, profess openly as -truth, fatalism, egotism, and atheism. This is what men want, and -what, if they wish to be logical, men must want, when, closely or -remotely, they adhere to a philosophy that reduces everything to -sensation, and that which is the object of sensation. Let there -then be no illusion upon this subject; all the principles of -morals and of religion are at stake. Sensualism _is_ what it -is, and _can_ be nothing else. It was made a complete system -in the eighteenth century; nothing remains in it that can be -either made or remade; and if men recur to it in our days, the -mechanism and the form may be altered--for these are -variable--but not the essential substance, for that is _not_ -so. -{333} -There are not two manners of being consequent any more in this -system than in any other; however the attempt may be made, men -can never by any reproduction render it what it is not, and what -its nature prevents it from ever being; so we must take it or we -must leave it alone; we cannot change its principles." [Footnote -71] - - [Footnote 71: Memoires pour servir à l'histoire de la - philosophie au 18 siècle, by Ph. Damiron, member of the - Institute; vol. i, p. xiv. 1858.] - -What M. Damiron eight years ago felt would occur, has been -accomplished rapidly. Sensualism, in its true nature as -Materialism, has resumed its activity and returned to the stage; -now tacitly admitted by sober, studious men, now loudly professed -and loudly proclaimed by the "enfants terribles" of the school; -professed and proclaimed not only with all its principles, but -with all its consequences. - -{334} - -A profound sentiment of hesitation and embarrassment clings, -nevertheless, to the doctrine of Materialism. The most -distinguished of its adepts struggle to give explanations that -look like disavowals, and many repudiate the charge of being -Materialists as if it were an insult. "I have never," says M. de -Remusat, "observed without astonishment the testy sensibility of -philosophers upon this point. Who is there that has not witnessed -the indignation manifested by the followers of the philosophy of -sensation when they hear retraced to them the positive -consequences of this doctrine? It seems just as if their rightful -claims were being disavowed, or as if they were being denounced; -as if the Inquisition were still at hand, with its tortures and -its auto-da-fès; or as if their refuters were sending them to -martyrdom. A general timidity reigns throughout their school; -they seem to think freedom of opinions never sufficiently -assured, and society never tolerant enough, for their philosophy -to declare and avow itself for such as it is. -{335} -Whether from shame or from fear, Materialism asks to be tenderly -handled, suspects that every one who defines her has the designs -of a persecutor, makes protestations of her good intentions, and -is alarmed at her very faith. She defends herself from the -imputation of believing only in the senses, even while making -sensation the one universal fact. It might be said that she -blushes at matter just as persons infirm of faith blush at the -name of Jesus. Perhaps this may be an indirect proof of the -distrust which their cause inspires in Materialists, and an -involuntary avowal that the human mind belongs not to them." -[Footnote 72] - - [Footnote 72: Essais de philosophie, by Charles de Remusat: - vol. ii, p. 179.] - -Whence arise, what signify, these two contradictory facts: on the -one side, the perseverance and the facility with which, in our -days, Materialism reproduces and propagates itself; on the other -side, the uneasiness and the timidity which it inspires in many -of those even who admit it? - -{336} - -Materialism is the doctrine of appearances. "Specious doctrine," -says M. Vacherot, "to those whose conception of things depends -solely upon their ability to picture them to themselves." -[Footnote 73] - - [Footnote 73: La métaphysique et la science, vol. i, p. 171.] - -It is by their material appearances that, at the outset, the -external world and man himself manifest themselves to the human -mind. It is only by reflection and by a process of observation -within itself that it penetrates beyond mere appearances, and -discovers what appearances alone would never enable it to see. To -minds at once active and superficial, inquisitive, impatient to -acquire science, although not very nice as to the kind, -Materialism is a commodious and apparently clear solution of -certain difficult and obscure questions which fasten irresistibly -upon the human understanding. - -{337} - -Besides all this, these questions, and the different solutions of -which they are susceptible, have their epochs of ardor or -languor, of favor or discredit. In our days, the fruitful -activity and the brilliant progress of the sciences of the -material world, come in aid of the doctrine of Materialism. This -progress is, however, far from being as exclusive of other -progress as is often said. Although less popular than a few years -ago, Spiritualism has not ceased to be an active and influential -doctrine in the elevated region of philosophy, and the Christian -awakening persists and develops itself energetically in the face -of the adversaries of Christianity. The times in which we live -are entitled to more justice than men accord to them; -intellectual labors are now very extensive and very varied; the -most different tendencies coexist, and pursue their independent -career. Even in this, Materialism is again the doctrine of -appearances; it is neither so strong nor so near its triumph as -it has the air of being. - -{338} - -Nothing proves this better than the hesitation and persistent -embarrassment of the most distinguished among its adherents. The -circumstance noticed by M. de Remusat twenty-five years ago, is -recurring at the present day as plainly as ever. Sometimes we -find disavowals of the consequences of the principle of -Materialism, and attempts of all kinds to escape from those -consequences; sometimes we find efforts made to disguise the -principle itself under purer colors. A general and enduring -instinct in man persists in protesting against the appearances -upon which Materialism is founded. Man does not believe either -himself or the universe to be exclusively matter. The distinction -between matter and mind is a natural and spontaneous, a primitive -and permanent, belief of the human race. - -And is this, then, merely an instinct and an aspiration, a proud -pretension of human nature? Is it not, on the contrary, the -innate sentiment, the intimate knowledge of that essential fact -in humanity of which observation recognizes and evidences the -existence? - -{339} - -The fact to which I allude is the following: As soon as a -consciousness of life is awakened in man--as soon as he feels and -perceives what is taking place within him--he has a perception of -himself as of a real, personal, and distinct being. He gives -voice to this feeling and this perception as soon as he uses the -word "I," and he does so before he has any clear knowledge in -detail of the being whose existence he so recognizes and affirms. - -When, in the natural development of life, man thus makes himself -as a real and personal being, the object of his own observation, -he recognizes in himself as such real and personal being certain -facts in their nature essentially different. On the one side, he -recognizes a body inherent in his being, which forms part of his -being, and through which he communicates with the external world, -either by the impressions which he receives from that world, or -by the modes in which he acts upon that world. -{340} -On the other side, whether he regard himself as, so to say, the -theater of action, or as the very actor, he recognizes himself to -be a single being, a being permanent and abiding, ever the same -in the midst of the variety of his personal impressions or of his -actions upon the world beyond him; and this, too, in spite of the -complications and incessant transformations of his body, the -organ and the medium of those impressions and actions. - -Thus it is that in man's consciousness there is a manifestation -and proof at once of the unity and of the complex nature of the -human being; that is, in accordance with the spontaneous language -of mankind, at once of the distinction and of the union of the -soul and of the body. This is the primitive and essential fact of -man in his actual life. - -{341} - -In proportion as the human being develops himself, as he extends -the circle of his observations upon the world and upon himself, -special facts confirm the general truth of which I have just -given a summary, and prove the essential distinction of the soul -and the body by the essential diversity of the properties of -each. Thus the body, in its organization and in its life, is -subject to fixed and pre-established laws, over which man's will -has no control or power; whereas the soul is essentially free, -and capable of determining itself and of acting from motives -foreign to the laws which govern the body. Fatality is the -condition of the human being in corporeal existence; liberty is -his privilege in his moral life. I say in his moral life, and the -expression reveals between the soul and the body another -essential and ineffaceable difference. The body is strange to -every idea of morality, abandoned to the exigencies of its -necessities and its appetites; it has no aspiration, no tendency -but to satisfy them. -{342} -The soul has needs and desires of quite a different kind, and -they are often contrary to those of the body; and however often -the soul may yield to the tendencies of the body, not seldom also -does it withstand and surmount them; and this both in persons of -obscure condition, and in those who stand in the public gaze of -men. When the body is dominant in man, man tends toward -Materialism; when he listens to the aspirations of soul it is, on -the contrary, to Spiritualism that his nature rises. The -complexity of his nature manifests itself in the development of -his life as in the first instinct of his consciousness; at -whatever epoch he is the subject either of his own or of our -observation he cannot be called exclusively body, matter, without -facts giving his assertion at each step the flattest -contradiction. - -Whence comes this essential and primordial fact--the fact of the -complexity and yet unity of the human being? How is this union of -soul and body accomplished? their mutual influences exercised, -how? Here, according to religion, is the mystery; here, for -philosophy, lies the problem. - -{343} - -Materialism is but an hypothesis adopted for the explanation of -this great fact, and the hypothesis consists not in the solution -of the problem, but in its suppression by the denial of the fact -itself. What need, they say, to seek to explain how the union of -soul and body is accomplished? Neither this complexity of the -human being nor his unity in that complexity is a reality. Man is -only a product and an ephemeral form of matter! - -I shall not refuse myself the pleasure of refuting this -hypothesis by the mouth of a contemporary philosopher, whom I -shall soon myself have to combat. "Nothing," says M. Vacherot, -"proves that the hypothesis of Materialism is true; on the -contrary, positive facts evidence its falsity. ... If the soul be -only the result of the play of the organs, how is it that the -soul is able to resist the impressions and the appetites of the -body, to direct, concentrate, and govern its faculties? If the -will be but the instinct in a different form, how explain its -empire over the instinct? -{344} -This fact is an irresistible argument; it is the rock upon which -Materialism has always wrecked itself, and upon which it will -continue to do so. ... The wisdom of the ancients pronounced its -decree more than two thousand years ago. 'Do we not see,' says -Socrates, according to Plato, 'that the soul governs all the -elements of which it is pretended that it is composed? that the -soul resists them throughout the whole course of life, and -subdues them in every way, repressing some harshly and painfully, -as where the gymnastic or the medical method is resorted to; -repressing others more gently, rebuking these, warning those, -speaking to desires, to anger, to fear, as to things of a nature -alien to its own? So Homer, in the "Odyssey," represents Ulysses -as - - "Smiting his breast, and chiding thus his heart: - Bear this, O heart, thou that hast worse endured." [Footnote 74] - - [Footnote 74: - Στῆθος δὲ πληξὰς, κραδίην ἠνίπαπε μύθῳ, - Τέτλαθι δὲ, κραδίη. καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾿ ἔτλης. - Odyssey, Book xx, v. 17.] - -{345} - -"'Do you think,' adds Socrates, 'that Homer would have so -expressed himself had, in his conception, the soul been a mere -harmony, necessarily governed by the passions of the body? Did he -not rather think that the soul ought to govern and master those -passions, and that the soul is something far more divine than any -harmony?'" [Footnote 75] - - [Footnote 75: La Métaphysique et la science, by M. Vacherot, - vol. i, p. 174; Plato, Phæd, xliii.] - -Materialists themselves have felt the feebleness of their -hypothesis; to support it they have invented a second hypothesis. -"No force without matter, no matter without force," [Footnote 76] -says Dr. Buchner, at the present day one of the most resolute -interpreters of the doctrine. That is to say, not being able to -explain facts by matter alone, as matter is observed and -conceived naturally by the human mind, they endow matter with -what they term _force_, a principle of movement and of -production. - - [Footnote 76: Le Materialisme contemporain en Allemagne, by - M. Paul Janet, of the Institute, p. 20. 1864.] - -{346} - -"Matter and force are," it is now said, "inseparable; both have -existed from all eternity." Thus, imperiously urged by instinct -and by their observation of facts, they begin again by -distinguishing and naming separately matter and force; then, all -at once, they confound them, treat them as united in their -essence and from all eternity, and conclude by believing that -they have succeeded in giving an explanation of man and of the -world! - -In this, what do they more than add an abstraction to an -abstraction, and an hypothesis to an hypothesis? We are here in -the presence of facts that are certain and yet perplexing; in -presence of an external world, which evidently has not always -been such as it is, which had a beginning, which is continuing to -develop itself according to certain laws, and which is tending to -certain ends; in the presence, too, of man, evidently a being at -once one and complex, identical and yet variable. The ancients -gave names and explanations to those incontestible facts, but the -names and explanations are now rejected! -{347} -Still, names and explanations are needed; man must put something -in the place of God, Creator, and Providence--in the place of -mind, and matter, and soul, and body. It is not for the first -time that man finds himself confronted by this necessity, or that -he essays to satisfy it; many abstractions, many words, have been -already employed for this purpose. _God_ was replaced by -_nature_, by _substance_, by _cause_; the _human -soul_ was transformed into _vital principle_; the vital -principle was elevated to the dignity of soul. It seems that -these words, these abstractions, have had their time and lost -their credit; and so now it is _force_ which replaces -_them_; _force_ is mind, _force_ is soul, -_force_ creates, _force_ is God. It is enough now that -they incorporate force with body; the problem no longer exists; -man and the universe are laid bare! - -{348} - -When Leibnitz, to combat the Idealism of Descartes, and the -Pantheism of Spinoza, developed the idea of force, he did not -foresee that that very notion would be one day made use of to -reduce to nonentities God, the human soul, all real and personal -being, all first and final cause; to reduce, in short, everything -to a medley of mechanics and dynamics incarnate in matter! - -However specious it may appear to superficial minds, or to minds -prejudiced in its favor by the peculiar nature of their studies -and of their habitual labors, Materialism, like Pantheism, is -only an hypothesis--an hypothesis constructed by dint of mere -abstractions and purely verbal assertions. These not only -disregard or suppress the facts which they pretend to explain, -but are in direct contradiction with facts themselves recognized -and proved by psychological observation. It is, in effect, an -hypothesis, (I am forced here to repeat what I before affirmed of -Pantheism,) equally revolting to true science and to common -sense. - -{349} - -The hypothesis of Materialism has but a single merit; it is more -consistent than those of the other systems. But even to this -merit Materialism loses its title whenever it shrinks from -pushing its principles boldly to their consequences, whether -philosophical or practical: that is to say, whenever it shrinks -from denying man's liberty, a moral law, the necessary principles -of the human mind--whenever, in short, it shrinks from -proclaiming its ultimate results, which are, as M. Damiron puts -them, Fatalism, Egotism, Atheism. Philosophers are right in -seeking for truth and in respecting truth for itself and at every -risk; but there are some consequences which are the clearest -evidence of a vice in principle; and this vice, in Materialism, -is the blind forgetfulness of the best proved facts and the most -essential elements of human nature. - ---------------------------------------- - -{350} - - Seventh Meditation. - - Skepticism. - - -There are two kinds of Skepticism, experimental Skepticism and -systematic Skepticism. Experimental Skepticism is the result of -the incertitude which arises in men's minds from the spectacle of -the infinite variety, discordance, and mobility of human -opinions. Systematic Skepticism, on the other hand, challenges -the power itself of the human understanding, and declares it -incapable of knowing things in their essence--reality in itself. -The one is doubt applied in practice; the other is doubt affirmed -as a principle. - -{351} - -In an essay on Skepticism, written in 1830, M. Jouffroy treated -experimental and practical skepticism with great contempt: this -skepticism "founds itself," says he, "only upon the apparent -contradictions of human judgment. To prove that there is a -contradiction either between the results at which each faculty of -the mind when taken separately arrives, or between the final -results attained by different faculties, as by the sense and by -the reason; to establish that there is a contradiction of a like -nature between the opinions received by different men or by -different nations, or between those opinions themselves, which, -at different epochs, have variously for a time contented -humanity; then to conclude from all this that the human -intelligence regards in turn as true things which are -contradictory, and that consequently there is for that -intelligence no truth at all: such is all the mechanism in which -this second-rate skepticism consists which has fascinated, and -still continues to fascinate, whole hosts of little minds. Long -ago this skepticism was refuted, and at all its points; long ago -the unity of human truth was demonstrated, after having been -admitted _à priori_ in all ages by their leading minds. -{352} -This kind of skepticism is a theme upon which men will long -continue to dilate; the darling subject for wits, it merits not -to arrest the attention of philosophers." - -By way of amends, however, for these remarks, M. Jouffroy makes -an immense concession to the systematic skepticism which declares -the human mind incapable of knowing things as they really are in -themselves, for he admits this skepticism to be rationally -legitimate; "the foundation of all belief," says he, "is an act -of faith, blind but irresistible. In effect there is no -contradiction between faith and skepticism; for man believes by -instinct and doubts by reason. ... Skeptics fall into no -contradiction when, in the practice of life, they believe their -senses, their consciousness, their memory, and when they act in -consequence; they obey the laws of their instinctive nature by so -believing, and they obey their rational natures by confessing -that their beliefs are illegitimate. -{353} -So we equally excuse humanity which believes, and skepticism -which doubts; but we cannot equally excuse the philosophers who -have combated skepticism by striving to demonstrate the rational -legitimacy of human belief. When men affirm that mankind -believes, and that skeptics do so with mankind, they affirm a -fact in itself incontestable; when they add that mankind believes -itself right in believing, that is to say, virtually admits that -the human intelligence sees things as they are, this is true too, -and skeptics do not deny it; but when, grappling with skepticism -itself, men pretend to show that the human intelligence really -sees things as they are, this is a pretension which I cannot -understand. What! do they not perceive that this pretension is -nothing less than the pretension of demonstrating the human -intelligence by the human intelligence, which has been, is, and -will be eternally impossible? We believe skepticism forever -invincible, because we regard skepticism as the final word of the -reason concerning the reason itself." [Footnote 77] - - [Footnote 77: Mélanges philosophique, pp. 238-240.] - -{354} - -I do not agree with M. Jouffroy in his disdain for experimental -and practical skepticism. This is not, it is true, a system which -philosophers are called upon to refute, but a fact which ought to -occupy an important place with them, for by showing to us how -incomplete human science is, and human error how frequent, it -sets us on our guard against all presumptuous confidence in our -own ideas, and against intolerance toward the ideas of others--two -of the most dangerous infirmities to which human intelligence -and society are liable. But as for the reasoning which impels M. -Jouffroy to accept the systematic and definitive skepticism as to -the intrinsic reality of things, I repudiate it altogether. If -that were, as he says, "the final word of the reason respecting -the reason itself," it would be the negation, or to use a better -expression, the suicide, of man's reason and of the human -intelligence. - -{355} - -In his discourse which he pronounced in 1813, on resuming his -functions at the "Faculté des Lettres," M. Royer-Collard summed -up his conclusions upon this fundamental question--conclusions -very different, more different essentially than even apparently -they are, from those arrived at by M. Jouffroy. Whereas M. -Jouffroy believes systematic skepticism forever invincible, -"because he regards it as the final word of the reason concerning -the reason," M. Royer-Collard, on the contrary, ends his -discourse with these words: "We cannot divide man; we cannot -assign a part only to skepticism; as soon as skepticism once -penetrates into the understanding, in [it?] invades it -throughout." I would confirm this conclusion of M. Royer-Collard, -by carrying still further the reasoning which led him to it. - -{356} - -"The most general result," says he, "presented by the history of -modern philosophy--its most striking characteristic when -contrasted with ancient philosophy--is its skepticism with -respect to the existence of the external world; that world in -which mankind has so long believed, which begins to reveal itself -in us with our existence itself, and in the bosom of which we are -forced to perceive ourselves as mere fragments of its immensity. -... I am not here to reason in favor of the received opinion; -that opinion needs neither proofs nor defenders; it is rooted -deeply enough in our most intimate nature to brave all attack. It -is not the world that risks anything at the hands of the -philosophers; it is rather the honor of philosophy which suffers -some discredit; it is rather philosophy that relieves the vulgar -from a part of the respect which philosophy yet demands at its -hands, when it gives birth to paradoxes bearing, seemingly, the -very impress of folly. -{357} -Moreover, whether the material world really exist or not, is not -a matter in controversy; this question would resolve itself into -one still more general--whether all those facilities of ours, of -which the authority is indivisible, are organs of truth or organs -of falsehood; and upon this point we shall ever be driven to -accept the testimony of those very organs. The sole question -which belongs to philosophical analysis, consists in examining if -it be certain that our faculties attest to us the existence of an -external world, and if the human race believes in this existence; -for if it believes in it, this universal belief becomes a fact in -our intellectual constitution; and whether this fact be a -primitive one, or a deduction from any anterior fact--whether it -be the immediate teaching of nature or an acquisition by -reasoning--it is entitled to its place unmutilated in the -synthetic table of science. Has it disappeared? Then the man of -philosophy is not the man of nature; science is false, and -consequently, the analysis without fidelity; and one may rest -assured that philosophers have inserted in the understanding some -principle, or some fact, which was not there before; or that they -have not collected with care all the principles and facts which -are actually there." - -{358} - -Having thus formalized the question, M. Royer-Collard follows it -up with an inquiry as exact as it is profound, of the -psychological fact of the perception of the external world which -accompanies the fact of sensation: this inquiry leads him to this -conclusion: - - "Sensation has no object; sensation is merely relative to the - sentient being; if not perceived, sensation does not exist. But - the perception, which affirms an external existence, supposes - two things--the mind which perceives, and the object which is - perceived; the being that thinks, and the being that is the - subject-matter of thought. Just as the sensation is relative to - the mind, so is the act of the perception relative to it also, - and just so does it suppose the mind; the object, on the - contrary, supposes neither the mind nor the mind's perception. -{359} - The object does not exist because we perceive it; but we - perceive it because it exists--because we are endowed with the - faculty of perception. In a city inhabited no longer, there - remain no sensation, no idea, no judgment; the houses remain, - and even the streets, and with them nature, with all nature's - laws, which are not suspended in their course. To the universe, - the energetic presence of its Creator suffices; it does not - require our presence; the absence of spectators would not make - it languish; it existed before us, it will exist after us; its - reality is independent of us and of our thoughts--it is - absolute. The authority which persuades us of this is no less - than that of the consciousness itself; it is the authority of - the primitive laws of thought, and to man's mind those laws are - absolute laws of truth. The same draught may convey the - impression of sweetness and of bitterness, because sensation is - relative to the variable state of sensibility, and sensibility - itself is relative to organization; but the laws of the mind - are an immutable standard. -{360} - The imperfection of knowledge does not render it uncertain, and - although it admits of degrees, it does not admit of - contradiction. Our limited faculties do not, it is true, - perceive all that there is in things; but still, what they do - perceive, is in effect there just as they perceive it. ... - If a man call upon me to prove this by reasoning, I shall, in - my turn, demand of him, too, that he first prove to me by - reasoning that reasoning is more convincing than perception; - that he at least prove that the memory, without which there is - no such thing as reasoning, is a faculty more to be relied upon - than those faculties whose testimony they reject. - - "Intellectual life is an uninterrupted succession, not merely - of ideas, but of beliefs, explicit or implicit. The beliefs of - the mind are the force of the soul and the moving incentives of - the will. Whatever determines us to believe we call _evidence_. - ... Reason renders no account of what is evident; to condemn it - to do so is to annihilate it, for it also has need of an - evidence peculiar to itself. -{361} - Did not reasoning rest upon principles anterior to the reason, - analysis would be without end, and synthesis without - commencement. The fundamental laws of belief constitute the - intelligence itself; and as those laws all flow from the same - source, they have the same authority; they judge by the same - right; there is no appeal from the tribunal of one to that of - another. Whoever revolts against any single one of these laws, - revolts against them all, and so abdicates all his nature. Are - there weapons of legitimate use against that faculty by which - we perceive the external world? These same weapons may be - turned against the conscience, the memory, the moral sense, - against reason itself. ... Let but, in any single point, the - nature of knowledge--the nature, I say, and not the degree--be - made subordinate to our means of knowing, and all certitude is - at an end; nothing is true, nothing is false. But it is not - enough to say this; for all is true and false altogether, since - truth and falsehood no longer differ from sweet and bitter. -{362} - The void itself is then deprived of its absolute nullity: it - enters into the domain of the relative; it is something, - nothing, according to the conformation of the spectator's eye. - The useful is the sole subject that the understanding - contemplates, the sole subject for which the heart has to make - its laws. A legislation capricious and without efficacy, which - applies only shifting rules to actions, and which has none for - the intentions and for the desires. This is not mere - declamation; all these consequences have been deduced from - skeptical doctrines with an exactitude leaving nothing to be - either desired or contested. It is then a fact that public and - private morality, the order of society and the happiness of - individuals, are directly at stake in the controversy between - true philosophy and false philosophy respecting the reality of - knowledge. For when existences themselves become problems, what - force remains to the bond that unites them? We cannot divide - the entire man; we cannot assign a part only to skepticism; as - soon as skepticism once penetrates into the understanding it - invades it throughout." [Footnote 78] - - [Footnote 78: Fragments de M. Royer-Collard, in the works of - Reid, translation of M. Jouffroy, vol. iv, pp. 426-451.] - -{363} - -I retrench nothing, change nothing in these remarkable words that -express so energetically the conclusions of the common sense of -mankind. I would only render them still more complete, by -illustrating in its primitive and indestructible unity the fact -upon which they are founded. "We cannot divide man," says M. -Royer-Collard. Here is precisely the risk that philosophical -science incurs, and to which it too often succumbs. It divides -man in order to study him; and after having so studied him, when -it seeks to deduce from its laborious operation what man in his -complete and living reality is, we find the result a strange -misapprehension, because science has neglected to re-establish -the unity which it broke. -{364} -It puts together, it is true, the scattered members, but the -being itself has disappeared; and then it is that philosophers -know not how to solve the problems or to extricate themselves -from the doubts by which they are confronted. Entire, living, -one, the human being explained himself; mutilated and severed -into distinct parts, that being loses all power and falls into -obscurity. - -What is sensation, what perception, judgment, reasoning, reason, -will, consciousness? They are the human being, feeling, -perceiving, judging, reasoning, willing, and observing what is -passing within him. This is no troop of actors playing, each his -part, in a complex drama; but a being single and alive, actor and -sole spectator in the drama of his proper life. - -What is this one and single being doing when he feels, perceives, -judges, reasons, wills, and watches what is occurring within -himself? He is taking cognizance at once of himself, and what is -not himself. -{365} -His own existence and the existence of that which is not himself, -reveal themselves to him from the very first in those diverse -facts and acts which philosophical science discriminates, and -calls by the particular names of sensation, perception, judgment, -reason, will, consciousness. The primitive and essential fact at -the root of all, is the fact itself of the cognizance which man -takes of himself, and of what is not himself. A cognizance, at -first confused, and always incomplete, but at the same time -direct and certain. Not by way of deduction, nor as a mere -appearance, but by way of immediate intuition, and as a positive -reality, does the human being become aware of his own existence -and of that existence which is not his. This fact is lost sight -of, or at least is not characterized exactly and as it is in -itself, when it is said that man believes naturally and -inevitably in his own existence, and in that of the external -world. This is a very different thing from _belief:_ it is -_knowledge_ itself of that double reality, internal and -external, called by the name of Man and World. -{366} -Philosophers ignore, and they change the nature of this fact, -when, merely playing with verbal distinctions and reasonings, -they condemn the human mind not to issue forth from itself, when -they refuse to it the right to affirm as real, out of the mind -and in itself, that which, in the mind and for the mind, the mind -yet admits to be true. - -The human being may deceive himself, and often does deceive -himself in such or such a special affirmation as to external -realities; it has of them only a knowledge incomplete, and liable -to error; but its general and permanent affirmation as to their -existence is still folly justified and legitimate; it knows them -as it knows itself, by the same proof and by the same natural -process. M. Royer-Collard expresses admirably this great fact -when he says: "The universe does not exist because we perceive -it; but we perceive it because it exists. ... It needs not our -presence; the absence of spectators would not make it languish -away; it was before us, it will still be after us; its reality is -independent of us: it is absolute." - -{367} - -Systematic skepticism is not, like Materialism and Pantheism, an -hypothesis invented, although unsuccessfully invented, in order -to solve the grand problem of soul and body, of finite and -infinite; its error is not less considerable, although of a -different character. It consists in a defective examination of -the primitive fact of the human mind, and in the misapprehension -of the nature and the import of that fact. This fact is by no -means, as M. Jouffroy affirms, "a faith blind and irresistible," -disavowed by rational science; it is really the natural -knowledge, and the earliest knowledge acquired by the human being -when it enters into activity; a knowledge, confused and -incomplete, either of itself or of what is not itself; but still -a knowledge direct and certain of the existence of itself, and of -the existence of what is not itself. "Man believes by instinct -and doubts by reason," adds M. Jouffroy; "skeptics obey the law -of their instinctive nature when they believe, like the mass of -mankind, in their senses, their consciousness, their memory, and -when they act in consequence; so also they obey their rational -nature when they confess that their beliefs are illegitimate." - -{368} - -This is strangely to _ignore_--I permit myself the use of -this, here, incorrect expression--at once the reality of facts, -and the value of words. What M. Jouffroy terms _instinct_, -is the intuitive consciousness of internal reality and of -external reality, and this consciousness the human being acquires -directly by the complete and indivisible exercise of all his -faculties; what he terms _reason_ is the result of the -isolated operation of one of the faculties of the human being, -who virtually forgets, when he decomposes himself for his own -study, what he really is. Skepticism is not the "final word of -the reason respecting the reason;" it is the suicide of the -reason by a negation falsely termed scientific, of natural -evidence, and of the common sense of mankind. - ---------------------------------------- - -{369} - - Eighth Meditation. - - Impiety, Recklessness, And Perplexity. - - -The different systems, of each of which I have endeavored to show -the essential and characteristic vice, do not remain confined to -learned regions, or to the classes to which, from profession or -from taste, man and the world are a special object of study. The -breath of science penetrates to a distance, and pervades, unseen -itself, places even where ignorance reigns. How often in remote -cities and even rural districts, among a population alien to -every kind of study, have I met with and discovered the traces of -Rationalism, of Positivism, of Pantheism, Materialism, -Skepticism; and yet these had been imported, imperceptibly and in -manner that the sense could not detect, like a noxious miasma, -into places where their very names were unknown; and yet they -bore everywhere their natural fruits! -{370} -There is a contagion in the intellectual as well as in the moral -order; and the facility, the rapidity, the universality of -communication, which contribute so much to the force and the -grandeur of modern civilization, are as much at the disposal of -evil as of good, of error as of truth. - -The effects of this intellectual contagion vary with the social -regions into which it penetrates, and the dispositions that it -there encounters. When the systems of philosophy present -themselves confusedly to minds in which ambitious and passionate -feelings are fermenting, and these feelings are capable of being -aided by those systems, their action is prompt and forcible. At -epochs and among classes where pride and ambition of intellect -reign without bounds, Rationalism and Pantheism are received with -favor. In those, on the other hand, conspicuous for the almost -exclusive study of the material world, or for the ardor with -which men thirst after physical enjoyments, Positivism and -Materialism seem very readily to prevail. -{371} -After long perturbations of society, and in the midst of the -disappointments and the jaded feelings that they leave behind -them, many minds fall involuntarily into skepticism, or make it -even their refuge. These different social facts, and the -influence which they give to the different systems of philosophy, -manifest themselves in our days in the state of men's minds, and -they do so whether men be learned or unlearned, demonstrative or -taciturn. - -Three dispositions of the mind are very observable and very -general--impiety, recklessness as to religion, and religious -perplexity. - -I feel no difficulty in thus ranging side by side things which -are coexisting, and developing themselves simultaneously although -contrary in their nature. There are epochs when a great current -rises and hurries society toward a single object and by a single -way. -{372} -Others there are where different currents cross and combat one -another, and impel society at the same moment toward different -objects. The spirit of authority and of faith was very -predominant in the seventeenth century; the spirit of -independence and of innovation in the eighteenth. The nineteenth -century is sweeping on its way under the empire of tendencies -various but simultaneous in their power and their activity; the -different principles and elements of our society, good or the -reverse, confront one another, awaiting the moment when they may -again be harmonized. I retraced the awakening of Christianity and -its progress; I seek in no respect to qualify any remark that I -have made, either as to that important movement or as to the -confidence with which it inspires me; but I, at the same time, -believe also in the forcible influence of the antichristian -demonstrations which are taking the form of impiety or of -recklessness; nor can I disregard the force of that religious -perplexity into which this great struggle throws so many men of -feeble purpose, and even some men of eminent powers of mind. - -{373} - -In our days impiety is spreading, and assuming serious -development, more especially among the operative classes, and in -that young generation that issues from the middle classes, and is -destined to follow the liberal professions. Not that the -infection is universal even there; on the contrary, those classes -show also the most different tendencies; among them, too, the -progress of the Christian awakening has made itself felt, and -religious belief is treated with more respect. There, however, it -is that the evil of impiety has its focus and its center of -expansion. Sometimes it manifests itself under gross and cynical -forms, sometimes with a pretension to thought and learning; now -by the brutal licentiousness of its behavior, now by the arrogant -yet embarrassed expression of its opinions. -{374} -Last year I received an invitation to attend the great congress -of students assembled at Liège; an invitation which, although I -expressed for the purpose of this assemblage a real and a sincere -interest, I declined. When I learned what the ideas were that had -been there loudly expressed--when I read that the question had -there been put as one between God and man, and that the idolatry -of man had been proclaimed in the place of the adoration of -God,--I experienced two sentiments the most contradictory, a -lively satisfaction that I had held myself aloof from such a -scene, and a profound regret, at the same time, that I had not -been present to protest against such an invasion of Pantheism and -of Atheism into young souls, upon whom my thoughts only rest with -sentiments of affectionate hopefulness. I have grown old, I have -had to undergo painful disappointments, but in spite of all, my -first impulse has ever been to believe in the prompt efficacy of -truth when it knocks unhesitatingly at the door of the mind; nor -is it without reluctance that I bring myself to wait for time and -experience to unvail what is error. -{375} -Of the two kinds of impiety which I have just alluded to, the -impiety which is gross and cynical, which springs from immorality -and which produces immorality, is undoubtedly the more fatal to -the human soul, to its dignity and its future lot; but systematic -impiety--impiety that establishes itself into doctrine--is the -more dangerous for human societies; for, enamored of itself, it -takes its pride in self-glorification and self-propagation. The -ambitious ones of impiety obtain more credit than those, the -chief characteristic of whose impiety is licentiousness. -Recklessness in religion is in our days a more widely spread evil -than impiety. I do not here speak of that indifferentism with -respect to religious subjects that the Abbé de la Mennais so -eloquently attacked; that sentiment may be profound, and it may -be frivolous; it may spring from Materialism, from Skepticism, -from a thoughtful impiety, as well as from a gross forgetfulness -of the paramount questions which exercise the human mind. -{376} -The recklessness now so common gives no thought at all to these -subjects, does not picture to itself that there is any ground for -so doing; where this tendency prevails, man's thought confines -itself to its terrestrial, its actual life; the business and the -interests of this life alone occupy him, alone content him; there -is, as it were, a sleep of all those instincts and requirements -of the human soul which go beyond this low region, and if not a -complete abdication, at least a sluggish torpor of the heavenly -part of our nature. - -Let not the friends of a religious life and of the Christian -faith deceive themselves; it is here that they have the greatest -obstacles to encounter, the deadest weight to lift and to remove. -Aggression provokes resistance; a struggle leads to the -marshaling of the different hostile forces; nor does the learning -of the believer dread to enter the arena with the learning of the -incredulous. -{377} -But recklessness in religion is like a vast Dead Sea in which no -being lives, an immense barren desert in which no vegetation -pushes. It is, if not the most revolting, at least the most -formidable evil of the day. It is against this evil that -Christians are bound, more especially, to direct their energies, -for there are a world and an entire population here to be -conquered. - -Nor will _points d'appui_ or means of action fail them in -this great work. For if religious recklessness is in our days -deplorably common, neither is perplexity as to religious matters -a stranger among us. It springs from sentiments and out of -interests very different in their natures, sometimes merely on -the surface, sometimes in the depths of the soul. There is a kind -of perplexity founded upon the dictates of common sense, and -entitled to every respect, but to which I do not accord, -nevertheless, the epithet of religious; this perplexity is -generated by the instinct or the experience of the utility of -religion for the maintenance of order in society, not merely in -the great public society, but also in the smaller domestic -societies, that is, in the state as well as in families. -{378} -A man of distinguished mental capacity and of an honorable -character, "elève" of the "Ecole politechnique," and "ingénieur -en chef" in one of our great departments, was one day speaking to -me with sorrow of the attacks leveled at Christianity. "It is -not," he said, "on my own account that I regret these attacks; -you know I am a 'Voltairean;' but I ask for regularity and peace -in my own household; I felicitate myself that my wife is a -Christian, and I mean my daughters to be brought up like -Christian women. These demolishers know not what they are doing; -it is not merely upon our Churches, it is upon our houses, our -homes and their inmates, that their blows are telling!" - -{379} - -There is a perplexity more serious and more profound--a -perplexity really religious--one suggested not merely by the -necessity of social order, but by that of moral security, of -harmony, of confidence, and of intimate hopefulness in the -presence of the problems and of the chances that weigh upon man. -This perplexity takes place not merely in the minds of thinking -men--of men who render to themselves an account of their internal -troubles, and who avow them undisguisedly; it causes agitation -and spreads desolation among multitudes of single-minded, modest, -and silent men, who suffer from the antichristian _malaria_ -spread around them. What framer of statistics shall count their -number? what philosopher minister successfully to their disease? - -I go further still. I listen to contemporary philosophers -themselves, and I find in the cases of some of the more eminent -an intellectual perplexity, showing itself clearly through -opinions the most systematic, and the furthest removed from the -Christian religion. I shall name but two--M. Vacherot and M. -Edmond Scherer. -{380} -I have no intention of entering here into a special examination -of their ideas; I seek only to show the state of their minds and -of their souls, as it results from the tenor of their works. - -I have read, and read over again, with scrupulous attention, the -two principal philosophical treatises of M. Vacherot, _La -Métaphysique et la Science ou Principes de Philosophie -Positive,_ [Footnote 79] and the _Essais de Philosophie -Critique_. [Footnote 80] - - [Footnote 79: Second edition, three vols. 12mo., 1863.] - - [Footnote 80: One vol. 8vo., 1864.] - -M. Vacherot does not desire to be, nor is he really, in his -conscience and in his own eyes, an advocate either of -Materialism, or Positivism, or Pantheism, or Atheism, or -Skepticism. -{381} -He analyzes and he refutes successively these different systems, -as conceived and expounded by their most distinguished -representatives; he defends himself, and with warmth, from the -charge of adhering to them: "a man," he says, "is not an Atheist, -a Materialist, a Pantheist, an Idealist, because he does not -believe in God, soul, mind, matter, world--in all these -metaphysical words taken in a given acceptation. The true -_Atheist_, if such a one exists, is he whose mind is grossly -empirical, and wanting in the sense of what is intelligible, -ideal, and divine. The true _Pantheist_ is he who identifies -truth and reality, God and the world, whether, like Spinoza and -Goethe, he deifies the world, or like the Stoics, he materializes -God. The true _Materialist_ is he who degrades man to the -beast, either by denying him his superior and really human -faculties, or by deriving these from animal faculties. The true -_Idealist_, like Berkeley, is he who rejects all external -reality as an illusion, whatever the conception of that reality; -whether it be as a thing made up of forces and of laws, or as -consisting of extended matter. ... All these words require to be -defined and explained, or they necessarily occasion mysteries, -contradictions, and absurdities. In their vague complexities they -do not express ideas of sufficient simplicity, nor do they answer -to ideas sufficiently precise for science to adopt them -unreservedly and without distinction. ... -{382} -A chosen few exist whose sympathy is dear to me; I remain -profoundly attached to all the truths which they, with reason, -regard as constituting the strength, life, and honor of -philosophy. I remain, like them, a Spiritualist, an Idealist, a -Theist, although with other methods, another language, and also, -beyond a doubt, with notable reservations." [Footnote 81] - - [Footnote 81: La Métaphysique et la science; in the - Introduction and the Preface, vol. i., pp. xvi, xxxiv.] - -Nor is M. Vacherot more of a Skeptic than of a Materialist and a -Pantheist; he believes firmly in absolute truth, in scientific -metaphysics, and in the universal and essential principles which -form their bases. "Metaphysics," he says, "have nothing to dread -from analysis; it is a test from which they can only issue with -honor. The truths _à priori_ upon which the science rests, -will inspire no more doubt so soon as it comes to be well -understood that those truths are founded upon the ordinary -principles of demonstration, like all the truths _à priori_ -of the other sciences. -{383} -Metaphysics have, and will ever have for their object, the Being -infinite, necessary, absolute, and universal. Now the ideas of -being, infinite, necessary, absolute, universal, are so involved -in the notion of appearance, finite, contingent, relative, -individual, that it is impossible for the human mind to separate -them. Accordingly, in order to be entitled to deny Metaphysics, -and the truths which are peculiar to them, we must first mutilate -the human mind, and reduce it to the pure faculties of sensation -and imagination which are common to it with animals. From the -moment when the reason, the thought, the faculty peculiar to the -human intelligence, enters the field, it brings necessarily with -it the object of sensation and of imagination, under the -categories of quantity, quality, being, relation, unity. -{384} -Then it is that appear to the mind the distinction, and afterward -the logical connection, of the two terms corresponding to each -category, of the finite and the infinite, of the contingent and -the necessary, of the individual and the universal, of the -relative and the absolute, of appearance and being. The thought -enters then perforce, whether it is conscious of it or not, upon -the peculiar ground of Metaphysics. Nothing but a gross and, so -to say, an animal empiricism, has the right to deny the -conceptions and the truths of this science, and the denial is a -denegation of the higher faculties of the intelligence." -[Footnote 82] - - [Footnote 82: La Métaphysique et la science; Preface, vol. i, - p. xlviii.] - -It is impossible to disavow more indignantly Materialism, -Atheism, Skepticism, with their principles and their -consequences. But after all these declarations and these -disavowals, when M. Vacherot has to draw his conclusions, and has -to set the affirmation of his own ideas by the side of his -criticism of the ideas of other writers; when he, in his turn, -undertakes to explain God and the world, this twofold object of -Metaphysics, the perplexity of the thinker becomes at once -apparent, and he falls, in spite of himself, into the very paths -from which he proposed to escape. - -{385} - -"What do you understand by God?" says he; "the perfect Being? He -is the God of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Malebranche, Leibnitz; -he is the God of all the theologians with whom _Divinity_ -and _Perfection_ are synonyms. That God is our God too. But -if, of this God, immutable in his perfection, elevated beyond -time, space, the movement of universal life, you make anything -else than an ideal of the thought, I confess I no longer -comprehend him. ... These ideas, all equally reducible to the -idea of the _Perfect_, as understood by Plato, Descartes, -Malebranche, Fénélon, Leibnitz, can have no _objective -reality_, and only exist in the ideal order of pure thought; -absolutely in the same manner as the figures of geometry do, -which lose all the vigorousness and all the exactitude of their -definition elsewhere than in the domain of the understanding. ... -{386} -Perfection exists, can only exist, in the thought. It is of the -essence of perfection to be purely ideal; and the remark applies -as truly to the Perfect Being of Descartes and of Leibnitz as to -the 'intelligible world' of Plato and of Malebranche. A 'perfect -God,' or a 'real God?' Theology must make its choice. A perfect -God is only an ideal God." [Footnote 83] - - [Footnote 83: La Métaphysique et la science; vol. i, pp. xii, - 1, vol. iii, p. 247.] - -That is to say, that for Metaphysics to admit God, the -_Being_ God must vanish, and remain only a conception, a -notion, an idea. It may be that to a philosopher or two this may -seem still Theism; to the human soul, and to the human race, it -is Atheism, and nothing else. - -God thus made to vanish, what becomes in its turn of the world? - -{387} - -Here God reappears. "As for the _real_ God," says M. -Vacherot, "he lives, he develops himself in the immensity of -space and in the eternity of time; he appears to us under the -infinite variety of forms which are his manifestations--he is -_Cosmos_. ... The world _thought of_ is something else -than the world _imagined_. Imagination represents to us the -world as an immense mass of dispersed matter, as an infinite -collection of forces disseminated in the vast fields of space. -The idea does not occur to men of vulgar minds, nor even to our -men of learning, that this image of universal life cannot for an -instant support the glance of reason; they do not perceive that -_void_ is synonymous with _nothing_, that the atom is -an unintelligible hypothesis; that _being_ is always and -everywhere, without any possible solution of continuity, either -in time or in space; that the universal life is one in its -apparent dispersion; and finally, that the world is a -_being_, and not merely a _whole_." [Footnote 84] - - [Footnote 84: La Métaphysique et la science, vol. iii, p. - 247; vol. i, p. lii.] - -What is this if it be not Pantheism? - -{388} - -And these incoherences, these contradictions, these relapses of -M. Vacherot into systems that he disavows, and that he has just -combated, what are they but striking evidences of the vanity of -his efforts, like those of so many others, to explain, unaided by -God, God and the universe? - -Of another nature is the perplexity of M. Edmond Scherer; his is -the disquietude of the critic, not the embarrassment of the -metaphysician. M. Edmond Scherer was a believing Christian, a -believer zealous in his faith, and active in its cause. The -examination of systems and of facts, historical criticism and -philosophical criticism, impelled him to skepticism; not to that -skepticism which is indifferent and strange to all personal -conviction. M. Scherer believes in truth and in the rights of -truth; but where that truth? He seeks it, he finds it not; he -wanders among systems and facts as in a labyrinth, discovering at -each step that his path is the wrong one, and from it -nevertheless finding no issue. He is still aware that humanity -cannot live in a labyrinth, that it requires--nay, absolutely -requires--to issue forth, to behold, or at least to catch -glimpses of, the light of day. -{389} -He has a sentiment of the moral requirements of human nature, of -man's life; and he sees well that the negations and the doubts of -the different systems of philosophy can never satisfy those -requirements. I have already cited, in the course of these -_Meditations_, some of the passages in which this perplexity -strikingly manifests itself; a perplexity full at once of pride -and sadness, which, although it does not shake M. Scherer in his -convictions, makes him nevertheless see their vanity. [Footnote -85] He knows that its own thought suffices not for the human -soul; perhaps it is his own soul suggests to him that knowledge. - - [Footnote 85: See particularly the passage cited in the Third - Meditation (Rationalism) of this volume, p. 256, etc., and in - the "Meditation on the Essence of the Christian Religion," - (Third Meditation, the Supernatural,) p. 119.] - -{390} - -Why is it that Christianity, in spite of all the attacks which it -has had to undergo, and all the ordeals through which it has been -made to pass, has for eighteen centuries satisfied infinitely -better the spontaneous instincts and invincible cravings of -humanity? Is it not because it is pure from the errors which -vitiate the different systems of philosophy just passed in -review? because it fills up the void that those systems either -create or leave in the human soul? because, in short, it conducts -man higher to the fountain of light? Question paramount, to which -these _Meditations_ are intended as the prelude, and which I -shall essay to solve, by confronting, as I before said, [Footnote -86] Christianity with its opponents, and by showing that, if it -succeeds where they fail, the reason is, that, sprung from a -higher source than man, it alone has the right to succeed, for it -alone knows man rightly as he is--as one entire being; it alone -satisfies man by furnishing him with a rule for his guidance -through life. - - [Footnote 86: First Meditation, p. 200.] - - - - The End. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Meditations, Actual State Of -Christianity, And On The Att, by François Guizot - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTUAL STATE OF CHRISTIANITY *** - -***** This file should be named 60602-0.txt or 60602-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/6/0/60602/ - -Produced by Don Kostuch - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Meditations on the Actual State Of Christianity, And On The Attacks Which Are Now Being Made On It. - -Author: François Guizot - -Release Date: October 31, 2019 [EBook #60602] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTUAL STATE OF CHRISTIANITY *** - - - - -Produced by Don Kostuch - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<p> -[Transcriber's note: This production is based on -https://archive.org/details/meditationsonact00guiz/page/n6.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">{1}</a></span> - <h1>Meditations -<br><br> - On the Actual State Of Christianity, -<br><br> - And On The Attacks -<br><br> - Which Are Now Being Made On It.</h1> - - - <h2>By M. Guizot.</h2> - - - - - <h3>Translated Under The Superintendence - Of The Author</h3> - - - - - <h3>New York:<br> - Charles Scribner & Co., -<br><br> - 654 Broadway.</h3> - -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">{2}</a></span> - -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">{3}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Preface.</h2> - -<p> -When I published, two years ago, the first series of these -<i>Meditations</i>, the series which had for its object the -essence of Christianity, "that is to say, the natural problems to -which Christianity is the answer, the fundamental dogmas by which -it solves those problems, and the supernatural facts upon which -those dogmas repose," I indicated the general plan of the work -which I so commenced, and the order into which its different -parts would be distributed. -</p> -<p> -"Next to the essence of the Christian Religion," I said in my -Preface, "comes its history; and this will be the subject of a -second series of <i>Meditations</i>, in which I shall examine the -authenticity of the Scriptures; the primary causes of the -foundation of Christianity; -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">{4}</a></span> -Christian faith, as it has always existed throughout its -different ages and in spite of all its vicissitudes; the great -religious crisis in the sixteenth century, which divided the -Church and Europe between Romanism and Protestantism; finally, -those antichristian crises which, at different epochs and in -different countries, have set in question and imperiled -Christianity itself, but which dangers it has ever surmounted. -The third series of <i>Meditations</i> will be consecrated to the -study of the actual state of the Christian religion, its internal -and external condition. I shall retrace the regeneration of -Christianity which occurred among us at the commencement of the -nineteenth century, both in the Church of Rome and in the -Protestant Churches; the impulse imparted to it at the same epoch -by the Spiritualistic Philosophy that then began again to -flourish, and the movement in the contrary direction which showed -itself very remarkably soon afterward in the resurrection of -Materialism, of Pantheism, of Skepticism, and in works of -historical criticism. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">{5}</a></span> -I shall attempt to determine the idea, and consequently, in my -opinion, the fundamental error of these different systems, the -avowed and active enemies of Christianity. Finally, in the fourth -series of these <i>Meditations</i>, I shall endeavor to -discriminate and to characterize the future destiny of the -Christian religion, and to indicate by what course it is called -upon to conquer completely, and to sway morally, this little -corner of the universe, termed by us our earth, in which unfold -themselves the designs and power of God, just as, doubtless, they -do in an infinity of worlds unknown to us." -</p> -<p> -Still adhering in its entirety to the plan which I thus proposed, -I nevertheless now invert the order. I publish the -<i>Meditations</i> concerning the actual state of Christianity -before those which propose for their object its history. I am -struck by two circumstances in the actual state of opinions upon -religious questions. On the one side, the sentiments contrary to -or favorable to Christianity are defining themselves each day -with greater precision. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">{6}</a></span> -Beliefs become firmer beliefs; opinions hostile to them receive -fuller developments. On the other side, vacillating minds are -occupying themselves more and more with the struggle to which -they are witnesses: minds, earnest at once and sincere, feel the -disturbing influence of the doctrines hostile to Christianity; -many again are uneasy at these doctrines, many demand a refuge -from them, without finding it or daring to seek it in the -essential facts and principles of the Christian faith. Between -the adversaries of Christianity and its defenders the discussion -grows each day in importance and gravity; and with it also grows -the perplexity in the minds of the spectators. By setting in full -light this actual state of the Christian religion, by comparing -the forces at its disposal with those of the systems that it -combats, I proceed thither where the emergency is the greatest; I -betake myself at once to the very field of battle. I shall -afterward resume the history of Christianity from its first -establishment down to our own time, and then finally consider the -prospect open to it in the future. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">{7}</a></span> -<p> -I regard with very complicated feelings, with feelings of great -perplexity, the actual state of my country; its intellectual and -moral state as well as its social and its political state. I have -a mind full at once of confidence and of disquietude, of hope and -of alarm. Whether for good or for evil, the crisis in which the -civilized world is plunged is infinitely more serious than our -fathers predicted it would be; more so than even we, who are -already experiencing from it the most different consequences, -believe it ourselves to be. Sublime truths, excellent principles, -are intrinsically blended with ideas essentially false and -perverse. A noble work of progress, a hideous work of -destruction, are in operation simultaneously in men's opinions -and in society. Humanity never so floated between heaven and the -abyss. It is especially when I regard the generation now -advancing, when I hear what they affirm, when I gather a hint of -what they desire and hope for, it is especially then that I feel -at once sympathy and anxiety. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">{8}</a></span> -Sentiments of propriety and of generosity abound in those young -hearts; they reject, when once convinced of their justice, -neither the ideas which they before did not admit, nor the curb -to which by the inspiration of the divine law even human ambition -does not refuse to submit; but by a strange and deplorable -amalgam, good instincts and evil tendencies exist in them -simultaneously; ideas the least reconcilable clash together, and -persist in them at the same time. The Truth does not rid them of -the error; a light indeed shines upon them, but out of a chaotic -darkness which that light has not the power to dissipate. -</p> -<p> -In the presence of this condition of men's minds, under the -impulse of the sentiment which it inspires, I publish this second -series of <i>Meditations</i>. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">{9}</a></span> -In touching upon the great questions at present under debate in -the philosophical world, in expressing my opinion concerning -Rationalism, Positivism, Pantheism, Materialism, Skepticism, I -have not for a moment pretended to discuss these different -systems completely and scientifically. Although I am convinced -that they are no more in a condition to support any profound -examination of severe reason than to stand the first regard of -common sense, the object which I propose to myself is to indicate -only their radical and incurable vice. This is no treatise of -Metaphysics; it is only an appeal addressed to upright and -independent minds; an appeal made to induce them to subject -science to the test of the human conscience, and to regard with -distrust systems, which, in the name of a pretended scientific -truth, would, between the intellectual order and the moral order, -between the thought and the life of man, destroy the harmony -established by the law of God. -<p class="cite"> - Guizot.<br> - Val-Richer, <i>April</i>, 1866. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">{10}</a></span> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">{11}</a></span> -<p> - <h2>Contents.</h2> - -<table> -<tr><td></td><td></td><td>Page</td></tr> - -<tr><td></td> - <td>Preface</td> - <td><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>I.</td> - <td>The Awakening Of Christianity In<br> - France In The Nineteenth Century</td> - <td><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>II.</td> - <td>Spiritualism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>III.</td> - <td>Rationalism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>IV.</td> - <td>Positivism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>V.</td> - <td>Pantheism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>VI.</td> - <td>Materialism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_330">330</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>VII</td> - <td>Skepticism</td> - <td><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td></tr> -<tr><td>VIII.</td> - <td>Impiety, Recklessness, And Perplexity </td> - <td><a href="#Page_369">369</a></td></tr> -</table> -<br> - -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">{12}</a></span> -<br> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">{13}</a></span> -<br> - <h1>Meditations On The Actual State Of - - The Christian Religion.</h1> -<br><br> - - - - <h2>First Meditation. -<br><br> - - The Awakening Of Christianity In - France In The Nineteenth Century.</h2> -<br> -<p> -In 1797, La Réveillière-Lépeaux, one of the five Directors who -then constituted the government of France, having just read to -that class of the Institut [Footnote 1] of which he was a member -a memorial respecting Theophilanthropism, and the forms suitable -for this new worship, consulted Talleyrand upon the subject; the -latter replied, "I have but a single observation to make: Jesus -Christ, to found his religion, suffered himself to be crucified, -and he rose again. You should try to do as much." -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 1: The class of moral and political sciences.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">{14}</a></span> -<p> -Nor was it long before events justified the ironical counsel. In -1802, hardly four years afterward, Theophilanthropism and its -apostle, the dream and the dreamer, had disappeared from the -stage where they had been powerless in influence, barren in -consequence. The strong hand of Napoleon again solemnly set up in -France the religion of Christ crucified and Christ risen, and in -that same year the brilliant genius of Chateaubriand again placed -before the eyes of his countrymen the beauties of Christianity. -The great politician and the great writer bowed each of them -before the Cross; the Cross was the point from which each -started—the one to reconstruct the Christian Church in France, -the other to prove how capable a Christian writer is of charming -French society and of stirring its emotions. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">{15}</a></span> -<p> -In these days, and in some parts of Christendom, the Concordat -and the "Génie du Christianisme," the one as a political -institution, the other as a literary production, have lost -something of their vogue. Catholics, zealous and sincere, -criticise severely the defects of the Concordat; they regard it -as sometimes incomplete, sometimes tyrannical: they reproach it -with assailing the rights of religious society, of paralyzing its -influence, and restricting its liberty. Some go so far as to -express wishes for the separation of Church and State, and for -their entire independence of each other, the only certain -guarantee to either, they affirm, of a real moral influence. -Protestants, equally zealous and sincere, entertain the same -opinions and the same wishes. Not contented with this, the latter -have gone further, and acted; they have separated themselves from -the Protestant Church recognized by the State, and have founded -independent Churches, self-governing and self-sufficing; nor have -they demanded anything from the State but the liberty that is -every citizen's due. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">{16}</a></span> -In a work recently published, [Footnote 2] a pastor of one of -these Churches, a man distinguished both by the elevation of his -mind and the generosity of his sentiments, M. Edmond de -Pressensé, has gone still farther. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 2: L'Église et la Revolution française, - histoire des relations de l'Église et de l'État, - de 1789-1802. 8vo. 1864.] -</p> -<p> -Not content with defending the principle of the separation of -Church and State, he has endeavored to prove that, in 1802, the -Concordat was, on the part of Napoleon, simply an act of tyranny -and ambition; that it was, as far as Christianity is concerned, -an untoward incident; and that if the Christian Church, at the -time spontaneously regenerating itself, had been left free and -uncontrolled, it would have risen by its own proper strength, and -would have grown in influence and in faith far more than the -Concordat has permitted it to do. I am far from proposing to -discuss here, as a general proposition, the system of separation -of Church and State, or its worth in a religious or social point -of view; -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">{17}</a></span> -such a system I do not regard as the ideal of religious society: -the co-existence, I would rather say the competition, of Churches -recognized by the State and of Dissenting Churches independently -constituting themselves and self-sufficing, is, in my opinion, -the system most in conformity with the nature of things, and most -favorable to the solidity and general efficiency of religion. -That is a question rather of epoch, time, manners, and social -condition than of principle. But, however this may be, I hold it -as certain that, in 1802, the Concordat was, on the part of -Napoleon, far more an act of superior sagacity than of arbitrary -power, and that it was for the Christian religion in France an -event as salutary as necessary. After the anarchy and the orgies -of the Revolution, nothing but the solemn recognition of -Christianity by the State could have given satisfaction to the -public sentiment, and insured to the religion of Christ the -dignity and the stability, the recovery of which was so essential -to its influence. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">{18}</a></span> -Nothing is more liable to error than an attempt to appreciate, -with reference to present circumstances and the actual condition -of men's minds, what was possible and good sixty years ago; and I -am convinced, that in spite of his zeal for the separation of -Church and State, M. Edmond de Pressensé, had he lived in 1802, -would have been as little satisfied as France herself with a -Christian Church restored in accordance with the plan of the Abbe -Grégoire, The Concordat was a mixed and imperfect measure, -subject to grave objections, and the source of numberless -difficulties; but, taken altogether, the measure was grand and -salutary; it gave at once to the Christian movement a sanction -and an impulse that no other scheme would have been capable of -imparting. -</p> -<p> -M. de Chateaubriand and the "Génie du Christianisme" are entitled -to the same justice. I am ready, with regard to both book and -author, to concede the truth of all the objections and of all the -defects that the severest critic may be able or may wish to -detect; their grand and salutary action will not be the less a -living fact. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">{19}</a></span> -It is with books as it is with men; it is by their qualities, -whatever their faults, that they command position and exercise -sway, and wherever superior qualities are discernible, their -efficacy remains in spite of any faults, in spite of any defects, -by which they may be accompanied. Notwithstanding its -imperfections in a religious and literary point of view, the -"Génie du Christianisme" was in both these respects a performance -at the same time remarkable and powerful: it strongly moved men's -minds, it gave a fresh impulse to men's imaginations, it -reanimated and placed in their proper rank the traditions and the -early impressions of Christianity. No criticism, however -legitimate, can ever deprive that work of the place that it at -once assumed in the religious and the literary history of its -time and country. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">{20}</a></span> -Neither the Concordat nor the "Génie du Christianisme" was, in -1802, the result of a spirit of blind and barren reaction. -Napoleon and Chateaubriand were both, of them hardy innovators. -At the side of the ancient religion which he re-established, -Napoleon firmly maintained also the liberty of conscience, -whether in matters of worship or philosophy. At the very instant -when the Concordat was proclaimed and the "Génie du -Christianisme" was published, the learned physiologist, Cabanis, -also published his treatise on the relations of man's physical -and moral nature, a work which characterized man as a mere -machine. And in recalling France to an admiration of the beauties -of Christian literature, Chateaubriand imaged them to her in -forms of language so novel and so original, that many among the -severe guardians of the French language treated him as an -outrageous and barbarous writer. A new era opened at this epoch -in France for religion and for literature. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">{21}</a></span> -Christianity and systems opposed to Christianity, Roman -Catholicism, Protestantism, and Philosophy, a taste for classics, -and a tendency to romanticism, unfolded themselves -simultaneously, surprised to be living together, and at the same -time encountering one another as ardent combatants. -</p> -<p> -I have no design to retrace here their contests nor to constitute -myself their judge. Let but a great arena be thrown open, and the -crowd rushes in, carrying with it its confusion and its buzz. -Happily, the tumult is not of long duration. In this mighty -movement of men's minds in France at the commencement of the -nineteenth century I occupy myself with a single grand fact—the -Awakening of Christianity, its different characteristics, its -different results. The crisis itself had illustrious witnesses. I -will interrogate these alone. -</p> -<p> -After Napoleon and Chateaubriand, the first whom I meet with are -two Catholic writers, who have left behind them great and -deserved reputations. M. de Bonald and M. de Maistre hoisted the -banner of Christianity valiantly, and at an early date. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">{22}</a></span> -But their ideas and their writings were rather political than -religious: the exigencies of public order occupied their -attention far more than those of man's soul, and their works were -rather attacks upon the French Revolution than a defense of the -faith of Christians. By a coincidence very remarkable, although -at the same time very natural, the first production of each—"The -Theory of Power," by M. de Bonald, and the "Considerations on -France," by M. de Maistre—was published at the same moment, in -1796, and each in a foreign land, where the authors were living -as emigrants. In the first ardor of the reaction, and with the -impassioned and vague feelings that it suggested, each wrote -against the Revolution that shook the world and wrecked his own -fortunes. Potent intelligences both, profound moralists, eminent -writers; but their philosophy is a philosophy of circumstance and -of party. Their theories they use as arms; their books as a -discharge. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">{23}</a></span> -M. de Bonald is a lofty-minded original thinker, but subtle, too, -and complex; disposed to content himself with verbal combinations -and distinctions, and sparing no labor to contrive his vast web -of arguments proper to entrap the unwary adversary. M. de -Maistre, on the contrary, blasts him with the absoluteness of his -assertion, the poignancy of his irony, the rude eloquence of his -invectives. He is a powerful, a charming extemporizer. Both of -them excel in seizing and presenting in a striking manner one -great side, but only one of the great sides, in questions or -measures. They see not these in their variety and in their -entirety. Combatants approved—the one tenacious, the other -impetuous—they both committed two grave faults: they instituted -a closer bond between statesmanship and religion than is proper -or suitable to either; they could not discover any other remedy -for anarchy than absolutism. In the natural and never-ending -conflict of the two great forces whose co-existence imparts vital -energy to human society—authority and liberty—they declared for -the former alone, thus ignoring the right of thought, the spirit -of our times, and the general course of Christian civilization. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">{24}</a></span> -When attacked in her essence, Religion should be defended as she -was founded, in herself and for herself, setting aside every -political consideration, and in the name alone of the problems -which lay siege to man's soul, and of the relations of man's soul -with God. "Render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's, and -unto God the things that are God's," said Jesus to the Pharisees -when they sought to embarrass and to compromise him politically. -Thus did Jesus himself define the proper and paramount -characteristic of his work. He did not come to destroy or to -found any government; he came to feed, to regulate, and to save -the human soul, leaving to time and to the natural efficacy of -events the development of the social consequence of his religious -faith and of his religious law. M. de Bonald and M. de Maistre -joined too often together God and Cesar. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">{25}</a></span> -They thought too much of Cesar while defending God. In doing this -they changed and compromised the character of that great -movement, the Awakening of Christianity, which their conduct -otherwise provoked and served. [Footnote 3] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 3: "The dead move quick," says the poet Burger in - his ballad of Leonora. The men and the books I record died at - a period already distant from us; and in spite of their fame - that abides, they are probably little known to the generation - at present in possession of the stage. I regard it, - therefore, as not improper for me to mention below the titles - of their principal works, of which I have in the text sought - to determine the true character. -<br><br> - Those of M. de Bonald are: -<br><br> - 1. La Théorie du pouvoir politique et religieux. 3 vols. 8vo. - Constance: 1796. -<br><br> - 2. La Législation. primitive. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris: 1821. -<br><br> - 3. L'Essai sur le divorce. 1 vol. 8vo. Paris. -<br><br> - 4. Les Recherches philosophique. 2 vols. 8vo. 1818 and 1826. -<br><br> - 5. Les Mélanges littéraires et politiques. 2 vols. 8vo. -<br><br> - 6. Pensées et discours. 2 vols. 8vo. -<br><br> - All these writings, with some others, have been collected in - the complete edition of the works of M. de Bonald, in seven - volumes. 8vo. Paris: 1854. -<br><br> - The principal works of M. de Maistre are: -<br><br> - 1. Considerations sur la France. 1 vol. 8vo. 1796. -<br><br> - 2. Essai sur le principe générateur des constitutions - politiques et des autres institutions humaines. 1 vol. 8vo. - 1810. -<br><br> - 3. Du Pape. 2 vols. 8vo. 1819.] -<br><br> - 4. De l'Église gallicane dans son rapport avec le souverain - pontife. 8vo. 1821. -<br><br> - 5. Examen de la philosophic de Bacon. 2 vols. 8vo. 1836. -<br><br> - 6. Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg. 2 vols. 8vo. -<br><br> - 7. Lettres et opuscules inédits. 2 vols. 8vo. 1851. -<br><br> - 8. Mémoires politiques et correspondance du comte de - Maistre, publiés par M. Albert Blanc. 2 vols. 8vo. 1858. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">{26}</a></span> -<p> -After these two great writers, another great writer, (shall I -term him Catholic?) the Abbé de la Mennais, placed himself upon -the same path, but to arrive at a very different issue. He, too, -made authority alone the basis of man's faith and of human -society; but seeking to ascertain the sign which distinguishes -legitimate authority, and which entitles it to unarguing -submission, he fixed this sign in the general and traditional -assent of mankind. "The common consent or authority, -<i>there</i>," said he, "we find the natural rule of our -judgment; and what but folly can reject that rule, and listen to -its own reason in preference to the reason of all? … The search -for certitude is the search for a reason not liable to error at -all, that is, for a reason that is infallible. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">{27}</a></span> -Now this infallible reason must necessarily be either the reason -of each individual or the reason of all men; in fact, of human -reason. It is not the reason of each individual, for men -contradict one another, and nothing frequently is more discordant -and more contradictory than their judgments; therefore it is the -reason of all." [Footnote 4] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 4: Essai sur l'indifférence en matiére de religion, - t. ii, p. 59. Défense de l'Essai sur l'indifférence, chap. x, - pp. 133-148.] -</p> -<p> -In holding this language in his very first work, the Abbé de la -Mennais was already forgetting that he was a Christian and a -Catholic. When a man demands here below an infallible authority, -he must not seek it from any human source. The reason of all? -(That is, the reason of the majority of men in all the ages of -the world, for the reason of <i>all</i> is a fallacy.) What is -such reason, but the sovereignty of superior numbers in the -spiritual order? Having fixed his principle, the Abbé de la -Mennais kept it in sight everywhere. After having established an -infallible authority in the name of the reason of all, he -proclaimed the absolute sovereignty in the name of universal -suffrage. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">{28}</a></span> -But this apostle of universal reason was at the same time the -proudest worshiper of his own reason. Under the pressure of -events without, and of an ardent controversy, a transformation -took place in him, marked at once by its logical deductions and -its moral inconsistency: he changed his camp without changing his -principles; in the attempt to lead the supreme authority of his -Church to admit his principles he had failed; and from that -instant the very spirit of revolt that he had so severely rebuked -broke loose in his soul and in his writings, finding expression -at one time in an indignation full of hatred leveled at the -powerful, the rich, and the fortunate ones of the world; at -another time in a tender sympathy for the miseries of humanity. -The "Words of a Believer" are the eloquent outburst of this -tumult in his soul. Plunged in the chaos of sentiments the most -contradictory, and yet claiming to be always consistent with -himself, the champion of authority became in the State the most -baited of democrats, and in the Church the haughtiest of rebels. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">{29}</a></span> -<p> -It is not without sorrow that I thus express my unreserved -opinion of a man of superior talent—mind lofty, soul intense; a -man in the sequel profoundly sad himself, although haughty in his -very fall. One cannot read in their stormy succession the -numerous writings of the Abbé de la Mennais without recognizing -in them traces, I will not say of his intellectual -perplexities—his pride did not feel them—but of the sufferings -of his soul, whether for good or for evil. A noble nature, but -full of exaggeration in his opinions, of fanatical arrogance, and -of angry asperity in his polemics. One title to our gratitude -remains to the Abbé de la Mennais—he thundered to purpose -against the gross and vulgar forgetfulness of the great moral -interests of humanity. His essay on indifference in religious -questions inflicted a rude blow upon that vice of the time, and -recalled men's souls to regions above. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">{30}</a></span> -And thus it was that he, too, rendered service to the great -movement and awakening of Christians in the nineteenth century, -and that he merits his place in that movement although he -deserted it. [Footnote 5] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 5: The principal works of the Abbé de la Mennais - are: -<br><br> - 1. L'Essai sur l'indifférence en matière de religion, avec la - défense de l'Essai. 5 vols. 8vo. The first volume appeared in - 1817. -<br><br> - 2. De la Religion considérée dans ses rapports avec l'ordre - civil et politique. 1 vol. 8vo. 1825. -<br><br> - 3. Les Paroles d'un Croyant. 8vo. 1834. -<br><br> - 4. Les Affaires de Rome. 8vo. 1836. -<br><br> - 5. Esquisse d'une philosophic. 4 vols. 8vo. 1841-1846. All - his works, including numerous pamphlets and articles - published in religious and political journals, have been - collected in two editions: one in 12 vols. 8vo., 1836-1837; - the other in 11 vols. 8vo., 1844 and following years. Besides - the above, there are his Posthumous Works, 2 vols. 8vo., - 1856, and his Correspondence, 2 vols. 8vo., 1858.] -</p> -<p> -At the same time that great minds were thus at work in order to -restore to the belief in Christianity and the belief in -Catholicism its honor and its authority, another influence was -operating in the same direction, with less notoriety but no less -effect. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">{31}</a></span> -The Jesuits were re-establishing themselves in France—were -founding houses of education and noviciates for their order—were -opening chapels, preaching, teaching, careless of the existence -in France of laws proscribing them; occupying themselves solely -with fulfilling what they regarded as a duty, and a duty, too, -springing from a right believed by them to be superior to the -laws. That duty for them was to uphold the Church of Rome; that -right was the right of preaching and teaching, according to the -faith of the Church. The Jesuits have also been considered and -represented as politicians in the garb of monks, rather than -genuine members of the monastic orders. Often, in effect, in -their acts and in their words, they have appeared as politicians, -and politicians, too, with a certain indulgence for the world and -the world's masters; but, at bottom, they have been and they are -essentially monastic—an order perhaps the most ardent of all, -for they are of all orders the order most completely devoted to -the cause of religious authority. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">{32}</a></span> -<p> -There are commonplaces that have to be continually repeated, so -apt are men to forget them. In religions society, as well as in -civil society, there are two great moral forces—Authority and -Liberty; these coexist of necessity—have dominion turn by turn, -and have alternately their heroes and their martyrs. Regarded -either with respect to its political or religious constitution, -society cannot long dispense with either Authority or with -Liberty; and each of these two forces is liable to abuse its -influence, and to lose it by the very abuse. -</p> -<p> -When Authority has had a long dominion, and its abuse too has -been long, a reaction occurs: Liberty has her revenge; but in her -turn is prone to compromise her interests by abuses and by -excess. It is the history of all human society; facts prove it -quite as much as common sense foretells it. In the bosom of this -general fact it is the peculiar character, as it is the glory, of -Christianity that it has fully accepted these two rival forces; -and the one in the face of the other—authority and -liberty—both of divine origin. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">{33}</a></span> -Christianity has constantly accounted them for such as they -are—the one the revealed law of God, the other the innate right of -man, whom God created free and responsible. The history of the -Jews is only that of the intimate and continued relations between -God as sovereign and man as free agent; God uttering and giving -the law, man using his liberty at one time to fulfill, at another -to reject, the law of God. When the great day of humanity dawned -and Jesus came, it was in liberty's name, and in claiming the -right of the soul to obey the divine law according to its -convictions, that Christianity engaged in its primitive struggle -of three centuries. Under this banner, too, it conquered, and -under it religious society and civil society combined without -becoming identical. The tempestuous and painful fecundity of the -middle ages succeeded to the tyrannical unity of the Roman -empire, so sterile in result. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">{34}</a></span> -Hence principles the most inconsistent, issues the most -contradictory—the power of religion and the power of the -state—popes and kings now supporting, now combating each other's -ambitious purposes, and thwarting each other's measures, without -any regard to law or right; liberty sometimes suffering cruelly -by their alliance, sometimes happily profiting by their -dissensions; on some occasions popes, on others monarchs -protecting liberty against their reciprocal pretensions and -excesses. Spiritual and temporal princes still wavered in their -maxims and in their policy, and did not during the middle ages -systematically and on all occasions form coalitions, of which -liberty was to pay the cost. Liberty, on the contrary, continued -to subsist and to grow in the midst of their rivalries and of her -own sufferings. But these rivalries and these sufferings produced -a chaos which recurred incessantly, and became ever more and more -intolerable, precisely on account of the progress still made, and -which no effort could stifle. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">{35}</a></span> -The great body of Christians at last demanded some issue from -this chaos; then those who wielded the religious power and the -civil power, now separately, now in concert, endeavored to -satisfy the craving of the world; and by their councils, -pragmatic sanctions, encyclical letters and concordats, sought to -reform the abuses and the grievances which, as men loudly -proclaimed, existed, if not in the Church itself, at least in the -relations of the Church with the State. Whether from want of -wisdom, virtue, courage, or sagacity in their authors, or from -their measures being too superficial, or meeting with too much -opposition, those attempts failed; and the reform that was to -have proceeded from Authority herself remained without -accomplishment. Then came the reform by insurrection, in the name -of Faith and Liberty; and as happens in similar crises, whether -of the Church or the State, the supreme authority of Romanism was -attacked, not only in its abuses and its vices, but in its -principle and its very existence. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">{36}</a></span> -Rome then committed the fault almost always committed by Power -when seriously menaced—it defended itself by pushing its -principle and its right to the extreme, without holding account -of any other principle or of any other right. In the name of -Unity and Infallibility in matters of faith, the supreme power in -the Church of Rome allied itself with the absolute power in the -State, and supported the latter in its resistance to liberty. -Under the inspiration of their founder and hero, Loyola, whose -genius was that of a fanatic and a mystic, but who was adroit in -organizing and realizing his design, the order of the Jesuits -sprung into existence. This order was born of this war and for -this war—a chosen troop, charged in the name of the faith to be -the uncompromising defenders of authority in Church and in State. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">{37}</a></span> -<p> -Since that epoch three centuries have passed, and the fourth is -in its turn sweeping by us; neither times nor chances have been -wanting to causes to produce their effects, nor to men to -accomplish their designs; principles and events have received -their development over a vast space; and in the light of heaven -the different systems have been put to the test of successes and -of reverses. Absolutism has had its triumphs and its victories; -more than once the faults of its adversaries have played into its -hands, and it has found able and glorious champions. It has not -succeeded in arresting the course of a civilization full of -liberty and yet still greedy to have more. It has taken its place -in the midst of liberty as a temporary necessity, never as a -preponderating tendency. More than this, even in the epochs when -its influence was its height, and its splendor the greatest, -Absolutism has often served the cause hostile to its own. Louis -XIV. seconded the movement of mind and the people's progress; -Napoleon sowed in every direction the germs of social advancement -or innovation. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">{38}</a></span> -And now, even there, where liberty does not exist, Absolutism -does not avow itself; it furls its banner, and admits -institutions contrary to its principles, reserving to itself the -right to elude, or to render them powerless. Experience has -pronounced its judgment; whatever the problems that the future -will have to solve, or the trials which the future will have to -encounter, the cause of Absolutism is a lost cause throughout -Christendom. -</p> -<p> -At the commencement of this century, the Jesuits, unfortunately -for them, and yet very naturally, were regarded as devoted to -that cause. After having served it in the eighteenth century, -they had been the first victims of its decline; the papal and the -monarchical sovereignty had sacrificed them to the new opinions, -just as mariners in a tempest throw overboard their heavy -ordnance. When the nineteenth century opened, all was greatly -changed; the Revolution was not only victorious, but earnestly -engaged in conciliating parties by disavowing and making amends -for its excesses. After the commission of so many follies and -crimes in the pursuit of liberty, France submitted once more with -the greatest satisfaction to the voice of authority. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">{39}</a></span> -<p> -How would they then reconstruct that French policy that had been -at once so overthrown and so regenerated? By what means would -they conciliate new and ancient ideas, new and ancient interests? -Upon what terms would Authority and Liberty consent to be -reconciled, and to live henceforth side by side—Authority -soaring triumphant after her fall, Liberty embarrassed with her -recent excesses; and yet both of them more than ever necessary to -society, if society was to be healthy and strong? This was -evidently the vital question of the new century. God placed its -solution at first in the hands of Napoleon, the crown and the -scourge of the Revolution, the most remarkable example at once of -reaction and of progress recorded in the history of the world. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">{40}</a></span> -<p> -In this condition, so new to France, the situation of the Jesuits -was embarrassing and perilous. Napoleon was again re-establishing -the Church of Rome, and at the same time enforcing the maxims of -Absolutism—a double title to their sympathy. On the other hand, -he was consolidating the Revolution, and maintaining and putting -into practice some of its essential principles, among others, -that of freedom of conscience. Napoleon arrogated also to himself -the right of dictating and acting as master in the Church as in -the State, at Rome as at Paris; he was neither a serious believer -in the faith of Christ nor a sure friend of the Papacy. In this -twofold aspect, the Jesuits could not but regard him with -distrust. The distrust was mutual: for if Napoleon was for the -Jesuits a too faithful and too ambitious heir of the Revolution, -the Jesuits were for him Catholics too independent and too -devoted to their Church and to its chief. As far back as 1804, -their establishments, scarcely disguised under different names, -had been a source of disquietude to Napoleon. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">{41}</a></span> -He directed them to be closed, enforced the laws which denied to -religious corporations an independent existence, and founded the -University, which at the same time he invested with the privilege -of teaching. This system was not abolished at the Restoration. -The Jesuits then entered into the simultaneous possession of two -forces novel to them—the one sprang from the support of power, -the other was derived from the progress of liberty. They had the -favor of the court, and might wield as their own arms, and in -their own interests, the liberal principles that were dear to the -people. A position excellent, had they known how to restrict -themselves to their religious mission, keep aloof from political -contests, and devote themselves exclusively to the task of -awakening the faith of Christians, and arousing them to a -Christian life! Their action upon the soul might have extended -their influence beyond their peculiar sphere to the world -without. Had they not then a striking instance of such an -influence even in their own order? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">{42}</a></span> -To what cause, thirty years ago, did the Père Ravignan owe the -respect and moral authority with which he was surrounded, not -only by members of his own Church, but by men not remarkable for -their faith? Far less to his talent as an orator, than to the -thorough sincerity and disinterestedness of his religious -character. He was a believer, a pious Christian, and a stranger -to every mental reservation; neither was he a partisan, but -solely occupied with the service of God, of his Church, and of -his order, at the same time that he was propagating the faith and -enforcing piety. He declared himself aloud a Jesuit, but the -declaration excited no distrust even in his adversaries. If his -order had imitated his example, it would have obtained a similar -success. Nor was the instance new. In the seventeenth century, at -the court of Louis XIV., Bourdaloue displayed the same virtues as -the Père Ravignan in our own days; and, in all certitude, did -more honor and rendered more service to his Church and order than -had ever been done or rendered by Père la Chaise. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">{43}</a></span> -<p> -I shall not attempt to examine how far the Jesuits in effect were -really engaged, or what was the degree of their direct agency in -the intrigues of the retrograde party who were seeking to -repossess themselves of the relics of the ancient institutions, -in the idle hope of reconstructing the social edifice upon those -ruined foundations. I am convinced that France felt at this epoch -far too much alarm for this party and its allies, Jesuits or no -Jesuits, just as the Monarchy itself felt too much apprehension -of the Revolutionists. No graver fault can be committed by -nations or by governments than to give way to fears out of -proportion with the dangers which they encounter. France had no -reason under the Restoration to dread either the triumph of -Theocracy or of Absolutism; and yet she was alarmed at both, and -the people persisted in believing that the Jesuits were serving -this double cause—that of the ancient régime of the Papacy, and -of the ancient régime of the Monarchy. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">{44}</a></span> -The Jesuits had then to struggle at once against the ideas and -the passions of modern society, and the traditions and maxims of -ancient France herself; they had for adversaries, the laity, the -bar, and the liberals, respectively represented by M. de -Montlosier, M. Benjamin Constant, and M. Dupin. The odds against -them were too great; even the Monarchy itself, however well -disposed toward them, was carried away by the movement which -attacked them, and Charles X. did not think his own position -strong enough to dispense with treating them, by his ordonnances -of the 21st June, 1828, as Napoleon had done by his decree of the -22d June, 1804. Throughout this whole period the conduct of the -Jesuits was feebler than their cause. Sworn and devoted to the -defense of Authority, they had not foresight enough to perceive -by what means and on what conditions Authority might raise and -consolidate itself. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">{45}</a></span> -Haunted by the traditions of past times, and having the history -of their own order continually before their minds, they no longer -regarded the future boldly or confidently; they failed to -appreciate justly the present; they did not believe sufficiently -in the power of Christ's faith, and they believed too implicitly -in the efficiency of worldly policy. By this vulgar blunder they -compromised, in the case of many Christians, the full effect of -that great stirring movement of Christianity, at the very time -that, with respect to others, they aided it materially. -</p> -<p> -The Revolution of 1830 inflicted a rude blow upon these -retrograde tendencies, and a new element started up in the bosom -of the Church of Rome. In the midst of the grand manifestation -and progress of liberty now realizing itself in the State, -Catholics, genuine and ardent too, conceived the hope of turning -both to the profit of the Church of Rome, and of at last setting -Catholicism at peace and in harmony with the new social -institutions of France. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">{46}</a></span> -Then the group, I will not say the party, formed itself of men at -once generous and hardy, who did not hesitate to declare -themselves Ultramontanists, like the Père de Ravignan, Liberals -like M. de la Fayette. It consisted of priests and laymen, of men -of mature years and men in the spring-time of life—the Abbé -Lacordaire, Abbe Gerbet, M. de Montalembert, and M. de Coux: I -confine myself to the names that at the outset gleamed on their -banners. They founded an <i>agency</i> for the defense of the -liberties of religion, and a journal, the <i>Avenir</i>, to -develop its principles and its constitution. But the association -was born under an unlucky star; for its little army had for its -declared chief, and the object of its passionate reverence, the -Abbe de la Mennais. In the more intimate and unrestricted -relations of life this great man appears to have exercised -extraordinarily attractive power over his friends and disciples. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">{47}</a></span> -Cited jointly with him on the 31st January, 1831, before the Cour -d'Assises of Paris to answer for the appearance of two articles -in the <i>Avenir</i>, the Abbé Lacordaire said, "I stand here -near the man who began the reconciliation of Catholicism with the -world. Let me tell him how affected I am by the part that God has -made for me in giving me him as my master and my father. Suffer -these words of filial piety to penetrate to the heart of one so -long misunderstood; suffer me to exclaim with the poet: -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "L'amitié d'un grand homme est un bienfait des dieux." - [Footnote 6] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 6: "A great man's friendship, blessed gift of - Heaven."] -</p> -<p> -The Abbé Lacordaire had soon to feel the danger and to repel with -sorrow the yoke of this seductive friendship. The errors and the -evil passions of the Abbé de la Mennais were not long in -exploding; his was a mind lofty and powerful, but without grasp, -without foresight, without moderation, and without equity; -incapable of discerning the different sides of a subject and of -embracing all the elements of the problem demanding solution, he -was a haughty slave to the truth that he served but partially, -and the somber enemy of every one who wounded his pride by -contesting his opinions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">{48}</a></span> -He gave to the <i>Avenir</i> a character at once democratic and -theocratic, imperious and revolutionary. All the ideas contrary -to his own, all the institutions, all the governments, that stood -in his way, were attacked by him with a degree of vehemence, -insult, and menace never surpassed by any political partisan, -however violent. The maxims of the Gallican Church were, to cite -his words, "an object of disgust and horror; opinions as odious -as they were base, which, while rendering even the conscience the -accomplice of tyranny, make servility a duty and brute force an -independent and just right." He demanded the separation of Church -and State as a necessity absolute and urgent; "for," said he, "we -regard as abolished and of no effect every particular law which -contradicts the Charter, and is incompatible with the liberties -that <i>it</i> proclaims. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">{49}</a></span> -In the event of such law, we believe that it becomes immediately -and without delay the duty of government to come to an -understanding with the pope, and to rescind the Concordat, which -lost all the means of being executed from the instant when, thank -God, the Catholic religion ceased to be a state religion." Four -months had scarcely elapsed since the birth of the government of -July, and because the liberty of teaching promised by the Charter -of 1830 was not already in vigor, the Abbé de la Mennais said to -the Catholics: "Whence comes the oppression that weighs upon us? -Either, in what concerns us, the government cannot or it will not -keep its promises. If it cannot, what is this mockery of a -sovereignty, this miserable phantom of government, and what have -we to do with it? It is as far as we are concerned as if it were -<i>not</i>, and nothing remains to us but to forget it, and seek -our safety in ourselves. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">{50}</a></span> -Let us proclaim aloud who the powers are that are hostile to us; -whose servants seek only to satisfy blindly their thirst for -persecution." What attacks leveled at a government were ever more -precipitate, more violent, and showed a less just appreciation of -facts? What revolutionary party ever proclaimed with greater -audacity disobedience to the laws, and insurrection as the first -of rights and of duties? -</p> -<p> -Side by side with these violent and insulting invectives leveled -at the government of France, the <i>Avenir</i> placed a -declaration of respect and submission to the chief of the Church -of Rome: "We profess," it said, "the most complete obedience to -the authority of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. We will not have -other faith than his faith, other doctrine than his doctrine. All -that he approves we approve, all that he condemns we condemn, and -without the shadow of a reservation; we, each of us, submit to -the judgment of the Holy See all our past, all our future -writings, of what nature soever they may be." Here, at least, the -revolutionary spirit seemed absent, or, at all events, was in a -hurry to disavow itself. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">{51}</a></span> -<p> -I am persuaded that, in holding this language, the Abbé de la -Mennais was sincere. When an exclusive idea or passion sways a -man's mind, nothing is more unknown to him than his own future -conduct; he knows even less what he will do than what he is -doing. The Abbé de la Mennais no more suspected in 1831 what he -would say and what he would do a few years later, than the most -violent leaders of the French Revolution suspected in 1789 what -they would be and what they would do in 1793. The court at Rome -was clearer-sighted than its fanatical champion; it had been -under the influence of the charm of the first works and of the -first successes of the Abbé de la Mennais. It had not, however, -failed to perceive what pernicious and dangerous seed might -thence germinate. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">{52}</a></span> -The <i>Avenir</i> occasioned it profound disquietude; the -principles and the yearnings of modern society found therein a -too ready acceptance; the régime which had governed France since -1830 was too much the object of its attacks; it demanded too much -liberty, and made too much noise in doing so; for beneath that -noise, and in the shadow of that liberty, fermented the -anarchical doctrines and tendencies which in all cases and places -it is the aim and the policy of the court of Rome to contest. -Thus the <i>Avenir</i> and its writers placed her in a position -full of embarrassment; Rome was anxious neither in any way to -ignore the services that they had rendered and that they might -continue to render her, nor to lose sight of the perils that they -made her incur; Rome desired to preserve silence respecting these -writers—neither to avow nor disavow them—and to leave it to -time to terminate their transport and their errors. The Abbé de -la Mennais did not, however, permit this expectant policy; he -insisted absolutely that the papacy, by pronouncing upon his -doctrines and upon his attitude, should publicly either give him -her support or withdraw it from him. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">{53}</a></span> -All the world knows of the journey which he undertook in 1831 to -Rome to obtain this result, and of his stay there in company with -the Abbé Lacordaire and M. de Montalembert, "three obscure -Christians"—to use the words of the Abbé de la Mennais—men who -thought themselves called, according to the expression of the -Abbé Lacordaire before the Cour d'Assises at Paris, "to reconcile -Catholicism with the world." The Pope (Gregory XVI.) judged -otherwise, and by his encyclical of the 15th August, 1832, with -regret, but at the same time with as much decision as to the -substantial matters before him as tenderness to the three -pilgrims personally, condemned the <i>Avenir</i>, its doctrines, -and its tendencies. On the instant, with the concurrence of their -friends, they declared, all three, (10th September, 1832,) that, -respectfully submitting themselves to the authority of the Vicar -of Jesus Christ, they abandoned the lists in which they had -faithfully combated during the past two years; that, in -consequence, the <i>Avenir</i>, which had been provisionally -suspended ever since the 15th November previously, would no -longer appear, and that the <i>General Agency for the Defense of -Religious Liberty</i> was dissolved. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">{54}</a></span> -<p> -As the first declaration of the writers of the <i>Avenir</i>, -after their acquittal by the Cour d'Assises at Paris, had been -sincere, so was also the declaration sincere which was published -by them immediately after their condemnation by the papacy; but -they promised more than they could perform. When a deep social -wound has been laid bare, and measures on a large scale have been -adopted to cure it, it is no longer in the power of any -individual to keep that wound secret, or to stifle the hope of a -remedy. How many times in the course of this century has not the -papacy, and have not the ardent champions of liberty, condemned -and combated the efforts made to reconcile Catholicism with -modern civilization, and to cause the Church to accept the -liberties of civil society, and the State to recognize the rights -of the Church? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">{55}</a></span> -How often has the Church by its censures signalized such efforts -as impious and suicidal? What wit, what eloquence, have not been -displayed by the Liberals to declare their vanity, their -worthlessness? To what reproaches, invectives, and sarcasms have -not their advocates had to submit? But no ecclesiastical censure, -no wrath of religion, no mockery of liberalism has arrested the -march of this great idea. It has made, and it continues every day -to force, its way in spite of condemnations, attacks, and -obstacles of every description. Why? For paramount reasons, -impossible to be lost sight of. For Christianity and modern -civilization confront each other; there exists in the public a -profound and irrepressible feeling of their reciprocal right and -strength—a profound and irrepressible feeling that their -disagreement is an immense evil for society and for men's souls; -that neither the new civil liberties nor the ancient forms of -belief and influences of Christianity can ever perish; that, -necessary, both of them, to nations and to individuals, they are -both of them destined to live, and consequently to live together. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">{56}</a></span> -When and in what manner will this feeling realize its object, and -when will the ancient Church and modern civilization have solved -the problem of their mutual pacification? No one can at this -moment pronounce; but in all certitude, the problem will not for -that cease to weigh upon the world, or the world to strive at its -solution. Even the men who, in a spirit of pious submission or in -a paroxysm of sadness and discouragement might wish, after having -attempted it, to renounce the work, could never remain inactive -before a necessity becoming more and more urgent; they doubtless -would not be long before they returned to the lists from which -they might have consented to withdraw. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">{57}</a></span> -<p> -And this is what happened to the three eminent men who had made -so precipitate a journey to Rome, and had importuned her at an -inconvenient moment, summoning her at once to solve the momentous -questions they had raised. They returned from Rome with the -intention of submitting to the decision of the Pope; but slumber -to such souls was impossible, and it was not long before men saw -them, the three, resuming, although by the most contrary paths, -all the activity of their minds and of their lives. The Abbé de -la Mennais threw himself with impetuosity into the revolt—a -revolt radical against the Church and against the State; -furiously demanding from the populace and from revolutions the -success which he could not obtain in the bosom of order, and in -concert with the authority previously so ardently defended by -him. Far from following in his new and violent course, the Abbé -Lacordaire and M. de Montalembert separated from him, and -returned each to his natural and tranquil position; the one to -that of a simple priest, almoner of the convent of the -Visitation, and preacher in the chapel of the College Stanislas; -the other to that of a young and brilliant political orator, -already a favorite in the chamber of Peers, although its members -did not always think or vote with him. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">{58}</a></span> -Both remained Romanists at heart; they zealously shared in the -great movement of Christianity, now roused from her slumber, but -without ceasing to be Liberals in their Catholicism, or without -arresting their efforts to reconcile the Church with the régime -of liberty. -</p> -<p> -The position of each, and the genius of each, determined the -share that he took in the duties, and the place that he selected -for the field of his action. The Abbé Lacordaire, from the pulpit -of Notre Dame, developed, or rather let me say, painted, in all -their splendor, the truths, the beauties, the moral and social -excellences of the Christian Faith and of the Catholic Church. M. -de Montalembert, in the house of Peers and in literature, was the -ardent and indefatigable champion of the Church, of its maxims, -and of its rights. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">{59}</a></span> -To neither was there any lack of success any more than any lack -of talent and of zeal. A numerous auditory, young and old, from -the salons and from the schools, believers and freethinkers, -flocked round the Abbé Lacordaire, all feeling the attraction, -and almost all the charm; many among them yielding to the -persuasion of that eloquence so fresh and vivid, and abundant, -and unlooked for—impetuous without rudeness, hardy yet graceful, -natural even where there was temerity of thought or of -expression, and repairing or vailing these faults by the -enchantment of candor and of originality. Different, but not -inferior, were the merits and the successes of M. de -Montalembert. He was a combatant young too, a fearless Christian, -both in the political arena and in society; and he carried with -him in his polemics to the service of the State a sincerity of -passion, a rich and mobile eloquence, piquant strokes of wit, an -outpouring of indignant conviction, all of which deeply stirred -the emotions of his auditors, whether friends or adversaries, and -left in the mind of calm spectators an impression of approving -satisfaction, however frequently a shock might be given to their -feelings of moderation and of fairness. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">{60}</a></span> -In the "Conferences" of the Abbé Lacordaire it cannot be denied -that many failings and many omissions are observable; although -expressed clearly and with vivacity, his thought was often -superficial; there was in turn a singular mixture of precipitate -enthusiasm and of discretion, the former displaying itself in his -exordiums, the latter at the close of his discourses. He -announced courageously his opinions, but accompanied them by more -reservations than are usually expected from one of his Church and -party: thus at the same time, that throughout all his discourses, -and in their general character, he showed himself the friend of -religious liberty, he hesitated sometimes even when the occasion -required him to proclaim its fundamental principle and to rebuke -its violations. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">{61}</a></span> -On his side, M. de Montalembert gave himself up entirely to the -impression and the combat of the moment; in his legitimate ardor -for free instruction, the then chosen object of his public life, -he held obstacles, however real, of no account; he ignored the -time necessary for its final triumph, as well as the real -progress, although partial, which it had obtained, from the -co-operation or the sufferance of the government of 1830; and in -his uncompromising defense of the Church, he was more violent -against the members of the executive government than his own -sentiments and his real political views would, in moments of cool -reflection, have permitted him to be. The Abbé Lacordaire did not -sound sufficiently the sources of his opinions; M. de -Montalembert did not properly measure his attacks. But in spite -of their shortcomings and of our own, of their faults and of our -own, in all the struggles that grew out of religious questions -between us, they rendered constantly faithful and powerful -services to their cause, which, notwithstanding our dissentiments -on other points, was really the cause of Christ's Faith awaking -to new birth and life on the bosom of Liberty. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">{62}</a></span> -<p> -It is not without well reflecting that I term that <i>our</i> -cause. When religious liberty reigns in a State, it is a great -and a too common error to believe that the statesmen charged with -its government have no religious belief whatever; that they are -careless in matters of faith because they embrace and advocate -the cause of liberty of conscience. The soul does not abdicate -the right to its proper and intimate life, because it respects in -other souls the rights of that same life; and nothing is more -logical or more legitimate than to sustain with fervor the -principle of freedom of conscience, and yet to be at the same -time a true and an earnest Christian. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">{63}</a></span> -<p> -I have not here to make a profession of faith for others; but I -affirm that, from 1830 to 1848, the Prince whom I had the honor -to serve, and the Cabinets to which I had the honor to belong, -not only always had at heart the maintenance, however difficult, -of the principle of religious liberty, but that they always -felicitated themselves upon the progress made by the Christian -Faith, even when the manner of that progress was for them a -source of serious embarrassment. In 1841 we were placed, in this -respect, in a most trying position. Great was the general -astonishment, and violent were the attacks made upon us, when, -with a devotedness to Catholicism even bolder than had been his -conferences at Notre Dame, the Abbé Lacordaire returned from Rome -a monk, and a monk of an order which has left more somber -memories behind it than any other, that of St. Dominic. This is -not the place to examine what the utility may be in our days to -the Catholic Church of the monastic orders, or to inquire whether -the services they are capable of rendering the Church outweigh -the objections and the feelings of repulsion and uneasiness which -they arouse. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">{64}</a></span> -No well-read man can deny their having, in seasons of chaotic -confusion, effectually served the cause, not only of the -Christian Faith, but of civilization, of science, and even of -liberty. -</p> -<p> -The condition of society and of the human mind is now very -different, and the monastic orders cannot take the same position -or produce the same effects. But whatever we may think of the -opportuneness of their reconstruction, of the right there can be -no doubt. Under a system sanctioning freedom of conscience and -free institutions, associations for religious purposes cannot be -worse treated than those for purposes of industry, commerce, or -literature. The State is required to exercise upon combinations -of every kind a certain degree of surveillance; but doubtless the -union of souls and of lives under one rule and in one costume, -with a view to eternal interests, is not a juster cause for -disquietude than a union of purses and of labor for the purpose -of economizing both, with a view to worldly interests. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">{65}</a></span> -In 1829, some young Catholic Liberals, MM. de Carné, de Cazalès, -de Champagny, de Montalembert, Foisset de Meaux, Henri Gouraud, -founded a periodical, <i>Le Correspondant</i>, devoted to the -reconciliation of Catholicism with the free social institutions -of the age. The <i>Correspondant</i> had been suspended in 1835, -but reappeared in 1843, under the editorship of M. Charles -Lenormant, one of those friends I have lost who retain in my -memory the place they occupied in my life. In conducting this -work, he kept ever in view the principles in which it had -originated, and among other positions, he defended in 1845, with -the frank intrepidity both of a Catholic and of a Liberal, the -rights of those religious associations which were at the time the -object of violent debate. [Footnote 7] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 7: Des associations religieuses dans le - catholicisme; de leur esprit, de leur histoire et de leur - avenir; par Charles Lenormant, de l'Institut. Paris: 1845.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">{66}</a></span> -<p> -The cabinet abstained from all measures of repression, and left -the new monks freely to their chances of success or failure. -Twenty-five years have since elapsed; the Père Lacordaire mounted -once more, in his costume as a Dominican, his pulpit in -Notre-Dame; he resuscitated in France an order forgotten, or the -object of dread only; and to what trouble or embarrassment, I -ask, to what complaints even, has this resuscitation led? To what -pretensions of ambition have these monks laid claim? what -turbulent disposition have they manifested? They have paced -meekly along our streets; they have preached eloquently in our -churches; they have founded some houses of education; they have -made use of their rights as freemen, without offering in any way -to infringe the liberty of any other class of citizens. More than -all this: the sincerity of their sentiments and language has been -put to the proof; the Père Lacordaire resumed, as a Dominican, at -Paris, at Toulouse, at Nancy, at Bordeaux, the conferences and -the preaching that had rendered him popular as a simple priest; -they became, perhaps, more liberal even than they had been -originally. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">{67}</a></span> -When the tempest of 1848 had given birth, in the imaginations of -all men, to every kind of dream, and had opened to every ambition -every career, the Père Lacordaire was returned by the popular -suffrage as Deputy to the Constituent Assembly. For a moment he -thought a new era opening for his Church—perhaps for himself. In -this arena, upon which the passions of party were unchained amid -the general darkness resting upon society, he soon discovered -that the priest and monk of our day was not in his proper place; -he withdrew from it to resume, in his modest retreat at Sorèze, -his true mission as a Christian teacher. He afterward issued from -it, but for a moment only, to express in the French Academy his -faith as a Catholic, and his confidence in the democratic -principles of modern times. Such are the peaceable, such the only -results among us, of the re-establishment of the order of the -Dominicans and of the glory of its restorer. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">{68}</a></span> -<p> -Its <i>only</i> results? Not so; if the work of the Père -Lacordaire did not exercise any important influence upon the -laity, it was attended with fruitful and salutary effects in the -Church of Rome itself. Like him, other priests had the courage to -brave the prejudices of the age respecting the religious orders; -like him, others refused to suffer themselves to be subjugated by -the alarms felt by most members of their Church at the names of -Science and of Liberty; and like him, they scrupled not to devote -themselves to a common life and a common rule, "to work -together," according to their own expressions, "to secure the -triumph of Christian truth, and its triumph by means of -Philosophy and Science." Thus was re-established, under the -direction of the pious curate of Saint-Roch, the Père Pététot, -the congregation of the Oratoire—that learned and modest society -that gave to France Malebranche and Massillon, and of which -Bossuet said, two centuries ago: "The immense love for the Church -of the Cardinal de Bérulle inspired him with the design of -forming a company, to which he desired to give no other spirit -than the very spirit of the Church, no other rule than its -canons, no other superiors than its bishops, no other goods than -its charity, no other solemn vows than those of baptism and the -priesthood. … -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">{69}</a></span> -There, to form true priests, they lead them to the fountain of -truth; they have always in their hands the sacred volume, to -search there unceasingly its literal sense by study, its spirit -by prayer, its depth of meaning by retreat from the world, and -its end by charity—the termination of everything and the -treasure of Christianity—'Christiani nominis thesaurus,' as -Tertullian terms it." [Footnote 8] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 8: Bossuet, Oraison funèbre du père Bourgoing, - delivered in 1662, vol. viii, p. 271.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">{70}</a></span> -<p> -Dating its restoration from only thirteen years ago, the new -congregation of the Oratoire is still not numerous, and remains -little known; it is poor, and it desires to remain so; it has -need of extension and of support, but at the very outset of its -new career it proved itself faithful to its origin and worthy of -the words of Bossuet. One of its founders, the Père Gratry, took -his place at once in the first rank of the Christian apologists, -moralists, and writers of the day: he is a man at once animated -and gentle, full of his peculiar ideas and sentiments, which he -carries to an enthusiastic height, but without pride and without -jealousy, and ardently propagating them by his books, his -lectures, and his conversation. These are all distinguished by -eloquent appeals to human sympathies, touching even where they do -not convince, and leaving the mind always in emotion at the -prospects which they open. Another member of the new Oratoire, -the Père Valvoger, has given a succinct account, in a learned -work, ("Introduction historique et critique aux livres du Nouveau -Testament,") of the Researches and Evidences of Christianity, by -the principal foreign theologians. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">{71}</a></span> -Under the strong influence of the opinions of its first founders, -and at the same time comprehending the mind and the requirements -of France at the present day, the rising congregation of the -Oratoire does not evade examination or discussion; it respects -science, and in the religious truths which it teaches, and its -relations with the souls that it summons to believe, it does not -shrink from accepting fearlessly the terms and the forms of -liberty. -</p> -<p> -In the midst of this great movement of men's minds in matters of -religion, what has been done since the opening of this century by -the chiefs of the Catholic Church of France, by their bishops and -by the clergy, called, by their alliance with the State and by -their own rights, to assume the education and the Christian -direction of the human soul? -</p> -<p> -They were at first and especially occupied with the real -resuscitation of that Christian religion, now returning to French -society, to its rank there and to its mission, but returning as -exiles return—ill provided, disorganized, and to a home that -seems no home. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">{72}</a></span> -To render back to France, now Catholic, churches for its worship, -priests for its churches, seminaries to form its priests, pupils -to people those seminaries; to assure also to the edifice thus -rising from its ruins the time for its proper establishment and -consolidation—such, under the first empire, was the dominant -thought, almost the exclusive thought, of the Episcopacy, of the -clergy instituted by the Concordat. A work great and difficult, -for which neither materials nor workmen were at hand, and which -required for its accomplishment strong support and a long period -of repose. The clergy of this epoch have been justly reproached -with their uniform obsequiousness to the Emperor Napoleon. No -doubt it was a shameful spectacle, in 1811, which those docile -bishops afforded, when they assembled in council and were never -weary of lavishing caresses upon the despot who had not only -stripped the chief of their Church, Pius VII., of his dominions, -but was then detaining him a prisoner at Savona, denying his -natural counselors, the cardinals, all access to him, refusing -him even a secretary to write his letters, and charging an -officer of the gendarmerie to watch by day and by night all his -movements. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">{73}</a></span> -Only a single fact explains and somewhat excuses the -pusillanimity of the clergy when confronted with this tyranny: -these bishops had seen Christianity proscribed, its churches -closed, profaned, demolished, its priests hunted and massacred, -their flocks left without any worship, any guide, any -consolation. The chance of the recurrence of such events filled -them with horror. Who could affirm that there was no such chance, -and that the reality of the eve was not the possibility of the -morrow? With such causes of apprehension a good priest might feel -his conscience profoundly troubled; and a timid priest might -regard his weakness as justified. What sacrifices were not -permissible, nay, even imperative, to prevent such disasters? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">{74}</a></span> -<p> -Still, the violent measures of Napoleon did not fail to -encounter, sometimes rebukes, and occasionally resistance, on the -part of the clergy; it was not only that some prelates [Footnote -9] in the council, with more courage than moderation, censured -his conduct toward the Pope: the council itself—forgetting at -last, in its anxiety to vindicate the honor of the whole body, -its long habit of obsequiousness—voted an address to the -Emperor, an act of independence which occasioned its abrupt -dissolution. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 9: Among others M. d'Avian, Archbishop of Bordeaux, - M. de Boulogne, Bishop of Troyes, and M. de Broglie, Bishop - of Gaud.] -</p> -<p> -And of the two ecclesiastics to whose counsels, from just motives -of esteem, Napoleon showed least disinclination to give ear, -one—the Abbé Émery, "Superior General" of the Congregation of -St. Sulpice—had just previously, not long before he died, -openly, yet with dignity, resisted the Emperor; [Footnote 10] the -other, M. Duvoisin, Bishop of Nantes, dictated upon his deathbed -these powerful and affectionate lines: "I supplicate the Emperor -to restore the holy Father to liberty. His captivity troubles the -extreme moments of my life. On several occasions I had the honor -to inform the Emperor of the affliction which this captivity is -causing to the whole of Christendom, and of the inconveniences -which would attend its prolongation. The happiness of his Majesty -himself, I believe, depends upon the return of his Holiness to -Rome." -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 10: Vie de M. Émery, supérieur général du séminaire - et de la compagnie de Saint-Sulpice, t. ii, pp. 236-346. - Paris: 1862.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">{75}</a></span> -<p> -Idly does Despotism excuse its arbitrary acts, as if they -resulted from the want of foresight or the servility of its -flatterers; for the blindest have their gleams of light, and even -the most timid their intrepid moments, during which they speak -the truth, although they speak it in vain. -</p> -<p> -Under the Restoration, it was no longer fear, but hope—hope, -ill-founded, too—which misled the French clergy, betrayed them -into the commission of many faults, and checked the progress of -roused Christendom. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">{76}</a></span> -In the then reaction against the Revolution, ecclesiastical -ambition had its part; partisans of the Crown and of Rome—ardent -ones—some through sincere devotion, others from political -calculation, believed it to be necessary and possible to restore -to the Catholic clergy a part at least of the social position and -of the direct authority which they had possessed before 1789. -This was evincing a strange ignorance of the fundamental -character of French society, such as it has been made by its -history and by its great modern Revolution. French society is -essentially and insuperably "laic;" the separation of temporals -from spirituals, and the empire of the laity in public affairs, -are consummated and dominant facts, not to be attacked, or even -menaced, without occasioning throughout the whole framework of -society an irritation and a disquietude, perilous alike for -Church and for State. Nothing in France at the present moment is -more fatal to the influence of religion than the chance, or the -appearance even, of ecclesiastical domination. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">{77}</a></span> -This chance and this appearance were, under the Restoration, the -plague of the Catholic religion and of the French clergy—a -plague the grave consequences of which are the more to be -deplored as it was neither very deep-seated nor very formidable. -It is a fact too little remarked, that the clergy were not then -the principal authors of the faults which subsequently both they -and religion had such cause to rue. No doubt many inadmissible -claims, many unreasonable and offensive requirements, many rash -expectations, proceeded from the ranks of the clergy; but there -was in all this more a suggestion of their past history, or an -unmeaning vanity, than a real and ardent ambition; even the -clergy felt instinctively that political power was not now suited -to them, and that France would no longer accept at their hands as -ministers even a Cardinal Richelieu or a Cardinal Mazarin. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">{78}</a></span> -At first the contra-revolutionary and non-ecclesiastical party in -the Chamber of 1815, and, afterward, the blind fanatical coterie -of the Court of Charles the Tenth, hurried the clergy into their -own vortex, and compromised the cause of religion by making its -ministers instruments of their influence and auxiliaries in their -combats. The ecclesiastics had not the courage to resist; in -spite of their distaste for the new spirit which was abroad, most -of the bishops and of the priesthood, warned by their experience -in the Revolution, would have preferred to remain out of the -sphere of politics, and to confine themselves to the functions of -their religious mission, rather than to be constantly struggling -against popular opinions; so, when any opportunity presented -itself to show their sympathy, they hastened to embrace it. When, -in 1824, the bill of M. de Villèle for the conversion of the -"Rentes" created a great stir among the "Bourgeoisie" of Paris, -it was the Archbishop of Paris, M. de Quélen, who constituted -himself in the Chamber of Peers the principal organ of the -Opposition; and when, in 1828, the movement of public opinion and -of the magistracy against the religions congregations wrested -from the King (Charles the Tenth) the Ordonnances of the 21st -June, the Bishop of Beauvais, M. Feutries, at that time the -Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, did not hesitate to -countersign them. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">{79}</a></span> -The members of the priesthood live in close contact with the -people, and cannot long remain in ignorance of the real state of -their opinions, or long persist in holding them lightly. The -French clergy, as a whole, were more resigned to the new state of -society than King Charles the Tenth and his intimate friends; the -false ideas and the unreasonable political pretensions of the -monarch and of the coterie which formed his court, far more than -the religious bigotry of the Church, occasioned the great faults -committed under the Restoration. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">{80}</a></span> -<p> -At all epochs and in all parties some man is always met with in -whom are centered and personified whatever good sense, sound -views, and wise purposes there are in the party to which he -belongs. Such a man under the Restoration and for the lay -Legitimists was M. de Villèle. True to his friends, he -nevertheless knew, or I should rather say he promptly learned in -public life to understand, what France then actually was, and -what qualities, to be successful, her government should possess. -If he had had toward his party and his king as much independence -and firmness in action as he had correct appreciation in thought, -he might perhaps have obtained a more complete and more lasting -success. The clergy on their side also had at this epoch a -faithful representative of whatever religious or political -sagacity existed in the French Church: it is here to the Abbé -Frayssinous, Bishop of Hermopolis, that the honor and the merit -belong. His task was far easier than that of M. de Villèle, for -he was never put to any trial: he had no struggle to sustain; he -remained naturally, or kept himself voluntarily, out of the arena -of events and of parties; but it was in this precisely that he -showed his good sense, and his correct appreciation of the -permanent interests and the real dispositions of the clergy of -his time. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">{81}</a></span> -Neither as theologian, nor as orator, nor as statesman was the -Abbé Frayssinous a man of eminence, or remarkable for power of -intellect; but in the different phases of his career, in his -personal conduct, and in his writings, he had an unerring -instinct of what was just and possible, and showed no common tact -in retiring with dignity from untenable positions, and escaping -from questions that he could not settle. Upon these occasions he -would confine himself to his mission of a priest and moralist of -the Christian religion. From 1803 to 1822 he held, suspended, and -resumed in the Church of St. Sulpice, his "conferences upon -religious subjects;" remarkable not only by a judicious defense -of the great truths of Christianity, but by a continuous, -although somewhat timorous, effort to place the doctrines of the -Church in harmony with the principles of natural justice and of -civil liberty. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">{82}</a></span> -He was not, like the Père Lacordaire or M. de Montalembert, a -Catholic Liberal; he was a priest—moderate and equitable, not -from luke-warmness in his faith, but from respect to legal rights -and human sentiments. Although his "conferences" had not the -success and popularity that distinguished later, in Notre-Dame, -those of the Père Lacordaire, they attracted a numerous auditory, -and exercised material influence in giving to the awakening of -Christianity a wider range and a firmer basis. [Footnote 11] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 11: The "conferences" of the Abbé Frayssinous at - St. Sulpice have been published under this title: Defense du - Christianisme, ou conférences sur la religion. 3 vols. 8vo. - Paris: 1825. The Abbé Frayssinous published also in 1818 a - work with the following title: Les vrais principes de - l'église gallicane sur la puissance ecclesiastique, la - Papauté, les Libertés gallicanes, la Promotion des évêques, - les trois Concordats, et les Appels comme d'abus.] -</p> -<p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">{83}</a></span> -<p> -In his work upon the true principles of the Gallican Church, the -Abbé Frayssinous manifested the same moderate and conciliatory -spirit—not always tracing principles to their sources, but never -pushing facts or ideas to their extreme consequences; while -remaining the faithful servant of the Church he showed himself -also rather the friend of Christian peace than the jealous -advocate of ecclesiastical power. His mode of life was as modest -as his opinions; he never made power his aim, neither did he ever -seek for honors, whether political, ecclesiastical, or academic; -he declined them even when within his reach. He joined the -Cabinet in 1824, as Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and of -Public Instruction; he withdrew from it in 1828, when the -mounting wave of Liberalism demanded that a more vigorous policy -should be adopted against the religious congregations than the -pupil and orator of St. Sulpice was willing to sanction. He -neither had the qualities necessary for governing the French -clergy, nor did he pretend to govern them; but he represented -them, nevertheless, in all their more irreproachable and prudent -opinions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">{84}</a></span> -Unfortunately, mere common sense and prudence do not suffice more -in the Church than in the State to save nations from the -consequences of their faults of omission and commission; for this -object, higher qualities are necessary as well as more rude -efforts. -</p> -<p> -It was one of the first effects of the Revolution in 1830, to -make visible to all the injury that the faults of their friends, -rather than the blows of their adversaries, had inflicted, under -the Restoration, upon the clergy, and through the clergy upon -religion. The acts of violence which, during the revolutionary -crisis from 1830 to 1832, were directed at the Churches—the -crosses thrown down, the insulting cries, and antichristian -manifestations; a little later, the riot before the church of St. -Germain l'Auxerrois, on the occasion of the service celebrated on -the anniversary of the death of the Duke de Berri—the -archiepiscopal palace ruined and pillaged—the church broken into -and closed—the menaces directed at the priests—what were all -these deplorable acts but the explosion of a popular reaction, -provoked by the share a part of the clergy had taken in favor of -a retrograde policy—of a return to the ancient régime and to -absolutism? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">{85}</a></span> -Violent men profited by this reaction to satisfy their impiety -and licentiousness, but they could never have excited the -movement or made it successful had they hoisted their own banner; -there must be some little truth before a populace will suffer -itself to be so misled; and the crowd who in February, 1831, so -furiously rose in insurrection before St. Germain l'Auxerrois, -would have paused in astonishment had it perceived that what it -was so brutally attacking and destroying was—not the ancient -régime, not absolutism—but religion and liberty. -</p> -<p> -To put an end to this confusion, full at once of deception and of -peril, but a single thing was required: to banish from the -Church, and from its relations with the State, worldly ambition -and influences, and to replace them by influences of a moral -description; instead of a political banner, they should have only -hoisted the banner of religious faith and liberty of conscience. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">{86}</a></span> -That was the great work, or, to use a better expression, the -great progress, which from 1830 to 1848 was aimed at and -accomplished. -</p> -<p> -The efforts made and the debates instituted at this epoch by the -most eminent champions of the Church are remarkable, because they -no longer proposed to restore any fragment of its ancient power, -but to insure to it its place and its share in the new public -institutions of liberty. The little militant party of Catholic -Liberals quitted the arena of the ancient political regime, and -took up their position on that of the new constitution, claiming -for the Church, for its ministers, and for its faithful subjects, -the exercise of all the rights and the free development of all -the power that, under the constitution, either belonged, or ought -to belong, to all citizens. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">{87}</a></span> -They made no reservation of opinion, no effort more or less -covert, in furtherance of any pretensions of bygone times, -whether dynastic, aristocratic, or theocratic; the frank -acceptance of the present age and actual society, provided that -Christian faith, Christian morals, and Christian institutions, -might have free room to work; such was, in the midst of all the -factions and political plottings of this period, the constant -attitude of the Catholic Liberal party, that is, of M. de -Montalembert, the Père Lacordaire, M. Charles Lenormant, Frederic -Ozanam, and of the friends in small number grouped around them. -</p> -<p> -Whoever feels astonished that their number was so small, shows -little acquaintance with our country or our times. The enterprise -which they undertook was singularly bold and difficult; to drag -France out of its rut of incredulity and irreligion, and at the -same time to extricate Catholicism from its rut of impolicy, its -alliance with absolutism, its timorous immobility in the presence -of liberty; to proclaim and simultaneously to defend, in -spirituals, the Christian faith, and, in temporals, the regime of -liberty. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">{88}</a></span> -Certainly in France, and in the 19th century, the devotion of men -to such a task supposes an enthusiasm and an energy of conviction -of which few are capable; and if the new Christian Liberals -flattered themselves that success would be easy, events must soon -have disabused them. Attacked with ardor by the opponents of all -religion, they were also assailed by Catholics devoted to the -ancient régime of the Church, and alarmed at the new system -pressed upon their acceptance. The former of these two attacks -caused the Catholic Liberals neither surprise nor embarrassment; -but the latter brought with it bitter annoyance and -disappointment, for they found directly opposed to them members -of their own faith. Soon they were to have as their adversary a -man who, by his vigorous talents—employed with equal violence -against the incredulous of all shades of opinions, and against -the Catholic Liberals—too exercised an influence upon a great -number of Catholics, whether of the laity or priesthood, and -indisposed them to any reconciliation with that modern society -which he irritated still more against them. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">{89}</a></span> -I knew M. Veuillot at the commencement of his literary career, -when he accompanied General Bugeaud to the seat of his government -in Algeria. At this epoch he addressed to me two memorials upon -the subject of the moral condition of the colony and of the army. -They struck me by their decided tone, and the straightforwardness -and candor with which he expressed sentiments already -distinguished by devotion. Already he regarded the religion of -his own Church, and of <i>it</i> alone, as the sure basis of -human morality and social order; but he had not yet proclaimed as -his doctrine the deplorable error that Faith enjoins war upon -Liberty. He merited a better understanding of the cause of -Christianity; he merited to be a better advocate of the Church at -Rome than an advocate who, although one of its most devoted -defenders, has yet most injured the cause that he sought to -serve. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">{90}</a></span> -<p> -These political revolutions and these domestic dissensions left, -in the period that ensued after 1830, the Catholic Church in a -difficult situation, but in one salutary for it and fruitful of -consequences. The clergy no longer counted on the favor of -Government, but they had at the same time to fear from it neither -violence nor hostility. Left to themselves, they felt the -necessity of independent existence, and saw that they must -replace credit with the authorities by influence with the -country; and this influence they were likely to obtain. If they -did not possess all the privileges which they coveted, they had -enough to enable them every day to conquer additional powers, -supposing them willing and sagacious enough to take the trouble -and employ the right means. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">{91}</a></span> -In my opinion, they did not do at this epoch, in the interest of -religion and of the Church, all that their position permitted, or -all that their mission required at their hands; but temporal or -spiritual governors, layman or priests, who ever did, I do not -say what he ought, but what he could have done? The greater part -of the bishops and of the priests were vacillating and timorous; -the problem before them went beyond their opinions, and the -events beyond their strength; the impetuous Liberalism of M. de -Montalembert and of his friends disquieted them; they saw in him -rather a valiant champion than a representative they could rely -upon. Among those who joined with him in the struggle for the -freedom of instruction, there were some who showed, with -reference to the Government of 1830 and the University, little -fairness or prudence: these injured the cause rather than served -it. Whether from submission to orders from Rome, or from their -natural impulse, the clergy, taken as a whole, showed little -taste for liberty; even while they demanded it, they were rather -inclined to immobility than progress. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">{92}</a></span> -But whatever the fears and hesitations of individuals, when the -general current of ideas and of popular opinions once penetrates -to the classes least disposed to entertain them, it never fails, -whether they avow it, or whether they even know it, to swell and -to advance. Around and among the clergy themselves the spirit of -progress and of liberty gained ground, although by insensible -degrees. Here and there individual priests, like the Abbé -Bautain, formerly a student with M. Jouffroy at the École -Normale, and Professor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Letters at -Strasbourg, propagated in the Church the liberal movement, -forming for it in different places new centers of action. The -spirit which had awakened Christianity manifested itself, too, in -our great lay establishments for the higher course of -instruction; not always without check, but still with a success -the more conspicuous the more it was contested. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">{93}</a></span> -In 1846, some disturbances, occasioned by a thoughtless and -puerile intolerance, made by M. Lenormant, at that time my -substitute (suppléant) in the chair of Modern History at the -Faculty of Letters, determine to withdraw from the Sorbonne, -where he had made a courageous avowal of his faith; but M. -Ozanam, the worthy successor to the chair of M. Fauriel, -maintained in the same place the same principles with a more -successful perseverance, and with such a depth of conviction and -such a warmth of emotion that sometimes he carried the feelings -of his auditors away with him, and sometimes commanded respectful -attention even from those most confirmed in their incredulity. -And while the spirit of Christianity was thus manifesting itself -in the free Faculty of Letters, the teaching of the Faculty of -Theology attested, under that same roof, a notable progress in -knowledge and in Liberalism. The Abbé Maret, in his lectures on -the Dogmas of Religion, the Abbé Frère, in his discourses on the -Scriptures; the Abbé Dupanloup and the Abbé Gerbet, in their -lectures on Sacred Eloquence, displayed not only a firm and -active faith, but views upon philosophy, history, and literature, -necessarily implying an acquaintance with the works of human -science, and an appreciation of the rights of liberty. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">{94}</a></span> -Ecclesiastics and laymen, not members of the scientific -establishments of the State, published, under the name of the -"Université Catholique," a series of courses in which philosophy, -history, natural sciences, archaeology, and the arts were -explained and taught in harmony with the dogmas and sentiments of -religious men. And even far from Paris, in several great -episcopal seminaries, classical and theological studies took a -wider range, and attained a scientific value that they had not -for a long time possessed. -</p> -<p> -"Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone," says the -Apostle St. James. Christianity has borne abundant fruits since -its awakening at the commencement of this century. I have before -me the "Manual des Œuvres et institutions de charité de Paris," -published in 1862, by order of the archbishop, M. Sibour. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">{95}</a></span> -Independently of the establishments under the direction of -Government, I find in it 107 charitable institutions or -associations, of every kind, originated and supported by zealous -Christians in the interval between 1820 and 1848. Of these I will -only cite some of the principal ones, to establish their -character and their progress. In the year 1822 the idea struck -two poor servants at Lyons to make the rounds of their parish and -collect weekly one sou from each person, in aid of the conversion -of infidels. This was the origin of the association called -"l'Œuvre de la propagation de la Foi," now under the direction of -two councils, composed of members of the clergy and of the laity, -having their sittings, one at Lyons, the other at Paris. The -report published by this association in June, 1824, showed for -the two years, 1823 and 1824, a receipt of 80,000 fr., -(3200<i>l</i>.) This association received in 1864 the sum of -5,090,041 fr. 48 cent., (203,601<i>l</i>. 13<i>s</i>. -3½<i>d</i>.,) in which amount France alone figures for 3,479,290 -fr. 65 cent., (139,171<i>l</i>. 12<i>s</i>. 6½<i>d</i>.,) and it -divided 4,658,672 fr. 56 cent. (186,346<i>l</i>. 18<i>s</i>. -6½<i>d</i>.) among five hundred dioceses, and appropriated those -funds to the support of the Catholic missionaries in the five -parts of the world. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">{96}</a></span> -It counted from the year 1852, 1,500,000 subscribers, and it -distributed 170,000 copies of its "Annals," (Annales de -propagation de la Foi,) which form a sequel to the "Lettres -édificantes," and keep the Christian world informed of their -doings. In May, 1833, eight young men, at the suggestion of -Frederic Ozanam, "wishing," said the Perè Lacordaire, "to give -one more proof of what Christianity can effect in behalf of the -poor, began to ascend to those upper stories which were the -hidden haunts of the misery of their quarter. Men saw youths in -the flower of their age and fresh from school regularly visiting, -without any feeling of repulsion, the most abject habitations, -and conveying to their unknown and suffering tenants a passing -vision of charity." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">{97}</a></span> -Twenty years later, in 1853, Ozanam said at Florence, when on his -death-bed: "Instead of eight only, at Paris alone we are two -thousand strong, and we visit five thousand families, that is to -say, about twenty thousand individuals, or a quarter of the poor -contained in that great city. The conferences in France alone -number five hundred, and we have them too in England, in Spain, -Belgium, America, and even in Jerusalem." Nine years afterward, -in 1862, when the Government, listening to mistaken counsels, -suppressed the General Council of the Conferences of St. Vincent -de Paul, and by doing so destroyed the central bond that kept the -society together, the latter counted more than 3000 local -conferences; it consisted of about 30,000 members, who visited in -their homes more than 100,000 indigent families, and had already -introduced into the greater part of the principal cities a system -which exercised a control over the interests of apprentices and -of prisoners. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">{98}</a></span> -During the course of the same epoch the Sisters of Charity, whose -number, a century after their foundation by St. Vincent de Paul, -had not exceeded 1500, already reached 18,000, of whom 16,000 -were Frenchwomen; and at this moment they are plying throughout -the world their works of piety and charity. Another society, "Les -petites sœurs des pauvres," was founded in 1845, in imitation of -Jeanne Jugan, a poor servant, a native of Brittany, who had been -just crowned by the French Academy. This society receives and -succors in their establishment nearly 20,000 aged men. Another -association, "Les Frères de la doctrine Chrétienne," which had in -the year 1844, 468 schools, maintains this year (1865) 920, and -the number of the pupils has increased from 198,188 to 335,382. -State and ecclesiastical documents attest, that by concurring -causes of encouragement on the part of the State, of local -subventions and of private donations, ten thousand churches have -been, during the last fifty years, built, rebuilt, or suitably -adapted for the performance of the services of the Church of -Rome. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">{99}</a></span> -I might cite many similar facts. In all the directions and under -all the forms in which piety and charity manifest themselves, -faith and liberty, and faith and science have, since the -awakening of Christianity and since the cause of religion has -been separated from politics, drawn nearer to one another, and -faith and its manifestation by charity have made a simultaneous -advance and a like progress. -</p> -<p> -Had the Government of 1830 remained standing; had State and -Church each retained reciprocally the same situation and the same -attitude, the facts to which I have just alluded might have long -remained unobserved. Society does not, any more than individuals, -render an account to itself of the intimate relations of its -existence, or of the transformations to which these give rise; -but Providence has its moments when it suddenly lightens up the -stage of the world and reveals to all actors and spectators the -import and the effect of what is passing around them. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">{100}</a></span> -The Revolution of 1848 threw upon the progress of the Catholic -Church and its relations with French society since 1830 the clear -light of such a revelation. -</p> -<p> -In this sudden subversion of all things, in the presence of a -republic extemporized upon the ruins of three monarchies—the -monarchy of glory, the monarchy of tradition, and the monarchy of -public opinion—in the midst of this nation, suddenly insurgent -and beyond either its aim or expectation sovereign, what became -of the Church? What did its ministers? If some of them -participated in the current dreams, certainly the majority were -full of anguish and alarm; they did not combat the new -institutions; they did not pretend to exercise any influence for -or against any party; they sought only to purify the Republic by -securing in it a place for Religion; they did not stand aloof -from the people; they showed themselves, in its great assemblages -and in its fêtes, planting the cross of Jesus by the side of the -tree of liberty. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">{101}</a></span> -Never did the Church stand so aloof from politics; never was she -more modest in her attitude; never less exacting—I will not say -more obsequious, as far as the Government or the public was -concerned; never more absorbed with her mission of piety and -morality, whatever the Government of France might be, and whoever -her masters. -</p> -<p> -And what in their turn was the conduct of the people toward the -Church? I do not mean to say that they confided in her, or showed -her much affection. The popular movement in 1848 was no doubt far -from being religious; and the ideas, acts, and language which -proceeded from it every instant, were well calculated to disturb -and sadden the hearts of Christians; but religion and its -ministers were in no respect ill treated, insulted, or -persecuted; their forms of worship were not interrupted: when -they showed themselves out of doors, they were received with -respect; and at the sight of a virtuous archbishop mortally -wounded in the streets, in the very endeavor to appease the civil -war by the exhibition of the cross, a painful stupor seized the -people; a pang of remorse and of shame traversed those masses of -disbelievers at the sight of a martyr. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">{102}</a></span> -It was clear that in the interval between 1830 and 1848, although -the Christian Church had not aroused in the people either faith -or sympathy, that Church had at least won liberty and peace. When -the revolutionary fever had subsided, when the Republic had given -itself a chief, and was waiting for a master, it was no longer in -the street, by popular impressions, but in the Assemblies, and by -the constituted authorities, that the great questions of the day -were put and were solved. There, too, the progress, which the -Catholic Church had made, became immediately evident, and its -gains were ascertained. It counted at this moment among its most -zealous servants a man new to public affairs, who had entered -political life as an adherent of the Legitimist Opposition to the -Monarchy of 1830, a man who accepted the Republic, and had -acquired in a few days a just renown by his courageous resistance -to anarchy. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">{103}</a></span> -By a choice, fortunate but at the same time unforeseen, M. de -Falloux became the Minister of Public Instruction and of Worship -in the first cabinet formed by the Prince President of the -Republic. The new minister immediately devoted himself to the -important measure that the Catholic Church had had in view ever -since the year 1830, that is, to the complete establishment, -under the sanction of the law, of the principle of liberty of -instruction. He proceeded in his task at once with intelligence -and boldness. To prepare his project of law, he appointed a -numerous commission, and summoned to it the most eminent men, who -represented views and interests the most diverse; laymen and -ecclesiastics, Romanists, Protestants and philosophers, -Republicans, Legitimists, Orleanists and Bonapartists, M. Thiers -and the Abbé Dupanloup, M. Cousin and M. de Montalembert, M. -Saint Marc Girardin and M. Cochin, M. Cuvier and the Abbé Sibour. -[Footnote 12] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 12: The following is a complete list of the members - of the Commission, as given in the "Moniteur" of the 22d - June, 1849: M. Thiers, president; MM. Cousin, St. Marc - Girardin, Dubois, the Abbé Dupanloup, Peupin, Janvier, - Laurentie, Freslon, Ballaguet, de Montalembert, Fresneau, - Poulain de Bossay, Cuvier, Michel, Armand de Melun, Henri de - Riancey, Cochin, the Abbé Sibour, Roux-Lavergne, de - Montreuil-Housset, and Alexis Chevalier, secretary.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">{104}</a></span> -<p> -M. Thiers was the president of this commission, which sat during -five months. It discussed every question respecting the -organization of public instruction with a passionate ardor, and, -at the same time, with an earnest and sincere desire to -conciliate, by their resolutions, all opinions. According to the -character of the times and the state of public sentiment, -critical and perilous situations precipitate men sometimes to the -commission of insane acts of violence, and sometimes keep them -within the line of fairness and prudence. The project of law -which issued from the commission of M. de Falloux had the merit -of prudence. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">{105}</a></span> -In making mutual concessions, the representatives of the -different systems took good care to protest that they did not -renounce their peculiar principles—a language which made -sometimes their resolutions have the air of a superficial and -incoherent compromise; but men could, nevertheless, observe how -conspicuous that project was for its large and practical -character, and its respect for different rights; and they could -also see how the State, the Church, and private establishments -were left free to compete in matters of public instruction. When -this project was discussed in the Legislative Assembly, M. de -Falloux was no longer minister; but the impulse had been given, -and his measure was out of danger; his successor, M. de Parien, -too, gave it the support which it deserved; and after a -discussion which occupied thirty-seven sittings, the Assembly, by -a strong majority, passed the law, without introducing any -important modification. The Liberty of Instruction was founded. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">{106}</a></span> -<p> -Fifteen years have passed, and it subsists. The State, the -Church, private institutions founded by laymen or by -ecclesiastics, have competed actively during all that period. -Religious congregations, Lazarists, Dominicans, Oratorians, -Jesuits, have in this struggle displayed all the enthusiasm of -faith, all the ardor of reciprocal rivalry. The Jesuits, since -the year 1850, have opened twenty colleges for secondary -instruction, and have founded at Paris, for courses of study -preparatory to the special schools, an establishment whose -successes have attracted the attention of the government and of -the public; for it sends every year to the Military Schools, the -Polytechnic, Naval, or Central, an extraordinary number of -successful candidates, who have passed with honor, although the -competition has been extensive and the examinations are severe. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">{107}</a></span> -A great school, founded by the Archbishop of Paris for the higher -branches of ecclesiastical study in the ancient house of the -Carmelites, has formed priests who, in the public examinations -and theses, have proved themselves capable of taking rank by the -side of the best pupils of the lay establishment of the "École -Normale Supérieure." Everywhere the University has encountered -numerous and ardent rivals; and it has been at the same time in -its own interior a prey to painful trials. Under the pretext of -an interest for studies of a scientific and practical nature, -classical and philosophical studies have been displaced and -depreciated. At the very moment that the University was losing -its privileges beyond, it saw its principles and its organization -shaken inside its walls. -</p> -<p> -Faithful to her convictions and traditions, even while accepting -the experiments and the struggles that were forced upon her, the -University has surmounted perils from within and rivalries from -without; on the one side, little by little, it has returned to -its system of a large and solid teaching of the classics; on the -other, the level of the studies in its principal establishments -has been raised, and the number of its pupils has been ever on -the increase. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">{108}</a></span> -The Lycées counted (in 1850) 19,300; they have now (1865) more -than 30,000 pupils. The State has thrown open the career of -instruction to the Church, and has at the same time redoubled its -own solicitude and success. Liberty of instruction has calmed -both the anxieties of the religious party that made them demand -it, and those anxieties of the laity which that liberty had -inspired. It has given peace to the State and to the Church, at -the same time that it has excited their emulation and stimulated -their progress. -</p> -<p> -An incident which made some noise at the time has, under the new -regime, shown the force of the Liberal spirit, and proved that, -when needed, it would have unforeseen defenders. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">{109}</a></span> -Under the influence of a blind zeal, a pious ecclesiastic, the -Abbé Graume, demanded by what right the literature of pagan -antiquity occupied the place it did in public teaching; denounced -it as "the devouring canker of modern societies;" and insisted -that the Christian classics should replace in our schools the -Greek and Latin classics. What was this but to reject one of the -great cradles of modern civilization; to condemn the renaissance -of literature in the fifteenth century, as well as the religious -reform in the sixteenth century; and to close to the minds of -rising generations of Christians the general history of the -world! This attack upon the system of public instruction which -had been in vigor during the last four centuries in all the -States of Christendom, met from a part of the Romanists with a -sympathetic reception: bishops, eminent for learning, thanked its -author; M. Veuillot constituted himself his champion. But in the -Catholic Church itself, as well as in the University, the fire of -the defense silenced that of the attack; ecclesiastics, as -eminent by their piety as by their science, the Bishop of Orleans -at their head, proclaimed aloud their sympathy for the -comprehensive scheme and the liberal studies which embrace all -the fair works of man's intelligence. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">{110}</a></span> -The Jesuits on this occasion set an example of broad views and -common sense; they introduced no modification into the programmes -of their colleges; the Pères Cahoux and Daniel demonstrated their -propriety, nay, their necessity; and the literature of the Greeks -and of the Romans has preserved in the education of Christians -the place which it gained in their history by the right of genius -and by the splendor of its productions. -</p> -<p> -Scarcely had this controversy on a literary and moral subject -been settled, when questions of far more gravity were raised, and -more profoundly agitated Christian society. Christians found -themselves attacked simultaneously upon scientific and upon -political grounds. Men denied to the Christian Faith its -reasonableness and its vital sources—to the Church of Rome its -traditional and historical régime, and the temporal power of its -chief. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">{111}</a></span> -<p> -Two things strike me in this double attack—on the one hand its -timidity, yet gravity; on the other, the powerful resistance -which it encounters. Nothing is less novel than a denial of the -supernatural character of Christianity, and of its primitive -facts, of its miracles, of the divinity of its founder. The -eighteenth century carried on this war in a far more violent, -rude, and iniquitous spirit than the nineteenth century has done. -M. Renan, in the attempt to dethrone Jesus, has at least treated -him with admiration and respect; not from calculation, I feel -assured, but from the natural tone of his mind. In our time, men -have instincts and tastes, at once inconsequent and prudent; at -the very time when they engage in a deadly struggle they affect -to carry thither the cool impartiality of spectators; they -flatter themselves that they unite the acumen of the critic to -the feeling of the poet. The skeptic shows no disinclination to -play the mystic; and the erudite man strives to cover with the -vail of fancy the ruin that he makes. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">{112}</a></span> -Hume was a more stubborn skeptic, and Voltaire an enemy more -daring. If I pass from philosophy to politics, and from books to -events, I observe the war undergoing a similar transformation. -What a contrast between the attacks of the Directory and the -Emperor Napoleon the First upon the Papacy, and the circumspect -and hesitating treatment of which, in spite of the blows that it -receives, the Papacy is in these days the object? Are we to -conclude that the general course of events has changed, and that -the flood, which for a century whirled Europe along, is arrested -and subsiding? Certainly not: there are abundant facts to prove -the contrary. Whether regarded as a religious or a political -question, whether considered as affecting opinions or interests, -the contest between authority and liberty, between faith and -incredulity, is carried on more earnestly and more systematically -now than ever: principles on each side are pushed to their -extreme consequences, and contrasted in a manner never before the -case. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">{113}</a></span> -But experience imposes a restraint upon men even where it does -not change them. In the years of internal order which the Empire -insured, and in the years of liberty to which the constitutional -Monarchy gave the sanction of its laws, the different parties -learned to appreciate the obstacles with which they had to -contend, and to measure their own strength and that of their -opponents: they now know that everything is not possible to them; -and necessity has inculcated a certain amount of equity and good -sense. The experience of the past, as well as that of each day, -convinces them of their inability to insure a complete success to -their systems and their designs. Its adversaries thought -Christianity expiring; but they soon saw that it was still full -of life: while they express their surprise and persevere in their -warfare, they admit its practical influence, render homage to its -moral value, and strive, although they contest its rights, to -appropriate to themselves the inheritance of its blessings. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">{114}</a></span> -The wind has often blown from the right quarter for Catholic -Absolutists during this century; they have enjoyed the favor of -more than one master, and more than once they have requited him -by devoted services. More than once, also, they have obtained -from the supreme head of their Church official declarations, -which have been used by them against the Catholic Liberals. The -Absolutists, nevertheless, have not succeeded in changing the -tendency of Christian societies; they have arrested the course -neither of ideas nor events; their defeats have cost them dearer -than their victories were worth; and in spite of the obstinate -infatuation of parties, I doubt whether they themselves believe -in the progress of their cause. And how often has the Papacy -itself in our days been insulted and despoiled? Has it not even -been vanquished and expelled? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">{115}</a></span> -Still, in spite of what it has suffered, sometimes from -revolutions, sometimes from arbitrary power, it has outlived not -only the triumphs of its enemies, but its own impolitic measures: -and at this day, assailed by freethinkers in spirituals, by -ambitious neighbors in temporals, menaced with abandonment even -by its protectors, it is more energetically defended and -efficaciously supported than it ever was at the commencement of -this century in its reverses. Pius VII. never received such -pecuniary contributions as have been forwarded to Pius IX. in his -necessities; and if the French bishops were now summoned to a -council, their conduct would, beyond doubt, be more dignified and -more influential than was that of their predecessors in 1811. -</p> -<p> -Why such changes in a situation itself in effect unchanged? -Whence these hesitating measures, this embarrassed attitude of -the adversaries of the Christian faith and of the Christian -Church? What cause at the same time gives such boldness and even -success to their defenders? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">{116}</a></span> -<p> -Each age has its own peculiar and characteristic mission, and one -from which it cannot escape; every human being has his share in -it, whether he knows it or not. As a consequence of the truths -and the errors, of the good and evil, of the triumphs and -reverses of the preceding centuries, the nineteenth century has -before it a special task, which will employ all its energies, and -which will also, I hope, constitute its glory. It has both in the -State and in the Church found the two supreme forces that preside -over man's life, and over that of society, Authority and Liberty, -in violent conflict, in turn intoxicated with victory, or -vanquished, ruined. It is the mission of the nineteenth century -to make them live together, and live in peace; or at least in an -antagonism entailing upon neither any mortal danger. The -recognition of, and respect for, authority; the acceptance and -guarantee of freedom; these are the imperative necessities which -our age is called upon to feel and to satisfy, both in State and -Church. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">{117}</a></span> -Nor does this imply, as is often pretended, any inconsistency or -any compromise of principle or any policy of expedients; it is -not by inconsistency that great questions are settled, it is not -by expedients that we content the cravings of men's souls, or -calm the anxieties of human society; for mankind yields genuine -submission and feels real confidence only where it believes in -the existence of truth and justice. The recognition, veneration, -and guarantee of the different rights which co-exist naturally -and necessarily in human societies—of the rights, both of -individuals and of the State—of the rights of religious society -and of civil society—of the rights of little local societies as -well as of the grand general society—of the rights of conscience -as well as of tradition—of the rights of the future as well as -of those of the past—these are the dominant principles of which -the nineteenth century has to insure the triumph. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">{118}</a></span> -Triumphs assured, if Liberals and Christians are both of them -determined to accomplish it! Notwithstanding all the violent -emotions of party, and of all our differences on intellectual and -social subjects, the consciousness of this situation is ever -before our minds; and whether we admit it or not, the alliance of -the liberal movement with the movement of awakened Christianity, -is the grand measure and the grand hope of the day. -</p> -<p> -A Catholic priest, now a bishop, inquiring the origin of the -actual disputes of religion, and their probable issue, expresses -himself as follows:—"Free institutions, freedom of conscience, -political liberty, civil liberty, individual liberty, liberty of -families, of education, and of opinions, equality before the -laws, the equal division of imposts and of public charges, these -are all points upon which we make no difficulty; we accept them -frankly; we appeal to them on solemn occasions of public -discussion; we accept, we invoke the principles and the liberties -proclaimed in 1789; even those who combat those principles and -those liberties admit that liberty of religion and free education -have become acknowledged, self-evident truths (<i>des verités de -bon sens</i>)." [Footnote 13] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 13: De la Pacification religieuse. By the Abbé - Dupanloup, pp. 263, 294, 306. Paris, 1845.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">{119}</a></span> -<p> -This Catholic, this bishop, is no timorous priest, disposed to -make every sacrifice for the purpose of conciliation. It is the -same priest, who, from the first attack made upon the -constitution of the Catholic Church, has always distinguished -himself by the warmth and ability with which he has defended it. -The Papacy, its rights, its temporal independence and spiritual -sovereignty never had a champion more resolute, more opposed to -weak concessions or fallacious compromises, more constantly -intrepid in the breach than the Bishop of Orleans. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">{120}</a></span> -<p> -When the contest was warmest, the Pope (Pius IX.) published his -"Encyclical" of the 8th of December, 1864. Exempt from every -feeling of prejudice and hostility, and having no connection or -relation with the Papacy to make me pause, I feel no hesitation -in saying what I think of this document, at once the occasion and -the pretext for such a stir. In my opinion the error was a grave -one. Regarded as doctrine, the "Encyclical" was dignified and yet -embarrassed, positive and yet evasive; it confounded in the same -sweeping condemnation salutary truths and pernicious errors, the -principles of liberty and the maxims of licentiousness; it made -an effort to maintain, in point of right, the ancient traditions -and pretensions of Rome, without avowing in point of fact that -the ideas and potent influences of modern civilization were the -objects of its declared and unceasing hostility. In a system like -that of the present day—a system of publicity and freedom of -discussion—this manner of proceeding, its inconsistencies, its -reticence, its obscurities, whether arising from instinct or -premeditation, have ceased to be good policy, and in fact serve -no purpose whatever. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">{121}</a></span> -As a measure to meet a particular emergency, the "Encyclical" of -the 8th of December 1864 did not resemble that of Gregory XVI. in -1832; it was not called for by such extravagances as those of the -<i>Avenir</i>, or those of the Abbé de la Mennais; no urgent -necessity, no public exigency required that Rome should pronounce -itself; the debate between the Catholic Absolutists and the -Catholic Liberals was of ancient date, and was evidently destined -to long duration; the Papacy could not flatter itself that it -could put an end to this contest by any peremptoriness of -decision; her indulgent consideration was as due to the one party -as to the other. Doubtless the Catholic Liberals had not shown -less zeal for her cause, nor had the services which they had -rendered been less important; it was not a moment of peril for -Rome, and Rome was bound in justice, without any open declaration -at least, to maintain toward them an attitude of reserve. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">{122}</a></span> -The party, even before the publication of the "Encyclical," had -earned, as it still merits, her gratitude and her esteem; neither -M. de Montalembert, nor the Prince Albert de Broglie, nor M. de -Falloux, nor M. Cochin, nor any of their friends had imitated the -example of the Abbé de la Mennais; nor has one of them shown -subsequently any irritation, or even uttered a word of complaint; -they have maintained a respectful silence. The Bishop of Orleans -has done even more. A man of action as well as of faith, he -thought in the midst of the storm excited by the "Encyclical" of -the 8th of December, that he was bound to consider the perils -rather than the faults, and that it became a priest who had -supported liberty to support authority also when the object of -attack. He threw himself into the arena to cover the Papacy at -all hazards with his valiant arms: after having played the part -of a sagacious counselor, he played that of a faithful champion, -and he inflicted upon her adversaries blows so sturdy, that the -latter were in their turn obliged to put themselves upon their -defense, even in the midst of the success that the "Encyclical" -had insured them. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">{123}</a></span> -<p> -The Bishop of Orleans is probably reserved for many other -struggles; he may even be hurried by a warlike temperament to -carry the war into a field where it is uncalled for; but I shall -be both surprised and grieved if he do not always remain what he -is at this moment in the Church of France, the most enlightened -representative of its mission, moral and social, as well as the -most intrepid defender of its true and legitimate interests. -</p> -<p> -Whether the matter in debate concerns religious or social affairs -and contests, parties are liable to two errors of equal gravity: -they may misapprehend their respective perils, or their -respective strength. Wisdom consists in a just appreciation of -these perils and of these forces, and it is upon such an -appreciation precisely that success itself depends. The actual -perils to which Catholicism is exposed are evident to all. It -owes its development and its constitution to times essentially -different from the present. It adapts itself with reluctance to -the principles required and the demands made upon it in this age. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">{124}</a></span> -Its antagonists think and assert that it will never so adapt -itself. Most of the lookers-on, who are indifferent or -vacillating—and their number is great—incline to believe its -antagonists in the right. This is the trial through which -Catholicism is at this moment passing. To pass through it -triumphantly, it has two great forces to rely upon; the one is, -the reaction in favor of religion occasioned by the follies and -the crimes of the Revolution, the other is, the liberal movement -that took place among the Catholics after the faults of the -Restoration, and the new opening made for them by the Government -of 1830. The Concordat built up again the edifice of the Catholic -Church; Liberalism is laboring to penetrate its sanctuary, and, -without impairing its faith, to obtain for it once more the -sympathies of civil government. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">{125}</a></span> -Let sincere Catholics reflect well upon their course, for here is -their main stay, here their best chance for the future; let them -maintain with a firm hand the strong constitution of their -Church, but accept frankly, and at once claim, their share also -in the liberties of their age; let them take care of their -anchors and spread their sails, for this is the conduct -prescribed to them by the supreme interest, which should be their -law, the future interests, I mean, of Christianity. -</p> -<p> -The time has been short, but the experiment has been made and is -successful. I have now enumerated the principal events connected -with religion which have taken place in the course of this -century in the bosom of the Catholic Church of France. In spite -of the obstacles, the oscillations, the deviations, and the -faults that are remarkable, the awakening of Christianity is -evident. Under the influence of the causes which I have pointed -out, Christian faith has evidently made progress; Christian -science, progress; Christian charity, as shown by works, -progress; Christian force, progress; progress incomplete and -insufficient but still progress, real, and fall of fruit, -symptomatic of vital energy and future promise. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">{126}</a></span> -Let not the enemies of Christianity deceive themselves; they are -waging a combat of life and of death, but their antagonist is not -in extremis! -</p> -<hr> -<br> - <h3>II. Awakening Of Christianity In France.</h3> -<br> -<p> -I pass without any transitional stage from the awakening of -Christianity in the Roman Catholic Church to the awakening of -Christianity in the Protestant Church. What need of a transition? -I am not quitting the Christian Church. With respect to their -claims as Christians, Protestant nations have been put to the -test. They have had, like Catholic nations, to pass through -violent struggles, to combat evil tendencies, to undergo perilous -trials; but the peculiar characteristic of Christianity, the -simultaneous action of faith and of science, of authority and -liberty, has received a glorious development in the bosom of -Protestant nations. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">{127}</a></span> -England and Holland, Protestant Germany, Sweden, Denmark, -Switzerland, and the United States of America, have had their -vices, their crimes, their sufferings, and their reverses; but, -after all, these States have in the last four centuries labored -with effect at the solution, in a Christian sense, of that grand -problem of human society—the moral and physical progress of the -masses, as well as the political guarantee of their rights and -liberties. And in these days the States to which I have alluded -resist effectually the shocks—now of anarchy, now of despotism, -which alternately trouble the peace of Christendom. As for the -Christian Faith itself, if, in Protestant countries, it does not -escape the attacks elsewhere made upon it, neither is it without -its powerful defenders and faithful followers. In those -countries, Christian Churches are full of adherents, and the -cause of Christianity finds every day valiant champions to devote -to its service the arms which science and liberty supply. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">{128}</a></span> -There is on the part of the Romanists a puerile infatuation upon -this subject, which makes them absolutely close their eyes to -facts; by an error fatal to themselves, they persist in imputing -the fermentation in society, and the abandonment of religion, to -the influence of the Protestant nations—nations among whom -these two scourges are combated with at least as much resolution -and effect as elsewhere. It is not my wish to institute -disparaging comparisons, or to foment a rivalry opposed to the -spirit of Christ's religion. Protestantism is not, in -Christendom, the last, neither is it the sole bulwark of -Christianity; but there exists none that is stronger, that offers -fewer weak points to assailants, or that is better provided with -faithful and able defenders. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">{129}</a></span> -<p> -At the commencement of this century, and in the years which -followed the promulgation of the Concordat, the Protestants, like -the Catholics in France, thought only of the re-establishment of -their worship and of the liberty of their faith. A liberty the -more precious in their eyes, as it followed upon two centuries of -persecutions and of sufferings of which we cannot, in these days, -read the accounts without mingled sentiments of astonishment, of -indignation, and of sorrow. Faithfully should men guard the -memory of such outrages; they would be infinitely better than -they are if they had always present to their minds the vivid -pictures of the iniquities and woes which fill the page of their -history; and evils would not so soon recur if they were not so -soon forgotten. The system of Terrorism under the Revolution had -confounded Catholic and Protestant in a common oppression; it had -abolished the forms of worship of each, denied all free -expression of opinion to Christians; and without distinction -condemned to the same scaffold the "pastors of the desert" and -the bishops of the Court of Versailles—Rabaut Saint-Etienne as -well as the nuns of Verdun. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">{130}</a></span> -When this terrible regime had ceased to exist, neither party had -religiously or politically any desires or pretensions that were -not extremely moderate: the one thing regarded by all as the -sovereign good was, the right to live without molestation and the -liberty to address their prayers to God in the light of day. No -other subject so seriously interested them; and they heartily -wished to show their gratitude and deference to the Government, -which, while it gave security to their bodies, permitted their -souls to breathe freely. The condition of the Protestants was in -one sense better than that of the Catholics, for the former were -now experiencing the joy, not only of a deliverance but of a -positive conquest; they had just escaped as well from the system -of Terrorism, as from the ancient régime; they had lost nothing -to regret; no revengeful feeling made them desire a reaction; -their sole aspiration was for the consolidation of their rights, -and of their new acquisitions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">{131}</a></span> -"You who lived, as we did, under the yoke of intolerance," (thus -they were addressed in 1807 by M. Rabaut-Dupuy, formerly -president of the legislative body, and the last surviving son of -one of their most estimable pastors,) "you, the relics of so many -persecuted generations, behold! compare! It is no longer in the -desert and at the peril of your lives that you render to the -Creator the homage which is his due. Our temples are restored to -us, and every day beholds new ones erected. Our pastors are -recognized as public functionaries; they receive salaries from -the State; a barbarous law no longer suspends the sword over -their heads. Alas! to those whom we have survived it was -permitted, it is true, to ascend Mount Nebo, and to obtain thence -a glimpse of the promised land, but it is we alone who have taken -possession." -</p> -<p> -What wonder if, on the morrow after the Concordat, which had -procured them the free exercise of their faith and the -impartiality of the law, the Protestants acquiesced without -difficulty in the incomplete organization with which the new -system had left their Church, and that they troubled themselves -little with the attacks made upon its independence and its -dignity! -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">{132}</a></span> -<p> -But this modest enjoyment of their new privileges did not render -them indifferent to their ancient belief, and they returned to -the open practice of Christ's faith simultaneously with the -acquisition of their liberty. In 1812, in the midst of the -profound silence which reigned throughout the Empire, a professor -of the faculty of Protestant theology at Montauban, M. Grasc, -attacked, in his teaching, the dogma of the Trinity. Earnest -remonstrances were instantly made from the general body of the -Protestants in France; a great number of consistories, among -others those of Nîmes, of Montpellier, Montauban, Alais, Anduze, -Saint Hippolyte, pastors and laity, addressed their complaints, -some to the "Doyen" of the faculty of theology, others to M. Gasc -himself, demanding, all of them, the maintenance of the doctrine -of the Protestant Church. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">{133}</a></span> -The grand master of the University, M. de Fontanes, "earnestly -invited the professor not to depart from it," and M. Gasc himself -admitted that his teaching ought to be in conformity. The spirit -which had animated the Reformation in France in the sixteenth -century was still living in the nineteenth; and under the -new-born system of liberty, the Awakening of Christianity -announced itself by a summons to the faith. -</p> -<p> -When, under the Restoration, France had regained her political -liberty, it was not long before that liberty bore its natural -fruits in French Protestantism; it was accompanied, both on -religious and political subjects, by the manifestation of -discordant ideas and discordant tendencies, which were soon to -struggle for victory. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">{134}</a></span> -As at epochs of great intellectual crises eminent men emerge who -represent dominant ideas, so now M. Samuel Vincent and M. Daniel -Encontre immediately appeared in the Protestant Church: both were -pastors, and each worthily represented one of the two principles -which naturally develop themselves in the bosom of Protestantism, -faith in traditions and the right of private judgment; principles -different without being contradictory; principles which may -subsist in peace provided they remain respectively in their -proper places, and within the limits of their rights. M. Samuel -Vincent was a man of a mind remarkably comprehensive and of great -versatility and fecundity; but his habits at the same time were -those of a student, fitting him rather for intellectual -meditation than qualifying him either for expansive sympathies or -for action; he was versed in the philosophy and erudite criticism -of Germany, at that time novel and rare to France; he made the -essence of Christianity, according to his own expression, "to -consist in the liberty of inquiry." [Footnote 14:] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 14: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, par M. - Samuel Vincent. 2e édition, p. 15. Paris, 1859.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">{135}</a></span> -<p> -He rejected all written articles of faith, every limited idea of -religious unity, and claimed within the Church, for both pastors -and congregation, the greatest latitude in matters of opinion and -of teaching. But when he clung closely to this view of the -subject, and was pressed to indicate the extreme point to which, -within the Church itself, the diversity of men's individual -beliefs might be carried, his embarrassment became extreme, for -he had too much sense to admit that this diversity had no limit, -and that a Church, whether Protestant or not, could exist without -certain articles of faith common to all its members, and -recognized by them all. "Protestantism," said he himself, "must -not be merely a negation; it should also have its real and -positive side; it must be beyond all things a religion; that is -to say, it must be in the possession of the means to endure and -of the means to edify men by the propagation of a doctrine -benevolent and Christian. … Christianity is the basis of -ecclesiastical teaching." [Footnote 15] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 15: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, par M. - Samuel Vincent, pp. 17, 22.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">{136}</a></span> -<p> -When, after having laid down this principle, M. Samuel Vincent -inquired how the Protestant Church could remain a Church, and a -Christian Church, in the midst of the independence of individual -beliefs, he found no other way out of the difficulty than "to -determine," he said, "by conventions, oral and unwritten, a -certain number of opinions that each man should, in the interest -of the general peace, be entreated to keep to himself." [Footnote -16] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 16: Vues sur le protestantisme en France, p. 24.] -</p> -<p> -How strange a proceeding, how difficult of realization, to -prescribe with once voice silence and liberty! M. Samuel Vincent -did not attempt to determine what those opinions were which, in -order to maintain the existence of a Christian Church in the -midst of the broadest system of free inquiry, "each man should be -entreated to keep to himself." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">{137}</a></span> -As for himself, he professed his faith in the supernatural, in -the revelation of the Old and of the New Testaments, in the -inspiration of the Scriptures, in the divinity of Jesus Christ; -in the grand historical facts as well as in the moral precepts of -the Gospel; he was one of the pastors, too, who signed the -remonstrance of the consistory of Nîmes, for the irregularity in -preaching of which Professor Grasc had been guilty. Did M. Samuel -Vincent regard every opinion contrary to these great evangelical -doctrines as an opinion which each man should, in the interest of -the general peace, be entreated to keep to himself? I doubt -whether he would have dared to engraft upon the liberty of -judgment such a reservation; but I doubt at the same time if he -would have persisted in regarding as true and faithful pastors of -the Protestant Church, men who should have openly deserted and -combated, in its most essential foundations, that Christian faith -which he himself professed. He dreaded almost equally "unity -defined," and "dissent declared." He would have remained in the -embarrassment into which those inevitably fall who neither accept -one basis and manifesto of a common faith, nor admit the moral -necessity of a separation into free and distinct Churches when a -common faith does not exist. [Footnote 17] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 17: The principal works of M. Samuel Vincent are: - 1. Vues sur le protestantisme en France, première édition. 2 - vols. 8vo. 1829. A second edition, in 1 vol. 12mo., was - published in 1859 by M. Prévost-Paradol. -<br><br> - 2. Observations sur l'unité religieuse et observations sur la - voie d'autorité appliquée a la religion, (1820,) contre - l'Essai sur l'indifférance en matière de religion de l'Abbé - de la Mennais. -<br><br> - 3. Meditations ou recueil de sermons, 1829. -<br><br> - 4. Mélanges de religion de morale et de critique sacrée. A - periodical published from 1820 to 1825.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">{138}</a></span> -<p> -No such embarrassment was experienced by M. Daniel Encontre when -he began his career to serve the movement of awakened -Christianity in the bosom of French Protestantism. I will not -venture here to cite the precise words, harsh and severe, -employed by him on the 13th of December, 1816, at Montauban, in -his capacity of "Doyen" of the faculty of Protestant Theology, -respecting those termed by him "the pretended ministers of the -Gospel, disbelievers in the Gospel and in the divinity of Jesus -Christ." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">{139}</a></span> -He regarded harmony of faith and language, harmony between -shepherd and flock, as the first law of religious society. Born -in a grotto of La Vaunage, to which his mother had fled to escape -from the flames of persecution; devoted from his birth by his -father, the Pastor Pierre Encontre, to the service of a "preacher -in the desert," M. Daniel Encontre belonged to that class of -indomitable Protestants who cling to their faith through all the -perils, sufferings, and sacrifices which it entails. His first -steps in life seemed to indicate in him other aptitudes, and to -promise for him a different career. After having studied divinity -at Lausanne and at Geneva, and been consecrated by his father -himself to the ministry of the Gospel "in an assembly in the -desert," he seemed to doubt his own vocation; for while -performing the functions of his ministry he devoted himself to -the study of mathematics, physics, philosophy, and the classical -languages, with an enthusiasm eager to become familiar with every -department of knowledge, and encountering no hinderance from, -internal obstacles or from preconceived opinions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">{140}</a></span> -Having established himself at Montpellier, where his taste for -science found subjects of gratification, he led there, during the -dark days of the Revolution, a life very obscure, and at the same -time most laborious; giving lessons to the master masons upon -stone-cutting, imparting instruction, rendering the aids of -religion to Protestants, celebrating the baptismal and marriage -services, and pursuing at the same time his labors in geometry, -botany, philosophy, divinity, literature, and even poetry. When -order began to be re-established, he was led by his own natural -tastes and the counsel of his friends to select as his career -that of public instruction. He competed for and obtained, first -the appointment of professor of literature at the École Centrale -of Montpellier; then that of the higher mathematics, at the Lycée -and in the faculty of science, of which he was nominated "Doyen." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">{141}</a></span> -As his merits established themselves by repeated proofs, his -reputation increased; the papers of learned societies were filled -with his contributions, and the École Polytechnique with his -pupils. "I have met in our department," said Fourcroy, "two or -three heads equal to his, but not one superior." M. de Candolle -gladly selected him to aid him in his "Researches respecting the -Botany of the Ancients;" and M. de Fontanes has more than once -spoken of him to me as one of the men who most honored the -University. But in him, neither the mathematician, the botanist, -nor the philologist took precedence of the Christian. At one time -as expounder of Moses and of Genesis, [Footnote 18] at another as -a writer defending the Apostles, accused of being a copyist of -Plato. [Footnote 19] he neglected no occasion of placing his -scientific attainments at the service of Christianity; -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 18: Dissertation sur le vrai système du monde - comparé avec le récit que Moïse fait de la création. - Montpellier, 1807.] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 19: Lettre à M. Combes-Dounous, auteur d'un Essai - historique sur Platon. Paris, 1811. -<br><br> - A remarkable essay of M. Daniel Encontre, "sur le Péché - original," was published, after his death, in 1822, and he - left a great number of manuscripts, among others a "Traité - sur l'Église," (600 pages,) written in Latin; "Etudes - théologiques," a Hebrew Grammar, a "Cours de philosophie," a - "Cours de litérature Française," a "Flore biblique," several - "Memoires de mathématiques transcendantes," etc. As a teacher - of transcendental mathematics at Montpellier he had as pupil - M. Auguste Comte, the head of the "École positiviste," who, - in spite of the profound diversity of their opinions, - regarded it as a duty to dedicate to him in 1856 his - treatise, "Sur la Synthèse subjective," in testimony of - admiration and of gratitude.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">{142}</a></span> -<p> -and when, in 1814, he was asked to quit Montpellier, to abandon -his habits, his tastes, and his friends, for the chair of the -professorship of divinity at Montauban, where he was to fulfill -the functions of "Doyen," he sacrificed without hesitation the -enjoyment of his life to his religious vocation, and applied -himself with unceasing energy to the warlike activity of a -Christian professor, until the day when, overcome by fatigue and -sickness, he accorded to himself the melancholy satisfaction of -returning to Montpellier, in order to die near the tomb of a -beloved daughter, who had long aided him in his labors. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">{143}</a></span> -<p> -The destinies of Protestantism in France have, to a singular -degree, been at once varied and uniform, confused and simple. -After having in the sixteenth century valiantly disputed the -victory, it was vanquished, decimated, expelled. But it resisted, -and survived not only its defeat, but the gradual process of its -enfeeblement and its expulsion. In the course of the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries the French Protestants lost the -protection of the laws, their secure sanctuaries, their great -chiefs, their great divines, their great writers; but they -preserved nevertheless their faith and their religious honor. In -the times that ensued their successors remained faithful to the -belief and the customs of their fathers; even persecuted and -condemned to death, having their property confiscated, or become -tenants of prisons and laborers in the galleys, they found in -their very sufferings a resource to confirm them in the -principles of Protestant piety. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">{144}</a></span> -Theological controversies died away from among them, leaving -behind them the fundamentals of Christianity—living and guiding -principles. -</p> -<p> -Among the higher and wealthier classes, the philosophical ideas -of the eighteenth century made also their way; the great liberal -movement filled the Protestant section of the nation with joy, -and commanded its sympathy without detaching it from its -religious habits and traditions. In its members faith had ceased -to be erudite; the popular Protestant sentiment had been always -profoundly biblical and evangelical. Freer and more fortunately -situated than their fathers, the French Protestants now anxiously -desired to remain, as they had been, Christians; and when, in -1790, Rabaut Saint-Etienne, who succeeded the Abbé de Montesquieu -as President of the Constituent Assembly, wrote to his aged -father, the Pastor Paul Rabaut, "The President of the National -Assembly is at your feet," he manifested to the humble and -zealous preacher in the assemblies of the desert, the pride at -once of a politician, the piety of a son, and the fidelity of a -Protestant. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">{145}</a></span> -<p> -M. Daniel Encontre was, at the commencement of the nineteenth -century, the faithful representative of this traditionally -religious character of French Protestantism; just as M. Samuel -Vincent was the well-meaning and sincere introducer to it of the -science and criticism of the Germans. The former corresponded -more closely to the pious and national spirit of Protestant -France of the olden times; the latter to the tendencies, at once -novel and indefinitely latitudinarian, of a foreign philosophy -and a foreign erudition. Doubtless, neither measured the range of -the religious crisis of which they were themselves the symptoms; -neither foresaw that within the bosom of Protestantism that -crisis was to be marked by an avowed struggle between Rationalism -in its progress and Christianity in its reaction. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">{146}</a></span> -<p> -This crisis began to manifest itself at Geneva. The mocking -skepticism of Voltaire, the rhetorical deism of Rousseau, -proclaimed at its gates, had deeply undermined the faith of -Christ in the very city of Calvin. It was not merely some of the -Calvinistic doctrines of the sixteenth century that the pastors -of Geneva doubted or denied, but it was also the fundamental -articles of Christianity; they abandoned not only the Dogmas of -predestination and salvation by faith alone, but the dogmas of -original sin, and of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In 1810 -according to some, as far back as 1802 according to others, -symptoms of an evangelical reaction showed themselves at Geneva -among the students in theology, some of whom afterward became -distinguished pastors or writers. It was not long before MM. -Gaussen, Malan, Gonthier, Bost, Merle d'Aubigné, displayed their -orthodox fervor and their ability. In 1816 a pious Scot, Mr. -Robert Haldane, previously an intrepid sailor, who had only -quitted his calling to devote himself entirely to the service of -his faith, went to Geneva, and contracted with the young -Methodists of that city relations of the greatest intimacy and -activity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">{147}</a></span> -They had meetings; they discussed, they preached, they prayed, -they wrote. Mr. Haldane could hardly express himself in French; -having his English Bible continually at hand, he turned over its -pages incessantly, pointed out to his friends the passages that -he regarded as decisive, invited them to read them aloud from -their French Bible, and then commented upon them in a manner that -always commanded their favorable attention, the conviction of the -commentator had such moving and persuasive power. [Footnote 20] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 20: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; traduit de l'allemand par C. Malan: 8vo., pp. - 137-149. Genève et Paris. 1862.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">{148}</a></span> -<p> -In 1816 and 1817 the evangelical reaction made rapid progress, -and the body of Genevese pastors resolved to combat it by the -voice of authority. They found, however, no better method of -doing so than by insisting upon what, twelve years later, even M. -Samuel Vincent did not scruple to recommend; they prescribed -silence even whilst they proclaimed liberty. "Without"—these are -their words—"giving any judgment upon the questions really -involved, and without controlling in any respect the liberty of -opinions," they imposed a solemn engagement both upon students -demanding to be consecrated to the sacred ministry, and upon -ministers candidates for pastoral functions in the Church of -Geneva. It was conceived as follows: "As long as we reside and -preach in the churches of the Canton of Geneva, we promise to -abstain from establishing, either in entire discourses or in -parts of discourses directed to this object, our opinion—first, -of the manner in which the divine nature was incarnate in the -person of Jesus Christ; secondly, of original sin; thirdly, of -the mode in which grace operates, or grace is efficient; -fourthly, of predestination. We promise also not to combat, in -any public discourse, the opinion of any pastors or ministers -touching these subjects." [Footnote 21] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 21: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; p. 153.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">{149}</a></span> -<p> -It is difficult to understand how men ever could have flattered -themselves with the hope of re-establishing peace in the Church -by the employment of so sorry an expedient. Liberty, that has -rent asunder such heavy chains, does not permit itself to be -confined by so flimsy a net. The immediate effect of the -regulation of the Genevese pastors was an outburst of discontent. -The more violent Methodists, MM. Malan and Bost at their head, -proclaimed aloud their separation from the established Church; -the more moderate, among others, MM. Gaussen and Merle d'Aubigné, -persisted in remaining, by right of their ministry, in its bosom, -holding themselves responsible representatives <i>there</i> of -the doctrines of the Reformation, which, in fact, they did -continue to preach and to teach. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">{150}</a></span> -The body of pastors at first used great forbearance toward them, -and respected their liberty; and when the populace, irritated at -the agitation caused in families by the Dissenters, and offended -by the austerity of their precepts, made hostile demonstrations -toward them, the Council of Geneva had the wisdom and fairness to -use measures of repression; but, soon becoming weary of this -painful duty, the Council formally forbade, without its express -permission, any book of religious controversy to be printed at -Geneva. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">{151}</a></span> -The body of pastors soon pronounced as vehement a condemnation of -the moderate Methodists as of the ultra Dissenters. The moderate -Methodists then in their turn resorted to energetic measures in -support of their cause: they founded an evangelical society and a -school of theology; devoted the one to propagate the zeal and the -other to teach the principles of the Christian reaction; and -fifteen years after the commencement of the struggle, the chiefs -of the party which had proclaimed that the free divergence of -individual belief in the bosom of the Church was "the great fact -of our epoch, and the great step that the Reformation had in our -days to make"—these chiefs, being the body of pastors, the -Consistory, and the Council of State at Geneva, suspended M. -Gaussen from his functions of pastor in the parish of Satigny for -having taken part in the organization of an independent form of -worship, and of a school of independent theology; "a proceeding," -they said, "incompatible with the peace of the Church, and to be -regarded as an act of insubordination, tending to bring -ecclesiastical authority into discredit." [Footnote 22] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 22: Genève religieuse au XIX siècle: par le Baron - de Goltz; pp. 379-384.] -</p> -<p> -Such religious ferment in the primitive home of the French -Reformation, and at the very gates of France, could not fail to -exercise a powerful influence upon the French Protestant Church. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">{152}</a></span> -On quitting Geneva in 1817, Mr. Robert Haldane proceeded to -Montauban, where he formed friendships with some of the -Professors of the Faculty, and among others with M. Daniel -Encontre. He published there also a work in French, which his -friends hastened to circulate. It was styled "Emmanuel: vues -Scripturaires sur Jésus-Christ." In 1818, a society formed in -England, named the "Continental Society," specially devoted -itself to the purpose of seconding on the Continent the progress -of this Christian reaction. An English dissenter, Mr. Mark Wilks, -pastor of the American community formed at Paris, was the most -efficient agent of the societies which had this object in view. -"It might be said of Mr. Wilks," wrote lately the Pastor -Juillerat, "that he might have governed an empire, his character -was so energetic, his mind so active and enterprising. He brought -me aid of every description: money was required, he had money; -pamphlets and books were wanted, no one was better provided; no -one understood better the details pertaining to the printing and -publication of papers." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">{153}</a></span> -Several Protestant journals and magazines, "La Voix de la -Religion Chrétienne au XIX siècle," "Les Archives du -Christianisme au XIX siècle," "Les Mélanges de Religion, de -Morale, et de Critique Sacrée," "L'Evangeliste," "La Revue -Protestante," "Le Semeur," etc., etc., were at this epoch -successively founded and carried in different directions -throughout the scattered Protestant Church, from its central -organization, the fervor which had there been kindled. Genuine -zeal for religion is not satisfied by action from a distance, or -by action upon unknown persons, or by indirect means, as by books -and by journals: it demands direct oral communication from man to -man—the union of men's souls in common prayer. Certain young -pastors who had at first shared in the evangelical movement at -Geneva, MM. Neff, Pyt, Bost, Gonthier, scattered themselves over -France, some assuming functions as local pastors, others as -traveling missionaries, attracting to their proximity groups of -zealous Protestants, animating the lukewarm, and erecting in -every place where they made any stay little centers of -Christianity, which radiated to the neighboring country around. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">{154}</a></span> -Distinct associations, some officially recognized by the State, -others having no public character, [Footnote 23] gave to the -labors of isolated individuals the publicity, the unity, the -permanence which they required; and a special organization -(colportage biblique) which at its commencement numbered only -seven, but a few years afterward had sixty agents, all of them, -although obscure individuals, as zealous as their patrons were -zealous, caused the Holy Scriptures and religious tracts to -penetrate into parts of France hopelessly inaccessible to any -other method of communication and of instruction. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 23: La Société biblique, la Société pour - l'encouragement de l'instruction primaire parmi les - protestants, la Société évangélique de France, la Société des - traités religieuse, la Société des missions protestantes, la - Société centrale pour les intérêts protestants, la Société - d'évangelisation, etc.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">{155}</a></span> -<p> -To a movement so earnest and so general, although propagated by a -small number of persons in the heart of a population itself -forming but a small minority in the nation at large, obstacles -would inevitably occur. They were encountered on all hands and of -all kinds, religious and political—from the administration, from -popular prejudices, from the distrust of the Government, from the -hostility of the Roman Catholic clergy, from differences of -opinion on theological points among Protestants themselves, from -the <i>amour propre</i> of individuals, and the perplexed or -timorous ideas of subalterns in authority. The activity of the -Protestant societies created uneasiness in bishops and priests, -who strove not merely to counteract their influence, but to -interfere with their liberty of action. Mayors of towns, judges -of the peace, sometimes too, magistrates and administrators of -more elevated rank, lent their aid to these exceptionable -proceedings. Hence arose suspicions, complaints, and struggles -which retarded the new-born impulse of awakening Christianity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">{156}</a></span> -But the earnest perseverance of its patrons, the general wisdom -of the supreme Government, and the authority, growing more and -more each day, of the principles of justice and of liberty, -gradually surmounted all these obstacles. It was the Restoration -that recognized the chief Protestant societies and gave them the -sanction of the law. Under the Government of 1830 they used their -rights with more confidence and fewer hinderances. The equitable -intentions of King Louis Philippe and of his counselors upon -religious matters could not be doubtful, whatever their caution -not to cause uneasiness or wound the susceptibilities of the -Roman Catholics. The Protestants now believed it to be no longer -necessary to look to foreign support. Formed at Paris in 1833, -the Evangelical Society of France experienced a momentary impulse -of national jealousy, the result of which was some coldness in -its relations with the Continental Society of London; but as soon -as the latter perceived that its direct interference was rather -an embarrassment than a necessity to the Christian reaction in -France, it withdrew its agency without withholding its sympathy, -and handed over to the Evangelical Society of France all the -"stations" and religious charities which had up to that time been -founded by its exertions. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">{157}</a></span> -<p> -The awakening of Christianity among the Protestants of France had -now produced such results that it mattered little who the patrons -of the movement might be; it had assumed its true character, and -was drawing its strength from the fountain of truth. In times of -religious incredulity and of religious indifference, and even in -the transitional times which immediately ensue, it is the error -of many, and even of men who respect and support religion, to -consider it in the light of a great political institution—a -salutary system of moral police, however necessary to society, -indebted for its merits and its prerogatives rather to its -practical utility than to its intrinsic truth. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">{158}</a></span> -Grave error, misconceiving both the nature and the origin of -religion, and calculated to deprive it both of its empire and its -dignity! Utility men hold as of great account, but it is only -truth that commands unconditional surrender. Utility enjoins -prudence and forbearance; truth alone inspires feelings of -confidingness and devotion. A religion having no other guarantee -for its influence and its endurance than its social utility would -be very near its ruin. Men have need of, nay, they thirst for -truth in their relations with God, even more than in their -relations with one another; the spontaneous prayer, adoration, -obedience, suppose faith. It was in the very name of the verity -of the Christian religion, of that verity manifested in its -history by the word and even by the presence of God, that the -awakening of Christians was accomplished among us. The laborers -in this great work felt the faith of Christianity, and they -diffused it; had they spoken only of the social utility of -Christianity, they would never have made the conquest of a single -human soul. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">{159}</a></span> -<p> -At first sight one is tempted to attribute this success to energy -of faith on the part of these laborers in the cause, to the -active and devoted perseverance of their zeal. Again a mistake! -Not that human merit was without its share in the results; but -even where the faith was thus propagated, the share that that -faith itself had in the result was infinitely greater, from its -own proper and inherent virtue, than any share of men. -Incredulity and indifferentism may diffuse themselves and pretend -to dominate; they leave unsolved the problems that lie in the -depth of man's soul: they do not rid him of his perplexities, of -instinct or of reflection, as to the world's creation and man's -creation, the origin of good and evil, providence and fate, human -liberty and human responsibility, man's immortality and his -future state. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">{160}</a></span> -Instead of the denials and the doubts that had been thrown over -these unescapable questions, those who applied themselves fully -to rouse awakened Christianity, recalled the human soul to the -memory of positive solutions of these questions; solutions in -accordance with the traditions of their native land, in -accordance with their habits as members of families, and in -harmony with the recollections of early childhood; solutions -often contested, never refuted; always recurring in the lapse of -ages, and century after century! It was from the intrinsic and -permanent value of the doctrines which they were preaching, and -not from themselves, that the laborers in the work derived their -force and their credit. -</p> -<p> -They had another principle of force as well; a force born and -developed in the bosom of the Christian religion, and in that -alone; they had the passionate desire to save human souls. Men -are not, they never have been, struck as they ought to have been -struck with the beauty of this passion, or with its novelty in -the moral history of the world, or with the part that it has -played among Christian nations. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">{161}</a></span> -Before the era of Christianity, in times of Asiatic and European -antiquity, pagans and philosophers busied themselves about the -destiny of men after the close of their earthly life, and with -curiosity, too, did they sound the obscurity; but the ardent -solicitude for the eternal welfare of human souls, the -never-wearying labor to prepare human souls for eternity—to set -them even during this existence in intimate relations with God, -and to prepare them to undergo God's judgments;—we have in all -this a fact essentially Christian, one of the sublimest -characteristics of Christianity, and one of the most striking -marks of its divine origin. God constantly in relation with -mankind and with every man, God present during the actual life of -every man, and God the arbiter of his future destiny; the -immortality of each human soul, and the connection between his -actual life and his future destiny; the immense value of each -human soul in the eyes of God, and the immense import to the soul -of the future that awaits it: these are the convictions and the -affirmations all implied in the one passion alluded to, the -passion for the salvation of men's souls, which was the whole -life of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which passed by his example and -by his precepts into the life of his primitive disciples, and -which, amid the diversities of age, people, manners, opinions, -has remained the characteristic feature and the inspiring breath -of the genius of Christianity; breath which animated the men who -in our days labored, and with success, to revive Christian faith -among the Protestants of France! -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">{162}</a></span> -Their zeal was employed in a very circumscribed sphere; beyond it -their names were unknown, and unknown they have remained. What -spectators, what readers, what public knew at that time, or know -even at this moment, what manner of men they were or what their -deeds—those men who called themselves Neff, Bost, Pyt, Gonthier, -Audebez, Cook, Wilks, Haldane? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">{163}</a></span> -But who, I would ask, in the time of Tacitus and of Pliny, knew -what manner of men they were, and what the deeds of Peter, Paul, -John, Matthew, Philip—the unknown disciples of the Master, -unknown himself, who had overcome the world? Notoriety is not -essential to influence; and in the sphere of the soul, as in the -order of nature, fountains are not the less abundant because -their springs are hidden in obscurity. The Christian missionaries -of our time did not trouble themselves to lessen that obscurity. -To literary celebrity they had no pretension, nor did they seek -the triumph of any political idea, of any specific system of -ecclesiastical organization, of any favorite plan in which their -personal vanity was interested: the salvation of human souls was -their only passion, and their only object. They looked upon -themselves as humble servants commissioned to remind men of -promises which they had forgotten—of promises of salvation by -faith in Jesus. "The stir of the reaction," one of themselves has -said, "bore impressed upon it the character of youth, or even of -childhood. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">{164}</a></span> -The humblest pastor on his circuit became a missionary; his -transit was regarded almost like that of a meteor. On the instant -an assembly was convoked, it numbered twenty, thirty, fifty, a -hundred, two hundred persons, collected to listen joyfully, as if -it were a great novelty or miracle, to that Gospel which we know -by heart;—alas! which we know by heart far more than we have it -in the heart!" [Footnote 24] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 24: Mémoires pouvant servir à l'histoire du réveil - religieux des églises protestantes de la Suisse et de la - France, par A. Bost, (1854,) t. 1, p. 240.] -</p> -<p> -Who could mistake, on hearing such sentiments and such language, -the really Christian character of the reaction? -</p> -<p> -Never-ending weakness of man's nature, and inevitable -imperfection of man's work, even when man is walking in the ways -of God! In the midst of awakening Christianity, and of this -fervent return to the faith of the Gospel, reappeared some of the -ancient pretensions of theology, and among others the pretension -to penetrate the decrees of God and to define the terms of man's -salvation. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">{165}</a></span> -<p> -In February, 1818, the pious and orthodox "Doyen" of the -Protestant Faculty of Montauban, M. Daniel Encontre, rendering an -account of the work of Mr. Robert Haldane, (Emmanuel, ou vues -Scripturaires sur Jésus-Christ,) which had just appeared, -hastened, after having justly commended it, to add: "The -concluding pages of the 'Emmanuel' express sentiments which -Evangelical Christians are far from sharing. The author lays down -the principle, that all men who do not believe in the perfect -equality of the <i>Son</i> and of the <i>Father</i>, are enemies -alike of both <i>Father</i> and <i>Son</i>; that they deny, and -blaspheme against both, and cannot avoid eternal death. He -regards the forbearance we show to them as infinitely criminal, -and seems even inclined to condemn all who have not the courage -to condemn them. As for me, I venture to believe that it is the -duty of a Christian to work out his own salvation without -allowing himself to pronounce upon the salvation of others. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">{166}</a></span> -<i>Judge not, that ye be not judged</i>, says He whom we all -acknowledge as our Master; and St. Paul adds, '<i>Who art -thou</i> that condemnest another man's servant?' I seize this -opportunity to declare to all men desirous to hear it, that I -believe firmly in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that -I adopt in every respect the Nicæan Creed. I dare to affirm -besides, that these sentiments are actually those of all the -members of our Faculty, as they have always been those of our -Churches. It seems to me that persons who know not Jesus Christ -as 'God above all things, blessed eternally,' are much to be -pitied, and want the greatest of all consolations. This error -appears the more dangerous, because it is generally followed by -other errors; for the truths which are the objects of faith are -so connected and riveted together, that it is impossible to -discard one without shaking or overturning all the others. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">{167}</a></span> -These truths form together a majestic edifice, to which all its -parts are absolutely necessary, and which falls in ruins if a -breach be made anywhere; and particularly, if the first stone -removed be the keystone of the corner. But what would become of -us all, if the erring, even when they err in good faith, had no -hope of access to the throne of grace? Men who, as I do, feel how -much they need God's mercy, and man's indulgence, feel little -disposition to be severe toward others." [Footnote 25] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 25: Archives du Christianisme aux XIX e siècle, t. - 1, pp. 63-66.] -</p> -<p> -In holding this language, M. Encontre was not merely performing, -on his own account, an act of humility and of Christian charity; -he was touching upon one of the supreme questions which, in our -days, are occasioning a crisis in Christendom; and he was -indicating its true and its sole solution. Like all passions, -(the best are not exempt,) the passion for the salvation of man's -soul is full of enthusiasm and fall of blindness; it believes too -readily in the possibility of attaining the object; it is too -unscrupulous and undiscriminating in the means. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">{168}</a></span> -Hence sprung religious tyranny and theological intolerance: the -powerful thought they could compel the human soul to work out its -own salvation; the learned believed they could define the -conditions of that salvation. Mistakes, both of them, profoundly -antichristian! Just as no power of man has the right to strip any -single soul, created by God free and responsible, of its liberty -of conscience; so, equally, no science of man can define the laws -and the facts that shall regulate the future state of the soul. -Liberty is, on this earth, the principle of the moral life of -man; man's state beyond this earth is a question between him and -his Maker, and to be determined by the use which man may have -here made of his liberty. To respect God's gift of liberty to -man, and the mystery of God's decrees respecting man's salvation, -is in reality the law of Christians; and it is only on this -double condition that there really is either any awakening or any -progress of Christians. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">{169}</a></span> -<p> -Nothing does more honor to the memory of M. Daniel Encontre than -to have been one of the first to understand and to fulfill this -double duty. Firmly attached to those fundamental articles of -belief which are Christianity itself, he was strange to every -narrowness or exaggeration of doctrine, to every presumptuousness -of opinion, and to every theological intolerance; his piety was -comprehensive, without there being any vagueness in his faith; -his Christianity was that of a Liberal; nor did his attainments -as a mathematician indispose him to remain a Christian. -</p> -<p> -Scarcely was M. Encontre dead, when two new men, both, like him, -eminent as pastors and professors—M. Alexandre Vinet and M. -Adolphe Monod—appeared on the religious arena, and gave more -éclat to the Christian reaction by using similar means, and by -impelling the Protestant Church of France in the same direction. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">{170}</a></span> -<p> -Although he was born and continually lived and wrote in -Switzerland, M. Alexandre Vinet was of French extraction; he -belongs to France as much as to Switzerland, for he knew, and -understood, and loved France as much as he did Switzerland. He -served, too, the cause of religious liberty, and the Christian -reaction, in France not less than in Switzerland. A delicate -child, son of a poor and an austere school-master, who destined -him to the obscure life of a village clergyman, he manifested -from the commencement of his laborious career an ardent taste for -literature and for study, which promised him a rich reward in the -intellectual enjoyment of the chef-d'oeuvres of ancient and -modern literature. He was found upon one occasion in his little -chamber in a fit of enthusiasm and affected to tears by a perusal -of the "Cid." At the age of twenty he became Professor of French -Literature at Bâle; and there he devoted himself to the service -of every candidate upon the Rhine or upon the Swiss Alps who -required to be taught to comprehend and admire the great writers -of France of whatever age, and in whatever department of -literature. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">{171}</a></span> -Philosophers and orators, prose-writers and poets, Christians or -Freethinkers, Catholics or Protestants, Conservatives or -Reformers, Classicists or Romanticists—all the men who have -constituted the intellectual and literary glory of France, -obtained in this fervent Methodist of the Valdenses an admirer as -warm as he was intelligent and impartial. The prevailing -characteristic of M. Vinet's literary essays and criticisms is -their geniality; and wherever he encounters any spark or trace of -the true or the beautiful, under whatever banner they appear, and -however they may be mingled with opinions otherwise shocking to -his feelings, he is at once attracted and moved, and he admires -and praises with enthusiasm. His was a mind of comprehensive -sympathies, open to every impression, keen to appreciate, always -ready to enjoy everything that deserved to give pleasure, even -although it might be only momentarily and in passing. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">{172}</a></span> -<p> -This passionate admirer of the beautiful, this critic, so -liberal-minded and so impartial, was a sound and uncompromising -moralist, as well as a pious and firm Christian. The predominant -idea of all his literary judgments is moral; and this determines -the tone of his criticism, and the impression which it leaves -behind it, without ever rendering it either harsh, or illiberal, -or narrow-minded. In the sphere of positive belief, without -importing into controversies between believer and believer any -microscopic criticism of detail, M. Vinet has never, upon the -divine origin and the fundamental dogmas of Christianity, had the -least hesitation, never made the smallest concession; he grapples -directly with the most specious and the most popular objections -of his adversaries, and combats them with a conviction the -expression of which becomes more and more eloquent the clearer -and the more complete its manifestation. "To attempt to -distinguish morality from dogma," he says, "is to attempt to -distinguish a river from its source. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">{173}</a></span> -The Christian dogma is at its outset a morality, although a -Christian one. Just as God, in the creed of Christianity, reveals -himself under a form that nature did not announce, Christian -morality, in its turn, invests itself with a character that -nature would never have impressed upon it. Man finding his own -inability to make himself a religion, God came to aid him in his -weakness. It is now rather more than eighteen centuries since, in -an obscure corner of the world, there appeared a man. I do not -say that a long series of prophets had announced the coming of -that man; that a long series of miracles had marked with the seal -of God the nation where he was to be born, and even the prophecy -which foretold him; that, in a word, an imposing mass of evidence -surrounds and authenticates him. I say merely that that man -preached a religion. That religion is not natural religion; the -dogmas of the existence of God and of the soul's immortality are -everywhere taken for granted in his discourses—never taught, -never proved. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">{174}</a></span> -Neither are the ideas which he teaches deduced logically from the -primitive axioms of reason; that which he teaches, that which -forms the substance of his doctrine, embraces subjects which -confound the reason, and to which the reason has neither way nor -access; he preaches a God on earth, a God man, a God poor, a God -crucified; he preaches wrath involving the innocent, mercy -exempting the guilty from all condemnation, God the victim of -man, and man forming one person with God; he preaches a new -birth, without which man can never be saved; he preaches the -sovereignty of God's grace, and the plenitude of the liberty of -man. I do not in any way qualify his teaching; I give them to you -as they are, and without disguise; I seek not to justify them. -You may, if you please, feel surprise, you may take offense; -scruple not to do so. But when you have to your heart's content -wondered at their strangeness, I on my side will propose to you -another subject for your wonder. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">{175}</a></span> -These strange dogmas conquered the world. In their very infancy -they invaded learned Athens, rich Corinth, haughty Rome. They -gathered together 'Confessors' from workshops, from prisons, from -schools, from the courts of justice, and from thrones. Conquerors -of civilization, they triumphed over barbarism; they made to pass -under the same yoke the degraded Roman, the savage Sicambrian. -The forms of society have changed; society has been dissolved and -moulded afresh. They alone have endured in their integrity. No -other doctrine, whether of philosophy or of religion, lasted: -each had its time; each time its idea; and, as a celebrated -writer has said, the religious sentiment, abandoned to itself, -chose for itself moulds in accordance with the time, which it -broke when the time was no longer there. But the dogma of the -Cross persisted in recurring. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">{176}</a></span> -Had it only taken possession of a certain class of persons it -would have been much, it would perhaps have been even -inexplicable; but you find followers of the Cross in the camp and -in civil life, among the rich and among the poor, among the bold -and among the timid, among the learned and among the ignorant. -This dogma is good for all, everywhere, always; it never grows -old. The religion of the Cross appears nowhere in arrear of -civilization; on the contrary, far as civilization may progress, -it ever finds Christianity in advance. Suppose not that a -complaisant Christianity will ever cancel any article or expunge -any idea to accommodate itself to the age: no, it derives its -strength from its inflexibility, and needs not make any surrender -to be in harmony with what is beautiful, legitimate, true; for it -is in itself the type of them all. Still it is not a religion -which flatters man; and the worldly, by keeping aloof, show -plainly enough that Christianity is a strange doctrine. Those who -dare not reject it strive to render it palatable. They strip it -of what offends them—of its myths, as they are pleased to style -them; they almost make out of Christ's doctrine a -<i>rationalism</i>. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">{177}</a></span> -But, singular to say, once a rationalism it has no longer any -force; in this respect resembling one of the most marvelous -creatures in the animate world, to which it is death to lose its -sting. The <i>strange</i> dogmas disappear, but with them all -zeal, fervor, sanctity, charity, disappear also; the salt of the -earth has lost its savor, and we know not by what means to -restore it. But, on the other hand, do you learn that somewhere -or other there is an awakening of Christians, that Christianity -is resuscitating, that faith shows signs of life, that zeal -abounds? Ask not in what soil these precious plants are -springing; you may pronounce yourself: it is in the rude and -rugged soil of orthodoxy, in the shade of the mysteries which -confound human reason, and of which human reason would like so -much to get rid, … Some passages in the fair work of M. -Saint-Marc Girardin upon dramatic literature might, at least I -fear so, lead to the conclusion that Christianity is, in its -essence, only the result of a natural progress of man's mind, a -gradual development of ancient wisdom. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">{178}</a></span> -Such, for instance, is the passage where the author tells us that -the Greeks were advancing step by step toward Christian -spiritualism. We regret that M. Saint-Marc Girardin did not say -in what sense he understood this, and within what limits. We hope -that he will not see in us the champion of a captious orthodoxy, -if we say that nothing so much weakens the authority of -Christianity, that nothing prejudices in men's minds its cause -more, than to treat it as a link in the chain, which chain in -reality it severed. That events, that is, Providence, did -aforehand hollow a bed in the regions of the west for this divine -river, what believer, however rigid, would ever entertain any -scruple in admitting? But still it is essential that we should -not misapprehend the source whence that river welled forth. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">{179}</a></span> -No natural development of events, either among the Jews or among -the Greeks, can account for the existence of Christianity. -Whatever the progress made by the ancients, there never was a -time when there existed not an infinity between their ideas, and -the ideas of Christianity; and infinity alone can fill up the -gulf between. There is an end of Christianity if men agree in -thinking the contrary—if they succeed in causing the -Supernatural to assume a place in one of the compartments of the -Philosophy of History. As far as we are concerned, we would -prefer for the Christian religion the most outrageous denial, to -an admiration circumscribed within such limits. Christ's faith is -nothing if not, like Melchisedek without earthly parent here -below, and without genealogy." [Footnote 26] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 26: Essai sur la manifestation des convictions - religieuses, p. 85. Premiers discours, pp. 14, 50, 53. - Littérature Française, vol. iii, p. 623.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">{180}</a></span> -<p> -Whoever indicated with greater distinctness the keystone in the -edifice of Christianity, or ever clung to it more closely? M. -Vinet occupied himself in turn with freedom of conscience and of -man's thought, with the faith of Christ, and with the literature -of France. These three subjects became the passions of his life, -stirring his soul, though at unequal depths. But of these three -only one, the passion for literature, was a source to him of -tranquil and unmitigated enjoyment. In his advocacy of man's -liberty and of Christianity, M. Vinet had to pass not only -through the ordeal of intellectual labors and combats, but -through the solicitudes and sorrows of life. The defender of the -liberty of forms of worship, crowned as such by the "Societé -Français de la Morale Chrétienne," lived to see this liberty -attacked in his native Switzerland, at once by popular fury and -by civil authority. The fervent promoter of the Christian -reaction, beheld one hundred and sixty evangelical pastors of the -Canton of the Vaud, his companions in this pious work, forced to -quit their "Chairs" in order to preserve their faith. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">{181}</a></span> -And it was in sickness, and at the approach of death, that M. -Vinet had to undergo all this. Neither his faith nor the -tranquillity of his soul was disturbed. He continued, to his last -hour, to be the active champion of liberty, the faithful servant -of Christ, the eloquent admirer and commentator upon French -literature, which he followed in all its phases, whether calm or -stormy, whether pure or defiled. "After all," so he wrote in -1845, "I am not one of those who despair; God, without any -violence to our freedom of action, rather by that freedom itself, -conducts us to the unknown shores. The ports at which we land do -not all of them afford secure mooring; we know something of that -even in this little country. Our progress will be slow, and amid -storms; but the circle of universal truth will be completed, and -man's sense of moral right and wrong will be improved, at the -same time that man's science will be enriched. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">{182}</a></span> -I should feel horror if I thought that <i>Some One</i> is not at -the center of all this movement, holding all its elements in his -hand; <i>Some One</i> to whom, whether they know him or do not -know him, the aspirations of all creatures ascend in their -sorrow, and whom they instinctively salute with the sweet -reassuring name of 'Father.'" [Footnote 27] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 27: Notice sur M. Alexandra Vinet, par M. E. - Souvestre, published in the Magazin Pittoresque de 1848, p. - 81. -<br><br> - The principal works of M. Alexandre Vinet are: -<br><br> - 1. Traité et Polémique sur la liberté des cultes. 1826, 1852. -<br><br> - 2. Discours sur quelques sujets religieux. 1831, 1853. -<br><br> - 3. Essais de philosophic et de morale religieuse. 1837. -<br><br> - 4. Essai sur la manifestation des convictions religieuses, et - sur la séparation de l'Église et de État. 1842, 1858. -<br><br> - 5. Études et méditations évangéliques. 1847, 1849, 1851. -<br><br> - 6. Études sur Pascal. 1848, 1856. -<br>q - 7. Chrestomathie Française, Histoire de la littérature - Française au XVIII siècle, et Études sur la littérature - Française au XIX siècle. 1829, 1849, 1853, etc. -<br><br> - He wrote, besides, numerous short pieces, and articles in - reviews and journals, suggested by topics of the day.] -</p> -<p> -Upon a single point, the relations of Church and State, his usual -comprehensiveness of view and independence of thought appeared to -abandon M. Vinet. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">{183}</a></span> -Justly struck and afflicted by his own experience of the -inconveniences of a strict bond between Church and State, -disgusted at the servility and falsity which frequently are, -sometimes on the part of the State, sometimes on the part of the -Church, its results, he concluded that in all cases all alliance -between the two conditions of society is radically vicious; and -he declared their entire separation a general and absolute -principle, the sole reasonable and just system, the sole -efficacious guarantee of truth and of liberty in spirituals or -temporals. He thus ignored, it appears to me, the natural causes -which produce, and the human motives which sanction, a certain -alliance between societies civil and ecclesiastical; he ignored -also the inestimable advantages which, at certain times and in -certain circumstances, each may derive, and has actually derived, -from that alliance. In the United States of America, the entire -separation of the State and of the different Churches was -necessary and salutary, for it was the spontaneous consequence of -the condition of men's minds, and of the position of society. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">{184}</a></span> -In England, in spite of the acts of injustice, and the ills -engendered by the intimate union of the state with a Church -legally constituted and having exclusive privileges, the -coexistence of the Church of England with the freedom, more and -more every day complete and recognized, of the Churches of the -Dissenters, was for the Christian religion a potent principle of -life, of force, and of durability. -</p> -<p> -And if we go back to the ancient history of Europe, who can doubt -that at the fall of the Roman Empire, if the State and the Church -had not, although distinct institutions, been allied, the -development of Christianity would have been far less energetic, -and its conquest of its barbarous conquerors far more -problematical? This is, I repeat, a question not of principle, -but of time, of place, of circumstance, and of condition of -society. A complete separation of Church and State may be good -and practicable; it is neither the only good system, nor is it -always a practicable system. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">{185}</a></span> -<p> -An alliance of the two upon certain fixed terms has its -inconveniences and its perils, but its effects may be also very -salutary; it may be essential, and does not of necessity exclude -religious sincerity or religious liberty. M. Vinet, in discussing -the subject, lost sight of the general history of human -societies, and attached too much importance to the specious and -transient facts which he had before his eyes. -</p> -<p> -If M. Vinet were now living, he might in his own country behold -two fair examples of the good results of the mixed systems which -he so absolutely condemned. In the Cantons of the Vaud and of -Geneva, after the violent and painful contests to which I have -above referred, a dissenting Independent Church was established -by the side of a Church recognized and supported by the State. In -neither canton was this establishment a temporary expedient, the -fruit of a momentary ardor; the Independent Church has -consolidated and developed itself; it endures and prospers. Like -the Establishment, it has its pastors, its churches, its -solemnities, its schools for general and for superior -instruction. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">{186}</a></span> -I have before me facts and figures which prove its vitality and -its progress. And not only did the Established Church finally -acquiesce in the peaceable existence of the independent Church, -it also profited by it, and its salutary influence has been -frankly acknowledged by its worthiest pastors. In Switzerland, as -in England, Scotland, and Holland, and in our days more easily -and more promptly than in ancient times, the existence on the one -side of a national Church recognized by the State, has given to -the different forms of Christian belief a stability and a dignity -which have secured its permanent effects upon succeeding -generations; the existence, on the other side, of independent -Churches, and the religious emulation between the two -establishments, have turned in both to the profit of faith and of -piety. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">{187}</a></span> -<p> -M. Adolphe Monod seemed, even more than M. Vinet, to promise by -natural bent of his character, and by the incidents of his life, -to become the champion of an entire separation of Church and -State. At the very commencement of his career, he suffered from a -Government based upon their connection. Pastor at Lyons, in 1831, -of the established Protestant Church, he was dismissed from these -functions by the Consistory of that city, as too exacting in his -orthodoxy, and as troubling by his exigencies the peace of his -Church. He then became the founder and pastor of a small -dissenting and independent Church at Lyons. The energy with which -he expressed his convictions, and the excellence of his -preaching, rapidly spread, and increased his renown for piety. -Numerous Protestants manifested the desire to see him once more -within the pale of the national Church. He made no objection; a -Chair becoming vacant in the Faculty of Montauban, M. Adolphe -Monod was nominated, and from 1836 to 1847 he both lectured and -preached at Montauban with a commanding ability that made itself -felt, not only among the majority of the students, but propagated -its influences to a distance among the principal centers of -French Protestantism. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">{188}</a></span> -In 1847 he was summoned to Paris as the suffragan of another -pastor, M. Juillerat. Nor did he scruple to accept this secondary -and precarious situation. He had full confidence in the divine -vocation, and was firmly resolved to proceed to any place where -the faith of Christ might demand his services. He had, in the -evangelical chair, even more success at Paris than at Lyons and -Montauban. When, after the Revolution of 1848, a general assembly -of the Reformed Churches of France assembled for the purposes of -considering their institutions and discussing points of common -interest, a grave question was raised, and became the subject of -warm and lengthened debate: Should French Protestants proclaim -their ancient Confession of Faith, that of Rochelle, or should -they proclaim a confession of new articles; or lastly, should -they remain passive and do nothing? some, and particularly their -pastor, M. Frederic Monod, elder brother of M. Adolphe Monod, -announced their determination to retire from the assembly and -from the established Church, unless they adopted a Confession of -Faith in accordance with the traditional principles of the -Reformation. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">{189}</a></span> -The inertness of the hesitating and timid assembly was equivalent -to a refusal, and they did in effect retire. To the great -surprise and great regret of his adversaries, M. Adolphe Monod, -although favorable to the principles of the Confession of Faith, -did not follow the example by retiring; he even succeeded his -brother as titular pastor in the Church of Paris, and published -to the world the motives of his conduct. [Footnote 28] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 28: In his work entitled, Pourquoi je demeure dans - l'Église établie.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">{190}</a></span> -<p> -His motives were good, such as a man of elevated character and -energetic purpose might conceive and might avow. In spite of -their importance, the questions which concern the organization of -the Church and its eternal relations were, in the eyes of M. -Adolphe Monod, only secondary considerations, subject in a -certain measure to time and to circumstance. For him the question -of faith was supreme; and he occupied himself infinitely more -with the spiritual state of souls than with ecclesiastical -government. To the serious thinker the Christian faith is quite -different from any conception or conviction of the understanding; -it is a general condition of the whole man; it is the very life -of the soul; not merely its actual life, but the source and the -guarantee of its future life. The faith in Christ Jesus, the -Redeemer, the Saviour, makes the life of a Christian; and the -life of a Christian is a preparation for an eternal salvation. -With this faith penetrating to his very marrow, and with the -intimate persuasion of its consequences, the duty of giving a -voice to that faith, and of diffusing it, was the dominant idea, -the permanent passion, of M. Adolphe Monod. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">{191}</a></span> -He had not himself been always firmly settled in his religious -convictions; he had been a prey to great moral perplexities, and -to attacks of profound melancholy. When he had escaped from -these—or rather, to use his own words, "when God had become -really the master of his heart"—he had no other thought but that -of bringing other souls to the same state, and of rousing them to -a faith in Christ, with a view to their eternal salvation. The -position which he regarded as of all the most appropriate for -himself, was one in which he could most profitably forward this -work. When in 1848 the question was thus put to him, and when he -had been convinced both by his past observation of the Protestant -Church of France during the last twenty years, and by his own -experience of it, that the established Church offered to him in -his Christian purpose the vastest field of exertion, and the best -chance of success, he did not hesitate to remain in it. "I find -in the situation," he said, "grave disorders, of which it is my -duty to seek unceasingly the reform; but that situation has also -its hopeful side. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">{192}</a></span> -A long development of my ideas would be superfluous; let us -confine ourselves to some striking facts. Try and reckon how many -orthodox pastors our Church possessed when the reaction began in -1819, and then make a similar calculation for 1849. I do not mean -to fix the precise numbers; but is it too much to say, that in -the course of a single generation the number of orthodox pastors -is ten, fifteen, twenty times perhaps as great? This applies to -the clergy, of whom everywhere the immense influence is felt. -Among their congregations it is less easy to follows things; but -the attentive observer does not fail to mark similar indications. -Behold our religious societies: are not the most popular among -them those which hoisted most manfully the colors of orthodoxy? -And if some are in a languishing condition, is it not because -they offered in this respect fewest guarantees? Evidently the -first condition of existence for our religious institutions of -charity is sound doctrine. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">{193}</a></span> -My readers, permit me to question you still more closely. Throw -your eyes upon the eight or ten families best known to you, -beginning with your own, and compare what they are now with what -they were in 1819; contrast their occupations, tastes, -sacrifices, and intercourse, the modes of education, the books -read, friendships formed, and so on; and then declare, thankless -ones, if God has allowed you to be without encouragement." -[Footnote 29] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 29: Pourquoi je demeure dans l'Église établie, par - M. Adolphe Monod, pp. 25-32. Paris, 1849.] -</p> -<p> -M. Adolphe Monod had good reason to draw attention to this -general progress of Christianity; but there was another progress -also deserving notice, that which he had himself made, and which -he was making more and more every day, in the attainment of the -true and distinguishing character of a Christian. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">{194}</a></span> -<p> -At the commencement of his career as a minister of the Gospel, in -his different controversies, and especially in his controversy -with the Consistory of Lyons, he had shown rudeness, impatience, -and want of foresight; he had been too precipitate in enforcing -his faith by arguments, and too much disposed to undervalue the -obstacles in its way. Thanks to his genuine sincerity and the -natural elevation of his character, time, experience, and success -had given at once breadth and suppleness to his thought. Faith -had generated modesty, and hope patience. Contrary to the -ordinary bias of men, his liberalism had increased in the same -measure as his strength. As an act of duty he made in 1848 an -avowal of the state of his mind in this respect. "The age," he -said, "reproaches us with '<i>exclusisme</i>,' (exclusiveness,) a -new word expressly invented to denote its favorite charge; for -false ideas the age has only the resource of a barbarous -phraseology. This '<i>exclusisme</i>' is the sole thing which the -age cannot tolerate in matters of doctrine: it is prepared, it -says to itself, to take everything within its pale except the -'exclusives.' -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">{195}</a></span> -Thus they demand from us only one change in the profession of our -faith; they call upon us to substitute for our usual prefatory -formula, 'This is the truth,' the words, 'This is my opinion.' -And if they, in claiming such qualification of language, limited -their demand to things which, in spite of any relative -importance, do not constitute the substance of the faith and of -the life of a Christian, we should do what they require; perhaps -I should rather say, we do it already, as brother should do to -brother, and in the interest of truth itself. It is one of the -distinctive features of the awakening of Christians in our epoch, -that charitably sparing in the absolute dogmatism of which the -sixteenth century was prodigal, they make dogmas of only a small -number of fundamental doctrines. And even of these they strive to -contract the circle, until having reached the vital forces, the -very heart, so to say, of truth, they sum it up in one single -name, Jesus Christ, and in one single word, grace. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">{196}</a></span> -Whoever is of that faith, whatever name he bears elsewhere, and -whatever place he occupies in the Universal Church—Lutheran, -Anglican, Methodist, Moravian, Baptist, nay, Roman Catholic, or -Greek Catholic, we receive that man as a brother in Christ Jesus; -and not we only, but the whole contemporary Evangelical Church, -with certain exceptions becoming every day rarer, and arising -from a narrow or sectarian pietism. Hence the 'Evangelical -Alliance,' formed in our own time of more than twenty Protestant -denominations, the prelude only to another evangelical alliance -which will exclude none who rely upon the sole merits of Jesus -Christ, the Saviour and Lord of all. -</p> -<p> -"Our '<i>exclusisme</i>,' besides, has not for its objects -individuals but doctrines. Absolute affirmation is legitimate -when the object is to define the faith, which is the promise of -salvation, for God has clearly revealed it in his word; but when -the object is to mark the individuals who possess that saving -faith, similar affirmation could not be used without temerity; -for God has nowhere revealed to us either the internal state of -any man, or the final lot reserved for him. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">{197}</a></span> -<i>We</i> exclude no man, <i>we</i> judge no man, alive or dead; -the judgment of the quick and of the dead belongs to God alone. -Doubtless we estimate, according to our ability, the spiritual -condition of a man by his works, as we do a tree by its fruits; -Jesus himself invites us to do so. Doubtless, when we see a man -living and dying in the works of the faith, we hope for him, and -our hope may grow even to a firm assurance; and when, on the -contrary, we see a man living and dying in the works of -incredulity, we have a feeling of anxiety for him—a feeling as -painful as it is mysterious. But, after all, neither in the first -case nor in the second, and still less in the second than the -first, are we authorized to pronounce any personal judgment; and -but for the paradoxical turn of the expression, I would willingly -adopt the language of the devout Bunyan: Three things would -astonish me in heaven; first, not to see there certain persons -whom I expect to see there; secondly, to see there those I do not -expect to see there; and thirdly, which would surprise me most, -to see myself there.'" [Footnote 30] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 30: Sermon sur l'Exclusisme, ou l'unité de la foi, - in the Recueil des Sermons de M. Adolphe Monod. 3me série, t. - ii, pp. 386-390. Paris, 1860. The sermons of M. Adolphe Monod - have been collected and published in four vols. 8vo. Paris, - 1856-1860. He also wrote several small works, among others: -<br><br> - 1. Lucile, ou la lecture de la Bible. 1841. -<br><br> - 2. La Destitution d'Adolphe Monod, récit inédit, rédigé par - luimême. 1864. -<br><br> - 3. Récit des conférences qui ont eu lieu en 1834, entre - quelques Catholiques Remains et M. Adolphe Monod. Paris, - 1860. -<br><br> - 4. Les adieux d'Adolphe Monod à ses amis et à l'église. - Paris, 1856.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">{198}</a></span> -<p> -A piety so profound, and at the same time so modest and so large, -expressed with an eloquence which combined an impassioned -earnestness of language with an impassioned earnestness of -conviction, could not fail to exercise great influence. As a -preacher, M. Adolphe Monod was powerful. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">{199}</a></span> -He had acquired, not by careful and cold observation, but by an -assiduous and conscientious study of the Gospels and of himself, -a remarkable knowledge of human nature, of its strength and of -its weakness, of its deficiencies and of its aspirations. He laid -siege, so to speak, to the souls of men, and he pressed the siege -ardently and with skill; he assailed all their gates, and pursued -them to their innermost defenses, keeping constantly displayed -the banner of Christ, and inspiring them with the perfect -confidence that he was urging them to take <i>their</i> stand, -too, beneath it, not from any human motive, or any desire of -glory to himself, but from a serious desire for their souls' -welfare, and from it alone. Thus did he gain over to his Divine -Master the hearts disposed to receive him, strongly shake the -purpose of those not confirmed in their rebellion, and leave -astonished and intimidated those whom he did not bring over. As -pastor also his influence was extraordinary; his life was the -reflection and the commentary upon his preaching. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">{200}</a></span> -He applied first to his own case the precepts of his faith, and -the conclusions therefrom logically deducible. As he said nothing -that he did not think, so he thought nothing that he did not -practice; and without being readily impressionable, like that of -M. Vinet, his zeal was expansive, and his piety gave him no rest -from the task of diffusing by example and precept the faith and -the practice of Christianity. Attacked by a painful and incurable -illness, which at last condemned him to immobility, he did not -suffer it to render him inactive and useless. Every Sunday during -the last six months of his life, his family, some pastors his -colleagues, and as many attached friends as his chamber could -receive, gathered around his bed, and his zeal surmounted his -pain. He addressed to them, to use his very words, "sometimes the -regret of a dying man, sometimes the results of his own -experiences of faith and of life." The devout assemblage was -again convoked, at his expressed wish, for the 6th April, 1856. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">{201}</a></span> -But that day, before the hour fixed for the assembly had arrived, -God took to him his servant, granting the wish expressed in his -own often repeated prayer, "Let my life only terminate with my -ministry, and my ministry only with my life." [Footnote 31] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 31: These are the words inserted in a publication - bearing the title "Les adieux d'Adolphe Monod à sa famille et - a l'église," in which the last exhortations and conversations - of this dying Christian have been piously collected. P. viii. - Paris, 1856.] -</p> -<p> -Eighteen months before the decease of M. Adolphe Monod, an -eminent pastor of the Lutheran Church of Paris, his friend and -fellow-laborer in the work of Christianity, M. Edouard Verny, -died suddenly in the Evangelical Chair at Strasbourg, while -preaching upon the words addressed by the Apostles to the -Christians of Antioch, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to -us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these <i>necessary</i> -things," words not less liberal than pious, and faithfully -expressing the sentiments of the Christian orator, who died while -commenting upon them. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">{202}</a></span> -The mind of M. Verny was naturally liberal and independent; his -intellectual career had commenced with philosophical studies, and -he had retained a strong bias in favor of the progress of -thought. This did not, however, prevent him from promptly and -calmly appreciating the opinions which he did not share. Without -possessing either the impassioned style or the power of M. -Adolphe Monod, he was not less devoted to the cause of -Christianity; and he convinced those by the charms of his manner, -into whose minds M. Monod entered by force and as a conqueror. -[Footnote 32] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 32: Although M. Verny had long preached, and had - often written in religious reviews and journals, and - particularly in the "Semeur," very few monuments remain of - his ideas and of his talents. The principal are: -<br> - 1. A sermon "Upon the Unity of the Church," preached in the - church of Bolbec in 1854. -<br> - 2. Two sermons, one "Upon the Prayer of the Canaanite Woman;" - the other "Upon Repentance;" preached at Paris in 1843 and - 1846. -<br> - 3. The sermon "Sur l'Ouverture solennelle de la session du - Consistoire supérieur de l'Église de la Confession - d'Augsbourg," preached at Strasbourg on the 19th of October, - 1854: while preaching which M. Verny died in the pulpit. -<br> - 4. An "Essai sur les droits de la science," inserted in the - "Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie Chrétienne," published - at Strasbourg by M. Colani. Vol. ix, pp. 208-248. 1854. This - essay was to have been followed by an "Essai sur les devoirs - de la foi," of which the sudden death of M. Verny prevented - the completion.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">{203}</a></span> -<p> -Although the Protestant Church of France thereby sustained an -immense loss, it had a striking and salutary spectacle also -presented to it by the end of these two servants of Christ, the -one dying suddenly, in the plenitude of his strength, at the very -moment when from his pulpit he was maintaining with distinguished -ability the doctrines of his Master; the other, from his bed, -gathering with pain what of breath remained to him in this world, -to pour once more a flood of faith into the souls of his -auditors. -</p> -<p> -Such lives, such deaths, could not remain sterile of result; -under their influence the Christian faith was relumed; it again -spread itself among the Protestants of France. Nor was this that -arid cold faith which men accept to acquit their consciences, and -to rid themselves of a trouble and a scruple; nor that vague and -dreamy faith which feasts rather upon its own emotions, than -nourishes itself with the truths which are the voice of God. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">{204}</a></span> -A Christian's faith is neither an act of prudent submission nor a -paroxysm of mystic fervor. Conviction and sentiment, the firm -adhesion of the mind, and the filial love of the heart, meet in -that faith in essential and intimate union. It is the light -coming from on high, and bringing down with it the genial -principles of vital warmth and fecundity; out of which, like -salubrious waters from a pure source, flow freely and in -abundance the works of human charity. I have lying before me a -list of the different charities to which Christianity has in our -own days since the reaction given birth in the Protestant Church -of France. [Footnote 33] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 33: Exposé des oeuvres de la charité protestante en - France, par H. de Triqueti, membre du conseil presbytéral et - du diaconat de l'Église réformée de Paris. 18mo. 1863.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">{205}</a></span> -<p> -I see there manifold associations, enterprises supposing a long -duration of existence, unremitting efforts for the moral -development of men; for the bodily solace of their earthly -condition; for the propagation and the defense of freedom of -opinion in religious matters; for the support and diffusion of -the faith itself: all these objects, at once so various and so -analogous, are being laboriously worked out both by the -independent Protestant Churches, and by the Protestant Church -established from the State. M. Edmond de Pressensé and M. Eugène -Bersier devote their talents and their zeal to the same forms of -Christian belief as were advocated by M. Alexandre Vinet and M. -Adolphe Monod. In spite of the free divergence of sentiment and -the diversity of ecclesiastical government in French -Protestantism, we may observe in its bosom a progress of -Christian Faith, a progress in works of Christian Charity, a -progress in Christian Science, and a progress in Christian -Influence. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">{206}</a></span> -I use the same terms employed by me in speaking of the -contemporary Catholic Church of Rome, because I find before me -similar facts. These facts do not announce the reconciliation of -the two Churches—profound differences of opinion continue to -separate them; but these facts are, in both Churches, signs of -the Awakening of Christianity. -</p> -<hr> -<br> - <h3>III. Awakening Of Christianity In France.</h3> -<br> -<p> -But the world has not changed since God at its creation delivered -it up to the disputes of mankind; nor have the diversity and -conflict of ideas and of passions ever ceased to be the condition -of humanity. By the side of the movement of Christianity to which -I refer, a movement in the contrary direction is manifesting -itself, and is pursuing its course. Christianity at its Awakening -is challenged to ruder combats. Philosophy refuses to its -fundamental dogmas the marks and the rights of rational truth. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">{207}</a></span> -An erudite criticism contests its historical evidence. The -natural sciences proclaim that they do not require its aid to -account for man and for the world. It is affirmed as a principle, -and maintained in learned societies, that morality is entirely -independent of religion. Man in his aspirations for liberty, that -generous passion of the age, retains a profound resentment for -the chains and the sufferings which, under pretext of -Christianity, human conscience and human thought have so long -been made to endure. The influence of these bitter reminiscences -is manifesting itself in the different Christian Churches under -various forms, and with different effects. Many liberals so dread -the prospect of the Church of Rome obtaining power over civil -society that they hardly accord to this Church the rights of -common liberty; or, if they do so at all, they do it reluctantly -and little by little. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">{208}</a></span> -<p> -Among the Protestants, some push the pretensions of liberty so -far as to insist that in religious society a community of faith -should count for nothing; that a man should be entitled to remain -a member of a Church, and even to remain its minister, although -he profess respecting the essential facts and dogmas of the -Church the most contradictory opinions, and opinions the -strangest to its traditions and its texts. With respect to Roman -Catholics, the dominant question is that of liberty. Are the -liberties of civil society to be accorded to the Church? Are -those of the Church to be allowed to remain intact in the bosom -of the State? In Protestantism, on the other hand, the complete -liberty of religion in the midst of civil society, the right of -every individual to avow his belief, and to solemnize his own -forms of worship—these are all privileges already acquired, and -contested as little by any orthodox believer as by any -freethinker. The questions really here agitated are questions of -faith and of discipline. Are a common faith and a uniform -internal discipline essential to the Church? Here is the debate. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">{209}</a></span> -But above all these special questions and these different -situations of the various Christian Churches rise, for Romanist -and Protestant alike, the general question and the common -situation; it is Christianity itself which is engaged in the -contest, and its awakening spirit confronts the antichristian -movement. -</p> -<p> -Let us not delude ourselves as to the character, the force, or -the danger of this antichristian movement. It is not merely a -feverish excitability in men's minds, a simple revolutionary -crisis in the religious order. No; we have here earnest -convictions at work, and the prospect of a long war. Impatience -of an ancient yoke, a spirit of reaction, a love of innovation, -frivolous instincts not a few, as well as evil impulses, may -claim a share—and a large share—in the attacks of which -Christianity is in these days the object; but what gives to these -attacks their most formidable character is a sentiment far more -serious, one that has made heroes and martyrs, the love of truth -at all risk and in despite of consequence, for the sake of truth -and for its sake alone. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">{210}</a></span> -The feeling that makes man thirst for truth is an honor to human -nature. If he fancies that he has found that truth, man abandons -himself with transport to the satisfaction of his cravings, and -does not scruple to drink even to intoxication at this pure -source. But here he is incurring a great danger: man is not -merely an intelligence whose vocation during his brief transit -through this world confines him only to study and science: he is -an active, responsible being; a being engaged in a life full of -labors, with a future life before him full of mystery; a laborer -in a career having a particular interest for himself, and yet -forming part of a general scheme, of the design of which he has -but imperfect glimpses. Very incomplete and very imperfect is -that man's state of intellectual action, who restricts himself to -that which appears to him to be scientific truth, who does not, -at the same time, submit his thought to all the tests to which he -is himself subject, and who does not examine whether that thought -be in harmony with the laws of his nature—whether it respect or -transgress the limits imposed upon his means of knowledge. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">{211}</a></span> -The danger of falling into error becomes greater in proportion as -this incomplete and imperfect state of his mind is in itself a -noble state, a state that satisfies noble impulses, and procures -noble means of enjoyment. The most eminent among the actual -adversaries of Christianity believe themselves the interpreters -and the defenders of truth; some of philosophical truth; others -of historical truth, others again of the truth of the facts and -laws of the physical world. They are all proud of belonging to -the department of pure science, and of making of scientific truth -the sole object, the sole rule of their labors; but they are also -all forgetful of some conditions—nay, the most indispensable -ones—to which science is bound to conform; some tests—and the -most legitimate ones—to which science is obliged to submit. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">{212}</a></span> -<p> -They claim, too, the honor of bearing the banner of a grand and -noble cause, the cause of Liberty. That Christianity alone -restored to man, as man, and for no other reason, his rights to -liberty, is a fact that the comparative histories of the world, -whether Christian or Pagan, place beyond all doubt; for confront -these two histories, and name the nations among whom the idea of -the dignity of man's liberty became a general idea, powerful in -influence and fruitful in consequence! Another fact equally -historic and certain is, that Christianity knew how to adapt -itself, and did readily adapt itself, to the different states of -society, and the different forms of government; that it set -itself up and maintained its rank in republics as well as -monarchies, under constitutional regimes as well as in -despotisms, in the midst of democratical as well as -aristocratical institutions; and, beyond doubt, it was not in -free states that it displayed least vigor, or met with the -smallest success. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">{213}</a></span> -These two great facts are nowadays lost sight of. Christianity is -accused of being hostile to Liberty and incompatible with the -spirit of modern societies; and this is, indeed, the chief charge -laid to its score. True it is, that the charge is not without -deriving countenance from the history of Europe in modern times; -worldly interests, selfish passions, events complex and obscure, -in which moral order and social order have been compromised, have -as it were suspended in certain countries the liberal action of -Christianity, and enlisted momentarily the cause of Liberty under -a banner not Christian. The error is profound, but transient; the -traditional influences of ages will resume their empire, the -grand events their course; Christ's religion and man's liberty -will once more remember that each stands in need of the other, -and that their alliance in the bosom of order is their natural -and necessary condition. That they do misunderstand each other -occasions the most serious crisis at this moment in modern -society. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">{214}</a></span> -<p> -Here, too, is the gravest peril which the Christian religion has -in our days to surmount. Appreciate the force of the two -sentiments to which I just now referred, the love of science and -the love of liberty; understand through what phases of -degeneration and of deceptive transformation those sentiments -may, in the ardor of pursuit and of combat, have to pass; reckon -up, if reckon you can, all the false ideas, the chimerical hopes, -which they may suggest; and then add to the amount, and as their -consequences, the immoral and anarchical passions which may make -those sentiments their pretext and their tools; and in doing -this, you will find that you have passed in review the forces of -that enemy now waging an implacable war against Christianity, -although a war to which Christianity is called upon to put an -end. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">{215}</a></span> -<p> -I do not in any respect underrate the forces of that army. I -disparage no more their quality than their numbers. To maintain -the combat worthily and efficaciously we should, at the onset, -accord to our adversaries the whole amount of their merits as -well as of their strength, and then attack them in their -strongest entrenchments. I have charged the enemies of -Christianity with puerile presumptuousness when they refuse to -see the energy and the progress of the awakening of Christianity. -It is of infinite importance to Christians, on their side, not to -be blind to the ardor and the effects which that Antichristian -demonstration is producing, of which their Faith and their Church -are the aim. I am firmly convinced that in this war Christianity -will conquer; but it will leave its enemies with arms still in -their hands. It will no more gain over them any complete or -definitive victory than it will be able to conclude with them any -serious or durable peace. In the actual state of men's minds and -of society, the struggle will go on between the followers and the -opponents of Christianity; the two armies will continue to deploy -their forces in the face each of the other; and that of the -Christians, in order to defend and to extend its domain, will be -incessantly called upon to watch and to combat the movements of -its enemy. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">{216}</a></span> -While combating them it will be also obliged to comply with the -terms that truth exacts, and the conditions that liberty imposes. -From these exigencies and these conditions Christianity has -nothing to dread—that is, if it accepts them boldly, and in its -turn imposes them upon its enemies. Let man's science, labors, -and systems be submitted to the same tests, and handled with the -same freedom of examination, as are being applied to the -foundations and the doctrines of Christian faith; this is all -that Christians are entitled to, all that they need to demand. -</p> -<p> -Thus far I have explained the actual state of the Christian -religion in France, the sources of its strength and of its -weakness, its awakening and its perils. It is my intention now to -examine the actual state of those doctrines and systems which -repudiate, or which more or less deny and combat Christianity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">{217}</a></span> -When I have passed the hostile army in review, I will once more -confront Christianity with its adversaries, and endeavor to -distinguish, by contrasting them, on which side the truth is, on -which side the right, and on which side the hope of future -success. -</p> -<hr> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">{218}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Second Meditation. -<br><br> - Spiritualism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -I witnessed the birth—not, certainly, the birth of Spiritualism, -for this was, like its twin brother Materialism, born in the -cradle of Philosophy, and while the steps of Philosophy were -still those of an infant—but the birth of the spiritualistic -school of the nineteenth century. This birth was a national -reaction against the Sensualism of the eighteenth century—just -as the Christian Awakening was a reaction against the impiety of -the same epoch. Theories do not escape the influence of events: -after the ideas come the facts, to pour upon those ideas floods -of light, and to reveal the vices, whether of philosophy or of -policy, in all their practical consequences. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">{219}</a></span> -The Sensualism—that is to say, to style it by its true name, the -Materialism—of the eighteenth century, did not pass triumphantly -through this test: it still reigned in France at the commencement -of the nineteenth century, but it was the reign of an antiquated -sovereign in decline—a sovereign of whom the public know the -defects, and whose successor is at hand. -</p> -<p> -M. Royer-Collard was the first who had the merit and the honor of -bringing back Spiritualism into the teaching of philosophy and -into the minds of the people; his was a return simply to the -spiritualistic doctrines of the seventeenth century; but still a -real progress, effected by a novel route, and a really scientific -method. M. Royer-Collard was neither a philosopher by profession -nor the disciple of any master, nor was his mind a mind disposed -to take up with systems—he observed, he read, he studied and -reflected, as a looker on, and an earnest judge of the world and -of men. In philosophy and his professional chair, as later in -politics and in the chamber, he was an original and profound -thinker. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">{220}</a></span> -His mind united good sense with loftiness of sentiment, -circumspection with self-respect; he was thoroughly imbued with -the spirit of his times, at the same time that he refused to -accept its yoke. In his grave and independent course of -instruction, he treated philosophical questions as they presented -themselves step by step, each on its own account, without -troubling himself about anything but the discovery of the truth; -and still less with any zealous endeavor to set together or -resolve all the questions upon a general system, the result of -any learned premeditation. Those who had opportunities of -listening to him, and even those whose only means of judgment are -the fragments published by M. Jouffroy, [Footnote 34] -characterize his lessons as directed, each of them, toward some -special questions well determined beforehand, and they regard -them as models of analysis and of philosophical criticism, -scrupulously confined by the lecturer to the facts and the -results that the inductive process discovers in the facts -themselves. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 34: In his "Traduction des oeuvres complètes de - Reid," vol. iii, pp. 299-449, vol. iv, pp. 273-451.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">{221}</a></span> -<p> -He had been a great reader of the writings of the Scotch -philosophers, held them in high esteem, and walked in their -steps; his views were, however, loftier, and his footing firmer, -although not less prudent. He had in his short philosophical -career two rare pieces of good fortune: one was, that he had a -friend in M. Maine de Biran, a profound and enthusiastic observer -of the human soul in his own soul—a subtle metaphysician, almost -a mystic, whom I would, if I dared, name the Saint Theresa of -philosophy; his other advantage was, that he had for his disciple -M. Cousin, the congenial rival and eloquent interpreter of the -great philosophers of all ages. M. Cousin, in his turn, has been -fortunate in having for his disciple M. Jouffroy—a disciple, of -mind original and independent, following a master accomplished in -the art of observing intellectual and moral facts, and of -describing them and ordering them, without altering their -essential character. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">{222}</a></span> -Sometimes, it is true, M. Cousin yields to the ambition of his -thought, or is swayed by the intellectual current of opinions in -vogue; but very soon his common sense checks, or at least sets -him on his guard—a common sense that finds lucid expression, and -is distinguished by probity of intent. Such are the founders and -the glorious chiefs of the spiritualistic school of the -nineteenth century. -</p> -<p> -Nor have they failed to find disciples and heirs worthy of such -predecessors. For some years past it has been the custom, in -certain regions of the learned world, to demand, frivolously -enough, and in a tone not free from irony, "What has become of -the spiritualistic school—what can it be about?" I will not -answer for it as Tertullian did to the Pagans, "We are only of -yesterday, and we are everywhere—in your domains, your cities, -your isles, your fortresses, your communes, your councils, your -camps, your tribes, your 'decuries,' in the palace, the senate, -the forum; we only leave you your temples." [Footnote 35] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 35: Tertullian Apologet., ch. xxxvii.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">{223}</a></span> -<p> -The modern Spiritualists had no such conquests to make, and it is -fitting for philosophers to be more modest; but however short my -experience may have taught me that the human memory may in -similar cases sometimes be, I am astonished that men should so -forget facts, and facts, too, that are recent and patent. What -school of philosophy ever furnished in half a century so many men -and so many works, some of eminence, all of them of distinguished -merit? I will cite only a few names: MM. de Rémusat, Damiron, -Adolphe Garnier, Franck, Jules Simon, Barthélemy, Saint-Hilaire, -Saisset, Caro, Bersot, Lévêque, Bouillier, Janet, some of whom -have scarcely disappeared from the stage of the world, and others -are only just arrived there—they belong all to the -spiritualistic school, to which they have all done honor by -important works on philosophy, whether speculative, historical, -political, economic, or practical. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">{224}</a></span> -Their doctrines, it is true, have now been for some time hotly -attacked, and the wind of the day does not blow into their sails. -They have, besides, in my opinion, been wrong in this respect, -that they have not directed sufficient attention to these -polemics; that they have combated in a manner too indirect, or -with too little energy; the ideas in whose name their own have -been assailed; a certain share of languor and of embarrassment is -at this moment the malady of the best minds and of the sincerest -convictions. But in spite of the blows which it receives and -returns, although with insufficient sturdiness, the -spiritualistic school, if we judge it by the names and the works -which belong to it, by their talent, and their fame, remains in -our century in possession of the domain and of the banner of -philosophy. -</p> -<p> -Its merits will present themselves still more clearly if we -examine closely the results of its labors. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">{225}</a></span> -<p> -The first and the most important result, in a point of view -purely philosophical, is, that the Spiritualists of our days have -given to their researches and to their ideas a character really -scientific: they have introduced into the study of man and of the -intellectual world, the method practiced with so much success in -the study of man and of the material world—that is to say, they -have taken the observation of facts as the point of departure and -the constant guide of their investigations. Are there in man and -in the intellectual world, as there are in man and in the -material world, facts capable of being observed, seized, -described, classified, generalized? This is the question which -the spiritualistic school proposed and discussed at the outset. I -have no hesitation in saying, that it resolved it in the -affirmative, and that, thanks to this school, psychology has -assumed its rank among the positive sciences, just as physiology -did. Like physiology, geology, or botany, psychology has its -special object, its determined domain, in which it proceeds -absolutely according to the same method observed by the physical -sciences in their domain. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">{226}</a></span> -That this method, the observation of facts, of their value and -their laws, is in psychology more difficult to be followed than -in the physical sciences, is certain; but this certainly does not -deprive psychology either of its domain or of its scientific -character. It is a science by the same right and upon the same -conditions as all the others are so. The labors of the -spiritualistic school, and particularly those of M. Jouffroy, -have given it a solid foundation: and this has been formally -recognized by several even among the adversaries of this school, -among others by M. Taine and M. Berthelot. [Footnote 36] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 36: I read in the Métaphysique et la Science of M. - Vacherot: -<br><br> - "<i>The Metaphysician:</i> -<br><br> - "In his denial of psychology, I stop at once the author of - the 'positive philosophy,' and I demand of him by what right - he thus banishes from the domain of the experimental sciences - a science of observation. -<br><br> - "<i>The man of learning:</i> -<br><br> - "It constitutes in effect 'hiatus' in this philosophy, and a - hiatus which all the sound minds of the positive school are - beginning to admit. M. Littré, for example, may make his - reservations of opinion as to the manner in which our - psychologists understand psychology, and as to the method - which they apply to it; but he has too much sense not to - admit that the intelligence—all that constitutes man's - identity, the moral man—is the object of a peculiar study, - of which many previous works have shown the possibility, and - many practical results prove the high and vital interest."— - Vacherot, la Métaphysique et la Science, vol. iii, p. 181.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">{227}</a></span> -<p> -It is in the name of science and by the processes of science that -the Spiritualists of the nineteenth have combated the Sensualists -of the eighteenth century. They have not, it is true, absolutely -crushed Materialism, that child and legitimate heir of -Sensualism; but while dethroning the parent, they have compelled -the child sometimes to avow himself boldly, sometimes to -transform himself, and to assume other features and other arms -than those of his cradle. I will only cite the lecture of M. -Cousin on the "Sensualistic Philosophy in the Eighteenth -Century," and the essay of the Duke de Broglie on the "Existence -of the Soul," [Footnote 37] written on the occasion of the work -of M. Broussais: "De l'Irrritation et de la Folie." -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 37: This essay, first inserted in 1828 in the Revue - Française, has been reprinted in the "Ecrits et discours - divers" of the Duke de Broglie, collected and published in - 1863.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">{228}</a></span> -<p> -Whoever, after having read them, would still persist in -maintaining the Sensualism of Locke and of Condillac, or in -refusing to see the consequences to which Sensualism leads, would -prove, in my opinion, that he has not understood either the -question put, or the doctrine combated and refuted. We have here -a result acquired for the science of the intellectual world, and -we owe the result to the polemics of the spiritualistic school. -</p> -<p> -That school has obtained another result more important still, and -which belongs no longer to the polemics of simple negation, but -to positive doctrine; it has set in the broad light of day the -real and fundamental principle of morals, the distinction as to -the essentials of moral good and evil, as well as the law of -obligation, that "categorical imperative," the sole refuge which -Kant found against Skepticism. -229 -Neither the interest well defined of each individual, nor the -interest of the greater numbers, nor any sentimental sympathy, -nor any system of positive written law, can, for the future, be -considered as the basis of morals. An attempt is made in the -present day to establish another thesis, and to represent -morality as absolutely independent of religion. Grave error, -which discards from morality, if not its principle, at least its -source and its object, its author and its future; an error, -however, very different from those errors which dispense even -with the principle of morals, and assign as the rule for the -conduct of men, motives having in themselves nothing moral, -nothing absolute. The fact that man's conscience and man's reason -recognize the distinction of moral good and evil, and at the same -time the duty of practicing that good as the law of human -actions, is a fact which we may now regard as acquired to -philosophy. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">{230}</a></span> -The treatise "Du Bien," in the work of M. Cousin upon "Le Vrai, -le Beau, et le Bien," the preface of M. Jouffroy to the "Outlines -of Moral Philosophy," by Dugald Stewart, and the "Essia sur la -Morale," in the "Mélanges Philosophiques," which M. Jouffroy -published in 1833, the book of M. Jules Simon upon "Le Devoir," -these are all solid and brilliant works, by which the -spiritualistic school has victoriously established the truth to -which I have referred. -</p> -<p> -And in establishing it, it has paid a remarkable act of homage to -another fact, and rendered an immense service by enforcing a -truth, with which are intimately connected man's rights in this -world, as well as his prospects beyond this world: I mean the -fact of man's liberty. This is no question of pure theory and -scientific curiosity; but a vital question, whose solution has -for man, in time present and time future, the most important -practical consequences. Upon what grounds would the claim of man -to liberty in the social state rest, what would become of his -hopes and fears of a future eternity, if man were not a being -morally free and responsible for the decisions which determine -his acts? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">{231}</a></span> -The civil liberty of man during his life on earth, and his -future destiny after his life on earth, closely depend upon the -fact of his free volition and upon the responsibility which -accompanies it. Without free volition man falls in this world, -without rights, under the yoke of whatever force may take -possession of him, or use him as its instrument; what remains for -man, then, but to tremble at the destiny which awaits him beyond -this world by virtue of the unknown decree of his Sovereign -Master? To the spiritualistic school belongs the honor of having -firmly established and rendered plain the psychological fact of -the freedom of the human will; nor in doing so has it allowed -itself to be troubled and blinded by the ontological questions -which that fact suggests, or by the difficulty attending the -solution of these questions. Consequently, it has accepted upon -this point the limits of man's science, and at the same time -maintained the rights of man's nature. It has laid in man's -liberty and man's responsibility the legitimate foundation of -political liberty, as well as that of the personal morality of -man and of man's future. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">{232}</a></span> -<p> -Thus, then, the spiritualistic school of the nineteenth century -is at once scientific, moral, liberal. Eminent merits, rare -combination in any time, and still more so in our time! -</p> -<p> -With these great merits, and in spite of them, two omissions are -still remarkably striking. -</p> -<p> -The spiritualistic school, our contemporary, has halted abruptly -before the sovereign problems which weigh upon the human soul, -and which, in the first series of these "Meditations," I styled -natural problems; [Footnote 38] it has in no respect furthered -their solution according to reason, or accepted their solution -according to Christianity; its "Theodicy" has remained far in -arrear of its Psychology. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 38: Meditations on the Essence of the Christian - Religion.] -</p> -<p> -Halted it has, also, before any practical solution of these same -problems; nor has it eliminated either any faith or any law which -suffices for man's soul or man's conduct in life—in short, any -religion. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">{233}</a></span> -M. Jules Simon, in his work entitled "La Religion Naturelle," MM. -Saisset and De Rémusat, in their "Essais de Philosophie -Religieuse," have striven, irrespectively of all positive -revelation, to give to man's soul and to man's conduct that -satisfaction and that religious rule which both require. I doubt -their counting much upon the success of their attempts; I doubt -their believing that their natural religion, or their religious -philosophy, are sufficient substitutes for Christianity. Far -other things than such drops of science are required to appease -the thirst of humanity for religion. -</p> -<p> -Whence, in the spiritualistic school, this double hiatus—this -twofold weakness, whence? -</p> -<p> -In my opinion, the causes are themselves twofold. The -spiritualistic school has been at once too timid and too proud. -It has not seen in the psychological facts which it was observing -and describing, all that they contain and reveal upon the subject -of the great natural problems of man and of the world; it has -neglected the cosmological facts and the historical facts which -concur to throw light upon those problems; its psychology has -remained isolated and incomplete. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">{234}</a></span> -It has, at the same time, failed to see the limits of psychology -and of human science in general; not having succeeded in -advancing the torch of science into the regions where access to -it is denied, it has refused to accept the light descending upon -man by another way than that of science. -</p> -<p> -Like Plato, Descartes, Leibnitz, Reid, and Kant, M. Cousin, now -the most eminent representative of the spiritualistic school, -establishes, by virtue of psychological observation, these two -great facts: first, that there exist universal and necessary -principles manifesting themselves in the human mind, and reigning -there without being capable of being subverted, which are called -into action by sensations coming from the external world; -secondly, that these sensations, so coming from the external -world, do not in any way supply the human mind with these -universal and necessary principles, and that they can explain -neither their presence nor their origin. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">{235}</a></span> -Such, for instance, are the principles, that everything which -begins to appear has a cause—that every quality belongs to a -substance! [Footnote 39] Sensualism is not in a position to -account in any way for these two principles, or to find them -among those facts that form all its psychology. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 39: Du Vrai, du Beau, et du Bien, pp. 19-66. 1857.] -</p> -<p> -I am not called upon to develop or to discuss this idea, which, -for my part, I fully admit; enough that I mention it as a -fundamental doctrine of the spiritualistic school. -</p> -<p> -The philosophers, who have admitted the existence of these -universal and necessary principles, have assigned them different -names, and have enumerated and classified them differently; but -whether they style them "ideas," or "innate ideas," or "laws," or -"forms," or "categories of the understanding"—whether they -enlarge or limit their number—they agree as to their nature, and -declare them inherent in the human mind itself, which applies -them, so to say, as its own peculiar property in its appreciation -of the external world; so far is the mind from borrowing them -from that world! -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">{236}</a></span> -<p> -These universal and necessary principles once admitted and -characterized, some of the philosophers who so admit and -characterize them, the Scotch philosophers for instance, go no -further, and adhere to the psychological fact without examining -its value or its consequences in an ontological sense. Others, -like Kant, refuse to that psychological fact all ontological -value, and are of opinion that nothing authorizes us in affirming -that those principles, inherent in the internal existence of the -human mind, are true in the domain beyond the human mind, or that -they regulate the realities of the external world, as they -regulate our intellectual activity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">{237}</a></span> -Others, finally, M. Cousin, with Plato, Descartes, Leibnitz, -Fénélon, and Bossuet, see the work of God, and consequently God -himself, in the universal and necessary principles which preside -over the intellectual existence of man; and they recognize God as -the infinite and sovereign being in whom the necessary principles -reside; and they regard these as the manifestations of him, and -think that he placed them in the intelligence of man when he -placed man himself in the middle of the world. -</p> -<p> -To this doctrine I firmly adhere; but why does the spiritualistic -school so stop short, why does it not advance to the very end of -the path upon which it has entered? It admits God as the being in -whom these necessary principles reside, and from whom man has -received them; what does this mean but that it recognizes in God -the author and instructor of man? And to recognize in God the -author and the instructor of man, what is this but to recognize -the fact of the creation, and the fact of the primitive -revelation inherent in the fact of the creation? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">{238}</a></span> -These two truths are involved in the fact that the necessary -principles exist in the mind of man, and that man derives them, -not from his relations with the external world, but from himself, -and from the source whence he himself emanates—from God, his -Creator. God has created man armed at all points, as well in the -order of the intellect as of matter, complete in his soul as in -his body: that is to say, God has given to him at his creation -the necessary principles of his intellectual life, just as he has -given him the necessary mechanism of his physical organization. -Scientific psychology thus mounts up to that supreme point where -it meets Christian revelation. There is, on its part, -inconsistency or timidity in not recognizing and proclaiming the -existence of that light to which it so attains. -</p> -<p> -What was the import, what the form, of that primitive revelation? -Has the revelation itself been renewed at any epoch subsequent to -the creation? If so, by what instruments and with what incidents -has it been renewed? These are questions to which I shall recur, -but which for the moment I do not approach; I wish here only to -establish the fact of the divine revelation in the sphere and in -the terms of scientific psychology. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">{239}</a></span> -<p> -Facts in cosmogony lead to the same conclusion. I repeat here -what I said in the first series of these Meditations, when -speaking of the dogma of the creation: -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "The only serious opponents of the dogma of the creation are - those who maintain that the universe, the earth, and man upon - the earth, have existed from all eternity, and, collectively, - in the state in which they now are. No one, however, can hold - this language, to which facts are invincibly opposed. How many - ages man has existed on the earth is a question that has been - largely discussed, and is still under discussion. The inquiry - in no way affects the dogma of the creation itself; it is a - certain and recognized fact that man has not always existed on - the earth, and that the earth has for long periods undergone - different changes incompatible with man's existence. Man, - therefore, had a beginning: man has come upon the earth." - [Footnote 40] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 40: Meditations on the Essence of the Christian - Religion, page 18.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">{240}</a></span> -<p> -He did not come there by spontaneous generation—that is to say, -by any creative force or organizing power inherent in matter. -Scientific observation overturns more and more, every day, this -hypothesis, which, in other respects also, it is impossible to -admit as any explanation of the first appearance upon the earth -of the complete man, the man in a condition to survive. "Another -delusion of which we must rid ourselves," said, lately, a member -of the Academy of Sciences, as he quitted the lecture-room where -M. Pasteur had been throwing upon this subject the light of his -luminous and scrupulous criticism. The hypothesis of the -progressive transformation of species does not explain better the -existence of man, such as we now see him upon the earth. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">{241}</a></span> -This hypothesis is also rejected by the exact student of facts; -even if admitted, it would still leave existing the same -problems; for, whence came these primitive types, whose -successive transformations have, as supposed, produced the -existing species? God is as necessary to create the ape or the -primitive type of the ape as he is necessary to create man -himself. Scientific cosmology accords with scientific psychology. -God, the creator and instructor of man, is the grand fact which -each of these sciences encounters at the summit of its labors. -</p> -<p> -The whole current of history contains the same teaching. I admit -that error abounds in history, that it is full of false -assertions, of recitals tortured from the truth, facts mutilated, -legends invented by men as imaginations. It is not, for all that, -the less certain that in a great part the truth still remains -there, that certain historical events are authenticated and -attested by undeniable testimony. I mention here only two, -because connected with the subject which engages me. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">{242}</a></span> -It is a general belief, a universal tradition in the history of -nations, that, either at the moment of the creation, or at some -epoch subsequent to creation, the God, or the gods, whom those -nations respectively adored, had had direct relations with man; -had become manifest to him by different acts or under different -forms, and had assumed a place and exercised an active influence -upon man's destinies. The idea of a single revelation, or of a -succession of revelations—revelations characterized at one time -by a strange grossness, at another by a subtle mysticism, is a -thing ever recurring in the history of humanity. The tradition of -the special revelation, proclaimed first by the Hebrews, and -after them by the Christians, is equally undeniable; criticism -may apply itself to the volumes that contain the accounts; may -contest the authenticity or exactitude or date of particular -books; but so far from ever negativing, it will not even weaken -the evidence of the existence and the powerful influence of the -religious tradition which gave birth to Judaism and to -Christianity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243">{243}</a></span> -We have here a remarkable historical fact, manifesting at once -the natural faith of mankind in the divine revelation, and in the -relations of the Creator with his creatures. -</p> -<p> -If the spiritualistic school refused from its very origin to -admit these facts, drawn from cosmogony and from man's history, -into the sphere of its labors; if it limited psychology to its -peculiar scientific object—the study of the human soul—I am far -from making such refusal matter of reproach: for the -Spiritualists did thereby nothing but what they were entitled and -called upon to do. But they have fallen into a twofold error. -While observing and describing psychological facts, they did not -perceive nor accept all that they imported: they saw in the -intelligent man the work and the trace of God; but they did not -see what was implied in that man besides—that is, revelation as -well as creation. They did not leave pure psychology to demand of -kindred sciences, such as cosmology and history, whether their -results accorded or did not accord with the results that they had -deduced from psychology. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244">{244}</a></span> -In short, on the one side they stopped short of the limits of the -domain of psychology; and on the other, they confined themselves -to it too exclusively. -</p> -<p> -From this twofold error sprang another still more serious. -Spiritualism gave birth to Rationalism—a transformation as -unnatural as unfortunate, which has rendered the science of man -and of the intellectual world still more inexact and incomplete! -</p> -<hr> -<br> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">{245}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Third Meditation. -<br><br> - Rationalism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -A man of a mind as unprejudiced as rare, one who will never be -suspected of any undue bias for Christianity, M. Sainte-Beuve, -avowing to me recently the high esteem with which M. Alexandre -Vinet inspired him, borrowed an expression of Pascal's: "The -heart has its reasons, which the reason does not comprehend." -[Footnote 41] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 41: Between this phrase and that of Pascal there is - a slight difference. Pascal said, "Le cœur a des raisons que - la raison ne connaît point:" "The heart has reasons that the - reason knows not at all." Pensées de Pascal, edition of M. - Faugère, 1844, vol. ii, p. 172.] -</p> -<p> -I only admit half of what is implied in this conciliatory phrase; -and these are my reasons. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">{246}</a></span> -<p> -True religious faith, or, to call things by their real names, -Christian faith, is founded upon instincts and upon sentiment at -the same time that it is founded upon reasons. If reason do not -accept the sentiments of the heart, on which side is the fault? -Is the fault with the heart, that it feels them, or is it with -the reason, that it does not comprehend them? -</p> -<p> -My reply to this question is easy. I reject the distinction made. -I admit no such persons as are respectively styled the heart, the -reason. Here is only an attempt at a psychological anatomy; no -true enunciation of a real fact. Man, the human being, is -essentially one, and single: he has the faculty of -self-observation and self-study, but in exercising it he does not -destroy the unity of his nature; it is not his mere reason, it is -himself, and his whole self, that makes himself the object of his -observation and of his study, and that cannot but recognize -himself and accept himself in his entirety. He has no right to -say, with an air of scientific disdain, "My reason comprehends -not the reasons of my heart." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">{247}</a></span> -He must perforce say: "I comprehend not myself;" he must perforce -proclaim, not the incoherency of his being, but the insufficiency -or the incompetency of what he styles his reason. -</p> -<p> -Philosophy, like poetry, is full of personifications that -mislead; the one personifies by images, the other by -abstractions. Both have need of them—the one for its creations, -the other for its studies; I am far from seeking to deny their -respective use. All that I contend for is, that we must not -misconceive the real import of these expedients of human -language; we must not, by taking them for realities, lose sight -of or destroy what are really and genuinely realities, the -entities of divine creation. -</p> -<p> -I insist the more on this error, because in the philosophy of our -time it is a common and a potent error, and the source too of -other errors, deplorable as well in a scientific as in a moral -and practical point of view. Condillac and his disciples had set -apart and specially studied in man the faculty of sensation, and -they were thereby led to make out of this faculty, and out of it -alone, man himself and the whole man. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">{248}</a></span> -Kant and his school considered particularly in man the faculty of -the reason and judgment, and very soon reason came with them to -constitute the whole man. I am far from intending to examine in -its fundamental principles and its entirety the system of Kant, -the greatest philosophical work upon the human understanding that -any man has produced since the time of Plato. I single out this -fact, that it treats the reason as the proper, special, and -paramount object of philosophy. Warned by his profound, -scrupulous genius, Kant did not limit himself to a point of view -so narrow, although so lofty; he studied man's reason under its -different aspects, he constituted himself the critic of pure -reason, the critic of practical reason, the critic of æsthetic -reason—that is, of reason applied to the discrimination of the -beautiful; he decomposed, so to say, the reason itself into as -many different faculties as he found different phases in the -intellectual and moral life of man; but the faculty that he -styled the reason remained the basis of his study and of his -system. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">{249}</a></span> -It became in his school, and in the schools akin to it, -pre-eminently the intellectual substance, the basis of man and of -philosophy; and the human being himself, in his personal unity, -with all his life and his free will, entirely disappeared from -their teaching. -</p> -<p> -As results of this system I will cite only two facts, very -different in their nature, both very foreign to the founder of -the system and his disciples, but which serve the better to -reveal that system's faultiness, as these facts are, although its -indirect, remote, and involuntary, nevertheless, its undeniable -consequences. -</p> -<p> -When, in 1793, the frenzied men who disposed, as masters, of the -destinies of France, abolished the Christian religion and -Christian worship, they resolved, nevertheless, to give to men an -object to adore. They instituted the worship of reason. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">{250}</a></span> -The church of Notre-Dame at Paris was metamorphosed into a temple -of reason; a young woman was made to figure there as the goddess -of reason; and the orator of the National Convention, Chaumette, -cried aloud as he pointed her out to the people, "Behold living -Reason; we celebrate here to-day the sole true worship, the -worship of Liberty and of Reason." -</p> -<p> -At the distance of three quarters of a century from the date of -these revolutionary orgies, in 1865, not in France but in -England, a man of earnest intentions, superior mind, and -extensive learning, whose sincerity is evident, and his -sentiments moral at once and moderate, writes a book entitled, -"Rationalism in Europe;" and the object of this book is to -establish, that all the good effected in Europe since the fall of -the Roman empire, all the progress made by states in justice, in -humanity, in liberty, and general happiness—whether in the -sphere of science or of practical industry—is due to the -influence of Rationalism, to its developments and its conquests. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">{251}</a></span> -Mr. Lecky is not a metaphysician; he attaches no precise and -philosophical meaning to the word "Rationalism;" he does not -trouble himself about the system of Kant, nor the place occupied -in it by the pure, the practical, or the aesthetic reason; he -only retraces the intellectual and social history of Europe, and -all the happy results that this history commemorates, all the -salutary consequences of the activity of the human mind, of the -liberty of man's thought, of the amelioration of human -institutions and manners, he sums up all in a single name, -attributes them to a single cause, and assigns all the honor to -the progress of Rationalism! -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">{252}</a></span> -<p> -Arrived, nevertheless, at the conclusion of his work, a single -reflection disquiets Mr. Lecky: he asks himself whether, in -extolling the happy effects of what he styles Rationalism, he has -not gone too far, said too much, and hoped too much: -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "Utility is perhaps the highest motive to which reason can - attain. … It is from the moral or religious faculty alone - that we obtain the conception of the purely disinterested. … - The substitution of the philosophical conception of truth for - its own sake, for the theological conception of the guilt of - error, has been in this respect a clear gain; and the political - movement which has resulted chiefly from the introduction of - the spirit of Rationalism into politics, has produced, and is - producing, some of the most splendid instances of - self-sacrifice. On the whole, however, the general tendency of - these influences is unfavorable to enthusiasm, and both in - actions and in speculations this tendency is painfully visible. - With a far higher level of average excellence than in former - times, our age exhibits a marked decline in the spirit of - self-sacrifice, in the appreciation of the more poetical or - religious aspect of our nature. The history of self-sacrifice - during the last eighteen hundred years has been mainly the - history of the action of Christianity upon the world. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">{253}</a></span> - Ignorance and error have, no doubt, often directed the heroic - spirit into wrong channels, and have sometimes even made it a - cause of great evil to mankind; but it is the moral type and - beauty, the enlarged conception and persuasive power of the - Christian faith, that have chiefly called it into being, and it - is by their influence alone that it can be permanently - sustained. … -<br><br> - "This is the shadow resting upon the otherwise brilliant - picture the history of Rationalism presents. The destruction of - the belief in witchcraft and of religious persecutions; the - decay of those ghastly notions concerning future punishments, - which for centuries diseased the imaginations and embittered - the character of mankind; the emancipation of suffering - nationalities; the abolition of the belief in the guilt of - error, which paralyzed the intellectual, and of the asceticism - which paralyzed the material progress of mankind, may be justly - regarded as among the greatest triumphs of civilization; but - when we look back to the cheerful alacrity with which, in some - former ages, men sacrificed all their material and intellectual - interests to what they believed to be right, and when we - realize the unclouded assurance that was their reward, it is - impossible to deny that we have lost something in our - progress." [Footnote 42] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 42: History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit - of Rationalism in Europe, by W. E. H. Lecky, vol. ii, 1866, - third edition, pp. 403-409.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">{254}</a></span> -<p> -But to leave England and Mr. Lecky, and to return once more to -France. I turn to the pages of a rationalistic philosopher more -profound, and more profoundly troubled, too, in his sentiments -than Mr. Lecky. I find there, in an essay of M. Edmond Scherer, -entitled "The Crisis of Protestantism," [Footnote 43] the -following passage: -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 43: Mélanges d'histoire religieuse. Pp. 250-254. - 1864.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">{255}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - "That which is really imperiled is not so much Protestantism; - it is Christianity, it is very religion. As for natural - religion, that exists only in books. Religions which have vital - force and influence are positive religions; that is, religions - which have a Church, and particular rites, and dogmas. What are - these dogmas? Taken in their intimate meaning, they are the - solutions of the great problems which have ever disquieted the - mind of man—the origin of the world, and of evil; the - expiation; the future of humanity. The doctrines of religion - are a sort of revealed metaphysics. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "Considered in its form, dogma is the supernatural—not merely - because religions were born at an epoch when the imagination - was greedy of miracles, and when the imagination, in her - <i>näiveté</i>, associated herself with everything; but also - because, as may be readily understood, it is impossible for a - positive religion to have any other origin than a revelation; - it is necessarily a history of the intervention of God in the - destinies of man, the account of acts by which God created and - saved the world—it is that or it is nothing. We see then at - once that in religion everything is not religious. There is in - every religion a multitude of elements, historical, physical, - and metaphysical, as to which its dogmas may come into conflict - with science. Nevertheless, it is not of this antagonism that I - would here speak. The religious sentiment has also its critical - action; <i>it</i> also may enter into a struggle with religion. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">{256}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - "As long as the authority of the priest or of the book - preserves its prestige, the believer receives his religion - ready made for him, without himself making distinctions; but as - soon as that authority is shaken, a man, if he do not entirely - reject his first belief, will at least no longer accept it - without reservations. He only retains so much of it as - enlightens or touches him, so much as commends itself to his - understanding or to his heart; so much, in a word, as gives a - satisfaction to his religious requirements. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "Thus it is that religious sentiment becomes the measure of - religious truth. It receives all in religion that addresses - itself to the soul, all that nourishes and fortifies the soul, - all that raises the soul to the infinite and the ideal, all - that unites the soul to God. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">{257}</a></span> - Religious sentiment appropriates it all, but it appropriates - nothing more. Let but a thing become indifferent, and it feels - it as an importunity, and looks upon it in the light of an - element strange, useless, arbitrary. It rejects, for this - reason, doctrines purely speculative as well as facts purely - marvelous. Man requires his religion to be entirely religious; - that is to say, to be in all respects in direct relation with - piety, and, so to speak, to be vertical to his conscience. The - more his faith purifies itself, the more a man eliminates from - his religion dogmas which, having no root either in the divine - nature or man's nature, appear on that very account to have no - ground to exist at all. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "At first sight this gradual emancipation of faith and this - corresponding progress of religion in the ways of Spiritualism, - seem a natural process by means of which religious opinion and - the human mind contrive to maintain themselves in a state of - constant equilibrium. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">{258}</a></span> - We imagine all difficulties removed, and fancy that we catch a - glimpse of the religious future of humanity in a sort of - Christian Rationalism, a rational Christianity not excluding - fervor of devotion, but leaving all its liberty to man's - thought. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "I demand nothing better as far as I am concerned; but I cannot - refrain from asking, not without anxiety, whether Christian - Rationalism is really a religion. What remains in the crucible - after the operation just detailed? Is the residue really the - essence of the positive dogmas, or is it but a <i>caput - mortuum?</i> When Christianity is rendered translucent to man's - mind, conformable to man's reason and man's moral appreciation - of things, does it still possess any great virtue? Does it not - very much resemble Deism, and is it not equally lean and - sterile? Does not the potent influence of religious belief - reside in its dogmatic formulas and marvelous legends just as - much as in anything more essentially religious that it - possesses? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">{259}</a></span> - Is there not even somewhat of superstition in genuine piety, - and is it possible for piety to dispense with that popular - system of metaphysics, that attractive mythology, which men - strive to eliminate from it? Do not the elements which you - pretend to abstract from religion constitute the alloy, without - which the precious metal becomes unsuitable for the rough - usages of life? In short, when criticism shall have succeeded - in overthrowing the supernatural as useless, and dogmas as - irrational; when the religious sentiment on the one side, and a - scrupulous reason on the other, shall have penetrated man's - belief, assimilated and transformed it; when no other authority - shall remain standing, save that of the personal conscience of - each individual; when, in a word, man having torn every vail - and penetrated every mystery, shall behold that God face to - face to whom he aspires, will it not be discovered that that - God is, after all, nothing else than man himself, the - conscience and the reason of humanity personified? Will not - religion, in the very attempt to become more religious, have - ceased to exist?" -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">{260}</a></span> -<p> -Such, according to the views of its most eminent representatives, -are the potent influences and the final results of Rationalism. -After having confusedly attributed to it all the progress of -man's thought and of man's civilization, Mr. Lecky expresses the -apprehension that he has lowered the nature of man, by depriving -him (these are his very words) "of our noblest quality, of the -divine spark, the principle in us of everything that is heroic," -the complete and pure devotedness of Christian faith. M. Scherer -asks himself sadly if in rejecting all dogma and all positive -revelation, in obliging religious sentiment to be self-sufficing, -and to feed itself with its own and single virtue, rational -criticism does not inflict a deadly blow upon religion itself; -and M. Sainte-Beuve, in the same perplexity, contents himself -with saying, as resignedly, though more coldly, "The heart has -its reasons, which the reason comprehends not." -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">{261}</a></span> -<p> -Nothing is so affecting to me, but nothing, at the same time, -throws such light upon the subject of my meditations as this -involuntary, this invincible anxiety observable in men of lofty -sentiments and profound convictions, when confronting the chasms -in their system, and dealing with the incoherences of their own -convictions. However profound, however different my own -conviction may be, I have no desire to engage, either with them -or against them, in any direct or prolonged controversy. I have -been engaged all my life in frequent and ardent polemics. Those -could not be well avoided by a man like myself, forced not merely -to combat human opinions, but to grapple with human affairs; and -called upon to resolve, upon the instant, practical and urgent -questions. But while I voluntarily submitted to the necessity of -precipitate and unforeseen struggles, experience has taught me -their inconveniences and their perils. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">{262}</a></span> -The combatants on each side are prone to make use of weapons of -too offensive a nature; men involve themselves for party -interests and party honor, and push their conclusions with -obstinate pertinacity beyond the strictness of truth, sometimes -even beyond their own intentions. I do not wish in the arena of -philosophy to run the risk of striking upon any similar rock; but -avoiding all personal polemics, all controversy of detail, I will -express upon the essence of Rationalism, although only in a -general manner, my sincere and intimate convictions. -</p> -<p> -There are in Rationalism two fundamental errors. First, it -mutilates man while it studies him; it holds as of no account -several of the constituent elements and essential facts of human -nature, of which it ignores the meaning and the import. Secondly, -Rationalism extends the pretensions of human science beyond its -rights, and beyond its legitimate limits. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">{263}</a></span> -<p> -The instincts, the sentiments, of humanity are certainly not -sufficient reasons for scientific conviction, nor conclusive -proofs in support of any particular system whatever. The -instinctive belief of the human race in one or more supernatural -forces is no demonstration of the reality of the supernatural; -and the aspirings of man's soul for a life beyond this -terrestrial one does not rationally prove the soul's immortality. -Error may occur in human instincts or sentiments just as much as -in human ideas. But when these instincts and these sentiments are -universal, permanent, indestructible, encountered in all ages and -in all countries—when they resist and survive all attacks, all -doubts of reason or science—they are, beyond all question, -considerable facts, and facts which the human understanding -cannot but recognize and respect. If these instincts and -sentiments do not solve the problems which trouble man's -understanding, at least they demand imperiously some solution; if -they throw no light upon his road to science, they oblige him to -see that that road has its mysteries. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">{264}</a></span> -Rationalism mutilates humanity when it ignores such facts, -regarding them as vain illusions because it cannot explain them; -and when, after this mutilation, it assigns the entire empire to -a single portion of the human nature, to a single faculty, called -by it reason, as if reason constituted the entire man, -Rationalism does in the intellectual world what it would be doing -in the physical world did it deny the reality of night because it -only sees the day clearly. -</p> -<p> -Rationalism is the more wrong in thus discarding facts which it -does not explain, that in its proper domain similar facts occur, -and that its science of reason arrives also finally at mysteries. -I mentioned it before, as a truth acquired to philosophy, that -there exist in the human mind certain universal and necessary -principles, neither furnished to the mind by impressions derived -from the external world, nor created by the mind itself; and that -those principles are inherent in the nature of the mind, and come -to it from another source than that of sensation, or any -discovery of man's own thought. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">{265}</a></span> -We have here a psychological fact which, after the profound -studies of the spiritualistic school from the time of Plato down -to M. Cousin, Rationalism is obliged to admit. To what does this -fact tend, and what is its logical consequence? What but God, -creation, revelation, and the relations of God with man? Will -Rationalism give any better explanation of these divine laws of -the human mind than it has given of the instincts and of the -sentiments of the human heart? or will it ignore the one result -as it has ignored the other? -</p> -<p> -But now to touch upon the radical and permanent error of -Rationalism. It regards all things as accessible to the -researches and to the methods of human science. When Spiritualism -has recognized and proclaimed the essential and necessary facts -which constitute the intellectual and moral being by it styled -man, it halts abruptly; it hesitates also to recognize and -proclaim the mysterious facts in that sanctuary the very door of -which it has reached; it does not resign itself to adore what -lies behind the vail; it is inconsequent and timid, although -respectful and modest. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">{266}</a></span> -Rationalism, on the contrary, is presumptuous and audacious; its -ambition is to see clearly, to touch what is in the center of the -sanctuary, as it sees and touches what is on its outside. Its -pretension is that it may study and know, by its ordinary -processes, as well the invisible world, its Sovereign and its -laws, as the visible world in which man is now placed; and it -wars upon Christianity because Christianity admits no such -pretension. But Christianity here encounters another adversary, -Positivism. Positivism arrests its progress, saying: "I do not -know, nobody knows, if an invisible world be or be not a really -existing thing. It is a mere loss of time to think of it, for -nothing can be known about it with certainty. All religion, all -metaphysics, are chimerical and vain sciences; there is no -science but the science of the physical world, of its facts and -of its laws!" -</p> -<hr> -<br> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267">{267}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Fourth Meditation. -<br><br> - Positivism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -I seek no quarrel with words, even when they provoke it. -Positivism is a word, in language a barbarism, in philosophy a -presumption. Unlike Geology, Ideology, Theology, Physics, it -qualifies a doctrine, not by its object, but by its supposed -merit. All science pretends to positiveness—that is, to be -founded upon fact and truth. But "Positivism" alone arrogates to -itself this quality. It is an arrogance, in my opinion, radically -unjustifiable. -</p> -<p> -I knew its founder, M. Auguste Comte, personally. I had some -communication with him in the period from 1824 to 1830. I then -was struck by the elevation of his sentiments and by the vigor of -his mind. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268">{268}</a></span> -In October, 1832, at the moment when I was entering upon my -functions as Minister of Public Instruction, he came to me and -formally demanded that I should create for him in the "College of -France" a professorship of general history for the physical and -mathematical sciences. I see no cause to express myself here -otherwise than I have already done in my "Memoirs" as to the -impression produced upon me by his conversation and his personal -bearing. "He explained to me drearily and confusedly his views -upon man, society, civilization, religion, philosophy, history. -He was a man single-minded, honest, of profound convictions, -devoted to his own ideas, in appearance modest, although at heart -prodigiously vain; he sincerely believed that it was his calling -to open a new era for the mind of man and for human society. -While listening to him, I could hardly refrain from expressing my -astonishment that a mind so vigorous should at the same time be -so narrow as not even to perceive the nature and bearing of the -facts with which he was dealing, and the questions which he was -authoritatively deciding; that a character so disinterested -should not be warned by his own proper sentiments—which were -moral in spite of his system—of its falsity and its negation of -morality. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269">{269}</a></span> -I did not even make any attempt at discussion with M. Comte: his -sincerity, his enthusiasm, and the delusion that blinded him, -inspired me with that sad esteem that takes refuge in silence. -Had I even judged it fitting to create the chair which he -demanded, I should not for a moment have dreamed of assigning it -to him." [Footnote 44] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 44: "Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire de mon - temps," t. iii, pp. 125-7. In the sixth volume of these - Mémoires I have rectified an error inadvertently committed by - me as to the epoch of my first relations with M. Auguste - Comte.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270">{270}</a></span> -<p> -I should have been as silent and still more sad if I had then -known the trials through which M. Auguste Comte had already -passed. He had been, in 1823, a prey to a violent attack of -mental alienation, and in 1827, during a paroxysm of gloomy -melancholy, he had thrown himself from the Pont des Arts into the -Seine, but had been rescued by one of the king's guard. More than -once, in the course of his subsequent life, this mental trouble -seemed upon the point of recurring. -</p> -<p> -Many will be tempted to demand how a man so little master of -himself, and whose mind was under so little government, could -ever have succeeded in producing a doctrine so considerable, and -in exercising such real influence upon the philosophical world. -The fact is nevertheless beyond question. Whether the cause is to -be referred to the merit of M. Comte and of his doctrine, or to -the state of men's minds at the time, it is certain that not only -in France but in Europe, and particularly in England, numerous -and honorable disciples came over to his ideas, and that -Positivism became a school wanting neither in sincerity nor -credit. When such men as M. Littré, at Paris, and Mr. J. Stuart -Mill, in London, declare themselves his adherents, the doctrine -has claims to a serious examination. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271">{271}</a></span> -<p> -M. Auguste Comte lived constantly, as far as he was individually -concerned, under the empire of a fixed idea, which occasioned him -many a painful disappointment; and he lived, as far as his system -was concerned, under the empire of a false idea, which associated -with views just in themselves and sometimes grand, one pervading -and permanent error. -</p> -<p> -His fixed personal idea consisted in his thinking himself called -to regenerate human science and human society by the single -virtue of his doctrine. Besides their share in the -presumptuousness which is the common character of mankind, minds -that are inventive and fond of systematizing are particularly -prone to extend beyond their legitimate bearings—nay, beyond all -bounds—the pretensions and the hopes which their ideas suggest. -M. Auguste Comte was one of the most striking instances, as well -as one of the most honest victims, of this intellectual -intoxication—the noblest although not the least fantastic form -of human pride. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272">{272}</a></span> -The Christian religion has its apostles and it has its -missionaries, speaking in the name of a Master other than -themselves, and preaching a faith they did not themselves -originate. M. Auguste Comte was his own proper apostle—the -inventor and missionary of his own proper faith. Of profound -convictions, with no selfish, worldly views, he aspired to the -entire empire of the intellect, believing both the interests of -social order and the honor of the human mind involved in the -triumph of his doctrine; he ardently desired not only its -propagation, but its organization as a permanent and potent -institution, to insure and perpetuate his triumph. The real and -practical government of nations, according to him, was only, as -it ought to be only, a sort of stewardship, charged with the duty -of realizing and carrying into effect the ideas of thinking men. -"The systematic separation of the two elementary forces, the -Spiritual and the Temporal," so he wrote to Mr. J. Stuart Mill, -"constitutes certainly the principal condition for a -<i>denouement</i> of the actual situation. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273">{273}</a></span> -I admit that the special requirements of a situation where those -two forces are confounded may authorize, and sometimes oblige, -philosophers, in the interest of a final regeneration, to -participate, by way of exception, in actual political life, -although an inclination for such a life exposes them to the -danger of many a quicksand, and demands that their principles -should be firmly settled, to avoid the risk of a real deviation. -To embody my thought upon this subject in a palpable example -relative to a great occurrence, I blame the philosopher Condorcet -for having suffered himself to be returned as member to our -glorious Convention, in which men of action were leaders, and -properly so, whereas Condorcet could never be so placed as to -regard things from the same point of view; hence that false -position for which in the sequel he had so cruelly to suffer. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274">{274}</a></span> -But on the contrary, I should have regarded it as very natural -for him to develop a great activity in the club of the Jacobins; -for, placed beyond the sphere of the government, properly so -called, that club constituted at that time a sort of spiritual -power, in that remarkable and so little comprehended combination -of things which characterized the revolutionary régime. … I -have learned with much satisfaction," he added, still addressing -Mr. Mill, "that the wise energy of your resistance has succeeded -in triumphing over the blind persistence of your friends who urge -you toward a parliamentary career. I shall propose in my last -volume, and in direct terms, the institution, by individual -efforts, of an European committee, charged permanently with the -direction of a common movement of philosophical regeneration, -when once Positivism shall have planted its standard—that is, -its lighthouse, I should term it—in the midst of the disorder -and confusion that reigns; and I hope that this will be the -result of the publication of my work in its complete state." -[Footnote 45] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 45: Letters of the 20th November, 1841, and 4th - March, 1842, published in the work of M. Littré, entitled, - "Auguste Comte and the Positive Philosophy," pp. 424, 425, - 427, 429.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275">{275}</a></span> -<p> -One can scarcely refrain from a smile when he contemplates these -dreams reduced to the form of system, ignoring every sentiment of -reality, and expounded with the confidence of fanaticism in the -name of a science called Positive. Here it is that we find the -fixed and dominant idea that pervaded and compromised the whole -life of M. Auguste Comte. Whoever did not accept his doctrine and -his system, was for him either a retrogradist full of prejudice, -or an ignoramus without scientific education, or an interested -and jealous enemy. Whoever, on the other hand, lent himself to -his views on any point, or for any time, however short, became in -the eyes of M. Comte his conquest and his property, his -philosophical serf, as it were, bound to his master by the tenure -of duty, and the render of services from which he could never -hope to enfranchise himself, without the risk of being treated -upon the instant as a deserter or a rebel, and of seeing at once -broken the closest and most approved bonds of intimacy and -friendship. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276">{276}</a></span> -He had so entire a confidence in his own intellectual -superiority, and in the rights which it conferred, that he -expressed it sometimes with a <i>näiveté</i> amounting almost to -idolatry. One day, believing that he had won over to his ideas M. -Armand Marrast, then the editor of the <i>National</i>, he wrote -thus to his wife: "Marrast no longer feels any repugnance in -admitting the indispensable fact of my intellectual superiority; -he is in this respect, in my opinion, especially influenced by -Mill, whom he holds, and with reason, in high account. To speak -plainly and in general terms, I believe that, at the point at -which I have now arrived, I have no occasion to do more than to -continue to exist; the kind of preponderance which I covet -cannot, henceforth, fail to devolve upon me." [Footnote 46] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 46: Letter of the 3d December, 1842: "Auguste Comte - et la philosophic positive;" p. 324.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277">{277}</a></span> -<p> -Shortly after the date of this letter, M. Comte was separated -from his wife and embroiled with Mr. Mill himself, who had not, -as the former fancied, fulfilled toward him all the duties of an -accepted and loyal disciple. -</p> -<p> -I pass from the fixed idea of the man to the false idea of his -system; it appears over and over again at each step in the "Cours -de philosophie positive" of M. Auguste Comte, [Footnote 47] and -in the imposing biography consecrated to his memory by his most -accomplished disciple, M. Littré. [Footnote 48] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 47: Six volumes 8vo., published in the interval - from 1830 to 1842 inclusive.] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 48: Auguste Comte et la philosophic positive. 8vo. - 1863.] -</p> -<p> -I extract from different parts of these volumes the passages in -which the fundamental doctrine is most clearly expressed: -<p class="cite"> - "Positive philosophy is the whole body of human knowledge. - Human knowledge is the result of the study of the forces - belonging to matter, and of the conditions or laws governing - those forces." [Footnote 49] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 49: Ibid., p. 42.] -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "The fundamental character of positive philosophy is, that it - regards all phenomena as subjected to invariable natural laws, - and considers as absolutely inaccessible to us, and as having - no sense for us, every inquiry into what is termed either - primary or final causes." [Footnote 50] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 50: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, p. 14.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278">{278}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - "The scientific path, in which I have, ever since I began to - think, continued to walk, the labors that I obstinately pursue - to elevate social theories to the rank of physical science are - evidently, radically, and absolutely opposed to everything that - has a religious or metaphysical tendency." [Footnote 51] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 51: Auguste Comte et la philosophic positive, by M. - Littré, p. 194.] -<p class="cite"> - "My positive philosophy is incompatible with every theological - or metaphysical philosophy, and consequently equally so with - every corresponding system of policy." [Footnote 52] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 52: Ibid., p. 210.] -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "M. Comte," says M. Littré, "made it a duty to speak in public - without any reticence, to deduce his positive truths, and to - confront them with the conceptions of Theology and of - Metaphysics. . . . 'Religiosity' is in his eyes not only a - weakness, but an avowal of want of power." [Footnote 53] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 53: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - pp. 198-255.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279">{279}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - "The 'positive state' is that state of the mind in which it - conceives that phenomena are governed by constant laws, from - which prayer and adoration can demand nothing, but to which - intelligence and science may address their demands; so that, by - familiarizing himself with those laws more and more, and by - conforming to them more and more, man acquires an ever-growing - empire over nature and over himself, which empire is the sum of - all civilization. The 'theological state,' on the contrary, is - that state of the mind which conceives that phenomena are the - results of volition, or, if the social development has arrived - at Monotheism, that they are the results of a single, all-wise, - and all-powerful will. This providence, essentially collective - where Polytheism is supposed, essentially single in the case of - Monotheism, governs the world, dispenses its good and its evil, - lays its finger upon human events, and regards the destiny of - each individual man. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280">{280}</a></span> - Such is the contrast between the two doctrines. … Profiting - by the instruction of the illustrious De Maistre, our French - priests at last comprehended that ultramontanism was the only - logical consequence deducible from their essential principles. - The more the positive school defines the real character of its - progress, the more must we see this retrograde concentration - also develop itself; which will involve at some later epoch - Deists themselves, as Positivism proceeds to gain complete - ascendancy; an ascendancy, in other respects, far more likely - to be furthered than retarded by such coordination of its - adversaries, for this will tend to give at last to the - struggles of philosophy a decisive character; but the - Positivists will alone succeed in prevailing (at least as far - as speculative doctrines are concerned) over the coalition of - all the philosophical forces of the ancient school, whether - metaphysical or theological." [Footnote 54] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 54: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - pp. 370, 434. ] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281">{281}</a></span> -<p> -M. Comte had even more aversion for Metaphysics than for -Theology. He took particular offense at the contemporary -spiritualistic school, and the scientific psychology of MM. -Royer, Collard, Maine de Biran, Cousin, and Jouffroy. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "In no view," said he, "is there any room for this illusory - psychology; this final transformation of a theology, which men - strive, nowadays, so idly to reanimate; for—without troubling - itself either with the physiological study of our intellectual - organs, or with the observation of those rational processes, - which in effect direct our different scientific - researches—Psychology pretends to arrive at the discovery of - the fundamental laws of the human mind by contemplating that - very mind—that is to say, by making complete abstraction both - of causes and of effects." [Footnote 55] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 55: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, p. 34.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282">{282}</a></span> -<p> -Even while absolutely rejecting Theology, M. Comte treated it -with more esteem than Metaphysics. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "We are," he said, "too disposed, nowadays, to ignore the - immense benefits due to religious influence. The positive - philosophy, however paradoxical it may be to claim for it such - a peculiarity, is virtually the only philosophy capable of - worthily appreciating all the participation of the spirit of - religion in the whole grand development of humanity. Is it not - directly evident that, as by an invincible organic necessity, - moral efforts have almost always to combat to some degree or - other the most energetic impulses of our nature; the - theological spirit was imperatively called upon to furnish to - social discipline that general basis which was quite - indispensable at a time when human foresight, whether of men in - masses or of men as individuals, was certainly far too limited - to offer any sufficient <i>point d'appui</i> to influences - purely rational?" -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283">{283}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - … "When the positive philosophy shall have acquired that - character of universality which it is still without, it will be - capable of replacing entirely, with all its native superiority, - that theological philosophy and that metaphysical philosophy of - which this universality is in these days the sole real - peculiarity, and which, deprived of this motive for preference, - will have for our successors nothing but an historical - existence." [Footnote 56] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 56: Cours de philosophic positive, by M. Comte, - vol. v, p. 73; vol. i, p. 23.] -</p> -<p> -I do not pause to notice in how many respects this language is -superficial, confused, and incoherent. I only draw attention to -the fundamental idea which it manifests—matter, the forces of -matter, and its laws; these are the sole objects of human -knowledge, the sole domain of the human mind. Aware of, and -embarrassed by the objections which the idea has from the -beginning of time excited, M. Littré has striven to rid himself -of them by an admission, sincere no doubt, like everything that -he thinks, and everything that he says, but full in its turn of -confusion and incoherence. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284">{284}</a></span> -<p class="cite"> - "The positive philosophy," says he, "is at once a system which - comprehends all that is known of the world of man and of - society, and also a general method, containing in itself all - the ways by which men have come to learn all these things. What - is beyond, whether, materially speaking, that space without - limit, or intellectually that concatenation of never-ending - causes, all this is absolutely inaccessible to the human mind. - By inaccessible is not meant null or non-existent. Immensity in - matter, as in intellect, is connected by a close band with what - we know, and it is only by such an alliance that it becomes an - idea positive in itself, and of the same order; what I mean is, - that by so touching and bordering what we know, immensity - appears under the double character of reality and of - inaccessibility. It is an ocean which dashes upon our shores, - and for which we have nor bark nor sail, but the clear vision - of which is as salutary as it is formidable." [Footnote 57] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 57: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - p. 519.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285">{285}</a></span> -<p> -The vision so admitted by M. Littré is not clear, and neither is -it salutary; but vague, and without result. The imagery does not -destroy the system which it seeks to vail from us. Every -religious belief, every spiritual doctrine, God and the human -soul, are discarded by Positivism, and treated as arbitrary and -transitory hypotheses, which, however they may have conduced to -the development of humanity, ought now to be rejected by human -reason, just as the foot may throw down the ladder which has -enabled it to mount to the summit. To call things by their proper -names, Positivism is Materialism and Atheism, with more or less -explicitness, confidently or hesitatingly, accepted as the last -term of human science, and when hard pressed, taking refuge in -the darkness of skepticism. -</p> -<p> -What are the foundations upon which Positivism rests? What facts, -what proofs, does M. Auguste Comte adduce in support of his -principles, that matter, its forces, and its laws, constitute the -sole object of human knowledge, the sole domain of the human -mind? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286">{286}</a></span> -<p> -He appeals to two arguments—the one metaphysical, the other -historical; the one derived from the mind of man itself, the -other from the history of humanity. -</p> -<p> -I cannot here follow M. Comte in his long and complex explanation -of the two orders of proofs to which he appeals in support of his -system; what I shall say will, I think, suffice to demonstrate -that neither can stand any serious examination. -</p> -<p> -As a metaphysician—for metaphysician he must permit himself to -be called, since he makes use of metaphysics, whatever his -antipathy for philosophers who bear that name;—as -metaphysician, I repeat, M. Auguste Comte belongs to the -sensualistic school, He thinks with Locke and Condillac, that man -deduces all his ideas and all his knowledge from impressions -received by him from the outer world, and from the reflections -which he makes upon those impressions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287">{287}</a></span> -He takes, therefore, as his starting point, the maxim of that -school which proclaims that "there is nothing in the intelligence -which has not first been in the sense." Nevertheless, whether by -an act of proper and remarkable sagacity, or struck by the reply -of Leibnitz, "unless the intelligence itself," he admits that -sensation does not account for all that passes and develops -itself in the mind of the observer of the external world. "If," -he says, "on the one side every positive theory must necessarily -be founded upon observation, it is, on the other side, equally -plain that to apply itself to the task of observation, our mind -has need of some 'theory.' If, in contemplating the phenomena, we -do not immediately attach them to certain principles, not only -would it be impossible for us to combine these isolated -observations, so as to draw any fruit therefrom; but we should be -entirely incapable of retaining them, and in most cases the facts -would remain before our eyes unnoticed. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288">{288}</a></span> -The need at all times of some 'theory' whereby to associate -facts, combined with the evident impossibility of the human mind -at its origin forming 'theories' out of observations, is a fact -which it is impossible to ignore." [Footnote 58] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 58: Cours de philosophic positive, par M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i. p. 8.] -</p> -<p> -This fact, thus proved by M. Comte himself; this necessary part -of the human mind, indispensable to enable it to acquire -knowledge of the external world; this "theory," anterior to all -observation, which man requires for the purpose himself of -observing, what are they else than those universal and necessary -principles proclaimed by the spiritualistic school, and to which -I recently referred?—principles inherent in the human mind, -which it applies as from its own stores in taking cognizance of -the external world, and by virtue of which, just as one mounts a -river up to its source, man mounts and mounts up to God, and up -to the relations of man with God. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289">{289}</a></span> -<p> -But, admitting the same fact, M. Comte does not explain it in -this way. This "theory;" these principles anterior to external -observation, and which the mind absolutely requires in order to -be able to observe, are, according to him, pure inventions of the -human mind itself, temporary instruments which the mind creates -and employs in its labors until it can obtain better. "Between," -says he, "two difficulties, pressed on the one hand by the -necessity of observing in order to form 'theories,' and on the -other by the no less imperious necessity of creating 'theories' -in order to be able to deliver itself up to a series of coherent -observations, the human mind at its birth would find itself shut -in by a vicious circle from which it would never have had any -means of escaping, had it not succeeded in opening a natural -issue by the spontaneous development of theological conceptions, -which presented a point to which his efforts might be -concentrated, and which might furnish aliment for his activity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290">{290}</a></span> -It is, in effect, very remarkable, that questions the most -radically inaccessible to our capacities, the intimate nature of -being, the origin and the end of all phenomena, should be -precisely those which the intelligence propounds to itself, as of -paramount importance in that primitive condition, all the other -problems really admitting of solution being almost regarded as -unworthy of serious meditation. The reason of this it is not -difficult to discover, for experience alone could have given us -the measure of our strength; and if man had not begun by -entertaining an exaggerated opinion of that strength, it would -never have been capable of acquiring all the development of which -it is susceptible. So much does our organization exact." -[Footnote 59] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 59: Cours de philosophie positive, par M. Auguste - Comte, vol. i, pp. 9, 10.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291">{291}</a></span> -<p> -Strange error of a man, whose supreme pretension it is to found -all human knowledge upon the observation of facts! At his very -first step, at the first difficulty which he encounters, M. Comte -observes inexactly and incompletely, does not see in the facts -all that the facts contain, and only explains them by assigning -to the human mind, in its primitive and spontaneous operations, a -hypothesis, the hypothesis of "theological conceptions." God, and -man's relations with God, is a human invention, destined to -support man at the commencement of his career as an intelligent -being, and to occupy provisionally the place of science! -</p> -<p> -The source of this misapprehension, the capital error of -Positivism in its metaphysical argument, is, that it ignores the -nature and the limits of science. -</p> -<p> -The famous "enthymême" of Descartes, "I think, therefore I am," -is a pleonasm. As soon as the human being says to itself "I," the -human being affirms its own existence, and distinguishes itself -from that external world whence it derives impressions of which -it is not the author. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292">{292}</a></span> -In this primary fact are revealed the two primary objects of -human knowledge: on the one side the human being himself, the -individual person that feels and perceives, that feels himself -and perceives himself; on the other side, the external world that -is felt and perceived: the subject and the object, (the -<i>moi</i> and the <i>non-moi</i>.) Such is the twofold field, at -the beginning of his intellectual existence, opened to the -knowing faculty of man. -</p> -<p> -In each of these fields, whether the human being makes himself or -whether he makes the external world the object of his -contemplation, he proceeds by the same method; he considers -particular facts, classes these under more general facts which -serve as their summary, and recognizes laws that govern them, -these laws being themselves facts. When this method of -observation and of generalization is applied to the outer world, -understanding by that world the human body also, it gives birth -to the sciences of physics and of physiology. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293">{293}</a></span> -When such method is applied to the human being, regarded as -distinct from the body in which he lives and by which he acts, it -gives birth to the science of psychology, logic, and morals. It -is not here my intention to propose a classification of the -sciences, but only to determine the domain of science properly so -called—that is to say, the field in which the human mind by -observation gets directly at facts and at the laws of facts. -</p> -<p> -Philosophers, in their study of man and of the world, do not -sufficiently consult language, the general language, the common -language, that instinctive expression of the activity of the -human mind. I interrogate our native language upon the question -which now occupies me, and I find it reflecting the greatest -light. It has, to express the results of the intellectual process -which takes place in man, when regarded as the spectator of the -universe and of himself, many different words: "connaître," -"savoir," "croire," "connaissance," "science," "croyance," "foi." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294">{294}</a></span> -These are not mere different names to express the same idea and -the same fact, they are signs of different facts and of diverse -states of the human soul. If we interrogate the languages of -civilized nations, ancient or modern, we find in all of them, -with more or less abundance, precision or subtlety, a similar -variety of terms corresponding to a similar diversity of facts. -</p> -<p> -Talleyrand said once in the chamber of Peers, "There is somebody -who has more intellect than Napoleon, more intellect than -Voltaire; that somebody is the Public." I also say, there is a -more profound observer than Bacon, a greater philosopher than -Kant; it is mankind. Mankind is right when it distinguishes in -its languages knowledge from science and from belief, science -from belief and from faith. Bossuet wrote a book entitled "De la -Connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même;" the idea would never have -occurred to him of entitling it "De la science de Dieu et de -soi-même;" it would have shocked his good sense as much as his -piety. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295">{295}</a></span> -The child believes the smile and the speech of its mother; in its -belief there is certainly no scientific appreciation (no science) -of the relations which unite it to its mother, and of the reasons -which make it believe in her. Knowledge, science, belief, and -faith, are facts essentially distinct, although all equally -natural to the human soul; and it is impossible to confound them, -to take one for the other, to annul one in favor of the other, or -to attempt to reduce them to one term, without ignoring -realities, and falling into enormous errors. -</p> -<p> -Such has been the constant error of M. Auguste Comte, and such is -the radical vice of Positivism. M. Comte ignores the natural and -permanent diversity in the intellectual states through which a -man may pass in his ardent pursuit of truth. He refuses here to -recognize any state as legitimate and definitive except the -scientific state. He regards intuitive knowledge and instinctive -belief as preparatory and transitory states, states without any -rational authority; as, in short, simple steps on the way to that -scientific state which alone sets man in possession of the truth. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296">{296}</a></span> -Positivism is thus led to extend the pretensions of science -beyond its proper domain, that is, beyond the finite world, its -facts and its laws; and as science finds itself incapable of -observing and of defining infinity, Positivism is, perforce, -reduced either to deny infinity, or to declare infinity -absolutely inaccessible to the human mind, and so to pass it over -in silence. -</p> -<p> -This negation discovers another immense error of the school and -of its chief. Convinced, and with reason, that the observation of -facts is the natural and constant process of the human -understanding in its labor after knowledge, M. Auguste Comte has -ill understood, and incompletely understood, the results of this -labor. He failed to perceive that it was observation itself, -carried on and accomplished by the process, no less natural and -no less legitimate, of induction, which was revealing to the mind -its peculiar facts and its peculiar laws, as well as the facts -and the laws of the external world, within which that mind is -placed. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297">{297}</a></span> -M. Comte ended by ignoring or denying the elements <i>à -priori</i> of human knowledge; that is to say, the universal and -necessary principles by which man raises himself to God, and has -relations with God. Thus M. Comte mutilates the human mind, -because he fails to observe it and to recognize it in its -entirety. -</p> -<p> -He is impelled by his system to another and still more serious -mutilation of human nature. After having declared matter, its -forces and its laws, to be the single object of human knowledge, -and these laws to be inherent in matter, eternal and invariable, -what is to be said of human liberty? What place is to be assigned -to human liberty in this world, in which it is powerless to -create anything or to change anything, and in which there exists -no power from which it can demand anything or obtain anything? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298">{298}</a></span> -Evidently, in such a system human liberty is a chimera, an idle -luxury of human nature; man, with all his faculties, has nothing -to do but to study matter carefully, its forces and its laws, to -adapt himself to them, and to make the best use he can of them, -with a view to his welfare and to the satisfaction of his -desires. Fatalism is the law of man as of the world within which -he lives! -</p> -<p> -The moral instincts, and the naturally lofty mind of M. Comte -revolted at this consequence, although it flowed imperiously from -his system. The respect which he felt for the method of -observation, and for the facts which it attains to, did not -permit him absolutely to ignore or expressly to deny the -psychological fact of man's liberty. Sometimes he attempts to -find it a place in that sum of external facts and fixed laws -which is, in his opinion, the sole field for man's activity and -for man's science. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299">{299}</a></span> -But such is the want of coherence of idea, that M. Comte is -visibly embarrassed; consequently, in his works—more especially -in his "Cours de philosophie positive,"—the most solid and -consistent of all his writings in its fundamental principles—he -sets almost completely aside the essential fact of human liberty, -and of free will in the individual man; and in those books in -which he treats of social organization, when he finds himself -face to face with the wants and the rights of political liberty, -that natural consequence of individual free will and of the -responsibility attaching to it, he struggles to elude questions -of this kind, feeling the impossibility of reconciling the -principle of moral order with the despotism and the fatalism of -the material world; and when he explains his views as to the -government of human societies, it is easy to see that, although -writing "I am, head and heart Republican," [Footnote 60] he is, -in his dreams, rather substituting a scientific domination for a -theocratic domination than instituting any liberal <i>régime</i>. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 60: Auguste Comte et la phil. pos., by M. Littré, - p. 251.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300">{300}</a></span> -<p> -After metaphysics comes history. M. Comte appeals to the annals -of all nations and all ages in confirmation of his system of the -world and of humanity. This history is to be divided, according -to him, into three successive states, the theological state, the -metaphysical state, and the scientific state. In the theological -state and epoch, the human mind and social institutions are under -the empire of pretended supernatural powers, of several such or -of only one such, invented by man for the solution of the natural -problems which lay siege to man, and for the determination of the -laws, with which the social order cannot dispense. In the -metaphysical epoch and state, vain abstractions essay to replace -the supernatural powers of the theological state, and only end in -an anarchy, both of opinions and society. The third epoch is -destined to be the reign of positive science, founded solely upon -observation and respect for the facts, the forces, and the laws -of that external world which is the theater of man's existence. -The first two states are, according to him, essentially -irrational and transitory. They are the first steps of that which -M. Comte styles the grand evolution of humanity, of which the -<i>régime</i> of science is the end and the summit. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301">{301}</a></span> -<p> -It would be difficult more entirely to deform, difficult to show -greater ignorance of man's general history. That which M. Comte -regards as three successive states in the history of the human -race is only the complex and permanent condition of humanity, -agitated by movements swaying in different directions, according -as it meets with the successes or encounters the reverses, the -hopes, or the fears to which different nations and generations -are subject. That theological conceptions and metaphysical -meditations are only transitory facts, "which," according to the -expression of M. Comte, "will have henceforth only an historical -existence," is an assertion no more true of such facts than of -those that the study of physics supplies. These different -yearnings of the mind, and their different labors, are the very -essence—the indestructible and indivisible essence—of human -nature. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302">{302}</a></span> -At no time and in no country have men more ceased, or will they -more cease, to pray to God, and to strive to comprehend him, than -they will cease to study the physical world, and to make it -subserve their interests. Nations and generations of individuals, -in different ages, have advanced more or less in one or other of -these careers of intellectual activity; and so they will continue -to advance. Religious faith, metaphysical meditation, and -scientific inquiry have their alternations of enthusiasm and of -languor, of glory and of sterility; they appear and they prosper, -sometimes separately, sometimes simultaneously. If India plunged -herself deep among the symbols of mythology and amid the void of -Pantheism, Greece cultivated with like success the metaphysical -and the natural sciences—Aristotle was the contemporary of -Plato. Where other nations fluctuated variously between -theological conceptions, metaphysical abstractions, and -scientific studies, the Hebrew people continued, in the -theological state, Monotheists. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303">{303}</a></span> -In the sixteenth century, when the spirit of free inquiry and of -independence was awakened, and made its influence felt far and -wide, Christian faith, at the same time, was resuscitated and -confirmed; and the eighteenth century founded at once the -political liberty of Protestant England and the philosophical and -literary glory of Catholic France. The human mind has, according -to time and place, its favorite labors and its favorite impulses; -but it subsists always one and entire; it never renounces any one -of its grand hopes or of its grand operations; and those men -strangely mutilate and debase it who represent the mind as -having, during ages, lost itself in the vain effort to attain a -knowledge of God and of its own nature, and who condemn it -henceforth to take up its quarters in the science of matter—of -its forces—of its laws. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304">{304}</a></span> -<p> -Why need I appeal to history for a proof of the simultaneous and -indestructible co-existence of these different conditions of -humanity, among which M. Auguste Comte refuses to admit more than -one as rational and definitive? M. Comte has himself -undertaken—he alone—to furnish me with this proof. This -intractable adversary of all religious belief and tendency could -not, even for the short space of this life, himself remain -indifferent to such belief and tendency; during this brief period -he traversed, and in the inverse order of his own theories, each -of the different intellectual states which he had assigned as the -successive stages of the human race. He had placed the -theological state at the beginning and the scientific state at -the close of the career of humanity; after having made his own -<i>début</i> by the scientific state, it was as impossible for -him, as it is for the human race, to content himself with that, -and he himself ended there, where, according to him, mankind had -commenced, namely, with the theological state. He had declared -his positive philosophy to be "in radical and absolute -contradiction to every kind of religious or metaphysical -tendency." -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305">{305}</a></span> -He had separated with <i>éclat</i> from the Saint-Simonians, "for -they will soon," he said, "sink themselves in ridicule and -contempt. Only imagine, their heads are turned to such a degree, -that they propose nothing less than the establishment of a real, -new religion, a sort of incarnation of the divinity in the person -of Saint-Simon." [Footnote 61] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 61: Letter of the 9th December, 1828, to M. Gustave - d'Eichthal. Auguste Comte et la philosophie positive, by M. - Littré, p. 173.] -</p> -<p> -And some years after holding this language, and while still in -the plenitude of bodily vigor and thought, M. Comte in his turn -launched into a theological career; he took it upon him to -transform Positivism into a religion. By the most violent of all -personified abstractions, he made out of humanity the great -being, the real being, sovereign and adorable, and he placed that -being in the place of God, declaring himself at the same time to -be his chief priest. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306">{306}</a></span> -He had more than once proclaimed that all religion was -essentially founded upon the supernatural; and yet a religion all -natural—the religion of humanity, the worship of humanity, the -church of humanity, were summoned by him to succeed to the -Christian religion and to the Church of Christ. On the 19th of -October, 1851, when terminating his third philosophical course on -the general histories of humanity, M. Comte summed it up in these -words: "In the name of the past and of the future, the -theoretical servitors and the practical servitors of humanity are -about to assume worthily the direction of the general affairs of -this world, in order to construct, at last, the true providence, -moral, intellectual, and material, at the same time excluding -irrevocably from political supremacy all the different slaves of -God—Catholics, Protestants, or Deists—as being at once in -arrear of the age and its perturbators." The positivist religion -thus proclaimed, a positivist catechism and a positivist -calendar—these last both composed by M. Comte—reduced his -principles to practice. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307">{307}</a></span> -In a series of conversations between "The Priest and the Woman," -the catechism first establishes and explains the dogma, then the -worship, of the new religion, its internal order and its external -order, its private worship and its public worship. And the -calendar, by a retrospective chronology, determines for any given -year of thirteen months, and for the seven days of the week, the -names of the grand servitors in every department of humanity, who -are to replace the Christian saints: three hundred and sixty-four -names, men and women, with one hundred and sixty-five additional -names, are inscribed upon this list, which begins with Moses and -ends with Bichat, passing through Homer, Aristotle, Archimedes, -Cæsar, Saint Paul, Charlemagne, Dante, Gutenburg, Shakspeare, -Descartes, and Frederic the Second! -</p> -<p> -A chaos is a sorry sight; a chaos of the soul a still sorrier -spectacle than a chaos of worlds! Epochs of moral and social -crises, even while they bring on and prepare for mankind eras of -mighty progress, throw also great and potent intellects into -chaos. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308">{308}</a></span> -Under the seduction of a noble ambition, and the delusion of a -partial success, they enthusiastically attach themselves to some -special subject, some incomplete idea; vain of their shallow and -confused systems, or rather of the brilliant coloring in which -they invest them, they pretend to explain and regulate man and -the world, and yet are nothing more than their superficial and -presumptuous observers. Among these "great lost ones of -humanity," (I borrow a phrase of their own,) M. Comte was one of -the most disinterested and the most sincere. The sincerity and -the courage evinced by him in expressing his convictions led him -on from inconsequence to inconsequence; in his benighted course -he caught glimpses occasionally of grand ideas, and of these he -apprehended neither the scope nor the connection: first it was an -idea of a science excluding all idea of religion; and then a -certain idea of a religion reconciled with and intimately united -with the idea of science; turn by turn he gave himself up to the -one and to the other with a blind and a daring devotedness. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309">{309}</a></span> -Had he appeared in Greece at the great era of philosophy, or in -France in the seventeenth century, in the midst of the great -Christian controversy, he would have been taxed with insanity—at -the one epoch, not only by Plato but by Aristotle; at the other, -not only by Bossuet but by Spinoza. In our days he has been more -fortunate: he attached himself passionately to the method of -observation of facts, which is the very character of science, and -although his observations were superficial, inexact, and -incomplete—although he fell into the strangest -inconsistencies—the fundamental principle of his system, and the -coincidence of his primary ideas with the method and the tendency -of the physical sciences, the darling study of our age, have -given him more importance and more influence than were really his -due. -</p> -<br> -<hr> -<br> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310">{310}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Fifth Meditation. -<br><br> - Pantheism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -No two essays at philosophy are more dissimilar—I should indeed -say more contradictory—than Pantheism and Positivism. What -Positivism declares to be impossible, Pantheism seeks to -accomplish; what Positivism forbids man to seek, Pantheism -promises to give him. It is the fundamental principle of -Positivism to confine the human mind to the finite world, its -facts and its laws; Pantheism aspires at a knowledge and a -comprehension of Infinity, and of the relations of the finite -with Infinity. "I have explained God, God's nature and his -attributes," says Spinoza. [Footnote 62] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 62: Ethics, 1st part; of God: Appendix, vol. i, p. - 39. French translation by M. Saisset.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311">{311}</a></span> -<p> -I hasten to explain, in order to prevent misconstruction; it is -to Pantheism, properly so called—to the sole system that merits -the name—that my remarks are here applicable. "We must," says -M. Cousin, "it seems, distinguish two kinds of Pantheism. The -assertion that this visible universe, indefinite or infinite, -suffices to itself, and that there is nothing to be sought for -beyond, is the Pantheism of Diderot, Helvetius, de la Mettrie, -d'Holbach. This Pantheism is clearly Atheism, and it would not be -very easy to comprehend the complacent indulgence that should -spare it that name of Atheism—a name, unfortunately, of ancient -date, which would then have no longer any object to fit it, and -would need to be erased from our dictionary. But is it possible -for a similar Pantheism to be imputed to Spinoza? With the French -Encyclopedists, things exist in particularity and individuals -singly: the universe is an assemblage of individuals—an -assemblage without unity, or of which the sole unity is a -presumed primary matter, which the philosopher admits or which he -does not admit, but with which his thought has no business, to -occupy itself. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312">{312}</a></span> -With Spinoza, on the contrary, the single substance is all, and -the individuals are nothing. This substance is not the nominal -unity of the assemblage of individuals, each of which exists -singly, but is the single really existing substance, and in the -presence of that substance the world and man are but shadows; so -that from the 'Ethics' may be gathered an exaggerated Theism -which leaves no individual existing as such. Rigorously, and at -bottom, there is here perhaps only one and the same system, but a -system, nevertheless, with two very different forms—the one, -where God is nothing but the Universe; the other, where the -Universe exists only in God." [Footnote 63] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 63: Histoire générale de la philosophie, p. 433, - ed. 1863.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313">{313}</a></span> -<p> -I think, with M. Cousin, that, rigorously and at bottom, there is -here but one and the same system, but in appearance, and I say -besides, in the opinion of its authors, the difference is great, -and requires to be noticed. I postpone for the subject -"Materialism," all that I have to say upon the subject of the -so-called Pantheism, which admits no other existence than either -that of the individualities that people the visible universe, or -that of the primary matter whence they have issued. I occupy -myself, at this moment, solely with the idealistic Pantheism. -</p> -<p> -Do we wish to behold a spectacle of how weak the human mind -really is in the midst of all its grandeur, and of the limits -which must finally and abruptly check its progress, however high -its flight, we will read Plotinus, Spinoza, and Hegel, three -martyrs to intellectual ambition, differing very much according -to the difference of the eras and the nations to which they -respectively belong, but similar in this point at least, that -they ignore the visible world, and leave it behind them, to enter -that world which dazzles their sight, where they plunge into a -void in quest of what they call "Being!" -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314">{314}</a></span> -<p> -Two passions have impelled, are impelling, and will, probably, -still occasionally impel men of eminent powers of mind to -Pantheism: the passionate craving for an universal science, and -the passionate longing for universal unity—feelings noble both, -but illegitimate and incapable of satisfaction. -</p> -<p> -"I have resolved," said Spinoza, "to search if there exist a real -Good, a Good capable, singly, of filling the entire soul after it -shall have rejected all the rest—in a word, a Good that gives -the soul, when the soul finds it and possesses it, the eternal -and supreme happiness. … Man is essentially a being that -thinks, and the highest degree of human knowledge ought to be the -highest degree of human felicity. … My sources of enjoyment -consist in the exercise of the reason." [Footnote 64] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 64: Œuvres de Spinoza, French translation of M. - Emile Saisset, vol. i, pp. 15, 16.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315">{315}</a></span> -<p> -What obliviousness of man's nature and of man's life! Man is not -merely a being that thinks, but a being that feels, wills, and -acts, a being moral and responsible for his acts, at the same -time that he is a being of intelligence, and a being insatiate of -knowledge. It is by his thought that he accounts to himself for -his sentiments, and for the motives of his acts, but it is not -from his thought that he derives either his sentiments or his -liberty, neither does knowledge constitute his sole enjoyment. -Spinoza mutilates man strangely when he places "the highest -degree of human felicity in the highest degree of human -knowledge." Man is more exacting than the philosopher, and it -requires infinitely more to satisfy the most modest human soul -than to satisfy the proudest mind. Infinitely more in respect of -happiness, infinitely less in respect of science! Not that I -would make their intellectual ambition a reproach to -philosophers, even when it leads them astray. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316">{316}</a></span> -It is an honor to the human mind that it aspires higher than it -can attain, that it torments itself in the struggle to carry its -science into that invisible world, which it instinctively feels -by anticipation, just as it does into that visible world that it -sees. God granted to man this privilege; he implanted in his soul -the ardent desire to know him and to possess him fully. But at -the same time, God granted to men in general certain instincts -and spontaneous beliefs which adequately satisfy this desire -without the necessity of any profound study. What would have -become of the human race if, in order to believe in God, to hope -in him, and to pray to him, man had been obliged to wait until -philosophers had resolved the problems which still weigh upon -<i>their</i> genius? As God, in creating man free, took care that -the maintenance of the general order in this world should not be -completely abandoned to the disputes of men, so did he provide -for the spiritual nourishment of mankind, without denying to the -great ambitious ones of the earth either the prospect of a -satisfaction more complete, or the right to search for it. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317">{317}</a></span> -<p> -Let us never tire of repeating, this is the mystery of man's -mixed nature—an indication of a destiny in store for him -superior to his actual condition. He carries within him the ideas -of infinity, of perfection, and yet here below he is nothing but -a finite being, imperfect, equally incapable of sufficing to -himself and of satisfying himself, either in the domain of -thought or of actual life. "There are more things in heaven and -upon earth than philosophy—than even the philosophy 'of the -absolute'—can explain. … To comprehend God, it needs to be -God. A child might have said as much to Hegel." These words I -borrow from M. Edmond Scherer's exposition of the doctrine of -Hegel. [Footnote 65] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 65: Melanges d'histoire religieuse, pp. 366, 341. - 1864.] -</p> -<p> -Jesus in effect said, eighteen centuries ago: "I praise thee, -Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, that thou hast hidden these -things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto -babes." -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318">{318}</a></span> -<p> -Pantheists are entirely of the opinion of M. Scherer, for to -enable man to comprehend God, they have found no other expedient -than to make of man himself the God that man is desirous of -comprehending. The passion for an universal science has ended by -receiving no being as God but man. -</p> -<p> -The passion for universal unity has led to the same result. That -truth is one—that is to say, that all truths, whatever their -object, are in harmony with one another—the very word truth -implies and proclaims. From the unity of truth the Pantheists -passed, with a single bound, to the unity of being. They -identified idea and reality, science and existence, confounding -all things in order to reduce them to one single thing, and -abolishing all beings in order to concentrate them all in one and -the same being, which, after all, is nothing more than an -impersonal notion and a barren name, falling in its turn into the -void. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319">{319}</a></span> -<p> -By what path did the Pantheists arrive at this abyss? What was -the process employed by men of eminent powers of mind to -construct a system so singularly factitious and hypothetical, and -yet pretending, at the same time, to be so necessary and so -rigorously philosophical? -</p> -<p> -Like some great men of antiquity, (and their number is -considerable,) who sought to explain nature and the physical -world by incomplete and precipitate hypotheses and systems, -invented irrespectively of either facts or their laws, the -Pantheists by similar means proceeded—nay, are proceeding—to -explain man, the universe, and God; the Infinite and the finite. -The method which for three centuries has constituted the glory of -the natural sciences, and made their progress lasting, the exact -study of facts and their relations; that method so long strange -not only to general philosophy but to the special sciences -themselves—I may at once call it by its proper name, the -scientific method—was formerly, and remains still, strange to -the Pantheists; to Spinoza as to Plotinus, to Hegel as to -Spinoza. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320">{320}</a></span> -Whether Plotinus plunges into an <i>ecstacy</i> to arrive at and -comprehend God in uniting man to God by the virtue of -contemplation; or Spinoza, defining <i>substance</i>, makes it -the principle from which to deduce his theory of the universe and -of its unity; or Hegel, speaking of <i>idea</i> in order to -arrive at the same result as Spinoza, seeks to obtain from his -term <i>substance</i>—it is the same defect that appears in the -labors of all these potent intelligences, not only in their -development, but in the very point from which they start; for -observation of facts and of their laws they substitute the -affirmation and the definition of an axiom, and the deduction, -logical, it is true, of its consequences. They disdain and set -aside all study of the realities of the universe, believing -themselves to be in possession of a key to open its secrets. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321">{321}</a></span> -<p> -They see not that their key is a deception, that at each step -facts evident, indestructible, give the flattest denial to their -inferences, and that to maintain their arbitrary and insufficient -principle they are forced to ignore and to deny other facts, -themselves evident, indestructible. -</p> -<p> -Psychological observation proves and irresistibly establishes -three facts, however the consequences of these facts themselves -may lead to questions and controversies. -</p> -<p> -1. Man believes in his own existence, and in his own personality. -He feels himself and perceives himself to be a being, real and -distinct from every other being. -</p> -<p> -2. Man feels himself and knows himself to be a free agent. Of the -freedom of his resolves, whatever the motives and deliberations -which precede them, man has an intimate and assured -consciousness. -</p> -<p> -3. Good and evil exist in man, and exist in the world; moral good -and evil as well as physical good and evil. Whatever may be -thought of their origin, the mixture and the struggle of good and -of evil, in the moral order and in the physical order, are facts -evident in themselves, and attested by the conscience and by the -experience of the human race. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322">{322}</a></span> -<p> -Pantheism sometimes ignores and omits, sometimes formally denies, -these facts, which psychology attests and proves. There is, -however, a notable difference in this point in the three great -representatives of Pantheism. Thanks to the Platonic school, from -which he sprang, Plotinus, in treating the different questions of -man's liberty and of the reality of good and of evil, soars in an -elevated region where the truth now shines in splendor, now -obscures itself and disappears in the labyrinth in which the -philosopher himself is entangled as soon as he attempts to -explain the one and infinite Being and that Being's relations -with nature and with man. Spinoza is more consequent and plainer. -He formally denies all individuality, all human liberty. -Substance, "<i>the being</i>" is single and universal. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323">{323}</a></span> -All act of man, as every fact of nature, is produced by fated -laws and causes: "Free will is a chimera, flattering to our pride -and in reality founded upon our ignorance. All that I can say to -those who believe that they can, by virtue of any free decision -of the soul, speak or be silent—or, to use a single word, -act—is that they dream with their eyes open." [Footnote 66] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 66: Œuvres de Spinoza, French translation of M. E. - Saisset, vol. i, Introduction, p. clii.] -</p> -<p> -… "Nothing," adds he, "is bad in itself. Good and evil indicate -nothing positive in things considered in themselves, and are -nothing but manners of thinking. Not only has every man the right -to seek his good, his pleasure, but he cannot do otherwise. … -The measure of each man's right is his power. … He who does not -yet know reason, or who, having not as yet contracted the habit -of virtue, lives according to the laws only of his appetites, is -as much in his right as he who regulates his life according to -the laws of reason. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324">{324}</a></span> -In other words, just as the sage has an absolute right to do all -that his reason dictates to him, or to live according to the laws -of his reason, in the same manner has the ignorant man and the -madman a right to everything that his appetite impels him to -take; in other words, the right to live according to the laws of -appetite. … And he is no more obliged to live according to the -laws of good sense than a cat is obliged to live under the laws -that govern the nature of a lion. … Hence we conclude that a -compact has only a value proportioned to its utility; where the -utility disappears the compact disappears too with it, and loses -all its authority. There is, then, folly in pretending to bind a -man forever to his word; unless, at least, man so contrive that -the breach of the compact shall entail for him that violates it -more danger than profit." [Footnote 67] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 67: Œuvres de Spinoza, vol. i, pp. clix, clx.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325">{325}</a></span> -<p> -Hegel is less absolute and less blind. Of a mind large, and from -its greatness naturally just, he escaped at moments the yoke of -his system. Struck by the particular truths, moral, historical, -æsthetic, that offered themselves to his view in the theater of -the universe, he admitted them without very well knowing what -place he should assign to them. "He was," said one of his most -intelligent disciples, "a conciliator in his philosophy. His -philosophy stands midway between Theism and Pantheism; between -historical right, as the expression of actual reason, and the -absolute right to liberty and equality, as the end of universal -history. His system seems to sanction the most profound piety, -and to regard Christianity as the true and absolute religion, at -the very time when it appears also as its negation; just as in -politics it presents itself as at one and the same moment -conservative and progressive, favorable to existing rights and -yet revolutionary." [Footnote 68] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 68: Histoires de la philosophie allemande depuis - Kant jusqu'a Hegel, by S. Willm: a work crowned by the - Institute: vol. iv, p. 337.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326">{326}</a></span> -<p> -"It is impossible," says M. Edmond Scherer, "to read Hegel -without asking ourselves if he, be serious. He falls incessantly -into a style of images and personifications; and one would -suppose one's self, in perusing his writings, to be present at -the formation of a mythology, at the development of a world like -that of the ancient Gnostics, in which notions assumed forms and -marched on, passing through all kinds of adventures." [Footnote -69] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 69: Melanges d'histoire religieuse, pp. 298, 838.] -</p> -<p> -M. Edmond Scherer's is a mind hard to please, which is ever -struck and offended by incoherence of objects, futility of -artificial combinations, and vain play upon words, even where he -recognizes or admires the genius. The philosophical "rout" is not -embarrassed for so slight a cause; it marches straight to the -object toward which the dominant idea, once adopted, gives the -impulse. In spite of its complexities and of its craving for the -reconciliation of religion and of politics, the Pantheism of -Hegel has borne its natural fruits. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327">{327}</a></span> -A school has resulted from it, which, in accordance with its -proper and independent manifestations, a learned and moderate -judge, M. Willm, characterizes in these words: "The new German -philosophy, of which Feuerbach, Bruno Bauer, and Arnold Rüge are -the principal chiefs, comes, in its ultimate results, in contact -with the <i>Humanism</i> of M. Pierre Leroux, the -<i>Positivism</i> of M. Auguste Comte, and the <i>Atheism</i> of -M. Proudhon. It tends to substitute for the ancient worship the -worship of humanity, and to found a new worship dispensing with -God, and with morality properly so called. … There is no such -thing as <i>theology</i> but only <i>anthropology</i>; for the -mind of humanity is the divine mind realized. There is no longer -any other piety than devotedness to the objects of humanity; no -longer any other prayer than the contemplation of the human mind. -… Man accomplishes every reasonable object if he accomplishes -his own peculiar object, and he cannot do better than employ all -his faculties to realize his own objects. <i>Man's will be -done:</i> such is the principle of the new law." [Footnote 70] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 70: Histoire de la philosophie allemande, depuis - Kant jusqu'a Hegel: by S. Willm: vol. iv, pp. 624, 626.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328">{328}</a></span> -<p> -Such is the inevitable result at which Pantheism, even that kind -termed idealistic Pantheism, ultimately arrives, whatever the -elevation of mind and the morality of intent in its first -authors. This is no scientific doctrine, founded upon the -observation of facts and their laws; it is an hypothesis framed -by dint of violent abstractions, verbal commutations and -reasoning, in the blindness of a thought drunk with itself. Under -the breath of Pantheism all beings—real and personal -beings—vanish, and are replaced by an abstraction becoming in -its turn the Being <i>par excellence;</i> the sole being, -although without personality and without volition, swallowing up -all things in a bottomless abyss, which absorbs that being, too, -after it has already absorbed everything that it has sought so to -explain. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329">{329}</a></span> -<p> -Was there ever, in the conceptions of mythology, or in the -mystical dreams of the human imagination, anything so artificial, -anything so vain, as this hypothesis, which at its very -beginning, as well as throughout its entire course, loses sight -of the best attested facts respecting man and the world; and, -shocking equally science and common sense, departs as much from -the method of philosophy as from the spontaneous instincts of -mankind? -</p> -<hr> -<p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330">{330}</a></span> -<p> - <h2>Sixth Meditation. -<br><br> - Materialism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -Materialistic Pantheism is more consistent and more intelligible. -I must at once restore to it its genuine name; it has no right to -that of Pantheism: it sees God neither in the universe nor in -man; the eternal world and ephemeral individuals are, in its -eyes, only combinations and different forms of matter. It is -Materialism in its principle, and Atheism in its consequences. -</p> -<p> -Two things strike me in the actual state of men's minds; the -progress that Materialism is making, and its constant timidity in -that very progress. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331">{331}</a></span> -<p> -The progress of Materialism is evident; progress in the learned -world and in the unlearned world, in the name of the scientific -studies and of popular tendencies. A contemporary spiritualistic -philosopher, as distinguished by intellectual probity as by the -independence and the moderation of his opinions, of whom the Duke -de Broglie, on learning his death, exclaimed, "We have lost a -sage"—M. Damiron I mean—published eight years ago his -"Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la philosophie au 18 -siècle;" he had read it in successive parts to the <i>Académie -des Sciences Morales et Politiques</i>. He said in his preface, -"Men are disposed a second time to have Sensualism; they insist -upon something that they may oppose to and substitute for pure -and simple Spiritualism: be it so; but then let them at least -well understand what it is that they are asking for. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332">{332}</a></span> -It is not merely Locke, the moderate chief of the school, nor is -it d'Alembert, nor Saint-Lambert, nor even Helvetius; these keep -themselves relatively within bounds: it is Diderot who has so -little moderation, it is d'Holbach, it is Naigeon, it is Lalande, -and de la Mettrie; it is a whole order of minds, not very -eminent, but very decided and very consistent and logical in -their materialism; materialists in all and for all, from the soul -up to God—not forgetting, be it remembered, liberty, duty, a -future life, etc. … These men, with their heads in the air and -their masks in their hand, with a confidence in themselves and a -faith almost confounding itself with religion, profess openly as -truth, fatalism, egotism, and atheism. This is what men want, and -what, if they wish to be logical, men must want, when, closely or -remotely, they adhere to a philosophy that reduces everything to -sensation, and that which is the object of sensation. Let there -then be no illusion upon this subject; all the principles of -morals and of religion are at stake. Sensualism <i>is</i> what it -is, and <i>can</i> be nothing else. It was made a complete system -in the eighteenth century; nothing remains in it that can be -either made or remade; and if men recur to it in our days, the -mechanism and the form may be altered—for these are -variable—but not the essential substance, for that is <i>not</i> -so. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333">{333}</a></span> -There are not two manners of being consequent any more in this -system than in any other; however the attempt may be made, men -can never by any reproduction render it what it is not, and what -its nature prevents it from ever being; so we must take it or we -must leave it alone; we cannot change its principles." [Footnote -71] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 71: Memoires pour servir à l'histoire de la - philosophie au 18 siècle, by Ph. Damiron, member of the - Institute; vol. i, p. xiv. 1858.] -</p> -<p> -What M. Damiron eight years ago felt would occur, has been -accomplished rapidly. Sensualism, in its true nature as -Materialism, has resumed its activity and returned to the stage; -now tacitly admitted by sober, studious men, now loudly professed -and loudly proclaimed by the "enfants terribles" of the school; -professed and proclaimed not only with all its principles, but -with all its consequences. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334">{334}</a></span> -<p> -A profound sentiment of hesitation and embarrassment clings, -nevertheless, to the doctrine of Materialism. The most -distinguished of its adepts struggle to give explanations that -look like disavowals, and many repudiate the charge of being -Materialists as if it were an insult. "I have never," says M. de -Remusat, "observed without astonishment the testy sensibility of -philosophers upon this point. Who is there that has not witnessed -the indignation manifested by the followers of the philosophy of -sensation when they hear retraced to them the positive -consequences of this doctrine? It seems just as if their rightful -claims were being disavowed, or as if they were being denounced; -as if the Inquisition were still at hand, with its tortures and -its auto-da-fès; or as if their refuters were sending them to -martyrdom. A general timidity reigns throughout their school; -they seem to think freedom of opinions never sufficiently -assured, and society never tolerant enough, for their philosophy -to declare and avow itself for such as it is. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335">{335}</a></span> -Whether from shame or from fear, Materialism asks to be tenderly -handled, suspects that every one who defines her has the designs -of a persecutor, makes protestations of her good intentions, and -is alarmed at her very faith. She defends herself from the -imputation of believing only in the senses, even while making -sensation the one universal fact. It might be said that she -blushes at matter just as persons infirm of faith blush at the -name of Jesus. Perhaps this may be an indirect proof of the -distrust which their cause inspires in Materialists, and an -involuntary avowal that the human mind belongs not to them." -[Footnote 72] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 72: Essais de philosophie, by Charles de Remusat: - vol. ii, p. 179.] -</p> -<p> -Whence arise, what signify, these two contradictory facts: on the -one side, the perseverance and the facility with which, in our -days, Materialism reproduces and propagates itself; on the other -side, the uneasiness and the timidity which it inspires in many -of those even who admit it? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336">{336}</a></span> -<p> -Materialism is the doctrine of appearances. "Specious doctrine," -says M. Vacherot, "to those whose conception of things depends -solely upon their ability to picture them to themselves." -[Footnote 73] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 73: La métaphysique et la science, vol. i, p. 171.] -</p> -<p> -It is by their material appearances that, at the outset, the -external world and man himself manifest themselves to the human -mind. It is only by reflection and by a process of observation -within itself that it penetrates beyond mere appearances, and -discovers what appearances alone would never enable it to see. To -minds at once active and superficial, inquisitive, impatient to -acquire science, although not very nice as to the kind, -Materialism is a commodious and apparently clear solution of -certain difficult and obscure questions which fasten irresistibly -upon the human understanding. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337">{337}</a></span> -<p> -Besides all this, these questions, and the different solutions of -which they are susceptible, have their epochs of ardor or -languor, of favor or discredit. In our days, the fruitful -activity and the brilliant progress of the sciences of the -material world, come in aid of the doctrine of Materialism. This -progress is, however, far from being as exclusive of other -progress as is often said. Although less popular than a few years -ago, Spiritualism has not ceased to be an active and influential -doctrine in the elevated region of philosophy, and the Christian -awakening persists and develops itself energetically in the face -of the adversaries of Christianity. The times in which we live -are entitled to more justice than men accord to them; -intellectual labors are now very extensive and very varied; the -most different tendencies coexist, and pursue their independent -career. Even in this, Materialism is again the doctrine of -appearances; it is neither so strong nor so near its triumph as -it has the air of being. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338">{338}</a></span> -<p> -Nothing proves this better than the hesitation and persistent -embarrassment of the most distinguished among its adherents. The -circumstance noticed by M. de Remusat twenty-five years ago, is -recurring at the present day as plainly as ever. Sometimes we -find disavowals of the consequences of the principle of -Materialism, and attempts of all kinds to escape from those -consequences; sometimes we find efforts made to disguise the -principle itself under purer colors. A general and enduring -instinct in man persists in protesting against the appearances -upon which Materialism is founded. Man does not believe either -himself or the universe to be exclusively matter. The distinction -between matter and mind is a natural and spontaneous, a primitive -and permanent, belief of the human race. -</p> -<p> -And is this, then, merely an instinct and an aspiration, a proud -pretension of human nature? Is it not, on the contrary, the -innate sentiment, the intimate knowledge of that essential fact -in humanity of which observation recognizes and evidences the -existence? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339">{339}</a></span> -<p> -The fact to which I allude is the following: As soon as a -consciousness of life is awakened in man—as soon as he feels and -perceives what is taking place within him—he has a perception of -himself as of a real, personal, and distinct being. He gives -voice to this feeling and this perception as soon as he uses the -word "I," and he does so before he has any clear knowledge in -detail of the being whose existence he so recognizes and affirms. -</p> -<p> -When, in the natural development of life, man thus makes himself -as a real and personal being, the object of his own observation, -he recognizes in himself as such real and personal being certain -facts in their nature essentially different. On the one side, he -recognizes a body inherent in his being, which forms part of his -being, and through which he communicates with the external world, -either by the impressions which he receives from that world, or -by the modes in which he acts upon that world. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340">{340}</a></span> -On the other side, whether he regard himself as, so to say, the -theater of action, or as the very actor, he recognizes himself to -be a single being, a being permanent and abiding, ever the same -in the midst of the variety of his personal impressions or of his -actions upon the world beyond him; and this, too, in spite of the -complications and incessant transformations of his body, the -organ and the medium of those impressions and actions. -</p> -<p> -Thus it is that in man's consciousness there is a manifestation -and proof at once of the unity and of the complex nature of the -human being; that is, in accordance with the spontaneous language -of mankind, at once of the distinction and of the union of the -soul and of the body. This is the primitive and essential fact of -man in his actual life. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341">{341}</a></span> -<p> -In proportion as the human being develops himself, as he extends -the circle of his observations upon the world and upon himself, -special facts confirm the general truth of which I have just -given a summary, and prove the essential distinction of the soul -and the body by the essential diversity of the properties of -each. Thus the body, in its organization and in its life, is -subject to fixed and pre-established laws, over which man's will -has no control or power; whereas the soul is essentially free, -and capable of determining itself and of acting from motives -foreign to the laws which govern the body. Fatality is the -condition of the human being in corporeal existence; liberty is -his privilege in his moral life. I say in his moral life, and the -expression reveals between the soul and the body another -essential and ineffaceable difference. The body is strange to -every idea of morality, abandoned to the exigencies of its -necessities and its appetites; it has no aspiration, no tendency -but to satisfy them. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342">{342}</a></span> -The soul has needs and desires of quite a different kind, and -they are often contrary to those of the body; and however often -the soul may yield to the tendencies of the body, not seldom also -does it withstand and surmount them; and this both in persons of -obscure condition, and in those who stand in the public gaze of -men. When the body is dominant in man, man tends toward -Materialism; when he listens to the aspirations of soul it is, on -the contrary, to Spiritualism that his nature rises. The -complexity of his nature manifests itself in the development of -his life as in the first instinct of his consciousness; at -whatever epoch he is the subject either of his own or of our -observation he cannot be called exclusively body, matter, without -facts giving his assertion at each step the flattest -contradiction. -</p> -<p> -Whence comes this essential and primordial fact—the fact of the -complexity and yet unity of the human being? How is this union of -soul and body accomplished? their mutual influences exercised, -how? Here, according to religion, is the mystery; here, for -philosophy, lies the problem. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343">{343}</a></span> -<p> -Materialism is but an hypothesis adopted for the explanation of -this great fact, and the hypothesis consists not in the solution -of the problem, but in its suppression by the denial of the fact -itself. What need, they say, to seek to explain how the union of -soul and body is accomplished? Neither this complexity of the -human being nor his unity in that complexity is a reality. Man is -only a product and an ephemeral form of matter! -</p> -<p> -I shall not refuse myself the pleasure of refuting this -hypothesis by the mouth of a contemporary philosopher, whom I -shall soon myself have to combat. "Nothing," says M. Vacherot, -"proves that the hypothesis of Materialism is true; on the -contrary, positive facts evidence its falsity. … If the soul be -only the result of the play of the organs, how is it that the -soul is able to resist the impressions and the appetites of the -body, to direct, concentrate, and govern its faculties? If the -will be but the instinct in a different form, how explain its -empire over the instinct? -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344">{344}</a></span> -This fact is an irresistible argument; it is the rock upon which -Materialism has always wrecked itself, and upon which it will -continue to do so. … The wisdom of the ancients pronounced its -decree more than two thousand years ago. 'Do we not see,' says -Socrates, according to Plato, 'that the soul governs all the -elements of which it is pretended that it is composed? that the -soul resists them throughout the whole course of life, and -subdues them in every way, repressing some harshly and painfully, -as where the gymnastic or the medical method is resorted to; -repressing others more gently, rebuking these, warning those, -speaking to desires, to anger, to fear, as to things of a nature -alien to its own? So Homer, in the "Odyssey," represents Ulysses -as -<p class="cite"> - "Smiting his breast, and chiding thus his heart:<br> - Bear this, O heart, thou that hast worse endured." [Footnote 74] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 74:<br> - Στῆθος δὲ πληξὰς, κραδίην ἠνίπαπε μύθῳ,<br> - Τέτλαθι δὲ, κραδίη. καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾿ ἔτλης.<br> - Odyssey, Book xx, v. 17.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345">{345}</a></span> -<p> -"'Do you think,' adds Socrates, 'that Homer would have so -expressed himself had, in his conception, the soul been a mere -harmony, necessarily governed by the passions of the body? Did he -not rather think that the soul ought to govern and master those -passions, and that the soul is something far more divine than any -harmony?'" [Footnote 75] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 75: La Métaphysique et la science, by M. Vacherot, - vol. i, p. 174; Plato, Phæd, xliii.] -</p> -<p> -Materialists themselves have felt the feebleness of their -hypothesis; to support it they have invented a second hypothesis. -"No force without matter, no matter without force," [Footnote 76] -says Dr. Buchner, at the present day one of the most resolute -interpreters of the doctrine. That is to say, not being able to -explain facts by matter alone, as matter is observed and -conceived naturally by the human mind, they endow matter with -what they term <i>force</i>, a principle of movement and of -production. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 76: Le Materialisme contemporain en Allemagne, by - M. Paul Janet, of the Institute, p. 20. 1864.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346">{346}</a></span> -<p> -"Matter and force are," it is now said, "inseparable; both have -existed from all eternity." Thus, imperiously urged by instinct -and by their observation of facts, they begin again by -distinguishing and naming separately matter and force; then, all -at once, they confound them, treat them as united in their -essence and from all eternity, and conclude by believing that -they have succeeded in giving an explanation of man and of the -world! -</p> -<p> -In this, what do they more than add an abstraction to an -abstraction, and an hypothesis to an hypothesis? We are here in -the presence of facts that are certain and yet perplexing; in -presence of an external world, which evidently has not always -been such as it is, which had a beginning, which is continuing to -develop itself according to certain laws, and which is tending to -certain ends; in the presence, too, of man, evidently a being at -once one and complex, identical and yet variable. The ancients -gave names and explanations to those incontestible facts, but the -names and explanations are now rejected! -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347">{347}</a></span> -Still, names and explanations are needed; man must put something -in the place of God, Creator, and Providence—in the place of -mind, and matter, and soul, and body. It is not for the first -time that man finds himself confronted by this necessity, or that -he essays to satisfy it; many abstractions, many words, have been -already employed for this purpose. <i>God</i> was replaced by -<i>nature</i>, by <i>substance</i>, by <i>cause</i>; the <i>human -soul</i> was transformed into <i>vital principle</i>; the vital -principle was elevated to the dignity of soul. It seems that -these words, these abstractions, have had their time and lost -their credit; and so now it is <i>force</i> which replaces -<i>them</i>; <i>force</i> is mind, <i>force</i> is soul, -<i>force</i> creates, <i>force</i> is God. It is enough now that -they incorporate force with body; the problem no longer exists; -man and the universe are laid bare! -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348">{348}</a></span> -<p> -When Leibnitz, to combat the Idealism of Descartes, and the -Pantheism of Spinoza, developed the idea of force, he did not -foresee that that very notion would be one day made use of to -reduce to nonentities God, the human soul, all real and personal -being, all first and final cause; to reduce, in short, everything -to a medley of mechanics and dynamics incarnate in matter! -</p> -<p> -However specious it may appear to superficial minds, or to minds -prejudiced in its favor by the peculiar nature of their studies -and of their habitual labors, Materialism, like Pantheism, is -only an hypothesis—an hypothesis constructed by dint of mere -abstractions and purely verbal assertions. These not only -disregard or suppress the facts which they pretend to explain, -but are in direct contradiction with facts themselves recognized -and proved by psychological observation. It is, in effect, an -hypothesis, (I am forced here to repeat what I before affirmed of -Pantheism,) equally revolting to true science and to common -sense. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349">{349}</a></span> -<p> -The hypothesis of Materialism has but a single merit; it is more -consistent than those of the other systems. But even to this -merit Materialism loses its title whenever it shrinks from -pushing its principles boldly to their consequences, whether -philosophical or practical: that is to say, whenever it shrinks -from denying man's liberty, a moral law, the necessary principles -of the human mind—whenever, in short, it shrinks from -proclaiming its ultimate results, which are, as M. Damiron puts -them, Fatalism, Egotism, Atheism. Philosophers are right in -seeking for truth and in respecting truth for itself and at every -risk; but there are some consequences which are the clearest -evidence of a vice in principle; and this vice, in Materialism, -is the blind forgetfulness of the best proved facts and the most -essential elements of human nature. -</p> -<hr> -<br> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350">{350}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Seventh Meditation. -<br><br> - Skepticism.</h2> -<br> -<p> -There are two kinds of Skepticism, experimental Skepticism and -systematic Skepticism. Experimental Skepticism is the result of -the incertitude which arises in men's minds from the spectacle of -the infinite variety, discordance, and mobility of human -opinions. Systematic Skepticism, on the other hand, challenges -the power itself of the human understanding, and declares it -incapable of knowing things in their essence—reality in itself. -The one is doubt applied in practice; the other is doubt affirmed -as a principle. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351">{351}</a></span> -<p> -In an essay on Skepticism, written in 1830, M. Jouffroy treated -experimental and practical skepticism with great contempt: this -skepticism "founds itself," says he, "only upon the apparent -contradictions of human judgment. To prove that there is a -contradiction either between the results at which each faculty of -the mind when taken separately arrives, or between the final -results attained by different faculties, as by the sense and by -the reason; to establish that there is a contradiction of a like -nature between the opinions received by different men or by -different nations, or between those opinions themselves, which, -at different epochs, have variously for a time contented -humanity; then to conclude from all this that the human -intelligence regards in turn as true things which are -contradictory, and that consequently there is for that -intelligence no truth at all: such is all the mechanism in which -this second-rate skepticism consists which has fascinated, and -still continues to fascinate, whole hosts of little minds. Long -ago this skepticism was refuted, and at all its points; long ago -the unity of human truth was demonstrated, after having been -admitted <i>à priori</i> in all ages by their leading minds. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352">{352}</a></span> -This kind of skepticism is a theme upon which men will long -continue to dilate; the darling subject for wits, it merits not -to arrest the attention of philosophers." -</p> -<p> -By way of amends, however, for these remarks, M. Jouffroy makes -an immense concession to the systematic skepticism which declares -the human mind incapable of knowing things as they really are in -themselves, for he admits this skepticism to be rationally -legitimate; "the foundation of all belief," says he, "is an act -of faith, blind but irresistible. In effect there is no -contradiction between faith and skepticism; for man believes by -instinct and doubts by reason. … Skeptics fall into no -contradiction when, in the practice of life, they believe their -senses, their consciousness, their memory, and when they act in -consequence; they obey the laws of their instinctive nature by so -believing, and they obey their rational natures by confessing -that their beliefs are illegitimate. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353">{353}</a></span> -So we equally excuse humanity which believes, and skepticism -which doubts; but we cannot equally excuse the philosophers who -have combated skepticism by striving to demonstrate the rational -legitimacy of human belief. When men affirm that mankind -believes, and that skeptics do so with mankind, they affirm a -fact in itself incontestable; when they add that mankind believes -itself right in believing, that is to say, virtually admits that -the human intelligence sees things as they are, this is true too, -and skeptics do not deny it; but when, grappling with skepticism -itself, men pretend to show that the human intelligence really -sees things as they are, this is a pretension which I cannot -understand. What! do they not perceive that this pretension is -nothing less than the pretension of demonstrating the human -intelligence by the human intelligence, which has been, is, and -will be eternally impossible? We believe skepticism forever -invincible, because we regard skepticism as the final word of the -reason concerning the reason itself." [Footnote 77] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 77: Mélanges philosophique, pp. 238-240.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354">{354}</a></span> -<p> -I do not agree with M. Jouffroy in his disdain for experimental -and practical skepticism. This is not, it is true, a system which -philosophers are called upon to refute, but a fact which ought to -occupy an important place with them, for by showing to us how -incomplete human science is, and human error how frequent, it -sets us on our guard against all presumptuous confidence in our -own ideas, and against intolerance toward the ideas of others—two -of the most dangerous infirmities to which human intelligence -and society are liable. But as for the reasoning which impels M. -Jouffroy to accept the systematic and definitive skepticism as to -the intrinsic reality of things, I repudiate it altogether. If -that were, as he says, "the final word of the reason respecting -the reason itself," it would be the negation, or to use a better -expression, the suicide, of man's reason and of the human -intelligence. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355">{355}</a></span> -<p> -In his discourse which he pronounced in 1813, on resuming his -functions at the "Faculté des Lettres," M. Royer-Collard summed -up his conclusions upon this fundamental question—conclusions -very different, more different essentially than even apparently -they are, from those arrived at by M. Jouffroy. Whereas M. -Jouffroy believes systematic skepticism forever invincible, -"because he regards it as the final word of the reason concerning -the reason," M. Royer-Collard, on the contrary, ends his -discourse with these words: "We cannot divide man; we cannot -assign a part only to skepticism; as soon as skepticism once -penetrates into the understanding, in [it?] invades it -throughout." I would confirm this conclusion of M. Royer-Collard, -by carrying still further the reasoning which led him to it. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356">{356}</a></span> -<p> -"The most general result," says he, "presented by the history of -modern philosophy—its most striking characteristic when -contrasted with ancient philosophy—is its skepticism with -respect to the existence of the external world; that world in -which mankind has so long believed, which begins to reveal itself -in us with our existence itself, and in the bosom of which we are -forced to perceive ourselves as mere fragments of its immensity. -… I am not here to reason in favor of the received opinion; -that opinion needs neither proofs nor defenders; it is rooted -deeply enough in our most intimate nature to brave all attack. It -is not the world that risks anything at the hands of the -philosophers; it is rather the honor of philosophy which suffers -some discredit; it is rather philosophy that relieves the vulgar -from a part of the respect which philosophy yet demands at its -hands, when it gives birth to paradoxes bearing, seemingly, the -very impress of folly. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357">{357}</a></span> -Moreover, whether the material world really exist or not, is not -a matter in controversy; this question would resolve itself into -one still more general—whether all those facilities of ours, of -which the authority is indivisible, are organs of truth or organs -of falsehood; and upon this point we shall ever be driven to -accept the testimony of those very organs. The sole question -which belongs to philosophical analysis, consists in examining if -it be certain that our faculties attest to us the existence of an -external world, and if the human race believes in this existence; -for if it believes in it, this universal belief becomes a fact in -our intellectual constitution; and whether this fact be a -primitive one, or a deduction from any anterior fact—whether it -be the immediate teaching of nature or an acquisition by -reasoning—it is entitled to its place unmutilated in the -synthetic table of science. Has it disappeared? Then the man of -philosophy is not the man of nature; science is false, and -consequently, the analysis without fidelity; and one may rest -assured that philosophers have inserted in the understanding some -principle, or some fact, which was not there before; or that they -have not collected with care all the principles and facts which -are actually there." -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_358">{358}</a></span> -<p> -Having thus formalized the question, M. Royer-Collard follows it -up with an inquiry as exact as it is profound, of the -psychological fact of the perception of the external world which -accompanies the fact of sensation: this inquiry leads him to this -conclusion: -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "Sensation has no object; sensation is merely relative to the - sentient being; if not perceived, sensation does not exist. But - the perception, which affirms an external existence, supposes - two things—the mind which perceives, and the object which is - perceived; the being that thinks, and the being that is the - subject-matter of thought. Just as the sensation is relative to - the mind, so is the act of the perception relative to it also, - and just so does it suppose the mind; the object, on the - contrary, supposes neither the mind nor the mind's perception. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_359">{359}</a></span> - The object does not exist because we perceive it; but we - perceive it because it exists—because we are endowed with - the faculty of perception. In a city inhabited no longer, there - remain no sensation, no idea, no judgment; the houses remain, - and even the streets, and with them nature, with all nature's - laws, which are not suspended in their course. To the universe, - the energetic presence of its Creator suffices; it does not - require our presence; the absence of spectators would not make - it languish; it existed before us, it will exist after us; its - reality is independent of us and of our thoughts—it is - absolute. The authority which persuades us of this is no less - than that of the consciousness itself; it is the authority of - the primitive laws of thought, and to man's mind those laws are - absolute laws of truth. The same draught may convey the - impression of sweetness and of bitterness, because sensation is - relative to the variable state of sensibility, and sensibility - itself is relative to organization; but the laws of the mind - are an immutable standard. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_360">{360}</a></span> - The imperfection of knowledge does not render it uncertain, and - although it admits of degrees, it does not admit of - contradiction. Our limited faculties do not, it is true, - perceive all that there is in things; but still, what they do - perceive, is in effect there just as they perceive it. … - If a man call upon me to prove this by reasoning, I shall, in - my turn, demand of him, too, that he first prove to me by - reasoning that reasoning is more convincing than perception; - that he at least prove that the memory, without which there is - no such thing as reasoning, is a faculty more to be relied upon - than those faculties whose testimony they reject. -</p> -<p class="cite"> - "Intellectual life is an uninterrupted succession, not merely - of ideas, but of beliefs, explicit or implicit. The beliefs of - the mind are the force of the soul and the moving incentives of - the will. Whatever determines us to believe we call <i>evidence</i>. - … Reason renders no account of what is evident; to condemn it - to do so is to annihilate it, for it also has need of an - evidence peculiar to itself. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_361">{361}</a></span> - Did not reasoning rest upon principles anterior to the reason, - analysis would be without end, and synthesis without - commencement. The fundamental laws of belief constitute the - intelligence itself; and as those laws all flow from the same - source, they have the same authority; they judge by the same - right; there is no appeal from the tribunal of one to that of - another. Whoever revolts against any single one of these laws, - revolts against them all, and so abdicates all his nature. Are - there weapons of legitimate use against that faculty by which - we perceive the external world? These same weapons may be - turned against the conscience, the memory, the moral sense, - against reason itself. … Let but, in any single point, the - nature of knowledge—the nature, I say, and not the degree—be - made subordinate to our means of knowing, and all certitude is - at an end; nothing is true, nothing is false. But it is not - enough to say this; for all is true and false altogether, since - truth and falsehood no longer differ from sweet and bitter. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_362">{362}</a></span> - The void itself is then deprived of its absolute nullity: it - enters into the domain of the relative; it is something, - nothing, according to the conformation of the spectator's eye. - The useful is the sole subject that the understanding - contemplates, the sole subject for which the heart has to make - its laws. A legislation capricious and without efficacy, which - applies only shifting rules to actions, and which has none for - the intentions and for the desires. This is not mere - declamation; all these consequences have been deduced from - skeptical doctrines with an exactitude leaving nothing to be - either desired or contested. It is then a fact that public and - private morality, the order of society and the happiness of - individuals, are directly at stake in the controversy between - true philosophy and false philosophy respecting the reality of - knowledge. For when existences themselves become problems, what - force remains to the bond that unites them? We cannot divide - the entire man; we cannot assign a part only to skepticism; as - soon as skepticism once penetrates into the understanding it - invades it throughout." [Footnote 78] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 78: Fragments de M. Royer-Collard, in the works of - Reid, translation of M. Jouffroy, vol. iv, pp. 426-451.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_363">{363}</a></span> -<p> -I retrench nothing, change nothing in these remarkable words that -express so energetically the conclusions of the common sense of -mankind. I would only render them still more complete, by -illustrating in its primitive and indestructible unity the fact -upon which they are founded. "We cannot divide man," says M. -Royer-Collard. Here is precisely the risk that philosophical -science incurs, and to which it too often succumbs. It divides -man in order to study him; and after having so studied him, when -it seeks to deduce from its laborious operation what man in his -complete and living reality is, we find the result a strange -misapprehension, because science has neglected to re-establish -the unity which it broke. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_364">{364}</a></span> -It puts together, it is true, the scattered members, but the -being itself has disappeared; and then it is that philosophers -know not how to solve the problems or to extricate themselves -from the doubts by which they are confronted. Entire, living, -one, the human being explained himself; mutilated and severed -into distinct parts, that being loses all power and falls into -obscurity. -</p> -<p> -What is sensation, what perception, judgment, reasoning, reason, -will, consciousness? They are the human being, feeling, -perceiving, judging, reasoning, willing, and observing what is -passing within him. This is no troop of actors playing, each his -part, in a complex drama; but a being single and alive, actor and -sole spectator in the drama of his proper life. -</p> -<p> -What is this one and single being doing when he feels, perceives, -judges, reasons, wills, and watches what is occurring within -himself? He is taking cognizance at once of himself, and what is -not himself. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_365">{365}</a></span> -His own existence and the existence of that which is not himself, -reveal themselves to him from the very first in those diverse -facts and acts which philosophical science discriminates, and -calls by the particular names of sensation, perception, judgment, -reason, will, consciousness. The primitive and essential fact at -the root of all, is the fact itself of the cognizance which man -takes of himself, and of what is not himself. A cognizance, at -first confused, and always incomplete, but at the same time -direct and certain. Not by way of deduction, nor as a mere -appearance, but by way of immediate intuition, and as a positive -reality, does the human being become aware of his own existence -and of that existence which is not his. This fact is lost sight -of, or at least is not characterized exactly and as it is in -itself, when it is said that man believes naturally and -inevitably in his own existence, and in that of the external -world. This is a very different thing from <i>belief:</i> it is -<i>knowledge</i> itself of that double reality, internal and -external, called by the name of Man and World. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366">{366}</a></span> -Philosophers ignore, and they change the nature of this fact, -when, merely playing with verbal distinctions and reasonings, -they condemn the human mind not to issue forth from itself, when -they refuse to it the right to affirm as real, out of the mind -and in itself, that which, in the mind and for the mind, the mind -yet admits to be true. -</p> -<p> -The human being may deceive himself, and often does deceive -himself in such or such a special affirmation as to external -realities; it has of them only a knowledge incomplete, and liable -to error; but its general and permanent affirmation as to their -existence is still folly justified and legitimate; it knows them -as it knows itself, by the same proof and by the same natural -process. M. Royer-Collard expresses admirably this great fact -when he says: "The universe does not exist because we perceive -it; but we perceive it because it exists. … It needs not our -presence; the absence of spectators would not make it languish -away; it was before us, it will still be after us; its reality is -independent of us: it is absolute." -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_367">{367}</a></span> -<p> -Systematic skepticism is not, like Materialism and Pantheism, an -hypothesis invented, although unsuccessfully invented, in order -to solve the grand problem of soul and body, of finite and -infinite; its error is not less considerable, although of a -different character. It consists in a defective examination of -the primitive fact of the human mind, and in the misapprehension -of the nature and the import of that fact. This fact is by no -means, as M. Jouffroy affirms, "a faith blind and irresistible," -disavowed by rational science; it is really the natural -knowledge, and the earliest knowledge acquired by the human being -when it enters into activity; a knowledge, confused and -incomplete, either of itself or of what is not itself; but still -a knowledge direct and certain of the existence of itself, and of -the existence of what is not itself. "Man believes by instinct -and doubts by reason," adds M. Jouffroy; "skeptics obey the law -of their instinctive nature when they believe, like the mass of -mankind, in their senses, their consciousness, their memory, and -when they act in consequence; so also they obey their rational -nature when they confess that their beliefs are illegitimate." -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_368">{368}</a></span> -<p> -This is strangely to <i>ignore</i>—I permit myself the use of -this, here, incorrect expression—at once the reality of facts, -and the value of words. What M. Jouffroy terms <i>instinct</i>, -is the intuitive consciousness of internal reality and of -external reality, and this consciousness the human being acquires -directly by the complete and indivisible exercise of all his -faculties; what he terms <i>reason</i> is the result of the -isolated operation of one of the faculties of the human being, -who virtually forgets, when he decomposes himself for his own -study, what he really is. Skepticism is not the "final word of -the reason respecting the reason;" it is the suicide of the -reason by a negation falsely termed scientific, of natural -evidence, and of the common sense of mankind. -</p> -<hr> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_369">{369}</a></span> -<br> - <h2>Eighth Meditation. -<br><br> - Impiety, Recklessness, And Perplexity.</h2> -<br> -<p> -The different systems, of each of which I have endeavored to show -the essential and characteristic vice, do not remain confined to -learned regions, or to the classes to which, from profession or -from taste, man and the world are a special object of study. The -breath of science penetrates to a distance, and pervades, unseen -itself, places even where ignorance reigns. How often in remote -cities and even rural districts, among a population alien to -every kind of study, have I met with and discovered the traces of -Rationalism, of Positivism, of Pantheism, Materialism, -Skepticism; and yet these had been imported, imperceptibly and in -manner that the sense could not detect, like a noxious miasma, -into places where their very names were unknown; and yet they -bore everywhere their natural fruits! -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_370">{370}</a></span> -There is a contagion in the intellectual as well as in the moral -order; and the facility, the rapidity, the universality of -communication, which contribute so much to the force and the -grandeur of modern civilization, are as much at the disposal of -evil as of good, of error as of truth. -</p> -<p> -The effects of this intellectual contagion vary with the social -regions into which it penetrates, and the dispositions that it -there encounters. When the systems of philosophy present -themselves confusedly to minds in which ambitious and passionate -feelings are fermenting, and these feelings are capable of being -aided by those systems, their action is prompt and forcible. At -epochs and among classes where pride and ambition of intellect -reign without bounds, Rationalism and Pantheism are received with -favor. In those, on the other hand, conspicuous for the almost -exclusive study of the material world, or for the ardor with -which men thirst after physical enjoyments, Positivism and -Materialism seem very readily to prevail. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_371">{371}</a></span> -After long perturbations of society, and in the midst of the -disappointments and the jaded feelings that they leave behind -them, many minds fall involuntarily into skepticism, or make it -even their refuge. These different social facts, and the -influence which they give to the different systems of philosophy, -manifest themselves in our days in the state of men's minds, and -they do so whether men be learned or unlearned, demonstrative or -taciturn. -</p> -<p> -Three dispositions of the mind are very observable and very -general—impiety, recklessness as to religion, and religious -perplexity. -</p> -<p> -I feel no difficulty in thus ranging side by side things which -are coexisting, and developing themselves simultaneously although -contrary in their nature. There are epochs when a great current -rises and hurries society toward a single object and by a single -way. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_372">{372}</a></span> -Others there are where different currents cross and combat one -another, and impel society at the same moment toward different -objects. The spirit of authority and of faith was very -predominant in the seventeenth century; the spirit of -independence and of innovation in the eighteenth. The nineteenth -century is sweeping on its way under the empire of tendencies -various but simultaneous in their power and their activity; the -different principles and elements of our society, good or the -reverse, confront one another, awaiting the moment when they may -again be harmonized. I retraced the awakening of Christianity and -its progress; I seek in no respect to qualify any remark that I -have made, either as to that important movement or as to the -confidence with which it inspires me; but I, at the same time, -believe also in the forcible influence of the antichristian -demonstrations which are taking the form of impiety or of -recklessness; nor can I disregard the force of that religious -perplexity into which this great struggle throws so many men of -feeble purpose, and even some men of eminent powers of mind. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_373">{373}</a></span> -<p> -In our days impiety is spreading, and assuming serious -development, more especially among the operative classes, and in -that young generation that issues from the middle classes, and is -destined to follow the liberal professions. Not that the -infection is universal even there; on the contrary, those classes -show also the most different tendencies; among them, too, the -progress of the Christian awakening has made itself felt, and -religious belief is treated with more respect. There, however, it -is that the evil of impiety has its focus and its center of -expansion. Sometimes it manifests itself under gross and cynical -forms, sometimes with a pretension to thought and learning; now -by the brutal licentiousness of its behavior, now by the arrogant -yet embarrassed expression of its opinions. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_374">{374}</a></span> -Last year I received an invitation to attend the great congress -of students assembled at Liège; an invitation which, although I -expressed for the purpose of this assemblage a real and a sincere -interest, I declined. When I learned what the ideas were that had -been there loudly expressed—when I read that the question had -there been put as one between God and man, and that the idolatry -of man had been proclaimed in the place of the adoration of -God,—I experienced two sentiments the most contradictory, a -lively satisfaction that I had held myself aloof from such a -scene, and a profound regret, at the same time, that I had not -been present to protest against such an invasion of Pantheism and -of Atheism into young souls, upon whom my thoughts only rest with -sentiments of affectionate hopefulness. I have grown old, I have -had to undergo painful disappointments, but in spite of all, my -first impulse has ever been to believe in the prompt efficacy of -truth when it knocks unhesitatingly at the door of the mind; nor -is it without reluctance that I bring myself to wait for time and -experience to unvail what is error. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_375">{375}</a></span> -Of the two kinds of impiety which I have just alluded to, the -impiety which is gross and cynical, which springs from immorality -and which produces immorality, is undoubtedly the more fatal to -the human soul, to its dignity and its future lot; but systematic -impiety—impiety that establishes itself into doctrine—is the -more dangerous for human societies; for, enamored of itself, it -takes its pride in self-glorification and self-propagation. The -ambitious ones of impiety obtain more credit than those, the -chief characteristic of whose impiety is licentiousness. -Recklessness in religion is in our days a more widely spread evil -than impiety. I do not here speak of that indifferentism with -respect to religious subjects that the Abbé de la Mennais so -eloquently attacked; that sentiment may be profound, and it may -be frivolous; it may spring from Materialism, from Skepticism, -from a thoughtful impiety, as well as from a gross forgetfulness -of the paramount questions which exercise the human mind. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_376">{376}</a></span> -The recklessness now so common gives no thought at all to these -subjects, does not picture to itself that there is any ground for -so doing; where this tendency prevails, man's thought confines -itself to its terrestrial, its actual life; the business and the -interests of this life alone occupy him, alone content him; there -is, as it were, a sleep of all those instincts and requirements -of the human soul which go beyond this low region, and if not a -complete abdication, at least a sluggish torpor of the heavenly -part of our nature. -</p> -<p> -Let not the friends of a religious life and of the Christian -faith deceive themselves; it is here that they have the greatest -obstacles to encounter, the deadest weight to lift and to remove. -Aggression provokes resistance; a struggle leads to the -marshaling of the different hostile forces; nor does the learning -of the believer dread to enter the arena with the learning of the -incredulous. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_377">{377}</a></span> -But recklessness in religion is like a vast Dead Sea in which no -being lives, an immense barren desert in which no vegetation -pushes. It is, if not the most revolting, at least the most -formidable evil of the day. It is against this evil that -Christians are bound, more especially, to direct their energies, -for there are a world and an entire population here to be -conquered. -</p> -<p> -Nor will <i>points d'appui</i> or means of action fail them in -this great work. For if religious recklessness is in our days -deplorably common, neither is perplexity as to religious matters -a stranger among us. It springs from sentiments and out of -interests very different in their natures, sometimes merely on -the surface, sometimes in the depths of the soul. There is a kind -of perplexity founded upon the dictates of common sense, and -entitled to every respect, but to which I do not accord, -nevertheless, the epithet of religious; this perplexity is -generated by the instinct or the experience of the utility of -religion for the maintenance of order in society, not merely in -the great public society, but also in the smaller domestic -societies, that is, in the state as well as in families. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_378">{378}</a></span> -A man of distinguished mental capacity and of an honorable -character, "elève" of the "Ecole politechnique," and "ingénieur -en chef" in one of our great departments, was one day speaking to -me with sorrow of the attacks leveled at Christianity. "It is -not," he said, "on my own account that I regret these attacks; -you know I am a 'Voltairean;' but I ask for regularity and peace -in my own household; I felicitate myself that my wife is a -Christian, and I mean my daughters to be brought up like -Christian women. These demolishers know not what they are doing; -it is not merely upon our Churches, it is upon our houses, our -homes and their inmates, that their blows are telling!" -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_379">{379}</a></span> -<p> -There is a perplexity more serious and more profound—a -perplexity really religious—one suggested not merely by the -necessity of social order, but by that of moral security, of -harmony, of confidence, and of intimate hopefulness in the -presence of the problems and of the chances that weigh upon man. -This perplexity takes place not merely in the minds of thinking -men—of men who render to themselves an account of their internal -troubles, and who avow them undisguisedly; it causes agitation -and spreads desolation among multitudes of single-minded, modest, -and silent men, who suffer from the antichristian <i>malaria</i> -spread around them. What framer of statistics shall count their -number? what philosopher minister successfully to their disease? -</p> -<p> -I go further still. I listen to contemporary philosophers -themselves, and I find in the cases of some of the more eminent -an intellectual perplexity, showing itself clearly through -opinions the most systematic, and the furthest removed from the -Christian religion. I shall name but two—M. Vacherot and M. -Edmond Scherer. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_380">{380}</a></span> -I have no intention of entering here into a special examination -of their ideas; I seek only to show the state of their minds and -of their souls, as it results from the tenor of their works. -</p> -<p> -I have read, and read over again, with scrupulous attention, the -two principal philosophical treatises of M. Vacherot, <i>La -Métaphysique et la Science ou Principes de Philosophie -Positive,</i> [Footnote 79] and the <i>Essais de Philosophie -Critique</i>. [Footnote 80] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 79: Second edition, three vols. 12mo., 1863.] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 80: One vol. 8vo., 1864.] -</p> -<p> -M. Vacherot does not desire to be, nor is he really, in his -conscience and in his own eyes, an advocate either of -Materialism, or Positivism, or Pantheism, or Atheism, or -Skepticism. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_381">{381}</a></span> -He analyzes and he refutes successively these different systems, -as conceived and expounded by their most distinguished -representatives; he defends himself, and with warmth, from the -charge of adhering to them: "a man," he says, "is not an Atheist, -a Materialist, a Pantheist, an Idealist, because he does not -believe in God, soul, mind, matter, world—in all these -metaphysical words taken in a given acceptation. The true -<i>Atheist</i>, if such a one exists, is he whose mind is grossly -empirical, and wanting in the sense of what is intelligible, -ideal, and divine. The true <i>Pantheist</i> is he who identifies -truth and reality, God and the world, whether, like Spinoza and -Goethe, he deifies the world, or like the Stoics, he materializes -God. The true <i>Materialist</i> is he who degrades man to the -beast, either by denying him his superior and really human -faculties, or by deriving these from animal faculties. The true -<i>Idealist</i>, like Berkeley, is he who rejects all external -reality as an illusion, whatever the conception of that reality; -whether it be as a thing made up of forces and of laws, or as -consisting of extended matter. … All these words require to be -defined and explained, or they necessarily occasion mysteries, -contradictions, and absurdities. In their vague complexities they -do not express ideas of sufficient simplicity, nor do they answer -to ideas sufficiently precise for science to adopt them -unreservedly and without distinction. … -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_382">{382}</a></span> -A chosen few exist whose sympathy is dear to me; I remain -profoundly attached to all the truths which they, with reason, -regard as constituting the strength, life, and honor of -philosophy. I remain, like them, a Spiritualist, an Idealist, a -Theist, although with other methods, another language, and also, -beyond a doubt, with notable reservations." [Footnote 81] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 81: La Métaphysique et la science; in the - Introduction and the Preface, vol. i., pp. xvi, xxxiv.] -</p> -<p> -Nor is M. Vacherot more of a Skeptic than of a Materialist and a -Pantheist; he believes firmly in absolute truth, in scientific -metaphysics, and in the universal and essential principles which -form their bases. "Metaphysics," he says, "have nothing to dread -from analysis; it is a test from which they can only issue with -honor. The truths <i>à priori</i> upon which the science rests, -will inspire no more doubt so soon as it comes to be well -understood that those truths are founded upon the ordinary -principles of demonstration, like all the truths <i>à priori</i> -of the other sciences. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_383">{383}</a></span> -Metaphysics have, and will ever have for their object, the Being -infinite, necessary, absolute, and universal. Now the ideas of -being, infinite, necessary, absolute, universal, are so involved -in the notion of appearance, finite, contingent, relative, -individual, that it is impossible for the human mind to separate -them. Accordingly, in order to be entitled to deny Metaphysics, -and the truths which are peculiar to them, we must first mutilate -the human mind, and reduce it to the pure faculties of sensation -and imagination which are common to it with animals. From the -moment when the reason, the thought, the faculty peculiar to the -human intelligence, enters the field, it brings necessarily with -it the object of sensation and of imagination, under the -categories of quantity, quality, being, relation, unity. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_384">{384}</a></span> -Then it is that appear to the mind the distinction, and afterward -the logical connection, of the two terms corresponding to each -category, of the finite and the infinite, of the contingent and -the necessary, of the individual and the universal, of the -relative and the absolute, of appearance and being. The thought -enters then perforce, whether it is conscious of it or not, upon -the peculiar ground of Metaphysics. Nothing but a gross and, so -to say, an animal empiricism, has the right to deny the -conceptions and the truths of this science, and the denial is a -denegation of the higher faculties of the intelligence." -[Footnote 82] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 82: La Métaphysique et la science; Preface, vol. i, - p. xlviii.] -</p> -<p> -It is impossible to disavow more indignantly Materialism, -Atheism, Skepticism, with their principles and their -consequences. But after all these declarations and these -disavowals, when M. Vacherot has to draw his conclusions, and has -to set the affirmation of his own ideas by the side of his -criticism of the ideas of other writers; when he, in his turn, -undertakes to explain God and the world, this twofold object of -Metaphysics, the perplexity of the thinker becomes at once -apparent, and he falls, in spite of himself, into the very paths -from which he proposed to escape. -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_385">{385}</a></span> -<p> -"What do you understand by God?" says he; "the perfect Being? He -is the God of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Malebranche, Leibnitz; -he is the God of all the theologians with whom <i>Divinity</i> -and <i>Perfection</i> are synonyms. That God is our God too. But -if, of this God, immutable in his perfection, elevated beyond -time, space, the movement of universal life, you make anything -else than an ideal of the thought, I confess I no longer -comprehend him. … These ideas, all equally reducible to the -idea of the <i>Perfect</i>, as understood by Plato, Descartes, -Malebranche, Fénélon, Leibnitz, can have no <i>objective -reality</i>, and only exist in the ideal order of pure thought; -absolutely in the same manner as the figures of geometry do, -which lose all the vigorousness and all the exactitude of their -definition elsewhere than in the domain of the understanding. … -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_386">{386}</a></span> -Perfection exists, can only exist, in the thought. It is of the -essence of perfection to be purely ideal; and the remark applies -as truly to the Perfect Being of Descartes and of Leibnitz as to -the 'intelligible world' of Plato and of Malebranche. A 'perfect -God,' or a 'real God?' Theology must make its choice. A perfect -God is only an ideal God." [Footnote 83] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 83: La Métaphysique et la science; vol. i, pp. xii, - 1, vol. iii, p. 247.] -</p> -<p> -That is to say, that for Metaphysics to admit God, the -<i>Being</i> God must vanish, and remain only a conception, a -notion, an idea. It may be that to a philosopher or two this may -seem still Theism; to the human soul, and to the human race, it -is Atheism, and nothing else. -</p> -<p> -God thus made to vanish, what becomes in its turn of the world? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_387">{387}</a></span> -<p> -Here God reappears. "As for the <i>real</i> God," says M. -Vacherot, "he lives, he develops himself in the immensity of -space and in the eternity of time; he appears to us under the -infinite variety of forms which are his manifestations—he is -<i>Cosmos</i>. … The world <i>thought of</i> is something else -than the world <i>imagined</i>. Imagination represents to us the -world as an immense mass of dispersed matter, as an infinite -collection of forces disseminated in the vast fields of space. -The idea does not occur to men of vulgar minds, nor even to our -men of learning, that this image of universal life cannot for an -instant support the glance of reason; they do not perceive that -<i>void</i> is synonymous with <i>nothing</i>, that the atom is -an unintelligible hypothesis; that <i>being</i> is always and -everywhere, without any possible solution of continuity, either -in time or in space; that the universal life is one in its -apparent dispersion; and finally, that the world is a -<i>being</i>, and not merely a <i>whole</i>." [Footnote 84] -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 84: La Métaphysique et la science, vol. iii, p. - 247; vol. i, p. lii.] -</p> -<p> -What is this if it be not Pantheism? -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_388">{388}</a></span> -<p> -And these incoherences, these contradictions, these relapses of -M. Vacherot into systems that he disavows, and that he has just -combated, what are they but striking evidences of the vanity of -his efforts, like those of so many others, to explain, unaided by -God, God and the universe? -</p> -<p> -Of another nature is the perplexity of M. Edmond Scherer; his is -the disquietude of the critic, not the embarrassment of the -metaphysician. M. Edmond Scherer was a believing Christian, a -believer zealous in his faith, and active in its cause. The -examination of systems and of facts, historical criticism and -philosophical criticism, impelled him to skepticism; not to that -skepticism which is indifferent and strange to all personal -conviction. M. Scherer believes in truth and in the rights of -truth; but where that truth? He seeks it, he finds it not; he -wanders among systems and facts as in a labyrinth, discovering at -each step that his path is the wrong one, and from it -nevertheless finding no issue. He is still aware that humanity -cannot live in a labyrinth, that it requires—nay, absolutely -requires—to issue forth, to behold, or at least to catch -glimpses of, the light of day. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_389">{389}</a></span> -He has a sentiment of the moral requirements of human nature, of -man's life; and he sees well that the negations and the doubts of -the different systems of philosophy can never satisfy those -requirements. I have already cited, in the course of these -<i>Meditations</i>, some of the passages in which this perplexity -strikingly manifests itself; a perplexity full at once of pride -and sadness, which, although it does not shake M. Scherer in his -convictions, makes him nevertheless see their vanity. [Footnote -85] He knows that its own thought suffices not for the human -soul; perhaps it is his own soul suggests to him that knowledge. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 85: See particularly the passage cited in the Third - Meditation (Rationalism) of this volume, p. 256, etc., and in - the "Meditation on the Essence of the Christian Religion," - (Third Meditation, the Supernatural,) p. 119.] -</p> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_390">{390}</a></span> -<p> -Why is it that Christianity, in spite of all the attacks which it -has had to undergo, and all the ordeals through which it has been -made to pass, has for eighteen centuries satisfied infinitely -better the spontaneous instincts and invincible cravings of -humanity? Is it not because it is pure from the errors which -vitiate the different systems of philosophy just passed in -review? because it fills up the void that those systems either -create or leave in the human soul? because, in short, it conducts -man higher to the fountain of light? Question paramount, to which -these <i>Meditations</i> are intended as the prelude, and which I -shall essay to solve, by confronting, as I before said, [Footnote -86] Christianity with its opponents, and by showing that, if it -succeeds where they fail, the reason is, that, sprung from a -higher source than man, it alone has the right to succeed, for it -alone knows man rightly as he is—as one entire being; it alone -satisfies man by furnishing him with a rule for his guidance -through life. -</p> -<p class="footnote"> - [Footnote 86: First Meditation, p. 200.] -</p> -<br> - - <h3>The End.</h3> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Meditations on the Actual State Of -Christianity, by François Guizot - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTUAL STATE OF CHRISTIANITY *** - -***** This file should be named 60602-h.htm or 60602-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/6/0/60602/ - -Produced by Don Kostuch - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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